At the end of this week's Uncharted Realms, Sarkhan disappeared in a rather ambiguous way.
My theory: Sarkhan got sucked back to the "Present" where instead of facing a giant pile of bones he sees a giant hedron prison.
Ugin has been trapped in the hedron prison (a la Eldrazi) for the last 1280 years and for all intents and purposes he might as well have been dead. Dragons are still extinct, Bolas still thinks he's won, History still happened.
We already know Sorin is at the nexus (or nearby) and he knows the secret to unlocking a hedron prison. Sarkhan accidentally opened the hedrons once too. All the need is a third planeswalker and some colorless magic.
Enter Narset
There has been speculation that Narset has a latent planeswalker spark due to her visions of other worlds, and further speculation that that spark ignited when she was stabbed by Zurgo, so she could be the third planeswalker needed to open the Hedrons.
She has been studying Ugin's runes and could very well "accidentally" cast one of the colorless spells that Ugin had etched into a wall somewhere. Or maybe Sarkhan passed his spellcraft check and figured out Ghostflame when he saw Chandra cast it. Or maybe Sorin figured it out while hanging out with Ugin forever ago. Either way we don't have to worry about the colorless magic.
My question for you is this: Are there any planeswalkers that have had a romantic relationship with another planeswalker?
Story behind the question:
I met my fiance at a magic tournament, so obviously Magic is an important part of our relationship and we want to incorporate it into our wedding somehow.
We thought of using the new Gentle Giant action figures as cake toppers, but I couldn't remember who (if anyone) loves who in the mainstream planeswalkers. I'm expanding the idea to ALL planeswalkers, and just putting the cards in top-loaders sticking out of the cake, but still don't know who to use.
The words "Target Creature" Actually mean "Target Creature Permanent on the Battlefield" unless the card says otherwise. As long as your Oblivion Ring is still on the battlefield, your opponent's creature exists in the Exile zone and is no longer a Permanent, and therefore cannot be targeted by anything like Vapor Snag.
WWR has the weakness of only running 1-2 wolf runs. If you really are worried about the matchup, you could take out the oblivion rings and make them Beast Withins just to be able to hit the lands. Taking out the whole point of ramping shuts down the deck pretty quickly, and they're going to run out of cards sooner because they are pulling out their lands.
Do you think it is safe to switch out Jace for Jace's Erasure?
I use Jace as a draw engine when I have to, so I don't think the Erasure would really add much. The deck doesn't really need a mill engine, since Rites of Flourishing makes your opponent draw an extra card before you do, so they're already 1-4 cards short.
When i looked at this forum post i was thinking, 'cool!...but, does it work?'
-Praetor's council is instant win if you can play him (leave one mana open for fog ofcourse). So as a one off, i want him in.
I used to run this, but I decided that it was better as something that won now rather than giving them the chance to work around it. It turned into a Jace IIRC
-What's up with venser? Is there any deck that will leave stonehorne on with all creature removal piled up in their hands?.
I use the Venser/Stonehorn combo when I can, but I usually just use Venser to keep a land untapped for Fog (and friends). I also sometimes run a Spine of Ish Shah just to be cute. Also, who doesn't like it when all your spells say Exile target permanent?
-Witchbane orb.... should be in for RDW, but after they sideboard some artifact hate, it's useless.once they destroy it, they flame all their spells at once
-I want to play negate!!! Atleast sideboard, I haven 't read that anywhere, but I want to counter the fog counter and counter beast within, O-ring and other permanent removal. Since U/B control got flashfreeze now against Wolfrun, you wont get off by just playing an extra 3 for manaleak
Both valid points, worth playtesting negates in place of Orbs.
-I just traded my last karn, but i think he's a beast once you play him. Removing any threats they got on hand or on the table? Sure
I used to run Karn, but he ended up being no more than an "Oh ****" button to start over in case of emergency. Pre-rotation I loved him because I could start the game with an eldrazi, but not so much anymore.
-Why only 2 Day of judgments? Think 4 is to many, but 3 is more logical. Getting a clean board makes you less dependend on drawing a fog every turn!
I only run 2, because it is worse than a 4 mana fog unless they have some utility creatures that are going to get out of hand. Haste just runs over and smacks you, making you use another fog, and I would rather burn 1 card than 2.
Against Birthing Pod, my awesome sideboard tech is -4 Stonehorn Dignitary, +2 Torpor Orb, +2 Nevermore. Torpor Orb shuts off 1/2 - 2/3 of the deck, and Nevermore shuts off the pod itself, so they're stuck playing like a normal (pretty bad) deck.
With all the instant speed removal in the format at this point, I think it's unfeasible to run a creature-based strategy; at least one that depends on keeping them around. For that reason, I would avoid the Archivists and the Crawler.
I like the Snapcasters, but don't have room for them in my build.
