GAME THEORY
So, as you may or may not know, the next core set is just over the horizon. This time is a little different, for the first time since M10, we're getting a bunch of new rules. Some big, some small. And as usual, people on Magic social media have gone completely bonkers. You'd think it was a sign of the apocalypse or something.
1. Cats and dogs will marry.
2. Rivers will run with blood.
3. You can't legend rule creatures with clones.
I've been playing the game since Shards of Alara, been a flavor nut for almost as long, an amateur card designer for about half that time, and a judge for 3 months. I've seen Magic from a lot of different perspectives, and I can safely say the sky is not falling. At least not from this.
I figured I'd go over all the changes, what they really mean, and why this won't be the death of Magic. Partly because I love you, and partly because I should actually use this stupid blog.
THE LEGEND RULE
The way the legend rule currently works is that there can only be one legendary permanent (creature, artifact, enchantment or land) with the same name on the battlefield at any given time. The idea being that it's a sort of space time thing. There's lots of bears and goblins and demons and what not to summon across the multiverse, but there is only one Thalia. Trying to make more than one creates a paradox, and both are eliminated. Or maybe your opponent used the same spell as you to dismiss her. Whatever. There is no exact flavor, and it doesn't really matter.
There can only be one.
The way it will work is largely the same, except for individual players. Each player may have a Thalia, but any one player can't have two Thalias. Legends are getting a bit of a boost though, the way it will work is that if at any time you have two legendary permanents with the same name, you get to pick one to keep, and the other goes to your graveyard as a state based effect.
WHY THIS ISN'T THE END OF THE WORLD
Well, I just told you why. An important think to note is that the legendary status was never exactly an upside or a downside, it depended on what side of the table it was on. If you played a legend, and your opponent legend ruled it, sucks for you. If your opponent played a legend and you legend ruled it, sucks for them. This new change doesn't make legends (in and of themselves) better or worse. Just different.
True it makes some legends much better (harder to kill hexproof legends, you can do dumb things like copying Zegana with a Progenitor Mimic, legendary lands and mana rocks like Gaea's Cradle and Mox Opal can be used like rituals) and some worse (can't loop Sharuum in EDH as easily), but as a whole legends just play too differently now for this to be considered better or worse.
I've heard some people complain about the flavor failure of this, and well, yeah, its a little bit worse, but interpreting Magic gameplay as a literal narrative is deeply flawed.
This is a game where Nicol Bolas can pick up Nicol Bolas and beat you to death with him.
There are far more egregious flavor fails in the game than this one. Seriously folks; it's a game about Magic. If you can't figure out how this might work, you're not trying hard enough.
THE PLANESWALKER RULE
The way Planeswalkers currently work is very much like the legend rule, but with names subtypes (the name on their type line) instead of their name. The new walker rule will work very similar to the new legend rule, but again with walker subtypes instead of legend names.
WHY THIS ISN'T THE END OF THE WORLD
Again a lot of the above. When Jace, He Who Devours the Dreams of the Innocent was in standard, many blue players would play Jace Beleren as a way to pre-emptively legend rule their opponents Mind-Sculptors. You get a free draw out of it, and they have to waste a whole turn clearing the board of Jaces before they can play their own. This scenario can and does happen in any format with a significant Planeswalker presence in top tier decks. The new rule prevents that from happening. Again, this is not better or worse, but different.
Wizards has said that since walkers have been printed, they've been hesitant to print Faith's Fetters style removal because of how powerfully it hoses walkers. If an opponent fetters one of your walkers, they've effectively destroyed it and the next one you play. With the new rule, fetters isn't a 2 for 1 against walkers. Which makes walkers stronger but also means that Wizards will be more inclined to print this style removal in the future.
I love playing with walkers, but playing against them, especially without a way to meaningfully interact with them, is miserable. Anything that enables better removal for them is a win in my book.
The flavor is about as weird for this as it was for legends. So the way it was before it was assumed that when you summoned a Planeswalker, they were fulfilling an agreement or debt or similar to you, and when your opponent legend ruled yours away that they were calling in a similar debt. Now, it's not so clear. I've heard some folks suggest that now a Planeswalker is merely playing both sides of the field. An interesting idea, but way more devious than I would come to expect from some of the characters, and it does nothing to answer how Sarkhan could simultaneously be sane and insane, or Ajani angry and mellow, or Garruk cursed and not. Alas, we'll have to learn to deal with it.
