Tagic Slip is by no means format-breaking. Its drawback is far more restricting than you might think. Granted, i feel it is strictly better than Disfigure or Darkblast because it has the chance of being so much bigger, but that doesn't make it unbalanced. If you want unbalanced in the current standard, you need not look further than Mirran Crusader. That card should never have been printed as is.
On the bright side, I pulled a Sword of Feast and Famine from my Mirrodin Besieged pack. And, while the M12 and New Phyrexian packs contained junk rares, they also contained Timely Reinforcements, Gut Shot, Vault Skirge, and Geth's Verdict. I spent $12 and got back $35+. Not that bad at all.
Back during the Kamigawa/Ravnica standard, I ran a GB Budget Rock deck that featured cards such as Ashen-Skin Zubera, Dripping-Tongue Zubera, Golgari Germination, Savra, Queen of the Golgari, Grave Pact, and various sac outlets like Nantuko Husk. Everyone who saw the decklist said it was just a pile of cards. However, it ended up being one of my most successful homebrew ever, winning three FNMs in a row. It even had an impressive track record against many of the top decks at the time. Don't ask me how or why, it just did.
A few years later, during Time Spiral's stint in standard, I attempted to recreate the general premise of the deck using slivers (Mindlash, Darkheart, Necrotic). It didn't have quite the same success sadly, though it dip top 4 once or twice.
I also remember this one time where a guy built a deck that was literally 30-ish counterspells, sensei's divining top, and Vedalken Shackles. He did it because he was bored and wanted to do something stupid and crazy. He ended up winning FNM that week. We all laughed.
As a player that played through Kamigawa's run in standard, I can tell you that Gnarled Mass never saw a lick of play in any tier 1 or tier 2 deck. However told you that is having fun at your expense. As mentioned above, the card from kamigawa that dominated during it's run in standard was the Jitte. Beyond that, Cranial Extraction and Gifts Ungiven were both very prevailant. truthfully, the Kamigawa block was very underwhelming and not so many strong cards came out of there. But I suppose it was to be expected since it came on the heels of Mirrodin and Affinity. Just like Mercadian Masques after the Urza Block.
My pet peeve is that I was a loyal customer of a local small game shop in town. I showed up daily and bought cards constantly from him. One night I showed up for FNM and was greeted by the owner, who I had known well, at the door and asked to never return. He never gave me a reason but "Ill put a restraining order on you if you walk through my door." Uhm, What? Blindsided and hurt I was lost...I have texted him 3 times in 6 months asking if I can come back and all I get is "If I get another text ill put a restraining order on you." needless to say, This has begun happening to what was his main set of magic players. We have begun traveling to play now rather then stick around this mans shop.
TL : DR Poor management and unknown reasons leads people to leave your shop for good.
I would be willing to bet somebody among the group of magic players that frequented your store did something like steal from the store or caused some form of property damage. The owner might then decide that, if one magic player would do such a thing, than any of them would. He might then decide to weed out all the magic players.
Sadly for me, I live in a very rural community, the closest LGS being 55 minutes away from me. We used to have a shop, but the local government decided that it was a 'den for riff-raff' and had the building condemned despite the fact that the owner had just spent a few thousand dollars making sure it was up to code. They have also gone out of their way to make sure he can't rent or buy any other business space not just in the city where I live, but also the surrounding county.
Being a community that is largely close-minded religious types, they seem to have it in their minds that anything like Magic or D&D are 'tools of the devil' and 'won't allow them anywhere near their children'. It's really sad too, because there is actually a sizable community of Magic players in this area. we have actually resorted to meeting when we can at local bars (the mar owners sympathize for us). We even tried to organize tournaments and give out prizes at one time. Guess what? The powers that be brought the gambling commission down on us. Apparently, MTG can be considered a game of chance, and it is illegal to play games of chance for prizes in a building that serves alcohol without the proper lisense.
Long story short, if I want to play anything but casually with friend, I have to travel an hour to other stores in other counties.
3 - Players that feel like that have to sit in my lap during my matches. Yes, I'm running something new. It might be a homebrew, it might be a netdeck, but I'm having a hard time focusing with to five inches from my face. Just take two steps back or get glasses if you can't see that well.
