The General Magic: The Gathering Thread

[Lemegeton]

Huh. Just saw the new layout for Magic Online. It looks surprisingly not-awful. The layout looks much cleaner and the cards don't look quite so bad on the board.

thats why i have resisted MTGO so far cos ppl were saying there was a new interface out soon and i didnt want to waste time learning the clunky system if a better one was around the corner.

Question for you guys. my main deck is a mill deck, its focus is on getting guys like splinterfright out and filling my graveyard and at the last FNM one of my opponents advised i keep to 60 cards in my deck. but would it not be the case that if to be succesful i put a lot of my deck into my graveyard then more than 60 cards would be ok. I currently have 68 cards and got some cards recently in booster that would fit the whole Mill strategy

[Robert Merlow]

Even with self mill, unless you're building around Battle of Wits,you want the consistency of 60 cards. I push it sometimes and go 61, as I notice no difference in consistency due to my deck being chock full of cantrips, but you want to keep it as close to 60 as possible. Keeps variance at bay, and variance is the enemy of ALL Magic Players.

[Kapol]

A lot of people say to keep it at a hard cap of 60. That's normally the best thing to do, as it allows for your deck to run smoother and gives you more chance for good cards.

That said, play like you want to play. My deck is currently sitting at 65 cards. I might take it down, I might not. Don't plan on taking it up much more at the moment. But it still runs pretty effectively and cards I put in unsure of how much they'd help have turned out to save me on multiple occassions. So don't be afraid to go past it a bit to experiment. Hell, don't be afraid to go past it a lot if you really want to. You might lose the competitive edge of having it streamlined. But it's worth it if you have more fun with it.

[Lord Hosk]

I have never found "deck consistency" to be that big a deal. If you play based on that one card that interacts with only that one other card for the win. Yeah lower is better, 60 constructed 40 sealed. But if you dont care if up pull a Runeclaw Bear, or a Gatstaf Shepherd the ratio of land/creatures/spells is more important.

If you build a 60 card two color deck with 19 lands in it, then decide you want to add 2 more 2 drop creatures and 1 more three drop spell, you also want to add a land.

[Lemegeton]

thanks for the advice guys. so what happened was in the last few boosters i got a Screeching Skaab , Geralf's Mindcrusher and 2 Thought Scours. they all fit with the deck so i felt like it would be worth adding them and maybe get 3 more mindcrushers, the mill for 5+undying makes it great for my deck.
so im currently at 68 cards with 24 land. is that a good amount of land for 68?

also regarding Mindcrusher, do i get to mill for another 5 when undying resolves and he returns to the battlefield with the counter???

[Lord Hosk]

So tonight I was heavy into blue with with strong white in the AVR draft, through two packs. I had three mist ravens, three peel from reality and two Ghostly Flickers along with a Emancipation Angel two cloud shifts a Goldnight Redeemer and three Seraph of Dawns. Third pack I crack opened a Gisela, and hate draft it, they guy next to me says "I cant play this, your welcome" and passes me a second one.

I was floored, because my next pick was my 4th mist raven and then a third ghostly flicker.

I couldn't even pick enough red to splash gisela, and I HAD TWO!

I went 2 w 1 d. On my draw I played the guy who was next to me who gave me the gisela he had a green/black wheeny soulbond deck, I won the first game in 8 minutes the second game went to time, then 3 turns and he miracled Revenge of the Hunted drew in all my blockers on a Evernight Shade with massive pumps, turn four he won. I bounced 12 guys back to his had that game.

This whole post is your fault LRR cast and crew, YOUR FAULT!

[Kapol]

I had fun today. Draft is a Limited format I greatly enjoy. Ended up building a blue/red/splash-black deck with a lot of spells powering it. It did pretty good. Went 3/2. I had Reverberate and Redirect as a couple of the holders. A lot of people don't seem to like them though. I don't think I ever used Redirect, bt I used Reverb a couple of times when using Mark Of Trechery as well as similar situation.

My second-pack rare was Akroma's Memorial, which I'd been wanting anyways. Think I only got it out once and it was countered. Had a Hamletback Goliath as well. Used it to do 20 unblockable damage thanks to the Tools of the Trade enchantment aura. Firewing Phoenix made it's way into my deck too. Managed to get a Planar Clensing, Primordial Hydra, Sunpetal Grove, and Battle of Wits people passed to me too (which is something I like about draft, more chance to get rares).

