Dies to Removal

Thanks for the help guys. I will be replacing crypt with something else. Volcanic Strength sounds good. Or just more traitorous bloods, or blasphemous acts. Or electrickery. I'll think about it.

Will be making room for rancors by removing Volleys. Maulers make for insane nut draws so I don't think I will be cutting them.

I have found skullcrack to be very good even though I have argued on MTGS that it is bad so I will give it more time.

Other than crypt, I like your deck. Rancor is a power vs. consistency call. You'll do fine either way.

Also, I found a store to play at. I was hanging out talking to people there and I found a guy who's willing to lend me cards so long as he gets a portion of whatever I win which is fine with me. There's also like 3 tourney's a week so tomorrow looks like I'll be playing Junk Conjurers closet. Should be fun.

Just FYI, a Reanimator list topped out PTQ Kansas City this weekend...winning over Esper Control in the final. A Gyre "GruulHammer" and a combo/sac-centric Aristocrats (BA/BA plan) rounded out the top 4.

@LK - I posted the Aristocrat lists that top4/8'ed at KC in the Aristocrats thread. Too funny...it was the exact take that windstrider and I were discussing, featuring Blood Artist and Blasphemous Act to combo out for big life swings.

How big was the PTQ?

PTQ KC was 162 players...I don't know any stats yet beyond the top 8.

Yow...that Orzhov mythic is something is flavorful! Pro black and white...interesting.

PTQ KC was 162 players...I don't know any stats yet beyond the top 8.

Yow...that Orzhov mythic is something is flavorful! Pro black and white...interesting.

Seems like a pretty hysterical commander.

PTQ KC was 162 players...I don't know any stats yet beyond the top 8.

Yow...that Orzhov mythic is something is flavorful! Pro black and white...interesting.

Seems like a pretty hysterical commander.

He seems like he would be pretty snazzy in Block; he and Ghost Dad in a controllish Extort deck seem fun. He should be a blast in Limited as well if there is a reasonable amount of lifegain. Then again, it seems like there needs to be a big burn spell to deal with all these 4 toughness creatures.

Yeah Jerry. I guess I'll eat my hat on not thinking that that particular version of crats was optimal.

Looks Like I'll be running something close to this tomorrow.

[deck]
4 Arbor Elf
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
1 Acidic Slime
3 Angel of Serenity
2 Sylvan Primordial

4 Farseek
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Conjurers Closet
2 Unburial Rites[/deck]
25 lands with a township and a vault maybe.

Should be fun if nothing else.

The cool thing is that the guy lending me the cards doesn't mind buying stuff for the deck. I mentioned I was thinking about playing RIP in the board and he instantly bought 3 of them.

What a long fucking day. Damn Monday.

@LK - Actually, we did agree that the BA/BA was a decent concept as an event crasher...which is exactly what they did with it. It has no longevity value because Witchbane Orb shuts down the kill switches. I still believe that the Reckoner-less lists like you've been playing are the better long game.

The cool thing is that the guy lending me the cards doesn't mind buying stuff for the deck. I mentioned I was thinking about playing RIP in the board and he instantly bought 3 of them.

Gotta love nice people. For real.

Blood Baron looks like a pretty sweet finisher in the right deck.

I want to murk people with a 10/10 that is immune to removal

Need help tuning a Naya Midrange deck just sleeved up. Just need a few suggestions since I'm pretty new to this thing. Meta is mostly composed of Jund Aggro, Naya Blitz, Junk, Esper, and URW Flash.

[deck]Creatures (26)
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Boros Reckoner
4 Restoration Angel
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Thragtusk
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Aurelia, the Warleader

Spells (10)
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Selesnya Charm
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Farseek
3 Mizzium Mortars

Lands (24)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Clifftop Retreat
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Forest

Sideboard
1 Angel of Serenity
2 Boros Charm
2 Selesnya Charm
2 Assemble the Legion
1 Rolling Temblor
2 Acidic Slime
2 Rest in Peace
2 Centaur Healer
1 Thragtusk
[/deck]

Pretty sure that some here have experience with this deck.

I want to murk people with a 10/10 that is immune to removal

He will still die to Tribute to Hunger...ok, that's a bit unreliable. Between this and Lavinia red and black suddenly doesn't look so hot anymore.

Need help tuning a Naya Midrange deck just sleeved up. Just need a few suggestions since I'm pretty new to this thing. Meta is mostly composed of Jund Aggro, Naya Blitz, Junk, Esper, and URW Flash.