But what if that person happens to be an especially attractive member of the gender you're interested in? Certainly, you would want them to sit in your lap in that case!
1) Memes in Magic play: Ohh dear God. I'm a very social person at FNM's, I talk a lot, and am usually very silly. But if you have paintings of memes on your cards and say things like: "Oh Noes" and "Why you bad?" and "I find the lack of land disturbing" and "One does simply not attack with Emrakul.", then I will stop talking to you. Normally I'm all for conversation related or unrelated, but if those phrases come out of your face, I will shut up so I don't have to listen to your responses. One or two, that's fine. All the time? I will make it a point to spike it the hell up, place fast, shuffle your deck, and become so anti-fun that you won't look forward to another match. Even if you win 2-0.
I used to use internet memes in casual conversation....... AND THEN I TOOK AN ARROW TO THE KNEE!
~hides from hail of oncoming bullets~
Finally, in regards to all those folks complaining about people shuffling their hands.....
Doing away with the DCI ranking is fine by me. I hadnt been adding to it for several years. Plus, all that decent playing I did in more recent times had been countermanded by all the janky playing I had done when I first started :/
I'm usually pretty easy going but when I run into this I have the urge to be like "you didn't untap that **** during your untap phase, now live with it staying tapped for the rest of the turn sucker".
It's really too bad the rule say you can't force them not to untap critters that would have untapped anyways. Best case scenario if a judge intervenes is you both get a warning. Worst case scenario is YOU get a DQ loss for trying to break the rules.
Let's break this down as far as the removal black has to offer. Here is the way I see out spells from weakest to strongest:
6. Victim of Night - Utterly useless against Zombie decks. Can't hit Stromkirk Noble, Valkenrath Aristocrat, Huntmaster, Grimgrin, Havengal lich, and others. That's a lot of highly played critters it can't touch. This card is too situational to be anything by sideboard filler.
5. Geth's Verdict - Bad against token decks. Won't always get what you want it to if you don't play it right. It does bleed the opponent and it gets around protection (see Mirran Crusader and SoFaF). However, I feel it is also just a bit too situational to be more than a sideboard option against UW Humans and Mono-Green (Crusader and Dungrove).
4. Tragic Slip - Works wonders against mana dorks and the plethora of other x/1s. Not so hot versus tokens, as its really a waste of a play. Can't reliably trigger morbid w/o a bunch of sac effects and I don't think Mortapod and Artistocrat are as good as people seem to think. 'Pod specifically is just terrible and I don't understand why people bother with it.
3. Go For The Throat - Useless against Tempered Steel and doesn't touch Wurmcoil Engine. Engine sees play in WRR, mono-green, and birthing pod. Aside from that, this does a fairly decent job as removal.
2. Doom Blade - Useless against zombie.dec. Grimgrin, Havengul, and Aristocrat laugh it off. However, this is our best weapon against WRR, TS, and Mono-green (sans Dungrove). It takes out all their beasties for just 2 mana. And since those are our three worst match-ups, that is a pretty big thing.
1. Grasp of Darkness - Hits everything save for Mirran Crusader and Dungrove. Less effective against WRR, though it still takes out that pesky lifelink wurmcoil token. This appears to be our most versitle removal all things considered. It beats out dismember by costing one less mana withough having to kill yourself (I still think 4 life and 1 mana is too steep a price to pay for -5/-5 ).
It seems to me that running 2-4 Grasps mianboard and 2-3 Doom Blades SB is the way to go. If you run up against a lot of Mirran Crusaer, you're best off running BR zombies. If there are a lot of Dungrove in your meta, put Verdict over Doon Blade in the SB.
hehe you guys would hate me then. I purposely use random junk as tokens with the intention of annoying people, as so many guys at the shop I frequent seem to think it's blasphemous to use anything other than cards or glass beads. For that very reason, I have a small bag that contains a paper clip, a rubberband, a pen cap, and one of those small circular batteries among other things.
Heh, one time I even used a pack of M&Ms as tokens, and every time one would leave play, I would eat it!
As far as my list:
5. Can't think of anything for the 5-spot. I don't get annoyed by what people do easily. Mostly, it isn't playing habits that get to me, it's the obviously ignorant things people say or do that they have no earthly to be saying/doing. All four of these examples, I think you will agree, stem from that.
