Gathering all Magic Players - The Magic: the Gathering Club!

I can see why because combined with leech and life gain deck that is exploitable and is there any illegal cards on a commander deck?
I been ninja'ed

I realize the link i sent had a ban list for most formats but not commander, sorry. XD'

Here is the commander format ban list:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/gameinfo/gameplay/formats/commander

and I believe each one of the cards have it's reasons on banning.

Sonata said:

Very illegal. Very broken because there's not a limit per turn and it's easy to get ~100 health and just start drawing your deck. You might check out Legacy though if you haven't already. It seems like more what you're looking for.

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It's so sad that he's banned in regular commander, he's one of my favourite cards!
Luckily though there's another format called Dual Commander, which is commander but 1v1 instead of multiplayer where I can use my baby <3

Sonata said:

For those of you that do play EDH/Commander, I finally went about putting what I'm currently running up on tappedout if anyone wants to take a look and give some feedback. I still have a few things to remove and change around, but for the most part it's good. I really need to get a sol ring. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/10-06-15-the-works/

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That looks pretty good actually, have you thought about getting a Prophet of Kruphix in there? Honestly it's such an amazing card in a deck which draws as much as Damia does!
Practically every turn is your turn with it out :p

I guess I may as well introduce myself here.

Username: azurile13
Favorite color: Blue? But barely.
Favorite deck: Tossup between Miracles and Elves
Mode of play: Paper

I play very casually and I only really have the cards for Legacy decks. I suppose I could scrounge up an EDH deck, but meh. I have a lot more fun playing Legacy. I started playing around Urza's Saga, so I suppose that makes my first plane Dominaria. My interest has waxed and waned over the the years, but the general tend has been a decline after the awesomeness that was Time Spiral. Browsing through some of the introductions, I see that I'm in the minority here. Y'all look like Mtg babies to me :P

I'm still wondering why is there cards like Lilianas' carsess is same as Megrim, but cheaper than Megrim.

Blue Yveltal said:

I'm still wondering why is there cards like Lilianas' carsess is same as Megrim, but cheaper than Megrim.

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Well the difference between Liliana's Caress and Megrim is the difference between loss of life and damage. Certain cards can prevent/redirect/counter one but not the other. I forget exactly which is which though.

azurile13 said:

I guess I may as well introduce myself here.

Username: azurile13
Favorite color: Blue? But barely.
Favorite deck: Tossup between Miracles and Elves
Mode of play: Paper

I play very casually and I only really have the cards for Legacy decks. I suppose I could scrounge up an EDH deck, but meh. I have a lot more fun playing Legacy. I started playing around Urza's Saga, so I suppose that makes my first plane Dominaria. My interest has waxed and waned over the the years, but the general tend has been a decline after the awesomeness that was Time Spiral. Browsing through some of the introductions, I see that I'm in the minority here. Y'all look like Mtg babies to me :P

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As awesome as Time Spiral was, you can't say that it was miles better than the eldrazi set or the recent return to Mirrodin :p

Sonata said:

Well the difference between Liliana's Caress and Megrim is the difference between loss of life and damage. Certain cards can prevent/redirect/counter one but not the other. I forget exactly which is which though.

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I think you can prevent life loss but it's usually damage that you can prevent easily.

There are some cards that do have the same effect for different mana costs though:

Lightning Strike
vs
Lightning Bolt

The difference is - as Wizards releases more and more cards, they have a better idea how to balance different in multiple ways. So sometimes, if an old(er) card was really good they might reprint it (with a different name) but change something about it to make it a little more balanced.

