[Fedoras of Salvation] - White Knights ITT

[Tharkun]

I find it odd that Legions battalion allowed you to 1-for-1 reckoner. Your opponents probably misplayed. If say you attack with Legion Loyalist, BTE and Flinterhoof Boar, I can block BTE, trigger the first strike damage at loyalist, and then have reckoner kill BTE in combat causing you to 0-for-2 yourself assuming no burn is involved.

You are correct. I think I got lucky with the board state at the time. I remember he blocked a flinthoof boar and then killed the boar with the damage. I know I had a loyalist and no LM, I don't think I had a BTE at that time. I think it was loyalist, boar, boar. Or loyalist, loyalist, boar.

OTOH I do find that loyalist increases the value of instant burn on the offense. I had a very lucky
night, I won almost every game, rarely going to three and the only player I lost to I was splitting with and we were just playing for planeswalker points. I went 2-0 vs Jund, 2-0 vs goblin jank, 2-0 vs Br Zombies, 2-1 vs G/r Aggro (lost first game, won the next 2), 2-1 vs The Aristocrats. To be honest the only top decks I faced was Jund Midrange and The Aristocrats. I dodged 3 Esper Control decks and all the reanimator decks by luck. I was surprised to see the Goblin Jank deck and Br Zombies. The G/r Aggro deck is a feature of my meta and it is an excellent player running a below average deck. The meta at my shop is undergoing a change were a bunch of new to the store players have been coming and running more rogue decks.

It was awkward giving the G/r Aggro player a ride home. He has aspergers and was surprised to lose to me, I topdecked perfectly twice in a row during the deciding game and it didn't make him happy.

I am intrigued by Loyalist though and will feature him for another week in my
deck. I need more playtime.

[Kazekirimaru]

@Kaze: If you want the ability to build any given color deck at any given time, the best thing to do is buy new lands as soon as they come out. If you'll notice, the prices for every dual land in recent years have risen over time rather than falling (With the exception of the core lands, which were reprinted to death). Good, niche duals are always a strong investment, especially now that modern is around.

However, being currently unwilling to invest money in magic, I just borrow. But that's what I used to do, just buy them straight out of the gates. Currently, your best bet is to wait until the first few weeks of DGM and see what you can pick up with trades there. Let the influx of new lands settle the market a little, and then start to pick them up. It is
currently a bad time to buy. Notice the difference in price between the beginning of Gatecrash and now.

It's a bad time to buy...because the prices are going down?

[LP, of the Fires]

The prices should be going down around the time dragon maze gets opened.

[Valdarith]

@Kaze: If you want the ability to build any given color deck at any given time, the best thing to do is buy new lands as soon as they come out. If you'll notice, the prices for every dual land in recent years have risen over time rather than falling (With the exception of the core lands, which were reprinted to death). Good, niche duals are always a strong investment, especially now that modern is around.

However, being currently unwilling to invest money in magic, I just borrow. But that's what I used to do, just buy them straight out of the gates. Currently, your best bet is to wait
until the first few weeks of DGM and see what you can pick up with trades there. Let the influx of new lands settle the market a little, and then start to pick them up. It is currently a bad time to buy. Notice the difference in price between the beginning of Gatecrash and now.

It's a bad time to buy...because the prices are going down?

Absolutely. If you know that prices will drop further with the new set, you might as well wait it out until they bottom. Once the set goes out of print they will increase again.

[Kazekirimaru]

@Kaze: If you want the ability to build any given color deck at any given time, the best thing to do is buy new lands as soon as they come out. If you'll notice, the prices for every dual land in recent years have risen over time rather than falling (With the exception of the core lands, which were reprinted to death). Good, niche duals are always a strong investment, especially now that modern is around.

However, being
currently unwilling to invest money in magic, I just borrow. But that's what I used to do, just buy them straight out of the gates. Currently, your best bet is to wait until the first few weeks of DGM and see what you can pick up with trades there. Let the influx of new lands settle the market a little, and then start to pick them up. It is currently a bad time to buy. Notice the difference in price between the beginning of Gatecrash and now.

It's a bad time to buy...because the prices are going down?

Absolutely. If you know that prices will drop further with the new set, you might as well wait it out until they bottom. Once the set goes out of print they will increase again.

Ah, fair enough.

[Helios]

It's a bad time to buy...because the prices are going down?

Like LP said, when Dragon's Maze gets opened, the prices will take a dip for a short period of time. This week is bad, in like 4-5 weeks will be good.

Shocklands will be needed until next September, so they are a good investment. I could see Inni duals holding value because of their uniqueness. If they're getting played in Modern, they'd be good to pick up when people dump them pre-rotation.

[Helios]

Hey LP, have you and Z given up on AIR (all-in red)?

