So today we are going to talk about some of the Standard Competitive decks. These decks are all customized as I would run them, so they are not 100% 'cut and paste' netdecks. That would be boring. I'm a huge fan of "one-ofs" and "toolbox" 'stratigems', a passion in which I exercise whenever I construct a deck. Most of these decks are indeed inspired on tournament winning decks. These tourney decks are just plain better than the rest, most of the time. There is a reason these decks win tournaments. Some of them, like my W/u human deck, is 100% hand-crafted awesomeness where I just took a simple idea (in that case, my goal was to make a themed deck around humans and maximizing value from Angelic Destiny) and fleshed it out into my own deck. In any case, enjoy the decks and let me know in the comment section what you think (or in most cases, how bad the idea of me fitting a Moldgraf Monstrocity into Wolf Run is)
Showing posts with label standard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label standard. Show all posts
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Solar Flare
A few notes about this:
- This was my first version of the deck. After playtesting, I found some issues and rebuilt it. I'm not going to post my current version of the deck, but I will share some of my notes about it.
- The mana is very screwy in this deck. I hate that marsh flats is gone. Double black for Lil, Double blue for Dissipate, double white for Sun T. Hard to pull off.
- Phantasmal Image rocks some of the time. Other times its not so good. On the other hand, if he is in the graveyard then hes always a good time as he plays well with Sun T.
- Dissipate was rarely castable.
- Black Sun Zenith came in handy a few times. Still iffy on it with the black double tho.
- Forbidden alchemy makes the deck work. Always run 4.
- Not enough kill conditions, even with them being recurring.
- Snapcaster is insane. Still think 3 is the right number. (in this deck)
- think twice is good, but probably not better than ponder.
- Sheoldred, Whispering One is for fun, probably could be any fatty you have (elesh norn comes to mind)
- Might be running too much removal.
Overall the deck runs smoothly when you dont run into mana bumps. Needs some tweaking as is but the Sun titan Liliana Combo works very well.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
And a dash of...
Huge Blog!
I got this one in FOUR sections.
- Bitter Turmoil (custom)
- Aftermath (custom)
-M12 spoilers
- Innistrad spoilers!!!!
Bitter Turmoil Updates
So everyone knows about the "lord" cycle in BT I mentioned earlier, right? And I already spoiled the first lord for you guys. Don't remember? Well, here is a refresher:
I also mentioned each of these lords have a "squire" or "assistant", an uncommon card that helps their master make the most of their powerful ablities. Here is Gruemaw's.
I'll let you guys have a moment to think about that interaction there. Got it? Good.
Moving on, I'm going to reveal the lord for...
...
...
...
...
wait for it...
...
...
...
~FIN~
I got this one in FOUR sections.
- Bitter Turmoil (custom)
- Aftermath (custom)
-M12 spoilers
- Innistrad spoilers!!!!
Bitter Turmoil Updates
So everyone knows about the "lord" cycle in BT I mentioned earlier, right? And I already spoiled the first lord for you guys. Don't remember? Well, here is a refresher:
I'll let you guys have a moment to think about that interaction there. Got it? Good.
Moving on, I'm going to reveal the lord for...
...
...
...
...
wait for it...
...
...
...
While I will admit that this isnt strictly better than their black counterparts at face value, this is a potent lord just waiting for another card to make it super uber mega broken *hint hint*.
No. I'm not spoiling it right now.
...
...
...
Sorry, aint gonna happen.
Anyways, I still could use more playtesters for this set, so message me if you would be interested.
Aftermath
Yeah, I'm not 100% done with BT, but all the cards are finished and just need more playtesting to fix balancing issues.
Yeah, I'm nearly halfway done with the set that comes after it, Aftermath.
Some answers for some questions that may come up:
- Purple still exists. It isnt like it is in BT (nearly 50% of the set). It sees about as much love as artifacts do. I will still continue to support it, however I think I gave it plenty of horribleness in BT to last it a good while. Long story short, it's still here, but it's gonna see a lot less cards per set.
- Aftermath is set 3 of 3 in the Weathered Hope Block. It is a small set (100-125 cards). Drafts will be AM-BT-WH.
