Yeah - my point of view was purely Pauper and I don't think Yavimaya Elder is efficient enough for Stompy. At 3 CMC it would the most expensive card in the deck.
To me, maximizing the Elder means chump block before sac'ing it or keeping mana open to to use its sac ability should it be targeted. Death Spark and Flame Jab are simply too common in Pauper events to expect the Elder to survive a turn when you are tapped out to get the card draw.
I believe there's another way to remove the foiliness that you see (but not your opponents).
That is to go into the directory where the card art files are on the system, and over write the foil one you don't like with the non-foil you do. It can take a little while finding the correct files to replace though.
I won't take responsibility for any problems this causes(!), but for many months now I've been happily playing Momir basic with all my Islands looking like Minamo, and all my Mountains looking like Ryusei etc!
It's pretty fun, and as I say, it's not caused any issues to the program, deck editor, or program updates.
I haven't tried it with the foils though.
I agree with your assessment of the current meta. Merfolk excels when there are a lot of combo decks, so it has trouble in Legacy these days. Without removal, you are kind of stuck. It is still kicking in Classic events though.
Some people turn up their noses at D&T, but I agree that it is challenging and nuanced. It has plenty of fun stack interactions that your typical kitchen table player wouldn't find intuitive. It's got its limitations, but so do all decks.
Eternal rules! Glad to have another player on board!
There is an option to turn off the animation. But to remove the foil, the only recourse is to trade it for a nonfoil version. Luckily there are some players who love foils so doing this isn't as hard as you would imagine.
RE: Elder. It is a bombish card in limited because it yeilds 3 cards! Not two. You should never trade it for a combatant unless your situation is desperate. The draw is a key reason for playing with it. In constructed this is also true, though it is less of a bomb and more of a utility card there. (Fetching land fixing AND drawing a card.) The 2/1 body is a bonus threat to your opponent.
I suspect the main reason you don't see it top 8 is that in stompy there are more efficient cards for the 3cmc slot and in other decks the GG cost is too intensive. I would definitely build a deck with 4x Elders if I had them (I have one atm) but it would probably be one of my very casual brews not meant for tourney play.
"Again, if you're not affected at all, why respond?"
We are all affected by the price of cards on the secondary and the mythic rarity, what effect they have on each of us varies.
Your points were muddled, that's why they were called out, they also didn't follow a common line of reasoning that applied to all the examples. In short they were bad. saying we all have luxury items we don't want to dispense with is fine, but mythics are not luxury items we have, they are items we would like.
You probably need to be less defensive in your responses, attacking people who respond to you, in most cases, is considered bad form.
To be clear with you, I understand every point you have tired so poorly to make. You should probably ask yourself if you understand the points others are making?
Who here is "lauding" WOTC? To say you understand why they made mythics and putting on a cap that says "Mythics Rule" are very different things. I don't think I have read a post here yet that says they love a new 50 dollar card each set.
"And just to pull a preemptive strike on the knee-jerk reaction, fucking about with your turn 16 combo around the "kitchen table" isn't the same game as competitive magic. I'm not saying either is right or anything silly like that, it's just not the same game."
The problem here is, that it is the same game where it counts, same rules, cards, and function. This isn't the same as using chess pieces to play checkers. Drafting isn't the same as constructed but it is still Magic right? Packs of cards, boxes, and starters all still cost the same, mythic rares cost what they cost because consumers voted with their money and said it is okay to sell Card X for $50. These are facts beyond the realm of opinion, you can hate it, you can say further rude things to me and about my posts, you can try and deny, but the truth is evident.
Just wanted to say that playing an Heirloom Event is fun and competition on a realy high level!
Looking at pre-order prizes for Scars, PW all for 30-50 Bucks, I cant stay with Standard any longer and will head to play heirloom!
elves ARE NOT green's iconic creature. Otherwise whites would be something lame like soldiers and blacks zombies and red goblins etc...
