I have noticed an upswing in power, a lot of which can be attributed to 2 things. The power creep in the newer product, especially in green. And the addition of Urza's block and all the combo silliness that entails.
I've been advertising the games I open as "Friendly Games", in hopes of attracting folks who will play in a friendly fashion.
"Second, Leviathan, can you please explain how this works with reference to Rasputin. " If you are unable to untap with him, the turn after you play him you should have 13 mana available! That's a lot, and can put you ahead really quick.""
This is a typo. Should be "if you are able to untap" Doesn't make sense otherwise, sorry.
As for the Sakashima thing, I'm not a rules guy, I just know what happens on MTGO, and basically you get the benefit of casting from your hand when you copy something. I might feel a little trashy about doing it now that I know (assuming what you are sying is correct), but no one online said anything about it so I had no idea beforehand. I guess tell and ORC or something? I have no idea how we would fix this.
I've never been a huge Trinket Mage guy. If I ran Top, I could see playing it. But in this deck it can only get Sol Ring, Mana Vault and Mana Crypt. Brittle Effigy is definitely worth considering tho. Treasure Mage is more my style, I need to see about playing that guy more.
Also, I've done a few budget articles in the past:
"Wow, the Mind's Eye is going to swing the game"
"Does anyone have an answer to Academy Ruins?"
"You thought it was more important to blow up Radiant than Geth?"
Some people don't mind it, but sometimes you get the players who say "don't tell me what to do, deal with it yourself." But it's worth a try most of the time. Sometimes the battlefield is so cluttered people just can't see stuff, so mentioning it is helpful
Not a bad article. I am inclined to comment on some stuff here.
First off, there is the mention of games not being fun online. The online commander community is defenitly not the same as the paper community. If you are familiar with the social contract, which promotes fun and gentlemens rules game play, then you will realize not a lot of players follow it online. Also everyone's interpretation (sp?) of the social contract is different. When I come across unfun players, I put them on my block list. This doesn't mean I don't like them or the are D-bags, just I don't want to play commander with them. You will start to see regulars that you will enjoy playing with after a while.
Second, Leviathan, can you please explain how this works with reference to Rasputin. " If you are unable to untap with him, the turn after you play him you should have 13 mana available! That's a lot, and can put you ahead really quick."
Third, Consecrated Sphinx is stone cold bonkers in commander. Kill it when it comes into play. And if you manage to get one out when another player has one out, they both trigger off of each person drawing cards. You can easily have a situation where both players end up drawing thier decks out.
Fourth, " Keep in mind that if you cast Sakashima from your hand copying an Eldrazi, you still get the benefit." This is incorrect. We will use Ulamog for this example.
Ulamog reads "When you cast Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, destroy target permanent."
Sakashima Reads "As Sakashima the Impostor comes into play, you may choose a creature in play. "
601.2To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its
costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Casting a spell follows the steps listed
below, in order. If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any
of the steps listed below, the casting of the spell is illegal; the game returns to the moment before
that spell started to be cast (see rule 715, “Handling Illegal Actions”). Announcements and
payments can’t be altered after they’ve been made.
a. Annouce the spell, and put it on the stack
b. Modes, Splices, reveals, Buyback, and all other special choices are made.
c. The number of targets and what those targets are get chosen.
d. If the spell requires a distribution of counters, then those targets and appropriate number of counters is chosen.
e. The total cost of the spell is determined and locked in.
f. Mana abilities are activated to pay for the cost.
g. The cost is actually paid.
h. Once the steps described in 601.2a–g are completed, the spell becomes cast. Any abilities
that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller
had priority before casting it, he or she gets priority.
At this point the ability for casting Ulamog triggers.
603.6e Some .permanents have text that reads “[This permanent] enters the battlefield with . . . ,”
“As [this permanent] enters the battlefield . . . ,” “[This permanent] enters the battlefield as . . .
,” or “[This permanent] enters the battlefield tapped.” Such text is a static ability—not a
triggered ability—whose effect occurs as part of the event that puts the permanent onto the
battlefield.
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund is fantastic in a deck like this. Gives all your dragons haste. I have a similar Dragonstorm deck that uses him, Nicol Bolas, and Broodmate Dragons.
I've noticed looking at all your previous comments from today and the past, you just like to troll people. There is nowhere besides the Casual room that this deck could be played. Just because it beats you doesn't mean its bad. But then I always go back to my normal complaint about the casual room and my opinion of the whiners attitudes:
rules of mtgo:
1. if you win, you netdecked.
