Magic: The Gathering

[The Pumpkin King]

I'm not sure that this is in the appropriate forum..though I supposed that video games and such was a bit less appropriate, as..well..no video aspect.

I took kind of a three or four month haitus from the game, but I've gotten into it again. It's so addictive and fun.

This is meaningless to anyone but those who play, but I'm playing a Green/Red Survival of the Fittest deck; Legacy legal. Again, if anyone else does, I'll post a decklist and disussion and the like and yeah.

But in any case, anyone play this wonderful game aside from me, here at the Watch? It'd be really nice if someone did!

[Fist and Faith]

Oh my goodness...

I can't tell you how much I've put on my credit card in the last several months buying cards! I did it partly because I'm going through a divorce, and it's a good distraction. Partly because I'm kind of obsessive. I began just collecting several cards, because I really like some of the art. Then I found out there are shaman cards, and I've always been interested in shamanism, so I got all of them. Then I got hooked, and here I am.

So I have lots of cards, many expensive, but not much experience yet. I've only played several tournaments, and won only a few duels. One goal I have is to make a workable deck around Serra Avatar. I've only tried one so far, using things like Orim's Chant, Abeyance, and Holy Day to keep my opponent from messing with me until I get Serra out. But it didn't work. I fiddled with it, and have to try it again.

Check this out: www.geocities.com/faithandfist/ Actually, I haven't looked at them in months. I should redo them, because I know much more about the game now then I did when I made them. Kinda funny seeing them now!

[CovenantJr]

I've never actually played it, I just own some cards because I like them.

[Tulizar]

I don't own any Magic cards, but I used to play with a few friends who had loads of them. We would play before and after whatever role-playing session we were into at the time. I usually lost since I wasn't very familiar with the rules or the cards. It was fun though.

[wayfriend]

I played from Fallen Empires and dried out about the time of Apocalypse, when I could not afford it anymore. I've always liked sealed deck tournaments over constructed - too many power players where I live, it's depressing playing someone with 5 moxes and a lotus in every deck. Sealed is way more challenging anyway - anyone can copy a deck off the internet.

[Worm of Despite]

Played Magic in 97, but I found I kept forgetting the rules, so I let them collect dust until this year--when I sold them to my science professor for 30 bucks. Heh.

[The Pumpkin King]

Yay! People play here!

I had a decent card collection, and then my friend gave me his old one (He played in the Urza-times =P)

It had a Masticore, some Mox Diamonds, a few Explorations, and several hundred other rare goodies.

IN ANY CASE:

My Favorite Deck Evar:

R/G ElfVival.dec

Land:

4x Wasteland
4x Wooded Foothills
2x Windswept Heath
4x Taiga
1x Mountain
5x Forest

Core Components:
4x Survival of the Fittest
2x Sylvan Library

Mana Acceleration:
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Priest of Titania
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Wall of Roots

Graveyard Fun:
1x Anger
1x Genesis
1x Squee, Goblin Nabob
3x Eternal Witness

Utility:
1x Elvish Lyrist
1x Viridian Zealot
1x Viridian Shaman
1x Spore Frog
1x Masticore
1x Flametongue Kavu
1x Goblin Sharpshooter
1x Quirion Ranger
1x Wellwisher
1x Timberwatch Elf
1x Caller of the Claw
1z Gorilla Shaman

Card Choice Explanation:

Bunches of Fetches: To thin the largely unneded landbase, and to provide shuffling fodder for the Sylvan Library to aid in getting a Survival if it's proving especially elusive.

Sylvan Library: Because I can't have six Survivals.

Llanowars and Priests: Core mana producers. Priest gets totally insane with Anger (Play priest, tap priest, survival for another priest, play that priest, tap that priest, survival for another priest, play THAT one, tap it, ditch last creature card in hand for Masticore, play, untap a Priest with Qurion, destroy some weenies, swing for 4).

Elvish Spirit Guide: Better than Lotus Petal, in this deck. Because it's a creature, and, in a pinch, can be pitched to Survival.

Wall of Roots: I was considering Heart Warden in its place, because it's an elf, and I can sac it to dig for a Survival if I'm terribly desperate, but Wall provides far too many advantages. Its inclusion is obvious. However, Heart Warden is still up to serious debate. They both have their advantages.

Elvish Lyrist, Viridian Zealot, Viridian Shaman: Varied ways to hate on Enchantments and Artifacts. Varied CMC gets by silliness like chalice, and various ways of activation helps, too. Each has its place.

Spore Frog: Infinate combat damage riddance when necessary with Genesis. Sometimes a godsend.

Masticore: Amazing creature. Kills weenies, and even really big stuff with Priests fueling it. Powerhouse.

