Messages

31

Deck Reviews / Re: [Modern] Budget Death's Shadow??

« on: March 06, 2017, 05:41:53 am »

If you just looking for a 0 costed artifact that can be sacrificed at will then Tormod's Crypt fits the bill.  If you want to replace the Draw a Card aspect then your gonna have to have to go with Conjurer's Bauble or a card like Chromatic Star. 

One of the biggest things Death's Shadow decks are currently doing is running 8 main-board Hand Disruption spells like Thoughtseize, Collective Brutality, Inquisition of Kozilek or Duress.  It not only makes it harder for your opponent because you are taking their best spells but you are also looking at their hand and know what they are planning to do.  Is there a reason you are skipping on them?

Last thing is to consider upping the count of your removal suite, 2 Tarfire and 2 Fatal push is kind of low, with Seal of Fire (Delirium Enabler),Dismember (Life Loss), or 2 more Fatal Push. 

You could trim down on the Mutagenic Growth, Boon of Erebos, and Faithless Looting/Night's Whisper to make room for any changes.

32

General Magic / Re: Atlazan Speculation

« on: March 05, 2017, 11:42:04 pm »

I think the name Atlazan just sounds too much like Atlantis to disregard the similarities completely and to be honest I never really looked at the detailed design at the top of those packages.  Looking closely at those packs today and some general google searches related to Aztec carvings there does appear to be some similarities between those carvings and what is pictured on those packages.  I think your on to something here though.  I took it a step further and looked at the headgear being worn on the Conquest of Power packaging and it bares some resemblance to Aztec Headdresses.

Maybe a mixing of the mythologies?  Atlantis as people generally picture it mixed with a Aztec mythologies?  I am not well versed in Aztec histories/mythology but it doesn't seem to far outside the realm of possibility.  Interesting to say the least

33

General Magic / Re: Amonkhet Spoilers

« on: March 05, 2017, 06:08:25 pm »

I was surfin the web and I ran across this picture



Brazil versions of Planeswalker decks cards.  Its very hard to read but here is a translation of the text.

Gideon, Martial Paragon 4W
+2: Untap all creatures you control, those creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn.

Liliana, Death's Manipulator 5BB
+2: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature.

If these are accurate pictures then we can see -1/-1 counters might be making a comeback to Standard... Does this mean Wither as well?

I also found several more pictures from here.



Gives is a lot of info for the Intro Planeswalkers.  You can see that Gideon has a + Ability, a 0 Ability, and a - Ability while Liliana has a + Ability and two - Abilities.  These are just the Intro Planeswalkers but still interesting to see.

Last pic



That spindown counter is freaking awesome!  Sorry about the pic size.. I usually find smaller pics

34

General Magic / Re: Amonkhet Spoilers

« on: March 05, 2017, 02:07:49 am »

Liliana was planning to use the Gatewatch to defeat her demons, but she is indentured to Nicol Bolas. No doubt she thinks he can be killed like her demons in order to prevent being beholden to anyone. She underestimates him, but not as much as the rest of them, surprisingly including Jace.

I think Nicol Bolas will force Liliana to obey him, either by revealing their plans to him or by indirectly betraying the Gatewatch. Using the demon on his plane as leverage of sorts, shielding him from them, unless she co-operates.

Nicol Bolas could, as you mentioned, G.Moto, control Gideon by using his mental domination, to expose his fears and emotions to cause him to betray the Gatewatch. (He is a master at manipulation after all)

Nicol Bolas has played the Gatewatch like chess pieces, the entire time since Ravnica, even instigating the release of the Eldrazi on Zendikar by luring Chandra there.

Jabilac, I want to know who the Raven man is as well, it is written like we should know who it is. (He's from Dominaria) I've heard people say it could be Urza, but I highly doubt that. I think it could very well be Yawgmoth, since he was presumed dead, his corpse is now tainting Urborg, perhaps a portion of him has seeped into Liliana's consciousness, thus allowing him to live on through her. (He was known as Thran's healer, the original, heretical healer, giving Liliana the recipe for her brother's reanimation and triggering her planeswalker spark is more than feasible.)

It is interesting to consider Yawgmoth as a possible candidate for The Raven Man.  I am not a major MTG story follower but I did some reading on Yawgmoth and he is noted as one of the most well known villains in the MTG universe.  I wonder how The Mending effected Magic's history and specifically Yawgmoth's demise.

