Escapist Podcast: Bonus: Magic the Gathering

[Zen Toombs]

Thank you for doing more Magic the Gathering things on this website! I recently got back into Magic, and have started playing EDH[footnote]Elder Dragon Highlander - what Commander was called before it became a sanctioned format. Commander is basically 99 card singleton, with one card as your "general" that you can basically play at any time. Fun format, if you're interested look it up![/footnote] with a deck that centers around creatures with "comes into play/leaves play" effects and has Karador [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=236468] as it's general. Once it picks up steam it has a ridiculous amount of resiliency, and is really hard to knock down.
With Dark Assention I was forced to break a rule of mine (no infinite combos) because [new]Mikaeus [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=249896] was too good. He looks great, and for some reason he opens up more than four infinite combos for my deck as it is. I feel slightly less bad in that none of the combos are "insta-win", they're just "deal with my flying infinite/infinite lifelinker" or "deal with me reanimating all creatures in all of my opponents graveyards" or "deal with my infinite number of infinite/infinites" or "deal with all of your permanents being destroyed or exiled"... okay, some are a more than a mite mean. Well, all of those combos need at least 3-5 cards to pull off in a singleton deck, so at least there's that.

Anyways, while I considered getting back into standard, I feel like it's a bit too much of a rat race thanks to how quickly sets turn over. I like my money not TOTALLY going to waste.

EDIT: Rambling Toombs sure did ramble.

 

[Kross]

I dropped out after three match losses with http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ub-tempo-infect/

I never had so many problems pulling removal or blue mana as I came across that day.

(as in, dozens of test hands drawn with maybe 2-3 hands at most in an entire deck that didn't have a decent mix)

Ahh well.

I'm not a great player so I'm not going to pretend I am but wouldn't it be a good idea to put just a few cards in that let you Scry [Edit - I meant in Sideboard, I forgot the term for a while]? Just incase you have the problem with Blue mana again on a off day you can change up and scry for some Mana.

Personally though I don't like Infect I prefer Phantoms with my Counterspell.

Yeah, I needed a bit more AoE removal (another Ratchet Bomb and Sever the Bloodline maybe) and some more mana fixing lands. @Encaen and I put together the deck out of our existing collections, and I didn't want to buy singles for this tourney.

Card drawing/scrying was something I thought a lot about, and is probably what it needed to keep up with the amount of other blue that was there.

 

[Juan Regular]

Hmm. Is there anything which will let me play against AI or something? Since I'd need to learn how to play.

Try Wagic. I have it on my PSP to play on the go, but if I remember correctly there´s a windows version as well.
The most fun way to learn though is to find someone as inexperienced as you are, buy a bunch of cards at a flea market (I once bought 500 cards for 20 euros) and just play. If you´re interested in Magic, chances are you´ll love it when you start playing it.

On the subject of stupid rulings mistakes: My first ever tournament match, I played against a PT champion, was nervous as hell and I cast Evolving Wilds; and instead of just shuffling my library, I shuffled my hand into my library. The judges were nice enough though and let me just draw a new hand of five cards. Incredibly embarrassing though. Luckily, the guys were all awesome and I have to agree: Magic players seem to be almost universally nice people.

Magic is such an awesome game.

 

[Infernoshadow211]

More Magic Podcast please. I play a blue/black control rogue deck and it's so fun hearing about other people's experiences with Magic. And if anyone at your office plays Yu-Gi-Oh I'd really like to hear a podcast about that too.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Try Wagic. I have it on my PSP to play on the go, but if I remember correctly there´s a windows version as well.
The most fun way to learn though is to find someone as inexperienced as you are, buy a bunch of cards at a flea market (I once bought 500 cards for 20 euros) and just play. If you´re interested in Magic, chances are you´ll love it when you start playing it.

Actually, I did download this at one point. It seemed ok, but at the time I was on very tight bandwidth restriction so couldn't download the images. I might give that one a go again.

 

[fanklok]

Josh why would you ruin your mana base, what does black give you that makes it worth it. Dismember is colorless.

And does the escapist know about Cockatrice (not the card).

 

[Draconalis]

Here's a question for the podcast.

Yall play Magic in the office alot apparently. What are the chances we might be able to get a few videos of that to watch?

Banter between co-workers + magic being played seems like it might be entertaining to watch.

 

[fanklok]

Clip

I'm very curious to know what you think these infinite combos are.

 

[Draconalis]

I've never played Magic. I'm quite interested in doing so, but it's really expensive. I wish they would have something like the videogames YuGiOh releases on DS/PSP. To my knowledge, the only MTG games are those that either charge a lot of RL money for expansion cards or don't let you build your deck. No deck building is a deal-breaker.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd love to give it a go.

You can also use Magic Workstation

Spoiler

It's like an official program, but not! So the graphics aren't as great, but I can still re-create my deck and play people over the internets!