THE SIDEBOARD RULE
How deckbuilding worked before in constructed formats was thus; your main deck had to have a minimum of cards (usually sixty) and your sideboard had to have either 0 or 15 cards, nothing in between and any sideboarding you did in between games had to be done 1:1. Which is to say, for every card added, you had to take one out.
Your deck is the same, but now your sideboard can contain up to 15 cards. Additionally, you don't have to take any cards out when you sideboard to put more in. Should you so desire, you may put all 15 cards of your sideboard into your deck. I would not particularly recommend this, however.
WHY THIS ISN'T THE WORLD
Are you seriously going to ask me this? This doesn't affect deckbuilding in any real way. What it does do is prevent really unfortunate game losses that should have not happened. Imagine this scenario; you're playing a competitive game of Magic at a high enough level of rules enforcement that you can be penalized for mistakes. After your first game you do some sideboarding. Now, sometime before the round ends it is discovered that you only have fourteen cards in your sideboard. Under the old rules, you would receive a game loss. Under the new rules, nothing happens. Seems good to me. More games being determined through deck choice and play skill over semantic corner case rules lawyer crap like this is good for the game.
INDESTRUCTIBLE PROMOTED TO KEYWORD
This is a bit weird. You know what a keyword is right? It's usually a single word on a Magic card that implies a larger block of rules text. Key words are used by Magic designers to establish and reinforce themes of a card or set and to save space on cards which allows for more variance in design. For example, what you look at when you see the text box for Storm Crow is "flying" but what is actually there is "this creature can only be blocked by creatures with flying or reach". One of those sounds a lot more elegant than the other yeah? That's what keywords are great!
Indestructible is a piece of technology that was first introduced in Darksteel. It showed up on a bunch of cards and those cards could not be destroyed. Now here's the problem; Indestructible is not a keyword. Never was. R&D was using an English word to denote that cards were the definition of that word; ie, they could survive destruction effects. This was rather confusing as it was used like a keyword. It had design space, colors it showed up in more than others, a balance it had to maintain across effects and rarities, but it was never an ability, rules wise.
This lack of abilityness created a bunch of really weird cornercase scenarios that were probably never intended but just kind of happened because of how the rules worked.
For example, did you know that if you used Turn to Frog on a Falkenrath Aristocrat that had eaten someone that turn, the Aristocrat would remain indestructible? Indestructibility was not an ability to be taken away, just a quality of the card.
Did you know that if you cast Boros Charm that creatures that enter the battlefield after you cast Boros Charm will be indestructible hat turn?
That's some weird crap. Now that Indestructible is a keyword, those scenarios will work more akin to how logic would dictate them working instead of the weirdness that they are now.
HOW THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
Because it's not. Now people who aren't certified Magic judges can figure out how indestructible interacts with stuff, and we get to save a bunch of space on cards by changing "Darksteel Colossus is indestructible" to "Indestructible". Neat.
UNBLOCKABLE TEMPLATE CHANGE
"Unblockable" as a line of rules text is being changed to "can't be blocked". Why, you might ask? Mostly to keep it in line with the current templating to the blajillion variants of unblockable already in print.
HOW THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
Because nothing has changed. At all. Your favorite Tormented Soul works exactly as it did before.
PLAYING ADDITIONAL LANDS
Of all the weird rules crap I've talked about today, this is the weirdest. Did you know that when you have multiple effects that let you play a land you're supposed to specify which land drop you're using? For example, let's say you have an Oracle of Mul Daya in play right now you have two land drop options. You have your natural land drop (let's call it LandDropA) and the Oracle's land drop (LandDropB). You decide to play a land using LandDropB. Then you cast Cloudshift targetting your own Oracle. The Oracle comes back in, and the game recognizes it as a separate game object. You now have LandDropC. That's some weird crap.
The way land drops will work going forward is that instead of asking how many land drop effects you have going on is to simply count the number of land drops you have available.
By default you will have 1 land drop. If you have an Oracle in play you will have 1+1=2 land drops available.
If you Cloudshift your Oracle you will still have 1+1=2 land drops available.
Make sense to me.
