There just wasn't anything I could do to win. This guy was running main deck damnation/golgari charm/drown in sorrow and removed everything before I got a chance to get off the ground. His Ashiok milled my abrupt decays and I just kept drawing lands. Was probably the worst matchup imaginable.
Match 2: Junk Midrange 1-1-1
Game 1: I'm able to combo off turn 4 and he scoops to infinite life.
Game 2: Very grindy, this took most of the time in our round. Going back and forth with spot removal he eventually is able to just beat me down with a batterskull on a rhino.
Game 3: This game probably has my most proud play of the day in it. He has a quick Batterskull while I have a Reveillark, Noble Hierach, and Kitchen finks in play. My graveyard has Cartel Aristocrat and Melira that were inquisition'd away so I just need to kill my reveillark. He's able to inquisition the Garza's Assassin in my hand before I'm able to draw a third black source. My next draw is an Urborg so I suddenly have a plan. I swing into his Germ with my Noble Hierarch for 1. He was at 12 but decided to block anyway. Noble Died so I triggered Garza's Assassin's Recover ability paying 9 life, I then play Urborg then drop assassin to kill my own Reveillark to go infinite. We run out of time in round before I can kill him due to his batterskull. Match 3: RG Tron 2-0
Well my opponent wasn't in his seat at the beginning of the round so he received a game loss. I start with a thoughtseize to see natural Tron in his hand and two Karns. I don't have much pressure in hand so I was pretty worried. I played a T2 Spellskite that ended up winning me the game. He keeps upticking karn and removing pressure from my hand while all I have in play is a Spellskite and a Bird. Luckily though he's only drawing lands so I'm not out of it yet. He thinks that removing my lands is more important for some reason so he downticks karn a couple times. I'm able to topdeck a Collected Company which gets me Melira and Kitchen Finks. He downticks Karn to remove finks and I redirect to spellskite. I'm able to kill Karn next turn with Melira and kitchen finks and then pass. He draws Eye of Ugin with 6 tron lands in play so I know I need to win. He plays Emrakul next turn and asks if I concede, I have a collected company in hand so I know I'm not out of it yet. At his beginning of Combat I hit Garza Assassin and Viscera Seer from Collected Company, I kill Emrakul then go infinite and scry until I hit redcap and he concedes.
Match 4: UR Twin 2-0
Game one is uneventful, I'm able to beat down with a Voice and Kitchen finks while he mostly draws blanks.
Game two could've been better but he tapped out to play bloodmoon T3 while I had a fetch to get a forest with both plains and swamp along with choke in my hand. He only had 1 island so after I choked him out he couldn't do anything. I eventually drew into a couple of kitchen finks which were able to get there since he never saw another blue source.
Match 5: Living End 2-0
Game one I was lucky with draws getting both Voices and a couple of kitchen finks on the board before he cracked living end. My guys just ended up being bigger so I took game 1.
Game two was decided early on after I thoughtseized myself to put Blood Baron in the yard. He was afraid to cascade at that point and I was able to run away with it due to a couple kitchen finks.
Overall I'm very happy with this deck, going to do more in-depth testing but I'm sure it has potential. Anafenza was probably the best card in the deck, I was happy to see it everytime and in a few matches I played it just for pure value when I put out other creatures for it to bolster.
Constant stream of creatures is basically three quarter of standard decks in a nutshell.
Yeah, like I said it could be built around. Though, realistically where do you see this ending up? Considering you can pre-order them for .50c.
I would get behind it more if you didn't have to spend mana on the enchantment, then another to make the token, and another activation for the indestructible ability.
When do you want to be playing this?
How would this fit into an aggressive curve?
How many copies would be the right number?
These are all questions that need to be answered for me to want to 'buy these all up' as has been suggested. There needs to be a strong argument for this to be a 4x in X Y or Z deck.
You dont have to explain to us why BB is better. We get it but this is still a fine card that may be very good as well.
I dont know, im just not seeing it. Its just doesnt seem like its going to fit in anywhere. Sure its undercosted but it essentially makes all your creatures one more to play. Even if you do build around it, you need a constant stream of creatures for it to be relevant.
Souls are very interesting. Soul of Ravnica looks underpriced at $3. A 6/6 flyer with card draw isn't bad. Soul of Zendikar a bit low at $5 considering green looks to be the color that everybody will be playing. Just look at Nissa, obviously it has been rated the best walker of the set.
