Author Archives: MTGColorPie

July 15, 2010

The Really Bit M11 EDH Review – Green

By MTGColorPie

Primeval Titan will watch you sleep.

And now comes the last of the actual colors (White, Blue, Black, Red are there). With Green comes a whole influx of creatures. That really shouldn’t be all that surprising, should it? White is about gain life and prevent damage and making sure everything is in order. Black kills things, anything to do to win. Blue counters, draws and bounces everything but doesn’t really destroy anything. Red burns and creates havoc while destroying what it can. Green is all about nature and lands and creatures.

My philosophy about Green is it can do anything it wants as long as it’s creature or land related. So while Hornet Sting stands out, it can still, somewhat seem Green related.

To see more of my design philosophies, head over to my Magic design blog: mtgcolorpie.com. I’ve noticed that a number of people come over there to this site, but not the other way around. Thought I’d cross-promote it a little bit.

Cards in italics are reprints. At the very end of all the reviews, you’ll get my Top 10 list of EDH cards for M11.

Like any time when I review these cards, most of them can see play in EDH; there’s only one in this set that is absolute trash in EDH (Squadron Hawk). These are just going to be the better cards I would recommend playing.

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3 comments | posted in EDH, M11, Magic: the Gathering, Really Big EDH Review

July 15, 2010

The Really Big M11 EDH Review – Red

By MTGColorPie

Do you really need to keep that 1995 SI Swimsuit issue?

Entering part four of this series (White, Blue, Black). Luckily this series isn’t like Lost where you have to have see the previous in the series or it will all not make sense. Because I’m not building on the last post, each one of these can be read separately if you’re curious about one certain card from the set. I guess that’s one benefit of breaking them, up by color.

But what these colors have in common are three cycles of Rare/Mythic cards: The Planeswalkers, the Titans and the Leylines. Not all of them are made equal. The Red one really only works against White (sometimes Green) decks, so I didn’t even mention it down below; the Blue Titan is clearly the worst. In any cycle, there must be a best and and worst; it’s just odd nod seeing Green at the bottom of those cycles.

Cards in italics are reprints. At the very end of all the reviews, you’ll get my Top 10 list of EDH cards for M11.

Like any time when I review these cards, most of them can see play in EDH; there’s only one in this set that is absolute trash in EDH (Squadron Hawk). These are just going to be the better cards I would recommend playing.

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3 comments | posted in EDH, M11, Magic: the Gathering, Really Big EDH Review

July 14, 2010

The Really Big M11 EDH Review – Black

By MTGColorPie

Well, I guess that's one way of reading a book

Welcome to part three of this huge M11 EDH review (hence the title). If you missed parts one and two they are here (White) and here (Blue). The most interesting thing that has come out of Magic and reviewing sets is something that Pro Player Patrick Chapin wrote (Star City Games Premium article, sorry). Basically what he says is that reading review articles are boring. Most of the time they say the same thing, which is “Oh, this is what the card does, this is the type of decks it can fit into.” I do my best to try and avoid it, but I know I do that from time to time. It’s like reading movie reviews of the same movie: soon you’re going to get the same type of dialogue repeated over and over again if you read enough. There’s only so much ground you can cover with the same material as everyone else.

Now, he suggests adding humor because it does liven up the same old thing. So I’ve decided to follow his wise advice. In the Worldwake and Rise of the Eldrazi review I had Billy Mays review a card in each while Vince pitched a card in RoE. Though my contacts in Hollywood (every MTG blogger has contacts in Hollywood), I was able to get comedian Lewis Black to review every single Black card in M11. Say hi, Lewis.

Oh, is this because my last name is Black?

Now you’re getting it.

Very creative.

Thanks.

That was sarcasm.

I know. Wait, where are you going Mr. Black? (Door Slams). Sigh. I guess I’m going to try to do the comedy. Cards in italics are reprints. At the very end of all the reviews, you’ll get my Top 10 list of EDH cards for M11.

Like any time when I review these cards, most of them can see play in EDH; there’s only one in this set that is absolute trash in EDH (Squadron Hawk). These are just going to be the better cards I would recommend playing.

