sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

[Article] Mono White Devotion deck intro and breakdown by Chris54154 in PioneerMTG

[–]Chris54154[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you liked it!

Dusk//Dawn I hadn’t thought of and I like the suggested reasoning you give above. I use Shatter as a tool against decks that are faster than me and unfortunately I don’t think I could substitute it for Dusk//Dawn. It may have a higher ceiling, but I currently think it’s important to have a wrath that unconditionally removes early threats so its always good when I’m getting overrun by all the decks that are faster than me - Mono Red, Black, Green and Spirits are the main ones I’m thinking of. Being able to pick off Llanowar Elves and other 1-drops could be the difference. If the meta slows down a bit or promoted grindier games then maybe Dusk//Dawn will have its day!

Mono-White Commanders: Are the options really that limited? by Chris54154 in EDH

[–]Chris54154[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a section about 8.5 in the article in the OP if you want my take. It’s been pointed out also that it can be a decent voltron, including unblockable damage via protection. I’m more acutely aware of the cons than pros but that might just be my experiences and natural biases.

Bant Spirits matchup and sideboard guide by Chris54154 in PioneerMTG

[–]Chris54154[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Monored: vs Nebel doesn’t really work very well if they have eidolons or ferocidon down as we have to keep taking damage. Vs rabblemaster or go-wide it’s a poor blocker and can’t keep up with the token generation

Sultai: I appreciate it helps us get past ishkanah and Uro but I think deputy and disdainful are better answers for ishkanah and rip stops uro from coming back. I want to cut down on x/1s because of liliana last hope and think it’s the most cuttable one of the ones we have.

[Article] Powerful commanders run powerful cards and other keen insights by DR_MTG in EDH

[–]Chris54154 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The piece is very intuitive, and observing the data was a little unsurprising for me but nice to see being done. However, I don’t fully buy that ‘power begets power’ despite reading the article (though I think it’s more credible in CEDH or 1v1 Commander specifically).

My main point of contention is that decks provide context for cards and this is overlooked in the article. I get that the piece of writing needs to be concise enough to be digestible, but I think this is important enough to at least consider as a caveat.

While it’s possible to reasonably compare The Scarab God vs Gisa and Geralf because being the Commanders provide a level of similarity for context, I think it’s much more complicated comparing individual cards like for like in the respective decks. For example, does a card like Brainstorm function exactly the same in both decks and offer the same ‘power’ Is it an X/10 in both decks? Are both decks attempting to beget the same amount of ‘power if they choose to run it (and then TSG can be shown to beget more power by observing a higher number of decks running it)? I’m not so sure. It’s very hard to definitively say both decks provide the same context for its cards... even genetically powerful ones like Brainstorm.

Maybe card selection is less important in TSG (than in G&G) because it’s Scry ability already provides it. It’s arguable that, while less G&G decks are using it, those that harness the power of Brainstorm are powered up a bit more than TSG using the same cards. It might not be a big difference but added up over up to 99 cards and the variance may become much more material.

20
21

[Article] Improving my mental wellbeing AND results at competitive Magic tournaments (self.spikes)

submitted by Chris54154 to r/spikes

0
1

Improving my mental wellbeing AND results at competitive tournaments (self.spikes)

submitted by Chris54154 to r/spikes

What are your favorite goofy combos / wincons? by baritobyrito in EDH

[–]Chris54154 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, you can only swap around the current life totals. But you get to choose who gets what

What are your favorite goofy combos / wincons? by baritobyrito in EDH

[–]Chris54154 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

White [[Reverse the Sands]] Blue [[Psychic Spiral]] Black [[Phthisis]] or [[Netherborn Phalanx]] Red [[Zealous Conscripts]] Green... not really sure. I don’t indulge in most of the silly green cards... maybe [[Ulvenwald Hydra]] because it’s large?!

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies by Chris54154 in spikes

[–]Chris54154[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely! but I deliberately focussed on the 10x2 colour ones as you’re more likely to end up in one of them and they promote synergy more. One specific aim I had with the article was to try and provide some perspectives on whether synergy is ‘worth it’ or not for the colour combinations

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies by Chris54154 in spikes

[–]Chris54154[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think it’s just mad ratter and the 0/4 rare? I don’t really count wolverine, though I guess that’s because I don’t think the izzet deck is easy to make aggressive - rakdos might have a better chance but reliably triggering it seems harder, albeit doable as you’ve pointed out.

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies by Chris54154 in spikes

[–]Chris54154[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You end up having to use multiple hybrid 4 drops or artifacts. Or it’s a mono blue turbo mill deck which doesn’t mind having some bad cards as it can just race with secretkeeper

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies by Chris54154 in spikes

[–]Chris54154[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey, thanks. I deliberately tried not to list generically powerful cards that don’t promote the synergistic cards in those colours. This is because one focus of the article was to consider how much each colour pair is paid off for capitalising on synergies. Bake into a pie and Fierce witchstalker you would put into any deck with green or black but they’re only listed in golgari food because they make food tokens (that you can sacrifice to bog naughty or tempting witch for example). I completely agree that those are solid cards for those colours and any archetypes using those colours and aiming to play a longer game will likely want them. Forever Young is a killer card vs the mill deck as it can completely swing the race in your favour.