Souls might not be too bad depending on the speed of the format. Yes they die to removal but that's why they can use their ability once from the yard, so you can still get value.
Not sure about Lili and Chandra. $8 each? About right for reprints?
Rares
Pain lands - Whole other thread, not gonna bother here. Chord of Calling - $10 for a reprint? For real? Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Surely this will tank. That's why it is getting a reprint. Spirit Bonds $2? lol go buy up as many as you can. Aggressive Mining $1.25? For something that looks like it might be broken that's cheap. Waste Not - Looks like overpriced junk to me. Needs discard which usually needs to be played before you have 2 mana spare for an enchantment.
I'm going to go down the list you posted. I think what will happen is going to be much different than what you claim. *Going to use 1 site for pre-order prices just because I'm lazy, and it's easier. SCG*
Ajani Steadfast @ 19.99 - No way this holds, this will inevitably tank. Similar to Ajani, Caller of the Pride, maybe a bit more because of the single (W) casting cost. Nissa, Worldwaker @ 24.99 - Again, no way this holds. She will drop in price, if a deck is found, I think maybe she holds 15$ steadily. If not...7-8$. Garruk, Apex Predator @29.99 ...I don't know where you found him at 15$, but if you did, congrats. That's about as much as I would even spend, if that. He's a Standard only walker, though with huge EDH upside. If anything I would get foil copies. Jace, the Living Guildpact @ 19.99 I wouldn't spend more than 6$ on this, similar to what Chandra Pyromaster is fetching now.
Soul cycle- 1$ mythic bin rares. If anything Soul of New Phyrexia will shine above the others, and be *maybe* 5$. Though I expect foils to be much, much higher. If a card like Underworld Cerberus dones't see any play after rotation, I don't expect the Souls to see any. Considering it's a 5cc 6/6 and actually has pseduo evasion.
Pain lands- Lol. It's insane people are actually trying to wheel and deal these. Buying out normal and foil copies and actually trying to sell them. They've been reprinted numerous times, and if you're spending more then 3$ on a pain-land, you're a fool.
Chord of Calling @14.99 Again, when people start opening these I bet it hits 6$ and stays there. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth @ 11.99 I honestly don't know where this ends up. Spirit Bonds @1.99 Why would anyone want to 'buy as many as you can'? Aggressive Mining @ 1.49 Seems decent, though I would buy this at less than 1 doller and hope. I doubt this goes anywhere. Waste Not @ 7.99 Again, who knows where this goes. I sure wouldnt buy this at 7.99, though I would snatch up cheap foil versions.
Both souls mentioned in the OP look horrible. 6/6 with an expensive token-making ability for 6? People don't even play 6/6s for 5, even if they've got strong abilities. $1 max I think.
As for the reprints, they will tank in price as 99%+ do.
Totally agree. See above list. Chord of Calling is not as ubiquitous as let's say Thoughtseize or Mutavault. Where a reprint did not completely kill their price. This reprint will tank Chord.
Deicide and mono blue losing all their support cards.
It really looks like Wizards is making sure they don't print good UU devotion enablers. Almost like they had to pull them out of the newer sets to make sure they didn't make Mono U too powerful.
Yeah, they took the U enablers out and shoved them into B.
I have talked about this with other members of my group and discussed this to some length. I think Wizards is trying the "let's tone down the game and power level" game, then let's see how it does. I think we can already see the decline in really high powered sets like INN/RTR in comparison to Theros block, and M15 is no different. In truth, I don't think you're really going to see a card like Liliana of the Veil/Snapcaster/VoR type card if that's what you're asking.
If you look at Theros, it was a fairly under-powered block. I think we may see a similar treatment with Khans (I hope) though I doubt it, because the reaction from the player-base as a whole probably didn't really like the treatment they did, so Khans will most likely muscle Theros out and be a set of higher power-level. I personally liked the state of the last few sets, yeah they may not have chase 30$ mythics and rares in every single set, but there's just enough balance to keep the game to a fairly balanced environment. You could argue Devotion strategies being strong, and while I agree they are, I will say they are not completely degenerate. For the most part Standard has been fairly low key in terms of power level, and despite people thinking MonoB's dominance, while true it's good, there has been a variety of decks.
