General Playing Favorites < 3
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VibeBox
Contributor
for me my overall favorite is definitely Gifts Ungiven. it's just so versatile and the decks around it can look so different depending on the plan. i think it's the ultimate deckbuilder's pet card, and i'm a brewer at heart.
in cube it's really tough because my favoritisms of cards were formed on a history of constructed. i'm tempted to say mirari's wake, but that might just be because of how often it saves my ass in modo cube. i think i'd have to go with opposition. it just closes out games with such ease, it's a pleasure to build around, and it's a posterboy for one of my favorite maxims i drill newer players on of ' you really need to be able to disenchant in some fashion if you want to win'.
constructs is just gifts ungiven again actually because of the radical effect it has on deckbuilding
i'm a little surprised with the anser i came out with for limited. kor hookmaster. trip zen and zzw together were probably my second most drafted format ever. i think it's the best limited they've had since original ravnica. i know many people didn't like it for its extreme speed but i found it to be very rewarding of good drafting and fun to play. hookmaster was the second best card for the white (obviously aggro) deck because it was effectively removal because of the speed of the game, and came at a great price with a good body. (brave the elements was the real blowout in white though)
for cube archetypes its wildfire fore sure. i almost never get to actually build it though because sometimes people just take wildfires and never play them because most people have never actually played a proper wildfire deck. reanimator/show and tell is a close second.
in cube it's really tough because my favoritisms of cards were formed on a history of constructed. i'm tempted to say mirari's wake, but that might just be because of how often it saves my ass in modo cube. i think i'd have to go with opposition. it just closes out games with such ease, it's a pleasure to build around, and it's a posterboy for one of my favorite maxims i drill newer players on of ' you really need to be able to disenchant in some fashion if you want to win'.
constructs is just gifts ungiven again actually because of the radical effect it has on deckbuilding
i'm a little surprised with the anser i came out with for limited. kor hookmaster. trip zen and zzw together were probably my second most drafted format ever. i think it's the best limited they've had since original ravnica. i know many people didn't like it for its extreme speed but i found it to be very rewarding of good drafting and fun to play. hookmaster was the second best card for the white (obviously aggro) deck because it was effectively removal because of the speed of the game, and came at a great price with a good body. (brave the elements was the real blowout in white though)
for cube archetypes its wildfire fore sure. i almost never get to actually build it though because sometimes people just take wildfires and never play them because most people have never actually played a proper wildfire deck. reanimator/show and tell is a close second.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
My favorite card is kird ape. He's still the king of the beaters in my heart.
My favorite cube card is shelter.
My favorite constructed card is goblin grenade. When I'm playing constructed, I don't want to see your witty combo. I don't want watch you outplay me with your amazing gameplay skills. All I want to do is put together 20 damage to your face twice, preferably in under 5 minutes so I can get in a few rounds of whatever fighter they have in the store before I have to play again. Thanks Goblin Grenade for giving me those rounds of Street Fighter [Insert Whatever Version].
My favorite limited card is pestilence.
My favorite cube archetype is red/white aggro. Followed by red/green tempo.
My favorite cube card is shelter.
My favorite constructed card is goblin grenade. When I'm playing constructed, I don't want to see your witty combo. I don't want watch you outplay me with your amazing gameplay skills. All I want to do is put together 20 damage to your face twice, preferably in under 5 minutes so I can get in a few rounds of whatever fighter they have in the store before I have to play again. Thanks Goblin Grenade for giving me those rounds of Street Fighter [Insert Whatever Version].
My favorite limited card is pestilence.
My favorite cube archetype is red/white aggro. Followed by red/green tempo.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Overall: Gifts Ungiven
Cube: Gifts Given
Constructed: Gifts Ungiven
Cube Archetype: Storm
Cube: Gifts Given
Constructed: Gifts Ungiven
Cube Archetype: Storm
I gotta go with Rosewater here, I can't even imagine picking a favorite. Instead I'll go with cards that speak to me at the moment.
Overall: Tragic Slip
Cube: Falkenrath Aristocrat
Constructed: Dark Confidant
Cube Archetype: UWR Tempo
Overall: Tragic Slip
Cube: Falkenrath Aristocrat
Constructed: Dark Confidant
Cube Archetype: UWR Tempo
i just really like this game. I'll have fun playing any set of cards as long as the match-up is interesting and interactive. picking a favorite would be awkward.
the card i'm currently looking at very intensely is dragonshift.
for my cube, it'll ahvet ot be tireless tribe and vengevine
costructed, i'll have to go with sylvan primordial at this specific moment.
i'm at my best playing beat-down, but prefer playing endless tempo decks without an actual consistent kill condition (durdle them to death with utility-dudes is a legitimate plan there).
the card i'm currently looking at very intensely is dragonshift.
for my cube, it'll ahvet ot be tireless tribe and vengevine
costructed, i'll have to go with sylvan primordial at this specific moment.
i'm at my best playing beat-down, but prefer playing endless tempo decks without an actual consistent kill condition (durdle them to death with utility-dudes is a legitimate plan there).
