MTG Kaladesh Legacy & Modern Set Review

MTG Kaladesh Legacy & Modern Set Review

It's that time again for my Legacy and Modern Review of the newest set Kaladesh!

White

Authority of Consuls - This is an interesting rootmaze esque effect, unfortunately the decks that would want to play (think lock piece decks) are probably wanting to run COTV which is a big nombo. This would have been a nice sideboard card vs. Splinter Twin but WOTC already axed that.

Cataclysmic Gearhulk - Not a true Cataclysm but an interesting effect nonetheless. This plus Eldrazi Displacer has some cute combos and could be a good sideboard card. Not being able to destroy your opponents planeswalkers is pretty bad though.

Fragmentize - Sorcery speed sucks but this will destroy almost everything you would want to for a low mana investment with little downside. The real question is will they every print a better white card than Disenchant at kill artifacts and enchantments?

Toolcraft Exemplar - A 3/2 creature for W is a pretty good deal and a 3/2 first strike for W is a very good deal. Note that it is not legendary and that it is an artificer ...

This is very relevant with Cavern of Souls. We are probably not there yet but this is at least interesting to think about. Unfortunately, Toolcraft Exemplars pumps are only when he is attacking.

Blue

Ceremonious Rejection - We will see how good this card is but countering some stuff from Eldrazi/Mud does seem good/fun.

Gearseeker Serpant - This little guy probably needed to have only 1 coloured mana symbol to be playable but he is certainly interesting to think about in Modern affinity and Pauper.

Paradoxical Outcome - This is the sort of card that could make Storm combo better in modern if we have a few more good 0 mana cards.

Select for Inspection - Not quite a bounce draw a card but this is at a very appealing mana cost with about 30/50% of a card tagged on.

Torrential Gearhulk - I think that this guy is good enough as a 5th Snapcaster Mage in Modern. He doesn't get hit by the usual removal (Abrupt Decay and Lightning Bolt) and he generates some good value especially if he flash blocks and flashes back a good spell. I am sure that he will be a total beast in Standard as well.

Black

Harsh Scrutiny - Wow, this can only hit creatures but this is pushed quite far when you look at this from a Standard perspective where most decks are jamming a lot of creatures. The worst thing about discard is how bad it is in the late game, the scry tagged on here makes this at least quasi-useful even if you miss or draw it late. Saying that, this is likely not good enough for legacy and maybe only marginally sideboard playable for modern. Curving out with this in Standard though is going to be brutal, take your creature, setup my next draw, etc. Ugh....

Green

Blossoming Defense - OOOhhhh..I quite like this in infect. Having 8 protection spells that also pump is very nice. This is definitely better in modern than legacy but perfectly serviceable.

Red

Built to Smash - While this is not going to see any play (Brute Force is better). This card is pretty interesting as +3/+3 and trample are both very potent. Imagine using this to pump an Ornithopter with cranial plating on it in response to a lightning bolt from your opponent...

Cathartic Reunion - This seems very aggressive in modern for filling up your graveyard with Golgari-Grave Trolls and the like.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance - There aren't too many Planeswalkers in Legacy that aren't Jace or Elspeth. There certainly aren't any red ones (Ajani Vengeant only partially counts). The new Chandra is very good if someone can find a home for her. Imperial Painter could certainly use all of her abilities and her ultimate works well with dead Pyroblasts?

Inventor's Apprentice - I love me some Kird Apes (Loam Lions need not apply). I have no idea where this guy would go, which means the answer is probably nowhere but he is definitely a playable guy in modern if you choose to try and make him work.

Madcap Experiment - We all know the combos with this card by now. This card is fine and may make for some interesting sideboard strategies.



Spark of Creativity - I think this card is interesting if you can leverage it in a deck as at least a cycle and sometimes you get to kill a creature.

Land

Aehter Hub - Replaces Tendo ice bridge in Lantern...

Blooming Marsh, Botanical Sanctum, Concealed Courtyard, Inspiring Vantage, Spirebluff Canal - This is a pretty important cycle to finish off and all of the previous ones saw quite a lot of play. These could even see some play in Legacy and Vintage due to cards like Choke and Islandwalk.

Inventors' Fair - Gaining a life every turn is pretty good against some decks. Tutoring from a land is also pretty good, especially when you can get an artifact. This is likely to see some modern play in lantern, and eh maybe affinity but I can also see this dipping in to legacy MUD decks as those decks often run out of gas.

Artifact

Aetherflux Reservoir - I think this one has been talked to death by now as well. It is at least another potential win condition which is always nice.

Gold

Nothing to see here for Legacy / Modern.

Overall we have a pretty underwhelming set for modern/legacy but there are a couple of fun cards to try out in sideboards. Blossoming Defense is the card I am most looking forward to playing, did they finally push too many good pump spells into infect?



Cheers,
Simon

Old School 93/94 - Let's get in the mood

Let's get in the mood to slinging some old cardboard:

93/94 Song Playlist

-Cheers-

Old School 93/94 - Alpha /Beta /Unlimited (A/B/U) Set Review

As discussed on my last post, I like to have an exhaustive list of cards to choose from and flick through when I am making decks. This is how I often find fun and/or niche sideboard cards for my decks.

Please chime in with comments or via email if you think that that I have missed any cards.

