Archive for the ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Category

This week in Magic: Modern Masters 2015

Modern Masters banner

 

Welcome to another week of “This week in Magic.” This is going to be a really fun issue because we get to talk about the upcoming Modern Masters 2015 release coming this weekend. While some of you will be playing Legacy at this weekend’s SCG Open, I’m going to be cracking packs of Modern Masters hoping to open that Foil Tarmogoyf. Although, even if I don’t open it, I’ll still be happy with a majority of the cards (common and uncommon).

 

Should I draft Modern Masters 2015?

Now that Modern Masters 2015 is only a few days away some of you out there are wondering if it’s worth drafting. I know some of you are new to the game and have had these kind of questions. My initial answer would be that it’s all up to you.

 

Modern Masters 2015 is a set that is really set up for those who have already been playing the game for a while. I mean it’s called Modern Masters for a reason. That’s because it has cards that are mostly staples for the Modern format. So if you’re into Standard, you may want to think a little bit more about investing the money into Modern Masters 2015.

 

Modern Staples

Now that we’ve got the question of drafting out of the way, let’s talk about what to keep an eye out for. Whether you’re new to the Modern format or not, here are some staples you should keep an eye out for.

 

Commons

As far as commons go, Vines of Vastwood is a card those interested in playing Infect decks should look for. Not to mention, it’s also a solid draft pick as it pumps your creature up and gives it hexproof until the end of turn. Another great common to keep an eye out for would be Vapor Snag. This was a card that was last printed during the Innistrad block and is played in a lot of decks. Best known for being a one mana instant that can deal with almost any creature, it’s seeing the most play in Modern control decks like UR Delver, Grixis Delver, and Grixis Control.

 

Can you believe that they reprinted Smash to Smithereens? Before it was announced to be in Modern Masters 2015, Smash to Smithereens was a $4.00 common from Shadowmoor. That price has obviously dropped and drop some more base on how many are opened in the next couple of weeks. This is a very solid side board card for any decks that are running red and don’t need to worry about dealing with Affinity.

 

Other great cards include Mana Leak, Gut Shot, and Thoughtcast. Besides Remand, Mana Leak is one of the most used counterspells in Modern. Most decks run two to three copies of this card in their lists. Gut Shot has gone into a bit of hiding, but a free burn spell is always nice to own. Those looking for pieces of Affinity, Thoughtcast is a card you may want to pick up. Nothing beats drawing more cards than what you paid for.

 

Uncommons

For uncommons, let’s start with Spectral Procession. Token players will want to grab a set of this card if they want to stay in the game. Of course, Remand is back! This is the best counter being played in Modern right now. While it doesn’t provide a permanent answer to spells, it buys you time and draws you a card. Infect players will want to pick up a playset of Mutagenic Growths as well. Paying life to cast a spell in a deck where your life total is insignificant almost makes that spell free. That’s why it’s is one of the best pump spells Infect players can have in their decks in the Modern format.

 

I think Lightning Bolt was a card many didn’t expect to be reprinted at all. It may never be reprinted in the Standard format ever again, but seeing it in a set like Modern Masters 2015 makes sense now that we know it’s there. Three-for-ones have been the epitome of Magic, and, therefore, spells like Lightning Bolt have been considered some of the most powerful spells in the game, ever. Another example of a powerful three-for-one is Ancestral Recall.

 

Finally, some other cards to keep an eye on are Flashfreeze, Celestial Purge, and Combust. These aren’t cards that are played in many main boards, but these are side board staples you may want to pick up and store away for a rainy day.

 

Rares and Mythics

This is a list I’m really happy about. There are a lot of useful cards that are being reprinted. If they weren’t in this set, some of them would be really hard to get. At the top of this list has to be Noble Hierarch. This was last seen in Conflux and many saw it as just “another Birds of Paradise.” At the time I have to agree, but it’s gone on to become more than that. Thanks to its exalted ability, it’s a card that must be played in decks that use mana accelerants. It’s a must have in decks like Infect and Abzan. It just comes to show you how powerful this card is – it only provides two of the three colors needed and yet you need four of them!

