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07-04-2012, 02:23 PM
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#21 | ||||||||
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07-04-2012, 02:35 PM
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#22 | ||||
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Yep. I need to go through ME 3 EC now that Dawnguard has been gone through for the most part.
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Listen to the Checkmate Arcade video game podcast! Also available on ITunes and Zune Marketplace 
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07-04-2012, 05:52 PM
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#24 | ||||
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Here are my current decklists after finally unlocking (manually, without keys) all the cards in each deck and getting in some online play. I will definitely answer any "why ___ and not ___?" questions and, later on, I will even kind of explain what I'm trying to do with each deck.
Note: I play a lot of competitive Magic IRL (and even work for one of the Southeast's largest tournament centers) and I tend to take the same approach to building these decks as I would for something that I'd take to a local, regional, or national tournament (i.e. no more than 60 cards, a focus on mana curve, and streamlining the deck to be as efficient as possible). However, I do make some cuts/additions based on the fact that I will be playing a lot of Two-Headed Giant online. Garruk's Pack Instinct Jace's Dream Puppets Krenko's Goblin Gangland Liliana's Obedient Dead Odric's Peacekeepers Nefarox's Exalted Darkness Yeva's Ancient Wilds Talrand's Crosswinds Ajani's Celestial Light Chandra's Born of Flame Last edited by Tha Xecutioner; 07-06-2012 at 05:18 AM.. |
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07-04-2012, 10:52 PM
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#25 | ||||||||
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 Thanks very much for putting these lists together. I've always been terrible at paring down a deck to make it faster or more efficient, so I'll be referring back to these often.
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07-04-2012, 11:07 PM
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07-05-2012, 04:24 AM
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07-05-2012, 07:44 AM
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07-05-2012, 11:26 AM
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07-05-2012, 12:25 PM
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hey thanks, may take a look at this.... i just have all cards i can fit in every deck.
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last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/shroomer1999 |
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07-05-2012, 04:26 PM
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--------------------------------- Here's a few notes (and my personal ratings) that I said I would make about each of the decks, so that it's pretty clear why I'm choosing certain cards over others: Garruk's Pack Instinct Without the inclusion of a deck similar to Magic 2012's Ancient Depths, this deck is the go-to ramp deck of the game. You're not exactly going to be ramping into huge 11/11 game-breaking creatures like last game, but you should very easily be able to out-pace your opponent and play much higher value creatures than them each and every turn. Because you're able to play many spells like Nature's Lore, Cultivate, Primeval Titan, and Boundless Realms, it's important to have spells like Howl of the Night Pack, Wildheart Invoker, and Rampaging Baloths in the deck to capitalize off all this extra mana. This deck is one of only three in the game (so far) that kind of defy the mana curve theory - which is usually true of all ramp decks. To explain what I mean, use this example: on Turn 2, you cast Nature's Lore, now giving you a third Forest. On Turn 3, you cast Cultivate, giving you a fifth Forest (assuming you played a Forest this turn) and a sixth one in-hand. On Turn 4, you now have six Forests in play and you cast Primeval Titan to net you two more Land, putting you at eight total Land. You've effectively doubled the amount of Land in play that your opponent has at this point. In this example, which admittedly isn't too far-fetched considering how the deck is built, it's clear that the deck is not meant to "curve out" like normal Magic decks should. You're not particularly looking to play three-drops on Turn 3, four-drops on Turn 4, and five-drops on Turn 5 (etc.) like you are in most of the other decks; you're looking to play four-drops on Turn 3, or six-drops on Turn 4. This fact diminishes the importance of having a nice balance of spells in each mana slot, and it's what makes your mana curve look much more "mountainous" than the typical bell shape. Ratings: Creature Size - 5/5 Deck Speed - 4/5 Deck Flexibility - 3/5 Card Synergy - 3/5 Jace's Dream Puppets So, in this installment of Duels of the Planeswalkers, they finally decided to add the classic Mill strategy to the mix. For those unaware, the strategy of a Mill deck is simple: jam a ton of spells into your deck that force your opponent to put cards from the top of his library into the graveyard, and continue to do so until he's out of cards (which, of course, is an automatic win condition in the game). While the obvious strengths of a deck such as this include being incredibly difficult to actually counter (especially when they have creatures on board that mill, enchantments that mill, artifacts that mill, and spells that mill - all on the same turn), there are also glaring weaknesses in the deck that need to be addressed especially if you are going to win against an aggressive deck. Cards such as Into the Roil, Crippling Chill, Sleep, and Mind Control, while not being part of a mill strategy, are vital to the deck's success. I really wouldn't blame others for wanting to put Unsummon in the deck, to add to that point. Despite these cards having a major impact in dealing with various threats on the board, keep in mind that for each spot you give to a "bounce creature/permanent" spell or a "tap creature" spell, that is one less spot you are devoting to the overall mill strategy. Thanks to Jace's Phantasm you actually have a viable win condition other than just milling someone out, but there's so much removal in the game that it's unlikely to be the go-to option to get you there. Remember that cards like Howling Mine and Font of Mythos not only speed up the process of your mill strategy, but also potentially give your opponent more ammo to deal with your multiple threats. It's likely that one in every eight to ten wins should come off the back of actually killing your opponent with damage, but I can't see that percentage being any higher than that. This is arguably the most narrow of decks, since it's mill or be killed all the way. Like Garruk's deck, this also falls under the grey area of the mana curve theory. In fact, your deck should ultimately end up looking almost like the perfect diagonal decline, starting high up in the 1-mana slot and rapidly descending all the way down to the 5-mana slot. I personally do not play anything that costs more than five mana in the deck, simply because I do not think that you have that kind of time with the deck and because the expensive cards in the deck are all creatures (something that I believe you should be winning with <10% of the time). I think it's also worth noting that I don't believe that you should be playing the more popular choices of Counterspell, Sapphire Medallion, and Clone in the deck. While giving you a bit of breathing room, Counterspell really does not do much in this deck and ends up feeling more like "the generic Blue card" than anything. Let your opponent resolve that creature and then spend one mana at the end of their turn to bounce it back, or three mana to not allow it to untap next turn and draw a card. You want your spells to be proactive with this deck, not entirely reactive - and counter spells do not put you ahead of the opponent by any means. Sapphire Medallion gets ruled out, I think, simply because of the mana curve of this deck. I currently have 28 spells that cost three or less, and only 12 that cost more than that - there's no dire need to cut down on the mana cost of these spells. Clone is also something that seems much better than it actually is. While I agree that it'd be cool to get an extra 5/5 Jace's Phantasm, a third Hedron Crab, or even copy the huge creature that your opponent just played - is that really what you want to be doing with this deck? More often than not, playing Clone is going to be a stall-tactic and a way for you to buy yourself that extra turn or two to mill those last ten cards - but couldn't you be doing the same thing with Unsummon, Into the Roil, and Crippling Chill for less mana? One concession I do make is to Sword of Body and Mind. While I said numerous times that creatures shouldn't be winning you the game a noticeable amount of the time, SoBaM has so much power packed into it that it's worth having that one-of in the deck. If you agreed with me up until this point but can't see yourself using the Sword, then simple add in another draw spell or another bounce spell. The potential of this equipment, though, should not be underestimated. Ratings: Creature Size - 1/5 Deck Speed - 1/5 Deck Flexibility - 3/5 Card Synergy - 5/5 Krenko's Goblin Gangland If you're looking for pedal-to-the-floor aggressiveness, then this is the deck for you. Though this deck is one of the simplest concepts to play in the game, it still requires a bit of skill and planning to really take it to the next level and just start crushing people in 1v1. Because this deck is tribal (most of the creatures are