This cube has Invasion block and both Ravnica blocks. That's a lot of cards. It can use Eternal Masters, Vintage Masters, and both Modern Masters sets as core sets. I added packs from Ravnica block first ($10 worth), and then I added $15 in singles since the singles are cheaper than the packs for Ravnica block. I also added singles to Invasion block. Here are the packs.
First, a Ravnica pack, because I can pull something awesome (I didn't, and that's OK).
Then a Dissension pack.
And then six packs of Guildpact.
I am missing a small number of cards from Invasion and Ravnica. I already have the Return to Ravnica block complete online. Since I have the shocklands from Return to Ravnica, that's ten missing cards I don't need. I also have a few Ravnica block cards as reprints in the two Modern Masters sets.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Monday, November 21, 2016
Fun Shards of Alara Rares For Deckbuilding
This is just a notes post. I have built decks around some of these rares in the past, and would like to build decks with the ones I haven't gotten to, as well as additional build-arounds with the ones I have played before. Oh, and there's a Mythic Rare in here as well.
Rubiera
Sunday, November 20, 2016
[Modern] White Green Devotion Shadowmoor Plus Deck
This is a three-for-one deck. It has devotion, I am using the cards from Shadowmoor that became really affordable, I am placing them in a devotion, and I am even using a Shard of Alara card from the batch I just got: Knight of New Alara.
Most casual decks that let me build my army fold over.
I can wear my opponent out for the win.
Now, against a black deck with a lot of removal, this deck does not stand a chance. Once my devotion pieces are removed, I am done. This is the Achilles' heal of a Devotion deck without Hexproof or Indestructible.
Even when I can take out my opponent's enchantment, I am down to a 1/1 token.
The same happens against decks playing red that can remove my early drops.
But if I encounter decks that try to outbuild me, most of the time, I can win. Here are three wins. In this first one, I had 10 Green mana to spare.
Here, I have 4 mana to spare.
This deck was pimped out, but could not outrace me. Once I have my devotion combo, I can play out my whole hand of high converted mana cost creatures.
Most casual decks that let me build my army fold over.
I can wear my opponent out for the win.
Now, against a black deck with a lot of removal, this deck does not stand a chance. Once my devotion pieces are removed, I am done. This is the Achilles' heal of a Devotion deck without Hexproof or Indestructible.
Even when I can take out my opponent's enchantment, I am down to a 1/1 token.
The same happens against decks playing red that can remove my early drops.
But if I encounter decks that try to outbuild me, most of the time, I can win. Here are three wins. In this first one, I had 10 Green mana to spare.
Here, I have 4 mana to spare.
This deck was pimped out, but could not outrace me. Once I have my devotion combo, I can play out my whole hand of high converted mana cost creatures.
Rubiera
Saturday, November 19, 2016
A Few Mage Cycles
I am looking for new ideas to build decks with. There have been several mage cycles. Here are the ones I have dug up. I am sure I am missing a cycle or two. For now, this is just a place holder to know where to look for these.
Mirage had a shard cycle. All are one-drops.
The original Ravnica had ten guild mages. All of these are two-drop hybrids.
Shards of Alara remade the Mirage mages. All of these are three-drops.
And Return to Ravnica has another cycle of guild mages. We are back to two-drops, although these are harder to cast than the hybrids from the original Ravnica block.
Mirage had a shard cycle. All are one-drops.
The original Ravnica had ten guild mages. All of these are two-drop hybrids.
Shards of Alara remade the Mirage mages. All of these are three-drops.
And Return to Ravnica has another cycle of guild mages. We are back to two-drops, although these are harder to cast than the hybrids from the original Ravnica block.
Rubiera
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Vanilla Creatures
It would be really cool if some day Wizards designed a bunch of non-creature cards to prefer Vanilla creatures (creatures without any abilities). Here are the ones in Modern minus 8th and 9th Edition (I don't like White cards). If we made these the only creatures in a hypothetical set, the colors would not be in balance, and neither would the mana curve. I wasn't there when these were created, but they mostly look like hole-fillers. A few are under-costed, which is great. This is especially true for the big Green creatures and some of the small White creatures.
Rubiera