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By: Lord Erman, Nafiz Erman
Dec 15 2009 9:24pm
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ROGUE PLAY
The Basics of Momir Basic

by Nafiz Erman

Hello everybody. Recently Wizards announced some pretty nice holiday activities for December and one of them caught my attention immediately; the Momir Basic tournament. As you may know, our friends in the Community Team defeated the "bad guys" of WotC recently (full story here) and thanks to them, many of us will own a Momir avatar very soon (December 16th is the exact day actually).

And according to the official announcement, on December the 27th at 09:00AM PST, there will be a huge Momir Basic tournament to which I'm looking forward. The maximum number of players allowed is 2048 and I am sure that event will be very crowded. It will be a six rounds of swiss play and the best thing is that the event will be absolutely free to play. The tournament structure is as usual; three points for a win and zero for a loss. And of course there will be prizes at the end and there will be some really marvelous prizes!

POINTS PRIZE NOTES
18 25 MTGO Avatars You select which ones!
15 12 MTGO Avatars You select which ones!
12 9 MTGO Avatars You select which ones!
9 5 MTGO Avatars You select which ones!
6 3 MTGO Avatars You select which ones!
3 1 MTGO Avatar You select which one!

So, if you manage to win all your matches and gather eighteen points, you will then get to choose twenty five previously released MTGO avatars. Awesome or what?

Of course you may not be interested in Vanguard and may have no knowledge about any of those avatars. More importantly, everybody wishes to wish an expensive holiday gift; meaning you would want to select those avatars which could earn you (more than) a few tickets. And here's a quick guide for you:

NAME PRICE
Arcbound Overseer Avatar $16,00
Chronatog Avatar $16,00
Morinfen Avatar $17,00
Necropotence Avatar $15,00
Platinum Angel Avatar $25,00
Rith, the Awakener Avatar $7,00
Royal Assassin Avatar $12,50
Sakashima the Impostor Avatar $7,00
Serra Angel (Alt.) Avatar $30,00
Tradewind Rider Avatar $13,00
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails Avatar $12,00
Etched Oracle Avatar $14,00
Frenetic Efreet Avatar $12,50
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni Avatar $11,50

These are the avatars you should put on top of your wish-list. 

Of course one thing is for certain: This tournament alone will inject many hundred copies of those above avatars into the system; no one will wish a $0,10 worth Akroma, Angel of Wrath Avatar! Even those who will only win one game and get only three points, will wish themselves a Serra Angel (Alt.) Avatar just because that one currently is the most expensive one.

And there is a lot of talk about this already on the official forums (the link to the tread is here). Some are not happy at all about the prize structure of this event just because it will single handedly lower the prices of those said avatars. I can understand their frustration; if someone bought a Serra Angel (Alt.) Avatar a few months ago for like $45,00 or so, he will be selling it in ten days most probably for $15,00 or so!

But for the majority of players, avatars are meaningless objects and Vanguard is dead anyway. So it is true that this tournament will lower the prices of those rare avatars a lot but this fact will not effect anything regarding game play. Vanguard is dead. And we will all get those nice avatars, put them in our virtual binders, select one to be our own avatar, sell the rest and will forget about all of those things after a very short time.


The most beautiful face of MTGO is also the most expensive one.

So... now you know dear readers, everything there is to know about the coming Momir Basic tournament. And now I think is time to get to know the format. If you don't know anything about Momir Basic, here you will get to learn the basics. And if you're an experienced Momir Basic player, then here you will get to refresh your knowledge.

 

THE RULES

There are only a few and they are very simple:

1) Your deck will consist of sixty cards.
2) Your deck will have only basic lands. No other cards or even nonbasic lands are allowed.
3) No sideboard.
4) And of course you will add your Momir avatar to your deck making it a sixty one card deck (sixty lands plus one avatar).

And that's all.

And now that we all know the rules, let's examine the avatar more closely.

The avatar has an activated ability which you can activate only during your turn and only once per turn. You basically pay an amount of mana, you discard a card and get yourself a RANDOM creature equal to the converted mana cost of the amount of mana you paid. So basically you pay seven mana for example (of any color combination), and get yourself a seven cost creature. This creature could be ANY seven cost creature. It can be from any set released on MTGO. It can be any color(s). It basically can be anything.

