Chris Taylor
Contributor
I can't believe they changed the flavor text on werebear, and that the new version is actually the correct one for me to run because he's a human now -_-
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I can't believe they changed the flavor text on werebear, and that the new version is actually the correct one for me to run because he's a human now -_-
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
The old one is superior in every way but frame and type line. It's sad that this got worse art and flavor text 
I prefer the old frame on most cards, so the new card doesn't even have that going for it IMO.
That said, the new art is fine. Good even. It's just that the old art is really great and it's also familiar (which is maybe more important). Pretty rarely do I prefer new art to old and that isn't always because the old art is better. I would bet you could show these two cards to non-magic players and at least some of them would choose the new art over the old.
That said, the new art is fine. Good even. It's just that the old art is really great and it's also familiar (which is maybe more important). Pretty rarely do I prefer new art to old and that isn't always because the old art is better. I would bet you could show these two cards to non-magic players and at least some of them would choose the new art over the old.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
The art I could take or leave.
Ran into this video on Youtube. Quite the entertaining vintage cube match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...id=81_m7RJg1DU&v=AkzhHZgM2js#t=2276.402559508
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...id=81_m7RJg1DU&v=AkzhHZgM2js#t=2276.402559508
Anybody here have experience with these battle decks from Card Kingdom?
http://tappedout.net/mtg-deck-folders/battle-decks-2/
http://tappedout.net/mtg-deck-folders/battle-decks-2/
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Is it just me or is this shit?
Safron's deck is like 80% lands, both players do basically nothing before turn what, 6?
The main worry about this match is a planeswalker ultimate, because the OTHER planeswalker ultimate does nothing because of a single card in his deck (Not in his hand, in his DECK)
Also, wasn't it just way better to just pulse the venser after cryptic tapped his team and just put his opponent on "something to stop emrakul" or die, rather than upheavaling? I thought he was trying to bait his opponent into using venser to slide the banishing light, hiding emrakul under it and THEN casting upheaval so emrakul was the only permanent in play, but apparently not.
Laz
Developer
The game looked fun, but seemed hugely uninteresting. The opposing control deck had no ability to apply pressure, or sculpt a hand, or you know... do anything meaningful in the early game. Somehow that was ok, because Saffron also did nothing meaningful in the early game.
In the early days of my cube, it might have been possible to build a control deck like that, but in the current iteration even the most controlling of decks have to meaningfully play to the board. I have actually shifted to try to make spell-based control more viable, but weakened removal and counter suites mean that decks still need effective blockers, which double as mediocre pressure when required.
I played someone else's 540 cube last night; a pretty classic unpowered but power-max 540 list; and assembled a pretty similar feeling deck, a Jeskai spell-based/planeswalker control deck with something like 2 creatures (Inferno Titan and Phyrexian Metamorph). It was just kill/counter all of the things, and hope that my answers lined up. Games were fun, but were not particularly interesting Magic. I had a handful of interesting decisions, but that was only because I was running two Wildfire effects in lieu of Wraths, and nuking yourself back to the stone-age in order to kill a couple of creatures is a little intimidating. I actually doubt they were interesting decisions on reflection, just a matter of convincing myself that blowing up 4 of my own lands was actually the correct play. I did obtain a new first for myself in Cube though. I won a game because my opponent literally ran out of coloured sources of mana. 2x Wildfire plus an Ajani Vengeant ultimate to bin all 13 colour-producing lands, for a new personal best of 21 lands destroyed in a 1v1 game of Magic. Take that Ponza!
In the early days of my cube, it might have been possible to build a control deck like that, but in the current iteration even the most controlling of decks have to meaningfully play to the board. I have actually shifted to try to make spell-based control more viable, but weakened removal and counter suites mean that decks still need effective blockers, which double as mediocre pressure when required.
I played someone else's 540 cube last night; a pretty classic unpowered but power-max 540 list; and assembled a pretty similar feeling deck, a Jeskai spell-based/planeswalker control deck with something like 2 creatures (Inferno Titan and Phyrexian Metamorph). It was just kill/counter all of the things, and hope that my answers lined up. Games were fun, but were not particularly interesting Magic. I had a handful of interesting decisions, but that was only because I was running two Wildfire effects in lieu of Wraths, and nuking yourself back to the stone-age in order to kill a couple of creatures is a little intimidating. I actually doubt they were interesting decisions on reflection, just a matter of convincing myself that blowing up 4 of my own lands was actually the correct play. I did obtain a new first for myself in Cube though. I won a game because my opponent literally ran out of coloured sources of mana. 2x Wildfire plus an Ajani Vengeant ultimate to bin all 13 colour-producing lands, for a new personal best of 21 lands destroyed in a 1v1 game of Magic. Take that Ponza!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I once cast an end of my own turn Boil against an UR Delver deck in modern (this is a few years back) in response to one of his instants, which prompted a perfect look of dismay. Turns out he was playing the super-heavy fetch density manabase with only 6 actual targets or something... all of which were on the battlefield. My opponent refused to concede though and just played draw go for a while, occasionally dropping a fetch without cracking it, until I dropped him to low enough that he could seppuku by sacrificing enough fetches. Yeah, land destruction sure makes for entertaining games!