2. if your deck is good, it's cheap.
3. if you have $$$, you're lame.
4. if you play discard/counter/ld/mill you're boring.
5. if you don't let your opp win all the time, you're a jerk
his deck is obv too strong for casual, he says he went 8-0 then went to tp room. Great, if he wants to play a competitive storm deck thats where he should be. NOT the casual room. And its not just me who doesnt like storm decks in casual. Its the majority of players who actually want to play a game, not sit there while the opp plays by themselves.
Make a storm deck that interacts, and isnt just a bunch of rituals into instant win and nobody in casual will have an issue.
I would like to see all mythics restricted to one per deck (at least in std). The point of mythics is they are supposed to be super rare, but when every deck plays 15 mythics they dont feel so mythic. Especially when it comes to planeswalkers.
Mythics were not supposed to be utility cards that go 4of in decks, yet thats what they have become. Very very bad thing for standard format, and for players overall. While a small percentage may not mind paying exorbitant prices to be able to compete, the majority of us have a major problem with it. Mythics have made alot of people quit magic, and are continuing to make people quit while adding nothing to the game except excessive power creep.
Agreed, he isn't hard to beat and then with some NPH its even easier i would think. I just got tired of seeing the same decks everytime i sat at a table.
Everytime i play against storm in the casual room, i just immediately quit. I play casual games for fun, not to watch the opp masturbate with a solitaire deck. If you are going to play combo decks in the CASUAL room, at least do something interesting and original that hasnt been done to death for years.
Well we pretty much know it won't be banned, but restricting it I don't think is warrented either.
Legacy decks only run 2 typically, so there is no need to restrict it there.
Hard to tell what will happen long term when it rotates, but we have to assume it will still be a force in extended.
Jace in the current standard is a problem, but its not unbeatable. In fact it can be dealt with rather easily. Even if someone can't afford Big Jace, there is always little jace to combat it. Into the roil is awesome, phyrexian guy works, hexmage works.
Don't get me wrong, Jace is powerful, but part of the reason he is so good is due to Valakut decks.
Valakut decks have kept aggro decks in check for quite some time and Jace simply wrecks Valakut builds.
If you want to blame someone for Jaces awesomeness, blame Primeval and Valakut, without that combo we would see more aggro heavy decks where Jace really can't shine as much.
The last time they banned Ravager for affinity it was because everyone was playing the same deck and it was a deck capable of killing upon casting. While jace sees tons of play, it isn't always in just one build. Its ran in BUG, RUG, Caw, UB, Genesis Wave decks just to name a few. Also Jace is a 4 drop and he doesn't simply win the turn he comes down.
Again, don't get me wrong, the guy flat out wins games, but so does a timely Mana Leak.
And before I get flamed, I own just 2 online and have remained competitive with them.
What about Pact of Negation, its fairly cheap at 2.75 each and would still keep the deck around $20.
I heart me some dragonstorm, it is one of my all time favorite standard decks.
I think you could improve the deck further by limiting your win condition cards, running 6 seems a little high when you have access to the awesome digging ability of legacy cards. I'd like to see you expand on the list further and try to run only 2-3 win condition cards and more ways of finding them. Burning wish for example is another card that could be useful here, it runs around 6 though.
Cool idea for an article, being competitive in Legacy for cheap is certainly tantalizing. A suggestion I would give is a section on what the deck would look like with less budget concerns, the most obvious I see would be replacing the Terramorphics with Scalding Tarns and adding a couple volcanic islands.
I've always wondered this. If mythics are making people leave the game in droves, than why is the game seeing so much success?
I have noticed an upswing in power, a lot of which can be attributed to 2 things. The power creep in the newer product, especially in green. And the addition of Urza's block and all the combo silliness that entails.
I've been advertising the games I open as "Friendly Games", in hopes of attracting folks who will play in a friendly fashion.
I just added trinket mage to my Sedris deck because he can fetch my 4 artifact lands, which is great foe a deck low on colorfixing.
"Second, Leviathan, can you please explain how this works with reference to Rasputin. " If you are unable to untap with him, the turn after you play him you should have 13 mana available! That's a lot, and can put you ahead really quick.""
This is a typo. Should be "if you are able to untap" Doesn't make sense otherwise, sorry.
