Ok, I have a deck where you don't need to shift color :)
Generate some tokens, exile with martyr, kill with spiraling embers. Remove Flipper's Rule Law or Telir's Curse with vindicate and use the simians to cast embers if you need extra mana. I have a soft spot for killing with Spiraling Embers.
Here's my entry the idea is to overload your opponent with cards and kill them with Black Vise and the Iron Maiden. Martyr's Cry will be used in combination with Painters Servant to make all creatures white and then exile them.
Mishra's Factory is our attacker who cant be exiled by Martyr's Cry and Elspeth can pump out loads of tokens if required.
Rule of Law will stop our opponent from emptying their hand.
Artifacts
4 Black Vise
4 Howling Mine
2 Iron Maiden
2 Temple Bell
Spells
4 Wall of Omens
3 Painters Servant
4 Rule of Law
4 Enlightend Tutor
3 Swords to Plowshares
4 Martyr's Cry
Overall, I feel like we hit many of the same points at the top level, most importantly the math. We're also focusing on new features (mainly designs and art). However, there are three main differences in our designs:
1. You aren't color-balancing the set, and I am: This is relatively subjective, but my thinking is that since it isn't that compromising to do, it might as well be color-balanced.
2. You are making sure every card missing from MTGO shows up here: I don't think that's nearly as important (though it's obviously a factor), and all the Conspiracy cards don't need to be here. Going back to the Wizards article, it said the "vast majority" of new-to-MTGO cards would be from C15, and that makes me think the number of new Conspiracy cards would be limited. In addition, I don't think the Parley cards fit well at all (I even cut Woodvine Elemental from the set late), and upgrading the commons isn't necessary.
3. You are stuffing all the most expensive cards into the set: I'm taking a "wait-and-see" approach on this point, and want to see the prize payouts for the Legendary Cube before I take a stance on average pack value one way or another. The question here is whether Wizards wants this set to be known for printing C15, or just the Misdirection lottery. Cube is already played a lot on MTGO, and unless virtually no packs are distributed (on the order of 1 for 1st) or the price of Cube is increased, bringing Misdirection to a reasonable price is going to bottom-out the price of the C15 cards (along with stuff like Shardless Agent, Exploration, and Containment Priest). On the other hand, not having enough of a top-end means the C15 cards (especially the mythics) will be very difficult to obtain unless the Legendary Cube is a success (not a guarantee, even if it is Cube).
Wanted to thank the three of you for the positive ratings!
@Jay - No thanks needed. That piece about Spellskite is still a great lesson for new and old Modern players alike (especially with Infect and Burn always looming).
@Paul - Are there enough Allies for the EDH build to work? Maybe with the new ones? I feel like a 5 color general would be needed to get the most bang for the buck?
@Oliver - Glad to be back! I feel that as long as at least one of us is writing, Modern will always have voice on PureMTGO. When both of us do, I don't know, the world explodes or something? :)
Sometimes when I'm building decks, there's a four-of card that I'd really love a fifth or sixth of, and the new common eldrazi could fill that niche for Tron and Reanimator.
I used to love tron in Modern, I think I'm going to have to build a pauper tron deck, it looks so awesome to be perfectly honest.
This is such a great format, and I think more people should take a look. There are a lot more powerful interactions with only commons than people might think! That's what keeps me interested in the format. I mean, there are pauper-playable cards banned in Modern (preordain), so that's pretty cool.
Jace also pitches to Force of Will. Total bonus :) The thing is, two mana isn't a big investment, so it isn't as if you sunk four into a Jace TMS or whatever. I really think that this jace will have a place in Magic for a long time. There are times and places you'd want JTMS instead, but it's nice to have this option. I only wish they could both be on the battlefield at the same time!
I'm relatively new to the format. I've played in a few of the PREs, but I love the ability to brew. It really offers something for everyone. Aggro decks are good, the combo decks are resilient and the control decks can grind a game down.
I won the Vintage Daily last night. Round three I used a Force of Will on Rich Shay's Baby Jace, that should show everyone watching on stream that I respect the card!
Baby Jace is the real deal. It's the two-mana cost that really seals it. If you had to invest more, it might be questionable, but at two, you don't care as much if it dies to removal. If they don't kill it, the card advantage takes over. Especially in Vintage, I mean you're breaking the restricted list with it!
Good observations - but good grief - clicking on every card/back & forth...would it kill you to embed the image to prevent readers from getting carpal tunnel syndrome! ;) This article reads like a 'right-clicking workout.'
I mostly cared because I feel like we (the community) have been pretty disconnected already that taking away the illusion of choice was pretty harsh.
But also I disagree with your criteria that they must be semi-well known. An unknown who contributes to the greater community is imho the minimum. And I also disagree that they must only be columnists, streamers and pros. This CCC shows that podcasters who even claim Amateur status can wreck face against seasoned (if out of practice) pro tour champions (Meghan and Marie).
