Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread

[MatsuriSakuragi]

It depends on what you'd like to do. Young Wolf is definitely the better card if you're running green, while if you're running white, Safehold Elite is kind of your only option (though I'd choose Doomed Traveler over it).

On the other hand, Safehold Elite also opens itself up to that infinite combo strategy I talked about a while back too-- Safehold Elite + Ivy Lane Denizen + sac engine = infinite combos. Viscera Seer gives you infinite scry, Carrion Feeder or Bloodthrone Vampire gives you infinitely large black creature. And so on. If Mortician Beetle is on the field, you get a PERMANENTLY infinitely large black creature. If Essence Warden is on the field, you get infinite life. And so on once again. There's a lot of combo potential with Persist that you don't get with Undying. Something to consider at least.

[commandercool]

Oooh dang I didn't realize Ivy Lane Denizen was common. Yeah, that makes a huge difference. I can't think of a way to do a loop like that with -1/-1 counters and Undying, so that is a pretty big deal. Especially notable since all of the combo pieces are reasonably playable on their own, so it's not like you have to go far out of your way to include the combo in a deck.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Okay so full spoiler is out and that means the commons are now out!

The BIGGEST disappointment is that there's next to NO artifact reprints outside of the signets, Grafdigger's Cage, and Basilisk Collar. RIP Arcbound Ravager/Mox Opal/Inkmoth Nexus etc. I guess they figured that the masterpiece reprints were enough. 

Still, MM17 is fucking amazing and it's hopefully going to tank some ridiculous prices.

HOWEVER:
Some of the commons we got are really fucking cool.

Notables:
Graceful Reprieve = sweet recursion
Tandem Lookout = potentially cool card advantage engine
Cower In Fear = one-sided mini boardwipe
Falkenrath Noble = HOLY SHIT YES. Flying 2/2 that gives the final piece I wanted for my Persist combo. Now you don't even need to swing the infinitely big black creature-- it just drains damage directly.
Scorched Rusalka = potentially useful for red decks with goblins?
Thunderous Wrath = I dunno, I kinda want to make it work somehow
Call of the Conclave = 2-drop 3/3 vanilla? I'm cool with that
GIFT OF ORZHOVA = OH MY GOD IT'S THE CARD THAT GOT ME INTO MAGIC LOOK AT THAT GORGEOUS ART I'M SO GLAD IT'S IN A FORMAT WHERE IT'S NOT ONLY VIABLE BUT POTENTIALLY GREAT

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Really satisfied with the selection here, a lot of the commons and uncommons I'd be satisfied with pulling just for making a cube or something. I don't think there's any card in here I'm disappointed to see (even if I'm never going to use Seance seeing it reprinted amuses me to spite that one weird speculator)

[commandercool]

Alright, just ordered a vast majority of my Pauper deck. I'm building BG Aristocrats with the Safehold Elite/Ivy Lane Denizen combo as an option, although it isn't really what the deck is built around. I bought more cards than I can use so there's room to adjust the list significantly, although I'm still short two Rancors and two Essence Wardens.

I've been finding myself having a hard time putting double colored card (mainly Hymn To Tourach and Geth's Verdict) in the deck since the mana base seems a bit unstable. After playing the deck some I guess I can decide if I want to make room for them or tweak the mana base.

When I said I was interested in the format a few other people locally built decks as well, so I'll have at least a couple of people to play with to start. Hopefully I can turn this into a bi-weekly even or something. I want to play more Magic and this seems to be the way to do it.

[commandercool]

Opened my obligatory one Modern Masters pack, got a Bonfire Of The Damned. It's a mythic which is nice, but it's down to $2. Oof. Oh well, might as well sit on it.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

I kind of want to go to a draft tomorrow, but I'm just not invested enough in magic right now to want to spend $35 on it. Sigh.

EDIT: I did a draftsim just because and uh



even if this doesn't win, i'd still win

tarmogoyf, misty rainforest, scalding tarn, goblin guide. and an entreat the angels just bc it was in the foil slot

money draft

[commandercool]

Drafts around here are a lot more than $35. Seems like they're $40 or $45. Although that does go into the prize pool I guess.

