A quick deviation from EDH today.
Today was the M10 prerelease at the local store. I'm not a fan of the new rules, nor a fan of the new dual lands, nor a fan of the "new" cards that are really just renamed old cards.
That being said, M10 is decent for limited. Could use a little more removal, but I suppose that's how it goes. White is good, especially with a lot of tribal synergy at common and uncommon. Red has Lightning Bolt at common, which is good, but is a little light on good critters. Black seems pretty solid if you can get a handful of removal and a couple of the good creatures. Green has fat, and more or less nothing else. Blue...is terrible.
Except drafting! If you can manage to be the only player drafting blue, an aggro plan using Illusionary Servant is really good. Seriously.
That being said, M10 has a really big big problem for limited: It's mythic rares are good. Really good. As in, almost all of them are blowouts in limited. At a rarity of 1/8 that of a normal rare, this is really bad for limited formats, as it makes the game more luck dependant, even in a skill testing format like draft. If a terrible player can open Master of the Wild Hunt and go to the house with it without thinking, it's bad for the game.
M10 is actually the first set that makes me think mythics actually are terrible for the game. I mean, I never really liked the concept...but this is just ridiculous.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Gifts, meet the Banhammer.
Well, as per the laid out groundwork, the new EDH banned list came out with the DCI banned/restricted lists last Friday. Not much changed in the world of competitive Magic, just some Vintage changes (Is Thirst for Knowledge really that imba?).
However, in EDH, the world was rocked.
Firstly, Fastbond got nailed. Too unfun with Crucible of Worlds and Strip Mine. Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Can't say I'm too disappointed with this, although I see Crucible as more of the offender, especially given that it was banned, and no one complained about Fastbond until Crucible was unbanned. However much fun I had with Fastbond and Future Sight is moot now. Supposedly Crucible opens up more room for deckbuilders...but I don't see how, outside of the Fastbond + Strip Mine shenanigans.
Braids, Cabal Minion got the axe as a general. This I understand. Again, it could be fallout from Crucible's unbanning, but I don't really care. Perhaps I'll share the tale of Black Guy Mike someday, but he's probably the only one crying over this.
Were it just these two changes, it wouldn't have been much either way.
However, Gifts Ungiven was also given the Banhammer. This hurts blue (not enough to make it anything other than the best color), but what it really hurts, in my mind, is when blue is used with other colors. Sure, in a mono-blue deck Gifts is a pretty good "Draw 2 and set some stuff up" card, but where it really excels is with colors with better recursion. One of the best feelings is when I can resolve Gifts to go fetch Genesis, Eternal Witness, Volrath's Stronghold, and Regrowth...hell, or anything, really. Life from the Loam is great to fetch.
Gifts was great because it could fetch whatever you needed whenever you needed it. Not so much anymore. I can see where it would be a problem with vicious combos...but I'm an advocate of there being an answer for anything in this format, given its extensive card pool.
We'll see how these changes play. Right now I've got Opportunity replacing Gifts in my decks, but I might try to convince my group to use a house rule to unban Gifts. Because Gifts is such a cool (and powerful) card that's pretty much been put to pasture in most formats.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
More Progenitus
When we last left off, this is what the Progenitus deck looked like:
General (1)Progenitus
Land (40)
Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Watery Grave, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Plains, Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Snow-Covered Island, Swamp, Snow-Covered Swamp, Mountain, Snow-Covered Mountain, Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Mystic Gate, Fetid Heath, Rugged Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Sunken Ruins, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove, Graven Cairns, Twilight Mire, Fire-Lit Thicket, Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine, Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Reliquary Tower.
Sorceries (7)
Cruel Ultimatum, Violent Ultimatum, Brilliant Ultimatum, Primal Command, Incendiary Command, Austere Command, Profane Command.
Instants (1)
Cryptic Command.
Over the last couple days, I've been thinking about some of what I want in this deck. I quickly realized that a cycle of lands was missing from the deck: the Vivid lands (Crag, Creek, Grove, Marsh, Meadow). Adding these brings the number of lands up to 45, meaning that not much will be needed in the way of mana fixing/acceleration. I think for accelerants, Skyshroud Claim and Shard Convergence should do the trick.
Since I'm running white, Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares should be included.
These bring the total number of cards up to 55, leaving 44 spaces for good stuff.