I think her role in a deck is similar to Garruk Wildspeaker. Untap lands for some explosive power, or summon a creature. I was thinking more like the old Doran Rock path.
Black Cat seems odd but I think early defense while setting up for the kill. Sylvan Primordial can be as early as turn 4 and a 4/4 trample Elemental able to join attacking force next turn, with plenty of defense and open mana to work with. Nissa's untap ability is also useful for Polukranos's monstrosity. I was thinking of Bow of Nylea but unfortunately it doesn't work with Nissa for Polukranos's ping combo. However, it could work with her first ability and making the land creature bigger.
I really think this is interesting. Though I think the mana needs to be changed, doesn't seem Nissa will have the power to untap all 4 lands with so many non-basic lands (that arent forests). I don't like Black Cat all too much. I really like the rest of the list, though I think it would be better to diversify the threats of ramp. Sylvan Primordial is great but maybe look into Hydra Broodmaster and Soul of Zendikar for example.
Well I'm excited with Nissa in green devotion. So far she has synergy with a lot of cards that most people can think of, but of course some cards have huge hype during spoiler season but does not seem so workable later on. Nevertheless, here are the things that could work.
Soul of New Phyrexia helps to keep your 4/4 Elemental creature land indestructible.
Afosz! We meet again!
I think she is going to be very viable while RTR is still legal. After that, time will tell. I think Dropping her and a 4 drop on the same turn is still a very solid play. We will just have to see what 4 drops other than Polukranos we will be getting.
I also see her playing very well with Genesis Hydra.
I'd honestly rather the promo In Garruk's Wake art or some semblance of that art for his PWalker card. That art is sort of underwhelming to be honest. He doesn't look "crazed" or "menacing" at all.
I really hope that's the non-promo In Garruk's Wake, but unfortunately, that's his PWalker art for sure.
If their info really is valuable and can make someone lots of profits, why don't they just use it themselves, instead of selling it for three bucks?
Hmmmmmmmmmm!
Good point, though that's not how things *always* work.
On that note, don't go for it. I tried the service and I will tell you honestly there's nothing worth $11.99 a month for. I'll give you a list as to why.
1.) Forums are slow, basically full of brag posts and nothing really informative (unless you somehow want to delve into older threads where it's basically old information anyway).
2.) The Insider articles seem rushed for the most part it seems the author's go "oh damn i have to write a QS article!" and write very generalized articles. It's information you could surmise yourself if you had any knack of finance in the MTG market.
3.) Not only are the forums slow, but there's close to 0 moderation. No help of any kind, and sending emails is a hit or miss. I was shocked someone replied in a timely fashion when I brought up serious complaints about the service I was getting. I got a reply same day, only to get the next one several days later.
4.) Zero to none notifications, it just seems all the tools they say they provide for the Insider service you actually don't get. There's such a huge disparity to when you get emails/notifications. (months in between).
If any QS member wants to disprove me that's fine, because I would LOVE them to.
How many people attended the PPTQ?
Yeah, like I said it could be built around. Though, realistically where do you see this ending up? Considering you can pre-order them for .50c.
I would get behind it more if you didn't have to spend mana on the enchantment, then another to make the token, and another activation for the indestructible ability.
When do you want to be playing this?
How would this fit into an aggressive curve?
How many copies would be the right number?
These are all questions that need to be answered for me to want to 'buy these all up' as has been suggested. There needs to be a strong argument for this to be a 4x in X Y or Z deck.
I dont know, im just not seeing it. Its just doesnt seem like its going to fit in anywhere. Sure its undercosted but it essentially makes all your creatures one more to play. Even if you do build around it, you need a constant stream of creatures for it to be relevant.
I'm going to go down the list you posted. I think what will happen is going to be much different than what you claim. *Going to use 1 site for pre-order prices just because I'm lazy, and it's easier. SCG*
Ajani Steadfast @ 19.99 - No way this holds, this will inevitably tank. Similar to Ajani, Caller of the Pride, maybe a bit more because of the single (W) casting cost.
Nissa, Worldwaker @ 24.99 - Again, no way this holds. She will drop in price, if a deck is found, I think maybe she holds 15$ steadily. If not...7-8$.
