Tips and Tricks - Part 3 (Vendilion Clique)

Vendilion clique is one hell of a Magic card.

What the cards says:

Card Name:

Vendilion Clique

                                       

Mana Cost:

                        

Types:Legendary Creature — Faerie Wizard

                                       

Card Text:

Flash

Flying

When Vendilion Clique enters the battlefield, look at target player's hand. You may choose a nonland card from it. If you do, that player reveals the chosen card, puts it on the bottom of his or her library, then draws a card.

Well that is quite a lot of text for a 3 mana cost creature.

Here are some of the most common and/or interesting interactions with Vendilion Clique.  

1.  Vendilion clique + Karakas.
a) Bounce Vendilion Clique after he is declared as a blocker;
b) Bounce Vendilion Clique after you attack (on your turn or theirs) then replay any time before their EOT so that you can clique every turn while still clocking your opponent;
c) Stop your opponents Clique from attacking by bouncing it.

2. The art of Cliquing.
a) Yourself.
     i)  Get rid of a progenitus or other uncastable/useless card (aka the Clique cycle).
b) Opponent
     i) Don't forget that you don't have to take a card out of your opponents hand;
     ii) When to Clique your opponent:
     Your turn:
     To see if they have a removal spell, counterspell, trick, etc.
     Their Turn:
     Upkeep (before they draw a counterspell), Draw Step (to take a combo piece or miracle as discussed here), Mid-Combat (as a blocker or to get rid of another card before they cast it in their second main), Mid-Combo (after your storm opponent casts their second dark ritual/rite of flame or after your show and tell opponent casts show and tell with the hope that they only have one fatty to put into play) EOT (as an attacker or to get around Liliana and/or kill Lilliana of the Veil).  
     iii) Clique in response to activated abilities (Fetchlands, Stoneforge Mystic and Ather Vial).
     iv) Clique in response to miracle trigger (as discussed here).
       v) Any time you have priority and your opponent is tapped out

3. The Scumbag Clique.
a) Don't do this but be wary of other people doing it. Most of the time people will be cliquing you but some players will play Clique without announcing their trigger and will let you reveal your hand before announcing that they are Cliquing themselves. Just remember to ask for the target before you reveal.
b) Your opponent might also ask who the Clique is targeting before the Clique has resolved. Make sure the Clique has resolved before you give your opponent this information.

4. Other Random Cliques.
a) Look out for interactions where the draw a card part of Vendilion Clique maters, this could be for you or for your opponent. For example - Spirit of the Labyrinth and Notion Thief.
b) When playing lands and you have a graveyard Life From the Loam don't just mindlessly dredge in your draw step and get Cliqued. Instead you should wait for your mainphase and draw your Life From the Loam with a cycling land.
c) Don't forget that you can Jace, the Mindsculptor bounce your own Clique if you don't have a Karakas and you need to Clique your opponent.
d) You can also use Jace, the Mindsculptor/Venser/Karakas to bounce your opponents creatures and then Clique your opponent to get rid of them.
e) Also a little reminder that Vendilion Clique is a legend so if you cast a second one you will have to sacrifice one of them.

Just to restate what I said at the beginning Vendilion Clique is one hell of a card. One other closing note; this is obvious but you should be playing with the Morningtide Clique.

Cheers,
Simon

Links to prior Tips and Tricks -

http://mtgbazaar-teamz.blogspot.com/2014/08/magic-tips-and-tricks-part-1.html

http://mtgbazaar-teamz.blogspot.com/2014/09/tips-and-tricks-part-2.html

Hearthstone Nerfs

Hearthstone nerfed two of their "cards" this week.

Leeroy, Jenkins went from 4 mana crystals to 5 mana crystals and Starving Buzzards went from 2 Mana Crystal to 5 mana crystals!

As someone who has spent almost no money on the game (other than on Curse of Naxxramas) I have to say that it is a little frustrating that one of my decks (1 of 2) got totally nerfed. My other deck is Zoo as I wrote about here. The interaction between Starving Buzzard and Release the Hounds probably was too good, so I think the banning is fine but I know that a lot of other people also have a limited numbers of cards/decks so making a deck almost obsolete is kind of disappointing from a players perspective.

All in all, it means I probably need to invest more time into grinding arena to get more cards/dust or I have to dump some cash into the game in order to diversify and increase my number of decks to avoid future problems like this.

