Magic:The Gathering

[Chardar]

I'm looking for four Inkmoth Nexus. PM me if you have some your are willing to trade. I don't have a lot (no Mythics at all), but we might be able to work something out. Serious offers only please.

I also need a set of Copperline Gorge and Rootbound Crag.

[Mombo101]

Haven't had much time to post lately, been super busy.

As many may know, I ran a Heroscape tournament a few weeks ago to raise money for a friend of mine who's doing work in third world countries starting in October. Well, I'm going to be competing in a Magic tournament for her...

My friend's store is running a tournament with the first prize being a playset of Tarmogoyf's. Star City games sells them for $100 a piece. If I win, that means at the very least I may be able to raise $300-400 for her (once I sell the cards on Ebay of course). Wish me luck! Here's what I'm playing...

Lands: 20
1x Verdant Catacombs (going to grab 2-3 more when I get there)
19x Swamp (it'll be 18-17 if I get the other Verdant Catacombs)

Creatures: 25
4x Vampire Lascerator
4x Visceral Seer
4x Bloodghast
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Kalastria Highborne
3x Vampire Hexmage
3x Vampire Nighthawk

Other: 15
2x Black Sun's Zenith
2x Lashwrithe
4x Dismember
3x Go for the Throat
1x Doom Blade
3x Sign in Blood

Sideboard:
4x Skin Render
1x Vampire Hexmage
3x Doom Blade
4x Apostle's Blessing
3x Surgical Extraction

[Scapemage]

Buena suerte!

nice deck. I'm thinking a fourth Nighthawk would get you further though, maybe 1 less Hexmage (sideboard?).

[Mombo101]

Originally Posted by Scapemage

Buena suerte!

nice deck. I'm thinking a fourth Nighthawk would get you further though, maybe 1 less Hexmage (sideboard?).

Caw Blade is popular around here, and both Venser and Gideon are in a ton of decks. It's more of a metagame choice than anything else. Plus, she has first strike which is nice, haha.

[Chardar]

This should answer the question of why Shock was printed over Lightning Bolt.

[winonavampire]

Originally Posted by Mombo101

Haven't had much time to post lately, been super busy.

As many may know, I ran a Heroscape tournament a few weeks ago to raise money for a friend of mine who's doing work in third world countries starting in October. Well, I'm going to be competing in a Magic tournament for her...

My friend's store is running a tournament with the first prize being a playset of Tarmogoyf's. Star City games sells them for $100 a piece. If I win, that means at the very least I may be able to raise $300-400 for her (once I sell the cards on Ebay of course). Wish me luck! Here's what I'm playing...

Lands: 20
1x Verdant Catacombs (going to grab 2-3 more when I get there)
19x Swamp (it'll be 18-17 if I get the other Verdant Catacombs)

Creatures: 25
4x Vampire Lascerator
4x Visceral Seer
4x Bloodghast
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Kalastria Highborne
3x Vampire Hexmage
3x Vampire Nighthawk

Other: 15
2x Black Sun's Zenith
2x Lashwrithe
4x Dismember
3x Go for the Throat
1x Doom Blade
3x Sign in Blood

Sideboard:
4x Skin Render
1x Vampire Hexmage
3x Doom Blade
4x Apostle's Blessing
3x Surgical Extraction

What format is this tournament?

[Scapemage]

Originally Posted by winonavampire

What format is this tournament?

Judging by his deck I'd say standard.

[stubobj]

Last night went down to the local shop. I was really excited to play last night because Ive been coming up with some deck ideas with one of the regulars and last night he left the deck for me (he had other plans for the night). I soon got reminded of why I had stopped playing down there.

First off, we only had 4 players including myself. This alone is very frustrating but it happens. The owner decided he was going to play. This normally doesnt bother me because we usually have an odd number but last night he made it odd. Also if there is ever less than 8 players he will add players to the list that dont care about their record. So what happened last night, and this has happened to me other times, I play against the owner while the other 3 players are all paired up against non existent players. I thought this was a bit odd but didnt have much to say since I got to play. I ended up losing due to some very bad plays on my part. So second round all 4 of the other players obviously get to play each other since Im the only one with a loss. Im a bit irritated by this but whatever I just want to play. However, the final round though I again get paired up with a non existent player. This irked me beyond belief. I came down there to PLAY! I was pretty irritated by now but instead of getting all huffy about it I just left.