of the same "tribe", i.e. Goblins), it is relatively easy to see which creatures instantly do not make the cut. Not a Goblin? CUT. Cost more than four mana to cast (save for one spell)? CUT. It's extremely important that each of the spells you're playing have a direct impact on the board/game. Literally the worst thing you are playing are Goblin Pikers, and it's really only there to fit the curve of the deck - which is identical to Jace's deck: a clear diagonal descent from 1-mana to 5-mana. This is easily the fastest deck in the game, and it's potential to seriously put you on your heels right out of the game is something that should never be underestimated. This deck has the ability to win games out of nowhere, but it requires careful, intelligent line of play and not just tossing spells out left and right just to "flood the board with stuff". This is definitely the deck to beat when it comes to 1v1, I think. Ratings: Creature Size - 1/5 Deck Speed - 5/5 Deck Flexibility - 4/5 Card Synergy - 5/5 Liliana's Obedient Dead Now we get to the only mono-Black deck in the game. In my opinion, this has the tendency to be one of the clunkier decks in the game - and that's mostly because of the fact that they neglect to put the ample amount of card draw in this deck that Black truly needs for it to be top dog (it's alright, they do it in actual Magic also  ). The one thing that this deck does have going for it is one word: removal. There are certainly enough removal spells at your disposal with this deck to sometimes even negate the clunky games that you may encounter.As with every Black deck, the mana curve is extremely important. This is first deck that I've talked about so far where you must take into consideration the curve of the deck if you are looking to make the deck more efficient. Your one and two drops all focus on quickly gaining the advantage over an opponent, either by killing off their early creatures or by gaining card advantage with spells like Sign in Blood. Your three drop slot is loaded with cards that wipe out your opponent's creature(s) or give you a gradual advantage (with cards like Vampire Nighthawk and Underworld Dreams). Your four drops include even more spot removal, and even a board wipe, as well as Liliana's Shade which helps to ensure that you hit that fifth or sixth mana for your late-game threats. I play no five-drops other that Rise From the Grave, which helps your creatures against other removal decks and also helps you snatch a good opposing creature that you killed off with one of your spells. Finally, we get to the late game fatties which include Nightmare, Rune-Scarred Demon, Avatar of Woe, Griselbrand, and Reiver Demon. I chose to leave cards such as Plague Wind, Pestilence Demon, and Xathrid Gorgon out. Plague Wind shouldn't really be a card that you need in this type of deck. Sure, it's a card that can turn a clunky game that you're losing on it's head and maybe help pull you out of a bad situation. However, our goal here is build a deck that helps us avoid those situations entirely and playing this card really goes against that plan - it's more of a very expensive "In Case of Fire" emergency spell. I don't like having fallout plans thrown into the deck (which we will see in Ajani's deck later on). Pestilence Demon is more of a personal choice rather than a flat-out NO like the other two cards I mentioned. When considering Pestilence Demon, keep in mind that there's only so many spots we can effectively afford to give 8-mana spells. Does he have the ability to come out for super cheap like Avatar of Woe? Nope. Can he give you an absurd amount of card advantage like Griselbrand? Nope. Can he instantly kill all creatures on the board without having to dump 5+ mana more into him like Reiver Demon? Nope. I don't blame people for wanting to run him, but I also think decisions like this lead to more clunky games where you have five Swamp on board and three spells in your hand that all cost more than six mana. Don't be afraid to make cuts where they are necessary, instead of playing the cool card. Xathrid Gorgon is an insta-NO in this deck simply because there are much more mana-efficient ways of stalling out games. Also, she has little-to-no synergy with the rest of the deck, and honestly sticks out like a sore thumb. Making this deck work in an efficient manner is one of the toughest jobs in the game, but it pays off big time if you can do so. It's extremely hostile, and can always seem to have the right answer for the job at any given point in a game. Ratings: Creature Size - 4/5 Deck Speed - 1/5 Deck Flexibility - 5/5 Card Synergy - 2/5 Odric's Peacekeepers Arguably my favorite deck in the game (since they still refuse to put a good Control deck in the game  ). I've admittedly always been a fan of the generic small, aggressive White creature decks (aka "White Weenies") because of their incredible knack for abusing the mana curve each and every