[zemanjaski]

I spend one weekend getting plastered and chasing skirts and suddenly I am giving up?

Tough crowd.

[LP, of the Fires]

^^^^^^^^^^

Only instead of getting wasted, chasing tail, I was sick and feeling like hell.

[Helios]

I spent my entire weekend playing it, so yea

Fair point though, that was poorly worded.

[zemanjaski]

Why do you call him LP? I do as well, and I am not sure why myself.

[Helios]

Why do you call him LP? I do as well, and I am not sure why myself.

It's his username. Easier on the fingers than Lauphiette. If I even spelled that right. Same reason I call you Z instead of James. I'm often at work when posting, so the faster I can type post and get back to work, the better. And if I'm not at work while posting, I'm doing homework. Very few of my hobbies allow for forum browsing.

[zemanjaski]

Ah ok. See, I would normally contract Lauphiette Kincey to LK; but for some reason unbeknownst to me, I run with LP.

[Helios]

Ah ok. See, I would normally contract Lauphiette Kincey to LK; but for some reason unbeknownst to me, I run with LP.

Let's just call him BA. Who needs reasons. Besides, he'd probably appreciate it.

[Kazekirimaru]

I'm amused that we seem to keep falling onto the topic of names today.

[Link]

Ah ok. See, I would normally contract Lauphiette Kincey to LK; but for some reason unbeknownst to me, I run with LP.

LP, of the Fires

[Helios]

@AF: Best use of that smilie yet.

I'm amused that we seem to keep falling onto the topic of names today.

Huh, that's interesting.

[LP, of the Fires]

Well, to be fair, the reason I made my name LP was because Z always called me LP for whatever reason.

[Helios]

Well, to be fair, the reason I made my name LP was because Z always called me LP for whatever reason.

Mind = blown.

[LP, of the Fires]

P=/=K

[zemanjaski]

Returning to an earlier topic, Kazekirimaru is not difficult to pronounce.

[Dane]

@Kaze: I've found drafting to be a great way to pick up shocks...but that's bolstered by the fact that both my wife and I draft, so double the chance to crack them in draft packs (yes...I'll raredraft shocks even if I'm not in those colors. Sorry.) and in prize packs (Yes, I crack those too...my LGS doesn't do rollover credit for them.)

As far as names go, I figured LP was just a lazy shortening of the first two syllables of his handle LauPhiette.

[Khaospawn]

Here's what I want to know: who or what is a zemanjaski?

Kaze - Here is my recipe for obtaining my shocks:

(1) Build Red Deck (Collaborate with FoS members for best results.)

(2) Take Red Deck to an FNM and burn the place down with the competition.

(3) Get "in the money" as often as you can.

(4) Accumulate store credit until new set comes out.

(5) Decide what will be good from the new set (for example, shocklands).

(6) Go nuts and buy a box or two and the singles from the new set while they're on the cheap.

(7) Use contents from the box that you don't need to trade more stuff (for example, shocklands).

(8) Upgrade your deck with your new loot or build a different deck.

(9) Repeat steps 1-9.

(10) Tell redthirst he is a beautiful man with a nice, large crank. Repeat this
step as needed.

I hope this doesn't sound cocky or arrogant but it's been working for me for a few months now. In the coming months, I'll get rid of some things that will rotate out and have no use in Modern to raise funds for Theros.

[LP, of the Fires]

That's what I assumed. I also just realized that a new walker being spoiled means I get to troll people with terrible card analysis on Sally.

@ Khaos. It's probably a firebreathing kangaroo.

[zemanjaski]

No one is ever going to figure it out.

Want to know something sad? I have worn this moniker for ~8 years and there are now copycats

Fuck it, I want to brew some burn decks for standard

[Khaospawn]

Fair enough. I just can't for the life of me figure out where you derive it from. It's a badass, unique name and it suits you.

[LP, of the Fires]

If you google Zemanjaski, the very last entry on page 9 is Khaos deck wins. L.O.L.

[Khaospawn]

Fuck yeah!

[zemanjaski]

Lets see, there are two realistic paths:

I. Dega Burn
PROS:
- Boros Charm
- Boros Reckoner in the SB maybe? Dunno.

II. Jund Burn
PROS:
- Deathrite Shaman is really, really good against UWx and any Reanimator deck. And you get to maindeck 4.
- I don'w know, sideboard cards maybe?

Jund can run 4 Cackler and 4 Deathrite as its 1 drops of of 4 Overgrown Tomb, 4 Stomping Ground and 4 Blood Crypt, which means that not only is your manabase going to end up pretty solid anyway, but you can actually have pretty aggressive openings.