I do believe Bolas will manipulate Liliana into a betrayal of the Gatewatch, basically the same as you've said.  Maybe this time Liliana will be forced to uphold the pact she made with the Demons.  The question is what kind of defeat will the Gatewatch experience?  A break in the oaths?

35

General Magic / Re: MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: March 05, 2017, 12:20:16 am »

I am busy for 1 day and they spoil the whole set    So instead of posting every single card that I'm sure everyone has seen. I am going to post a few noticeable cards that I haven't talked about yet. Oh and I was wrong about the Charm cycle.. We only got Izzet Charm.



All those cards are being printed at Common for the first time.  Very good news for Pauper players.  I think I might try to get my local group into paper Pauper

Some interesting Rares were printed too:



The set as a whole has been pretty great.  It has great synergies for Limited players, some great cards for Modern players, and will hopefully help Modern be more accessible to more players.  I know it has enough substance at Mythic and Rare to entice even veteran Modern collectors who don't open packs because its not "worth it"   Only 13 more days until release.  I almost wish they had a "Pre-Release" event like they do for Standard. Intro box, Stamped Promo Card, Die, 6 Packs.  I think that would be a fun day.

36

General Magic / Re: MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: March 02, 2017, 07:05:45 pm »

As KouriNick has predicted, I am posting about it!    I also agree, this is the best MM set to date.

 

We are also getting the full set of Signets:



So more color fixing at Uncommon.  We also has Izzet Charm so I may be safe to assume we will be getting a reprint of all the Charms (Boros Charm, Selesnya Charm, Dimir Charm, ect).

37

General Magic / Re: MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: March 02, 2017, 04:03:07 pm »

Another good day for Spoilers



This set is shaping up better and better the more we see.  If we look at some previous sets for Rarity Amounts we have:  15 Mythic and 53 Rare total.  So far we have seen 13 mythic and 31 Rare.  Only a few Mythic left to see and less then half the Rares. So far so good.  What else are we gonna see get a rarity downshift?  As Grim-Reaper pointed out Burning-Tree Emissary just got the bump down to Common... I wonder what else we will be seeing in Pauper?

Ladof, I think most people are considering spending money more money then they should on this set.. I know I am

38

General Magic / Re: Amonkhet Spoilers

« on: March 01, 2017, 09:48:09 pm »

       Perhaps they'll touch back on old plot points. Remember how in the story of Eldritch Moon where everyone's minds were unraveling a bit and their darkest fears were being revealed? Maybe Gideon's biggest fear is his enjoyment of danger, as if he RELISHES the chance to be destructive. The fear that he may enjoy letting go of his morality an giving into to more destructive tendencies. Think Chandra but in a White planeswalker form. Maybe he'll have an effect like "+x: Sacrifice X amount of creatures, Gideon gains +X/+X and indestructible until the end of your opponent's next turn". That'd be pretty sick and could actually give a better overlay for people who may have always wanted to play him in a cohesive W/B kind of deck.

       As for Liliana it may be more defensive since she is on someone else's planet hunting a demon that may have actually teamed up with bolas. That could be a little problematic for her. But...if you look closely at the background of her picture, you can see zombies rising which may be an indicator as to what one of her abilities may entail as far as her card effect goes. Maybe something like "+2: target player loses two life and discards a card. If the discarded card was a creature summon one 2/2 zombie token to your side of the field". That would be sort of like Ob Nixilis but instead of out rightly hurting yourself it can be used in a control like manner. Just throwing some ideas out there.

       The art styles for the lands are very nice, despite the horns. Each one really entails how well this set is going into the Egyptianess of the set and just the way they were designed, shaded and colored really gives it an authentic feel to the set. I'm eager to see what new creatures this set holds. I foresee Zombie hordes in the future (or maybe some new mechanic like "Minion" or "MASTERING"). Those Egyptians were big on their servants, even if they are undead.

   Also @ Jabilac and @Mnemosyne, it's good to be back, feel free to PM whenever you wish.

Nice to have you back G. Moto.. Its been weird not having our Friendly Neighborhood Vampire running around

I had to go back and re-read that section of The Promised End.  I didn't even think they might actually build off of that story, of that specific scene.  I really like that idea and it would be a curve ball for most fans.

