Category Archives: Magic: the Gathering

July 28, 2011

If You’re Not Having Fun, You’re Not Doing It Right

By MTGColorPie

http://wp.me/pGq1u-Bn

If you’re curious about the whole “99 Problems” issue, I would direct you to my MTGCP post and Sean’s post describing the situation (To be fair to both sides). If you’re looking to comment about that, please keep it in one of those two areas, anything left on here will be heavily moded. This thing could go on forever if we let it, but my wife looked at me this week and made one simple observation:

“It doesn’t look like you’re having fun with your ‘hobby’.”

And she’s right, I wasn’t.

Writing about Magic isn’t a full time job for me, hence why posts on here and MTGColorPie.com come at random times. I’ve now got a weekly series on Commander over at GatheringMagic if you want a normal weekly column. As anyone who has ever met me, or possibly even read some of my work, knows I’m not really normal. I write parodies of movies and put them as Magic characters/personalities; Aaron Forsythe has told me that it’s a little odd to see a fictional version of himself and tried to explain it to other people.

But this isn’t a blog about writings, or anything like that. This is a Commander blog, so let’s talk about Commander.

Continue reading

Leave a comment | posted in Commander, EDH, Magic: the Gathering

July 12, 2011

Fixing the Back of the Commander Boxes

By MTGColorPie

A card that makes Pegasi? Count me in!

http://wp.me/pGq1u-Ag

When I was opening up my Commander product boxes and getting out the new yummy cards, I noticed something disturbing on the back of the Counterpunch deck box.

Each of the decks have a blurb on the back of the box that quickly explains the format and what you can do with the deck. This is normal marketing stuff that you see with everything. But, one of the great things about Magic is that you can actually use the product to sell. If people aren’t seeing awesomeness with the large foil Commanders on the front, they can see what else might be in the deck by looking at the back. Let me set it up for you if you haven’t paid attention or haven’t picked up your Commander product yet.

On the right side there are seven cards from the deck. They all share a pattern: You’ve got all three wedge Commanders, the new enemy colored Commander, Sol Ring, and a new card and a reprint that only exclusive to this deck. The five you can’t change, nor should you, but I have to question the choices for the other two cards.

Now, seeing how you almost can’t find these anywhere at the moment, this argument almost becomes a moot point. After all, this is a product that could be packaged in a plain white box and people would still buy this in droves. This product is still going to be on the shelves a year from now like Planechase and Archenemy before that. Maybe some players who haven’t played in years are looking at what these cards do, or someone just getting started in Commander.

I would have to believe that Wizards did market research for this product and what I could be saying could be against all evidence. But even with the Johnny/Spike/Timmy model, there are some strange choices here. I’m going to look at each of them from the standpoint of selling the product. The obvious rule I should say is that I have to use existing cards from the deck, I can’t add or change those at all.

Continue reading

Leave a comment | posted in Commander, EDH, Magic: the Gathering

September 9, 2010

SOM EDH General Review – Geth, Lord of the Vault

By MTGColorPie

Certainly not Lord of the Dance

A few days ago, Doug Beyer (who always gets the Legends. Why? He’s a Flavor guy) finally brought to us a missing Legend from the last time we were on Mirrodin. We had Geth’s Grimoire, and that’s it. Hey, Completetis what to know all about him (and have most likely read the novels and know a little more).

If you read that post, you can find out that his undead head was attached to a Phyrexian body and, wow, really? I thought it was because of all the steroids. Maybe they were influenced by Dr. Quinn’s Robot chainsaw hands. Who makes this stuff up? Oh yeah, the flavor guys. I think it’s time for their monthly CAT scan WotC.

Alright. On to Geth, who just so happens to be the second Mono-Black Mythic General with evasion to be revealed in the first week of previews. Let’s see what he has in common with his little book.

Continue reading

4 comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, General Review, Magic: the Gathering, Scars of Mirrodin

September 6, 2010

SOM EDH General Review – Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

By MTGColorPie

I dare you to say his name three times fast

With the release of Scars of Mirrodin about a month away, it’s about that time to start seeing previews of this new (hopefully) exciting set. Like always, I don’t talk about a card on here unless it’s been officially previewed or is on the DailyMTG.com visual spoiler (at the time of this printing, that wasn’t up).

