Blue is Me

Tag: gathering

  • Magic the Gathering: top 10 most played competitive creatures ever

    For ‘Spike’ players.. these creatures get *very* expensive because they were the most played creatures in their heyday.. the reason why I choose creatures here and not just all cards is because 90% of the competitive Vintage cards that are banned/restricted are actually lands, artifacts and non creatures (like the Power Nine), and that wouldn’t be interesting.

    1. Tarmogoyf – hey the most expensive creature you can find! this guy is ridiculous because he’s basically 2 mana for at least a 3/4 in the early game and a 6/7 or 7/8 in the late game which is absolutely insane
    2. Psychatog – a absolutely dominant card in its heyday.. one often had a lot to fear staring down this measly 1/2 with a full hand and graveyard and a force of will in hand…
    3. Dark Confidant – New players didnt like this card because you lose life.. but once you become more competitive you realize just how good card advantage is. Still a great tempo card to use, great in the early game and quite an aggro body as well!
    4. Snapcaster Mage – Again, an extremely high power level card in competitive play. Nothing better than being able to use the same card twice.. played as an instant!
    5. Noble Hierarch – A Birds of Paradise for Bant decks that is almost strictly better. And hence why, its an auto include in every blue, green and white deck.
    6. Blightsteel Colossus – the ultimate finisher card. basically one hit from him and you are dead, thanks to the 11 infect counters you get.
    7. Academy Rector – the central card of the Rector decks, basically sac him and your enchantment combos are all there for you
    8. Metalworker – It’s basically Tolarian Academy as a creature… nuff said
    9. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn – pretty much the most powerful creature ever printed when it came out.. and still might be to this day.
    10. Arcbound Ravager – the central card of the Affinity decks when it came out.. still a beast in modern day Affinity decks, though not quite as powerful as when it came out.

  • Magic the Gathering: top 15 most combotastic cards ever

    In MTG there are many cards that could be considered ‘combo’ broken – it enables a billion combos with other cards. I’m going to list my top 15 combo-rific cards here.. cards that “Johnny” players love best..

    1. Doubling Season – It’s insanely powerful. Doubling the number of tokens, ok well Parallel Lives does that and no big deal – doubling the number of counters tho.. thats a much bigger deal. Especially with charge counters and planeswalkers.
    2. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker – ok this card is nuts. Because it creates a token creature that is a copy.. that immediately has haste.. and taps to do it. Now, imagine if that creature you just copied untaps all other creatures when it comes into play.. or just untaps any other permanent (since it has haste). And it untaps Kiki-Jiki… the possibilities are endless. Part of my Hulk Flash combo used this card to create an endless army of Sky Hussars
    3. Intruder Alarm – ok just like Kiki-Jiki this does something similar – it untaps your creatures whenever another creature comes into play. Combo this with pretty much any creature generator. Could be Rhys, the Redeemed, Godsire, Imperious Perfect or just slap Presence of Gond on anything and BAM! infinite creatures
    4. Paradox Engine – it’s sort of like intruder alarm except you need to play spells but it untaps ALL nonland permanents not just creatures. If you can discount your spells or use a buyback spell or even creatures that bounce other creatures like Tradewind Rider along with some mana generators or pingers and its a winning combination.
    5. Cloudstone Curio – A card that can work well with the card I mentioned above. But yeah this card + any repeatable bounce effects + any enters the battlefield / leaves the battlefield abilities = chaos
    6. Tolarian Academy – A disgusting card that was pretty much the cause of the Combo Winter when Urza’s Saga first came out. One of the most broken cards ever printed.
    7. Earthcraft – This card is bonkers. It turns any creature you control into a mana generator but not only that but you could potentially go infinite with cards like Squirrel Nest as well
    8. Dream Halls – a card that got quickly restricted.. I mean you can discard a card to play any spell instead of its mana cost. you can see how that can get quite out of hand.
    9. Training Grounds – Any card like this that can reduce activation costs can be pretty combotastic – especially with ones that can generate mana
    10. Rings of Brighthearth – use in combination with the card above. Great times.
    11. Skullclamp, Fecundity – both these cards are insane card draw engines in their respective decks and fulfill similar purposes
    12. Mind’s Desire – well it was part of some of the most broken combo decks ever printed – namely TEPS and Long.dec so it’s gotta make the list here
    13. Krark-Clan Ironworks – Also an insane combo card for artifact decks
    14. Aluren – imagine being able to play your creatures for free, as an instant, anytime… it gets even crazier when you have bounce mechanics like a certain card in this list that lets you return things to your hand perhaps?
    15. Mind over Matter – it was powerful once upon a time, but still a good card in some niche combo decks. It takes a lot to go off, though.

