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Magic: the Gathering (now with 200% more OP)
Super Namicchi
Orange County, CARegistered User regular
Orange County, CARegistered User regular
Welcome to the CF Magic: the Gathering Thread!
So, the last thread was getting pretty long and the OP of the thread... it didn't have any information at all.
It's time that changed!
So... what is M:tG anyway?
Wikipedia has this to say:
Wikipedia wrote:Magic: The Gathering (colloquially "Magic", "MTG", or "Magic Cards") is a collectible card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic is the first example of the modern collectible card game genre and still thrives today, with an estimated six million players in over seventy countries. Magic can be played by two or more players each using a deck of printed cards or a deck of virtual cards through the Internet-based Magic: The Gathering Online or third-party programs.
Each game represents a battle between powerful wizards who use the magical spells, items, and fantastic creatures depicted on individual Magic cards to defeat their opponents. Although the original concept of the game drew heavily from the motifs of traditional fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, the gameplay of Magic bears little resemblance to pencil-and-paper adventure games, while having substantially more cards and more complex rules than many other card games.
With that in mind, welcome to the wonderful world of Magic: the Gathering, one of the most complex and rewarding games out on the market.
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FAQ:
Q: So I bought some of these here Magical Cards. They've got funny symbols on them and numbers and are different colors. Help!
A: Magic is a pretty complex game, but the basics are easy to get the hang of. Magic cards generally come in one of five colors that each specialize in different things. White, Blue, Black, Red, and finally Green. By laying down lands of appropriate colors you can add mana to your mana pool and 'cast' these cards into play, with the goal of driving your opponent's life total down from 20 to 0! For a more detailed explanation, see the resources at the end of the post.
Q: I keep hearing about 'Type 2' and 'Type 1.5' and 'Standard' and all sorts of crazy stuff. What the hell are those?
A: In sanctioned Magic (that's tourney play), there are what are called 'formats', that may have different rules and different legal card pools. Standard and Extended are the most common 'Constructed' (played using pre-built 60 card decks with 15 card sideboards) formats. Limited is a different animal altogether.
You can find a list of formats HERE.
Q: Okay, that makes sense. I think I get it. You mentioned Limited... what's that?
A: Limited formats are the other side of the Tournament Magic coin. When playing limited Magic, you usually have a restricted pool of cards, usually from freshly opened product, that you must build a 40 card deck from. Standard Magical rules apply otherwise. The two most common Limited formats are Sealed Deck and Draft.
Q: What do you do when you play Sealed Deck or Draft, then?
A: Sealed Deck is very simple: you take a Tournament Pack and two boosters (sanctioned formats tend to use the newest block, for us that's the newly released Shards of Alara), rip 'em open and build your deck. Draft works a little differently; everyone has three packs. Everyone opens one, takes a card they like, and passes it to the next person. When all the cards are 'drafted', you build 40 card decks and play. In both cases, basic lands are provided by the tournament organizer.
A: Magic is a pretty complex game, but the basics are easy to get the hang of. Magic cards generally come in one of five colors that each specialize in different things. White, Blue, Black, Red, and finally Green. By laying down lands of appropriate colors you can add mana to your mana pool and 'cast' these cards into play, with the goal of driving your opponent's life total down from 20 to 0! For a more detailed explanation, see the resources at the end of the post.
Q: I keep hearing about 'Type 2' and 'Type 1.5' and 'Standard' and all sorts of crazy stuff. What the hell are those?
A: In sanctioned Magic (that's tourney play), there are what are called 'formats', that may have different rules and different legal card pools. Standard and Extended are the most common 'Constructed' (played using pre-built 60 card decks with 15 card sideboards) formats. Limited is a different animal altogether.
You can find a list of formats HERE.
Q: Okay, that makes sense. I think I get it. You mentioned Limited... what's that?
A: Limited formats are the other side of the Tournament Magic coin. When playing limited Magic, you usually have a restricted pool of cards, usually from freshly opened product, that you must build a 40 card deck from. Standard Magical rules apply otherwise. The two most common Limited formats are Sealed Deck and Draft.
Q: What do you do when you play Sealed Deck or Draft, then?
A: Sealed Deck is very simple: you take a Tournament Pack and two boosters (sanctioned formats tend to use the newest block, for us that's the newly released Shards of Alara), rip 'em open and build your deck. Draft works a little differently; everyone has three packs. Everyone opens one, takes a card they like, and passes it to the next person. When all the cards are 'drafted', you build 40 card decks and play. In both cases, basic lands are provided by the tournament organizer.
Helpful Links for New Guys
The last OP didn't have any information, and the last thread was filled with people asking a lot of the same questions. So I'm going to compile links to various articles and resources around the web so that new guys can absorb some information and refine their questions to be more specific; that way, we can provide clearer, more helpful answers.
Magicthegathering.com - This is the Magic mothership! You can find all sorts of goodies here, including article series that cover the many facets of magic from both a player and designer perspective. I'm pretty partial to Making Magic, Building on a Budget, and Limited Information!
