Hi Paul. To be honest, I haven't tested Khalni Gem at all. And just because, as you say, it costs 4 to play. Expedition Map is flexible; you can play it on your first turn and then use it whenever you want.
And finally a turn 4 Khalni Gem followed by opponent's Kor Sanctifiers destroying it and leaving you at 2 lands, wouldn't be that nice I think. Yes that won't happen always but when it does, it may mean gg very soon.
However, it is definately worth trying. As you say, it also helps activating the Expetidition sooner and solves all mana problems.
Does anyone know where we can get the footage for the live event finals. I wasn't able to watch the PT top 8 live and I understand it was shown during lunch time then but I can't seem to find it posted anywhere.
I'm also getting the error on the charts that Paul describes. :(
My wife got into the game a few years back. She was a little reluctant then, but when I gave her my old Elf deck (Onslaught-era), she really fell in love with it. The art on the cards was a nice draw and tribal Elves is fun and powerful.
Ironically enough though, my wife is now currently maining Red/Black. The bloodier the picture, the better. Pretty art may have been the initial draw-in, but she's cut a complete 180. XD I let her have a go at making her own Standard deck a few months back with my M10/ALA/CON/ARB collection, and sure enough, she pumped out a nice, speedy R/B aggro deck that runs toe-to-toe with my Esper deck.
I like the list, but I left wondering why not 2/2 Explorer's Map/Khalni Gem rather than 4 Map? They are both excellent for fixing mana, if in different ways. Yes the Gem is a bit expensive and doesnt do much for you before turn 4 (well turn 5 for anything costing more than 2) but it gives you 2 more landfall triggers to get your cards from Ior Ruin Exploration sooner and gives basically ensures you wont have any more mana problems after it is in play. From turn 4 on Khalni Gem seems much better than spending 2 mana to search a land.
Undiscovered paradise moved up because of it's interaction with Bloodghast in Legacy (Classic) Dredge decks. Obviously, when you need almost no mana and want landfall every turn, it actually begins to make this (terrible?) card look pretty good.
Maybe it's because of the relative weakness of Zendikar compared to ALA and M10 but it seems like prices have tanked insanely quickly for this set even though we are still in the release event period. Almost all of the fetches have dropped to pretty reasonable prices and I picked up Day of Judgement, what has to be a tournament staple, for 6 tix. I realize that when certain cards end up in hot standard decks there prices will rise but it is still surprising to see how so much of the set is worth absolutely nothing so soon. Even junk Med3 rares held their value better than most of the cards in this set.
Thank you for taking the time to write.
I really enjoyed reading, a fantastic blend of history and innovation.
I hope this writer continues to churn out the good stuff.
I think there is even a more pressing problem with the game state in question. If you do not remove the eel or play the mosquito you can count on taking 2 and will likely be in the same position next turn even if you risk it.
At 2 life you pretty much just lose. Villain has river boa, grazing gladehart, and scythe tiger to attack and our defenders are what? a 3/3, a 1/1 first strike, and a 1/1. Alpha strike is a serious problem at 2. If his next attack is the eel as 2/2 and the tiger we will be forced to trade our 3/3. That makes the outlook very bad for the next time around and even worse if they play a 2 power creature like seascape aerialist.
Life totals are even more important in this format than normal. At four you are at great risk but going to 2 you pretty much lose to anything. Really any 2 power creature, bounce, or removal will kill you if you take 2 from the eel.
Of course the tempest owl kills you no matter what.
but i have yet to attain the asking prices of what you state. seriously, no one will buy any of my stock for these prices. safe to say actual purchasing power is 15% off what you state?
Also realize that all our thoughts are stemming from what we know today extrapoated into the unknown.
Meaning that for everything we're used to doing we are biased based on what we have done. To that end, I think we need to keep an open mind about this. If the duel scene is any indication of the level of detail that they're putting into this, I can confidently say that we will be happy with what they do throughout the development of the program.
For instance, numerous studies to know EXACTLY what is important in the duel scene, followed by UI decisions to facilitate and streamline those actions.
That's a huge difference to the way the current version was completed. It's a longer process, but a much more thorough one.
