Tag: Magic (page 3 of 11)

Building a Legacy

January 10, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Courtesy Wizards of the Coast
Art by Mike Bierek

Now that I have played an official Legacy event of Magic: the Gathering, I find myself even more interested in this robust format. Specifically, I’m curious about a number of the decks in the format. I saw quite a few at the event, running all sorts of strategies from naked flat-out aggression to well-paced control to insane combinations. I’m not sure which setup is best for me, and I’m looking into a few archtypes to try and determine what will be the most fun for me to play, as well as providing wins.

By no means does this mean I’m done with Light Up The Night. As a low-cost entry into this format, I think it’s still got teeth. It does an obscene amount of damage in a very short amount of time. It may remain my go-to aggro deck for a while, possibly growing into something like Delver or Storm. What follows are some of the other decks I’m looking into; you can click on their titles to read more from the MTG Salvation forums, one of the best resources for deck-building ideas out there.

Remember when I used to disparage net decks? Good times…

Death & Taxes

This is a control deck that I think would throw a lot of people. It’s a mono-white deck that lacks some of the punch of top-tier multi-colored decks, but what it does is rather insidious. It’s various means of battlefield and deck disruption mean it’s incredibly versatile against a great deal of opposing wizards’ tricks. The drawback, other than the obscene price of the Karakas land, is that you need to know both your deck and that of your opponent inside and out, anticipating incoming plays and being prepared for a variety of answers. As I’m still new to the format, it will take a while before I’m at that level of play.

Enchantress

I like decks that don’t necessarily rely on doing a ton of damage out of the gate. Like Death & Taxes, Enchantress seems indicative of versatility. Behind the card-drawing of the two main cards that give the deck its name ([mtg_card]Argothian Enchantress[/mtg_card] & [mtg_card]Enchantress’s Presence[/mtg_card]), any number of enchants can drop to manage the battleground. [mtg_card]Moat[/mtg_card] is the go-to long-term one, but it is expensive. It makes Karakas look like something from a yard sale. However, that may be the biggest hurdle to putting this one together, eventually. I really like the notion of building up a “wall” of shrouded enchantments (meaning my opponents cannot target them), rousing an army of angels thanks to [mtg_card]Sigil of the Empty Throne[/mtg_card] and [mtg_card]Luminarch Ascension[/mtg_card], and offering my opponent an honorable surrender before calling down the avenging wrath of the heavens.

Or something like that.

Stoneblade

This deck combines two things I really like: tokens and equipment. Tokens may not be the crux of the deck, but [mtg_card]Lingering Souls[/mtg_card] is one of my favorite cards. What I like about equipment cards is that they add my beloved versatility to any creature that wields them. Regardless of their role, be it a seeker of cards ([mtg_card]Stoneforge Mystic[/mtg_card]) or the shady voice in your ear ([mtg_card]Dark Confidant[/mtg_card]), they can become a powerhouse with the right equipment. With cards for discarding, enemy deck control, and even the support of the lovely but dangerous [mtg_card]Liliana of the Veil[/mtg_card], this deck gives me the flexibility, interesting plays, and flavor I’m looking for, and no one card is in excess of $100. Bonus!

If you play Legacy, I want to hear from you. What deck do you play? What’s your most difficult matchup? What would you recommend for a newbie like myself?

FNM: Opening New Doors

January 3, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Courtesy Wizards of the Coast
Art by Svetlin Velinov

“Only a madman would create such a door. Only an imbecile would open it.”
– Flavor text from [mtg_card]Door to Nothingness[/mtg_card]

“Wow, that’s me all day long! Sign me up!”
– me

So in spite of the notion that I can give advice on Limited Magic, the truth of the matter is, I kind of suck at it. I can latch on to a color combination or a neat card trick way too easily and mess up my curve, miss a key bit of information from my pod, or just build a crappy deck. The last time I tried to draft at my closest gaming store, I tried to draft something like my Safety Dance deck. It didn’t turn out well.