This is the exact reason why I eventually turned to online. Id love to play paper magic but when you get experiences like that it just leaves a foul taste in your mouth. And this isnt something that just happens occasionally. So when I got home last night on got online and played what is probably my favorite deck to play right now.

Spoiler Alert!

Creatures: 17
Sower of Temptation x3
Mulldrifter x4
Shriekmaw x3
Riftwing Cloudskate x4
Reveillark x2
Wydwen, the Biting Gale

Other: 19
Momentary Blink x4
Ponder x3
Rune Snag x4
Last Gasp x4
Repeal x2
Damnation x2

Lands: 24
Frost Marsh x2
Dreadship Reef x3
Azorious Chancery x2
Plains x3
Vivid Medow
Island x7
Swamp x 4
Vivid Creek x2

Ive gone through a lot of tweaking with this deck and Id still like to make changes but with my collection this is probably the best I can do right now. Once it gets going its a lot of fun to see in action. I have surprisingly not had any mana problems yet. Id like to hear any cheap suggestions you guys might have. Right now Im trying Rune Snag over Mana Leak. Too many games its just been subpar or a dead card. I feel like the deck needs some kind of counter spell though. Im also not entirely thrilled with Last Gasp but after facing 3 black decks in a row I had to take Terror out. Shriekmaw has also been a bit lackluster but hes got too much synergy with the deck to take out of the main.

Mombo: Why the Zenith? Is it better than more spot removal? Im still picking up on what standard is like right now so maybe it is good but seems like youd be taking out more of your creatures than theirs. Also I gotta question how good Lashwrithe is for you with so few lands. Wouldnt Blade of the Bloodchief be a little bit better for this deck? Also what about Urge to Feed? From new players perspective those cards appear like theyd do great for your deck.

[Scapemage]

Dang that just stinks! Why doesn't the owner just let it be with the players you have, no matter the amount? Some months ago I was part of a 4 person FMN. It was super fun.

[Mombo101]

Originally Posted by Scapemage

Judging by his deck I'd say standard.

Yeah, it was Standard. It's a once a month thing the store does where they'll have an FNM for an amazing prize.

Let's just say I sucked royally. It wasn't that my deck was bad, but I had prepared for every possible deck there was (Ramp, Prime Time, Caw Blade, Birthing Pod, etc, etc) I didn't forsee the decks I would go up against which weren't any of the popular decks.

I went 1-3-0 and dropped in the fourth round. My one win was to a bye, and one of the wins I should have had (I was utterly land screwed...in words I drew NO LAND and mulliganed to a hand of 4). All of the decks I went up against I didn't forsee, I encountered B/U Infect, which I couldn't deal with (had a consistent turn 3 win), Illusion Control (even sideboarding in Surgical Extraction), etc, etc.

I wasn't too happy when I left.

[Scapemage]

That just stinks. This is why preparing for the metagame isn't always the best thing to do. Sure, some people play those decks. but you never know. Last week 1st place went to one of our regulars playing a completely, 100% colorless deck. All colorless lands, Everflowing Chalices, Keys, Tumble Magnets, Wurmcoils, Karns.

[Mombo101]

Originally Posted by stubobj

Last night went down to the local shop. I was really excited to play last night because Ive been coming up with some deck ideas with one of the regulars and last night he left the deck for me (he had other plans for the night). I soon got reminded of why I had stopped playing down there.

First off, we only had 4 players including myself. This alone is very frustrating but it happens. The owner decided he was going to play. This normally doesnt bother me because we usually have an odd number but last night he made it odd. Also if there is ever less than 8 players he will add players to the list that dont care about their record. So what happened last night, and this has happened to me other times, I play against the owner while the other 3 players are all paired up against non existent players. I thought this was a bit odd but didnt have much to say since I got to play. I ended up losing due to some very bad plays on my part. So second round all 4 of the other players obviously get to play each other since Im the only one with a loss. Im a bit irritated by this but whatever I just want to play. However, the final round though I again get paired up with a non existent player. This irked me beyond belief. I came down there to PLAY! I was pretty irritated by now but instead of getting all huffy about it I just left.

This is the exact reason why I eventually turned to online. Id love to play paper magic but when you get experiences like that it just leaves a foul taste in your mouth. And this isnt something that just happens occasionally. So when I got home last night on got online and played what is probably my favorite deck to play right now.

