Nillo
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 548
Registered: 01-04-2004
IP: Logged

File: Hondens.txt (852 bytes)
Downloaded 81 times.
License: Other
From: Unspecified

I almost forgot to post this due to a very eventful saturday... better late than never, I guess.

This thread is for discussion of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. You can also post your current main deck (in a text document, please) and exchange comments.

To start this off, here's mine. It was improved drastically when I went to a Kamigawa booster draft recently and traded myself some different Hondens. I'm still missing the blue one, though.

____________________________
“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2936
Registered: 03-29-2003
IP: Logged

Well, I did most of my Magic playing between 1994 and 1996, so most of my cards are from the Legends - Mirage era or so. I would often by several booster packs when new cards came out, and I did so up to Invasion, I believe. At that point (2001 or so?) I finally realized I was just collecting and there wasn't anyone to play with, so I just stopped. Just last year a friend of mine and his wife mentioned that they still played occasionally, and so I broke out some of my own decks and we would play once a week for a few weeks. But then we missed a week and we still haven't started up again.

I very much enjoy using multi-colored cards, mostly since I started playing around the time of the Legends expansion. So I tend to build my decks around them. At one point all of my decks were 3-color decks so I could use my Elder Dragon Legends, but right now I only have 1 3-color deck, a Black-Red-Green one. I also have a Black & Blue deck, and a Green + a little White deck (which takes advantage of Juniper Order Advocates, a white card that gives +1/+1 to all green creatures when untapped, to make a Green Power deck). I was planning on making a few more and using some multi-colored cards I had never used before, but I got sidetracked with other things (like, say, JtRH) and still haven't done it.

In general I love having lots of creatures. Most of my other spells in the deck support the creatures, instead of being a means in and of themselves. I still put a few direct damage spells in Red decks, and of course counterspells in Blue decks, but probably less than is useful. I've always been interested in making unique decks than making "guaranteed to win" decks. So I don't win that often, especially against the dreaded land destruction decks, but it's always fun to be able to pull out some huge creature or interesting combination that I've never used before. So it probably goes without saying that I enjoy playing more against other decks that are made for "fun" and not just to unmercifully win.

So since I like lots of creatures, and usually the bigger the better, Green is probably my favorite color in general. Green and Red is a good combination, and there are some great Green/Red/White multi-color cards; my favorite deck of all time was probably one of those. Blue is really annoying to play against, so I try not to play it in an annoying manner myself. I don't really like Black or White unless they're combined with another color (which I almost always do, as I said, so it's a moot point).

I've spent more money than I care to think about on Magic over the years, and I am not going to be spending any more at my current rate of playing. I know I have over 10,000 cards right now...I don't think I need any more either.

So yeah...that's what I think.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1501
Registered: 09-16-2004
IP: Logged

File: aggrozombie.txt (339 bytes)
Downloaded 82 times.
License: Other
From: Unspecified

Ah yes, I was waiting for this topic to show up. I am playing Magic since before Ice Age, and this is a really fun hobby, albeit pretty expensive. I also don't like decks built only to win (netdecks), and I usually play something of my own that isn't completely uncompetitive, but mostly built for fun. I have built many fun decks, but the deck I'm most proud of is the Aggrozombie. The deck was really unique, and the most amazing fact about it was that it had no spells at all - only creatures. That's right, 36 creatures, 24 lands and that's all. The metagame at that time was pretty strong - goblins, rift/slide and bidding, which was a bit like my deck but with many useless cards(spells). Despite all that, I managed to get to the top 8 of a PTQ with the Aggrozombie, proving that a deck can be both fun and powerful (I admit I got lucky a few times, but you can't really win without luck on your side). Of course, it's out of Type 2 for a long time now, but oh boy, was this a fun deck. People were sooo underestimating Shepherds of Rot.

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2936
Registered: 03-29-2003
IP: Logged

Sheesh...I don't even recognize most of the cards in these decks.

I forgot to mention that I almost never had a 60-card deck. Right now mine are between 80 and 100. I just like having variety...in fact, quite often I would have no more than 1 of any one card per deck, not counting basic lands of course. If you have enough expansions, certain staple cards can be repeated, of course. And I certainly never followed "Type 2" or whatever rules in terms of what expansions to use, althogh I would follow the "no more than 4 of any one card in a deck" rule. There had to be some limits.

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

b0rsuk
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 489
Registered: 11-23-2003
IP: Logged

I used to play MTG from Mirage to VI Edition. It's a fine game, but it costs way too much. I had to quit.

Yes, you can play Apprentice, online, for free, but as far as I remember you need static IP for that. I would play it if I could.


I preferred Blue, Red and Black colors. I often mixed them in my deck. Blue just because it has some amazing misc cards that can do a lot of mess.

Say, you play against Green deck, and you cast Propaganda (static enchantment, players attacking you have to pay 2 for each attacking creature) - sweet !
I have to admit I hate counterspells and I don't use them, too.
Black just because it has some really mean destructive stuff.

What I hate about MTH are all these color-specific cards. Like protection from red. Not because of their strenght, but because it's pain to manage. You play against blue so you put this card in, remove that card... Stops being fun really quickly. I believe in versatile decks.

Someone should develop free online MTG-like game. I have a feeling if I don't do that, nobody will :-/

____________________________

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051128/adams_01.shtml

Necro244
Level: Goblin

Rank Points: 15
Registered: 05-17-2005
IP: Logged

I personally like Black decks for Magic. I have a fun strategy where I will use my monsters only as defense but when my monsters enter and/or leave play the other player loses life. My bro was mad when I used a card that made him lose 5 life when it entered play because he was at 6 life. He thought that killing the card would make him gain life again.


