Category Archives: On the Tabletop

Adventures from cards, miniatures, pencil and paper RPGs, and other old fashioned games from before the internet ruined everything.

On the Tabletop

I Wanna Be Your (Spider)Man

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(Editor’s ‘Note: ‘Do you have a module based on the comic where Peter Parker and Mary Jane get married?)

Once upon a time, a gamer was a gamer. ‘You played video, board, card, roleplaying, and sometimes miniature games. ‘You bonded with other gamers over your mutual status as outsiders from polite society. ‘Really, we were complete outcasts, but it is infinitely more satisfying to tell those tea drinking weenies to suck eggs. ‘To be fair, this might have only been true about me and my friends. ‘Not only is that presumptuous, but I have actual evidence to the contrary. ‘Growing up, I saw the same people in the arcades as in the comic book store and in the RPG section of Waldenbooks (remember that place?), so there was definitely a fraternity of gamers that I’m not sure exists anymore.

I don’t know how or when it happened, but like much of our society, the gaming community became segmented. ‘(I’m about to get real for a paragraph. ‘Relax, though, it isn’t going to get to the level of those Dove commercials, but I have some things to get off my chest.) As a result, certain segments of the population that consider only their peers to be “true” gamers. ‘Honestly, these “true” gamers are really only a segment of a segment. ‘Yet, they have held tremendous influence over the hobby for at least a decade. ‘They used this influence to push for only one type of game at the exclusion of all others. ‘The tide appears to be turning back thanks to efforts by other gamers and even game designers. ‘The designers have created games to appeal to a wider audience. ‘This “new blood” has understandably caused some friction and resentment on the part of the “true gamers”. ‘2 Guys Gaming is both inspired by this movement and hopes to serve as inspiration to others to keep it going.

So, what does all of that have to do with the old Marvel RPG? ‘As one of the games that I used to play with friends, I thought of it recently because of 2 Guys Gaming. ‘We try to approach games from a fresh perspective and strive to make games fun again. ‘I doubt that we will ever do a podcast segment because it is defunct and Chris never heard of it, but it works perfectly as an article topic.

I enjoyed the Marvel RPG more than Dungeons and Dragons. ‘Not only did the game allow me to play as some of my favorite super heroes, it also scratched my creative itch by allowing me to create new ones. ‘That was the most fun, in my opinion. ‘I liked reading about the dragon slaying adventures of wizards and warriors, but my fevered teenage dreams always revolved around fighting side by side with Spider-Man and the Hulk. ‘Marvel RPG gave me the opportunity to do that at a time when most video games were centered around the X-Men or TMNT.

Kevin (of missing Episode 2 of the podcast fame) and I created a team of mutants to cause havoc (no pun intended) in the Marvel Universe. ‘Those games were some of the most fun that I had as a gamer before getting back into Magic a couple of years ago ‘That led to introducing my kids to the many worlds of gaming, getting together with Chris, rediscovering my love of the hobby, and starting the podcast and website. ‘Naturally, this all led to renewed interest in the games that I used to play.

If you have been following, you know that some friends and I are trying to find time to play some Dungeons and Dragons. ‘Liam and Aiden have both contributed to my interest in Magic, Pokemon, and many of the other games that I’m currently playing. ‘I picked up a Star Wars introduction RPG because I thought they might like it. ‘We haven’t played yet, but I might start them on Marvel instead. ‘It is a universe that they are more familiar with and it is easier to integrate those familiar characters into a story. ‘I’ve recently discovered a page that offers all of the old books and modules as PDF downloads. ‘Time to do some reading to familiarize myself again with the game rules.

I always knew that there would be benefits to having children. ‘I never suspected that one of those benefits might be the beginnings of a playgroup for video, RPG, and card games, but I’m definitely happy that it worked out that way. ‘Whether your curious about the game or looking to recapture former glory, you can find a massive trove of resources here. ‘In closing, until the cease and desist letter arrives (not my first one, but my first one from Stan lee, so I’d get it framed), Excelsior!

