jankenpawn

This is more important than the legend rule

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:52:00 +0900

A lot of people are losing their shit over the new legend/planeswalker rule, and to a certain extent the new extra lands rule from this article.

While those do feel like downgrades (and the extra lands one certainly is, while the legend/planeswalker one is highly abusable) the more, nay, most important change is the new sideboarding rules!

TL;DR of the new sideboarding rules; your deck in your sideboarded games can be of a different number of cards than in game 1!

You can have 60/15 in game 1 then 75/0 in game 2 and 63/12 in game 3! You can even start with 75/0 in game 1 then go back to traditional 60/15 in game 2 @o@

The one that really blew my mind was the 75/0 to 60/15 (and vice versa) changes.. *_* the possibilities..

it doesn’t seem like a lot, but these changes open a whole new way of deckbuilding that I can’t even grasp yet because its such a new way to think of things *O* sideboards have always been almost one-to-one swaps with the mainboards..

I don’t know how to give any examples of why this is so cool, mostly because the current Constructed decks we have were never built with these rules in mind @_@

Hahahaha I’m excited to build decks again <3 sideboarding has always been one of the most interesting things about building a deck (and has the least people who knew what they were doing with it) and now it has gotten even more deep and interesting~

So happy *_* Being a primarily Limited player, I have long wished for the Limited rules of sideboarding to be applicable to Constructed..

..too bad I can’t switch between multiple decks like in limited though :P

How to use the new Legend Rule

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:34:45 +0900

Did you know that with the new legend rule, you can tap Gaea’s Cradle to add a ton of mana, then play a new Gaea’s Cradle and add a ton of mana AGAIN? :D

And don’t tell me this information is useless for Commander when this card is available;

And the new legend rule also makes (cheap) legendary permanents with ‘haste’ a LOT better;

Mox Opal FINALLY works like it should be! Now you can happily play four in your modern deck and ramp insanely quickly - even if you get into the (previously) nightmare situation of having all four in your opening hand, one of them will stay in play while the other three will instantly become Lotus Petals! *O*

..provided you have Metalcraft, of course :x (note - having four Mox Opals in your hand still doesn’t ensure you have metalcraft.. oops)

And these are just scratching the surface of cards abusable with the new rules *_*

I think people should stop whining about the death of the old legend rule and pull up gatherer, filter all the legends and have a cup of tea while laughing maniacally at the new tricks they can pull off with the new legend rule~ bwahaha *Q*

Epic loot :D

Sun, 05 May 2013 05:31:28 +0900

had a great haul at yesterday’s release party ^o^ lots of trading and selling done.. pretty satisfied though;

they’re so pretty~ *_* <3

How to Renounce the Guilds

Thu, 02 May 2013 06:52:00 +0900

I have found the best card to pair with Renounce the Guilds;

With Voice, you don’t need to play a deck with only monocolored permanents to break the symmetry of Renounce the Guilds :D

In fact, even if Voice dies, its token is multicolored too!

And if your opponent tries to exile your Voice to avoid you from getting a token, you can sacrifice it in response with Renounce the Guilds! (and making them sacrifice a multicolored permanent in the process :D)

Like peanut butter and chocolate *_* <3

**EDIT: btw Voice is also super good against Renounce the Guilds jsyk kthxbye

How to Plasm Capture

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:07:28 +0900

I suddenly really like this card very very much *_* because I have come to the realization that this is not a counterspell, this is a ramp spell!

At first I thought that this card really sucks because the current Standard environment is pretty hostile towards counterspells, what with all the uncounterable and aggressive creature decks.

And then I realized that Plasm Capture doesn’t need the spell to be countered to add the X mana of any colors to your mana pool next turn *_*

And then I confirmed that you can still target uncounterable spells with counterspells *_*

That means you say go on turn four, and on turn 5 you will definitely get up to nine mana! @A@ with little to no color restrictions!

Focusing on making Plasm Capture a delayed-ramp spell (with the bonus of *possibly* countering a spell) makes the instant seem like all upside :D

You can ramp into something huge early on, and if you get to counter any spell your opponent plays you’ve progressed so far ahead in tempo against your opponent, making this awesome against aggressive decks.

