URW ascension

6 Win-Cons
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Luminarch Ascension

9 Enablers
2x Mind Spring
3x Sphinx of the Lost Truths
4x Knight of the White Orchid

20 Removal
4x Day of Judgment
4x Burst Lightning
4x Path to Exile
4x Double Negative
4x Negate

25 Mana Sources
4x Glacial Fortress
5x Plains
3x Island
3x Mountain
3x Arid Mesa
3x Scalding Tarn
4x Fieldmist Borderpost

Board
3x Swerve
3x Pyroclasm
2x Sphinx of the Jwar Isle
3x Baneslayer Angel
4x Oblivion Ring

I hope this helps my matchup vs fast aggro (RW weanie, vampires, kor and goblins). Took out polymorph and made it more traditional control. Improvement?

BR crypt+banefire

4x Monstrous Carabid
4x Viscera Dragger
4x Architects of Will
4x Igneous Pouncer
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Expedition Map
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Earthquake
4x Banefire

4x Akoum Refuge
4x Crypt of Agadeem
4x Dragonskull Summit
1x Island
7x Swamp
4x Mountain

IMissMulldrifter.dek

(Just to get this up on the front page)

3x Essence Scatter
4x Path to Exile
4x Negate
3x Summoners Bane
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Day of Judgment
3x Polymorph

3x Luminarch Ascension
3x Elspeth
3x Baneslayer Angel
1x Iona

...hitting a mulldrifter with a polymorph would have been so cool...

br sligh

4x bloodchief ascension
4x lightning bolt
4x burst lightning
4x duress
4x sign in blood
4x blightning
4x volcanic fallout
3x manabarbs
4x earthquake
2x mind shatter
4x teramorphic expanse
4x dragonskull summit
8x mountain
7x swamp

board
3x malakir bloodwitch
3x obnixilis, the fallen
4x vampire nighthawk
2x liliana vess
3x terminate

RW FNM deck ver 3.0

Removal
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
4x Burst Lightning
4x Pyroclasm
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Day of Judgment
2x Martial Coup

Win-cons
3x Luminarch Ascension
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Baneslayer Angel

25 lands
4 arid mesa
5 mountain
2 emeria, the sky ruin
14 plains

board
4x knight of the white orchid
4x kor sanctifier
3x magma phoenix
4x goblin assault

magma phoenix goes in vs weanie as well as vs cruel ultimadeum. it blocks a baneslayer then with a burst lightning or lightning bolt kills it. it blocks and kills malakir bloodwitch. i am not delusional about it being an amazing card, but in my attempt to simplify this guy seems like a great fit.

the knight of the white orchid makes a good board choice if i win game 1 and/or if i play weanie. he has first strike so they have to use a removal on him, and hopefully by that time i've already gotten my card advantage and deck thinning in by getting that land.

I am thinking goblin assault, pithing needle and/or dispeller's capsule (in addition to my other sideboard cards) are going to come in to help me beat control. If I get paired up to combo or ultimadeum (or even sigil of the empty thrones or library attack!) these can help me get on the offensive and force some resolutions. The other cards i was thinking of for this slot are 4x white knight and 4x devout lightcasters. I decided against them because my maindeck removal should be good enough. The one reason i want to include lightcaster is to exile the broodmate dragon from cruel ultimadeum so they can't return it to their hand. I am not sure about these 8 slots, and i haven't really convinced myself yet.

Any ideas or suggestions?

brw ascension 2.0

4x path to exile
4x lightning bolt
4x burst of lightning
2x harm's way
3x bloodchief ascension
3x luminarch ascension
3x volcanic fallout
3x blightning
3x ajani vengeant
4x day of judgment
3x baneslayer angel
4x marsh flats
4x arid mesa
4x dragonskull summit
2x swamp
4x mountain
7x plains

sideboard
4x terminate
2x elspeth
2x mind-shatter
3x duress
2x sorin markov (this should be liliana but i don't have them with me)
2x intimidation bolt

the idea is not to lose to control like i'm playing turbo-fog, which is what my RW felt like. I destroyed aggro, but i lost to control even after the board.

now i have maindeck sauce vs control. my board has some stuff to further help the control match-up in planeswalkers and discard. i have weanie hate in intimidation bolt. Vs aggro i board out the bloodchief ascension and turbo-fog it, with angels as my win-con. vs aggro i take out some of my removal and add the planeswalkers and discard.

i hope it works out.

BRW Ascension

28 white symbols
22 red symbols
10 black symbols

Removal
4x Path to Exile
4x Burst Lightning
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Terminate
3x Volcanic Fallout
4x Day of Judgment

Winsauce
3x Luminarch Ascension
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Baneslayer Angel
3x Ob Nixilis, the Fallen

4x Flat Marsh
4x Arid Marsh
4x Dragonskull Summit
7x Plains
4x Mountains
2x Swamps

board

3x Duress (really really good against whatever an opponent sideboards in)
2x Mind Shatter (really good vs cruel ultimadeum)
3x Bloodchief Ascension (control/combo)
3x Blightning (control/combo)
2x Liliana Vess (control/combo)
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant (control/combo)

Maybe I should run some artifact/enchantment removal? Solemn Offering is pretty bad, but so is Planar Cleansing.

Amsterdam Snake Oil

The Little Engine that Could(10):
4x Lotus Cobra
4x Harrow
2x Khalni Heart Expedition

Every train needs a track(19):
4x Ponder
3x Ior Ruin Expedition
4x Negate
4x Gift of the Gargantuan
4x Day of Judgement

The Finish Line(6):
3x Bogardan Hellkite
3x Thraximundar


The Scenary (14 Fetches) (25 total):
3 gb fetch
4 gu fetch
1 bw fetch
4 ur fetch
2 rw fetch

3 forest
3 islands
2 plains
2 mountain
1 swamp

-----

OK, This is looking close to final pre actual testing.... Goldfishing was interesting, more will be written up later.

Goldfish examples:

HAND
3 basic lands - Harrow - Ior Ruin Expidition - Bogardan Hellkite - Fetch
GOLDFISH PLAY
t1 Land go -
t2 draw basic - land - Ior Ruin Expition
t3 draw lotus - play basic land
t4 draw lotus - play lotus play fetch
t5 draw fetch - play lotus 2 - play fetch (2) crack both fetches (2+4=6) tap both cracked lands (6+2=8) Play Harrow saccing a tapped land - put in 2 more basic lands (8+4=12) sac Ior Ruin Epedition to draw 2 (gift of the Gargantuan and a fetch land) - cast Gift of the Gargantuan (8-3 =5)see 2 fetches and a hellkite, so get 1 fetch and hellkite in hand. tapp 3 of 4 untapped lands (5+3=8) and cast a Hellkite.

This could have potentially gone of on turn 4, but I felt I didnt have the backup at the time, so I wanted to see if it would come, and it sort of did.

---------------------

THE HAND
Lotus Cobra - Khalni Heart Espedition - Harrow - Ponder - Ior Ruin Expedition 2 fetch
THE PLAY
t1 - play fetch sac for island ponder (forest, Fetch, Negate)
t2 - draw fetch, play forest, play Ior Ruin
t3 - draw negate - play Expedition, play fetch
t4 - draw harrow - play fetch
t5 - draw ponder play ponder (fetch gift fetch) play fetch - crack Ior Ruin (Drawing Gift + fetch) crack fetch play cobra - crack Khalni Heart Expo (2) crack 1 fetch (3) cast Gift of Gargantuan(Thraximundar and 3 noncreature spells!)
t6 - I could cast thraxi without using tricks, I have 2 harrows still in hand and a fetch that I can play this turn.

--------------------------

THE HAND
2 fetch, 2 basic, harrow, ponder, hellkite
THE PLAY
t1- Fetch crack, for island, ponder (fetch, thraxi, harrow, shuffle, draw fetch)
t2- draw khalni heart expo - play forest, expedition
t3- draw gift - play basic land, play gift(reveal fetch, Thraxi, gift, negate keep thrax and fetch)
t4 draw mountain, play fetch eot crack fetch and expedition
t5 draw cobra - play cobra, play fetch - eot crack fetch (1) tap new land (2) tap other land (3) Harrow (3-3+2=2) tap new lands (2+2=4) tap other 4 lands in play(4+4=8) Hellkite
T6 draw fetch play fetch and play thraximundar swing for 11 or 12 (if they have a creature)

----------------------

I REALLY REALLY like this deck. consistent explosions turn 5/6 (and yes those 3 goldfishes were back to back to back)

27 removal
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
3x Oblivion Ring
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Intimidation Bolt
4x Day of Judgment
4x Journey to Nowhere

9 Win-Cons
3x Luminarch Ascension
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Baneslayer Angel

24 Lands
4x Arid Mesa
1x Emperia, the Sky Ruin
14xPlains
7x Mountain

I think Intimidation Bolt is my best option to stay in RW without a spalsh. It is removal, and it also helps Luminarch Ascension.