So as you see, the main idea of Momir Basic is random creature fight. And in a format where there are only random creatures, the abilities on those creatures become the most important thing.

At three mana in any constructed format, Woolly Thoctar is superior to Royal Assassin. Royal Assassin dies to any removal at any size; starting with Tremor and ending with Earthquake or Savage Twister. You just can't trust Royal Assassin and build all your defensive plans based upon him because he is a real lightning rod and will get killed instantly.

But not in Momir Basic. In this format Royal Assassin is one of the most deadliest creatures and Woolly Thoctar loses much of its appeal as it can be chump blocked early enough times until something bigger hits the table later.

And there is one final thing I should mention about the avatar. As you see, it says "+4 Life". This means that we start the game with twenty four life instead of the usual twenty. And that means that the games will last longer than usual. "Hand +0" means that we start the game with the usual seven cards by the way.

Okay we're now finished with examining the avatar and also learned the rules of the format. Now I believe is the time to talk about creatures; after all this is a format played with creatures and you should know which ones are the superstars and which ones may even cause you to lose the game the moment they enter the battlefield.

 

CREATURES

When talking about creatures, I think that it would be best to divide them into categories. Let's start with one mana creatures.

SOME GOOD ONE MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Steppe Lynx Stormscape Apprentice Vampire Lacerator Mogg Fanatic Wild Nacatl Figure of Destiny None
Soul Warden   Carnophage Grim Lavamancer Groundskeeper    
Planar Guide     Kird Ape All mana creatures    
SOME HORRIBLE ONE MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Sacred Guide Cursecatcher Accursed Centaur Orcish Spy Rogue Elephant None Phyrexian Dreadnought
    Demon's Herald Flamekin Harbinger Uktabi Drake    
    Entrails Feaster Goblin Lackey Druid Lyrist    

The colors that shine in this category are White and Green. Green offers us many mana creatures and any one of them can easily turn the tide of the battle. If you manage to get yourself a Llanowar Elves during the first turn, it will then mean that you may get yourself a Woolly Thoctar during the second turn; which would be awesome.

White also offers some nice options. The most aggressive creatures at one mana are White and no one I think would be sad if his avatar gives him a first turn Elite Vanguard or an Isamaru, Hound of Konda. Of course their Red counterparts, meaning Jackal Pup or Kird Ape would also be acceptable.

By the way, one of the most interesting cards at one mana is Planar Guide.

Planar Guide

There aren't many creatures with a Wrath of God ability attached to them and that makes Planar Guide even more useful. If you don't like the creatures you get, if your opponent's creatures outclass yours, then you can use your Planar Guide and reset the table; and hope for a better new start.

Of course at one mana there are some very useless creatures too. Any one of the Herald circle from Shards of Alara would be a lame 1/1 in Momir Basic. Any one of those "search your library for X" tutors are the same; such as Flamekin Harbinger. But I think that Accursed Centaur and all time Classic superstar Phyrexian Dreadnought are the most useless ones.

Oh them and also Sacred Guide.

And let's move onto two mana creatures.

SOME GOOD TWO MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Auriok Champion Sindbad Kiku, Night's Flower None All mana creatures Mistmeadow Witch All mana Myrs
Samite Pilgrim Wall of Tears Dark Confidant   Fa'adiyah Seer Putrid Leech  
Sunstrike Legionnaire   Oona's Prowler   Harvest Wurm  Azorius Guildmage  
SOME HORRIBLE TWO MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Whitemane Lion Cephalid Vandal Barrow Ghoul Viashino Sandscout Gaea's Herald None  None 
  Imaginary Pet Scarred Vinebreeder   Skyshroud War Beast    
  Magus of the Bazaar Undertaker   Tarmogoyf    

As you see, we have some really interesting cards at two mana; Dark Confidant being the most interesting one. I will even go one step further and say that Dark Confidant is the best creature in the format. Unless your opponent gets himself a creature with an activated ability that can kill him, Dark Confidant will always fill your hand with extra land at no extra cost; just like that!

One other card I should mention is Mistmeadow Witch. Considering you have eight mana in front of you, this little old lady will kill two opposing creatures per turn! What else would you want?! And finally Sindbad and his Green sister Fa'adiyah Seer will also give you an extra land per turn. They are the closest what you can get to Dark Confidant.

