Your curve is way too high for aggro in Legacy. Because Zoo lacks disruption, it needs speed; your strategy of building advantage sorta ruins it. When decks can win or establish complete control in the first few turns, you don't want to be setting up with Ranger on T4. I suggest that you take your cards and ideas to the Extended Format.
The trailer for Never Let Me Go made the movie appear mediocre, to me. The book was divine of course, but the movie doesn't look special. It seems to focus a lot on the romance - the gushy side effects - not taking the high path, the stunning existentialist approach of the book.
As for the other trailer, it was very well put together. This movie definitely takes the philosophical route (with determinism). I like movies that make me think. Excited!
I was actually pretty close to voting for it. I love both Nausicaa and Mononoke so much and they're similar on a lot of fronts. In fact, the two jostle for top spot in my books and I probably only ended up voting Mononoke because I watched it more recently. I too am surprised that there's not more votes for it!
I feel the same way. Nausicaa was very similar to Mononoke in message, myth, main characters, and story arc. I voted for Mononoke because, as I thought back, I came to believe that Nausicaa was too "on-the-nose" (blatant) with its theme. But I recently rewatched Nausicaa; now I don't know which movie I like more.
The goal of this deck is to play Vinelasher Kudzus and Allosaurus Riders, then use a combo to make the creatures explode. Skarrg, the Rage Pits supplies evasion, letting the creatures swing in unhindered. With the perfect draw, this deck can win on T2.
The former should usually be used after a gro-creature has been played; the latter can be accelerated into at any time, to great effect.
One of the assets of this deck is that it doesn't have to win early. Like X-Lands, it is great at stalling and winning long games with Wasteland recursion and the activation of Rishadan Port. Allosaurus Rider can come down at any time with the same strength. Although the same is not true of Vinelasher Kudzu, recursion with Life from the Loam still makes it powerful. Tarmogoyf, of course, doesn't depend on land-based strategies at all.
Dryad Arbor may look like an odd choice, but it's another green card to pitch to Allosaurus Rider. Having enough green cards is a concern of mine. I think that Sensei's Divining Top has to be a 4-of for the second combo I presented, and Mox Diamond's acceleration and synergy is too important to eliminate; but having so many colorless cards worries me a little.
This deck isn't as fast as Belcher or as disruptive as U/ combo decks, but it has the surprise factor and two potent game plans. I'm pretty satisfied with it, but I'd like to know what you think. How can I make better use of Sensei's Divining Top? What about Exploration? Is the land base solid? Do any other cheap creatures take advantage of having lands? Is Tarmogoyf too random, and if it is, which green cards can replace it?
Survival of the Fittest might work as a tutor for your key combo creatures. Corpus suggested quality creatures, but you should supplement them with disruptive spells like Thoughtseize.
Honestly, the fastest way to ramp is not with Spawn. If you want mana, play Tribal Elves with Priest of Titania, Elvish Archdruid, and two infinite mana combos. It's better at aggro, better at ramp, and better at combo than what you have. Your deck has the fundamental flaw of having three distinct parts that are weak on their own: big guys, Spawn, and Spawn-abusers. None of them are good on their own, so you are very vulnerable to imperfect draws.
The Plan is not a spin-off, it's a movie made to complete the series.
Caprica, on the other hand, is a spin-off and is AMAZING.
Is The Plan good? Is it out on DVD? I hope that it's supposed to complete BG, because BG's series finale was terrible i-m-o. What about the Caprica series? I saw the pilot for Caprica and I thought that it was okay, but not nearly as good as the pilot/miniseries for BG.
There are some problems that really need to be addressed.
It seems like you're new to Legacy, so I'm going to tell you a couple things about the format first. To begin with, mill will never be successful in competitive play. A bunch of decks actually want their library in their graveyard, if you can believe that. Ichorid, Pox, and Lands, to name a few, will happily take a Tome Scour to the face and establish control before you're able to completely mill them. Cards like Narcomeoba, Nether Spirit, Siphon Life, and Life from the Loam are some of the major culprits. To solve this problem, you could play Leyline of the Void, locking opponents out of their graveyards, but it's a narrow card that won't be any help in certain match ups. If you play in sideboarded events, make sure to include Leyline and other "grave-hate" (e.g. Tormod's Crypt) in your board.
Next, when entering Legacy, you have to consider how your deck answers other decks. You need removal for creatures, for example Doom Blade. Some decks swarm with creatures (Wild Nacatls in Zoo) and you need to slow them down. Other decks need an enabler creature to win (Cephalid Illusionist in Cephalid Breakfast), and if you take that away then the deck can't function. And other decks work hard to cheat one big creature into play (Spinx of the Steel Wind in Reanimator), which needs to be dealt with swiftly. Another important element of any Legacy deck is protection from non-creature combo decks. Ad Nauseam-Tendrils of Agony combo needs to resolve one key spell (Ad Nauseam) to win; Belcher needs to resolve Goblin Charbelcher. If you can't counter that spell, you simply lose. Cards like Daze and the classic Counterspell are good. The best card for this is Force of Will, but it's rather expensive; if you really want to get into Legacy you'll need Force of Will, so whether or not you buy it is up to your means and dedication.
