At Gathering Magic, community is everything. We absolutely love our twitter friends, forum members, loyal commentors and even our hatemailers! So that is why, from time to time, we give each of you a chance to share in the ever-brightening limelight that shines splendidly over this realm. In this mailbag, you’ll find questions from old-time members, first time tweeters and even a Wizards of the Coast R&D member! So sit back, relax and watch the knowledge bombs drop.
Well, well well… look what the.. very large cat dragged in. Looks like all of the rumors about Rise of the Eldrazi were true! Annihilator was predicted months ago as well as the colorless nature and hugeness of these guys. One interesting thing of note is the lack of Indestructibility. Doom Bladers unite! Also, check out that sweet almost full frame art! Gorgeous! I also like the other two abilities as well. The collector’s number seems to be out of place.. artifacts/colorless cards are usually higher up in the set number while this one is a the front end (6/248). Is the entire set colorless?!! Or is it just a new way of numbering for non-colorless, non-artifact spells?! Speculate away in this thread or on our Rise of the Eldrazi spoiler page. Be sure to check out the full reveal at DailyMTG as well. It’s worth watching!
Arix: If you could eliminate a colour, what would it be?
The premise of this question is sort of like asking “which limb would you remove if you were forced to choose one?” Each of the colors is so packed with flavor, history and nostalgia that losing one would be like losing an old friend. That’s why I know I’m going to need a snowshovel to get through the pile of hatemail coming my way after I say this.. If I were forced, at wand-point, to eliminate a color, it would have to be white. Of all the colors, I think white is the least unique and its abilities could easily be parsed with the other colors. Blue is already quite defensive and could absorb that aspect of the color. Black already mirrors white in creature destruction and graveyard manipulation. Angels and soldiers aren’t a critical part of the game, to me as they’re fairly simple to replicate in other colors. Again, horrible, horrible, unfair question, Arix.. but I think White is the answer.
rianad: If you were to have a tourney with all of “the deck’s” from previous sets which would come out on top?
I actually posed the question of Fae v. Jund to our twitterers the other day and it was almost a 50/50 split between the answers! It’s really tough to judge a “the deck” outside of its own format. The quick answer to your question would probably be the “Turn 2 Win” channel-fireball decks from the legacy days. Or maybe the Dark Ritual / Hymn to Tourach / Hypnotic Specter decks that I always wished I were around for. I think a more interesting and workable question/answer would be to compare two “The Decks” from the same era. Jund vs. Fae? I’d put money on Fae. If the leeches start landing on turn two you’re going to have problems, but if you can keep blightning at bay with Negate, and Glen Elendra, Archmage I think you’ll be set with your evasive creatures and board lockdown.
slickmickers: Will there ever be a term for “can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control”? if so, what will it be?
Probably not. But if there were, it would be called “No Touchy!“
Twinblaze: If you were to have a tournament with every Theme Deck and Intro Pack ever made, which one would win?
I think the “Premium Sliver Deck” could have used a few more rares but it is definitely one of the strongest preconstructed decks ever printed. I’ve also had a lot of success with the “Jace Deck” in Jace vs. Chandra. I wasn’t around for the Tempest slivers or any of the other classic precons but generally speaking, cards are more powerful today anyhow so I’d go with one of the planeswalker’s decks or the Premium Sliver deck.
mtgradio: Favorite EDH general? Or favorite “hidden gem” cards for EDH? (If you play EDH that is)
Well, I think the best general is different from my favorite. I personally enjoy the bigger generals who only come out once or twice but are always lurking in the background with game-winning abilities like Oona, Queen of the Fae, Akroma, Angel of Wrath, or even Lorthos, the Tidemaker. But that’s just me. Other people tend to play generals that are 3CMC and have some bonkers ability like “Suspend Darksteel Colossus for 2, please”. Did that sound bitter?
mturian: How come there are only 5 colors in Magic?
However much Mike Turian wishes there would be both “Green” and “Dark Green” in Magic the Gathering- it ain’t happening. I think you could make a strong case that Artifacts are more or less their own color. Though they can be used by other colors, they still have their own unique strengths and weaknesses and tribal elements. There are only so many things you can do in Magic the Gathering. If you think about the abilities on cards in the core sets, are there any abilities that are “colorless” that you could really divvy up to another, 6th color? R&D would have to either take abilities from the other colors or just start making up stuff for this potential new color. Both of which aren’t very likely or desirable. I think there’s something to be said for simplicity in a game that revels in its own complicatedness. Adding another, entire color would change the game fundamentally, and while I’m not afraid of change once in a while, I am in love with the fundamentals of Magic the Gathering. I could see something like the Eldrazi sort of being their own “color” for a set or two but a permanent change to the color wheel would be a disaster. Don’t do it Mike! Keep fighting for the fundamentals! Freeedooooooooom!!!!
