whisenhuntn if she uses planeswalker to win consistently then I'd recommend running more Never / Returns. Likewise if she steals creatures then I'd recommend having sacrifice outlets that which allow you to sacrifice the creature when she tries to take it, so she's just wasted her spell and usually a sacrifice outlet will allow you to get something for it at least. Based on your description of her deck it might be worth splashing red in your deck for cards like Fling and other burn spells (burn = any spell or ability outside of combat which deals damage). You can also use burn spells to get rid of planeswalkers so it could be a good all round strategy. Also there's nothing better than Flinging a 7/7 at someone who just tried to steal it :D

@ titan

i love what youve done! its all amonkhet! AWESOME awesome awesome

erm.... um... whats a sideboard?

@Prismaticsparx

i dont have the defiant Salvager

thanks 100x

Feel free to ask me anything about the first 11 days.

Sideboard is used to change cards in/out between games to adjust to your opponent's deck. Ex: your mainboard has no flying defense, fine. But after you play them once and see they have flying you'll want to put some reach/flying in.

Have fun playing, but be careful, it gets addicting! Lol

okay setup a mock attack on a plainswalker and how that impacts the.... loyalty?

in short form how does one "planeswalker pest control"?

Okay time to reveal my personal spending on mtg... not gifts

i spent day before yesterday @ local mtg store

6 amonkhet booster @ 3 for 10$ =20$

& i purchased a single booster pack from w@lmart @ 4.18$

no deals its flat 4.18 plus tax every booster hence buying 1

add in my deck box and my 9 panel binder pages and card sleeves... maybe 15-25

ive spent maybe somewhere in the realm of 35-55$

it feels worth it considering i got my entomb invocations out of the $4.18 booster

im not joking i literally had no idea what it was and i thought it was just some wierd foil... then i read the booster and it said the odds of masterpiece card are......

then i said some words im not proud of when i saw the $$$$ of the card on mtg price.com

and being 100% honest....

that surprised me that cards go for that much....

made it(mtg) that much more real...& credible having to remind myself this was the first playing card game....

noob question bacause curiosity.. whats the most expensive/rarest card?

Upvote this post so it gets seen PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Honestly, quit buying boosters. Find/Build a deck you like on here and buy it through TCG Player. It was another issue I had when I started too. It is fun to crack packs, but not if you want to actually build decks. But to each their own! If you want it to get seen seep cycling it brotha.

TitanofYAW is right. Boosters are fun but they aren't a particularly good or economical option for getting specific cards for constructed play. Regarding things for you to check out to help you get into magic more: there are tons of good sites and content creators out there. Some that spring to mind are: 1. tolarian community college 2. the mana source 3. mtggoldfish 4. channelfireball

@ titan i commented on your deck build the cards i fell short on

Thanks prismaticsparx!

I completely re-did the deck and updated it!!

This is why the mtg community is the best community in gaming!! Welcome to the Fold whisenhuntn, your Journey to Nowhere is a long one but you're in a good Collected Company. Hah!

So if I may, I'd like to add to the general Knowledge Pool first. First things first: pay close attention to the wording of each card. As you mentioned above with Cruel Reality when she said "you know in a real game they won't remind you about your abilities", in response you could have pointed out that the ability is not a "may" situation. Which would have lawyered her into not skipping your ability. The next subject, that has already been mentioned but I'd like to add my New Perspectives to is deck construction. I know that certain people might disagree, but in my opinion there are three main deck types: Kill, Control, and Focus. Kill wants to get to your opponent's life points at all costs, whether through creatures dealing damage during combat or non-creature spells damaging them directly. Control wants to dominate the board state (permanents on the field of play). They do this via counter spells and removal spells, eventually casting something big enough to close out the game. Focus wants to use a group of cards that have interactions that just outright win the game. An example that is running the Standard format right now is the Aetherworks Marvel deck. Their early turns are low cost energy producers, then they cast their Marvel and spin the wheel hoping to land a monster of a card like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. I realize that the description of a focus deck got a bit long winded, but it is usually a complex deck to build and pilot so I wanted to clarify with a contemporary example. The advice "stop buying sealed product" is an extremely common thing you hear, but more often than not you will catch the same people who told you that buying packs themselves. The paradox is that even though it is not cost effective, cracking packs is just too much fun. If you're looking for a specific card just use one of the big tcg (trading card game) sites or check the case at your lgs (local gaming store) to find what you're looking for. You will get more for your money, but you may start to miss the brownie points from giving the extra cards to your gf. XD If you are still interested in expensive/rare cards you can google tcgplayer.com and then search their database for black lotus. Just take a seat before you do...

Kudos to TitanofYAW and PrismaticSparx for being vigilant planeswalkers. The blind eternities thank you.

@dubiousdanish Great info! 10/10!!!

im going to tcg player.... black lotus....

Market Price $4650.00

WOAH!

kill ,control, focus, all explained in perfect terms for me to understand...

Thanks dubiousdanish!

Just FYI, there are various Formats in MTG you can play. Standard, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Casual, etc.