Flametongue Kavu: Not quite as good as Masticore, but it has many uses as well.

Goblin Sharpshooter: Makes life miserable for weenies and tokens.

Quirion Ranger: Makes Priest of TItania, Wellwisher, and Timberwatch Elf even more silly.

Wellwisher: Takes the place of Bottle Gnomes. Lifegain sucks unless you gain insane amounts of it, and Wellwisher has won me so many games (Or, should I say, prevented me from losing until I could neutralize whatever was blocking me and THEN win) that it's deserving of a slot.

Timberwatch: Makes the kill Oh-So-Much quicker. Many times have I swung with a 16/16 Masticore on turn 3. =P

Caller of the Claw: Its characteristics make it uniquely useful in a Survival deck that lacks Force to deal with board clearers and such. Nevin's and Wrath's usefulness wanes with this thing sitting in the deck, when you combine it with the Deck's already golden recovery skills.

Gorilla Shaman: Would be an Elvish Scrapper to complete the little menagerie I have up there, but Gorilla Shaman's simply better. Wrecks Ravager. (Ravager is played a ton here) Wrecks so many things. Mox Monkey has a nice home in Legacy.




Sideboard: Very tentative and heavily metagame tuned.

1x Ghitu Fire-Eater
1x Silklash Spider
1x Goblin Assassin (Bahaha.)
1x Dwarven Miner
1x Dosan the Falling Leaf
1x Isao, Enlightened Bushi
1x Elvish Champion
1x Viridian Zealot
3x Xantid Swarm
4x Chalice of the Void

Card Choice Explanation (Ala, BRING ON THE JANK!)

Ghitu Fire-Eater: Sometimes one needs more burn-stuff, and with my Timberwatch and such, this becomes quite a useful card to have.

Silklash Spider: Flyer hate? I don't know. It's effecient versus a select group of things (Fish, if you can get the thing out) so it's deserving of a slot. Briefly entertained Deranged Hermit in this slot, except that I can't quite think of a situation in which a bunch of squirrels is super-useful with the deck's other capabilities.

Goblin Assassin: Used to get rid of creatures that can't be destroyed by a reasonable amount of damage or simply can't be targeted or such. With Squee. It sounds silly, but it works versus many things and has proven its worth many times over. I recall this being used in a Type 2 Gobvantage deck for a very similar reason.

Dwarven Miner: Up the Nonbasic Hate! Miner and the Wastelands allow me to tackle Landstill and Fish happily.

Dosan: Sort of like a permanantly affixed Xantid. Has its uses.

Isao: I like it more than Scragnoth, except it's more vulnerable to bounce. Good uncounterable beatdown.

Elvish Champion: 1/1 elves can REALLY suck versus some decks.

Viridian Zealot: Up the Hate! Sometimes, even with all the gravy recursion, two Zealots are better than one.

Xantid Swarm: Three 'cause counter-based control can hurt and getting one soon is necessary.

Chalice: Screws over so many things it's not funny. Can't set it at two though. That hurts a me bit too much, but I can play around most any other setting.

Interestingly, the deck is better, and far more degenerate than it looks. It's something you have to play to see the value in its rediculous speed, stability, versatility, and trickiness. Of course, that's how most Survival-based decks are.


Wayfriend: The fun is coming up with a deck that can beat all the netdecks. Seeing someone's expression as they get their face beat in when they're playing the supposed "best" deck in the format is gold.

I don't really spend any money on the hobby, to be honest. I get all my cards through trading, as I have a high enough trading capital that I can make most anything I desire. So, it's kind of an investment until you feel you have enough to accompish such things, and with the constantly inflating and fluctuating values of cards, it is indeed an investment.



Fist and Faith: Um...hm...I once remember a terribly degenerate combo with Serra Avatar.

This isn't exactly the kind of tech you're looking for, but you could always use Reverse the Sands to swap life totals with your opponent (if he's higher than you) to swing for a win with Serra.

That's not the combo I was talking about, but um, if you combined that with, say, a few Wraths of God, Orim's Chants, Isochron Scepters, and maybe some blue countermagic and such, your deck could stall until you can swing with a win for Serra.

[edit] I just looked at those cards, Fist and Faith. Those are hilarious! XD!!!

[Metal-Demon]

I've got a huge stack of cards from when the game first appeared. I played a few times then realized that I didn't really like it as much as I thought I would.

Now the cards collect dust in my closet ... anyone want them? I'll sell them cheap.

[The Pumpkin King]

I've got a huge stack of cards from when the game first appeared. I played a few times then realized that I didn't really like it as much as I thought I would.