On the Tabletop

Monored Blitz

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fsatyr

In order to counter Shawn’s RDW, which can be seen here, I thought it would be in my best interest to create my own version of RDW (fight fire with fire you might say…get it? Because it’s red deck vs re…<clears throat>…). Having played against another one of Shawn’s aggro decks in the past, I know better than to try to play a midrange or control deck as it usually ends up…not good..for me. Unfortunately, this deck that I’m about to share with all of you didn’t end up being Standard-legal. The bad news is that probably means an ass-kicking on Saturday night if I don’t come up with something else between now and then. The good news is that I created something really, really decent (in Legacy). There are no massive creatures in this deck, just a horde of 1 to 3 drop creatures powered by pump and burn spells.

Strengths:

Insanely fast with tons of combos. I’ve been able to consistently pull off having a Guttersnipe, Young Pyromancer and a Kiln Fiend or two on the board, then playing an instant, sorcery, or both. Good times.

Weaknesses:

Mass removal spells. Any opponent that isn’t dead within the first 5 or 6 turns. Midrange this deck ain’t.

The Deck (60 cards):

Creatures (28)

4x Kiln Fiend

2x Firedrinker Satyr

1x Vexing Devil

2x Zurgo Bellstriker

3x Guttersnipe

2x Minotaur Skullcleaver

1x Firefist Striker

1x Valley Dasher

1x Prophetic Flamespeaker

2x Young Pyromancer

1x Monastery Swiftspear

1x Hellrider

1x War-Name Aspirant

2x Screamreach Brawler

1x Ire Shaman

1x Hardened Berserker

2x Satyr Hoplite

Spells (14)

1x Rouse the Mob

2x Flame Slash

3x Magma Spray

2x Dynacharge

1x Roast

3x Titan’s Strength

1x Shock

1x Trumpet Blast

Lands (18):

18x Mountains

On the Tabletop

Do You Want to Build Some Standard?

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(Editor’s Note: Chris asked this question a couple of weeks ago. Before you ask, yes he sang it just like the girl from Frozen. He has a beautiful singing voice.)

I was never interested in the various formats of Magic or what they meant until about a month ago. One of my favorite Magic streamers pointed me to the Vintage Super League on the Magic Twitch page as his stream ended. Left without any options, I followed the link. Boy, am I glad that I did. I have watched every episode, learned Magic from some of the best players, and even developed a rooting interest. I’m bummed that one of my new favorite players and commentators got bumped for being in last place. This is not about Vintage, though. My article on VSL is here and I might revisit it at the end of the season.

My voyage through the history of Magic continued with the StarCityGames.com Modern event (I know Chris said that we shouldn’t advertise them until they pay us, but click the link and tell ’em 2 Guys Gaming sent ya. Maybe that will lead to something.) in Baltimore. By this time, I knew more bout the archetypes and strategies of Vintage, but knew nothing about Modern. Once again, that was about to change. One player in the event captured my attention, admiration, and imagination with his deck. That story is told here.

Of these two formats, I liked Modern the most. While it can be fun to watch the turn one and two kills in Vintage and watch how some of the most powerful cards in the history of the game interact in the hands of the best players, at times it can be anticlimactic. Because those enablers aren’t available in Modern, the games are generally more interactive. Unfortunately, there aren’t many Modern events shown, so I just watched the Vintage Super League every week and hoped to find a random streamer playing Modern.

I avoided Standard for one main reason. I heard that Standard consisted of mainly the same decks with little to no variation. Having only watched Hearthstone in a competitive setting, this worried me. Because Hearthstone has such a limited pool of cards, the competitive scene is literally the same few decks played all the time. Because Hearthstone is free to play and online, I then see those decks from many of the players that I meet in game. It’s boring and tedious. Competitive Magic doesn’t suffer that problem. Since there are so many more cards, the same archetype will look diverse from player to player. Larger decks also increase variance and the same deck plays differently in each game.