Today, Mark Rosewater decided to show us a really awesome General. As you can see it’s a Dragon, the first Dragon General that’s been released since the start of this blog. There was some question if Poison was going to be relevant in EDH and today I think we go our answer. Plus, even if he didn’t deal with Poison, I’d still think he’d be great. Maybe not that Mythic rarity, but still a pretty good dragon.

Oh, and I’m not writing Skithiryx a hundred times; I’m calling him Blighty.

As with everything, if you don’t want to actually spoil anything for the set, I would recommend not to read past here, though again, I’m only talking about cards that have been officially previewed.

So, let’s meet Blighty.

Continue reading

11 comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, General Review, Magic: the Gathering, Scars of Mirrodin

August 20, 2010

Guest Post – Deathkeeping It Real

By MTGColorPie

By the power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWER!

Editor’s Note: I love getting articles from people, and I love posting them if they’re really good. This is a guest post by a Mr. Max Kautsch, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I love EDH.  Who doesn’t?  I love using cards I’m too cheap to have more than one of.  I love using one-ofs from my collection that have never before seen play.  I love the staggering deckbuilding possibilities inherent in over 7,000 card choices.

One thing I do not love: the way multiplayer games bog down as each player tries to build up for an alpha strike that will defeat one or more opponents while not leaving himself exposed to a deadly counterattack.

My solution?  A deck that will end the game quickly one way or another.  Kill or be killed.  None of this interminable posturing and politicking.  A deck like that would probably have to involve some devastating combo that can just win the game.  So what, you say, kill combos have been done ad nauseam.  Ok, maybe so.  But by that logic, all control and aggro strategies have “been there done that.”  So I think the question becomes, what would be a unique, not-too-broken way to combo out against all your opponents at once in EDH?

When I Gathered (I’m going to use Magiccards.info for the links. Why? Because I’m the editor, that’s why – MTGCP) for possible combolicious generals, I couldn’t help but notice that the rules text for Sek’Kuar, Deathkeeper beings with the word “whenever”.  As all good Johnnys know, “whenever” can be the key to going infinite.  So why not give it a shot?

Continue reading

8 comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering

August 5, 2010

Tarmogoyf is a Pair of Bad Idea Jeans

By MTGColorPie

Even though it's over I'm going to tell my wife about the affair.

There’s an old Saturday Night Live sketch called “Bad Idea Jeans” (Link here on Hulu, sorry to those out of the country who can’t see it). Basically the gist is it’s a parody of 90′s jeans commercials where the actors in the ad say a bunch of, you guessed it, bad ideas:

“Hey, we’re gutting our apartment. Ripped the floors, pipes, wiring, having everything completely redone.”

“You’re renting, right?”

“Yeah!”

See, that’s a bad idea since you’re wasting money on something you don’t own. The whole ad had the men spout out such ideas to promote the brand “Bad Idea Jeans” much like if you’re going to advertise a perfume called “Whisper” you have the people in the ad whisper. What does this have to do with our friend Tarmogoyf? Well, we’re going to be talking about EDH deck construction today.

In EDH, he’s a pair of Bad Idea Jeans.

Continue reading

8 comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, MTGO

July 28, 2010

Format Variant – Peasant Dragon Highlander (PDH)

By MTGColorPie

The only 5 color General in the format

It came to my attention (I believe through Trick Jarrett at Mananation.com) about a new EDH variant called Peasant Dragon Highlander (PDH). For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Peasant, it’s the idea of not using rares to build your deck so it’s much more budget friendly. I know that some people complain about some of the rares such as the Revised Duals being way too expensive for use in EDH (I kinda agree to that). If you’re looking for a more wallet friendly option, but still love the idea of EDH, I might suggest giving this format a chance. This idea is even making me consider building one of my own PDH decks.

Here’s the thread from Reddit explaining how this works:

I would like to introduce to you a format that I’ve been playing with my friends for the last couple of months. It was created by the card dealers at Frank and Sons in SoCal, who had way too much time and commons/uncommons on their hands.

We wanted to create a format that was both afforable and presented a variety of different strategies. I’ve found out that the fact that the format is afforable allowed us to build more decks, contributing to the discovery of new strategies and creating a heathly metagame.