Side note: this was my closest gaming store, not what I consider my ‘home’ friendly local gaming store (FLGS). I will still trek all the way up to Doylestown to actually hang out with like-minded Magic players, while going to the closest place when I need an FNM fix. Speaking of which…

I’m not sure how well Safety Dance will work at the nearby store. I will more than likely be taking my Grixis Superfiends deck to FNM tomorrow night. I know there are at least a couple people who run similar decks, and many others who built decks using some variation on the [mtg_card]Thragtusk[/mtg_card]/[mtg_card]Restoration Angel[/mtg_card] combination. I’ve never been one to strictly adhere to trends, but I can’t deny that Thragtusk is kind of ridiculous in terms of value. I was wondering how someone would utilize the card in a unique way while poking around on Something Awful, when someone mentioned “OMNIDOOR THRAGFIRE”. My curiosity was piqued.

Thanks to Travis Woo I have absolutely no reason to ever say another bad word about decks I find on the Internet.

[mtg_deck title=”OMNIDOOR THRAGFIRE!!!!!”]
Land
2 Glacial Fortress
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Hinterland Harbor
1 Steam Vents
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Alchemist’s Refuge
1 Kessig Wolf Run

Spells
2 Fog
4 Farseek
4 Increasing Ambition
4 Ranger’s Path
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
2 Sphinx’s Revelation
2 Temporal Mastery
1 Omniscience

Artifacts
3 Chromatic Lantern
1 Door to Nothingness
2 Gilded Lotus

Creatures
1 Thragtusk
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Griselbrand

Planeswalker
1 Nicol Bolas, planeswalker

Sideboard
4 Centaur Healer
1 Thoughtflare
3 Thragtusk
1 Planar Cleansing
2 Terminus
1 Temporal Mastery
1 Worldfire
2 Sphinx’s Revelation
[/mtg_deck]

Let’s turn it over to Travis to explain how the deck works in practice. Mr Woo?

The deck stalls with [mtg_card]Fog[/mtg_card], [mtg_card]Supreme Verdict[/mtg_card], [mtg_card]Thragtusk[/mtg_card], and [mtg_card]Terminus[/mtg_card]. It ramps hard with [mtg_card]Farseek[/mtg_card], [mtg_card]Chromatic Lantern[/mtg_card], [mtg_card]Ranger’s Path[/mtg_card], and [mtg_card]Gilded Lotus[/mtg_card]. It refuels with [mtg_card]Sphinx’s Revelation[/mtg_card]. It finds the missing pieces with [mtg_card]Increasing Ambition[/mtg_card]. And then … all hell breaks loose.

[mtg_card]Omniscience[/mtg_card] hits play. Nicol Bolas hits play. [mtg_card]Griselbrand[/mtg_card] hits play. Cards are drawn. [mtg_card]Increasing Ambition[/mtg_card] finds [mtg_card]Temporal Mastery[/mtg_card]. An extra turn begins. A massive [mtg_card]Griselbrand[/mtg_card] swings with a [mtg_card]Kessig Wolf Run[/mtg_card] pump. [mtg_card]Increasing Ambition[/mtg_card] is flashed back to find another [mtg_card]Temporal Mastery[/mtg_card] and a [mtg_card]Door to Nothingness[/mtg_card]. Another extra turn begins. Nicol Bolas ultimates. “Really?” The opponent asks. “Really?”

Yes.

YES!

And then we shut the door in our opponent’s face.

It’s this sort of unexpected weapon that really appeals to me. There’s a certain mad finesse to pulling off this win. I like finesse, especially in Magic. It’s why I lean towards using Blue as a primary color, other than the obvious branding tie-in. I may run mono-red in Legacy but that’s because [mtg_card]Force of Will[/mtg_card] is prohibitively expensive. I would need to pick up a few cards to make OMNIDOOR THRAGFIRE! work, but it may be worth doing, just to see the looks I’d get as soon as [mtg_card]Omniscience[/mtg_card] hits the table. What I love about a deck like this is its apparent impracticality. You simply do not expect a deck that runs only one copy of a particular combo to get there on a consistent basis, but from the looks of things, this deck has the chops to do it. We shall see!

