Prodigal Llanowar Magpie
Creature - Elf Shaman Bird
Haste
: Add GG to your mana pool.
: Flip a coin. If you win, draw a card, if you lose, deal 2 damage to target opponent.
: Deal 4 to target creatures. 8: on each upkeep, deal 5 damage to target player.
1/1
That little fellow seems busted to me. That's basically what Chandra does.
No, it isn't, but hey I'm sure we can make other planeswalkers seem insane if we just turn them into creatures, shift their color and then make their ability sound a little bit better by summarizing it. Here's my attempt:
Elf guy Transcendent
(No mana cost to make it sound better)
Creature- Elf Sprit Guy
Haste
: Flip a coin. If heads Draw a card.
: Copy target Instant or Sorcery spell you control 9: Your opponent can't cast Non-Creature spells for the rest of the game.
1/1
Pharika is indestructible, and your general, making it very difficult to get around her unlike the other two cards you named, however my point wasn't that she's super amazing GY hate, so comparing her to more efficient cards doesn't really counter what I was saying. As far as the "If you play black or green, you have recursion, so she's anti-synergistic" argument, I'm fairly certain that their isn't a law that says you have to play heavy recursion in those colors, or that you have to target cards in your own yard that you intend on recurring.
Pharika is not a cutthroat card. Pharika reminds me a lot of hippo, in that you have the ability to play politics by gifting 1/1 death touchers to neutralize attacking threats. It makes for potentially interesting games, because combat becomes Player A trying to get you not to generate a token when he attacks player B, and player B trying to get you to do the opposite. Sure, you can end up giving advantage to one player by preventing damage he could have taken, but you are also helping yourself because you are killing a threat.
I like the card, she's not amazing, nor is she an auto include in things, but she's a cool "build around me" style of general that makes for drawn out heavy politic style games. How useful that is to you depends on your playgroup, as she probably wouldn't do anything in a hyper competitive, infinite combo filled metagame, but in a relaxed casual setting she seems like she could be pretty fun.
I'm surprised at all the hate for the B/G God. She's a really interesting politics/babysitter type of card. You get the ability to turn off degenerate GY interactions, with the ability to turn off non-evasive creature combat by gifting death touchers to people being attacked. Definitely not a cutthroat card by any means, but she's very interesting to build around.
So I've played a Sedris, the traitor king reanimator deck for awhile now and recently decided to take it apart because it was basically play a bunch of high cost dudes and hope to loot them and then reanimate them, otherwise play a really slow long game where I'm hardcasting 7 and 8 mana fatties that just die to everything.
On a whim I decided to rebuild it into zombie tribal that can mass reanimate after looting with Patriarch's bidding, Zombie apocalypse, Balthor the Defiled, Living Death, or Rise of the Dark Realms. The problem I'm having is that there are only a handful of good zombies available. I've got about 97 cards so far with a few questionable guys. Any help would be appreciated!
Note: I know I'm not Playing Rooftop Storm or Endless Ranks of the dead. IMO both are really slow and provide very little payoff (My Zombie creatures are all very cheap so Rooftop isn't worth the 6 mana, and Endless takes multiple creatures and multiple turns to really do anything, and after a wrath its pretty much dead)
Essentially, as far as the RC's statements have been, nowhere does it say what your trying to imply. It is on you to show that it is, not on "Son of the Suns."
First off, nothing is on me to prove. I'm not on either side of the tutor argument, and I'm not saying I agree with the idea that the format was designed to be coin flips the gathering. I simply think it's ridiculous to say Golden's argument of tutors working against the fundamental design of the format (Which I'd love to again point out is 100 card singleton) is, as Son_of_the_Suns put it, "totally made up".
You could argue that the format has developed substantially since its creation so holding it to it's initial design isn't really legitimate, or something else, but to dispute that the design of the format wasn't at least somewhat built on inconsistency is ridiculous. No one should have to "Prove" that, and frankly it wouldn't accomplish anything in this argument if someone did.
Sunforger seems good here. Being able to pull a Boros charm out of your deck to save your board is really important for this kind of deck as well as being able to grab a path/swords to hit a threat or obstacle preventing you from winning the game. I would also include a Wild Ricochet if you put in the Forger.
Other cards I like in Jor are:
-Assemble the Legion (Either they kill it, or you kill everyone)
-Hoarding Dragon (Worse than Stoneforge/Stonehewer/Godo, but it's still an artifact tutor that's on a slightly threatening body)
-Steelshaper's Gift (Tutors are always good, especially cheap ones)
-Boros Keyrune (Its the Signet for 1 more mana, but can become a doublestriker, which is amazing with the sword Package)
Also, Hellkite Tyrant might be good, or maybe not. Haven't played with him yet, but in a deck where you generate a good number of artifacts he might actually go off, or at worst steal some ramp/equips and be a big evasive beater.
