There are few creatures worth playing in the Origins Duels card set that don't die to Languish, I'm afraid.
yeah like
off the top of my head, Kytheon, if you're lucky and he's already invincible
and
that's about it
Languish is like a soft Wrath of God, basically.
*e* Also, I have survived Languish with the ELFS ELFS ELFS deck by virtue of Elfs being cheap as hell, so I was able to just start shoving them right back on the field.
I need to point out that regeneration and indestructibility do nothing to save a creature from toughness reduction.
The only way to survive that is to increase your toughness.
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scherbchenAsgard (it is dead)Registered Userregular
I was trying the ol Red/White Deckbuilder deck now that I have both Chandra and Kytheon, and I got locked in a total bullshit duel with a guy running... I forget, but some enchantment that let him pay a bunch of mana each turn to cause me to lose 2 life and him to gain 2 life
Got him down to 1 life with Chandra, with me at 14, when he got a lucky draw with Reave Soul, killed her, and even though we were basically toe-to-toe with creatures he whittled me down and himself up with the enchantment until I lost I need to double-check the deckbuilt deck to see if it has ANY enchantment removal AT ALL bc that's literally what killed me here.
I was trying the ol Red/White Deckbuilder deck now that I have both Chandra and Kytheon, and I got locked in a total bullshit duel with a guy running... I forget, but some enchantment that let him pay a bunch of mana each turn to cause me to lose 2 life and him to gain 2 life
Got him down to 1 life with Chandra, with me at 14, when he got a lucky draw with Reave Soul, killed her, and even though we were basically toe-to-toe with creatures he whittled me down and himself up with the enchantment until I lost I need to double-check the deckbuilt deck to see if it has ANY enchantment removal AT ALL bc that's literally what killed me here.
Don't use the deckbuilder unless you reaaaaally haaaave tooooo, it's terrible.
I was trying the ol Red/White Deckbuilder deck now that I have both Chandra and Kytheon, and I got locked in a total bullshit duel with a guy running... I forget, but some enchantment that let him pay a bunch of mana each turn to cause me to lose 2 life and him to gain 2 life
Got him down to 1 life with Chandra, with me at 14, when he got a lucky draw with Reave Soul, killed her, and even though we were basically toe-to-toe with creatures he whittled me down and himself up with the enchantment until I lost I need to double-check the deckbuilt deck to see if it has ANY enchantment removal AT ALL bc that's literally what killed me here.
Red/White has no enchantment removal. Best you could do would be Suppression Bounds or Angelic Edict, but those are awfully costly responses to Shadows of the Past.
You'd probably be better served by trimming down the number of lands and going more aggro? That being said, if you're Boros Aggro, if you're out of gas, you're out of gas.
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
I was trying the ol Red/White Deckbuilder deck now that I have both Chandra and Kytheon, and I got locked in a total bullshit duel with a guy running... I forget, but some enchantment that let him pay a bunch of mana each turn to cause me to lose 2 life and him to gain 2 life
Got him down to 1 life with Chandra, with me at 14, when he got a lucky draw with Reave Soul, killed her, and even though we were basically toe-to-toe with creatures he whittled me down and himself up with the enchantment until I lost I need to double-check the deckbuilt deck to see if it has ANY enchantment removal AT ALL bc that's literally what killed me here.
Red/White has no enchantment removal. Best you could do would be Suppression Bounds or Angelic Edict, but those are awfully costly responses to Shadows of the Past.
You'd probably be better served by trimming down the number of lands and going more aggro? That being said, if you're Boros Aggro, if you're out of gas, you're out of gas.
Origins Duels is weird like that, because White is usually one of the go-to colours for Enchantment removal. Like, the only other colour with some is Green.
Actually, yeah. What CAN get rid of enchantments in Origins Duels?
I was trying the ol Red/White Deckbuilder deck now that I have both Chandra and Kytheon, and I got locked in a total bullshit duel with a guy running... I forget, but some enchantment that let him pay a bunch of mana each turn to cause me to lose 2 life and him to gain 2 life
Got him down to 1 life with Chandra, with me at 14, when he got a lucky draw with Reave Soul, killed her, and even though we were basically toe-to-toe with creatures he whittled me down and himself up with the enchantment until I lost I need to double-check the deckbuilt deck to see if it has ANY enchantment removal AT ALL bc that's literally what killed me here.
Red/White has no enchantment removal. Best you could do would be Suppression Bounds or Angelic Edict, but those are awfully costly responses to Shadows of the Past.
You'd probably be better served by trimming down the number of lands and going more aggro? That being said, if you're Boros Aggro, if you're out of gas, you're out of gas.
Origins Duels is weird like that, because White is usually one of the go-to colours for Enchantment removal. Like, the only other colour with some is Green.
Actually, yeah. What CAN get rid of enchantments in Origins Duels?
Off the top of my head, Angelic Edict, Conclave Naturalists, Reclamation Sage.