Iconic Magic Creature
1. You show up only a few times per set (and many times only once).
2. You are almost exclusively rare or mythic rare.
3. You show up on splashy cards.
Characteristic Magic Creature
1. You show up many times per set.
2. You show up in all rarities, especially at common.
3. You appear on many mundane, basic cards (such as vanilla and French vanilla creatures—R&D-speak for creatures with no rules text or just simple creature keyword abilities.)
iconic creatures are what fatties the color is known for like angels, dragons, demons, wurms, and sphinxes...
I rarely comment on articles, but I felt the need to do so in this case.
Your reasoning of how Mythic cards should be categorized is true. In the case of Mox Opal, the Mythic rarity is deserved because the card fits the third category: nostalgia. I started playing with 8th Edition and Mirrodin, so the nostalgia factor is definitely affecting me.
I will echo urzassedatives above in saying that your article was well thought out and persuasive. You argued your position well.
I think elves tend to be ignored because they are so ubiquitous that those of us who are tired of seeing them try to pretend they don't exist. Not that there aren't great examples of them but they have really been done to death, and then some.
LE I think you have the answer to my problem as I have noticed the general decline in readers as the series has progressed so much so that a 4th angel article may not even be warranted.
I do agree that Green's iconic creature is Elves as well.
These articles about angels were nice but I don't think I would read a new one about dragons or demons or any other creature. Angels are by far my favorite creature type in Magic and therefore these series caught my attention.
But I have an idea for a new series: How about "The History of Colors, Part I White"? Tell us everything about that color of the week, how it started back in Alpha, tell us about iconic cards, iconic decks etc...
When speaking about white for example, tell us about Armageddon, Wrath of God, Swords to Plowshares as well as Baneslayer Angel and Elspeth, Knight-Errant.
What is that color good for? How did it start and what did change in time? For example the white mana symbol changed in time (slightly that is) and you can mention that. I don't think that many of the new players know that.
Show us a few Plains and let us vote the "Best Plains of all times" for example.
Tell us about the "rise & fall" of that color. During which blocks was it the best color and during which blocks was it the worst one and why? Tell us about its relationship with other colors.
And in that article, you can also tell us about its iconic creatures.
Just a suggestion.
LE
PS: Oh and speaking of Green's most iconic creature type... uhm... what happened to the elves?
Gwyned, your Deck Tech series last season was a big inspiration for this endeavor, especially when you mentioned your schedule might be tighter this go round. Glad you can keep hosting the MPDC series!
And lenney...I'm going to have to mention something about your Standard MBC build that reached the finals! Also, the pic is actually upsdie down :-)
I think they need to refocus on developing an iconic big critter for green. They've really pushed Sphinxes for blue, I see no reason why we couldn't see a similar push for the green fatty. They have printed some nice Wurms lately.
There are 38 demons online right now. Demons lost out for a few years when they were replaced by horrors.
There are 50 vampires onling right now. A good chunk of them are from Zendikar. So it could go either way. But personally I would choose demons. Much more interesting to build around.
Looking at the wurms that are online right now, they aren't all horrible. I think the originally intended iconic green creature was supposed to be Force of Nature, but there are so many elementals out there they've kind of diluted them.
blue would be sphinxes at least nowadays. I seem to remember someone mentioning in an article on the mothership that sphinxes were taking over as blue's iconic creature type.
And green is sort of screwed, but I guess it would be wurms.
Unboosted Hushblade can be targeted (and enchanted) by multicolored auras which in turn activate the shroud.
Scourge of the Nobilis or Shield of the Oversoul are truly fashionable on that pesky elf.
edit:
i have a whole deck crafted around the elf and it always reminds me, how strong those alara cards combined with hybrid mana are.
edit nr2:
and, of course, finally the official congratulations on your new pukebot...errr baby boy.
Yeah - my point of view was purely Pauper and I don't think Yavimaya Elder is efficient enough for Stompy. At 3 CMC it would the most expensive card in the deck.
To me, maximizing the Elder means chump block before sac'ing it or keeping mana open to to use its sac ability should it be targeted. Death Spark and Flame Jab are simply too common in Pauper events to expect the Elder to survive a turn when you are tapped out to get the card draw.