Gatherer, the Magic Card Database - This is Wizards' official database. You search for cards using some different parameters (color, cost, artist, to name a few)
Starcity Games - This is probably the next biggest Magic site next to the mothership; it has its own database alongside its own daily columns. As an added bonus, Starcity is a very reputable Magic retailer, and is a good place to look if you want a price reference for certain cards.
The Magic Academy - This is a series at the magic web site that was written purely as a tool for new players to get themselves familiar with the game. While it doesn't talk about the BASIC BASICS, it does explain to beginner players the philosophies behind certain cards, when to play them, when to attack, how to block correctly, and other helpful topics.
Essentialmagic.com - This is another very helpful magic site that allows you to construct decks and post them online for critique. It also has a comprehensive list of formats and what sets are legal in each of them.
Five Rules for Avoiding Manascrew - This is an article I think is indispensable for any player as it teaches how to devise a solid mana base for any deck in a few easy steps.
Deckbuilding 101: Five Tips for Better Deckbuilding - This is another article I consider to be a must-read for any Magic player. It doesn't really discuss specific strategy, but certain fundamentals that every Magic player should absorb right into his bone marrow. Yes it is that important.
The Magic Rules page - This is where you can find the comprehensive rules alongside a list of every keyword in magic.
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As I am only one man, I can't begin to compile a list of everything off the top of my head, so if you have stuff you think should be added to the OP that isn't there, please say so. I want this OP to be the kind of post you can link to when answering questions.
Super Namicchi on
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In fact the last time I had any interaction with Magic was at a Mechwarrior game a few years ago.
"Eh, Magic. Who even plays magic anymore?"
"Er, uh. We do."
faux pas'd
Although ZB! does have this cool spell book you put your cards in...
Seems lame to me.
It mostly has to do with card availability and power; the 'evergreen' formats like Legacy, Vintage, and Extended to a lesser extent have a higher power and price curve which can often be restrictive. Wizards likes to mix it up, and Standard offers a fairly large card pool without being filled with absurd combos and the like.
it also offers variety in that every season there is a set rotation, which pulls a block of cards in and adds a new block. It keeps deckbuilders on their toes and keeps the metagame from feeling stagnant.
Compare this to Extended, which has had a few dominant deck archetypes that have been dominant and will continue to be dominant for a long time (sets in Extended rotate a lot slower). Goblins is a good example.
1x Flameblast Dragon
1x Sharding Sphinx
1x Sanctum Gargoyle
1x Etherium Sculptor
1x Windwright Mage
1x Fire-Field Ogre
1x Cloudheath Drake
1x Fatestitcher
1x Glaze Fiend
1x Goblin Deathraiders
1x Cancel
1x Punish Ignorance
2x Magma Spray
2x Grixis Charm
1x Blightning
1x Resounding Wave
1x Kiss of the Amesha
1x Courier's Capsule
1x Sigil of Distinction
1x Obelisk of Grixis
1x Obelisk of Esper
5x Island
4x Mountain
3x Swamp
1x Plains
1x Arcane Sanctum
1x Savage Lands
1x Esper Panorama
1x Naya Panorama
What I should have done was replace a Mountain for a Plains and Glaze Fiend and Goblin Deathraiders for a second Resounding Wave and a Dispeller's Capsule, because oh my God Oblivion Rings were freaking everywhere. I also got 2-for-1'd by Branching Bolt plenty of times. On the other hand lifegain is amazing in this format. Put me out of a tight situation more often than not. Lifelink coupled with Sigil of Distinction is just devestating. Kiss of the Amesha was amazing too, especially in a slow format like this.
So in the end I went 4-3-drop. Oh well.
Sneak attack Deck!!!!
4 Wild Research
2 Oros, The Avenger
2 Numot, the Devastator
2 Yosei, the Morning Star
2 Ryusei, the Falling Star
2 Kokusho, the Evening Star
2 Kilnmouth Dragon
2 Keiga, The Tide Star
2 Bogarden Hellkite
2 Nicol Bolas
4 Rite of Flame
4 Bladewing the Risen
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Mox Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
4 Sneak Attack
As you can see, it's using a lot of random large power dragons, so that after they are sacrificed I can use Bladewing the Risen to pull them back into play for free. If I can get Sneak attack out, I do about 30-40 damage in the next turn or two. Problem is getting sneak attack out and keeping it out,
Although, overall it's probably cheaper to play Legacy over a long time than Standard or Extended because the good cards will always be good (and expensive), whereas, for example, Bitterblossom will lose most of it's value once it rotates out of Standard.
4x Looming Shade
my present deck
edit: you may be thinking that i've overcrowded my deck with mana. well, the fact of the matter is that I used to go with more standard approaches, IE 20 land, or 15 land + 5~ free mana sources, and so on, but I never seemed to be able to buff my looming shades to 57/57 each round with that build.
edit2: yes, i understand that it will presently require me to survive at least 56 rounds to buff my looming shades to 57/57 each round with this build. however, i have to assume that my deck is so superior to anyone i might face that the actual survival will be easy.
