the blue 4/4 for 4 is amazing in u/g landfall. not to mention in 40 card land hedron crab is a decent early defender and can really hurt some decks with its landfall trigger. The only tough part in my mind is making sure you get an adequate number of eels and baloths.
I really enjoyed this one. I'd like to see a further exploration of other archetypes later, as people continue to explore the set.
Another potential archetype:
UG landfall - Grab the fantastic U and G landfall creatures as well as adventurer's gear, then grab harrows and the other solid U fliers/G fatties.
Yeah, after thinking for about 5 seconds after posting I realized that was probably the case. I'm just so used to seeing draft reports that I figured they came straight from online to here, heh.
The casualness of WOG and Damnation effects are a big part of the what is casual debate. As a primarily casual player (save for bouts of pauper madness, I'll chime in with... depends. Nobody is gonna complain about a pyroclasm or a firespout, mostly because they are budget cards. WOG and Damnation set off a lot of alarms about budget. WOG is down to $4 at mtgo traders which is starting to be reasonable. Before it rotated out of std, it was $40 a playset and a that might be a lot of casual players monthly budget for MTGO (i know its more than I like to spend).
On the other hand, board sweepers are just as important a part of the game as counterspells or discard. And they can be played around with a modicum of skill.
after playing the beta of zendikar, i can say there are some insane strategies out there. allies are really strong and surprisingly monored is really strong. But then i had warren instigator, goblin guide and assorted other gobbos with 3 burst lightnings
Hmm... You are right. OH WAIT!! But what if I play Paradox Haze? Then it would work right?
I will turn all my lands into Plains with Elsewhere Flask during my first upkeep and at the beginning of my second upkeep, Emeria will then trigger. I guess that would work.
Pretty good article overall, but there's one thing I have to point out: while you dismissed it as no longer being Standard-legal, it turns out that Emeria + Elsewhere Flask doesn't work at all. Emeria has the so-called 'intervening if' clause (rule 603.4), which means that the condition is checked both when you try to put the ability on the stack at the start of your upkeep, and when it resolves; if the condition (in this case, 'you control 7 Plains') isn't true when you try to put the ability on the stack, then it never goes on the stack at all. And since you can't do anything in your upkeep before you try to put the ability on the stack, Elsewhere Flask won't help you satisfy the condition.
Maybe I'm underrating shieldmate--good ground cloggers always have a place in decks that intend to win through the air--but defenders without flying are such utter blanks against decks trying to kill *you* through the air or with intimidate. Horned Turtle in this set can at least strap on Adventuring Gear, Explorer's Scope or Trusty Machete and crash in for a solid effect. I like Kraken Hatchling more than shieldmate in a non-ally WU deck for that reason (and the two-mana discount).
I described Nimana Sell-Sword as "serviceable" as the only ally in the deck, but needing 7+ allies to be consistently great (with 2-6 allies putting it somewhere between serviceable and great). I still stand by that. In a dedicated ally deck where most of the creatures are allies, it is excellent.
Great article all around! My one nitpick (hey, I have to nitpick *something*) is that I think you're underrating the Shieldmate and quite possibly underrating Sell-Sword a bit. Neither is amazing, but I think both of these guys suffer (more than average) from having misleading printed stats; nobody thinks much of a 2/2 for 4, or a 0/3 wall for three. But 'Hill Giant with upside' is actually a bit above-average, and Shieldmate is Horned Turtle with upside (be honest, you never *really* attack with your Turtle), and as you've pointed out x/4 is really good in this format of Geopedes; x/4s with an actual power are that much better. He's probably better in the Skies deck than in Allies, since he holds the ground well and occasionally even gets to pack an extra counter onto your Umara Raptor, but I'd still say he's better than e.g. Puma.