I was trying the ol Red/White Deckbuilder deck now that I have both Chandra and Kytheon, and I got locked in a total bullshit duel with a guy running... I forget, but some enchantment that let him pay a bunch of mana each turn to cause me to lose 2 life and him to gain 2 life
Got him down to 1 life with Chandra, with me at 14, when he got a lucky draw with Reave Soul, killed her, and even though we were basically toe-to-toe with creatures he whittled me down and himself up with the enchantment until I lost I need to double-check the deckbuilt deck to see if it has ANY enchantment removal AT ALL bc that's literally what killed me here.
Red/White has no enchantment removal. Best you could do would be Suppression Bounds or Angelic Edict, but those are awfully costly responses to Shadows of the Past.
You'd probably be better served by trimming down the number of lands and going more aggro? That being said, if you're Boros Aggro, if you're out of gas, you're out of gas.
Origins Duels is weird like that, because White is usually one of the go-to colours for Enchantment removal. Like, the only other colour with some is Green.
Actually, yeah. What CAN get rid of enchantments in Origins Duels?
Off the top of my head, Angelic Edict, Conclave Naturalists, Reclamation Sage.
I keep telling myself I'm going to save gold for the next set release, but I always end up spending it on new packs. Then again there are some really core cards I still miss for my favourite blue/black reanimation control deck. In particular I could really use a second languish and Jace, and I wouldn't mind a couple of possessed skaabs and a priest of the blood rite or two as well.
I keep telling myself I'm going to save gold for the next set release, but I always end up spending it on new packs. Then again there are some really core cards I still miss for my favourite blue/black reanimation control deck. In particular I could really use a second languish and Jace, and I wouldn't mind a couple of possessed skaabs and a priest of the blood rite or two as well.
IS there going to be a second release?
The way I've been figuring it is that the more cards I get in this release, the better I'll do in duels in this release, which means the more gold I'll get IN GENERAL for the NEXT release.
I keep telling myself I'm going to save gold for the next set release, but I always end up spending it on new packs. Then again there are some really core cards I still miss for my favourite blue/black reanimation control deck. In particular I could really use a second languish and Jace, and I wouldn't mind a couple of possessed skaabs and a priest of the blood rite or two as well.
IS there going to be a second release?
The way I've been figuring it is that the more cards I get in this release, the better I'll do in duels in this release, which means the more gold I'll get IN GENERAL for the NEXT release.
I keep telling myself I'm going to save gold for the next set release, but I always end up spending it on new packs. Then again there are some really core cards I still miss for my favourite blue/black reanimation control deck. In particular I could really use a second languish and Jace, and I wouldn't mind a couple of possessed skaabs and a priest of the blood rite or two as well.
IS there going to be a second release?
The way I've been figuring it is that the more cards I get in this release, the better I'll do in duels in this release, which means the more gold I'll get IN GENERAL for the NEXT release.
How do you mean?
Meaning, are they going to bother releasing more cards for this game, when basically everyone thinks its trash and I doubt many people are playing it? I mean I'm playing it, but that's literally because I don't like Hearthstone and I'm waiting for the Elder Scrolls Card Game (which I actually did QA on back in the day >>; even the very early janky buggy build I was on at least had a better story mode than this thing) to come out.
ANYWAY
Hey guys I'm getting hella bored with my Elf deck. Could y'all post some of the decks you've had the most success with, so I can try to custom-build my own? I'm interested in maybe a Red/White weenie or a Black/Red "GOT UR MANS, now they will fuel MY mans" deck. i finally have some dang Topan Freeblades so White should be easier to do. i also have Chandra now, and boy is Chandra mean once you flip her.
I keep telling myself I'm going to save gold for the next set release, but I always end up spending it on new packs. Then again there are some really core cards I still miss for my favourite blue/black reanimation control deck. In particular I could really use a second languish and Jace, and I wouldn't mind a couple of possessed skaabs and a priest of the blood rite or two as well.
IS there going to be a second release?
The way I've been figuring it is that the more cards I get in this release, the better I'll do in duels in this release, which means the more gold I'll get IN GENERAL for the NEXT release.
How do you mean?
Meaning, are they going to bother releasing more cards for this game, when basically everyone thinks its trash and I doubt many people are playing it? I mean I'm playing it, but that's literally because I don't like Hearthstone and I'm waiting for the Elder Scrolls Card Game (which I actually did QA on back in the day >>; even the very early janky buggy build I was on at least had a better story mode than this thing) to come out.
ANYWAY
Hey guys I'm getting hella bored with my Elf deck. Could y'all post some of the decks you've had the most success with, so I can try to custom-build my own? I'm interested in maybe a Red/White weenie or a Black/Red "GOT UR MANS, now they will fuel MY mans" deck. i finally have some dang Topan Freeblades so White should be easier to do. i also have Chandra now, and boy is Chandra mean once you flip her.
B/R Threaten Sacrifice is pretty fun - Bloodflow Connoisseur, Blazing Hellhound, Natuko Husk and Bone Splinters as sacrifice engines. All the Acts of Treason and Lose Calms you can, add in some Abs of Treason, uh, I mean Enthralling Sixpack, uh, Enthralling Victors if you want them. Pad out with creatures that have effects on death, like Goblin Arsonist, Perilous Myr, Guardian Automaton, etc. It's funnnnn.