The mana base (land cards) is very important because some Legacy decks (Pox, Death and Taxes, Stax, Eva Green, and more) like to destroy or exile your lands. You want your lands to have maximum power and flexibility so that you can use your lands while you still have them. Basic lands (Island, Swamp) are necessary because most land destruction is only for nonbasics (for example Wasteland), but you still want the more powerful lands like Polluted Delta and Underground River. These cards are seriously expensive, but again, if you play Legacy, there will always be a good use for them.
In Legacy, you will often never have the opportunity to use a card like Keening Stone. It's simply too expensive in a format where decks establish control or outright win by turn 2-4. You should go up to 4-of's for your more efficient cards, namely Archive Trap, Twincast, Hedron Crab, and Tome Scour. If you still want to continue down the mill path, Glimpse the Unthinkable is definitely one of the better cards.
Even the most efficient build of mill won't succeed in competitive play because of the reasons I named above, but don't let this discourage you - you can still have great casual games or try some sort of turbo-fog/mill deck in Standard or Extended. (Go to those threads for advice about that.) If you still want to play Legacy and win by mill, the best plan is to play a control deck with a combo finish in the form of Grindstone+Painter's Servant, like Mighty Quinn (in Competitive Legacy threads).
Finally, good luck. Explore and prosper! Continue playing your favorite strategy in Magic: The Gathering, whatever that ends up being.
Here's the problem, Zajnet: this deck has two conflicting strategies. I'm all for alternate win conditions, but not when they reduce the synergy of the deck as a whole. You're using an incredibly slow mana base to support 5 colors and Cruel Ultimatum. But your deck isn't dedicated to getting to CU; it's more midrange-aggro, really. You have a bundle of creatures, but you also have board sweepers; you have Bloodbraid Elf, but a third of the Cascade-able cards in your deck are legendary. Too many anti-synergies make for bad deck building.
The genie is really focused on a particular demographic so I was able to trick it with Clare Bellew from Passing, Nancy Botwin from Weeds, and Iris, played by Jodie Foster, from Taxi Driver.
What's your point? He's saying Pixar are the best US animators. He didn't want to say "best animators" because some other countries have better animators (Miyazaki, etc.).
The way dimir impersonator said it made me think that he excluded Pixar from the U.S. It would've been clearer if he said "any other U.S. animators." Sorry for the misunderstanding.
I say the maturity and story telling of all three of those movies is so far beyond anything any US animator's have ever done that it makes them the tops in the field. No, even Disney's golden age never brought us themes and mature subjects like Pixar has.
While I agree that Grixis fits the card's effect the best color-wise, I think that the card would be much too underpowered in single-player with such a strenuous cost. It would be much better if the cost remained GrixisX but the effect read: "Target opponent reveals X cards at random from his or her hand. Put all nonland permanent cards revealed this way onto the battlefield under your control."
Also, in Zoo decks, Path to Exile is always better than Swords to Plowshares.
As for the other trailer, it was very well put together. This movie definitely takes the philosophical route (with determinism). I like movies that make me think. Excited!
I feel the same way. Nausicaa was very similar to Mononoke in message, myth, main characters, and story arc. I voted for Mononoke because, as I thought back, I came to believe that Nausicaa was too "on-the-nose" (blatant) with its theme. But I recently rewatched Nausicaa; now I don't know which movie I like more.
5 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Tranquil Thicket
4 Wasteland
2 Rishadan Port
3 Dryad Arbor
3 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Vinelasher Kudzu
4 Allosaurus Rider
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
Artifacts
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Mox Diamond
2 Life from the Loam
Enchantments
2 Manabond
The combos I spoke of are these:
1) The typical X-Lands deck's Manabond/Life from the Loam.
2) Oracle of Mul Daya/Sensei's Divining Top.
The former should usually be used after a gro-creature has been played; the latter can be accelerated into at any time, to great effect.
One of the assets of this deck is that it doesn't have to win early. Like X-Lands, it is great at stalling and winning long games with Wasteland recursion and the activation of Rishadan Port. Allosaurus Rider can come down at any time with the same strength. Although the same is not true of Vinelasher Kudzu, recursion with Life from the Loam still makes it powerful. Tarmogoyf, of course, doesn't depend on land-based strategies at all.
Dryad Arbor may look like an odd choice, but it's another green card to pitch to Allosaurus Rider. Having enough green cards is a concern of mine. I think that Sensei's Divining Top has to be a 4-of for the second combo I presented, and Mox Diamond's acceleration and synergy is too important to eliminate; but having so many colorless cards worries me a little.