Because I'm not running any creatures, some really good removal will be necessary. Akroma's Vengeance, Decree of Pain, and Hallowed Burial are all fantastic. Although Wrath and Damnation are good, their low costs aren't as important in a format like EDH, where the first few turns are spent ramping up.
Card advantage will also be key. My favorite cards for generating tons of CA are Ancestral Vision, Rhystic Study, and Phyrexian Arena. Also, Mind's Eye will need to be included, since I'll be hitting lands a pretty good chunk of the time, and it doesn't care what colors I can produce. Staff of Domination is a good way to use mana for quite a variety of things, so it goes in.
This leaves 36 spots left to be filled.
While pondering the CA problem, I thought about maybe making a Cascade-chain into a counterspell. Unfortunately, there are only two instant-speed cascade spells, so that idea went out. Cascade as a whole, though, seems awesome. So in goes Maelstrom Nexus.
And speaking of counterspells, I should throw some in. I already have Cryptic Command there, but there's definitely need for more. Arcane Denial, Overwhelming Intellect, Spelljack, and Desertion are probably the best ones in the format, in my opinion, but Voidslime should also be in because of its versatility, and Double Negative for its ability to crack a counter-war wide open.
This brings the deck down to only 27 empty slots. Gifts Ungiven should be in any deck with blue (there's a reason it's on the watch list, but I really hope they don't give it the axe). Time Spiral, Regrowth, All Suns' Dawn, Temporal Cascade, Vengeful Rebirth and Gaea's Blessing should cover me on recursion (hopefully). This leaves only 20 spots for stuff.
So what else is good? I personally like Wild Ricochet. It's fun. 19 cards left.
Return to Dust is also amazing. 18. Allied Strategies seems pretty good too. 17.
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, is a total beating, so he can join the crew (16), and can bring his friend Ajani Vengeant as well, leaving me with 15 slots.
I need some answers to generals, so Condemn, Hinder, and Oblation can come in. 12 spots.
Red is feeling a little left out, so Insurrection can join the dogpile. 11.
A little more CA is deemed necessary from afar, and thusly I welcome Syphon Mind and Standstill to my list. 9 spots left.
Force of Will seems to good to leave out of this. 8. Bant Charm, Esper Charm, and Jund Charm are pretty good, so they can go in too.
Which leaves us with 5 spots.
Twisted Justice removes pesky critters like DSC and draws me cards.
Mortify, Putrefy, and Maelstrom Pulse are all fantastic, too.
Leaves me with just one spot. The grand-daddy of all WUBRG cards...
Conflux. So hot.
So, final decklist:
General (1)Progenitus
Land (45)
Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Watery Grave, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Plains, Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Snow-Covered Island, Swamp, Snow-Covered Swamp, Mountain, Snow-Covered Mountain, Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Mystic Gate, Fetid Heath, Rugged Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Sunken Ruins, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove, Graven Cairns, Twilight Mire, Fire-Lit Thicket, Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine, Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Reliquary Tower, Vivid Crag, Vivid Creek, Vivid Grove, Vivid Marsh, Vivid Meadow.
Sorceries (25)
Cruel Ultimatum, Violent Ultimatum, Brilliant Ultimatum, Primal Command, Incendiary Command, Austere Command, Profane Command, Decree of Pain, Hallowed Burial, Akroma's Vengeance, Ancestral Vision, Time Spiral, Temporal Cascade, Gaea's Blessing, Regrowth, All Suns' Dawn, Vengeful Rebirth, Allied Strategies, Insurrection, Syphon Mind, Twisted Justice, Maelstrom Pulse, Conflux, Skyshroud Claim, Shard Convergence.
Instants (21)
Cryptic Command, Arcane Denial, Overwhelming Intellect, Spelljack, Desertion, Voidslime, Double Negative, Gifts Ungiven, Wild Ricochet, Return to Dust, Hinder, Condemn, Oblation, Force of Will, Bant Charm, Jund Charm, Esper Charm, Mortify, Putrefy, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares.
Enchantments (4)
Rhystic Study, Phyrexian Arena, Standstill, Maelstrom Nexus
Artifacts (2)
Mind's Eye, Staff of Domination
Planeswalkers (2)
Nicol Bolas (Planeswalker), Ajani Vengeant
General (1)Progenitus
Land (40)
Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Watery Grave, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Plains, Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Snow-Covered Island, Swamp, Snow-Covered Swamp, Mountain, Snow-Covered Mountain, Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Mystic Gate, Fetid Heath, Rugged Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Sunken Ruins, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove, Graven Cairns, Twilight Mire, Fire-Lit Thicket, Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine, Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Reliquary Tower.
