MtG Standard

It seems pretty nice actually.

Assuming you play it on turn 3, it'll be a 5/5 to start. If your opponent wants to try and abuse its ability, they can probably squeeze out 2 spells at most to make it a 3/3. By the time you can swing with it, you've still got a 3/3 for 3 that'll deal 3 damage if they block it, and it'll take out most other things that have been played in the early turns. If they don't block it, then it's back to a 5/5.

If there's a downside, it's that it does take a turn to really do anything, though the high toughness helps against removal to a degree

Christ.

3 CMC, 5/5 and Afflict 3. For a creature with no down side.

Because the only spells your opponent is going to cast. Is the answer to this or get wrecked by it.

>3 damage for 3 Mana that dies when blocked, does not have haste, and gets worst with each turn
I prefer lightning bolt, thanks

Grasp of Darkness hits it. There's also the fact that its never going to explode into a real threat; Its rarely going to be better than a 4/4 for 3, if that.
And not hard to kill.
But if you DON'T kill it it's obnoxiously hard to deal with, it is probably going to pound you for 3 or 4 damage every turn.

The best thing about it is that it's a zombie crocodile demon.

Invocations are tournament legal but not standard legal...
@.@
hey guys lets print cards in a standard set that they can't play...
WotC people

Why not both.

Shit
wait
wait
I JUST now processed the fact that this is a zombie. Zombies are already powerful in standard and there are a million ways to get a dead Ammit Eternal back onto the battlefield.

It's shit. Die to Murder.

Yeah, it dies to removal, but it's a very cheap card for something that basically needs removal in order to be dealt with properly. Otherwise you're stuck trying to whittle it down with your casts and then blocking it with something so it dies and doesn't swell back up. It'll be very easy to deal constant damage with.

And that's just assuming they simply play it and don't build around supporting it at all with things that give trample, deal with -1/-1 counters, or include any sort of Zombie support.

He basically dies to lockdown. If you can stop him from attacking he'll just wither away.

At CMC3 it has to be a serious threat in order to be worth running. In an agro deck every CMC3 creature should be a high priority target for removal. This card is never better than an unblockable 4/4 for 3, and will usually be worse, the problem is that it gives your enemy so many options for how to deal with it even when they can't spare a kill spell.

Now, when your enemy can't spare a kill spell AND they don't have any life cushion, then he starts to look scary. You can just let him through for a few turns until you have time to deal with him, or you can keep blocking and wear him down, but either of those things involve taking damage. The more of a pinch you're in the scarier he gets, of course that's true for any threat, whats special about him is that he gives your enemy options, so he becomes more powerful the less real options your enemy has.

But compare that to other cards in his weight class, Diregraff Colossus, Liliana, they all give you value over time which effectively wins the game if not answered. That's what I'm saying.

He certainly looks standard playable to me, I don't know if he'll become a $30 staple or if we'll just see people trying him out here and there.

Whenever you cast Ammit Eternal, your opponent may grab a removal spell from his bag and cast it without paying the mana cost

>the problem is that it gives your enemy so many options for how to deal with it even when they can't spare a kill spell.

I don't know about this. Are we talking about the "Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a -1/-1" bit?

Pretty obvious, breh.

Obviously your opponent always have a kill spell or 5 spells to cast at once so it's not a problem at all.

I know, I know, "gives your opponent options" is counterintuitive. The fact is he's going to cost you some life and if you can't afford that then you have to answer him immediately, he's a standard-playable threat.

But, if you DO have a life cushion, then you get to plan your spell order and your blocks in order to wear him down with the least effort or the least life lost. It's not Browbeat, but it has a foot in that direction, its effectiveness depending on how your opponent plays it.

You're always going to swing with Ammit Eternal, even if they play something big to block with or if attacking this turn is otherwise unadvisable, you don't gain anything by holding him back. It just shrinks, when you could have swung and at least gotten 3 life out of it. So it's one of those cards where its opponent interacts with it more than its controller does, it's autopilot for the caster but "gives options" (none of them good) to the other guy.

Its a good target for lockdown effects and damage prevention, especially vs something like Diregraff, who will give you value over time even when he can't attack.

But then, in the right deck he COULD give you value over time, I really haven't even started to think about how he combos with other zombies and other cards in general.

Or enough chump blockers

You lose 3 life for chump blocking. Once the zombie crocodile demon turns sideways it's just dicks all around.

