The Gatecrash pre-release will be the first pre-release I ever go to, and I was wondering which people think would be better to play. Dimir seems like its really good at removal, however being fairly new to magic, I'm not sure how well I could build for it since the place I am going to is going to have a limited and standard tournament the night of the pre-release.
On the other hand, Boros seems really "in your face", and I like that alot, howver I'm not sure if I could choose the mana base correctly, or how to really balance the amount of brute force in terms of creatures vs direct damage.
If you were a fairly new player like myself, which would you pick?
Also, sorry if this is the wrong form for this.
The Gatecrash pre-release will be the first pre-release I ever go to, and I was wondering which people think would be better to play. Dimir seems like its really good at removal, however being fairly new to magic, I'm not sure how well I could build
I wouldn't play dimir, as wotc enjoys filling u/b, especially dimir u/b, with jank like mill.
Just go gruul, it's like boros except you don't stall out when they play a 2/4.
I wouldn't play dimir, as wotc enjoys filling u/b, especially dimir u/b, with jank like mill.Just go gruul, it's like boros except you don't stall out when they play a 2/4.
I wouldn't play dimir, as wotc enjoys filling u/b, especially dimir u/b, with jank like mill.
Just go gruul, it's like boros except you don't stall out when they play a 2/4.
I'm thinking Gruul, too. It's not my favorite color combination, but it seems like it's got the right creatures and the right combat tricks to carry the day. Depending on the gates/keyrunes you pull, throwing some Boros in there seems like a good strategy.
EDIT: I wonder if they're going to have a common/uncommon land that can produce any color a la Transguild Promenade ?
I'm thinking Gruul, too. It's not my favorite color combination, but it seems like it's got the right creatures and the right combat tricks to carry the day. Depending on the gates/keyrunes you pull, throwing some Boros in there seems like a good s
I wouldn't play dimir, as wotc enjoys filling u/b, especially dimir u/b, with jank like mill.
Just go gruul, it's like boros except you don't stall out when they play a 2/4.
No, you're stalling until you can play an 8/8.
I'd play Dimir. Plus, is jank? Funny, I feel the same way about .
Gruul is decidedly NOT a stall into fatty strategy. Look at the ability: it pumps attacking creatures. Where do you get the "stall into 8/8" idea from? And how is r/g jank? Srsly.
No, you're stalling until you can play an 8/8.I'd play Dimir. Plus, is jank? Funny, I feel the same way about .[/quote]Gruul is decidedly NOT a stall into fatty strategy. Look at the ability: it pumps attacking creatures. Where do you get the "st
I wouldn't play dimir, as wotc enjoys filling u/b, especially dimir u/b, with jank like mill.
Just go gruul, it's like boros except you don't stall out when they play a 2/4.
No, you're stalling until you can play an 8/8.
I'd play Dimir. Plus, is jank? Funny, I feel the same way about .
Gruul is decidedly NOT a stall into fatty strategy. Look at the ability: it pumps attacking creatures. Where do you get the "stall into 8/8" idea from? And how is r/g jank? Srsly.
He gets it by being stupidly biased.
No, you're stalling until you can play an 8/8.I'd play Dimir. Plus, is jank? Funny, I feel the same way about .[/quote]Gruul is decidedly NOT a stall into fatty strategy. Look at the ability: it pumps attacking creatures. Where do you get the "st
Boros will come out fighting, but mid-battle, Dimir will use an Izzet sleeper agent to turn off all the high-tech weapons Izzet built for Boros. However, it will turn out that Aurelia anticipated the weapons would be shut down and had them all reverse engineered. But then Lavaz will reveal that he knew Aurelia would expect the Izzet to trick her and he had a sleeper agent in boros switch all the weapon back so the weapons really are turned off. Then, right in the middle of the battle, all the Boros weapons the Izzet built explode, killing both the Boros and Dimir because Niv-Mizzet knew about the sleeper in the Izzet League all along and allowed him to hit the off switch, while Niv was the only one who knew anything about the detonation device planted in the weapons. Niv knew that the Dimir would only allow themselves to be drawn into a conflict in the scenario that there was no way they could lose.
Boros will come out fighting, but mid-battle, Dimir will use an Izzet sleeper agent to turn off all the high-tech weapons Izzet built for Boros. However, it will turn out that Aurelia anticipated the weapons would be shut down and had them all revers
The Boros aren't smart enough to reverse engineer weapons
Probably true, they could still learn how to make similar weapons, but with Magic instead of science.
and the Izzet aren't patient or attentive enough to execute a plan like that.
While that's true about the average Izzet League member, Niv could easily pull off multiple plans far more complicated than this at the same time.
Probably true, they could still learn how to make similar weapons, but with Magic instead of science.While that's true about the average Izzet League member, Niv could easily pull off multiple plans far more complicated than this at the same time.
And now I'll burn some sage to sage evil spirits like sage. While you're saying that three times fast, I'll go to the spice rack. Anyone with a drum or rattle can join me in this exorcism.
Anyway, I just see a bunch of 9/9s and of course it's a fatty strategy. How can it not be?
the green primordial is a 6/8 with reach (instead of trample) with Bramblecrush , which at 8 mana is just Naturalize that effects walkers but not artifact creatures or Lucent Liminid but does effect planeswalkers. And you search for a forest, which, since this is not Rise of the Eldrazi, is "I'm at 8 mana. What do I need with another land?"