 

Splinter Twin is another great card to see reprinted as it’s one of the most popular decks being played right now in Modern. So, of course, give everyone a chance to get their hands on a copy of this card.

 

Cards that were in the original Modern Masters that are are a great sight to see are Cryptic Command, Dark Confidant, and Tarmogoyf. These are cards that while individually are quite the investment, they make buying a booster well worth the cost.

 

Well that’s it for now. This weekend is going to be a blast and it’s going to be more exciting to see what people open up in their boosters. Do me a favor and take some pics then tweet them our way @battlground_gh. Hope to see you all this weekend! Until next time…

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

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Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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This week in Magic: Mono Green Aggro

beta forest

 

Welcome to another “This week in Magic.” This week we had a little bit of fun as I got to playtest the Mono Green deck list that Top 8’d SCG Portland a few weeks back. The deck is a lot of fun to play and break on the thinking part of the game. The idea of the deck is just to get cheap and powerful creatures onto the board and take down your opponent and his team as fast as you can. Thanks to the mono colored symbols, this deck has no real mana problems except for one that I’ll talk about later. Our configuration was 20 lans, 32 creatures and only eight spells. Barring any weird statistical anomalies, we should see some action every turn.

 

Okay, enough of my rambling. Here is the deck list I ran.

 

Main Board:
10 Forest
2 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
4 Temple of Plenty

 

4 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
4 Boon Satyr
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Den Protector
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Reverent Hunter
4 Fleecemane Lion

 

4 Aspect of Hydra
4 Collected Company

 

Side Board
4 Ranger’s Guile
4 Miscutter Hydra
2 Feed the Clan
3 Hornet’s Nest
2 Mastery of the Unseen

 

As you can tell, my list is a little different from what the Top 8 list ran. I am running a more consistant 4-of list. I wanted to get right to the point. Of course, running Green, I had to include the Raptor/Protector combo. Fortunately for us, it also works well with our Collected Company spell.

 

The Good

So what did I like best about this deck. For the most part, the deck is straightforward. Hope for your turn one Mystic Elf and start playing your creatures. These were my best games. Anytime I had him on turn one, we were off to the races. Boon Satyrs would soon be hitting the board and shortly were accompanied by a band of other 3cc heroes. Out of all the creatures in the deck, our MVP had to have been Surrak. I’ve had some mixed emotions about this guy for some reason. In the end, I came to my better instincts and realized how good he is. Considering our creature package, there is a small chance that he will come into play and not give himself haste due to this Formidable ability. If you’re able to follow up with a Reverent Hunter, then your opponent is in for a world full of hate.

 

The Bad

I was able to playtest this and run it through a small Wednesday night Standard Tournament where I did not ganar amazing results. For most of the night I ran into the statistical anomalies. I had to mulligan quite a few games due to lack of mana. I ran into many hands with one land. One the play, I’m very reluctant to keep obviously, but on the draw, I’m more inclined to keep. However, that was rarely the case.

 

So I’m starting to think these are not “anomalies.” Maybe I’m just not running enough land. Maybe it’s time we bumped it up to 22 lands one person suggested.

 

I also felt that the deck needed another 1cc mana dork. Sadly, none exist in Standard right now. However, there are quite a few 2cc mana producers. The question now is would it be worth it. I think so. Maybe not a full set, but two may do the trick. I felt like if you didn’t have a little bit of help, then you had a slow and clunky start. Now, this may also have to do with our rough mana starts, but I think this will boost our production rate quite a bit in the long run.

 

Against UB/Esper Control

You would think a “fast” and aggressive deck would be the solution to any control deck. However, this is a testament of how good the control decks are right now. This seemed like such a terrible matchup for me. I few counters here, a Foul-Tongue Invocation there, and the next thing I knew I saw so far behind I was grumbling at myself.