10 cards would need their own article! I think Fireball is one of the more satisfying cards to draw, cast and split into two or three targets! I’m also having fun with Treasure Hunt because, for some unknown reason, I’m averaging a 3 card draw with that puppy! Great feeling to draw 3 or 4 for two mana.
thephoenix5: How many allies is ‘critical mass’ in a draft deck? What is the leading archtype in ZZW?
I think you need to look for quality over quantity when playing allies. That Jwari Shapeshifter isn’t going to help you if you aren’t playing quality allies. I’ve even put allies in a non-ally deck just because they’re a 2/2 for two! – Kandazu Blademaster comes to mind as an “always play” for me. As far as the leading archetype.. I’ve seen a lot of white equipment decks (Basilisk Collar?!) taking tournaments as well as the old landfall ZEN decks that dominated ZZZ.
I’m no judge, but.. a clone of a permanent is a clone of the permanent without any effects applied to it. It doesn’t matter if you pumped up your Shivan Dragon before you Cloned it. The Clone would come in to play as a brand new, just cast, creature. In your scenario, you would get a copy of an unanimated man-land (or 5 if you kicked it!) Feel free to activate them all if you’ve got the 20 mana!
mtgcolorpie: What’s your preferred block structure? Two Mini-Blocks (Big-Small-Big-Small), Regular (Alara) Or U (Big-Small-Big)? Other?
I don’t really mind any of the combinations we’ve seen so far. I like the new system (something new every 3 months) because it doesn’t leave people waiting six months for a new set. I suppose, if I had to choose, I’d prefer Alara’s structure. I’m excited for Rise of the Eldrazi of course, but one has to wonder how many boxes of it I’ll have to buy to get what I need in the large set! I don’t mind the small sets at all (as long as they’re done well). I was almost as excited for WWK as I was for ZEN. But maybe that was more because of my new BFF…
Baneslayer Angel has the tactile advantage, for obvious reasons. But if the Persecutor brought his Trader friend from the Bazzar, I think things might be exponentially more awkward.
RobertEStevens: If you cascade into a card with kicker/multikicker, can you pay the kicker/multikicker cost?
Yep, happened in the final match (Jund vs. Jund) at Pro Tour San Diego actually. Bloodbraid Elf cascaded into a Goblin Ruinblaster which was then kicked. Deadly!
h2o_ohmalley: How do you see Magic evolving in the next few years, and yourself along with it?
M10 was a big turning point for Magic. Whatever your opinions of the Alara block, you have to admit that it is one of those “love it or hate it” expansions. % 100 gold sets get a lot of people excited but alienate a lot of the casual, new players who don’t have the $200 mana base, or even the skills to pull off a proper tri-color deck. M10 did an about-face from Alara and firmly declared that the colorwheel was back. Zendikar has followed up with more of that philosophy. That background established- I think Magic should and will continue towards a more wholistic approach to creating and marketing their cards. I’ve written about this in almost every article in the past year but I’ll say it again- Magic needs to appeal to the masses. If fantasy like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter can take the world by storm, Magic can too. I hope it will keep moving in the direction I see it heading now. The Wii-methodology- The more players in the game, the healthier it will be for everyone. Bigger prizes, more tournaments, more cards, more interesting side products, etc.
Personally, I’ve been trying to sharpen my MTGO skills lately and want to start really trying for Pro Tour invites online this year. I think Magic will become more and more integrated with the digital world. I’ve written about that as well. The future of Magic looks very bright and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it more “main-streamed” some time in the next few years!
I’d like to thank everyone for their questions, even those who didn’t get to see theirs answered! We’ll probably end up doing this again some time in the future so be sure to follow us on twitter and/or join our forums if you want to participate in the next one!
If you are a regular visitor to Gathering Magic then you know at least one thing about us: we aren’t exactly a pair of super-Spike tournament players. Most of our competitive experience comes form drafts and other limited formats that still hold an element of surprise to the player. That isn’t to say that we don’t occasionally get our Standard/Type II feet wet at a FNM or on MTGO. When we do feel that pull, it is normally because we have created something fun (read: cheap and unique) that is good enough to shuffle up at an event and with a little luck take home a few packs as reward. Worldwake brought a slew of cool new rares to the table, and one of my favorites was Deaths Shadow. A 13/13 for one mana is the best cost per power/toughness ratio ever printed. Trying to find a way to effectively use this nasty creature we stumbled across Ad Nauseam sitting alone in some trade binder. The light bulb turned on and after a few takes the deck ended up looking like this:
In a competitive environment the first question of any new build is simple, can you beat the stand-bys: Boros, Naya, and of course Jund. The answer, more often than not, is “no”. You won’t waltz into a Grand Prix and hand Louis Scott-Vargas his ass, but you’ll be more than competitive online and at FNM. The reason is simple, all the elite decks rely on creatures as a win condition. With the card advantage of a well-timed Ad Nauseam or Mind Sludge your opponent won’t stand a chance. And just when your foe closes in on your nearly defeated corpse, you can lay out a pair of 8/8 Death’s Shadows for a measly two mana. Leaving enough left over for to Doom Blade a path to victory. Often within a turn of dropping the Shadows. Jund is a challenge because of the natural card advantage (it’s still freaking Jund!), but Black Knights and Smother can delay long enough for a coupe de grace Ad Nauseam. All of this might sound preposterous, so we dove in to MTGO’s tournament practice room to find out for ourselves.
best friends...
