Yeah, me too; I think we can craft a solution though... I need to playtest it (as soon as I fix the PC I use for MTGO) but I think we can substitute the sphinx with a combination of the following cards:
(more) Carnifex Demon:
same cmc, same power even when it has counters, interesting ability to make up for the loss of card adv and they actually synergy with each other.
Vivisection: a bit expensive but it can work, especially when you sac beforehand the creatures that will die anyway to the carnifex ability.
I'd first try with bringing in 1x Carnifex, 1x Skinrender, 2x Vivisection and probably substituting the 2 cards from the sideboard with 2x Corrupted Conscience (instead of the Volition Reins not to clog the 6cmc spot even more) that can work pretty well stealing those Heroes of Bladehold and/or can be used in combination with Vivisection in case you don't have creatures to sac.
Also, I agree with Jacob for the NPH cards, Despise is going to be an auto-include against Tezzeret or Koth decks.
Holy crap guys! do you have any idea how hard it was to keep this a secret! unfortunatly my bio is blank because i was at work when the email went out. hopefully they fill it in soon! Thanks for the support!
block is a big reason he is so high... he has seen play in std as well though.
U/B control is great against Black infect and it seems to have game aginast Tempered steel as well. The Tezz infect seems like it might be the hardest match but running 4 steel sabatage seems like a great was to shore up that match... UB control might be well positioned right now... If a few days it will get a few more tools to deal with problem children like tezz and koth... not too sure how the new meta will change post NPH in block.
Tempered steel seems like it will be popular since its fairly cheap to build a cheap version of it. (no inkmoth and hero etc). did mono black infect get anything in NPH that will make it better? IMHO it doesnt look like it did... mana fixing with the new wellspring will bring some more options to the table. Unlike Sphere of the suns (which can ramp you a mana) the new wellspring cant just be viridian curroptered away since you already got the value out of it. I suspect it will fuel a 3 color tezz build in block... not too sure how viable that will turn out to be though.
Agur, I enjoyed the article! Please continue with the block updates. I really enjoy the format that has more breathing room with out hawks and swords. Thanks for the article again!
Man I was gonna put this list together and try it out until i saw Consecrated Sphinx price tag and I'm sure theres no replacement for him in this list. Any ideas why it is so expensive?
Rd. 2 was bonkers. The power of Yawgmoth's Will is on full display there and it always amazes me the power difference one card can make between Classic and Legacy. Also, it sounded like you were starting to tilt there with all those Stifles and counter magic, but you kept it together, well done! *golf clap*
I appreciate these block articles, especially as I am looking to get back into the game again and block would be the obvious starting point since I sold off a lot of the mythic staples from Zendikar block. I'm looking forward to seeing how block develops during the next couple of weeks, especially after the Pro Tour. Hopefully it'll be an interesting format to play in.
Actually, there is another creature with flying, first strike, and trample. And it's the only creature that fulfills your criteria AND isn't silver-bordered (I didn't even consider the spawn when scanning the search result on magiccards.info):
That the price of Force of Will indicates a bubble. Legacy has been increasing in popularity, and the card is a staple, and the supply is low. It could be a little high right now, but I think the price reflects the demand relative to the supply.
I sold my Force of Wills a while ago, but I think it's very short-sighted to say that Wizards does not see any profit from refusing to reprint rare cards. The fact that they will not reprint a card even though it may reduce the number of players in a format (and where they could see a pretty solid short-term spike) indicates that they still believe in the collectibility and long term value of their merchandise. It gives us assurance that we can buy into a format and not have worthless cardboard/pixels at the end. I'm not saying they shouldn't ever reprint cards, just that there are more factors than "it's free! just print the cards and make money."
I'm sure they are carefully weighing the options and considering how to maximize the playability of the game while still maintaining the integrity of the artificial scarcity that creates the value of the cards.
Well, I wouldn't say that the client is garbage; it has problems, but most of the times you can work around them. It's a year I started playing again online and I have filled just one refund request (and got the refund as well), other than that I crashed a few times but I was always able to get back into the game without losing too much time.
As for the replays, it's an easy problem to solve; just note down the number of the game and then all you have to do is to edit a text file (there is an article here on puremtgo explaining how IIRC) to watch all the replays you want (even other player's replays) without problems.
Just avoid the turn fast-forward button as it sometimes crashes but the rest works just fine.
This is what Heath sent me earlier
"Just shoot a message to "mtgo traders" from 9am-4pm EST mon, thur, fri. I will move them to my personal account and list you as a donator"
V/R
HK
Good luck, Whiffy. Do the team, the site, and the community at large proud!
A well deserved nomination!!! Well done sir! Do the Clan and Pure proud!
By a wide margin. LSV, Prolepsis9, ChrisKool and Whiffy... those are good players... not like the jokers who went the first time!
Heh but no pressure right? :P
Fantastic and congrats. Playing in the Community Cup is insanely fun. Have a blast.
Remember to ask Wizards if they will fill your cup account with foils. :)
One final thing - So far, all the names on that cup are community members. Don't mess that up!