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

Drafts here are around $32 US but there isn't any MM3 in the prize pool; the place I usually play at is giving out packs of Standard-legal sets as prizing instead

Did a draft last night, wound up in the G/W tokens deck. Bronzebeak Moa is absolutely wild if you have token-makers to charge it up with; Moa + Fists of Ironwood is absolutely terrifying if it doesn't get answered.

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

so lists for the new Duel Decks got announced and there's some pretty choice reprints this time around, a huge amount of modern Storm staples if anybody still plays that deck

[MatsuriSakuragi]

It seems cool and I've kind of been kicking around the idea of building a Jhoira EDH deck, but tbh i feel like I'm better off just getting the singles should I decide to.

I got to play my Sydri deck against my friend's Trostani deck over the weekend. God, my deck is so degenerate with how many insta-win combos I have. He got an Aura Shards in game 2 that I may as well have scooped to, but I got a Lim-Dul's Vault that let me pay 6 life to soft-tutor a Dispeller's Capsule to kill it. Most expensive combo ever, but it let me turn the game around to get to the point where I had Padeem, Mycosynth Lattice, Darksteel Forge, and Platinum Angel out. Short of forcing me to sacrifice the angel somehow, there was no possible way I could lose, since all artifacts I had were hexproof and indestructible, and the Lattice makes everything on the board an artifact. Knowing that I had an undeniable win due to eventual mill-out (naturally or via Blue Sun's Zenith), I offered a draw instead since he was well over 130 life and it would have turned into a huge drag.

[commandercool]

So I finished my B/G Pauper Aristocrats deck (or at least, got it to the point that it's playable) and it definitely seems like a deck without a clear identity. It looks to me like there are two directions this archetype could go in these colors, and that's a very speedy beatdown deck with Carrion Feeder, Hunger Of The Howlpack, and Rancor, or a grindier control deck built around the Ivy Lane Denizen combo and gradual value. My deck has kind of de facto ended up being the latter, but it still has a bunch of cards from the former in it and I wonder if I shouldn't be cutting my Rancors and Hungers for more removal, recursion, and card draw.

The biggest change I've made so far since I started testing it is clearing out space to make my two-of Scatter The Seeds into a four-of. It does potentially put me in a bad place if I draw too many, but my creatures tend to be hard to remove so Convoke is hard to stop me from getting away with and once I drop one of them I can snowball out the rest. I've won quite a few games so far just off of dropping six Saprolings into play out of nowhere.

[commandercool]

So the first Amonkhet spoilers are rolling in. The mummy theme looks as strong as I hoped. Gotta make that mummy Commander deck. I just need a W/B legendary mummy...

[MatsuriSakuragi]

If W is strong in general, I may be more interested in picking stuff up from the set. I haven't bought a single Aether Revolt pack because next to nothing in the set interested me.

I'm loving the new mechanics though. Embalm basically lets you "flashback" a creature, only it's a token and a zombie, and Exert lets you have a choice: attack normally, or attack and have the exert effect, but it won't untap on next upkeep. Could be really interesting!

[commandercool]

Exert seems like a super interesting mechanic, slightly bizarre wording aside. I thiiiink Glorybringer is pretty amazing, but it's kind of hard to tell without playing it.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-96-40-tix-wb-aristocrats-modern

I'm loving this deck idea and kind of want to build it. I already have most of the pieces for it and can even take it beyond the budget version with pieces I already have. It's intriguing. I love budget decks that wreck meta decks.

[commandercool]

Yeah, I watched those gameplay videos last night. My Pauper deck is basically a super-chumpy version of that deck that uses Scatter The Seeds instead of Lingering Souls. And Nantuko Husk instead of Blood Artist...

But yeah, Aristocrats decks are fun as hell to play because they're kind of double threats. Sometimes the tokens just win games by themselves, and sometimes the combo-ish part is what matters. They're really interesting. I recommend throwing one together if you can do it cheap.

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

So the Invocations/Amonkhet Masterpieces...

I... uh... okay. Don't see myself excited to open these like a Zendikar Expedition or a Kaladesh Invention, I can say that right now.

[commandercool]

Oh FUCK I think I actually have to own some of those for my inevitable mummy Commander deck...

[MatsuriSakuragi]

I hate way the cards look. Like yeah, they're super flavorful and that's cool, but they're fucking hard to read. And yeah, none of these are cards that sorely need reprints either, except possibly Pact of Negation or Cryptic Command. The rest of them are pretty cheap. (Legalize Counterspell in Modern, dammit.)

