Saturday, March 16, 2013

Vintage: The Unfoiling

So, if you follow along with me on Twitter (all ~20 of you!) then you probably already noticed... But I decided, after much deep thought, to go ahead and move away from foils in my constructed decks.  I'm going to use the extra influx of cash to upgrade to pretty things with black borders.  For now that means FBB duals, and Beta everything else.

Here's where I started:



(The only card I'll really miss, and might possibly hang onto regardless, are my old frame promo Bobs.  I just don't know if I can make myself part with them.)

Although I am going to build something that isn't Bob/Jace control; as I need a change.  I have a few slightly off-kilter brews that might fit the bill.

Vintage is awesome because you can play whatever you want.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

All the Windfalls. For value. (Yes! Trendy terminology!)

So, it's been a while since I bothered writing to my legion of followers. (e.g. Maybe my cat? Who can't read.)

I love weird, convoluted, and generally do nothing EDH decks with bizarre combos and synergies.  Things that are either tiny and incremental in value; or take forever to set up.  You might say that basically means I'm doing the format wrong.  But I'm cool with that.  And sometimes I even get to have my moments.

UB is where my heart is.  But I've never really had a Legend in those colors I was truly happy with.  Yeah, there are competitive choices for combo/control... But I like to stay away from the "gimmes".  And then the others are just terribad.  Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, however... Is just where I like it.

Doesn't enable anything on his own, but he synergizes with dumb mill cards, and let's me use my opponents stuff in fun ways.  Now, he just needs to get a visual upgrade with my favorite trappings.  Some rk post art, and an old card frame.


There, that's better.  Now I just need to find the local guy that can print things on foil card-stock.

Drawing cards, and dumping cards in graveyards (#ForValue) are a couple of my favorite things to do.  This deck was already doing that for various reasons.  But with just a few new additions from Gatecrash as incentive, I think I'll be making it the central theme.

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind


1 Dimir Signet
1 Dimir Machinations
1 Dimir Doppelganger
1 Call to Mind
1 Relearn
1 Windfall
1 Damnation
1 Evacuation
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Sol Ring
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Mindcrank
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Liliana Vess
1 Academy Ruins
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Decree of Pain
1 Underground River
1 Underground Sea
1 Watery Grave
1 Polluted Delta
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Dust Bowl
5 Island
5 Swamp
1 Sorin Markov
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Wheel and Deal
1 Riddlekeeper
1 Traumatize
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Undead Alchemist
1 Bloodchief Ascension
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Trinket Mage
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Ring of Xathrid
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Memory Erosion
1 Nemesis of Reason
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Shred Memory
1 Life's Finale
1 Duskmantle Guildmage
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Diluvian Primordial
1 Chancellor of the Spires
1 Whispering Madness
1 Stolen Identity
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Mind Grind
1 Consuming Aberration
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Dauthi Embrace
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Plague Wind
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Subversion
1 Polluted Bonds
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Mana Crypt
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 River of Tears
1 Tainted Isle
1 Jwar Isle Refuge
1 Tolaria West
1 Venser's Journal
1 Crystal Shard
1 Erratic Portal
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Animate Dead
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Command Tower
1 Rhystic Study
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Evil Twin
1 Phyrexia's Core
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Vault of Whispers


That's about a dozen cards too many at the moment.  And there are some "staples" that are really obvious missing from the pile too.  But I'm at that point where I need to just play a few games, and see what I miss and what I make a sad face when drawing it.

Man, is this really how little motivation I have to write pointlessly about MTG right now?  Time for a break, then I'll come back to some of the actual interactions, I guess.

**Intermission time.**