MTGCast #118: Derek Goes All In!

[pitimp]

This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, MTGCast #118: Derek Goes All In!. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.

[saintskeith]

first one here eh?

well i think that its too bad devin is getting axed.. though i do wonder what/who they're going to be putting in his place

as for the masters edition, its nice to see some good cards in there, like counterspell, and swords to plowshares, even the ravages of war being Armageddon

but i think theres nothing as awesome as Despotic Scepter
in fact, its so good that you only need to use its ability once... on itself

[jokalhaups]

Ah, yes... I knew that saving my Ajani *rant* could be worth something!

Ajani was white. So how does a white planeswalker transcend/turn into an enemy mutlicolor? I mean, Ajani Goldmane does not feel red at all, so shouldn't the next Ajani somewhat resemble what the original one stood for? I mean besides the fact that the new abilities don't relate to each other (like Goldmane's first and third ability did), but they don't relate to the original abilities AT ALL! Ajani gave ur dudes vigilance-i.e. he gave them courage to "fight" two battles (attack and block). The new Ajani makes *permenants* not untap? BLAH! That hasn't nothing to do with what Ajani stands for! But maybe he was convinced/bribed to dastardly things by a red mage? I mean what's next? If Chandra was WR would she be gaining life instead of dealing damage? ACK! This seems like a horrible cross design. Maybe I'm missing out on the background as I don't read the books, but is there explanation why the new Ajani's abilities have no connection to what he originally did?

[Jack_from_NC]

I would just like to thank you guys for your suggestions. I'd hate to have to netdeck faeries(I've always had the deck, but chose not to run it and instead decided to just play whatever jank I felt like slapping together that week) or some such, so instead my friends and I have put our heads together and are trying to come up with what would be considered a metagame specific cousin of Quick 'n Toast. we're going to playtest it against Rev, Fae, other QnT variants, and the swans combo before bringing it in to see how it fairs. if it's anywhere near successful, I'll send you guys a decklist. if nothing else, thank you for the encouragement. it helps to know that the hosts of the most listened to podcast about magic find their behavior a little disturbing as well :3.
as always, the podcast was pretty spectacular. I've bumped around the new MTG site Wizo's has up, and I don't know if anybody noticed this, but it's layed out in a similar manner to the main Hasbro page. mayhap this is a way of streamlining players from other games into magic?*shrugs* Ajani Vengent actually makes me want to play with a planeswalker OTHER than Garruk, but also makes me beg the question as to why they don't just print an armengeddon variant(...wow, my spelling is REALLY off today.).

[pokerbob1]

nice show again.

I am really excited that Shrieking Drake is in MED2 since it makes the Intruder Alarm combos more fun.

[DerekJK]

Originally Posted by jokalhaups

Maybe I'm missing out on the background as I don't read the books, but is there explanation why the new Ajani's abilities have no connection to what he originally did?

Not a huge fan of the books myself, but I remember randomly reading something about Ajani's brother getting killed - and then Ajani going off the deep end.

[rushmore111]

Here is my stab at the MTGcast logo.

Great show guys.

[saintskeith]

Originally Posted by rushmore111

Here is my stab at the MTGcast logo.

Great show guys.

HAHA
thats awesome

[RabidKitten]

Thanks for the Podcast,

I play a lot of Commander and Singleton online, so masters edition is very important to the format. The dual lands are the biggest add, as they will power up the decks quite a bit, especially making crack lands better.

My favorite card is going to have be Necropotence, just because its the first old school super broken card available on mtgo. It will be interesting to see how good it is in the singleton formats. It will probably get an instant restriction in classic.

[saintskeith]

the thing with necro is that, you ban everything until its good, then you ban necro...


i think that should sound familiar

[esternaefil]

Hey guys, I'm not done the show, but I'm close! It's a really good episode this week!

Tom, I hope you don't take my comments from last week as saying that I don't feel you are an important, nay vital, part of the show... I just wanted to iterate that I felt I get more from Gavin and Derek. Just like I listen to Otwell (sometimes) and the MSB more than I listen to the Sock... But I do have the whole feed on my iTunes/iPod and listen to them all at least sporadically.