Cheers,
Simon

Khanslaught Fetchlands

I don't have all the answers here but the thought popped into my head so I wanted to share. What do the reprinted fetch lands do to legacy?

First the easy one, the reprints clearly make it cheaper to get into the format since the barrier price has been brought down quite a lot. I think some decks like Esper and Miracles get a lot cheaper since you can now get Flooded Strands/Polluted Delta's for ~$20 and the rest of the deck other than dual lands is not too expensive (this may also mean we see Tundra spike in $).

My second thought is that it gets much harder to read your opponent and your opponents deck by what fetchland they play. For reference, I previously wrote a quick post on what fetchlands RUG should play here. With the new reprints now being cheaper than the Zendikar fetchlands we are going to have an interesting dynamic. Previously you could tell if people were new to the format/game because they were obviously using suboptimal fetchlands from Zendikar or if they were just using the cheaper lands since they did the same functional thing in their deck. Now we essentially have 3 sets of fetchlands in play to try and determine information from.

I look forward to this new mental challenge of trying to figure out what deck my opponent is on and what their fetchlands tell me about them. I also look forward to figuring out how deep we go on choosing which lands (and version) I am supposed to play in what deck. How deep do we go?

Cheers,

Simon

Mono Red Goblin Stompy

So I finally got to run Mono Red Goblin Stompy in a couple of tournaments (16 man and a 25 man) that I talked about here.

The deck ran pretty well in the 16 man tournament and I ended up 3-1.

The wheels fell off in the 25 man tournament and I went 2-3. I had a few close games and most of the rounds went to 3 games so my unfamiliarity with the deck may have caught up with me.

The only card I really want to change is Krenko, Mob Boss. I feel like he may be better as an second Murderous redcap, an Imperial Recruiter or the 4th Trinisphere. Reducing your mana cost would be nice or just having another CIP effect would also be good.

Lands

4 x Ancient Tomb

4 x Cavern of Souls

4 x City of Traitors

8 x Mountain

 

Creatures

1 x Goblin Piledriver

4 x Goblin Rabblemaster

1 x Goblin Settler

1 x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

1 x Krenko, Mob Boss

4 x Magus of the Moon

4 x Moggcatcher

1 x Murderous Redcap

2 x Siege-Gang Commander

4 x Simian Spirit Guide

1 x Tuktuk Scrapper
 

Noncreature Spells

4 x Blood Moon

4 x Chalice of the Void

3 x Chrome Mox

3 x Trinisphere

2 x Umezawa's Jitte
 

Sideboard

1 x Boartusk Liege

1 x Dismember

1 x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

3 x Ensnaring Bridge

1 x Goblin Sharpshooter

2 x Koth of the Hammer

3 x Leyline of the Void

1 x Stingscourger

2 x Sulfur Elemental

-Cheers-

Khans of Tarkir Legacy/Modern Set Review

Like the title says this is a Khans of Tarkir Legacy/Modern Set Review.

 

White

Suspension Field - A more situational Oblivion Ring that costs 2 instead of 3. This is certainly nothing to write home about but it is worth noting that in legacy Mono White Stompy decks this will let you play around Daze if you have a City of Traitors or and Ancient Tomb out.

Wingmate Roc - This is certainly not causing a huge splash in legacy but getting two 3/4 fliers for 5 in modern is no joke. The life gain can also help in modern since there is quite a lot of burn running around.

Blue

Clever Impersonator - Being able to copy anything of your opponents baring land is a pretty powerful ability. The mana cost is a bit high for legacy and the effect is more of a sideboard effect but being able to copy a Jace, the Mind Sculptor or a Jitte would be pretty nice.

Dig Through Time - The delve cards are quite hard to evaluate. I think they are obviously powerful but my concern is how many of them you can realistically run. If people are running loads of them then presumably Deathrite Shaman/ Scavenging Ooze/Rest in Peace also get even better since they can aggressively cannabilize your graveyard.

Stubborn Denial - A more situational force spike/spell pierce that can become a hard counter if you have a Tarmogoyf or Tombstalker in play.

Taigam's Scheming - I am always on the look out for cards that do something a little bit different or move stuff from one zone to another. This card is just missing the cantrip part to make it more powerful than strategic planning. Milling up to 5 cards into your graveyard could be quite powerful in some sort of modern reanimator deck.