  • Hearthstone decklist

    Everyone who reads my blog knows that I am a big fan of Magic the Gathering. But these days it seems Wizards of the Coast just keeps releasing more and more sets that kind of dilute the power of Magic cards. More and more cards seem overpowered or strictly superior to the older cards, that annoy me.

    Recently, I found an online-only card game, called Hearthstone, which is very similar to Magic, except that its free to play, every card can be gotten for free (with enough grinding), and its very simple to play. Basically, they took Magic’s principles, kept the fun strategy and interaction and mana restraints, but eliminated the complicated stuff like tapping to attack, blocking, mana pools, turn phases, etc.

    In Hearthstone, every player starts out with 3/4 cards and 30 life, has a maximum of 30 cards in a deck and 2 copies of any card, draws a card every turn, gains mana every turn, has a maximum of 10 mana, and only one turn phase in which they can do everything. All creatures (minions they are called) must wait a turn before attacking, and can either attack the player directly or another minion, just like Magic. Every player has a special hero ability that can be used once per turn for 2 mana. And the goal is to reduce the opponent’s life to 0. That’s it. They basically distilled Magic’s rules down while still keeping it fun, which is great.

    That said, I’ve been playing Hearthstone a lot these days, and these are the decks I currently use online. As with Magic having 5 colors, Hearthstone has 9 classes you can play as with special cards available with each class.

    Mech Mage
    This is a Mage deck that uses Mechs and an aggro playstyle to win the game.

    //22 common/basic
    2x [Frostbolt]
    2x [Snowchugger]
    2x [Fireball]
    2x [Clockwork Gnome]
    2x [Cogmaster]
    2x [Annoy-o-Tron]
    2x [Mechwarper]
    2x [Harvest Golem]
    2x [Spider Tank]
    2x [Tinkertown Technician]
    2x [Piloted Shredder]
    2x [Polymorph]
    //2 rare
    2x [Goblin Blastmage]
    //5 legendary
    1x [Loatheb]
    1x [Dr. Boom]
    1x [Archmage Antonidas]
    1x [The Black Knight]
    —————————–
    Midrange Paladin
    This Paladin deck uses a ramp strategy which balances the cost of the cards in a normal distribution across the deck, going from small threats early game to big threats late game.

    //1-2 cost
    1x [Equality]
    1x [Ironbeak Owl]
    2x [Knife Juggler]
    2x [Shielded Minibot]
    //3 cost
    1x [Big Game Hunter]
    2x [Muster for Battle]
    2x [Aldor Peacekeeper]
    1x [Mind Control Tech]
    //4-5 cost
    2x [Piloted Shredder]
    2x [Sludge Belcher]
    2x [Truesilver Champion]
    2x [Consecration]
    1x [Loatheb]
    1x [Harrison Jones]
    1x [Antique Healbot]
    2x [Quartermaster]
    //6+ cost
    1x [Tirion Fordring]
    1x [Sylvanas Windrunner]
    1x [Emperor Thaurissan]
    1x [Dr. Boom]
    1x [Lay on Hands]
    ——————————-
    Fatigue Rogue
    The goal of this Rogue deck is to run the opponent out of cards so that they have no options, and therefore lose the game eventually due to fatigue.

