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AzVal

Member
May 7, 2018
1,873
I'm sure it's fun to play, but it's not really fun to play against. It's a very linear deck that you either can or can't deal with from the get-go. Of course it's not helping that I'm playing a Simic deck that mostly just goes wide. So I've got almost no removal for Ram (or Colossus), I can't go taller than Ram, I can't go wide because of Gates Ablaze and I can't out-value Guild Summit. All I can really hope for is that they don't draw Gates Ablaze on time (fat chance with the kind of card draw they decided to give gates) or I can draw the couple of counter spells I do have before it's too late. Or that I can get cheeky with Hadana's Climb or something.

Edit: Tho I must admit that my sideboard is still really lacking, and I could make the match-up much more manageable with some changes in there. But at the same time I have already spend more wildcards on Simic than I'd like.

If you want to keep simic, then consider packing some counters in the form of Frilled mistic mainly, as they will be a much needed beater as well., also Incubate/incongruence is a ways a good card in my experience as it will help with the collosus and ram or help you find the carnage tyrants you should be playing on turn 4-5.
 

Deleted member 29682

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 1, 2017
12,290
Just meme it up with Fall of the Thran.

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Euler

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,836
I don't mind gate decks, they feel quite fair to play against. You can both out-aggro them and out-value them.
 

Draggyrider

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,336
I'm sure it's fun to play, but it's not really fun to play against. It's a very linear deck that you either can or can't deal with from the get-go. Of course it's not helping that I'm playing a Simic deck that mostly just goes wide. So I've got almost no removal for Ram (or Colossus), I can't go taller than Ram, I can't go wide because of Gates Ablaze and I can't out-value Guild Summit. All I can really hope for is that they don't draw Gates Ablaze on time (fat chance with the kind of card draw they decided to give gates) or I can draw the couple of counter spells I do have before it's too late. Or that I can get cheeky with Hadana's Climb or something.

Edit: Tho I must admit that my sideboard is still really lacking, and I could make the match-up much more manageable with some changes in there. But at the same time I have already spend more wildcards on Simic than I'd like.

Maybe some flyers? I play gates myself and a single decently sized flyer can be a pain to deal since you really don't want to waste Gates Ablaze on a single card. Basically stick about 4-5 power on the board and then hang back with counterspells / bounce. Sleep is also really good to get you the turn you need to kill them.

I've been running 4 color gates with black for Cry of the Carnarium just to have more boardwipes since Gates Ablaze just isn't enough. Cry also deals well with afterlife creatures, since they don't trigger. Also doesn't anyone have experience with Rhythm of the Wild in Gates? I'm not sure if its win-more, but hasty Colossus and Rams are fun. and uncounterable Frill Mystics lets you win in counter-wars
 

Sande

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,977
Maybe some flyers? I play gates myself and a single decently sized flyer can be a pain to deal since you really don't want to waste Gates Ablaze on a single card. Basically stick about 4-5 power on the board and then hang back with counterspells / bounce. Sleep is also really good to get you the turn you need to kill them.

I've been running 4 color gates with black for Cry of the Carnarium just to have more boardwipes since Gates Ablaze just isn't enough. Cry also deals well with afterlife creatures, since they don't trigger. Also doesn't anyone have experience with Rhythm of the Wild in Gates? I'm not sure if its win-more, but hasty Colossus and Rams are fun. and uncounterable Frill Mystics lets you win in counter-wars
Yeah I have Krasis and Hadana's Climb. Krasis feels too slow, but early Hadana's is pretty much GG. It counters all their creatures and Gates Ablaze.

My issue with gates is not really that I can't win, just that probably more than any other match-up it comes down to who drew better.
 

SonicXtreme

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,713
any suggestion for boros angels bo1? i don't have ixilan bindings so i just use tribunal instead. i tinker around with it a lot , resplinding angel or whatever always shows up in lists but i just put it in sb bc the 3 health is just so wrecked by all the red decks. i proly need more bodyguards just need to make them and decide what to lower.

