Having piloted that GW Ramp deck in two daily events (3-1 in both), I can honestly say Genesis wave isn't necessary. I agree that baneslayer isn't needed either. I cut the banes and the waves in replace of 3 acidic slime which just wins games period and also for day of judgement to help in the early game.
GW is so much fun to play, even sleeved it up at a paper FNM and went 4-0 with it. I tried Iona, but never really felt it all that necessary, I'd almost rather run Terastodon in that spot if I was going to add another creature. To be honest the deck doesn't really need another creature. I also ran 24 lands instead of the 23 in your build.
This play is just unfair:
T1 - play land
T2- Land, Play overgrown battlement
T3- Miss land drop, play wall of omens, tap battlement and play another battlement
T4 - Hit land drop, tap for 3 mana, tap both battlements for 6 mana - 9 mana turn 4!!!!
While this won't happen often, during testing I have yet to lose a game with that start lol!
Yeah, I'm not used to my laptop touchpad, so had to post again with better rating.
@Paul: thanks for the recommendation to choose 5 instead of 2 :P
The article strikes a chord with me because we (Magic players) have other, similar interests outside of Magic. It might be poker, Boggle, whatever, but it gives a good idea of how the "gathering" part of Magic: the Gathering allows us to share more than just one card game.
Now if I can just use the lessons learned from Candyland, Spill the Beans, and other games I play with my kids, I'd be in business.
Actually, I thought the copying of the Hawk by the Gargantuan would let you search up other Gargantuans, but in fact that does not work. Oh well. Still a decent card for Mass Polymorph decks so log as you can assure it's at the top of the library. Unfortunately the best card for this is Jace, the Wallet Emptyer. Oh, well.
I've got your old RSS feed on Itunes and it hasn't updated in forever. And you show up on MTGCast like weeks or months late which is my main feed for magic podcasts. Am I missing something about what RSS feed to subscribe to?
There are Qualifier Points which qualify you for the Magic Online Championship series. You earn them by playing in official events and placing. (The amount varies as does the place needed to get one or more depending on the type of event.)
MOPR = Magic online player rewards. The points for them go towards earning promotional cards (basic lands, reprints, and alternative art prints both regular and premium.) The more you play in sanctioned events the more of these points you get regardless of your standing. Also the more you spend in the online store the more points you get. The minimum an active player will get on a given month is 5 and the total you get each month is added to a lifetime total. (Mine is currently sub 200, as they started doing this after my big period of event activity in 2009.) This should explain why you receive random basic land promos each month.
Yes Catan does a fairly good job at making most starts equal, but politics only really enters the picture when you play with friends. And even then, it comes to hurt you. Just like in Commander, if ppl. perceive you as the biggest threat, they will gang up on you for no reason.
When you play online, where everyone is a stranger, there is little or no politics involved. People don't trade and hardly talk, except to complain about die rolls. The starts are pretty much all equal, so luck is the main determining factor against players with skill.
Sometimes you just don't win. Sometimes you control all the 6s and 8s, and 10 gets rolled 10 times. Sometimes you have three 5s and your opponents have three 9s, and the ratio comes like 2:7, and you get blown out.
Maybe if you play with a very small playgroup you have more control. But when you play online, politics hardly enters the picture, other than that people will generally rob you first if they don't like you and/or perceive you as the greatest threat.
He did it to my article too, albeit to lesser extent.
Also, fun article. I find myself bringing Magic into a lot of card games, often unwittingly. I've been yelled at for stack shuffling during a few games of Shanghai...
Phyrexia was created by an ancient Planeswalker who liked to take the form of a dragon; it was not named Phyrexia at that time. When he died, it was taken over by a Thran named Yawgmoth with the help of another planeswalker named Dyfed, whom he personally killed later. Yawgmoth had been artificially and magically modifying his Thran followers in a process that he called phyresis, the diametric opposite of the Powerstone Phthisis that he'd been working to cure. A war broke out between the Phyrexians and the other Thran, which both forced Yawgmoth's retreat to Phyrexia and caused the collapse of the Thran nation
Rath, created by the god Yawgmoth to act as the launching point of an eventual invasion into Dominaria, the plane of Rath was located in a small pocket attached to the plane of Dominaria. The plane was only a few thousand years old, and was never located by any planeswalker, thanks to its hidden location. The plane is made up of flowstone; a quasi-sentient rock material that can be commanded to take on any shape or form. The flowstone was magically produced in a gigantic refinery, centrally located on the plane, and the production was overseen by a series of Evincars; lieutenants of Yawgmoth. The ever-expanding disc of flowstone served two purposes in the Phyrexian invasion plan. First, flowstone was a material commonly used in Phyrexian constructs. Second, the expansion of the artificial plane would eventually reach critical mass, at which point Rath would "overlay" itself on Dominaria, providing both staging point and delivery vehicle.
