So during the the ppv JBL said something that sparked a conversation between me and my friends.
He said, Paul Heyman is the greatest manager of all time. I put him T4, but not the best (though he's done a lot for the business outside of "being a manager").
My list:
1. Bobby Heenan - probably the most iconic manager of all time.
2. Jim Cornette - too me, a better Heyman.
3. Paul Bearer - 2nd most iconic manager of all time.
4. Paul Heyman - managed some of the best and has done a lot for the business.
5. JJ Dillon - created the most iconic stable in wrestling history.
I splashed R just for Domri Rade in the mb and Destructive Revelry in the board. Also, Pit Fight is an insane board card vs other aggro decks. Also Nylea's Disciple is pretty good in the board. Mending Touch can save the Fatty that kils them after they tap out for the Verdict. I'm not a fan of the Sylvan Caryatid in the MGA decks. It's good in RG Monsters cause of the curve. I like aggressive 2 drops (Tusker, Ooze, and BTE).
I'm all about creating as many dead cards as possible for my opponent. My Izzet runs 0 creatures (5 in board though) and only 5 walkers. My main plan is to kill them late game with a Psychic Spiral. Here's my current 75 (I've only done small amounts of testing on modo).
The PPV was ok. I'm not sure why WWE keeps thinking it's ok to have Raw/Smackdown level matches at PPVs. Why do I want to see Khali+Natalya vs Fandago+Summer? On Raw, sure...but not an event I paid to watch. Easily the best match was the 3 way Tag Team match. All 3 teams were just AWESOME!
Never read the comic, but I'm a huge fan of the show. I love the growth of some of the main characters. Mainly Michonne and Daryl. Both were very callous and uncaring at the beginning of their roles. With Daryl showing a desire to protect children (started with Sophia) and his love for the group is definitely there. Michonne tried to care for Andrea, but she made it impossible. Last season, you could tell she had a motherly affection for Carl. With episode 2, I'm thinking she had a child in the pre-zombie world.
Bromans vs Gunner/Storm - This made very little sense to me, as the two hadn't really gotten any push recently. Yet they win the tag titles. It was a great match though.
Abyss is Back - This was a bit predictable if you watched the pre-show gauntlet match. It was good seeing the Black Hole Slam again.
Women's Match - It was ok at best, not a fan of the squashing of Tessmacher (she's my favorite diva on TNA).
World Title Match - While we all knew the outcome, man this match was AWESOME!
Angle/Roode - Easily the best match of the night. I knew Roode was good, but didn't know his technical ability was that good. The chain of Cross Face being reversed into a Ankle Lock into a Cross Face was INSANE. I wasn't a fan of how it ended, mainly, I thought Angle was seriously hurt. Him being pinned after hitting an Angle Slam off the top was weird to me.
Sting/Magnus - Obv heel turn of Magnus coming. I feel AJ vs Magnus coming soon.
I agree completely about divination. I must ask though, why play cyclonic rift?
A little off-topic, but why is jace, memory adept missing in so many sideboards? In the mirror, he's better than ashiok, elspeth, and architect because he draws an extra card every turn and ends the game very quickly due to the opponents card drawing.
The rift was more of a catch all. Another tempo card for early game and has potential to be insane late game. Against Esper I Rifted his Jace MA and countered it when he tried to play it again. I feel 1 is perfect.
I thought the same thing about Divination. I was talked into playing it. After jamming a few games on modo with it, I haven't looked back. Here's a few points:
1. On the play, a T3 Divination is fine vs most decks as they don't have a threat that's a must counter on their T3.
2. Mid-late game you can cast Divination to hit the land drops and still have countermagic open.
3. Is insane when used w/ Prog Sphinx.
I jammed UW at States and finished 5-1-1 finishing 9th (missed T8 by tiebreakers). One card I don't see a lot of talk about is Prognostic Sphinx. Let me tell you, that card is an all-star. When you play as much draw as UW does, he does so much work. And the fact he can block Stormbreath Dragon and not die is just gravy. For record, here's my states list:
Round 1 (DEGA):
I'm able to counter his first few threats. Prognostic Sphinx kills him in 6 turns G1. G2 Detention Sphere takes out most his stuff and Sphinx kills him.