- I am not 100% sure if I plan to make any sets past Aftermath. I already started working on a few sets but I'm not certain if they will be put into motion. Just depends on how well this block is recieved.
- Theme. The set theme is all about cycles. I.E. Titans, Leylines, etc. Over 50% of the set is a card that is in a cycle of some sort. Some cycles include purple and/or artifacts, others just include the 5 main colors. Most cycles are based on one reprint: here's an example.
- Lightning Bolt
- Shinebolt
- Darkbolt
- Mistbolt
- Earthbolt
- Lapsing Bolt
And here is the first official spoiler for Aftermath!
M12 Updates
So M12 just had a few more cards spoiled, and I want to touch base on two of them that caught my attention.
Now Angelic Destiny seems like a strictly better Armored Ascension. I'm not sure how much the angel 'bonus' will help, but I wont discount it. Innistrad seems like it will be a killer set and it might decide to make use of it. Either way this card is sick but if you have a token generator (Maybe even Awakening Zone will break this? Elspeth also comes to mind.) this becomes broken.
Jace 3.0 is underwhelming, but at least he confirms that mill will enter standard once again. I like the card advantage of his +1 and he seems like he could mill someone fast on his own.
Innistrad
And last but not least, I believe I have some Innistrad spoilers for you guys. Here are SIX spoilers for you guys. Enjoy.
~FIN~
Monday, June 20, 2011
BANNED - The face of "new" standard
I woke up this morning to some interesting news to all of you magic players getting fed up playing against and probably losing against Caw-blade time and time again:
June 20, 2011
Standard Banlist Updates
- Jace the Mind Sculptor is banned from standard.
- Stoneforge Mystic is banned from standard.
So, if you are on the heroic side and play rouge decks, this is your time to celebrate! Now if you played the villian and had an all foil Caw-Blade deck, prepare to lose a ton of money.
Not only will the prices on Jace and Stoneforge halve, but you'll also see a huge drop in the other big cards in the deck. Let's look into the future, shall we?
- Jace the Mind Sculptor
: Banned in standard, still a big card in legacy (and extended, but extended is the crap format right now) so he will retain some value. how much? I would bank on $35-$50 bucks. A lot of people want to sell their Jaces right now so the market will be flooded with them, dropping it lower than that, but after the legacy players soak them up, they will again become a chase card and keep some value.
- Stoneforge Mystic:
Also Banned in standard, this card does see some play in legacy and its pretty good there. It's value depends on what gets printed in the future. Wizards has more room now to create broken equipment for standard now that stoneforge is banned. Which could trickle down to legacy. Or it could just stay this way and we still have a lot of nice stuff to use with it (Batterskull, Sword of Fire and Ice, etc) In any case, I'd like to say it will still have to drop to being a $5-$10 buck card.
- Batterskull:
Well the time has come that we can start testing Batterskull for the card it is at face value, instead of being a stoneforge trick. How good is it? Well, when I reviewed it for my New Phyrexia price guide, I didnt really think much about it with stoneforge since it was going to rotate anyways. I usually just value the card for what it is. So heres what I wrote back in early May about it:
"Ok, so its spoiled right, and worth $5 on Starcitygames.com - so Patrick Chaplin posts hows its so bonkers and within 24 hours it shoots up to $25 bucks. Yes, I think the price is artifically inflated. Yes, I think its a great card. Ok, so its 5 mana for a 4/4 lifelink vigilance. Thats awesome right there. But wait, if it dies, I can give make my Gatekeeper here a 6/6 lifelink vigilance for 5 mana? Sweet! Oh, it gets better? At the end of my opponents turn, if I'm out of creatures, I just tap 3 mana, untap for turn, then pay 5 again and get my creature back? Does anyone remember Eternal Dragon? It was 7 mana for a 5/5 flying, but it kept coming back! A must have for control decks imo.
Value: $10-$20
Cap: $25"
Sword of War and Peace/Feast and Famine:
So, these cards arent too good now, but they might see fringe play in sideboards. I dont like running dups in a deck since they dont give enough value when you have most than one on the board. Still, you never know what they will print next, so lets say $7-$12 for these guys.
Squadron Hawk:
You suck.