[deck]Creatures (26)
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Boros Reckoner
4 Restoration Angel
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Thragtusk
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Aurelia, the Warleader

Spells (10)
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Selesnya Charm
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Farseek
3 Mizzium Mortars

Lands (24)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Clifftop Retreat
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Forest

Sideboard
1 Angel of Serenity
2 Boros Charm
2 Selesnya Charm
2 Assemble the Legion
1 Rolling Temblor
n2 Acidic Slime
2 Rest in Peace
2 Centaur Healer
1 Thragtusk
[/deck]

Pretty sure that some here have experience with this deck.

I have played Naya midrange a lot, so I can give some advice.

I won't play so many copies of Hellkite. Maybe 2 copies, and 4 copies of Thragtusk.

O-ring isn't that good in this deck. I would cut it for a 4th Huntmaster.

3 colorless lands are a bit too much. I would cut one wolf run for a colored land, maybe another forest.

I disagree with some sideboard choices. Angel, Boros Charm, Rolling Temblor, Slime, are not very useful.

+1 rest in peace, +1 assemble, +2 garruk relentless, +1 Garruk PH, +1 mizzium mortars, +1 Reckoner in sideboard (After cutting the abovementioned cards and the extra tusk which should be in mb). Jund and Control are tough so the added help is needed.

Just my observations.

I want to murk people with a 10/10 that is immune to removal

He will still die to Tribute to Hunger...ok, that's a bit unreliable. Between this and Lavinia red and black suddenly doesn't look so hot anymore.

Interesting. I look at these cards and suddenly think that Red/Black is a lot more attractive now. Lavinia dies to Mortars, Dreadbore, Blasphemous Act, Victim of Night, a morbid Tragic Slip, a morbid Brimstone Volley, etc. Blood Baron dies to Mortars, a morbid
Brimstone Volley, Blasphemous Act, etc. You can always slim the Baron back down to a more manageable size by directly attacking the opponent's life total, which those colors excel at.

Lanivia does not die to Mortars, Dreadbore, Morbid Volley, or BA - just to be clear.

I want to murk people with a 10/10 that is immune to removal

He will still die to Tribute to Hunger...ok, that's a bit unreliable. Between this and Lavinia red and black suddenly doesn't look so hot anymore.

Interesting. I look at these cards and suddenly think that Red/Black is a lot more attractive
now. Lavinia dies to Mortars, Dreadbore, Blasphemous Act, Victim of Night, a morbid Tragic Slip, a morbid Brimstone Volley, etc. Blood Baron dies to Mortars, a morbid Brimstone Volley, Blasphemous Act, etc. You can always slim the Baron back down to a more manageable size by directly attacking the opponent's life total, which those colors excel at.

Grab your coffee, my friend. Judge Judy is Pro RED.

Man, I certainly hope that we're going to see better black removal than Warped Physique...it's okay for Esper Control and of course Limited, but not much else.

Grab your coffee, my friend. Judge Judy is Pro RED.

Yeah... that bitch can straight go fuck herself.

Wizards Employee 1: Have you guys seen these R/x Aggro decks? They're really good and they don't even cost a lot to make.
Wizards Employee 2: It's okay, Thragtusk will keep them in line.
WE1: No - that's the thing - they still win after Thrags hits the table.
WE2: My God! You mean red is actually playable? Someone get R&D on this immediately! We need a card that single-handedly shuts that deck down... preferably in
blue and/or white since that hasn't been the top deck for a month or two.

I know that's not actually how this shit goes down, but it sure feels that way some times.

Well, Blood Scrivener has already dropped a few bucks, so that's cool.

Well, Blood Scrivener has already dropped a few bucks, so that's cool.

Yeah...isn't it just wonderful that the only piece of black removal we've seen so far is absolutely anti-synergistic with Scrivener....

I want to murk people with a 10/10 that is immune to removal

He will still die to Tribute to Hunger...ok, that's a bit unreliable. Between this and Lavinia red and black suddenly doesn't look so hot anymore.

Interesting. I look at these cards and suddenly think that Red/Black is a lot more attractive now. [
s]Lavinia dies to Mortars, Dreadbore, Blasphemous Act,[/s] Victim of Night, a morbid Tragic Slip, a morbid Brimstone Volley, etc. Blood Baron dies to Mortars, a morbid Brimstone Volley, Blasphemous Act, etc. You can always slim the Baron back down to a more manageable size by directly attacking the opponent's life total, which those colors excel at.

Edit:
Gotdammit.