On the other hand all the Eventide Mimics lose all their appeal in Momir Basic. They're not useless though; they're just some textless 2/1 creatures. Also Persist doesn't mean anything and therefore Safehold Elite turns into a Grizzly Bears. But the most interesting creature in this category is Tarmogoyf. At one mana we had Phyrexian Dreadnought on the worst cards table and now we have Tarmogoyf. And they both are very expensive tournament staples in Constructed formats. What an irony!

Let's move onto three mana.

SOME GOOD THREE MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Dogged Hunter Man-o'-War Royal Assassin Dragonsoul Knight Azusa, Lost but Seeking Giltspire Avenger None 
Intrepid Hero Serendib Efreet Hypnotic Specter  Aether Membrane Krosan Restorer Cold-Eyed Selkie  
Soltari Champion Wake Thrasher  Nyxathid   Terravore Knight of the Reliquary  
SOME HORRIBLE THREE MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Loyal Retainers Esperzoa  Maralen of the Mornsong  Cosmic Larva Force of Savagery  Anathemancer Phyrexian Ironfoot
Stonecloaker      Countryside Crusher    Wilderness Elemental Phyrexian Soulgorger
Cantivore      Viashino Sandstalker    Dimir Doppelganger  

There are so many good creatures in this category. I only listed three creatures per color above; there are many other good creatures such as all the Dauthi, Vampire Nighthawk, Eternal Witness, Ohran Viper, Scion of the Wild, Shizuko, Caller of Autumn which works for both sides, all Green mana creatures and land fetchers, Yavimaya ElderNulltread Gargantuan, Crackleburr, Rhox War Monk, Woolly Thoctar, Burning-Tree Shaman, Illusory Demon which is actually a very bad creature in all the other formats, Callous Oppressor, Dominating Licid and Wall of Nets from the new (to the online world at least) Exodus set, Wall of Denial and Temporal Adept.

As you see, it's a long list and some of those creatures have the power to effect the outcome of the game directly.

On the other hand we also have some really terrible creatures in this category and the most obvious one is this:

Countryside Crusher
The game ended on Turn 4 in defeat. You just decked yourself. Congratulations.

There are only a few creatures in the format that make you lose the game if you happen to get them and one of them is Countryside Crusher.

Let's move forward.

SOME GOOD FOUR MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Galepowder Mage  Chronozoa Desecration Elemental  Avalanche Riders  Oracle of Mul Daya Rosheen Meanderer Solemn Simulacrum
Sunscape Master   Tradewind Rider  Faceless Butcher  Lavaborn Muse  Chameleon Colossus  Loxodon Hierarch  
Windborn Muse  Linessa, Zephyr Mage  Nightscape Master  Boldwyr Heavyweights    Creakwood Liege  

Is there any creature you would want for four mana other than this dear readers:

Oracle of Mul Daya

Awesome.

Also Desecration Elemental can really be devastating and simply win you the game on its own.

One other interesting card which I didn't put into the table above is Keeper of Progenitus. I never had one in any of my Momir games so far but I can imagine that it can be very interesting for both sides. And another such card is Marble Titan. It doesn't allow any creature with power three or greater to untap and this fact alone creates a unique game experience; would you create an eight cost fattie and attack only once with it or would you rather create smaller creatures and keep dealing damage? A tough decision. 

And the other "honorable mentions" for four mana are Iwamori of the Open Fist, Jade LeechMaster of the Wild Hunt, Flametongue Kavu, Lu Xun, Scholar General, Surgespanner, Venser, Shaper Savant, Emeria Angel, Graceful Antelope, Kor Cartographer, Witch Hunter and Rafiq of the Many.

SOME HORRIBLE FOUR MANA CREAUTES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
 Saltskitter  Wonder  Ichorid  Desolation Giant  Bull Elephant  Captain Sisay Eater of Days
 Valor  Kaho, Minamo Historian  Stenchskipper  Shah of Naar Isle  Lhurgoyf   Synod Centurion
 Dust Elemental    Mortivore Magnivore +
Detritivore
 Timbermare    

Cards like Magnivore or Detritivore are clearly bad in this format but not as bad as Desolation Giant and Dust Elemental. If you get them, you will most probably lose the game as well.

