I've never played Esper before, right now I'm playing R/G Aggro and Naya Aggro, but this looks like a lot of fun to play.
I watched the video on StarCityGames and the finals were very entertaining. Game 1 Robert Seder (playing Esper) was down to 1 life and came back to win the game. Game 2 after Robert played Rest in Piece, it was pretty much over for Daniel.
I think it takes a lot of skill to pilot this deck. I don't think that anyone can pick up this deck and win with it. If anyone here starts to use it, let us know how it performs for you.
I just started playing again after a 7 year break, and I am extremely glad to be back. Magic is a ton of fun to play, and like others have said, the game is what you make it. If you have a great attitude and just try to enjoy the GAME itself, then you're good to go.
BUT, your problem with the game is that it is getting wayyy too expensive. I have to agree. Cards have had a huge spike in prices from the last time I played, and I can't believe it. ($60 for a Flooded Strand, are you kidding?)
But what I've found out is that I missed the game, it's a ton of fun, and I'm going to just grin and bear the prices because I enjoy playing Magic.
god damn... how many boxes do i need to open for a playset of Voice. Dragon Maze boxes are like 80$ at some places in my area. the rest of the set is crap.
I opened one box of DGM when it came out and got 1 Voice of Resurgence and 1 Shockland (Stomping Grounds).
I've got a playset, and I picked them up when they were around 25-30. But if I wanted to get a playset now, I would probably just watch eBay very closely and try to snag a good deal. I wouldn't waste my money on boxes of DGM or cases of it, just my opinion.
FNM Report 4-0 1st Place - 6/7/13
Battleground Gaming
Cullman, AL
Somewhere between 15-20 people, not a huge crowd by any means but we don't often have large standard tournaments in this part of Alabama.
I basically started with Aaron Birch's Naya Aggro and made a few changes. I removed 2 Rancor, for some reason it just didn't come in handy often enough. I added 2 Unflinching Courage because I REALLY wanted to pull off the infinite life combo with Reckoner / Unflinching Courage / Boros Charm, but it never happened. Also removed 1 Forest and added 1 Gavony Township, and it was a good addition in my opinion.
Note: Sideboard needs a little work, but I forgot my Ray of Revelations and Naturalizes, so I was hoping I didn't run into any Bant Hexproof.
Onto the matches..
Match 1 vs. 4 Color Enchantment
I've played against this deck several times, and I absolutely hate it. Basically my opponent just drops a bunch of cheap enchantments and then drops several Sphere of Safetys and an Assemble the Legion to slowly kill me.
Plan is to attack quickly before he can drop a Sphere of Safety.
Game 1: Get in early beats with Strangleroot Geists, Voice of Resurgence, Loxodon Smiter. He eventually gets a Sphere of Safety on the table and I have to pay 6 for each attacking creature. He's at 6 life and I'm holding Boros Charm, and draw Searing Spear, 7 to the dome and we're onto game 2.
Game 2: Turn 4 I attack with a Loxodon Smiter, bloodrush with Ghor-Clan Rampager (+4), then use Boros Charm to give him double strike for 16 damage, and another 2 damage from Strangleroot Geist ends the game.
Match 2 vs. B/R Rakdos
Game 1: Get in some early beats with Geists, and Militants, and Loxodon Smiter, until he drops a Rakdos Lord of Riots. That's not good. Attack with Loxodon Smiter, he blocks with Rakdos, bloodrush with Ghor-Clan Rampager, and onto game 2.
Sideboard:
-2 Dryad Militant
+2 Volcanic Strength
Game 2: The second game was a lot closer than the first. He gets in some early beatdown, while killing my early creatures with spot removal. I had a Geist and VoR in play, and he used Pillar of Flame on my Geist. Huh, really? Yep I didn't understand that one either, oh well.
Eventually I get Loxodon Smiter and Boros Reckoner on the board, put Unflinching Courage on Loxodon Smiter, and that about wraps it up. He Pillars me and then plays Rakdos. I attack with Smiter and Reckoner and rampage into victory.
Match 3 vs. Chris running R/G Aggro
Chris is an awesome guy and we play together just about every week. I know his deck pretty well and it's very similar to my R/G, so I know exactly what to play around.
Game 1: He rushes me with Rakdos Cackler, Lightning Mauler, BTE, and Hellrider. I have 2 x Loxodon Smiters and Boros Reckoner on board, he has 4 creatures and plays Hellrider. I'm at 10 and he attacks with everything. Hellrider trigger puts me at 5, I block very effectively and go down to 3 life.
Next turn, I attack with 2 Loxodon Smiters, bloodrush with Ghor-Clan and Boros Charm for double strike on Smiter for 20 damage. Whew..close game.
Game 2: I know Chris boarded in Volcanic Strength and Fog, so I have to be wary of those. This game wasn't fair for him, he drew like 5 land in a row and played 2 creatures. I dropped Trostani and with the lifegain + populate, I quickly ran away with the game.