This deck isn't as fast as Belcher or as disruptive as U/ combo decks, but it has the surprise factor and two potent game plans. I'm pretty satisfied with it, but I'd like to know what you think. How can I make better use of Sensei's Divining Top? What about Exploration? Is the land base solid? Do any other cheap creatures take advantage of having lands? Is Tarmogoyf too random, and if it is, which green cards can replace it?
Thanks for your time!
Honestly, the fastest way to ramp is not with Spawn. If you want mana, play Tribal Elves with Priest of Titania, Elvish Archdruid, and two infinite mana combos. It's better at aggro, better at ramp, and better at combo than what you have. Your deck has the fundamental flaw of having three distinct parts that are weak on their own: big guys, Spawn, and Spawn-abusers. None of them are good on their own, so you are very vulnerable to imperfect draws.
If you end up needing more win conditions, adding Tidehollow Scullers could work.
Agreed. Everyone should watch "Arrested Development." It's the best TV series ever made in its genre.
Is The Plan good? Is it out on DVD? I hope that it's supposed to complete BG, because BG's series finale was terrible i-m-o. What about the Caprica series? I saw the pilot for Caprica and I thought that it was okay, but not nearly as good as the pilot/miniseries for BG.
It seems like you're new to Legacy, so I'm going to tell you a couple things about the format first. To begin with, mill will never be successful in competitive play. A bunch of decks actually want their library in their graveyard, if you can believe that. Ichorid, Pox, and Lands, to name a few, will happily take a Tome Scour to the face and establish control before you're able to completely mill them. Cards like Narcomeoba, Nether Spirit, Siphon Life, and Life from the Loam are some of the major culprits. To solve this problem, you could play Leyline of the Void, locking opponents out of their graveyards, but it's a narrow card that won't be any help in certain match ups. If you play in sideboarded events, make sure to include Leyline and other "grave-hate" (e.g. Tormod's Crypt) in your board.
Next, when entering Legacy, you have to consider how your deck answers other decks. You need removal for creatures, for example Doom Blade. Some decks swarm with creatures (Wild Nacatls in Zoo) and you need to slow them down. Other decks need an enabler creature to win (Cephalid Illusionist in Cephalid Breakfast), and if you take that away then the deck can't function. And other decks work hard to cheat one big creature into play (Spinx of the Steel Wind in Reanimator), which needs to be dealt with swiftly. Another important element of any Legacy deck is protection from non-creature combo decks. Ad Nauseam-Tendrils of Agony combo needs to resolve one key spell (Ad Nauseam) to win; Belcher needs to resolve Goblin Charbelcher. If you can't counter that spell, you simply lose. Cards like Daze and the classic Counterspell are good. The best card for this is Force of Will, but it's rather expensive; if you really want to get into Legacy you'll need Force of Will, so whether or not you buy it is up to your means and dedication.
The mana base (land cards) is very important because some Legacy decks (Pox, Death and Taxes, Stax, Eva Green, and more) like to destroy or exile your lands. You want your lands to have maximum power and flexibility so that you can use your lands while you still have them. Basic lands (Island, Swamp) are necessary because most land destruction is only for nonbasics (for example Wasteland), but you still want the more powerful lands like Polluted Delta and Underground River. These cards are seriously expensive, but again, if you play Legacy, there will always be a good use for them.
In Legacy, you will often never have the opportunity to use a card like Keening Stone. It's simply too expensive in a format where decks establish control or outright win by turn 2-4. You should go up to 4-of's for your more efficient cards, namely Archive Trap, Twincast, Hedron Crab, and Tome Scour. If you still want to continue down the mill path, Glimpse the Unthinkable is definitely one of the better cards.
Even the most efficient build of mill won't succeed in competitive play because of the reasons I named above, but don't let this discourage you - you can still have great casual games or try some sort of turbo-fog/mill deck in Standard or Extended. (Go to those threads for advice about that.) If you still want to play Legacy and win by mill, the best plan is to play a control deck with a combo finish in the form of Grindstone+Painter's Servant, like Mighty Quinn (in Competitive Legacy threads).
Finally, good luck. Explore and prosper! Continue playing your favorite strategy in Magic: The Gathering, whatever that ends up being.
I suggest abandoning 5-colors (Cruel Ultimatum) and adding Ancestral Vision, Lightning Bolt, and Tarmogoyf/Jace, the Mind Sculptor when you can afford it. This gives better cascades, stronger individual cards, and a more reliable mana base.
The way dimir impersonator said it made me think that he excluded Pixar from the U.S. It would've been clearer if he said "any other U.S. animators." Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Pixar is based in California.
Hopefully the poll will motivate people to go out and see TS3!