    //18 common/basic
    2x [Backstab]
    2x [Deadly Poison]
    2x [Eviscerate]
    2x [Sap]
    2x [Gang Up]
    2x [Shadowstep]
    2x [Antique Healbot]
    2x [Vanish]
    1x [Fan of Knives]
    1x [Youthful Brewmaster]
    //8 rare
    1x [Blade Flurry]
    2x [Coldlight Oracle]
    2x [Deathlord]
    2x [Azure Drake]
    1x [Sludge Belcher]
    //2 epic
    2x [Preparation]
    //2 legendary
    1x [Bloodmage Thalnos]
    1x [King Mukla]
    ——————————-
    Warlock Zoo
    2x [Power Overwhelming]
    2x [Abusive Sergeant]
    2x [Flame Imp]
    2x [Leper Gnome]
    2x [Voidwalker]
    2x [Young Dragonhawk]
    2x [Annoy-o-Tron]
    2x [Dire Wolf Alpha]
    2x [Haunted Creeper]
    2x [Knife Juggler]
    2x [Nerubian Egg]
    2x [Arcane Golem]
    2x [Imp-losion]
    2x [Dark Iron Dwarf]
    2x [Piloted Shredder]

    Video
    Here are some of my decks in action…

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoucIJVdFbs

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fThe4KcIQHw

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25NkSfMdt_I

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWLXcYyqZPs

  • Magic the gathering: Top 15 most efficient 3 mana creatures ever

    I love 3 drops – because the 3 mana spot is the most coveted and competitive in a deck – and the games most efficient creatures come at the 2 and 3 mana spot. Many times I had to exclude a good creature because there was simply a better one in its place. These are creatures you can put into pretty much any deck, and they will work for you. Most of these creatures are white, or green, or both, consistent with that color being well known for efficient creatures. So without further ado, here’s the 15 best 3 mana creatures in my opinion (I’m going to exclude legendary creatures since these are creatures you want to include more than 1 of in your deck, sorry Vendilion Clique and Geist of Saint Traft):

    1. Eternal Witness
    I would put this chick in every green deck I have. She’s that good. Whenever she comes out, I get a card back, ANY card. So amazing, and hard to pick anyone over her. The only problem is the double green in her cost.

    2. Kitchen Finks
    This is another card I would just put in every deck I have. It is all around goodness. A 3/2 creature for 3 mana, that gains a total of 4 life and its easy to cast, and comes back to live again after it dies once. So efficient and so good.

    3. Vampire Nighthawk
    Here’s a good definition of efficient. A 2/3 for three mana, decent. Then add on three abilities: flying, lifelink and deathtouch, and you have a winner.

    4. Phyrexian Crusader
    A 2/2 for 3 mana, is boring, but this guy has four abilities on top of that. First strike, Infect, and protection from red and white. Now that’s good stuff.

    5. Mirran Crusader
    Like Phyrexian Crusader, its a 2/2 for 3 mana, but it only has 3 abilities. However, those three being double strike, protection from green and black, are quite good abilities, and enough for me to put it in the top 5.

    6. Knight of the Reliquary
    It’s also a 2/2 for 3 mana, but has the unique ability of growing whenever you have a land in your graveyard. With all those fetch lands out there, and mill decks, as well as this knights ability to fix mana at will, it becomes one of the best creatures in green/white. It has the rare ability to match Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Ooze in growth at a similar low mana investment, which is amazing.

    7. Ohran Viper
    This is one of the most elegant creatures ever designed. You attack with it – if they don’t block it, you draw a card. Else, if they do block it – their creature dies. It’s a win win situation for you. And it’s a 1/3, so it has reasonable toughness.

    8. Troll Ascetic
    Troll Ascetic can single handedly win games if your opponent has nothing to deal with it. It’s an untargetable regenerating beast, that will stay on the field until your opponent finds some way of dealing with it. But it is one of the hardest creatures to deal with in the game.