27 Removals and whatnots
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
4x Terminate
3x Blightning
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Day of Judgment

9 Win-Cons
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Baneslayer Angel
3x Liliana Vess

4x Arid Mesa
4x Marsh Flats
5x Mountain
6x Plains
5x Swamp

The biggest difference between these two decks is the second one has some problems with mana fixing. Seems like the simplier the better. I think I should go RW. Still not sure about sideboard though....ideas?

VampSligh

4x Vampire Lacerater
4x Bloodghast
4x Vampire Hexmage (Child of Night?)
4x Vampire Nighthawk
3x Vampire Nocturnus

4x Lightning Bolt
4x Sign in Blood
4x Duress
3x Bituminous Blast
2x Banefire


4x Dragonskull Summit
4x Terramorphic Expanse
10x Swamp
5x Mountain

Im open to ideas on this, this is just what Im liking at the moment. I think its got some good potential for speed kills. Im a little leery of the manabase, butam very interested in its ability to just beat the fuck outta opponents faces.

EDIT: -4 Burst Lightning
+4 Duress

The Deck I Want To Play

15 Creatures
4x Goblin Guide
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Sprouting Thirnax
3x Broodmate Dragon

18 Removal/Discard
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Terminate
3x Blightning
4x Jund Charm
2x Mind Shatter

3 broodmate dragon haster
3x Sarkan Vol

25 Lands
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Rootbound Crag
7x Swamp
5x Forest
5x Mountain

The Deck I Should Play

21 Kill Everything
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
3x Oblivion Ring
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Naya Charm
3x Martial Coup

14 Win-Cons Are You Kidding Me?!
3x Luminarch Ascension
3x Ajani Vengeant
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3x Sarkhan Vol
3x Baneslayer Angel

24 Lands
4x Arid Mesa
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Rootbound Crag
4x Forest
4x Plains
4x Mountain

Board:
4x Spellbreaker Behemoth
4x Sable Stag
3x Quasali Pride-Mage
4x Acidic Slime

Ramp To Nowhere

4x Ponder
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Hedron Crab
4x Lotus Cobra
4x Sign in Blood
4x Harrow
3x Jace Beleren
3x Archive Trap
2x Mind Shatter
2x Haunting Echoes
2x Liliana Vess
4 Misty Rainforests
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Scalding Tarn
5 Islands
5 Forests
4 Swamps
2 Mountain

Board
2x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
4x Blightning
2x Scepter of the Fugue
4x Mindbreak Trap
3x Spell Pierce

Challenge of the Week: Luminarch Ascension

4x Silence
4x Path to Exile
4x Harm's Way
4x Disfigure
4x Doom Blade
4x Journey to Nowhere
4x Luminarch Ascension
4x Day of Judgment
3x Martial Coup
3x Baneslayer Angel
4x Teramorphic Expanse
4x Swamp
12 Plains
2x Emeria, The Sky Ruin

New Planeswalkers for Standard

14 Instants, Sorceries, Enchantments
4x Grim Discovery
4x Volcanic Fallout
3x Martial Coup
3x Harrow

11 Creatures
4x Lotus Cobra
4x Sprouting Thirnax
3x Broodmate Dragon

11 Planeswalkers
3x Garruk Wildspeaker
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Sarkhan Vol
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant

24 lands
3x Arid Mesa
4x Marsh Flats
3x Verdant Catacombs
6x Forest
3x Plains
3x Mountain
2x Swamp

sideboard
4x Spellbreaker Behemoth
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Blightning
2x Summoning Trap
2x Bogardan Hellkite


The sideboard is pretty heavy on anti-control. The behemoth lets the hellkite come in unmolested, and he is hard to deal with on his own. The blightning gets rid of a counter spell for cheap. The luminarch ascension is a win-con if they can't draw a bounce or o-ring. Lightning Bolt is to the dome.

Lightning bolt also comes in vs. white weanie, and grim discovery goes out.

Summoning Trap gets a hellkite into play for free. Not sure if it is worth a sideboard slot when i could play Luminarch Ascension as a two of out of the board, and it is a self-contained win-con.

casual BR madness

90% of the magic i play these days is casual vs. non-competitive decks. By that I mean sub tier 3 tournament level decks, if they were tournament decks. So with that in mind, I am trying to build fun decks to play that don't give me such a competitive advantage. I thought back to my early days of magic, and I decided to try to recreate one of my favorite decks: Madness.

I looked through my non-standard trade binder and this is what I found:
mindslicer --this guy was my clean-up hitter. I'm pretty sure I used him in conjuction with gravepact and nantuko husk, and I don't think I will try that this time. I'll just turn him sideways.
Avatar of Discord --looks good
Squee --might make it as a madness enabler. I can't imagine a situation where I would actually play him, and only one of my cards has hell-bent, so there's a chance he'll make my decklist
dark confidant --this guy was awesome, and he may not be a perfect fit for my deck, but i want to try to sneak him in there, if for nothing else as a learning lesson for my casual opponents that card advantage is greater than life. again, only 1 guy has hellbent, so although it doesn't sabotage anything
reckless wurm --yeah, this guy has to go in there, unless i decide to go with the confidant. 5 may not be worth it
delirium skeins --i'm pretty sure i'm the only person to ever win a FNM match with this card in my decklist. three years later i still like it for my deck.
pit keeper --i remember this guy. i don't think i played with him, but maybe i did, can't remember. we'll see if he makes the cut
fiery temper --this is a must
lightning axe --another one
undertaker --fits the theme. probably go with this guy or pit keeper, but not both
rakdos guildmage --I remember this guy as being the card I always wanted to topdeck. It still looks amazingly good. And the picture makes me want to run pyrohemia
pyrohemia --since I don't think i'll do gravepact or husk, might as well put 2 of these things in there. My casual meta is lots of weak shadow creatures, creakwood leige tokens, spawning writhe tokens...I'm sure 4/5 times I'll lose this card to my own discard and that will be that, but occasionally i might get to play it, and then i can point to my rakdos guildmage and say, "see, he's on fire"
rakdos pit-dragon --a big bomb for a measly 4. So he doesn't cost too much for a dark confidant. Unfortuantly, he also has hellbent, so my confidant shoots me in the foot there.

So then I looked through newer cards and I thought these might be good:
Shambling remains -- he is cheap and has unearth, and he is big enough to warrant having pyrohemia
rotting rats -- cheap, discard for my opponent, madness enabler for me, like the remains he has unearth
malfegor --he is a big body, but he sucks with dark confidant and i'm not sure how i'll get to take advantage of his triggered ability since i'll probably be hellbent after turn four most games

So here goes:
4x Lightning Axe
4x Rakdos Guildmage
4x Pit Keeper
4x Rotting Rats
4x Shambling Remains
4x Fiery Temper
4x Delirium Skeins
2x Avatar of Discord
3x Mindslasher
1x Rakdos Pit-Dragon
3x Reckless Wurm
23 Lands

So I decided against dark confidant, but i may change my mind after a few games. I didn't put in any squee (or any phoenix) but I could consider that, also. I think not putting squee in my deck is probably a good thing. I don't see this deck having an impressive winning percentage, but that is kind of the point.

Anything I forgot? Did I make a poor choice?

RG Mana Ramp *updated

Here is the updated version. This deck is pretty stinking fun. Deus is a great card. I can't figure out how I never noticed how good he is until now, which is too bad because I would have rocked him at FNM if I had only known. The Hellkite is pretty much the best combat trick wizards of the coast has ever printed. It's a four for one pretty much every time. Plus it clears away some little turns to ensure my deus gets in his 6 damage.

Sarkhan Vol got added. FoD did not. That may be a mistake on my part.

4x Llanwar Elves
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Rampant Growth
4x Lash Out
4x Farhaven Elf
3x Garruk
3x Sarkhan Vol
4x Primal Command
4x Deus of Calamity
3x Bogardan Hellkite
23 lands


Sideboard
4x Guttural Response
3x Murderous Redcap
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Spellbreaker Behemoth

RWG, updated. Kind of.

So I'm thinking of trying to keep a current standard deck without having to buy a bunch of new cards. My RWG deck still has some punch, I think. It is full of good cards. I haven't used it in a standard tournament in about six months. It might be a little behind in the times, especially with the pain lands going out. So I've been looking over the decklist. I haven't decided on one slot, but I feel pretty good about the rest of it. What do you all think?


