Magic: The Gathering

[Jon Miller]

some cards sucked though

I think that was after ice age maybe (it was arround time of 4th edition, I just don't remember on which side

Jon Miller

[Urban Ranger]

There are sucky rare cards in all the editions starting from revised. I am not sure about earlier ones, those cards are such killers.

[Chowlett]

By popular demand, my G rares.

Ancient Silverback - 4GG - 6/5 Ape - G: Regen
Elvish Champion - 1GG - 2/2 Lord - All elves +1/+1 & Forestwalk
Elvish Piper - 3G - 1/1 Elf - G, tap: Put a creature card from hand into play
Maro - 2GG - */* Elemental - Power & toughness equal to cards in hand
Thorn Elemental - 5GG - 7/7 Elemental - can deal damage as though not blocked
2x Might of Oaks - 3G Inst - Target creature +7/+7 until eot
Thicket Elemental - 3GG - 4/4 Elem - Kicker 1G: if paid, when comes into play, reveal cards from top of library until you reveal a creature. Put that into play, shuffle other revealed into library.
2x Verdeloth the Ancient - 4GG - 4/7 Treefolk Legend - Kicker X. All other treefolk&saprolings +1/+1. If kicked, put X G 1/1 Saproling Tokens into play
Kavu Lair - 2G - Ench - Whenever creature w. power>=4 into play, its controller draws a card
2x Saproling infestation - 1G - Ench - Whenever a kicker is paid, you put 1/1 G sparoling token into play
Restock - 3GG - Sorc - Return 2 from graveyard to hand. Remove Restock from game.
Gaea's Herald - 1G - 1/1 Elf - Creatures can't be countered by spells or abilities
2x Kavu Mauler - 4GG - 4/4 Kavu - Trample. When attacks, +1/+1 for each other attacking Kavu
Penumbra Wurm - 5GG - 6/6 Wurm - Trample. When put in graveyard, place a 6/6 B wurm token w. Trample into play.
Symbiotic Deployment - 2G - Ench - Skip Draw. 1: tap two untapped creatures you control, Draw.
2x Nantuko Mentor - 2G - 1/1 Insect Druid - 2G, tap: target gets +X/+X, where X is it's power
Nut Collector - 5G - 1/1 Druid - Start of upkeep, may put 1/1 G squirrel token into play. Threshold - all squirrels +2/+2
2x Spellbane Centaur - 2G - 3/2 Centaur - Your creatures cannot be targets of Blue spells/abilities
Stone Basilisk - 4GGG - 4/5 Basilisk - When deals comb. damage to a creature, destroy that creature at end of combat. Thresh - all creatures able to block STB do so.
Zoologist - 3G - 1/2 Druid - 3G, tap: reveal top card of library. If creature, put into play. Otherwise put to graveyard
Bearscape - 1GG - Ench - 1G, remove two cards in graveyard from game: Place a 2/2 green bear token into play
Nantuko Shrine - 1GG - Ench - Whenever spell cast, caster puts X 1/1 green squirrel tokens into play, X is no. of cards in graveyard with same name as spell.
Possessed Centaur - 2GG - 3/3 Centaur Horror - Trample. Thresh - +1/+1, is B, "2B, tap: destroy target G creature"
Insist - G - Sorc - next creature spell you cast this turn can't be countered by spells/abilities. Draw.

In multi-coloured land stake, I forgot about Meteor Crater (1 of any colour of a perm you control), Shivan Reef (colourless; or U/R, 1 damage), Yavimaya Coast (as above, G/U), Darkwater Catacombs (1, Tap: U,B)

I have far too many 4+ commons/uncs to list right now - about 150 types only considering W/G. Free cards are nice...

[Velociryx]

Ohhh yeah....the old cards are heinous! Ancestral Recall, Time Twister, Time Vault + Icy Manipulator...ARG....those were da days....

-=Vel=-

[MrFun]

I sometimes enjoyed using a deck that used the illegal Icy Manipulator and Winter Orb combo.

Me and my friends did not play by legal tournament rules.

[Velociryx]

Hiya Chowlett! While you're cranking out the card list and gearing up to make a wampum bada$$ deck, here are my initial thoughts:

When I started playing, I played VERY competitively, and from a quite limited stock of cards. I don't know how it is today, but when I was playing, we were very serious about ante. In fact, playing for ante was how I acquired about a quarter of the cards in my collection. Highly recommend you take that approach...'s fun....