I don't think they stacked the community cup to be in favor or against one side winning or the other (if anything I think they tried very hard to make the skill levels very close and even). They just took away something important to us: The sense that we, the community are involved in the process in some way. Which imho is divisive and not community building.
Before they took away the casual room group chat window and made the game chat windows auto-hide at the start of each match, people used to chat with each other a LOT more. Even clan chat windows would have conversations in them, and the user-creatable named chat windows.
Without even intending to, by making the chat interface far worse in V4 than it was in 3.5, they eliminated 90% or more of the conversation. That was a real tragedy. It already needed building up to be BETTER and get people chatting MORE, back in 3.5. But they killed it instead.
Glad you found some people that actually chat a bit. :)
I think it's better for Erik's family if they get as many as possible of those cards sold at "full retail" prices rather than at "wholesale" prices.
I suppose if it reaches the point where there's nothing left that's selling any more, then it makes sense to sell off the remaining cards at a much lower rate just to get something for them.
I think it's pretty clear that Wizards sets up the Community Cup so that it's more likely than not that the community team will win, because that's better PR. Making the Community lose one year out of five probably just makes it even more convincing and exciting, if they won every year people would start to assume it was fixed and/or take it for granted.
If they really wanted to stack it against the community, they'd have 8 staff members that are pro tour champions and hall of famers, and not mix in Wizards employees who are medium or poor players along with the good ones.
I don't really care how they pick the community team, as long as they're semi-well known magic players / columnists / streamers. Which they are.
Regarding the Community Cup, I would prefer that the Wizards team (or at least Alison the Community Liason Officer) interacted with us in the official community forums.
Instead, we get a flashy Community Cup that has, I suspect, little relevance to most people except the participants, and then Wizards shuts down the forums...for good. Nice one. :(
Thalia is a poor consolation prize for this bad deal (however I will take her rather than look a Cathar gift horse in the mouth!).
Unopposed, but still a very respectible deck. I like how it has a lot of internal interactions that don't even require the main combo pieces. Paul, email me at CottonRhetoric at gmail dotcom to figure out a time to set up the trade for your fabulous prize. On most days, I'm free in the 4:30 to 9pm range.
It seems the consensus I heard yesterday was for Helm instead of Altar. I think both new additions - Peacekeeper for the Elves and random Aggro, and Disciple of Law for anti-Red flexibility - played well. Going to four of the amazing Enlightened Tutor was also correct, as you don't even have to draw your last Top, just leave it on top after casting Tutor. The main combo is definitely watered down from last week's version featuring Altar, but not by much. Trinket Mage can't fetch Jace's Erasure, and the extra mana could be critical, and you have to play with 4 Erasures instead of 3 Altars. Neither deficit caused my loss to Zuberas, as I simply couldn't find enough combo pieces in time both games. However, I would have lost two games had Erasure been three mana instead of 2 (e.g., Sphinx's Tutelage). The deck is still very strong, beating a good Goblins build twice on turn 4. Anyways, Helm seems the proper ban, for reasons mentioned earlier and that it has only been played in one non-Sensei's list since the Gatherling era.
As it is, it's still a broken combo in Underdog and probably even Pure; Altar alone is not enough. The ban/purification switch would make this a 4-card creature combo, that is good but not absurd.
Why? Why should we "just say"? Is that code for "I know something you don't know?" or is it merely a dodge to avoid explaining what you actually mean because then you'd be held to account for any inaccuracies or lies you used in the course of that action?
And if it is "I know something you don't know" isn't that just a troll? A poorly disguised one at that?
I'm enjoying this series. I like finding new rogue decks and it's useful having someone collate them.
I thought about writing a similar style article. Good work.
Ok, I have a deck where you don't need to shift color :)
Generate some tokens, exile with martyr, kill with spiraling embers. Remove Flipper's Rule Law or Telir's Curse with vindicate and use the simians to cast embers if you need extra mana. I have a soft spot for killing with Spiraling Embers.
Lands (23)
4 Scrublands
4 Plateau
4 Badlands
2 Marsh Flats
2 Arid Mesa
7 Plains
Creatures (6)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Hero of Bladehold
Spells (28)
1 Gather the Townsfolk
2 Raise the alarm
4 Lingering Souls
4 Martyr's Cry
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Vindicate
4 Spiraling Embers
2 Spectral Procession
3 Battle Screech
4 Triplicate Spirites
1 Hour of Reckoning
Planeswalker (3)
3 Elspeth Tirel
I like flipper's idea better because my first thought was painter's servant but this is what I came up with
4 Shifting Sky
4 Martyr's Cry
3 Moat
2 Enlightened Tutor
4 Knowledge Pool
4 Curse of Exhaustion
4 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2 Teferi's Moat
1 Mystic Tutor
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
2 Braingeyser
3 Sky Diamond
3 Marble Diamond
4 Flooded Strand
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Tundra
6 Plains
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
2 Island
Here's my entry the idea is to overload your opponent with cards and kill them with Black Vise and the Iron Maiden. Martyr's Cry will be used in combination with Painters Servant to make all creatures white and then exile them.