As for the Sakashima thing, I'm not a rules guy, I just know what happens on MTGO, and basically you get the benefit of casting from your hand when you copy something. I might feel a little trashy about doing it now that I know (assuming what you are sying is correct), but no one online said anything about it so I had no idea beforehand. I guess tell and ORC or something? I have no idea how we would fix this.
I've never been a huge Trinket Mage guy. If I ran Top, I could see playing it. But in this deck it can only get Sol Ring, Mana Vault and Mana Crypt. Brittle Effigy is definitely worth considering tho. Treasure Mage is more my style, I need to see about playing that guy more.
Also, I've done a few budget articles in the past:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/conquerer-commander-vol-xvii-kaervek-merciless
http://puremtgo.com/articles/conqueror-commander-vol-xli-rubinia-soulsinger
http://puremtgo.com/articles/conqueror-commander-vol-xlii-xira-arien
http://puremtgo.com/articles/conqueror-commander-vol-xlviii-nath-gilt-leaf
Plus I'm working on one right now. Stay tuned!
Depending on my mood, I try to be political:
"Wow, the Mind's Eye is going to swing the game"
"Does anyone have an answer to Academy Ruins?"
"You thought it was more important to blow up Radiant than Geth?"
Some people don't mind it, but sometimes you get the players who say "don't tell me what to do, deal with it yourself." But it's worth a try most of the time. Sometimes the battlefield is so cluttered people just can't see stuff, so mentioning it is helpful
Not a bad article. I am inclined to comment on some stuff here.
First off, there is the mention of games not being fun online. The online commander community is defenitly not the same as the paper community. If you are familiar with the social contract, which promotes fun and gentlemens rules game play, then you will realize not a lot of players follow it online. Also everyone's interpretation (sp?) of the social contract is different. When I come across unfun players, I put them on my block list. This doesn't mean I don't like them or the are D-bags, just I don't want to play commander with them. You will start to see regulars that you will enjoy playing with after a while.
Second, Leviathan, can you please explain how this works with reference to Rasputin. " If you are unable to untap with him, the turn after you play him you should have 13 mana available! That's a lot, and can put you ahead really quick."
Third, Consecrated Sphinx is stone cold bonkers in commander. Kill it when it comes into play. And if you manage to get one out when another player has one out, they both trigger off of each person drawing cards. You can easily have a situation where both players end up drawing thier decks out.
Fourth, " Keep in mind that if you cast Sakashima from your hand copying an Eldrazi, you still get the benefit." This is incorrect. We will use Ulamog for this example.
Ulamog reads "When you cast Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, destroy target permanent."
Sakashima Reads "As Sakashima the Impostor comes into play, you may choose a creature in play. "
601.2To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its
costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Casting a spell follows the steps listed
below, in order. If, at any point during the casting of a spell, a player is unable to comply with any
of the steps listed below, the casting of the spell is illegal; the game returns to the moment before
that spell started to be cast (see rule 715, “Handling Illegal Actions”). Announcements and
payments can’t be altered after they’ve been made.
a. Annouce the spell, and put it on the stack
b. Modes, Splices, reveals, Buyback, and all other special choices are made.
c. The number of targets and what those targets are get chosen.
d. If the spell requires a distribution of counters, then those targets and appropriate number of counters is chosen.
e. The total cost of the spell is determined and locked in.
f. Mana abilities are activated to pay for the cost.
g. The cost is actually paid.
h. Once the steps described in 601.2a–g are completed, the spell becomes cast. Any abilities
that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller
had priority before casting it, he or she gets priority.
At this point the ability for casting Ulamog triggers.
603.6e Some .permanents have text that reads “[This permanent] enters the battlefield with . . . ,”
“As [this permanent] enters the battlefield . . . ,” “[This permanent] enters the battlefield as . . .
,” or “[This permanent] enters the battlefield tapped.” Such text is a static ability—not a
triggered ability—whose effect occurs as part of the event that puts the permanent onto the
battlefield.
This is when Shakashima comes into play.
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund is fantastic in a deck like this. Gives all your dragons haste. I have a similar Dragonstorm deck that uses him, Nicol Bolas, and Broodmate Dragons.
I've noticed looking at all your previous comments from today and the past, you just like to troll people. There is nowhere besides the Casual room that this deck could be played. Just because it beats you doesn't mean its bad. But then I always go back to my normal complaint about the casual room and my opinion of the whiners attitudes:
rules of mtgo:
1. if you win, you netdecked.
2. if your deck is good, it's cheap.