4x w/r figure of destiny
3x g birds of paradise
4x 1g elvish visionary
4x 1g bloom tender
4x rgw naya charm
4x rgw wooly thoctar
3x 2gg garruk wildspeaker
3x 2rw ajani vengeant
2x 2rg sarkhan vol
2x 2ww elspeth, knight-errant
3x 3rgw realm razor

lands
4x jungle shrine
4x rootbound crag
4x sunpetal grove
4x reflecting pool
2x fire-lit thicket
2x rugged prarie
2x forest
1x mountain
1x plains

sideboard
3x 1gw dauntless escort
4x 2w oblivion ring
4x 2gg chamaleon colussus
4x gw qasali pridemage


So I'm not completely set on Elvish Visionary. I've tried to carefully consider everything that costs one or two mana in the current standard build (trying to avoid lorwyn, since it won't be in much longer) and here is the short list I've come up with.

creatures:
1g elvish visionary
g noble hierarch
gr naya hushblade
gr rip-clan crasher
1r sparkmage apprentice
g wild nacatl
rw ceradon yearling
gr jund hackblade

removal:
wr sangrite backlash
w path to exile

combat tricks:
gr colossal might
w harms way

card advantage:
r/g fossil find
gw reborn hope

interesting:
w silence

Creatures seem to be the immediate need and most glaring lack in this current decklist. I have lots of great cards, and not a lot of creatures. Card advantage is a big lack, also. That's why I decided on the elvish visionary. But what about something weird like Silence, or Fossil Find, both interesting choices for 1 mana. Harms Way and Colossal Might are both good, but I fear they aren't great in this deck because I don't automatically have creatures to play every turn, so I'm afraid I'll be holding a colossal might and not have any creatures to play it on. On the other hand, giving my wooly thoctar trample, and pumping his toughness and strength to keep him alive, that could be useful. But I'm thinking not useful enough. I need something good, really good. And after lack of creatures in my decklist is lack of removal. That is fine, since hopefully I'll mana ramp into my combo and kill my opponent before they can get out any win conditions. But that is a best case scenario.

That all gets me back to Card Advantage to enable the combo (elvish visionary) and creatures to help my planeswalkers, or REMOVAL, so my topdeck sarkhan vol doesn't die the next turn. Which means I need Path to Exile main deck.

So there it is. I'm pretty much going to have to decide between path or visionary, and I don't know what the right choice is.

Thoughts? Maybe you have a better more perfect card in mind? Am I even right to think the maindeck is otherwise a solid foundation?

******

(edit, drok's suggested decklist) Just to get this on the front page:

Creatures:
4x figure of destiny
4x Bloom Tender
4x Wooly Thoctar
3x Realm Razor

Planeswalkers:
3x Garruk, Wildspeaker
3x Ajani Vengeant
2x Sarkhan Vol
2x Elspeth, Knight Errant

Spells:
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
3x Martial Coup

Lands:
4x Rootbound Crag
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Forest
4x Plains
3x Mountains

Challenge of the Week: Protean Hydra

Protean Hydra XG
Creature - Hydra Mythic Rare
Protean Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to Protean Hydra, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it.
Whenever a +1/+1 counter is removed from Protean Hydra, put two +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the end step.
Illus. Jim Murray 0/0

I figure there are a couple of ways to try to abuse this guy. After about four seconds of careful consideration, I decided mana ramp to go with mana ramp and (edited) clear the board with lots of board clearers............and a couple of reckless planeswalkers, Chandra Nalaar and Sarkhan Vol.

And I have combat tricks! Jund Charm gives my boy 2 extra counters to get removed!

Volcanic Fallout and Lavalanche can't really be considered combat tricks, but it can be considered da bomb. Hopefully these will work like Prized Unicorn by clearing out the blockers, but not actually suck. Like Prized Unicorn.

Chandra can be a win condition by herself, but she also makes my hydra a little bigger in the process, or helps get extra damage so a fallout can take care of business.

Sarkhan doesn't quite fit the synergy of what's happening here with the hydra, so I gave him a goblin assault. Plus, he's a game winner.

The Hellkite is cool because I can do it at flash speed. I'm pretty sure I can wait until the hydra's ability goes to the stack at the beginning of the end step, flash in a hellkite removing creatures and hitting my own hydra a couple times, then add some counters. Right? Plus this guy is a finisher.

Thirnax is a beast, and banefire is yet another finisher.

4x Rampant Growth
4x Jund Charm
4x Farhaven Elf
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Sprouting Thirnax
4x Protean Hyrda
2x Sarkhan Vol
3x Chandra Nalaar
2x Bogardan Hellkite
2x Banefire
3x Lavalanche
4x Dragonskull Summit
4x Rootbound Crag
9x Forest
5x Mountain
2x Swamp

too bad story circle went out

4x goldenglow moth
3x mesa enchantress
2x dawnfluke
4x harm's way
4x inquisitor's snare
1x cradle of vitality
1x sigil of the empty throne
4x holy strength
4x honor of the pure
2x indestructability
3x elspeth, knight-errant
3x ajani goldmane


So the idea is to get down some awful creature like goldglow moth, then keep playing bad spells in an effort to stay alive long enough to get elspeth and/or ajani out. With ajani your creatures can have vigilance, and elspeth means they will never get to kill your moth.

Dawnfluke is in there because it is the only creature I would draft AFTER goldenglow moth, so i figured if it didn't make it into this decklist, it would never be in any deck at all. Plus, it adds to the fun of beating people down with bad cards.

Now if i had only built this deck a year ago, i could have had ajani and elspeth AND story circle, which would have been fun mono-white fog. But alas, it isn't a M10 card...

Tell me this isn't the worst deck you've ever seen?

Goblins got a boost!

Seige-Gang Commander is back.
Not much else added in the way of tribal synergy for goblins.
Except Goblin Chieftain! This guy is WAY too good!
Forgot my previous post about reanimator. I'm playing GOBLINS!!!!

Challenge of the Week: Goldenglow Moth

It is an old card. It is an awful 0/1 creature with some decent up-side (gain 4 life, woo hoo) but lots of downside: essentially a defender (no power) that dies after one block (1 toughness). The only way this card could be good on its own is if your opponent is also playing it, and then you can take turns swinging into each others moths, gaining 4 life without your turd dying.

So the supporting cast is everything for this card.

So this challenge should either include the current standard format(tenth, lorwyn and shards) or the next standard format (lorwyn, shards and M10).

I've got some ideas, but they are bad, as you might expect...

BGW reanimator?

Sign in Blood -- BB Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life
Rise from the Grave -- B4 Put target creature card in a graveyard into play under your control. That creature is black and is a zombie in addition to its other types.
Cemetery Reaper -- other zombies get +1/+1. B2, tap: exile creature card in a graveyard, put a 2/2 zombie token creature into play.

So I'm thinking add some putrid leech, and some saproling production (necrogenesis, verdant force maybe?) and some mana rampage, maybe splash some white for o-ring, path to exile, and some big white creatures to reincarnate. Wrath of God in the board.

So I'm thinking BWG reanimator + tokens. I haven't really played alara reborn at all, and only slightly played the shards block at all, so i'm not sure what kind of help i'm getting from there. But reanimator is fun, and rise from the grave digs my opponents graveyard for goodies, too. Could be a good time.

If I go mana ramp I could play big creatures or I could look into land destruction. If I go land destruction R makes more sense than W. And RBG ramp isn't new and exciting. I want to come up with something that doesn't look like a typcial net deck.

Post m10 R/W winsauce

4x Figure of Destiny --- will need to be replaced when zildikar or whatever comes out
4x White Knight
4x Sigiled Paladin
3x Baneslayer Angel

4x Lightning Bolt
4x Harms Way
2x Banefire
4x Path to Exile
3x O. Ring

3x Ajani Vengeant
2x Elspeth

--------------------
Baneslayer Angel

Creature - Angel
Flying, first strike, lifelink, protection from Demons and from Dragons
Some angels protect the meek and innocent. Others seek out and smite evil wherever it lurks.
Illus. Greg Staples #4/249 5/5

What I want to Build post m10

4x Figure of Destiny
4x Ball Lightning
4x Shard Volley
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Flame Javelin
4x Boggart Ram-Gang
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Countryside Crusher
3x Banefire
3x Murderous Redcap


4x Ghitu Encampment
18x Mountains

Rules Changes for M10

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/42a&dcmp=ilc-mtgrss#62567

Most of these rules Changes are fine, I'm even going to give you guys a brief synopsis of everyone of them:

1) in play zone is now called the battlefield, while this is going to take a lot of getting used to, it is better for the game.

2) playing spells will now be called casting instead. again better for the game

3) there will be an additional removed from game zone. it will be known as "exile" an exiled card is not eligible to be targeted by cards such as glittering wish and other cards that refer to cards not in the game. meh- not really sure about what I think of this one.