Like Jason, I don't really have what I'd call favourites. I love 'em all. But this is what I'm feeling right now.
Overall: Dauntless Dourbark.
One of the first decks I put together upon returning to Magic in 2008 was what an opponent dubbed "Big Angry Treefolk" as very large green men rumbled over and clocked him in the face. It was a Timmy deck through and through, something that more or less built itself from the template Wizards laid out, but it tickled my fancy all the same. After eleven years away from the game, from an era when Force of Nature was the best bang you could get for your buck, coming back to four mana 10/10's with considerable upside was a brave new world to comprehend.
Cube: Loyal Cathar, Gavony Township.
White weenie cards that are strong in multiple match-ups and bring something to the table against control decks are beauties that I'll fall for time and again.
Constructed: Goldmeadow Stalwart.
Figure of Destiny might've gotten all the ladies, and Knight of Meadowgrain may have been the school jock, but behind it all, the tireless, workmanlike attitude of the humble Stalwart was what made this particular white weenie deck tick. The one mana 2/2 may not have worn the flashiest clothes or driven the nicest car, but he punched his hours quietly and consistently, ensuring you exerted some all-important pressure on the durdling decks.
Limited: Agony Warp, Zealous Persecution.
So. Much. Value. Limited commons are, by their very nature, less Timmy than cards in other formats, so I'll go with the choices that made for some of the biggest blowouts I can remember. You'd wince if you were there, too.
Cube archetype: R/b aggro, W/u tempo
Overall: Dauntless Dourbark.
One of the first decks I put together upon returning to Magic in 2008 was what an opponent dubbed "Big Angry Treefolk" as very large green men rumbled over and clocked him in the face. It was a Timmy deck through and through, something that more or less built itself from the template Wizards laid out, but it tickled my fancy all the same. After eleven years away from the game, from an era when Force of Nature was the best bang you could get for your buck, coming back to four mana 10/10's with considerable upside was a brave new world to comprehend.
Cube: Loyal Cathar, Gavony Township.
White weenie cards that are strong in multiple match-ups and bring something to the table against control decks are beauties that I'll fall for time and again.
Constructed: Goldmeadow Stalwart.
Figure of Destiny might've gotten all the ladies, and Knight of Meadowgrain may have been the school jock, but behind it all, the tireless, workmanlike attitude of the humble Stalwart was what made this particular white weenie deck tick. The one mana 2/2 may not have worn the flashiest clothes or driven the nicest car, but he punched his hours quietly and consistently, ensuring you exerted some all-important pressure on the durdling decks.
Limited: Agony Warp, Zealous Persecution.
So. Much. Value. Limited commons are, by their very nature, less Timmy than cards in other formats, so I'll go with the choices that made for some of the biggest blowouts I can remember. You'd wince if you were there, too.
Cube archetype: R/b aggro, W/u tempo
I will say that, out of all the planeswalkers, Garruk Wildspeaker is far and away the best designed. Dripping with flavour. Excellent power level, without being oppressive. Versatile as heck all. High on the fun factor scale.
And some badass artwork, to boot.
And some badass artwork, to boot.
Overall: Kozilek (best commander top deck ever)
Cube: Dark Confidant with Geist of Saint Traft a close second (I like bob the most, but the tempo deck that plays gost is way cooler)
Contructed: Long time since I don't play constructed, but most likely Remand. I have fond memories of Vinelasher Kudzu as a sideboard for Heartbeat of Spring, though.
Limited: Stab Wound, not even close. Loved this card since drafting aggro-Rakdos for RTR, but Obzedat's Aid returning Stab Wound was brutal at the DMZ prerelease. (Also Rix Maadi Guildmage, because it forces your opponent to do bad plays if they don't have removal.)
Cube: Dark Confidant with Geist of Saint Traft a close second (I like bob the most, but the tempo deck that plays gost is way cooler)
Contructed: Long time since I don't play constructed, but most likely Remand. I have fond memories of Vinelasher Kudzu as a sideboard for Heartbeat of Spring, though.
Limited: Stab Wound, not even close. Loved this card since drafting aggro-Rakdos for RTR, but Obzedat's Aid returning Stab Wound was brutal at the DMZ prerelease. (Also Rix Maadi Guildmage, because it forces your opponent to do bad plays if they don't have removal.)
Cube: Venser, Shaper Savant. For a while UW tempo was the best archetype in my cube. I love the way you curve out in aggro, and UW did that but with plenty of neat spells and card draw and whatnot. Venser was absolutely the best card in this deck. I remember getting attacked one turn by some enormous creature. I had a couple little beaters, two drops or Man-o'-Wars or something, but they were tapped. I flashed in venser, bouncing his attacker, then Remanded it in his second main phase, then untapped and cast armageddon. It was such a massive swing. One of the those times where everyone at the table went OOOOOOOOOOH.
Limited: Maybe Rhox War Monk. I just loved Alara.