I will favor you all with an after-action report on the latest FNM early next week. I’m curious to see how Niv-Mizzet and Rakdos work together in an actual competition!

Limited Magic: BREW It Up

November 21, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Courtesy Wizards of the Coast
Art by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

I’ve written a great deal about Constructed play in Magic: the Gathering, but it isn’t the only format out there. While everything from Standard to Commander falls under the Constructed umbrella, there are other ways to play the game that don’t involve spending a great deal of time before an event putting a deck together. The other way to play is Limited, so called because you are given a limited number of cards to work with at the start and must build from there within a limited amount of time.

Back when I first started playing, you could get generic Starter Decks of Magic that contained semi-randomized decks of cards. In those days, Sealed events consisted of you getting one of these, plus a couple boosters, and building a deck from there based on what you opened. Nowadays, there are Intro and Event decks that all have pre-determined sets of cards within. This allows for too much foreknowledge, and takes away some of the appeal of the event, as the mystery of what you’ll open and how you can use it to win is part of the fun. So, if you play a Sealed event today, it’d be with six boosters.

However, you at least get to keep all of the cards you open in Sealed. This is not the case in Draft. You only get three boosters when you draft, and the nuances don’t stop there. You open your first pack with the rest of the people at your table, look at the cards you’ve opened, choose one, and pass the rest to your neighbor. You, in turn, get your other neighbor’s cards, choose one from them, and so on. You end up with the same amount of cards that you open – 45 – but you chose each and every one of them. Instead of being able to determine a theme or a course of action for the deck within the generous time allowed for Sealed, you do so in real time during Draft.

Either way, the only thing you can know before going into a Limited event is what to look for in your packs. You can have a favorite color combination, card type, or particular single to look for, sure, but you’re going to have to play with what you’ve got in front of you. So how do you make the most of it?

One answer is a simple acronym: BREW.

Basically, BREW is a system that prioritizes the cards you get and helps you keep in mind things to look for that will support whatever deck you end up building. It’s especially helpful in Draft, as your first card falling into one of these categories (usually the first two) will help narrow down your color choices. Sometimes. Anyway, let’s break this down.

Bombs

First and foremost you want to look for finishers. Every deck needs ways to win, and since you know you’re going to end up with at least a few low-cost creatures to hold off early aggression (or put some pressure on yourself!), finding the coup de grace is a higher priority. This is especially true since some (but not all) true finishers are rares. Also, not all of them are creatures: a well-timed [mtg_card]Rakdos’ Return[/mtg_card] or [mtg_card]Fireball[/mtg_card] can end your opponent’s game just as much as a titanic monster.

Removal

You want to keep an opponent’s threats from harming you. The best way to do this is to keep them off the table entirely, which is where removal comes in. A lot of this comes in the form of direct damage like [mtg_card]Annihilating Fire[/mtg_card] or focused destruction cards such as [mtg_card]Avenging Arrow[/mtg_card] but it’s also worth noting that some removal takes the form of enchantments like [mtg_card]Arrest[/mtg_card] and temporary states such as those caused by the Detain mechanic. You’ll tend to find more removal than bombs in a given Limited set, so they’re what we look for next.

Evasion

Remember those non-bomb creatures I mentioned? Most of them are going to be walking around on the ground. If you want to damage your opponent, you’re going to need to avoid them, go right through them, or use yours to hold off the bad guys while your guys remain safe. That, in a nutshell, is evasion. An evasive creature is one that either gets around the enemy or makes attacking unattractive. A good example is flight: a card that flies on its own such as [mtg_card]Tower Drake[/mtg_card] or a card that grants flight, [mtg_card]Pursuit of Flight[/mtg_card] for example, are both viable evasion tactics. Unblockable creatures such as [mtg_card]Invisible Stalker[/mtg_card] are a given, as is anything with a landwalking ability. Creatures with First Strike are also technically evasive: they do their damage without taking any themselves, provided they’re beefy enough to take out whatever they’re facing. I’m sure you can think of other examples.