I finally tuned in for Standard one weekend during a Star City Games broadcast. They advertised the event during the Modern one. I noticed that it was in Miami, winter still raged here in Massachusetts, and I wanted to live vicariously through all the lucky warm people in Florida. I never expected that I would experience the insanity depicted in the picture below.

GWGW3

I absolutely loved it. Sometimes it is fun to try to break this game that we love. It’s what I’m attempting to do with every deck that I build. I’m never this successful but that is why I’m where I am and they were all in Miami on that cold weekend.

Clearly, Standard is more than just a gimmicky life gain deck. It’s about the skill and the intrigue, the perceived heroes and villains, the wonder and promise of a new set. Dan Lebatard is fond of saying that sports are soap operas for men. I no longer care about sports the way that I once did, but video and card games have taken their place. Hell, watching streams are much more fun than watching sports because even if the game or match isn’t interesting, you can bet that chat will be.

From pointing out incorrect missed lethal to upholding the virtues of proper land placement and pace of play, Twitch chat rarely fails to entertain. The only thing that I don’t like and can’t understand is the persistent spam for no reason. I know that I sound like an old man. In this instance, I’m proud of my old man-ness and defend it against the unwashed spamming masses. I go to Twitch to learn (no kap) and the spam makes learning and conversation impossible. Wow, that digression…but watch me bring it all back. That’s one of the reason I only watch Magic streams now. The spam does not exist, questions can be answered, and intelligent discussions are the rule rather than the exception. The chat for Star City Games hovers just on the edge between spam and productive, but their coverage is top notch. Their announcers know a lot about Magic, are passionate about the game, and are entertaining. Since discovering their stream, I have not missed and event and I am even planning to go to Rhode Island to see one live.

So, when Chris suggested that we build a couple of decks that will conform to the standard rules, I agreed to the idea without hesitation. We normally play Legacy (a format that I mistakenly thought was just a different name for Vintage) and have all of the cards from the history of Magic at our disposal. We are obviously limited by cost and availability, but not much else. We have built some fun, and even powerful, decks that you can find by following the “decks lists” link in the menu on the left.

My most recent entry into that category is my first attempt at a standard deck. I am also working on a 4-color deck as my other deck. I doubt that I will be able to afford all the cards, but I have been playtesting it and it is fun, so I might proxy the cards to see how it plays in live competition. As we all know, that can often turn out counter to expectations.

Since I can’t build that deck now (or maybe ever) unless I use proxies, I tweaked my Abzan list to make it standard legal. In keeping with my love of sometimes overlooked mechanics and +1/+1 counters, I tried to make a deck with Outlast and a little bit of Bolster strategy. Chris went Jeskai Heroic, so I answered with Abzan Outlast. I can’t wait to see the match with all the counters flying around. Stay tuned to the page for the aftermath.

Well, that’s the story of how I’ve gone from resurrected Magic neophyte to building and practicing in all formats, even if only virtually in the case of modern and vintage…so far. I bet that many of you have a similar story to tell. Maybe you have the money to actually play in Modern. Who knows? Maybe if I get another summer class, then I will look into getting some cards to put together a starter Modern deck and join an event or two. Hope to see you. If not, tell me about your favorite format or deck in the comments.

On the Tabletop

Jeskai Heroic on a Budget

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mantis

Here is another standard deck (well, Standard as of 4/15) that I’ve been fine-tuning over the last few days. The title says it all..it’s a R/W/U heroic deck..no insanely valuable cards, no smothering control, no crazy life-gain, just pump your creatures up and go to town. Note: I’m going back to my original deck list format where I give you some strengths and some weaknesses (because no deck is perfect).

Strengths:

Lots of synergy in this deck. It seems like almost everything that you play ends up pumping your little critters up. If your opponent doesn’t start removing your guys, then things can get ugly quick. I included some Mantis Riders and a Prognostic Sphinx to get your opponent’s attention and a Monastery Siege to keep your opponent from burning your Heroic creatures.