Match 4 vs. Junk Aristocrats
I had watched this deck earlier in the night and I know he's running Skirrsdag High Preist, Cartel Aristocrat, Doomed Traveler, and Blood Artist. So I have a pretty good idea on what to target to slow him down.
Game 1: T2 he plays Skirsdag High Preist, I Searing Spear it, no 5/5 tokens for you. Then I play some pressure with Loxodon Smiter and rampager shenanigans and it's onto game 2.
Sideboard
-2 Strangleroot Geists
+2 Trostani
(I keep in Dryad Militants this time to fight Lingering Souls)
Game 2: I play a lot slower, accidentally drop a Loxodon Smiter instead of a Voice of Resurgence for 2 mana, oops! Play Voice, his turn, he plays Voice. My turn, I attack with Voice and Dryad Militant. He blocks Voice with Voice, and I am ecstatic to get an elemental token. Turn 4 I drop Trostani, and I completely control the game from there on out. Turn 5, make an Elemental token, gain 4, T6 Populate Elemental token, gain 5, T7 Populate Elemental token, gain 6. I think I was somewhere near 33 life (taking 2 from pain lands) and the game was far out of his reach. I think he got mana screwed, but I'll take what I can get. Eventually I attack for 25 and it's over.
Summary: I had a blast playing this deck. This deck just has so many ways to go over the top and I never felt like I didn't have a good card or spell to play. Boros Charm is MVP in the main deck. Being able to throw 4 at the dome, or give any creature double strike was extremely versatile and good way to end the game quickly. Sideboard MVP was Trostani. Being able to get lifegain and create more elemental or wurm tokens at instant speed was awesome.
Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to reply
I guess... maybe it would be better at home in a more Naya list that runs things like Loxodon Smiter?
Yeah I have to agree. Naya can pull off the RW easier than an R/G aggro with only 1 Temple Garden. But if you're going to splash white, I would try to fit in it.
But if you're going to stick with the deck in your signature, I wouldn't splash white. That list looks very solid and extremely similar to the build I've been using over the past month.
Very consistent, and very fast. I think I've got two Madcap Skills instead of Mizzium Mortars, but that's because MM is in my sideboard.
The whole affair with Urza, the Weatherlight Saga, the Phyrexian invasion. That said I have a soft spot for Mirrodin as that was the time I first started playing (even if only really for that block) and Scars block because that was when I came back into the game (well when New Phyrexia was out). Innistrad for the setting and world building.
I couldn't agree with this more. I was a huge fan of the storyline of Magic back in the days of Urza's Saga, Destiny, Apocalypse, etc.
I read the books, I knew the flavor text of almost every card, and the storylines were engaging and interesting. I remember when Fat Packs included the new set's Novel. Now that was a deal!
My name is Jud and I'm returning to Magic after a ~7 Year break. I used to play quite a bit, but obviously a lot has changed since I've been away. I'm trying to learn all of the new rules / terms / rules changes (what happened to Mana burn? lol).
Right now I'm playing Standard, but eventually I'd like to get into Legacy and EDH seems like a ton of fun, so maybe that too.
I'm excited to be back in the game and I look forward to positively contributing to the forum.
To add to this, decks don't just want to play 1 or 2 of this card like they might with most other mythics; this is a card you either play 0 or 4 of.
I played a GWR deck last night with 4 VoR, and they are amazing. This was my first opportunity to use it competitively and it has the effect of changing how your opponent plays. They are less likely to use Instants / Flash during your turn because you have it out, and they don't realize how strong the token is after you have 1 or more out.
I picked mine up when they were around $25-$30 range, but I still see them going up in price.
The LGS in my area can't keep them in stock at $50.
So, what does Boros Charm do? It basically has two modes:
1) 4 to target player. Aight, I guess, but you could run Searing Spear if you want to poke people and it pokes creatures too and doesn't require a splash. Skullcrack also fulfills this role amiably.
2) Saves team from a board wipe. The problem with this mode is that it requires you to keep mana up in an aggro deck, which is not what you want to be doing. One should play creatures in an aggro deck and not hold up reactive cards.
Be nice. This is closer to R/G sligh than Naya aggro.
Mode 3:
3.) Attack with Hellrider / Boros Reckoner, Bloodrush with Ghor Clan Rampager (+4), Boros Charm giving your creature Double Strike. Hellrider becomes a 7/7 Double Striking, Trampler creature that is threatening with 14 damage.
Boros Charm combined with Ghor Clan Rampager is amazing, and it won me several games last night. It can really catch your enemy off guard when they are taking 14 damage from one creature on Turn 4.
And BTW: Good luck at the $2k tomorrow! Come back and let us know how you did!