Red/White aggro renown, and Green/White defensive renown are also good, though G/W has the edge on card advantage and absolute removal thanks to Valeron Wardens (draw a card when something gets renown) and all the white straight up remove/sacrifice, rather than red's damage-based removal.
I keep telling myself I'm going to save gold for the next set release, but I always end up spending it on new packs. Then again there are some really core cards I still miss for my favourite blue/black reanimation control deck. In particular I could really use a second languish and Jace, and I wouldn't mind a couple of possessed skaabs and a priest of the blood rite or two as well.
IS there going to be a second release?
The way I've been figuring it is that the more cards I get in this release, the better I'll do in duels in this release, which means the more gold I'll get IN GENERAL for the NEXT release.
How do you mean?
Meaning, are they going to bother releasing more cards for this game, when basically everyone thinks its trash and I doubt many people are playing it? I mean I'm playing it, but that's literally because I don't like Hearthstone and I'm waiting for the Elder Scrolls Card Game (which I actually did QA on back in the day >>; even the very early janky buggy build I was on at least had a better story mode than this thing) to come out.
ANYWAY
Hey guys I'm getting hella bored with my Elf deck. Could y'all post some of the decks you've had the most success with, so I can try to custom-build my own? I'm interested in maybe a Red/White weenie or a Black/Red "GOT UR MANS, now they will fuel MY mans" deck. i finally have some dang Topan Freeblades so White should be easier to do. i also have Chandra now, and boy is Chandra mean once you flip her.
The reason it sucks is due to a lack of cards. They've told us that we'd get more cards as the real game gets more expansions. Battle for Zendikar comes out in a few weeks in early October. Expect more cards then.
The spoiler season hype train for the paper game has already begun.
Got a new bug after the patch - wins that qualify for more than one quest aren't triggering both. Got a quest for 2 BU deck wins and another for 4 BU deck wins and only the 2-win quest showed progress.
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
Oh, to have more than one quest. It seems like a coin flip for it to even give me a quest a day. Bleh.
Oh, to have more than one quest. It seems like a coin flip for it to even give me a quest a day. Bleh.
TBH the fact that I kinda get bored and stop playing for days or weeks at a time seems to help this >>;
My biggest problem right now is that I'll finish quests, and for some reason the gold payout won't happen, even if it's literally the first thing I've done in a week (so I haven't hit the gold cap) It EVENTUALLY shows up in my gold balance, but only after like... logging out, or something.
Oh, to have more than one quest. It seems like a coin flip for it to even give me a quest a day. Bleh.
TBH the fact that I kinda get bored and stop playing for days or weeks at a time seems to help this >>;
My biggest problem right now is that I'll finish quests, and for some reason the gold payout won't happen, even if it's literally the first thing I've done in a week (so I haven't hit the gold cap) It EVENTUALLY shows up in my gold balance, but only after like... logging out, or something.
Yeah. That happens all the time for me.
Actually, I think the Put 20 +1/+1 counters on your creatures quest is bugged too. I think it initially triggers based on the # counters you put on creatures, but after I've gotten my gold, I've logged out and logged back in before, and the quest is still there with the count being the # of creatures I've put counters on, so I get to do it again.
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scherbchenAsgard (it is dead)Registered Userregular
ok my Abzan/Junk pile is starting to work a lot better.
might have been due to some changes or me playing better drunk.
I wish they would change/fix the "archetypical" quests. I don't mind brewing up a deck to meet their criteria, but it will be a cold day in hell before I touch a deck creation wizard with a 10 foot pole.
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
ok my Abzan/Junk pile is starting to work a lot better.
might have been due to some changes or me playing better drunk.
¿por que no los dos?
So how's it looking now? Not sure what qualifies in Origins as 'junk'. I've had most luck with red/white aggro renown (removal is okay), green/white renown (removal is... kinda okay) and red/black threaten/sacrifice (removal is bonkers but it's way more dependent on 'combo' strats).
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scherbchenAsgard (it is dead)Registered Userregular
ok my Abzan/Junk pile is starting to work a lot better.
might have been due to some changes or me playing better drunk.
¿por que no los dos?
So how's it looking now? Not sure what qualifies in Origins as 'junk'. I've had most luck with red/white aggro renown (removal is okay), green/white renown (removal is... kinda okay) and red/black threaten/sacrifice (removal is bonkers but it's way more dependent on 'combo' strats).
3 Island
3 Plains
3 Forest
2 of each Dual, Tapland
2 Evolving Wilds
it really kind of turned into getting Planeswalkers to stick or revive and board clearers. Hopefully BFZ gives some more juice on that front as the 2 you are limited to is a bit on the light side.
