Return to the Magic: The Gathering Thread

[Bobster]

I thought about Rootborn Defenses, since Simic Charm can't do anything against a Wrath effect. It'd probably be worth it, although I'd probably tweak some numbers to put more token producers in, maybe Stolen Identity. Even though that's really only effective when there's some kind of evasion...

[Aremi]

Are you sure about 3 urban growths? I mean, a 5-mana for extra 3 card and land seem somewhat...expensive to use in standard.

[GG7]

So, anything new happen to you guys in the forum downtime? I play the exact same deck so nothing much happened with me.

Also, cockatrice receiving a C&D kind of sucks...

[Miff]

So, anything new happen to you guys in the forum downtime? I play the exact same deck so nothing much happened with me.

Also, cockatrice receiving a C&D kind of sucks...

Well, I've gotten out of playing Magic just because I want to try spending my free money on other things.

And Cockatrice is open source. It's like the T-1000, It'll stick around.

[dynamicEquilibrium]

I'm sad about cockatrice.
Our magic club kinda gradually slowed down until it eventually stopped, so I actually haven't played since January, which is also kinda sad.

[GG7]

Guild champions are a thing, Next block takes place on Theros. The set names we Theros, Born of the Gods, and Journey into Nyx.

[OverlordJ]

Guild champions are a thing, Next block takes place on Theros. The set names we Theros, Born of the Gods, and Journey into Nyx.

Where do you have that information from?

[GG7]

There was a panel at PAX East. Here is the big info. The names and pictures for the 10 champions were shown, you can find them in this MTGSalvation thread.

[recalcitrantIre]

man why did I hear like nothing about this at the local standard tournament today

NZ must definitely exist in some kind of temporal backdraft

and vigilance on a Gruul guy? okaaaaaay?

[chimaeraUndying]

Does Thrumming Stone interact with things with Cascade the crazy way I think it does?

For example, let's say I cast an Enigma Sphinx with Thrumming Stone in play. It's got both Cascade and Ripple (thanks to the TS), so they go onto the stack as resolving Ripple first, right? Continuing the example, let's say that I pull another Enigma Sphinx with the Ripple effect from the first one, at which point Enigma Sphinx #2's Cascade and Ripple also go onto the stack. Let's say that ES#2's Ripple doesn't get me another Enigma Sphinx, so I go on to resolve Enigma Sphinx #2's Cascade, grabbing myself a Deny Reality, which also has Cascade, and so on.

Basically, my question is, do these mechanics interact in a way such that with a little luck it's possible to cast about half your deck in a turn?

[OverlordJ]

Does Thrumming Stone interact with things with Cascade the crazy way I think it does?

For example, let's say I cast an Enigma Sphinx with Thrumming Stone in play. It's got both Cascade and Ripple (thanks to the TS), so they go onto the stack as resolving Ripple first, right? Continuing the example, let's say that I pull another Enigma Sphinx with the Ripple effect from the first one, at which point Enigma Sphinx #2's Cascade and Ripple also go onto the stack. Let's say that ES#2's Ripple doesn't get me another Enigma Sphinx, so I go on to resolve Enigma Sphinx #2's Cascade, grabbing myself a Deny Reality, which also has Cascade, and so on.

Basically, my question is, do these mechanics interact in a way such that with a little luck it's possible to cast about half your deck in a turn?

From what I can tell there is now reason why they shouldn't. I know for a fact that Cascade can trigger a second Cascade because you still cast the card and I also know that Ripple can trigger another Ripple because it also casts the second card.

So yes, they should definatly work like that.

[Mister Visceral]

New card revealed!

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Seeing as the main general counter spell for Standard right now is "Cancel", this is a pretty good one for Blue/White. This card is making me a lot less wary of DGM.

[OverlordJ]

Looks very interessting

[GG7]

Wouldn't the main counter spell in standard be Dissipate?
I think render silent may have some potential to be very good in the next standard.

[chimaeraUndying]

Does anyone else feel like Fuse is really similar to Entwine? Like, "why didn't they just do a multicolored card with Entwine instead of a split card with Fuse?" type similar?

[OverlordJ]

Does anyone else feel like Fuse is really similar to Entwine? Like, "why didn't they just do a multicolored card with Entwine instead of a split card with Fuse?" type similar?

Similar but the difference is that with entwine, if you chose NOT to entwine both effects cost the same.
So on a card with entwine it's "Play effect a for the cost of A or play effect b for the cost of A or play both effects for the cost of B"
And on a card with fuse it's "Play effect a for the cost of A or play effect b for the cost of B or play both effects for the cost of A+B"

[GG7]

Since we are further along the DGM previews, I will give my opinions on the cards that caught my interest.
Vorel of the Hull Clade
This card is extremely synergistic with Simic cards. If I am correct, you can double the counters of Zegana when she comes in, drawing twice as many cards. Gyre sage generates twices as much land. You can even target Gideon when he turns into a creature (his p/t will not change but he gets loyalty counters).

Lavinia of the Tenth
Lavinia seems to be an excellent answer to aggressive decks. She can hose planeswalkers also, which is cool.

