Author Topic: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread  (Read 147683 times)

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #720 on: June 20, 2017, 02:58:53 PM »
so who's ready for Locust God to go in every Niv-Mizzet EDH deck ever

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #721 on: June 20, 2017, 05:05:52 PM »
I'm not super up on my lore, but are the new gods good or bad? They look super sinister but some of the art and flavor text seems to imply they're fighting against Bolas.

When we saw the Locust God art on the invocation of Through The Breach I was real worried it was an Eldrazi. Glad to see that's not the case.

Also, holy graveyard removal Batman. We went from no graveyard removal to a tiny bit of underwhelming graveyard removal to two of the best graveyard removal cards ever printed.

Edit: Okay, my confusion about the new gods is based on a mistranslation. Fair enough! They obviously evil. And it really looks like they're just in Grixis colors, which means there will probably be one more and it will be U/B.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2017, 07:46:46 PM by commandercool »
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #722 on: June 21, 2017, 02:04:37 AM »
I'm not super up on my lore, but are the new gods good or bad? They look super sinister but some of the art and flavor text seems to imply they're fighting against Bolas.
The monocolor gods were originally part of the plane but destroyed and remade by Bolas, forgetting their original role and becoming part of his trials. We don't know a lot yet but the implication seems to be that the plane and its inhabitants, gods included, have outlived their usefulness.

The dual-color gods we know pretty much nothing about so far other than that Bolas erased their existence from the history and memory of the plane.

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #723 on: June 22, 2017, 05:17:29 PM »
Holy fuck that Scarab God.

So I've really been getting into commander deck ideas and since the Rashmi free-casting deck I have in mind is going to be stupid expensive, I've been thinking about building just a cruel, mean control deck with Merieke Ri Berit centered around the theme of copying opponents or stealing from them. What makes her so cool as a commander is that she's so exploitable, because if she untaps, the creature she steals isn't given back-- it dies-- so I can just use cards that let her untap or blink her for easy removal and theft. Which combos super well with Scarab God. Steal a creature, use it or kill it, and then exile it from your opponent's graveyard, and make it a 4/4 zombie you control. I love it and I want it. It's graveyard control AND universal reanimation that in a lot of cases will have upside by making it a 4/4. So cool.

The Scarab God seems like it would be a fun commander too, but it seems like the kind of commander that would get you hated out of the game pretty much instantly...
« Last Edit: June 22, 2017, 05:19:10 PM by Matsuri »

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #724 on: June 23, 2017, 08:55:55 PM »
Scarab God looks cool but I already committed myself to making a Gisa and Geralf deck once Shadows rotates out in the fall

I mean, what else am I going to do when I just keep having blue/black lands practically falling into my lap

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #725 on: June 23, 2017, 09:13:54 PM »
You could always run it *in* Gisa and Geralf. Good synergy there.

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #726 on: June 24, 2017, 01:43:49 AM »
Also, I picked up a Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Avatar on MTGO so I could play Momir Basic. It's... actually pretty fun!

Mеа

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #727 on: June 26, 2017, 03:46:43 AM »
So I'm kinda curious, what's the general opinion of the mtg playerbase of the way the company people handle the business decisions (like the releasing of new cards or etc) of the game?

Because for yugioh, at least, the sentiment is "fuck you konami". Wondering how it is for over tcgs
Naked expression; purple raspberry flavour

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #728 on: June 26, 2017, 04:46:44 AM »
Uh... I don't really think I fully grasp the question. Could you ask something more specific? Or maybe several more specific questions? What are we talking about exactly here?

To answer the question VERY broadly, Wizards has a lot of goodwill but has been eroding it a bit lately by pushing their storyline characters way way way too hard, leading to game imbalance and lore fatigue. They mostly have a system that works and that people are basically happy with, but they've been experimenting lately with different formats for releasing cards, while simultaneously they've had a number of huge slip-ups that have people nervous. I'm sure there are some people who would disagree with that characterization (I'm probably one of the more positive people you'll find when it comes to Wizards, so plenty will have more negative takes), but outright outrage is relatively rare thanks to the trust they've built up over several decades.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #729 on: June 26, 2017, 04:48:56 AM »
It's a pretty huge playerbase so it's a pretty wide spread, although it seems a lot more positive simply because a significant number of Wizards staff are willing to engage with the public on social media and give some transparency into the development process and when things go wrong, are willing to admit fault and explain where in the process things went wrong (and to be fair, a lot of things have gone wrong lately, with a notable number of cards needing to be banned in the standard rotating format that doesn't usually require a banlist)