WHY THIS ISN'T THE END OF THE WORLD
Because it's such a cornercase thing that will almost never be relevant. That being said, this rules change is kind of interesting because its the only one we're getting that actually makes a few cards worse. I know that Cloudshifting Oracles to get 7 land drops in a turn was never a top tier strategy, but I'm sure there's some people out there who did do that sort of thing, and I would like to offer my condolences to you for losing a strategy you loved. Sucks man. ):
Well there you have it, all of the new rules changes. I hope I have helped convince you that Magic will somehow manage to weather this storm.
I'd love to hear what you think about the new rules changes.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Big Tent Juggler
Disclaimer: This article contains custom card designs. If
you are a Wizards of the Coast employee you have my full permission to use any
designs or ideas within this article without my explicit written consent or
prior knowledge, or without giving me any sort of credit. I love this game and I
want to help it in any way I can
My most recent story, A Day at the Circus, was actually inspired by those returning mechanics contests I was hosting last month. I thought of a card, then I thought of a story.
You've already seen the story, now here's the card:
My most recent story, A Day at the Circus, was actually inspired by those returning mechanics contests I was hosting last month. I thought of a card, then I thought of a story.
Monday, April 15, 2013
An Open Letter to the MtG Community
Hello folks.
I'm Hairless Thoctar.
Actually rather hairy, been playing Magic for about 5 years now, have become completely obsessed.
As many of you may know, Wizards of the Coast; the stellar men, women, and goblins that they are; are running the fourth You Make the Card event. That's pretty neat.
We've already settled on enchantment for type, black for color, and global for effect.
Not my first choices, but I'm a easy-to-please kinda guy.
Now we're submitting potentially the most important aspect of the card; the rules text.
I'm reaching out to the maybe five of you that will read this with a plea;
Please don't design a Necropotence variant.
Yes, the effect is powerful, but it's so obvious.
When people think of powerful black enchantments, it's the first thing anyone thinks of.
I understand the appeal, really I do, but we can do so much better.
Something distinctive and original that won't either ruin standard for two years or won't fade away into obscurity.
We have the potential for greatness, to design something totally distinct that lives up to the legacy of the YMTC, um, legacy.
We can do it. You can help.
I'm Hairless Thoctar.
Actually rather hairy, been playing Magic for about 5 years now, have become completely obsessed.
As many of you may know, Wizards of the Coast; the stellar men, women, and goblins that they are; are running the fourth You Make the Card event. That's pretty neat.
We've already settled on enchantment for type, black for color, and global for effect.
Not my first choices, but I'm a easy-to-please kinda guy.
Now we're submitting potentially the most important aspect of the card; the rules text.
I'm reaching out to the maybe five of you that will read this with a plea;
Please don't design a Necropotence variant.
Yes, the effect is powerful, but it's so obvious.
When people think of powerful black enchantments, it's the first thing anyone thinks of.
I understand the appeal, really I do, but we can do so much better.
Something distinctive and original that won't either ruin standard for two years or won't fade away into obscurity.
We have the potential for greatness, to design something totally distinct that lives up to the legacy of the YMTC, um, legacy.
We can do it. You can help.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Villain
There is no rest for the wicked.
Calave recalled the words the Guildmaster Lazav had told him once. He was being senselessly beaten by a pair of Boros officers. It was an odd time to become sentimental, looking death in the eyes. But Calave was an understanding man; he did not fear death.
Quite simply, the world needs villains.
Lazav would go on. The words echoing in his mind mirroring the echoes of his femur being broken in this basement chamber. Calave had been caught trying to steal evidence from a Boros holding facility. Someone had been arrested, and the Calave had been tasked with wiping his slate clean. He wasn't doing too well.
The world that is Ravnica exists in between the black and the white. There needs to be men and women capable and willing to make tough decisions for the good of us all.
Calave was a bit surprised by the turn of events. The Boros were zealous to be sure, but there was normally a procedure for this sort of thing. Sure someone could be expected to be roughed up, but you usually had to do something pretty heinous to be murdered in Boros custody. Calave had underestimated how high guild tensions were running these days because of that fat purple twit.
The officers handling him were out for his blood. It was bothersome, but Calave was going to die here.
There are too many moving pieces these days. The lines have been drawn in the sand. The Guilds fear showing weakness to one another, fear of showing compromise, so nothing gets done. That's what we are for; we compromise them.
We get things done.