Also got a Deck Builder's Toolkit. It had some pretty good cards in it actually. And from the packs I got a Clifftop Retreat, Grim Backwoods, Dread Slaver, and a Sphinx of Uthuum I believe. Got the Staff of Nin promo as well as the Cathedral buy-a-box promo. Looking forward to playing draft and sealed with some of my friends with the box.

[Lemegeton]

so did my first draft last night. was a lot of fun and obviously i lost every match but i made the majority at least competitive. on r2 of match 1 i got opponent down to 1 life but couldn't seal the deal. struggled for land on 2 occasions so maybe i didn't use enough. here is what i drafted , feedback appreciated as maybe i drafted bad cards or just didn't play them properly

creatures

Yeva's Forcemage
Faerie Invaders
Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
Elvish Visionary x3
Jaces Phantasm
Vastwood Gorger
Vedalken Entrancer
Archaeomancer x3
Watercourser
Wind Drake
Elderscale Wurm
Harbor Serpent x2
Spiked Baloth x2
Augur of Bolas
Sentinal Spider

spells

Naturalize
Ring of Kalonia
Plummet
Titanic Growth x2
Fog
Divination x2
Encrust
Essence Scatter

i took 7 island and 7 forests as land. Drafted but didnt use

Serpent's Gift x2
Hydrosurge
Kraken hatchling
bond beetle
arbor elf
clock of omens
merfolf of the pearl trident
dark favor
rangers path
Rewind.

going to a sealed deck event in 2 hours so that should be fun

[Kapol]

First off, when playing limited format, you should play 17-18 lands in a 40 card deck. 14 isn't enough as you learned the hard way. The Harbor serpents were basically useless. Since you'd need to get 5/7 of your islands to use it, the chances of it being playable in your deck were very low. I'd have said to cut them and one of the Archeomancers at the very least.

[beramode0]

So I posted practically the sane thing on the ask a judge thread but here goes: I bought a Krenko intro deck and from the two booster packs included with it i got a Jace. I'm wondering whether or not to sell it or make a mill deck out of it. Sooooooo how much does Jace go for and how much would it cost to create a decent mill deck with him.

[Jenelmo]

Jace goes for about 6-7$.
Can't say what a decent mill deck with him would cost, because i do not know what would be in that deck

[Lord Hosk]

So I posted practically the sane thing on the ask a judge thread but here goes: I bought a Krenko intro deck and from the two booster packs included with it i got a Jace. I'm wondering whether or not to sell it or make a mill deck out of it. Sooooooo how much does Jace go for and how much would it cost to create a decent mill deck with him.

Your local shop may be different but most use either tcgplayer.com or starcity.com to pull prices. That should get you a good idea on card prices. Mtgoacademy(home of lrr fortnight drafts) has good deck lists. If you dont have a local store go to cardkingdom.com they rock, you could even call up and ask about building a jace mill deck and they will help you on the phone.

[Lemegeton]

First off, when playing limited format, you should play 17-18 lands in a 40 card deck. 14 isn't enough as you learned the hard way. The Harbor serpents were basically useless. Since you'd need to get 5/7 of your islands to use it, the chances of it being playable in your deck were very low. I'd have said to cut them and one of the Archeomancers at the very least.

yeah i see the whole lands thing was such a rookie mistake. ran 17 at the release sealed tournament today and did much better, only had 1 game where land was an issue. and i didn't finish last which was a nice bonus. will post the deck later. got some sick rares in black.

[Kapol]

I went 1/2/1 today at Sealed. Was destroyed the first two games. The third was... interesting. He was clearly going to destroy me next turn. But thanks to Flames of the Firebrand, a 3/3 swinging Tormented (pumped by Exalted of course), and a goblin arsonist, I was able to make the match my first draw ever. He could finish me, but in the process kill the arsonist, who'd do 1 damage to him to put him at 0 as I went to 0. Last match was a blowout against my opponant.

Got good rares too. Though I got great white/green rares that didn't preform, and a lot of common/uncommon black/red to make a pretty good deck. The rares were Planar Clensing (my third), Dragonskull Summit, Serra Avatar (my third one too), Garruk, Serra Avenger, and a Cathedral of War to go with my Box promo. I really do like the Cathedral to be honest.

Also picked up a Yeva intro deck. In the packs, I got a Odric, a foil Phylactery Lich, and then a non-faoil Lich. That was a pretty odd draw. Bought another foil Yeva from the guy who got second for $5 as well. So it was a good day.

