I had it in my deck. It did a lot of Rabid Biteing, knocking dragons out of the sky without worrying about removal spells. I only put Talons of Wildwood on it the one time, I swear.
General [M19] Magic 2019
- Thread starter Onderzeeboot
- Start date
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
It doesn't look like a particularly fun card to face as a black deck. "You're dead in four turns. Go!"
I went into round 4 as 2-1, got mana flooded game one, and was starring down a Vine Mare with Talons of Wildwood game two, holding Lich's Caress and Strangling Spores in hand and cursing MaRo after each of the opponent's combat steps. Ironically, I opened a Vine Mare and Talons of Wildwood in my first prize pack...
Vampire Neonate + Nightmare's Thirst got me several 2-for-1's that day, Colossal Majesty is gross, and Chaos Wand is straight dope and a ton of fun to play.
Vampire Neonate + Nightmare's Thirst got me several 2-for-1's that day, Colossal Majesty is gross, and Chaos Wand is straight dope and a ton of fun to play.
Please don't play Vine Mare
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Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
How does that 2-for-1 work?
Either during combat tricks or auras, cast Nightmare's Thirst and Vampire Neonate in response. It just turned Nightmare's Thirst into a usable removal spell. It's a lot of work and didn't happen often, but felt really good when it landed.
EDIT: Being a core set and sealed, I get a little giddy when I can find 2-for-1 opportunities in a game, particularly when I can make a janky looking card work.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Ah, that's good synergy, but it isn't a 2-for-1. As Mike Flores defines it here: "a two-for-one is any card advantage activity that trades one card for two cards." (Not that he's the authority on two-for-ones, but he uses a commonly accepted definition and explains it very well with lots of examples.) In your example you're down one card (the Thirst) and your opponent is down one card (the creature that died), so that actually makes it a 1-for-1. Don't let the terminology get to you though, winning with janky synergies is fun 
Ah, that's good synergy, but it isn't a 2-for-1. As Mike Flores defines it here: "a two-for-one is any card advantage activity that trades one card for two cards." (Not that he's the authority on two-for-ones, but he uses a commonly accepted definition and explains it very well with lots of examples.) In your example you're down one card (the Thirst) and your opponent is down one card (the creature that died), so that actually makes it a 1-for-1. Don't let the terminology get to you though, winning with janky synergies is fun
Oh, I meant to imply that I was getting those 2-for-1's during an opponents auras or combat tricks (effectively killing the creature and fizzling the aura/spell. Sorry for the confusion). Although, I've never seen that article he does a FANTASTIC job of laying out those examples. That Rancor example is exactly the situation where I'm getting up from my seat and slamming down my removal before it resolves, cause F&$# that recursive, one mana card!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
My prerelease was a bit anti climactic. We didn't have any prize support and the 1 booster we were going to get at the end (as 'prize support') we could include into our decks. Cool, 7 booster sealed. This could be interesting I guess. Here were my sick rares that I opened:
At least I could say that all my playable rares were in one colour I guess :\
My green had no interaction or top end, my red had no creatures and my white had no early game. Black was clearly my best colour and blue was close behind. I did open 5 different dual lands, so I thought splashing random colours would work. Here is where I ended up:
Ended up going 2-1. The combination of flyers + removal gets there most of the time. My wins were moderately convincing, except for one game where a turn 2 Axe into turn 3 Skilled Animator was a beating. Took three hits until I had to chump block, then kill it with a Meteor Golem. He was then able to hit is 4th land but I was a little too ahead on board, even if only at 5 life.
My one match loss was a complete drubbing. They were playing GB and just had a pile of efficient 2 and 3 drops and my awkward curve could not handle that kind of efficiency.
However, I have been playing a couple of 'friendly sealed's online and have been doing alright. Went 4-5 with a grindy RUG pile with Tezzeret (which I thought was my best deck). Went 5-4 with an esper control deck featuring Bone Dragon, Djinn of Wishes and Chromium, the Mutable. There is nothing more satisfying than flashing that big boy in and killing a creature and swinging for 7 on the next turn. Just need to be careful with blocking, as if they have a removal spell after you have blocked, then the hexproof won't work, as the damage would still be on and turning into a 1/1 makes it die
But my very first sealed that I did managed to 9-0. Here was the sweetness:
Always went on the draw when I could. Play efficient flyers, beat in, draw cards and if you can weather the early game then it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. Nearly every match was a 2-1, so it was hard fought. I'll post some of my overall thoughts of cards next time (after draft weekend), but this set is pretty fun to play around with. Everything is so generic, you don't feel pigeon holed like other sets with major themes, which is nice.