Spoiler Alert!

Creatures: 17
Sower of Temptation x3
Mulldrifter x4
Shriekmaw x3
Riftwing Cloudskate x4
Reveillark x2
Wydwen, the Biting Gale

Other: 19
Momentary Blink x4
Ponder x3
Rune Snag x4
Last Gasp x4
Repeal x2
Damnation x2

Lands: 24
Frost Marsh x2
Dreadship Reef x3
Azorious Chancery x2
Plains x3
Vivid Medow
Island x7
Swamp x 4
Vivid Creek x2

Ive gone through a lot of tweaking with this deck and Id still like to make changes but with my collection this is probably the best I can do right now. Once it gets going its a lot of fun to see in action. I have surprisingly not had any mana problems yet. Id like to hear any cheap suggestions you guys might have. Right now Im trying Rune Snag over Mana Leak. Too many games its just been subpar or a dead card. I feel like the deck needs some kind of counter spell though. Im also not entirely thrilled with Last Gasp but after facing 3 black decks in a row I had to take Terror out. Shriekmaw has also been a bit lackluster but hes got too much synergy with the deck to take out of the main.

Mombo: Why the Zenith? Is it better than more spot removal? Im still picking up on what standard is like right now so maybe it is good but seems like youd be taking out more of your creatures than theirs. Also I gotta question how good Lashwrithe is for you with so few lands. Wouldnt Blade of the Bloodchief be a little bit better for this deck? Also what about Urge to Feed? From new players perspective those cards appear like theyd do great for your deck.

I know I double posting, but it's easier than copy/pasting.

Anyways, about your store situation. In the years I've played, I encountered this very thing myself. What this guy is doing is the same thing that many other stores will do if they have certification to hold FNM's from Wizards but don't get the people. In order to get the promos in, or any of the other prize support, you need to have a certain number of players per month. If you don't have the consistent numbers, then you lose the certification and prize support. Many stores who don't have stellar numbers are usually the ones who sell their promos (which is against Wizard's policy). I'm guessing yours does?

And to your questions about my deck. Lashwrithe is awesome for the deck. 20 lands is fine, and what happens is this....when it comes out, he's a 4/4 living weapon to begin with. This creates an incredible problem with my opponent. If they don't deal with the artifact, they'll either have a X/X beating them down (depending on how many swamps I have at the time, it's been a consistent 6/6 in play testing when he's out) or I strap it on to one of my vamps and they need to deal with that. If I strap it onto Nighthawk, that becomes a wicked issue.

Blade of the Bloodchief for this incarnation of the deck is a wasted card. The only times I sacrifice my guys are when I have the seer out and blockers are declared. I only sac to scrye if I'm getting card screwed. Yes, Kalastria is awesome, but I like using her for stack effects. Which brings me to my next point.

As many know, I've been a white weenie player for years. It's always been my go-to strategy, and it's one that I know well, and will play even if there's no real strong card base for it. When you play white weenie, you need a mass removal spell. Usually in my day (since I quit for about 3-4 years) was Wrath of God. It resets the board, and allows you to go back to square one, and when the possibility of your opponent holding huge creatures is present, you need it.

With my vampire deck, I needed the same thing. It's an unexpected reset button, and with the small creatures I'm playing, and the fact that not many people expect a Wrath of God in black, it's a good surprise tactic. I also find it's awesome to play at the right time. Let's say I have...

6 lands in play
2x Bloodghast
1x Kalastria Highborne
1x Gatekeeper
1x Visceral Seer

In my hand I have the Black Sun's Zenith, and a land. My opponent is at, say 10 life.

I draw. I declare my attack. I swing with my team, and let's say he blocks both of my Bloodghasts. I deal 5 damage. I play the Black Sun for 2, which costs me 4 mana. I stack the effect to scry, making sure I get what I need on top of my library, and then I tap two lands to deal 4 damage to my opponent and I heal 4 life. I play the land and both Bloodghasts come back, effectively giving me the attackers I need next turn if needed.

Usually, at this point he'd be at a lower life total, but this is just an example from the top of my head. In testing, I've had a consistent turn 4/5 win. I really want to avoid anything with counters, just because I use the effects of the stack so much...and if my memory serves me, the counters on the Blade go away when the creature it equips "dies".