4. Telling me a card that I'm playing is junk, sub-par, or that there are better choices. I'll be blunt here. I don't care what you think of my play choices because they are MY play choices. Nobody is forcing you to play that card. And the chances are I'm fully aware that said card might not be the best for playing purposes, but there is likely a good reason that I'm using it. Maybe it's a budget choice, or perhaps I'm playtesting. There are any number of reasons I might be playing this card and one of them isn't to garner your opinion on its playability.
3. Setting open containers of liquid anywhere near the playing field. While I personally have managed to avoid this disaster-waiting-to-happen, I have seen a Tarmogoyf take a face full of Pepsi and the drama that ensued. Even with card protectors on, there is signicant risk for damage were there to be a spill. If you want to have a drink at the table, that's fine, but please make sure to keep a lid on it just in case.
2. Shuffling my deck after I've already shuffled it. Especially when we're only playing at an FMN. Heck, I've had people do this in a casual game. Now I understand that this is common procedure at the highest level events, but I still find it to be highly irritating. Each time, it feels like I'm being subtly accused of cheating. I'm sorry, but if you have trust issues this serious, you shouldn't be playing a game of chance. Cheating isn't as prevailant as many people seem to think, even at the highest level. And I assure you that those judges that hang around the play tables are trained to look for signs of cheating. All you accomplish by shuffling my deck prior to a game is losing any chance of me respecting you as a human being, let alone a Magic player. Seriously, learn to chill out and at least try to enjoy yourself while playing a GAME.
1. But I would have to say that the one thing that annoys me most of all is people that go on forums and post threads to complain about the playing habits of others. I got bad news for you folks, you're not Mr. Perfection yourself. I'm reasonably sure there are things that you do that annoys the crap out of others too. Here's a great idea. Before taking the time to critique others, perhaps you should take a long, hard look at yourself first and try fixing any imperfection you might find there.
The best way to get around having the card graded as heavily played is to put the card in a protective sleeve that can be written on and then have the artist sign the sleeve.
Also, if you want to really see the value of that artist's signature skyrocket, chop off that artist's good hand.
1. I think we all can agree that tribal-themed sets have a good track record. Both the Onslaught and Lorwyn blocks were very well-recieved.
2. That being said, the core set isn't there to have a specific theme. The core set is there to help newer players better understand the game and its mechanics through easier to understand cards than what you may find in any given expansion. It can be argued that too many tribal-centric cards in a core set would be a little confusing for new players.
3. I fail to see how the limited format even enters into to this debate. to be honest, I've always felt that limited itself was a bad idea. It basically makes luck count more than skill. You can be the best players in the world, but you'll still lose if you crack nothing but bad cards. On top of that, as I said above, the core set isn't above how exciting it's limited format will be. Again, it's about educating newer players.
I got you beat. I once dreamed that Jesus appeared before me dressed like an astronaut and he said he found this thing floating through space and wondered if i would want it. And that thing was a mint alpha black lotus. And I said 'golly gee wilikers, sure I would!'. So I traded Jesus two bagels and a ham sandwich for a black lotus.
-Mike Myers would be Ajani
-Arnold Schwartzenegger circa 1985 would be Garruk
-Katy Perry would make a very sexy Liliana
-Johnny Whitworth's portrayal of Blackout in the new Ghost Rider movie looks remarkably like Sorin
-Keanu Reeves would be Jace simply for the irony
-I could see Mickey Rourke as Tezzeret
-Christopher Lee would be the voice of Nicol Bolas. Because his is the voice of evil.
-Karn would be voiced by James Earl Jones
-Jessica Alba might work as Chandra.
-Sigourney Weaver is definately Elspeth
-Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is Koth
-Maybe Im crazy, but Michelle Trachtenberg could play Nissa
-When I first looked at Sarkhan, I thought Robert Downey Jr .. I don't know why
-Johnny Depp is Gideon because why not?
-I see Matt Damon as Venser for some odd reason
Lastly, we have the most famous reindeer.. er.. I mean planeswalker of all....
Taking the role of Urza.... I choose..................................................
On the bright side, I pulled a Sword of Feast and Famine from my Mirrodin Besieged pack. And, while the M12 and New Phyrexian packs contained junk rares, they also contained Timely Reinforcements, Gut Shot, Vault Skirge, and Geth's Verdict. I spent $12 and got back $35+. Not that bad at all.