The edge of the plane was ringed by a dimensional barrier; which appeared as a roiling sky of crackling energy. Anything travelling too high or too close to the edge would be violently ripped apart, or cast into the Shadows. At times, the altitude of the sky fluctuated, creating portals to Dominaria and pulling people, creatures, and structures into Rath, a fate which had befallen almost all of the plane's inhabitants.
During the Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria, the plane of Rath overlaid itself onto that of Dominaria, returning the various 'snatched' populations home, introducing creatures such as Moggs and Slivers to Dominaria, and delivering the majority of the Phyrexian invasion force. After this point, Rath ceased to exist as a unique location, instead permanently merged with the Dominarian landscape.
Both of these taken from thier respective Wiki sites. Hopefully this helps you a little better
I just have to ask...what prompted you to downgrade the score for this article? Did it offend you in some way? If so your comments do not reflect this.
Having piloted that GW Ramp deck in two daily events (3-1 in both), I can honestly say Genesis wave isn't necessary. I agree that baneslayer isn't needed either. I cut the banes and the waves in replace of 3 acidic slime which just wins games period and also for day of judgement to help in the early game.
GW is so much fun to play, even sleeved it up at a paper FNM and went 4-0 with it. I tried Iona, but never really felt it all that necessary, I'd almost rather run Terastodon in that spot if I was going to add another creature. To be honest the deck doesn't really need another creature. I also ran 24 lands instead of the 23 in your build.
This play is just unfair:
T1 - play land
T2- Land, Play overgrown battlement
T3- Miss land drop, play wall of omens, tap battlement and play another battlement
T4 - Hit land drop, tap for 3 mana, tap both battlements for 6 mana - 9 mana turn 4!!!!
While this won't happen often, during testing I have yet to lose a game with that start lol!
So many exclamation points!
Yeah, I'm not used to my laptop touchpad, so had to post again with better rating.
@Paul: thanks for the recommendation to choose 5 instead of 2 :P
The article strikes a chord with me because we (Magic players) have other, similar interests outside of Magic. It might be poker, Boggle, whatever, but it gives a good idea of how the "gathering" part of Magic: the Gathering allows us to share more than just one card game.
Now if I can just use the lessons learned from Candyland, Spill the Beans, and other games I play with my kids, I'd be in business.
Great article!
A few years ago I played the Dune board game by Avalon. Does someone know it? Felt well balanced up to some degree:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(board_game)
Actually you can. :D just edit your post above and or make a new one on it's own line and upgrade the 2 to whatever (I recommend 5.)
pretty good article for an Eagles fan :P
Seriously though, very fun.
Actually, I thought the copying of the Hawk by the Gargantuan would let you search up other Gargantuans, but in fact that does not work. Oh well. Still a decent card for Mass Polymorph decks so log as you can assure it's at the top of the library. Unfortunately the best card for this is Jace, the Wallet Emptyer. Oh, well.
I goofed when I chose the rating? Stupid laptop finger slide...
Can I fix?
Yea looking at weak creature and saying to yourself, "What if that were a 7/7 instead?" can certainly change the game.
I've got your old RSS feed on Itunes and it hasn't updated in forever. And you show up on MTGCast like weeks or months late which is my main feed for magic podcasts. Am I missing something about what RSS feed to subscribe to?
Wow, never thought of using Quicksilver Garganutan to copy a Squadron Hawk. That's nuts!
hey why isnt 100 on Itunes yet?
There are Qualifier Points which qualify you for the Magic Online Championship series. You earn them by playing in official events and placing. (The amount varies as does the place needed to get one or more depending on the type of event.)