Whatever

If you can’t find any bombs, removal, or evaders at this point, just grab whatever supports the deck. Mana dorks, Defenders, cards that accelerate your drawing, etc. In Draft, it’s important to keep in mind you may not use everything you pick, so you can pick things you’ll never actually play just to keep an opponent from using them. This is called “hate drafting” and Evil Steve Sadin discusses it here.

Those are the basics of Limited construction, and I’ll give you a more concrete example soon, as well as giving you a run down on how to draft at 4 am on a Tuesday rather than waiting for your friendly local gaming store to hold an event.

FNM: You Can Dance If You Want To

November 14, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Courtesy Wizards of the Coast
Art by Slawomir Maniak

To be blunt, I wouldn’t have this deck idea without Magic the Gathering Online.

There was a time when I scoffed at the idea of playing Magic on the Internet through a sanctioned client. I’m not talking about Duels of the Planeswalkers, the 2013 version of which I’ll review once I play a Planechase game or two. No, I’m talking about the actual, Wizards-approved, “Here is the Magic experience as close as we can make it without making your computer print cards” client. Meaning one must use actual money to pay for virtual booster packs.

As much as one might discount this idea as a money grab, the idea that one can practice drafting at any time rather than waiting for a weekend or a get-together with friends is an overwhelming one. Limited format Magic is a different kettle of chips from Constructed. It takes practice, a slightly different mindset from Constructed play, and a willingness to think outside of established parameters. As much as you might like a certain color combination, say black and green, if you get nothing but blue rares and no good cards outside of red, being stuck in the black/green mindset will mean you’ve lost long before your first game begins.

I will discuss Limited play another time, but suffice it to say I drafted an interesting deck the last time I played. Its core card was [mtg_card]Sphere of Safety[/mtg_card]. My first copy was an early pick out of a pretty lackluster pack, and after seeing what it does I started picking up as many useful enchantments as possible: [mtg_card]Chronic Flooding[/mtg_card], [mtg_card]Arrest[/mtg_card], and so on. While I only won one match during the event, I still had a blast playing the deck, and a couple of my opponents complimented me on my esoteric but powerful choice.

So I returned to my beloved Standard with my Izzet Controlled Burn deck in hand, and checked out the scene at the King of Prussia mall. Alas, my first choice, Cyborg One in Doylestown, is now a bit of a hike to get to. The new place had a decent turn-out, and I did all right but fell in the first round to an aggressive Golgari deck that ended up winning the entire event. Aggression can be hard for control decks to deal with, and as disappointed as I was in a few mis-plays on my part, my mind kept coming back to the [mtg_card]Sphere of Safety[/mtg_card] idea.

At first the thought was to cram as many enchantments as possible into the deck so that attacking me or my planeswalkers becomes ridiculously expensive as quickly as possible. However, relying on the appearance of [mtg_card]Azor’s Elocutors[/mtg_card] or [mtg_card]Jace, Memory Adept[/mtg_card] could make for very long games. I love good old-fashioned mill decks as much as the last Revised veteran, and the idea of talking an opponent into submission is hilarious to me, but at least in the initial encounter, the potential to deal game-winning damage is never a bad option to have.

[mtg_deck title=”Standard Safety Dance”]
// Creatures
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Bruna, Light of Alabaster

// Enchantments
4 Bonds of Faith
4 Detention Sphere
4 Sphere of Safety
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Curiosity
2 Martial Law

// Instants
4 Azorius Charm
4 Dissipate

// Planeswalkers
2 Jace, Memory Adept

// Land
8 Island
10 Plains
4 Hallowed Fountain

// Sideboard
4 Chronic Flooding
4 Soul Tithe
3 Negate
2 Azor’s Elocutors
2 Knight of Glory
[/mtg_deck]

You’ll notice that all of the creatures, save for [mtg_card]Bruna, Light of Alabaster[/mtg_card], have Hexproof. This means that, for the most part, an opponent’s creature removal is useless. Provided this deck can win the first game of a match, it’s likely they will sideboard out some of that removal for any enchantment hate they have. I, on the other hand, am free to board in [mtg_card]Negate[/mtg_card] which will deal with both those spells and any remaining removal, and [mtg_card]Azor’s Elocutors[/mtg_card] for a filibustery second game. It’s certainly not your normal Standard deck, but I think it’ll be just as much fun for my opponents to discover what I’m playing and how I’d win as it will be for me to plan ahead, execute gambits, and come at victory from outside the box.

