I've been talking about their poor company direction for a while. It's so clear to anyone playing the game that the player community is tired of their bad products. They have too many products and they failed miserably to work on their money making standard product. Like other posters I'm tired of their enormous creatures in every color and no easy way to deal with them in a standard meta game. From a game design standpoint they have only focused on creatures and planeswalkers. He are in kaledesh but the best artifacts that you want to play are still creature based. The whole game has become too swingy and it's boring because of it. There are some strategies that take advantage of that. Such as during return to ravnica turbo fog and getting ten gates into play was a fun way to win the game. Alternate ways to win the game still exist but the creature damage is just so massive that the other strategies don't have a chance. Anyone looking at kaledesh can see that the block is pushed to such a massive power level for creatures. You have every kind of value driven creature imaginable. Built in effects that can just replace older sorcery's. The game just hasn't worked for me for a long time. It's left a bad feeling when ever I attend a live event. What am I paying for? Open three booster packs during a draft and get garbage. Even if I won the draft and I get more booster packs as my prize. I could get all garbage again. The lottery aspect is just too high. Yet they continue to just increase that lottery. It's nuts. These standard bannings should have never been done.
Quick run down.
1. They had to reverse their decision to increase standard rotation. (No one was going to throw away even more money.)
2. Master Pieces became a main stay. (Clearly standard is failing.)
3. More new promos to get people playing standard. (Sales must be horrible.)
You can't print a luxury product at ever increasing amounts of luxury. Mythic rares were a mistake and they really need to fix that. They cut off the extremely desirable promos for regular release events years ago now. They cut off prize support to store owners. They are only recently restarting prize support because it's desperately needed. In the short term what they are doing to prop up their product just isn't good enough. Standard used to keep people in the game because they would reprint cards to a certain extent. They no longer do that in any meaningful way. We are always in awe when they finally decide to reprint something. They took away one mana green mana ramp because their massive creature design way messing with a old game mechanic that worked even though their game design didn't.
Here's how you generate equity with the community and fix the game.
1. Start doing reprints again. I'm pretty sure as this point one high end reprint per set would be good. damnation
2. Eliminate mythic rares. That fact that you are telling us what is very rare destroys the games trading card aspect.
3. Fix the release promos. I got four Emrakul, the Aeons Torn on release day way back when. One from playing and 3 from trading for them.
4. Stop lying to us and saying you don't consider the secondary market price of cards. No one believes you. Putting old cards in standard sells booster packs. It's equity that you need to use because your product is bombing.
5. Get some different game designers. Your massive creatures and lack of answers makes no sense.
6. You need to revisit old game design. Red needs land destruction. Discard needs to be viable. The people you are pandering to with your massive creatures clearly aren't buying your booster packs. Megrim , black vise,with howling mineunderworld dreams, stone rain. I can even make a two mana RR land destruction spell that's fair. Could be Red/black, or red/green too. R/black sorcery destroy target land exile the top five cards of your library. It you want to take it a step further because you think it's too powerful. Exile the card itself too when it goes to the graveyard. There is plenty of alternate game design space available but wizards you just aren't using it.
7. Booster pack redesign. People aren't getting enough for the money they are spending. Experiment with this.
8. Eliminate special products. Put those special cards into standard sets. No more EDH support unless you buy a standard booster pack. This idea that sets can't be big is dumb. Add every new card only in standard products.
I don't like these new land promos and it's just not going to help enough.
2018 idea
Half grand prixs for 2018 are booster draft or sealed. Other half are standard. Everyone gets a promo tarmogoyf. At least then you get your admission price. Even if the price drops, I'm very sure people will still be happy with themselves. You're paying at least $60 for the promo.
This man speaks the truth.
Praise the Sun brother. \o/
I am 100% behind the general power of a set being found at uncommon. More common power cards = less expensive decks and a lower barrier of entry for new players.
Vengevine with greenbelt rampager? Probably not. Or talara's battalion? I thinik we should just give up on the elephant and the revolt elf. What we need is a Hexproof dude that can evolve E1. A hexproof leatherback that was normally a 3/4 and got a +1/+1 on revolt would have been great with Fatal Push around. Even 1GG would be acceptable for such a deal.
