Sunday, March 31, 2013

SOM + as a casual affordable format

Now that I am done with the Modern scan-well...my wallet is; I am planning to take the SOM + selection and turn it into a cube. For it, I will start with commanders for each of the ten Return to Ravnica guilds and make a deck for each using my selection for the SOM, ISD, and RTR blocks, and the three core sets in this cycle (Magic 2012, Magic 2013, and Magic 2014). At this point DGM and M14 have not been issued. This  is a very large selection of cards, similar to the dead format known as Extended. This is kitchen table Magic at its best since Modern and Standard are very expensive, but making do with whatever I have is not. Here are the two-color commanders in SOM+.


Here is the color balance for SOM+ISD.


These are all the cards for SOM+ISD. Beginning with SOM is perfect for a multi-use cube: lots of artifacts, lots of graveyard interaction, some great tribal selections, and tons of multicolored cards-latter once I add RTR to it.



Monday, February 18, 2013

Mono Artifacts in Gatecrash Standard

I dare you to win a single game with this deck! Even though I have taken great pains (and money to the bots) to have all useful artifact creatures in the current standard, we just are not in a pair of blocks that have enough artifact creatures for an artifact-only deck. Still, it was worth a try. If I make it to turn 8 before I lose, I consider that game a success for this deck!



Mono Green in Gatecrash Standard

This deck is very efficient. The time I took to work with mono-green back in Innistrad Block Constructed is beginning to pay off.




Mono Red in Gatecrash Standard

I have not yet gone goblin-crazy, still in my rat-crazy phase, but I can see myself having lots of fun with goblins. Foundry Street Denizen can be pumped.




Mono Black in Gatecrash Standard

This deck uses the combination of Bloodthrone Vampire and Black Cat. It also has fliers, life gain, and some removal as well card discard.




Mono Blue in Gatecrash Standard

This deck is surprisingly effective. I have finally learned to use the various types of blue control cards. The blue cards that move a card on the battlefield to your opponent's hand, or even better, to the top of their library, can be very useful.




Mono White in Gatecrash Standard

I like Boros Elite, except that it is a beacon for removal so often that it is mostly a way to let your other creatures attack.