 

These were the matches where I felt if I didn’t have a mana dork out on turn one, I was almost guaranteed to lose the match. So, if you don’t have a Mystic Elf in hand turn one against Control, you should Mulligan until you do.

 

Against Abazan Aggro

This is almost a coin-flip. However, we have plenty of ours that can assure us a win. The keys to winning here are Aspect of the Hydra, Den Protector, and/or Avatar of the Resolute. The thing with Abzan Aggro is that they can put creatures down as fast as we can, but they have the added advantage of being able to remove our creatures if needed. Den Protector is a big player because of it’s ability to punch through their wall. A timely Aspect can pump our Den Protector big enough to get through their fences and land some damage.

 

However, if this is our game plan, we need to be very conscious of their ability to remove our creatures if needed. So keep an eye open on their available mana resources.

 

Well that’s it for this week. Play around with the list. This is a deck that I think will continue to pop up every now and then at FNMs and even major tournaments. It’s still an affordable deck to put together, but if you can’t get your hands on Deathmist Raptors it’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of other Green creatures you can run in it’s place. A card I’d like to see some people play with that I didn’t mention was Dramoka’s Command. If we’re splashin White for Fleecemane, then why not also make room for one of the best commands in the format right now. Good luck!

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

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Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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Vice news produces documentary on ‘Magic: The Gathering’

In case you may have missed it, the fine folks over at Vice.com have put out a sweet documentary about everyone’s favorite card game, “Magic: The Gathering.” The documentary follows one of the game’s youngest professional players, Jacob Wilson and peers into what life is like for such a young player currently in the mix of things. The documentary also follows the Forino brothers out of New York. Having played the game for 22 years, the Forino brothers are known as some of the early staples of the game, especially for the Vintage scene.

 

New or old, players will all different sets of skills should enjoy this short film. So sit back, relax, and check out Vice’s, “The Mystical Universe of Magic: The Gathering.”

 

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

1170
 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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This week in Magic: Re-discovering GR Tron

karn liberated
 

Welcome to another edition of “This week in Magic.” This week we’re going to cover a deck that is not burn. However, depending on who you are, is probably on the same level as far as the totem pole is considered. This week we’re taking a look at one of my favorite decks, GR Tron. Now we may have talked about it in the past, but this time we’re going to go over some of the changes the deck has made since we last touched upon it.

 

I guess on one of the first things you’re asking yourself is why GR Tron? Why not Mono-U Tron? While part of me does enjoy the strong control aspect of Mono-U Tron, you are less likely to draw your combo pieces than you are when you play GR Tron. This is one of the great strengths of GR Tron. I mean, if you’re going to play a deck called Tron, you might as well play the Tron pieces.

 

I’m sure you’ve had enough of my blabbering. Here is a good look at what I’ve got.

 

GR Tron

Main board
4 Karn Liberated
4 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Emrakul, The Aeons Torn

4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Pyroclasm
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Chromatic Star
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Expedition Map
4 Oblivion Stone
3 Relic of Progenitus

4 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Mine
2 Forest
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Ghost Quarter

 

Side board
2 Spellskite
3 Rending Volley
4 Nature’s Claim
3 Boil
2 Vandalblast
1 Sundering Titan

 

Main board selections

Your main board is very self-explanatory. Our main objective here is to build up Tron as fast as we can. This is accomplished by digging through our deck as much as possible or being as direct as possible. Sylvan Scrying is our best direct approach at gathering Tron. Expedition Map is another great example of a direct approach to thing. The spell is a little bit slower, and if played improperly, can be destroyed or returned to your hand without ever being used.