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8 comments | posted in EDH, M11, Magic: the Gathering, Really Big EDH Review

July 14, 2010

The Really Big M11 EDH Review – Blue

By MTGColorPie

CANNONBALL!

Part two of this M11 EDH review. If you missed part 1 (White), click here. If you’ve never really written a review before, it’s an interesting experience. Sometimes people check these things to see if other people feel the same way about certain cards that they do. Other times, they’re just curious to see how other cards see play in different formats. I don’t rate these cards as people would use them in Sealed or Standard, so people might look at some of these reviews and go, really? Yes, really.

Another thing about reviews is that people want to take a look at the rares and if they should do pick them up. This is pretty obvious since they cost the most money and are harder to get. On format reviews like this where you don’t touch upon every card, it says a whole lot if I don’t talk about a rare since most everything can be used in this format. Sometimes, they won’t even make a dent in this cardpool.

Cards in italics are reprints. At the very end of all the reviews, you’ll get my Top 10 list of EDH cards for M11.

Like any time when I review these cards, most of them can see play in EDH; there’s only one in this set that is absolute trash in EDH (Squadron Hawk). These are just going to be the better cards I would recommend playing.

Continue reading

7 comments | posted in EDH, M11, Magic: the Gathering, Really Big EDH Review

July 13, 2010

The Really Big M11 EDH Review – White

By MTGColorPie

Note: Sun Titan not actually from The Sun

M11 is coming out Friday and as of the Prerelease, all of the new cards are legal for EDH. So what ones do you spend the time to go get and which ones really won’t make a difference in this great format? Are you Confused? How about Bewildered? Or are you here to laugh at my outlandish predictions when I nominate “so and so” as the best EDH card in the set? Are there enough questions in this paragraph for you or should I keep asking them? Why do you think I’m playing the question game?

Since M11 is a Core Set and there are about 50% reprints, I’m going to mainly focus on the new cards. I will touch on some reprints as they are either good or bad for the format, I won’t spend too long on them in general. The cards that are in italics are reprints.

If you notice, today’s it just White. Usually I’d write the whole thing up on one post, but when I reported to twitter (@mtgcolorpie) how much I’ve written just for White, they were like “Break it up, everyone else already does.” Yes, I’ve become a sheep to follow everyone else (Baaa). So, while it’s weird to get this started on a Tuesday instead of the more logical Monday, blame the twitter peeps. That means, yes, there will be a post for each color. At the very end of it all, you’ll get my Top 10 list of EDH cards for M11.

Like any time when I review these cards, most of them can see play in EDH; there’s only one in this set that is absolute trash in EDH (Squadron Hawk). These are just going to be the better cards I would recommend playing.

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5 comments | posted in EDH, M11, Magic: the Gathering, Really Big EDH Review

July 8, 2010

Hygienic Products, John Locke, and The New Way

By MTGColorPie

Wrong John Lo... Ah, close enough

If you’re on twitter (I’m @mtgcolorpie), you’ve noticed the past several weeks there have been discussions about EDH and the conduct of players and expectations and so forth. This has spilled over into the blogs and forums as well. If you haven’t see some of the posts, here are a few of them:

Each one provides their own valid viewpoint, and now, I’d like to offer my own. I’ve thought about it for a while and it might be a little late to the conversation, I still think it’s worth mentioning. Some of you might be tired of this topic but this is the only time I’m going to mention it.

Hygienic Products are Compliments

There’s a word to describe some of the people and plays that happen in EDH for something that you don’t personally like. I never really have used the word to describe these people and acts. This will be the first and last time you will see it on this site from me personally. It’s because whenever I’ve heard the word, I’ve always thought of this scene from one of my favorite movies, Wet Hot American Summer:

Caped Boy: Excuse me, ladies. You may remember me as the guy who came to dinner a few weeks ago with underwear on my head. My name is Keith Stat from Millburn, New Jersey. State bird, the mosquito. And as you may have heard, I am recently a crowned class B dungeon master. So if any of you would like to play D&D today, please speak now or forever hold your peace.
[he chuckles, and there is an awkward silence at the table]
Caped Boy: Anyone? Alexa!
[Alexa gives him a withering glare]
Caped Boy: Maybe you would like to join in? We do need a druid, and you have definitely cast a level 5 charm spell on me.
Alexa: In your dreams, douche-bag!
Caped Boy: Douche-bags are hygienic products; I take that as a compliment. Thank you.
[Keith walks off]
Alexa: Ewww!