game. If built correctly, I have a hard time believing that another deck in this game could claim to be more efficient than this one. If you go with the build that I suggested, you'll have the absolute best curve for the deck that we have available at the moment. What this deck also does is attempt to make Odric one of, if not the, best creatures in the game. This strategy gives you the ability to slowly grind your opponent's health down turn-by-turn with your incremental creature advantage, and then slam Odric down and just win the game next attack. The variety of non-creature spells that you have access to really allows you to keep the momentum in your favor, as well.An important aspect of the deck is choosing creatures that have abilities that help you win games. Creatures that tap other creatures, creatures that exile other creatures, creatures that leave behind a flying Spirit token when they die, creatures that enter the battlefield with additional creatures, etc. In short, this deck really comes down to playing spells that maximize the value you get out of each and every turn. That being said, there is one choice in particular that people are very back/forth on, and it's the inclusion of the two Squadron Hawks. I will say from personal experience that Squadron Hawk is not only good in the fact that it can go get up to three more of its kind from your deck. Do not underestimate the power of a shuffle effect in a deck that relies on drawing gas (good, playable, relevant spells) off the top. Hitting that pocket of three mana in a row can seriously ruin this deck, and you want the value of your spells to match the current turn of the game. More importantly, this is not a deck that wants to play Spirit of the Hearth, Archangel, or Mass Calcify. My deck list includes only three cards that cost more than Odric himself, and you do not ever want more than one in your hand at a time (at least before turn 6 or 7). Also, you really don't want to go past five mana with this deck. Captain of the Watch may seem cool, but she's not going to get you there as much as you would like. Keep the safe bets of Geist-Honored Monk and Archon of Justice who already fall in line with the theme/goal of the deck. Ratings: Creature Size - 2/5 Deck Speed - 4/5 Deck Flexibility - 4/5 Card Synergy - 5/5 Nefarox's Exalted Darkness This is one of the hardest decks in the game to trim. In an effort to maximize the synergy in the deck, you're going to have to make some tough cuts and keep some very mediocre cards. This is also one of the decks where I end up not playing the creature that the deck is named after. The name bestowed on this type of deck in the Magic community is a "critical mass" deck, meaning that your win condition requires you to amass a certain amount of permanents for you to really push through the opposition to win the game. As you can probably guess from its description, a large amount of removal can really tear this deck apart (i.e. Chandra's deck). That being said, let me mention a few interesting cards that I used/removed in my build to maximize the effectiveness of the deck. In a way that's very similar to the Goblin choices I made for Krenko's deck, if a creature did not have the Exalted ability it was almost instantly taken out of the deck (remember, critical mass). In fact, the only creature I use that does not have Exalted is Tormented Soul - and that was a concession to the fact that being unblockable is very, very good in a creature-heavy game. You don't want spells that bog down your mana (Darklit Gargoyle and various Equipment/Artifacts) and you don't need all four Angelic Benedictions to get past other creature decks. I include eight removal spells to aid you against decks like Garruk's or Krenko's which have the ability to apply pressure faster than you can, and fatty creatures out of Liliana's deck that can quickly recover the damage you've inflicted or wipe out your team quickly. The only other non-creature, non-removal spell that I included was the Mark of Asylum. Due to the fact that the Red deck is so good against this strategy, I really feel like you must have a serious answer to it somewhere in your deck - and this is that card. If you're able to play this card anywhere between turns 2-5 against Chandra's deck, you are absolutely golden (assuming you don't draw like crap). I also kept in two Evolving Wilds due to White and Black being the toughest two-color combo, and of course the Cathedral of Wars stay. Overall, this deck has the potential to be a glass canon, depending on what you play against. It's raw power and fun factor more than make up for it, though. Ratings: Creature Size - 1/5 Deck Speed - 4/5 Deck Flexibility - 1/5 Card Synergy - 5/5 Yeva's Ancient Wilds Yeva's deck is a nice change of pace from the "must play big dudes fast" mentality of the typical Green deck. In all honesty, it's more of a combo deck than anything. The inherent strategy behind my build is