At least I could say that all my playable rares were in one colour I guess :\
My green had no interaction or top end, my red had no creatures and my white had no early game. Black was clearly my best colour and blue was close behind. I did open 5 different dual lands, so I thought splashing random colours would work. Here is where I ended up:
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Ended up going 2-1. The combination of flyers + removal gets there most of the time. My wins were moderately convincing, except for one game where a turn 2 Axe into turn 3 Skilled Animator was a beating. Took three hits until I had to chump block, then kill it with a Meteor Golem. He was then able to hit is 4th land but I was a little too ahead on board, even if only at 5 life.
My one match loss was a complete drubbing. They were playing GB and just had a pile of efficient 2 and 3 drops and my awkward curve could not handle that kind of efficiency.
However, I have been playing a couple of 'friendly sealed's online and have been doing alright. Went 4-5 with a grindy RUG pile with Tezzeret (which I thought was my best deck). Went 5-4 with an esper control deck featuring Bone Dragon, Djinn of Wishes and Chromium, the Mutable. There is nothing more satisfying than flashing that big boy in and killing a creature and swinging for 7 on the next turn. Just need to be careful with blocking, as if they have a removal spell after you have blocked, then the hexproof won't work, as the damage would still be on and turning into a 1/1 makes it die
But my very first sealed that I did managed to 9-0. Here was the sweetness:
Always went on the draw when I could. Play efficient flyers, beat in, draw cards and if you can weather the early game then it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. Nearly every match was a 2-1, so it was hard fought. I'll post some of my overall thoughts of cards next time (after draft weekend), but this set is pretty fun to play around with. Everything is so generic, you don't feel pigeon holed like other sets with major themes, which is nice.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
?Contract isn't super impressive as "black tidings" There is also promise of power, which can double as a wincon
Contract isn't super impressive as "black tidings" There is also promise of power, which can double as a wincon
Contract is much closer to tidings than either of those I would say, although I think scrying is probably a better card.
I had this card in a draft last night, and holy smokes it is bah-roken. It consistently drew 1-2 extra cards per turn and gave you inevitability. I actually sat there for a while last night and considered cutting Torrential Gearhulk for it, since I came to the conclusion that Rebuilding is more powerful.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Ha, just wait until your opponent boards out all lands. Let's see who laughs last then!
I had this card in a draft last night, and holy smokes it is bah-roken. It consistently drew 1-2 extra cards per turn and gave you inevitability. I actually sat there for a while last night and considered cutting Torrential Gearhulk for it, since I came to the conclusion that Rebuilding is more powerful.
...
Wait.
Yeah, this card combines gross card advantage with mill! You should probably count how many of your opponents rage quit the game shortly after you play this.
Don’t people usually rage quit based upon future expectations more than past experiences?
If Player 1 has a bad game but knows his deck is good enough to get into the top 8 I do not think he will rage quit from a tournament after that bad game.
If Player 2 has a bad deck he knows he can never reach a level where he will win prices I could see him rage quit. Example someone who is 1-3 after four rounds.
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Personally I have only rage quitted once and that was due to the tournament host (the store owner) changing the rules of the game midway through the tournament to benefit his own friend. I guess that was a ‘past experience’ rage quit.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
In my experience people rage quit because something utterly stupid happens (from their point of view, anyway), causing them to no longer want to continue the game. For example, I've seen someone rage quit (in Commander) because a monogreen player cast a Primal Order that the rage quitter couldn't beat with their shockland / og duals mana base, but his gig was up the moment he threw his hand on the table in disgust and revealed a Global Ruin sitting in his hand.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Pot kettle eh?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Pot kettle eh?
Yeah, we were all staring at the card in disbelief for a moment, and then bashed him pretty hard for his double standards. I even think Primal Order is a pretty cool card in a mono green deck, and it actually closes out games. Global Ruin just makes everyone else miserable. Like, go take a hike dude