I know I don't post much around here, but I am definitely on the fence about the MDFC cards.
It is hard to justify including a front side that is worse than other cards in the cube, even with an ETB-tapped land as a consolation/dual use. That being said, the ability to have the flexibility and another opportunity for a land in hand is definitely worth considering.
The last time I attended a store draft (back in the DOM days), I started 0-2 because of the most awful, rotten luck in terms of land droughts in opening hands. My initial deck was aggressive and included 17 lands (which I thought was enough for a low CMC, aggro-ish deck). Round 1 Game 1 saw 0 lands, mulligan, 0 lands, mulligan, 0 lands ... until I had 4 cards in hand (1 land). I lost. I added another land (18) thinking that should solve it - it was just bad luck after all. First hand 0 lands, mulligan ... 5 cards in hand (1 land) but did not draw another land for the remainder of the game.
Round 2, no lands in opening hand. Mulligan, no lands, repeat. Down to 5 cards (1 land) and, just like before, that was all I got before the game ended. For the second game I added 2 more lands for a whopping 20. I had to mulligan down to 4. No lands in hand, no land in scry. I conceded. My opponent still wanted to play, so we marked our sheet and played for fun. What do you know, lands aplenty. Still, that was a terrible event - and it simply was no fun (okay, maybe a bit strong, I did go 2-1 in the last round to finish 1-2 overall). I guess the only consolation was that I achieved something that was statistically highly improbable!
Long story short, I am not 100% sold, but then again I am also a lot more agreeable to generous mulligans due to land shortage.
To me, the card seems too situational even with the Planeswalker addition. It works okay early game, but becomes a lot less reliable/practical in the mid to late game when you probably just want the creature out of your hand. At 3 mana, I think the cost is too high compared with other, cheaper Green removal (or other removal options splashed in other colors) and I would opt for other cards to spend that mana on early in the game if I am running heavy green.
But, it is an interesting take on the fight/deals damage equal to power mechanic.
I have an interaction that I would greatly appreciate clarification on:
- In play, I have 1x Archangel of Thune and 3x Seraph Sanctuary
- I play Decree of Justice to create 3 4/4 Angel creature tokens (using mana in my pool, not just the Sanctuaries).
- Each new angel triggers each of the three Seraph Sanctuary lands, netting me 9 life (1+1+1; 1+1+1; 1+1+1)
- Archangel of Thune then triggers for each of these lifegain events, adding 9 +1/+1 counters to each creature I control
If the entire chain resolves, did I resolve this correctly? I just want to make sure that I need to treat each separate Seraph Sanctuary trigger as an instance of lifegain to then trigger Archangel of Thune ... or, if it is just one sum trigger for the lot.
Playing around on Manastack, I found that this deck needs to move and doesn't really start multi-spell casting until T7 or later ... unless I am angel-less in the opening hand. Worn Powerstone seems to work as well as Urza's Incubator, especially once the angel-engine kicks in.
That was what I was concerned about with Extraplanar Lens. The tough part is finding alternatives that can come out early enough to start pushing angels. Quicksilver Amulet fills the same quick-out route. But, yeah, the big drawback with EL is that land destruction.
Green is so much easier to work with for mana ramp
The other thought was to run Pearl Medallions and another mana rock (Worn Powerstone? ... although something that does not come out tapped, or could come out sooner like Everflowing Chalice or Mind Stone) because they are a little more innocuous and help to churn out my other cards.
I've mostly just been trying out deck ideas on ManaStack. Thanks for the suggestion, though!
What I have found, in a vacuum, is that: I can reliably get Avacyn, Angel of Hope out on T4 and/or Iona, Shield of Emeria out on T5 with Extraplanar Lens; or, I can get either out on T5 with Quicksilver Amulet. That's why I included 3x of each card in the deck, so the odds of pulling one in the opening hand or drawing T1/T2 to T4 are fairly decent.