Weaknesses:

You can get out-aggro’d. Is that a word? It is now. A couple of burn spells and you may find yourself spinning your tires trying to get some creatures pumped up. To sum it up: Anger of the Gods is not your friend.

The Deck: (60 cards)

The Creatures:

2x Phalanx Leader

2x Wingsteed Rider

2x Favored Hoplite

1x Fabled Hero

1x Seeker of the Way

1x Jeskai Student

4x Battlewise Hoplite

3x Mantis Rider

1x Prognostic Sphinx

2x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer

2x Sunscorch Regent

1x Dawnbringer Charioteers

1x Battlefield Thaumaturge

The Spells:

2x Feat of Resistance

2x Dauntless Onslaught

1x Citadel Siege

1x Monastery Siege

2x Jeskai Ascendancy

2x Jeskai Charm

2x Battlewise Valor

1x Kill Shot

2x Ordeal of Heliod

1x Trumpet Blast

1x Ajani’s Presence

2x Defiant Strike

1x Icy Blast

1x Crater’s Claws

Artifacts:

1x Spear of Heliod

Lands:

4x Mystic Monastery

2x Wind-Scarred Crag

2x Swiftwater Cliffs

2x Tranquil Cove

5x Plains

4x Islands

2x Mountains

On the Tabletop

Red Deck Wins?

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(Editors Note: This is my first attempt at both a standard deck and making a deck that is at least some level of competitive. I netdecked a few decks to see what strategies and tried to use the ones that I thought would work best for my play style. Feedback and suggestions on how to make it better are appreciated and will be considered.)

One of the first decks I ever built was a goblins token deck built around Krenko. It made Chris sweat on more than one occasion and remains one of my favorite decks to play. I’m not usually an aggro player, but it is nice to mix it up now and then. When Chris recommended that we try to keep up with the Standard meta with a couple of our decks (more on my thoughts on that tomorrow), I knew I was going aggro and control. The aggro quickly became an RDW (a deck archetype that many choose as their first foray into any format) and I’m still struggling with the control deck. I tried a Blue/White, but it just felt way too slow and the Sultai deck that I like to play is very expensive. I’m not ready to pay for it just yet. I might proxy up some of the cards to practice with the deck and fill in with the actual cards as I can.

Creatures (19)

Foundry Street Denizen (4): These guys are great in any kind of mono red aggro.
Goblin Heelcutter (4): Once you get all that damage on the board, sometimes you need a way to get it to face. This creature helps with that.
Goblin Rabblemaster (2): Once upon a time, I got a Goblin Rabblemaster from a Fat Pack, learned that people were paying crazy prices for it, searched, and could not find it. When putting together this deck, I found him and his brother, so maybe things were meant to be.
Mardu Scout (4): One of these guys might become Zurgo Bellstriker. For now, though, I love dashing these guys.
Monastery Swiftspear (4): Foundry Street Denizens for the burn spells that we have! Huzzah!
Purphoros, God of the Forge (1): I don’t know how useful this guy is, but I had one of them lying around, so I included it in the deck. Might become a sideboard for particularly annoying control decks.

Instants and Sorceries (14)

Blinding Flare (2): More ways to push damage through the blockers to face.
Hordeling Outburst (4): I love my goblin tokens. Combos with both the Denizen and Swiftspear.
Lightning Strike (4): Fry a pesky blocker or apply to face.
Magma Jet (4): I know that I can play Wild Swipe for 1 mana cheaper and I might end up doing that, but I love the Scry mechanic and want to use it as much as possible before it rotates out.

Artifacts (5)

Hall of Triumph (1): Nice little buff for our teeny tiny creatures to trade up/push them out of easy removal range.
Obelisk of Urd (4): 4 might be overdoing it on this one, but I’ll stick with them for now just to bump up those token.

Enchantment (2)

Outpost Siege (2): Being able to possibly play two cards a turn? Sure, why not.

Land (20)

Mountains (19) and one Urborg because isn’t everyone playing that in this meta?