Plasm Capture also allows you to never ever tap out against your opponents while still letting you cast sorcery-speed spells thanks to the free mana, making it awesome against control-style decks.

And in the late game, where ramp spells are useless, Plasm Capture molds itself into a nice hard counter that also rewards you for playing scale-able (see: X-spells) win conditions *_*

I’m all *_* about this card.. and I thought the only exciting cards in Dragon’s Maze were Ral Zarek, Voice of Resurgence and Ready//Willing..

How to Council of the Absolute

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:30:42 +0900

This Human Advisor’s most obvious implication is as some sort of mirror-match breaker; name a Sphinx’s Revelation, profit!

The Council could also serve as an anti-removal or sweeper card, especially when you can make it uncounterable with Cavern of Souls.

Having a relevant creature type (hint - Advisor) doesn’t hurt, either ;)

But the most interesting thing to do with the Absolute council is to cast it with some mana left over, then naming something like Syncopate or a new split card..

..when you don’t even have the named card in your hand ;)

I wonder how many opponents will call that bluff, and how many will hold back against a telegraphed removal/trick that isn’t even in your hand~

Too bad that it is just a 2/4 vanilla creature..

Oh well, at least the Council can be Restoration Angeled to reset the named card on your opponent’s upkeep.. to stop them from casting a revealed miracle.

(I thought it wouldn’t work at first, too, but the way miracle works does allow you to respond to the reveal, so you can blink Council of the Absolute and name the revealed card to effectively ‘counter’ it)

You could also blink the Council in response to your opponent tutoring for a Door to Nothingness..

..or even reset the Council according to whatever non-creature spell you have in your hand (or in your graveyard, flashbacked spells costs less too!) that you want to ‘ramp’..

But in the end, you’re still playing around with ‘only’ a 2/4 Human Advisor :T for four mana.

“Depends on the metagame,” I guess

Maze's End

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:30:37 +0900

Is this a viable win condition?

I like alternate win conditions a lot, and I really want this to be viable because I’d love to play this deck.. but;

Too slow T_T

Maze’s End enters the battlefield tapped. All 10 gates it requires also enter the battlefield tapped. That’s at least 11 lands in your deck (almost half!) having summoning sickness :(

Is there even a deck that would want to have so many lands that slow them down? And all spread across 10 color combinations without any focus whatsoever?

Colorless mana +_+

It produces colorless mana.. a deck looking to maximize having 10 different gates would love to play multiple colors, and a colorless land that enters the battlefield tapped is the last thing that kind of deck wants.

Returns to your hand @_@

I understand that it would be quite broken without this clause, you get to ramp and you win the game at the end of it??

But with this clause, you can only activate this ability every other turn without outside help.

Plus, 4 mana (3 plus Maze itself) is quite a lot to be investing every turn.

Returning to your hand doesn’t even enable you to get a turn where you can drop two gates (or a gate and Maze’s End). Too bad there isn’t like a Farseek for gates..

Very slow :( but it isn’t going to stop me from trying to build a deck around Maze’s End because its an uncounterable win condition that utilizes a card type that is hard to deal with and doesn’t take space (spell slots) in your deck*.

* except that you have to build your whole deck around Maze’s End and the baggage that comes with it, which begs the question;

How many to put in a deck?

I think you really only need one of these, especially when the Maze’s End keeps returning to your hand (in a way protecting itself).

You also wouldn’t really want it early - it needs 4 mana to start rolling, and investing (almost) all your mana turn after turn to cycle a land from your deck (and not even ramping) is about the same as using Nephalia Drownyard on your opponent every turn starting turn 4 onwards - you’re doing something that doesn’t affect the board state at all.. but if you manage to do it long enough, you win the game :D

So.. is this a viable win condition?

Con Fuse

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:13:19 +0900

I love cards with options.

