A closing and a change

Hello readership!

As you have most likely noticed these past few weeks i have been keeping up with my posting rather poorly. The reason for these are numerous and mostly personal. Suffice to say, things are rather difficult. Regardless, that should explain that on to the matter at hand. A while back, i was offered by mtgcolorpie to write for his EDH Blog, and i have decided to accept his offer. I feel this decision is in my best interest, and  so i will no longer be posting here. Maybe i will sometime down the line, but not anytime soon. So in the future if your looking for my posts, check 99edh. :)

Merry Christmas!

No Blog today, enjoy the holidays!

The Fury of Bolas V0.3

Hey, hi and hello there! As promised i am back again this week with a new post, and through the past weeks poll you have decided what i am going to do today, and apparently a lot more often. Today’s EDH deck is made up of my 3 favorite colors—Black, Red and Blue. It also has one of my favorite creatures in the mtg universe of all time as it’s General.

Isn’t he awe inspiring? I especially like his effect, i am a sucker for discard, always have been and this is just… the epitome of Discard. His Converted mana Cost(cmc), is a bit steep and the upkeep is also a bit troublesome… But every time he hits the battlefield my opponents shall quiver in fear of his awesome power. Ever since i first started playing EDH, i wanted to build a deck around this guy, not only does he embody my 3 favorite colors and preferred traits of those colors, but he also kicks some serious butt. How many times did you try to siphon the mana out of an entire plane in order to give yourself god like powers? yeah, i didn’t think so. So when i recently finally got my hands on a copy, i naturally set to work…

The Deck

This deck is literally, still in its infancy. As you know, i like to build around a theme—in this case, i am trying to build around the Generals Personality. So when i began to deck build, i took cards which had abilities or effects which Bolas could erhhh… Probably appreciate.

The Cards

Hall of the Bandit Lord – Bolas is Big, and expensive… and when he comes out, i want him to come out swinging really hard. This card, allows me to do just that.

Sorin Markov – i screeched like a school girl watching Jacob take off his shirt in new moon when i pulled this out of my booster, I'm not even joking. I don’t even know what to say, this card should be a no brainer include, when you build a deck Around a powerful, dark, evil and manipulative Planeswalker, those abilities are just swell!

Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker – This deck would just not be complete without his Planeswalker incarnation card. To be honest, it was actually surprisingly easy to obtain over at CCGTradepost.

Chandra Ablaze – Another card which i obtained with surprising ease—honestly, making use of sites such as the tradepost was the smartest decision i have made in awhile. Not only did i think her abilities very red, but the last ability is just plain brutal.

Soaring Seacliff – Island, and gives one of my creatures flying temporarily. I’m almost tempted to take it out because it feels kind of gimmicky.

Ob Nixilis, The Fallen – Seriously, i think i have been on a “Lucky” streak. But let’s not Jinx it. He’s small, gets big quick, and really hurts—and I'm sure he would not object serving bolas with the right empty promises either.

Platinum Angel – I know, i know; playing platinum angel is like walking into a cave of ogre’s—it’s just not going to end well for you. But i really couldn’t resist, despite the huge bulls-eye this card paints on your back, i really enjoy tossing her on the table when i have field advantage—not necessarily because it will help me a lot at that instance, but because of the psychological impact. I like blue for a reason you know.

Toshiro Umezawa – I actually built my first EDH deck around this guy, and i had good experiences with him. i think the ability to play your instants from your graveyard is invaluable, and something which Bolas would not object doing either.

Twist Allegiance – I do not own a Insurrection sadly, and i felt some sort of mass manipulation was required in a Nicol Bolas themed Deck… So i went with Twist Allegiance instead! Surprisingly in the few games i have played, it has come in GREAT handy—especially against my brother’s Karrthus Deck(more on that next week).

Now What?

Well, essentially the idea as i stated before was to Embody Nicol Bolas—and to an extent, i think i am on the right track, but i don’t think i am there just yet.. Really this deck is still in its infancy. Over the coming weeks, this deck is going to change--- more than likely a great deal, as most EDH Decks do as they are being played and, as this process occurs i am going to share it with you. I have shared a lot of EDH Decks, but i have never shared the “Journey” one of my decks makes from inception to it’s ‘perfection’, and i would like to try that. I am most definitely up for Suggestions—in fact, i encourage and would greatly appreciate them. Feel free to hit me up on here, via comments, an e-mail twitter, whatever works for you. I do also want to retain the Bolas feel—when i play this deck, i have to have a certain element of: “–evil cackle- you cannot stop me!” If that’s not there, it’s not right. ;)

The things which i think i need to do is add more manipulation… I feel i have a lot of beat sticks, and nasty spells, but few things which are really manipulative. So please, leave your idea’s thoughts, and suggestions with me and next week—we will take a look at The fury of Bolas V0.X! Until then remember—Knowledge is power, power corrupts, study magic hard and be evil.

