Magic: The Gathering (TCG) Catch-all

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Panoptic Mirror is really cool. If someone asked me, I'd tell them that it was fine, but bring an extra card, because after the first time they dominate a game with PM I'm not gonna want to see it again. ;)

I was going to pair Resurrection with Panoptic Mirror, but decided that was too evil. Instead it's going into my lifegain deck for free insta-kill each turn.

Panoptic Mirror is quite strong, but no more broken than Mimic Vat. There is a truck load of artifact/enchantment/non-creature permanent removal. I wouldn't expect to get many uses out of the mirror, especially if you imprint something crazy. Also, the fact that it doesn't pop off until your upkeep means the other players have plenty of time to react, even if you imprint something at the end of the turn of the guy in front of you.

Still, it's a strong threat on the board, it can distract opponenets from your next win condition, and it's card advantage every activation after the first one. Expect the hate after you imprint it though.

Y'all following the Gatecrash previews? TheWalt and I had a great time at the RtR pre-release. I didn't think I'd like the pre-determined guild format, but it fostered a real sense of fun for the day.

I went Golgari then; I'm looking at Gruul now.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Y'all following the Gatecrash previews? TheWalt and I had a great time at the RtR pre-release. I didn't think I'd like the pre-determined guild format, but it fostered a real sense of fun for the day.

I went Golgari then; I'm looking at Gruul now.

I'm running Boros, as that was the first complete deck I've ever played and I'm going to a pre-release party on the 27th with a few friends at a local game store. It's setting up to be awesome. I have to say I enjoy the art for Enter the Infinite the most while I like Aurelia's effect best. What card(s) are people looking forward to the most?

I'm already planning a Borborygmos Commander deck. Still haven't actually played Commander yet, but it seems like such a natural.

Borborygmos + Life From The Loam = boom.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I'm already planning a Borborygmos Commander deck. Still haven't actually played Commander yet, but it seems like such a natural.

Borborygmos + Life From The Loam = boom.

That is just evil. I'm sure that will be a fun deck to play.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Y'all following the Gatecrash previews? TheWalt and I had a great time at the RtR pre-release. I didn't think I'd like the pre-determined guild format, but it fostered a real sense of fun for the day.

I went Golgari then; I'm looking at Gruul now.

A little. I'm looking forward to see what they make of the new guild archetypes and particularly interested in Orzhov, Dimir and Boros. I called up my LGS to ask about their pre-release. A entire day of Magic fun with strangers!

FYI my LGS is taking pre-registration for the pre-release starting today. They sold out very early last time. Anyone who wants to play in the pre-release is advised to check with their LGS about how to guarantee a spot.

So one of my friends and I were talking and he wanted some opinions on guild combinations for a draft (when they start). Out of Dimir/Orzho and Dimir/Simic, what do people think of those combinations?

Imho since two-color decks dominated RtR drafting, I'm going to use that as a baseline for my expectations for Gatecrash. I'm not going to go into a draft expecting to try and run a three color deck, or even two colors and a splash. I may, but that's not my plan.

That said, I drafted an Azorius deck last week that splashed both red and black in order to fit in Carnival Hellsteed. Can't remember what other non-Azorius cards I might have had. Oh, I had Essence Backlash. What a beating.

But I had two Transguild Promenades, two guild gates, and a Chromatic Lantern. And I ran 18 lands. It was also just a four-person draft among friends, and with a smaller four-man card pool, I expected the games to play out more slowly - which for the most part they did.

Part of running 18 lands was making sure I got to 7 mana for Angel of Serenity, which was by far the MVP of the deck. And since we play with a rare redraft as the "prize", I got to keep her!

SOOOO excited for Gatecrash tomorrow! I'm pre-registered for Gruul! Hope any of y'all who are planning to play have pre-registered with your LGS!

I may have mentioned this before, but starting with Return to Ravnica, TheWalt and I finally realized a dream we've had for years - knowing enough cool Magic players to have in-home drafts.

Today we had an 8-man draft of Gatecrash, which was a first for everyone. It was also my brother's first draft ever.

I started off drafting Simic, then started grabbing some black removal, and in the end I may have been the blackest Mage there with my Dimir/Simic deck.

Just like the pre-release (where I was Gruul splash blue), the 3/2 unblockable guy was fantastic. Simic Charm was darn good. The 2/2 nigh-unblockable Rogue was very nice.

I ended up battling TheWalt and his four-color bombs deck in the finals. He had Aurelia and Merciless Eviction, among others. And despite my cries for mana-base justice, he won in three close games.

Also, my wife wanted to sew this evening, so I ended up finally trying Cube draft! I've been very interested in both Cubing and Commander for years, but hadn't tried either. The Powered Cube that MTGO was running over the holidays scared me, frankly. I watched a replay on ChannelFireball of a semi-pro guy drafting and I knew I probably couldn't play that way, and didn't want to.

However, the current Cube is more "fair". It's more of a greatest hits of super-powerful but non-broken cards. So far (two matches in, won four games in a row) it seems like a "normal" draft environment, which is about creature combat. The games have gone pretty quick, probably as a result of the power level.