It's not exactly cube related, but I did my second playtest of a board/card game prototype I've been working on last night. Still very rough, but it was already infinitely more fun than the first playtest, which only went a few turns before I scratched my head and had enough feedback to know to rework half of it.
In the early phase it's mostly focused on playing with different high level mechanics and resource generation systems. So far I think the idea has potential, but it needs sooooo much work right now.
In the early phase it's mostly focused on playing with different high level mechanics and resource generation systems. So far I think the idea has potential, but it needs sooooo much work right now.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
That certainly sounds like you're designing a game. A friend of mine has been designing games for years now, and man is it a lot of work to see a game from conception through to a final satisfactory design.
Does he publish them professionally?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I believe one of his games got picked up by a Dutch publisher, but I don't know if it is close to publishing though.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Update: He actually has a site! https://arjanvanhouwelingen.com/
One of his games (Tricky Dungeon) will be published this year, and another one (name not officially announced yet) was accepted for publishing. I've playtested Tricky Dungeon multiple times (back when it had another theme), and it's a fun little trick taking game. Can't wait to see that one in stores, will definitely buy it, and not just because he's a friend
Right now I have so much time between playtests, because each playtest reveals huge glaring problems. I'm on like, the 4th iteration of my resource system and every time I have to make / rework a ton of cards that are compatible with the new system.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, that sounds familiar. Arjan used to make cool graphical designs for his playtest games, but after every playtest he had to update the rules, and then design and print out all the cards again, which was incredibly time consuming. Eventually he figured out that the fluff can come later, and playtesting with simple pen and paper cards, sheets, w/e, works much better.
Yeah, this is what I do, I have a black and white template for cards that I printed a couple hundred copies of, then just make things with a pen. I don't actually know graphic design stuff, so not sure what I'll do once things start to get to the polishing stage.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Well, if you have a really good concept that a publisher is willing to pick up, you don't have to worry about the design as much
Quite enjoy LSV videos...
Anyone interested in storm, this entire draft and all three matches he played are worth watching (He 3-0'd with a storm deck - that's an accomplishment in and of itself). This game below in particular is amazing though. He's playing RDW in the finals on the draw against a mountain, mox, dragon lord first turn and wins anyway. Admittedly, he gets really lucky to win this game (technically a play mistake by his opponent but they couldn't have really known). LSV is a great player though and this is as much a testament to that as anything else. He navigates the combo turn like he's doing 3rd grade math. It would have taken me twice as long and I probably would have fucked it up.
I really like the depth of play that a storm deck offers. It's a very hard deck to draft and pilot and there are so many decisions you can make with it during a game (decisions that matter). Maybe it's not fun to play against and maybe it's the epitome of what a non-interactive deck is, but playing this is basically Magic's version of expert mode Dragonforce in Guitar Hero 3. If you can do it and win, you are good at this game.
Anyone interested in storm, this entire draft and all three matches he played are worth watching (He 3-0'd with a storm deck - that's an accomplishment in and of itself). This game below in particular is amazing though. He's playing RDW in the finals on the draw against a mountain, mox, dragon lord first turn and wins anyway. Admittedly, he gets really lucky to win this game (technically a play mistake by his opponent but they couldn't have really known). LSV is a great player though and this is as much a testament to that as anything else. He navigates the combo turn like he's doing 3rd grade math. It would have taken me twice as long and I probably would have fucked it up.
I really like the depth of play that a storm deck offers. It's a very hard deck to draft and pilot and there are so many decisions you can make with it during a game (decisions that matter). Maybe it's not fun to play against and maybe it's the epitome of what a non-interactive deck is, but playing this is basically Magic's version of expert mode Dragonforce in Guitar Hero 3. If you can do it and win, you are good at this game.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
And also like guitar hero it's largely single player
Happy Birthday CML!
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Which expensive finishers do you all recommend? They need to hit the sweet spot of being good enough to justify putting the effort in but not oppressively good if reanimated etc. ahead of schedule.
One I'm looking at right now but haven't tested much is Avenger of Zendikar. Clearly intended to be a ramp target and it doesn't win you the game the next turn (though it can be very scary with a followup fetch or explore effect). This guy pretty much sucks in fast reanimator and most other cheat strategies though (including Natural Order and Oath of Druids). I like that design for what I'm working on but it does make the card more narrow and that may or may not be desirable.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Avenger is great and I already have it pencilled in for most lists I build. Its quality scaling with the length of the game is really useful in this context and I'd love more suggestions like that; Aetherling is another that comes to mind.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I still like Myr Battlesphere. It's strong, easy to remove, but not useless when they do. Oh, and it goes into black reanimation decks, as well as red artifact reanimation decks (think Daretti, Scrap Savant) and green ramp decks. Anything with Worn Powerstone / Hedron Archive (depending on your power level) will happily snap up the card as well