An Ancient Evil…

Alright guys, today i regret to inform you that i will not be posting today—i may do a post later this week but definitely not today. You see i do this annoying thing called college, and i am in my last two weeks right now. So what does that mean?… Well, it means i have Final essay’s do this week, and exams next—but its okay! I promise i won’t skip or postpone next weeks. You have my word, oh loyal subjects! Furthermore, i have added a poll on the sidebar which i would greatly appreciate your participation in. However, i will of course not leave you without Anything~. So here is a picture of one of my favorite magic cards! lucky you huh?

Could this be a hint at a possible post to come? Who knows…

Pyromaniac

Last week Wednesday, Derfington shared his take on a Jaya Ballard EDH Deck over at 99 EDH Problems. That same day i finished working on mine. Originally i was going to can the deck list, however i soon found that there where some very big key differences between his version and mine. So let’s get started then:

Just look at her, isn’t she awesome? If any of your friends are playing blue they will be in for a lot of trouble with her first ability. Her second ability though is one of my favorites, mostly because Incinerate is one of my absolute favorite cards, while her last ability… Is just plain brutal; Inferno anyone? God, this card makes me giddy.

But let’s get on to the decklist. If you read his post over there, you will see a vastly different approach in my version. See, in my EDH deck i wanted to capture the essence of red. I really wanted to make myself feel like a temperamental pyromaniac when i played this deck. I wanted to be able to punish anyone and everyone on the table for just looking at me wrong! … Of course, the thing about fire is that if you play with it… Well, you are likely to get burned yourself from time to time.

"Overkill? This isn't a game of Kick-the-Ouphe!"
—Jaya Ballard, task mage

The Deck

It is a very red deck, and as you can see there is also kind of an elemental theme… Fire elemental’s seemed pretty red. The idea is pretty much to play it like this: Is something a problem? Incinerate it. Can’t turn it into a heap of smoldering dead flesh? Set it on fire anyways. Doesn’t burn? Ignore it. Want some more cards? Flip a coin, can always decide to incinerate your opponent instead. Everything i put in this deck, i did in an attempt to replicate the definition of red in some way while still making a viable deck. But really, just kill it with fire. But let’s inspect some of the finer points.

“Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire."
—Jaya Ballard, task mage

The Cards

Hall of Bandit Lord – This land’s sole purpose is to accelerate your creatures—but specifically Jaya. When she comes into play, you want to start setting things on fire right away! This card allows you to do just that.

Rites of Initiation – This is one of the cards i was referring to that sometimes you hurt yourself—but you hurt your opponent more. i really love this card. i feel it is the spiritual successor of Hatred. Personally i really enjoyed Odyssey’s Discard for effect it really eludes as to why most people hated the set. But seriously, i find this card utterly fantastic. Discard some cards, buff all your creatures by +x/+0. trust me, it’s worth it.

Darksteel Colossus – Now some of you may be wondering why i put this card in here… Well, I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I just had this gut feeling that it was the right decision, that Darksteel Colossus could be very red… i think the idea of dropping an Obliterate and this hulking Golem just kind of… walks through the smoke and ashes just as ready to hit you in the face for 11 as before, is very red.

Electropotence – The majority of your creatures have a lot of power when they come into power, so why not making them a little bit more… shocking for your opponent?

Final Fortune – The first final fortune i ever saw i also pulled out of my very first seventh edition booster, and quiet honestly I've always had a weak spot for this card. There is just something about betting absolutely everything on one card, on a single turn Win all or lose all, that just gives me an adrenaline rush.

Obsidian Fireheart – Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Just… Wow. When i pulled this puppy out of a booster, it was a match made in heaven. I knew right away that this little guy here and i would have a long and prosperous journey together. There is simply no better way to make things burn.

Living Inferno – Just look at the name, and don’t question it further.

Mages' Contest – i actually stumbled upon this gem very recently at a place called Game Geeks. I think this card is utterly fantastic and embodies red nicely—it’s also your only counter spell so use it wisely.