Tried out both a Black/Red sacrifice and a Red/White Renown / all the mans, and both remain inferior to just spamming B/G ELVES ELVES ELVES ELVES ELVES
Which pisses me off because back in ye day I thought ELVES ELVES ELVES was a cheap shitty tactic (ELVES ARE JUST A CHEAP TACTIC TO MAKE WEAK DECKS STRONGER*) and I still think that because it's literally just "idk spam all the things" in deck form. Yet here I am, relying on it because my other decks aren't working out
Black/Red sacrifice is pretty fiddly and draw-dependent, since you have to have those sac outlets and those throwaway creatures; having just one or the other is screwy.
I'm not a fan of Red/White renown, mostly because the Red renown creatures are overcosted. I find Green/White renown works better, with Green slipping in its creatures at low cost/big size, enabling them to attack through for renown.
I wonder if duels will adopt the paper game's new mulligan rule this fall?
Just looked this up -- I REALLY like this rule and I agree with the problem of players who barely get to play before losing. I hate games where either I or my opponent gets mana screwed super badly so we're sunk early on.
I wonder if duels will adopt the paper game's new mulligan rule this fall?
Just looked this up -- I REALLY like this rule and I agree with the problem of players who barely get to play before losing. I hate games where either I or my opponent gets mana screwed super badly so we're sunk early on.
I won a couple of games at FNM last night where my opponents didn't even get to resolve a spell.
Not being able to resolve a single spell is usually a sign of either bad deck building or poor decisions keeping hands (I've seen new players trying to run stompy decks with 17 land )
But yeah, there is a risk of dud games that end before they start.
A few weeks ago I had what looked like a great hand for mono-black aggro at fnm. The hand looked good. 3 lands and 4 good spells. But then I drew nothing but land for the next 5 turns or so. Which is an extreme outlier because my deck's curve stops at 3 so I only have 21 lands in the deck.
The previous game my opening hand had 2 lands (which is a fine number for an aggressive aggro deck whose curve stops at 3), but I never found a third land even after resolving three "sign in bloods." It really sucked because I had a couple of Mogis's Marauders in hand that would have blown my opponent out if I would have curved into them.
I had just assembled that deck the night before, so I personally suspect I just hadn't properly finished my initial series of shuffling the deck and lands were still clumped up. Even so, that happens from time to time at even the highest level of play.
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
edited September 2015
It was a control deck that had an unfortunate combination of taplands in the opening hand, so he had 1 land available in his turn2, my turn 3, and I'd pretty much emptied my hand onto the table, as I was playing mono red. He managed to Negate a Wild Slash on my turn 4 when I killed him.
Second game, he resolved a Liliana Vess. Then died.
Talrand? Wasn't he from m13? Was this modern? Ouch. Control in general isn't doing so hot in modern, and both talrand and Lili 1.0 strike me as slow for modern. I can see how modern mono red could sprint in for the ko before he gets those kinds of spells off.
Which reminds me that they REALLY need to reprint Liliana of the veil somewhere. I already have my playset from years ago for my 8rack deck, but I nearly fainted when I saw what happened to her price (~$96 average price) . I'm hesitant to actually sit down and play with cards that pricey. It is the first card I've felt the need to double sleeve.
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
Taplands. >_> I was on my phone.
Basically I won on turn 4 first game, and turn 5 second. It was FAST.
Sideboard:
Creatures (2)
2x Acolyte of the Inferno
Instant (5)
3x Magma Spray
2x Smash to Smithereens
Sorcery (8)
4x Barrage of Boulders
4x Roast
It's not exactly optimal, but it's pretty good, I think. Might have to switch to goblins after the Theros stuff rotates out. I got a couple of Piledrivers in the Origins prerelease, so.
Mono-red is pretty good in standard right now. IMO it will be pretty potent post rotation while the meta is trying to stabilize. I've been playing Mono-black aggro in standard for the past few weeks. Definitely a weaker deck in the format and a bit weak to abzan goodstuff, but it was dirt cheap to build and has some SUPERB one drops in blood soaked champion, mardu shadowspear, and thornbow archer. My biggest loss post rotation will be Mogis's Marauder, but I REALLY hope that new Drana ends up being legit because it will be auto-include in here (the leaker has proven legit for other cards like Circle of Hedrons)
Speculative New Drana
1BB
Legendary vampire ally
Flying, first strike
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to an opponent, put a +1/+1 counter on each attacking creature you control.
2/3
At least 3 copies of her would be auto-included in my deck. Only the legendary status would make me hesitate about slotting four of that. If she is legit, I hope she makes her way into Duels alongside a bunch of allies from BFZ.
My current standard deck, if anyone cares, is this:
If standard were continuing as is, I'd probably replace the Blood-chin fanatics with some Brutal Hordechiefs since I don't think my warrior sub-theme is as strong as some other mono-black aggro lists.
However I've taken a hiatus from tweaking the deck until BFZ comes out. Hoping the new Drana is legit and I'm hoping for some quality removal to replace bile blight and potentially touch of moonglove. Moonglove pushes some significant damage through with blood-chin rager forcing double-blocks and it provides a generic way to kill big threats, but I would like to avoid the 2-for-1 (even if I am trading low value cards for both damage and an opposing player's high value card).