Work in Progress - White complete. Blue complete. Black complete. Red in progress. Green in progress.

White

Armageddon - Our first playable card is a no brainer that is a staple in WW, Erhnamgeddon and Bantamgeddon.

Balance - Well this is pretty easy isn't it, if I can pull out all the restricted cards I am doing a great job...

Benalish Hero - Benalish Hero is certainly playable in WW decks but loses a lot of power in 93/94 when you add Fallen Empires and Icatian Javelineers is so powerful. Yes, I just said a Fallen Empires card is powerful. Live with it.

Circle of Protection: Black / Red - The only two Circle of Protection's that are very good are Black and Red. Black shuts off the mono black agro decks and Red shuts of all the lighting bolts and fireballs that are running around.

Crusade - This is the best WW pump spell in the format.

Disenchant - In every deck with white you want x4 of these MD.

Island Sanctuary - A low mana cost moat that works well with Jayemdae Tome to keep you drawing cards.

Karma - Take that swamps!

Resurrection - One of my goals in the format is to build a reanimator style deck. This may be one of the pieces to that puzzle.

Reverse Damage - A nice instant speed trick to counter 'lethal' fireball's and the like.

Savannah Lions - The most aggressive 1 drop creature in the format is a staple in WW and is also used in several of the GW decks.

Serra Angel - Possibly the best creature in the format. Flies over Moat, doesn't die to Lightning Bolt, Red Elemental Blast, or Blue Elemental Blast and attacks/defends.

Swords to Plowshares - If Serra Angel is the premier finisher then Swords to Plowshares is the premier removal spell in the format. It kills every creature except Black Knight and Order of the Ebon Hand.

White Knight - Another aggressively casting cost creature for WW, with built in protection from terror and Juzam Djinn. The first strike ability also allows him to be a good attacker/blocker that matches up well versus many of the other low drop threats in the format.

Wrath of God - While Moat and The Abyss have largely superseded Wrath of God, in some meta games being able to clear the board is very useful.

Blue

Air Elemental - This little guy is very close to being playable but he is so outclassed by the other options at 3/4/5 mana, either by efficiency or power level. He is worth a mention but he isn't a card you need in your complete 93/94 set.

Ancestral Recall - Who knew the only 1 mana card draw spell would be good?

Blue Elemental Blast - The old hate cards were hateful indeed. Blue Elemental Blast is very powerful at countering all of the great red spells as well as countering those pesky Red Elemental Blasts.

Braingeyser - Card draw and a win condition. This card doesn't seem very strong when viewed through the eyes of modern card design and it is indeed quite slow. The thing is a lot of the games are quite slow and being able to refill your hand or randomly mill out your opponent is very powerful.

Clone - Clone is quite powerful without being over the top. The downside is that you usually need to make sure you can support clone with being able to copy only your creatures as there are several decks that play few or no creatures.

Control Magic - Control Magic is primarily a sideboard card but one that is very impactful against the aggro decks in the format. In particular any decks that do not have easy access to disenchant.

Copy Artifact - In my mind this is one of the undervalued cards in the format. A majority of decks have targets and you have targets in your own deck too. You can copy things as simple as your opponents Fellwar Stone all the way up to their Triskelion. I like this one quite a lot.

Counterspell - The best counterspell in the format that you are allowed to run a playset of.

Lord of Atlantis - Lord of Atlantis isn't too good under the Swedish rules of 93/94 but it does become a little more playable when FE enters the mix.

Mahamoti Djinn - All of the Djinn's are quite powerful in their own way. Mahamoti Djinn is the biggest of the Djinn's and makes quite a formidable finisher if only he was immune to Red Elemental Blast.

Mana Short - Mana Short is a good way to get a leg-up in the control mirror by forcing a counterwar on your opponents end step.

Merfolk of the Pearl Trident - The best (and only 1?) drop merfolk available in the format.

Phantasmal Forces - I haven't seen too many decks running this guy but if you are in the market for more evasive blue creatures he is not bad. The main draw back is that he dies to Lightning Bolt but in a format with more Swords to Plowshares than red removal, I am not sure that really matters.

Power Sink - Power Sink is the 3rd best counterspell in the format (after mana drain and counterspell).

Psionic Blast - Psionic blast is the perfect blue burn spell. I kills Serendib Efreet which is hugely important and sometimes you get to aim it right at your opponents face.

Stasis - For those that enjoy no fun, or should that be for those who enjoy their fun too much?

Steal Artifact - This is another card that I don't see too much of but is quite a powerful sideboard card in the right metagame. The question you need to ask is if taking their artifact will be much better than copying it with copy artifact?

Time Walk - Today we pay at least 5 mana to take an extra turn. Back in 1993 2 mana was deemed acceptable.

Timetwister - The 9th piece of power that is hugely influential in re-stocking your hand after you accelerate out as many permanents as possible. There are also several combos with Underworld Dreams and the like.

Unsummon - A great tempo card that doesn't see enough play, sure it doesn't damage your opponent (ala Vapor Snag) but it is great when people are playing creatures that are quite high in mana cost.

Vesuvan Doppelganger - If you are in the market for even more clones then this where you go next (if you don't run Dance of Many or Halfdane). Clone and Dance of Many are likely the most powerful of all of these effects and going to 8+ of this effect seems dangerous to say the least.