EDH: Rakdos Charm is amazing. Each mode is amazing in EDH. In my playgroup, there's always some guy with ridiculous graveyard shenanigans, and some guy with Graham's number of tokens. Killing the token guy with Rakdos Charm just when everyone thinks their all dead is just priceless. Anyway I kinda hate EDH because the guys I play with are all about really comboy decks, you're either about to win any moment or lose any moment and I really don't enjoy that.
And I don't play any other formats
(yet)
Limited: Maybe Rhox War Monk. I just loved Alara.
EDH: Rakdos Charm is amazing. Each mode is amazing in EDH. In my playgroup, there's always some guy with ridiculous graveyard shenanigans, and some guy with Graham's number of tokens. Killing the token guy with Rakdos Charm just when everyone thinks their all dead is just priceless. Anyway I kinda hate EDH because the guys I play with are all about really comboy decks, you're either about to win any moment or lose any moment and I really don't enjoy that.
And I don't play any other formats
(yet)
Oh I just realised. Obviously my favorite card of all time is Steamflogger Boss. He's really flavorfull AND crazy good! The rigger archetype has been unbeatable in my cube for a while now. Actually it's quite a problem. The last time we drafted he was first picked over Umezawa's Jitte. The guy who picked him ended up drafting every land he saw, and playing a deck with 39 lands and 1 Steamflogger Boss to make sure he could cast it on turn 4 every time. With other riggers he's amazing, but it turns out on his own he's just the nuts. The guy went 13-0 in 6 games, I've never seen anything like it.
Ok legitimately, I really love that card, he makes me happy.
Ok legitimately, I really love that card, he makes me happy.
James, have you read the "Great Designer Search" post about the GDS1 finale where they redesign Steamflogger Boss?
I have now! I really like the Squee they ended up with. It makes an equipment token called "Battlesphere", how cool is that? But then again, they implication would be no more Steamflogger Boss :C
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Favorite Card Overall: Ancestral Mask. When I quit magic for the first time, the only thing I kept was a 250 card G/W enchantress aggro deck, based largely around this card and another favorite: Armadillo Cloak. Going back through gatherer and finding all the sweet auras I'd missed in my sabbatical was one of the greatest feelings I'd had in a while
Actual Quote: "OH MY GOD THERE'S AN AURA THAT GIVES DOUBLE STRIKE? WHERE DO I SIGN?"
Cube: Probably remand. I love that card so much I created a second copy for my cube
Constructed: Debtor's Knell. I had a sweet BWG deck in Ravnica/Kamigawa standard, the first deck I'd ever played in standard that felt poweful without having to spend 400$ on a manabase. Between Kodama's Reach, Bouncelands and Sakura Tribe Elder, I played a sweet brew with lots of spot removal, Angel of Despair, and this card. Miren the Moaning Well combined really well with Debtor's knell and the Angel, leading to my first ever FNM victory.
Limited: I've never played enough limited to really have a favorite. I've always been a fan of activities with more of an incremental development process, and regular limited seemed to run counter to that since my deck could only improve before the packs were done. By the time I'd gotten any good at it, I'd discovered cube, and who needs regular limited after that?
Also, can you link that article jason? Sounds like an interesting read
Actual Quote: "OH MY GOD THERE'S AN AURA THAT GIVES DOUBLE STRIKE? WHERE DO I SIGN?"
Cube: Probably remand. I love that card so much I created a second copy for my cube
Constructed: Debtor's Knell. I had a sweet BWG deck in Ravnica/Kamigawa standard, the first deck I'd ever played in standard that felt poweful without having to spend 400$ on a manabase. Between Kodama's Reach, Bouncelands and Sakura Tribe Elder, I played a sweet brew with lots of spot removal, Angel of Despair, and this card. Miren the Moaning Well combined really well with Debtor's knell and the Angel, leading to my first ever FNM victory.
Limited: I've never played enough limited to really have a favorite. I've always been a fan of activities with more of an incremental development process, and regular limited seemed to run counter to that since my deck could only improve before the packs were done. By the time I'd gotten any good at it, I'd discovered cube, and who needs regular limited after that?
Also, can you link that article jason? Sounds like an interesting read
Overall is impossible to say. When I was first into magic Dream Halls was my favorite, and I retain a soft spot for it all these years later. These days, Snapcaster Mage speaks to me the strongest, because I love the flexibility it grants you, along with the design restrictions he places on a deck.
For cube? I like wonky cards that do crazy things. Currently I'm kind of in love with Purgatory, and Forbidden Ritual
For Constructed, I'm going to have to be say Lion's Eye Diamond. I love doing broken things, and this card has fueled most of them.
I don't really have much experience in Limited, certainly not enough to have a favorite card =/
No favorite archetype either. Mostly because I haven't cubed long enough to possess a full understanding of what is possible.
For cube? I like wonky cards that do crazy things. Currently I'm kind of in love with Purgatory, and Forbidden Ritual
For Constructed, I'm going to have to be say Lion's Eye Diamond. I love doing broken things, and this card has fueled most of them.
I don't really have much experience in Limited, certainly not enough to have a favorite card =/
No favorite archetype either. Mostly because I haven't cubed long enough to possess a full understanding of what is possible.