Jace Beleren:
A solid card, but you have to think that it will lose some value since half the reason you run him is to thwart 2.0 via the legendary ruling. And he's up for reprint. But at the end of the day, I run him just for card advantage. He's a slow concentrate for a mana less. Or a howling mine if you want that. So I have no doubt he will maintain value, so let's peg him at $4-$7.
So enough of CawBlade, its done. What cards do I see becoming more popular in the near future? Heres a small list to finish this article with current prices:
- Primeval Titan (25)
- Thrun (7)
- Green Sun (5)
- Phyrexian Obliterator (20)
- Koth of the Hammer (25)
- Deciever Exarch/Splinter Twin (75 cents/8)
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (30)
- Valakut (2.50)
- Vengevine (20)
- Gideon Jura (20)
- Wurmcoil Engine (6)
June 20, 2011
Standard Banlist Updates
- Jace the Mind Sculptor is banned from standard.
- Stoneforge Mystic is banned from standard.
So, if you are on the heroic side and play rouge decks, this is your time to celebrate! Now if you played the villian and had an all foil Caw-Blade deck, prepare to lose a ton of money.
Not only will the prices on Jace and Stoneforge halve, but you'll also see a huge drop in the other big cards in the deck. Let's look into the future, shall we?
- Jace the Mind Sculptor
: Banned in standard, still a big card in legacy (and extended, but extended is the crap format right now) so he will retain some value. how much? I would bank on $35-$50 bucks. A lot of people want to sell their Jaces right now so the market will be flooded with them, dropping it lower than that, but after the legacy players soak them up, they will again become a chase card and keep some value.
- Stoneforge Mystic:
Also Banned in standard, this card does see some play in legacy and its pretty good there. It's value depends on what gets printed in the future. Wizards has more room now to create broken equipment for standard now that stoneforge is banned. Which could trickle down to legacy. Or it could just stay this way and we still have a lot of nice stuff to use with it (Batterskull, Sword of Fire and Ice, etc) In any case, I'd like to say it will still have to drop to being a $5-$10 buck card.
- Batterskull:
Well the time has come that we can start testing Batterskull for the card it is at face value, instead of being a stoneforge trick. How good is it? Well, when I reviewed it for my New Phyrexia price guide, I didnt really think much about it with stoneforge since it was going to rotate anyways. I usually just value the card for what it is. So heres what I wrote back in early May about it:
"Ok, so its spoiled right, and worth $5 on Starcitygames.com - so Patrick Chaplin posts hows its so bonkers and within 24 hours it shoots up to $25 bucks. Yes, I think the price is artifically inflated. Yes, I think its a great card. Ok, so its 5 mana for a 4/4 lifelink vigilance. Thats awesome right there. But wait, if it dies, I can give make my Gatekeeper here a 6/6 lifelink vigilance for 5 mana? Sweet! Oh, it gets better? At the end of my opponents turn, if I'm out of creatures, I just tap 3 mana, untap for turn, then pay 5 again and get my creature back? Does anyone remember Eternal Dragon? It was 7 mana for a 5/5 flying, but it kept coming back! A must have for control decks imo.
Value: $10-$20
Cap: $25"
Sword of War and Peace/Feast and Famine:
So, these cards arent too good now, but they might see fringe play in sideboards. I dont like running dups in a deck since they dont give enough value when you have most than one on the board. Still, you never know what they will print next, so lets say $7-$12 for these guys.
Squadron Hawk:
You suck.
Jace Beleren:
A solid card, but you have to think that it will lose some value since half the reason you run him is to thwart 2.0 via the legendary ruling. And he's up for reprint. But at the end of the day, I run him just for card advantage. He's a slow concentrate for a mana less. Or a howling mine if you want that. So I have no doubt he will maintain value, so let's peg him at $4-$7.
So enough of CawBlade, its done. What cards do I see becoming more popular in the near future? Heres a small list to finish this article with current prices:
- Primeval Titan (25)
- Thrun (7)
- Green Sun (5)
- Phyrexian Obliterator (20)
- Koth of the Hammer (25)
- Deciever Exarch/Splinter Twin (75 cents/8)
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (30)
- Valakut (2.50)
- Vengevine (20)
- Gideon Jura (20)
- Wurmcoil Engine (6)
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