Love the series and congrats to you and all who will participate =)
Without Swords? Which block would that be?
Yeah, me too; I think we can craft a solution though... I need to playtest it (as soon as I fix the PC I use for MTGO) but I think we can substitute the sphinx with a combination of the following cards:
(more) Carnifex Demon:
same cmc, same power even when it has counters, interesting ability to make up for the loss of card adv and they actually synergy with each other.
Vivisection: a bit expensive but it can work, especially when you sac beforehand the creatures that will die anyway to the carnifex ability.
I'd first try with bringing in 1x Carnifex, 1x Skinrender, 2x Vivisection and probably substituting the 2 cards from the sideboard with 2x Corrupted Conscience (instead of the Volition Reins not to clog the 6cmc spot even more) that can work pretty well stealing those Heroes of Bladehold and/or can be used in combination with Vivisection in case you don't have creatures to sac.
Also, I agree with Jacob for the NPH cards, Despise is going to be an auto-include against Tezzeret or Koth decks.
Holy crap guys! do you have any idea how hard it was to keep this a secret! unfortunatly my bio is blank because i was at work when the email went out. hopefully they fill it in soon! Thanks for the support!
block is a big reason he is so high... he has seen play in std as well though.
U/B control is great against Black infect and it seems to have game aginast Tempered steel as well. The Tezz infect seems like it might be the hardest match but running 4 steel sabatage seems like a great was to shore up that match... UB control might be well positioned right now... If a few days it will get a few more tools to deal with problem children like tezz and koth... not too sure how the new meta will change post NPH in block.
Tempered steel seems like it will be popular since its fairly cheap to build a cheap version of it. (no inkmoth and hero etc). did mono black infect get anything in NPH that will make it better? IMHO it doesnt look like it did... mana fixing with the new wellspring will bring some more options to the table. Unlike Sphere of the suns (which can ramp you a mana) the new wellspring cant just be viridian curroptered away since you already got the value out of it. I suspect it will fuel a 3 color tezz build in block... not too sure how viable that will turn out to be though.
Agur, I enjoyed the article! Please continue with the block updates. I really enjoy the format that has more breathing room with out hawks and swords. Thanks for the article again!
Congrats George and make us all proud!
You can PM me for all your testing needs.
LE
First of Great Article
Man I was gonna put this list together and try it out until i saw Consecrated Sphinx price tag and I'm sure theres no replacement for him in this list. Any ideas why it is so expensive?
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/717
Oh and congratulations George!
Linkage? And grats Whiffy :D
Was coming on here to post the exact same thing! Glad that PureMTGO has another rep this year, and you deserve it.
OMG dude!!! Congratulations man on making the community cup team!!! Do us proud!
Who should I contact to add something to the raffle?
Finally donated. Forgot to put my MTGO username though :) I sent you an email. encouraging all my buddies to donate.
Rd. 2 was bonkers. The power of Yawgmoth's Will is on full display there and it always amazes me the power difference one card can make between Classic and Legacy. Also, it sounded like you were starting to tilt there with all those Stifles and counter magic, but you kept it together, well done! *golf clap*
Very cool.
I appreciate these block articles, especially as I am looking to get back into the game again and block would be the obvious starting point since I sold off a lot of the mythic staples from Zendikar block. I'm looking forward to seeing how block develops during the next couple of weeks, especially after the Pro Tour. Hopefully it'll be an interesting format to play in.
Regarding the trivia question about Power Matrix:
Actually, there is another creature with flying, first strike, and trample. And it's the only creature that fulfills your criteria AND isn't silver-bordered (I didn't even consider the spawn when scanning the search result on magiccards.info):
http://magiccards.info/sc/en/88.html
OK, it has double strike. But that's strictly better than first strike, so...?
That the price of Force of Will indicates a bubble. Legacy has been increasing in popularity, and the card is a staple, and the supply is low. It could be a little high right now, but I think the price reflects the demand relative to the supply.
I sold my Force of Wills a while ago, but I think it's very short-sighted to say that Wizards does not see any profit from refusing to reprint rare cards. The fact that they will not reprint a card even though it may reduce the number of players in a format (and where they could see a pretty solid short-term spike) indicates that they still believe in the collectibility and long term value of their merchandise. It gives us assurance that we can buy into a format and not have worthless cardboard/pixels at the end. I'm not saying they shouldn't ever reprint cards, just that there are more factors than "it's free! just print the cards and make money."
I'm sure they are carefully weighing the options and considering how to maximize the playability of the game while still maintaining the integrity of the artificial scarcity that creates the value of the cards.
Well, I wouldn't say that the client is garbage; it has problems, but most of the times you can work around them. It's a year I started playing again online and I have filled just one refund request (and got the refund as well), other than that I crashed a few times but I was always able to get back into the game without losing too much time.
As for the replays, it's an easy problem to solve; just note down the number of the game and then all you have to do is to edit a text file (there is an article here on puremtgo explaining how IIRC) to watch all the replays you want (even other player's replays) without problems.
Just avoid the turn fast-forward button as it sometimes crashes but the rest works just fine.