To anyone that's interested...

http://www.magicworkstation.com/

Download the eval version of that

http://www.mwsgames.com/index.php/Main_Page

then download the .exe file for MTG Card Database 8.7M (13 May 2011) and install it when you've got MWS installed

Then take your IRL decks, break them apart, and recreate them virtually! You don't need to break them apart if you know exactly what you have in it.

I had to break mine down...

 

[Draconalis]

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/werewolf-aggro-4/
http://www.essentialmagic.com/decks/View.asp?ID=916433
Here's my werewolf deck lists if anyone wants to check it out and comment on it.

Mayor should Certainly be a four of, and I'm thinking the same for Moonmist and Outlaws.
With the addition of the wolf bitten, I'm thinking 3 Waifs isn't a bad thing.

I'd probably sideboard the rangers. They seem to be more of a "ink moth killer" than anything else. I mean, sure they have the fight mechanic when flipped and that can be helpful... but I unno, with the addition of the hutmaster... gotta squeeze more huntmasters in somehow.

Also... huntmaster... 4 of... make it happen. I'd replace the incinerates with brimstone volleys myself... but that's your choice. And I'd cut the overrun entirely, with Wolfrun and Outlaw... blocking is painful as is.

I'm still not sure about the immerwolf and the huntmaster, since you WANT the huntmaster flipping all the time... but I suppose that might just depend on your board presence. wait for the sweeper to play your hutmaster if you have both in hand before the wrath effect.

That's my 2 cents.

I'm going to upload my Empires deck and get some opinions on it.

Edit:

Alright, here it is:

http://www.mtgdeckbuilder.net/Decks/ViewDeck/379771 Empires

This deck is more suited for multiplayer matches were it has much more time to build up and probably doesn't fair well in this all aggro all the time turn 4 win metagame... but I really enjoy this deck. The idea is to slow the game down to my pace so I can get the Empire pieces out.

I also like how every card fits the theme. Gideon's Lawkeeper, Royal assassin, Diabolical tutor (Cause it was royalty that actually got tutored back in the day). Even the planeswalkers... Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Elspith is a knight... and Vensor... well... he makes things... kings like things being made... (I think he's the only card that doesn't straight fit the theme...)

Wait! He's a sojourner... Which the dictionary tells me is a something of a wanderer! He's just happened along the Empire for a time!

 

[Zen Toombs]

Clip

I'm very curious to know what you think these infinite combos are.

It's in EDH, so every card that has ever been printed (and isn't banned in the format) is allowed.

For your reference, here are a sample of the infinite/quasi-infinite combos:


1) Mikaus [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=249896] + Vish Kal [http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=236487] = give any number of target creatures -1/-1 any number of times. (Sacrifice Vish Kal to himself. He has Undying, so he comes back with a +1/+1 counter. Remove the counter to give something -1/-1. Repeat as necessary.)

2) Mikaus [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=249896] + Puppeteer Clique [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=146761] + Sac Outlet = Reanimate opponents creatures and give them haste. If you want them exiled at end of turn, leave them on your field. If you want to reanimate them every turn, then sacrifice them.

3) Mikaus [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=249896] + Puppeteer Clique [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=146761] + Sac Outlet + Creature in opponent's graveyard that has a fun "comes into play" or "leaves play" effect[footnote]Like Angel of Despair [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=247275] or Terastodon [http://magiccards.info/wwk/en/115.html] etc[/footnote] = The creature's "comes into play/leaves play" trigger happens an infinite number of times.

4) Mikaus [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=249896] + Cauldron of Souls [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=152065] + Sac Outlet + Creature with a sexy "comes into play" [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=220130] or "when this creature dies" [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=244828] effect = Gain that effect an infinite number of times.

5) 2, 3 or 4 with Vish Kal [http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=236487] as your sac outlet = Vish Kal is an infinite/infinite with flying and lifelink.

6) Any of the above combos that have a creature come into play an infinite number of times (see 1, 2, 3... okay, all of them) + Pawn of Ulamog [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=194907] = You now have infinite Eldrazi Spawn tokens for use as blockers or colorless mana. (This also triggers any other "when a creature comes into play/dies" effects, meaning you can use Aura Shards [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=247184] to blow up every artifact or enchantment you want, or Falkenrath Noble[footnote]which seems to not want to link, so here it is:
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=226751[/footnote]to gain infinite life and make your opponents lose infinite life. Mind you, I don't use the latter but the combo exists.)

7) Ghave [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=236501] + 6) = give all your creatures an infinite number of +1/+1 counters, and have an infinite number of infinite/infinite+1[footnote]Not how math works, I know, but it's funnier. So deal with it.[/footnote] tokens that can sacrifice themselves for one colorless mana [http://www.mtgfanatic.com/store/magic/viewcard.aspx?I=MTG-MS-086234].