At five mana we have these:

SOME GOOD FIVE MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Baneslayer Angel Ethersworn Adjudicator  None Fortune Thief Magnigoth Treefolk Lord of Extinction Stuffy Doll
 Voidstone Gargoyle Magus of the Future     Sprouting Phytohydra Spiritmonger  
   Riftwing Cloudskate     Mycoloth Nemesis of Reason  

 

SOME HORRIBLE FIVE MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Stormfront Riders Body Double Evil Eye of Urborg Loafing Giant Genesis Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Leveler
   Sky Swallower Revenant  Soulgorger Orgg  Primeval Force  Dralnu, Lich Lord  
   Taniwha Desolation Giant        

There are some really very good cards at five mana as well as some really horrible ones that may even make you lose the game. Baneslayer Angel and Leveler are good examples for both (or Nemesis of Reason and Sky Swallower).  

One interesting thing I need to mention is that Mr. Vig, who is the reason we have this format, is only a 2/2 for five mana without any game text and thus is one of the worst creatures you can get for the amount you paid. Funny.

He created the format but that doesn't necessarily mean that he's good in it.

At six mana we have these:

SOME GOOD SIX MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Yosei, the Morning Star Ethereal Usher Catacomb Dragon Firemaw Kavu Rhox Broodmate Dragon None
Darien, King of Kjeldor Sun Quan, Lord of Wu Visara the Dreadful Predator Dragon Jedit Ojanen of Efrava Dromar, the Banisher  
Exalted Angel Roil Elemental Minion of the Wastes   Silvos, Rogue Elemental Numot, the Devastator  

Six mana is full with extraordinary creatures but my favorites are those legendary dragons such as Numot, the Devastator or Rith, the Awakener.

Numot, the Devastator
Yes please!
SOME HORRIBLE SIX MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Auratouched Mage Draining Whelk Aphetto Vulture Worldgorger Dragon Deadwood Treefolk None Brass Herald
Exalted Dragon            
             

The worst one here is without doubt Worldgorger Dragon and then comes Draining Whelk which is a horrible 1/1 for six mana. But if you look at the number of good creatures at six mana and to the number of bad ones, you will see that six mana creatures have a lot of bombs and only a few horrible ones. Which makes six one of the safest numbers in Momir Basic.

And let's move onto seven mana.

SOME GOOD SEVEN MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Windbrisk Raptor None Herald of Leshrac Faultgrinder Penumbra Wurm Simic Sky Swallower Memnarch
Serra Avatar   Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet Hamletback Goliath Spearbreaker Behemoth Iridescent Angel Platinum Angel
        Regal Force Magister Sphinx  

 

SOME HORRIBLE SEVEN MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
None Quicksilver Behemoth Shauku, Endbringer Skittish Valesk None None None
  Jokulmorder Umbra Stalker        
    Phage the Untouchable        

Seven mana is full with very nice and very horrible creatures but also there are some very interesting ones such as Dragon Mage. And then there are Angel of Despair, Szadek, Lord of Secrets and Borborygmos as well.

Actually, just don't get yourself a Phage the Untouchable and you'll be fine. Even Jokulmorder is a nice cards when compared to Phage.

And finally there are the eight cost creatures.

SOME GOOD EIGHT MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
Avatar of Woe Hoverguard Sweepers Avatar of Woe Bogardan Hellkite Avatar of Might Empyrial Archangel None
Akroma, Angel of Wrath Lorthos, the Tidemaker  Devouring Strossus Akroma, Angel of Fury   Sphinx of the Steel Wind  
   Tidal Kraken    Scourge of Kher Ridges   Godsire  

 

SOME HORRIBLE EIGHT MANA CREATURES
WHITE BLUE BLACK RED GREEN MULTICOLOR COLORLESS
None Cognivore None None None None None
  Denizen of the Deep          
             

Eight mana has some of the best creatures in the format and there are only a few really bad ones.

And then at nine mana we have the Bringers, Inkwell Leviathan, Spirit of the Night, Krosan Colossus but more importantly we have Blazing Archon.

Blazing Archon
Because of this one, many try to reach to nine mana.

So... You have seen the creatures you may want to watch out in Momir Basic in great detail. They are the main actors and actresses of Momir Basic, so you better get to know them well if you will compete in the coming tournament.