3. if you have $$$, you're lame.
4. if you play discard/counter/ld/mill you're boring.
5. if you don't let your opp win all the time, you're a jerk
his deck is obv too strong for casual, he says he went 8-0 then went to tp room. Great, if he wants to play a competitive storm deck thats where he should be. NOT the casual room. And its not just me who doesnt like storm decks in casual. Its the majority of players who actually want to play a game, not sit there while the opp plays by themselves.
Make a storm deck that interacts, and isnt just a bunch of rituals into instant win and nobody in casual will have an issue.
Very VERY bad comment. The sort of comment I never thought I'd see in here. :(
I agree with Raddman 100%
So where do you suggest he plays his dragonstorm deck?
He can't play it in the tournament practice room because it isn't a tourney worthy deck.
Just because this deck has been played over and over doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy playing it.
If you don't like playing against storm decks in casual, I am assuming you put in your game description your distain for them.
I would like to see all mythics restricted to one per deck (at least in std). The point of mythics is they are supposed to be super rare, but when every deck plays 15 mythics they dont feel so mythic. Especially when it comes to planeswalkers.
Mythics were not supposed to be utility cards that go 4of in decks, yet thats what they have become. Very very bad thing for standard format, and for players overall. While a small percentage may not mind paying exorbitant prices to be able to compete, the majority of us have a major problem with it. Mythics have made alot of people quit magic, and are continuing to make people quit while adding nothing to the game except excessive power creep.
Agreed, he isn't hard to beat and then with some NPH its even easier i would think. I just got tired of seeing the same decks everytime i sat at a table.
Everytime i play against storm in the casual room, i just immediately quit. I play casual games for fun, not to watch the opp masturbate with a solitaire deck. If you are going to play combo decks in the CASUAL room, at least do something interesting and original that hasnt been done to death for years.
Ditto
Oh no! I've been away from Pauper PRE's for months and return to see an old deck still winning.
Oh well! Nice article.
I like that red deck. I'm a notorious "sligh" hater but that one actually has some fun in it.
Well we pretty much know it won't be banned, but restricting it I don't think is warrented either.
Legacy decks only run 2 typically, so there is no need to restrict it there.
Hard to tell what will happen long term when it rotates, but we have to assume it will still be a force in extended.
Jace in the current standard is a problem, but its not unbeatable. In fact it can be dealt with rather easily. Even if someone can't afford Big Jace, there is always little jace to combat it. Into the roil is awesome, phyrexian guy works, hexmage works.
Don't get me wrong, Jace is powerful, but part of the reason he is so good is due to Valakut decks.
Valakut decks have kept aggro decks in check for quite some time and Jace simply wrecks Valakut builds.
If you want to blame someone for Jaces awesomeness, blame Primeval and Valakut, without that combo we would see more aggro heavy decks where Jace really can't shine as much.
The last time they banned Ravager for affinity it was because everyone was playing the same deck and it was a deck capable of killing upon casting. While jace sees tons of play, it isn't always in just one build. Its ran in BUG, RUG, Caw, UB, Genesis Wave decks just to name a few. Also Jace is a 4 drop and he doesn't simply win the turn he comes down.
Again, don't get me wrong, the guy flat out wins games, but so does a timely Mana Leak.
And before I get flamed, I own just 2 online and have remained competitive with them.
Eh I highly doubt Wizards will ban their posterboy. I just quit playing tournaments til he rotates.
What about Pact of Negation, its fairly cheap at 2.75 each and would still keep the deck around $20.
I heart me some dragonstorm, it is one of my all time favorite standard decks.
I think you could improve the deck further by limiting your win condition cards, running 6 seems a little high when you have access to the awesome digging ability of legacy cards. I'd like to see you expand on the list further and try to run only 2-3 win condition cards and more ways of finding them. Burning wish for example is another card that could be useful here, it runs around 6 though.
Great job!
My wife resembles that comment lol.
Nah my wife is a drop dead beauty!!!
PS. I hope she reads this!
Fun read!
There are a couple of sentences about that at the end, in later articles I will try to make it longer and its own section.
Cool idea for an article, being competitive in Legacy for cheap is certainly tantalizing. A suggestion I would give is a section on what the deck would look like with less budget concerns, the most obvious I see would be replacing the Terramorphics with Scalding Tarns and adding a couple volcanic islands.
These articles show the true power and greatness of Legacy. I hope my budget articles one day evolve into something like this. Great read!