Round 2 (ESPER):
Game 1 I win on having more counters. Game 2 he draws all 3 of his Memory Adepts. Game 3 I preemptively tried to handle Jace w/ a Pithing Needle. I go for Elspeth and we have a counter war. I win. He untaps and slams Aetherling and Detention Sphere.
Round 3 (DEGA):
This round was weird. He was a DEGA-Aura style aggro deck. He T3 Paladin. T4 Madcap Skills and Etheral Armor. He attacks and I Charm it...lol. I win this one 2-0.
Round 4 (BW Midrange):
This is the match I'm most scared of. He chooses wrong on the Thoughtseize and I win off countering everything he does. Game 2 he gets stuck at 2 lands and I have Elspeth out when he draws the 3rd land for the Downfall. The soldiers get there.
Round 5 (DEGA)
Man, what a lucky day. 3 of one of my better matchups. I win this 2-0. Nothing fancy happened except I did D Sphere 2 Reckoners. He Slaughter Game me for Revelation :(.
Round 6 (BG Rock)
I win game 1 after about 23-25 minutes into the round. Game 2 He Thoughtseizes my Aetherling on T2, Then Slaughter Games my Elspeth. He has Erebos in play and ask why I'm still playing (we're friends, so we were jabbing each other). I told him I still have a wincon in the deck. I draw Sphinx play him. I counter and bounce everything he plays for a few more turns. I have him down to 9 life (he had whip and was up to 40+ life). He draws a Miscutter Hydra and kills me with less than a minute on the clock. Side Note: This guy won VA States this year.
Round 7 (RG Monsters)
This is one of the harder matchups. I won the die roll and I'm thinking this is my win and in. So I'm super focused. I counter and bounce everything he does up until T5 when I slam Sphinx. He plays World Eater and tries to fight the Sphinx w/ Domri. I just discard an Island and tap my guy. I had to explain what it did. I kill Domri, Sphere the World Eater. Elspeth takes over shortly. G2 he mulligans to 5 and I just smash him bad. He actually scooped when I didn't have a threat on the board.
Notes:
Sphinx is AWESOME and dug me out of some holes.
Divination is AWESOME and would not run less than 3.
I think I want a Psychic Spiral/Elixir in my board for control mirrors.
If Hogan is off camera and works in the background, then it's fine. The guy has a lot of knowledge that the young superstars can learn from. TNA is slowly losing my interest sadly. When they copy WWE storylines from last year, then it's time to fire the writers and get some new blood in there.
This is probably just a product of me watching a ton of youtube videos recently. I would LOVE to TNA to reach out to Shelton Benjamin. Bring him in and work with Kenny King. King is insane athletically, but makes a ton of mistakes. Plus Shelton would get a ton of pop from the crowds.
Yeah but what happened to The Real Americans fueding with Harlem Heat...i mean Cryme Time...dammit...I mean Prime Time Players. The Wyatts just jump from person to person. Like what happened to Kane? I heard he needed time off to do See No Evil 2.
He said, Paul Heyman is the greatest manager of all time. I put him T4, but not the best (though he's done a lot for the business outside of "being a manager").
My list:
1. Bobby Heenan - probably the most iconic manager of all time.
2. Jim Cornette - too me, a better Heyman.
3. Paul Bearer - 2nd most iconic manager of all time.
4. Paul Heyman - managed some of the best and has done a lot for the business.
5. JJ Dillon - created the most iconic stable in wrestling history.
Your lists?
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Essence Scatter
2 Izzet Charm
3 Dissolve
1 Counterflux
2 Syncopate
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Magma Jet
3 Turn/Burn
4 Divination
2 Psychic Spiral
4 Izzet Guildgate
4 Steam Vents
7 Island
7 Mountain
4 Mutavault
4 Frostborn Weird
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Essence Scatter
1 Aetherling
1 Turn/Burn
2 Izzet Charm
1 Swan Song
1 Negate
2 Gainsay
Bromans vs Gunner/Storm - This made very little sense to me, as the two hadn't really gotten any push recently. Yet they win the tag titles. It was a great match though.
Abyss is Back - This was a bit predictable if you watched the pre-show gauntlet match. It was good seeing the Black Hole Slam again.
Women's Match - It was ok at best, not a fan of the squashing of Tessmacher (she's my favorite diva on TNA).