Now that we all are familiar with creatures, please allow me to talk about a few other very important aspects of Momir Basic.

 

LANDWALK & UNBLOCKABLES

Unblockable creatures and creatures with landwalk are the most important ones in Momir Basic simply because they constantly deal their damage without being blocked.

First the complete list of creatures with Landwalk.

PLAINSWALK ISLANDWALK SWAMPWALK MOUNTAINWALK FORESTWALK SPECIAL
Boggart Arsonists Benthic Behemoth Anaconda Canyon Wildcat Boggart Loggers Magnigoth Treefolk
Graceful Antelope Benthic Djinn Bayou Dragonfly Cliff Threader Chorus of the Conclave Stalker Hag
Righteous Avengers Bull Hippo Anurid Murkdiver Dwarven Grunt Emerald Oryx Wormwood Dryad
  Cold-Eyed Selkie Bog Tatters Goblin Mountaineer Heartwood Treefolk Zombie Trailblazer
  Grayscaled Gharial Bog Wraith Goblin Spelunkers Jedit Ojanen of Efrava  
  Inkfathom Divers Bog-Strider Ash Goblins of the Flarg Jukai Messenger  
  Inkwell Leviathan Dirtwater Wraith Hillcomber Giant Leaf Dancer  
  Merfolk Raiders Filth Mountain Yeti Mirri, Cat Warrior  
  Merfolk Seastalkers Krosan Constrictor Rock Badger Rushwood Dryad  
  Merrow Harbinger Mire Boa Sokenzan Bruiser Shanodin Dryads  
  River Bear Odylic Wraith   Slinking Serpent  
  River Boa Plague Beetle   Unseen Walker  
  River Merfolk Sewerdreg   Yavimaya Dryad  
  Rootwater Commando Slithery Stalker   Zendikar Farguide  
  Shore Snapper Sol'kanar the Swamp King   Zodiac Monkey  
  Stonybrook Banneret Street Wraith      
  Sygg, River Guide Warthog      
    Whispering Shade      

This was another long list. As you see there are only a few creatures with Plainswalk but tons of creatures with Swampwalk and Islandwalk.

I would love to get this for five mana. But three free damage every turn isn't too bad either.
Baneslayer Angel Zendikar Farguide

Unblockable is the same as landwalk in Momir but this ability exists only on Blue creatures (exception Dwarven Nomad). 

Of course this would be better for five mana. But I can live with this one too.

Don't forget that there is no such thing as "Removal" in Momir Basic. The only removal you have is the sheer power of your creatures. Of course you may get lucky and get yourself a Royal Assassin every now and then or a Hoverguard Sweepers or a Visara the Dreadful, but most of the time they won't be around. And that dear readers, is exactly the reason why unblockable creatures and creatures with Landwalk are so important.

 

TACTICS & STRATEGIES

And finally we come to the most important part of the article. At its core, Momir Basic is a format based on random creature fight. If I get the better creatures and you get the worst ones, it doesn't matter if you are the best Magic player in the whole galaxy; I will win. But even so, there are still a few things to do to maximize your control over the course of the game.

One of them is your deck and the other is the strategy you choose to play.

 

THE DECK

The common approach is something like this:

Momir Basic
As Played By Many
Creatures
0 cards

Other Spells
0 cards
 
Lands
12 Plains
12 Island
12 Swamp
12 Mountain
12 Forest
60 cards

 
Plains

 

With this deck, you will have enough lands for all colors. But I searched the internet for other older Momir Basic articles and there I saw that the old veterans of this format were mostly playing this one:

Momir Basic
As Played By Many
Creatures
0 cards

Other Spells
0 cards
 
Lands
10 Plains
11 Island
14 Swamp
15 Mountain
10 Forest
60 cards

 
Mountain

 

This is understandable as there are a lot of good creatures that have either  or on their gametext. Creatures like Akroma, Angel of FuryShivan Dragon and Chartooth Cougar (and many more) get only bigger if you tap for them and no, they don't accept other colors.

And then there are creatures like Knight of Dusk, Cinder Shade (who likes both  and ), Andradite Leech and Stronghold Overseer too.

So, I'm playing the second deck and I'm happy with it so far.