well, that is the base of my deck but i had to "budgetize" it do to lack of tarmos, gazes, gushs,moxes, and stifles. I have ponder but i may need to get serum visions. Winter orb is a possibilty depending on cost. and i may look into tarmogoyf. Oh can someone explain to me the pros and cons between Quirion Dryad and Tarmo? They seem fairly comparable though the dryad has the ability to get much much bigger.
in opener you generaly want a glimpse,skullclamp or earthcraft although not without neetles and heritage those are key cards and a mana elf like lanowar/fyndhorn. the low land is offset by the 8 lanowars the deck uses
I've got to hand it to you Ryan, you're sucked me back into the limited fold. Your analysis sits well with me, especially on the vanilla test for limited creatures. I'm fairly sure that most of your limited strategy advice can be applied to any set, and I'd love to see more geared towards limited archetypes such as today's article.
Surprised no one has mentioned this yet BUT, djinn of wishes + enigma sphinx is quite amusing. Having some kind of instant shuffle effect (the green expedition with counters on it, for example) is quite good here too.
I've found it difficult to get the necessary mana and defend the djinn on top of that BUT when it works it's lots of fun.
"What's that you say? I have no cards in hand? Sure, go ahead, cast your . I may be paying 2UU for it, but I happen to have a counterspell/negate/essence scatter/etc. on top of my deck."
Another great article.
Can't wait until my little ones are old enough to potentially not be disinterested in magic.
Also can't wait for Zen ltd on mtgo ... I'm in beta, and I'm just about sick of constructed already. Bring on the drafts! I'm excited about most of the draft decks. Hell, even allies.
the blue 4/4 for 4 is amazing in u/g landfall. not to mention in 40 card land hedron crab is a decent early defender and can really hurt some decks with its landfall trigger. The only tough part in my mind is making sure you get an adequate number of eels and baloths.
there are 8 cards missing from the deck. I'm sure he is running FoW
I really enjoyed this one. I'd like to see a further exploration of other archetypes later, as people continue to explore the set.
Another potential archetype:
UG landfall - Grab the fantastic U and G landfall creatures as well as adventurer's gear, then grab harrows and the other solid U fliers/G fatties.
Yeah, after thinking for about 5 seconds after posting I realized that was probably the case. I'm just so used to seeing draft reports that I figured they came straight from online to here, heh.
ok got it
thanks on the opener was unsure
it's ok looking at a deck and having it but playing it is alot different
The casualness of WOG and Damnation effects are a big part of the what is casual debate. As a primarily casual player (save for bouts of pauper madness, I'll chime in with... depends. Nobody is gonna complain about a pyroclasm or a firespout, mostly because they are budget cards. WOG and Damnation set off a lot of alarms about budget. WOG is down to $4 at mtgo traders which is starting to be reasonable. Before it rotated out of std, it was $40 a playset and a that might be a lot of casual players monthly budget for MTGO (i know its more than I like to spend).
On the other hand, board sweepers are just as important a part of the game as counterspells or discard. And they can be played around with a modicum of skill.
Actually, at $4, i might pick up a set now.
after playing the beta of zendikar, i can say there are some insane strategies out there. allies are really strong and surprisingly monored is really strong. But then i had warren instigator, goblin guide and assorted other gobbos with 3 burst lightnings
Thanks for sharing your impressions on white in ZEN block gathered during the beta.
Hmm... You are right. OH WAIT!! But what if I play Paradox Haze? Then it would work right?
I will turn all my lands into Plains with Elsewhere Flask during my first upkeep and at the beginning of my second upkeep, Emeria will then trigger. I guess that would work.
LE
Pretty good article overall, but there's one thing I have to point out: while you dismissed it as no longer being Standard-legal, it turns out that Emeria + Elsewhere Flask doesn't work at all. Emeria has the so-called 'intervening if' clause (rule 603.4), which means that the condition is checked both when you try to put the ability on the stack at the start of your upkeep, and when it resolves; if the condition (in this case, 'you control 7 Plains') isn't true when you try to put the ability on the stack, then it never goes on the stack at all. And since you can't do anything in your upkeep before you try to put the ability on the stack, Elsewhere Flask won't help you satisfy the condition.