EDIT: Also noticed that you aren't playing Windbrisk Heights nor Spinerock Knoll. Both are awesome and easy to trigger in your deck.
Ivory Tower and/or Venser's Journal may be decent add-ins. I know that in my list if I drop Tower early it can give me alot of life, and it can be recurred with Sun Titan. You could also add in Staff of Nin for additional card draw. If you need/want more ideas check out the Vish list in my sig.
I really liked the suggestion someone posted in your deck thread about Mikaeus, the unhallowed. Because you can sack Vish to himself and he keeps coming back with a +1/+1 counter because of undying, you can kill every opposing creature on the board. + He has a weak version of No Mercy Built in, so I feel like he fits well into the deck.
So I'm thinking about cutting the Stoneforge/Stonehewer Equipment package because I've been feeling like I'm playing super aggressive cards like that on top of super defensive cards like sphere of safety and it just isn't mixing well. I think I should play primarily defensive with this deck, to protect my life total. Here is the short list of cards I'm looking to replace the cards I'm cutting:
+ Boon Reflection
+ Wall of Reverence
1) If you're focusing on a life-gain theme, then Cradle of Vitality is a must. Heck, even if you're not focusing on that, it works great with Vish Kal. As you can probably see, the synergy is beautiful.
2) A good utility card would be Necromancer's Covenant. It clears out an opponent's graveyard of creatures, gives you an army of dudes to either attack with or pitch to Visha Kal, and gives the zombies it creates Lifelink.
Cradle is already in, cause it interacts with Vish Kal in a sick way, while also randomly turning my wurmcoil and baneslayer into bigger threats.
Covenant seems interesting, might have to try it out.
I like your build, I took Vish in a different direction. You may find yourself in situations where you can easily win through general damage. BTW Beacon of Immortality is an instant. I do think you could cut Blood Tribute for Beacon of Unrest.
Oh, didn't notice it was an Instant. Makes it a lot better IMO. I can see cutting Blood Tribute, cause it kinda sucks.
I have 2 decks that I play a lot (Kamahl Fist of Krosa and Sedris the Traitor King) and I've been looking to build a 3rd for awhile now. I wanted my new deck to play very different from the other ones (Ramp + Big spells and Looting + Reanimator) and I figured using life gain win conditions would be fun.
No, it isn't, but hey I'm sure we can make other planeswalkers seem insane if we just turn them into creatures, shift their color and then make their ability sound a little bit better by summarizing it. Here's my attempt:
Elf guy Transcendent
(No mana cost to make it sound better)
Creature- Elf Sprit Guy
Haste
: Flip a coin. If heads Draw a card.
: Copy target Instant or Sorcery spell you control
9: Your opponent can't cast Non-Creature spells for the rest of the game.
1/1
Pharika is not a cutthroat card. Pharika reminds me a lot of hippo, in that you have the ability to play politics by gifting 1/1 death touchers to neutralize attacking threats. It makes for potentially interesting games, because combat becomes Player A trying to get you not to generate a token when he attacks player B, and player B trying to get you to do the opposite. Sure, you can end up giving advantage to one player by preventing damage he could have taken, but you are also helping yourself because you are killing a threat.
I like the card, she's not amazing, nor is she an auto include in things, but she's a cool "build around me" style of general that makes for drawn out heavy politic style games. How useful that is to you depends on your playgroup, as she probably wouldn't do anything in a hyper competitive, infinite combo filled metagame, but in a relaxed casual setting she seems like she could be pretty fun.
On a whim I decided to rebuild it into zombie tribal that can mass reanimate after looting with Patriarch's bidding, Zombie apocalypse, Balthor the Defiled, Living Death, or Rise of the Dark Realms. The problem I'm having is that there are only a handful of good zombies available. I've got about 97 cards so far with a few questionable guys. Any help would be appreciated!