Sideboard (15)

Anger of the Gods (4): Again, 4 might be overkilling it here, but I found that I was having a really difficult time against certain control matchups. I searched for Red sweepers and this one showed up.
Ashcloud Phoenix (2): Decent flying creature that can return to battlefield and pings every time it gets morphed.
Stoke the Flames (3): More potential burn.
Traitorous Instinct (2): Because I can have a lot of fun with this card.
Wild Slash (4): Some (or all) of these might make it into the main deck. We’ll see.

I don’t think this is bad for a first attempt at standard from a guy who admittedly hates monocolored and hates aggro. In playtesting, it actually performs pretty well against some of the bigger decks. Now that things are changing with dragons, it might need some tweaking. That won’t come until next month when I finally get a chance to pick up my Dragons of Tarkir care package at the Star City Games event. I will update with how the deck performs when Chris and I get together next week. Until then!

On the Tabletop

Life-Gain Beatdown (Legacy)

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dopI know what you are saying right now: “C’mon, a cheesy life-gain deck?!” Well don’t pass judgement..I haven’t steered you wrong yet have I? This isn’t just any life-gain deck my friends. No, this deck isn’t about building up a mountain of life points that you sit on and giggle as your opponent struggles to even put a scratch in it. The life points we get go towards a great cause: pumping up our Divinity of the Pride, Serra Avatar and we can also sacrifice that stockpile to feed some Moltensteel Dragons. In order to get life fast this deck contains one key card: Rhox Faithmender (well two copies actually). His ability to double the amount of life you gain allows you to pump up the creatures mentioned above at an insanely fast rate. Who doesn’t want to play an 8/8 flying Divinity of the Pride on Turn 5? Of course to keep that life total nice and high, you need to shut down your opponent’s offense. To do so, the deck contains Angel of Serenity, Pacifism, and a playset of Banisher Priest. This deck is pretty fun to play but your opponent probably won’t agree. Now on to the list:

The Deck(60 cards)

Creatures (25): Enchantments(7):

4x Banisher Priest 2x Ordeal of Heliod

2x Divinity of the Pride 2x Pacifism

4x Kemba’s Skyguard 2x Brave the Elements

1x Archon of Redemption 1x Divine Favor

2x Rhox Faithmender Artifacts(1):

1x Serra Avatar 1x Hall of Triumph

1x Augury Adept Instants(7):

1x Angelic Skirmisher 4x Rest for the Weary

1x Angel of Serenity 2x Riot Control

1x Watcher of the Roost 1x Phalanx Formation

2x Doomed Traveler Lands(18):

1x Seraph of the Sword 17x Plains

1x Seraph of Dawn 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

1x Suture Priest

2x Ajani’s Sunstriker

Artifact Creatures(2):

2x Moltensteel Dragon

 

Note: If you want to be a real dweeb and add in another possible win condition..grab a copy or two of Felidar Sovereign, which allows you to win the game if you have 40 or more life at your upkeep. I’m not into it, but hey whatever floats your boat.

On the Tabletop

Attempting Abzan on the Cheap

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(Editor’s Note:

Chris came up with the idea a couple of weeks ago to delve (pun fully intended) into Standard with a couple of our decks to explore the strategy of having to update decks periodically as new sets are released and old sets rotate out. This doesn’t mean that we are going away from our traditional Legacy decks, but it is good to be able to experience all of the different aspects of the game. I knew immediately that one of my decks was going to be a RDW deck. That’s one of the first decks that almost everyone creates in any format because it is usually cheap and can be very effective even against more expensive decks.

I still don’t know what my other deck will be. I’m pretty sure that I want to go with some sort of blue/white or blue/black control, but I don’t want to limit myself without trying out as many of the deck archetypes as I can. I should also remind you that I’m not a singles buyer, I’m a bulk collector. I generally buy a box and a fat pack of each set and whatever cards I pull are the cards that I have to build my decks. Therefore, to test some decks, I built pretty cheap decks from pauper shells that I found online. One of those decks was a Temur morph deck because I really keep trying to make Temur work, but I just can’t figure out how. The other was Abzan and that one actually has the makings of a good deck. I don’t know if it will be part of my final list, but it is making me consider it as an option.