Aside from the honorable mentions there is tons of good, red, flametastic stuff in here. Fireball is an obvious classic choice, and in EDH often times you have enough mana to turn it into a makeshift sweeper. Shunt, Reiterate, and Wild Ricochet allows you to wreak a little bit of havoc in the game(beyond what you will already be doing of course).

Krark’s Thumb is there to even the odds for the gambling cards such as Fiery Gambit a bit—because really, even red wouldn’t be so stupid as to not take advantage of a card that was made for its color. Burning Inquiry is another card that allows you to create some rather amusing and chaotic situations(along with getting you a couple of new cards) and firecat blitz is just plain cool to play late game when you have a ton of mana—if of course, your opponents haven’t been burned to a cinder by then.

There are so many cool cards in here and i could just go on and on about them. However, i like to cap myself at a certain word count in order to keep my posts coherent… i passed that roughly 200 words ago. Just, take the deck out for a spin i promise you won’t be disappointed if you enjoy playing red—especially if you enjoy playing red. It does well in both Multiplayer, and 1vs1 games, though after a couple of games my friends caught on to how brutal the deck can be (especially because of the many X mana costed cards) so they started to keep a erh… closer eye on me—should’ve known better from the beginning though heehee. Where it it truly shines though, is in 1vs1, where you will create some serious 3rd degree burns as there are no other players for you to need to worry about.

I hope you will enjoy the deck as much as i have, and please take some important advice with you before you leave;

Some have said there is no subtlety to destruction. You know what? They're dead."
—Jaya Ballard, task mage

The Sliver Hive

Last Friday the Premium Sliver Deck was released, and man i have been sooo giddy about it, i can’t wait for it to arrive(i was pretty quick to place a pre-order)! Now, i know there where a lot of naysayers out there *coughmedinacough* ;), but they are all nuts! Slivers never suck. Ever. Why? Because Slivers are friggin awesome Karona damn it! I get a shiver down my spine every time i think of all the carnage slivers would wreak on my deck back in the day. Back then i never played Slivers, because i was very “anti-establishment” and eh-eh-vrybody played slivers back then. But no! No more! Today, we build the epitome of a Sliver Hive—in the form of an EDH Deck. Now, i decided to use the the majority of the slivers from the Premium Deck for 2 reasons;

a.) They’re at this point easily acquired, and has some pretty damn good slivers to start off with.
b.) It feels appropriate.

But lets get started shall we?

[Disclaimer: while playing EDH Slivers will be epic, i do not take responsibility for the big, ginormous bullseye you will paint on your forehead for doing so.]

The Deck

As you can see its quiet the Swiss Army Knife, this deck has a creature for just about anything. The basic idea is to simply overwhelm your opponent, plain and simple… and probably very satisfying. Now initially i debated seriously whether i wanted to make Sliver Overlord the general, or delegate that role to Sliver legion. In the end i settled on the Overlord because it for one, felt more appropriate, and for two, he allows me to fetch any other sliver in the deck. Besides, if anyone ever dares to play slivers in their deck and make the fatal mistake of not using the Sliver Overlord as their General… Well, the Hive will simply assimilate them.

I also seriously considered tossing in a Hivestone but decided i wanted to go straight up the “We are the Borg, resistance is futile" route. And i mean, either you are Borg or you aren’t.

All Star Trek references aside, i already love the deck. While the Premium Slivers Deck was neat, I find this EDH deck represents the Hive-minded Sliver beautifully. Now, while it should be obvious why i added certain cards in (more Slivers, mana ramping cards etc.), lets inspect some of the other, perhaps not so obvious choices thrown into the Pot.

The Cards

Death Denied – This card is a personal choice more than anything. While i am aware Patriarch’s Bidding was probably better suited, i felt death denied fit to the theme more… If you have a hard time seeing how, just use your imagination—maybe the Sliver Overlord has some sort of necrotic power? Who knows, i know some of his Sliverlings do. But please feel free to edit the deck to your taste.

Nevinyrral's Disk – Any Elder Dragon deck should have some sweepers in it, and even though this isn’t any EDH deck removal i think is still a must. In most situations you will not want to sweep, in fact you are more likely to use Ghostway or Pulmonic Sliver to protect yourself about 90% of the time. Of course, if you happen to have your Crypt Sliver on the battlefield…

Heartstone – I kept the Heartstone in because the deck does still have a good amount of slivers with activated abilities in it, and being able to regenerate and fetch for less is always nice.