If all else fails, and the card draw is not mulligan level poor, Herald of War and Archangel of Thune combo to drop costs to get the angels out in a little bit slower order (finding to be T7 - T9).
The trouble it seems with Angels is that those are 3~4 turns that are waiting for a big angel to appear. Thus, the Memnites and prison/removal cards. I am just not sold on the Memnites in particular.
Greetings again! As a follow up to my post on a Mono-Green Timmy deck, I was playing around with a Mono-White Angel Timmy deck. I don't own any of the cards (and maybe never will?), so this is all theory/planning - but I would greatly[!] appreciate any thoughts and feedback.
This is for casual play - possibly multiplayer, but mostly 1 v 1. The deck theme is around angels with the "win-cons" being Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Iona, Shield of Emeria ... big-cost creatures, but, hey, that's Timmy for you.
The Memnites are definitely optional if there's a better alternative. I originally included 4 to be cheap-o blockers until the angels start cranking out. I could replace them with Linvala, Keeper of Silence or Swords to Plowshares to keep with the control theme - or, just pile on 2 more Snow-Covered Plains.
Good morning! I have a scenario in need of interpretation (I have found a couple of interpretations for this one after searching these forums, so I wanted to clarify).
I have the following cards in play at the start of my turn:
PS - the two examples I found on the forum on the same topic ended with different conclusions: one suggests that each token resolves in order - so 4+4 damage, 5+5 damage, and then 6+6 damage. If the tokens are created simultaneously, why is this the case? The other conclusion was 6+6, 6+6, and 6+6 - which seems too generous.
Edit: my list is in the signature.
It is hard to justify including a front side that is worse than other cards in the cube, even with an ETB-tapped land as a consolation/dual use. That being said, the ability to have the flexibility and another opportunity for a land in hand is definitely worth considering.
The last time I attended a store draft (back in the DOM days), I started 0-2 because of the most awful, rotten luck in terms of land droughts in opening hands. My initial deck was aggressive and included 17 lands (which I thought was enough for a low CMC, aggro-ish deck). Round 1 Game 1 saw 0 lands, mulligan, 0 lands, mulligan, 0 lands ... until I had 4 cards in hand (1 land). I lost. I added another land (18) thinking that should solve it - it was just bad luck after all. First hand 0 lands, mulligan ... 5 cards in hand (1 land) but did not draw another land for the remainder of the game.
Round 2, no lands in opening hand. Mulligan, no lands, repeat. Down to 5 cards (1 land) and, just like before, that was all I got before the game ended. For the second game I added 2 more lands for a whopping 20. I had to mulligan down to 4. No lands in hand, no land in scry. I conceded. My opponent still wanted to play, so we marked our sheet and played for fun. What do you know, lands aplenty. Still, that was a terrible event - and it simply was no fun (okay, maybe a bit strong, I did go 2-1 in the last round to finish 1-2 overall). I guess the only consolation was that I achieved something that was statistically highly improbable!
Long story short, I am not 100% sold, but then again I am also a lot more agreeable to generous mulligans due to land shortage.
But, it is an interesting take on the fight/deals damage equal to power mechanic.
I have an interaction that I would greatly appreciate clarification on:
- In play, I have 1x Archangel of Thune and 3x Seraph Sanctuary
- I play Decree of Justice to create 3 4/4 Angel creature tokens (using mana in my pool, not just the Sanctuaries).
- Each new angel triggers each of the three Seraph Sanctuary lands, netting me 9 life (1+1+1; 1+1+1; 1+1+1)
- Archangel of Thune then triggers for each of these lifegain events, adding 9 +1/+1 counters to each creature I control
If the entire chain resolves, did I resolve this correctly? I just want to make sure that I need to treat each separate Seraph Sanctuary trigger as an instance of lifegain to then trigger Archangel of Thune ... or, if it is just one sum trigger for the lot.