MOPR = Magic online player rewards. The points for them go towards earning promotional cards (basic lands, reprints, and alternative art prints both regular and premium.) The more you play in sanctioned events the more of these points you get regardless of your standing. Also the more you spend in the online store the more points you get. The minimum an active player will get on a given month is 5 and the total you get each month is added to a lifetime total. (Mine is currently sub 200, as they started doing this after my big period of event activity in 2009.) This should explain why you receive random basic land promos each month.
Yes Catan does a fairly good job at making most starts equal, but politics only really enters the picture when you play with friends. And even then, it comes to hurt you. Just like in Commander, if ppl. perceive you as the biggest threat, they will gang up on you for no reason.
When you play online, where everyone is a stranger, there is little or no politics involved. People don't trade and hardly talk, except to complain about die rolls. The starts are pretty much all equal, so luck is the main determining factor against players with skill.
Sometimes you just don't win. Sometimes you control all the 6s and 8s, and 10 gets rolled 10 times. Sometimes you have three 5s and your opponents have three 9s, and the ratio comes like 2:7, and you get blown out.
Maybe if you play with a very small playgroup you have more control. But when you play online, politics hardly enters the picture, other than that people will generally rob you first if they don't like you and/or perceive you as the greatest threat.
What are your favorite archetypes in MED drafts. This can be MMM, 222, 333, M23, or 444?
Love the read
He did it to my article too, albeit to lesser extent.
Also, fun article. I find myself bringing Magic into a lot of card games, often unwittingly. I've been yelled at for stack shuffling during a few games of Shanghai...
Ok what are these points everyone talks about. I see them often but never looked into them.
yeah what he said.
Phyrexian and Rath are two seperate plane.
Phyrexia was created by an ancient Planeswalker who liked to take the form of a dragon; it was not named Phyrexia at that time. When he died, it was taken over by a Thran named Yawgmoth with the help of another planeswalker named Dyfed, whom he personally killed later. Yawgmoth had been artificially and magically modifying his Thran followers in a process that he called phyresis, the diametric opposite of the Powerstone Phthisis that he'd been working to cure. A war broke out between the Phyrexians and the other Thran, which both forced Yawgmoth's retreat to Phyrexia and caused the collapse of the Thran nation
Rath, created by the god Yawgmoth to act as the launching point of an eventual invasion into Dominaria, the plane of Rath was located in a small pocket attached to the plane of Dominaria. The plane was only a few thousand years old, and was never located by any planeswalker, thanks to its hidden location. The plane is made up of flowstone; a quasi-sentient rock material that can be commanded to take on any shape or form. The flowstone was magically produced in a gigantic refinery, centrally located on the plane, and the production was overseen by a series of Evincars; lieutenants of Yawgmoth. The ever-expanding disc of flowstone served two purposes in the Phyrexian invasion plan. First, flowstone was a material commonly used in Phyrexian constructs. Second, the expansion of the artificial plane would eventually reach critical mass, at which point Rath would "overlay" itself on Dominaria, providing both staging point and delivery vehicle.
The edge of the plane was ringed by a dimensional barrier; which appeared as a roiling sky of crackling energy. Anything travelling too high or too close to the edge would be violently ripped apart, or cast into the Shadows. At times, the altitude of the sky fluctuated, creating portals to Dominaria and pulling people, creatures, and structures into Rath, a fate which had befallen almost all of the plane's inhabitants.
During the Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria, the plane of Rath overlaid itself onto that of Dominaria, returning the various 'snatched' populations home, introducing creatures such as Moggs and Slivers to Dominaria, and delivering the majority of the Phyrexian invasion force. After this point, Rath ceased to exist as a unique location, instead permanently merged with the Dominarian landscape.
Both of these taken from thier respective Wiki sites. Hopefully this helps you a little better
Yes, Rath and Phyrexia are two separate planes.
Sun titan has 2 versions. Each version has gone up and topped the % gainers and hard number gainers on both charts. Hence 4 entries.
Because having MOPR easy to check would make too much sense.
I just have to ask...what prompted you to downgrade the score for this article? Did it offend you in some way? If so your comments do not reflect this.