At that time I was 12 and most of the others at the shop were 15-19. Hopefully I don't reach the age of 30 and still refer to people my age as "this kid".
Quote from Yamikiri »
Was he told to GTFO?
lol NO, he was too much of a presence at this particular store for them to kick him out after he finally, a full 10 minutes later, regained what little cool he has.
No, please don't. Just buy singles of whatever you need for whatever deck you'd like to build for whatever format people around you are playing, for maximum value for your $300. If you like drafting it's a good idea to buy a booster box of the current set just to host pick up drafts with.
This kid at the old card store back in the day (2001) was hyper-competitive, tended to win all the FNMs, went to PTQs, and had a really condescending attitude (I think almost all of us have met a few players like this. Once Torment came out we nicknamed him Arrogant Wurm.
One day a new kid shows up, with about the same attitude and credentials, and they started focusing all of their jerk-powers at each other from a pick up game they started before the tournament (Type 1 constructed), to the end of the night when it came down to their match to determine which of them was champ of the evening, the home-team jerkwad was *****ing and moaning for all of game 3 (because he deserved a game 2 win, of course), and got so upset with the new kid's tournament-winning topdeck that he threw his own deck across the room and kicked his opponent under the table hard enough to cause a moderate amount of bleeding and a big wound. I couldn't believe this known-blackbelt would do that over a game of cards. And the real kicker was they were both playing almost the exact same burn deck.
In his defense though, a couple years before that when I was first starting out, he taught me why Skyshroud Cutter was a good card, and he's constructively told me reasons why certain sealed decks I've made were crap, and (rudely) made suggestions about how to improve them with my available sealed pool.
It's great it's just a really casual card for it's price, it's only in Alpha Beta and Unlimited.
I got mine for $40 8 years ago, and it's saved me from many a 10+ power trampler. A couple Old Fogeys who I play board games with were saying "that card's power 15!"
Christopher Rush Plains Ice Age #'s 345344345
Douglas Schuler Islands Mirage #'s 297298299
Tony Roberts Forests Mirage #'s 292293294295 + Tony Roberts Arena 1996 Promo forests in the same style.
I really like being able to actually see the cards involved in the game I'm playing, so I make a point to keep my decks 100% actual cards. (I'm kind of particular about condition, too. I can sometimes be seen holding up $.50 rares to a light source to check for flaws when buying or trading.)
That said, it just isn't cost effective to playtest formats you don't already own the cards for that way, so I make what I consider to be "real proxies", which at least include the card's color (in color), casting cost, types, rules text and some form of "art". This way they at least read the same as any other cards, and they don't cost any more to make than a proxy that's simply the name of a card scrawled onto the back of a common with a sharpie. I'd say the fact that most of them are unreadable as magic cards is more the cause of ill will toward proxies and proxiers than anything else.
On the real topic of this thread though, EDH is the most fun format for the act of deck building ever, so it doesn't surprise me that some people have 20+ decks - just putting them together had to be an awesome challenge, especially once it gets down to fine-tuning.
My definition of too many EDH decks is any number greater than the number you plan on using. I most likely would not keep a deck together that I couldn't at least reasonably intend on using in the next 6 months, when it would better serve as a $100 block of trade resources.
"YOU CAN'T HIIIIIIIIIDE YOUR LION'S EYES AND YOUR SMIIIIIILE IS A THIN DIS-GUISE!" - Whenever I win the die roll against belcher and get a chance to cast Duress first turn and encounter a Lion's Eye Diamond.
In current set drafts and Standard I use whichever current lands I like best.
I don't always play Legacy or EDH, but when I do, I use Mirage Tony Roberts Forests, Ice Age Christopher Rush Plains, Mirage Douglas Schuler Islands, Ice Age Douglas Schuler Swamps, and APAC Rebecca Guay and Arena 1996 Mountains. Stay virgins, my friends. (Just kidding.)
OK ok Spikeshot Elder would definitely be the right pick, I kind of forgot that it is possible to use his ability more than once, giving you lightning bolt for 3RRRRRR, which is still awesome if you have nothing else relevant to play.
Ok well here's 4 more packs real quick. Maybe there will be a tough pick worth brainstorming. (I can afford to just crack packs in the middle of the night in this case, as opposed to drafting with them as a more value-conscious move, because I won them through clever and crafty gaming in the face of way cooler bombs and crazy top decks, and I feel gratification in simply opening the packs I obtain this way.)
Oh man this is a GREAT PACK FOR LIMITED, TOo bad I had the dumb idea of cracking packs! Spikeshot Elder is recurring removal that has synergy with some equipment and thus, metalcraft, and can begin removing 1 toughness creatures on turn 3, and only costs 1 mana to drop before then.
Untamed Might ranks high, and I'm inclined to say it's actually the right pick here since it's not just a cool combat trick to take down something big or sneak 7 damage through, in an infect deck this is a serious win condition, and even though it's a common, you aren't likely to get passed very many.
