Magic: The Gathering,GO TEAM MS!

[chamber]

So, Me and tbm go to a pr and its full, so we are like shit, and find another close PR to go to, but its 2 headed giant. We quickly realize that 2 headed giant + extort is stupid and that 12 pack two headed giant is just stupid period, so both choose orhzov. We go 3-0, sometimes extorting for as much as 6 points. We get to round 4 of the 4 round tournament, and run into turn 1 thrull turn 2 new 2/1 lifelink guy, turn 3 loxodon smiter, turn 4 ral and 5/5 trample token. We ended 3-1 .

[bv310]

So I went Golgari, paired with Orzhov. Solid pool, had a Jarad, a High Priest of Penance, and some other stuff. Went 3-2 overall, and lost my last round (3-1 before) because I bricked off White mana two games in a row. Best part of my pool was a lot of extort-defender creatures.

Favourite part of the day: Setting up a board state where I could extort for 4 each cast, with the mana to do it. Honourable mention goes to the round I won with the 4-mana Torturer guy + Stab Wound over 6 turns.

[xRECKONERx]

I proceeded to go 4-2 for the night with the goddamn Bronzebeak Moa + Eyes in the Skies + Armed//Dangerous combo. Swing for 2? No blocks? Eyes in the Skies pumps it to an 8/8, then I play Armed to make it a 9/9 with double strike.

But Armed is a sorcery?

Nominate xRECKONERx for It's A Sorcery

Yeah uh

I definitely played it at instant speed like five games before someone pointed out that it's a sorcery

[kdowns]

Reck hit me up on Facebook/PM/ and other way you have to get in to contact with me and I am willing to trade.

[petroleumjelly]

Played four preleases, because I hate money and I've worked a lot of OT.

1.)

Orzhov on Friday starting at midnight, Golgari secret ally. Rares of note were Crypt Ghast, Abrupt Decay, and Ready / Willing. Favorite synergy was the Moa with Korozda Guildmage and some random creature with defense, although I never managed to get that combination in an

real

round. Pretty much crushed with this deck, not dropping a game and going 4-0.

2.)

I was then convinced to be the eighth player at 5AM -- which was clearly a mistake. Again went with Orzhov, secret ally was Rakdos. I did not get much Orzhov to work with so I tried to go straight Rakdos, and it just did not come together. Most notable thing here was that I got to see (and lose to) Ral Zerek, and the fact that I pulled two of the Lightning Helix knockoffs. Ended up going 1-2.

3.)

Went home, got some sleep, and come back for a third helping on Saturday evening. Orzhov was full, so I (stupidly) picked Selesneya, secret ally Gruul. I would not choose Selesneya again... while my rare was Wayfaring Temple, I had practically no tokens to populate save for the birds I could get from Eyes in the Skies and the centaur from Alive/Well. (And I ended up not playing Wayfaring Temple, though perhaps I should have put it in for beatstick potential). I ended up making a pretty sick Gruul deck (with a Simic Guildgate for Turn/Burn, and a Selesneya Guildgate for Alive/Well). I really like Gruul War Chant. Went 3-0-1, intentionally drawing in the last round. We then played out the games for fun, and I won both games.

4.)

And I went to a final prerelease this afternoon. Again went with Orzhov, and paired with Golgari. My pulls were

sick

: Obzedat, Abrupt Decay, Advent of the Wurm, and Scion of Vitu-Ghazi. (I also pulled Obzedat's Aid, which did not make the deck, though I kept wanting to jam it in; a foil Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, and even a Breeding Pool). Only loss was to a fellow Orzhov player who also pulled Obzedat and dropped him both games against me; even when I dealt with Obzedat in

both

games with my sole Executioner's Swing, he followed it up with a game winning Debt to the Deathless. In the final round I had to play against turn-6 Aurelia two games in a row, but I somehow managed to race her in one game through gaining 26 life via extort and lifelink. I never actually got to play Obzedat in the whole tournament, but I can dream! Went 3-1.

Overall, decently fun.

[Nightson]

I never actually got to play Obzedat in the whole tournament, but I can dream!.

Same thing happened to me Avacyn Prerelease. Got a Gisela, never drew her in a single game.

[kdowns]

Pulled a Second Voice today.
Reck has already called Dibs on both

[Thestatusquo]

GJ reck. You made a wildly unplayable card broken by cheating.

You win life.

[bv310]

So if anyone wants to trade Ready // Willing, let me know. I want to do Junk Rock or something, and a set of Ready and Willing seems like a good place to start.

[xRECKONERx]

GJ reck. You made a wildly unplayable card broken by cheating.

You win life.

Yeah I meant to cheat

[Debonair Danny DiPietro]

Went 3-3 with Boros/Azorious on Friday; started 3-1 which got me powered into some better decks. Two of my losses came to other Boros based decks that dropped Aurelia in my face in at least one game and the other came against a straight Orzhov deck that managed to drop a ton of extort creatures on the board quickly. I really needed one or two more guildgates to make better use of my gatekeepers and a bomb or two since I think my creatures topped out at 3 power.