Anyways, here are the rules for Peasant EDH:

  • 99 Card Deck 1 General
  • No rares (promos such as Mana Crypt are considered rare)
  • Your general can be any non-rare non-promo creature.
  • Anything that was ever rare is considered rare regardless of previous or current rarity (Hypnotic specter was uncommon in ealier sets, now it is rare.) Other examples include: Serra Angel, Loxodon Warhammer.
  • Exception: City of Brass (We’ve found that manafixing for 3-4 color decks was sparse)
  • You start with 30 Life/ 21 General Damage = Death
  • Dueling (1v1) Format

Suggested Banlist:

Fast Mana Effects:

  • Sol Ring
  • Mana Vault
  • Ancient Tomb

Powerlevel/Price:

  • Force of Will
  • Library of Alexandria
  • Mana Drain
  • Counterbalance
  • Thopter Foundry

Watchlist:

Keep in mind, these are only suggestions. We’ve banned any card over 30 dollars (FoW, Mana Drain) as a general house rule because those cards tend to be promblematic in powerlevel as well.

Yes, this format is intended not to be multiplayer, but it could be exciting. While Sol Ring is banned (a favorite and rumored to be in the From the Vault: Relics set coming out in August), there are still plenty of good commons and uncommon cards to make a deck. There are still different ideas but same concept decks that you can do since only very few variables changed (Life, rarity, 1v1, banned list). Tinker is still allowed (Most powerful artifacts are rare) and Channel is still okay (very few Eldrazi).

I’ve heard of Jonathan Media of MTGMetaGame.com (Now DoublingSeason.com) building a Rhox War Monx deck. I’m seriously thinking about wanting to build a few of these to let other people that haven’t played EDH before get a chance at the format without letting them play with my expensive cards (I don’t know how people shuffle and I’m sacred sometimes of them ruining my cards). Plus, it’s another chance to play different cards that I wouldn’t because they wouldn’t make the cut in a regular EDH deck.

Let me pose you guys these questions: A) Are you guys interested in this format as a change of pace and B) would you like some coverage here on 99EDH?

Share your thoughts either on twitter (@mtgcolorpie) or down below.

14 comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering

July 22, 2010

Competitive Casual – Mama Said Knock You Out

By MTGColorPie

With a face only a mother could love. Wait...

Editor’s Note: It’s the time again. Fan favorite Jake Kessler is back once again with a new EDH post. This was originally seen on the highly recommended Magic Deck Vortex and on Jake’s on blog, Competitive Casual, and is being published here with permission from both of them. I kept wanting to write the title as Mana Said Knock You Out.

I have a few EDH decks together at any given time; I think at present I have about five or six. This time, my general is a real mother.

I’m certainly not the only person ever to make a Wort deck, and there are several clear directions a deck builder might run with her. But let’s do something a little differently for this article. Rather than break down the deck, let’s first break down the general.

So what sort of card, exactly, is Wort the Raidmother?

#1 – She’s a Mirari

Perhaps the flashiest aspect of Wort is her conspire ability. Players have always been excited by opportunities to copy spells, from Fork in Alpha all the way up to Echo Mage in Rise of the Eldrazi. This is especially true in EDH, where longer games and multiple opponents mean really big spells have the potential to be truly powerful.

Continue reading

2 comments | posted in Competitive Casual, EDH, Magic: the Gathering

July 15, 2010

The Really Big M11 EDH Review – Artifacts and Lands

By MTGColorPie

Redrum, Redrum!

And here’s the home stretch (White, Blue, Black, Red and Green). There’s not much more I can say but hope you guys have enjoyed the articles. I am curious about how you like this rather then the one really long post. Of course, I’ll spread these out better next time if you do like them since the 1-2-3 posts a day is really throwing me for a loop. Really? 6 posts in 3 days. That’s almost unheard of. I know you would like it a little more like that but there’s only so much time in the day to write.

This last section are for the cards that can go in almost every EDH deck (except some of the lands). These cards tend to be a little more powerful because they can go into any deck. If you’re going to get foils of cards, it’s usually these that fetch the most money.

Cards in italics are reprints. At the very end of THIS REVIEW, you’ll get my Top 10 list of EDH cards for M11. Exciting that it’s almost here, right? Any predictions?

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 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.

Continue reading

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

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.