Free Pizza

I hit level 90 in Marvel Snap last week...and that's all I need to do. Here's how I think about it. 

I pay them $10 a month for a card & a boost. I can afford it and when you do good work, I like paying you for it. (The collective "you" here). Once I hit level 90 I win $10 of in-game currency, so I've effectively made my money back, right?

Everything after that is free pizza. If I lose, it doesn't matter, if I win that's just neat. It is a fantastic way to play, because truly zero fucks can be given. A High Evolutionary deck is what took me to 90: Rogue as a tech card was huge, and Cosmo helped shut down portions of destroy decks that have been all the rage lately. And I did just do some pure grinding. Sometimes it's like that. 

However, now I'm free to just fuck about, which is a lot more fun. I even splurged my keys (missed TWICE) to get Grandmaster, so I could run this: 

It is a very silly deck. I've removed Black Panther for Enchantress because Living Tribunal decks are a thing. I can't say that it's great, but you can have some fun with it. It's decent! And decent for a brand new idea I am messing around with is something I'll take. 

BeastMaster needs me to keep an eye on that middle lane when playing and can really get messed up when a location like Sanctum Sanctorum arrives and I can't play into that lane. But all in all it's pretty entertaining and has made some enormous Medusa and Hawkeyes. Yondu might be the weakest card, and Killmonger will absolutely trash this deck, but I want to keep the costs low so I can ramp Bishop up. Bishop might also be the wrong character for this one but hey, I'm enjoying messing around. 

The Blender (Or Bonecrusher Redux)

Here's what I settled on, at least for now:

2 Goblin King
3 Goblin Lackey
3 Goblin Matron
3 Goblin Ringleader
2 Warren Instigator
3 Goblin Chieftain
3 Putrid Goblin
2 Murderous Redcap
3 Skirk Prospector
1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
1 Pashalik Mons
2 Munitions Expert
1 Skirk Fire Marshal

4 Angel's Grace
4 First Day of Class

12 Mountain
4 Sunbaked Canyon
3 Swamp
4 Foreboding Ruins

I'm leaning hard on the goblins to do goblin things, and Angel's Grace to save me in case of emergency. The mana is absolutely absurd, but I don't want to run lands that enter tapped because this is an aggressive deck and I don't want to spend a ton of money to upgrade it.

What I've got here, I hope, is a aggro deck with a backup plan. Sure, I can flood the board with Goblins, pump them via the lord effects and go to town. However, if the ground game stalls, using Skirk Prospector, First Day of Class and either of the persist goblins can generate infinite mana-which I can hopefully use to get more goblins in hand and keep rolling- or infinite damage which explains itself.

I will also admit that the two copies of Goblin King are absolutely The Glory Of Cool things. But so is the whole concept, so why not?

The Retired: 99 Problems

I know I haven't written about this deck yet, but I was doing some research on the "Moggwarts" deck, trying to take it from its Pauper combo state to a more powerful one and was stuck here:

99 Problems

4 Skirk Prospector
2 Goblin Matron
2 Murderous Redcap
3 Putrid Goblin
1 Pashalik Mons
2 Munitions Expert
2 Sling-Gang Lieutenant

4 Cathartic Pyre
4 First Day of Class
3 Poison the Cup

4 Foreboding Ruins
4 Canyon Slough
5 Swamp
9 Mountain

3 Night's Whisper
4 Duress
4 Unearth

Sideboard

SB: 4 Overmaster

Except...I have a deck that uses Goblin tribal in a silly way. When I realized this, I began to really look at the two decks and see if I could combine them to do an aggressive thing with a combo finish. Why not, right? If most of the time I'm just attacking for silly amounts of damage, that's fine! But if things stall out then screw it, go all in on a combo finish.

However, what Bonecrusher really wants to do is flood the board with goblins and goblin tokens to activate Skirk Fire Marshal, hopefully with a Mogg Fanatic out.