Yeah but how will they possibly survive those four rounds!
It's genius, it's incredible.
I'll bypass things like Armageddon by threatening my opponents with a wrench.
I have Doubling Season and I play a planeswalker. Do they come into play with double their amount of loyalty counters? What about using their abilities that add counters? Do those get doubled?
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
they will come into play with double loyalty
their +loyalty abilities won't double though since it's paid as a cost
chump block with 56 turns worth of creatures
They come into play with double the loyalty counters, but the first ability that planeswalkers have that increases loyalty will not be doubled, because the increase in loyalty is a cost, and not an effect.
I think you are forgetting the wrench I carry with me to games
well, when you put it that way...
but, still, i don't want to have cards that won't be allowed in the future
I like the way you think
the Magic Police won't come around to your house if you don't stick to the Standard format within your magic group.
That's why you keep those cards to use in older formats and casual games. STD is just the most "Current" format along with Block (Which is technically MORE current, but anyone who wants to argue can STFU instead please).
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
You could just play type 1, or vintage or whatever it is those crazy kids be calling it these days, instead of type 2. Allows all the cards with a few being banned/restricted cuz they just be so crazy.
Lots of options there, some of the more popular ones:
Terror
Executioner's Capsule
Deathmark
Wrath of God
Bant Charm
Oh wont we now....
Knock Knock!
Who is it?
Magic Police! We've got a report of someone using a Force of Nature card in a tourney format at this address! You sick freaks, you're coming downtown with us...
Backlash has always been one of my favorite casual cards. Threaten is a similar idea in standard, with an added bonus if you happen to have a way to sacrifice the creature that turn.
Bouncing the creature back to the opponents hand and/or countering the actual spell has long been the bluest way of dealing with big creatures.
Goldmeadow Harrier? Trip Noose? Any creature that's indestructable, or with protection from the relevant color, or that regenerates (depending on what evasive abilities the fatties in question have)
Righteousness? Loyal Sentry? Something with deathtouch? The choice is yours.
Regenerate confuses me a bit. Can you use it when it is not your turn and someone attacks?
oblivion ring
oblivion ring
a thousand times oblivion ring
Now, I haven't played a game with it yet, but after a few test hands I think I need more mana. In elf decks before Ive always run under 1/3 of the deck mana, but there it was more guaranteed to get a low cost mana producer. So I could use some advice on what to take out for mana. Also I kind of just threw a lot of this together, I didn't really think about win conditions. I guess its kind of amass the elves and charge? A few x spells to make use of the abundance of mana late game, a few big creatures to help beef up the front lines. I guess I could use some direction with it. Maybe I should add alot more mana elves and a R/G general and turn it into true Elfball, lotsa mana and X damage. I dunno, what do you guys think?
DECK!
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
You might want to try adding Survival of the Fittest. It does cool things with Genesis & Masked Admirers.
Maybe the G cycle lands. Sure they CIPT, but late game you can cycle them if you have too much lands.
Stream of Life, Moment's Peace, Crash Landing, Gaea's Anthem, Squall Line and Hurricane seem potentially sub-par. I guess Squall Line & Hurricane can be used to finish up a bunch of people low on life total, assuming you're not also low on life.
I don't know how much money you have to spend, but one thing you can do to up your land count is add a bunch of man-lands. Treetop village & Mishra's Factory come to mind. Mutavault might be more synergistic with the rest of your deck, but unless you already have one I'd be loathe to spend that much money on a card that might lose most of its value when it rotates out of Standard in a year.
Deepwood Elder - Creature - Spellshaper [2/2]
XGG, tap, Discard a card from your hand: X target lands become forests until end of turn.
Gaea's Liege - Creature - Avatar [*/*]
Gaea's Liege's power and toughness are each equal to the number of Forests you control. As long as Gaea's Liege is attacking, its power and toughness are each equal to the number of Forests defending player controls instead.
T: Target land becomes a Forest until Gaea's Liege leaves play.
Thelonite Monk - Summon - Cleric [1/2]
tap: Sacrifice a green creature to turn a target land into a basic forest. Mark changed land with a counter.
Yavimaya Dryad - Creature - Dryad [2/1]
Forestwalk
When Yavimaya Dryad comes into play, you may search your library for a Forest card and put it into play tapped under target player's control. If you do, shuffle your library.
Also, you want tons of forest in play, so where's the Foratog? Some other spells to perhaps consider, to help accelerate the mana play:
Gaea's Touch - Enchantment
You may put one additional land in play during each of your turns, but that land must be a basic forest. You may sacrifice Gaea's Touch to add GG to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss - Sorcery
Destroy target land. Search your library for a Forest card and put that card into play tapped. Then shuffle your library.
why would i use that when i can use one that removes the card permanently?