Black

Animate Dead - This is another of the pieces for my magical 93/94 reanimator deck that may never come to pass...To be fair this is quite an important one.

Bad Moon - The Black version of crusade. If you want to go deep and make the black weenie deck then you are going to want x4 of these and you probably start your deck with x4 Stone-Throwing Devils?

Black Knight - The other analog to White Knight. Protection from Swords to Plowshares and being able to attack past a Serra Angel are no joke.

Dark Ritual - No combos here, unless Swamp > Dark Ritual > Hypnotic Specter is a combo...yeah ok that and turn 1 Juzam Djinn count as combos.

Demonic Hordes - I am not 100% sure on this guy but he is quite hefty and has a very relevant ability (land destruction). If you can get this guy out and protect him from a removal spell he is quite likely to take over the game.

Demonic Tutor - Another restricted card that can find you anything in your deck.

Drain Life - The black fireball.

Gloom - A pretty powerful hate card for black against WW and the like.

Howl from Beyond - As long as you can time this so that you don't get blown out by a removal spell then this can be an effective way for black decks to close out the game a little quicker. As it stands I would likely only play 1-2 of this in a deck.

Hypnotic Specter - A powerful play especially with the aforementioned Dark Ritual to accelerate him out early.  Random discard is also very strong.

Lord of the Pit - Another huge guy that I have on the list in case I have missed a deck where he could be reanimated or cloned, etc.

Mind Twist - This guy is oh so fun when you get to twist your opponent for all of his cards, and oh so sad when you get twisted for all of your cards.

Nightmare - A huge burning horse...that actually is my idea of a nightmare.

Paralyze - Blacks backup removal after you have played all of your copies of Terror and don't want to add another colour to your deck.

Pestilence - This is another card that doesn't see much play but can work as a wincon and a creature removal spell. The downside of having to destroy pestilence is the main reason that this card pales compared to The Abyss and Moat.

Sengir Vampire - I like Sengir Vampire quite a lot, I think he is currently underutilised in the current meta.

Simulacrum - This is a pretty neat combat trick that should likely be seeing more play. Especially if you have a lot of lightning bolt or kill you with a fireball decks.

Sinkhole - It does exactly what it says on the cards and does it for a very low mana cost.

Terror - A great removal spell if you don't have a ton of Black and Artifact creatures in your meta.

Word of Command - I guarantee you that your opponent will read this when you play it.

Red

Disintegrate - Fireball if the better of the two red X spells but Disintegrate does see some play.

Dragon Whelp - Being able to attack with a 4/3 flier every turn can end games pretty quickly. Not being able to pump this guy more, dying to Lightning Bolt and him being so vulnerable to Blue Elemental Blast are big downsides though.

Earthquake - Being able to clear out blockers or ground pounders and also whittling your opponents life total down are both great assets to this card.

Fireball - Speaking of X spells (and occasionally of Y spells) this is the big daddy of 93/94. A card to mop up the board with a couple of small creatures or to go to the face.

Flashfires - Man there are some hateful cards in Beta. How much do you hate plains? Enough to set them all on fire. Burrrrn!

Fork - Fork is a pretty fun one, since it can work as a counterspell or a mind twist as well as whatever other fun cards you can find to copy. It is worth noting that this is now unrestricted in Europe.

Goblin Balloon Brigade - Only playable if you are going all in on Goblins. If you are though you probably want this little guy as he takes his balloon all the way over the moat.

Goblin King - The single best card in the Goblin deck.

Granite Gargoyle - 93/94 magic is played at a different pace than today's games. This means that sometimes you can sit back with large(ish) creatures and hope to block for multiple turns.

Keldon Warlord - I haven't seen this guy get played anywhere but I think his stats are pretty good for the format. Again the problem with all creatures that either don't fly or aren't artifacts is Moat/The Abyss.

Lightning Bolt - Old faithful.

Mana Flare - For when you just don't care.

Mana Barbs - I have played Mana Bards a few times in "modern" magic but not in 93/94 yet. I assume it is pretty good in an agro/tempo deck.

Mon's Goblin Raiders - Creature type goblin, check.

Orcish Artillery - I like this card quite a lot even though it sees no play. It is a sideboard card at best but really shines against the WW and other aggro decks in the format. If only it had the creature type Goblin...it is possible that making an errata to turn Orcs into Goblins could allow for some nice diversity in the format in the future.

Power Surge - This is another card that I am interested in playing in the mana burn environment.

Red Elemental Blast - This is one of the most powerful sideboard (and sometimes main deck) cards in the format.

Sedge Troll - A very aggressive creature with good abilities and stats. The issue is finding a deck for him to live in.

Shatter - While not as good as disenchant, Shatter does a lot of work in the red decks.

Shivan Dragon - I am not a huge fan of Shivan Dragon as a finisher and this is mostly because of Blue Elemental Blast but I see him in a lot of decks as a 1-of. Also he is huge, flies and has a lot of nostalgia around him.

Stone Rain - While not as good under the EC rules (x4 Strip Mine). A very nice sideboard card to destroy those annoying Mishra's factories.

Wheel of Fortune - Such a powerful card draw spell and it isn't even blue!