I wasn't sure if that would work or if you also had to do something with the foil.ini file in the effects directory.
I also wasn't aware that foil and non-foil cards had two different card files. Thanks for the help.
Hi
I believe there's another way to remove the foiliness that you see (but not your opponents).
That is to go into the directory where the card art files are on the system, and over write the foil one you don't like with the non-foil you do. It can take a little while finding the correct files to replace though.
I won't take responsibility for any problems this causes(!), but for many months now I've been happily playing Momir basic with all my Islands looking like Minamo, and all my Mountains looking like Ryusei etc!
It's pretty fun, and as I say, it's not caused any issues to the program, deck editor, or program updates.
I haven't tried it with the foils though.
Cheers for the good article by the way.
I agree with your assessment of the current meta. Merfolk excels when there are a lot of combo decks, so it has trouble in Legacy these days. Without removal, you are kind of stuck. It is still kicking in Classic events though.
Some people turn up their noses at D&T, but I agree that it is challenging and nuanced. It has plenty of fun stack interactions that your typical kitchen table player wouldn't find intuitive. It's got its limitations, but so do all decks.
Eternal rules! Glad to have another player on board!
There is an option to turn off the animation. But to remove the foil, the only recourse is to trade it for a nonfoil version. Luckily there are some players who love foils so doing this isn't as hard as you would imagine.
RE: Elder. It is a bombish card in limited because it yeilds 3 cards! Not two. You should never trade it for a combatant unless your situation is desperate. The draw is a key reason for playing with it. In constructed this is also true, though it is less of a bomb and more of a utility card there. (Fetching land fixing AND drawing a card.) The 2/1 body is a bonus threat to your opponent.
I suspect the main reason you don't see it top 8 is that in stompy there are more efficient cards for the 3cmc slot and in other decks the GG cost is too intensive. I would definitely build a deck with 4x Elders if I had them (I have one atm) but it would probably be one of my very casual brews not meant for tourney play.
double post sorry
"Again, if you're not affected at all, why respond?"
We are all affected by the price of cards on the secondary and the mythic rarity, what effect they have on each of us varies.
Your points were muddled, that's why they were called out, they also didn't follow a common line of reasoning that applied to all the examples. In short they were bad. saying we all have luxury items we don't want to dispense with is fine, but mythics are not luxury items we have, they are items we would like.
You probably need to be less defensive in your responses, attacking people who respond to you, in most cases, is considered bad form.
To be clear with you, I understand every point you have tired so poorly to make. You should probably ask yourself if you understand the points others are making?
Who here is "lauding" WOTC? To say you understand why they made mythics and putting on a cap that says "Mythics Rule" are very different things. I don't think I have read a post here yet that says they love a new 50 dollar card each set.
"And just to pull a preemptive strike on the knee-jerk reaction, fucking about with your turn 16 combo around the "kitchen table" isn't the same game as competitive magic. I'm not saying either is right or anything silly like that, it's just not the same game."
The problem here is, that it is the same game where it counts, same rules, cards, and function. This isn't the same as using chess pieces to play checkers. Drafting isn't the same as constructed but it is still Magic right? Packs of cards, boxes, and starters all still cost the same, mythic rares cost what they cost because consumers voted with their money and said it is okay to sell Card X for $50. These are facts beyond the realm of opinion, you can hate it, you can say further rude things to me and about my posts, you can try and deny, but the truth is evident.
Hey Guys!
Just wanted to say that playing an Heirloom Event is fun and competition on a realy high level!
Looking at pre-order prizes for Scars, PW all for 30-50 Bucks, I cant stay with Standard any longer and will head to play heirloom!
Best wishes
I totally agree except for the (french) vanilla part since we do have Goliath Sphinx and Angel of Mercy etc.
You could be onto something there Shard with the Hydras
elves ARE NOT green's iconic creature. Otherwise whites would be something lame like soldiers and blacks zombies and red goblins etc...