Another argument is that cards aren't just based around what they do - but in what block/set they appear in. Sometimes a card can fit the theme of a new set they're making, but to make it balanced in the standard format they may change a few parts of the card to make it not-broken.
Some examples of changes that can be made to a card are:
- Changing the mana cost or change the type of the mana cost (a card costing 1 colourless + 1 red mana vs a card costing 2 red mana)
-Changing the numerical value (ie. damage done, number of targets it can hit, etc)
-Changing the type of targeting (target creature? player? both?)
-Change wording (Using "each" or "name a source" instead of "target" such that hexproof will not apply)
-Changing the base typing of the card (ie. Sorcery vs instant)

Most are pretty obvious, but the game is constantly in flux and I think that Wizards of the Coast try to balance the game more around standard and limited formats rather than Modern and Legacy. Especially because the overall number of cards available in both formats is so incredibly high, it makes those formats hard to make even. :)

And omgazurile, i don't think i've seen anyone whose played magic for that long without quitting for a long whkle. O:

Liliana Vess said:

As awesome as Time Spiral was, you can't say that it was miles better than the eldrazi set or the recent return to Mirrodin :p

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See, I can, which is why I said I'm in the minority :P

I don't know how precisely to describe it. It's a feeling. When I first started playing magic, when people cared about Urza instead of Jace...Magic felt more...magical? Looking at the art, looking at the old frame...it felt more like fantasy. Nowadays, even though the game is still "fantasy," it feels like sci-fi to me. As crazy as it sounds, even a set like Fate Reforged, which is obviously not scienc-y and takes place in the past...even that set feels a lot more modern to me than a lot of the pre 8th sets. I suppose that the big jump happened when we left Otaria in Onslaught block for the robot-y Mirrodin, while also changing the frame. For me, Time Spiral was the last time magic had the fantasy feel to me.

That's making more clear now.
Megrim text says this card while Liliana's Caress text say without this card on the text.

azurile13 said:

See, I can, which is why I said I'm in the minority :P

I don't know how precisely to describe it. It's a feeling. When I first started playing magic, when people cared about Urza instead of Jace...Magic felt more...magical? Looking at the art, looking at the old frame...it felt more like fantasy. Nowadays, even though the game is still "fantasy," it feels like sci-fi to me. As crazy as it sounds, even a set like Fate Reforged, which is obviously not scienc-y and takes place in the past...even that set feels a lot more modern to me than a lot of the pre 8th sets. I suppose that the big jump happened when we left Otaria in Onslaught block for the robot-y Mirrodin, while also changing the frame. For me, Time Spiral was the last time magic had the fantasy feel to me.

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Ahhh, I get you. I used to play in a shop with a guy like you, he preferred magic back when it was all about spell slinging and creatures were just a sub-theme in the whole game. Now its flipped and its all about the race for who can get their 4/5 onto the table first rather who can outcast their opponent first.

I'm the opposite though, I'd much rather have a creature that has a cool ability than a spell that can do the ability.

I can definitely see more spell-heavy styles play as being more fun. Hell, I enjoy my more spell heavy decks (re: passive aggression deck) far more than my non-spell decks. The fact that just leaving mana open on the other players' turns keeps them scared is such a good feeling!

Ullion said:

I can definitely see more spell-heavy styles play as being more fun. Hell, I enjoy my more spell heavy decks (re: passive aggression deck) far more than my non-spell decks. The fact that just leaving mana open on the other players' turns keeps them scared is such a good feeling!

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Being a primarily black player I think that creatures with spells effects stapled to them are way more fun. I'd much rather have a Mystic Snake and a Phyrexian Reclemation out than a plain old counter spell in hand :p

I'm not debating whether they're better or not, because getting a creature + reusable instant/sorcery ability on it that just needs a bit more mana to use? By far better and I agree with that. I just think spell-styled decks are more fun ^^

Oh I'm not saying one is better than the other, instants and sorceries have their benefits (usually cheaper, sometimes instant speed, can do really OP stuff) as do creatures (a body on the group, can be repeatable, easier to bring back from the grave). I just prefer value creatures over spells.

To add to your discussion i can appreciate both but i more thoroughly enjoy creatures with abilities and such
However playing with spells is also a very fun way to play to me but it depends on what types of spells it is
I for one am horrible at control and i dont really enjoy it
But instant damage spells i enjoy using as well as enchantments and artifacts

I don't think I use a lot of control (unless you count creature bouncing as control) either, but it is funny to watch players squirm. Sadly a card recently came out that punishes styles of playing spells on their turn, or stopping it entirely. ;_;

So some spoilers are coming out for Magic: Origins. Anyone like the idea Wotc has for the flip-walkers? Any cards specifically you like?

