Yup! I'm back! Lots of traveling has gotten in the way of doing much else, but that's okay.
I think I left for Belize and then a few road trips through the continental US without updating the front list to include both Daretti and Feldon, so tonight I'll make those changes.. barring any sudden phone calls involving expensive alcohols....
It was nice to play magic with some folks in Tampa Bay, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix. Y'all know who you are. But you're no longer important! Ha!
It's also nice to see a lot of really cool things from Origins that could possibly make the list, if not change how it functions.
We're missing a lot of commons and uncommons, but I don't think that that will be an issue for discussing what is out in this set. Here's to hoping one and two drop token producers.
Let's just go down the list of what's out now:
Abbot of Keral Keep - Cheap, efficient, not for us. This is pretty handy for any R/x aggro decks though.
Avaricious Dragon - Draw, that's good. Discard, that's bad. Not tutor-able by any current means, and doesn't do anything useful.
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh//Chandra, Roaring Flame - Just like abbot, this is pretty cool for an R/x deck. Actually, it would be really cool to have her at the helm of a list. I'm pretty sure that I can find a way to make that stuff infinite in mono red.... but it's not for us.
Embermaw Hellion - Expensive, and most of our "damage sources" end up being colorless or lethal without help. Nope.
Enthralling Victor - I kinda like this guy as a metaspecific pick. Maybe someone likes spamming Fauna Shaman. Maybe Birds of Paradise really wants to generate red mana before sacrificing itself to the torturous god of Skullclamp. It's pretty cool, but it's also expensive. If you want to play it, make sure you know why you're playing it. I won't be.
Exquisite Firecraft - I just want to point out how cool this card's name is. Exquisite Firecraft. Four-of.
Flameshadow Conjuring - Ello, poppit. "Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, pay r. If you do, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that creature. That token gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step."
That's pretty damn sexy. If I'm remembering the new(forever!) legend rule, this means if you feel like it you can pay for Norin and sacrifice the copy instantly, giving you triggers for Pandemonium and Warstorm Surge. Doesn't proc Genesis Chamber again, but oh well. It's four mana, which is okay, but it's triple colorless, which is good. I will definitely be experimenting with this sucker.
Ghirapur Gearcrafter - The key part here is that these tokens fly. It's only one, so for three mana this dude isn't worth it, but damn if the prospect of flying tokens doesn't make me happy.
Magmatic Insight - Red Draw. Nothing to see here for us, lands are more valuable than Squee.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar - It's pie and cake! At first I was really not into this card, but then I read it a few more times. Damn! It's a Beetleback Chief that turns myr into firebombs. Is this the beginning of moving away from the Goblin subtheme? It's going to get really hard to justify many of the goblins if stuff like this comes out.
Pyromancer's Goggles - It needs to be mentioned. Just don't do it. Don't look at this, don't think about this. It's only good in very specific decks and that deck isn't helmed by Norin.
I have Birthing Pod in one deck, Karador. Because I make regular changes and probably play the deck at most a dozen times a year (the hazards of having so many decks), I only vaguely remember what CMC creatures are in the deck (I certainly remember some which will never leave, like Duplicant, Angel of Despair and Ashen Rider). In the interest of time, would you allow me a small cheat sheet with my creature list on it sorted by CMC? What slippery slope argument would you make against such an allowance?
I'd think, unless you were planning on using such a sheet in tournament play, that it's totally cool. As ISB implied, the nature of the format is pretty chill. I don't think anyone would mind if they had the interests of time in mind. Efficient turns means more plays. More plays means more games. More games means more Norin. Who could say no to that slope?
On the downside - it could be construed as "cheating" by some less savory elements. I can easily imagine folks getting truly upset about this and might, out of some pettiness, declare a need for a similar list. In before everyone has an organized decklist on hand at all times.
Actually, I've been thinking of dropping Conjurer's Closet. Hell, I might cut Mind's Eye anyways. Closet has that thing that I have always stated that I do not like - it's incredibly useless without a board in the first place. Cheap, useful things are always better than expensive, useless things. True facts.
6cc Chandra isn't on the board, or anywhere near to it. The + ability is so underrated. It's not often that you get four damage in red. Four damage is a ton! Kill that Bob, kill that Stoneforge, kill that Zur, kill that 0/1 kobold...