I think it could fit well into either a Zombie deck to take advantage of its general value, or a B/G deck centered around -1/-1 counters. There are a few cards that have you put -1/-1 counters on your own creatures as part of their 'cost', so putting them on something that can either remove them if it attacks directly for 1 damage or will deal 3 damage if your opponent bothers to block it could be a good siphon for them. As well, there are cards that give you tokens when -1/-1 counters are placed, which could help if your opponent decides to try and spam a bunch of low cost spells to simply kill it, since then you'll have a field of snakes and insects. A way to give it trample could also help.

Still seems a bit janky. I don't think it'll be the focus of any major deck or strategy, but it'll help supplement those that already exist.

>creature - zombie crocodile demon
I'm amazed they can fit this much onto the space.

I'm amazed how fucking cool that sounds.

Reposting my current Mardu Scorpion God list to get some opinions and feedback on it.
Not sure if I should stick with Mardu for Grind to Dust value or switch to Jund for Hapatra and the corresponding Golgari -1/-1 stuff and maybe splash Grind to Dust in there as AOE removal.

Scorpion God Control

Creatures (16):
2x The Scorpion God
4x Banewhip Punisher
3x Vile Manifestation
4x Soul-Scar Mage
3x Archfiend of Ifnir

Spells (20):
2x Fatal Push
2x Torment of Venom
4x Claim // Fame
2x Grind // Dust
4x Magma Spray
3x Cast Out
3x Unliscenced Disintegration

Lands (24):
4x Desert of the Glorified
4x Desert of the Fervent
4x Canyon Slough
2x Plains
5x Swamp
5x Mountain

>tfw Claim to Fame almost as expensive as Scorpion God
Please don't be the next Fatal Push.

I'm coming back to standard, help me decide what to play!

>UR Drake Cycling
2x Curious Homunculus
4x Enigma Drake
4x Curator of Mysteries
4x Hollow One

4x Unsummon
4x Magma Spray
4x Censor
4x Countervailing Winds
4x Hieroglyphic Illumination
2x Drake Haven

10x Island
6x Mountain
4x Spirebluff Canal
4x Wandering Fumarole

SB:
1x Dispel
3x Negate
1x Essence Scatter
2x Refuse // Cooperate
2x Supreme Will
3x Sweltering Suns
2x Kari Zev's Expertise

>RG Monster Madness
4x Flameblade Adept
4x Bloodrage Brawler
4x Noose Constrictor
3x Ramunap Excavator
3x Hazoret the Feverent
3x Rhonas the Indomitable
1x Glorybringer
4x Honored Hydra

3x Shock
2x Lightning Axe
4x Fiery Temper

2x Cinder Glade
4x Game Trail
4x Sheltered Thicket
10x Mountain
5x Forest

SB:
3x Prowling Serpopard
3x Glorybringer
3x Sweltering Suns
3x Life Goes On
2x Abrade
2x Manglehorn

UR one is cheaper but its mostly a buffer until Ixalan and then I will probably make another deck in different colors. RG is more expensive but a lot of these cards are ones I can see working in Ixalan with Naya midrange. Allied checklands are already confirmed, we just have to hope for a mana dork.

RG maybe needs some more Madness cards. Only things that really pay off discarding are extra gods, Hydra and Fiery Temper, which realy isn't a lot of pay-off.

We've all seen death shadow in modern. We know the play style. Cheap efficient threat. Recursion. Lots of interaction.

I give you standards very own (death) shadow deck

tappedout.net/mtg-decks/grixis-vile-cycle/

Hear me out lads. This is pure casual jank but it is lots of fun I can assure you. I'm going through a lot of changes to find the right number cycle spells, best way to dump them and the most efficient interaction available. If you have any ideas for improvements I'd be happy to hear them.

Things going forward
-I'm going to change the shocks for lightning axe. Most of what shocks hits vile man can chump anyway and lighting axe gives me a decent graveyard pump.
- bouncing between cathartic reunion, tormenting voice and strategic planning
- drake haven or Liliana the last hope are potential main board additions

Anyways these precious weeks before PT are the best for brewing until the pros find what development missed.

I think you need to go to at least 23 lands but you can do that easily and still maintain your goal by including one more slough and pool for the full playsets of each.

>mfw playing New Perspectives Combo
>mfw the deck is basically Amonkhet only cards
>mfw I crush all aggro/midrange shitters at my LGS because they don't have anything to interact with the combo
>mfw HOU standard meta is shaping up to be more of the same dumb creature decks so my shitty combo deck will still dominate

Most fun I had in Standard in a very long time

Forgive me for being dumb, but what's the payoff after you've cycled away your whole deck?

Game 1 and against non-reactive decks to cast Approach of the Second Sun twice.