An important tip: Pay attention to the above Landwalk table. You will notice that many of the Swampwalk creatures are small creatures as are the ones with Forestwalk. Islandwalk appears on a lot of creatures as well but they are mainly big ones. This means that you should NOT play a Forest and a Swamp during the early turns. If your opponent doesn't get a creature with Swampwalk and/or Forestwalk early turns, then you may feel free to play your Swamps and Forests. Start with Plains and then play a Mountain.

Another important tip: Do NOT play IslandAT ALL unless you get a creature with an activated ability on it that requires . Check this screenshot to understand why.

I won the game after that attack but do you see that Inkwell Leviathan on the other side? If things would have gone differently, that creature alone would have been my end. Thankfully I learned my lesson in a game I won and I will never make that mistake again.

 

PLAYING THE FORMAT

There are two types of strategies:

1) You start creating creatures as early as turn one.
2) Or you skip turn one and start making creatures on turn two.

Both strategies have their pluses and minuses. If you start on turn one, you will put your opponent under early pressure. You will have more creatures than him and the smaller ones can be used later for chump blocking. Early damage is very important and if your opponent gets only a few of those under the bar creatures or those horrible ones I showed you above, you will most probably win the game thanks to those early beaters.

Also please note that if you win the die roll and start making creatures during your first turn, you will end up with six mana creatures at maximum. If you go second and start the game with a creature on turn one, you will end up with seven mana creatures at maximum.

The other strategy which I'm also using, is to aim for late turns and thus better creatures. My personal maximum target is eight mana creatures but some even go for nine mana ones.

Important note: If you win the die roll, you have to skip your first TWO turns in order to reach to eight mana creatures. If you go second, you have to skip your first turn in order to reach to eight mana creatures.

Which style you will play is up to you. I personally think that aiming for eight mana creatures is a good tactic but I also read that the veterans of the format prefer aggressive starts and start making creatures as early as turn one. I personally tried that strategy but always get outclassed in the long run. You don't always start with an Isamaru, Hound of Konda and no, Dark Supplicant or Cabal Trainee will not win you the game.

 

A LITTLE SOMETHIN' EXTRA

Even though this next part has nothing to do with the upcoming tournament, I just wanted to refresh my own memories about those good old days when I used to play competitive Vanguard a lot. It may be shocking(!) for some but Momir avatar's only use is not the Momir Basic format. You can also use that avatar in normal Vanguard games (shocking, no?). And back when Momir Avatar was in Standard, this deck below was one of the hottest ones and it was winning a lot:

 

This deck was using tons of Madness cards which were combo-ing very well with the Momir avatar's discard ability. So the pilot was activating the avatar, getting himself a random creature and in the meantime he was also destroying a creature with Dark Withering as well! Psychotic Episode, Nightshade Assassin and Gorgon Recluse were the other great madness cards in deck and the avatar was all that was needed to play them for their alternate Madness costs.

And the next turn the pilot was again activating the avatar, getting himself another random creature and he was discarding Akroma, Angel of Wrath in the meantime... only to resurrect her with Dread Return the next turn!

Yay, those were good times indeed.

 

WRAP UP

Okay dear readers, these are all I have to say this week. I talked about the coming tournmanent, the rules of the format, the avatar itself, the creatures in great detail and finally showed you two different playstyles. I hope new players found this article useful and I also do hope that the veterans found it at least entertaining.

 

NEXT WEEK ON ROGUE PLAY
Caught in the Middle

MTG or MTGO? Which one is better and why? I personally believe that none is superior to the other. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. And next week I will be talking about them.

And as always, thanks for reading.

See you online
Nafiz Erman, aka Lord Erman

19 Comments

i sold my momir avatar as by me, myself and i (not verified) at Tue, 12/15/2009 - 22:25
me, myself and i's picture

i sold my momir avatar as soon as i heard it was the prize for the cc. Now I get a free one, how awesome is that!

Good article, i wanted to point out a few things you missed.
As a first turn play you can also go for 0 mana with momir and attempt to get the forestdryad land (better odds than an elf at 1cc).

And a particularly bad creature at 8 mana...a 1/1 morph wizard. doesnt kill you but may make you want to throw your computer.

Mormir Basic by Katastrophe at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 00:02
Katastrophe's picture
5

Never seen that guy. However, I have seen multiple Solarions. Well, I never actually SEE my Solarions. I just spend 7 mana to conjure up the text: "Katastrophe puts a token copy of Solarion into play."