4) players mulligan simultaneously. This one is fine because players still choose whether or not to mull the first time in order, but each mulligan (to 6 or to 5 etc,) happens simultaneously.

5)There is now a beginning of the end step (which also means that End of turn step is now called end step) this now mirrors beginning of upkeep step and will eventually remove the problems associated with at end of turn v. until end of turn.

6)Mana Burn does not exist - ok whatever

7) Mana pools empty at the end of every step now. no more floating mana from upkeep to draw step or from attackers to blackers steps. ok whatever. the loss of the upkeep to draw step kinda sucks, but it was so seldomly needed that whatever.

8)Tokens are now owned by the person who's control they entered the "battelfield" under. meh. whatever.

9)COMBAT DAMAGE DOES NOT USE THE STACK!!!!! THIS MAKES ME SAD ENOUGH TO GO ONTO CRUISE CONTROL. SEAN, IT SHOULD UPSET YOU TOO. WHAT KILLING MY HUSK IM GOING TO SAC MY... OH SHIT TOO LATE.. WHAT YOU BLOCK MY MOGG FANATIC?? WELL i FLING HIM AT YOUR... OH SHIT TOO LATE.

Combat Damage not using the stack also changes the way blocking, deathtouch, and lifelink operate. suxxorz

Borderposts wtfpwn in limited

RE:Title.

honestly, thats what you need to know about Alara Reborn

They may be as good in standard.

Turn 1) I have 2 borderposts (uw and ub). 1 Island, and 1 swamp.

I play swamp, tap and bounce for UB post. - I have U or B tapped

Turn 2) I play swamp bounce for UW Post - I have (B or U) availab;le and U or W tapped

Turn 3) I play Swamp ( have enough for UBW UUB BBU BBW and any 2CC combination)

Turn 4) play Island and have C. Command available,

Late game I can tap a basic land, bounce the same land too play a borderpost and then play the land again and have it availanle. Its JUST like a CITPT land as far as a deck with basic lands are concerned.

Also...











I have 2 Terminates, yay.

Rule regarding cascade

I was curious, I looked it up figured I'd post the info for you guys as well..
When the cards are returned to the bottom of the library, neither player knows the order of those cards.

http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18414245&postcount=4

Question

Cloven Casting
5UR
Enchantment
Whenever you play a multicolored instant or sorcery, you may pay . If you do, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.
#86/145

Despite the fact that this card is bad due to it being over-costed (which it should be for casual multiplayer purposes.) will modes chosen stick?

Basically Can I play a command and choose more than 2 modes?

I can Has Finkel?

Mask of Riddles
UB
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature has fear.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
Equip

Who needs Fulminator Mage?

Anathemancer
1BR
Creature - Zombie Wizard
When Anathemancer comes into play, it deals damage to target player equal to the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
Unearth 5BR
2/2

Big Slow Whitemane Lion

Mistwalker Behemoth*
1GU
Creature - Beast
When Mistwalker Behemoth comes into play, return a creature you control to its owner's hand.
5/6

I just want to swing with a Double Striking Chameleon Colossus

4x Kitchen Finks
3x Rafiq the Many
4x Chameleon Colossus
4x Mulldrifter

4x Path to Exile
4x Wrath of God
4x Cryptic Command
4x Bant Charm
2x Primal Command

2x Elspeth
2x Garruk

4x Seaside Citadel
4x Flodded Grove
4x Mystic Gate
2x Adarkar Wastes
2x Brushland
4x Reflecting Pool
2x Island
1x Plains
1x Forest

'K Wha'?

I guess this card would be playable in any UR or Grixis build over Cancel but still!

Double Cancel*
UUR
Instant
Counter up to two target spells.

Needs Moar N00bstick

THE GAME*
3bg
Creature - Elemental Mythic Rare
THE GAME's power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in all graveyards.
THE GAME THE GAME THE GAME THE GAME THE GAME THE GAME THE GAME THE GAME
Illus. Izzy #91/145 */*

Maralen Lock Toolbox

3 Maralen of the Mornsong
2 Mindlock Orb
4 Tezzeret the seeker
4 Esperzoa

1 Ethersworn Adjudicator
1 Scepter of Fugue
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Master Transmuter
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Courier's Capsule
3 Executioner's Capsule
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Mind Stone
4 Cryptic Command
4 Countersquall

22 Mostly blue lands. Some black & white in there too I think.

Transmuter & Esperzoa bounce the Orb for tutor abuse on my turn.
Maralen + Card Draw...
Mindlock Orb + Tutors...
this one smells like a winner to me.

Another cool Reprint:

Meddling Mage
UW
Creature - Human Wizard
As Meddling Mage comes into play, name a nonland card.
The named card can't be played.
And if it wasn't for that Meddling Mage, I would have gotten away with it!
2/2

Maralen combo in UBW

After careful consideration, I've decided that your 3-card combo (maralen, mindlock orb + colfenor's plans) is the only way maralen is playable in standard. So I'll keep the core of the deck intact. However, instead of focusing on discard, I'm going add white and use draw to get to the combo. And path to exile. Also, as an aside, dedicated life gain + sweepers + maralen + mindlock might work, theoretically...in other words, you don't NEED colfenor's plans if you can afford to take 3 damage every turn...but the extra cards that are effectively cheating maralen's NO DRAWING and in the same card avoiding the 3 damage seems more stable, and just downright better. At least to me.

The thing I'm going to do that is really interesting is have a sideboard that will transform my deck from Maralen combo (which losses to aggro probably 4-of-5 times, in my incarnation of it) and move to lots of sweepers and a few targeted removals, and let oona bring it home for the victory. This strategy may not work in practice, since I might win game 2 and then draw game 3 due to time, unless both my opponent and I are playing fairly quickly. Cause this deck will probably eventually win (vs aggro and post-sideboard), but time will be a consideration. That's why game 1 (which I will almost definitely lose) is so important to not drag on taking a lot of time, and why maybe I should just scoop when I see FoD on turn 1...Otherwise, I hope this maindeck will be a competitive deck vs everything else, ie. cruel ultimadeum in all its incarnations, and the random library attack and/or combo. Which makes me think I could stuff the Maralen-combo pieces in the board to come out for games 2 and 3, but I'll make her the center of the deck.

35 spells
4x Path to Exile
4x Countersquall
1x Scepter of Fugue
4x Esper Charm
4x Cryptic Command
3x Plumeveil
3x Wall of Reverence
4x Mulldrifter
2x Makeshift Mannequin
1x Oona, Queen of the Fae
1x Maralen
2x Mindlock Orb
2x Colfenor's Plans
25 lands
4x Mystic Gate
4x Fetid Heath
4x Arcane Sanctum
4x Reflecting Pool
2x Island
2x Plains
2x Swamp
1x Vivid Meadow
1x Vivid Marsh
1x Vivid Creek

Sideboard
4x Wrath of God
2x Martial Coup
2x Hallowed Burial
4x Oblivion Ring
3x Condemn

So in a worse case scenario, I can play Maralen + Mindlock without having the plans IF I have Wall of Reverence in play (or in hand). I would only do that if I have more cards in hand than my opponent, and I have a Cryptic Command and a Countersquall and hopefully a makeshift mannequin. Obviously, you could also have the two-card combo if you have 20+ life and your opponent had less than ten. But it is a possibility. Also, if you're holding an esper charm and need to dig, you can play the plans, and if you don't dig up the card you needed, you can destroy your own plans after using the good cards RFG from it.

Challenge of the Week

a little different this time:

How would you play Maralen / Mindlock Orb combo.

You've already seen mine, if you have questions about it ask. But more importantly, post your version!

I did it for the Lulz

3x Maralen of the Mornsong
4x Mindlock Orb
3x Colfenor's Plans

2x Mind Shatter
4x Thoughtseize
3x Makeshift Mannequin
4x Cryptic Command
4x Agony Warp
3x Scepter of Fugue
4x Countersquall
2x Cancel

Muahaha! No Hand No draws!

Reprinted Card spoiled from Alara Reborn

Terminate
RB - Common
Instant
Destroy target creature. It can't be regenerated.
#46/145

Sweet!