Sorceries (7)
Cruel Ultimatum, Violent Ultimatum, Brilliant Ultimatum, Primal Command, Incendiary Command, Austere Command, Profane Command.
Instants (1)
Cryptic Command.
Over the last couple days, I've been thinking about some of what I want in this deck. I quickly realized that a cycle of lands was missing from the deck: the Vivid lands (Crag, Creek, Grove, Marsh, Meadow). Adding these brings the number of lands up to 45, meaning that not much will be needed in the way of mana fixing/acceleration. I think for accelerants, Skyshroud Claim and Shard Convergence should do the trick.
Since I'm running white, Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares should be included.
These bring the total number of cards up to 55, leaving 44 spaces for good stuff.
Because I'm not running any creatures, some really good removal will be necessary. Akroma's Vengeance, Decree of Pain, and Hallowed Burial are all fantastic. Although Wrath and Damnation are good, their low costs aren't as important in a format like EDH, where the first few turns are spent ramping up.
Card advantage will also be key. My favorite cards for generating tons of CA are Ancestral Vision, Rhystic Study, and Phyrexian Arena. Also, Mind's Eye will need to be included, since I'll be hitting lands a pretty good chunk of the time, and it doesn't care what colors I can produce. Staff of Domination is a good way to use mana for quite a variety of things, so it goes in.
This leaves 36 spots left to be filled.
While pondering the CA problem, I thought about maybe making a Cascade-chain into a counterspell. Unfortunately, there are only two instant-speed cascade spells, so that idea went out. Cascade as a whole, though, seems awesome. So in goes Maelstrom Nexus.
And speaking of counterspells, I should throw some in. I already have Cryptic Command there, but there's definitely need for more. Arcane Denial, Overwhelming Intellect, Spelljack, and Desertion are probably the best ones in the format, in my opinion, but Voidslime should also be in because of its versatility, and Double Negative for its ability to crack a counter-war wide open.
This brings the deck down to only 27 empty slots. Gifts Ungiven should be in any deck with blue (there's a reason it's on the watch list, but I really hope they don't give it the axe). Time Spiral, Regrowth, All Suns' Dawn, Temporal Cascade, Vengeful Rebirth and Gaea's Blessing should cover me on recursion (hopefully). This leaves only 20 spots for stuff.
So what else is good? I personally like Wild Ricochet. It's fun. 19 cards left.
Return to Dust is also amazing. 18. Allied Strategies seems pretty good too. 17.
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, is a total beating, so he can join the crew (16), and can bring his friend Ajani Vengeant as well, leaving me with 15 slots.
I need some answers to generals, so Condemn, Hinder, and Oblation can come in. 12 spots.
Red is feeling a little left out, so Insurrection can join the dogpile. 11.
A little more CA is deemed necessary from afar, and thusly I welcome Syphon Mind and Standstill to my list. 9 spots left.
Force of Will seems to good to leave out of this. 8. Bant Charm, Esper Charm, and Jund Charm are pretty good, so they can go in too.
Which leaves us with 5 spots.
Twisted Justice removes pesky critters like DSC and draws me cards.
Mortify, Putrefy, and Maelstrom Pulse are all fantastic, too.
Leaves me with just one spot. The grand-daddy of all WUBRG cards...
Conflux. So hot.
So, final decklist:
General (1)Progenitus
Land (45)
Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Watery Grave, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Plains, Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Snow-Covered Island, Swamp, Snow-Covered Swamp, Mountain, Snow-Covered Mountain, Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Mystic Gate, Fetid Heath, Rugged Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Sunken Ruins, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove, Graven Cairns, Twilight Mire, Fire-Lit Thicket, Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine, Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Reliquary Tower, Vivid Crag, Vivid Creek, Vivid Grove, Vivid Marsh, Vivid Meadow.
Sorceries (25)
Cruel Ultimatum, Violent Ultimatum, Brilliant Ultimatum, Primal Command, Incendiary Command, Austere Command, Profane Command, Decree of Pain, Hallowed Burial, Akroma's Vengeance, Ancestral Vision, Time Spiral, Temporal Cascade, Gaea's Blessing, Regrowth, All Suns' Dawn, Vengeful Rebirth, Allied Strategies, Insurrection, Syphon Mind, Twisted Justice, Maelstrom Pulse, Conflux, Skyshroud Claim, Shard Convergence.