On that note, Flametongue Kavu has sometimes entered my list for pretty much this reason. I love blowing things up - spot removal is the most underutilized aspect of EDH. Most players seem to denounce it in favor of costly wipes that might not be quick enough to effectively change the flow of the game.
So almost every deck that uses the combat step in duel commander would likely be sleeving this up, if they could spare a slot in the 99 -
Hero's Blade 2
Artifact -- Equipment (U)
Equipped creature gets +3/+2.
Whenever a legendary creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may attach Hero's Blade to it.
Equip 4 The best swords are forged with dragonfire.
I like it, and will test the card out before FRF is released.
Hero's Blade is actually pretty useless. You're paying six mana to equip if you're not living the dream and casting Geist (which makes this terrible to draw after you've played Geist) and it doesn't actually do anything. +3/+2 isn't worth it. I'd MUCH rather play Pike and get First Strike, which I consider to be more valuable than a butt.
Each piece of equipment needs to be good on its own, since they're literally useless without creature presence. Hero's Blade fails that test miserably, despite the cute interaction of T2 blade T3 Geist.
I can't do ghost pepper anything. I like spicy but I don't like painful spicy; I draw my line at habenero.
When the heat starts to take away from the flavor is where I draw the line. I don't mind hot - but hot for the sake of hot and not to improve on the dish doesn't sit with me.
Oooh. Europe. Do you already know where you'll be going?
Not yet! I'm not one to plan ahead. Much less fun that way.
In related news - looks like I'll be in Houston on Sunday night. Depending on how transport works out I may be able to run around and play some games, if anyone has a store recommendation...
Whatcha traveling for? If it's vacation, that sounds like a long one. I'm preemptively jealous.
Since I started traveling for work in 2013, I've really wanted to get out and see Europe. Enjoy it out there.
Two week kickback involving tourist traps such as Ancient Ruins, Deep Dark Caves, Big Ass Hole Filled With Water, Extravagantly Named Islands, and Whatever Alcohol I Can Get My Hands On. Cruise Control For Cool.
Europe's currently looking like a faint hope, but I do want to spend some time running around. No fun in being surrounded by the same environment day after day.
Humble Defector is interesting, but I don't think it's good enough. At first glance, it's really nifty - draw two, 2/1 works well with both recruiter and clamp, and it's only two mana. However, giving someone else a zero-drawback draw two isn't exactly what I call value.
It's not like our draw situation is so horrible that giving someone else free cards will help us. Yes, there are some neat tricks you can do with Homeward Path, but I don't think this interaction alone is worth it.
It's close, but I don't think it's quite what we're looking for.
I used to have the same problem. I had a dozen or so decks lying around, and i finally worked myself up into dismantling them, so i have far fewer decks (many failed efforts) lying around.
I think I left for Belize and then a few road trips through the continental US without updating the front list to include both Daretti and Feldon, so tonight I'll make those changes.. barring any sudden phone calls involving expensive alcohols....
It was nice to play magic with some folks in Tampa Bay, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix. Y'all know who you are. But you're no longer important! Ha!
It's also nice to see a lot of really cool things from Origins that could possibly make the list, if not change how it functions.
We're missing a lot of commons and uncommons, but I don't think that that will be an issue for discussing what is out in this set. Here's to hoping one and two drop token producers.
Let's just go down the list of what's out now:
Abbot of Keral Keep - Cheap, efficient, not for us. This is pretty handy for any R/x aggro decks though.
Avaricious Dragon - Draw, that's good. Discard, that's bad. Not tutor-able by any current means, and doesn't do anything useful.
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh//Chandra, Roaring Flame - Just like abbot, this is pretty cool for an R/x deck. Actually, it would be really cool to have her at the helm of a list. I'm pretty sure that I can find a way to make that stuff infinite in mono red.... but it's not for us.
Embermaw Hellion - Expensive, and most of our "damage sources" end up being colorless or lethal without help. Nope.
Enthralling Victor - I kinda like this guy as a metaspecific pick. Maybe someone likes spamming Fauna Shaman. Maybe Birds of Paradise really wants to generate red mana before sacrificing itself to the torturous god of Skullclamp. It's pretty cool, but it's also expensive. If you want to play it, make sure you know why you're playing it. I won't be.