A tingly numb feeling was beginning to cascade throughout Calave's body. He couldn't feel anything below his left knee and a glance confirmed that very little below there would have worked anymore anyway. If Calave still possessed the capacity to sigh,
Not only would his higher ups be tasked with covering up his compromised position, but they would have to send a cleaner to remove the evidence, a wiper to change the minds of anyone involved, a mole would have to figure out where they would move the evidence to, and another attempt at the evidence would be made.
Life would be so much simpler if the Guilds actually made an effort at compromise, even if it wasn't public. They could keep up appearances, but it was no well-kept secret that all 10 pieces were necessary for the maintenance of this strange machine that Ravnica had become.
When the Guilds fail to look eye to eye, we see.
One of the soldiers backhanded Calave so harshly the vision in his remaining eye blurred as though looking through a particularly dirty window.
When communication breaks down, we speak.
A punch to Calave's jaw. What little feeling remained suggested that it was broken, hanging from his face like a faulty marionette.
When no one else makes is willing to do a bad thing for a good reason, we endure.
Calave fell forward. He brought himself to his knees, and then saw a blade spurt out of his chest. The numbness overcame him. His vision failed. His breathe halted.
Darkness.
And then a light.
Calave stared.
In the distance there was a light, obscured as through some sort of opaque lens.
A fish swam by, Calave figured they had ditched his body in an aqueduct or something similar.
Calave tensed, searching for feeling.
What luck, none of his limbs had been severed, this would make this simple.
He brought his hands before his face.
He counted the bones in his hand. Phalanges. Metacarpals. Hamate. Pistiform. Nothing appeared to be missing.
Calave stood up and undid a crick in his neck.
It was going to be a chore sneaking back in through the undoubtedly tighter security.
But such was the way of things.
There was no rest for the wicked.
Calave recalled the words the Guildmaster Lazav had told him once. He was being senselessly beaten by a pair of Boros officers. It was an odd time to become sentimental, looking death in the eyes. But Calave was an understanding man; he did not fear death.
Quite simply, the world needs villains.
Lazav would go on. The words echoing in his mind mirroring the echoes of his femur being broken in this basement chamber. Calave had been caught trying to steal evidence from a Boros holding facility. Someone had been arrested, and the Calave had been tasked with wiping his slate clean. He wasn't doing too well.
The world that is Ravnica exists in between the black and the white. There needs to be men and women capable and willing to make tough decisions for the good of us all.
Calave was a bit surprised by the turn of events. The Boros were zealous to be sure, but there was normally a procedure for this sort of thing. Sure someone could be expected to be roughed up, but you usually had to do something pretty heinous to be murdered in Boros custody. Calave had underestimated how high guild tensions were running these days because of that fat purple twit.
The officers handling him were out for his blood. It was bothersome, but Calave was going to die here.
There are too many moving pieces these days. The lines have been drawn in the sand. The Guilds fear showing weakness to one another, fear of showing compromise, so nothing gets done. That's what we are for; we compromise them.
We get things done.
A tingly numb feeling was beginning to cascade throughout Calave's body. He couldn't feel anything below his left knee and a glance confirmed that very little below there would have worked anymore anyway. If Calave still possessed the capacity to sigh,
Not only would his higher ups be tasked with covering up his compromised position, but they would have to send a cleaner to remove the evidence, a wiper to change the minds of anyone involved, a mole would have to figure out where they would move the evidence to, and another attempt at the evidence would be made.
Life would be so much simpler if the Guilds actually made an effort at compromise, even if it wasn't public. They could keep up appearances, but it was no well-kept secret that all 10 pieces were necessary for the maintenance of this strange machine that Ravnica had become.
When the Guilds fail to look eye to eye, we see.
One of the soldiers backhanded Calave so harshly the vision in his remaining eye blurred as though looking through a particularly dirty window.
When communication breaks down, we speak.
A punch to Calave's jaw. What little feeling remained suggested that it was broken, hanging from his face like a faulty marionette.
When no one else makes is willing to do a bad thing for a good reason, we endure.
Calave fell forward. He brought himself to his knees, and then saw a blade spurt out of his chest. The numbness overcame him. His vision failed. His breathe halted.
Darkness.
And then a light.
Calave stared.
In the distance there was a light, obscured as through some sort of opaque lens.
A fish swam by, Calave figured they had ditched his body in an aqueduct or something similar.
Calave tensed, searching for feeling.