4 Adanto Vanguard (XLN) 1
7 Plains (RIX) 192
4 Tithe Taker (RNA) 27
3 History of Benalia (DAR) 21
3 Conclave Tribunal (GRN) 6
4 Shalai, Voice of Plenty (DAR) 35
4 Lyra Dawnbringer (DAR) 26
4 Lava Coil (GRN) 108
7 Mountain (RIX) 195
3 Light Up the Stage (RNA) 107
1 Rekindling Phoenix (RIX) 111
4 Sacred Foundry (GRN) 254
4 Clifftop Retreat (DAR) 239
2 Tajic, Legion's Edge (GRN) 204
4 Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice (GRN) 153
2 Deafening Clarion (GRN) 165
1 Dauntless Bodyguard (DAR) 14
 

GLHFGodbless

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,285
Mmm, aristocrats just aint working out anymore in diamond. I prob need to completely redo the sideboard to stand a chance....but now I wanna try Gruul midrange or something...
 

QFNS

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
935
Mmm, aristocrats just aint working out anymore in diamond. I prob need to completely redo the sideboard to stand a chance....but now I wanna try Gruul midrange or something...
Gruul has been fun. I've been playing a similar deck to the one Kibler was playing in his Twitch Rivals stream. Just lots of Red/Green creatures and SMASHING face. Getting the option for Haste or +1/+1 is a really useful mechanic. Of course b/c its Kibler he has some Dragons in there, but I think you an do fine without. Domri and/or Viven are really good if you can get them out too.
 

Deleted member 29682

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 1, 2017
12,290
I can't believe it took me this long to even consider adding Priest of Forgotten Gods to my zombie deck. What a game-changer.
 

Deleted member 29682

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 1, 2017
12,290
Something a bit weird happened. I was casting a Reassembling Skeleton from my graveyard, and in response my opponent sacrificed Remorseful Cleric to exile my graveyard. However, I was able to cast the same Skeleton for another 2 mana and it went to the top of the stack, resolving before the exile (and the cast on the bottom of the stack didn't do anything). I assume this wasn't what my opponent expected since they conceded straight afterwards. Are you supposed to be able to resurrect the same creature multiple times per stack?
 

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,345
Something a bit weird happened. I was casting a Reassembling Skeleton from my graveyard, and in response my opponent sacrificed Remorseful Cleric to exile my graveyard. However, I was able to cast the same Skeleton for another 2 mana and it went to the top of the stack, resolving before the exile (and the cast on the bottom of the stack didn't do anything). I assume this wasn't what my opponent expected since they conceded straight afterwards. Are you supposed to be able to resurrect the same creature multiple times per stack?


Yep, as long as you have the mana for it (and it's still in the graveyard). Pay again to put it on top of the stack. That was quick thinking.
 

GLHFGodbless

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,285
Gruul has been fun. I've been playing a similar deck to the one Kibler was playing in his Twitch Rivals stream. Just lots of Red/Green creatures and SMASHING face. Getting the option for Haste or +1/+1 is a really useful mechanic. Of course b/c its Kibler he has some Dragons in there, but I think you an do fine without. Domri and/or Viven are really good if you can get them out too.

I tried standard Gruul but kept getting blown out by Gates decks cause Ram and Colossus would pretty much always be bigger than what I had, and gruul aint got no good hard removal. So I siwtched it up to Jund midrange and it's doing okay so far!
 

QFNS

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
935
I tried standard Gruul but kept getting blown out by Gates decks cause Ram and Colossus would pretty much always be bigger than what I had, and gruul aint got no good hard removal. So I siwtched it up to Jund midrange and it's doing okay so far!
Collision//Colossus helped me a good deal with getting big creatures out of the way. No one expects the Zur-Taa Goblin to be a 6/4 trample!

And yeah your gonna get rekt by Gates ablaze, but thems the breaks
 

Izzy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
683
Does anyone know if they hotfixed the issue where Bo3 ranked wasn't correctly awarding wins for each game of the match? I can't find mention of fix on the official forums. I think I'd like to move over to traditional with next season.
 

QFNS

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
935
Traditional Ranked actually seems like the best way to do quests and the daily grind now since you can usually pull off 1 win out of the 3 games if you have a good deck and that's generally enough to get decent progress on the trackers.
 

Stock

Member
Oct 25, 2017
489
Luxembourg
Any recommendations for MTG (Arena) podcasts? Hearthstone has quite a few like Well Met, Angry Chicken, Valuetown, and etc, that help keep the community up to date on game developments, competitions, and current meta. Since MTG is such an established game franchise there has gotta be a few that would be good in general, and or for newer/lapsed players (like myself) that wish to catch up with the game via Arena.
 