    9. Fiendslayer Paladin
    First Strike, Lifelink, can’t be targeted by red or black spells. That’s essentially 4 abilities on one creature, the definition of efficient.

    10. Shadowmage Infiltrator
    The card designed by Jon Finkel, one of the greatest MTG players of all time. It’s simple and elegant. 3 toughness is decent, he draws a card whenever he deals damage, and he has fear to help facilitate drawing a card. Like Ohran viper, simple and elegant.

    11. Boros Reckoner
    The strength of this card is that its so versatile. Its a 3/3 that can shoot back for however much damage it is dealt, often giving substantial card advantage when it dies. In addition, it can get first strike if you don’t want it to die.

    12. Hypnotic Specter
    This is the original and still the best specter. 3 mana, has flying, and makes the opponent discard a card randomly when it deals damage. This makes it one of the best black three drops ever.

    13. Silverblade Paladin
    This creature gives two creatures double strike when it hits play. That essentially ups your firepower by double by being in play. Thus, paired with the aforementioned Shadowmage or Ohran Viper, or Nighthawk, makes you gain double the benefit.

    14. Loxodon Smiter
    First of all, this is three mana for a 4/4. That’s right, a freaking 4/4. Not long ago, we were talking about how Blastoderms and Loxodon Hierarchs were efficient for their cost. Well this is one better. On top of that, it’s uncounterable and undiscardable, great against blue and black mages.

    15. Woolly Thoctar
    It’s a 5/4 for 3 mana. nuff said.

    Honorable mentions:

    Mystic Crusader (if you have threshold)
    Boggart Ram-gang
    Stillmoon Cavalier
    Rhox War Monk
    Paladin en-vec
    Sprouting Thrinax
    Cold-Eyed Selkie
    Augury Adept
    Doomed Necromancer
    Royal Assassin
    Blade Splicer
    Boon Satyr
    Trygon Predator (sideboard)
    Witchstalker (sideboard)
    Great Sable Stag (sideboard)
    Fulminator Mage (sideboard)

    Legends:
    Mirri, Cat Warrior
    Glissa, the Traitor
    Brimaz, King of Oreskos
    Geist of Saint Traft
    Vendilion Clique
    Doran, the Siege Tower
    Jenara, Asura of War
    Edric, Spymaster of Trest
    Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
    Varolz, the Scar-Striped

  • Magic the Gathering: Top 10 greatest non-basic land cards of all time

    Continuing on from artifact cards… now we come to the last category, land cards! Lands are the foundation of magic – without them we can’t cast spells. Of course, I’m not gonna list basic land cards since they don’t have any special abilities. Instead we’re looking at the greatest non-basic lands. Here’s my top 10:

    10. Mutavault
    It’s close between Gaea’s Cradle and Mutavault since the Cradle is one of the fastest mana engines ever, especially in token and elf decks, but Mutavault has been used more in tournaments, where it has been used in everything from Faerie decks to Aggro decks, so I gave it the edge.

    9. Rishadan Port
    So I can slow down your mana development and prevent you from casting spells, essentially giving me free turns? Sweet. Widely used when it was legal, and will continue to be used where it is legal. Shuts down every other land on this list too.

    8. Maze of Ith
    This land has allowed for some pretty nifty combat tricks, but mostly used for defense. It can be used to stall an opponents army, to untap your own creature, to save your own creature from combat, and its a repeatable, free source of those things.

    7. Wasteland
    Its an uncounterable kill land spell for zero mana basically, which destroys any other land on this list. Pretty cool, eh?

    6. Fetch lands
    Fetch lands are the best color fixers in Magic, along with Dual lands. They thin your deck, and can fetch you dual lands at instant, uncounterable speed. For reference, the fetch lands are:
    Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Windswept Heath, Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats, Arid Mesa, and Scalding Tarn.

    5. Mishra’s Workshop
    Essentially a colorless Black Lotus every turn. Insanely broken, insanely powerful.

    4. Library of Alexandria
    Its a land that draws you cards, for free, and uncounterable. Of course you have to have a full hand already, but that’s not hard to get right?