[/deck]
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
Touch of Moonglove with Blood Chin Rager is a bit more than a 2-for-2 if they block, 'cause you also do damage to the opponent, which is pretty neat. Nice combo there.
I'm going to play Mardu Warrior Goggles once Theros/M15 rotate out and I get my playset of Bloodsoaked Champions back from a friend, and go for a sorta midrangey deck that can change to aggro or more control through sideboarding, if I work it out right.
Also casting Chandra's Ignition through Pyromancy Goggles targetting a Butcher of the Horde, then saccing a dude to give Butcher lifelink is giving me butterflies thinking of the lifegain.
Then I'd attack through a clear board and bring back any Champions sitting in my graveyard. Yummy.
So I have an old box of VERY OLD cards. Like a lot of 6th edition and even some Arabian Knights / Ice Age I think. I have 3 Time Warps. I am also still... not good at deckbuilding.
If I compiled a catalog of these, could y'all help me build some functional decks?
So I have an old box of VERY OLD cards. Like a lot of 6th edition and even some Arabian Knights / Ice Age I think. I have 3 Time Warps. I am also still... not good at deckbuilding.
If I compiled a catalog of these, could y'all help me build some functional decks?
We can try. I assume you just mean friendly games playing with friends? Usually it is hard to make a "competitive" deck out of a box of cards. Especially if they are old cards since then the formats where they'd generally be used are legacy or vintage where the power levels of the decks get super high.
We might also be able to help you spot anything of value. Some old cards can fetch a pretty penny.
So I have an old box of VERY OLD cards. Like a lot of 6th edition and even some Arabian Knights / Ice Age I think. I have 3 Time Warps. I am also still... not good at deckbuilding.
If I compiled a catalog of these, could y'all help me build some functional decks?
We can try. I assume you just mean friendly games playing with friends? Usually it is hard to make a "competitive" deck out of a box of cards. Especially if they are old cards since then the formats where they'd generally be used are legacy or vintage where the power levels of the decks get super high.
We might also be able to help you spot anything of value. Some old cards can fetch a pretty penny.
Oh yeah, just gaming with friends. I'll probably get started on it later this week; it's a very large box. I do think some of the cards are also of pretty high value. *e* My biggest sadness is that my brother & my favorite card, Skyship Weatherlight, is missing from the box. We seriously do not know what happened to that thing. So is Planeswalker's Mischief, Planeswalker's Scorn, and that one card that was "add a 5/5 red dragon token to the field; Storm" (storm is "this spell is duplicated for every spell cast previously this turn;" in a deck with a lot of cheap stuff, they can get stupid fast). I'm still angry that those four cards are the ones we lost, like, good job, past us!
In other news, I tried out a U/R Artifact deck today and it's really fun. I think what I want for it at this point are more Alchemist's Vials, because I want to set up a chain where Esperzoa bounces Alchemist Vial combined with Sphinx's Tutelage for super bouncy discard fun. Unfortunately, I only have 2 vials and 4 espers
At this point, the Medium difficulty bot keeps beating me, so I think I need more tweaks. I unfortunately also don't own that card that lets you draw 2 cards with no discard if you own an artifact... if I can get that plus two more Vials I think I'll have a really fun draw-discard engine going.
Unfortunately, in the end my ELFS ELFS ELFS ELFS deck remains the superior option all around. Tbh, I think the B/G elves are straight up broken in Origins. You get RIDICULOUS removal, and while some of the removal costs you creatures, you can then abuse the graveyard with Scarred Vinebreeder. Scarred Vinebreeder & Scarblade has saved my bacon more than once (discard elves for removal with Scarblade, use the discarded elfs for Vinebreeder fuel). Finally, there's still the obvious MANS MANS MANS abuse, and then the Archers (I always forget what the hell elf tribe those guys are; the x/x for each Elf you control guys) become your GIANT TERRIFYING TANKS plus FLYING REMOVAL guys. It's both stupid powerful when it gets rolling but also has enough small mans and contingency to work even when you don't draw the necessary cards for the INFINITE MANS engine. The ONLY thing I wish it did better was returning dead mans to the battlefield and better mana generation, but every time I've added those things in it has been at the cost of the better aspects of the deck.
So I have an old box of VERY OLD cards. Like a lot of 6th edition and even some Arabian Knights / Ice Age I think. I have 3 Time Warps. I am also still... not good at deckbuilding.
If I compiled a catalog of these, could y'all help me build some functional decks?
We can try. I assume you just mean friendly games playing with friends? Usually it is hard to make a "competitive" deck out of a box of cards. Especially if they are old cards since then the formats where they'd generally be used are legacy or vintage where the power levels of the decks get super high.
We might also be able to help you spot anything of value. Some old cards can fetch a pretty penny.
