March 25, 2010

Guest Post: Competitive Casual – Fear the Reaper

By MTGColorPie

Needs more Cowbell

Editor’s Note: Jake from Competitive Casual has graciously allowed 99EDH to repost another one of his EDH articles. After a little formatting to get the article to fit this blog, it’s up. Enjoy! (And, since I love UGMadness.net so much, my favorite Reaper King related comic.)

This deck is my first five-color deck I can remember making, and certainly my first in EDH. I’ll explain what the deck is trying to do and the different types of cards I’ve chosen to include in a minute, but first go ahead and check this bad boy out…

Now, Wizards of the Coast has printed quite a few five-color legendary creatures over the years: Karona, False God; Horde of Notions; Child of Alara; even Scion of the Ur-Dragon. Any of these would have made fine Generals for this deck, and allowed me to use any color of cards that I wanted. So why Reaper King?

Other Scarecrow creatures you control get +1/+1.
Whenever another Scarecrow enters the battlefield under your control, destroy target permanent.

Well, the reason I chose the hulking Scarecrow lord rather than any of these other fine gentlemen (or gentle-women… wasn’t trying to exclude you, Karona) may not be what you think. It really boils down to this card, a little-used mythic rare from Alara Reborn:

Explosions!

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2 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Competitive Casual, EDH, Magic: the Gathering

March 17, 2010

99EDH Deck Clinic – Rafiq of the Many

By MTGColorPie

Editor’s Note: I apologize for the lack of card tags in this article. At the moment of this printing, I have to do all the card tags myself, and I figured that it was more worth while to have the article up then keeping you waiting even longer. I apologize for the inconvenience, and recommend having magiccards.info up on a tab or new window to look up the cards you don’t know. I am currently trying to find something that works. Thank you for understanding.

Welcome to the inaugural 99EDH deck clinic where we help you with your EDH deck problems. This took a little longer then I thought, but finally we’re here. Not really this much else to say, is there? Let’s get right to it.

Billy chimes in with his problem (and suddenly I feel like Casey Kasem).

My name is Billy, and my general is Rafiq of the Many. I want to have my deck be the subject of a deck clinic because I’ve found that my EDH games are very non-interactive, linear, and predictable. My EDH games go from 1v1 to 6 or more people, so I try to be versatile in the face of a metagame that involved token (Rhys), general damage (Uril), prison (Hokori, Numot) and combo (Sharuum, Blue Braids, Niv-Mizzet) strategies.

My favorite type of EDH game involves lots of bickering and vying for control of the field, and I found that my games are usually a Reveillark combo or a Strip Mine lock, and is overly dependent on a few spells like Intuition. It seems like my deck has 20 or more cards devoted to combo and 20 to tutoring them. My deck is so linear that I frequently play Pithing Needle naming Relic of Progenitus before one is even in play because my deck doesn’t do anything without graveyard recursion.

I have trouble making room for dramatic, fun, social effects like Twincast, Bribery, and Pheldagriff, and even basic utility cards like Path to Exile. I also find myself scrambling for my 1 answer to a specific threat. Card availability is not an issue but has one caveat: I am hesitant to spend money on cards that aren’t a rock solid investment like Force of Will. In short, I’ve got 99 problems and a too linear deck is one.

Yes, the final line sold me.

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4 Comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, EDH Deck Clinic, Magic: the Gathering

March 5, 2010

Good News Everyone! I’m on an Internet Podcast (and More Good News)!

By MTGColorPie

Try reading the rest of this post in his voice

Earlier this week I participated in the heavily EDH friendly “MTG Radio” podcast. I was the featured guest on episode #27 I Prefer Pecan (a joke which I don’t get and was chosen before recording but found out the answer here). I would highly recommend you check it out. You actually get to hear my voice which is why Professor Farnsworth is on here (and to the chagrin of  Adam Styborski, the writer for Serious Fun on DailyMTG.com). It’s always different to hear someone’s voice after reading their writing, because you have a different tone for what they sound like. Of course, no one likes the sound of their own voice and you think you sound more mature than you actually do. I picture my voice with more of a Zapp Brannigan type of voice, but I know that’s not the truth.