And tomorrow... my booster box.

[Kapol]

I have a question for everyone. How do you store and organize your cards? I'm personally doing it with my cards and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it. I'm thinking I'm going to do it by block (with core sets seperate), then by color, type, and then cost. The problem seems to be that it'll make it tough trying to figure out which work together in a block when they aren't in the same color.

[Lord Hosk]

I have a question for everyone. How do you store and organize your cards? I'm personally doing it with my cards and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it. I'm thinking I'm going to do it by block (with core sets seperate), then by color, type, and then cost. The problem seems to be that it'll make it tough trying to figure out which work together in a block when they aren't in the same color.

I used to do this



But they kept falling off the table when I would add my thursday night drafts so I tried this, but I ran out of rubber bands.




now I do this.






In reality, I sort by standard/non-standard, color, rarity, alphabetical, I have a small box with all my non-standard and land. and a box for each color in standard the rarity separated by a couple of "promo" advertising cards in sleeves.

[Yaxley]

Paging Tally.

[Lemegeton]

First off, when playing limited format, you should play 17-18 lands in a 40 card deck. 14 isn't enough as you learned the hard way. The Harbor serpents were basically useless. Since you'd need to get 5/7 of your islands to use it, the chances of it being playable in your deck were very low. I'd have said to cut them and one of the Archeomancers at the very least.

yeah i see the whole lands thing was such a rookie mistake. ran 17 at the release sealed tournament today and did much better, only had 1 game where land was an issue. and i didn't finish last which was a nice bonus. will post the deck later. got some sick rares in black.

right to finish from yesterday. i started out with a white/red deck and didnt exactly get stomped but didnt win a round so switched to white/black with blue splash and had much more luck, though i had some help in building the deck, i am still new at this. here is what i ran with for rest of day and managed to win a few rounds.

Shimian Specter x2
Guardians of Akrasa
Divine Verdict x2
Tormented Soul x2
Essence Drain
Dark Favor
Faerie Invaders
Oblivion Ring
Battleflight Eagle x2
war priest of Thune
Public Execution
Crippling Blight
Duty Bound Dead x2
Attended Knight
Xathrid Gorgon
Knight of Glory
Duskmantle Prowler x2
Arctic Aven
Akromas Memorial
Tricks of the trade
Gem of Becoming

Shimian Specter was good but that's going to be a monster in constructed/standard decks. Xathrid Gorgon was a beast for me and i got a second one as the promo card.
have so many cards from the sealed event and draft going to try and build a second deck. Black is the obvious first color. cant decide for second color. got 3 harbor serpents in the draft so thats pushing me to blue.

[Kapol]

In reality, I sort by standard/non-standard, color, rarity, alphabetical, I have a small box with all my non-standard and land. and a box for each color in standard the rarity separated by a couple of "promo" advertising cards in sleeves.

I don't have enough room at the moment to have a box for each color, though that's my plan for the future. I personally keep my rares/foils out inside a binder. I used to have them all in sleeves, which was VERY nice for deckbuilding. But it used up all my sleeves and therefore didn't work. As for the standard/non-standard thing, I'm doing somewhat similarly. I'm putting everything that cycling out in a couple months together while keeping the Innistrad Block seperate from the M13 as of now. When the next set comes out I might change that though.

have so many cards from the sealed event and draft going to try and build a second deck. Black is the obvious first color. cant decide for second color. got 3 harbor serpents in the draft so thats pushing me to blue.

Harbor Serpent is not good at all unless you're playing mono-blue. Even then it's only good if you're playing someone who plays blue. If the person you're playing plays blue, Harbor Serpent could work in a two-color deck. But that's a pretty big if. Or it kinda works if you have 3-4 Stormtide Leviathans (which even then it's not great since you have to get the Stormtides out first).

The reason being is that you HAVE to have five islands to attack with it. In a bi-color deck, getting five of one color of land can be very hard. When it does attack, it's still only a 5/5 for 6, which is alright if not for the major drawback. The islandwalk is very useful if you play someone who's in blue. But they're likely either control, which means they'll likely just stop the creature before it hits, or they have the Serpent as well, which means it'll become a race. At worst, it's a 5/5 defender for 6. That's pretty bad in my opinion.

[Lemegeton]

Harbor Serpent is not good at all unless you're playing mono-blue. Even then it's only good if you're playing someone who plays blue. If the person you're playing plays blue, Harbor Serpent could work in a two-color deck. But that's a pretty big if. Or it kinda works if you have 3-4 Stormtide Leviathans (which even then it's not great since you have to get the Stormtides out first).