I drafted a Green/White ramp deck, with tiny splashes of blue and black. I got Birds, Arbor Elf, Farseek, Explore, and Fellwar Stone for ramping. I got some very nice stuff to ramp into, like Sphinx of Steel Wind and Avacyn. I got Tooth and Nail as a one-card nuclear bomb that was perfect for my deck. Also have Ajani, Caller of the Pride and Garruk, Primal Hunter.

So far the MVP of my deck has been Sigarda, Host of Herons, who as a 5/5 flying hexproof is even better with a Sword of Fire and Ice.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I started off drafting Simic, then started grabbing some black removal, and in the end I may have been the blackest Mage there with my Dimir/Simic deck.

Was somebody else taking all the Pit Fight cards? It's nuts if you get your Evolve engine going. Fighting at instant speed gives you all kinds of fun options, in combat and out. Between that and Rapid Hybridization there's plenty of removal available in Blue/Green.

Of course since 3 of the 5 guilds can use Pit Fight it wouldn't be surprising if you just didn't get any. And if the black cards are coming to you, then snap 'em up and shuffle in those swamps! That's kind of how I ended up Gruul in last night's FNM. People kept passing me Pit Fight and Ground Assault... who was I to argue?

My box of Gatecrash arrived last night. SQUEEEEEE!! I need to set aside some time this weekend to bathe in all the new cards.

On a related note: thank you to the poster who cited the KMC sleeves. I went ahead and ordered a few packs and I'm very impressed. Probably the nicest (yet practical) sleeves I've ever owned.

I'm digging Gatecrash so far.

I've been using Dragon Shields with KMC Perfect Sizes to double-sleeve Commander decks.

I think I'm done with Ultra-Pros because they're so small now that I can barely get cards in them, never mind double-sleeving.

I'd be willing to give KMCs a shot, but they seem to come in packs of 80, which isn't optimal for a Limited player. Ultra-Pro sells 50 which is perfect for 40-card decks, but like I said, the new size is too small, imho. It's too bad, because I feel like the UPs shuffle very well.

Hey look, they've announced the contents of the Gatecrash Event Decks.

Color me disappointed in the Simic one. Aside from the Guildgates and the Urban Evolutions there aren't really any Simic cards in there. I was hoping for an Evolution-focused deck because I want to play with the mechanic but haven't really opened much Simic stuff. Instead they've got a deck that's all about using flicker effects with Thragtusk and Sphinx of Uthuun. To add insult to injury the one Gatecrash rare in the mix is a Gruul card (that I've opened three of).

The Boros deck looks a bit better. A good chunk of the commons and uncommons are actually Boros cards…

I imagine the Intro decks will be much more guild-centric.

Wow, I really like that Boros Deck. Silverblade Paladin and Spark Trooper? Yes please.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I imagine the Intro decks will be much more guild-centric.

And much worse as an example of how to make the guild mechanics viable for FNM-level Standard.

So, do you want guild decks, or Standard decks? There aren't any guild decks winning in Standard after one weekend with some big tournaments.

I'm not looking to take down a big tournament; I just want to be able to have some fun at the local Friday Night Magic (not necessarily win, just have some good games) and play around with +1/+1 counters. I'd hoped that "crack open the Simic Event Deck" would be an easy way to do that. I can build such a thing myself, eventually, but not with what I got from the prerelease and last Friday's draft.

Well, the Event decks are meant to be tweaked, so can you sub in some Evolve guys you've picked up or can trade for?

When I got back into Magic those Intro decks were a great little tease but they are only good for playing against other Intro decks. Now that I've educated myself a bit more I see so much filler in the deck lists. Sometimes it doesn't even seem like the cards are trying to support the deck's theme.

I wouldn't really do an Intro deck nor an Event deck, but they exist as doorways into Magic / constructed Magic. They aren't really for me, and that's fine.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I'd be willing to give KMCs a shot, but they seem to come in packs of 80, which isn't optimal for a Limited player. Ultra-Pro sells 50 which is perfect for 40-card decks, but like I said, the new size is too small, imho. It's too bad, because I feel like the UPs shuffle very well.

2 sleeved decks may not be optimal, but might be better than 10 extra sleeves per pack, or 5 sleeved decks for 4 packs.

I always want a few extra, though, so 80 doesn't mean 2 40s to me. It means one 60, maybe. Maybe one 60, a sideboard, and 5 spares?

I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying the live coverage of Pro Tour GTC on Twitch.tv today! I had it on my TV until my laptop died of unknown causes. : /

I'm also enjoying watching Melissa DeTora's run - she finished Day One in first place, a first for female Magic players. She's currently 10-1 as they're going back to Standard in a few minutes (both days opened with draft).

yeah, coverage has gotten pretty good over the past few years.

Had a cool afternoon yesterday (don't ask about the night, which was the worst!).*

I played Commander for the first time, albeit it was 1 on 1, so not REALLY Commander. And I played in a Team Draft for the first time in years, and my team won.

And I'm hosting a Commander night this weekend, to really see what multiplayer Commander is all about.

* Okay okay, I lost in the first round of two drafts online and then my 12 month-old son cried a lot and I had to hold him from around 11:45pm to 12:45am.

I was trying to think up some exercise games to use with magic cards but I can't find my cards. Which one of you stole my cards? Probably for the best. I'll miss you my goblin goblin everywhere deck. You were such a good deck and the goblins they were everywhere. Where are you now my goblin horde?