General Gift Shop Draft
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
I assumed Ion Storm was going to go in some janky package. Death Cloud I think is poop, Doomsday could be put in there to appease safra. 
I still haven't sold myself on the idea, but this seems like a good place to put:
I still haven't sold myself on the idea, but this seems like a good place to put:
If you do put Demonic Pact in a Gift, I would do it as part of a package, with 1-2 donate effects, and one other thing you really want to donate.
Ex:
Maybe?
I'd rather go the route of including stuff like Esper Charm to get rid of it. I'd want it to be a value-generation card, not an instant win card.
Oh, well if that's the case I don't think you'd need to pack it with much, as there are many cards that incidentally remove it. At that point, I'd just throw it in your cube if you want to test it out, as I wouldn't consider that a card that needs a 'package' so to speak. (Unless your cube has very little enchantment removal, in which case I'd just throw one in there.)
I run almost no dedicated artifact / enchantment removal these days. I was thinking of having the package just be 2-3 Demonic Pacts, and let them pick up removal for it on their own.
That makes sense. Hmm... I had a thought. How about adding it with a couple of bounce spells instead? They have the bonus of allowing you to recast the Pact as well as saving yo butt.
Like:
I think it's a bit more interesting then just giving your player some disenchants, although it makes the deck real grindy, which is kind of what it wants to be, anyway.
Alternatively:
Sundial is a deceptively good card. It also 'gets you out of jail free' with pact, as it kills the 'lose the game' trigger. After that, you can't actually pick the 'lose the game' mode (because you already selected it) so you're just home free. It also has some synergy with other cards. I like the capsize idea better, but this is an option if you're thinking outside the box.
Why multiple pacts?
I'd go for Rushing River over Capsize. Capsize gives me major heeby-jeebys
Yeah, I'm playing rushing river and
Which is better than it looks.
Which is better than it looks.
Yeah, I'm playing rushing river and
Which is better than it looks.
I didn't even know this existed!
?It's fine, I mean it's clearly good but I think rushing river and rite of undoing are more interesting. Into the roil is generically good stuff.
I've always have a soft spot for Into the Roil, perhaps obsessively so. To me, it's most at home in a blue control deck; an aggro deck would prefer something like Vapor Snag or Repeal, which consistently cost less, while control is comfortable having the flexibility of paying four for a locked Cryptic Command, with the option to break the glass and pay two in an emergency.
It's never going to be an all star, or even a card that you remember casting after a gruelling game, but I like wheeling it late and maindecking it in control, knowing it can get me out of a jam and buy me time. Which, incidentally, are the only two things I ever want to be doing when behind the wheel of a control deck.
It's never going to be an all star, or even a card that you remember casting after a gruelling game, but I like wheeling it late and maindecking it in control, knowing it can get me out of a jam and buy me time. Which, incidentally, are the only two things I ever want to be doing when behind the wheel of a control deck.
I like it for all that too, but I agree with Alfonzo in that this is the Gift Shop, not the very-close-to-staple-shop. I want my Gift Stuff to be more interesting and self-interactive, not definitely generically good. I've said it above, but I want those sorts of staple things being picked while you are drafting, not banked for from a secondary shop thing.
Can we make a "I'm going HAM on colors and nobody can stop me" package?
Giving it a reasonably high cost would discourage people from just taking it for fixing, and leave it for that one 5-color psycho we all know and love in our groups.
Giving it a reasonably high cost would discourage people from just taking it for fixing, and leave it for that one 5-color psycho we all know and love in our groups.
Yeah, didn't even realize what thread I was in - just assumed it was Single Card Spotlight. Agree that Into the Roil is not quite niche or build-around enough.
Idea dump. I went through the first RL Forum draft threads and tried to think of what each player might want. I'm not very good at this kind of thing though, so if you guys think of anything chime in. Especially bad at thinking about what a GW player wants to do.
P1 - Jeskai Tokens - Jeskai Ascendancy (obvs), some sort of anthem effect (Glorious Anthem, path of bravery)? dumb populate cards? convoke burn spell? squadron hawks
P2 - GW midrange lands - Sejiri Steppe, Stirring Wildwood, uh... not sure.
P3 - Esper PW Control - Demonic Pact, Charms, Oath of Jace? Something cool like.
or faeries? If they had a Tezz there would be some clear ideas.
P4 - Bant Delver Tempo - Standstill? Rhox War Monk? Dauntless Escort?
P5 - UR Spells Control - Not sure, this deck was pretty perfect.
P6 - Black Red Sac-Aggro - Wouldn't have minded a RB manland. deck looked pretty sweet actually. This archetype always wants Mutavault, but thinks like Dregscape Zombie and Geralf's Messenger are good narrow options.
P7 - GWb Control - A handfull of Flagstones of Trokair would have been cool here. Crop Rotation? Loads of interactions for them (Cataclysm, Centaur Vinecrasher, Lotus Cobra, Tireless Tracker, Deathrite Shaman, Sun Titan)
Deck would have definitely bought Siege Rhino. Vinelasher Kudzu could do some work there.
The Gitrog Monster. Doran?
P8 - GB ZombiePod - Lotleth Troll, Dreg Mangler, optional Catacomb Sifter, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord.
Varolz, the Scar-Striped. They might splash for Siege Rhino, or Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. Fatestitcher?
P1 - Jeskai Tokens - Jeskai Ascendancy (obvs), some sort of anthem effect (Glorious Anthem, path of bravery)? dumb populate cards? convoke burn spell? squadron hawks
P2 - GW midrange lands - Sejiri Steppe, Stirring Wildwood, uh... not sure.
P3 - Esper PW Control - Demonic Pact, Charms, Oath of Jace? Something cool like.
or faeries? If they had a Tezz there would be some clear ideas.
P4 - Bant Delver Tempo - Standstill? Rhox War Monk? Dauntless Escort?
P5 - UR Spells Control - Not sure, this deck was pretty perfect.
P6 - Black Red Sac-Aggro - Wouldn't have minded a RB manland. deck looked pretty sweet actually. This archetype always wants Mutavault, but thinks like Dregscape Zombie and Geralf's Messenger are good narrow options.
P7 - GWb Control - A handfull of Flagstones of Trokair would have been cool here. Crop Rotation? Loads of interactions for them (Cataclysm, Centaur Vinecrasher, Lotus Cobra, Tireless Tracker, Deathrite Shaman, Sun Titan)
Deck would have definitely bought Siege Rhino. Vinelasher Kudzu could do some work there.
The Gitrog Monster. Doran?
P8 - GB ZombiePod - Lotleth Troll, Dreg Mangler, optional Catacomb Sifter, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord.
Varolz, the Scar-Striped. They might splash for Siege Rhino, or Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. Fatestitcher?
The hard thing about looking at it this way is that the decks were built in the absence of any gift shop. That would change things.
I think any Gift Shop Planeswalkers should have two payment options. Something like: 8 coins or 2 coins + Planeswalker card.
I think any Gift Shop Planeswalkers should have two payment options. Something like: 8 coins or 2 coins + Planeswalker card.
Let the Planeswalker card go into the Gift Shop for other players to buy. This way you can whisper "The house always wins."