Official MTG Thread!!

[Magmoormaster]

I figured it would be nice to have a dedicated space to talk about MTG.

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I recently got back into MTG after about a decade. I played standard for about a year, dabbled in modern but never really had the money to be competitive, and got into EDH towards the end. Stopped playing mostly due to college and not having time. Sold my cards to pay rent. I got fired over the holidays, and needed something new to do while waiting around between job interviews and such.

Therer's a couple LGS's near me, one of which is really cool. They actually charge a $10 fee to sit at a table, which honestly ups th quality of players. It's a great atmosphere, very unlike the usual dingy game store. Anyway, as someone who hasn't played in a long time, it's crazy how much the game has changed. EDH being the primary format now is wild but awesome. I think it's also the root cause of some of MTG's current problems (like how the Universes Beyond sets get more attention than in-universe sets) but that's a different discussion.

Despite the shop employees saying the players are all pretty casual, most players are running pretty powerful decks. I technically haven't seen any infinite combos, but I've seen several Gruul/Naya stompy decks, Yuriko, Ovika, a really crazy Flubs deck that I couldn't explain at all but was really over the top. I've been working on a Brudiclad deck, trying to make it powerful enough to keep up. Last week at FNM, I was one turn away from winning basically each game but lost cuz someone was just a little faster. Fortunately people are cool with proxies, cuz I'm not at a point in life where I can drop $50+ on a Rhystic Study.

Sidebar, I still have a word doc with my old decklists from a decade ago... It's funny looking back at them and seeing how bad they were lol. Even the strongest EDH decks I saw back in the day would get stomped by a mediocre deck these days. And that's less to do with power creep and more to do with better deckbuilding. It's also sad to see the value of stuff these days; wish I hadn't sold my Mox Opal back in 2017 for $40-50 when they're worth $170ish now.

[Jonnydread]

Hey me too! I just played Commander mode with some friends and had a good time, first time playing in a good ten years. I still have a couple shoeboxes of cards that I'd like to go through and build something out of, but I was always just a casual player so I have a lot of catching up to do and I don't know what half of words you said mean.

Riot

[Riot]

Haha was already typing

[Riot]

Yeah, I’m super frustrated with MTG. It’s just on easy mode now. As soon as WOTC started seeing that EDH/commander was where people’s interests were leaning, they started printed cards specifically for it, thus ruining the very essence of the game.
The power creep became so intense - if you're not playing broken cards, you’re not winning.

The new tier system is so stupid. I run a Gwafa deck that would be considered a tier4 deck because of a couple of cards, but in reality, it’s a Gwafa deck… so it’s really, really not winning.

My cousin recently moved home and we started playing together 25 years ago, so I bought us a couple of precons and it’s the most fun I’ve had playing in quite some time. I highly recommend you do this, unless you’re really only in it for the game play and not the unique, fun, deck building. If you’re just in it for the game play, hop on edhrec and build the same cookie cutter netdeck as everyone else and send it!

Im also not a big supporter of the Hasbro money grab of combining dumb ass movies, tv shows and whatever else with MTG. That’s an entirely different conversation though…

[Jonnydread]

but... but... Cactuar :'(

[Magmoormaster]

Much like how I enjoyed working on guns as much if not more than playing paintball, I enjoy the deckbuilding process here. I didn't start with a precon, but my deck is my own. I definitely used EDHREC as a starting point but between finding different synergistic cards while digging thru bulks and some stuff just kinda sucking, my deck is pretty dramatically different.

I agree that the game changers part of the new tier list is too rigid, for the exact reason you mentioned. I think if you use it more loosely to describe the intent of the deck, it works better. But any sort of tier system is going to be limited in efficacy, and easily broken.

Either way, I'm a tryhard and want my deck to be on the high side of tier 4. If i had a more casual group to play with, that might be different. But as it stands...

[Riot]

I fear that if you want to be competitive, you’re going to need the best deck that’s already been made… within reason, of course. No one is coming up with a cEDH deck that’s isn’t already proven…
Based on what you said; I think you’re looking for what we call “competitive casual.” Haha. Make it as good as you want, without copying the netdecks. Of course, even if you make the best version of a deck, it’s already online, which means you may not have copied it, but it’s unoriginal… and that’s the part I hate.

[Magmoormaster]

Oh yeah no, I'm not doing cEDH. That's why I said tier 4 and not tier 5.

I understand what you're saying about the best already being out there, but I kinda disagree. My commander is fairly low in popularity and I have yet to see any list built remotely like mine. Obviously I haven't looked at every list, but there's plenty of room of creativitiy and still make something good. They'll probably be similar in a lot of ways, sure. But that's just the nature of, well, anything really.

[freedom]

wish I hadn't sold my Mox Opal back in 2017 for $40-50 when they're worth $170ish now.

That price hike was due to modern unbanning it after a ten-year ban.
Please don't beat yourself up; I played when alpha cards were nearly worthless since they had different corners (sleeves weren't a thing yet).