Mishra's Factory is our attacker who cant be exiled by Martyr's Cry and Elspeth can pump out loads of tokens if required.
Rule of Law will stop our opponent from emptying their hand.
Artifacts
4 Black Vise
4 Howling Mine
2 Iron Maiden
2 Temple Bell
Spells
4 Wall of Omens
3 Painters Servant
4 Rule of Law
4 Enlightend Tutor
3 Swords to Plowshares
4 Martyr's Cry
Planeswalkers
3 Elspeth, Suns Champion
Land
3 Mishra's Factory
15 Plains
1 Karakas
4 Windswept Heath
I'm glad to see there are more opinions on reprint sets, and I liked your articles back in the day (and they were probably at least a subtle inspiration for my series). Before I start comparing our looks, here are my articles on LCPPs if you haven't seen them yet:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/designing-reprint-sets-legendary-cube-prize... (Introduction, pre-changes)
http://puremtgo.com/articles/designing-reprint-sets-legendary-cube-prize... (Full design, covers changes)
Overall, I feel like we hit many of the same points at the top level, most importantly the math. We're also focusing on new features (mainly designs and art). However, there are three main differences in our designs:
1. You aren't color-balancing the set, and I am: This is relatively subjective, but my thinking is that since it isn't that compromising to do, it might as well be color-balanced.
2. You are making sure every card missing from MTGO shows up here: I don't think that's nearly as important (though it's obviously a factor), and all the Conspiracy cards don't need to be here. Going back to the Wizards article, it said the "vast majority" of new-to-MTGO cards would be from C15, and that makes me think the number of new Conspiracy cards would be limited. In addition, I don't think the Parley cards fit well at all (I even cut Woodvine Elemental from the set late), and upgrading the commons isn't necessary.
3. You are stuffing all the most expensive cards into the set: I'm taking a "wait-and-see" approach on this point, and want to see the prize payouts for the Legendary Cube before I take a stance on average pack value one way or another. The question here is whether Wizards wants this set to be known for printing C15, or just the Misdirection lottery. Cube is already played a lot on MTGO, and unless virtually no packs are distributed (on the order of 1 for 1st) or the price of Cube is increased, bringing Misdirection to a reasonable price is going to bottom-out the price of the C15 cards (along with stuff like Shardless Agent, Exploration, and Containment Priest). On the other hand, not having enough of a top-end means the C15 cards (especially the mythics) will be very difficult to obtain unless the Legendary Cube is a success (not a guarantee, even if it is Cube).
Cotton sorry no one else managed to show a brew. Imho Bracers are one of the funnest things to do in magic.
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I'll try and contact you soon.
Wanted to thank the three of you for the positive ratings!
@Jay - No thanks needed. That piece about Spellskite is still a great lesson for new and old Modern players alike (especially with Infect and Burn always looming).
@Paul - Are there enough Allies for the EDH build to work? Maybe with the new ones? I feel like a 5 color general would be needed to get the most bang for the buck?
@Oliver - Glad to be back! I feel that as long as at least one of us is writing, Modern will always have voice on PureMTGO. When both of us do, I don't know, the world explodes or something? :)
Sometimes when I'm building decks, there's a four-of card that I'd really love a fifth or sixth of, and the new common eldrazi could fill that niche for Tron and Reanimator.
I used to love tron in Modern, I think I'm going to have to build a pauper tron deck, it looks so awesome to be perfectly honest.
This is such a great format, and I think more people should take a look. There are a lot more powerful interactions with only commons than people might think! That's what keeps me interested in the format. I mean, there are pauper-playable cards banned in Modern (preordain), so that's pretty cool.
Pujols - I share your feelings about the format. Thanks for reading!
Jace also pitches to Force of Will. Total bonus :) The thing is, two mana isn't a big investment, so it isn't as if you sunk four into a Jace TMS or whatever. I really think that this jace will have a place in Magic for a long time. There are times and places you'd want JTMS instead, but it's nice to have this option. I only wish they could both be on the battlefield at the same time!
I'm relatively new to the format. I've played in a few of the PREs, but I love the ability to brew. It really offers something for everyone. Aggro decks are good, the combo decks are resilient and the control decks can grind a game down.
Great article series. Keep it up.
rremedio - Thanks for your support!
As a newcomer to this format, I really enjoy this article series. Heirloom needs more love!