The reason being is that you HAVE to have five islands to attack with it. In a bi-color deck, getting five of one color of land can be very hard. When it does attack, it's still only a 5/5 for 6, which is alright if not for the major drawback. The islandwalk is very useful if you play someone who's in blue. But they're likely either control, which means they'll likely just stop the creature before it hits, or they have the Serpent as well, which means it'll become a race. At worst, it's a 5/5 defender for 6. That's pretty bad in my opinion.

yeah that's a fair point. ill post up the good cards i have in other colors later and get your opinion on them.

[vxicepickxv]

I have a question for everyone. How do you store and organize your cards? I'm personally doing it with my cards and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it. I'm thinking I'm going to do it by block (with core sets seperate), then by color, type, and then cost. The problem seems to be that it'll make it tough trying to figure out which work together in a block when they aren't in the same color.

For standard blocks, I have them organized by set(Then collector number) in a 4" binder, with the Fat Pack spoiler in front. Currently the older sets are organized by block(if possible) in a 2200 count box by set then collector number. They will eventually be put in binders with printout visual spoilers.
For each core set, they get their own 1 and 1/2" binder with spoiler in front, organized by collector number. Every common and uncommon card I have en excess of 4 is currently being stored in on of several 4200 count boxes. the rares(out of actual standard) are currently being stored in a pile, to be organized when a block goes into a binder.

[Geoff_B]

Huge box with divisions for colour, then separators for release starting from M11. Mainly because it was getting silly trying to keep track of binders, card boxes etc.

[Kyogissun]

Went to today's Release Party. Really didn't want to go, but pushed myself.

Needless to say, it was shaping up to be a really bad day. 4 boosters in and all I'd pulled was a Door to Nothingness and a Nefarox. The latter is great, but I wasn't finding a lot to work with for the others. I was getting exalted white and black and I was furious. Only ONE bomb to work with and only two entombs. I got a Xathrid Ring but that only gets me so far.

I crack open my last pack and I know I'm about to get screwed. I put my face to the table and groaned...

...Looked through the last pack. Lo and behold, the luck of the golden gods hit me like a ton of bricks. The last card in my last pack was a god damn CatManDo (Ajani) and I could not have been happier. So happy I laughed a little hysterically and got a few stares.

I went 1 and 4 for the event but I just can not give any fucks. I finally have another planeswalker and I could not be happier. Moreover, it was the last freaking card, HAD I NOT GOTTEN THE PACKS HANDED TO ME AS I DID, I wouldn't have gotten it. I was absolutely thrilled.

So yeah, poor performance in the event but great pulls.

Also, how about that news about Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash?!

http://mtgfan.tumblr.com/post/271657622 ... -mtg-panel

RTR pre-release is shaping up to be one of the most awesomely chaotic and fun looking events. The whole thing about having to choose a Guild to join should add an interesting bit of flavor to the whole experience. Assuming each guild is based around mana colors, it's going to be tough to choose between White or Blue for me.

Probably will do Blue and White for Ravnica and then Red and Green for Gatecrash... Maybe only decide on one to not play and possible go to ALL Pre-Release tournaments. Probably will be exhausting but I wanna try it, especially to try and get those promo dice.

Also sounds like Gideon may be a Green/White based on the detailing about his artwork involving an angel. Not surprising at all, looking forward to whatever will go on with his storyline there. (Yes, I mixed up Gideon and Garruk earlier, so sue me.)

EDIT: Also wanted to suggest everyone who wants more RTR spoilers check out that blog I linked for the SDCC panel. They have a leaked image of the Guild Gift Sets that will be given away at the Pre-Releases and they look 'awesome'. Definitely gonna have a hard time making a choice of which guilds to join in RTR and GTC.

[Volafortis]

Also sounds like Gideon may be a Green/White based on the detailing about his artwork involving an angel. Not surprising at all, looking forward to whatever will go on with his storyline there. (Yes, I mixed up Gideon and Garruk earlier, so sue me.)

That's Boros, not Selesnya, which is red-white. Or, at least, all signs point to Gideon being Boros. The angel is the new Boros leader, and Gideon, in terms of character flavor, is very Boros (Boros being the guild of enforcing laws and justice.)

[beramode0]

I just jumble the cards from the same block together and organize them by just the color then put them in a box.