WRONG! Instead he lost 10 life rather than gaining 10. Next game he kept his mirrorwood tree folk out and it deflected damage at me. I was ticked.

____________________________
Sometimes the bluest parts of the sky are so beautiful, we are tempted to reach them.

b0rsuk
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 489
Registered: 11-23-2003
IP: Logged

Play M:TG online with me:

http://www.drod.net/forum/viewtopic.php?TopicID=6258

I play on default gccg - mtg server. My nickname is, (suprise!) B0rsuk. Timezone GMT+1, I tend to play in evenings until midnight or so. If I can afford to waste time, that is.

My most recent deck is perhaps not the most devastating, but very mean netherless. I don't use cookie-cutter cards too much, I try to invent something new. So...

Spikeshooter goblin (4) - 2R, 1/2 creature, for T, R: deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player. Sweet.

Vulshok War Boar (or sth) (4) - 5/5 creature for 2RR, all you need is to sacrifice an artifact.

Bonesplitter (artifact-equipment, creature gets +2/+0. Now look at goblin)

Lighting Greaves - 1 to cast, 0 to equip. Equipped gets haste and can't be targeted. Great for big/important monsters, and....

Cosmic Larva - 1RR 7/6 Trample creature ! Sacrifice two lands per round, though. Haste makes it much more useful, and "magic resistance" is just a bonus.

Spark Elemental - for flavour. Ball Lightning reprint, with 3 power for R.

Strenght of Forge - 1R instant - targeted gets +4/+0. Very useful if you can get a boar past defence, or with larva/goblin, or Spark Elemental. With this, goblin deals 5 damage for 3 mana. Not bad at all.

Molten Rain
Shatter

(a lot of people use artifacts and non-basic lands)

...
I don't remember all of it. It's subject to change, and I tend to modify when I discover some flaws.

--------

My another deck, pure Black, uses particularly nasty combo:

Nim Bloodslitter - BB, 1/1, 1B: regenerate, gets +1/+1 counters for dealing damage to player.

...and Whispersilk Cloak. This combo needs 4 mana to use - but you can do it with just 2 per round, too. The creature becomes unblockable, and can't be targeted ! So it keeps dealing more and more damage, and regeneration allows it to resist even mass damage spells.

I also use Luxodon Warhammers in same deck (+3/+0, trample, gain life for damage dealt). Works very well with the cloak, not necessarily on Bloodslither even. The hammer is a bit more expensive, though... 3 to cast, 3 to equip.
--------

I'm also toying with idea of building a deck around Worldslayer. This equipment has quite funny effect when a creature uses it. (5 cast 5 equip).
It destroys all permanents on the board except Worldslayer. :-)

____________________________

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051128/adams_01.shtml

Krishh
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 282
Registered: 06-05-2004
IP: Logged

I've never played real M:TG, (for one thing we don't even have it here) But I tried the M:TG single-player game that is avialable on underdogs about a year ago. Found the game quite fun, but a couple of things (for one the overarching adventure was more annoying than fun, and didn't work properly on my PC too) stopped me from playing. And these multiplayer games linked to here aren't very newbie-friendly. (and not just because they are multiplayer games, not allowing you much experimentation and getting aquinted with the game without annoying other people) Featuring no collecting and allowing you to use every card there is, it's way too confusing to even try to play it for someone new to M:TG.

[Edited by Krishh at Local Time:05-20-2005 at 02:22 PM]

b0rsuk
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 489
Registered: 11-23-2003
IP: Logged

GCCG does feature collecting. You start with $50, get about $2.5 for losing, and around $12 for winning. There are many boosters and starters to choose from, even for Balrog (metw expansion, which had no boosters!)
At the start of each game you see if your opponent has proxies. (uses cards he doesn't have). Then it's up to you to agree to play with him or not.

GCCG is more like a table for playing card games.It doesn't enforce the rules.

Belive or not, there are players who can teach you rules of mtg. B0rsuk is one of them.
-------------------

Some gccg tips for people who know mtg rules:

fulscreen: use --full option. (windows: add this after exe, in mtg.bat file)
resolution: --geometry 1024x768
-------

Ingame controls:

/find have - set filter to all cards
/select have>0 - set filter to all cards you own

CTRL-B - display filtered cards.
CTRL-E - deck editor
CTRL-P - purchase boosters, card packs etc.






[Edited by b0rsuk at Local Time:05-20-2005 at 05:15 PM]

____________________________

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051128/adams_01.shtml

Krishh
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 282
Registered: 06-05-2004
IP: Logged

Well I built a deck, and and started a game, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. The in-game controls are quite confusing.
I'll probably return to the the game to try again, but something like a tutorial would have helped.

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
IP: Logged

File: The land deck.doc (22 KB)
Downloaded 82 times.
License: Other
From: Unspecified

Ahh! Good old Magic!

Probably the best game there is (too expensive though). Regrettibly I do not play it a lot any moore. Anyway one of the decks the I am most proud of creating is my land deck. A deck with 34 lands and no creatures capable of winning in the first round (has never happened though). But to win in the third or second round is not totally unrealistic. By that time I may have played most of my lands and be ready for taking an infinite number of extra rounds and kill the opponent with my Mishra´s factory. (hehehehehe!). It´s a really fun deck to play. Check it out if you want to.

b0rsuk
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 489
Registered: 11-23-2003
IP: Logged

I wrote a needlesly verbose tutorial about how to play Mtg online, for free, using gccg program:

http://www.drod.net/forum/viewtopic.php?TopicID=6258

If you think I could improve some sections, let me know.

[Edited by b0rsuk at Local Time:05-26-2005 at 03:28 PM]

____________________________

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051128/adams_01.shtml