Iconic Magic Creature
1. You show up only a few times per set (and many times only once).
2. You are almost exclusively rare or mythic rare.
3. You show up on splashy cards.
Characteristic Magic Creature
1. You show up many times per set.
2. You show up in all rarities, especially at common.
3. You appear on many mundane, basic cards (such as vanilla and French vanilla creatures—R&D-speak for creatures with no rules text or just simple creature keyword abilities.)
iconic creatures are what fatties the color is known for like angels, dragons, demons, wurms, and sphinxes...
ANH HYDRAS!!!! thats it...WotC is trying to make hydras greens icon...
http://mtgcolorpie.com/2010/06/01/design-class-whos-afraid-of-big-green-...
I rarely comment on articles, but I felt the need to do so in this case.
Your reasoning of how Mythic cards should be categorized is true. In the case of Mox Opal, the Mythic rarity is deserved because the card fits the third category: nostalgia. I started playing with 8th Edition and Mirrodin, so the nostalgia factor is definitely affecting me.
I will echo urzassedatives above in saying that your article was well thought out and persuasive. You argued your position well.
In short: awesome article.
Yeah, but can you really say the "best" Elementals are green anymore? Not since Lorwin...
I think elves tend to be ignored because they are so ubiquitous that those of us who are tired of seeing them try to pretend they don't exist. Not that there aren't great examples of them but they have really been done to death, and then some.
LE I think you have the answer to my problem as I have noticed the general decline in readers as the series has progressed so much so that a 4th angel article may not even be warranted.
I do agree that Green's iconic creature is Elves as well.
Hi Flippers, I have a suggestion if I may:
These articles about angels were nice but I don't think I would read a new one about dragons or demons or any other creature. Angels are by far my favorite creature type in Magic and therefore these series caught my attention.
But I have an idea for a new series: How about "The History of Colors, Part I White"? Tell us everything about that color of the week, how it started back in Alpha, tell us about iconic cards, iconic decks etc...
When speaking about white for example, tell us about Armageddon, Wrath of God, Swords to Plowshares as well as Baneslayer Angel and Elspeth, Knight-Errant.
What is that color good for? How did it start and what did change in time? For example the white mana symbol changed in time (slightly that is) and you can mention that. I don't think that many of the new players know that.
Show us a few Plains and let us vote the "Best Plains of all times" for example.
Tell us about the "rise & fall" of that color. During which blocks was it the best color and during which blocks was it the worst one and why? Tell us about its relationship with other colors.
And in that article, you can also tell us about its iconic creatures.
Just a suggestion.
LE
PS: Oh and speaking of Green's most iconic creature type... uhm... what happened to the elves?
Elementals seem to be a very green iconic creature.
yeah vampires arent really iconic anymore. they have been relegated to one of blacks tribes.
Gwyned, your Deck Tech series last season was a big inspiration for this endeavor, especially when you mentioned your schedule might be tighter this go round. Glad you can keep hosting the MPDC series!
And lenney...I'm going to have to mention something about your Standard MBC build that reached the finals! Also, the pic is actually upsdie down :-)
I think they need to refocus on developing an iconic big critter for green. They've really pushed Sphinxes for blue, I see no reason why we couldn't see a similar push for the green fatty. They have printed some nice Wurms lately.
There are 38 demons online right now. Demons lost out for a few years when they were replaced by horrors.
There are 50 vampires onling right now. A good chunk of them are from Zendikar. So it could go either way. But personally I would choose demons. Much more interesting to build around.
Looking at the wurms that are online right now, they aren't all horrible. I think the originally intended iconic green creature was supposed to be Force of Nature, but there are so many elementals out there they've kind of diluted them.
Is black Demons or Vampires?
They have been going hand in hand since Alpha.
blue would be sphinxes at least nowadays. I seem to remember someone mentioning in an article on the mothership that sphinxes were taking over as blue's iconic creature type.
And green is sort of screwed, but I guess it would be wurms.
Welcome to PureMTGO. Always great to see another Standard Pauper writer! Let's hope the format continues to grow in popularity!