Teach me to post before morning coffee.

Ok so Lavinia dies to a morbid Tragic Slip, Victim of Night, Murder, etc.

I want to murk people with a 10/10 that is immune to removal

He will still die to Tribute to Hunger...ok, that's a bit unreliable. Between this and Lavinia red and black suddenly
doesn't look so hot anymore.

Interesting. I look at these cards and suddenly think that Red/Black is a lot more attractive now. Lavinia dies to Mortars, Dreadbore, Blasphemous Act, Victim of Night, a morbid Tragic Slip, a morbid Brimstone Volley, etc. Blood Baron dies to Mortars, a morbid Brimstone Volley, Blasphemous Act, etc. You can always slim the Baron back down to a more manageable size by directly attacking the opponent's life total, which those colors excel at.

Grab your coffee, my friend. Judge Judy is Pro RED.

Man, I certainly hope that we're going to see better black removal than Warped Physique...it's okay for Esper Control and of course Limited, but not much else.

Yes, I'm a moron, which is now on display for everyone here in case it wasn't blisteringly obvious before.

I am worried about the lack of removal previewed so far. I really hope Murder isn't the new norm for direct black removal.

photo, if you mean that +X/-X thing then that'll only be good in Esper Control, anyway, so that's not hurting my feelings any.

It's not good in anything else... though it does have some pretty great flavor text.

There's putrefy, but it sure ain't monoblack. I don't think a reprint of doomblade or go for the throat is coming in this block.

Yes, I'm a moron, which is now on display for everyone here in case it wasn't blisteringly obvious before.

Brothers, let us all point and laugh at the member who dared make a mistake - so that he may learn.

_____________________________

_____________________________

Touché, pussycat.

I want to cast Turn/Burn on Judge Judy just so she will die to a red spell.

goodmorning redbros.

I work right down the street from the marathon finish line. According to some maps our buildings are actually within the cordoned-off area, but we're all here at work today.

The city is very eerie. There's a street that when you cross it the entire feel of the city just changes. There are armed personnel everywhere - I can't count the number of assault weapons I've seen already today. I came in on the train since our driving commute was effectively shut down. I have Karate after work today so brought a duffle bag with my gi and a change of clothes (along with cards since we sometimes play during lunch and after work). Getting on the train, getting off the train, and once randomly in the street the bag was searched (which I'm of course fine with, but it is very different than a normal day).

I'm trying to read these forums, troll MTGS and read up on the newly spoiled cards but my thoughts
keep returning to yesterday's events. Someone who sits in the same cubicle group as me has an apartment right across the street from where the explosions happened. She's not in today because the entire area was evacuated and she's been displaced (though physically she's fine - in both senses of the word, actually... if I wasn't married I'd see if she needs "consoling").

Just a very eerie scene in the city today.

Thanks for the update, rc...glad to hear that neither you nor anyone close to you was injured in that senselessness. Man, this past week has me feeling like the world is spinning about 3 degrees off-axis. Even the weather is screwy...it's mid-April and we are going to dip below freezing later this week.

(though physically she's fine - in both senses of the word, actually... if I wasn't married I'd see if she needs "consoling").

Glad to see you're keeping things in perspective

Had you changed into your gi when you were searched, or was it just the duffel bag causing suspicion? That's some pretty tight security.

(though physically she's fine - in both senses of the word, actually... if I wasn't married I'd see if she needs "consoling").

Glad to see you're keeping things in perspective

Had you changed into your gi when you were searched, or was it just the duffel bag causing suspicion? That's some pretty tight security.

haha no, I was in normal business clothes - gi was in the bag. It was just the sight of a large duffel bag that caused the searches.

One of the groups actually let
me pet their K-9, though, which was cool - I didn't think they let that happen.

I have an outside hope, completely baseless speculation, that we'll actually get decent removal and burn in DGM and/or M14. With these protections showing up, it makes me wonder what they need protection from.

Link to an interesting analysis of the top decks of the past 30 days.

http://www.gatheringmagic.com/nick-viga ... kees-best/

I see Aristocrats is making waves again.

In other news, I got to play with a brand new fucking wad this morning on Sally regarding Blood Baron:

Lol, you still post on MTGS. You should know better by now.

I have to go there to get all my condescension out - the people here aren't, generally speaking, stupid enough.

Ok so 4/4 lifelink pro white and pro black for 3WB is very good. I get that.

Do we just ignore his other clause in most situations? Because to me it reads as the dictionary definition of "win more."