GLHFGodbless

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,285
Not to be THAT guy, but a quick google shows a shit ton of mtg podcasts, and even a reddit thread a few months old discussing the best podcasts: https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/97i8xv/best_mtg_podcasts/

And in general, the bigger magic websites, mtg goldfish, star city games, mtg salvation, ect, have great articicles and forums and the like, mtg goldfish in particular is great for keeping up with the meta and prices in every format.
 

AzVal

Member
May 7, 2018
1,873
The one I liked the last time I was focused on Standard was Top Level Podcast, hosted by a Hall of Famer and author of books (and rap songs, lol) in Magic , Pattrick Chapin. They will talk about other formats as well but that is to be expected in almost any podcast
 
Oct 25, 2017
3,686
Wow, it took forever to open my first vault, but the second one happened quite quickly. Maybe it was all the Allegiance games from the gold I saved up, plus a sealed or two.

I only have 5 hours to do my last greedy draft. I've been drafting on my own but I come back to the experts with another request for advice since this is my final attempt!

greedy_draftk7jyw.jpg


I feel like I have some decent cards, and I have a high curve for greedy draft, but I don't remember how many mana I should be using for that mode. Still 18? Also, what can I cut safely? I like most of my 2-drops though I seem to have way too many.

I have 29 non-lands and need 22 if I keep 18 lands. Of those 7 cards to cut, I'm thinking 1x Carrion Imp...MAYBE Angelic Exaltation? I don't know if it's worth it. Maybe 1x Watchful Giant? People will probably say to cut Drill Bit but that card always seems to hit something good for me, especially in Greedy.
 

Ultron

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,765
Quick impressions Blizzard :

Vizkopa Vampire is probably too low impact for Greedy.
Justiciar's Portal is probably the weakest of the 2 drops.
Yeah, cut at least one of the Watchful Giants.
Archway Angel with 0 gates probably isn't worth it, but also it's a lot easier to get to 6 mana so it might be fine?

I think Angelic Exaltation is good with all the afterlife you have. Turning a single spirit into a decent threat is nice. So I'd keep that in.
 
Oct 25, 2017
3,686
Quick impressions Blizzard :

Vizkopa Vampire is probably too low impact for Greedy.
Justiciar's Portal is probably the weakest of the 2 drops.
Yeah, cut at least one of the Watchful Giants.
Archway Angel with 0 gates probably isn't worth it, but also it's a lot easier to get to 6 mana so it might be fine?

I think Angelic Exaltation is good with all the afterlife you have. Turning a single spirit into a decent threat is nice. So I'd keep that in.
Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I only went 3-3 which is the best I can usually hope for, but a couple of the games went well. Despite 18 lands and opening hands with 4 lands, I wasn't able to play cards in two of the games for ages and lost because of it. :(

Also, so many people just play counterspell decks in draft as well as constructed, it's a pretty miserable experience. I want to face more non-blue decks!
 

Deleted member 29682

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 1, 2017
12,290
I feel like the matchmaking for Bo1 casual is a lot more loose than it used to be. The same deck got matched up with full fat meta-decks, precons and jank today. I'm not really complaining, maybe not enough people are playing it and it's just throwing any match my way.
 

AzVal

Member
May 7, 2018
1,873
I feel like the matchmaking for Bo1 casual is a lot more loose than it used to be. The same deck got matched up with full fat meta-decks, precons and jank today. I'm not really complaining, maybe not enough people are playing it and it's just throwing any match my way.
God hears ya, Just the prospect of sitting in front of mostly monoblue decks until the next protour is discouraging.
 

Izzy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
683
Me: Man arena, this has been a good night. Got my quests done and even managed to have a few sweet games against non-FOTMs. How about just one more win to get a card reward?
Arena: You got it, 12 consecutive land draws coming right up.
Me: Welp... I guess I got enough wildcards.
 

GLHFGodbless

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,285
Man, I know I say this all the time, but I would love some stats on how many decks in arena run Dimir, I would not be surprised if it was 70%+, no joke. Just Thought Erasure into Thief, over and over and over and over, every game, for eternity.

I just have to win 6 games in a row to hit mythic, no problem. Not that it really matters at the moment, but it would be nice not to have to climb so hard next season....
 

fuzzyset

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,555
Man, I know I say this all the time, but I would love some stats on how many decks in arena run Dimir, I would not be surprised if it was 70%+, no joke. Just Thought Erasure into Thief, over and over and over and over, every game, for eternity.