As for the comment contest:

I am really excited about Ajani Vengeant for a number of reasons... firstly, being that it is both the release card and the prerelease card it will (theoretically) be twice as easy to get a set! But more than that, I am excited because it honestly feels like a pretty good card.

I think what a lot of people haven't gotten yet is that you can bring it out on turn four after they drop their garruk and lightning helix their garruk to kill it and then the next turn after your kitchen finks blocks their beast token, you can start rishadan porting their lands! I think that's a pretty powerful set of abilities and I can even see the ultimate getting played.

Imagine, if you will, a format where URW control it good again. I know Lightning Angel leaves the format in October, but there are plenty of great U/R/W cards out there and the mana is just phenominal! I really think that this ajani could be the right planeswalker for a deck like that.

Ajani, then stutter your opponent's development while sitting on some awesome cryptic commands and oona's graces... I think that's got a lot of potential! Definitely a good evolution of my current T2 UR control deck. If you're interested, you can do a deck doctor on it.

UR control
//Lands 4 Cascade Bluffs 4 Shivan Reef 4 Reflecting Pool 4 Vivid Creek 2 Vivid Crag 1 Urza's Factory 9 Island // Creatures 3 Mulldrifter 2 Bogardan Hellkite 1 Oona, Queen of the Fae 1 Aeon Chronicler 1 Detritivore // Spells 4 Incinerate 4 Flame Javelin 3 Sulfurous Blast 3 Careful Consideration 4 Rune Snag 4 Cryptic Command 1 Oona's Grace 1 Call the Skybreaker	// Sideboard 4 Fulminator Mage 4 Flashfreeze 3 FAerie Macabre 2 Consign To Dream 2 Pyroclasm

I know there are a few weak spots: the D-Vore and the Call the Skybreaker are kind of loose (d-vore more than the Call), but I wanted to have an end-game plan agaisnt Toast where they wouldn't be able to sit back on their commands and rune snags and I would be able to get there over time with some long-term card advantage.

3 mulldrifters might seem weak, but the fourth mulldrifter is actually oona's grace! That card is just wicked sick in the right matches.

Currently I'm undefeated with this deck in FNM matches, and while that isn't much of a barometre, there isn't much else out there to prove its competitiveness.

I don't have a logo as I'm not much of an artist, but I just wanted to chime in and give my thoguhts on the episode and the PR card!

[vpreacher]

Great podcast.

Just be glad stone rain isn't still legal.

Turn one birds, turn 2 Stone Rain, turn 3 Ajani. Have fun with that.

[bowman]

I'm excited about Kjeldoran Outpost making a comeback in the Master's Edition II set. Its a great card that I can drop into dozens of different decks. And its not so over-powered or cheesy that an opponent in the casual room will conceed the game rather than play against it.

[rushmore111]

Originally Posted by bowman

I'm excited about Kjeldoran Outpost making a comeback in the Master's Edition II set. Its a great card that I can drop into dozens of different decks. And its not so over-powered or cheesy that an opponent in the casual room will conceed the game rather than play against it.

You can try it out today, as Kjeldoran Outpost is already online.

I am looking forward to Pyrokinesis, as I love ways to deal with fast aggro decks. Who wants the game to be over in 2 minutes anyways?

[Lotus]

Tom, don't listen to the haters! Everyone who listens to this podcast is in debt to you for your work, and you shouldn't let a couple random people deflate your ego.

Anwyays, Ajani seems like he will see a scattered amount of play, and he's going to be very powerful in the decks that he can fit in. I'm really excited about Shards of Alara, and although some people feel that multicolored cards are restrictive, I like how it allows Wizards to create a general raise in the power curve in the sets. Had Ajani been a single color, his price tag would run a lot higher, because of the greater variety of decks he would be played in, and many decks would have no problems playing him. However, multicolored cards open up a large amount of archetypes that have the possibility of being played, because of the creature's restrictive mana costs. It is a lot harder to mash a bunch of broken cards cards into a single deck when they become a lot harder for your deck to cast. It allows a bunch of archetypes running cards that won't be in a whole lot of other decks (like Ajani). I hope the set continues to turn out well!

Great cast as usual, guys.