Well, that Titan didn't last long, as it was quickly traded for a smattering of cards, which I never wrote down and can't completely remember... But I know there was a Fauna Shaman, 3 of the promotional Kor Duelists that look awesome, Coralhelm Commander, Shape Anew (more on this card later), Memoricide, and a foil Putrafax. I know there were other cards in the trade (Kargan Dragonlord?) but I know I didn't rip myself off. The trade I want to talk about more, however, is this one I did with Brendan. What we valued the cards at are in (parenthesis) and their real price is beside it.
My:
4x Summoning Trap (12) 14
Kozilik (9) 9
Ulamog (9) 10.50
Emrakul (9) 10
2x Eye of Ugin (10) 7
4x Eldrazi Temple (12) 16
(61) 66.50
His:
Venser (16) 16
Gideon (20) 20
Garruk (6) 7.50
Lodestone Golem (3) 2
Maelstrom Pulse (8) 11
Inferno Titan (8) 7.50
Japanese Cruel Ultimatum (5) English is 1.50, so Japanese will be 2
Inquisition of Kozilik + Acidic Smile (1) 2
(67) 68
He knew he was off by a couple dollars when we established the trade, but he wasn't concerned. However, after checking the real prices, his margin of loss was actually much lower than anticipated. Overall thouh, I am very satisfied with this trade. Brendan was getting the pieces to rebuild Eldrazi Green, if you didn't notice, which I feel isn't a viable deck. The hate is too good, and the deck often loses to itself because it needs to draw the right cards in the right order. With that being said, Green Sun's Zenith from Beseiged is going to make the deck far more consistant, but I still don't like it. With the rise of Aggro that is certain to happen after Beseiged comes out, Eldrazi Green won't be able to go off fast enough as it doesn't run any removal.
A third trade I want to bring light to was a much smaller one. A guy named Ron and I were trying to put together a trade on Monday,but things just weren't working out. I felt like he waas trying to lowball me by marking everything I had down, and he felt probably like I was too stingy with my cards. So when I saw him on thursday, I really wanted to get a good trade in with him to help move on from all the bad things that happened Monday. He picked out a Stoneforge Mystic from my binder, and I picked out a foil Mindbreak Trap. He picked out another $8 card, but everything that I picked out wasn't working for one reason or another. Finally he said, "How about I trade this one card for your 2 and I pay for your dinner. I'm wicked hungry!" I realized I hadn't eaten anything for dinner either, so I gladly accepted. We grabbed burgers and fries, chatting the whole time about deckbuilding and coming up with crazy and different strategies. The food was awesome, and the conversation was lively the entire time, so I feel my mission was accomplished of reconciling with him.
But let's move on from trades and let's set our minds forward a week or 2. Next week is the pre-release, and I am pumped! I will obviously be playing Phyrexian at the midnight pre-release, although I may go Mirran at second pre-release just to get that sexy alt-art Hero of Bladehorn. Here is what I'm hoping my 6 rares are: Skittles, Putrafax, Hand of Praetors, Phyrexian Vatmother, Creeping Corrosian, Black Sun's Zenith. Is it going to happen? No. Would that be sick? YEAH!! It is a little unfortunate that there is probably only 1/3 infect of all the Phyrexian cards, so the Infect deck isn't a garuntee in Sealed. The week after that is the official release, and our FNM will be beseiged with all kinds of cool decks! I have to different infect decks that I plan on bringing: the BG one that I have been talking about a bunch (which I am thinking about cutting a Putrafax and 2 Skittles from to lower the curve with Vatmother. 5 toughness is difficult to get by). Here is the other deck:
3x Wall of Omens
2x Blightsteel Colossus
4x Master's Call
4x Shape Anew
4x Preordain
4x See Beyond
3x Jace Beleran
3x Jace TMS
3x Day of Judgement
3x Mana Leak
2x Stoic Rebuttal
4x Inkmoth Nexus
4x Seachrome Coast
2x Glacial Fortress
4x Celestial Colonnade
3x Plains
3x Island
4x Tectonic Edge
When I showed Shape Anew on my blog way back when, I said:
"Continuing with the theme of blue and artifacts, we have what can really just be considered the artifact version of Polymorph. I don't think this will see play though, as there are no cool targets from Zendikar Block or M11. Obviously that will change with SoM, but even getting a Platinum Emporian only goes so far (it has no evasion to put your opponent on a clock with). Also, how can you make this card consistant? I don't think there is an artifact token maker right now that isn't an artifact itself ever, so no deck in any format will be able to support this card."
The 2 reasons I said this card wasn't playable (non-artifact card makes an artifact, no good targets) has changed. While we did technically have a couple non-artifact cards that made artifacts (Tuk Tuk, the Explorer, Dread Statuary), they weren't actually that good. In beseiged we have Master's Call, which if you don't remember is an instant for 2W that puts 2 1/1 Myr artifact tokens into play. Also, we have Inkmoth Nexus which you can pay 1 to turn into a 1/1 flying artifact creature with infect. On the targets side, we have upgraded from Myr Battlesphere or Platinum Emporion to
1. The mana is better. Instead of having Misty Rainforest and Terramorphic Expanse, I can use the ally colored duals, which are always better because many come into play untapped and they can switch back and forth with what they provide.