Abzan Outlast “Pauper”

Spells/Artifacts – 11

Abzan Banner – 2 (The banners are pretty slow, but any time you can get mana or card draw, go for it.)
Dragonscale Boon – 3 (+1 counters are good in the deck because they can grant reach, plus untapping for a surprise blocker is good)
Feat of Resistance – 4 (More +1 counters plus protection lets you block while avoiding damage.)
Grim Contest – 2 (To be honest, I’m not even sure if this card is good. I just picked it because it has the nickname of “Butt Fight”.)

Creatures – 25

Abzan Guide – 3 (This is expensive, but it is a morph, so can hit the board earlier than if hard cast. Once it is turned up, it has lifelink and is a pretty significant body at 4/4.)
Abzan Skycaptain – 2 (This is a bit overcosted, but it is flying and Chris likes his dragons. Also, bolster is okay for the +1s).
Ainok Bond-Kin – 4 (Not a great 2 drop with Outlast. Mainly because I needed some low cost bodies.)
Disowned Ancestor – 2 (0/4 is a good blocker with Outlast for only one black. Good for “Butt Fight”.)
Longshot Squad – 2 (Outlast, gives all other creatures with +1s reach. Did I mention how much Chris likes dragons?)
Midnight Guard – 4 (Okay, not standard, but a pretty good low cost minion. Will definitely have to replace this if I go Abzan as my other standard deck.)
Unyielding Krumar – 2 (Another okay, but not great minion. The first strike ability is nice and will trade favorably with many other minions.)
Voyaging Satyr – 4 (Having mana is always nice, but I think I might already have enough for this deck. These guys might be moved into my Temur deck if I decide to proceed with that one.)
Wardscale Dragon – 2 (I jokingly said, “History is made this day.” when I played this guy and then Chris promptly removed him. I knew there was a reason that I didn’t play these stupid dragons.)

Lands – 24

Blossoming Sands – 2
Forest – 6
Jungle Hollow – 2
Plains – 7
Scoured Barrens – 2
Swamp – 5

This was a fun deck to play and it is definitely something to consider expanding into an actual standard deck, but I’m still on the blue/white or blue/black, so I don’t think that I will use it as one of my standard spots. Still, it is the start of an interesting deck and something that I might continue to build into a regular deck during our games.

On the Tabletop

Getting the Gang Together

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(Editor’s Note: Be on the lookout for a “Help Wanted” sign on a tavern door near you. It could be these guys and if you want to keep living, you’ll just walk on by. That’s not a threat. It’s a warning.)

I wrote an article recently about Dungeons and Dragons. In the article, I mentioned that a current friend and I were reaching out to other friends in an attempt to get a group together to play on the Roll 20 website. Making this happen has proven to be more difficult than anticipated. Who knew that coordinating the schedules of 6 adults scattered across the country would not be easy? Certainly not this foolishly eternal optimist.

This is an adventure that can only be told in the epic rhymed couplet style of Homer. No, that doesn’t sound right. It’s Tolkien. Who can forget the classic line,

“If you touch my precious,
then I will stick my knife into your fleshes.”

Hey, I said it was epic, not good. Now to listen to our own bard’s tale.

Six heroes assemble, brave and true.
But why? or what? or who?
Be they miners in the employ of a dwarf?
Perhaps there are dragons attacking a wharf
The reasons, they matter not
Whether treasures found or dragons fought
All agree, that for a fee,
they will be, heroes of destiny.

Our hero the first
He is, by no means, the worst
Hails from a land with the strange name of Mini Soda
Both physically fit and wise like Yoda
A master of bow and blade
He prefers murky swamps over the glade
So far our party is in good hands
And I am optimistic about our merry band

Our second party member
Burns inside like an ember
With a love for math, chess, and martial arts
Try though he may, he can’t change his students’ hearts
(He’s only the DM, so he doesn’t get a full verse
This may seem unfair but such is the leader’s curse.)