To add to what I said earlier, when I mentioned the feeling of fantasy, it wasn't necessarily about creatures vs. spells. Much of it was about aesthetics like the glossy new card frame or the digital looking art.

For the current discussion, I don't dislike creatures, but I also don't dislike spells. Game centered around creatures vs. game centered around spells is a false choice. It's easy to say you would prefer the game extremely centralized around creatures than extremely centralized around spells. The real question is if you prefer a game centralized around creatures to a game that to varying degrees is about both. To me, I think that wizards leans too heavily towards creatures. I recognize that the game isn't completely about creatures, and I'm not even asking for the game to be more about spells than creatures. I'd just like the game to be more about spells than it currently is.

Ullion's question: I'm reeeally not a fan of double faced cards in general. I see the flavor, but just from a gameplay perspective, they are very annoying. I play with sleeves, and with Innistrad cards, you either repeatedly pull them halfway out of the sleeves, you need the checklist cards, or you have at least 8 copies of the card. I hate the first two options, the first one being a pain and the second being ugly. I use the third option, which is extremely easy. Extremely easy, that is, for Delver of Secrets, a card that I have like 16 of at a quarter a piece. Now if these mythic rare planeswalkers become cards I want to play with...ugh.

Wow, this post makes me seem like a grumpy old man.

Liliana Vess said:

Oh I'm not saying one is better than the other, instants and sorceries have their benefits (usually cheaper, sometimes instant speed, can do really OP stuff) as do creatures (a body on the group, can be repeatable, easier to bring back from the grave). I just prefer value creatures over spells.

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For me as a magic player, i've always liked having creatures and spells that work together, i usually play a solo black deck full to the brim with vampires and zombies that work together. i'm a bit of an old skool player, i don't possess any of the new decks and series they released (i think my decks go way back to scourge, onslaught and legions)

I have cards in my decks that come from the first 2 series as well.

My Solo black deck has creatures that sacrifice zombies to make them more powerful, then spells to bring them back from the grave to the playing field. Zombies that cause negative stats to the opposing team when another zombie enters the field, vampires that give my zombies the vampire secondary type which then causes all vampires to power up. whats good about this deck is the enchantments i have Underworld dreams takes 1 life off every opponent when they draw a card, oversold cemetery which if i have more than 4 creatures in my graveyard i can choose one to return to my hand each turn, death pitt offering which i sacrifice all my own creatures and then any creatures that come into play under my control have +2/+2 (With oversold cemetery its rather formidable if you use that card towards the beginning when you only have a few creatures out. and finally last but not least.......Grave Pact, whenever one of my creatures is put into the graveyard from play, every opponent must also sacrifice a creature (yup i love sacrificing my creatures as i'll get them back......they won't, it usually involves me having a massive army and my opponents crying as they aren't able to get any sort of creature out.). If that isn't hell enough, i've got 4 havoc demons (all creatures get -5/-5 when it dies so will kill off most creatures, coupled with the fact if i kill my own it powers up mine and forces them to sacrifice any survivors) and soul collector vampires (any creature killed by it doesn't go to their graveyard, instead comes to my side of the field under my control.

Then i run a solo green beast deck which revolves around hi mana cost creatures with small spells to get mana quickly. This deck revolves around getting "Ancient Ooze" on the field when there is lots of high mana costing creatures out (i've stalled out an opponent by where my Ancient Ooze has entered and become a 200/200+ creature with protection from being instant destroyed.

My solo blue deck is solely around making my opponent burn through cards, with cheap counter spells, spells that remove cards from the game, and ones that force the opponent to discard cards (with the flashback ability which makes them do it again depending on how many spells where played during the turn) so you'd get my opponent trying to bring out a creature, i'd counter it, they'd counter my counter, i'd counter that counter then play my discard cards spell which would then relieve them of 12 cards from the top of their library from the game.