John Locke’s Tabula Rasa

Alexander Shearer of Gift’s Ungiven makes a fair point in his piece about EDH: he wants to know what’s acceptable behavior and what’s not in EDH land. He thinks that by calling someone or an act someone does in EDH a hygienic product, then clearly it’s not the spirit of the format. This is actually a mistake that make tournament minded players make about EDH and sometimes why they’re so hesitant to join this format in the first place.

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7 comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering

June 25, 2010

Weekend Commentator Diversion – Do You Play Commander on MTGO?

By MTGColorPie

Click for full size madness

Up until recently, I hadn’t played Magic Online (MTGO). For various reasons I won’t get to now (It’ll go up on my other blog MTGColorPie.com), I kinda stayed away. Finally a couple of weeks ago, I took the plunge. While I don’t play everyday online, it does give me a chance to play when I wouldn’t normally (which is the appeal of it).

Long story short, I’m using it mostly for drafting and playing Commander, which is the MTGO equivalent of EDH. I’m still getting the hang of it, but as you can see from the picture on the right, screen real estate is a very valuable thing here; sometimes I wonder why I play on my laptop if people are playing 500 tokens and whatnot.

At the moment, I bought the UWG Commander decklist and have been drafting and buying cards through the bots online. I think I have an alright decklist thrown together (was lucky to open several Revised Duals in the ME/ME2/ME3 drafts a few weeks back) but it’s still a work in progress.

So, for the topic for this weekend/whenever (because people are still chiming in on the other one, which I think is great, continue to do so): Do you play Commander on MTGO? Yes, no, what’s your favorite part, what do you hate, etc? Do you have any advice for people starting out or thinking about getting online? If you don’t play MTGO, is there anything that would get you convinced to try?

BONUS: I know that this blog has been lagging a little big, a combination of work and, well, look at the topic, has gotten me a little off track. New posts are currently being written, but I also what to hear from you guys what would you like to see on this site? Is it more decklists, is it strategy, is it theory? I mean I’ve got a ton of ideas (Single card strategies, a best of color/card type segment, etc), but this is about you guys. What would you like to see on here?

So comment about one or both. Remember, if you haven’t commented on this site before I need to approve it (it keeps out the spam), and I try to do that as quickly as possible to keep the conversation going.

If you’re curious, my name on MTGO is: mtgcolorpie. Find me, friend me (is that how it works?), and we can play sometime.

12 comments | posted in Commander, EDH, Magic: the Gathering, MTGO, Weekend Diversion

June 18, 2010

June 2010 EDH Bannings

By MTGColorPie

Gone, Baby, Gone

Oh, some changes that people were clamming for happened. Let’s get right down to them:

Refellos, Llanowar Emissary – BANNED AS A GENERAL

Channel – BANNED

Staff of Domination – BANNED

Tolarian Academy – BANNED

From the Official EDH Website:

It’s clear that especially in the post-Eldrazi world, super-fast, super-reliable early mana production is dangerous to the format. Rofellos, Channel, and Tolarian Academy have all demonstrated they can do this with quite a bit of ease.

Unbanning Rofellos as a General was a year-long experiment that didn’t pan out. We had hoped it would lead to a spate of fun-and-full-of-fat decks, but that wasn’t the case. First- or second-turn Channel into Emrakul or similar things are simply negatively format-warping. Tolarian Academy, while not quite as explosive as the Rofellos and Channel, fuels easy early-game super-production of mana.

We’ve had our eyes on Staff of Domination for a long, long time, and were hoping that someone would find uses for it that didn’t include the term ‘degenerate.’ That hope proved fruitless. Strangely enough, it’s the first and cheapest activation that has proved the most troublesome.