Seems like it is kinda narrow with a casting cost of BBB. I still like the card though. It would be fun with Blood Artist..
I've never played Esper before, right now I'm playing R/G Aggro and Naya Aggro, but this looks like a lot of fun to play.
I watched the video on StarCityGames and the finals were very entertaining. Game 1 Robert Seder (playing Esper) was down to 1 life and came back to win the game. Game 2 after Robert played Rest in Piece, it was pretty much over for Daniel.
I think it takes a lot of skill to pilot this deck. I don't think that anyone can pick up this deck and win with it. If anyone here starts to use it, let us know how it performs for you.
BUT, your problem with the game is that it is getting wayyy too expensive. I have to agree. Cards have had a huge spike in prices from the last time I played, and I can't believe it. ($60 for a Flooded Strand, are you kidding?)
But what I've found out is that I missed the game, it's a ton of fun, and I'm going to just grin and bear the prices because I enjoy playing Magic.
If you're talking about a CASE, which is 6 boxes, then I would guess you would get a playset. And probably 4 - 6 shocklands is my guess.
I opened one box of DGM when it came out and got 1 Voice of Resurgence and 1 Shockland (Stomping Grounds).
I've got a playset, and I picked them up when they were around 25-30. But if I wanted to get a playset now, I would probably just watch eBay very closely and try to snag a good deal. I wouldn't waste my money on boxes of DGM or cases of it, just my opinion.
4 Experiment One
3 Dryad Militant
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
Spells
3 Boros Charm
4 Searing Spear
2 Unflinching Courage
2 Advent of the Wurm
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Sunpetal Grove
1 Forest
1 Gavony Township
2 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
1 Domri Rade
2 Volcanic Strength
1 Thragtusk
1 Boros Charm
2 Ground Seal
3 Skullcrack
3 Pacifism
FNM Report 4-0 1st Place - 6/7/13
Battleground Gaming
Cullman, AL
Somewhere between 15-20 people, not a huge crowd by any means but we don't often have large standard tournaments in this part of Alabama.
I basically started with Aaron Birch's Naya Aggro and made a few changes. I removed 2 Rancor, for some reason it just didn't come in handy often enough. I added 2 Unflinching Courage because I REALLY wanted to pull off the infinite life combo with Reckoner / Unflinching Courage / Boros Charm, but it never happened. Also removed 1 Forest and added 1 Gavony Township, and it was a good addition in my opinion.
Note: Sideboard needs a little work, but I forgot my Ray of Revelations and Naturalizes, so I was hoping I didn't run into any Bant Hexproof.
Onto the matches..
Match 1 vs. 4 Color Enchantment
I've played against this deck several times, and I absolutely hate it. Basically my opponent just drops a bunch of cheap enchantments and then drops several Sphere of Safetys and an Assemble the Legion to slowly kill me.
Plan is to attack quickly before he can drop a Sphere of Safety.
Game 1: Get in early beats with Strangleroot Geists, Voice of Resurgence, Loxodon Smiter. He eventually gets a Sphere of Safety on the table and I have to pay 6 for each attacking creature. He's at 6 life and I'm holding Boros Charm, and draw Searing Spear, 7 to the dome and we're onto game 2.
Game 2: Turn 4 I attack with a Loxodon Smiter, bloodrush with Ghor-Clan Rampager (+4), then use Boros Charm to give him double strike for 16 damage, and another 2 damage from Strangleroot Geist ends the game.
Match 2 vs. B/R Rakdos
Game 1: Get in some early beats with Geists, and Militants, and Loxodon Smiter, until he drops a Rakdos Lord of Riots. That's not good. Attack with Loxodon Smiter, he blocks with Rakdos, bloodrush with Ghor-Clan Rampager, and onto game 2.
Sideboard:
-2 Dryad Militant
+2 Volcanic Strength
Game 2: The second game was a lot closer than the first. He gets in some early beatdown, while killing my early creatures with spot removal. I had a Geist and VoR in play, and he used Pillar of Flame on my Geist. Huh, really? Yep I didn't understand that one either, oh well.
Eventually I get Loxodon Smiter and Boros Reckoner on the board, put Unflinching Courage on Loxodon Smiter, and that about wraps it up. He Pillars me and then plays Rakdos. I attack with Smiter and Reckoner and rampage into victory.
Match 3 vs. Chris running R/G Aggro
Chris is an awesome guy and we play together just about every week. I know his deck pretty well and it's very similar to my R/G, so I know exactly what to play around.
Game 1: He rushes me with Rakdos Cackler, Lightning Mauler, BTE, and Hellrider. I have 2 x Loxodon Smiters and Boros Reckoner on board, he has 4 creatures and plays Hellrider. I'm at 10 and he attacks with everything. Hellrider trigger puts me at 5, I block very effectively and go down to 3 life.
