A Planeswalker's Guide to SPPf (Magic: the Gathering)

[Kamotz]

Dunno, I need to do more testing before deciding. Especially with the whole set spoiled now...

[The Admiral]

I'm on two events, and I'm going Orzhov at one and Simic at the other.

[DucksGoMooful]

I wanted to do Dimir, but Orzhov seems more my playstyle, plus Thrulls are awesome. If I go to a second one, I might try Boros. I'm also considering whether I should spend $100 on a booster box or not (Gatecrash of course). Depends on what I get in the packs.

OOH! The place I'm going to sent out an e-mail saying that there's a booster box for the winner.

[niedude]

I'm not going to a Pre-release, but if I were going I'd definitely be going as Simic (there was a LOT of back and forth for me with this one, but Fathom Mage and Zegana, among quite a few others, really appeal to me)

Gruul really appeals to me as well. Boros has... 3 cards that I love and the rest Im really iffy on, and Orzhov has their Guildmage and their Eviction spells and nothing else going for them (though Deathpact Angel has SUCH great art that she makes me want to build a deck evolving on her alone, I'll admit)

[Kamotz]

I might go Boros. For me it just makes statistical sense. You can splash Black for Orzhov, or Green for Gruul. Even if you splash the Gruul colors, you can still pay the Extort price on the Mono-white Orzhov cards.

[palingensia]

i'm going simic and it's not even close really. i was facing a hard decision before the whole set was spoiled but since dimir flopped completely and utterly (like holy **** dimir is so bad) and orzhov or boros didn't really get particularly good, simic was the clear winner. i might go gruul at the 2hg or maybe do double simic to increase my chances of pulling sexy simic rares like unexpected results. we shall see.

[Kamotz]

Yeah, I was disappointed inDimir. It has the (potentially) most powerful mechanic, but none of its spells beyond a few mythics and rates are very impressive, and the limited format is built primarily on commons. I'm going Boros for the flexibility with the other cards. Though I do like Simic, too. RUG is always a stand out combination.

[niedude]

Dimir really, really flopped. Again. They have the coolest flavor exploitable and have one of the easiest times translating their gimmicks into mechanics (unblockability, milling or discarding, literally: CONTROL stuff) but their cards always end up being disappointing. And Orzhov was going that way too before their guildmage and Eviction.

[The Admiral]

I think I posted this before, but Dimir occupies a questionable place in design space, where if it's too competitively costed, it runs the risk of being broken.

That said, Last Thoughts DOES NOT need to cost 3U at sorcery speed.

[niedude]

Last Thoughts + Invisible Stalker is a nice combo though.

But 2UB for a 1/1 flying token... That can only be recicled with any promise of sustainability by having an Invisible stalker, or if you're willing to commit the mana to turning Dimir's Keyrune into a creature every turn... No deal. If that Token had... Deathtouch, "Damage player: Draw 1" or some other thing going for it, then yes, because deatouch 1/1 flyers hold any and all aggro at bay and direct some hate for them.

Actually, I just realised this: if the Horrors had deathtouch, they'd be amazing. Cypher the horror spawning card to Invisible stalker or any other unblockable, plus out the Horrors by turn 4 and on. Armada Wurm? blocked, dies. Angel of Serenity? Either it directs its three removal targets to two tokens and the card the original spell is ciphered on, or it dies being chump blocked by a token and gives the stuff it removed back (or just sits as a very expensive banish 3 card).

Only Thundermaw could kill them, but provided you survived its entrance you just needed to let your unblockable beastie spawn another token and... Hope Thundermaw doesnt blink?

Okay they wouldnt do EVERYTHING but having "Thundermaw kills it" as the only big flaw in a card's design hardly makes it look bad. Just like "Dreadbore kills it" doesn't stop planeswalkers from still being awesome (looking at you, Tamyo)

Also, there... 2 new spells with Rael Zarek in them? Yeah, as if we needed more confirmation that he's gonna be next set's walker.

[palingensia]

last thoughts + invisible stalker is infinitely worse than curiosity + invisible stalker because it costs four times as much for an initial cantrip, which is so not worth it it's not even funny. by the time you even cast last thoughts you'd have already drawn two cards anyway.

[the3rdH0kage]

Yeah, it is. What guild is everyone playing? I'm going Orzhov.

Defiantly Boros for the whole event. Anyway I went to the shop multiple times this weekend with a friend and I got a few packs. Pulles an Isperia, Supreme Judge, a Hallowed Fountain, a Firemind's Foresight (this card sucks so much), and an Abrupt Decay.

[Kamotz]

By the way. Here's a pretty decent Gatecrash Pre-Release Sealed Simulator. This links to the Gruul pack, but all you need to do to change to Simic, Gruul, Dimir, or Orzhov is change the name in the address bar. I think it's worth clicking a few times just to get the hang of it.

