Magic: The Gathering - Page 97

On November 06 2011 00:10 Judicator wrote:


Congrats, 4th and 8th means it's a deck right? Go look at it's match ups against the best decks in standard right now, it's fucking awful. Just because you get smashed by it at FNM means literally nothing.

On November 06 2011 00:22 deth2munkies wrote:

Solar Flare is still a reasonable deck, so is UW. UB just can't deal with tokens and the like due to lack of board sweepers as point removal isn't quite as valuable. No forms of control are completely dominant in the meta, but they have fairly even matchups against pretty much all the other decks.

The reason you haven't been seeing them in top 8s as much is because everyone and their mom is playing Wolf Run or Tokens, and when you have a couple hundred of each deck with 20-30 or so Solar Flare, the odds are quite stacked against you seeing a bunch of flare at the top.

On November 06 2011 00:54 MCMcEmcee wrote:
Regardless of your feelings on the deck, 4th and 8th place is two control decks in the top 8, which is two more than "NOT A SINGLE CONTROL DECK IN THE TOP 16."

GP Hiroshima had a Solar Flare deck in top 8 (top 4, even), and two UB Control lists in top 16. But who's counting? (I am)

On November 06 2011 00:59 Judicator wrote:


HMMM? Flare losing to the best decks in T2 means it won't be seeing T8 as often? What are the odds on that? If you are a good player, and have a good deck tuned against the meta, you'll top 8 at the very least unless you just have bad beats all fucking day in which case you probably weren't a good player in the first place. The deck density has very little to do with how many reaches top 8. Take Valakut for example or an alternative example in UB control, or more recently Travis Woo's little concoction.

When Wolf-run came out the week before States, I was worried as a Flare player that I was going to lose to it. Instead I go 4-0 against it because people don't know how to run it at all and it barely cracked top 8 despite being the most popular deck there hands down. Same went for mono-red.

Tell me what Flare match ups are right now. If you can't then you haven't tested and are just speaking out of your imagination based on what you think the match ups are based on articles and match vids. Yeah it's so reasonable when the other decks just flies over you, hexproofs through you (tapping out on 4 for a day is the stupidest thing in existence right now for control), tramples through you.

Before you or anyone else attempts to bring up the, you're supposed to sculpt your hand bullshit, yeah, that's assuming I have Forbiddens, can play said Forbidden and said Forbidden nets me exactly what I need and evens out the tempo advantage they gain when the next turn they can easily throw another threat that I have to answer. If the control player can actually regain control of the board, then sure, it's fine, but getting to that point right now is so brutal because notice all the other decks' starting 7 is almost always better at face value than your starting 7. Sure you have Alchemies and Think Twices, but those don't necessarily get you there and if you get into a top deck situation, chances are their top deck is better than yours.

On November 06 2011 03:09 deth2munkies wrote:


What I'm saying is that tournament magic is about 60% preparation, 20% skill, and 20% luck. So if there were 100 Tokens, 100 Wolf runs, and 20 solar flares/esper control, and, for the sake of argument, all the matchups are 50/50, then the odds you will have even 1 solar flare/esper control deck in the top 8 is very slim. It's just pure numbers.

The deck I run is not as much a controlling version of Solar Flare as it is attempting to mill myself as fast as possible to reanimate huge fatties with limited countermagic and removal for protection. The downside to this build is a much larger weakness to aggro decks (especially red decks). I have a positive record against UW humans, and a slightly negative one against UG humans and I still haven't won a match against red. That said, the aforementioned loss to Dave Thomas was the only time I have lost a match to a strict control deck.

I can't comment directly on the matchup from experience, I can't afford the snapcaster mages and multiple lilianas necessary to make esper control/traditional flare/UB/UW control. I can, however, comment on the fact that the Esper shell is DEFINITELY a viable archetype even against tokens and wolf run. Facing these decks is not a matchup loss, but you definitely don't have an overwhelming advantage either.

I, personally, don't think there is a format-defining deck quite yet, but that Control is still completely viable and may end up being one of the dominant archetypes once more people figure it out.

On November 06 2011 07:46 captainwaffles wrote:
Hi, I've been playing for about 2 months now, and I would like some feedback on this deck that I am making (I have most of the cards, this is just, what I think, it the most refined version of it)

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/greenbeats-1/

I don't know it it matters or not, but this is for the card game, not online... just throwing that out there.

On November 06 2011 12:25 dignity wrote:
Tempered tokens you say?

I thought of that myself but there's just no fast way to get enough artifact tokens fast enough to justify it.

On November 06 2011 12:11 deth2munkies wrote:
Hmmm...my next brew (once I'm done with the paper I should be writing right now) is definitely going to be Splicers + Shape Anew based. I think with Intangible Virtue and Master Splicers you can win outright with the golems regardless of the combo, and blue gives it access to dig in the form of Think Twice/Alchemy and probably a bit of limited countermagic (Mana leaks main and negates or flashfreezes in the board). O-rings and maybe 1-2 days should give you enough time to set up the combo and/or a legion of first striking, flying, (maybe) regenerating huge golems.

I think UW is probably the build, although Bant may have it's advantages, like I said, still figuring it out.

And for those of you who don't know the combo:

Shape Anew + lots of artifact token makers that aren't artifacts (Splicers, Master's Call) + Singleton Blightsteel Colossus = T3/4 Blightsteel (potentially).

On November 06 2011 14:24 captainwaffles wrote:


Why would overrun be useless? I haven't played in any events, but I have played people who do play in events and I take games off them, usually when I draw Overrun I just win.

Why are the swords the only way to pressure control decks? What about my hexproof creatures like thrun and dungrove? or ascetism? (I've been playing for about 2 months, go easy on me lol)

I do have a Garruk Primal Hunter but I took him out because I only have one of him, and he gets targeted and taken down pretty easily.

The wolf runs seem to be really good, and just what I need, a Dungrove with trample would be the best.

EDIT- Its all casual right now, I am still learning the game, but I do want to be able to beat good players with good decks (relatively speaking at the local level). So eventually (several months from now) I will want to compete in tourneys. with the intent to win, right now I just do the drafts or FNM for fun. Wow I just said a whole lot without saying anything... basically I want a tourney quality deck.

On November 06 2011 15:06 captainwaffles wrote:


I thank you for your insights sir, they are most useful :D

EDIT- which swords? just found out there are several different cards.