14 Plains
4 Seraph Sanctuary
4 Glimmerpost
3 Cloudpost
Mana Ramp & Creature Cheat
1 Sol Ring
4 Quicksilver Amulet
4 Herald of War
4 Archangel of Thune
2 Linvala, Preserver of Silence
3 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
3 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Ghostly Prison
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Aura of Silence
2 Wrath of God
The advantage is synergy with the Glimmerposts ... but the downside is that is my land play for the turn.
14 Plains
4 Seraph Sanctuary
4 Glimmerpost
Mana Ramp & Creature Cheat
1 Sol Ring
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Quicksilver Amulet
4 Herald of War
4 Archangel of Thune
2 Linvala, Preserver of Silence
3 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
3 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Ghostly Prison
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Aura of Silence
2 Wrath of God
Playing around on Manastack, I found that this deck needs to move and doesn't really start multi-spell casting until T7 or later ... unless I am angel-less in the opening hand. Worn Powerstone seems to work as well as Urza's Incubator, especially once the angel-engine kicks in.
That was what I was concerned about with Extraplanar Lens. The tough part is finding alternatives that can come out early enough to start pushing angels. Quicksilver Amulet fills the same quick-out route. But, yeah, the big drawback with EL is that land destruction.
Green is so much easier to work with for mana ramp
The other thought was to run Pearl Medallions and another mana rock (Worn Powerstone? ... although something that does not come out tapped, or could come out sooner like Everflowing Chalice or Mind Stone) because they are a little more innocuous and help to churn out my other cards.
What I have found, in a vacuum, is that: I can reliably get Avacyn, Angel of Hope out on T4 and/or Iona, Shield of Emeria out on T5 with Extraplanar Lens; or, I can get either out on T5 with Quicksilver Amulet. That's why I included 3x of each card in the deck, so the odds of pulling one in the opening hand or drawing T1/T2 to T4 are fairly decent.
If all else fails, and the card draw is not mulligan level poor, Herald of War and Archangel of Thune combo to drop costs to get the angels out in a little bit slower order (finding to be T7 - T9).
The trouble it seems with Angels is that those are 3~4 turns that are waiting for a big angel to appear. Thus, the Memnites and prison/removal cards. I am just not sold on the Memnites in particular.
This is for casual play - possibly multiplayer, but mostly 1 v 1. The deck theme is around angels with the "win-cons" being Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Iona, Shield of Emeria ... big-cost creatures, but, hey, that's Timmy for you.
18 Snow-covered Plains
4 Seraph Sanctuary
Mana Ramp and Creature Cheat
4 Extraplanar Lens
3 Quicksilver Amulet
1 Sol Ring
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Aura of Silence
2 Memnite (cheap blocker that buffs with Arch of Thune)
Angels
4 Herald of War (alternate way of getting Angels if ramp fails)
4 Archangel of Thune (interacts well with Herald of War)
3 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
3 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Wrath of God
Card Draw
2 Well of Dreams
The Memnites are definitely optional if there's a better alternative. I originally included 4 to be cheap-o blockers until the angels start cranking out. I could replace them with Linvala, Keeper of Silence or Swords to Plowshares to keep with the control theme - or, just pile on 2 more Snow-Covered Plains.
I have the following cards in play at the start of my turn:
1 Scourge of Valkas
1 Thunderbreak Regent
I play Utvara Hellkite, Scourge of Valkas and Dragon Tempest both activate for 3 damage apiece.
I then attack with all 3 dragons, triggering Utvara Hellkite's ability to create 3 6/6 dragon tokens.
How do Dragon Tempest and Scourge of Valkas trigger?
PS - the two examples I found on the forum on the same topic ended with different conclusions: one suggests that each token resolves in order - so 4+4 damage, 5+5 damage, and then 6+6 damage. If the tokens are created simultaneously, why is this the case? The other conclusion was 6+6, 6+6, and 6+6 - which seems too generous.