[Krazy95]

Hey everyone, long time no post from me. I've got a few things to talk about and say, so here goes:

Obviously, I've kept up-to-date with Gatecrash, and I have to say, I'm impressed with all five effects. I dread seeing Gruul in Limited Format, it could be pretty painful... But the main things I can see with Gatecrash is just how each will affect standard. It will be interesting for sure, especially with heavier creatures out there being thrown in.

One thing I am looking forward to? The new 2RR Lightning card. I mean, 4 damage to each creature of the same name? Goodbye, token armies. Goodbye.


Personally I'm leaning towards Gruul and Boros, as I love playing Aggro, and Midrange, and I find Naya Midrange to be a fun style to play, along with R/G, R/W and G/W Aggro decks.



Now. the other news has been FNM. Normally I don't attend FNM very much, as I only go to a small shop, and despite it being cheap, its not normally very busy at all. However, I decided I'd pop along to the last couple of FNM's.

My chosen deck? R/G Wolf Aggro.


My first FNM results were 4-1.

5 Matches and my deck performed fantastically.

My first match was against a B/U/W Control deck.

Game One: Could have been a lot closer if I'd not noticed a specific card in my hand - Mayor of Avabruck. It was enough to make me keep a somewhat risky hand. It pulled off, and he never had the chance to start setting up his control. By the time he had his first line of defence appearing, I'd overwhelmed him with two flipped Mayors, an Immerwolf, 4 Wolf tokens and then smashed him in the face with a Thunderous Wrath miracle to win.

Game Two: I was slaughtered outright. Countered, discarded, milled, then crushed. Nothing was on the field very long at all, but I deserved it. I made a couple of stupid mistakes.

Game Three: Same as the first game - I hit ruthlessly, dropping Huntmasters in, followed by an Instigator Gand and flipping effects - it was just a lot of pain quite quickly.

Overall - 2-1



Match Two - Jund Aggro. I'd played this deck before, and went into the match wary. I knew it's strengths and weaknesses, so was ready to sideboard in anything that may help.

Game One: The wolves had simply found their prey. The guy got land-flooded, getting nothing but land and 2 Deathrite Shamans before he was outed. The Hellion Crucible would have been a threat if he'd had ways of defending until he could drop Hellions, as I wasn't having a great game of it myself.

Game Two: This time, I was in trouble. Despite getting him down to six health. He dropped a Bonfire of the Damned, sweeping my field, and I thought that as that when he dropped his Thundermaw Hellkite. But a Moonmist allowed me to stall and drop a couple of Wolfir Avengers, and tapped his Thundermaw. Next turn, I swung for the win. But I should have lost that, he just made a mistake allowing me to get that extra draw in.

Overall: 2-0



Match Three: W/U/R/G Control - I really don't want to go into this one. My dek played exactly how it should, but this deck was superior, and I can guarantee it's darn expensive too... Here's it simply put:

Game One: Supreme Verdict, Bonfire of the Damned, Entreat the Angels, Sphinx's Revelation.

Game Two: The same again with added Entreat the Angel and a pinch of Huntmaster of the Fells...

Overall: 0-2.



Match Four - Selesyna Populate - This is possibly the most fun match I've ever played. It got ridiculous at a few points, as I'll explain.

Game One: After a battle in which me and him traded attacks for over 50 minutes, I finally killed him off. Now, I have no Bonfire of the Damned, which would have make this all much more efficient and much less time-consuming. Still, after him populating a token Thragtusk so many times he hit 400 life, he conceded once I hit a total of seventy wolves and annihilated his side of the field, the smallest being a 9/9.

Game Two: Entirely different but still so fun. He started with a populate of a centaur, and it began from there. Centaur after Centaur. Each time, I had a Wolfir Avenger flash in, or block, the regenerate it. Bythe time I dropped Huntmaster, and he dropped Thragtusk, he was running out of time to deal with me. A Thunderous Wrath soon ended Tusky, and two turns later, he was dead.

Overall: 2-0



Match Five - Rakdos Aggro. I went into this nervous. I've played this guy casually, so we both knew each other's decks. This was gong to be a test.

Game One: After a lot of attacking and blocking back and forth, he starting Unleashing creatures, seeing himself gaining the upper hand. That was until I flashed in a Wolfir Avenger onto a Wolfir Silverheart, wiping his two Hellsteeds for good. It was downhill for him there, and he was crushed by the pairing, finishing him the very next turn.

Game Two: Well, he sided in his Dragons. I met a Balefire Dragon and Two Thundermaw Hellkites, and I was, quite frankly, SLAUGHTERED. I didn't see a way I'd win the third match, so I almost gave up there.