The only other card that strikes me as being a considerable first pick in this is Shatter, because it's more definite removal than Spikeshot Elder, and it's removal that cannot be removed before it can remove stuff, unlike Spikeshot Elder.
I find in this format the sooner you decide on what you're doing, the better, and packs like these don't give you the luxury of putting that decision off until pick 2 or 3.
Myr Battlesphere is good for a few of the same reasons Chimeric Mass is good. Not as flexible, but it's actually a better 7-drop than Chimeric Mass. And it's the foundation of it's own (rare, because it requires rares) archetype pretty much, next to the infinite mana/infinite myr setup (with Myr Replicator, 4 mana Myrs and the Myr that untaps other Myrs). Also Myr Battlesphere doesn't give a hoot about having a few -1/-1 counters on it Most of the time.
Trigon of Corruption is an overcosted Lightning Bolt with Wither in 3 parts, which is awesome in this format because it can be 3 for 1 card advantage fairly often, maybe more if you're saving one of your creatures from lethal combat damage by using it during combat, or playing swamps or anything that can reset it. I'd probably take the Trigon over the Battlesphere. Be aware that this can only begin on turn 5 without any kind of ramp, if you hit all of your land drops.
Slice in Twain is just too early of a green pick, IMO. Even though it's (almost) a silver bullet.
And on the pack I opened at the top of the thread: If in that pack, in a 4 person draft you went for trinket mage P1P1, you could be fairly certain you'll get a Thrummingbird when it comes back around, and make your picks on that basis if whatever you get passed calls for it. But it's helpful to keep in mind that when evaluating packs from this perspective, that there's an entire draft of unknown cards ahead of you, and that fact tends to reward picks with no particular color/archetype commitment, I think. But oh, how I would love to get passed a Chimeric Mass by some jerk who wants to force blue on pick1 over a trinket mage!
Ok, next pack, but I can't post my evaluation because I have to go to work.
In this thread I am about to open 3 boosters of Scars of Mirrodin and post the results for us to Ponder from a 1st pack 1st pick perspective. Let's go!
Chimeric mass seems to be the right pick, because it's good and slightly bomby, and something you would like to topdeck late, and goes in practically any deck. Perilous Myr, IDK if he's a good first pick, but I know he shouldn't last past pick 4. Let me know if I'm way off on any of these picks, besides (in a 4 person draft), if both trinket mage and thrummingbird come back to you, you know blue is wide open as of pick 4 (for whatever that's worth). I don't think people really settle into their archetypes in this format until more like pack2pick3 or something like that. I'd be glad to hear reasons for chimeric mass not being the right pick if that's true.
Brb tomorrow night to continue the discussion and open pack 2. Definitely post more packs of your own if you like.
I didn't play limited during Invasion, but this looks like a flimsy spell. I'm not a fan of putting anything on the bottom of my library willingly.
The odds are more likely that you will put cards on the bottom that you don't need. And one even goes into your hand. Worldly Counsel is 3rd - 6th pick for me. Multiples of this card wins games, as long as the rest of your deck is reasonably good.
Also, all of these domain cards are going to make the already fairly viable 4 or 5 color archetype even more excellent. Panoramas will be picked higher. Expect 2 decks in every 8 man draft go this way for sure in AAC draft.
At that time I was 12 and most of the others at the shop were 15-19. Hopefully I don't reach the age of 30 and still refer to people my age as "this kid".
lol NO, he was too much of a presence at this particular store for them to kick him out after he finally, a full 10 minutes later, regained what little cool he has.
No, please don't. Just buy singles of whatever you need for whatever deck you'd like to build for whatever format people around you are playing, for maximum value for your $300. If you like drafting it's a good idea to buy a booster box of the current set just to host pick up drafts with.
One day a new kid shows up, with about the same attitude and credentials, and they started focusing all of their jerk-powers at each other from a pick up game they started before the tournament (Type 1 constructed), to the end of the night when it came down to their match to determine which of them was champ of the evening, the home-team jerkwad was *****ing and moaning for all of game 3 (because he deserved a game 2 win, of course), and got so upset with the new kid's tournament-winning topdeck that he threw his own deck across the room and kicked his opponent under the table hard enough to cause a moderate amount of bleeding and a big wound. I couldn't believe this known-blackbelt would do that over a game of cards. And the real kicker was they were both playing almost the exact same burn deck.
In his defense though, a couple years before that when I was first starting out, he taught me why Skyshroud Cutter was a good card, and he's constructively told me reasons why certain sealed decks I've made were crap, and (rudely) made suggestions about how to improve them with my available sealed pool.
I got mine for $40 8 years ago, and it's saved me from many a 10+ power trampler. A couple Old Fogeys who I play board games with were saying "that card's power 15!"
Douglas Schuler Islands Mirage #'s 297 298 299
Tony Roberts Forests Mirage #'s 292 293 294 295 + Tony Roberts Arena 1996 Promo forests in the same style.