A few years later, during Time Spiral's stint in standard, I attempted to recreate the general premise of the deck using slivers (Mindlash, Darkheart, Necrotic). It didn't have quite the same success sadly, though it dip top 4 once or twice.
I also remember this one time where a guy built a deck that was literally 30-ish counterspells, sensei's divining top, and Vedalken Shackles. He did it because he was bored and wanted to do something stupid and crazy. He ended up winning FNM that week. We all laughed.
I would be willing to bet somebody among the group of magic players that frequented your store did something like steal from the store or caused some form of property damage. The owner might then decide that, if one magic player would do such a thing, than any of them would. He might then decide to weed out all the magic players.
Sadly for me, I live in a very rural community, the closest LGS being 55 minutes away from me. We used to have a shop, but the local government decided that it was a 'den for riff-raff' and had the building condemned despite the fact that the owner had just spent a few thousand dollars making sure it was up to code. They have also gone out of their way to make sure he can't rent or buy any other business space not just in the city where I live, but also the surrounding county.
Being a community that is largely close-minded religious types, they seem to have it in their minds that anything like Magic or D&D are 'tools of the devil' and 'won't allow them anywhere near their children'. It's really sad too, because there is actually a sizable community of Magic players in this area. we have actually resorted to meeting when we can at local bars (the mar owners sympathize for us). We even tried to organize tournaments and give out prizes at one time. Guess what? The powers that be brought the gambling commission down on us. Apparently, MTG can be considered a game of chance, and it is illegal to play games of chance for prizes in a building that serves alcohol without the proper lisense.
Long story short, if I want to play anything but casually with friend, I have to travel an hour to other stores in other counties.
But what if that person happens to be an especially attractive member of the gender you're interested in? Certainly, you would want them to sit in your lap in that case!
I used to use internet memes in casual conversation....... AND THEN I TOOK AN ARROW TO THE KNEE!
~hides from hail of oncoming bullets~
Finally, in regards to all those folks complaining about people shuffling their hands.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN-zYxwIimE
Avoid Fate, Guttural Response, Lifeforce. There is also Mystic Snake and Voidslime.
It's really too bad the rule say you can't force them not to untap critters that would have untapped anyways. Best case scenario if a judge intervenes is you both get a warning. Worst case scenario is YOU get a DQ loss for trying to break the rules.
6. Victim of Night - Utterly useless against Zombie decks. Can't hit Stromkirk Noble, Valkenrath Aristocrat, Huntmaster, Grimgrin, Havengal lich, and others. That's a lot of highly played critters it can't touch. This card is too situational to be anything by sideboard filler.
5. Geth's Verdict - Bad against token decks. Won't always get what you want it to if you don't play it right. It does bleed the opponent and it gets around protection (see Mirran Crusader and SoFaF). However, I feel it is also just a bit too situational to be more than a sideboard option against UW Humans and Mono-Green (Crusader and Dungrove).
4. Tragic Slip - Works wonders against mana dorks and the plethora of other x/1s. Not so hot versus tokens, as its really a waste of a play. Can't reliably trigger morbid w/o a bunch of sac effects and I don't think Mortapod and Artistocrat are as good as people seem to think. 'Pod specifically is just terrible and I don't understand why people bother with it.
3. Go For The Throat - Useless against Tempered Steel and doesn't touch Wurmcoil Engine. Engine sees play in WRR, mono-green, and birthing pod. Aside from that, this does a fairly decent job as removal.
2. Doom Blade - Useless against zombie.dec. Grimgrin, Havengul, and Aristocrat laugh it off. However, this is our best weapon against WRR, TS, and Mono-green (sans Dungrove). It takes out all their beasties for just 2 mana. And since those are our three worst match-ups, that is a pretty big thing.
1. Grasp of Darkness - Hits everything save for Mirran Crusader and Dungrove. Less effective against WRR, though it still takes out that pesky lifelink wurmcoil token. This appears to be our most versitle removal all things considered. It beats out dismember by costing one less mana withough having to kill yourself (I still think 4 life and 1 mana is too steep a price to pay for -5/-5 ).