Standard is limited to only newer cards, Modern allows cards going all the way back to 8th Edition (July 28, 2003), and most other formats allow cards from any printing, barring banned ones.

Presumably you're playing casually (correct me if I'm wrong), and you have your deck flagged as Standard at the moment, and it contains a couple of cards that are not legal in Standard (because they're too old).

If you are playing casually, there's loads of good cheap cards you can get your hands on. Hymn to Tourach can be found in the $0.60 range and it's incredibly powerful in casual play.

Also a real quick rules note:

she takes my cards and turns them against me using act of treason....i had my nightmare at 7/7 And she beat me to death with it

Other suggestions for low $ black cards include: Unearth, Black Knight, Reassembling Skeleton, Stitch Together, Royal Assassin, Mutilate, Promise of Power, Delraich, Avatar of Woe

None of these are "must have" cards, but they're all inexpensive (<$2 each), and can be incredible in the right deck in casual play.

@Tyrant-Thanatos

Standard, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Casual,

im guessing the rest are edh and commander

Presumably you're playing casually (correct me if I'm wrong)

ive just started and im really just a moderately competitive person..i have no desire to make it into the top 1-3 on fnm consistantly.... i just learned last night that(quoting titanofyaw) The idea of an aggressive (aggro) deck is that there is no late game. They are designed to win by turn 5 or 6 so that opponent doesn't have time to get to that point.

he hit the nail on the head when he said "fun and easy to play, and usually pretty competitive." but if i had a friday night off from work (working 35-40 hr weeks) i would love to take a shot at ...piloting?.... my deck past 1 or 2 opponents.

i have too much humility to be 11/12 days in and be beating people that have played for years (if i do manage to)

in a sentence.in my own words.

my main goal is i would like to play Mtg in a way thats feels "surgically clean and silently contemplative"

like the way two chess players dont say anything they just make moves and stay composed with a pokerface etc etc

If she uses Act of Treason on your Nightmare, while it is under her control it will have power and toughness based on the number of Swamps she controls, not the number you do. So unless she's also running Swamps, that shouldn't be an issue at all

Wow -_- that felt enlightening (i feel like judges jobs are to enlighten ignorant players like me on such topics) [she has 0 swamps in her deck]

i was warned about this earlier from DubiousDanish "First things first: pay close attention to the wording of each card"

Just wanted to make sure you knew something.

You can have as many Basic Lands in your deck as you like. If you have 24 Basic Amonkhet Swamps that look exactly the same, you can put all 24 in your deck. You can put any kind of Swamp in - any printing.

Everything else you can only have four of a card with the same name.

You can only have one Legendary on the field with the same name. You can have only one Planeswalker on the field of the TYPE.

So you couldn't have Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Gideon of the Trials on the field at the same time, as they are both Gideons.

If you had Aetherworks Marvel on the field and then you played a second Aetherworks Marvel, you would have to choose one to go to the Graveyard, because they are Legendary.

You wanted a basic rule of thumb for building?

24 Creatures
12 Non-Creatures
24 Lands

Then you tweak those numbers.

You are going for an Aggro deck so you'll have fewer Lands and more Creatures. Possibly fewer Non-Creature spells.

@Argeaux

You can only have one Legendary on the field with the same name. You can have only one Planeswalker on the field of the TYPE.

I didnt know that.

24 Creatures

12 Non-Creatures

24 Lands

EXACTLY WHAT IM LOOKING FOR.. Thank you!

You are going for an Aggro deck so you'll have fewer Lands and more Creatures. Possibly fewer Non-Creature spells.

what would you remove from the above deck? (stuff that obviously doesn't go with the aggro theme)

Yup, MTG cards are written like computer code, and for good reason. There should never be room for interpretation, and most words have very specific meanings in said "code". In the example with the Nightmare, the word "you" in "number of swamps you control" refers specifically to the person who controls the creature. "You" always refers specifically to the controller of the spell/permanent/effect, not the original owner of the card. If a card does refer to the owner, it will specify "owner" like in Unsummon, or Blitz Hellion.

FNM is generally Standard or Modern, and moderately competitive. You'll want to do some research into what's legal in each format if you plan on doing any FNMs.

If you want to be playing MTG in a similar fashion to things like Chess, then maybe you'd be interested in a more control-oriented playstyle. At the very least you probably want to run some hard removal. Cards like Go for the Throat, Hero's Downfall, Reckless Spite, etc.

the word "you" in "number of swamps you control" refers specifically to the person who controls the creature. "You" always refers specifically to the controller of the spell/permanent/effect, not the original owner of the card. If a card does refer to the owner, it will specify "owner"

This is a really polished game. wow. i guess im still getting used to getting past the fluff and really reading the cards word for word

do some research into what's legal in each format

im still just trying to get a idea of what each..erm.. format is exactly...

Whats the most common format?"standard / modern"

If you want to be playing MTG in a similar fashion to things like Chess, then maybe you'd be interested in a more control-oriented playstyle.