And with three references to Futurama in three posts, I think I’ve reached my limit. Back to the podcast and why you should listen.

  1. I’m in it.
  2. We talk about their new segment: hidden EDH gems. We all throw out some cards that people have overlooked in EDH play (my top pick: Tainted Pact). This is something I too shall be doing in due time (more on this later).
  3. I talk about my Sygg, River Cutthroat deck. it was (spoiler) the EDH General of the week! (/spoiler).

It was a very good time and was a whole lot of fun to do. With the weekend here, I’m sure you can take a hour and listen to it when you’re doing something else (listen to the show and you’ll know what I mean).

But the good news doesn’t in here folks:

Next week, your EDH decks will start to get the help that you want!

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Leave a comment | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering

February 24, 2010

An EDH Review of Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs The Coalition

By MTGColorPie

Flex those muscles!

Now that the entire list of the new Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs The Coalition has been released (here and here), it’s a good time to take a look and see what goodies it holds for EDH.

Yadda, yadda, yadda. Why should we care? I mean, it’s not like the put anything good in those decks anyway. It’s just for noobs, right?

Wrong! Not only is it good for getting old cards in the new frames (which can help with the “pimp” factor), it also helps if you weren’t playing much in those days. Yes, Urza’s Saga and Invasion were over 10 years ago. Yes, that makes me old.

Let’s see what each deck has to offer for EDH. Now, while these decks are meant to be played together against each other, not all of the time will you keep them together. There might be a good portion of you who do, and that’s great, we’re here to see what would happen if you tear it apart and add or create to your EDH decks. A chance to buy 4 Generals, some awesome never before printed cards in new frames, and to get your hands on a couple new foils, might be worth the $20 MSRP (hint: yes it will be).

We will look at the Coalition’s deck which was first chosen randomly in alphabetical order.

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2 Comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering

February 16, 2010

If You’re Havin’ Deck Problems I Feel Bad for You Son…

By MTGColorPie
Now Zoidberg is the popular one!

Horray! I'm Helping!

I asked a question on Twitter and boy did it get responses. “Do you want an EDH deck clinic?” Yes was the response, overwhelmingly. In fact, I don’t think I got a single “No” answer. Whatever the people want, we do.

Here’s how it’s going to work: Send your decklist to 99EDHProblems AT gmail.com. Tell us why you want it fixed (having trouble with the local metagame, deck’s not working right, people laugh when I play this card), and your access to cards (Can get older (pre-Onslaught), just started out, etc) so we know what kind of cards to suggest. Yes, original duel lands make every deck better but we know not everyone can get access to them.

We can’t promise we’ll get to all of them quickly, but we’ll scatter these deck clinics out, maybe once every two weeks or some variation of that. We’ll always be looking for new decks, so keep submitting them, please. It could be your first EDH deck or your 25th, it always helps to have another pair (or several) take a look at your deck.

So, to recap:

  • Send decklist to 99EDHProblems AT gmail.com
  • Tell us why you want us to take a look at it
  • What kind of cards you can get access to
  • Any other notes you think we should know

Do NOT post them to comments down below, or send them to me on Twitter; please e-mail them to the e-mail address.

Thanks everybody and the DOCTOR IS IN!

Leave a comment | posted in EDH, EDH Deck Clinic, Magic: the Gathering

February 15, 2010

Why It’s Important to Update Your EDH Decks

By MTGColorPie

No, not everything is foil and foreign, yet...

Worldwake release has come and past and now you’re sitting at home with a stack of new cards. You’re looking at your EDH decks thinking if you should update them with your shiny new cards you pulled or traded for.

And you should.

While EDH isn’t a rotating format (like Standard and Extended are), there are always new exciting things that you can add to your decks with each new set. Even if you think that you deck is perfect the way it is now, why not take a look at it with some of the new cards from the set. I do it each time a new set is released as it’s always the most logical time to update you deck.