Instants (21)
Cryptic Command, Arcane Denial, Overwhelming Intellect, Spelljack, Desertion, Voidslime, Double Negative, Gifts Ungiven, Wild Ricochet, Return to Dust, Hinder, Condemn, Oblation, Force of Will, Bant Charm, Jund Charm, Esper Charm, Mortify, Putrefy, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares.
Enchantments (4)
Rhystic Study, Phyrexian Arena, Standstill, Maelstrom Nexus
Artifacts (2)
Mind's Eye, Staff of Domination
Planeswalkers (2)
Nicol Bolas (Planeswalker), Ajani Vengeant
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A new blog!
Thought I'd give this blogging thing a whirl, and what better to write about than my (just about) only hobby: Magic, and more specifically, that most amusing of formats, Elder Dragon Highlander.
For those not in the know, EDH is a format where each player chooses a Legendary Creature as their General, and builds a 99 card (+1 General) deck, where each card (aside from basic lands) is unique in the deck, and only includes mana symbols also found on the General. For a more in-depth coverage of the rules, as well as the general nexus of the EDH community, check out the site run by the gurus of EDH (as well as of Magic in general, given their judgey nature) at http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~geduggan/EDH_rules.html
For this first blog, I thought I'd give a run-down of the deck I'd like to build next. Currently I use Garza Zol, Treva, and Vorosh as generals.
Now, I've been thinking about building a mono-color deck, but then I remembered something I cracked in a box of Conflux: A foil Progenitus. Progenitus. What a fatty. Protection from everything (even love. Poor Progenitus). 10/10 body...perfect general material.
It's also a great general for my play style, given that I greatly appreciate playing control. In fact, I so like playing control, that I've decided to take this deck to a whole new level: Creatureless EDH. Now, I know some of the EDH hardcore would be aghast at that idea: it reeks of combo and ruthlessness. But that's not what I want. I want to sling expensive spells, and be able to counter things. And kill things. And then beat down with Progenitus. I did that in Legacy...and it's exhilarating.
So, here's the beginning of my list. Still a lot more to come, but I've at least got the mana base down.
EDH: Progenitus
General (1)
Progenitus
For those not in the know, EDH is a format where each player chooses a Legendary Creature as their General, and builds a 99 card (+1 General) deck, where each card (aside from basic lands) is unique in the deck, and only includes mana symbols also found on the General. For a more in-depth coverage of the rules, as well as the general nexus of the EDH community, check out the site run by the gurus of EDH (as well as of Magic in general, given their judgey nature) at http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~geduggan/EDH_rules.html
For this first blog, I thought I'd give a run-down of the deck I'd like to build next. Currently I use Garza Zol, Treva, and Vorosh as generals.
Now, I've been thinking about building a mono-color deck, but then I remembered something I cracked in a box of Conflux: A foil Progenitus. Progenitus. What a fatty. Protection from everything (even love. Poor Progenitus). 10/10 body...perfect general material.
It's also a great general for my play style, given that I greatly appreciate playing control. In fact, I so like playing control, that I've decided to take this deck to a whole new level: Creatureless EDH. Now, I know some of the EDH hardcore would be aghast at that idea: it reeks of combo and ruthlessness. But that's not what I want. I want to sling expensive spells, and be able to counter things. And kill things. And then beat down with Progenitus. I did that in Legacy...and it's exhilarating.
So, here's the beginning of my list. Still a lot more to come, but I've at least got the mana base down.
EDH: Progenitus
General (1)
Progenitus
Land (40)
Hallowed Fountain, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Watery Grave, Steam Vents, Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Plains, Snow-Covered Plains, Island, Snow-Covered Island, Swamp, Snow-Covered Swamp, Mountain, Snow-Covered Mountain, Forest, Snow-Covered Forest, Mystic Gate, Fetid Heath, Rugged Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Sunken Ruins, Cascade Bluffs, Flooded Grove, Graven Cairns, Twilight Mire, Fire-Lit Thicket, Seaside Citadel, Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine, Reflecting Pool, Exotic Orchard, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Reliquary Tower.
Also, I've decided that these spells have to be in the deck:
Cruel Ultimatum, Violent Ultimatum, Brilliant Ultimatum, Primal Command, Cryptic Command, Incendiary Command, Austere Command, Profane Command.
I'll update when I figure out what else I want in this monstrosity.
'Till then,
-Scout
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