If I'm not mistaken she didn't say that they CAN'T do right/wheel clicks, its just not currently built into the arcitcture of the platform (for some bizzare reason).
I'd imagine this would be settled by the time this thing hits beta much less production.
That's an interesting line to take. My sense is still that I win more often by magma rifting the eel there, though.
If I don't burn the eel, I have a roughly 50% chance of just losing on the spot. Then I have a roughly 50/50 chance after that of *not* drawing a land or alternative removal. So half the time I lose, and a quarter of the time I'm in the same boat a turn later. Sometimes, Villain doesn't mise a land, and I do. I now have some % chance of winning from there, but it is certainly not 100%, so in the pie chart of possible outcomes by not burning the eel, the slice where I win because of the risky play starts to look pretty small to me.
Meanwhile, with the other choice, I burn out the eel, and against UG I'm actually in pretty solid shape. Sure, Villain rips the owl to tap my team for the win, but I think that was a topdeck and a slim chance. I'm thinking only the owl and something like a whiplash trap really give him the win on the spot, and if he doesn't, I'm going to drop more guys, work back up to 7 for the mosquito, make his boa unable to block for a turn, and really begin to apply serious pressure.
Risking death to landfall and taking another hit from the eel is a very interesting line for sure, but I'm not convinced that my chance of winning the game from that spot--given all possible shuffles of both decks--is higher by risking another attack from the eel.
Thanks so much! I hope you find someone to teach. :)
Linked on the right hand side, under the first embedded Youtube video on this page.
Hi Paul. To be honest, I haven't tested Khalni Gem at all. And just because, as you say, it costs 4 to play. Expedition Map is flexible; you can play it on your first turn and then use it whenever you want.
And finally a turn 4 Khalni Gem followed by opponent's Kor Sanctifiers destroying it and leaving you at 2 lands, wouldn't be that nice I think. Yes that won't happen always but when it does, it may mean gg very soon.
However, it is definately worth trying. As you say, it also helps activating the Expetidition sooner and solves all mana problems.
Thanks for the comment.
LE
Unglued Online could be really funny. They need to make a card called online magic leagues though.
"Leagues"
Suspend 1
Add 2 suspend counters to Leagues at the end of every turn.
It doesn't matter what Leagues does because it's never going to happen.
0/1
Does anyone know where we can get the footage for the live event finals. I wasn't able to watch the PT top 8 live and I understand it was shown during lunch time then but I can't seem to find it posted anywhere.
I'm also getting the error on the charts that Paul describes. :(
Great article! Hope to see more out of you!
My wife got into the game a few years back. She was a little reluctant then, but when I gave her my old Elf deck (Onslaught-era), she really fell in love with it. The art on the cards was a nice draw and tribal Elves is fun and powerful.
Ironically enough though, my wife is now currently maining Red/Black. The bloodier the picture, the better. Pretty art may have been the initial draw-in, but she's cut a complete 180. XD I let her have a go at making her own Standard deck a few months back with my M10/ALA/CON/ARB collection, and sure enough, she pumped out a nice, speedy R/B aggro deck that runs toe-to-toe with my Esper deck.
Not sure Id characterize Undiscovered Paradise as Terrible it had its day as a great card.
its too slow.and dredge in classic plays zero basics i think
I like the list, but I left wondering why not 2/2 Explorer's Map/Khalni Gem rather than 4 Map? They are both excellent for fixing mana, if in different ways. Yes the Gem is a bit expensive and doesnt do much for you before turn 4 (well turn 5 for anything costing more than 2) but it gives you 2 more landfall triggers to get your cards from Ior Ruin Exploration sooner and gives basically ensures you wont have any more mana problems after it is in play. From turn 4 on Khalni Gem seems much better than spending 2 mana to search a land.
i reaaly liked the article it helped alot im just starting out in magic and i wanted some deck ideas for zedikar so thank you
wouldn't thawing glaciers do the same thing?
Undiscovered paradise moved up because of it's interaction with Bloodghast in Legacy (Classic) Dredge decks. Obviously, when you need almost no mana and want landfall every turn, it actually begins to make this (terrible?) card look pretty good.