    3. Strip Mine
    Pretty simple here. It kills any land in the game for zero mana, uncounterable. Nuff said.

    2. Dual Lands
    Dual lands are the greatest mana fixers ever, because they are pretty much strictly better than the basic lands. They count as basic land – and they add two colors of mana, with no drawbacks besides being nonbasic. For reference, the dual lands are: Badlands, Bayou, Plateau, Savannah, Scrubland, Taiga, Tropical Island, Tundra, Underground Sea, and Volcanic Island.

    1. Tolarian Academy
    Just the greatest land ever, and one of the greatest magic cards ever. Tolarian Academy has fueled many turn one kills, on account of its ability to add one blue mana for EACH artifact you control. Now lets see, how many artifacts out there cost 0 or 1 mana? You got Black Lotus, The five moxes, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Voltaic Key, Chrome Mox, and the list goes on and on. Add cards like Time Spiral, Mind over Matter and Stroke of Genius, and this is the land that kills people on the first turn.

  • Magic the Gathering: Top 10 greatest artifact cards of all time

    Continuing on from multicolor cards… now we come to artifact cards (which are colorless)! Since artifact and colorless do so many things, they are among the most powerful cards in Magic, since any deck can use them. Here’s my top 10:

    10. Umezawa’s Jitte / Isochron Scepter
    Got a tie here. Jitte is the most undercosted equipment ever, I think. Every time the equipped creature deals COMBAT damage (not just damage to players), it gets two counters. And those two counters can: kill creatures, lower their strength, gain you life, or beef up your own creature. Powerful, versatile and undercosted at only 2 mana to cast and equip. Meanwhile, Isochron Scepter is another ridiculous card. It can copy ANY instant with mana cost two or less and replay it forever. Orim’s Chant and Counterspell are used most often with this, making it a soft lock for the opponent.

    9. Masticore
    One of the greatest creatures ever printed. Masticore dominated decks back in the day. As long as you had a card to throw away each turn, or a Squee, Goblin Nabob handy, Masticore would ping creatures to death, regenerate itself, and be a beefy 4/4 attacker every turn.

    8. Cursed Scroll
    Back in the day, many Sligh decks were using this card as a reusable source of colorless damage – and it works. As long as you have one card in your hand, it is a repeatable source of 2 colorless damage, getting around protection. Oh, and one mana to cast.

    7. Sensei’s Divining Top
    Countless decks have used this little one mana uncommon to make their draws better. And if you have a way to shuffle (via fetch lands), its essentially three new cards every time. And its even better with other tournament quality cards like Dark Confidant and Counterbalance.

    6. Grim Monolith
    Better than Mana Vault because of the obscene combos you can do with it via cards like Tolarian Academy, Voltaic Key and Power Artifact. Banned and restricted for a long time in Vintage/Legacy.

    5. Skullclamp
    One of the most abused cards of all time, and one of the greatest equipments of all time, Skullclamp turns all your little creatures into repeatable card drawing engines. And more cards is always a good thing, since one card is technically the equivalent of being one turn ahead.

    4. Black Vise
    It’s a one mana artifact that stays on the field and deals colorless damage to the opponent every turn for having too many cards in their hand. You either force them to play fast, or force them to take damage. What’s not to love?

    3. Sol Ring
    The “tenth” member of the Power nine, its one mana to add 2 mana for the rest of the game, and its an uncommon! Insanely broken and powerful.

    2. Mox Sapphire / Mox Emerald / Mox Ruby / Mox Pearl / Mox Jet
    The Moxes make up five of the Power nine, and for a good reason. It’s 0 mana for a repeatable source of one mana, which is insane. Almost as insane as the next card…

    1. Black Lotus
    Did you expect anything else? It’s the greatest and rarest card in Magic, and the most expensive. Numerous games have been won by the mana boost you get, first turn, paying ZERO mana to get THREE mana of any color. Insane, broken, and very sought after.