It looks like you're trying to cram too many win conditions into one deck. Your win condition with Turbofog is that they draw out of cards quickly, and most people end up winning with Elixer of Immortality (or the fact that Rites of Flourishing makes them draw before it makes you draw). I don't think you really need both Jace and his Erasure; I would stick with the Jace because he can draw your more cards when you really need the fog. Use the space for more fogs or planeswalkers (Venser is great with Stonehorn Dignitary). That said, I like the BSZ, because it can help you grab fogs if you need them, and it can just win if you have more mana than they have cards; I would run 2. I don't really like the White Sun's Zenith, but I guess it ends up being a really expensive fog if you can throw out enough blockers...
I run 27 lands. I know it's a lot, but you can drop multiples each turn with Rites, and I need the mana against the control-heavy meta that I face (stupid mana leak being stupid). I know you said your meta is very aggro-based, but with your Zenith(s) it ends up being good to have extra lands.
The problem with both of these is that they both cost 5+ and both cost UU. Needing to get to 5 mana consistently isn't really a problem, it is getting to UU when you hit 5 mana. For this reason I am running 4 each of Seacrome Coast, Hinterland Harbor, and Glacial Fortress, along with 3 islands. Having 15 U sources almost guarantees that you'll have 2 U sources by the time you get to 5 lands.
Furnace of War 2RG
Artifact
: Put a 0/1 red and green brush creature token into play Fodder - Sacrifice Furnace of War, sacrifice X creatures: put X +1/+1 counters divided evenly among creatures you control.
Consecrate - {CARDNAME} is indestructible and cannot be enchanted by auras.
A quick calculation shows how miniscule the cost of these pins are, and a good way to cover the costs:
245* PTQs per PT x 8 Players in the top 8 x 3 PTs per year =5880 pins every year. Custom pins of this type can be purchased online for about $0.80 apiece, bringing the manufacturing cost for these pins to $4,704.00. Shipping these pins to the PTO is going to cost another ~$2 per PTQ, so add another $1470 (245 PTQs x 3 PTs x $2), and the cost per year of these pins goes to just under $6,200.00.
If Wizards were to increase the cost to the PTO by $10, it would generate an additional $7,350 in revenue per year! That would more than cover the cost of these pins.
*Numbers assuming that every PTQ gets pins, which is obviously not the case based on discussion.
Grand Abolisher wrecked me tonight.
Walked through rdw, b/r vamps and worked white human weenie as long as I saw no abolisher and somehow ran into two in a row playing them.
Tips for dealing with Grand Abolisher:
1) Fog in Response. When they play an abolisher, you play fog. This buys you a turn.
2) You absolutely need to have removal in your main deck. Oblivion Ring, Beast Within, Day of Judgement, even Dismember; it doesn't matter, just have it somewhere
3) If you're playing a deck that probably has Abolishers, save your main-phase fogs until after you see one. If you have the choice between a Stonehorn Dignitary and a moonmist, use the moonmist
When I started playing turbofog during the old standard, and started winning with it, the people at my store started boarding abolishers and leylines of punishment for me. One of them is no longer a problem, so you just need the creature removal.
My theory: Sarkhan got sucked back to the "Present" where instead of facing a giant pile of bones he sees a giant hedron prison.
Ugin has been trapped in the hedron prison (a la Eldrazi) for the last 1280 years and for all intents and purposes he might as well have been dead. Dragons are still extinct, Bolas still thinks he's won, History still happened.
We already know Sorin is at the nexus (or nearby) and he knows the secret to unlocking a hedron prison. Sarkhan accidentally opened the hedrons once too. All the need is a third planeswalker and some colorless magic.
Enter Narset
There has been speculation that Narset has a latent planeswalker spark due to her visions of other worlds, and further speculation that that spark ignited when she was stabbed by Zurgo, so she could be the third planeswalker needed to open the Hedrons.
She has been studying Ugin's runes and could very well "accidentally" cast one of the colorless spells that Ugin had etched into a wall somewhere. Or maybe Sarkhan passed his spellcraft check and figured out Ghostflame when he saw Chandra cast it. Or maybe Sorin figured it out while hanging out with Ugin forever ago. Either way we don't have to worry about the colorless magic.
My question for you is this: Are there any planeswalkers that have had a romantic relationship with another planeswalker?
Story behind the question:
I met my fiance at a magic tournament, so obviously Magic is an important part of our relationship and we want to incorporate it into our wedding somehow.
We thought of using the new Gentle Giant action figures as cake toppers, but I couldn't remember who (if anyone) loves who in the mainstream planeswalkers. I'm expanding the idea to ALL planeswalkers, and just putting the cards in top-loaders sticking out of the cake, but still don't know who to use.
A special Cameo appearance by DreadWaffle on the Golgari Signet!
I use Jace as a draw engine when I have to, so I don't think the Erasure would really add much. The deck doesn't really need a mill engine, since Rites of Flourishing makes your opponent draw an extra card before you do, so they're already 1-4 cards short.