Edit: (fixed)

Might as well play the good stuff along with the bad stuff

12 CREAUTRES
4x Mulldrifter
4x Taurean Mauler
4x Countryside Crusher
6 SORCERIES
4x Ponder
2x Profane Command
2 ARTIFACTS
2x Cloak and Dagger
16 INSTANTS
4x Agony Warp
3x Countersquall
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Cryptic Command
25 LANDS
4x Cascade Bluffs
4x Crumbling Necropolis
4x Exotic Orchard
4x Reflecting Pool
3x Sunken Ruins
4x Island
1x Mountain
1x Swamp

SIDEBOARD
4x Flame Javelin
4x Incinerate
3x Flashfreeze
4x Guttural Response

I want a shrouded Forgotten Ancient for three mana to annoy you while I kill off all of your dudes with burn.dek

revised
14 creatures
4x Countryside Crusher
3x Tauren Mauler
3x Goblin Razerunners
4x Mulldrifter
22 card advantage/BURN-CONTROL!
4x Ponder
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Flame Javelin
4x Incinerate
2x Cloak and Dagger
4x Cryptic Command
24 lands
4x Cascade Bluffs
4x Shivan Reef
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Teramorphic Expanse
6x Island
2x Mountain

sideboard
4x Guttural Response
4x Flashfreeze
4x Pyroclasm
3x Pithing Needle

Mid-range aggro-burn/control: make it through the early game by burning guys to death and drawing cards of ponder and mulldrifter, then take over the late game with Card Advantage + Big Shrouded Creatures + Burn. Razerunners are kind of not that good in this deck, maybe? Maybe Murderous Redcap? Seige-Gang Commander? Razormane Masticore? Sower of Temptation? Caldera Hellion? Even Mindwrack Leige to give all my creatures flash? Ok, probably not Mindwrack Leige, and maybe I'm underestimating the razerunners?

Is it just me, or did Ponder seem like a better choice back when I was trying to work a combo deck out of this? I'm not saying Ponder isn't good. I'm not even saying it shouldn't go in this decklist. I'm just a little unsure about it, since ponder doesn't really shout Mid-range Burn to me. But then again, I don't have the experience with it you do, D-Rok, so correct me if I'm wrong. I was just thinking maybe mindstone, or some other "better" draw card, ie. more than one card.

The sideboard is good for counter-control and for weanie/tokens. If I get into a top-decking situation, I'm probably already in trouble, and this sideboard isn't really going to help (with the exception of topdecking a needle the turn before ajani goes off, maybe), but it does keep me alive longer in the hard and faster aggro matchups.

Almost White Weenie, Splash blue for Mulldrifter

Remember, you can ALWAYS splash Blue for Mulldrifter. Its a Rule. Obey it.

4x Figure of Destiny
4x Goldmeadow Harrier
4x Knight of Meadowgrain
4x Mulldrifter
4x Kitchen Finks
3x Reveillark

4x Path to Exile
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Spectral Procession
3x Martial Coup

4x Adarkar Wastes
4x Mystic Gate
2x Windbrisk Heights
10x Plains
2x Islands

Sygg, River Cuttthoat. UB Control

4x Cursecatcher
4x Sygg, River Cuttthroat
4x Smolder Initiate
4x Painter's Servant
4x Agony Warp
4x CounterSquall
4x Cryptic Command
4x Mulldrifter
4x Ponder

24 UB Lands

Idea:
I've always wanted to play an initiate + Servant Deck and Sygg gave me a reason too!

Draw a lot of cards and get +1 damage in for +1 mana! Countersquall now reads:
1UB
Counter target noncreature spell. Its controller loses 3 life. At EOT draw a card.

Sygg

4 Thoughtseize
4 Blightning
2 Raven's Crime
3 Agonizing Memories

4 Incinerate
4 Flame Javelin
4 Volcanic Fallout
2 Rekindled Flame

4 Sygg
3 Lavaborn Muse
4 Nyxathid

22 lands

I don't know what this would do, but I'm pretty sure its horrible.

sygg challenge deck

Oona's Prowler x 4 1B 3/1 flying, discard -2/0
prickly boggart x 4 B 1/1 fear
cloak and dagger x 4 2 rogue comes into play may equip +2/0 & shroud
Bitterblossom x 4 1B lose 1 life at upkeep put 1/1 fly rogue in play
Infiltrator x 2 BB 2/1 unblockable

Sygg River Cutthroat x 4 BB 1/3 if opp loses 3 life, you draw card.
Morsel Theft x 4 3B or prowl 1B opp loses 3 life, you gain 3 life draw a card.
Blightning x 4 1RB deals 3 to opponent and they discard 2
Incinerate x 4 1R deals 3 to target
Aphotic Wisps x 4 B target gets fear till end turn, draw a card.

12 black 10 red land

not great, but should be consistent - aphotic wisps may seem like an odd choice, but playing rogue decks in the past, nothing makes you more angry than not being able to get your damage through for chump blockers, so fear plus draw for one B sounded good.

t1 B prikly boggart 1/1
t2 BR Oona's Prowler 3/1 attack for 1 opp at 19
t3 BRB Sygg attack with both oona and prickly opp 15 draw card
t4 BRB Blightning attack with both oona and prickly opp 8
t5 BRBR Incenerate draw card, attack get 1 through for prowl morsel theft, draw 2 cards opp. is either -2 or 2
t6 BRBR crimson wisps haste on on a infiltrator critter, draw and attack for win

Above is best case if they didn't run into any wonderful removal - This is a heavy sideboard deck, where bank on putting your answer board control or removal in if you didn't just out pace them the first go through. In that case you probably used cloak to protect sygg, tried to use your burn while waiting on bitterblossom to do something fun.

so after a rethink, no -4 aphotic wisps +4 crimson Wisps = R instant target becomes red gains haste, draw a card.

RB -- I wanted to use blightning + sygg

4x Mogg Fanatic
3x Sygg, River Cutthroat
4x Hellspark Elemental
3x Hell's Thunder
4x Demigod of Revenge
4x Blightning
2x Banefire
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Incinerate
4x Lash Out

4x Graven Cairns
4x Sulferous Springs
4x Swamps
9x Mountain
3x Ghitu Encampment

Board options:
magma spray
stigma lasher
fulminator mage
stillmoon cavalier

Boomstick Win? What Changes would you make to 5c control?

2 Child of Alara
4 Mulldrifter

Other Spells
3 Ponder
4 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
4 Esper Charm
4 Path To Exile
4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Wrath Of God
2 Cruel Ultimatum

Lands
2 Island
2 Cascade Bluffs
2 Flooded Grove
2 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
1 Sunken Ruins
2 Vivid Crag
4 Vivid Creek
2 Vivid Marsh
4 Vivid Meadow

I was drunk when I made the post and miscounted. the counts are right now 35 spells 25 lands

z0rs' Sigil Deck in case anyone missed it:

z0rs said...
4 Cryptic Command
4 Muldrifter
4 Ponder
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile
2 Condemn
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Wrath of God
3 Sigil of the Empty Throne
3 Shimmering Wings

4 Mutavault
1 Faerie Conclave
19 Other W/U lands

Sigil of the Empty Throne, Mentally CHallenged Deck list

Tide Hollow Sculler x 3 wb 2/2 look at players hand remove from game, put back when THS is gone.
Nip Gwyllion x 4 w/b 1/1 life link
Nightsky Mimic x 4 1 w/b 2/1 when play w/b spell becomes 4/4 gains flying
Batwing Brume x 3 wb prevent all combat damage, opponent loses life = # attacking creatures.
Bitterblossom x 3 1b

Double Cleave x 3 1 w/r instant, creature gains double strike.
Edge of Divinity x 4 w/b +2/1 if black, +1/+2 if white
Unholy Strength x 4 b +2/1
Nomad Mythmaker x3 2w 2/2 w tap, put aura from grave attached to creature
Oblivion Ring x 4 2w
Sigil of the Empty Throne x 3

so not a lot of time on this one, main idea, nightsky mimic turn 2, turn 3 drop both edge of divinity and double cleave - pumps mimic to a 7/7 double strike flyer, maybe doing 14 damage.
bitterblossom with some unholy strength or a batwing brume to finish the job. If you make it to late game, you can use the nomad on bitterblossomed flyers to continually use Sigil over and over. none of this seems like a good idea, but red black white mimic deck seems like it might be fun instead.

the collective idea--more sigil decks

4x Path of Exile
4x Bitterblossom
4x Ashling's Prerogative
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Goblin Assault
4x Esper Charm
4x Cryptic Command
4x Wrath
3x Sigil of the Empty Throne
25 lands

Easily the worst deck I've built. Maybe ever.

4x Fertile Ground
4x Bitterblossom
4x Recumbent Bliss
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Esper Charm
4x Mirror Entity
3x Shared Animosity
2x Crucible of Fire
4x Wrath of God
3x Sigil of the Empty Throne

So the idea is to not have an early game, ideally waiting for a turn three (fertile ground turn two) or turn four or turn five wrath, then unload sigil, then next turn play the rest of the cards you are holding as quickly as possible. Here is a typical game.
Turn 1: land.
Turn 2: land, Bitterblossom.
Turn 3: land, fertile ground.
Turn 4: wrath.
Turn 5: land, Sigil.
Turn 6: land, Shared Animosity, Oblivion Ring.
Turn 7: swing for 12 in the air, drop a cruicible of fire and a mirror entity.
Turn 8: pump 1 mana into your mirror entity making all of your creatures 1/1 dragons, with the crucible making them 4/4 dragons, with shared animosity meaning you swing with four 7/7 creatures. You still have mana to play an o-ring, esper charm for opponent discard, or just hold onto cards to reload if they have a creature removal.