Now the cards collect dust in my closet ... anyone want them? I'll sell them cheap.

I'd say I'm interested, 'cept selling cards "cheap" from the beginning of the game would be..uh..terribly, terribly unfair to you.

some of them, like the Moxes, Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, etc, sell for several hundred dollars EACH. A good-condition Black Lotus can sell from $500-1200, depending on its edition and quality.

I don't like dealing unfairly. So if I was to buy them, it would be for a properly appraised price, and most likely, I can't afford something that's truly fair.

[Metal-Demon]

Frankly ... I don't think I have any of those really ultra-expensive cards. I might have a couple rare ones, but not the ones you mentioned .... I dunno.

[The Pumpkin King]

Frankly ... I don't think I have any of those really ultra-expensive cards. I might have a couple rare ones, but not the ones you mentioned .... I dunno.

Still, many, if not most of the rares from Alpha, Beta, or Unlimited go for well over $20, just out of their antiquity...

So...

[Metal-Demon]

Really? I wasn't aware of that.

But I'm not too terribly interested in making a coin off of these cards ... so, maybe I can make up a list and let you decide if you want any of them (unless there are specific ones you are looking for ... )

[Fist and Faith]

Yeah, let's see a list. It would be outrageously fun to find out you have something big!

OTOH, I've only been at at for a short time, and I just happened to tell a friend who I haven't spoken to in a couple years. He reminded me that he and I had tried to play it years ago. He was planning to move to California, and wanted to see if it looked like a company he'd apply to when he got there. We probably didn't try to play for more than an hour, then put them away. I had him read the cards to me, but there wasn't anything worth much. Fireball was probably the biggest, so...

TPK, I'll check out your deck later. I don't know all those cards, so I have to look them up before I know what you have.

At the moment, aside from the Serra Avatar decks I'm working on, I'm trying to work a Mycosynth Lattice deck, with either a lot of artifact destruction cards after I turn all my opponent's stuff into artifacts - or Leonin Abunas, True Believer, Platinum Angel, and Darksteel Forge to make me nearly unhurtable. Tooth & Nail should help with that, since the Lattice makes all mana colorless. In either case, Memnarch too.

[Alynna Lis Eachann]

I played in high school and dropped a good bit of money on the game... started to lose interest, and gave up on it when I went to college and nobody had a clue. I didn't even bother to sell the cards: in an effort to thwart my pack-rat nature, I boxed the lot up and gave it to my political science professor to give to his kids. He gave me a Great Big Sea CD in return.

I had a great Green/Black deck once... I can't remember the details, but it was all snakes and venom. One of my friends bitched that you weren't supposed to mix Green and Black, but I got the balance just right and none of the cards were in conflict - and if you put down something against a Green/Red card, there was always a Black card around to pick up the slack, or vice versa. I seem to recall that he never played against that deck.

I creamed a couple good players with that thing, but once I'd met the challenge of beating the local competition, I started to lose interest. Now, I couldn't remember the rules anymore to save my life.

[The Pumpkin King]

Yeah, let's see a list. It would be outrageously fun to find out you have something big!

OTOH, I've only been at at for a short time, and I just happened to tell a friend who I haven't spoken to in a couple years. He reminded me that he and I had tried to play it years ago. He was planning to move to California, and wanted to see if it looked like a company he'd apply to when he got there. We probably didn't try to play for more than an hour, then put them away. I had him read the cards to me, but there wasn't anything worth much. Fireball was probably the biggest, so...

TPK, I'll check out your deck later. I don't know all those cards, so I have to look them up before I know what you have.

At the moment, aside from the Serra Avatar decks I'm working on, I'm trying to work a Mycosynth Lattice deck, with either a lot of artifact destruction cards after I turn all my opponent's stuff into artifacts - or Leonin Abunas, True Believer, Platinum Angel, and Darksteel Forge to make me nearly unhurtable. Tooth & Nail should help with that, since the Lattice makes all mana colorless. In either case, Memnarch too.

A list would indeed be interesting!

There's supposedly a very, very good deck that uses Mycosynth Lattice and March of the Machines to kill off everything while you have a Darksteel Gargoyle in play. It uses control to stall until you can set it up... Essentially, play March, then Lattice, that nukes lands and such (March turns all artifacts into creatures with power/toughness equal to the CMC, and Mycosynth Lattice makes everything an artifact. Uh-oh! Lands turn into 0/0 artifact creatures, and die.)

My deck--by the way--is kind of...uh...

It doesn't make much sense until you actually realize what it *does*


Here is an example by me goldfishing it! (When one goldfishes a deck, the "opponent" generates a 2/2 vanilla creature each turn.)