 

Overall, the best spell in the deck has to be Ancient Stirrings. On turn two, it’s the best spell we can play. Imagine this scenario: Turn one, we play a tron land and cast one of our numerous one casting cost artifact cantrips that cans also generate a single color. In a deck where colored mana is so sparse, this added ability is very welcomed. This leads us to our second turn. On turn two, we draw our card for the turn, then we can activate and sacrifice the artifact to draw another card and generate us one Green mana. This mana is then used to cast Ancient Stirrings where we can look at another five cards deeper.

 

Straight to the point

There is no greater feeling than casting a turn three Karn Liberated. I’ve played plenty of matches where my opponent has scooped at the sight of Karn. Not only that, but Wurmcoil Engine can be just as devastating to many of your opponents, especially the ones who decided to play burn that day.

 

Then, of course, there is always the chance where you can windmill slam an Emrakul around turn five or six with the help of an Eye of Ugin. For you beginners out there who may feel a little intimidated by this deck, don’t be. On paper it may look difficult to play, but in reality, it isn’t. Just like everything else in Magic, it takes a little bit of practice, but once you get rolling, it shouldn’t be difficult to pilot.

 

Weakest links of the deck

The deck is nicknamed “Tron” for reason. That’s because to play the deck you need to be able to play all three Urzatron pieces. Again, having play the deck plenty of times, I can tell you that, despite all of the cantrips and tutors, assembling Tron can still be difficult.

Also, let’s not forget the people who have a side board plan against you. As a Tron player, your worst nightmares will be Fulminator Mage and Blood Moon. Going from producing seven mana on turn 3 to producing only 3 mana hurts a lot – on the inside and outside.

 

Wrap up

Well, that’s it for this week. As you can see, I’ve played other decks besides Mono-R Burn, and am not as one sided as I seem to be. My advice is to try it out and give it a shot. Slam those those Tron pieces onto the battlefield and get ready to see some sad faces.

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

1170
 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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TODAY – Grand Prix Las Vegas Trial @ Plainville, MA

GPTRIAL_BANNER

Join us TODAY for our Grand Prix Trial for Grand Prix Las Vegas! Here’s your opportunity for a chance to earn a 2-round Bye at what is expected to be the largest North American Grand Prix -EVER!

We look forward to seeing you at our Plainville, MA location on May 2nd!

Format: Modern
Date: May 2nd, 2015 a Saturday
Time: Doors at 10:00 am, Round 1 pairings at 12:00 pm
Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

Address:
25 Taunton Street
Plainville MA 02762

Parking on site

This event is being run as a Grand Prix Trial for Las Vegas:
• Deck lists required
• Cut to top 8

Prizes:
Prizes will be paid to the top finishers in Store Credit usable in store or online!

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This week in Magic: Side boarding with Naya Burn

GPT Vegas Plainville
 

Welcome back to another edition of “This week in Magic.” Last week we talked about the basics of Naya Burn and some expectations as I took it to a local GPT for Las Vegas. Sadly, I finished the day with a 3-2 record and just missed Top 8 by .5% point. I can’t be too upset considering how badly I felt I played all day. I felt that I played a little too loose and know I could have done better.

 

A prime example comes from my first match where I kept a hand of four lands and three spells. I was on the play, so I was already short action spells. My opponent was playing Esper and a turn one Kozilek and I was pretty much out of spells to cast by turn two. My best hands are anything with two lands and five spells or three lands and four spells. When I get the loose hands of four lands and three spells, I tend to mulligan them because there is not enough going on there. However, that first match had me keeping that exact hand. I knew I needed to play tighter if I wanted to have a chance.

 

My plays throughout the day is something we can save for another time. This week, I promised to tackle the options we have for side boarding. Once again, here is a quick rundown of my Naya Burn list.