Or I could take out mirror entity and crucible of fire and add +3 cryptic command +3 mulldrifter, or something along those lines.
Shared Animosity is still valid because you have faerie tokens and angel tokens.
Yeah it is really, REALLY bad. But that is why it is fun.

Stupidest Challenge of the week evah!

Enchantments:
3x Sigil of the Empty Throne
4x Hoofprints of the Stag
4x Bitterblossom
4x Goblin Assault
4x Fertile Ground
4x Cryptic Command
4x Mulldrifter
4x Ponder
4x Path to Exile

25 lands (5 color stuffs)

Impossible deck challenge

Sigil of the Empty Throne.

Go!

(I want to see this as a 3-4 of)

Planes-razor was a good idea, Drok

I played constructed standard, Jund mana-ramp. I went 2-2. I am growing tired of brg though, so I made some trades and now have:

1x elspeth
1x sarkhan vol (and Drok's got 2 more)
3x garruk wildspeaker
3x ajani vengeant
2x figure of destiny
3x realm razor
4x wooly thoctar
4x O-ring
4x firespout
4x volcanic fallout
4x bop

Pretty much I just need 4x battlefield forge, 2 karpulsan forests (or maybe reflecting pools or exotic orchards) 2 more fod, 2 more elspeth and 4x bloom tender and I'll be ready to have some real fun!

Fun deck!!!!

New evilness in red

4x Tattermunge Maniac
4x Mogg Fanatic
4x Shard Volley
4x Incinerate
4x Lash Out
4x Flame Javelin
4x Fulminator Mage
4x Boggart Ram-Gang
4x Countryside Crusher
4x Hell's Thunder
20 Mountains

sideboard
3x Chaotic Backlash
4x Dragon's Claw
4x Magma Spray
4x Murderous Redcap

I would like to -4 maniac +4 FoD but they still cost too much. Basically I had four Crushers laying around and I wanted to take advantage of a deck that curves out at three and run four crushers. I think it is a better deck than the goblins (although just slightly less fun) but I lacks any conflux goodies. The 7/2 persist guy costs five. So does Demi-god of Revenge. They are both out (unless I remove crusher and volley and add lands, which might be a good idea?)

Any thoughts?

When are you coming back to town anyway, d-rok?

Goblins revisited

19 Mountains
4x Tattermunge Maniac
4x Intimidator Initiate
4x Mogg Fanatic
4x Mudbutton Clanger
4x Tarfire
4x Lash Out
3x Incinerate
4x Goblin King
4x Sensation Gorger
4x Boggart Ram-Gang
2x Seismic Assault

sideboard
4x Flame Javelin
4x Magma Spray
4x Dragon's Claw
3x Relic of Progenitus

Actually this deck can beat some face on the unsuspecting. To win game two or three I need to hope they don't draw their firespout or wrath by turn five.

Here's my question--where does Voracious Dragon go, and with just 19 lands do I just swap it out for seismic assault?? Anything I'm missing?

Sensation Gorger is amazing. Lash Out (not a goblin card) is also pretty amazing the 1/3 times that I win the clash, and also it helps filter out non-goblins when I have the gorger in play. But maybe it could be the cut, also.

What about Raging Goblin instead of mudbutton clangor?

I might actually put this deck together as my FNM deck, just because it will be pretty cheap to maintain. So I want it to be able to go 3-2-0 at least.

Here's some other ideas...

Giantbaiting
Burn Trail
Bogart Shenanigans
Changeling Berserker
Chaotic Backlash (for sideboard)

PRERELEASE!

I played in one today. I'm not going to give a full write-up yet, Ill edit this post later with full write. here's what you need to know:

I went 3-2-1 and finished 9th place. I won 2 packs for that... total field was 28

My final deck:
Conflux:
1x Scepter of Dominance (the house!)
2x Sedraxis Alchemist
1x Rhox Bodyguard
1x Rhox Meditant
1x Armillary Sphere
1x Countersquall (never got played)
1x Aerie Mystics
Lands:
1x Rupture Spire
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Unstable Frontier

Shards of Alara:
1x Sharuum the Hegemon (the bomb)
1x Steward of Valeron
1x Waveskimmer Aven
1x Court Archers
1x Branching Bolt
1x Resounding Wave
1x Windwright Mage
1x Executioner's Capsule
1x Blister Beetle
1x Deft Duelist
1x Resounding Thunder
1x Couriers Capsule
1x Agony Warp
1x Sprouting Thrinax
1x Elvish Visionary

Basic Lands:
4x Plains
3x Islands
3x Swamps
2x Forests
2x Mountain


Round 1, Russ, 5 color Jund Focus.
Game 1 I get Mana-Flooded with 2 early Blister Beetles (I later changed one of them out for the Courier's Capsule) I'm able to hold him off for a while but his big creatures mean that my early Beetles are nothing but chump blockers (I think one of them removed a Skeleton Token.) He beats me pretty handedly.
Game 2, I get some exalted Beat-Down going on. and drop my Scepter of Dominance in the mid-game to keep my opponenet from blocking. game goes pretty quickly.
Game 3 I start of with a Turn 2 Armillary Sphere, followed by Windwright Mage, Sac the Sphere to get my forest and mountain to flesh out my manabase and give my Mage Flying. a little while later I get the Scepter of dominance out and I get my opponent down to 8 before he stabilizes off of a Rakka Mar, and a Grixis Slave Driver. I'm holding a Resounding Thunder with enough mana to cast it, Time gets called during his turn. at the end of his turn I use some removal to get rid off one of his blockers (I have 3 power on board, he has blockers for everything. I answer, he answers.) on turn 5 I top-deck a Branching Bolt to get rid of his last 2 blockers, swing and cast the Resounding thunder just in time to keep from drawing the game. It was Awesome!
RECORD: 1-0

Round 2, James - 5 color esper focus
Game 1 was not good. He gets an c out early and just begins the beatdown on me. The Fear ability means that I have very few creatures to block it and he just whittles away at me with the bad boy. I never get enough removal to take care of it before he beats me down. a couple of other creatures he plays speed things along. I dont even bother showing him the Scepter of Dominance. Side-board some Artifact hate in.
Game 2 is the exact opposite. I drop dudes on turns 2-6 including Elvish Visionary and Rhox Meditant to help keep my hand full. He cant do a thing about it.
Game 3 I open up with a bit of board advantage while he gets a bit of a mana ramp. (+1 creature) Then he drops a Skyward Eye Prophets on turn 5 off of some obelisks, I immediately cast Resounding Thunder to get rid of him (the CA that guy gives is the nuts.) his following turn: Scornful AEther-Lich he beats me down with it again before I can come up with a timely answer, Scepter of dominance helps but he answers with a bigger creature.
RECORD: 1-1

I could not find my record sheet so the rest is from jumbled memories.

Round 3 - ??? too fast to really tell
Game 1: I get mana Screwed. mull to 5 and get stuck on 2 land. I lose. fast.
Game 2: My opponent gets mana screwed, after mulling to 5 gets stuck on 1 land. I win. Fast.
Game 3: I get mana screwed after mulling to 6, get to 3 land, but the colors dont work for whats in my hand. I lose. Fast.
Record 1-2

Round 4: 5 Color Good stuff featuring Grixis focus
Game 1 We both Mulligan to 6, I land a turn 3 Scepter of Dominance and what follows is a very long game of swapped control. Early on my opponent has in play 2 1/1 creatures and a Grixis Battle Mage. I begin tapping down the Battle Mage during his upkeep to force him into making the decision on what to do early, he makes the right decision just about every time. Because of this he continues to maintain CA over me and I get a little worried. by the time he gets multiple sources of blue in play he also has Grixis Slavedriver in play, so I stop tapping down the Battle Mage in the upkeep so that I can tap down the Slavedriver during his Attack Phase. As the game goes on I eventually get to Sharuum which I drop and return to play my Courier's Capsule so that I can get more cards in my hand. I use Sharuum to block the Slave Driver at one point to which he responds with a Resounding thunder to kill my Sharuum. With Damage on the Stack I cast Resounding Wave, returning Sharuum to my hand so that I can cast him again and get yet a 3rd use of my couriers Capsule. Ultimately, he overcomes all of my efforts and finally finishes me off with Rakka Mar's 3/1 elemental tokens. This game actually lasted 40 minutes
Game 2 I keep my opening hand do to its ability to speed through and knowing I HAVE to win this game quick. my opp. mulls to 6 and informs me that he doesn't believe in mulling below that. I play a turn 2 Steward of Valeron, followed by a turn 3 Armillary Sphere to fix all my mana (sac it at opponents eot) followed that up with a rhox meditant - his life goes like: turn 3-18-16-12-8-2-scoop
Game 3: we have 4 minutes when it starts. I have a slightly slower start (dont have the mana accel/fix to start the game. time gets called on my opponents turn with him sitting at 16 life, Im at 20. at the end of his turn I kill his flyer that can block and kill mine (he still has one other reach guy on board) Turn 1 (me) I swing and get 2 damage in {14}) His turn he drops another blocker to replace the one I killed. My turn (3) I swing, get 2 more in {12} and drop Elvish Visionary plus the Scepter of Dominance I drew off of it. also am holding a branching bolt to drop during his turn, which he is actually able to counter. :( On my turn 5 I have the ability to get 6 damage through, but no more. I just needed one more turn to turn this game into a win!
Record 1-2-1