First: No walls. Some people will argue against this line of thinking, but it's my experience that if you use walls, you sacrifice offensive potential, and you NEED an ace up your sleeve to counter the loss. I'd highly recommend against making use of walls in this deck. In the absence of 4 copies of the power cards you have, you need as much flexibility and options as you can get from every card you draw. Walls don't give you that.

Second: Use the heck out of deck thinning cards. Any card that lets you draw more cards, use it if it's got an ability that will add value to the deck's design. Again, this is to partially circumvent the lack of 4 dupes of many of your cards. More draws = More options.

Third: If you're interested in playing a 3+ color deck, stay well away from cards that cost three *color specific* mana or more. About all you'll do is wind up holding a fistful of cards you don't have the mana to play. You'll choke yourself on your own cards with steep casting costs.

More to come....but chew on those three notions and see how they sit with you....the MOST important things are this: a) That you feel comfortable with the deck, and know EXACTLY how it plays and what it's capable of, and b) That you personally like it. Not much fun playing a deck built around philosophies you don't agree with....

-=Vel=-

[Chowlett]

I like your thinking. I've never been particularly fond of walls, except perhaps ... of Swords, which is cheap and effective against flyers. But I agree, walls are essentially wasted space.

I have never used thinners too much - but I see the potential there indeed. Unfortunately, I don't have any kick-ass thinners like, say, a howling mine. I do have a number of cards with "Draw" as part of the rules text.

And yep, I know all about mana screwed - last game I played I had a 65-odd card deck with one third mana - and I had drawn 3 lands in the first 21 cards. Ugh. Colourless is always good

As for style and philosphies - if it helps you, I suppose I play the same way I play SMAC. I'm a builder there, and here I prefer finesse over brute force. I like the theory of no-creature decks, but never got the hang of them. I LOATHE token deck players, they're just so dull.

MtG:Online has no automatic Ante system - how does it work in real life? Does the winner choose one card from the loser's deck, or what?

[FrustratedPoet]

also, i would advocate avoiding Creature Enchantments.

There are some that are worth having - Sigil of Sleep comes to mind, and Armadillo Cloak is AWESOME - but in 90% of cases they are just ways to lose card advantage. They can also be too easily dealt with by creature removal or bouncing. Unless the card has 'Draw a Card' or 'May not be the target of Spells or Abilities' in the rules text then it is usually not worth having.

there was an interesting article on this over at www.magicthegathering.com eariler this week (or was it last week?).

try this for starters

[Chowlett]

I have an armadillo cloak. In fact, I have 7. For the benefit of Vel:

1GW - Ench Creature - Creature gains +2/+2, trample. Whenever it deals damage, you gain that much life.

[FrustratedPoet]

[Velociryx]

::nodding:: Yeah, I noticed that you had a number of "play this card and draw" That's good, especially if you are starting from a somewhat limited base. That'll help you speed yourself through to the cards you want...good stuff....

With regards to your personal style then, I'm thinking we're looking at a 2 color deck (White/Green or White Blue?) with a splash of a third (red?) color (make sure any red spells you put in only have a one red mana requirement tho), we'll use some multi-colored mana producing spells, critters, and effects ('specially those disposable artifacts that let you draw more cards....four of those!)...with a good mix of critters, common/uncommon combos where we can find them, and spells/fast effects.

Ideally, most of your cards will cost 1-4 mana to play, with some specialty cards that may be more expensive. This'll give you a fast tempo deck that you can get stuff fielded pretty quickly and reliably....also nice cos by mid-game, you'll have plenty of mana left after your turn for fast effects during your opponent's turn.

And given your builderesque stance, you really wanna consider putting liberal amounts of fast effects IN your deck....the ability to mess with your opponent and potentially stall his attack before it even begins is the virtual equivalant of Builder Style SMACing....

As to ante....when we played, we'd cut to a non-land card (I cut your deck, you cut mine) and set that card aside (it doesn't get played). Winner gets the loser's card.



-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

Armadillo Cloak....a beefed up Spirit Link...use it....

EDIT: In fact, on the basis of that card alone, unless you've got some really heinous blue cards, I'd stick with White/Green (red) as your deck....

-=Vel=-

[FrustratedPoet]

wow

I'd be too scared to play games with ante rules ... i just know i'd end up losing my best card ... if i was a little better at the game then that would help, of course

[Velociryx]

Heh...yeah, but that's the fun....the risk...I loved it!

-=Vel=-
(who got a Mox Jet that way one time....that was far and away the best ante card I ever got tho...)

[FrustratedPoet]

btw, i was browsing this thread and i came across several references to 'Apprentice' ... what this? it sounds like a way to play M:tG over the 'net, how good is it?