If I could get away with it, I’d love to play a deck full of only charms and Snapcasters.. so many options! *_*

And there will be even more options come Dragon’s Maze;

Split cards! I love split cards! Options!

And Fuse allows you even more options (and from the looks of it, the rares will even give you some bonus for fusing both sides!)

Too bad you can’t fuse a spell with fuse that you flashback using Snapcaster, though :(

I like the Beck part more. Glimpse of Nature is a role-player in a combo deck, and Beck is arguably better, though it does cost 1 more mana.

Call isn’t horrible, though. There have been quite a few times when I cast and immediately flashed back a Lingering Souls - five mana for four fliers. Also costing 1 more mana.

One extra mana isn’t that much to pay for the added options and flexibility this card(s) provides~

Beck & Call, 8 mana for four 1/1 fliers and four cards is not a bad deal at all *_*

I wonder if the others Fuse rares will conform to the same pattern - each half being playable, but costing (about) 1 extra mana, and when combined, are pretty good because they’re (somewhat) undercosted(?)

So many options, so many questions.. which presents so many outs, and also so many opportunities to make mistakes +_+

Is Ral Zarek good?

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:25:51 +0900

You’d think he’s pretty good - look at his art; two thumbs up! b^_^d

One look at him and he reminds me of Ajani Vengeant. Everything costs about the same, except Ral Zarek starts at 4 instead of 3.

But then you read Ral’s abilities and you realize that they are all inferior versions of Ajani Vengeant’s abilities.

We all know the gold Ajani was one of the best planeswalkers of his time, if not ever, so maybe if Ral Zarekstill has a chance to be ‘good’..?

Ral taps a permanent, and untaps another. Oftentimes both targets will be land; +1 mana to you and -1 to your opponent.

It is a simple application with puts you two mana ahead of your opponent during your turn, which is pretty nice in control wars - except that there is close to none of that nowadays.

Acting as an additional mana source can come in handy, in fact, the first thing I wanted to untap was Maze’s End (which has been swirling around my mind ever since before spoilers started)

Untapping a blocker to protect himself is also pretty nice, not to mention tapping down a blocker to punch through to an opposing planeswalker.

All of these interactions are pretty obvious, it is a simple ability. But it is incredibly versatile and I bet playing with it will quickly show that it can be abused very very easily and will almost never be useless.

I like his +1.

-2

There’s nothing much to say about being able to Lightning Bolt at will, especially when if you’re comparing to Ajani, a bolt is no Lightning Helix.

Ral’s -2, however, is better than Ajani’s -2 because he starts at 4 loyalty - not bad when your opponent is at 6 life and you only have 2 turns to kill them.

-7

Unfortunately there is nothing much to say about the ultimate. While Ajani Vengeant’s ultimate practically ends the game, Ral Zarek’s ultimate more often than not is a Time Walk.

Sure, you flip five coins, but years of playing Magic has hammered into my head that variance is bad.

I would love to ultimate Ral Zarek and get five turns and laugh hysterically while I draw five cards and lay five lands and do absolutely nothing else at an FNM,

But if I were in a huge tournament and had a 7-loyalty Ral Zarek, I’ll just continue using his +1 or -2, whichever was better.. unless I would definitely win if I gained one extra turn, or I would definitely lose unless I get some extra turns..

Wonder what happens when the game goes to time and players are supposed to play 5 extra turns.. then I ultimate Ral Zarek and flip five consecutive heads..

Do I get to play the rest of the turns in the game?

—-

With what little knowledge I have of Standard right now (I have been burned out of the format because I only play consistent Combo or super Tier 1 (think Caw-Blade) decks) I think that planeswalkers are horribly positioned..

And unless some huge shift happens, planeswalkers will not be a very good plan to lean on in Standard, imo.

But is Ral Zarek good?

Yes, I think he’s pretty good b^_^d

BOBBY~!

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 07:12:39 +0900

There are three parts to the successor to Bob;

1) Duskmantle Seer’s ‘Bob’ ability is not as good as he’s predecessor’s.