Zhur-Taa Ancient

This guy is an awesome asset to your deck, but he is dangerous depending on the opponents deck. You can play Worldspire Wurm turn 5 with this guy if you do not miss a land drop (and have a farseek).

Council of the Absolute
A great nod to Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. It mainly has a place in Control, but may also be Anti Control in decks. Name Sphinx's Revelation, get more card draw and life gain for your buck. Name Dissipate, you have less problems playing cards. Name Supreme Verdict to keep your creatures around, or Oblivion Ring to get a 1 mana exile spell.


Now it's time for the cards I will add to my Junk Tokens deck.
Advent of the Wurm
Voice of Resurgence
My deck is more of a midrange deck, with more 5 mana and 6 mana threats. With Advent of the Wurm, I can get a 6/6 body for 4 if I have an Intangible Virtue. I can use that to deal with Thragtusks that attack me. Voice of the Resurgence gets me some insurance against control decks. Their counterspells are always given second guesses, their Supreme Verdicts always leave a 1/1 or stronger (depending on if there are Thragtusks or other Voices). These two can turn my deck into a more aggressive version of my deck. I can put in Call of the Conclaves and Farseeks to get to my big guys more easily. I am excited to see what else Dragon's Maze comes out with that I can utilize.

[OverlordJ]

Hmm, since I'm a huge fan of Dimir I looked at those first of course.
There isn't really anything besides Mirko Vosk but he seems solid and it's nice to see another mill vampire
Breaking is very similar to Glimpse the Unthinkable but the Entering part makes it quite interessting (It took me a second to notice that it doesn't say that you lose the creature at the end of the turn, it's here to stay)
Besides that...
Teysa is strong but expensive...
Melek looks awesome and like tons of fun
Exava seems just like what Rados needed to make their creatures insane
Ral Zareks Ultimate is pretty powerful on it's own and can make some insane stuff if you use it right and/or get lucky. I mean, you're likely to get about two extra turns, that's already nice but in the right deck that does so much more. VERY fun card.

There are many more cards who seem like great fun. I'm getting excited, even though we didn't see much Dimir

[dynamicEquilibrium]

I don't like Council of the Absolute so much
I mean, it's really strong in mirrors, but in most cases it's a lot like Meddling Mage for 2 extra, and unable to lock creature spells.
Meddling Mage was extremely powerful of course, but I don't think Meddling Mage for 4 mana is that good.

[GG7]

PRERELEASE ON SATURDAY (or Friday at midnight)
So who is going, what are you (or would you if you are not going) picking for your guild, and what do you hope would be your secret guild ally? (According to this video the other guild ally is right on the back of the box.)
For me, I chose Azorius and hope for Orzhov, but I would not mind boros or dimir. If not azorius I would choose Orzhov and hope for Azorius or selesnya.

[Mister Visceral]

Now it's time for the cards I will add to my Junk Tokens deck.
Advent of the Wurm
Voice of Resurgence
My deck is more of a midrange deck, with more 5 mana and 6 mana threats. With Advent of the Wurm, I can get a 6/6 body for 4 if I have an Intangible Virtue. I can use that to deal with Thragtusks that attack me. Voice of the Resurgence gets me some insurance against control decks. Their counterspells are always given second guesses, their Supreme Verdicts always leave a 1/1 or stronger (depending on if there are Thragtusks or other Voices). These two can turn my deck into a more aggressive version of my deck. I can put in Call of the Conclaves and Farseeks to get to my big guys more easily. I am excited to see what else Dragon's Maze comes out with that I can utilize.

Seriously, though. Selesnya in this expansion is amazing. I usually run Golgari, and the only thing I'm really looking forward to suchwise is the champion. That thing + death's shadow = yes please. The mythic is bad. I don't know how Golgari got translated to "self-mill". I'm definitely going to make a Selesnya deck once this expansion comes out.

I'm going to probably choose Simic or Selesnya and hope for the other or Golgari for a secret ally.

[OverlordJ]

Man, I doubt I'll be able to join a prerelease. It looks like it would have been fun though...

[GG7]

I did less than admirably at my prerelease, I went 1-3. My guilds were Azorius and Dimir and I did not have enough to work with, I had a 4 color mix of aggro and control????? Mana problems all around. I ran 16 lands, but got flooded several times.
I pulled a blood Scrivener, Lavinia of the Tenth, Dragonshift, and Beck//Call. Best moments for me, having a 2/3, 2/2, 5/6, 4 1/1's, and Jelenn Sphinx out. All had flying.

[Bobster]

Went 3-2 at my prerelease, most of the rounds I lost were just bad draws, but one of them was just not thinking and letting a 20/4 Feral Animist trample over me when I could have first striked it if I had left some mana open. Guilds were Izzet and Simic (we got to pick allies cause there was a big hubbub about people not getting their first guild pick cause the people passing out packs didn't understand how they had a front and back and it was just kinda dumb) but I splashed Black for Haunter of Nightveil and Mirko Vosk, who is a total limited bomb if he actually stays on the field. Pulled a Ral Zarek too, was really excited about that, it'll go straight into my EDH deck as soon as I rebuild it, not sure if I should stick with RU or go back to RUG.

[GG7]

My friend pulled a foil Ruric-That AND a foil Savageborn Hydra.