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #730 on: July 01, 2017, 04:07:03 AM »
Well, full reveal for Hour of Devastation is out and there's quite a few things that stand out to me

-God-Pharaoh's Faithful is basically Yoked Ox with a situational upside, so it feels slightly more exciting to pick up with some of the stuff that profits off of lifegain in the set
-Reprints include Traveler's Amulet from Theros/Innistrad, Sandblast from Fate Reforged, Manalith from M12, and Unsummon. Also Strategic Planning from Portal Three Kingdoms because sure why not
-People are going wild for Striped Riverwinder's art because of how different it is from the norm
-I feel like there is a limited deck with Ramunap Excavator and a bunch of deserts
-Overcome feels like the most phoned-in name and design but it was bound to happen eventually

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #731 on: July 01, 2017, 04:17:20 AM »
I'm a little bummed that there's no commander for my mummy Commander deck in here, but I LOVE the art on Unorthodox Tactics so a foil copy of that is definitely going in...

Striper Riverwinder's art is great. Much more from that artist plz!

Crested Sunmare is the most left-field card ever. It's an expensive creature with no ETB value that doesn't protect itself and needs outside support to work, but I think it's STILL really solid. And aside from that it's just, you know, super silly.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #732 on: July 07, 2017, 05:12:56 AM »
There's finally a local place running pauper events. Weekly even. Went to one earlier and it was a blast. 14 players, I placed third with my Golgari Aristocrats. Only lost to first place and I beat him in round two. Everyone was pleasant, although there were a handful of people running reeeeeally awful decks with like, bad vanillas and bad auras and stuff.

Definitely going back next week, and I'm probably going to buy some cards to tweak my deck a bit. Although I had a big stack of cards to tinker with it with that I totally misplaced when I moved recently, which is driving me fucking crazy. I know if I re-buy everything I'll find those cards instantly... Probably going to build a second deck too. Maybe Cavern Harpy or Slivers or something.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #733 on: July 09, 2017, 12:32:37 AM »
Okay, so I had the craziest prelease experience ever for Hour Of Devastation.

My prerelease promo was Scorpion God, which was already pretty good. In my packs I opened a foil Samut The Tested. Played Jund, placed second, won eight more packs. Out of those packs I pulled four mythics in a row followed by an invocation.

So all things considered I opened foil Scorpion God, foil Samut, Crested Sunmare, Uncage The Menagerie, Nicol Bolas, Scarab God, and an Avatar Of Woe invocation. Which was the one invocation I wanted out of the set and that I would have paid cash for on the spot.

So. Uh. That was pretty good.  :V
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #734 on: July 09, 2017, 01:42:47 AM »
Went 2-2 in my prerelease. Prerelease promo was Swarm Intelligence which probably is going to do nothing, but got a foil Bolas which I'm probably going to trade in so I can spend another drafting season without having to spend any money out of pocket.

Also responding to a god with a counterspell feels both mean and satisfying

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #735 on: July 14, 2017, 03:52:12 AM »
Went 4-0 at Pauper this week after tightening the deck up a bit. I removed the Ivy Lane Denizen combo in exchange for more aggro stuff and maindecked two copies of Death Denied for more gas. Seemed to go pretty well, although I definitely had quite a few big strokes of luck (and some bad luck to go with it of course).

The big question at this point is how to keep my action flowing. Death Denied has been doing a decent job, but I don't know how many copies I should be running or if Wander In Death would be preferable. And I'm starting to think some cycling lands might be wise, although the blow to my curve might not be ideal. Or I could just go all in with a few Rite Of Consumptions and hope I'll win before I go dry, I don't know. Lots of ways I could take it, which is a good place to be.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #736 on: July 14, 2017, 05:51:37 AM »
My Orzhov EDH deck with Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim as the commander is complete for now! http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/eternal-circle-of-life-and-death/

Complete, as in "it's playable", at least. I can think of quite a few changes that would definitely make it better-- Demonic Tutor, Entomb, Urborg, Maze of Ith, Strip Mine, Xiahou Dun, stuff like that. But it's delightfully fun to play.

Still working on my Breya token-based deck. Really need to give it a solid plan rather than being spread too thin. Have added a handful of your suggestions, ccool, but still struggling to decide what goes in and what stays out.

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #737 on: July 22, 2017, 03:56:48 AM »
Man, it's so rough being back into Magic again. I have 2 commander decks and there's about 4 others I really want to make with others in the realm of "oh maybe sometime" in my head.