There are nine 0 mana plays. Two of them enter the battlefield dead. One is the Land Creature - Forest Dryad. The other six are Ornithopter (ok), Kobolds (bleh), Shield Sphere (nice), and Phyrexian Walker (meh). So you have maybe a 2/9 chance of beating the power of a one mana creature. Playing for 0 is definitely the best option to get an artifact creature. Maybe you need to chump block a guy with fear for the win? I'm surprised I never tried a 0-point play before. I forgot it was an option.

There are 26 creatures with a CMC of 9. Anyone who goes for Blazing Archon or bust is foolish. However, 9 mana is almost certain to give you a large body. BUT, and this is a major "but", the abilities on 9 mana creatures tend to be impossible in Mormir Basic. For example: "Soulshift 8", Reya Dawnbringer, Nullstone Gargoyle, Krosan Colossus, Iona, Grozoth, Furnace Dragon, Chromescale Drake, The Unspeakable, Suncrusher, Zodiac Dragon, and two of the 5 Bringers. That's a lot of "blank" french vanilla fatties. And if you score a non-blank then it could be Leviathan or Colossus of Sardia. In my opinion, CMC 7 and 8 are where it's at. If you're desperate and need a HAIL MARY play, forget Blazing Archon, and pray for a Platinum Angel at 7 mana. That's usually the last thing I do in every game before I die, even in Next Level Mormir.

My deck is half Mountains. The rest is a majority of swamps. In Next Level Mormir I play 6/6/6/12/30 (Swamps, Mountains) because domain effects are powerful. In in Basic, which I haven't played in a while, there's little advantage to diversifying.

Nice, was looking for a good by middleman35 (not verified) at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 00:42
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Nice, was looking for a good run down on the format before the tourney.

Regarding 0-mana creatures, they seem like a decent response to your opponent going for a 1-mana guy. Unless they hit a 2-power drop or elf, they'll have a random 1/1. If you respond by going for a 0-mana play, you have a 4/9 chance of either nullifying any early aggro they could apply (Ornithopter, Shield Sphere, Walker) or of getting ahead with a Dryad.

Regarding prizes, what would people think of choosing oddly enough, Momir Vig Avatars themselves? Presumably the price of most of the rare Avatars are going to tank, and Vig is the only Avatar who is (or will be soon at least) supported in Sanctioned play. Depending on how many Vig Avatars are given out for CC participation, and how great the demand for Sanctioned Momir Basic is, picking up a handful of Vig Avatars as your prize could pay off in the long term.

What's Next Level Momir? by Anonymous (not verified) at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 04:29
Anonymous's picture

What's Next Level Momir?

So, a while ago Momir Basic by kalandine at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 09:21
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4

So, a while ago Momir Basic was allowing snow-covered basic lands. Are the still allowed or was this changed?

Avatar prizes by Kriterian (not verified) at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 09:54
Kriterian's picture

So, are we allowed to choose 25 Serra Angel avatars or do they have to be all different?

Not sure if I read too fast by rickwins1971 (not verified) at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 11:26
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Not sure if I read too fast and missed it, but a reminder never hurts. The creatures you get are tokens, which makes bounce removal, which is why Gale Powdermage and Hoverguard Sweepers such a beating. It also makes sunburst, and hydra type guys = 0. My last ditch effort is usually for a Sweeper. You also did not go deep on Azorius Guildmage, which says, I keep 3 mana open and you never get another creature all game.

Thanks for the by Lord Erman at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 11:53
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Thanks for the comments.

@kalandine: No you can't use snow lands.

@Kriterian: Nowhere it says you can't.

@rickwins1971: Yes, I mentioned effects such as bounce and exile (Mistmeadow Witch for example) but no, I didn't talk about Azorius Guildmage in detail (I agree; I should have). It's on the best cards list, however (obiviously).

Thanks again for the comments.

LE

Very nice article I'm still by ArchGenius at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 12:08
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5

Very nice article

I'm still trying to figure out how WotC is going to award your choice of Avatar. I'm thinking they would have to award them by hand, and you are probably going to have to email someone with your choices. I doubt they will have some way to choose your avatars online, although that would be cool.