[Grendel]

I play friendly Commander games with some friends, I too love building decks and other then abiding by the banned cards list we allow all cards from all eras and just stick with "Deck Value" limits. I just got done trading some paintball parts for some bulk cards to have more fodder to work with. I just got done blowing up all but two mediocre decks and in the process of sorting and cataloging what I now have so the new builds begin this weekend.

When MTG first came out in the early 90s a gaming friend tried to get us into the game but it really never caught on with my immediate group back then. I did not get into playing until my daughter and her husband talked me into playing back around 2015.

[redsquirrel]

Started playing around 2013 and have sold off my collections twice. Enjoy building jank and alt win-con decks (often one in the same). Have mostly ever played kitchen table magic in various formats and these days the most fun I have is playing casual games with duel decks/precons.

I’ll jump on Arena for a week or two a year, but don’t spend any money and quickly uninstall it because it’s such a time waster. Used to enjoy attending prereleases but it’s hard to find the time and the release schedule is just overwhelming now. Take me back to 3-4 a year please.

Had a weekly commander group for a while but that died off and now I’m more interested in D&D if I’m going to play a game.

[Magmoormaster]

I do kinda miss kitchen table mtg. I had a friend back in 15-16 who I'd play with all the time, but the friendship fell apart. I didn't have time to go to the LGS for games, so I ended up selling my cards a year or so later. That said, I do prefer high power games. With a bit of proxy'ing, it can still be pretty cheap too.

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So back in the day, I had a really lousy Mogis commander deck, which was designed just to cause chaos. Had a lot of sacrifice half your permanents, lose half your life total, etc. It was fun but definitely more of a troll deck than anything. As mentioned in the OP, I still have my old decklists saved on my computer, so for a laugh I went back and looked it over. I see now how to make it both much more powerful and really mean. Given its price, I won't ever build it (maybe proxy it), but here it is:

https://moxfield.com/decks/2V5-Fn0izE6f0KXbSIi86A

I call it "Salt the Earth." Basically just board wipes, mass sacrifice, mass land destruction, some extra turns, and ramp to get you there. Would probably only play it once, and then everyone would hate me lol.

[redsquirrel]

Love a good hate deck and this one seems fun. I’m usually in Esper for these types.

[Magmoormaster]

After playtesting it a bit, I ended up pulling most of the land hate. It turned into just tutor for Heartless Hidetsugu and a damage doubler. It's powerful but a bit boring.

[Magmoormaster]

Idk if anyone’s been following the tarkir spoilers but imo it’s looking like a good set. Dragons are getting a lot of love. Probably not a hot take but I think dragons are going to be the new dinosaurs. I’m planning on picking up the temur precon myself.

I’ve also been working on a deck with Bess, Soul Nourished as the commander. It’s almost entirely 1/1s that I found digging thru bulks. It’s hilariously strong though.

The list, if anyone cares:

https://moxfield.com/decks/XIID1e2V0Uecofqe9eR2tg

[redsquirrel]

Nice, really enjoyed the first block of Tarkir. May try to make the prerelease for this next weekend.

[cfos00]

Love me some dragons and am really excited for it. My pet deck is a blinged out dragon deck, so this is right up my alley.

[Riot]

Idk if anyone’s been following the tarkir spoilers but imo it’s looking like a good set. Dragons are getting a lot of love. Probably not a hot take but I think dragons are going to be the new dinosaurs. I’m planning on picking up the temur precon myself.

I’ve also been working on a deck with Bess, Soul Nourished as the commander. It’s almost entirely 1/1s that I found digging thru bulks. It’s hilariously strong though.

The list, if anyone cares:
https://moxfield.com/decks/XIID1e2V0Uecofqe9eR2tg

Dragons are the new dinosaurs are the new dragons? 😝
I like big and stompy… I guess it’s good they made the play style usable, but it still doesn’t feel the same to me. Pumping up big ol’ Dino’s or Dragons quickly. Again- it was necessary to keep them viable… oh, I don’t know, I’m just rambling.

[Magmoormaster]

lol that's probably true... back when I was playing commander, and in fairness I probably played with less than 10 people total, dragons weren't much of a thing. I don't think there were enough good ones to really make a deck out of it. I mean, yeah, Niv Mizzet infinite combo decks existed, and of course Kaalia was around. But Niv Mizzet was really a spellslinger deck, not dragons, and Kaalia has angels and demons too. But yeah, in the 2 or so months I've been playing, I see dinos all the time. I still have a negative association with gruul decks from the old Burning Tree Emissary decks I always saw when I was playing standard. It just feels like a cheap/overpowered/too easy playstyle to me. But for whatever reason, dragons don't illicit the same negative response. Maybe that's hypocritical.

Regardless, I think Tarkir will be fun. It helps that it's bookened by Aetherdrift.