Burn is pretty reasonable against something like UWR because you have discard and CA engines to deal with Sphinx's Rev; plus terrors to kill their relevant threats. You also don't care about most of their usual sources of advantage (eg: Azorius Charm) because of your own creature density.

Burn does seem pretty bad against the BTE aggro
decks though. The lack of a pyroclasm really hurts, as when this archetype was "good" last year, most of the sideboard plans revolved around bringing in a bunch of whipflares and playing pseudo-control (which you could do easily, because Shrine of Burning Rage was a 1 card win-con).

I don't know how burn would match up against Reanimator. One one hand, a lot of their stalling cards don't really phase you, and they're a turn 6 kill deck typically and you ARE faster than that, even with a small amount of lifegain present. Maindeck Deathrite Shaman would HAVE to be a big game here. At the same time, they're the deck with the most lifegain post-board and apart from a multiple Skull Crack draw, you might be grasping at straws?

In other news, the Mono Black Vampire deck actually has some legs and is surprisingly playable. Staff of Nin is quite the magic card.

[zemanjaski]

[deck]Dega Burn v 1.0[/deck]

+3 cards just doesn't seem very good. Damn.

[zemanjaski]

Nothing being close to as good as Shrine of Burning Rage is the big problem. Last season, landing that on the play was like an 80% win rate right there. Curse of the Pierced Heart is garbo. Well, almost garbo; it is actually better in multiples than Shrine was (typically).

[LP, of the Fires]

No, curse is still garbo. With shrine, you never really needed to see a second one.

1) Resolve Shrine
2) Attack for 2 and Play spells
3) ????
4) Shrine kills them.

[photodyer]

You guys...I think I'm going to have The Name Game running through my head all night after catching up with the thread...

"Alexalexbobalex...."

Yeah.

Discussion of Ral brings to mind a theme that seems to track through the spoiled cards...I know we've only seen a few, but I get the impression that WotC is trying to rekindle a little FUN. Knowing that they are working to draw in an expanded player base, it seems like they are attempting to take a little of the hard edge off the game to make it a bit more approachable. Things like giving Fuse cards names that recall popular cultural phrases and giving a Planeswalker a goofy, coin flipping ultimate...a goofy ultimate that statistically is going to on average give you 2-3 extra turns. Goofy, yes, but still potentially game-winning on the turn it happens. I'm just sayin'...

The best example I can give for
what I'm seeing comes from my nephew and his family. Back in my late teens, I taught my nephew (I was 9 when he was born...my sisters are 13 and 15 years older than me) how to play chess. I wasn't great, but he was a pretty serious young guy and took to it. Today, in addition to having been in Magic nearly since its inception, he is a formidable chess player...he left me in the dust years ago.

Anyway, he has 3 sons, and of course as the oldest hit 8 or so, my nephew wanted to teach him chess. But his son really didn't show much interest. The kid has the aptitude--he plays a BW Tokens deck and can kick my tail if I let him get it online--but the stark, cold chess board just didn't seem to hold any appeal to him.

Until my nephew came home with a Marvel Heroes chess set. Superheroes versus villians, in all their bright, Spandex-laden glory. Now, not only does his oldest son play enthusiastically, but the two youger boys are pushing for their chances to learn.

Sometimes, it's just about
making things fun for the people you're trying to reach.

Keillor-esk anecdotes aside, I think Ral will see play. He's color pie-acceptable mana ramp in colors that don't usually get it, and he can Fireball on the turn he drops. His ultimate, goofy as it is mechanically, is on average going to be anywhere from game-changing to game-ending. Together in a UWr deck with Tamiyo and FoD, I really don't want to sit across from him. He's not mind blowing, but he's going to fit into some formidable strategies if I don't miss my guess.

And he's fun.

[zemanjaski]

I don't know why all the discussion is focussed on Ral's ultimate ~ since when do we evaluate PWs on their ultimate? Its all about the primary 2 abilities and his are pretty decent. That is enough for him to warrant some play. His +1 is obviously MUCH more powerful in eternal formats with mana rocks et al. Ral seems insane in cube obviously.

[Solemn10]

ral zarek's ultimate is a bit too much but then again so is domris...

[zemanjaski]

The best part about Ral is that he effectively costs 3, which leads to similar lines of play to Koth (untap a land into removal for protection, then take over next turn). That is pretty sweet because a lot of decks cannot deal with PWs that effectively at the moment.

[zemanjaski]

Can anyone post a summary of the spoilers from today? MTGS and WotC are now firewalled at work!

[Khaospawn]

Rabid Hybridization is a card. Untapping that land while you hold a spell like that could keep Ral alive.

[Khaospawn]

It's redthirst's dick as one of the spoilers!

[zemanjaski]

The card is PUSHED.