Community

Nice 2.0 Zerg. I think you did a great job with this update.

Two other busted spells:

Declaration of Naught and Runed Halo . For each, name the commander. GG.

As for Red; Gauntlet of Might in addition to Gauntlet of Power .

While I do appreciate everyone's input on "auto-include" cards, I think most of you need to take a second look at what you suggested. Yes, almost every card posted here is good, but they do not automatically go into every deck that can play them.

I will add Declaration of Naught , Gauntlet of Might , Insurrection (I don't believe it's quite the same caliber as most other cards on the list, but red needs help), Strip Mine , and also mention Hallowed Burial specifically under "board sweepers" category in white.

Doubling season does not belong in every green deck. Neither does Vigor. You don't need to look any further than my Momir Vig deck (which is not interested in putting counters on permanents or attacking) to see that those cards are not auto-includes, and if you look around a bit more with that question in mind, you will see more green decks that would not be interested in playing doubling season.

As for Vigor... it's just a beater. Yes, it's good at dealing damage, but I could even argue that chameleon colossus, plated slagwurm, or silvos are better. Just because it's your pet card, doesn't mean it should be in every deck. Try to look at things a bit more objectively. :P

I would include a simple green beater on the list only if one existed that was head and shoulders above the competition, like lightning greaves, far wanderings, reiterate, or return to dust are way above all other similar effects. (I think it goes almost without saying that this hypothetical green beater has a lot more competition than reiterate in its respective "niche" - i.e. smashing face)

Diamond Valley + other utility lands: Gauntlet/Lens/&co or even simple land search, such as kite and kodama's reach actually make a pretty strong opposition against utility nonbasics. They're nice, but the things you're losing by not running more basics IMO usually outweigh the utility you're gaining, and you're losing the power of doubling your mana where applicable, or simply losing colored mana and have to include mana-fixing nonbasics to compensate, which further nerfs kodama's reach, etc. See kedi's Child of Alara deck, where I actually suggested to take out kite because he doesn't have enough targets for it.

I'm only for running utility nonbasics if the effect is sufficiently powerful (strip mine, maze, academy ruins) and "sufficiently" here depends on what you're standing to lose in that particular deck.


...and the following cards are simply bad, let alone auto-includes:

Here's why I disagree with the rest of the cards:

• Syphon Mind - It's terrible in 1v1, bad with 2 opponents, playable with 3, and doesn't really become "woah mindblowingly good" until you get to a game of 5 players.
  
• Runed Halo - does nothing against generals whose function is not smashing face.
  
• Seizan - Gives other people free cards and dies before you get a turn most of the time.
  
• Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar - uh.... I'd rather play honden of the seeings winds tbh... which isn't even good.

Feel free to post more suggestions for cards that you think every deck should run, but please be more critical of what you're posting. Re-read the first paragraph of this post :P

Any other comments about the rest of the guide are also appreciated, as always.

CyrusBales wrote:

1) Card drawing engines like Treasure trove and Tower of fortunes are better, because they are multiple use, the mana cost doesn't matter.

I wouldn't go as far as to say mana cost doesn't matter... it certainly matters much less than in 60-card formats, but Treasure Trove is still on the expensive side at 4 mana per card. Tower is quite good.

2) Life gain is ok, but it depends what everyone else is doing, the 21 general damage will still kill you regardless of your life total, and people playing Brainfreeze storm, or other non-damage combo's will still be around. Depends what everyone else in your group does, but namely, play what you find fun.

/agree here. Lifegain is mostly bad, but can be useful if it comes in large amounts and attached to another effect, so pretty much same thing as everywhere else. (i.e. Corrupt and Loxodon Warhammer = good, Heroes' Reunion = bad.)


Oh, and I'm pretty sure I covered the importance of card advantage and the importance of it being reusable in the guide... there's no section titled "play card draw" but I definitely didn't omit something as critical as that. :P