Community

Oct 8, 2012 -- 8:32AM, MoiMoi wrote:

I laugh everytime I see "dark ritual is overpowered". Run more removal/counter/burn/whatever!

Dark ritual comes with a HUGE disadvantage, it comes with the fact that you spent 2 cards to cast something, if you destroy/exile whatever I put on the field, I just wasted 2 cards for your 1 card. That's the end of the story. Dark ritual is like a gamble, you're gambling on the fact that this person in front of you is a poor deckbuilder or isnt lucky right now and doesnt have removal in his hand

(just like I might not have the dark ritual in my opening hand..... so all of you saying you are unlucky, you might not have removal in your hand, that's NOT a valid argument, it can happen on both sides... actually not having a dark ritual in the opening hand should happen much more than not having removal in your opening hand since it's limited to only 4 of, while you could and should run 10-20ish removal)

Let's take this example
T1 : Swamp (1 card, total 1 card) 6 or 7 cards left in his hand
T2 : Swamp, dark ritual, nocturnus (3 cards, total 4 cards) 4 or 5 cards left in his hand
T 3 : Swamp, dark ritual, anowon (3 cards, total 7 cards) 2 or 3 cards left in his hand

To have just those 2 creatures, he spent 4 cards, his opening hand is close to depleted, if he started he has 2 cards left in his hand, if you started, he has 3.

T1: 1 land (1 card, total 1 card) 6 or 7 cards left in your hand
T2 : 1 land, Lightning bolt, plummet, sword to powershare, unsummon, go for the throat (2 cards, 3 cards total) 5 or 6 cards left in your hands
T3 : 1 land, slagstorm, beast within, oblivion ring, boomerang, gatekeeper of malakir (2 cards, 5 cards total) 4 or 5 cards left in your hands

Do you see what's happening? He lost 4 cards when you dealt with his 2 cards

Lesson of the day

RUN MORE REMOVAL!!!

First turn Dark Ritual into a Necropotence . First turn Dark Ritual into a Geralf's Messenger even, okay so you have a Lightning Bolt in hand and you bolt the Messenger first turn, you've now lost 4 life on your first turn, turn two he swings into you for another four. Next turn say you bolt it again, you're both down 2 cards, you're down 8 life.

Also look who loves these fast mana effects. Hint, it's the most broken deck in the game.

Defending Dark Ritual is dumb, it created a toxic environment and the game is fine now that it's gone. If you liked it you can still play it at the kitchen table and you will notice the audible groins everytime it drops because not every threat can be stopped turn one, sometimes stopping it any later is too late.

Oct 10, 2012 -- 7:38AM, bay_falconer wrote:

The funny thing is, I've found Necro to be a perfect third- or fourth-turn play, but a (relatively) bad first-turn one. (Your hand's still full. Why miss out on the free cards?)

Turn 1 Land, Rit, Necro, draw 4.

Or just draw 10 and keep the perfect 7. 

Necro is an amazing turn 1 play because it is both card advantage and ridiculous dig power. Not that the decks that run Necro are combo decks or anything like that .

Also it's so much better on turn 1 because they have draw fewer cards than they will by turn 4 or 5, meaning Necro is much, much harder to disrupt or destroy.

Oct 10, 2012 -- 3:55PM, Sleeping wrote:

Yeah, if you Necro on turn one you can give yourself a pretty unbeatable hand. If you're a graveyard based deck it's even better because you start the game with a satiated graveyard as well. If you're a combo deck it's even better, because you can just cast more rituals and win the game right there.

the thing about feeding your graveyard isn't actually true thanks to the discard clause on necropotence

Oct 10, 2012 -- 3:25AM, desolation_masticore wrote:

audible groins

Someone had to do it.