Garruk, Apex Predator @29.99 ...I don't know where you found him at 15$, but if you did, congrats. That's about as much as I would even spend, if that. He's a Standard only walker, though with huge EDH upside. If anything I would get foil copies.
Jace, the Living Guildpact @ 19.99 I wouldn't spend more than 6$ on this, similar to what Chandra Pyromaster is fetching now.
Soul cycle- 1$ mythic bin rares. If anything Soul of New Phyrexia will shine above the others, and be *maybe* 5$. Though I expect foils to be much, much higher. If a card like Underworld Cerberus dones't see any play after rotation, I don't expect the Souls to see any. Considering it's a 5cc 6/6 and actually has pseduo evasion.
Pain lands- Lol. It's insane people are actually trying to wheel and deal these. Buying out normal and foil copies and actually trying to sell them. They've been reprinted numerous times, and if you're spending more then 3$ on a pain-land, you're a fool.
Chord of Calling @14.99 Again, when people start opening these I bet it hits 6$ and stays there.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth @ 11.99 I honestly don't know where this ends up.
Spirit Bonds @1.99 Why would anyone want to 'buy as many as you can'?
Aggressive Mining @ 1.49 Seems decent, though I would buy this at less than 1 doller and hope. I doubt this goes anywhere.
Waste Not @ 7.99 Again, who knows where this goes. I sure wouldnt buy this at 7.99, though I would snatch up cheap foil versions.
Totally agree. See above list. Chord of Calling is not as ubiquitous as let's say Thoughtseize or Mutavault. Where a reprint did not completely kill their price. This reprint will tank Chord.
Yeah, they took the U enablers out and shoved them into B.
...Since it really needed the help, right?
I 100% agree. Yeah, the flavor is really cool, but this card is horrendous as rare.
If you look at Theros, it was a fairly under-powered block. I think we may see a similar treatment with Khans (I hope) though I doubt it, because the reaction from the player-base as a whole probably didn't really like the treatment they did, so Khans will most likely muscle Theros out and be a set of higher power-level. I personally liked the state of the last few sets, yeah they may not have chase 30$ mythics and rares in every single set, but there's just enough balance to keep the game to a fairly balanced environment. You could argue Devotion strategies being strong, and while I agree they are, I will say they are not completely degenerate. For the most part Standard has been fairly low key in terms of power level, and despite people thinking MonoB's dominance, while true it's good, there has been a variety of decks.
I would greatly appreciate the help. If you could just post, and then I suppose PMing back and forth would be easiest.
I really think this is interesting. Though I think the mana needs to be changed, doesn't seem Nissa will have the power to untap all 4 lands with so many non-basic lands (that arent forests). I don't like Black Cat all too much. I really like the rest of the list, though I think it would be better to diversify the threats of ramp. Sylvan Primordial is great but maybe look into Hydra Broodmaster and Soul of Zendikar for example.
...and people thought they would print fetch-lands, hah!
Afosz! We meet again!
I think she is going to be very viable while RTR is still legal. After that, time will tell. I think Dropping her and a 4 drop on the same turn is still a very solid play. We will just have to see what 4 drops other than Polukranos we will be getting.
I also see her playing very well with Genesis Hydra.
I wouldn't bet on it.
I really hope that's the non-promo In Garruk's Wake, but unfortunately, that's his PWalker art for sure.
Good point, though that's not how things *always* work.
On that note, don't go for it. I tried the service and I will tell you honestly there's nothing worth $11.99 a month for. I'll give you a list as to why.
1.) Forums are slow, basically full of brag posts and nothing really informative (unless you somehow want to delve into older threads where it's basically old information anyway).
2.) The Insider articles seem rushed for the most part it seems the author's go "oh damn i have to write a QS article!" and write very generalized articles. It's information you could surmise yourself if you had any knack of finance in the MTG market.
3.) Not only are the forums slow, but there's close to 0 moderation. No help of any kind, and sending emails is a hit or miss. I was shocked someone replied in a timely fashion when I brought up serious complaints about the service I was getting. I got a reply same day, only to get the next one several days later.
4.) Zero to none notifications, it just seems all the tools they say they provide for the Insider service you actually don't get. There's such a huge disparity to when you get emails/notifications. (months in between).
If any QS member wants to disprove me that's fine, because I would LOVE them to.