Game Three: I had an almost God-Hand for me. Two Mayors, Moonmist, Immerwolf, and Rootbound Crag, Forest and Mountain. Follow this with another Immer, a Wolfir Avenger, and two Thunderous Wrath. Turn Six and it was game over.

Overall: 2-1


So, a placing of 4th out of 24. I'm extraordinarily pleased with that, especially as the deck still wasn't finished, and the sideboard was poor. And for finishing fourth I snagged myself 10 packs.

Rares/Mythics/Foils:

Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
2 Utvara Hellkite (1 foil )
Supreme Verdict
Search the City
Pack Rat
Guild Feud
Steam Vents
Nivmagus Elemental
Archon of the Triumvirate
Foil Mountain


So yeah. Twas an amazing night.

[swampertforever]

Its good to know I'm not the only one who's excited for Gatecrash. Due to my mum being awesome, I'm doing the prerelease on Saturday and getting myself a booster box for Gatecrash too! I have decided to go Gruul throughout Gatecrash (including the prerelease), and look forward to cracking a Domri Rade in a Booster. That would be amazing.

I even have 3 Decks Planned for Gatecrash, 2 of which are revamps of my Mono-Green and Selesnya decks, and of course, my Gruul Deck.
Favorite card of all of Gatecrash has to be... Domri. Definitely.

[palingensia]

my favourite gatecrash card is probably unexpected results, that card is awesome.

[Kamotz]

I'm feeling Boros Reckoner in a silly sort of way. That's such a dope card. That, and Blind Obedience, too.

[the3rdH0kage]

Its good to know I'm not the only one who's excited for Gatecrash. Due to my mum being awesome, I'm doing the prerelease on Saturday and getting myself a booster box for Gatecrash too! I have decided to go Gruul throughout Gatecrash (including the prerelease), and look forward to cracking a Domri Rade in a Booster. That would be amazing.

I even have 3 Decks Planned for Gatecrash, 2 of which are revamps of my Mono-Green and Selesnya decks, and of course, my Gruul Deck.
Favorite card of all of Gatecrash has to be... Domri. Definitely.

Domri is good except for he is easily killed by Abrupt Decay.

[Kamotz]

And he can't defend himself, which is a big deal for Planeswalkers these days. His abilities lend themselves to creature-heavy Aggro or Midrange decks, but you probably don't want to be dropping him on T3 in Aggro (because you'd rather play a creature), and T3 in Midrange he's too hard to protect. But you need to get him out as early as possible to get his Ultimate off.

I'm gonna try him, but with reservations.

[the3rdH0kage]

And he can't defend himself, which is a big deal for Planeswalkers these days. His abilities lend themselves to creature-heavy Aggro or Midrange decks, but you probably don't want to be dropping him on T3 in Aggro (because you'd rather play a creature), and T3 in Midrange he's too hard to protect. But you need to get him out as early as possible to get his Ultimate off.

I was about to say that lol. But anyway I'd prefer Gideon.............in EDH. Nukin the board EDH deck here I come. I need a Verdict and Ternimus, and a Worldfire.

[Kamotz]

You're a bad person.

[the3rdH0kage]

Yeah but I have a fun life.

[swampertforever]

Domri is good except for he is easily killed by Abrupt Decay.

Yes, but to be fair, Lilliana of the Veil is easily killed by Abrubt Decay. Doesn't stop her though. (Pretty bad justification, I know.)
Besides, out of my entire playgroup, only one person runs Abrubt Decay so I think I won't be seeing that often.

And he can't defend himself, which is a big deal for Planeswalkers these days. His abilities lend themselves to creature-heavy Aggro or Midrange decks, but you probably don't want to be dropping him on T3 in Aggro (because you'd rather play a creature), and T3 in Midrange he's too hard to protect. But you need to get him out as early as possible to get his Ultimate off.

I'm gonna try him, but with reservations.

Yeah, it is hard to defend, but I think that early game, when there isn't much out, getting him up a few loyalty counters should be pretty easy. And my deck isn't really Aggro or midrange, my curve tops out at 8 for Skarrg Goliath, but oh well.

I was about to say that lol. But anyway I'd prefer Gideon.............in EDH. Nukin the board EDH deck here I come. I need a Verdict and Ternimus, and a Worldfire.

That sounds like the meanest, most fun way to win a game ever. And thats coming from the guy who's been beaten by a Dual-Casted Blasphemous Act on a Stuffy Doll.
I swear Worldfire is banned in EDH though?

[palingensia]

domri may die to abrupt decay but at least he might replace himself with his +1 anyway, so that's a fair 1-for-1 imo.

[the3rdH0kage]

Yeah Worldfire is banned, but Glittering Wish isn't (hehehe).