(and they are:
Karlov of the Ghost Council or Oloro, Ageless Ascetic (but probably Karlov because I hear Oloro is super hated)
Marchesa, the Black Rose (I wanted to do Queen Marchesa but a lot of ideal cards for her are crazy expensive)
Zada, Hedron Grinder (super duper cheap and hilarious)
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter (extremely expensive but would be oh-so-fun)

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #738 on: July 22, 2017, 04:15:50 AM »
Right now I really want to build a General Tazri deck because all of the good allies I don't already have are less than a dollar each and it seems like a good entry point for making a 5-color deck. Mana base is probably going to be a bit on the slow side if I want to keep this a budget build but I think I can make it work

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #739 on: July 22, 2017, 05:22:01 AM »
Keep in mind a 5 color deck can run all the mana dorks too! That could help you. (or just drop a Mycosynth Lattice and make color not matter at all). You'll also be getting a new toy in that new 5-color dragons precon in C17-- the artifact dragon that lets you get WWUUBBRRGG in your mana pool and stuff.


The more I look at Marchesa, the more fun she looks. There's just so much to abuse there and I do love Grixis colors. But there's still a solid chunk of money I'd need to invest into making a deck with her good.

Oloro and Karlov, on the other hand, less so, since I already have a lot of the staples for white-black in my Ayli deck. And Zada, who cares, half the deck is cheap-ass pump spells, the other half is goblins and stuff. Only really pricey pieces would be stuff like Blood Moon, Chandra(s), and Eldrazi Monument; stuff like that.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2017, 05:28:03 AM by Matsuri »

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #740 on: July 23, 2017, 04:09:38 AM »
Keep in mind a 5 color deck can run all the mana dorks too!

I am putting in Beastcaller Savant to stay on theme thinking I might be willing to go with some non-plane-specific mana dorks like Birds of Paradise or stuff like Farseek and Sylvan Scrying to dig out any colors I need

Meanwhile, we just got more details on Unstable and it looks like Contraptions are finally happening (also Steamflogger Boss is getting reprinted)

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #741 on: July 23, 2017, 04:24:26 AM »
Is it bad that I just don't get all that excited about un-stuff? Like yeah, it's cool from a novelty standpoint, but when I buy cards, I want cards that I can actually use in constructed formats. Un-cards are only legal in un-block draft/constructed.

Still, cool to see that the meme is finally coming to fruition.

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #742 on: July 23, 2017, 04:53:20 AM »
Is it bad that I just don't get all that excited about un-stuff? Like yeah, it's cool from a novelty standpoint, but when I buy cards, I want cards that I can actually use in constructed formats. Un-cards are only legal in un-block draft/constructed.

Still, cool to see that the meme is finally coming to fruition.
Yeah, that's the main thing I hear against Un-sets, I'm mostly interested to see what mechanics possibly get worked into mainline sets in the future (like BFM providing the inspiration for Meld or Rocket Powered Turbo Slug's super haste being the basis for the Pact spells)

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #743 on: August 03, 2017, 02:07:07 AM »
I've been continuing to significantly alter my Pauper deck on a weekly basis and I think it's homing in on being close to a good deck. The thing that I'm struggling to wrap my head around currently is cycling lands. They're great in Pauper because card advantage is weaker so getting mana flooded is much more problematic (and it's already very problematic in most formats) so cycling lands are very valuable, but you can technically play a ton of them if you want. It's totally plausible for a two-color deck to play 100% cycling lands and I wonder if that might not be kind of viable. You lose out on a lot of explosive start potential though which is rough, and killing a turn-one Delver is often very important so sluggish starts can bite you at times.

It's tricky, but I really like the feeling of being able to make numerous large changes to my deck every week while keeping the feel of it and homing in on a better and better version of the deck. Definitely feels like the changes matter which is good.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #744 on: August 09, 2017, 01:24:14 PM »
so those C17 reveals are looking pretty good so far

I was torn between whether I wanted to get the Cat deck or the Vampire deck but the reveal of that Mardu vampire legend pretty much sold me

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #745 on: August 09, 2017, 10:12:02 PM »
Yeah all of these decks seem pretty bomb so far. I'm kind of tempted to just get all of them? Their value spikes so damn hard. I got Breya's deck last year for retail price and it's worth more than twice that now. The Ur-Dragon card itself-- just the card-- is already like $22 according to mtggoldfish.

I wanted the Vampire one because I'm really getting into Mardu, but also the Wizards because fuck yeah Wizards, but at this rate, they all seem quite worth the money.