Thanks for the comments.
Maybe I'm underrating shieldmate--good ground cloggers always have a place in decks that intend to win through the air--but defenders without flying are such utter blanks against decks trying to kill *you* through the air or with intimidate. Horned Turtle in this set can at least strap on Adventuring Gear, Explorer's Scope or Trusty Machete and crash in for a solid effect. I like Kraken Hatchling more than shieldmate in a non-ally WU deck for that reason (and the two-mana discount).
I described Nimana Sell-Sword as "serviceable" as the only ally in the deck, but needing 7+ allies to be consistently great (with 2-6 allies putting it somewhere between serviceable and great). I still stand by that. In a dedicated ally deck where most of the creatures are allies, it is excellent.
Great article all around! My one nitpick (hey, I have to nitpick *something*) is that I think you're underrating the Shieldmate and quite possibly underrating Sell-Sword a bit. Neither is amazing, but I think both of these guys suffer (more than average) from having misleading printed stats; nobody thinks much of a 2/2 for 4, or a 0/3 wall for three. But 'Hill Giant with upside' is actually a bit above-average, and Shieldmate is Horned Turtle with upside (be honest, you never *really* attack with your Turtle), and as you've pointed out x/4 is really good in this format of Geopedes; x/4s with an actual power are that much better. He's probably better in the Skies deck than in Allies, since he holds the ground well and occasionally even gets to pack an extra counter onto your Umara Raptor, but I'd still say he's better than e.g. Puma.
They're not in ME3, the draft converter converts the lands to its newest iteration (in this case, awesome full art zendikar ones)
ok nevermind at 22.50 tarmogoyf is not and certainly wont be an option anytime soon.
well, that is the base of my deck but i had to "budgetize" it do to lack of tarmos, gazes, gushs,moxes, and stifles. I have ponder but i may need to get serum visions. Winter orb is a possibilty depending on cost. and i may look into tarmogoyf. Oh can someone explain to me the pros and cons between Quirion Dryad and Tarmo? They seem fairly comparable though the dryad has the ability to get much much bigger.
This was an interesting read. Thanks for posting it. I look forward to any more articles into 100 card singleton :)
in opener you generaly want a glimpse,skullclamp or earthcraft although not without neetles and heritage those are key cards and a mana elf like lanowar/fyndhorn. the low land is offset by the 8 lanowars the deck uses
You only need 1 land to kick off the combo less land = more elves its a very fast deck but by no means the fastest in the format.
I've got to hand it to you Ryan, you're sucked me back into the limited fold. Your analysis sits well with me, especially on the vanilla test for limited creatures. I'm fairly sure that most of your limited strategy advice can be applied to any set, and I'd love to see more geared towards limited archetypes such as today's article.
Kudos!
I thought the full art lands were in Zendikar? I don't remember seeing them the last time I drafted MEIII.
Surprised no one has mentioned this yet BUT, djinn of wishes + enigma sphinx is quite amusing. Having some kind of instant shuffle effect (the green expedition with counters on it, for example) is quite good here too.
I've found it difficult to get the necessary mana and defend the djinn on top of that BUT when it works it's lots of fun.
"What's that you say? I have no cards in hand? Sure, go ahead, cast your . I may be paying 2UU for it, but I happen to have a counterspell/negate/essence scatter/etc. on top of my deck."
Another great article.
Can't wait until my little ones are old enough to potentially not be disinterested in magic.
Also can't wait for Zen ltd on mtgo ... I'm in beta, and I'm just about sick of constructed already. Bring on the drafts! I'm excited about most of the draft decks. Hell, even allies.
I'll have a look at the stuff rotating out of extended in the next article.
Thanks for that, has given me some more idea's
has reached top 8 3 times in past 2 weeks