Game 2 and alternate wincons are Kefnet and Drake Haven in the sideboard.

You generate 14 mana and cast Approach twice.

Against control decks, like said, you have 3 drake havens in the sideboard.

>build Perspectives as new deck for post rotation
>realize Weirding Wood is essential
>panic
>realize it already got a practical reprint in Amonkhet
>rejoice

I do kins of want to build some more around New Perspectives. Maybe run it in a deck with Locust God and maybe even RUG Deserts or something silly like that.

SO HERE'S A COUNTER
BLOCK ME MAYBE?

In this meta, Gift of Paradise is even better than Weirding Wood imo. This deck will be rotation proof for a long time

POWERCREEP
>For 3 cmc you can get THIS at rare
>But at common you pay 3 cmc for a vanilla 3/1 at best.

Just a reminder, New Perspectives is the next deck that will take over and be banned in Standard.

it sure is crazy...

crazy BAD lol

unplayable jank, dies to removal

Bork Ritual, adds 3 Swedish mana

>take over
>banned
>when its main wincon has direct counters in black and white, has a bad match-up against control decks and can easily be sided against and often loses if any single combo piece is countered or destroyed
Yeah no.

Played against someone they did it, it is a luck, either they get the vizier of tumbling sends to untap weirding wood or has to draw from the grave to keep the infinite combo going...
Btw bloodrage brawler is life

I sit see how perspectives can get around control running a ton of counters.

With things like lost legacy transgress and so on its a hell of a lot easier to disrupt. I've exclusively ran a drake haven deck and I can tell you that it's hard to land a 3 mana enchantment when your opponent is untapped each turn.

I don't see. Damn these chubby fingers

Shadow of the Grave "

Bump for help with a decent removal package. I think Mardu vehicles will be a problem for this deck.
A third two drop that possesses a decent threat would be nice.
Thing in the ice? Kari sev?

I hope you mean Kari Zev's expertise.

Mono blue control is back and you're about to get fucked so hard in two weeks by every pocket full of islands around.

Cuck mana

For all the weird theorycraft hate this guy is getting it is pretty funny to me that they can't just appreciate a solid black beater. If they don't deal with him on first turn and straight up trade he instantly becomes a huge threat *even with no additional support* because he can't be let through without resetting their count against him and otherwise he's likely trading + afflict. The first time you give him any additional support he will be giving you board advantage.

Pairs incredibly well with Plague Belcher and Baleful Ammit already. Black and Blue are getting way better aggro cards while red languishes with glorybringer I guess

Speaking of which, can you make UB aggro with just stuff from Kahladesh through Devestation, or do you have to dip your toes in Innistrad for the good zombie stuff?

>blue fucking black gets more zombie aggro/midrange support
>red gets 3 mana bolt

I want to try force a RDW deck because all the pieces are pretty much "there" when compared to say, theros/khans RDW but there's just no fucking burn or swiftspear-tier one drops to round it out.

Is the earliest time I can cast Glorious End on my opponent's turn after they've already untapped?
What is the optimal use of Glorious End (ignoring the obvious "pack filler" comments)?

You might have to get creative but I think there is definite room for a U/B zombies in standard. The blue eternals work very well with the lord of the wastes too. Spellweaver eternal and riddleform with the right spells alone seems serviceable, even running Claim // Fame just for claim could be a realistic option

I feel like just dropping Neheb with the right play on the board in a burn/RDW deck might be a good enough finisher to help redeem how otherwise awful red seems to be

>Neheb
>A 5 drop in mono-red aggro
No user, I mean "Your curve stops at 3" kind aggro, with shit like Expedite, Renegade Tactics and Crash Through.

I guess it's just missing too much though compared to the deck I had in theros/khans.
No Akroan Crusader, no Goblin Rabblemaster, no Lightning Strike and no Fanatic of Mogis basically kills the deck.
Firebrand can kinda do Crusader's job I guess but it's nowhere near as backbreaking as turning your cantrips and hammerhands into 1/1's as well.

Is it just wrong to even be mono-red for aggro now? I'm finding it hard to come up with actual benefit cards besides fucking Scourge Wolf maybe and the "benefit" of being able to jam all the 1 drop red cantrips.

BLACKED mana

Yeah but in an aggro deck if you're getting guaranteed damage per turn or racing at any speed, you're turning out a lot of life loss that Neheb turns back into mana. He doesn't have to do anything but show up the turn the blood gets shed and then you fall of the titans/some other red X

Nothing similar to akroan crusader really hurts. Early theros mono red was able to get by with firedrinker satyr, akroan crusader, dragon mantle, arena athlete, hammer of purphoros, and titan's strength. Nevermind that it had full access to good burn with shock, mamga jet, and lightning strike, I would argue it didnt even need those.