And now I'll burn some sage to sage evil spirits like sage. While you're saying that three times fast, I'll go to the spice rack. Anyone with a drum or rattle can join me in this exorcism.Anyway, I just see a bunch of 9/9s and of course it's a fatty
And now I'll burn some sage to sage evil spirits like sage. While you're saying that three times fast, I'll go to the spice rack. Anyone with a drum or rattle can join me in this exorcism.
Anyway, I just see a bunch of 9/9s and of course it's a fatty strategy. How can it not be?
the green primordial is a 6/8 with reach (instead of trample) with Bramblecrush , which at 8 mana is just Naturalize that effects walkers but not artifact creatures or Lucent Liminid but does effect planeswalkers. And you search for a forest, which, since this is not Rise of the Eldrazi, is "I'm at 8 mana. What do I need with another land?"
Because the best way to determine how a guild's strategy will play out in limited is the rares. Especially the jank ones.
And now I'll burn some sage to sage evil spirits like sage. While you're saying that three times fast, I'll go to the spice rack. Anyone with a drum or rattle can join me in this exorcism.Anyway, I just see a bunch of 9/9s and of course it's a fatty
We're still missing far too many commons and uncommons to make that call, I think. I could be wrong, but I don't think we've seen many of the one and two drops for Gruul besides the excellent Burning-Tree Emissary . That said, Orzhov is definitely looking like the bestest guild if we get even one more decent cheap Extort creature. Fill your deck with nothing but 1 - 3 drop extort cards plus some removal and you can potentially lock up the game without even attacking much.
We're still missing far too many commons and uncommons to make that call, I think. I could be wrong, but I don't think we've seen many of the one and two drops for Gruul besides the excellent Burning-Tree Emissary .
Because the best way to determine how a guild's strategy will play out in limited is the rares. Especially the jank ones.
The commons are only slightly better, I'm afraid.
What's funny is, Simic should be the "fatty" guild.
Gruul commons out so far: slaughterhorn: This is NOT a fatty. It is powerful though. Zhur-taa swine: This is the closest gruul has at common to fat, and it's not an 8 drop. Definitely a strong card, arguably one of the best commons because you can just randomly lava axe off an unblocked guy, use it to kill their blocker, or have lategame semi-fat. tin street market: this one is crap, I'll give you that. Crocanura: not that aggro, but still a pretty good card because it blocks fliers and will quickly become a giant spider, then a 3/5 reach, and maybe lategame a 4/6 reach. Pit fight: this is prey upon at instant speed, and prey upon was pretty good if I recall. I see no reason for it to get worse, and being able to synergize with bloodrush and be cast at instant speed is well worth the extra mana.
So, explain to me how these commons are bad, or how they favor a fatty strategy, because I'm just not getting it.
The commons are only slightly better, I'm afraid.What's funny is, Simic should be the "fatty" guild.[/quote]Gruul commons out so far:slaughterhorn: This is NOT a fatty. It is powerful though.Zhur-taa swine: This is the closest gruul has at common
I'll be honest, at the prerelease I'm going to Boros the living out of people if at all possible. Because Boros.
I mean, really, how do you not love these guys?
I'll be honest, at the prerelease I'm going to Boros the living :censored: out of people if at all possible. Because Boros.I mean, really, how do you not love these guys?
The call to a guild at the prerelease is going to be tricky. On the face of it, all 5 guilds have things going for them at this early stage:
Orzhov - extort is a fantastic limited mechanic. Whenever you play a spell, you can get a cardless 2 point life swing. Most players would be fine with investing 20 mana over the course of a limited game to, you know, win the game, and putting you further out of reach is certainly relevant.
Boros - typically fast colors, and batallion is a very aggressive ability. Likely to be one of the faster guilds next weekend. Throw in that both colors are colors of removal, and there's a recipe for success.
Gruul - the other aggressive deck for next weekend, but bloodrush is going to be brutal. It's a very good aggressive mechanic, both in limited, and some of it will see play in constructed. I mean, look at Slaughterhorn - you can either play it as an almostGiant Growth , or as a 3/2 for 3. That is, you can either pump or play an on curve creature. That kind of flexibility makes for stronger decks. The issue with Gruul is going to be that the more bloodrush you use to get damage through, the more card disadvantage you're giving yourself - which often hurts late game - and if you use bloodrush as pseudo-removal while attacking into a block, you're also opening yourself up to a 2-for-1. That is, bloodrush is double edged, for sure.
Dimir - a controlling set of colors, but cipher is probably, IMO, the best ability in limited from the 5 guilds. It's usually going to lead to card advantage and is quite straightforward to use. Just hope that you don't get much mill. That 4 mana "flying token + cipher" uncommon should prove very good.
Simic - I'm probably going to go Simic... not really because it's the best choice (if white and black get enough decent removal I'd imagine Orzhov would be for extort), but because I love UG. Evolve is also a great mechanic, making your drops stay relevant for longer than they would in other limited environment. It's also likely to be the guild with the least access to removal in limited. Actually, maybe I will go Orzhov... staying true to my is all well and good, but I do like to win, and it feels like Simic's going to require a higher quality pool of cards to do that with than other guilds would.
Very, very tough choice... I'll wait til I see all the commons and uncommons, and probably do some 5-pack sealed deck generations to see what kind of spread comes up in the other 5 packs, but yeah, at this stage Orzhov is looking very nice to me.
The call to a guild at the prerelease is going to be tricky. On the face of it, all 5 guilds have things going for them at this early stage:Orzhov - extort is a fantastic limited mechanic. Whenever you play a spell, you can get a cardless 2 point lif
out of people if at all possible. Because Boros.
is all well and good, but I do like to win, and it feels like Simic's going to require a higher quality pool of cards to do that with than other guilds would.