1 Sedris, the Traitor King
Creatures: 23
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Lord of the Undead
1 Cemetery Reaper
1 Death Baron
1 Zombie Master
1 Diregraf Captain
1 Lich Lord of Unx
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Undead Warchief
1 Liliana's Reaver
1 Crypt Champion
1 Balthor the Defiled
1 Dread Slaver
1 Havengul Lich
1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Grave Titan
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Sheoldred, the Whispering one
1 Lim-Dul the Necromancer
1 Thraximundar
Planeswalkers: 1
1 Liliana of the Veil
Artifacts: 4
1 Sol Ring
1 Coalition Ring
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Darksteel Ingot
Enchantments: 5
1 Animate Dead
1 Necromancy
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Call to the Grave
1 Grave Betrayal
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Izzet Charm
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Frantic Search
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Crosis Charm
1 Makeshift Mannequin
1 Fact or Fiction
Sorceries: 20
1 Reanimate
1 Faithless Looting
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Stitch Together
1 Dreadbore
1 Buried Alive
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Damnation
1 Dread Return
1 Syphon Flesh
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Patriarch's Bidding
1 Living Death
1 Life's Finale
1 Zombie Apocalypse
1 Spelltwine
1 Decree of Pain
1 Army of the Damned
1 Breaking // Entering
1 Rise of the Dark Realms
Lands: 35
1 Badlands
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Command Tower
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Dragonskull summit
1 Drowned Catacombs
1 Graven Cairns
1 Lava Claw Reaches
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Tainted Isle
1 Tainted Peak
1 Temple of the False God
1 Underground Sea
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Volcanic Island
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Wastleland
1 Watery Grave
4 Swamp
2 Island
1 Mountain
Note: I know I'm not Playing Rooftop Storm or Endless Ranks of the dead. IMO both are really slow and provide very little payoff (My Zombie creatures are all very cheap so Rooftop isn't worth the 6 mana, and Endless takes multiple creatures and multiple turns to really do anything, and after a wrath its pretty much dead)
Congratulations on being that guy.
First off, nothing is on me to prove. I'm not on either side of the tutor argument, and I'm not saying I agree with the idea that the format was designed to be coin flips the gathering. I simply think it's ridiculous to say Golden's argument of tutors working against the fundamental design of the format (Which I'd love to again point out is 100 card singleton) is, as Son_of_the_Suns put it, "totally made up".
You could argue that the format has developed substantially since its creation so holding it to it's initial design isn't really legitimate, or something else, but to dispute that the design of the format wasn't at least somewhat built on inconsistency is ridiculous. No one should have to "Prove" that, and frankly it wouldn't accomplish anything in this argument if someone did.
The format is 100 card singleton. What part of that implies that the games weren't meant to be random and luck based?
Other cards I like in Jor are:
-Assemble the Legion (Either they kill it, or you kill everyone)
-Hoarding Dragon (Worse than Stoneforge/Stonehewer/Godo, but it's still an artifact tutor that's on a slightly threatening body)
-Steelshaper's Gift (Tutors are always good, especially cheap ones)
-Boros Keyrune (Its the Signet for 1 more mana, but can become a doublestriker, which is amazing with the sword Package)
Also, Hellkite Tyrant might be good, or maybe not. Haven't played with him yet, but in a deck where you generate a good number of artifacts he might actually go off, or at worst steal some ramp/equips and be a big evasive beater.
EDIT: Also noticed that you aren't playing Windbrisk Heights nor Spinerock Knoll. Both are awesome and easy to trigger in your deck.
I really liked the suggestion someone posted in your deck thread about Mikaeus, the unhallowed. Because you can sack Vish to himself and he keeps coming back with a +1/+1 counter because of undying, you can kill every opposing creature on the board. + He has a weak version of No Mercy Built in, so I feel like he fits well into the deck.
+ Boon Reflection
+ Wall of Reverence
Cradle is already in, cause it interacts with Vish Kal in a sick way, while also randomly turning my wurmcoil and baneslayer into bigger threats.
Covenant seems interesting, might have to try it out.
Oh, didn't notice it was an Instant. Makes it a lot better IMO. I can see cutting Blood Tribute, cause it kinda sucks.
Yeah Boon reflection looks like a good add, but not entirely sure about Rune-tail. Any suggestions for cuts?
I pretty much chose Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter because he's the colors I wanted to play and he has lifelink, the somewhat useful effect is just gravy. I pretty much built around Test of Endurance, Felidar Sovereign, Exquisite Blood, Sanguine Bond, Vizkopa Guildmage, and Beacon of Immortality.
1 Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
1 Serra's Ascendant
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Blood Artist
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Academy Rector
1 Rhox Faithmender
1 Falkenwrath Noble
1 Stonehewer Giant
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Sunblast Angel
1 Sun Titan
1 Kokusho, the Morning Star
1 Luminate Primordial
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Angel of Despair
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Sol Ring
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Orzhov Keyrune
1 Pristine Talismin
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Batterskull
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Test of Endurance
1 No Mercy
1 Sphere of Saftey
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Sanquine Bond
1 Martyr's Bond
1 Debtor's Knell
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Mortify
1 Return to Dust
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Martial Coup
1 Exsanguinate
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Vindicate
1 Day of Judgement
1 Damnation
1 Unburial Rites
1 Promise of Power
1 Beacon of Immortality
1 Terminus
1 Austere Command
1 Blood Tribute
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Storm Herd
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of the False God
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Marsh Flats
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Fetid Heath
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Command Tower
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Orvhov Bascilica
1 Tainted Field
1 Reflecting Pool
9 Swamp
10 Plains
It felt a bit wonky when I tried trying it out the other day, so I'm looking for any help on cards to cut or add.