Next turn, I attack with 2 Loxodon Smiters, bloodrush with Ghor-Clan and Boros Charm for double strike on Smiter for 20 damage. Whew..close game.
Sideboard
-2 Dryad Militant
-2 Strangleroot Geists
+2 Trostani
+2 Volcanic Strength
Game 2: I know Chris boarded in Volcanic Strength and Fog, so I have to be wary of those. This game wasn't fair for him, he drew like 5 land in a row and played 2 creatures. I dropped Trostani and with the lifegain + populate, I quickly ran away with the game.
Match 4 vs. Junk Aristocrats
I had watched this deck earlier in the night and I know he's running Skirrsdag High Preist, Cartel Aristocrat, Doomed Traveler, and Blood Artist. So I have a pretty good idea on what to target to slow him down.
Game 1: T2 he plays Skirsdag High Preist, I Searing Spear it, no 5/5 tokens for you. Then I play some pressure with Loxodon Smiter and rampager shenanigans and it's onto game 2.
Sideboard
-2 Strangleroot Geists
+2 Trostani
(I keep in Dryad Militants this time to fight Lingering Souls)
Game 2: I play a lot slower, accidentally drop a Loxodon Smiter instead of a Voice of Resurgence for 2 mana, oops! Play Voice, his turn, he plays Voice. My turn, I attack with Voice and Dryad Militant. He blocks Voice with Voice, and I am ecstatic to get an elemental token. Turn 4 I drop Trostani, and I completely control the game from there on out. Turn 5, make an Elemental token, gain 4, T6 Populate Elemental token, gain 5, T7 Populate Elemental token, gain 6. I think I was somewhere near 33 life (taking 2 from pain lands) and the game was far out of his reach. I think he got mana screwed, but I'll take what I can get. Eventually I attack for 25 and it's over.
Summary: I had a blast playing this deck. This deck just has so many ways to go over the top and I never felt like I didn't have a good card or spell to play. Boros Charm is MVP in the main deck. Being able to throw 4 at the dome, or give any creature double strike was extremely versatile and good way to end the game quickly. Sideboard MVP was Trostani. Being able to get lifegain and create more elemental or wurm tokens at instant speed was awesome.
Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to reply
Where are you from in Michigan? I'm originally from Kalamazoo
Oh yeah, what formats do you play? Standard, Legacy, EDH?
Yeah I have to agree. Naya can pull off the RW easier than an R/G aggro with only 1 Temple Garden. But if you're going to splash white, I would try to fit in it.
But if you're going to stick with the deck in your signature, I wouldn't splash white. That list looks very solid and extremely similar to the build I've been using over the past month.
Very consistent, and very fast. I think I've got two Madcap Skills instead of Mizzium Mortars, but that's because MM is in my sideboard.
Good luck today!
I couldn't agree with this more. I was a huge fan of the storyline of Magic back in the days of Urza's Saga, Destiny, Apocalypse, etc.
I read the books, I knew the flavor text of almost every card, and the storylines were engaging and interesting. I remember when Fat Packs included the new set's Novel. Now that was a deal!
My name is Jud and I'm returning to Magic after a ~7 Year break. I used to play quite a bit, but obviously a lot has changed since I've been away. I'm trying to learn all of the new rules / terms / rules changes (what happened to Mana burn? lol).
Right now I'm playing Standard, but eventually I'd like to get into Legacy and EDH seems like a ton of fun, so maybe that too.
I'm excited to be back in the game and I look forward to positively contributing to the forum.
I played a GWR deck last night with 4 VoR, and they are amazing. This was my first opportunity to use it competitively and it has the effect of changing how your opponent plays. They are less likely to use Instants / Flash during your turn because you have it out, and they don't realize how strong the token is after you have 1 or more out.
I picked mine up when they were around $25-$30 range, but I still see them going up in price.
The LGS in my area can't keep them in stock at $50.
Mode 3:
3.) Attack with Hellrider / Boros Reckoner, Bloodrush with Ghor Clan Rampager (+4), Boros Charm giving your creature Double Strike. Hellrider becomes a 7/7 Double Striking, Trampler creature that is threatening with 14 damage.
Boros Charm combined with Ghor Clan Rampager is amazing, and it won me several games last night. It can really catch your enemy off guard when they are taking 14 damage from one creature on Turn 4.
And BTW: Good luck at the $2k tomorrow! Come back and let us know how you did!
That was kind of awkward to see the guy playing URW Control play 2 lands on turn 4 and then have everything get reversed.
21 minutes and that match was over. What does Jund even have against Geist of Saint Traft? Whatever it was, he wasn't drawing it.
I enjoy watching these live streams, it's a good learning experience to see how other people play.
I think it's pretty common. I've seen 4 of them like that where the print / text is somewhat fuzzy.
That's funny you mentioned that because I just got done looking at them. My wife thinks they're pretty cute too, I might have to order some.