to continuously gain value off of creatures that have enters/leaves the battlefield effects, amass a huge creature/card advantage over the other player, and then drop an Overrun to completely wipe them out. The mana curve is not as pronounced in this deck as it is with others (like Liliana or Odric's decks), but the balance is there and the playstyle of the deck is really going to reflect that. I'm not sure how well this deck can do against faster decks such as Goblins if it cannot stabilize quickly. What I mean by this is having your Roaring Primadox down with a Thragtusk that you can bounce in/out each turn, or an Elderscale Wurm that gives you a bit of cushion to continue to set up your combo pieces. Of course, by combo pieces, I am referring to two Roaring Primadox out with at least one Thragtusk, a Pelakka Wurm, and/or Elderscale Wurm cycling through your hand and the battlefield. Having the early combo of Fauna Shaman and Vengevine is something else that can be quite brutal against some decks in the game. There are some notable cards that I leave out of my current build for the deck, most of which include Yeva, multiple Wild Pairs, and Terastodon. Yeva honestly adds nothing beneficial to the deck at all. The ability to flash in a huge fatty mid-combat may win you some fights, but I can't see that really being your path to victory if you go the combo route with the deck. If you include her, you almost have to include her Forcemages and both copies of Briarpack Alpha. I hardly like any of those cards and we are already cutting Giant Growth, so it's pretty obvious that cute combat tricks are not part of our gameplan. Wild Pair is a pretty cool card, but not one that I want to see multiples of in the deck. If it lands, it's awesome (enchantments are hard enough to get rid of, anyways). If you draw more than one, though, it's instantly terrible and really doesn't add much to the combo we're trying to set up. Terastodon is also a neat card that can potentially have a huge impact when it hits the board, but I think that impact is limited to maybe once per game. Also, until you find that Overrun, it's not exactly easy for this deck to deal with that many more 3/3s on the opposite side of the field. He'd be much better suited in Garruk's deck, I think. This deck is very, very fun I think - and that's coming from someone who hates Green. It does enough to keep you interested and also it rewards good play. However, because you're relying on setting up a particular combo, decks that have plenty of disruption spells can really hinder this deck's performance. Nonetheless, I'm glad they included this deck in the game. Ratings: Creature Size - 4/5 Deck Speed - 1/5 Deck Flexibility - 3/5 Card Synergy - 4/5 Talrand's Crosswinds One of the bigger surprises to me in this game was just how good Talrand's deck can actually be. I actually went into it dreading the 30 games I had to win to unlock everything, but that attitude quickly changed very early on in the process. Crosswinds will arguably have the most varied builds across the board as you compare other people's builds. I believe that the deck is best suited for a Tempo-style of deck, meaning that the order and choice of spells you play are all in an attempt to manage the "flow" of the game - while still being proactive instead of purely reactive. The mana curve of this deck is probably the prettiest in the game, and it's exactly where you want to be with this play style. Plenty of draw spells, plenty of disruption, plenty of creature stalls, plenty of interactive spells, plenty of fliers, and plenty of ways to generate a fairly substantial advantage over the other player. The major cards that I leave out in this deck are all of the sphinx creatures, all of the spells that cost more than five mana, and Favorable Winds. Though sphinx creatures are already known for their high mana costs, the turnaround you get for that much mana just simply isn't worth it - overcosted draw spells, vanilla 8/7s, and a shuffle effect. Playing the spells I've chosen over these sphinxes gives you much more bang-for-your-buck and allow you to keep the mana curve right where you want it. The various six-plus mana spells are just extremely overcosted and really do not push the deck over the top, by any means (something you'd expect a seven or eight mana spell to do). Favorable Winds was left out because I believe that it only benefits aggressive flier decks, and not tempo decks like this one. Gravitational Shift gives you the boost you want your fliers to have, while also demolishing ground creatures - which fits much better in our deck. I still think that this deck may just be sleeper hit of the game. It's extremely fun, well balanced, and very much open to interpretation as far as deck building goes. Ratings: Creature Size - 2/5 Deck Speed - 3/5 Deck Flexibility - 5/5 Card Synergy - 3/5 Ajani's Celestial Light Though this deck is in my favorite color of White, I