That said, it just isn't cost effective to playtest formats you don't already own the cards for that way, so I make what I consider to be "real proxies", which at least include the card's color (in color), casting cost, types, rules text and some form of "art". This way they at least read the same as any other cards, and they don't cost any more to make than a proxy that's simply the name of a card scrawled onto the back of a common with a sharpie. I'd say the fact that most of them are unreadable as magic cards is more the cause of ill will toward proxies and proxiers than anything else.
On the real topic of this thread though, EDH is the most fun format for the act of deck building ever, so it doesn't surprise me that some people have 20+ decks - just putting them together had to be an awesome challenge, especially once it gets down to fine-tuning.
My definition of too many EDH decks is any number greater than the number you plan on using. I most likely would not keep a deck together that I couldn't at least reasonably intend on using in the next 6 months, when it would better serve as a $100 block of trade resources.
I don't always play Legacy or EDH, but when I do, I use Mirage Tony Roberts Forests, Ice Age Christopher Rush Plains, Mirage Douglas Schuler Islands, Ice Age Douglas Schuler Swamps, and APAC Rebecca Guay and Arena 1996 Mountains. Stay virgins, my friends. (Just kidding.)
How about this one?
pack 2 of 4:
Another great pack. I'd go with Nim Deathmantle because it's recursion AND evasion.
OK so here goes:
pack 1 of 4:
Oh man this is a GREAT PACK FOR LIMITED, TOo bad I had the dumb idea of cracking packs! Spikeshot Elder is recurring removal that has synergy with some equipment and thus, metalcraft, and can begin removing 1 toughness creatures on turn 3, and only costs 1 mana to drop before then.
Untamed Might ranks high, and I'm inclined to say it's actually the right pick here since it's not just a cool combat trick to take down something big or sneak 7 damage through, in an infect deck this is a serious win condition, and even though it's a common, you aren't likely to get passed very many.
The only other card that strikes me as being a considerable first pick in this is Shatter, because it's more definite removal than Spikeshot Elder, and it's removal that cannot be removed before it can remove stuff, unlike Spikeshot Elder.
I find in this format the sooner you decide on what you're doing, the better, and packs like these don't give you the luxury of putting that decision off until pick 2 or 3.
Myr Battlesphere is good for a few of the same reasons Chimeric Mass is good. Not as flexible, but it's actually a better 7-drop than Chimeric Mass. And it's the foundation of it's own (rare, because it requires rares) archetype pretty much, next to the infinite mana/infinite myr setup (with Myr Replicator, 4 mana Myrs and the Myr that untaps other Myrs). Also Myr Battlesphere doesn't give a hoot about having a few -1/-1 counters on it Most of the time.
Trigon of Corruption is an overcosted Lightning Bolt with Wither in 3 parts, which is awesome in this format because it can be 3 for 1 card advantage fairly often, maybe more if you're saving one of your creatures from lethal combat damage by using it during combat, or playing swamps or anything that can reset it. I'd probably take the Trigon over the Battlesphere. Be aware that this can only begin on turn 5 without any kind of ramp, if you hit all of your land drops.
Slice in Twain is just too early of a green pick, IMO. Even though it's (almost) a silver bullet.
And on the pack I opened at the top of the thread: If in that pack, in a 4 person draft you went for trinket mage P1P1, you could be fairly certain you'll get a Thrummingbird when it comes back around, and make your picks on that basis if whatever you get passed calls for it. But it's helpful to keep in mind that when evaluating packs from this perspective, that there's an entire draft of unknown cards ahead of you, and that fact tends to reward picks with no particular color/archetype commitment, I think. But oh, how I would love to get passed a Chimeric Mass by some jerk who wants to force blue on pick1 over a trinket mage!
Ok, next pack, but I can't post my evaluation because I have to go to work.
1st pack:
Chimeric mass seems to be the right pick, because it's good and slightly bomby, and something you would like to topdeck late, and goes in practically any deck. Perilous Myr, IDK if he's a good first pick, but I know he shouldn't last past pick 4. Let me know if I'm way off on any of these picks, besides (in a 4 person draft), if both trinket mage and thrummingbird come back to you, you know blue is wide open as of pick 4 (for whatever that's worth). I don't think people really settle into their archetypes in this format until more like pack2pick3 or something like that. I'd be glad to hear reasons for chimeric mass not being the right pick if that's true.
Brb tomorrow night to continue the discussion and open pack 2. Definitely post more packs of your own if you like.
The odds are more likely that you will put cards on the bottom that you don't need. And one even goes into your hand. Worldly Counsel is 3rd - 6th pick for me. Multiples of this card wins games, as long as the rest of your deck is reasonably good.
Also, all of these domain cards are going to make the already fairly viable 4 or 5 color archetype even more excellent. Panoramas will be picked higher. Expect 2 decks in every 8 man draft go this way for sure in AAC draft.