Round 5: 4 color - no white.
Game 1: Im able to drop most of my creatures in good time, get a turn 2, 4, and 5 drop down but am unable to find a second source of white mana for my Scepter. this slows me down a bit but a turn 8 Sharuum pretty much makes the Scepter Useless as I beat down for 6 in the air thanks to a waveskimmer aven. he cant compete
Game 2: Similar setup I dont get any exalted creatures down, but Sharuum comes a little bit earlier and I have executioner's capsule in the yard so I get to recur it to kill off another blocker. My opponent tries to kill off Sharuum at one point, but Im holding the resounding wave again so I just bounce him and replay. easy win.

Record 2-2-1

Match 6 5-color Naya Focus.
Game 1 - I have to mull to six and decide to keep a subpar hand. High curve lots of power in it. My opponent happens to have a very fast hand with creature drops on 2,3, and 5. The early advantage he gets and the fact that the only removal I get is the Scepter spells my defeat. Sideboard 2 2/2 pro green guys (Zombie Outlander.)
Game 2: Outlanders are GOOD. I get both of them down before turn 6 (a little draw help and deck thinning from Visionary, Meditant, and Armillary Sphere.) His Mosstodon becomes a blank and I overwhelm him with my army of small creatures. the Sprouting thrinax when he is at 5 made him scoop.
Game 3: We go back and forth in this one, early Visionary for me, answered with Rip-Clan Crasher by him. Steward of Valeron by me, Visionary by him. Rhox Meditant by me, Aerie Mystics by him. On my turn though I top-deck Branching Bolt and play a Rhox Bodyguard. He plays a Grixis Slavedriver and swings with the Mystics. I decide to take it and save the Bolt so that I can hit the slavedriver as well. I get a Windwright Mage on the following turn and wait one more turn. when my opponent swings I throw the Visionary in front of the Slave Driver, and wipe out his slavedriver and mystics with the branching bolt. the momentum shift is huge and gets bigger when I top-deck the couriers capsule and draw a resounding thunder off of it. I ride the Windwright Mage to victory.

New card for Sean and his gobbies!

Voracious Dragon
3RR
Creature - Dragon
Flying
Devour 1
When Voracious Dragon comes into play, it deals damage equal to twice the number of Goblins it devoured to target creature or player.
4/4


From the Official Conflux Spoiler!

Nifty Combo for Extended

Intruder Alarm + Master Transmuter + Ornithopter + Any Comes into Play effect Artifact

Master Transmuter
3u
Artifact Creature - Human Artificer Rare
{U}, {T}: Return an artifact you control to its owner's hand: You may put an artifact card from your hand into play.
Illus. Chippy 1/2

All sorts of nifty abilities here.

Progenitus Win - Challenge o'f the Week

1x Progenitus
2x Primal Command
2x Dramatic Entrance
4x Cryptic Command
4x Negate
4x Firespout
4x Ponder
4x Mulldrifter
4x Path to Exile
4x Pollen Lullaby
3x Wrath of God

4x Reflecting Pool
4x u/g Filter
4x Mystic Gate
4x Yavimaya Coast
4x Adarkar Wastes
2x Vivid Creek
1x Vivid Grove
1x Vivid Meadow

Planes-Razer

So I've been checking out the Decks to Beat section on the gleemax forums whe I ran into this cute little thing. Its reminescient of that Walkers deck we were working on a bit back. Here's my slight variant:

3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Sarkhan Vol

4 Wooly Thoctar
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Bloom Tender
3 Realm Razer

4 Naya Charm
4 Firespout
4 Oblivion Ring

25 RGW lands.

Challenge of the Week

With conflux coming we suddenly have some new bad cards to use in our weekly challenges. I figured I'd go ahead and put the worst of the worst from the spoiler so far out and see what we can do:

Progenitus
wwuubbrrgg
Legendary Creature - Hydra
Mythic Rare
Protection from everything
If Progenitus would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, reveal Progenitus and shuffle it into its owner's library instead.
10/10

If you can actually survive long enough to get this guy into play, and can keep a wrath from hitting the board, you are pretty much guaranteed the win. the problem is 10 colored mana.

Blightning Deck Challenge

4 Bitterblossom
4 Mulldrifter
4 Blightning
4 Ponder / Thoughtseize
4 Incinerate
4 Agony Warp
4 Sedraxis Specter / Sygg, River Cuttthroat
4 Grixis Charm
4 Flame Javelin

4x Crumbling Necropolis
4x B/R Pain
4x Underground River
4x Graven Cairns
4x Sunken Ruins
4x Reflecting Pool

Blighting, such a wonderful way to play BR

4 x Thoughtseize B discard lose 2 life

4 x Ravenous Rat 1B discard 1/1

4 x Mind Rot 2B discard 2

4 x incinerate 1r 3

4 x firespout 2r 3 to all w/o flying

4 x Oona's Prowler 1B 3/1 discard -2/0

3 x bitterblossom

4 x Blighting 1rb 3 damage discard 2

2 x threaten

4 x lavaborn muse 3R 3/3 if 2 or less cards in hand deals 3

37 cards 23 land

T1 land thought seize

T2 land Oona's prowler

T3 land blighting, 3 from oona, 3 from blighting opp. 14 life

T4 land ravenous rat, bitterblossom, 3 from oona opp. 11 life

T5 land firespout, mind rot, 1 from faerie 3 from oona opp. 7 life

T6 land Lavaborn, 2 from faerie 3 from oona 3 from lava opp. -1 life

so don't know if above is god draw or not, but if you don't see a thought seize for turn 1 with a turn 3 double discard. Pretty basic get rid of their combo early, kill the small ground threats with firespout, and finish with a lavaborn and faeries.

You may have noticed a few other cards I didn't use up there, I've always wanted to do a sleeper agent deck, and it seems like it should go into a discard deck, if I built that one it would be

-4 firespout +4 pyroclasm, -4 lavaborn +4 sleeper agent, -4 Oona's prowler +4 Muddbutton Torch runner, +2 Threaten.

T1 land sleeper agent opp. is 18

T2 land ravenous rat opp. is 16

T3 land blighting 3 to opp. is 11

T4 land incenerate 3, pyroclasm, opp. is 6

T5 muddbutton, thoughtseize opp. is 4

T6 mind rot, att w/muddbutton, opp. is 1

T7 att w/muddbutton = win

Challenge of the Week

Ok here is a card I saw and immedeately wanted to use. It is one of my favorite color combos. It is only three converted mana, and just two colors. It features direct damage, which isn't my typical approach. It features discard, which I love. It's an instant.

Yup, it is Blightning!


















I love this card for so many reason, and yet I have never included it in any decklists. So I'm going to try to build a BR deck that focuses on the theme of blightning--damage and card advantage. Ok, here goes.

4x Mogg Fanatic
4x Thoughtseize
4x Raven's Crime
4x Lash Out
4x Incinerate
4x Manamorphose
4x Bitterblossom
3x Sygg, River Cutthroat
4x Blightning
3x Flame Javelin

4x Sulferous Springs
3x Graven Cairns
8x Swamps
7x Mountains



Adding blue for some puppeteer clique and vendilion clique makes good sense (make your opponent discard kitchen finks, sower of temptations, and murderous redcaps, then use them against them). Also, I'd like some grixis charm in there. Basically, take the focus off of burn and put it into control. Bring in the burn from the board, if necessary.

From conflux you can play with Nyxathid. If your opponent isn't holding many cards, it is a huge turn three creature.

Nyxathid 1BB
Creature - Horror
As Nyxathid comes into play, choose an opponent.
Nyxathid gets -1/-1 for each card in the chosen player's hand.
7/7

So there you go. I finally build my blightning deck. Anyone else?