A perfectly healthy 5-2 MTGO match record did leave a few things to be desired and gave us some others to ponder. First, if you are playing against a deck using a non-traditional win condition you will need some luck on your side. Ad Shadow’s first match was against a turbo fog build that won consecutive close calls. A few matches later, the second loss came at the hands of a Valakut the Molten Pinnacle deck. Your best bet against any of these types is to sideboard every creature and swarm while praying for a turn five Mind Sludge. Hopefully with a little luck, or a well placed Tectonic Edge you’ll prevail. Second, if you fail to draw Ad Nauseam at some point in the game you are basically wheeling out a weak Vampire tribal deck. That can be as bad as it sounds. Even against creature heavy builds it lost most of the non-Nauseam games. Finally, Jund is still very tough to play. Partly because knowing when to ‘go off’ is much harder due to all the direct damage/haste involved. So be careful against the King of Standard, err on the side of caution life-wise, for he takes no prisoners.
...forever
Not everything need be a cautionary tale however. This deck won the Jund match (barely) and won somewhat easily against the two Naya decks it faced. There really is something satisfying about not caring when your opponent drops that Basilisk Collar, because nothing they equip will live to see the red zone. After a few matches it became clear that this is a deck with which you will want to use all your removal early. Especially on soon-to-be threats like Knight of the Reliquary (who will protect itself with Sejiri Steppe if you let your opponent untap with it) or Scute Mob. Where Boros is concerned you’ll have the natural advantage of life-gain so muddle up the ground (Black Knights are nice here) and save your removal for bigger threats. In the fist game of the Boros match, hanging on with 5 life against 18, a double dose of Death’s Shadow along with a Doom Blade drew a concession.
Apologies for boring you with quasi-real matches and fatherly advice, but we can’t help ourselves. Magic is fun in all of its forms, and that means playing a competitive deck now and again. For those not too dedicated to the cause, spending a little less $$$ (all-in this decks should cost you no more than $20) or piloting a rogue build is really cool. Of course if money is no object, and you want a slightly more competitive build try throwing some fetch lands in the mix. Sorry, that was more advice, right? Enough of that, now get out and start playing this thing for yourselves.
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I actually posed the question of Fae v. Jund to our twitterers the other day and it was almost a 50/50 split between the answers! It’s really tough to judge a “the deck” outside of its own format. The quick answer to your question would probably be the “Turn 2 Win” channel-fireball decks from the legacy days. Or maybe the Dark Ritual / Hymn to Tourach / Hypnotic Specter decks that I always wished I were around for. I think a more interesting and workable question/answer would be to compare two “The Decks” from the same era. Jund vs. Fae? I’d put money on Fae. If the leeches start landing on turn two you’re going to have problems, but if you can keep blightning at bay with Negate, and Glen Elendra, Archmage I think you’ll be set with your evasive creatures and board lockdown.
However much Mike Turian wishes there would be both “Green” and “Dark Green” in Magic the Gathering- it ain’t happening. I think you could make a strong case that Artifacts are more or less their own color. Though they can be used by other colors, they still have their own unique strengths and weaknesses and tribal elements. There are only so many things you can do in Magic the Gathering. If you think about the abilities on cards in the core sets, are there any abilities that are “colorless” that you could really divvy up to another, 6th color? R&D would have to either take abilities from the other colors or just start making up stuff for this potential new color. Both of which aren’t very likely or desirable. I think there’s something to be said for simplicity in a game that revels in its own complicatedness. Adding another, entire color would change the game fundamentally, and while I’m not afraid of change once in a while, I am in love with the fundamentals of Magic the Gathering. I could see something like the Eldrazi sort of being their own “color” for a set or two but a permanent change to the color wheel would be a disaster. Don’t do it Mike! Keep fighting for the fundamentals! Freeedooooooooom!!!!
M10 was a big turning point for Magic. Whatever your opinions of the Alara block, you have to admit that it is one of those “love it or hate it” expansions. % 100 gold sets get a lot of people excited but alienate a lot of the casual, new players who don’t have the $200 mana base, or even the skills to pull off a proper tri-color deck. M10 did an about-face from Alara and firmly declared that the colorwheel was back. Zendikar has followed up with more of that philosophy. That background established- I think Magic should and will continue towards a more wholistic approach to creating and marketing their cards. I’ve written about this in almost every article in the past year but I’ll say it again- Magic needs to appeal to the masses. If fantasy like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter can take the world by storm, Magic can too. I hope it will keep moving in the direction I see it heading now. The Wii-methodology- The more players in the game, the healthier it will be for everyone. Bigger prizes, more tournaments, more cards, more interesting side products, etc.
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