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #746 on: August 11, 2017, 04:40:00 AM »
I put together a Scorpion God deck recently because he seems like a great compromise between being easy to cast, resilient, a powerful engine, and capable of swinging and actually killing people with commander damage. I just picked up the last few pieces today so I haven't tried it yet and I never get Commander decks right on the first try so I'm sure I'll need to do a lot of tinkering. But wow, some of the staples are shockingly expensive. There are a bunch of -1/-1 counter-based uncommons that have risen into the $3-6 range recently and some rares that were a dollar a few years ago are in the $5-10 range. I wonder if this is blowback from some of those cards being played in Atraxa or something.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #747 on: August 12, 2017, 02:34:58 AM »
Probably because of Atraxa and Amonkhet in general being a -1/-1 heavy set for brewers to play around with? I dunno,

I'm preeeeetty sure I'm just gonna get all 4 of these commander 2017 decks. The Vampire and Wizard ones for SURE. The dragon one doesn't really intrigue me on its own, but it has SO MANY COMMANDERS in it. Definitely would be fun for a rainy day. The cat one I don't actually care about too much, but cats are popular and it'd be good trade value, so why not.

Also! My newest EDH deck is... pretty much done? Check it out. It's a Queen Marchesa pillow fort/aikido deck that uses opponents and politics as my weapon. I'm excited to try it out.

commandercool

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Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #748 on: August 12, 2017, 02:58:40 AM »
Queen Marchesa is interesting. I think she's much less powerful than the other Marchesa, but the other one is so ridiculously and seemingly deliberately overpowered that this one seems like a better choice.

I see you're running Shred Memory. That's a card I've increasingly become a fan of lately. Virtually no deck runs enough graveyard removal, but outside of graveyard abuse emergencies it's your third Lightning Greaves at worst, which is really really good.

Have you considered running Dread and Teysa, Envoy Of Ghosts? You're already running No Mercy, and they're similar.
I made a PADHerder. It's probably out of date though.

MatsuriSakuragi

Re: Cardboard rehab: TCG/CCG thread
« Reply #749 on: August 12, 2017, 09:53:56 PM »
Shred Memory's purpose is twofold. It's graveyard removal, yes, but more importantly, it's a 2-drop tutor as it can transmute, which can fetch pretty much any of my cards that I intend to win the game with. This deck capitalizes on greedy gameplay of opponents-- so if you ramp a lot, grab Price of Progress. Swinging with something big or casting a big damage spell? Deflecting Palm. Feel like a boardwipe is coming? Grab Boros Charm. Opponent swinging with a bunch of creatures? Get Batwing Brume or Rakdos Charm. Need a dramatic game changing sorcery? Get Burning Wish. Got Master of Cruelties in hand? Get Key to the City.

The deck specializes in having answers whenever needed by capitalizing on card draw and keeping it flowing with the Monarch token, and eventually making yourself invulnerable to most things with Solitary Confinement, preferably combined with Necropotence or Phyrexian Arena to give you stuff to pitch to it.

Sunforger is also a key card as it allows me to tutor up and cast instants (which I have a LOT of) at instant speed. So with the Tutor suite, the Shred Memory, Burning Wish, and Sunforger, I'm packing a toolbox deck full of answers to be grabbed at any time needed.

As far as Dread and Teysa go, I've considered them. Teysa's actually in my "sideboard" of sorts (read: handful of cards I have in the back of my deck box to experiment with as needed). The only real reason I'm not running her is that I wanted to keep my deck capped at 5 mana, giving it a tight, versatile curve. It doesn't play HUGE threats because not only are those expensive and really hurt to have destroyed (with no real way of reanimating them), they draw the ire of the table and encourage opponents to attack you when the goal is to play the politics game instead. You're not playing any real tricks with this deck. You're just setting up a system where it's just not rational or reasonable to attack me, because either it will tax you or you'll be punished with losing life, creatures, permanents, that kind of thing. The goal is to make the deck feel like a stax deck when you're targeting me, and a group hug deck when you're targeting opponents. That's where cards like Duelist's Heritage come in-- I'll help you out by giving one of your dudes double strike if you don't swing at me. (Or, I'll give you double strike when you're swinging at me and Deflecting Palm it back at you). Lots of versatility.

I'm really excited for some of the new C17 cards. Mathas, one of the vampire commanders, lets you put bounty counters on creatures which encourage opponents to use resources to kill other opponents' stuff for me-- and everyone but the targeted opponent is rewarded! Disrupt Decorum literally forces everyone to attack each other while leaving me alone, and Teferi's Protection lets me phase everything out and protect me from big threats from a turn. Very cool stuff.

And yes, I do want to build the other Marchesa too, but that's a deck for a later day.