Also, how long do Momir matches typically last? I can't imagine that they take nearly as long as regular games.

I too think that winners will by Lord Erman at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 12:20
Lord Erman's picture

I too think that winners will have to e-mail a specific address with their wish list.

The duration of Momir games varies. Sometimes one player gets clearly better creatures and overwhelms the other side quickly.

But I also had some games while preparing this article in which the game "froze" if you know what I mean. Both side's creatures were equally strong, no obvious bombs, no removal creatures, nothing but fatties. In such games both sides sit and create more and more tokens until something unexpected happens. Those games take long.

LE

Next Level Momir is Momir by WiseGreen at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 12:29
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Next Level Momir is Momir Basic plus a Jhoira of the Ghitu Avatar. Some folks add a Stonehewer Giant Avatar into the mix too.

My personal favorite is pairing Momir Vig and Maelstrom Archangel Avatars. You get to diversify, but you diminish the random "I win" factor Momir+Jhoira have.

The timing of the actual by Paul Leicht at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 19:32
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5

The timing of the actual tournament couldn't be worse unless they moved it back 2 days. Sadly I doubt I'll be in town to be able to play in it at all.

EDIT: As it turns out...didn't get the promised avatar...will see what customer support does about that.

I really feel like the prize by Cownose (not verified) at Wed, 12/16/2009 - 18:14
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I really feel like the prize sturcture is a giant F-U from wizards to all the vanguard players out there. Not only did they kill the format (and would it really kill them to add abilities to new avatars? Just for the casual players), but now they are killing any value/coolness left in the avatars we collected by flooding the market with them. Thanks a lot for that, guys.

I understand that they wanted to give away a prize that would not impact their sales in any way at all, but why purposely devalue things other people have earned/paid money for?

I think Azorious Guildmage is by Godot at Thu, 12/17/2009 - 16:00
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I think Azorious Guildmage is clearly the best creature in the format, assuming you find blue mana. If you want a Dark Confidant on 2cc and in exchange I get Azorious Guildmage, I'll make that trade every time. Hitting the guildmage gives your opponent exactly one more activation to keep from losing the game, it's a two-mana "I win" creature.

Thanks for the article!

The "market" for avatars by Felorin at Sun, 12/20/2009 - 12:20
Felorin's picture

I don't think grabbing all alternate art serras is the way to go anyway, because that's going to be the MOST chosen prize avatar, so its value will come way down. Personally I'm a collector/packrat, and I'm going to get all different avatars I don't have, to come closer to the unreachable goal of owning one of every card that exists.

The prices listed for vanguard avatars are a bit misleading to anyone wanting to sell these things, by the way. The stores like MTGOtraders follow supply and demand, sure, in that some of the older promo avatars are very few in number, so they reasonably list them at a higher price. But the "liquidity" of the vanguard market is very poor, as very few people ever buy any at all. Vanguard isn't played very much, and there aren't many collectors who want the cards just to have them. So when you have a $10 or $25 vanguard burning a hole in your pocket, odds are you won't find a buyer for it.

Right after this tournament in particular, I'm expecting to see a few hundred sellers hitting the auction house, message boards, etc. hoping to unload their avatars and earn some tix... And hardly any buyers waiting around to pick some up. Anybody who's excitedly thinking they're gonna make a quick 50 or 100 tix is gonna get a big cold splash of reality in the face when they try and sell.

Your point on the liquidity by Paul Leicht at Sun, 12/20/2009 - 20:19
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Your point on the liquidity of the avatar market is extremely dead on. Not only will you not find a buy but if a bot offers you anything for it it will be a nickel on the $. At $25 that's $1.25 for your alternate art Serra.

thats more like what its by ShardFenix at Sun, 12/20/2009 - 21:21
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thats more like what its worth..i mean its a picture basically

A hard to obtain picture. by Paul Leicht at Sun, 12/20/2009 - 21:55
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A hard to obtain picture. Value/Worth is in the eye of the beholder.

I just want to point out that by CottonRhetoric at Mon, 12/21/2009 - 11:56
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I just want to point out that a turn 4 Eater of Days can very easily win you the game very quickly. Its only danger is if your opponent gets artifact destruction, but that's very rare in this format. Either way I would take it off your "horrible cards" list.