Giving your opponent anything is always, always, bad. The ability’s saving grace is that it serves as a potential damage source (many a planeswalker has died to good ol’ Bob) and that you give your opponent his card during your upkeep.

2) Duskmantle Seer is a Vampire Wizard.

Did you know that Vampire Noctornus is in Standard? I didn’t. Food for thought (though admittedly, that is more of a Zombie thing).

There are also increasingly more and more notable Wizards that Cavern of Souls naming Wizards could actually be a relevant option, as bizzare as that sounds.

3) Duskmantle Seer is a 4/4 flying for four mana.

That is very aggressively costed, strong enough to be a finisher, even.

It fits well at the top of a curve of an aggressive deck, both shortening your opponent’s clock (in more ways than one) while helping to refill your hand to keep the pressure on.

Awesome.

It's a trap(?)!!!

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:48:33 +0900

..or maybe I’m just still sore about Tibalt :\

Domri doesn’t look like a bad planeswalker at all, especially in a deck built around him with lots of creatures - he’s even in the correct colors.

All the abilities are synergistic, and every one of them has its uses and can potentially be awesome.

You don’t even have to bend over backwards to make him awesome (unlike Tibalt), he’s straightforward, nicely costed, and serves as a great supporter in a creature deck.

But what kind of creature deck? Again, maybe its my disdain of creature/combat based decks in Constructed, or maybe its my inexperience with such decks, but I can’t think of a deck that would want to have this Gruul planeswalker.

I think I can only truly evaluate this card after playing with it in various decks. Such is the nature of planeswalkers - they can perform so much differently from what they look like on paper.

Its just that the abilities, while awesome, doesn’t seem to have enough ‘oomph’. And I just don’t feel that excitement I feel with new, seemingly powerful cards *_*;

It's a trap(?)!!

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 02:24:40 +0900

What the heck is going on with this guy? That helmet! @_@

..is what I seem to ask every time I see a Simic card. I love it XD

Unfortunately, the feeling does not carry over for the card itself :(

Its an awesome enabler, both for the Simic guild’s mechanic(s) and for creatures that have a lot more to gain from +1/+1 counters then just bigger front and backsides (Persist creatures come to mind)

But… I don’t know, maybe its just not my style of card. I love four mana 2/4s, for Limited. But in Standard, any card that gives your opponent opportunities for 2-for-1-ing you because it encourages overextending just makes me go ‘ew, no thanks’.

Guess that’s why I tend to shy away from creature-based aggro decks in Constructed :|

It's a trap(?)!

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:36:43 +0900

This is actually a guy angel crossdressing.

Just kidding.

A 6-mana 5/5 flying is a strong body that can win games. Add on some resilience and you have a respectable finisher. Your opponent will always need spend at least two cards worth to get rid of Deathpact Angel.

That’s what I thought, until I saw the [tap] symbol on the Cleric creature token’s ability. It doesn’t make the ability totally useless, but it does worsen it by a lot.

Plus, Deathrite Shaman is a thing (and I’m hoping that Curse of Death’s Hold becomes relevant again)

Hell hath no fury..

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:12:44 +0900

..like an angel scorned;

For a furious blast of rage, this Boros instant offers a ton of versatility. It basically says;

“Damage whatever you want and everything you hit gets stunned.”

Aurelia’s Fury is poised to shine even brighter in a format where Sphinx’s Revelation is a pivotal card. Scary.

With enough mana, you can easily;

Get rid of every targetable creature(s) and planeswalker (only one per Fury though)
Immobilize every creature your opponent controls to smash them with your own army
Kill your opponent

If you don’t have enough mana, you can still;

Invalidate an opponent’s attack step in a damage race or to buy time
Silence your opponent’s during their upkeep to (almost) blank their turn
Stop your opponent from interfering with your turn

And these are just theobviousoptions for the card. There will be many other corner cases and variations that this swiss army knife of an X-spell will determine the end of the game time and time again.

As with every other versatile spell, with great options come great likelihood to make misplays.