What luck, none of his limbs had been severed, this would make this simple.
He brought his hands before his face.
He counted the bones in his hand. Phalanges. Metacarpals. Hamate. Pistiform. Nothing appeared to be missing.
Calave stood up and undid a crick in his neck.
It was going to be a chore sneaking back in through the undoubtedly tighter security.
But such was the way of things.
There was no rest for the wicked.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Rosewater Rumble, the aftermath
A couple of weeks back, Mark Rosewater, Magic's lead designer, ran a tournament of sorts: The Rosewater Rumble.
He asked all of his followers on his numerous social media outlets to pick their favorite set of the 16 sets he had been the lead designer for.
A bit boastful, yes, but I would brag too if I had made that much of an impact on the game.
Today I offer some of my own opinions on the outcome of the poll, how I voted et cetera.
Or I would have, had I remembered what I had to say, but it was three weeks ago, and in that time I've forgotten some of the undoubtedly profound things I had to say.
I guess I'm going to wing it.
I want to highlight some of the sets I favored and why.
In his personal reviews, Mark speaks somewhat pessimistically of Mirrodin and Urza's Destiny. And not for no reason, they were two of the most overpowered sets of all time. They ushered forth some of the most poorly developed cards of all time that turned tournament play into a stagnant wasteland of salty tears.
But I kind of liked that. yes, those sets had some really bad issues, but their poor development stands in stark contrast to most of Magic's history where tournament play always had some semblance of balance. I feel that the unique circumstances that lead to these sets being so broken also led them to be unique in all the best ways. So many cards, so many cool cards, from these sets simply would not have ever happened in a set with a tighter leash.
I also personally voted very high for Shadowmoor and Eventide. I started playing just after Shards of Alara was released, so everyone I played with at the beginning had loads of decks full of hybrid cards. I came to play with and against a ton of the cardpool from the two sets, and even as my tastes and skills matured, I always had a soft spot for the sets. It seemed to me that as some quirk of hybrid design that the two sets had fewer cards that most players colloquially referred to as "limited chaffe", cards that are playable in limited, but pretty much nowehre else.
That's pretty much it.
Those are the only opinions I had that stood apart from the standard.
What did you think of the results of the Rosewater Rumble?
Why did you like or dislike the design of the various sets in it?
I'd love to hear what you think about it!
He asked all of his followers on his numerous social media outlets to pick their favorite set of the 16 sets he had been the lead designer for.
A bit boastful, yes, but I would brag too if I had made that much of an impact on the game.
Today I offer some of my own opinions on the outcome of the poll, how I voted et cetera.
Or I would have, had I remembered what I had to say, but it was three weeks ago, and in that time I've forgotten some of the undoubtedly profound things I had to say.
I guess I'm going to wing it.
I want to highlight some of the sets I favored and why.
In his personal reviews, Mark speaks somewhat pessimistically of Mirrodin and Urza's Destiny. And not for no reason, they were two of the most overpowered sets of all time. They ushered forth some of the most poorly developed cards of all time that turned tournament play into a stagnant wasteland of salty tears.
But I kind of liked that. yes, those sets had some really bad issues, but their poor development stands in stark contrast to most of Magic's history where tournament play always had some semblance of balance. I feel that the unique circumstances that lead to these sets being so broken also led them to be unique in all the best ways. So many cards, so many cool cards, from these sets simply would not have ever happened in a set with a tighter leash.
I also personally voted very high for Shadowmoor and Eventide. I started playing just after Shards of Alara was released, so everyone I played with at the beginning had loads of decks full of hybrid cards. I came to play with and against a ton of the cardpool from the two sets, and even as my tastes and skills matured, I always had a soft spot for the sets. It seemed to me that as some quirk of hybrid design that the two sets had fewer cards that most players colloquially referred to as "limited chaffe", cards that are playable in limited, but pretty much nowehre else.
That's pretty much it.
Those are the only opinions I had that stood apart from the standard.
What did you think of the results of the Rosewater Rumble?
Why did you like or dislike the design of the various sets in it?
I'd love to hear what you think about it!
Monday, March 18, 2013
You Make the Card run off, a consideration
If you're reading this, chance are you're into Magic: the Gathering.
And if you're into Magic: the Gathering, chances are you're aware that Wizards is running the fourth "You Make the Card" promotional contest event thing.