[bv310]

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/rock-27-04-13-1/

Thoughts? I'm looking to move away from OmniDoor for a bit, just for a change of scenery.

[Thestatusquo]

This might be a cost thing, but wouldn't you much rather play Lillliana over Ajani?

[bv310]

It's a 2-part thing,
1) I prefer Ajani's ability to randomly end games with his -3,
and 2) I'm not really a fan of Lili in this build. I feel like she'll just be a slightly more expensive Edict effect, since her + ability is all downside for me.

(there's also the fact that I kinda forgot Lili existed, and I don't want to drop $100 on her right now)

[Fate]

Armed//Dangerous is "wildly unplayable?" Why am I not surprised.

[Sudo_Nym]

The fuse is like a 5 mana Deadly Allure that doesn't flashback. Armed is a fairly good pump, but how many pumps see constructed play? Dangerous is basically Shiren of Life's Roar, which has applications only in very specific archetypes, and pure stompy isn't really viable right now.

[Fate]

Have you actually tested it in literally any archetype at all before you come to these judgements?

Or are you just comparing them to other cards with the same effects in order to determine is value

Because thats a pretty shallow analysis

[Fate]

I mean seriously. The fuse is NOT deadly allure. Deadly allure is Black and green for one, so its not even comparable because its not in the same colors. I also dont know how you can even think "deathtouch" and "doublestrike" are even remotely similar in terms of the effects they can have on the boardstate. Also I doublechecked: Deadly allure is "must be blocked" not ALL creatures must block this creature this turn if able. I'm not going to spell out how huge of a difference that makes with a certain creature that "sees play lolz", but its a pretty big effect.

And armed is not shinen's of life roar, because its not double costed. Its also a creature/dangerous. This spell is ARMED and/or dangerous. It fits TWO things aggro could want into one slot. Hint: you're rarely going to be casting this as fused unless youre in mirror and playing control.

[Sudo_Nym]

Because comparison to similar cards is completely worthless as a technique? The only way to really know how valuable a card is is to actually play with it, which is not an option open to me for obvious reasons. In lieu, I'm capable of making inferences from magic's long and not especially secretive history of competitive decklists, many of which are posted right here on this very internet. And even the briefest glimpse will show you that neither effect which Armed/Dangerous offers sees much play- not even aggro is particularly interested in playing pump spells, outside of Bloodrush, and the only time in recent memory that a Shiren of Life's Roar effect got played was in stompy decks hoping to overrun before a bad lategame locks them out. That said, Shiren of Life's Roar itself is used in Pauper for the Green Stompy decks, and the reasonably similar Deadly Allure was a reasonable sideboard against Hexproof. However, UW Delver is no longer format-ubiquitous, and Deadly Allure had the advantage of being cheap and having Flashback, both of which are advantages which Armed/Dangerous does not share.

In constructed, Armed is always going to be weaker in general than straight out kill, which is frequently available for the same cost, and Dangerous is always going to be overcosted and situational, and there's little reason to believe that paying a ton of mana for two mediocre effects is going to be desirable. Of course, I also have little illusion of convincing you, since you seem to decide which cards are good and which are bad entirely without reference to the world outside you; to wit the recent discussion on R/G Aggro, no doubt still the best deck in Fateland despite a lack of tournament showing.

[Thestatusquo]

They chump it. Like 90% of the value from pump spells come from the fact that you can surprise your opponent with them at instant speed. The track record of pump spells that are not instant speed that are playable in the 20 year history of magic is basically Rancor and um... rancor. Both sides of this card have been printed before and I've never seen then be used by anything except the worst draft decks. Most of our judgement of playability comes from heuristics. No, I haven't tested every card in every scenario. That's absurd. I have, however, been playing magic since I was 6, know in general what kinds of cards are powerful enough to make the cut, and I have experience with very similar cards that have been bad.

[Sudo_Nym]

And most of the time, whatever you're doing with a pump spell can be replicated with either a kill spell or a direct damage spell anyway.

Maybe Armed/Dangerous is actually great. Not every preliminary analysis is accurate; sometimes cards turn out to be better than they look, generally thanks to how they interact with other cards in the set. Armed/Dangerous is unlikely to be one, but if you can build a top-tier deck that used Armed/Dangerous, I'll be happy to admit I was wrong. Until then, I'm going to assume that common knowledge of magic isn't suddenly void.

[Fate]

They chump it. Like 90% of the value from pump spells come from the fact that you can surprise your opponent with them at instant speed. The track record of pump spells that are not instant speed that are playable in the 20 year history of magic is basically Rancor and um... rancor. Both sides of this card have been printed before and I've never seen then be used by anything except the worst draft decks. Most of our judgement of playability comes from heuristics. No, I haven't tested every card in every scenario. That's absurd. I have, however, been playing magic since I was 6, know in general what kinds of cards are powerful enough to make the cut, and I have experience with very similar cards that have been bad.

you know whats funny

That you mention rancor but don't even look at the synergy this card has with it.