My advice? Get (at least) four of these ASAP. Play with (and/or against) it a lot. Practice makes perfect. And even if you don’t like playing with it, I doubt you’ll have much trouble getting rid of it :D

The Primordials

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:48:34 +0900

There is a cycle of Primordials in Gatecrash. They are all 7 mana-cost creatures that have enters the battlefield abilities that are not as awesome as the Titans of old, mainly because these abilities are generally dependent on what opponents have/don’t have;

This the Primordial that I like the least out of the five.

1) It’s name isso difficult to type. ‘Sepulchral’ is not part of my vocabulary +_+

2) Intimidate is a lot less awesome in an environment with lots of multicolor creatures.

3) More often than not, your opponent’s graveyards wont have anything awesome to reanimate, especially if you’re planning to cheat this guy out early.

4) It looks disgusting :S And its the smallest one at 5/4 (though you kinda have to take into account the other creature(s) that it brings back with it too).

Diluvian Primordial shares a lot of shortcomings as her Black-aligned cousin, being dependent on your opponent having stuff in their graveyard and all.

It does have a Dragon-class body, though, and sometimes all you need is a 5/5 flying to win the game.

Luminate Primordial reminds me a lot of Elesh Norn -exact same body, similar color scheme, and both act as answers against creatures - the Primordial answers almost any one creature, whereas its predecessor weakens all your opponents creatures.

Both have their pros and cons, but the Grand Cenobite edges out a little bit ahead as its ability to strengthen your own army and end the game on the spot, whereas the White-aligned Primordial is more suited as a stabilization play and less as a game-ending threat.

It does enjoy the fact that White seems to be the color best positioned to abuse enter the battlefield abilities, though.

Of the five, Sylvan Primordial is the one I want to play with most (and to reanimate/cheat out early). Its ability is the most versatile in that you will always have something to destroy.

Destroying a land might be better now than in a long time - there are the obvious plethora of greedy and unstable manabases, plus various powerful utility lands that often decide games like Kessig Wolf Run or Nephalia Drownyard.

The Green-aligned Primordial also gives its color an additional answer to Planeswalkers. There are also a lot more enchantments seeing play in Standard nowadays.

Cheating this out early is also great in that it ramps you an extra forest which allows you to cast the other Sylvan Primordials in your deck (I’m going to start with four in the first deck I make with them). In Ravnica, getting a forest also fixes your mana thanks to the Shocklands.

It also has a very respectable 6/8 body with reach - one of the few bodies that can profitably block (and kill) a Hellkite without much problem, among other flying finishers that are clouding the skies of Standard as of late.

And last but not least is the Primordial with what I think is the best art of the five. Look at that king-ly looking avatar! I want to cast it solely because itlooks awesome!

That trickle of lava on what is presumably an opponent’s creature, scorching it into enraged, flaming action against its controller *_* Wonderful concept~

Gameplay wise, Molten Primordial reminds me a lot of Rorix Bladewing, which was a respectable haymaker and finisher in its time. The threaten ability of the Red-aligned Primordial even makes up for the lack of flying - in fact, it might actually be better than flying in a format with abundant flying blockers.

* * *

It looks like seven is the new six, though I worry that seven might take too long and turn out too difficult to get to. And even if you were to try to cheat any of these Primordials out quickly, there is little incentive to get any of these instead of Angel of Serenity.

I still really like Sylvan Primordial, though :D

Most of the Avatars are bad because they are reliant on what your opponent has. It only makes sense that the Green Avatar is the best, being the one that cares the least about what your opponent has but still gets better the juicier the available targets (plus the fact that it also has the most durable body out of the five).

Minotaur Wizard

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:24:39 +0900

Never thought I’d see this creature type combination (but then again there’s a Human Ooze in the set, so..);

I reckon that this card isn’t going to be as awesome as it looks. I remember being really excited over Spitemare (spoiler: it didn’t see much play in Standard, awesome in Limited, though).

I mean, look at his abilities; First strike preventsBoros Reckoner from taking damage! So un-synergistic. Yuck. So much for being a ‘tactical genius’.

You know what would’ve been awesome as his activated ability?

