Magic: the Gathering: I play a larger and larger green man

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Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

I just finished a UB 7-2 draft. I was really impressed by Corpse Cobble. I was expecting it to be more like a 1:1 countering their removal but it is so much more. It's chews up zombie tokens and makes 6/6s or 8/8s out of them. More importantly, it does this at instant speed. I got a 3:1 twice by sacrificing my creatures that were locked down by Locked in the Cemetery or Candletrap (these are super common in the format) in combat as my opponent attacked, then using my token as a blocker. I used it to sacrifice creatures that want to be sacrificed, like that 2B deathtouch zombie that makes a decayed zombie. The flashback piece is key too - I won one game by sacrificing a bunch of creatures to make an 8/8, hitting with it, my opponent then threw a Locked in the Cemetery on it. The next turn, I flashed back Corpse Cobble sacrificing the 8/8 and making another 8/8 which was then unblockable because of the menace.

Draft Corpse Cobble y'all.

# ¿ Sep 19, 2021 17:43

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 00:46

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

We should have more football posts in the this thread but for each one you have to provide a magic simile.

# ¿ Jan 11, 2022 03:48

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

Why does flipping (mega)morphs not use the stack? I get that it's a big blowout when you pay to flip a morph and don't get the triggered ability from cards like Den Protector but you could say the same about getting blown out when you pay for mechanics like Level Up.

# ¿ Jan 11, 2022 17:23

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

It's kinda like a Resto in that it flies and can flash in and save one of your creatures but overall doesn't seem great.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2022 21:33

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

mcmagic posted:

Also doesn't save your guy from Divide by Zero or Vanishing Verse.

Yeah I think Resto is generally much better. This is good at trading itself for another creature when a wipe happens but that's about it.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2022 22:08

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

I really love these phantom drafts. I stress myself out over my choices in regular drafts, here I just relax and have fun.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2022 00:17

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

Mike N Eich posted:

I also have no fatigue around MDFC, in fact, I think it�d be cool if Pathways were more or less permanent in standard.

Yeah. I support anything that helps prevent having a ton of lands in hand in limited and MDFC in ZNR were great for that. The pathways are also good design because they're duals without being fetchable and flexible without being game breaking. I don't know if I want MDFC in every set ever but I definitely don't feel tired of them.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2022 12:42

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

Captain Invictus posted:

This is a neat video of a dude buying a box of random mtg cards from a thrift store. I wonder how often magic cards get donated to thrift stores and goodwill etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC1_NSiS4ek&hd=1

Some real lucky pulls in there.

I once donated my collection to Goodwill. But by collection I mean random 4th edition stuff and Fallen Empires that some kid tricked me into buying in middle school. Most donations probably look closer to my collection than this. Still, I hope there is some kid who bought my collection and got some use out of that Royal Assassin.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2022 13:32

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

That Goodwill collection reminded me how much I like the art for Icatian Phalanx.

The woman on the left looks like she's ready to start some poo poo.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2022 15:03

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

Seconding that they're really easy on sending 10K for any sort of issue. Always report. I've never been turned down and I've probably reported 5-10 issues.

# ¿ May 7, 2022 13:24

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

What�s the scry rule?

# ¿ Aug 29, 2022 14:31

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

I am going to draft at a LGS tomorrow. This is only the second time I have done an LGS draft and the first one was about fifteen years ago. How do these things typically go and are there any helpful tips? I know how to draft (I used to draft cubes with friends regularly) and play on arena, I just don't normally go into shops.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2022 14:43

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

fadam posted:

Bring a notepad and pencil to track life totals and some random dice for counters. Other than that they�ll tell you everything you need to know at the draft itself- have fun! Paper magic rocks.

FrozenPhoenix71 posted:

As mentioned, bring a notepad and writing utensil for life tracking(much better and a lot easier to avoid anything getting messed up than with dice), and bring dice for counters, etc.

If you've got them, bring some sleeves and basic lands of your own. Sleeves you could pick up at your LGS I'm sure(or just run your stuff unsleeved), but save yourself some effort, and I've always just found it easier to bring my own basics rather than deal with having to get them from the store(and remember to return them afterward).

Aside from those 2, it's draft. You say you're already good there, so anything else would have to be answered by the LGS/person running the event. Glhf!

Thanks for the advice. I did bring a notebook and I used it to track life and take some notes, which is how I can write up this report!

The playing space was not at the game store itself. They had a separate play building that was spacious and had a nicely put together cafe, which is cool. There was a modern night going on but only two players showed up. Seven showed up for draft, which meant another player got a bye. There were also a fair number of people in the building playing other games but magic had its own big room so there was plenty of space when I needed to build my deck.

Draft
I open a B/G rare that taps for mana of any color equal to the number of creatures in my graveyard. Seems okay so I take it. I see a lot of green flowing my way and I settle on that early, eventually moving from B/G to G/W after I see a late Yotian Dissident. I get several of the 3/2 that makes powerstone tokens and that Craw Wurm that can pump itself or other attackers. I get passed a Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea at one point, which feels good because I got the right lane for green.

The deck I build doesn't have a ton of synergy but it does have a good curve, starting with Argothian Sprite and Powerstone Engineer and going through Argothian Opportunist towards a top end of six drops and 7/4 drop prototype creatures. The deck does have a little synergy in that it has Alloy Animatist and Phalanx Vanguard to go with all the incidental powerstones.

Match 1
Game 1

My opponent is on U/B and has some powerful cards. One of my creatures fights their Urza, Powerstone Prodigy early on because I'm scared of them triggering draw 2 abilities and generally filtering. They play Fallaji Archaeologist and mill into Gix's Command! They 3-1 me with the command, getting back Urza and killing one of my creatures. I go defensive and start pumping up Argothian Sprite as a blocker. I am able to play creatures and defend them, at one point Gaea's Gift saves a key creature of mine from The Mightstone and Weakstone. Eventually they play The Temporal Anchor and they've been using the Urza the entire time. My opponent scoops with 3 cards left in their library, which were all basic lands.

