I tried to draft black/red removal last week and it was just disappointing. I had a couple finishers, but the mix of crappy guys without the humans synergy meant that I had to draw average or above average (against above average decks) quantities of removal to win.
So this week I tried NOT to draft black...but ended up going into it anyway, because it was wide open. This time, though, it was a support color to go with my mass of blue fliers and Latch Seekers - and it was very good. I think it may prove to be a color that three or four people CAN play after all, as long as it's their secondary color. It seems to have the best removal, after all.
The card I've been most surprised by so far is Butcher Ghoul. It looks like a bad Young Wolf, but it fits right in where black needs it, and often upgrades to Walking Corpse with all the sacrifice effects. This doesn't have the speed of DII/Ix3/M12 draft by a long shot, but the two drop slot is still really important because you can't assume you'll survive to play your higher casting cost cards without them.
You list multi-colored green multiple times . :PI tried to draft black/red removal last week and it was just disappointing. I had a couple finishers, but the mix of crappy guys without the humans synergy meant that
I haven't played many drafts yet but my best deck so far was a blue-green soulbond deck. With creatures like Wingcrafter and Druid's Familiar you can make early, evasive damage. Also, blue's bounces give you the tempo you need to cast the bigger green creatures.
I haven't played many drafts yet but my best deck so far was a blue-green soulbond deck. With creatures like Wingcrafter and Druid's Familiar you can make early, evasive damage. Also, blue's bounces give you the tempo you need to cast the bigger gree
"After all, some cheap resilient blockers and some good removal spells can buy you a lot of time..."
These good removal spells... how many are you expecting to see, exactly? I would have thought they were too scarce in this format for that kind of control to be an option?
"After all, some cheap resilient blockers and some good removal spells can buy you a lot of time..."These good removal spells... how many are you expecting to see, exactly? I would have thought they were too scarce in this format for that kind of con
"After all, some cheap resilient blockers and some good removal spells can buy you a lot of time..."
These good removal spells... how many are you expecting to see, exactly? I would have thought they were too scarce in this format for that kind of control to be an option?
Ghoulflesh and Guise of Fire are pretty good here... oh wait -good- removal spells. Well they are good removal in this format >.>
But without pairing it, the Peddler doesn't have Deathtouch either. I'm guessing he needed it for that. Ghoulflesh and Guise of Fire are pretty good here... oh wait -good- removal
I'm surprised that Flying Man o' War and Peel from Reality didn't get a mention. I think that the Tempo Ux deck is the deck to beat in Limited right now. White is obviously good but I think Blue is the real threat with great evasive critters, tons of bounce/tricks/card draw.
I'm surprised that Flying Man o' War and Peel from Reality didn't get a mention. I think that the Tempo Ux deck is the deck to beat in Limited right now. White is obviously good but I think Blue is the real threat with great evasive critters, tons of
I had a wU Blink deck, and I wouldn't suggest pursuing it. Nephalia Smuggler could stop your opponent in his tracks, but take full control of your mana so you never have mana to play things that could win. I would agree that the deck worked much better as just a straight tempo deck, where if they want to race, that's fine, I'll bounce what you plan to block with or deal the most damage with, and I'll just keep chugging along. Lifelink goes an extremely far way. I got both the tappers as well which works similarly.
It took me a few matches to finally abandon the blink deck. I took out many of the elements and popped in the black I snuck in. The results were so much better. Esper tempo was fairly menacing, having tappers/bounce to get in for damage, or real removal in the form of Bone Splinters /Undead Executioner for the most problematic cards. That variety made the racing so much easier, practically any couple of 2 power creatures could win for me.
If you didn't know, this set is about Soulbond. There are mostly small creatures (you usually have to pay 4+ mana for a P/T of 3+) because they're meant to pair; there is little removal because it would weaken Soulbond; bounce is allowed because it is weaker against Soulbond; blink is included because it works well with Soulbond; Black is the opposite of everybody else because everybody else gets Soulbond; and the set is neither fast nor slow so it has time to develop more Soulbond. This set is pushing Soulbond so hard that it annoys me.
I had a wU Blink deck, and I wouldn't suggest pursuing it. Nephalia Smuggler could stop your opponent in his tracks, but take full control of your mana so you never have mana to play things that could win. I would
Agree that Soulbond is annoying and I'm very happy that it's only around for a few months. I'm actually looking forward to M13 already and that doesn't speak well to what I think of AR. :/ And for the record, I'm normally a total Homer when it comes to Magic and WotC.