Old classic cards don't usually move much without a reason, I think the reason Undicovered Paradise nudged up for its synergy with Land Tax.
Um, no
Zen's prices crashed because of literally the most amount of people buying the most of product and playing in the most amount of events ever. Ever.
Also, this crash is exactly what is to be expected because of the new pre-release schedule setup.
Maybe it's because of the relative weakness of Zendikar compared to ALA and M10 but it seems like prices have tanked insanely quickly for this set even though we are still in the release event period. Almost all of the fetches have dropped to pretty reasonable prices and I picked up Day of Judgement, what has to be a tournament staple, for 6 tix. I realize that when certain cards end up in hot standard decks there prices will rise but it is still surprising to see how so much of the set is worth absolutely nothing so soon. Even junk Med3 rares held their value better than most of the cards in this set.
Thank you for taking the time to write.
I really enjoyed reading, a fantastic blend of history and innovation.
I hope this writer continues to churn out the good stuff.
I think there is even a more pressing problem with the game state in question. If you do not remove the eel or play the mosquito you can count on taking 2 and will likely be in the same position next turn even if you risk it.
At 2 life you pretty much just lose. Villain has river boa, grazing gladehart, and scythe tiger to attack and our defenders are what? a 3/3, a 1/1 first strike, and a 1/1. Alpha strike is a serious problem at 2. If his next attack is the eel as 2/2 and the tiger we will be forced to trade our 3/3. That makes the outlook very bad for the next time around and even worse if they play a 2 power creature like seascape aerialist.
Life totals are even more important in this format than normal. At four you are at great risk but going to 2 you pretty much lose to anything. Really any 2 power creature, bounce, or removal will kill you if you take 2 from the eel.
Of course the tempest owl kills you no matter what.
Clicking on the charts gets this error:
"The requested page could not be found"
but i have yet to attain the asking prices of what you state. seriously, no one will buy any of my stock for these prices. safe to say actual purchasing power is 15% off what you state?
True.
It's not a "not ever", it's a "not now" thing.
Also realize that all our thoughts are stemming from what we know today extrapoated into the unknown.
Meaning that for everything we're used to doing we are biased based on what we have done. To that end, I think we need to keep an open mind about this. If the duel scene is any indication of the level of detail that they're putting into this, I can confidently say that we will be happy with what they do throughout the development of the program.
For instance, numerous studies to know EXACTLY what is important in the duel scene, followed by UI decisions to facilitate and streamline those actions.
That's a huge difference to the way the current version was completed. It's a longer process, but a much more thorough one.
It's the little things that make all the difference. :)
If I'm not mistaken she didn't say that they CAN'T do right/wheel clicks, its just not currently built into the arcitcture of the platform (for some bizzare reason).
I'd imagine this would be settled by the time this thing hits beta much less production.
The requirements read: "Window Vista; Windows XP w/ service pack 2"
Looks good, but I much prefer vertical land stacking over horizontal.
That's an interesting line to take. My sense is still that I win more often by magma rifting the eel there, though.
If I don't burn the eel, I have a roughly 50% chance of just losing on the spot. Then I have a roughly 50/50 chance after that of *not* drawing a land or alternative removal. So half the time I lose, and a quarter of the time I'm in the same boat a turn later. Sometimes, Villain doesn't mise a land, and I do. I now have some % chance of winning from there, but it is certainly not 100%, so in the pie chart of possible outcomes by not burning the eel, the slice where I win because of the risky play starts to look pretty small to me.
Meanwhile, with the other choice, I burn out the eel, and against UG I'm actually in pretty solid shape. Sure, Villain rips the owl to tap my team for the win, but I think that was a topdeck and a slim chance. I'm thinking only the owl and something like a whiplash trap really give him the win on the spot, and if he doesn't, I'm going to drop more guys, work back up to 7 for the mosquito, make his boa unable to block for a turn, and really begin to apply serious pressure.
Risking death to landfall and taking another hit from the eel is a very interesting line for sure, but I'm not convinced that my chance of winning the game from that spot--given all possible shuffles of both decks--is higher by risking another attack from the eel.