2. This isn't a pure combo deck. In Polymorph, if your combo didn't go off, you had no other way to win. If your combo was disrupted, or if you were under too much pressure, you might never go off. With this deck, you stop pressure with Wall of Omens and Day of Judgement, and if they Memoricide Shape Anew, you can still get there with Celestial Colonnade or Jace -12.
3. Blightsteel kills in 1 swing. While Emrakul attacking is typically game over, it isn't a garuntee. You opponent could still rip Journey to Nowhere or Oblivion Ring to remove Emrakul and then try to go from there. While that usually didn't happen, the possibility was there. With Blightsteel, you win in 1 swing (even if they block, you should have their poison status be 1 or 2 already with Inkmoth Nexus anyways).
4. Better sideboard. I feel like UW has the best sideboard options amidst all the colors. Black has Memoricide, which is huge, but aside from that UW has counterspells and removal that are cheap and efficient. Also, you could chose to have a transformational sideboard. You can get away with just changing out 6 cards (4 Shape Anew + 2 Blightsteel Colossus) and you can change your win condition completely by bringing in the Planeswalker suite or maybe some Titans. If I get Memoricided G2 for Shape Anew, I would probably do the transformational sideboard.
I don't actually have a sideboard contemplated at all, but I have been perusing the web for ideas relating to the Shape Anew deck, and I heard some people mention Phyrexian Rebirth and Darksteel Axe. Phyrexian Rebirth is Day of Judgement except you pay an extra 2 mana, and you get an X/X artifact Horror into play where X is the number of destroyed creatures. I considered putting that into this deck as a 1-of, but I don't think it's worth it. The deck curves out at 4, so having a random 6-drop isn't what I want to do. Regarding Darksteel Axe, some were saying you could have 4x Stoneforge Mystic and 4x Trinket Mage to fetch the Axe, which can't be destroyed by an opponent's Shatter in response to Shape Anew. That is a viable point, but I don't like it simply because Stoneforge and Trinket Mage are using valuable space for underpowered cards. Yes, having an indestructable artifact to Shape into an indestructable Colossus is better, but my list just needs to have counter backup. If you are wondering about why I have 3 big/3 small Jaces as opposed to 4/2 it is because my opponent NOT having Jace TMS is more important than me having him. if they do have their big Jace, they can bounce the Colossus. If I lead with a little Jace, I have preemtively removed their Big Jace from messing up my plans.
A couple more cards have been released, but I am only going to talk about the new Mythics here. How about that new Sword, the one of being well fed and starving?
I really like this card! I think this and the Sword of Body and Mind are atill both weaker than Fire/Ice and Light/Shadow, but this is more powerful than Body/Mind. The black ability on this one is nice to make any creature you have into a Specter. Specters are quite powerful, but are often held back by their tiny size. This equipment makes your 0/1 plant into a 2/3 specter with evasion. The green ability, untap all your lands, is nice but is not going to be as important. Mana empties at the end of steps and phases instead of turns, so you can't use this as a ramping ability. This is obviously a very powerful weapon against BG infect, but that's why we're packing Nature's Claim. This, Sword of Body and Mind, and Sword of Peace and Chaos (my guess at what the RW will be called) make an ugly tag team together. Especially when you add either the Mirran or Phyrexian Crusaders.
I was wondering how much love red would get in terms of Battle Cry, and this guy is the answer. Mono-red just got SO much better.
4/2 body: meh
Haste: that's nomal for red
Battle Cry: yeah, it pushes more damage through
Creatures with power 1 or less can't block this turn: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! (as Coach Serino would put it)
You see, that last ability might as well just say "Whenever this creature attacks, control players cry". This guy is a hero for red deck! Wall of Omens? Sea Gate Oracle? Nice cycling.... Until something like Plumevail comes back, this card is a staple in red decks, probably as a 4-of. I also want to point out that this card is a knight, so maybe our mono-white Knights deck can become Boros splashing red for Hero, Goblin Guide, and Lightning Bolt. Here is the new list:
4x Student of Warfare
3x Goblin Guide
3x Hero of Bladehold
3x Hero of Oxid Ridge
4x Knight Exemplar
4x Mirran Crusader
4x White Knight
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Emerge Unscathed
4x Honor of the Pure
4x Arid Mesa
4x Marsh Flats
11x Plains
5x Mountain
Here is a mono-red list using Hero of Oxid Ridge:
4x Goblin Guide
4x Plated Geopede
3x Hero of Oxid Ridge
4x Kargan Dragonlord
3x Goblin Bushwacker
4x Goblin Wardriver
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Burst Lightning
4x Panic Spellbomb
3x Koth of the Hammer
4x Arid Mesa
4x Scalding Tarn
3x Teetering Peaks
2x Smoldering Spires
10x Mountain
It looks like I have a lot of proxying and testing to do! That is all for today! Until next time, stay classy!
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