[W/R]: Boros Reckoner deals 1 damage to itself and 1 damage to target creature blocking or blocked by it.

That would’ve beenawesome! But not broken. It would certainly be a lot more synergistic for its eye-for-an-eye ability and still be very flavorful.

Nevertheless, our Minotaur Wizard is still a very powerful Limited card. 3/3 for 3 mana, and first strike on demand, and the ability to take at least two creatures down with it? Awesome card.

He’s only great in any situation where battles are determined by creature combat (or against a red deck where the only other answer to it is burn), maybe a nice sideboard card against creature strategies.

The problem is the few decks that would support Boros Reckoner’s casting cost might not really want him, as there are likely better threats at 3 drop that are not as strict on the mana.

Still, Minotaur Wizard *_* wow~

I don’t know what I’m going to do with this card, but I know that I want to hoard as...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:00:57 +0900

I don’t know what I’m going to do with this card, but I know that I want to hoard as many of these as possible.

Mass recursion of a lot of creatures from your graveyard sounds like it could be very degenerate, as long as you have the right components.

What is very important is to realize that Immortal Servitude only recurs creatures with converted mana cost X, and exactly X. I made the mistake of thinking it was “converted mana cost X or less”, and sounds totally awesome in combination of Crypt Ghast *_* but alas, only X :|

I like that for only 3 mana, the Orzhov Sorcery can bring back every Dryad Arbor from your graveyard, so cool *_* But I think the sweet spot might be 5 or 6 mana, where a combination of 2 or 3 mana creatures can win games~

The possibilities are limitless, and there will only be more creatures printed in the future, which guarantees cards like Immortal Servitude to be awesome, sooner or later <3

Its a bird.. its a plane..

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:36:46 +0900

..its a Nightveil Specter!

A 2/3 Flying body might not seem very threatening, but not blocking/getting rid of Nightveil Specter is not really a good idea.

Unlike most Specters before it, this Dimir Specter does not eat cards from your opponent’s hand but from the top of their library.

More often than not, you will not be able to cast whatever the Specter eats (especially because it requires a strict, strict Blue/Black cost).

The secret of Nightveil Specter is that it does not really want to eat and deny your opponent’s spells, what it wants is to eat your opponent’s lands.

This wouldn’t let you overstep the boundaries of playing only one land a turn, but it does significantly increase your chances of playing a land every turn.

And while this does not seem like a lot on paper, in practice, you will slowly but surely push yourself further and further in front of your opponent, and once you get to cast your opponent’s spells with their lands, you’ll know that you’ve already won *_*

It's not that easy, being green

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 07:12:27 +0900

Is that a gigantic Kermit the Frog?!

Aside from being awesome with +1/+1 counters and serving as the Overrun of the set, Biomass Mutation could be a cheap trick to make all your creatures (without +1/+1 counters and/or enchantments on them) die immediately!

Why would you ever want to do that, though?

1) Bring them all back with Faith’s Reward!

2) Let your Undying creatures die and come back! (pumping and untapping them in the process)

3) Fizzle a targetted removal spell!

and many more(?)!

I don’t know what is going to come in future sets, or even cards from the past that can potentially form an interesting combo with this Simic Instant (Mirror Entity was used in a couple of combo decks in its time), but I know that eventually, this card could be used in some awesome combo *_*

Especially because it can also play double-duty as a massive pump spell to end games - I love cards that have multiple uses!

Besides, its a gigantic Kermit the Frog!!

Boar-God O_o

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:37:57 +0900

The interesting thing about Rubblebelt Raiders is you don’t really see the rubble-belts on the raiders in the art O_o

I don’t really like them. They are Raging Ravine incarnated, which means they die to sorcery speed removal, which isn’t very good news.

Even alone, especially when a deck in Gruul colors with cards like Kessig Wolf Run and/or Rancor, the Human Warriors will eventually win the game, as they will inevitably snowball into a huge mass of rubble and overrun any creature(s) your opponents can throw in front of them.

TL;DR - Great in Limited, meh in Constructed :D