It seems to me that running 2-4 Grasps mianboard and 2-3 Doom Blades SB is the way to go. If you run up against a lot of Mirran Crusaer, you're best off running BR zombies. If there are a lot of Dungrove in your meta, put Verdict over Doon Blade in the SB.
Heh, one time I even used a pack of M&Ms as tokens, and every time one would leave play, I would eat it!
As far as my list:
5. Can't think of anything for the 5-spot. I don't get annoyed by what people do easily. Mostly, it isn't playing habits that get to me, it's the obviously ignorant things people say or do that they have no earthly to be saying/doing. All four of these examples, I think you will agree, stem from that.
4. Telling me a card that I'm playing is junk, sub-par, or that there are better choices. I'll be blunt here. I don't care what you think of my play choices because they are MY play choices. Nobody is forcing you to play that card. And the chances are I'm fully aware that said card might not be the best for playing purposes, but there is likely a good reason that I'm using it. Maybe it's a budget choice, or perhaps I'm playtesting. There are any number of reasons I might be playing this card and one of them isn't to garner your opinion on its playability.
3. Setting open containers of liquid anywhere near the playing field. While I personally have managed to avoid this disaster-waiting-to-happen, I have seen a Tarmogoyf take a face full of Pepsi and the drama that ensued. Even with card protectors on, there is signicant risk for damage were there to be a spill. If you want to have a drink at the table, that's fine, but please make sure to keep a lid on it just in case.
2. Shuffling my deck after I've already shuffled it. Especially when we're only playing at an FMN. Heck, I've had people do this in a casual game. Now I understand that this is common procedure at the highest level events, but I still find it to be highly irritating. Each time, it feels like I'm being subtly accused of cheating. I'm sorry, but if you have trust issues this serious, you shouldn't be playing a game of chance. Cheating isn't as prevailant as many people seem to think, even at the highest level. And I assure you that those judges that hang around the play tables are trained to look for signs of cheating. All you accomplish by shuffling my deck prior to a game is losing any chance of me respecting you as a human being, let alone a Magic player. Seriously, learn to chill out and at least try to enjoy yourself while playing a GAME.
1. But I would have to say that the one thing that annoys me most of all is people that go on forums and post threads to complain about the playing habits of others. I got bad news for you folks, you're not Mr. Perfection yourself. I'm reasonably sure there are things that you do that annoys the crap out of others too. Here's a great idea. Before taking the time to critique others, perhaps you should take a long, hard look at yourself first and try fixing any imperfection you might find there.
Also, if you want to really see the value of that artist's signature skyrocket, chop off that artist's good hand.
1. I think we all can agree that tribal-themed sets have a good track record. Both the Onslaught and Lorwyn blocks were very well-recieved.
2. That being said, the core set isn't there to have a specific theme. The core set is there to help newer players better understand the game and its mechanics through easier to understand cards than what you may find in any given expansion. It can be argued that too many tribal-centric cards in a core set would be a little confusing for new players.
3. I fail to see how the limited format even enters into to this debate. to be honest, I've always felt that limited itself was a bad idea. It basically makes luck count more than skill. You can be the best players in the world, but you'll still lose if you crack nothing but bad cards. On top of that, as I said above, the core set isn't above how exciting it's limited format will be. Again, it's about educating newer players.
True story.
-Arnold Schwartzenegger circa 1985 would be Garruk
-Katy Perry would make a very sexy Liliana
-Johnny Whitworth's portrayal of Blackout in the new Ghost Rider movie looks remarkably like Sorin
-Keanu Reeves would be Jace simply for the irony
-I could see Mickey Rourke as Tezzeret
-Christopher Lee would be the voice of Nicol Bolas. Because his is the voice of evil.
-Karn would be voiced by James Earl Jones
-Jessica Alba might work as Chandra.
-Sigourney Weaver is definately Elspeth
-Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is Koth
-Maybe Im crazy, but Michelle Trachtenberg could play Nissa
-When I first looked at Sarkhan, I thought Robert Downey Jr .. I don't know why
-Johnny Depp is Gideon because why not?
-I see Matt Damon as Venser for some odd reason
Lastly, we have the most famous reindeer.. er.. I mean planeswalker of all....
Taking the role of Urza.... I choose..................................................
John Malkovich!!! It makes perfect sense!