Quote from Kamahl, the Fallen »If you do not have new Jace, run more Ob, or pick up new Jace... he is like $11 a pop which is a pretty good price imo.
Fortunately, I have two on the way - they just hadn't arrived by the time I played. I think I'm going to keep the landsas they are. I need to run some more games to get a better feel for why they are how they are. Alhammaret is going to the side, and at least one more Magosi is going main. Next standard will be next week, as the LGS only drafts this FNM.
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It should only take 1 event for you to gain the expectation that that will not happen - thus you simply cut your losses.
Grow up.
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Look man, we had issues with this and the Judge rewards program and it negatively impacted Judges who were responsible and grown up enough to hold themselves accountable.
This is nothing but round 2 of a few people not able to keep their ***** together and be accountable adults.
You clearly have never done any sort of work on a volunteer basis to any scale that is remotely close to a GP.
You can lead a fool to wisdom, but your can't make them think and that is the moral of this story - and it is sad as ****.
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This lawsuit would not exist if it happened to a person 1 or 2 times. Acting like an adult means walking away from situations where you are being taken advantage of, not hanging onto it like a failing high school relationship, and holding yourself accountable when you are putting yourself in a position to continually be taken advantage of.
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Ton of wasted time and effort. That is high school *****.
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Look, I do volunteer work and last Thanksgiving I did not get a lunch break in my 7 hour shift of helping at a kitchen. I am required to wear a shirt that bears the name of the organization that I volunteer with. At the end of the day, I am volunteering my time doing something that I love and something I think is worth my time and if I do not get a lunch and it bothers me that much - I stop making plans to volunteer at large events like that.
Plain and simple.
In fact, it is not even just holidays I do not get lunch. There have been a number of local animal rescue events I have volunteered for and have not had time to get a lunch in.
Judges are volunteers, nobody is putting a gun to their head or holding the rent bill over them. They are volunteering their time and went into it knowing that they are doing so. You kind of throw your other priorities out of the way when you do something like that.
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Dragonlord Silumgar has a bigger ass on him than Dragonlord Ojutai and Ojutai is remarkably brittle these days. If you want a dragon that has roughly the same amount of risk, I think Dragonlord Silumgar has a lot more built in power right now and having Haven of the Spirit Dragon means you can still get that dragon recursion value. As for Alhammarret, High Arbiter, his ability being As he inters the battlefield, means you can scout for lat game removal that might stop you from closing the game and just shut it down on the spot. His body is otherwise less than stellar, but his body means you get the perks of being able to get around edict effects and spot removal depending on the situation. If we are being completely honest though, I am not really a fan of either of them - nor am I a fan of any creature atm.
The trade off here is that relying on planeswalkers is remarkably slow, and you run the risk of just decking yourself. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is just not fun on the 3 color mana base, and Narset Transcendent might as well just be Sorin, Grim Nemesis because he can actually draw you the card if it is a land... but once again, he is just slow and clunky at killing an opponent when you need to be able to put real pressure on them.
Running a straight UW or UB deck might just be better right now. You will be able to run Gideon more consistently and you still have access to a ton of great spot removal spells in W for a decent draw go game if you manage to get your foot in the door. Your other option of straight UB means you are getting access to some great disruption options at the cost of missing out on Sorin, Grim Nemesis and Anguished Unmaking, but you get to use more life to draw cards with black draw spells instead - and you can still get Dragonlord Silumgar in there at the 6 mana slot. The biggest appeal of UB is Flaying Tendrils, but UW gets Declaration in Stone
I feel like Esper is just needing to do way too much at once, so it is likely best to just focus on a UW or UB shell right now. It is a damn shame that Madness is such a trash control mechanic for now :(, but in the mean time I think the key should be to focus on building around having access to more sweepers. Going two colors even opens you up to exploring Corrupted Grafstone and Brain in a Jar to get to a bigger game faster, either by ramping or letting you get in some free spells while leaving mana up so you can use virtual mana as you move into the later stages of the game.
UW Azorius Control
The real selling point of UW is going to be the ability to EOT Secure the Wastes into Ormendahl, Profane Prince, but what makes blue appealing is the ability to use counter magic for disruption and you can back it up with some great removal options in white. There are so many white removal spells on the cheap, and they should not be that difficult to get online. Another payout is the ability to mitigate damage using Gideon, Ally of Zendikar tokens and clean the board up with Planar Outburst to start laying in beats for a quick close. Overall, UW is going to give you a faster closing game at the cost of having to tap out in some spots that might be generally unfavorable no matter how you swing it. Getting to use counter magic like Clash of Wills, Scatter to the Winds, and even Confirm Suspicions can make for a solid game when backed by Celestial Flare, Swift Reckoning, Immolating Glare - can make for a solid draw go game, only tapping out to start putting pressure on or to seize an opportunity to stabilize. Having access to Declaration in Stone is also utterly fantastic.
UB Dimir Control
I think there is a lot more to have with UB, mainly your cheap instant speed removal options to add to your counter suite. There is less need to tap out and you are less restricted in the early game on what your removal is hitting or what other casting stipulations may exist. Silumgar's Command seems like a really powerful card here, giving you the ability to punish their mana base in addition to answering planeswalkers or creatures. There is not a lot of 2 for 1 value in Control right now, and that means this card is capable of doing an incredible amount of work. Focusing on Dragonlord Silumgar means you can quickly close a game with proper set up, and also gives you access to the dragon cards - making your draw go game a bit stronger. Sure, UW can run Dragonlord Ojutai but I just think there are better things to be doing if you are on white. Their ability to close the game is much more efficient, where UB is not and it needs those dragon cards.
Personally, I will likely be focusing on UB Control for now.
4 Dragonlord Silumgar
Planeswalker
3 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Removal
2 Ruinous Path
2 Grasp of Darkness
4 Languish
3 Foul-Tongue Invocation
2 Ultimate Price
Disruption
4 Silumgar's Scorn
2 Scatter to the Winds
1 Confirm Suspicions
2 Silumgar's Command
3 Anticipate
1 Dragonlord's Prerogative
1 Learn from the Past
Land
4 Sunken Hollow
4 Choked Estuary
3 Evolving Wilds
2 Blighted Cataract
3 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
5 Island
5 Swamp
2 Negate
1 Dispel
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Duress
1 Transgress the Mind
3 Flaying Tendrils
1 Ultimate Price
2 Foul Renewal
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1
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Mindwrack Demon
4 Soul Swallower
2 Priest of the Blood Rite
Planeswalker
3 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
Spells
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Oath of Nissa
4 Sinister Concoction
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Pick the Brain
3 To the Slaughter
3 Hissing Quagmire
3 Caves of Koilos
2 Plains
4 Swamp
4 Forest
1 Blighted Woodland
1 Blighted Fen
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Canopy Vista
2 Duress
2 Transgress the Mind
3 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Declaration in Stone
1 Virulent Plague
2 Ultimate Price
1 Anguished Unmaking
2 Languish
Is where I am at right now.
The white splash is easier than I had anticipated. It does not splash for much, but what it does splash for gives you a big game. Sorin does a lot of work helping you recoup life, kill creatures, and punch in some extra damage. He is super sick.
Turn 4 Delirium seems typical so far. Between Concoction, Evolving Wilds, and Hangarback Walker - a self mill off Demon is almost always a Delirium trigger. Removal spells also slow you down a bit, but help you turn on Delirium without having to run something like Gather the Pack.
I am liking it a lot so far.
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