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

I hate way the cards look. Like yeah, they're super flavorful and that's cool, but they're fucking hard to read. And yeah, none of these are cards that sorely need reprints either, except possibly Pact of Negation or Cryptic Command. The rest of them are pretty cheap. (Legalize Counterspell in Modern, dammit.)

aaaaand then they show Counterbalance and Force of Will

[MatsuriSakuragi]

>Force of Will
>Not Terese Nielsen art

b l a s p h e m y

Honestly FOW reprints are always nice I guess, but honestly I'd like to see some more useful Modern-playable stuff. So much of this is not even legal in Standard OR Modern-- and who really plays Legacy or Vintage?

(though I still won't say no to a piece for a commander deck, though I'd trade my Invocation in a hot second for a Terese Nielsen FOW)

[MatsuriSakuragi]

All non-new Amonkhet Invocations have been spoiled.

How... depressingly lackluster. Barely any of these are legal in popular formats except Commander, and very few of them are actually worth anything (or even need reprints to begin with).

And they're fucking hideous, too. It's like, if I pulled one, I'd want to sell or trade it off, but they aren't going to be worth much outside of like, Force of Will, Pact of Negation, and Cryptic Command.

[commandercool]

I really hope that's true because I love them and I need that Wrath Of God, Austere Command, Containment Priest, Vindicate, and probably more stuff besides for my mummy Commander deck and I'd love to be able to pick these up for $20. If people hate them then that's good news for me at least.

Meanwhile, that new Daze art is gorgeous. Probably in my top ten pieces of Magic art ever.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

If I ever pull one, we can trade

EDIT: holy shit I wanna play this https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/instant-deck-tech-harvest-wave-modern

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Also, before I forget: I'm considering building a new Commander deck with Geist of Saint Traft or Bruna, Light of Alabaster as the star of the show. Either way, it's gonna be white/blue voltron aggro-control in general that has Spirits at the low end of the curve and Angels at the high end (yeah, I kind of just want an excuse to be able to make Brisela tbh, but also be a viable deck). I mean, I love my Sydri deck, and while complex, degenerate, durdly combos are fun, it's not my style. I much prefer faster paced, disruptive aggro-control that destroys your tempo, protects me, and throws a bunch of small fliers or swings a big flier in your face.

My question is: can I include Archangel Avacyn in the deck, even though her transformed side is red? It's not a part of her mana cost or anything. Same goes for Westvale Abbey->Ormendahl, Profane Prince (sacrificing spirit tokens into him!).

[commandercool]

I don't believe you can use Archangel Avacyn, no.

I've never been able to get Voltron to work because in the time it takes to kill multiple people someone is inevitably going to find an answer, and it's much harder to rebuild from a board wipe when all your eggs were in one basket. Not to mention that they just tend to be bad at protecting themselves while also hurting people.

I think a resilient, already reasonably strong angel is probably a solid way to go about building a Voltron deck. You won't get those super fast starts, but it won't take as much equipment to make them a threat. You don't need to be one-shotting people, just running enough boosts for your commander to be able to threaten people with three-shots and stuff frees up a lot of win condition slots without having to over-commit to something like Skullbriar.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

But see, that's kind of where Geist and Bruna shine. Geist is hexproof and can avoid targeted removal (a boardwipe is a problem though if there's no indestructibility though), while Bruna can just pull all Auras onto herself (preferably ones that give her indestructible and hexproof).

Meanwhile, I'd have the smaller Spirits for disruption, chump blocking, and chip damage (and Drogskol Cavalry can just keep making tokens, while Drogskol Captain can pump them all and give all Spirits hexproof as well). And of course, I'd be running a pillow fortress setup with Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, Sphere of Safety, Crawlspace, and so on.

So it's kind of balanced out. There's the path of hitting with a bunch of small stuff and the path of hitting with one huge thing.

[commandercool]

Just take it easy on the spirits, I think there's a fine line between playable and unplayable in Commander with things like that. That said, W/U is one of the more viable swarmy strategies with Coastal Piracy kinds of effects, so you might be able to make them work I guess.

But yeah, a sort-of-balanced deck is probably the way to go. Being able to win multiple ways is great if you can avoid spreading your support cards too thin.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Yeah. I won't be building it any time soon, so I have plenty of time to think it over.