99 Problems on the other hand is wanting to make sure a First Day of Class is cast with a sac outlet and a Persist creature of some sort, to generate infinite damage or mana. The direction I was taking it was to try and draw as many cards as I could in order to do the combo consistently and quickly. 

These premises don't jibe together.

The other thing I noticed about Bonecrusher is that IT isn't even consistently doing what I want. Making a bunch of goblin tokens is not what a card like Goblin Ringleader is for. 

My dilemma is that I think using Skirk Fire Marshal is a funnier way to win a game, but the combo engine of 99 Problems is a proven quantity. 

One other issue is that there are more goblins and generators in Black than White. Keeping Bonecrusher as a R/W deck is probably not the way to go. White gives me some excellent removal and the ability to activate SFM at any life total, if I have an Angel's Grace. But the synergies in Black are really too good to gloss over.

So I'm just gonna smoosh these together-against what is probably the better judgement of everyone-and see what happens. 

Hibernation

Eventually, I knew that the Inspirations were not doing what I wished they would. 

Sometimes, the old ways are best-when in doubt, blow everything up. 

For whatever reason, I find myself reluctant to use good cards that I own. I'm trying to get over that; slimming down the number of decks I have, letting ideas that aren't working go, boosting the actual power level of decks with cards that perform well.

To that end, I have decided to utilize Karn's Sylex as a way to reset the board. Kindred bears as a deck does not have the "I win" combo qualities of Goblins or Elves, it does not have the grindy elements of Zombies, nor the interactive parts that Merfolk might provide, or the sheer aggression of Soldiers or Humans. 

So why not just blow everything up? The bears are in their caves. They'll let this all blow over and start fresh.

This at least feels like a good solution, and a way to stop working on this every freaking day. It may not be perfect but it should do the trick for now. 

Brown Bears

 After several plays, it's apparent that I'm trying to take a weak creature type and shore up those with some strong cards. 

Which, duh right? Still! We take our shots. 

First, let's add in some ways to make extra bears when our bears get the axe: Caller of the Claw. I resisted this card for a bit because it isn't a bear but even if I only get a bear and the Caller, that's a good rate for three mana. If I can get more? Then I'm definitely being efficient. 

Next: it has become very apparent how important Ayula is to this deck. Games just go so much better if she's in play, that finding her is critical, so Time of Need to help make sure that happens. If you already have an Ayula in play, having another one is good to get, and if you've already got another one, there is nothing wrong with searching up the Ruxa, Patient Professor. 

I've also added in more Ashcoat Bears because America's #1 Threat has been living too much on its own turn. Having the ability to play anything as an instant means that the deck can utilize Ayula's triggers or even present more threats than expected, and then untap with a full suite of mana. Anything to let the deck interact is a good idea. 

Inscription of Abundance has been OK, but only OK. I'm going to up it to four, to see if a more consistent showing tells me more. However I think I have to admit that the abilities are all just adequate and unless the mana is there to do all then maybe it's on the cutting block.

America's #1 Threat

Once upon a time, I tried to teach a now ex-girlfriend how to play Magic. She had a thing for nature and for fun, I built a bear deck, riffing on the old Colbert Report joke. 

4 Bramble Armor

4 Ayula, Queen Among Bears
4 Balduvian Bears
4 Grizzly Bears
2 Pale Bears
2 Ashcoat Bear
4 Ruxa, Patient Professor
2 Alpine Grizzly

4 Muraganda Petroglyphs
3 Bearscape

4 Inscription of Abundance

20 Forest
3 Boseiju, Who Endures

The woman broke up with me, so I'm taking the deck back. 

Annnnnnnnd yes that sounds dramatic, on purpose. But the ex is a lovely human, and I wish nothing but the best for her. We didn't work out but I ain't mad about it. 

On top of that, I've made a new friend who wants to get back into Magic...and loves bears. So here we go. Let's make a new bears deck that's fun!

Kaalia's Cuts

The first thing I did was sit down with my friend and justify every card in the deck. Where I couldn't, I figured that card could be replaced. Here's where I started:

Molten Slagheap and Rupture Spire.

