MTG Salvation

I want to add my thoughts in here pertaining to petercal's wonderful template. I for one love it (and that wall-o-text that accompanied it). As with any art, things can be done to clean it up a bit. Kentu is definitely on the right track. Though, one issue I have with Kentu's update is that the green, red and purple are rather bold colorings. The colors in those little boxes "tickle" my eyes. Maybe using the same shade of red/green that the mana symbols use would fix that issue. I would love to get the template after your adjustments (or it is "finalized") as it is different and simple. I agree with Bolas in that the loyalty *might* look better swapped with the set symbol. Though, we might need to see it before actually saying it is better. And to continue on with the loyalty box problem... why not make it the PW symbol? I mean, it would fulfill the "keep things the same" while changing it up a bit vibe. It is an easy way to tell that it is a PW, which Bolas had suggested that keeping the symbol would help in. I'm just tossing ideas out there as I find this endeavor rather intriguing. If this can be made into a finalized template we can be proud of (should already be as it is really nice) I might just finally toss my hat into this Render thread and churn some renders out.

OMG I'll never tire of my Roja Land set as the first image under that first spoiler... Sadly.. I may not be able to participate... if I do, it'll be a late entry.

That is a nice looking box. I can see that you are getting better the more you do this. Yeah, having a dedicated work area is fantastic. My workspace is my garage and most of the time I move my setup out into the driveway to keep from getting a layer of sawdust on everything.

Booo... your pics aren't loading right. Could be me... not sure on that one. I've still not had a chance to get to my box making. I did find a fun jig to make that allows you to make a box using the kerf of your saw blade on the joints. I'll have to find it again. I saved it, but that device is not on me atm.

Quote from zox »

Curse says I'm a new user of nine+ years. Glad to see this corner of MTGS is still going strong.

I dig these arts. That Merieke and Narset are nuts. The Narset has a RKF feel to it. I like it. I feel like I know your style...... Also... hey, I was a user for 6 years before my first post. It happens.

Nice. I like the look of the Green Splatted Counter. My issue is with the Grey back/red splat/black text. I cannot really see it all that well, mind you I am colorblind. It might be a good idea to move the color schemes to high contrast color combinations. The splatted ones, in my opinion, look better than the "plain text" ones. I'd also suggest maybe moving to a sans-serif font (like arial or calibri) for better readability. Keeping the 2 types (+ and -) different colors is a good idea so you have more of a visual cue.

Quote from rocksoN_ger »

I tried to include a few control cards in my list. Im playing against the same 3 guys every week and often enough I'm not able to keep my Nekusar for more dann 1 or 2 player turns. Not speaking of any other permants. The hate is real. So having a counterspell helps me sometime.

So to sum it up:

Cuts:
Magus of the Wheel
Dream Salvage
Red Elemental Blast
Remand
Helm of Obedience
Underworld Dreams

Includes:
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Cabal Coffers
Breathstealer's Crypt

Hm i would replace Urborg and the Cabal 1 : 1 with existings lands. Still not sure how. So there are a few empty spots left. Anny ideas? I already run Clever Impersonator.

Did you test Dark Petition Feels like a 50:50 card. Sometimes good and sometimes bad.

Greeting

I run exactly 2 counter spells, Force of Will and Pact of Negation. Due to my meta, I've never needed more. Only use them as backup to me "going off". Sometimes you just have to hit that Aura Shards because that destroys me (enchanment/arty heavy). Not sure on your mana base replacements since mine is rather tight and I'm not sure really what's been working for you or not. My first inclination was to suggest swamps for those (Tomb for Swamp for sure) but it gets harder since you only have the 1 swamp.

As for Petition... to high a cmc for me. I'm purposely keeping my average CMC low so that I can spell, spell, spell, win in a single turn. I'm honestly not sure on the number but it's not as high as most others' decks are. I tuned mine for speed to be able to race aggro decks and being Archenemy.

What I find is that players tend to off my Nek if he's in play but leave Niv and Unraveller alone (again only if Nek is in play). I'd say keep them targeting your nek but not your redundant backups. That should help win off of not having your "win-con" in play. I also run Temple Bell|Otherworldly Map + Mind Over Matter as an infinite dmg/draw win. Make sure you run something like the original Eldrazi Titans for thier reshuffle effects so you can pitch them to MoM and not deck yourself

Quote from Capulett »

Anybody suggested Teferi's Puzzle Box yet?

Seems to go hand in hand with a Underworld Dreams/Nekusar strat.

If you run Underworld Dreams then, by all means run the Box. I found in my testing that overall both of those cards can be underwhelming. Also, depending on your build BBB can be a bit difficult to pull off. I run heavy blue > red > black, making a card like UD be not as appealing. Puzzle Box is... an interesting card. I didn't like it, removed it, and haven't looked back.

Quote from rocksoN_ger »

Hey Guys,

im following this thread for "years" now and I just wanted to post my list and get some opinions.