Also, maybe y'all can help me come up with a new deck. I came to the conclusion that I want 3 EDH decks; one high power tier 4 deck, one squarely tier 3 deck, and then one deck that has no wincons, just shenanigans. The tier 4 deck, which will probably be the Brudiclad deck I mention in the OP, will hopefully be played the least. But it's kind of the "I can kick your ass if I wanted to" deck, to appease my competitive side. And Brudiclad has reached a point where I often feel bad playing it because it's pretty well refined. Moving on, I want the Dragon precon to be my tier 3 deck. The hard part here will be keeping it tier 3, and not making it too powerful. The point here is to have a deck that's pretty strong, but won't grossly overpower newer or more casual players. Ideally I'd play it the most. And then the shenanigans deck will be basically a troll deck. No wincon, just do weird stuff for laughs. My first thought was some sort of like, G/U fog deck, where I steal other people's creatures or otherwise reassign control of creatures to other players. But I don't have any cards in mind for how to do it. I just want it to be a wildcard, but keep it really funny to play against, not annoying. So yeah, if anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them!!

In the interim, I might make a deck that's like 75 islands, 20 draw card spells, and like 5 counters or something. Make it seem like I'm building to something big but do absolutely nothing. Make plays like tapping 10 islands and then pass turn, or say things like "in response... I do nothing."

[Riot]

lol that's probably true... back when I was playing commander, and in fairness I probably played with less than 10 people total, dragons weren't much of a thing. I don't think there were enough good ones to really make a deck out of it. I mean, yeah, Niv Mizzet infinite combo decks existed, and of course Kaalia was around. But Niv Mizzet was really a spellslinger deck, not dragons, and Kaalia has angels and demons too. But yeah, in the 2 or so months I've been playing, I see dinos all the time. I still have a negative association with gruul decks from the old Burning Tree Emissary decks I always saw when I was playing standard. It just feels like a cheap/overpowered/too easy playstyle to me. But for whatever reason, dragons don't illicit the same negative response. Maybe that's hypocritical.

Regardless, I think Tarkir will be fun. It helps that it's bookened by Aetherdrift.

Also, maybe y'all can help me come up with a new deck. I came to the conclusion that I want 3 EDH decks; one high power tier 4 deck, one squarely tier 3 deck, and then one deck that has no wincons, just shenanigans. The tier 4 deck, which will probably be the Brudiclad deck I mention in the OP, will hopefully be played the least. But it's kind of the "I can kick your ass if I wanted to" deck, to appease my competitive side. And Brudiclad has reached a point where I often feel bad playing it because it's pretty well refined. Moving on, I want the Dragon precon to be my tier 3 deck. The hard part here will be keeping it tier 3, and not making it too powerful. The point here is to have a deck that's pretty strong, but won't grossly overpower newer or more casual players. Ideally I'd play it the most. And then the shenanigans deck will be basically a troll deck. No wincon, just do weird stuff for laughs. My first thought was some sort of like, G/U fog deck, where I steal other people's creatures or otherwise reassign control of creatures to other players. But I don't have any cards in mind for how to do it. I just want it to be a wildcard, but keep it really funny to play against, not annoying. So yeah, if anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them!!

In the interim, I might make a deck that's like 75 islands, 20 draw card spells, and like 5 counters or something. Make it seem like I'm building to something big but do absolutely nothing. Make plays like tapping 10 islands and then pass turn, or say things like "in response... I do nothing."

The new tier system is asinine. I understand your point, I just wanted to mention I’ve got a Gwafa deck that would be considered tier 4… ha. It’s a terrible system.

[Magmoormaster]

The new tier system is asinine. I understand your point, I just wanted to mention I’ve got a Gwafa deck that would be considered tier 4… ha. It’s a terrible system.

You're looking at it too literally. The number of included game changers is not a hard law; my Brudiclad deck has two game changers and no two-card infinite combos, so by strict definition it would be a bracket 3. But that's definitely not the case. It's a tier 4 deck without question. If you read the introducing commander brackets article, it's clear they're intending this to be used more in the spirit of how the deck was built.

[Riot]

I think we were all doing that on our own just fine. For the to say “we intend this to be in the spirit” and then include specific bullet points just sounds like them trying to back pedal, once again, on hurting the game further.

That said, I don’t build very competitive decks. My Arabella deck will smash faces pretty quickly, but I’d rather play a precon all day… or the above mentioned Gwafa! Haha

[Magmoormaster]

Honestly man, it sounds like you're just looking for reasons to be mad at it.

[cfos00]

I just started building decks again for a mere 20 year break from it (wanted something to challenge the ol' noggin a bit and missed it from when I was a kid), and having fun with it. I've built up a dragon deck with a hell of a mana base (halfway to getting a full set of revised duals, a handful of fetches, a ton of 5 color lands that ping me(City of Brass and it's friends), and all the moxes that aren't tantalite/power 9---got all of them but the diamond from pack opens!. It's not the fastest but it's fun for me.), a mono black sac deck using a secret commander in Warren Soultrader that can hand the dragons its ass when it doesn't have a god awful draw, an Eldrazi, a stompy Ghalta and Mavren green/white that's fun, an Angels deck that's a lot like the Pre-Con, a Demons deck with an 'opponent half his life' theme, a Red/Black equipment deck, and a Blue deck that win only by drawing itself out. I am going to try and build a deck to make the Lotus Ring I got not suck for fun too. Don't really know many people to play with---again, been 20 years---but always liked building decks.

I want to toss together a little elfball cheap-o deck sometime soon, and really want to see when I end up getting in my Tarkir boxes. Hoping for some good luck.