Man, I just wish Yahenni wasn't such a nonbo with Yahenni's Expertise. You either cast Yahenni first and let them die to their own Expertise or you cast the Expertise first and now there's a board full of nothing for Yahenni to grow on and/or sacrifice.
That aside, me likey. Great sac outlet and very nice aggro card, even though it's a shame that it's a somewhat underwhelming Commander (unless someone can prove me wrong). Definitely not what I expected, but that "darling" in the flavor text just makes me giddy inside.
That's what spot removal like Fatal Push is for:
1- Drop Yahenni,
2- Kill stuff and grow Yahenni, Undying Partisan to 4/4,
3- Don't play stuff and let opponent play more creatures in the hopes of chumping,
4- Play Yahenni's Expertise because she got good at it,
5- Kill the other creatures and grow, play Infest variant## (e.g. Flaying Tendrils Definitely not tendrils lol) if necessary or play another hasty 3 drop,
6- Opponent concedes.
7- ???
I don't comment often, but when I do it is cards like these that make me. Sacrifice outlet, hasty beater, grows, has staying power, best friends with Grave Pact effects, excellent general of part of 99 for commander (can't imagine her with Blade of the Bloodchief attached O.o). Also great flavor
5/5
My friend is taking a Dredge deck to Worlds as part of our national team. What advice do you have for him?
and
Has anybody tried impact tremors? It seems like it good do some work with attacking/returning ghasts and amalgams and against ensnaring bridges.
I haven't thought about Root Maze in this deck but frequently played it in commander in an older meta. For those of you that run it, how many are you running? And are there any matchups where you bring it in that wouldn't be immediately apparent? Obviously good against tron, valakut, affinity, maybe Jund, I can see it against Ad Nauseum maybe. Is there anything big I'm missing? Is it good against Naya burn just because of how hard it hoses fetchlands?
I'm running 2 in the sb right now.
Played some games against dredge and their already tight base makes it a nice addition. Also, any deck with 3x colors and fetches is usually color screwed. Played on T2 after we hit 1-2 creatures or critter +rancor, it can gain us a free turn or two, though assuming we start, T1 play is also good against decks that ramp with noble-birds I think.
Bbearz is right.
also I second root maze on a stick. Even regulAr root maze is good right now. Coming from the guy whos been playing the deck since its birth, right now its very very good. Wish U control varients were more dominant cuz we can hate them out so well and they would prey on combo which would discourage it.
anyway we can hope for a good one drop but the real thing is only a small number of People play this deck which in turn makes the data and experimentation insufficient. More people experimenting and siding optimally would carry us higher but we need the means to make it convincingly competitive, hence the need for one more main deck "hatestick" creature like dryad and scooze.
Is there a dream card we need from WotC to further advance Stompy in this Modern meta? Something that can possibly make this deck break through to Tier 2 at least? I'm really curious.
Overshadowed Barkling G
Creature - Treefolk - U
Spend only mana produced by basic forests to cast Overshadowed Barkling.
Overshadowed Barkling gets -1/-1 for each nonbasic land you control. G, sacrifice Overshadowed Barkling: Choose target artifact or enchantment. Its owner shuffles it into his or her library.
3/3
I hate tron, sword of F&F, etched champion, and other stuff that make our life miserable.
BbearZ was sarcastically responding to phaircaron's Tarmogoyf comments.
How does Witchstalker compare to Dungrove Elder in 21 land decks? It always comes in as a 3/3 and makes non-forests not as awkward; works better with Avatar and Aspect; and has an advantage against U/B cards. I saw a few lists running it back in page 185, but they were splashing white. I'm not sure if it would be better than Elder in a mono-green deck.
Dungrove is much more consistent than witchstalker, the growth of which depends on what the opponent is playing and when as opposed to what we are playing. Even in 21 land builds Dungrove Elder will grow more consistently than Witchstalker. Of course stalker might shine against others that heavily rely on BU, but it does nothing against burn lists, naya zoo, etc. Dungrove is relevant all the time. In terms of inevitability dungrove + rancor is very scary for most decks and/or opponents and that is because of what our deck has (tons of forests), not theirs (UB spells played during our turn).
On a side note, Blossoming Defense is performing good for now. I'm running 2 but thinking of bumping up to 3, dropping back to 8 one mana creatures. Anyone else testing it?