 

[Draconalis]

Snip

Hmmm... I have been wanting an EDH deck and own exactly 1 mikaus...

Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to learn more...

Do you have a deck list at all?

 

[Zen Toombs]

Hmmm... I have been wanting an EDH deck and own exactly 1 mikaus...

Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to learn more...

Do you have a deck list at all?

That'd take me a while, especially because my deck is currently in my car. I'll get around to posting it in a bit - I will say that it's still in progress though.

Now if you want to build an EDH deck using Mikaus, then you either want to use him as I did, use him with Vish Kal, use him in a sacrifice deck (some of those make you sacrifice, and Mikaus gives you leverage), or have Mikaus as the general and preform schenanigans. He is a good general, seeing as he's a lord for non-humans, gives them undying, and has a decent body and comes with evasion.

If you want to talk more about this, message me sometime.

 

[KefkaCultist]

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/werewolf-aggro-4/
http://www.essentialmagic.com/decks/View.asp?ID=916433
Here's my werewolf deck lists if anyone wants to check it out and comment on it.

Mayor should Certainly be a four of, and I'm thinking the same for Moonmist and Outlaws.
With the addition of the wolf bitten, I'm thinking 3 Waifs isn't a bad thing.

I'd probably sideboard the rangers. They seem to be more of a "ink moth killer" than anything else. I mean, sure they have the fight mechanic when flipped and that can be helpful... but I unno, with the addition of the hutmaster... gotta squeeze more huntmasters in somehow.

Also... huntmaster... 4 of... make it happen. I'd replace the incinerates with brimstone volleys myself... but that's your choice. And I'd cut the overrun entirely, with Wolfrun and Outlaw... blocking is painful as is.

I'm still not sure about the immerwolf and the huntmaster, since you WANT the huntmaster flipping all the time... but I suppose that might just depend on your board presence. wait for the sweeper to play your hutmaster if you have both in hand before the wrath effect.

Thanks for the advice, but many of the points you made are actually how I had the deck to begin with, but I've changed it a lot to fit my local metagame. Seems like every FNM I go to I end up playing two Delver decks, so the Rangers and Gatstafs are extremely helpful in that matchup, so that's why I have them main decked. I've actually only seen an Inkmoth against me once so far. It got Ghost Quarted pretty quickly.

As for Huntmasters, I'd like to run four, but sadly I only own two and they're $30 per now since he dominated the latest pro tour and I'm a broke-as-hell college student. Also, I've got the criticism about having both Huntmaster and Immerwolf, but I actually like it because it makes them choose which to kill. Either kill the Immerwolf so that my wolves can start flipping again and get me more life/wolves, or this 4/4 with trample & other big nasties that are getting pumped by other stuff will keep hitting you in the face. And also, like you said, different situations call for different methods too.

Lets, what else... Oh yeah, I used to have 4 Mayor, Moonmist, and Outlaws, but that amount seemed a bit overkill. Mayor is an okay turn 2 drop, but I would personally prefer to have a Gatstaf if the opponent isn't playing green and/or artifact creatures (surprisingly few at my local store). I've never been a huge fan of Brimstone Volley (or the Morbid ability on anything other than Tragic Slip for that matter). And I like the overrun because there's always people using Ghost Quarters in sideboard just like me, so that gives me that little extra push if my Kessigs go away.

Right, I think I got all of the points you made. I'm sorry that I shot down most of your suggestions, but, as I said, the deck that I was running casually before taking it to FNM was similar to what you've suggested. I will think about the Brimstone Volleys though and more Huntmasters if I can get ahold of them. Here's wishing for some lucky packs.

 

[Draconalis]

snip

I'm not gunna lie, I feel like a complete idiot for forgetting about delvers and spirits as a threat... I've been sick and not thinking straight for the past few days.

That being said, I can agree with many of your points, but the one thing I will not relent on is the 4 of mayors... they are simply straight up amazing 2 drops.

 

[fanklok]

Clip

I'm very curious to know what you think these infinite combos are.

clip again

The cauldron of souls one doesn't work the way you think it does unless you can untap it every time a creature comes back.

 

[Zen Toombs]

-infinite combos-

The cauldron of souls one doesn't work the way you think it does unless you can untap it every time a creature comes back.

Oops, thanks for that. Glad I haven't used that particular hasn't come up in a game yet.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I've never played Magic. I'm quite interested in doing so, but it's really expensive. I wish they would have something like the videogames YuGiOh releases on DS/PSP. To my knowledge, the only MTG games are those that either charge a lot of RL money for expansion cards or don't let you build your deck. No deck building is a deal-breaker.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd love to give it a go.

http://www.lackeyccg.com/

Plus, it's not that expensive to play standard. If you want to play Eternal formats like I do, then you're going to have to shell out some more cash. But otherwise, it's pretty cheap.

 

[ivc392]

no more podcasts?? its been over a week...