Oh yeah, just gaming with friends. I'll probably get started on it later this week; it's a very large box. I do think some of the cards are also of pretty high value. *e* My biggest sadness is that my brother & my favorite card, Skyship Weatherlight, is missing from the box. We seriously do not know what happened to that thing. So is Planeswalker's Mischief, Planeswalker's Scorn, and that one card that was "add a 5/5 red dragon token to the field; Storm" (storm is "this spell is duplicated for every spell cast previously this turn;" in a deck with a lot of cheap stuff, they can get stupid fast). I'm still angry that those four cards are the ones we lost, like, good job, past us!
In other news, I tried out a U/R Artifact deck today and it's really fun. I think what I want for it at this point are more Alchemist's Vials, because I want to set up a chain where Esperzoa bounces Alchemist Vial combined with Sphinx's Tutelage for super bouncy discard fun. Unfortunately, I only have 2 vials and 4 espers
At this point, the Medium difficulty bot keeps beating me, so I think I need more tweaks. I unfortunately also don't own that card that lets you draw 2 cards with no discard if you own an artifact... if I can get that plus two more Vials I think I'll have a really fun draw-discard engine going.
Unfortunately, in the end my ELFS ELFS ELFS ELFS deck remains the superior option all around. Tbh, I think the B/G elves are straight up broken in Origins. You get RIDICULOUS removal, and while some of the removal costs you creatures, you can then abuse the graveyard with Scarred Vinebreeder. Scarred Vinebreeder & Scarblade has saved my bacon more than once (discard elves for removal with Scarblade, use the discarded elfs for Vinebreeder fuel). Finally, there's still the obvious MANS MANS MANS abuse, and then the Archers (I always forget what the hell elf tribe those guys are; the x/x for each Elf you control guys) become your GIANT TERRIFYING TANKS plus FLYING REMOVAL guys. It's both stupid powerful when it gets rolling but also has enough small mans and contingency to work even when you don't draw the necessary cards for the INFINITE MANS engine. The ONLY thing I wish it did better was returning dead mans to the battlefield and better mana generation, but every time I've added those things in it has been at the cost of the better aspects of the deck.
The cards you really need for U/R thopters are, imo, Thopter Sky Squadron and the ... 2/3 hasty damage on incoming something Artificer.
The only thing about Elves is that it's super-fragile and vulnerable to removal, in particular mass removal. The Duels version doesn't have ramp, and its key cards are around 3-4 mana, which makes it a little slower than desirable for a deck of smaller tribal creatures.
Posts
The only way to survive that is to increase your toughness.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
aye, Ignition is at least as much a fold button for most decks.
U/G might work for me I have discovered.
it is also utterly annoying to me the way you can not set priority stops in Duels. how the fuck was Shandalaar better in that regard than this?
I was trying the ol Red/White Deckbuilder deck now that I have both Chandra and Kytheon, and I got locked in a total bullshit duel with a guy running... I forget, but some enchantment that let him pay a bunch of mana each turn to cause me to lose 2 life and him to gain 2 life
Got him down to 1 life with Chandra, with me at 14, when he got a lucky draw with Reave Soul, killed her, and even though we were basically toe-to-toe with creatures he whittled me down and himself up with the enchantment until I lost I need to double-check the deckbuilt deck to see if it has ANY enchantment removal AT ALL bc that's literally what killed me here.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
Like, only ever use it for daily quest things.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
Red/White has no enchantment removal. Best you could do would be Suppression Bounds or Angelic Edict, but those are awfully costly responses to Shadows of the Past.
You'd probably be better served by trimming down the number of lands and going more aggro? That being said, if you're Boros Aggro, if you're out of gas, you're out of gas.
Actually, yeah. What CAN get rid of enchantments in Origins Duels?
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
Off the top of my head, Angelic Edict, Conclave Naturalists, Reclamation Sage.
My last pack had 3 Claustrophobias in it. Wtf game.
Solemn Offering is in there too, I believe.
IS there going to be a second release?
The way I've been figuring it is that the more cards I get in this release, the better I'll do in duels in this release, which means the more gold I'll get IN GENERAL for the NEXT release.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
How do you mean?
Meaning, are they going to bother releasing more cards for this game, when basically everyone thinks its trash and I doubt many people are playing it? I mean I'm playing it, but that's literally because I don't like Hearthstone and I'm waiting for the Elder Scrolls Card Game (which I actually did QA on back in the day >>; even the very early janky buggy build I was on at least had a better story mode than this thing) to come out.
ANYWAY
Hey guys I'm getting hella bored with my Elf deck. Could y'all post some of the decks you've had the most success with, so I can try to custom-build my own? I'm interested in maybe a Red/White weenie or a Black/Red "GOT UR MANS, now they will fuel MY mans" deck. i finally have some dang Topan Freeblades so White should be easier to do. i also have Chandra now, and boy is Chandra mean once you flip her.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
B/R Threaten Sacrifice is pretty fun - Bloodflow Connoisseur, Blazing Hellhound, Natuko Husk and Bone Splinters as sacrifice engines. All the Acts of Treason and Lose Calms you can, add in some Abs of Treason, uh, I mean Enthralling Sixpack, uh, Enthralling Victors if you want them. Pad out with creatures that have effects on death, like Goblin Arsonist, Perilous Myr, Guardian Automaton, etc. It's funnnnn.