World Title Match - While we all knew the outcome, man this match was AWESOME!
Angle/Roode - Easily the best match of the night. I knew Roode was good, but didn't know his technical ability was that good. The chain of Cross Face being reversed into a Ankle Lock into a Cross Face was INSANE. I wasn't a fan of how it ended, mainly, I thought Angle was seriously hurt. Him being pinned after hitting an Angle Slam off the top was weird to me.
Sting/Magnus - Obv heel turn of Magnus coming. I feel AJ vs Magnus coming soon.
Then don't play a 6 mana board wipe that UW doesn't need. Detention Sphere is 1000000x better than Cleansing.
The rift was more of a catch all. Another tempo card for early game and has potential to be insane late game. Against Esper I Rifted his Jace MA and countered it when he tried to play it again. I feel 1 is perfect.
1. On the play, a T3 Divination is fine vs most decks as they don't have a threat that's a must counter on their T3.
2. Mid-late game you can cast Divination to hit the land drops and still have countermagic open.
3. Is insane when used w/ Prog Sphinx.
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Azorius Guildgate
3 Mutavault
8 Island
7 Plains
2 Syncopate
3 Dissolve
2 Essence Scatter
4 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Azorius Charm
3 Divination
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Detention Sphere
4 Supreme Verdict
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Aetherling
1 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Negate
1 Dispel
1 Last Breath
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Detention Sphere
2 Jace Memory Adept
2 Pithing Needle
3 Fiendslayer Paladin
Round 1 (DEGA):
I'm able to counter his first few threats. Prognostic Sphinx kills him in 6 turns G1. G2 Detention Sphere takes out most his stuff and Sphinx kills him.
Round 2 (ESPER):
Game 1 I win on having more counters. Game 2 he draws all 3 of his Memory Adepts. Game 3 I preemptively tried to handle Jace w/ a Pithing Needle. I go for Elspeth and we have a counter war. I win. He untaps and slams Aetherling and Detention Sphere.
Round 3 (DEGA):
This round was weird. He was a DEGA-Aura style aggro deck. He T3 Paladin. T4 Madcap Skills and Etheral Armor. He attacks and I Charm it...lol. I win this one 2-0.
Round 4 (BW Midrange):
This is the match I'm most scared of. He chooses wrong on the Thoughtseize and I win off countering everything he does. Game 2 he gets stuck at 2 lands and I have Elspeth out when he draws the 3rd land for the Downfall. The soldiers get there.
Round 5 (DEGA)
Man, what a lucky day. 3 of one of my better matchups. I win this 2-0. Nothing fancy happened except I did D Sphere 2 Reckoners. He Slaughter Game me for Revelation :(.
Round 6 (BG Rock)
I win game 1 after about 23-25 minutes into the round. Game 2 He Thoughtseizes my Aetherling on T2, Then Slaughter Games my Elspeth. He has Erebos in play and ask why I'm still playing (we're friends, so we were jabbing each other). I told him I still have a wincon in the deck. I draw Sphinx play him. I counter and bounce everything he plays for a few more turns. I have him down to 9 life (he had whip and was up to 40+ life). He draws a Miscutter Hydra and kills me with less than a minute on the clock. Side Note: This guy won VA States this year.
Round 7 (RG Monsters)
This is one of the harder matchups. I won the die roll and I'm thinking this is my win and in. So I'm super focused. I counter and bounce everything he does up until T5 when I slam Sphinx. He plays World Eater and tries to fight the Sphinx w/ Domri. I just discard an Island and tap my guy. I had to explain what it did. I kill Domri, Sphere the World Eater. Elspeth takes over shortly. G2 he mulligans to 5 and I just smash him bad. He actually scooped when I didn't have a threat on the board.
Notes:
Sphinx is AWESOME and dug me out of some holes.
Divination is AWESOME and would not run less than 3.
I think I want a Psychic Spiral/Elixir in my board for control mirrors.
This is probably just a product of me watching a ton of youtube videos recently. I would LOVE to TNA to reach out to Shelton Benjamin. Bring him in and work with Kenny King. King is insane athletically, but makes a ton of mistakes. Plus Shelton would get a ton of pop from the crowds.
PS Enough of 3MB already.