Riptide Replicator – Need more Slivers? Then fire up the Riptide Replicator! Not only did i feel it had some great utility, but it also fit with the theme rather well in that the Riptide Project has a rather… uhh… Colorful history with Slivers.

Liliana Vess – I know, i know it may seem like I'm going against my theme here but hear me out. Planeswalkers have had a history with Slivers and not only interacting with them, but sometimes even controlling them. Would Liliana Vess attempt to control and harness the power of Slivers? I’d say so. Theme aside however, she is still an immensely powerful tutor and recursion engine, both of which will come greatly in handy with so many creatures… The fact that i have a weakness for this card as of late has nothing to do with it!… mostly.

I really tried my best to keep the cost/value of this deck down, and make most cards as replaceable and accessible as possible because i know you(like me) probably aren’t rich, nor can you always get your hands on all of these babies—and yes i am calling them babies. Cards which i would recommend you add in if you ever get your hands on them are Mindbreak Trap, Gilded Lotus or Yawgmoth’s Will just to mention a few. Since i do not own any of them i obviously chose not to include. Some of you may also wonder why i did not include any proper counterspells (ignoring the possibility of Mindbreak Trap). The simple answer is that i simply do not like playing counter in EDH, its usually not fun for anyone. Of course, i may change my mind after some test playing(my premium deck should be here Wednesday). The cool thing about this deck i think, is that it really doesn’t need a lot beyond Slivers… and if you’re ever unsure of what to replace X card with that you plain don’t like, or you want to change it up a bit; Well, definitely can’t go wrong with another sliver, Kekekeke! And hey, if i get enough interest maybe I’ll post an updated version of this deck after some play testing a few weeks down the road.

So what more are you waiting for? Call upon the Hive and crush your friends with its ferocity!

Vampire troubles? Sweep it.

Every once in a while you will find yourself surrounded by a certain deck. A deck that everyone and their brother is playing. In my area this deck is the oh-so trendy ‘vampire’ deck. Only 4 people do not play vampires on a regular basis and my area has 30+ magic players. The 4 decks that are not vampires are also all mine (Generally a form of ramp + aggro), Jund, W/R/B control, and WW.I wonder how many of them watch twilight too… but as you can probably tell by now, my current meta is very creature heavy.

That’s where Turbo Wrath comes in. The idea is play a ton of board sweepers, and beat them with some resilient creatures. The deck has 15 board sweepers, each nastier then the next. After playing vampire decks for over a month there are many times I would have killed for a Pyroclasm. Since many of my sweepers kill through damage I added some tough creatures that can power right through them. As you read it, remember that this deck is not entirely done yet. However, I am going to go over the concepts behind it and give a full list next week with play results from a Standard tournament. Here is a very rough list of cards that I want in the deck;

The Deck

As you can see this deck pacts some heavy stuff. The creatures are tough, and the removal is plenty. In this deck you will generally want to mulligan until you have a howling mine(within reason of course). Once you have a mine just draw and play. Baneslayers are a big hitter, and while you don't need them the lifegain will help against aggro decks and the 5 damage a turn can finish a game quickly. I like to think of Felidar Sovereign as a mini Baneslayer, with vigilance, lifelink and at 4/6 he is almost as big of a threat when he hits the field, whereas Iona is the perfect finisher against mono decks (AKA Vampires).

Ajani is one of the few planeswalkers I actually like. He is fantastic against control and alright against medium speed decks. Howling mine is the corner stone of this deck and a must for the card draw. Now this deck has one really big weakness Eldrazi Monument, so i tossed in a Oblivion Ring to deal with that. The mass removal is all fantastic Day of Judgment, Pyroclasm, Volcanic Fallout, and my favorite Earthquake. Earthquake is one of the most underrated cards ever, its a bomb in all the limited formats as well as standard.

Luminarch Ascension is a bomb in this kind of deck I mean you only need to stall for 4 turns before they are overwhelmed with angels, and I love the artwork. The cards in here I will take out are probably Eldrazi Monument, Path to exile, and Pyromancer Ascension. I might add Font of Mythos, or some more mass removal, but i won’t know for sure until i know it does at the competitive scene. As far as the Sideboard goes I will need to deal with control decks with a fair amount of removal, here I might add Indestructibility, and 2 more Ajani's (I need to get a hold of them first), Pithing Needle to deal with planeswalker control, Devout lightcaster and Celestial purge might also make the list. Feel free to proxy it up and tell me what you think.

Till next week,

Alden