Red/White aggro renown, and Green/White defensive renown are also good, though G/W has the edge on card advantage and absolute removal thanks to Valeron Wardens (draw a card when something gets renown) and all the white straight up remove/sacrifice, rather than red's damage-based removal.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
The reason it sucks is due to a lack of cards. They've told us that we'd get more cards as the real game gets more expansions. Battle for Zendikar comes out in a few weeks in early October. Expect more cards then.
The spoiler season hype train for the paper game has already begun.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
TBH the fact that I kinda get bored and stop playing for days or weeks at a time seems to help this >>;
My biggest problem right now is that I'll finish quests, and for some reason the gold payout won't happen, even if it's literally the first thing I've done in a week (so I haven't hit the gold cap) It EVENTUALLY shows up in my gold balance, but only after like... logging out, or something.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
Yeah. That happens all the time for me.
Actually, I think the Put 20 +1/+1 counters on your creatures quest is bugged too. I think it initially triggers based on the # counters you put on creatures, but after I've gotten my gold, I've logged out and logged back in before, and the quest is still there with the count being the # of creatures I've put counters on, so I get to do it again.
might have been due to some changes or me playing better drunk.
¿por que no los dos?
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
So how's it looking now? Not sure what qualifies in Origins as 'junk'. I've had most luck with red/white aggro renown (removal is okay), green/white renown (removal is... kinda okay) and red/black threaten/sacrifice (removal is bonkers but it's way more dependent on 'combo' strats).
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
2 Evolutionary Leap
2 Tragic Arrogance
2 Languish
3 Cruel Revival
2 Supression Bonds
1 Read the Bones
critters
1 Liliana
4 Corpse Hauler
4 Gatecreeper Vine
4 Elvish Visionary
2 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Bottle Gnome
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Gaea's Revenge
3 Citadel Castellan
1 Gilt-Leaf Winnower
lands
3 Plains
3 Forest
2 of each Dual, Tapland
2 Evolving Wilds
it really kind of turned into getting Planeswalkers to stick or revive and board clearers. Hopefully BFZ gives some more juice on that front as the 2 you are limited to is a bit on the light side.
Which pisses me off because back in ye day I thought ELVES ELVES ELVES was a cheap shitty tactic (ELVES ARE JUST A CHEAP TACTIC TO MAKE WEAK DECKS STRONGER*) and I still think that because it's literally just "idk spam all the things" in deck form. Yet here I am, relying on it because my other decks aren't working out
*speaking of Steven Universe, if any of y'all watch that show, the creators actually responded with what color decks the gems would use: http://36.media.tumblr.com/f385299e5eb901a7be82452c598f2542/tumblr_nuhqfdEgF41tebaodo1_1280.jpg
so steven is (predictably) G/W, pearl is G/U, Garnet is U/R (my favorite ), and Amethyst is RG, with Jasper as probably W/B/R.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
I'm not a fan of Red/White renown, mostly because the Red renown creatures are overcosted. I find Green/White renown works better, with Green slipping in its creatures at low cost/big size, enabling them to attack through for renown.
Just looked this up -- I REALLY like this rule and I agree with the problem of players who barely get to play before losing. I hate games where either I or my opponent gets mana screwed super badly so we're sunk early on.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
But yeah, there is a risk of dud games that end before they start.
A few weeks ago I had what looked like a great hand for mono-black aggro at fnm. The hand looked good. 3 lands and 4 good spells. But then I drew nothing but land for the next 5 turns or so. Which is an extreme outlier because my deck's curve stops at 3 so I only have 21 lands in the deck.
The previous game my opening hand had 2 lands (which is a fine number for an aggressive aggro deck whose curve stops at 3), but I never found a third land even after resolving three "sign in bloods." It really sucked because I had a couple of Mogis's Marauders in hand that would have blown my opponent out if I would have curved into them.
I had just assembled that deck the night before, so I personally suspect I just hadn't properly finished my initial series of shuffling the deck and lands were still clumped up. Even so, that happens from time to time at even the highest level of play.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Second game, he resolved a Liliana Vess. Then died.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
Which reminds me that they REALLY need to reprint Liliana of the veil somewhere. I already have my playset from years ago for my 8rack deck, but I nearly fainted when I saw what happened to her price (~$96 average price) . I'm hesitant to actually sit down and play with cards that pricey. It is the first card I've felt the need to double sleeve.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Basically I won on turn 4 first game, and turn 5 second. It was FAST.
Mah deck:
4x Abbot of Keral Keep
1x Avaricious Dragon
1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
2x Firedrinker Satyr
2x Goblin Glory Chaser
4x Lightning Berserker
4x Monastery Swiftspear
2x Satyr Firedancer
2x Zurgo Bellstriker
Instant (16)
4x Lightning Strike
4x Searing Blood
4x Titan's Strength
4x Wild Slash
Sorcery (2)
2x Exquisite Firecraft
Land (20)
20x Mountain
Sideboard:
Creatures (2)
2x Acolyte of the Inferno
Instant (5)
3x Magma Spray
2x Smash to Smithereens
Sorcery (8)
4x Barrage of Boulders
4x Roast
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
1BB
Legendary vampire ally
Flying, first strike
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to an opponent, put a +1/+1 counter on each attacking creature you control.