[deck stuffs goes here ^.^]

My meta is quite competitive and kinda aggro heavy right now Are there any options to make this deck even more explosive? I want to cut the combo Helm of Obedience + Leyline of the Void. The Leyline doesn't do much work in my meta and the combo itself, its good but is it worth it? Perhaps cut these for two "anti aggro controllish" cards?

*edit*
Fetchlands are available.. didnt sleeve them up yet
Greetings

My build, on numerous occasions, has outraced aggro decks. Then again, I aim to get a turn 2-3 Nek > next turn wheel to just destroy thier plan whilst pushing me forward. Helm+Leyline is a fun combo, but if you are in a meta heavy with aggro, it might not be the right choice. Leyline is still fantastic all on it's own, so I would not remove that (a sure fire way to kill reanimator and eldrazi). Some thoughts below:

Magus of the Wheel - This card seems good, but it does 2 things to hurt you. One, it lets your opps know that you now have a wheel (they should always think this) but now they know. So they will play accordingly, meaning you have now become a bigger target since damage will commence soon. Two, it has summoning sickness, so not only do you telegraph your plan, you also give the opps time to react. This is the same reason I don't run any creature based wheels, they are too slow.
Merchant Scroll - Sorcery speed tutor... that you have to reveal? Demonic Tutor is good because to hand goes ANY card from your lib. This is stuck to Blue Instants. Very narrow in my opinion (I see your collection of Blue instants, and still think it's not worth running) and you telegraph your plan.
Dark Ritual - I see the merits on running this, but I'm of the mindset that single use mana is not worth running (I'm ok with Lotus Petal) as after its used... then what? Yeah, with the right hands, this can get absurd but I'd rather run a mass of rocks and put something else in this slot.
Dream Salvage - How often do you cast this and can do something with the amount of cards drawn? How often do you actually cast this to how many times it sits in your hand? Not really saying its a bad card just not one I've seen so I'm more curious here.
Red Elemental Blast - Wut? Is you meta blue heavy and aggro? Odd combination. VERY narrow card. Red counter is fun though.
Remand - This is nice due to it's cmc, but wouldn't an actual hard counter be better? Counterspell anyone?
Swan Song - I used to run this. I feel that the permission aspects of the deck get in the way of winning. Why play reactive when you should be on the offensive. Force the opponent to race a deck with a massive damage output. Make them play catch-up instead of you being reactive to them.
Copy Artifact - How has this been for you? For 1 more you can Phyrexian Metamorph and get a creature too. Flexibility is the name of the game. Though, I can understand wanting the lower CMC instead.

Suggestions:
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Cabal Coffers - Repeatable "dark rit". Even though I'm not heavy in black, I can use the mana generated to offset colorless costs. This is really helpful.
Clever Impersonator - This card is stupidly fun. Being able to hit enchantments and creatures is great as well. Again, it's all about the flexibility of a card. Narrow cards don't really give much of an option on what you can do with it.
Breathstealer's Crypt - Aggro heavy meta? Make them pay for each creature they draw. Wheels mean that you get to see everyone's draws... they can see yours, but whatevs, they get to take all that beautiful damage upon damage. Especailly in your VERY creature light deck, this card is absurd. I'd put this in over Underworld Dreams.

Quote from Phoenixius »

Hello,
I use acrylic paint for my alters.
Unfortunately, I feel that my colors always have a hazy appearance, impossible to reproduce the brilliant appearance of the cards.
Any suggestions?

Could be the types of paints you are using. I'm not too good a painter, but better artist than I have stated that the quality of paint will have a large impact on the final product. Cheaper paints don't have the pigment loads that good paints do, which could be why the final product is hazy. Also, if you are using water or some other medium to thin your paints, that too could have an effect of your final product.

Quote from NoeLZZ »

Hi, i want to black out my delver proxies so only the delver is left. Whats the best way to do this? I'd prefer a pen.

Thanks in advance guys

By proxies I can only assume you mean the DFC Checklist Cards. In any case, you could use some black acrylic paint. Put a couple of thin layers down and you should get the coverage you want. Sealing it will also go a long way to making sure the paint doesn't chip off, but shouldn't be necessary.

I actually find it rather fun seeing you make the jigs you need to make things work. Eventually I'll get to doing this myself as well... SOOO MUCH ART to do first... I did purchase a planer so I can sorta make my own thin stock wood from 1/2in and 1/4in stock. Which I have quite a bit of. Taking apart old drawers from a repurposed desk nets you some nice wood.

I do these to keep the rust off my 'shopin skills. So no group, but feel free to cite me.

Something like this?

I don't have that kind of time. Wish i did or i do so. I thoroughly enjoy reading as y'all traipse across the land in search of "riches"

oh mah gawd
oh mah gawd...
OH MAH GAWD!!!

I'm so excited to see this started up again....

I honestly think running Leyline of the Void is a must in this deck. Makes it so that Time Spiral and the like only affect you in a wholly positive way. That and it's fun to make them pitch Eldrazi titans with Leyline out.