I just have to win 6 games in a row to hit mythic, no problem. Not that it really matters at the moment, but it would be nice not to have to climb so hard next season....

IIRC Diamond 1 and Mythic both get bumped to Gold 1.
 

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,345
Nexus of Who? Mirror March is my new devil.

Never works for me, but always give my opponent at least 2 copies. grumblegrumblegrumble
 

Deleted member 29682

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 1, 2017
12,290
I'm kind of surprised the mono-blue deck running rampant has appeared this suddenly. Besides Pteramander, none of the other cards are that new. Is Pteramander that crucial to the strategy? Or is it just its success in tournaments that's raised its profile?
 

Arkanim94

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,113
I'm kind of surprised the mono-blue deck running rampant has appeared this suddenly. Besides Pteramander, none of the other cards are that new. Is Pteramander that crucial to the strategy? Or is it just its success in tournaments that's raised its profile?
Pteramander completely changes the deck because before your had only tempest djinn as your late game insurance, pteramander let you be more proactive when needed.
 

Mr.Beep

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
832
Ok finally got around to playing again and looking for a interesting fun deck.

The gate deck looks interesting.. anyone have any experience using it?
 

Arkanim94

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,113
Ok finally got around to playing again and looking for a interesting fun deck.

The gate deck looks interesting.. anyone have any experience using it?
If you like to ramp and doing massive unfair things it is the deck for you.
The fact that you can customize it to be a straightforward ramp deck or a combo deck with nexus is a big plus.
 

Draggyrider

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,336
Ok finally got around to playing again and looking for a interesting fun deck.

The gate deck looks interesting.. anyone have any experience using it?

I've been using gates, its a really great deck especially if you are on a budget. Early game you'll often fall behind behind, since many of your lands comes into play tapped, and all your good spells come online at 3 mana. Gates Ablaze is a board wipe vs aggro, Gatebreaker Ram gets silly big and can attack and block, Guild Summit is a ton of draw. Gate Colossus is another big blocker that comes back every turn. Plus they are all commons/uncommons and therefore not too difficult to get/craft.

Basically watch your opponent play stuff till you have 3 mana, cast Gates Ablaze to clear the board if under pressure. Then keep dropping giant monsters. Red decks can be a problem due to burn. If mono blue counters your gates abalze, you are also in trouble.


Super budget version: Gates, some basic lands, the cards above, some ramp (Growth Spiral and Circuitous route are commonly used), some cheap removal (Shock / Lava Coil to defend against aggro decks). I'm using this version and its fun. I splash black for more board wipes and removal.
Less budget version: plaza of harmony for some life gain and another land that comes into play untapped
Competitive? version: Add Hydroid Krasis & possibly Nexus package.
 
Oct 25, 2017
3,686
I'm kind of surprised the mono-blue deck running rampant has appeared this suddenly. Besides Pteramander, none of the other cards are that new. Is Pteramander that crucial to the strategy? Or is it just its success in tournaments that's raised its profile?
I put together Autumn's version of it last night and it was just absurdly successful from what I saw initially, even though I'm not a great player.
 

fuzzyset

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,555
Ok finally got around to playing again and looking for a interesting fun deck.

The gate deck looks interesting.. anyone have any experience using it?

I've never played with it, but in Bo3 I don't think I've ever lost to it. I typically run blue mana (mono U, izzet, esper tempo, sultai mid), so counter spelling the Gate Summit or Circuitous Route just crushes the deck. After the sideboard, it's very vulnerable IMO.
 

Boogiepop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,966
Holy crap. Admittedly it was up against someone else also running a mono-red aggro deck, and they semi-whiffed with a risk factor getting a land and a lava coil, but I had them at three, and I risk factored twice with 7 lands on the board in a 20 land deck...

Got 6 lands. Now that was some bad luck!
 

Orb

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
9,465
USA
I built an extremely anti-aggro deck because I'm tired of being run over by hordes of tiny creatures, and it works really well, but it makes for reallllllly long games.Turns and turns of passing back and forth doing nothing.
 

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,345
Playing around with Orzhov tokens deck. It's fun but not very competitive. I don't have a decklist since I'm constantly theorycrafting it.