Timing-wise, it gives you a chance to play around with the new cards. Maybe something is better than you thought it was, or didn’t give something a chance and now it’s seeing play in all of your decks. Maybe I was wrong with my Worldwake review and you saw something I missed and it’s been frustrating your friends ever since. Maybe you ditch the old way of playing in your old deck and develop a new way that your friend can’t deal with.

And isn’t that always the best feeling?

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Leave a comment | posted in EDH, Worldwake

February 2, 2010

The Really Big Worldwake EDH Review

By MTGColorPie

Never mess with the Fatties!

Ahh, you smell that? That’s the new set smell.

It’s the time again where every Magic blog in the world does a new set review. Since you guys voted in such overwhelming numbers, I’m going to be doing a Set review of EDH here on 99EDH. A whopping 69% of you wanted an EDHtastic review (75 votes) and only one person voted no (sorry, but I guess you’re going to have to skip this post then). Luckily you didn’t want me to do every single card which is good; but you know what surprised me when I went through the list: about half of the cards can fit into an EDH deck.

Please note: pretty much every card in this set can be used in this format, though some of them aren’t really all that exciting (Twitch?). If you want to try out some of the other cards that I didn’t mention here, feel free.

At the end of this post, you’ll get my Top 10 list for EDH from Worldwalke. On to the reviews!

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5 Comments | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, Really Big EDH Review, Worldwake

January 27, 2010

Worldwake EDH General Review – Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs

By MTGColorPie

What is your quest?

Yes, another EDH legend was spoiled, so here comes a new review of him. This General is different than the ones we’ve normally seen in this color. It’s a little odd to see his ability (one you can easily abuse), but it can be used effectively to make sure no one messes with you.

But first, take a look at that art. There are some Generals that look wimpy, or rely on their smarts or ones you might think you could take in a fight. It looks like this guy will tear limbs from you if you ever cross him. Good thing we’re going to make him happy.

Again, if you want to be kept from spoilers, go no further. Otherwise, let’s see what we can do.

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3 Comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, Worldwake

January 20, 2010

Worldwake EDH General Review – Anowon, the Ruin Sage

By MTGColorPie

He's holding an Apocalypse Chime? (Look it up kids)

Most of you that voted in last post’s poll, want a EDHtastic set review of Worldwake. I guess you guys can’t get enough Magic reviews. Fine, fine, you’ll get your reviews after the Prerelease. As for now, you’ll get what I’m thinking about each new EDH General that’s officially released.

The new General shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone who’s been following Magic since M10. Vampires have been the New Kids on the Block being all high and mighty. They got a semi-awesome General in Zendikar, but of course Worldwake was going to bring the one who would lead the tribe (Anyone else notice how much tribal stuff they got going on in this block? Maybe it should’ve followed Lorywn instead of Alara).

What follows is spoilers about this guy, so look away if you want to be surprised. Yes, he’s shirtless, but guess what, he’s not sparkling, and that’s a very good thing.

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3 Comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, Worldwake

January 18, 2010

Worldwake EDH General Review – Omnath, Locus of Mana

By MTGColorPie

I think someone's been watching Princess Mononoke lately

With Worldwake coming up around the corner, it’s that time to update your EDH decks. Sure you don’t have to, but there might be some great cards that you’d love to put in your decks. Other times, there are new Generals that are printed to give you more options to build new decks.

While there will be some websites and blogs doing set reviews, I’m still up in the air to decide what to do (voice your opinion in the poll, please!). Currently, I’m going to review the first EDH General from Worldwake. If you want to keep away from all spoilers, don’t go under the jump.

(Remember, we’re only going to be reviewing WotC approved spoilers. To see the list, click here)

Onto the first EDH General: Omnath, Locus of Mana.

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6 Comments   |  tags: | posted in EDH, Magic: the Gathering, Worldwake