And if you weren't;
Hey. You.
Wizards is running the foruth "You Make the Card" promotional contest event thing.
Which is pretty neat.
Basically, YMTC is a recurring thing Wizards has been doing irregularly since Onslaught block, wherein the hand the reigns of design over to us, the unwashed masses who don't have the fortuity to work at Wizards of the Coast for a single card.
Over the course of many weeks, a variety of polls are held to narrow down the focus of the event and ultimately decide what shall be printed.
Last week, the vote was for what card time would be considered; everything sans Planeswalker was up for vote.
The vote was close.
Like really freaking close.
Like 25 votes out of several dozen thousand votes close.
So, this week, they're doing a runoff between the top two contenders;
enchantment and land.
And here I am, as a half-arsed writer and would be designer who occasionally remembers that he has a blog on blogspot to tell you my opinion.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love me some enchantments.
Statisically, they are the hardest to remove card type and they've historically lacked the attention that some of the other card types have had giving them a wide berth of potential effects left to print.
But I'm a lands kind of guy
#TeamLand
Here's why I'm voting land (again) and why you should, too!
1. It's a challenge to design. Lands can't be countered. Any deck can play them without reprecusion. Land destruction has been nerfed to the point of irrelevance. There's a lot of valves that need to be very carefully adjusted to make them compelling and safe. And that makes me excited~
2. They need more love. It took Wizards until Prophecy to build a set around the theme of lands, and it took them until Zendikar to do it in a way that most people don't speak of in the same way that most of us speak of infectious diseases. There is SOOOOOOOOOOOO much untapped design space left for lands that no matter what kind of player you are, there is definitely something a land can do for you.
3. It's something for everyone. Simple enough; anyone can run lands. They have fewer restrictions towards gameplay since they don't compete for spell slots.
I'd love to hear your own opinions on the matter and don't forget to vote yourself!
And if you're into Magic: the Gathering, chances are you're aware that Wizards is running the fourth "You Make the Card" promotional contest event thing.
And if you weren't;
Hey. You.
Wizards is running the foruth "You Make the Card" promotional contest event thing.
Which is pretty neat.
Basically, YMTC is a recurring thing Wizards has been doing irregularly since Onslaught block, wherein the hand the reigns of design over to us, the unwashed masses who don't have the fortuity to work at Wizards of the Coast for a single card.
Over the course of many weeks, a variety of polls are held to narrow down the focus of the event and ultimately decide what shall be printed.
Last week, the vote was for what card time would be considered; everything sans Planeswalker was up for vote.
The vote was close.
Like really freaking close.
Like 25 votes out of several dozen thousand votes close.
So, this week, they're doing a runoff between the top two contenders;
enchantment and land.
And here I am, as a half-arsed writer and would be designer who occasionally remembers that he has a blog on blogspot to tell you my opinion.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love me some enchantments.
Statisically, they are the hardest to remove card type and they've historically lacked the attention that some of the other card types have had giving them a wide berth of potential effects left to print.
But I'm a lands kind of guy
#TeamLand
Here's why I'm voting land (again) and why you should, too!
1. It's a challenge to design. Lands can't be countered. Any deck can play them without reprecusion. Land destruction has been nerfed to the point of irrelevance. There's a lot of valves that need to be very carefully adjusted to make them compelling and safe. And that makes me excited~
2. They need more love. It took Wizards until Prophecy to build a set around the theme of lands, and it took them until Zendikar to do it in a way that most people don't speak of in the same way that most of us speak of infectious diseases. There is SOOOOOOOOOOOO much untapped design space left for lands that no matter what kind of player you are, there is definitely something a land can do for you.
3. It's something for everyone. Simple enough; anyone can run lands. They have fewer restrictions towards gameplay since they don't compete for spell slots.
I'd love to hear your own opinions on the matter and don't forget to vote yourself!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Brewing Tibalt
I'm in a bad place right now, readers.
A dark metaphorical hellhole from which there is no escape. A midnight black quagmire of despair and woe that threatens to consume my very sanity and leave me but a wretched husk of what I once was.
I want to brew a Tibalt deck.
I don't know why. Maybe it's because he's a Planeswalker that is cheap, affordable and easily acquirable because no one wants any. Maybe its exactly because no one wants any and some Magic players latch onto things that are unique and unappreciated. Maybe I want to satiate myself on someone's tears when I beat them with a deck built around the worst Planeswalker printed to date. Maybe I've fallen off my meds and you'd best call the police before I hurt someone.