This brings us to number three
He is a mystery to me
I am but a humble poet
If he has a face, I don’t know it
His profile pic shows only Cthulhu
This frightens me more than ghosts that say boo
If this picture stunt offends
Then our world just may end.

So we come to the fourth
Is he from the south or the north?
Another enigma wrapped in a puzzle covered in riddle sauce
He may be only a minion or he may be the boss
His only clues are the Batman
With him and the dark god, they may go splat man
Luck must be on our heroes’ side
Just in case, after this tale, I will hide

Before I do, we have two to go
At least these two we know
They are old friends
and will be to the end
As we have discussed,
It may not be long until they are dust
We now have an unknown, a mage, ranger, and barbarian
But nothing to prevent them from becoming carrion

And so I sing the praises (?) of our last
Who is most responsible for this motley cast
He suggested the game (er, adventure, but that is hard to rhyme)
And took responsibility for a role most lame
Stand in the back and toss heal spells
Perhaps be the only one alive with a tale to tell
Rewarded for his “sacrifice”, really cowardice
I hope the dragon eats him first as he will not be missed

Well it appears that our intrepid bard has his own ideas of how this tale will end. Keep tuning in to 2 Guys Gaming for periodic updates to see if his prognostication skills are as terrible as his rhyming skills.

On the Tabletop

Blond’s Top 5 Dragons of Tarkir Cards

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dragons

It’s that time again folks, a new expansion is yet again on the radar. Which means another Top 5 list! I’ll be honest, Dragons of Tarkir has me more excited than any other set since I’ve started playing (that’s saying a lot because I absolutely loved Theros). It actually took me quite a long time to narrow down my favorite cards to only 5. Remember, this list is exactly that: MY top 5. I’m in no way saying these are the best cards in the set. These are simply the top 5 cards that I’m looking forward to playing and that I predict will see some action in Standard.

5. Savage Ventmaw

sventmaw

A 4/4 G/R flyer for 6 mana doesn’t sound like a good deal at all does it? What makes this fellow interesting is its ability to generate 6 mana (3 red, 3 green) every time it attacks. Look for this guy to make an appearance in Atarka ramp decks. Speaking of Atarka…

 

4. Dragonlord Atarka

dlord atarka

7 mana (5GR) for an 8/8 dragon with flying and trample is already pretty decent. But when you add in it’s ability to deal 5 damage divided anyway you choose between your opponent’s creatures and planeswalkers when it enters the battlefield makes this card a must have in my book.

 

3. Gleam of Authority

gauth

An Enchantment that gives the enchanted creature +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on your other creatures. It also grants the enchanted creature the ability of Bolster, which pumps your other creatures up, which then in turn pumps your enchanted creature up even more. I have a feeling that this card will see some action in Heroic decks.

 

2. Thunderbreak Regent

tbreak

Only 4 mana for a 4/4 flyer and when you opponent gets cheeky and decides to take it out, Thunderbreak does 3 damage to that player. I’m really pumped for this guy. I’m planning on running a playset in the new dragon deck that I’m currently brewing. (I’ll make sure I post the deck when I finish tweaking it).

 

Which brings us to ……………………………………………………….

…………………………………………….

………………………………

……………………….

……………

1. Zurgo Bellstriker

zurgo

What the hell!? Zurgo Bellstriker?! Not Narset Transcendent?! Not Deathmist Raptor?! Yes, Zurgo ****ing Bellstriker. I’m expecting that this guy will be a staple in all RDW and/or aggro decks and not only that, will be popular in all formats, not just standard. A one drop 2/2 with a weak drawback is pretty rare, and his dash ability can make your opponent’s life miserable. Is he unstoppable? No. Realistically he only shines in an aggro deck as his weak drawback (he can’t block creatures with power 2 or greater ) can actually become a liability later in the game. If you draw him in your opening hand though…look out.