About halfway through this game they played another Fallaji Archaeologist and tried to use it to get back the same Gix's Command. I pointed out that the card could only get back things it had milled. I think this was 100% an honest mistake rather than an attempt at sketchiness.

Game 2
We try to play a rapid game but go to turns and my opponent can't kill me in the time allowed.

Match 2

I go immediately into match 2. I'm feeling happy at this point because I definitely could have gone 0-3 and been unsurprised.

Game 1

My second opponent is also on U/B. They play a pair of Millstones (!) and it's clear that their plan is to turtle up and mill me out. I curve out effectively and kill them.

Game 2

The second game is much tougher. They have Thopter Mechanic, which I kill before it can start growing. I am still curving out pretty well. I see that 4/5 deathtouch/lifelink when you draw two cards card and I hit it with Static Net because I knew they had Urza's Command. They have a few creatures and play a Painful Quandary. This really is painful and I lost ten life to it but stay in the game with a full sized Boulderbranch Golem and the lifegain from Mazemind Tome. Mazemind Tome really keeps me in the game here by both giving me life and giving me cards to discard. Eventually I overrun them.

Match 3

Going up against the only other 2-0.

Game 1

My opponent plays pretty fast and doesn't wait for me to say if actions resolve. At one point I have to call them back because I have a one mana play on my turn and they had jumped straight to their turn after attacks. It doesn't really matter though as they rapidly overwhelm me with flying soldiers. One card that surprises me is Meticulous Excavation, which they can use with Ichor Wellspring to loop card draw. I get overwhelmed with flyers before I can do much.

Game 2

I bring in my Haywire Mite because they have shown a bunch of enchantments. I play Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea and it gets hit with Prison Sentence. I kill the prison sentence with the Mite and unlocking Gwenna lets me play some big creatures and I win. My opponent comments on how he totally flooded out and only saw two creatures.

Game 3

This one goes pretty fast, he plays flyers that I don't have the ability to interact with and I lose. Along the way some interesting things happen. He plays Prison Sentence on my Argothian Sprite early and then bounces the Sentence with Meticulous Excavation to put it on my Ambush Paratrooper, setting up lethal. He also uses the Mightstone and Weakstone (second of these I saw, from two different players) in -5/-5 mode to clear another blocker and demonstrates that it could also be looped with Excavation.

It's only after the game that I realize I've been playing around Excavation the whole time as if it could bounce creatures on my turn and it absolutely cannot do that. I don't think it would have made a difference in the end but a good lesson for me in reading the card.

Thoughts

I had fun! I think I will do it again. They said they do them weekly but next week is jumpstart so I may try it again in two weeks.
The last guy played fast and would do things like cast a creature, cast an equipment and equip it without talking to me. I responded by trying to up my pace to match his. I think this was a mistake - I should have tried to force him to slow to match me.
I gave my cards + prizes away to the youngest player at the end.
Everyone was very helpful which was great. I forgot to bring dice and several people loaned them to me. I'll definitely bring some next time.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2022 14:40

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

fadam posted:

Yeah, always play at your own pace. When people shortcut like that you should also feel free to rewind and put stuff back on the stack if you want to interact.

I had to ask him to rewind at one point. I had hit his Combat Thresher with my Static Net. Later, I attacked with an Argothian Opportunist. He disenchanted the Net after I declared my attackers, drew a card, blocked my creature and said "Opportunist is dead". I cast a Gaea's Gift (great card) to prevent the death, but it would have been nice if he had given me an opportunity to react before he drew his card because once he did if we ended up interacting with one another there was no way to know which cards he drew when.

Next time I'll ask for slower play and more communication.

Grifter fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Nov 26, 2022

# ¿ Nov 26, 2022 23:06

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

Strong Sauce posted:

thanks for posting this. i think you struck a nice balance between writing every single interaction (what i would have done) and just summarizing.

btw, how much was your draft night? one of my LGS has kept it at like $25 (inc tax) while my closer LGS has made it $35 (w/out tax)... may be misremembering but it was a bit of a difference.

This post was like twenty pages ago but I just noticed it. It was $20, which seems good, if yours is anything to compare to. Next time I'll actually stick around for the prizing so I can compare that too.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2022 22:09

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

A Moose posted:

Oh man, I remember the Khans prerelease. I was working so I would miss the start of it, and so my girlfriend, now wife, who had never played more than a couple FNMs and the odd commander games, offered to play for me so I could at least get the cards. I show up a the start of the 4th round and she's 3-0 and paired up against one of the best players in my state. She lucked out a little in getting a Sarkhan, but also put together an absolutely disgusting Temur deck. I watched her play the 4th round, win game 1, lose game 2, and then have a really really tight game 3 where she was ahead on board, but her opponent had a bomb creature that would bring him back into the game. Luckily she had a counterspell! She was about to take first place in her first pre-release! I watched in agonized silence as he cast it, she look at it, looked disappointed and let it resolve. He went on to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and that is how I learned she didn't know that creatures were spells on the stack.

She ended up getting 2nd place though, and more prize packs than I had ever won at that store before. It really was impressive to see.

Peak dorkiness and romance right here. Good post.

# ¿ Dec 22, 2022 02:01

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 00:46

Grifter: Jul 24, 2003; I do this technique called a suplex. You probably haven't heard of it, it's pretty obscure.

Thrun!!! I missed you unlike Wrath of God, which always hits you.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2023 15:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Magic: the Gathering: I play a larger and larger green man