Exquisite Firecraft - I just want to point out how cool this card's name is. Exquisite Firecraft. Four-of.
Flameshadow Conjuring - Ello, poppit. "Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, pay r. If you do, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that creature. That token gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step."
That's pretty damn sexy. If I'm remembering the new(forever!) legend rule, this means if you feel like it you can pay for Norin and sacrifice the copy instantly, giving you triggers for Pandemonium and Warstorm Surge. Doesn't proc Genesis Chamber again, but oh well. It's four mana, which is okay, but it's triple colorless, which is good. I will definitely be experimenting with this sucker.
Ghirapur Gearcrafter - The key part here is that these tokens fly. It's only one, so for three mana this dude isn't worth it, but damn if the prospect of flying tokens doesn't make me happy.
Magmatic Insight - Red Draw. Nothing to see here for us, lands are more valuable than Squee.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar - It's pie and cake! At first I was really not into this card, but then I read it a few more times. Damn! It's a Beetleback Chief that turns myr into firebombs. Is this the beginning of moving away from the Goblin subtheme? It's going to get really hard to justify many of the goblins if stuff like this comes out.
Pyromancer's Goggles - It needs to be mentioned. Just don't do it. Don't look at this, don't think about this. It's only good in very specific decks and that deck isn't helmed by Norin.
Good to be home ...for now!
I'd think, unless you were planning on using such a sheet in tournament play, that it's totally cool. As ISB implied, the nature of the format is pretty chill. I don't think anyone would mind if they had the interests of time in mind. Efficient turns means more plays. More plays means more games. More games means more Norin. Who could say no to that slope?
On the downside - it could be construed as "cheating" by some less savory elements. I can easily imagine folks getting truly upset about this and might, out of some pettiness, declare a need for a similar list. In before everyone has an organized decklist on hand at all times.
I, too, have posted to modern elves.
The conversation went like this:
"What about.."
"This isn't Legacy"
"... okay, how about.."
"Nor vintage"
"..."
Belize! It was absolutely awesome!
I can tell some stories if wanted. Including Fred, the Creole style snapper. I have pictures somewhere....
Hi!
6cc Chandra isn't on the board, or anywhere near to it. The + ability is so underrated. It's not often that you get four damage in red. Four damage is a ton! Kill that Bob, kill that Stoneforge, kill that Zur, kill that 0/1 kobold...
On that note, Flametongue Kavu has sometimes entered my list for pretty much this reason. I love blowing things up - spot removal is the most underutilized aspect of EDH. Most players seem to denounce it in favor of costly wipes that might not be quick enough to effectively change the flow of the game.
Hero's Blade is actually pretty useless. You're paying six mana to equip if you're not living the dream and casting Geist (which makes this terrible to draw after you've played Geist) and it doesn't actually do anything. +3/+2 isn't worth it. I'd MUCH rather play Pike and get First Strike, which I consider to be more valuable than a butt.
Each piece of equipment needs to be good on its own, since they're literally useless without creature presence. Hero's Blade fails that test miserably, despite the cute interaction of T2 blade T3 Geist.
When the heat starts to take away from the flavor is where I draw the line. I don't mind hot - but hot for the sake of hot and not to improve on the dish doesn't sit with me.
There is always commander damage Norin!
But uh... no.
Not yet! I'm not one to plan ahead. Much less fun that way.
In related news - looks like I'll be in Houston on Sunday night. Depending on how transport works out I may be able to run around and play some games, if anyone has a store recommendation...
Two week kickback involving tourist traps such as Ancient Ruins, Deep Dark Caves, Big Ass Hole Filled With Water, Extravagantly Named Islands, and Whatever Alcohol I Can Get My Hands On. Cruise Control For Cool.
Europe's currently looking like a faint hope, but I do want to spend some time running around. No fun in being surrounded by the same environment day after day.
Getting ready to spend a few weeks in Belize, and then possibly Europe til Summer starts up. Burn money buuuuuuurn.
Sorry, but without a soundcloud of it I can't accept this.
It's not like our draw situation is so horrible that giving someone else free cards will help us. Yes, there are some neat tricks you can do with Homeward Path, but I don't think this interaction alone is worth it.
It's close, but I don't think it's quite what we're looking for.