Green

Old School 93/94 - Resources, Links and Discussion

As I mentioned in my last post my newest obsession is the 93/94 format. For those of you who are not familiar then please take a read of the below resources, or maybe you are familiar and want to take a look at some sweet decklists.

Resources/Links :

http://oldschool-mtg.blogspot.com/p/historik.html

http://www.eternalcentral.com/oldschool/

https://www.reddit.com/r/oldschoolmtg

https://www.instagram.com/oldschoolmtg/?hl=en

http://www.understandingancestral.com/

Star City Games Article about Old School Magic

Old School - Europe: Facebook Page

Old School - Europe: YouTube Channel

East Coast 93/94 Discussion and Marketplace

Old School '93-'94 - Europe: Facebook Group

Midwest USA 93/94 Old School Magic

Magic '95 Homepage

Danny Friedman's Vintage & Old School Blog

http://www.manaleak.com/mtguk/2015/11/uk-old-school-magic-the-gathering-the-beginnings-of-a-format-by-rod-smith/

http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/new-format-old-school/

Discussion:

As readers and those who know me know I mostly play Legacy with the occasional dabble in to Standard when I feel like burning someone's face off. My local store (Asgards) has a great group of legacy players who occasionally have forays in to Vintage. With the opening of Asgards new bar (AKA AssGayBar) myself and others were quick to latch on to a "casual" format that could be played in between rounds of legacy or alternatively at the bar between a few people during the afternoon. The current target audience is these legacy/vintage players who already have deep legacy/vintage card pools. While I appreciate the ethos behind the original Swedish players 93/94 set of rules we are going to more closely follow the Eternal Central Rules. Firstly, we are also in the US so if I ever travel to play Old School it is more likely to be using these rules. Second, increasing the card pool means more decks are viable. Third, I want to promote more people playing with old Magic cards. I don't really care if those cards are from Chronicles or Arabian Nights. One of the great things about Legacy is that some people have super sweet and super pimp decks, while other people have barely cobbled together a deck of playable. For a non-sanctioned Magic format more people = better.

One of the first thing I did after reading all the above articles and blogs was to start looking at 93/94 decklists. This naturally led me to going through each set to identify playable cards. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to do a blog article for each set that is legal in the format (Alpha - Fallen Empires). There are a few cards that don't see play that are playable in the format and for those that don't want to pore over set lists they can have a short cut for finding the playable cards.

-Cheers-

Official Chaos Orb Flip Tracker- 1/2 = 50%

Old School 93/94 - Time Flies

Wow...does time fly when you are busy with work, family and the general rigmarole of life.

I am going to start re-blogging a little bit more often after almost 1 year of hiatus.

You are warned.

Also as an FYI my current obsession is 93/94 Old School Magic. So expect to see a few blog posts about that.

Watch this space.

-Cheers-

Magic Online / MODO / MTGO Daily Event Legacy - July 2015

GP Lille has come and gone. What did it show us? There were a lot of Delver decks on coverage, especially grixis delver. Surprisingly it was the more "traditional" 4 colour / Castelvania Delver decks that made the top 8 rather than the newer Angler versions of the deck. The big take away for me is that Dig Through Time is excellent. I already knew that but after watching a bunch of games play out and playing with Dig Through Time more on MODO I am even more convinced of its power. I will be jamming as many decks with Dig Through Time over the coming months. Dig Through Time feels almost as good as treasure cruise and that is likely not a good sign for the card or the health of legacy...

The two decks (other than the 4c Delver) that interested me the most were the following:

http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=10022&d=257797&f=LE 

I have Infect built online and I have played it to a few good finishes, including my first daily event 4-0. This update is similar to one that Tom Ross has talked about several times. I have always been a little leery of the white splash in the past, as I am not sold on whether it is needed or not. In such a large and diverse field having access to the powerful white sideboard cards seems to have paid off in this case.

http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=10022&d=257800&f=LE

Saito's Grixis Delver is the other deck that interested me. While Saito did not top 8 he did go 9-0 on day 1 with his take on Grixis. The main thing of note is the Dig Through Time's replacing what used to be Treasure Cruise.

I have played the deck in 1 daily event so far and went 3-1. I lost to MUD through a game where he was on the play and went turn 1 COTV. Then I lost another game because I misclicked on my brainstorm and put the cards back in the wrong order which meant I didn't have a blue card for his Trinisphere...and I never drew a 3rd land.  The main deck looks pretty perfect to me but I think there is some work in the sideboard. I would like to shoehorn in a Rakdos Charm since it gives another artifact hate card as well as a graveyard hate card which is something the deck currently has 0 of.

Oh yeah and before I forget, I have finally bought my power 9, set of Mishra's Workshops and Bazaar of Baghdad's online. So I should be able to start jamming some vintage in the near future.

Cheers,
Simon

MTG Origins Legacy & Modern Set Review

It's that time again for my Legacy and Modern Review of the newest set MTG Origins!

Despite being a "Core Set" with several reprints and only a handful of new cards, there are some pretty spicy cards in this set. My prediction is that MTG Origins has the largest impact of any core set on Standard and Modern. In addition, the card prices from this set could be very interesting to watch. We will have to wait and see how popular the draft format is but traditionally core set chase cards have gone for some serious money (see Baneslayer Angel, etc.). This time around I think we have more sleepers compared to chase rares like Baneslayer Angel but sometimes it is the slow and steady gainers that you want to keep track of.