The watchword of the Rule’s Committee’s vision of the format is ‘interactive.’ We’d like to foster an environment where ridiculous things happen, but that everyone playing has a chance to do them. Early, reliable, hyper-production of mana often leads to a single player playing by himself and others watching, and that’s not what we want for EDH.

My Thoughts:

They’re absolutely right.

With the creation of the Eldrazi, getting easy mana to cast these big beasts early did hurt games, but you had to do it in order to keep up with the Jones’. While I’m sad that Channel has now got to go ruining my Verdeloth deck (is it time to take it apart now?), I see why it has to go. I was wondering why it was still left in the format but now it’s gone. The Refellos experiment was going okayish until Eldrazi came out and I’m surprised it took this long to see Academy axed. Staff of Domination never was used in a casual sense but always a degenerate combo one. None of these changes is a bad move.

These bannings take effect June 20th. Changes to the Banned List have been made.

Leave a comment | posted in Uncategorized

May 28, 2010

Really Long List: How to Non-Lethally Get Rid of a General

By MTGColorPie
Better than most players realize

Editor’s Note: Alternate title was “How Could I Just Really Kill a General” but figured kids these days wouldn’t get the reference. That’s something I’ve been wanting to do, more music titled posts.

I think that last week’s experiment was a success. There were a number of good responses, and I figured that this was a logical followup to the topic of Generals.

Getting rid of Generals can be a huge turning point in the game, especially if your opponent’s deck is built around him/her. Now, we’re not talking about killing a General like with Doom Blade or dealing it damage, but removing it from play. Every color (believe it or not) has ways to deal with Generals. What we’re going to do find find out some of the best ways to do that. Yes, this will be some of the better cards you should be playing with in this format.

Why am I not caring about “destroy target creature” cards? A) They’re boring B) The majority of them are in Black C) Not only can you deal with Generals, but if you’ve got anyone who landed their Eldrazi or Darksteel Colossus, this is also a great way for dealing with them too. There’s a variety of ways to get rid of Generals without triggering different cards; Sometimes you don’t want that Grave Pact to trigger. Don’t be surprised to see these cards in decklists all over the net.

Please remember: when I card says “Exile” and you do that to a General, they can decide to put it in the Command Zone. It’s the same thing that if you kill a General, they can put it in the Command Zone instead of the Graveyard. While I don’t agree flavorfully about it, it’s still the way the rules work. If that happens, they do have to pay the additional 2 colorless mana to re-cast them.

Here’s the list of non-lethal ways to get rid of a General. My personal Top 5 are after the list. I decided not to include permanents that deal with attacking or blocking creatures because it’s a great bluff but most of the time players won’t swing with that on the table.

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25 comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, Really Long List

May 21, 2010

Weekend Commentator Diversion – Most Hated General?

By MTGColorPie

Somehow, the Sliver Overload guy wasn't the most hated at that table

Hi everyone.

We’re trying something different on 99EDH this weekend. After organizing our first EDH night at my store, we had an okay turn out for the first time out, 9 people including me. I had brought my video camera but I grabbed the battery that didn’t hold its charge so I didn’t get the interviews like I wanted. I’ll see if I can fix up the footage I did shoot and edit it all together for you.

Anyway, we had a pod of 5 and a pod of 4 playing with many different styles and, luckily, all different Generals. The table of 5 was locked down by a Karn deck while the table of 4 had a Teneb deck that was stealing everything that people were sacrificing. Was it as annoying as the Karn one? No, not by a long shot. But that got me thinking:

Which General do you hate to play against the most?

Is it the General that takes over a game, or the wins quickly? What General do you groan when you see an opponent play it?

Throw it in the comments below and let’s start a dialog. If people like this, we’ll start doing it every Friday. If not, hey don’t worry about it.

A note about commenting: I’ve got it set that if you’ve never had a comment on this site, I have to approve it (it sends me an e-mail and I make sure it’s not spam) and then it goes up. You don’t have to send it five times. Be nice, but go ahead and rant on here if you want.

36 comments | posted in EDH, Weekend Diversion

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