Category Archives: Magic: the Gathering

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.

Continue reading

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.

Continue reading

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.

Continue reading

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.

Continue reading

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

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.

Continue reading

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

May 5, 2010

Playing for Prizes and Some EDH Advice

By MTGColorPie

I'm chargin' my laser

I received an e-mail that I would like to talk about.

Yo i was wondering if you had any tips on what i should be expecting at an event during GP Washington DC.  i play edh casually but im worried about speed and unfairness of players when prizes are on the line.  i want to have fun but i’d like a chance to win as well.  i play scion the ur dragon so color is not a problem.  what hate should i pack for a more cut throat event?

This is actually brings up 2 legitimate questions and something you’re always going to have to deal with. First, I’m a big fan of EDH being a casual format and any time you add a prize incentive to beat the other opponents it goes from a fun format to a more cutthroat one, and that’s a slippery slope. There have been some people clammering for Pro-Tour type event for EDH but I am firmly against that. I joked on Twitter that I don’t want to play against “Flores Uril” and “Flores Azami” to which Mike Flores replied he’d play Vendilion Clique and it all went downhill from there.

Anyway, with Grand Prix: Washington D.C. and some of the Star City Games events they’ve got going on, side events have included EDH matches where you do 4 person Chaos battle (everyone against everyone) and the winner gets packs. For GP:DC, you get 10 packs for winning. While 10 packs may not be a lot to some of you for others it brings in a good number of cards for trading or upgrading your EDH decks if you don’t buy all that often. Also, there’s a tournament for a From the Vault: Exiled and Top 8 prizes, so there’s enough incentive there.

Continue reading

4 comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering

April 21, 2010

The Really Big Rise of the Eldrazi EDH Review

By MTGColorPie

And boom goes the dynamite

Grab a Snickers, find a comfy seat and put your feet up; you’re not going anywhere for a while.

New set, new review, new awesome cards heading our way.

You know how it goes: Wizards prints up a new set and we, as players, take a look at all of the goodness they dropped in our laps and we drink it up. That’s right, we drink their milkshake. What flavors did they leave for us this time? Let’s see what we’ve got.

Yes, EDH is the format where we take what the Pros deem as “Slow” and “Win More” and turn it into our gold. Sure, we might have some of the same spells that our formats jointly like, but we don’t care if something is 7 mana, we still play it anyway.

As you know, for the first time ever there has been true colorless spells printed. Any of these colorless spells can be put in any EDH deck and for the first time Karn (and the new Eldrazi Generals) can finally play an instant spell. Not only will those cards be good for those decks, but really, almost any EDH deck. What does all of this mean? One of the best EDH sets ever; certainly one of the top two I’ve ever reviewed for this blog.

Magic the Gathering Links for this WeekPlease remember, almost any card in the set can be used for EDH; these are the ones that I feel will impact your playgroups and decks the most. As always, you’ll get my Top 10 of the set at the end. I didn’t really focus on some of the tribalish cards such as the Merfolk and Elf Levelers because if you’re playing those decks, you’re going to put them in there anyway; they’re no good to you in Goblin decks.

Lucky for you guys I went and made every new ROE card linked to a new tab/window; click away with joy now.

And, without further ado, the reviews. Continue reading

15 comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, Really Big EDH Review, Rise of the Eldrazi

April 13, 2010

ROE EDH General Review – Livala, Keeper of Silence

By MTGColorPie

Doug Beyer gave us the last Legendary creature out of Rise of the Eldrazi, and boy will it make an impact when it hits play.

While it isn’t a complete bust like Tuktuk was, there will be very few people who will actually play this as their General. For the people who do, let me give you this message:

You’re a sick, sick person.

Let’s take a look at what she says:

Flying
Activated abilities of creatures your opponents control can’t be activated.

A quick primer in case you forgot what activated abilities are: If you see an ability in a text box that has a colon ( : ), that’s an activated ability. In other words: “Cost: Effect.” Example: Llanowar Elves have an activated ability that reads, “T: Add G to your mana pool.”

So, Linvala shuts down a huge majority of creatures. Remember that triggered abilities have the words, “At” “When” and “Whenever” and Linvala doesn’t do anything about that.

But why would you pick her as your General?

Because you’re a jerk.

Yes, in certain play circles there are combos that require activated abilities (actually, change certain to most), so she will be a great part to any deck. Yes, she’s a really great card, but as your General? Maybe that’s a little overkill. Yes, White control decks can be good and certain shut down decks, but maybe this is a little much.

As a General.

Having her in your deck against other decks is not so much a jerk thing, but building up defenses to shut down your opponents decks. There’s not a whole lot that combos with her (Doug suggested turning all your opponent’s lands into creatures so they can’t tap for mana). If you want to do that, you’re gonna have to play a different color than White, which means you need to go in another color.

Final Word: Yes, she’ll see play. While most likely she won’t be a General unless you need to teach your playgroup a lesson, she will see play in decks she can go in. Doran will love her, Crovax will certainly use her, and other Generals will be glad to draw her. I would suggest you go pick her up and teach those combo players a lesson.

Site News: You’ll get one more post before the ROE Prerelease (I encourage you to go if you weren’t planning to already), then the big ROE EDH set review. Also, I’m in the process of showing all of your requests for EDH deck clinics to some of the other writers on this site since they’ve shown interested in helping out as well. We’ll get to some of your decklists in the next couple of weeks.

5 comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, Rise of the Eldrazi

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.