This makes the assumption that I'm playing this thing for maximum reasonable speed with little/no time for disruption. Against more control-based decks, I would slow it down in order to accomodate such.

Opening Hand is Survival of the Fittest, Forest, Forest, Goblin Sharpshooter, Llanowar Elves, Priest of Titania, Mountain (a realistic one, as I'm goldfishing this out right in front of me as I type this)

Goldfish Turn: Cards on board: None.
generate 2/2

Turn 1:
Cards on board: None.
Cards in hand: Survival of the Fittest, Forest, Forest, Goblin Sharpshooter, Llanowar Elves, Priest of Titania, Mountain

Good hand, but I've seen much better.

Draw: Elvish Lyrist

Drop forest, play Llanowar Elves

Goldfish Turn:
Cards on board: 2/2

generate 2/2, attack with 2/2, goes unblocked to drop me to 18

Turn 2:
Cards on board: Forest, Llanowar Elves
Cards in hand: Survival of the Fittest, Forest, Goblin Sharpshooter, Elvish Lyrist, Priest of Titania, Mountain

Draw: Gorilla Shaman

Drop forest, tap both Forests tap Elves to bring out Priest and Lyrist

Goldfish Turn:
Cards on board: 2/2, 2/2

generate 2/2, attack with two 2/2, goes unblocked to drop me to 14

Turn 3:
Cards on board: Forest, Forest, Llanowar Elves, Elvish Lyrist, Priest of Titania
Cards in hand: Survival of the Fittest, Goblin Sharpshooter, Mountain

Draw: Wasteland

Drop mountain, tap Llanowar/Forest to play Survival, tap Priest to pitch Shaman for Anger, then Anger for Priest of Titania. (1 floating). Tap Mountain to play Priest. Tap Priest to pitch Sharpshooter for Genesis, Squee for Timberwatch, tap remaining Forest (2 floating) to play Timberwatch. Attack with Lyrist, pumping to 6/6 with Timberwatch before combat damage is dealt.

Oppenent blocks with 2/2, leaving them at 20

Goldfish Turn:
Cards on board: 2/2, 2/2

generate 2/2, attack with two 2/2, goes unblocked to drop me to 12


Turn 4:

Cards in play: 2x Forest, 2x Priest of Titania, Timberwatch Elf, Llanowar Elves, Elvish Lyrist, Survival of the Fittest

Cards in hand: Wasteland

Draw: Eternal Witness

During upkeep, tap Llanowar, Forest, Mountain to return Gorilla Shaman to hand; return Squee

Cards in hand: Gorilla Shaman, Squee, Eternal Witness, Wasteland

Tap Priest, Pitch Squee for Quirion Ranger, drop Quirion Ranger (3 floating), pitch Shaman for Masticore, (2 floating), tap second Priest (8 floating) to play Masticore (4 floating), play Witness to return Squee, pitch Squee (0 floating) for Llanowar Elves, tap Forest to play.

Swing with Masticore, Witness, Lyrist, Llanowar Elves, Quirion Ranger.

Opponent blocks Masticore.

Tap Timberwatch to pump Qurion Ranger to 9/9, return Forest to untap Timberwatch, tap Timberwatch to pump Witness to 10/9

21 damage to opponent's dome, 4 to goldfish, game.

So, it's kinda silly!

[wayfriend]

Really? I wasn't aware of that.

But I'm not too terribly interested in making a coin off of these cards ... so, maybe I can make up a list and let you decide if you want any of them (unless there are specific ones you are looking for ... )

Price Lists are readilly available - no excuse to get ripped off or to rip off anyone.

[Lorelei]

I also have lots of cards from back in '96-'97. I stopped playing because all of the people I used to play with didn't talk to me much after my finacee and I split up....they were mostly his friends.

I would be interested in selling them, hopefully to someone who would get true enjoyment out of them.....where can I find price lists?

[wayfriend]

I also have lots of cards from back in '96-'97. I stopped playing because all of the people I used to play with didn't talk to me much after my finacee and I split up....they were mostly his friends.

I would be interested in selling them, hopefully to someone who would get true enjoyment out of them.....where can I find price lists?

Scrye Magazine is your best choice, available wherever magic is sold.

Online, you can try www.magictraders.com/pricelists/

[The Pumpkin King]

Findmagiccards.com has a wide variety of prices for each card, from an overly-low price to an overly-high price from a variety of different online retailers.

Generally the actual pricing is exactly in the middle of it all.

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

Hey Fist, if I go to one of the watch gatherings, I'm bringing my cards, and it is -on!-

Edit: Yeah, there isn't enough n3rd behaviour on the watch. And all you guys with old cards collecting dust, start putting up lists so we can battle over them!