Agree that Soulbond is annoying and I'm very happy that it's only around for a few months. I'm actually looking forward to M13 already and that doesn't speak well to what I think of AR. :/ And for the record, I'm normally a total Homer when it comes
A note on the Peddler-Wall combo: 0 damage is considered damage, because zero is a real number.
Now, my main point: I played in the release day and there were two decks that everyone was talking about: One was a U/R deck that had dual casting and Temporal Mastery (he once dual-cast the mastery, obviously winning). The other was considered much better and it was.... Black Red removal. He 3-1ed. I played neither of them, but I did play a white black one. In the first game, it steamrolled me so fast, wielding Barter in Blood to kill my Green Red Soulbond beatdown guys, then returning his butcher ghouls, even though he had only 2 life. I won game two, and game 3 was mine because he was short one plains to miracle Entreat the Angels. So in essence, beware the darkness!
A note on the Peddler-Wall combo: 0 damage is considered damage, because zero is a real number. Now, my main point: I played in the release day and there were two decks that everyone was talking about: One was a U/R deck that had dual casting and Tem
A note on the Peddler-Wall combo: 0 damage is considered damage, because zero is a real number.
The definition clause of deathtouch:
702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature's toughness.
The definition clause of deathtouch:702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature's toughness.
A note on the Peddler-Wall combo: 0 damage is considered damage, because zero is a real number.
The definition clause of deathtouch:
702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature's toughness.
I stand corrected
The definition clause of deathtouch:702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature's toughness.[/quote]I stand corrected
Spells and abilities that cause creatures to die and/or be made completely irrelevant to the board position.
Where he plans on getting an abundance of these cards from AVR, who knows? (black )
What was he talking about there? [/quote]Spells and abilities that cause creatures to die and/or be made completely irrelevant to the board position.Where he plans on getting an
The Angelic Wall + Nightshade Peddler "combo" was probably missing a piece of information, such as a Favorable Winds, Timberland Guide counter, or something somewhere in there. Could also have been for Joint Assault shenanigans. If he just decided to pair his wall with his Peddler, though, I wonder why he's being paid to write "strategy" for this website.
I'm pretty sure GU is the best deck in the format, with GW being a close second. Interesting that Steve didn't touch on the soulbond deck in this article, when it's really very good and also a lot of fun to play.
The Angelic Wall + Nightshade Peddler "combo" was probably missing a piece of information, such as a Favorable Winds, Timberland Guide counter, or something somewhere in there. Could also have been for Joint Assault shenanigans. If he just decided
Spells and abilities that cause creatures to die and/or be made completely irrelevant to the board position.
Where he plans on getting an abundance of these cards from AVR, who knows? (black )
It's the all purpose part that evades me.
What was he talking about there? [/quote]Spells and abilities that cause creatures to die and/or be made completely irrelevant to the board position.Where he plans on getting an
The Angelic Wall + Nightshade Peddler "combo" was probably missing a piece of information, such as a Favorable Winds, Timberland Guide counter, or something somewhere in there. Could also have been for Joint Assault shenanigans. If he just decided to pair his wall with his Peddler, though, I wonder why he's being paid to write "strategy" for this website.
I'm pretty sure GU is the best deck in the format, with GW being a close second. Interesting that Steve didn't touch on the soulbond deck in this article, when it's really very good and also a lot of fun to play.
It is very fun. This was sealed, but anytime you go lightning mauler sitting around into Wolfir Silverheart, you get to laugh so hard. I would have gone three and one with my red green beatdown (with lots of soulbond), but I had to mulligan down to four on the play in one match, and even then it was so close. I really think R/g will be a very reall deck, lightning Mauler is just so good when paired with vorst claw or Pathbreaker wurm or really anything big. I actually really like AVR limited because expensive stuff is also the kind of stuff that can get you back in the game.
It is very fun. This was sealed, but anytime you go lightning mauler sitting around into Wolfir Silverheart, you get to laugh so hard. I would have gone three and one with my red green beatdown (with lots of soulbond), but I had to mulligan down to f
Spells and abilities that cause creatures to die and/or be made completely irrelevant to the board position.
Where he plans on getting an abundance of these cards from AVR, who knows? (black )
It's the all purpose part that evades me.
My guess is Eaten by Spiders is not all-purpose, and neither would Rebuke be for example (only on the defense).
What was he talking about there? [/quote]Spells and abilities that cause creatures to die and/or be made completely irrelevant to the board position.Where he plans on getting an