 

Honorable mentions:

Ire Shaman, Commune with Lava, Narset Transcendent, Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, Atarka’s Command, Avatar of the Resolute, Inspiring Call, Shaman of the Forgotten Ways, Dragonlord Silumgar, Sarkhan Unbroken, Hidden Dragonslayer, Sunscorch Regent, Blood-Chin Rager

On the Tabletop

So about last night…(a.k.a Our First Journey into the World of Standard)

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Last night was our monthly gaming night as well as our scheduled podcast-recording session (it was a great show, definitely check it out once it’s up). It was also the first time that I have ever played Standard. Note: Shawn has attended a prerelease event in the past but I’m not counting it as it was sealed. So exactly how did two legacy guys end playing Standard?

It started about a week and a half ago, we were chatting about how excited we were for Dragons and for some reason I started thinking of the ways it will shake up Standard. Would there suddenly be an influx of ramp decks? Warrior decks that utilize the powerful Dragon Hunter? At that point it hit me: it didn’t matter. We only played Legacy and Modern. Why was I so interested in what was going on with Standard? It certainly wasn’t going to affect us any..or would it? I sent Shawn a message suggesting that we jump onto the Standard boat for a trial run. He immediately liked the idea and suddenly the fire was lit.

I thought of brewing a Red Deck Wins and an Abzan Aggro. I already had both of those deck types built so I figured that besides replacing a few cards and doing some tweaking, they were all set for Standard action. Wrong. I essentially had to break both of those decks down to the point of scrapping them and completely rebuilding. After removing all of the non-Standard cards, I was left with approximately 27 cards in my Abzan and even less in my Red Deck Wins. I decided that the Red Deck Wins was a lost cause so that went straight into the Legacy part of the my collection (also Shawn was building one and sometimes aggro vs aggro can feel…less than mentally stimulating). Since this was a time of change and getting out of our comfort zone, I decided to look into a mechanic from the Theros block that originally didn’t impress me in the least bit; Constellation. I’m glad I changed my mind about it because I love the combo aspect of the game and this deck is all about combos. After playtesting the deck a few times I felt very foolish for ignoring the mechanic for over a year. The Abzan deck was slightly easier to tweak..throw a couple of Siege Rhinos in, sprinkle in some Fleecemane Lions and you have an aggro deck. OK, Ok, it was more complicated than that but I won’t bore you with the exact details of how I crafted that deck.

So how did it turn out? Well to be perfectly honest we played 3 games last night, 2 Standard and 1 Legacy..and the Standard games were far more intriguing and close. The first game was my Constellation deck vs his Temur. I roared out to an early lead, dropping a few 2 drop Enchantment creatures and kept gaining life while chipping away at his. But Shawn is a resilient player and didn’t go down easily. He battled back, removing creatures and sending my Master of the Feast back to my hand repeatedly. In the end I prevailed but that was only due to a Banishing Light that I was holding in my hand. The 2nd game was even better in my opinion..it was Abzan vs Abzan. In the end despite the fact that I kept fighting back by gaining life and pumping up my creatures, I was straight up outplayed and lost. I made some misplays that screwed me over..but even if I didn’t he had me dead to rights. The 3rd game we played was a Legacy and it wasn’t close. I walked away with the “W” but it wasn’t satisfactory. I rather win by a narrow margin then by a landslide any day. There is no excitement in a game like that. After that game, I kind of kicked myself for not building a 3rd Standard deck. It’s hard to go from 2 interesting games to a 3rd not-so-interesting game. So are we Standard guys now? To a certain extent I think we are. The deck building is more challenging but the back and forth nature of the games makes up for the limited pool of cards you can choose from. Now am I saying that we are done playing Legacy/done posting Legacy deck list/ done talking about Legacy? No, no way. Legacy is the format that our 2 man group started with. I can’t speak for my buddy but Legacy was feeling slightly stale to me over the last few months so it’s nice to flex that mental muscle and keep things fresh by going Standard.

Keep checking this site as there will be more Standard deck lists, and even videos of our games to check out. Also, I posted the Constellation deck mentioned above in our deck lists section.