White

Hallowed Moonlight - More ways to disrupt Reanimator and Elves are always appreciated but costing 2 mana in legacy is a tall order (especially when we could just play containment priest). For modern we probably don't have enough targets to make this worthwhile but it is worth mentioning that it has some interesting interactions with Kikki-Jikki and Splinter Twin. Buying you 1 turn though is likely not enough.

Vryn Wingmare - Thalia is the best of these effects but Vryn can also trade with a Delver of Secrets which is a nice bonus. More 1 butt's in Death and Taxes seems like it could be asking for trouble though. When Death and Taxes first came around as a deck some people were really high on Glowrider and Vryn is a big upgrade from that.

Starfield of Nyx - Enchantress has been aching for some new cards for the past several blocks. Enchantress lovers thought that their time had come when Theros block was announced but they were left wanting. Starfield of Nyx adds a win condition and a slow Replenish effect to the deck, all while being an enchantment while you are "going off." Also this card will likely look awesome in foil because of the art and colouring.

Blue

Harbinger of the Tides - Holy Tempo batman. This guy is pretty sweet, as a quasi time walk you can put your opponent quite far behind all while laying out your army of little fish. The added bonus of using him later as a Venser creature bounce is also a nice option. This guy is going to make racing merfolk quite difficult for fair decks. The downside is that if your opponent is not sure whether they should attack, then not is often the answer now because of the creature being tapped clause.

Jhessian Thief - Is it too much to ask for Ophidian to be playable again? This is likely the best Ophidian that we have seen in a while with the exception of Ohran Viper who I still think is an excellent creature and wildly underplayed. This little thief will probably see 0 play but that doesn't mean that I wont try and play it in some format...Maybe Pauper or Vintage?

Mizzium Meddler - This guy could see some play in modern, he survives lightning bolt and can mess with your opponents Splinter Twin, etc.

Black

Dark Petition - An obviously powerful Tutor + Dark Ritual. In legacy 5 mana is a huge wall to overcome. If people start playing this, then I think I will be dazing and spell piercing a lot of these. For Modern, there aren't any black rituals so I am not sure how good this card is. Also worth mentioning is that flipping this to an Ad Nauseam will hurt a lot.

Gnarlroot Trapper - This guy is like a reverse elves of the Deep Shadow that has an extra ability! Unfortunately, his mana ability only casts elves which means he is probably a no-go in legacy due to having to cast Natural Order  and Glimpse of Nature but for modern this guy is sweet. This guy lets elves play defense as well, which is something that elves have often struggled with in the past.

Green

Animist's Awakening - I have no doubt that Travis Woo will try something with this card. For legacy, the easiest deck to look at is lands. Honestly, I am not sure if lands is the right home for this card but this is the powerful sort of card that could change how a deck plays. What other land win conditions are there other than Thespian Stage + Dark Depths and Man Lands? If there is something spicy out there, we could have a fun brew on our hands.

Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen - This guy has the right stats to block Delver and pump your elf team. He is probably a little corner case and may be a sideboard card but fetching him up with Green Sun Zenith and attacking with your team is going to gain you a lot of life.

Evolutionary Leap - I like where Wizards head is at, this card could be totally busted or complete trash, only time will tell. This is probably more of a modern card than anything else though. For modern I think we want to utilize Persist, Dredge, Vengevine, etc. to gain some value. In legacy, I am not sure what we want to do with creatures in hand... 

Herald of the Pantheon -  This guy isn't going to resurrect enchantress from the dead but he will be a welcome addition to the sideboard of the people who still play the deck (anybody out there?). He can buy you some time which is all you really want if you are playing that deck.

Red

Abbot of Keral Keep - I think we will end up calling this guy the red Snapcaster Mage. He seems very good for both Standard and Modern. Could UR Burn become a thing in modern with this guy and Snapcaster Mage? I don't see this guy being strong enough in legacy, if he had flash then we could talk.

Goblin Piledriver - A reprint for legacy but a first printing for modern. This little guy will put goblins on the map but the world is pretty hateful to goblins with all those bolts, etc. I also do not think pro-blue is particularly valuable in modern at the moment, with the exception of merfolk and Pestermite / Deceiver Exarch.

Magmatic Insight - A potential combo card for Goblin Charbelcher/ Empty the Warrens, or some other red based combo deck in Legacy or Modern? Someone more combo inclined will have to bust this card but it is definitely on my "to watch list."

Molten Vortex - This might be my favorite card in the set (until I start losing to it). A small upfront mana investment, a largely irrelevant downside and its in the correct colour. I have been mulling the idea of putting Cursed Scroll in more decks lately (mostly Delver decks)...this is likely just better and slightly harder to kill. I think most decks only want 1 or 2 of this effect but if you can get two activations from this in an aggressive deck then you have likely won the game. It also "combos" well with Grim Lavamancer by putting lands into the graveyard.