Was I supposed to be Fixing Sean's Charm deck? Oops

3 x bird of paradise

4 x llanowar elves

3 x Rhys the Redeemed

4 x Elvish Visionary

3 x Wolf-Skull Shaman

3 x crib swap

4 x Mirror Entity

4 x Elvish Harbringer

4 x Imperious Perfect

2 x Gilt-Leaf Archdruid

1 x Nath of the Gilt-Leaf

looks like a 35 card 25 land?

Ever get one of those moments where you look at a card and get an idea that you feel is really funny and then when you're done looking at it, you realize how dumb of an idea it was. Well welcome to the 'prowess of the fair' inspired elves. I originally thought hey persist elves would be hillarious, but guess what there aren't that many of them, then I thought ok cauldron haze elves with prowess, then I saw it would be way easier just to pump out other tokens.

So basic win concept is Harbringer for a Gilt-leaf Archdruid, hopefully you've tokened to 7 creatures and a mirror entity then you tap 7 and woopie you have all the opponents lands, and swarm into them. If you haven't done this by turn 6 you should have muliganed into a llanowar and a harbringer or at least a visionary.

T1 land llanowar

T2 land Elvish Harbringer

T3 land rhys the redeemed, imperious perfect, bird of paradise

T4 land mirror entity, wolf-skull

T5 Gilt-Leaf Archdruid tap 1 - 4 mana make creatures druid 1/1 to 4/4 tap 7 of them and steal opponents lands

T6 tap your and their lands to make all creatures your 4 lands plus all theirs up to 5 equals potentially 7 creatures at 6/6 to 9/9.

That's on god draw, and assuming you didn't get firespouted, or wrathed or jund charmed in the mean time. If you did, you're screwed game over cause this is a one trick pony.

Side board Cauldron haze in, along with elvish champion, and prowess of the fair against mass board removal, and now you might have a chance, cause you cauldron haze, if you have a prowess in play you get 1/1 equal to the number of creatures you lost, and then cauldron haze gets you them back and if you had a imperious perfect or elvish champion in play, all your creatures get to stay in play (I think, Drok will probably let me know if I'm wrong), and even if you don't have either of those in play, so long as you have a prowess of the fair, then they come back into play gets a -1/1 counter and then leaves play again giving you double the number of creatures you originally had in play.

Woopie for answers. other sideboard elves, elvish hexhunter (G, tap sac. destroy enchant), elvish eulogist (sac. gain 1 life per elf in graveyard), oracle of nectars (2G, pay X tap, gain X life), oblivion ring, maybe heartmender for the cauldron, don't really know.

So this is what I did when I couldn't figure out what to do for Sean's Charm deck. I figure Drok will cover that one for me.

Building Challenge

No one came up with a challenge of the week. So here's what I'll do. I will put up a decklist that I think has a fun theme, and you guys can try to improve it, if you feel inspired to do so. I think this decklist has lots of potential. I love Naya Charm, in particular. It lets you get back a card from your graveyard at instant speed. So whatever card in your deck is most useful for your current game, you get to cast a second time. Esper Charm can be devestating with its discard or draw at instant speed, plus it kills pesky enchantments. Grixis Charm has three good abilities all on one card. It is useful in vertially every match-up. So I built a deck around those three cards, with the idea of being able to nullify what my opponent is trying to do, meanwhile whittiling away at their life with my bitterblossom. Here it is:

5c. toolbox-charms

4x Rampant Growth
4x Bitterblossom
4x Fairhaven Elf
3x Esper Charm
3x Naya Charm
3x Grixis Charm
3x Jund Charm
3x Murderous Redcap
3x Sower of Temptation
2x Makeshift Mannequin
3x Mulldrifter
25 Lands

So I like the versatility of the charms. This deck has lots of targeted control stuff, but it is slow, and doesn't have a clear win condition (grixis charm to give my faerie tokens +2/+0 until EoT might be the most obvious).

So how can I improve this obviously not very good deck? The only thing I care about is having Naya Charm, Grixis Charm and Jund Charm all in a deck together.

Conflux Spoiler Discussion

Here is a post for discussion of the upcoming Conflux Set as Spoiler information is currently being released:

http://mtgsalvation.com/conflux-spoiler.html

Post your thoughts on various cards.

HELIX PINNACLE revisited

while on mtgo, I played Knollij. It was the funniest thing I ever saw, and far surpasses our own feeble attempts at abusing helix pinnacle. This is the decklist I faced:

4x Ponder
1x Helix Pinnacle
4x Rampant Growth
1x Idyllic Tutor
4x Farhaven Elf
3x Fertilid
1x Idle Thoughts
4x Mulldrifter
4x Mana Reflection
4x Clarion Ultimatum
4x Time Stretch
2x Mind Spring

4x Plains
4x Bant Panorama
7x Forest
9x Island

Sure it is missing cryptic command, but this version costs about ten bucks to build from the ground up. And it is very amusing.

(Thanks to Knollij for the decklist.)

red goblin deck wins

I really love goblin decks. So I came up with a blazing fast mono-red beauty for our own discussion and entertainment. I probably will never actually play a goblin deck at FNM (unless we can improve on this considerably).

19 Mountains
4x Tattermunge Maniac
4x Intimidator Initiate
4x Mogg Fanatic
4x Mudbutton Clanger
4x Tarfire
4x Lash Out
3x Incinerate
4x Goblin King
4x Sensation Gorger
4x Boggart Ram-Gang
2x Seismic Assault

sideboard
4x Flame Javelin
4x Magma Spray
4x Dragon's Claw
3x Relic of Progenitus



This deck is played like a combo, except your combo pieces are all your little red turds turning sideways as fast as possible. You want to win before your opponent stabilizes. That means you have four turns to do as much damage as possible, then you need to find a way to do just a little bit more on turn four. The easy way would be get to three lands, then start hording them so you can get a nice seismic assault finish.

Did I mention that I love goblins?

BRG Tokens. Again again again.

4x Mogg Fanatic
4x Bitterblossom
3x Dragon Fodder
4x Jund Charm
4x Sprouting Thirnax
4x Kitchen Finks
4x Murderous Redcap
3x Garruk Wildspeaker
2x Seige-Gang Commander
2x Profane Command
4x Sulferous Springs
3x Graven Cairns
2x Karplusan Forest
2x Reflecting Pool
4x Savage Lands
2x Vivid Grove
1x Vivid Crag
1x Vivid Marsh
4x Llanowar Wastes
1x Swamp
1x Mountain

Sideboard:
4x Guttural Response
4x Fulminator Mage
4x Cloudthresher
3x Primal Command


In my previous build, I had BoP. Due to my eight comes in tapped lands, I never once got a turn one birds. So turn four was usually my first chance to play a bird. So it kinda sucked. I replaced it with mogg fanatic, which is a nice drop on turn four or five. It also is a good drop turn one, if that ever happens.

I moved Fanatics to maindeck, so the leftover spot is filled with guttural response, because I want to beat faeries, and I want to beat five color control. That said, I did take out my 2x mind twist (for 5 color control matchups) in favor of +1 cloudthresher and +1 primal command. There are lots of BW token decks in this meta, and I lost to elspeth and glorious anthem and spectral procession. Cloudthresher and Primal Command work well against those three things.

Goblin Assault, although I think its a solid card, wasn't helpful. It makes a turn four and five goblin, but the phrase all goblins must attack if able nerfs their ability to stay around long enough to get help from garruk, and also makes seige-gang considerably worse.

Finally, since I dropped my four birds, I went -1 Seige-gang, and added a fourth dragon fodder.

It might be better to be playing Sarkhan Vol instead of Profane Command or Seige-Gang Commander, but if it is, it is only slightly better. And topdecking a PC or SGC is probably going to win me more games.

potential fnm deck for tomorrow

4x Birds of Paradise
4x Bitterblossom
3x Goblin Assault
4x Jund Charm
4x Sprouting Thirnax
4x Kitchen Finks
4x Murderous Redcap
3x Garruk Wildspeaker
3x Seige-Gang Commander
2x Profane Command

It is not ideal, but here are the 25 lands I had to use:
4x Sulferous Springs
3x Graven Cairns
2x Karplusan Forest
2x Reflecting Pool
4x Savage Lands
2x Vivid Grove
1x Vivid Crag
1x Vivid Marsh
4x Forest
1x Swamp
1x Mountain

(I don't have any GR or GB filter lands, don't have any gilt-leaf palace, or llanowar wastes, only two reflecting pools, only two karplusan forests. I wanted Tree-top villages, but being forced to play four vivids means I can't)

Sideboard:
4x Mogg Fanatic
4x Fulminator Mage
2x Mind Shatter
3x Cloudthresher
2x Primal Command