 

Main board

4x Goblin Guide

4x Monastery Swiftspear

4x Eidolon of the Great Revel

2x Grim Lavamancer

4x Lightning Bolt

4x Lava Spike

3x Rift Bolt

2x Skullcrack

4x Boros Charm

4x Atarka’s Command

2x Lightning Helix

2x Shard Volley

2x Searing Blaze

 

3x Mountain

4x Scalding Tarn

4x Wooded Foothill

4x Bloodstained Mire

1x Stomping Ground

3x Sacred Foundry

 

Side board:

3x Destructive Revelry

1x Lightning Helix

2x Path to Exile

2x Deflecting Palm

2x Skull Crack

3x Molten Rain

2x Kor Firewalker

 

Versus Twin

-2 Searing Blaze, -2 Lightning Helix, -1 Shard Volley; +2 Path to Exile, +3 Destructive Revelry.

 

I’ve played against many twin matchups and I think this is a bit of a coin toss. Obviously during our first game, there is very little we can really do if our opponent has a Twin turn four. We either have enough burn in our hand to remove their Exarch or Mite, or we don’t. It’s as simple as that. Once we’ve boarded, the match stays a coin flip still. They tend to bring in a Spellskite or Batterskull, but the popular choice is to bring in more cheap counterspells such as Dispell or Spell Pierce.

 

In these situations, I like to bring in Destructive Revelry and Path to Exile. Destructive Revelry is our best defense against Batterskill and can conveniently destroy Spellskites. The one important thing they can destroy, though, are Splintertwins! There is almost no reason for a Twin player not to play Twin on turn four if they have the combo. It’s on us, the burn player to do something or lose.

 

Path to Exile is another great one-mana removal spell for us. More specifically, it’s there to remove the Exarch from play. One may think I’m over boarding a bit here because Destructive Revelry is good enough, but I like to have more options here. Path can also remove the insect token that Batterskull makes.

 

Versus Affinity

-2 Lightning Helix, -1 Shard Volley; +3 Destructive Revelry

 

Before I converted to Naya, this matchup was always in favor of Affinity. Some would argue it was more of a coin flip, but I tend to disagree. Since converting to Naya, we’ve gained more options and a bit more of a reach when it comes to fighting against the robot army.

 

One thing I’ve learned is that our creature package plays a big part in our match. Previous Mono Red builds relied more on their burn spells than anything else to do the damage. With no creatures in play, we allowed Affinity to run rampant all over us. However with almost a third of the deck being creatures, we have more defend ourselves with.

 

For our side board options we have the same choices we had with Twin. I like to bring in all of our copies of Destructive Revelry. If you read what the card does, then there is little explanation needed here, and we can get in two points of damage.

 

I also think Molten Rain is good option to run here as well. Their man-lands can do some serious damage to us if left unattended. Don’t forget, though, that Molten Rain can only hit their lands. As burn players we really need to be careful not to over board in these situations. If you feel Molten Rain is important, then go ahead and run them. Otherwise, you are still fine just running the Destructive Revelry.

 

Versus Naya Burn

-2 Shard Volley, -2 Lightning Helix; +2 Kor Firewalker, +2 Path to Exile

 

Kor Firewalker has become one of the most solid answers to anything Burn. So I like to assume that my opponent is going to be smart and bring in their copies of Kor Firewalkers. It’s because of this thinking process I like to bring in Path to Exile. The most important reason for this is because it’s our only way of dealing with the Pro Red creature.

 

So why did we take out the cards we took out? Out of the entire deck, I feel that Shard Volley is the weakest link. You can also see this because I’ve taken it out of every match, post-side board. As for the Lightning Helix. It’s actually one of the more “clunkier” spells in the deck. First of all, it’s one of only spells in the deck that requires us to pay two different colors in mana. Second of all, a lot of people get distracted by it’s life gaining abilities. I feel that this can cause people to be less aggressive with the spell. Playing a burn deck, you want to burn out your opponent before they can do it to you. Kor Firewalker on your side more than makes up for the fact you’re losing some life gaining abilities, but, in the end, are gaining stronger ones.

 

Well that’s it for now. Yes, your eyes are correct. We only covered three major opponents in this week’s article. However, if you have any questions regarding any other matchups, then feel free to leave a comment in the section below. Until next week…

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

1170
 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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