Liliana has thrown caution to the wind in the past when in pursuit of one of her demons.  She even has relationship with Bolas, she worked for him at one time and he was the one that originally told her which demons could restore a portion of her lost power.  Bolas would know that Razaketh is be one of Liliana's demons and might even have sent her to Razaketh because of his own connection with him.  It will be an interesting piece to Liliana's story... We may even find out the true identity of The Raven Man.

39

General Magic / Re: Protect a pump at sorcery speed?

« on: March 01, 2017, 09:18:45 pm »

What format are we talking about?  I ask because it matters greatly about what cards/strategies we can recommend.

Edit: I see you are talking casual but does that mean we can use any card like Vintage? or do you guys restrict yourselves to Modern?

40

General Magic / Re: MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: March 01, 2017, 07:04:44 pm »

Wow things are shaping up great for MM 2017.  These packs are stuffed with value!!!!



Some of the best cards in Modern are spoiled here.  Phantasmal Image, Liliana of the Veil, Abrupt Decay, Craterhoof Behemoth, Death's Shadow (now), ect... Combine this with the last few days of spoilers and it looks like this might be the best MM printed yet!

41

General Magic / Re: Amonkhet Spoilers

« on: March 01, 2017, 04:58:11 am »

Mwahaha! 

Well, he apparently created the plane, before the mending. Exactly! I want something else from Gideon! Something that isn't so overwhelming in Standard, but playable in most formats!

That demon will definitely be there! How powerful it is, I have no idea, supposedly he is more powerful than Griselbrand the one she killed in Innistrad.

What could they do with Gideon they haven't done?  + Small Number: Creature gains indestructible and vigilance, -X: destroy a creature with cmc=X, -Big Number: gain emblem with "When you take damage prevent all but 1 of that damage" sounds good to me

Maybe Liliana with have to rely on her favorite old artifact, *Cough*The Chain Veil*Couch* and we will see a Standard printing of.... Liliana of the Veil!!!  lol sometimes I kill myself 

42

General Magic / Re: MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: February 28, 2017, 11:10:35 pm »

Another round of Spoilers



There is nothing "bad" in that bunch at all.  Inquisition of Kozilek back at Uncommon is awesome and Path to Exile staying there is great.  Stony Silence and Grafdigger's Cage are both big sideboard cards for Modern so hopefully that will drop them both in overall price.  So far I am only seeing value from these packs.  We haven't seen a lot of the Common cards but so far all the other rarities are looking stocked.

I hope so too Mnemosyne, I don't own any Snapcaster's and would love to add a couple to my collection

43

General Magic / Re: MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: February 28, 2017, 06:04:54 pm »

Another round of spoilers at lunch today



And it was Snapcaster Mage.  Pretty sweet art but not as nice as the Promo Version and he got the bump up to Mythic

44

General Magic / Re: MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: February 28, 2017, 04:36:15 pm »

Got some new ones for today



The last two card are Terminate and Harmonize.

Some more great cards!  Thragtusk, Goblin Assault, Venser, Shaper Savant.  Shaping up better and better but we really haven't seen any common's yet besides the Lands.

I am hoping for Noble Hierarch and Voice of Resurgence out of this set also.  Voice would fit into the draft archetypes that WotC outlined in this article.

45

General Magic / MM 2017 Spoilers

« on: February 27, 2017, 08:46:39 pm »

Here we are, on the cups of another Modern Masters.  So far we have seen quite a bit of Lands, at Common we have:



At Uncommon we have:



At Rare we have:



That's a lot of lands!  Its really good for Modern to see a reprint of Enemy Fetchlands.  I have no clue why they would reprint the Guild Gates instead of the somewhat useful "Gain 1 Life lands" but WotC thinks about MM sets in a Limited enviroment so I'm sure we will see some cards that care about Guild Gates.  Now on to the real interesting stuff... Everything else



The last one is Restoration Angel.  Finally a Damnation reprint!!  That is exciting enough but we have more, New Goblin Guide art!!! Woohoo! Its way better then what we have been dealing with --> Goblin Guide.  That old art is just ugly. 

We also know that Griselbrand and Domri Rade will be in there because of this:



In the last picture, I think we are looking at some new Snapcaster Mage art.  It is just speculation currently but I can't imagine WotC would put just a random card on the box for MM.