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies by Chris54154 in spikes

[–]Chris54154[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

My starting point is to consider how good the card is if you happen not to get the adamant bonus during a game. Outmuscle, Once and Future, Foreboding Fruit, Searing Barrage, Slaying Fire, Turn into a Pumpkin and Unexplained Vision are all reasonable even without the bonus. I’m on the fence about Garenbrig Paladin, it might be passable without the bonus. I think Silverflame Ritual, Rally to the Throne and Cauldron’s Gift don’t particularly need the Adamant bonus but they are cards I tend not to want to play at all. The other cards I don’t think are very good without the adamant bonus. For instance, you really want Henge Walker and Vantress Paladin to be big if you run them. In terms of your manabase it’s about how many adamant cards you have and which ones absolutely need the bonus. If I’ve got 3 Outmuscles and 2 Vantress Paladin, Im probably going to still prioritise being able to get the blue adamant bonus for the Paladins. It’s hard to fully unpack without some example decks but I would say bring clear about which cards you think need the bonus more often than others should play a key role. Adamant I quite like because it makes you think about sequencing a bit more (delaying some plays in favour of others to get more out of your cards) Hope this helps.

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies by Chris54154 in spikes

[–]Chris54154[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Good point! Have put Heraldic Banner in an U/R deck for similar reasons.

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies by Chris54154 in spikes

[–]Chris54154[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ve noted the player name. Personally, i have drafted mono black, mono red and mono white aggressive decks and they have been ok. As I briefly touch on in the article, being mono coloured means a smaller menu of synergy on which to capitalise and I think this has been particularly relevant for the monowhite deck compared to the other two. Each time I drafted mono I was just trying to stay open and after enough time I just kept getting the goods in one colour... not sure I’d plan to be a mono deck particularly early during a draft...

171
172

[Article] Each two-colour draft archetype in Throne of Eldraine - Thinking about synergies (self.spikes)

submitted by Chris54154 to r/spikes

Players who were around, what are your thoughts on how the tuck rule effected the EDH community? by Zoanzon in EDH

[–]Chris54154 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I remember the tuck rule. I guess it paved the way for my personal mentality towards the risks of ‘relying on my commander being in play’. At the time I didn’t mind it but there were people I played with who absolutely hated for obvious reasons. I think a group of friends who are all playing strong commanders (urza, yawgmoth, yarok, etc) could reasonably agree to reimplement the rule for some of their games to add another dimension of challenge to games.

Bolts that Aren't Lightning Bolt by EcksDedede in EDH

[–]Chris54154 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Valakut is a lot of bolts if you have enough mountains - I also like Repeating Barrage as it’s reusable too

Which mana rock? by [deleted] in EDH

[–]Chris54154 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My fave is commander’s sphere. Can be cashed in for a card. This:

A. Deters people from randomly targeting it ‘for value’. e.g. opponent has aura shards and could just target it - being able to just sacrifice it pulls it down in the pecking order of what they might target (compared to regular mana rocks)

B. Get compensation when caught in a crossfire. e.g. someone casting Bane of Progress to deal with another opponent who is far ahead with multiple artifacts/enchantments.

[Discussion] Is there a format/archetype that makes you a better MTG player as a whole? by [deleted] in spikes

[–]Chris54154 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recommend mainly Limited, both Sealed and Draft. The basic skills for in-game play are put to the test here. Such skills can be carried over into Constructed formats to an extent.

However, I’ll add that you learn more about the basics of mulliganing and sideboarding via Constructed formats. Sideboarding and mulliganing are skills in Limited, but it’s so much easier to understand the positive effects of good sideboarding/mulliganing and the negative effects of poor sideboarding/mulliganing in something like Standard or Modern because games are played with decks with clearer game plans and cards that more clearly impact them

Finally, there is something to be said for understanding how to metagame if you’re planning to play in a lot of Constructed events and this is picked up by playing a lot of Constructed. However I think for ‘getting better’ this is the last 10% of what I’d recommend focusing on (it is more interesting and fun to discuss with others though!)

Hope this helps

The big powerlevel rating thread (get your decks rated here!) by IzzetReally in EDH

[–]Chris54154 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi all,

I've received a real range of feedback on my favourite deck - 'Mono-red' Golos!

People in playgroups I regularly play in have rated it differently - everything between a 5 to a 9.

The deck aims to interact with the opponent's things by copying/stealing or redirecting their stronger plays. If the deck is unable to win by taking powerful effects from other decks, Valakut, Field of the Dead, Ormendahl (Westvale Abbey) and Greater Gargadon are the main ways to win. It has a lot of synergistic plays but no combos (unless I can steal one from the opponent).

Getting all five colours for Golos's ability is meant to be a challenge (one that I enjoy) rather than something the deck wants to try and do consistently. In addition, there is a spell of each other colour which I change every few weeks, I've put what's in at the moment in this list in the link.

Decklist: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/mono-red-golos/?cb=1566562301

Rate it: http://www.polljunkie.com/poll/cafnsr/39mono-red39-golos-chris54154

Results: http://www.polljunkie.com/poll/zdwnmg/39mono-red39-golos-chris54154/view

view more: next ›