Anybody here tested Larger Than Life? Is it even worth noting for Stompy?
It could work in a more aggressive and hexproof oriented build where we have more hexproof guys at cmc 2 and 3 such as bassara tower archers, dungrove elders, and witchstalkers. You may think of it as a 2 mana 4/4 groundbreaker that you can't play unless you have a creature in play.
Have you checked out the Wallogoyf. I mean the Moldgraf Scavenger? and Autumnal Gloom. Maybe one of these two can justify prey upon and a few fetches and a dryad arbor.
This man speaks the truth.
Praise the Sun brother. \o/
This man knows what he is talking about.
Great card by the way. So many possibilities...
- At least you can talk.
Can kill manlands
Can kill Tarmogoyf
Can kill Strangleroot Geist
Wait... Uncheck! uncheck! Aaarrrggghhh
That's what spot removal like Fatal Push is for:
1- Drop Yahenni,
2- Kill stuff and grow Yahenni, Undying Partisan to 4/4,
3- Don't play stuff and let opponent play more creatures in the hopes of chumping,
4- Play Yahenni's Expertise because she got good at it,
5- Kill the other creatures and grow, play Infest variant## (
e.g. Flaying TendrilsDefinitely not tendrils lol) if necessary or play another hasty 3 drop,6- Opponent concedes.
7- ???
I don't comment often, but when I do it is cards like these that make me. Sacrifice outlet, hasty beater, grows, has staying power, best friends with Grave Pact effects, excellent general of part of 99 for commander (can't imagine her with Blade of the Bloodchief attached O.o). Also great flavor
5/5
and
Has anybody tried impact tremors? It seems like it good do some work with attacking/returning ghasts and amalgams and against ensnaring bridges.
I'm running 2 in the sb right now.
Played some games against dredge and their already tight base makes it a nice addition. Also, any deck with 3x colors and fetches is usually color screwed. Played on T2 after we hit 1-2 creatures or critter +rancor, it can gain us a free turn or two, though assuming we start, T1 play is also good against decks that ramp with noble-birds I think.
also I second root maze on a stick. Even regulAr root maze is good right now. Coming from the guy whos been playing the deck since its birth, right now its very very good. Wish U control varients were more dominant cuz we can hate them out so well and they would prey on combo which would discourage it.
anyway we can hope for a good one drop but the real thing is only a small number of People play this deck which in turn makes the data and experimentation insufficient. More people experimenting and siding optimally would carry us higher but we need the means to make it convincingly competitive, hence the need for one more main deck "hatestick" creature like dryad and scooze.
Overshadowed Barkling G
Creature - Treefolk - U
Spend only mana produced by basic forests to cast Overshadowed Barkling.
Overshadowed Barkling gets -1/-1 for each nonbasic land you control.
G, sacrifice Overshadowed Barkling: Choose target artifact or enchantment. Its owner shuffles it into his or her library.
3/3
I hate tron, sword of F&F, etched champion, and other stuff that make our life miserable.
Dungrove is much more consistent than witchstalker, the growth of which depends on what the opponent is playing and when as opposed to what we are playing. Even in 21 land builds Dungrove Elder will grow more consistently than Witchstalker. Of course stalker might shine against others that heavily rely on BU, but it does nothing against burn lists, naya zoo, etc. Dungrove is relevant all the time. In terms of inevitability dungrove + rancor is very scary for most decks and/or opponents and that is because of what our deck has (tons of forests), not theirs (UB spells played during our turn).
On a side note, Blossoming Defense is performing good for now. I'm running 2 but thinking of bumping up to 3, dropping back to 8 one mana creatures. Anyone else testing it?
It could work in a more aggressive and hexproof oriented build where we have more hexproof guys at cmc 2 and 3 such as bassara tower archers, dungrove elders, and witchstalkers. You may think of it as a 2 mana 4/4 groundbreaker that you can't play unless you have a creature in play.
Wallogoyf
Poor man's Tarmogoyf is great this time around.
Also, Pale Rider of Trostad: great on so many levels I want to cry. Commons and uncommons make me a lot more happier than rares. So much flavor.
Skin Invasion is the new Delver of Secrets, mark my words.