2/3
At least 3 copies of her would be auto-included in my deck. Only the legendary status would make me hesitate about slotting four of that. If she is legit, I hope she makes her way into Duels alongside a bunch of allies from BFZ.
My current standard deck, if anyone cares, is this:
4 bloodsoaked champion
4 mardu shadowspear
3 thornbow archer
4 despoiler of souls
4 blood-chin rager
4 Mogis's Marauder
3 Mardu strike leader
2 blood-chin fanatic
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
Spells (10)
4 touch of moonglove
3 sign in blood
3 bile blight
Land (21)
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Rogue's passage
17 swamp
Sideboard (15)
3 virulent plague
3 Tainted Remedy
3 Pharika's Cure
1 Bile Blight
3 Graveblade Marauder
2 Self-inflicted wound
If standard were continuing as is, I'd probably replace the Blood-chin fanatics with some Brutal Hordechiefs since I don't think my warrior sub-theme is as strong as some other mono-black aggro lists.
However I've taken a hiatus from tweaking the deck until BFZ comes out. Hoping the new Drana is legit and I'm hoping for some quality removal to replace bile blight and potentially touch of moonglove. Moonglove pushes some significant damage through with blood-chin rager forcing double-blocks and it provides a generic way to kill big threats, but I would like to avoid the 2-for-1 (even if I am trading low value cards for both damage and an opposing player's high value card).
[/deck]
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
I'm going to play Mardu Warrior Goggles once Theros/M15 rotate out and I get my playset of Bloodsoaked Champions back from a friend, and go for a sorta midrangey deck that can change to aggro or more control through sideboarding, if I work it out right.
Also casting Chandra's Ignition through Pyromancy Goggles targetting a Butcher of the Horde, then saccing a dude to give Butcher lifelink is giving me butterflies thinking of the lifegain.
Then I'd attack through a clear board and bring back any Champions sitting in my graveyard. Yummy.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
If I compiled a catalog of these, could y'all help me build some functional decks?
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
We can try. I assume you just mean friendly games playing with friends? Usually it is hard to make a "competitive" deck out of a box of cards. Especially if they are old cards since then the formats where they'd generally be used are legacy or vintage where the power levels of the decks get super high.
We might also be able to help you spot anything of value. Some old cards can fetch a pretty penny.
Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
Oh yeah, just gaming with friends. I'll probably get started on it later this week; it's a very large box. I do think some of the cards are also of pretty high value. *e* My biggest sadness is that my brother & my favorite card, Skyship Weatherlight, is missing from the box. We seriously do not know what happened to that thing. So is Planeswalker's Mischief, Planeswalker's Scorn, and that one card that was "add a 5/5 red dragon token to the field; Storm" (storm is "this spell is duplicated for every spell cast previously this turn;" in a deck with a lot of cheap stuff, they can get stupid fast). I'm still angry that those four cards are the ones we lost, like, good job, past us!
In other news, I tried out a U/R Artifact deck today and it's really fun. I think what I want for it at this point are more Alchemist's Vials, because I want to set up a chain where Esperzoa bounces Alchemist Vial combined with Sphinx's Tutelage for super bouncy discard fun. Unfortunately, I only have 2 vials and 4 espers
At this point, the Medium difficulty bot keeps beating me, so I think I need more tweaks. I unfortunately also don't own that card that lets you draw 2 cards with no discard if you own an artifact... if I can get that plus two more Vials I think I'll have a really fun draw-discard engine going.
Unfortunately, in the end my ELFS ELFS ELFS ELFS deck remains the superior option all around. Tbh, I think the B/G elves are straight up broken in Origins. You get RIDICULOUS removal, and while some of the removal costs you creatures, you can then abuse the graveyard with Scarred Vinebreeder. Scarred Vinebreeder & Scarblade has saved my bacon more than once (discard elves for removal with Scarblade, use the discarded elfs for Vinebreeder fuel). Finally, there's still the obvious MANS MANS MANS abuse, and then the Archers (I always forget what the hell elf tribe those guys are; the x/x for each Elf you control guys) become your GIANT TERRIFYING TANKS plus FLYING REMOVAL guys. It's both stupid powerful when it gets rolling but also has enough small mans and contingency to work even when you don't draw the necessary cards for the INFINITE MANS engine. The ONLY thing I wish it did better was returning dead mans to the battlefield and better mana generation, but every time I've added those things in it has been at the cost of the better aspects of the deck.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
The cards you really need for U/R thopters are, imo, Thopter Sky Squadron and the ... 2/3 hasty damage on incoming something Artificer.
The only thing about Elves is that it's super-fragile and vulnerable to removal, in particular mass removal. The Duels version doesn't have ramp, and its key cards are around 3-4 mana, which makes it a little slower than desirable for a deck of smaller tribal creatures.