Pia and Kiran Nalaar - A human siege-gang commander but with tokens that have evasion? There is a Death and Taxes list which is currently popular online that runs Imperial Recruiter and Magus of the Moon. I could see wanting one Pia and Kiran Nalaar in the 75 since you can search for it with Imperial Recruiter. It is very awkward that Pia and Kiran Nalaar costs 4 mana since you never want to set your vial to 4...also worth noting is that with Pia and Kiran Nalaar in play you have a use for those extra dead Aether Vials, Phyrexian Revokers and any additional Equipment. Also worth mentioning is that Cavern of Souls on Human will help you pay for an uncounterable Pia and Kiran Nalaar. Note - Pia and Kiran Nalaar is an annoyingly long name...I vote we rename it PKN which sounds like a political party from North Korea..

Land

None.

Artifact

Hangarback Walker - I like this guy quite a lot. He can fit in most parts of your curve and can gain some value if you have some time. I see this guy having potential in Modern (Affinity) and Legacy (MUD). The fact that he insulates you from spot removal and sweepers is very nice and providing flying attackers/blockers is icing on the cake. This guy is also a complete and utter house in Standard, I see this guy being played a lot in all sorts of archetypes...

Gold

Shaman of the Pack - Shaman of the Pack could be the missing piece of the Modern Elves deck to push it into true Tier 1 status.

This is the biggest bunch of potential payable's in a while from ANY Magic set. I think Magic Origins will be an understated hit in eternal formats.

Cheers,
Simon

Magic Online / MODO / MTGO Daily Event Legacy - June 2015

It finally happened...I have RUG built on MODO.

http://mtgo-stats.com/decks/player/samuraisocks

http://mtgo-stats.com/decks/17953

http://mtgo-stats.com/decks/17749

See above for the RUG lists I have been playing. The deck has been doing great other than I keep losing my last round to Miracles or Jeskai Stoneblade... The main deck is pretty stock minus the Forked Bolt / Dismember split. There is a lot of Grixis Delver running around at the moment with Gurmag Angler so I could see going back to x2 Dismember. As a general rule, I hate having dismember in my deck since it is dead vs. combo decks and control decks (usually) but it has been pretty good for me online so far.

Moving to the only part that I am not sure of...the sideboard.

Sideboard 1:

1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Envelop
2 Flusterstorm
1 Spell Pierce
1 Forked Bolt
2 Grim Lavamancer
1 Pyroblast
1 Sudden Demise
1 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Destructive Revelry
1 Grafdigger's Cage Sideboard 2: 1 Blue Elemental Blast     1 Envelop     2 Flusterstorm   1 Spell Pierce     1 Vendilion Clique     1 Forked Bolt     2 Grim Lavamancer     1 Pyroblast     1 Sudden Demise     3 Destructive Revelry     1 Grafdigger's Cage

I like that I have managed to cut the targets for Wear/Tear against Miracles in sideboard 2. The downside it is that it makes me cut the cards that are best against Miracles. I haven't fully fleshed out if it is better to have the powerful cards or turn off 1/2 of their post sideboard cards.

The cards I am talking about are:

Pithing Needle
Null Rod
Sulfuric Vortex
Sylvan Library
Winter Orb

The jury is still very much out on this one.

The rest of the sideboard feels very good. I think I am still the only person running 3 Destructive Revelry but it is good for me every time I cast it. I have blown up several Counterbalances and Bloodmoons which always feels good. Ancient Grudge doesn't do that.
-Cheers-

-Cheers-

Magic Online / MODO / MTGO Daily Event Legacy - May 2015

I finally got around to playing in my first Legacy Daily event thanks to the huge mother of a storm that came through Houston and flooded most of the city.

For those not in Houston:

http://www.weather.com/safety/floods/news/houston-flooding-wildest-images

Hence work was cancelled, daycare was cancelled, court was cancelled, etc. Having the day at home with the family was great and thankfully we had electricity and Internet!

My weapon of choice for the Legacy Daily was Infect. I have played infect a few times in small legacy events in paper and I played quite a lot of modern infect online several months ago. I felt pretty comfortable with the deck since it bridges the gap between Modern Infect and Legacy Delver. I had just bought my Wastelands, so I had the entire deck complete minus 1-2 cards which are not 100% essential to run (Stifle & Karakas). After playing 1 random match in the tournament practice room versus a Storm opponent (Won 2-1) to get rid of the MODO rust, I was ready to enter my first Legacy Daily.

List:

(Will link to Daily Decklists)

For some reason I am not having any luck finding the daily decklists for the event I played in. I will list the event # and maybe someone who is more familiar with MODO can help me out.

Round 1 - Miracles

G1 - He played land go and I just chipped away at him until he died.

G2 - I beat his Bloodmoon because I had  a guy in play and then force of willed his removal spell.

2-0

Round 2 - Storm

G1 - Quick clock and a few counterspells is good enough to get it done.

G2 - My opponent went lotus petal, brainstorm. I force of willed his brainstorm and then won from there.

2-0

Round 3 - UR Delver (or Mono Red with Gitaxian Probe)

G1 - My opponent probed me and played some red spells.

G2 - I dazed his Eidolon of the Great Revel and then he conceded...

2-0

Round 4 - COTV Affinity

G1 - I am ahead but we are racing when my opponent plays Tezzeret and uses the get an artifact in the top 5 ability. He finds...and Ornithopter which will work great against my Inkmoth Nexus...I manager to squeak out the game anyway but it feels way closer than it should be.

G2 - I counter his COTV and slowly grind him out from there.