Thats a great suggestion!in the previous comment i said "like the way two chess players dont say anything they just make moves and stay composed with a pokerface"

im still asking questions while playing and speaking out-loud the 5 phases of a turn

i guess when i said chess (even though control looks & sounds up my alley)i was referring the idea of a completely silent game with little to no conversationfor control on hand i have

x1 Daring Demolition

x1 Oblivion Strike

x1 Tidy Conclusion

x3 Final Reward

x3 Bone Splinters

Boo to silent games.

I like to play in a relaxed style. Chat, make some jokes, have some laughs.

If you want to play in a quiet, more serious style then you probably want to play Modern.

It's expensive to start building a Modern deck, but it pays for itself over time as the cards don't rotate out.

Standard is probably the most popular format. It's cheaper to get into than Modern, but becomes more expensive over time, as you have to stop playing cards as they "cycle out".

Get your girlfriend to explain that to you.

Check whatsinstandard.com to see which card sets are currently being used in the format.

Aaaawwwww yyeeeaaahh! This post and subsequent thread is so good! You're raking in the experience now whisenhuntn! Great catch on the Act of Treason/Nightmare interaction Tyrant-Thanatos, I completely missed that earlier. Solid advice on composition and your explanation of the legendary rule was crystal clear Argeaux.

As far as the most popular format for sanctioned play (as in monitored by judges and run at an lgs) is the standard format. This format is comprised of the last four expansion blocks that have been released. Currently Battle for Zendikar, Oath of the Gatewatch, Shadows Over Innistrad, Eldritch Moon, Kaladesh, Aether Revolt, and Amonkhet are all standard legal. To keep up on all things magic -- magic.wizards.com -- is straight from WOTC (Wizards of the Coast) themselves. My favorite YouTube channel is -- SBMTG -- and for browsing I use -- gatherer.wizards.com --.

Thinking out loud may be harmful to your strategy by giving your opponent too much info, but announcing the five phases is actually a good thing that I think more players should be willing to do. Just keep in mind that in competitive play you're on the clock... literally. Each round is 50 minutes/best of three, at 50 minutes you are notified that you have five turns (current turn is 0) to finish. At the end step of turn five if there is not a winner the round ends in a draw.

Until you feel comfortable running a kill deck, in this case aggro, I wouldn't recommend building a control or focus deck. How can you stop something that you don't fully understand? My first deck was Izzet (Blue & Red) and I didn't know what to counter or what to kill, so inevitably I lost. A lot! Use aggro as a training ground and as you learn it's strengths and weaknesses other decks/strategies will make much more sense.

To bolster your aggro deck:

Drana, Liberator of Malakir

Fatal Push

Gifted Aetherborn

Glint-Sleeve Siphoner

Grasp of Darkness

Murder

Never//Return

Ruinous Path

Scrapheap Scrounger

Snare Thopter

and

Vampire Cutthroat.

All of these cards could work in an aggro shell, they are of varying price points and casting costs. If you decide on a specific creature type or mechanic that you want to build around then the list will change of course. For instance if you decided "I like vampires" then creatures like Markov Crusader or Metallic Mimic gain value in a vampire based (tribal) deck. As for non-creature spells a card like Cartouche of Ambition is alright, but if you are also running Trial of Ambition the cartouche becomes much better. Without using both of the above cards, utilizing a pure removal spell like murder or never//return that I listed above will clear a path for your creatures to strike.

Sorry i was @ work

@Argeaux Standard is probably the most popular format. It's cheaper to get into than Modern, but becomes more expensive over time, as you have to stop playing cards as they "cycle out"

Thank you for that info... do people run modern and standard... like play both?

to my noob brain it seems that standard seems awesome because of "oh no my cards are going to be obsolete" i need to re-think and re-learn. it may be expensive over time but i could see myself enjoying the constant refresh of standard.. (no lie)

thanks for the website!

@dubious danish Just keep in mind that in competitive play you're on the clock... literally. Each round is 50 minutes/best of three, at 50 minutes you are notified that you have five turns (current turn is 0) to finish. At the end step of turn five if there is not a winner the round ends in a draw.

Woah. thats impressive. hence the win by turn 9 or less.

How can you stop something that you don't fully understand?

too true

Use aggro as a training ground and as you learn it's strengths and weaknesses other decks/strategies will make much more sense.

i am having a problem deciding between cards i need and i like (im probably not alone)

out of the cards you listed i have these...

x1 gifted aetherborn

x1 glint sleeve siphoner

I have to go back into work!

I will be back to respond as soon as i can! Thanks Again!

Like you said, I personally like Standard because it changes so often.

It should keep things fresh, although a lot of people will choose to play one of the Pro Decks, and keep playing it until it rotates out.

@Argeaux

Thanks!

@Everyone&Anyone

I Talked recently with one of the "pros" from the local MTG store and he said i Need more than two colors. He literally told me to pick 2 colors "okay dude you like black and what other color?" he was surprised i chose mono black aggro... he was stating i should go for more of a control deck...

I should refer the point from earlier by DubiusDanish

"Until you feel comfortable running a kill deck, in this case aggro, I wouldn't recommend building a control or focus deck. How can you stop something that you don't fully understand? "

Im very conflicted on what theme of the deck...

but im going for mono black 100%