think this is by far the most boring deck in the game. Life-gain strategies always include the same principles: play mediocre creatures, have very few actual win conditions, and frustrate your opponent. The fact that these strategies are often "one-trick" ponies also adds to the boring factor of the deck. That being said, the mana curve is acceptable for this deck (seeing as how your win conditions are fairly expensive) and its strategy is difficult for some decks to deal with. I think it's worth noting that the unlocks you receive for this deck are literally all over the place. Land ramping creatures, board sweepers, fliers that have nothing to do with gaining life, artifacts that allow you to gain life when you gain life, and so on. Other than "this card gains you life" there is hardly any flexibility with this deck, and that makes it hard to gain a continuous advantage over the other player each and every turns. Sometimes, the game is just turning into something where you're only still alive thanks to gaining 30+ life in a situation where you should have died many turns ago. Like I said before, though, it's hard to overcome a life-gain strategy in general, and that's what makes it particularly effective at times (especially in Two-Headed Giant). There are a host of good spells in the deck, including Ajani's Pridemate, Serra Ascendant (especially in 2HG), Swords to Plowshares, and Baneslayer Angel. If this section has been the least helpful, it's for a reason. I hardly ever play the deck and I generally despise this type of strategy. It's definitely a deck you need to know how to beat online (regardless of the format), and one that should not be taken lightly. The "nut draws" with this deck can sometimes be absolutely unbeatable. Ratings: Creature Size - 2/5 Deck Speed - 2/5 Deck Flexibility - 1/5 Card Synergy - 4/5 Chandra's Born of Flame Once again, Chandra's deck is in the top-tier of decks in the game. This version of the classic Burn deck, though, may be the best its been in any of the Duels games. Playing only seven creatures in my build, it's apparent that they really packed some good spells in this deck that allow you to win the game somewhere other than on the battlefield. Speaking of battlefield, this deck is the absolute best in the game (so far) and controlling the battlefield. Cut the firebreathing ground creatures, cut the expensive non-Haste phoenixes, cut the Equipment, and cut the big vanilla dudes - it's all about the burn. The mana curve on this deck is quite nice, and the value of your spells increases tremendously over each passing turn. I think the only type of spell that I wish this deck had was the classic "steal your creature, untap it, and give it haste" (i.e. Act of Treason). Being able to slam down an Inferno Titan after all the chaos you've caused is extremely satisfying, and using Fire Servant to deal upwards of 20-25 in one turn late in a game is insanely powerful. This deck really only has problems dealing with Ajani's deck, simply because Red decks are not built to deal 50 damage - they're meant to do upwards of 30 by Turn 6, and really not be forced into a long, drawn out match where they run out of steam quickly. This deck is the model of efficiency and it is very hostile. Arguably the best deck in the game. Ratings: Creature Size - 4/5 Deck Speed - 4/5 Deck Flexibility - 5/5 Card Synergy - 1/5 |
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07-05-2012, 04:31 PM
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#33 | ||||||
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Double Post:
Also, still in the process of updating some decklists from my original post. |
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07-05-2012, 04:49 PM
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#35 | ||||||
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07-06-2012, 01:52 PM
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#36 | ||||
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Here's the free event on Sept. 8 info you get if you put in the URL you see after defeating Bolas.
http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/eve...ebration-facts |
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08-05-2012, 12:32 AM
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#38 | |||
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I don't like this as much as past decks but still fun.
When do you think the first DLC is coming? How do I get that DLC? |
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08-05-2012, 09:14 PM
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#40 | |||
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Heres decklist of the new decks.
Finally an elf deck. http://www.toptiertactics.com/14186/...colored-decks/ |
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that encounter with the Primordial Hydra deck. Took me over an hour to beat it, and that was with the fire deck.