One set gave monored enough strength to be a competitive deck, at least untill drown in sorrow was printed, than all the red cards since batttle for zendikar to now have.

>3 drop 5 power zombie that gets smaller if your opponent casts spells
>it gets bigger again if it connects
>in a format with 2 ways to give zombies menace
>in a format with 2 lord effects to make it a 6/6 for 3
>one of those lord effects grants menace

Really joggin the noggin.

i've been playing this. it's p.good until G: gain a thousand life becomes common.

you mean mono blue aggro is a thing...

A friend of mine has been teaching me the basics of MtG and he'll be taking me to a draft tournament once the new expansion comes out. Does anyone have any tips?

dont fuck up

>has a bad match-up against control decks and can easily be sided against and often loses if any single combo piece is countered or destroyed

So did aetherworks. its banned.
Wizard will capitulate if enough people cry about not being able to stop it.

Start with cards that are just good, don't immediately lock into one or two color for your first few draft picks

Try to figure out what colors the guys next to you are drafting by seeing which are rarely handed to you (maybe keep some notes).

Creatures are more important than spells in the latest set

Try to get a nice mana curve

BREAD
Bombs
Removal
Evasion
Attackers/Abilities
Dirt

I'd just like to sincerely thank you for posting in here instead of the Modern thread.

Aetherworks had no way to stop it apart from exactly one specific counterspell and countering it before it hit the board.

Perspectives loses to any counter spell, any enchantment destruction or Gideon's Intervention/Lost Legacy. That's a lot more shit that Marvel. Not to mention that Marvel as a card was much more terrible design and actively preventing WotC from printing any big bombs.

am I a cuck for playing black?
should I just go mono white for maximum 1488ness?

>When you nut and she keeps sucking.

ok, so, tell me again now, why do we have 300 board wipes in standard?

Because only 2 are playable.

God I hope I play against you at least once. Before my deck rotates out. I actually main 2 Insults for Alpha Strikes and it's so fucking delicious to play against New Perspectives.

Disposses was fucking amazing against it. You could even hit the deck a second time to remove Gearhulks.

Apologies its more UG counter control: what's a graveyard edition

2x Expedite will help you get there.

>>Mfw we went all the way to fucking Kaladesh and still don't have a burn deck

It really grinds my gears that Black and Blue got all of the aggressive Afflict creatures.

Whey the fuck does Blue have the 2/1 with Prowess and Afflict:2 for two mana?

plane of technology...
>burn deck
What are you... Rules and regulations keep work place incidents to a minimum thank you very much.

if this dealt 2 damage instead of 1, this shit would've been the overpowered bear to finish the cycle Harsh Mentor couldn't complete.

Anybody else gonna try to force monument?
I'm just getting back into standard after a short break for college and the list is really easy for me to build from my old spirits cards, plus I havent really gotten to play a grindy standard deck since jeskai black.
I'm a little concerned about abrade and hour of devastation but my shop isn't that competitive anyway so I think I can still have a good time either way.

Anyone got any good mono-blue or Grixis control decklists? I'm interested in trying out control this standard

Opponent's upkeep
As a response to your opponent casting his first spell / an important bomb at his turn. You effectively countered that spell and ends his turn too. Or cast it after your opponent declared an alpha strike. Really depends on what you need.

cycling is a meme in standard, IT SOUNDS decent and playable until you start playtesting with and realize not establishing an early creature-heavy board is an auto loss.
The only form of slow deck that works right now is gearhulk because it's as you can guess based around abusing a creature.

RG would be way more fun anyways but 25 lands is too much.

... as a player that faced a cycle approach deck that had 0 creatures but vizier of tumbling sands that they cycle anyway to untap weirding wood...
it can work but is a luck game

To make absolutely sure you know that Amonkhet is fucked.

>only 2 are playable
ohohoho

>88
google
mono blue reservoir

r/u version wouldnt be too bad either

Watching the pre-pre-release that was done by loadingreadylive, pic related seemed to do some work.
Also, why do we not have any LIZARD WIZARD cards?

>Aetherworks had no way to stop it apart from exactly one specific Counterspell

There were two actually, not counting the dozen or so general counterspells that counter everything. Also are you seriously ignoring the fact that artifact destruction exists?

So what's the closest to a cycle shenanigans, living end type deck available in standard? I want to go black for the archfiend and stuff, but what are some other cheaper cycles? Do I have to go blue for it?