2-0

Playing 4 rounds and winning each 2-0 is pretty nice. The deck played very well but I would probably add the 2 cards into the deck even though I didn't miss them too much for this tournament (Add +1 Stifle, +1 Karakas & Remove -1 Crop Rotation, -1 Spell Pierce).

Now I need to decide what to do with the 11 Tempest Remastered Booster Packs I won...

Next purchase is a playset of Tarmogoyf's when Modern Masters comes out...I hope they drop to around $50 a pop from the $65 or so that they are at right now.

Cheers,
Simon

MODO SN - samuraisocks

May Update

Life has been super busy. Work + Baby + Wife has left me with little time for Magic (paper or electronic).

Next week I will be in Norway/Sweden so things are not going to calm down any time soon.

Hopefully when I get back I can buy some cheap MODO wastelands. While I am gone you guys need to get busy drafting Tempest Masters...

-Cheers-

Will Power Gaming Mox Jet Tournament April 18 2014 - Standard 2nd Place Report Simon Christie

The list -
 
Mono Red

Creatures (20)

3 Zurgo Bellstriker

4 Foundry Street Denizen

1 Frenzied Goblin

3 Lightning Berserker  

4 Monastery Swiftspear

2 Eidolon of the Great Revel

3 Goblin Heelcutter

 

Lands (20)

 

20 Mountain

Spells (20)

4 Wild Slash

4 Stoke the Flames

3 Lightning Strike

1 Titan's Strength

4 Dragon Fodder

3 Hordeling Outburt

1 Hall of Triumph

Sideboard [15]

 

3 Prophetic Flamespeaker

1 Hall of Triumph

4 Searing Blood

4 Roast

2 Arc Lightning

1 Harness by Force

 

The main deck was pretty close to perfect but I think the sideboard could take a little tweaking.

 

I decided that I would stick with Mono Red rather than pushing for the RG Atarka version which has a terrible mana base.

 

The first thing I had to do Saturday morning was buy some cards to complete the new list. After spending $1.28 on a couple of roasts and a dragon fodder my deck was ready to go. :)

 

Round 1 - (Abzan Aggro) Collin Rountree 

 

Game 1 - I play dudes and proceed to smash him down to ~9 life, then I start to get brick walled as he continues to hit his mana and keeps playing 3/3s. He then gains some life off of Siege Rhino and I end the game with 8 mountains in play and 2 more in hand...oh buddy.

Game 2 - I curve out and Roast all of his guys. Wow Roast is a crazy good magic card for mono red. Being able to kill Siege Rhino is all kinds of spicy. Usually, I am just happy if he cannot block.

Game 3 - I re-sideboard since I am on the draw and bring in a miser Searing Blood. I end up killing his Rakshasa Deathdealer with that Searing Blood. That extra damage lets me easily win the race. He had a turn where he played and attacked with a Siege Rhino instead of a Surrak. If he had attacked with Surrak I would have had a hard time racing him back. Also I Roasted a bunch of his critters.

 

Round 2 - (Jeskai Tokens)

 

Game 1 - This is not a great matchup but I manage to kill him when he is forced to tap his guys to Stoke the Flames and it lets me get in with a huge hasty Lightning Berserker for a bunch (~5/6).

Game 2 - I side out all the guys with a 1 butt and you know what card is super sweet? Prophetic Flamespeaker. :)

 

Round 3 - (UB Control) David

 

Game 1 - This is likely mono reds best matchup. The game plan is simple play guys + smash face, then when he is close to stabilizing + tapped out you burn them out.

Game 2 - See game 1, only this time your opponent has 2/3 mana sweepers. Before the tournament I thought about running 1 Collateral Damage to mitigate Bile Blight, I still like the idea but I don't know if we need it.

I think I may have made a slight misplay in game 2 when I played a Hordeling Outburt on turn 3 and my opponent cast Silumgar's Scorn without revealing a dragon. I could have played Dragon Fodder which would have meant he would have had to reveal a dragon or not cast the card (since I could then have paid 1 mana). This is a tough spot, I am not sure if you are supposed to play around Force Spike/Counterspell in this situation or not.  
 
Round 4 - (GR Dudes)

My opponents asks if I will concede. I say we can play or draw. He chooses to play.
 
Game 1 - We get into a race in the mid game due to his Surrak coming down and creating some additional hasty damage.

Game 2 - Turn 3 Hornet's Nest. Ouch. I play on and hope to draw a Goblin Heelcutter and/or Frenzied Goblin. It doesn't ever happen though.

Round 5 - (Abzan Aggro/Mid)

ID
 
Semi - (GR Dudes)
 
This is the same guy as Round 4. So I know what I am up against.

Game 1 - He is on the play but I manage to make some favorable trades which put him in an awkward position for racing. I manage to burn out his final life points.

Game 2 - He accelerates into some quick fat dudes and I am unable to keep up.

Game 3 - My opponents first play is a flashed in Boon Satyr. I have the searing blood though. I easily take the game from there.

I forget which game I made the mistake but I made the first glaring mistake on the day in this match. I had played a turn 1 Lightning Berserker and my opponent had played a turn 1 Elf. I have a wild slash in hand and a bunch of two drops. I attack with Lightning Berserker (I am fine with the trade) and my opponent declines to trade...only I don't pump the Berserker even though I know I am going to kill the elf. That 1 point didn't end up mattering but it could have.
 