Whatever the reason, I've had Tibalt on my mind a lot lately, and I'd like to share with you some ideas I've had.
First of all, I am in no way saying that Tibalt is good, merely that he is playable. That his downside is one that can be built around.
There are two ways that I can tell to build around that wretched line "discard at random".
Firstly, make sure that your deck is highly redundant. Have lots of cards in your deck that accomplish nigh identical functions. If you pitch a burn spell you want to have lots of other burn spells of similar scope to replace it with. Same with creatures, token makers, draw spells. Whatever you're filling your deck with.
Secondly, ideally, you want most anything Tibalt pitches to be something you would want to pitch. Things with madness that you cheat out with Tibalt. Things that you want in the graveyard in the firstplace like Unearthers, Flashbackers, reanimation targets, etc. Things that you can bring back with recursion outlets.
Or if you can manage, both.
Here's a list I came up with yesterday.
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
6 Mountain
6 Forest
4 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
4 Wasteland Viper
4 Boneyard Wurm
4 Dawntreader Elk
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Splinterfright
4 Slaughterhorn
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Zhur-Taa Swine
3 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Ghoultree
You see the battleplan, yes?
I get a Boneyard Wurm or Splinterfright, or if the game lasts long enough, a Cagebreakers into play, and go to town! The whole deck is creatures and most of them have ways of getting into the yard whether by saccing themselves, or being bloodrushed, or by way of Tibalt.
Then I bash face my my graveyard fueled monsters.
I have yet to test this and there's probably ways to optimize.
A green-based creature deck in standard usually wants to run Rancors.
This many creatures, maybe Domri is worth including.
That many things in the yard, Garruk Relentless' ultimate would be handy.
Faithless Looting or Mulch to help fill the yard?
I'm not sure, but I look forward to finding out.
A dark metaphorical hellhole from which there is no escape. A midnight black quagmire of despair and woe that threatens to consume my very sanity and leave me but a wretched husk of what I once was.
I want to brew a Tibalt deck.
I don't know why. Maybe it's because he's a Planeswalker that is cheap, affordable and easily acquirable because no one wants any. Maybe its exactly because no one wants any and some Magic players latch onto things that are unique and unappreciated. Maybe I want to satiate myself on someone's tears when I beat them with a deck built around the worst Planeswalker printed to date. Maybe I've fallen off my meds and you'd best call the police before I hurt someone.
Whatever the reason, I've had Tibalt on my mind a lot lately, and I'd like to share with you some ideas I've had.
First of all, I am in no way saying that Tibalt is good, merely that he is playable. That his downside is one that can be built around.
There are two ways that I can tell to build around that wretched line "discard at random".
Firstly, make sure that your deck is highly redundant. Have lots of cards in your deck that accomplish nigh identical functions. If you pitch a burn spell you want to have lots of other burn spells of similar scope to replace it with. Same with creatures, token makers, draw spells. Whatever you're filling your deck with.
Secondly, ideally, you want most anything Tibalt pitches to be something you would want to pitch. Things with madness that you cheat out with Tibalt. Things that you want in the graveyard in the firstplace like Unearthers, Flashbackers, reanimation targets, etc. Things that you can bring back with recursion outlets.
Or if you can manage, both.
Here's a list I came up with yesterday.
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
6 Mountain
6 Forest
4 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
4 Wasteland Viper
4 Boneyard Wurm
4 Dawntreader Elk
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Splinterfright
4 Slaughterhorn
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Zhur-Taa Swine
3 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Ghoultree
You see the battleplan, yes?
I get a Boneyard Wurm or Splinterfright, or if the game lasts long enough, a Cagebreakers into play, and go to town! The whole deck is creatures and most of them have ways of getting into the yard whether by saccing themselves, or being bloodrushed, or by way of Tibalt.
Then I bash face my my graveyard fueled monsters.
I have yet to test this and there's probably ways to optimize.
A green-based creature deck in standard usually wants to run Rancors.
This many creatures, maybe Domri is worth including.
That many things in the yard, Garruk Relentless' ultimate would be handy.
Faithless Looting or Mulch to help fill the yard?
I'm not sure, but I look forward to finding out.
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