How does the deck look to you? What suggestions would you make? Is there a particular deck or card you’d like me to discuss? I plan on laying out my thoughts on Limited next time – specifically, I’m going to tell you what it means to ‘brew’ up a good draft or sealed deck.

The Legacy of Magic

October 23, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Courtesy Wizards of the Coast
Art by Greg Staples

I’ve been playing Magic: the Gathering off and on since I was introduced to it in high school almost 20 years ago. Quite a few things have changed in the game since then, but nothing in the game has changed so dramatically that the old cards are strictly unplayable. In fact, there are some formats of Magic where incorporating older cards is encouraged. And rather than restrict myself to Standard and Limited for sanctioned play, I’ve decided to branch out into those formats.

This decision is based mostly on the potential for building new and interesting decks. With the entire length and breadth of Magic to choose from, the possibilities are astounding. I mean, sure, not every deck is going to be viable – there’s only so much one can do with, say, Lifelaces and banding creatures – but the potential is there. Unfortunately, to make the most of the format, some investments will have to be made, as many older cards are rather pricey. Dual lands, staples of the games early editions, are often priced at a hundred dollars or more per card.

Thankfully, not every deck requires these powerful cards. Sometimes, when you find yourself on a budget, the simplest ideas are the best.

[mtg_deck title=”Legacy Monored Burn”]
// Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Keldon Marauders
2 Grim Lavamancer

// Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Fireblast
4 Lava Spike
4 Magma Jet
4 Price of Progress
4 Chain Lightning
2 Sulfuric Vortex

// Lands
3 Arid Mesa
3 Scalding Tarn
14 Mountain

// Sideboard
3 Smash to Smithereens
2 Vexing Shusher
2 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Pyroblast
2 Anarchy
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Faerie Macabre
[/mtg_deck]

The deck is fairly straightforward: dishing out as much damage as possible in a short amount of time. However, ‘straightforward’ does not mean ‘simple’. You can’t simply cast all the spells in your hand as quickly as possible and be assured of a win. A key example of this is [mtg_card]Fireblast[/mtg_card]. Canny players wait until after other spells have been cast to play this powerful blow to the enemy’s face with its sacrifice cost. And doing so puts more cards in the graveyard for [mtg_card]Grim Lavamancer[/mtg_card] to use.

I’ve played the deck in one event so far, and it’s not only fun to play but viable against other Legacy decks. Its potential caught me somewhat off-guard, considering I was up against decks like Countertop and Affinity. It’s not perfect, though, as Maverick found ways to slow me down enough to secure a win. Hence the [mtg_card]Anarchy[/mtg_card] in the sideboard – that will take care of pesky Circles of Protection!

In addition to Legacy, the format called Modern provides similar opportunities but with a narrower range of cards to choose from. I had to poke around a bit, but I found a deck list that feels right up my alley, and utilizes some of my favorite cards from both the current and the previous Standard rotation.

[mtg_deck title=”Modern Tokens”]
// Creatures
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Tidehollow Sculler

// Spells
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Lingering Souls
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Zealous Persecution
3 Spectral Procession
3 Midnight Haunting

// Land
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
1 Mutavault
6 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Windbrisk Heights

// Sideboard
2 Disenchant
2 Kataki, War’s Wage
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Slaughter Pact
1 Stony Silence
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Torpor Orb
[/mtg_deck]

Which am I more excited to play? Token decks are always fun to play, but the straightforwardness of the burn deck is also appealing. The deck is somewhat underestimated and isn’t as flashy as decks with dual lands, [mtg_card]Force of Will[/mtg_card], [mtg_card]Tarmogoyf[/mtg_card], or [mtg_card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/mtg_card], but it has definitely proved itself and, I feel, will continue to do so.

This doesn’t mean I’m done with more casual formats, though. Especially if there’s drinking involved…

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