You don't play Armed when they can chump it, is that not common sense? I mean, yes if you play a card retardedly it will be bad.

And you're not even commenting on the dangerous side, or the fact that it can be EITHER for the same card slot.

[Fate]

Because comparison to similar cards is completely worthless as a technique? The only way to really know how valuable a card is is to actually play with it, which is not an option open to me for obvious reasons. In lieu, I'm capable of making inferences from magic's long and not especially secretive history of competitive decklists, many of which are posted right here on this very internet. And even the briefest glimpse will show you that neither effect which Armed/Dangerous offers sees much play- not even aggro is particularly interested in playing pump spells, outside of Bloodrush, and the only time in recent memory that a Shiren of Life's Roar effect got played was in stompy decks hoping to overrun before a bad lategame locks them out. That said, Shiren of Life's Roar itself is used in Pauper for the Green Stompy decks, and the reasonably similar Deadly Allure was a reasonable sideboard against Hexproof. However, UW Delver is no longer format-ubiquitous, and Deadly Allure had the advantage of being cheap and having Flashback, both of which are advantages which Armed/Dangerous does not share.

In constructed, Armed is always going to be weaker in general than straight out kill, which is frequently available for the same cost, and Dangerous is always going to be overcosted and situational, and there's little reason to believe that paying a ton of mana for two mediocre effects is going to be desirable. Of course, I also have little illusion of convincing you, since you seem to decide which cards are good and which are bad entirely without reference to the world outside you; to wit the recent discussion on R/G Aggro, no doubt still the best deck in Fateland despite a lack of tournament showing.

So you're not humbled after you even blatantly compare cards incorrectly.

Blasphemous act seemed like a "bad" card right?

I can probably find a quote from chamber saying "it will never see play in a top tier deck".

Yet here we are, with blasphemous act having a respectable presence in decklists. Armed has an even more favorable interaction with Reckoner, it forces damage through AND allows you to redirect a SHITON of damage to the dome against a ground stall. OH WAIT I bet you fucks didn't even think of that interaction because you were too busy comparing this card to other cards with not even similar effects that aren't even fuse cards?

I thought so.

And I never said R/g aggro was the "best" deck, don't be retarded when you are insulted because your analysis of cards is shit. Find a quote from me saying Aggro is the best archetype, or the strongest. I just said that it was viable and that people had a horribly warped view of how aggro wins and plays. As for tournaments, I can't open a tournament's top 8 list of decklists without saying G/r aggro at least twice, so that's another blatant misrepresentation of the truth. And I know that a R/g list with muggings got 1st place at an SCG event: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat ... ckID=54899
OH shit? Is that FIRST place? Must have gotten lucky right?

I know I have little chance of taking you dumbfucks off your high horses of experiences because your pride and life revolve around being able to quote old magic cards with similar effects in different metas that didn't see play and equate new cards to them, but I still have this ridiculously small hope that one day one of my arguments will manage to make you take your heads out of your asses and become better players through flexibility and open mindedness.

The general consnesus is that "DGM offers nothing to standard, nothing will change" and I can guarantee right now that that is complete horseshit. There's a reason the pros are pros, they attack the meta with new cards from a different angle, they realize these cards are powerful and different than old cards with maybe comprable effects, and they use them. AND THEN you fucks echo that sentiment and go "ah yeah SEE now this cards good because X used it"

Fucking disgusting.

[Fate]

And most of the time, whatever you're doing with a pump spell can be replicated with either a kill spell or a direct damage spell anyway.

Maybe Armed/Dangerous is actually great. Not every preliminary analysis is accurate; sometimes cards turn out to be better than they look, generally thanks to how they interact with other cards in the set. Armed/Dangerous is unlikely to be one, but if you can build a top-tier deck that used Armed/Dangerous, I'll be happy to admit I was wrong. Until then, I'm going to assume that common knowledge of magic isn't suddenly void.

Well seeing as I've spent the last week or two playtesting it in my deck versus all your favorite "powerful decks d'jour" then yes, you should admit you're wrong unless you are willing to grind out games and show me its weakness versus its upside.

I know its weaknesses. I know yo guys are undervaluing said card because the archetypes YOU probably like are very strong against it (UWr for Shea, whatever the hell control ims ure you play sudo). Yeah its probably not a card I would keep in post board against control, thats asking to be 2-1d. But dropping armed T2? Thats a lot more damage than a "burn" spell. Searing spear is 3 damage. Armed is 4 with 1 drop, and it only goes up from there.

In a meta where people tap out to play thragtusks to stabilize them, Armed+trample is a HUGE amount of burst that should not be ignored or undervalued.

[Fate]

sorry this is the mugging list I meant to link:
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat ... ckID=55268

Oh shit

no

that means...

No way

TWO R/g lists got FIRST place?

Well Kdowns

guess you have to take back that cheeky "But they never WON in any pof those links DID they HURRRDURRR??"