I used to run this, but I decided that it was better as something that won now rather than giving them the chance to work around it. It turned into a Jace IIRC
I use the Venser/Stonehorn combo when I can, but I usually just use Venser to keep a land untapped for Fog (and friends). I also sometimes run a Spine of Ish Shah just to be cute. Also, who doesn't like it when all your spells say Exile target permanent?
Both valid points, worth playtesting negates in place of Orbs.
I used to run Karn, but he ended up being no more than an "Oh ****" button to start over in case of emergency. Pre-rotation I loved him because I could start the game with an eldrazi, but not so much anymore.
I only run 2, because it is worse than a 4 mana fog unless they have some utility creatures that are going to get out of hand. Haste just runs over and smacks you, making you use another fog, and I would rather burn 1 card than 2.
Against Birthing Pod, my awesome sideboard tech is -4 Stonehorn Dignitary, +2 Torpor Orb, +2 Nevermore. Torpor Orb shuts off 1/2 - 2/3 of the deck, and Nevermore shuts off the pod itself, so they're stuck playing like a normal (pretty bad) deck.
4x Seachrome Coast
3x Razorverge Thicket
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Hinterland Harbor
3x Plains
3x Island
2x Forest
Fogs (14)
4x Fog
4x Moonmist
4x Stonehorn Dignitary
2x Gideon Jura
4x Rites of Flourishing
1x Minds Unbound
2x Blue Sun's Zenith
Other Planeswalkers (6)
3x Venser, the Sojourner
3x Jace, Memory Adept
Removal (4)
2x Oblivion Ring
2x Day of Judgement
2x Elixir of Immortality
2x Consecrated Sphinx
2x Beast Within
2x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Noxious Revival
2x Nevermore
2x Torpor Orb
3x Witchbane Orb
I think the deck itself is pretty straightforward, so I'll just explain the sideboard choices.
Consecrated Sphinx draws me more cards for extra turbo, and lives through a dismember.
Beast Within is just good removal if the matchup is more than my 2 O-rings can handle.
Nihil Spellbomb is for Solar Flare and its variants
Noxious Revival is for the mill matchup (which I have seen, by the way...)
Nevermore is for any of the staples in a deck. Usually replaces DoJ in a control matchup.
Torpor Orb is for the Birthing Pod matchup
Witchbane Orb is for the matchup where they like to point things at me...
I like the Snapcasters, but don't have room for them in my build.
It looks like you're trying to cram too many win conditions into one deck. Your win condition with Turbofog is that they draw out of cards quickly, and most people end up winning with Elixer of Immortality (or the fact that Rites of Flourishing makes them draw before it makes you draw). I don't think you really need both Jace and his Erasure; I would stick with the Jace because he can draw your more cards when you really need the fog. Use the space for more fogs or planeswalkers (Venser is great with Stonehorn Dignitary). That said, I like the BSZ, because it can help you grab fogs if you need them, and it can just win if you have more mana than they have cards; I would run 2. I don't really like the White Sun's Zenith, but I guess it ends up being a really expensive fog if you can throw out enough blockers...
I run 27 lands. I know it's a lot, but you can drop multiples each turn with Rites, and I need the mana against the control-heavy meta that I face (stupid mana leak being stupid). I know you said your meta is very aggro-based, but with your Zenith(s) it ends up being good to have extra lands.
The problem with both of these is that they both cost 5+ and both cost UU. Needing to get to 5 mana consistently isn't really a problem, it is getting to UU when you hit 5 mana. For this reason I am running 4 each of Seacrome Coast, Hinterland Harbor, and Glacial Fortress, along with 3 islands. Having 15 U sources almost guarantees that you'll have 2 U sources by the time you get to 5 lands.
Artifact
: Put a 0/1 red and green brush creature token into play
Fodder - Sacrifice Furnace of War, sacrifice X creatures: put X +1/+1 counters divided evenly among creatures you control.
Consecrate - {CARDNAME} is indestructible and cannot be enchanted by auras.
From Consecrate Land
If Wizards were to increase the cost to the PTO by $10, it would generate an additional $7,350 in revenue per year! That would more than cover the cost of these pins.
*Numbers assuming that every PTQ gets pins, which is obviously not the case based on discussion.
Tips for dealing with Grand Abolisher:
1) Fog in Response. When they play an abolisher, you play fog. This buys you a turn.
2) You absolutely need to have removal in your main deck. Oblivion Ring, Beast Within, Day of Judgement, even Dismember; it doesn't matter, just have it somewhere
3) If you're playing a deck that probably has Abolishers, save your main-phase fogs until after you see one. If you have the choice between a Stonehorn Dignitary and a moonmist, use the moonmist
When I started playing turbofog during the old standard, and started winning with it, the people at my store started boarding abolishers and leylines of punishment for me. One of them is no longer a problem, so you just need the creature removal.