Treasure Cruise - This may be the best name in the whole set. My comments for Dig Through Time apply here as well. My first thought was that these Delve draw cards could be good in combo but then I remembered that Ad Nauseam is a real card and so is Time Spiral. For the tempo decks I am not sure that this is better than a pre-ordain which you can always cast and helps you smooth out your draws. It may be good though as a 1-3 of just to help re-gas in the mid-game. My predicted home for this is probably in UR delver sans snapcaster mage since you cannot afford the anti-synergy.

Black

Murderous Cut - I keep reading this as Murderous Cat. I hope somebody gets a sweet alter done with that in mind. Not having the downside of Terror, Go for the Throat, etc makes this very powerful. The downside though is that it doesn't kill those turn 1/2 threats. For that reason I think this is worse than Dismember.

Necropolis Fiend - This card is certainly legacy playable but is it better than tombstalker? When I play tombstalker I usually do a pretty good job of clearing out my graveyard. I am not sure I have extra cards to help feed this guy. Also
you usually don't want to totally clear out your yard because of Tarmogoyf and Deathrite Shaman. He could be better in Modern if there is a good way to fill up your yard since the games often for on for a little bit longer and machine gunning all of Birthing pods guys down is pretty good.

 

Red

Monastery Swiftspear - The red cards in the set are a little lack lustre to be honest but I guess we have recently gotten Goblin Rabblemaster, Eidolon and Searing Blood. Monastery Swiftspear is an innocuous card that could just be excellent. It is low on peoples radar but I can see this being a quiet powerhouse in legacy and modern.

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker -  Sarkhan's first two abilities do exactly what we want. They either remove a threat or smack your opponent while gaining loyalty. Mono red stompy is always looking for quick threats and ways to interact with their opponent when they go hellbent. This is certainly a role player for that.

 

Green

Just plain nothing.
 

Artifact

Ghostfire Blade - This is a Bone Splitter with upside for Affinity and should see some modern play as a result. The extra toughness means that your Ornithopter no longer dies to lightning bolt and you are much more resilient against electrolyze.

Land

Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Windswept Heath & Wooded Foothills - These are already legal and staples in legacy (obviously) but their introduction into modern will be very interesting. Most people are predicting an increase in playability of Zoo and Faeries. Bloodstained mire also lets Jund play more basics that it can more easily fetch probably increasing the power level of Jund (collective yay).

Gold

 

Abzan Charm -

 

Choose one —

• Exile target creature with power 3 or greater.

• You draw two cards and you lose 2 life.

• Distribute two +1/+1 counters among one or two target creatures.

 

Anafenza, the Foremost - The stats are right and he has a couple of good abilities. Adding counters to your tapped Deathrite Shaman or other utility will be good and having the potential to stop Narcomeba triggers with the second ability is a nice bonus. The main problem is that this guy costs 3 mana of 3 different colours all at the same time...Wasteland is a real card in legacy guys. For modern he is just a bigish mana efficient donk that doesn't die to Lightning Bolt.

 

Butcher of the Horde - Well this guy hits hard and fast especially if you sac a lingering souls token or a zombie or something to trigger his haste. He also survives lightning bolt...

 

Jeskai Charm -

 

Choose one —

• Put target creature on top of its owner's library.

• Jeskai Charm deals 4 damage to target opponent.

• Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain lifelink until end of turn.

 

Mantis Rider - This guy has it all except resilence to lightning bolt. I have played my fair share of Lightning Angels so I think I am going to like this little guy.

 

Mardu Charm -

 

Instant

Choose one —
• Mardu Charm deals 4 damage to target creature.
• Put two 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens onto the battlefield. They gain first strike until end of turn.
• Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card.

Mindswipe - I may have to at least try one of these out in Modern. Counter Burn!

Savage Knuckleblade - Again another Modern playable card but that is a bout it.

Siege Rhino - Wow this guy has a huge butt.

 

Sultai Charm - This one sure has all the right abilities.

Choose one —
• Destroy target monocolored creature.
• Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
• Draw two cards, then discard a card.