These lands are just not where you want to be, ever. Terminal Moraine isn't great but I have a soft spot for older cards.  

Righteous Cause, Bathe In Light, Cleansing Beam, Syphon Mind, Evincar's Justice.

These cards just don't fit in well with what the deck does. 

Reiver Demon, Dread Cacodemon, Oros, the Avenger, Malfegor, Anger, Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

Finally, these creatures are simply outclassed by modern stuff. And modern problems require modern solutions.

Here's what I'm adding in:

Bloodgift Demon, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Atsushi, the Blazing Sky, Liesa, Forgotten Archangel, Kaalia, Zenith Seeker, Vilis, Broker of Blood, Lighting Greaves, Corpse Explosion, Quicksilver Amulet and Dihada, Binder of Wills. 

The idea is; let's get some nasty things out, and keep drawing cards to ensure I can continiue to get nasty things out.

I'm also adding in a Isshin, Two Heavens as One on a trial basis, since it really only matters if Kaalia is in play. But it's a game wrecker if it triggers.

And finally, one Nomad's Outpost for mana fixing. I like where this is sitting right now, so I'm keeping it. 

But it was a really good practice to justify the cards to someone else. I may have to keep that practice up. 

Commander Tune Up: Kaalia of the Vast

Instant 1 Wrecking Ball 1 Mortify 1 Terminate 1 Master Warcraft 1 Sulfurous Blast 1 Cleansing Beam 1 Comet Storm 1 Return to Dust 1 Bathe in Light 1 Orim's Thunder 1 Congregate 1 Path to Exile	Artifacts 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Sol Ring 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Rakdos Signet 1 Boros Signet 1 Darksteel Ingot 1 Armillary Sphere 1 Tenza, Godo's Maul
Enchantment 1 Stranglehold 1 Pyrohemia 1 Vow of Duty 1 Vow of Lightning 1 Vow of Malice 1 Righteous Cause 1 Soul Snare	Sorcery 1 Earthquake 1 Akroma's Vengeance 1 Diabolic Tutor  1 Evincar's Justice 1 Syphon Flesh  1 Syphon Mind  1 Into the Maw of Hell
Lands 1 Command Tower  1 Barren Moor  1 Forgotten Cave  1 Rakdos Carnarium  1 Orzhov Basilica  1 Boros Garrison  1 Secluded Steppe  1 Bojuka Bog  1 Akoum Refuge  1 Evolving Wilds  1 Rupture Spire 1 Molten Slagheap  8 Swamp  8 Plains 8 Mountain  1 Haunted Fengraf  1 Terminal Moraine	Creatures 1 Oros, the Avenger 1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls  1 Basandra, Battle Seraph  1 Bladewing the Risen  1 Malfegor 1 Angel of Despair  1 Mordant Dragon  1 Mana-Charged Dragon  1 Akroma, Angel of Fury  1 Anger  1 Deathless Angel 1 Angelic Arbiter  1 Voice of All  1 Shattered Angel 1 Serra Angel  1 Kokusho, the Evening Star  1 Reiver Demon  1 Dread Cacodemon  1 Rune-Scarred Demon  1 Requiem Angel  1 Moonveil Dragon  1 Krav, the Unredeemed  1 Regna, the Redeemer  1 Archfiend of Despair  1 Stormbreath Dragon 1 Sylvia Brightspear  1 Khorvath Brightflame

 SB: 1 Kaalia of the Vast

I've been teaching my friend Rebecca to play Magic, and with that has come an education on how Commander works. She decided she wanted to build a Commander deck and Kaalia was one of her choices, so I thought I'd let her take mine for a spin. 

After the games were over, I recognized that I really hadn't done anything to Kaalia and that this deck could be incredibly powerful. Far more powerful than what it is. I also noted that, unlike my version on Cockatrice (which I pasted in here) my paper version has two copies of Bladewing the Risen. So let's give this a tune up.