Quarter - (Abzan Control) Joe Bass
 
Game 1 - I play guys and smash but Joe is able to slow the game down enough to get double Courser and a Siege Rhino down. Too many big butts.

Game 2 - I curve out and get hit with some removal but I keep playing my cards conservatively while whittling away at his life total.

Game 3 - My opponent mulligans and my quick draw punishes him hard.

Also worth noting is that Joe played turn 1/2 thoughtseized me all 3 games...I don't think this is a valid plan (especially on the draw). Thoughseize does nothing if it is not in your opening 7 since it is so hard to play mid/late game.
 
Finals - (Abzan Aggro/Mid)

No split finals...so this is for all the marbles.

Game 1 - My opponent is on the play. I mulligan to 5...If I had drawn a second land a turn or two sooner (not like turn 5) then I think I win this game. I got my opponent down to ~7 before he manages to play Surrak into Sorin (the 1 of Sorin obviously). If I had my second land then I would have been able to Stoke the Flames....

Game 2 - I curve out pretty perfectly but my hand is kind of clogged with Goblin Token cards, so I am forced to play them out. My opponent casts x2 Drown in Sorrow and x2 Bile Blight  during this game...I can still win if I draw a burn spell over x2 turns in the mid-game while my opponent is at 5 life and I have a Wild Slash in Hand.

It would have been nice to at least get a game 3 against my opponent but it was not to be. I was so looking forward to winning my second Mox Jet.
 
All in all it was a good day for Mono Red and I will be slinging mountains again if I have any other Standard tournaments coming up.

Cheers,
Simon

Hearthstone Update (April 2015)

Since my foray into MODO I have almost completely forgot about Hearthstone...I guess the $100 I spent on that game was a waste. This is why I always stick with Magic even if another game looks good or interesting to me. Magic is such a proven product and it is simply a safer bet. In addition, any money you do invest money into Magic you can get back out pretty easily by selling. Other games just do not have this ability.  
 
I still think Hearthstone Online is > MODO from a program, technology, visual and pretty much every other standpoint except the actual game itself. While Hearthstone stands up to Magic quite well it just isn't the same.

I could have bought 2 Wastelands online with the $100! Sigh.

-Cheers-

PS - I am not ruling out going back to Hearthstone at some point but the idea of spending any money on it is very unappealing.

Magic Online _ MODO _ MTGO Basic Lands

I finally took the plunge and decided on my basic lands for MODO. The prices for some of the basics are pretty weird online and I wanted to to buy 20-25 of each basic which will be enough for any deck I want to play, barring something really weird.

Behold in all their glory:

Plains

Island

Swamp

Forest

Mountain

The hardest choice was choosing a good forest (I still don't know if I picked right) and other than that, most of the choices were between 1-2 for each basic land (other than Plains which was always going to be Sunflowers).

-Cheers-

MTG Dragons of Tarkir Legacy Set Review

I am running a little late for this set review but I wanted to share anyway.

Usually I go through colour by colour but we are pretty light on payable's this time around, so lets get straight to the meat (with my ranking).

1. Dromoka's Command & Zurgo Bellstriker
- These look to be the best cards in the set by far for Legacy. I can see both of these popping up as 1/2 ofs in the only decks that they make sense to be in (GWx and Mono Red).
- Dromoka's Command is extremely versatile and will give some good edges to Mirror Matches and the other fair matches  (Delver, Death and Taxes, etc.).
- Zurgo is likely a 1/2 of in Mono red decks with are forever present in Texas at least. He is a legend so I don't think you want too many of him. He also isn't quite a Goblin Guide but this guy is going to do some damage when combined with Goblin Guide.

2. Rending Volley
- Another way to Kill Delver of Secrets, Stoneforge Mystic, etc..

3. Myth Realized  
- This cards has sweet design but I think it is too much of a dream. When you have this card work it will look like the best card in your deck but when you top deck it on turn X it will look like poop. If this card does see any play I think it would more likely be as a sideboard card.
- Also insert obligatory reference to Enchantress. Done.

Other (Even more Tenuous)

4. Self-Inflicted Wound
- This is a narrow sideboard card but a nice way to kill off Green and White guys that will also kill off a Progenitus if that ever become relevant again. Unitl then I will stick with Deathmark though.

5. Shambling Goblin
- I don't know if having 8 of this effect is good enough to see play with something like Goblin Bombardment. I will leave that for Sam Black to decide.

6. Roast
- In the RUG mirror match this does kill Tarmogoyf. I still don't know that you want this in your 75 though. Maybe if Tombstalker/ Tasigur became a bigger thing.

7. Twin Bolt
- So, so close. When they make this cost R aka Instant Speed Forked Bolt, they will have printed maybe my favorite Magic card. Until then I will keep playing Forked Bolt.

8. Collected Company
- I will leave some mad genius to figure out how to get this to work.

9. Atarka's Command
- A must play in Modern but a pretty good card in legacy too if you care about the life gain.

10. Kolaghan's Command
- All of these modes are pretty good in a Grixis Type deck. It is a shame that it costs 3 mana but playing 1 of these in your 75 is reasonable.

All she wrote.

Cheers,
Simon