The question for me is 3 mana too much for legacy? I think the answer is yes. We may see it pop up as a 1 of in some ambitious BUG lists though. It is also worth noting that you cannot cascade into it with Shardless Agent (which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it). Bant charm did see some play in Modern and if there is a BUG deck then I can see this getting some modern play at the very least though it competes with Maelstrom Pulse. Off the top of my head most of the cards are monocolored in modern so that clause doesn't matter too much.

Utter End - An instant speed vindicate the doesn't hit lands for 1 more mana. This seems like very good value for standard. It is probably marginally playable in modern and too expensive for legacy.  

-Cheers-  

Goblin Rabblemaster

Goblin Rabblemaster had another great weekend! Consequently, he is over the $5 mark at the moment.

If you haven't bought or traded for some you should do so now. When SCG relists him on their website I think we will see a new even higher baseline for him (they are sold out at $4.99). He is a main deck staple for mono red aggro, Jund (thank you CVM) and who knows what other decks. I still think he is a good card out of the sideboard for UWr control in standard for the mirror match.

He may yet catch on in other formats (Modern/Legacy). I can see him being played out of the sideboard of Sneak and Show and there is also this spicy little legacy number floating around:

Lands

4 x Ancient Tomb

4 x Cavern of Souls

4 x City of Traitors

8 x Mountain

 

Creatures

1 x Goblin Piledriver

4 x Goblin Rabblemaster

1 x Goblin Settler

1 x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

1 x Krenko, Mob Boss

4 x Magus of the Moon

4 x Moggcatcher

1 x Murderous Redcap

2 x Siege-Gang Commander

4 x Simian Spirit Guide

1 x Tuktuk Scrapper
 

Noncreature Spells

4 x Blood Moon

4 x Chalice of the Void

3 x Chrome Mox

3 x Trinisphere

2 x Umezawa's Jitte
 

Sideboard

1 x Boartusk Liege

1 x Dismember

1 x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

3 x Ensnaring Bridge

1 x Goblin Sharpshooter

2 x Koth of the Hammer

3 x Leyline of the Void

1 x Stingscourger

2 x Sulfur Elemental

Update (9/3/2014) - Starcity updated their price for Goblin Rabblemasters to $5.99 a piece and they sold out in less than a day!

Update (9/21/2014) - Starcity is sold out of Goblin Rabblemasters at $11.99 a pop.

Update (9/30/2014) - Starcity is sold out of Goblin Rabblemasters at $14.99 a pop.

Update (10/03/2014) - Starcity is sold out of Goblin Rabblemasters at $19.99 a pop. Well so glad I bought in early on these guys...only regret is that I didn't buy more.
 

-Cheers-

Tips and Tricks - Part 2 (Miracles)

The miracles mechanic was introduced by Wizards just a couple of years ago in Avacyn Restored. Most of the miracles cards that were printed do not see any eternal constructed play thus some players may not know all of the interactions that occur around this slightly unusual mechanic. The cards that many players will run into in legacy are Entreat the Angels and Terminus.

The rules for miracles is as follows:

'702.93a. Miracle is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Miracle [cost]" means "You may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it if it's the first card you've drawn this turn. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."'

1. With the Miracle trigger on the stack you can cast Vendilion Clique, target them and remove the offending miracle from their hand.

2. This also means that you can stifle your opponents miracle trigger and the card will go into their hand but no miracle will happen.

3. If you are playing with miracles in your own deck you can put the miracle ability on the stack and in response fetch a land out of your deck to help pay for the miracle.

4. The miracle just has to be the first card drawn this turn. This means you can trigger it on your turn or your opponents turn.

5. If you are playing with miracles in your deck it is a good idea to change the way you draw your cards so that you don't accidently forget to reveal a miracle.

6. Try and have the right mana in play for your miracles at all times as you don't know when you might draw one off the top.

7. To perform our next  trick you must have assembled Sensei's Divining Top, Stoneforge Mystic and have a Terminus on top. You can activate Stoneforge Mystics ability and in response tap Sensei's Divining Top to draw a card with which you will reveal a Terminus. The end result is that you will get rid of your Stoneforge Mystic and all of your opponents creatures but it will leave you with a Batterskull in play.

Please let me know if you have any more miracles tricks to add.

Cheers,
Simon

Links to prior Tips and Tricks -

http://mtgbazaar-teamz.blogspot.com/2014/08/magic-tips-and-tricks-part-1.html