I won the Vintage Daily last night. Round three I used a Force of Will on Rich Shay's Baby Jace, that should show everyone watching on stream that I respect the card!
Baby Jace is the real deal. It's the two-mana cost that really seals it. If you had to invest more, it might be questionable, but at two, you don't care as much if it dies to removal. If they don't kill it, the card advantage takes over. Especially in Vintage, I mean you're breaking the restricted list with it!
Nice work, keep it up man!
Good observations - but good grief - clicking on every card/back & forth...would it kill you to embed the image to prevent readers from getting carpal tunnel syndrome! ;) This article reads like a 'right-clicking workout.'
I mostly cared because I feel like we (the community) have been pretty disconnected already that taking away the illusion of choice was pretty harsh.
But also I disagree with your criteria that they must be semi-well known. An unknown who contributes to the greater community is imho the minimum. And I also disagree that they must only be columnists, streamers and pros. This CCC shows that podcasters who even claim Amateur status can wreck face against seasoned (if out of practice) pro tour champions (Meghan and Marie).
I don't think they stacked the community cup to be in favor or against one side winning or the other (if anything I think they tried very hard to make the skill levels very close and even). They just took away something important to us: The sense that we, the community are involved in the process in some way. Which imho is divisive and not community building.
magma728 - Good to know, thanks! Sorry I saw this so late.
Before they took away the casual room group chat window and made the game chat windows auto-hide at the start of each match, people used to chat with each other a LOT more. Even clan chat windows would have conversations in them, and the user-creatable named chat windows.
Without even intending to, by making the chat interface far worse in V4 than it was in 3.5, they eliminated 90% or more of the conversation. That was a real tragedy. It already needed building up to be BETTER and get people chatting MORE, back in 3.5. But they killed it instead.
Glad you found some people that actually chat a bit. :)
I think it's better for Erik's family if they get as many as possible of those cards sold at "full retail" prices rather than at "wholesale" prices.
I suppose if it reaches the point where there's nothing left that's selling any more, then it makes sense to sell off the remaining cards at a much lower rate just to get something for them.
I think it's pretty clear that Wizards sets up the Community Cup so that it's more likely than not that the community team will win, because that's better PR. Making the Community lose one year out of five probably just makes it even more convincing and exciting, if they won every year people would start to assume it was fixed and/or take it for granted.
If they really wanted to stack it against the community, they'd have 8 staff members that are pro tour champions and hall of famers, and not mix in Wizards employees who are medium or poor players along with the good ones.
I don't really care how they pick the community team, as long as they're semi-well known magic players / columnists / streamers. Which they are.
Regarding the Community Cup, I would prefer that the Wizards team (or at least Alison the Community Liason Officer) interacted with us in the official community forums.
Instead, we get a flashy Community Cup that has, I suspect, little relevance to most people except the participants, and then Wizards shuts down the forums...for good. Nice one. :(
Thalia is a poor consolation prize for this bad deal (however I will take her rather than look a Cathar gift horse in the mouth!).
Michelle
And the winner is... Paul Leicht!
Unopposed, but still a very respectible deck. I like how it has a lot of internal interactions that don't even require the main combo pieces. Paul, email me at CottonRhetoric at gmail dotcom to figure out a time to set up the trade for your fabulous prize. On most days, I'm free in the 4:30 to 9pm range.
It seems the consensus I heard yesterday was for Helm instead of Altar. I think both new additions - Peacekeeper for the Elves and random Aggro, and Disciple of Law for anti-Red flexibility - played well. Going to four of the amazing Enlightened Tutor was also correct, as you don't even have to draw your last Top, just leave it on top after casting Tutor. The main combo is definitely watered down from last week's version featuring Altar, but not by much. Trinket Mage can't fetch Jace's Erasure, and the extra mana could be critical, and you have to play with 4 Erasures instead of 3 Altars. Neither deficit caused my loss to Zuberas, as I simply couldn't find enough combo pieces in time both games. However, I would have lost two games had Erasure been three mana instead of 2 (e.g., Sphinx's Tutelage). The deck is still very strong, beating a good Goblins build twice on turn 4. Anyways, Helm seems the proper ban, for reasons mentioned earlier and that it has only been played in one non-Sensei's list since the Gatherling era.
As it is, it's still a broken combo in Underdog and probably even Pure; Altar alone is not enough. The ban/purification switch would make this a 4-card creature combo, that is good but not absurd.
Why? Why should we "just say"? Is that code for "I know something you don't know?" or is it merely a dodge to avoid explaining what you actually mean because then you'd be held to account for any inaccuracies or lies you used in the course of that action?
And if it is "I know something you don't know" isn't that just a troll? A poorly disguised one at that?
I think if they really wanted to avoid confusion they shouldn't have remade Spawn tokens except with one extra point of power.