Nostalgia for MtG

[Toasty]

I play casually. I picked it up for a while when I was a kid, but after being sufficiently spanked by my much more experienced classmates I gave it up ...

I'm not big on trading cards, and am too cheap to buy them myself. However, my little brother has an ENORMOUS library, which I can basically design whatever deck I feel like with.

I only use one deck at a time, and my current one is 80% onslaught cards (you really have to look for the older cards in his cards). It plays a lot off creature types by including elves and soldiers, with mistforms which have the ability to change their creature type for 1 colorless mana.

It's a fun deck, and I've seen some ridiculously huge mistforms, with my 1/1 mistform stalkers becoming 9/9's and upwards after being powered up.

 

[Johann MacLeod]

im an oldie, i can grip and complain about the new card as much as i want! im like that creepy old man down the street that smells of cabbage and medicine.....BOO!

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

I always wished they'd stuck with the premise behind "Arabian Nights"- that each expansion would sort of cover some area of myth or fantasy already extant. The storyline was good though, through Tempest cycle, but again, during Urza I basically phased out.

As for portal- still had better art than the regular, and I always like to use the portal version over a regular one...

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Antonius Block
Phasing was indeed the worst.

By "free" mechanic, do you mean 0 casting cost spells? Or the spells that let you untap the mana cost after you cast them?

Shadow was kind of utile, especially if you play in the big sea of cards and no one is going to have a blocker...

I don't know the new mechanics very well, but "Madness" really does seem utterly useless... when is it you are supposed to play the cost? When you have to discard the card? Which would be when?

The free mechanic was the one that let you untap the lands after casting the spell. This mechanic is blamed for causing the infamous "Combo Winter" that consisted of decks during Urza block "going off" by generating infinite amounts of mana with a Tolarian Academy, usually with a Palinchron, casting Stroke of Genius on their opponent for 1 million, causing them to lose instantly because they couldn't draw 1 million card from their library.

Phasing was bad but not broken, although with a few recent cards (which will not be named ) you can "go off" if you manage to give them phasing (not hard with Vanishing) and get infinite turns, after which it is hard to lose the game.

Shadow caused the rapid acceleration of games during Tempest block, and Urza block did nothing to slow down the game. In casual games, 'shadow' usually means 'this creature is unblockable', which is definitely not the case with flying as everyone has some way to deal with flyers.

Madness can be played whenever you discard the card for any reason, and blue-green madness decks actually ruled Odyssey block Constructed format. These decks used Wild Mongrel and Caphalid Looter to discard Basking Rootwalla and Arrogant Wurm into play, as well as Wonder and Roar of the Wurm into the graveyard. Very difficult to beat flying 6/6s and 4/4s attacking on turn five.

 

[Johann MacLeod]

the urza block was the last great set, masks was medieocre, and from there on it went downhill

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Antonius Block
I always wished they'd stuck with the premise behind "Arabian Nights"- that each expansion would sort of cover some area of myth or fantasy already extant. The storyline was good though, through Tempest cycle, but again, during Urza I basically phased out.

As for portal- still had better art than the regular, and I always like to use the portal version over a regular one...

They changed their policy to include no real-world myths or symbolism in the artwork, and I think that it was a good choice as it allowed for the development of the MtG storyline (which is very good, BTW) rather than feeding off of real-world myths and legends.

I disagree with you about the portal cards, but that's just a matter of personal preference.

 

[Johann MacLeod]

why are there so many portal sets? a couple years ago they canceled unglued2 to make another portal set... how many frikken portals do you need to teach people to play? (even though i learned from someone else and not any dumb ol' portal)

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Johann MacLeod
the urza block was the last great set, masks was medieocre, and from there on it went downhill

Urza block had too many broken combo decks. I admit Masques block was rather underpowered (except for the Rebels and Fires), but Invasion and Odyssey blocks are quite good in my opinion. I don't like Onslaught block that much, but I don't really like morph so that's the reason there. In fact, Invasion block is my favorite block of all time.

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Johann MacLeod
why are there so many portal sets? a couple years ago they canceled unglued2 to make another portal set... how many frikken portals do you need to teach people to play? (even though i learned from someone else and not any dumb ol' portal)

Portal had 3 sets, I think, and has since become Starter. However because of poor sales, I think that they have finally given up on Starter-level sets and are jsut changing to producing the base sets like 7th and 8th editions.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

Ah, yes, Urza was the time of "turbozvi" and the like, right... the endless turn leading to the endless card draw. Schlect.

Now I understand Madness- you could use it with things that you are having to discard yourself- that is interesting.

As for phasing, the only thing I ever thought it would work with was apocalypse or jokulhaups or the like, if you did it during the out of phase and then sent in your sandbar crocodile.

Unblockable creatures can always be otherwise controlled or destroyed by a good deck.

 

[Johann MacLeod]

Portal had 3 sets, I think, and has since become Starter. However because of poor sales, I think that they have finally given up on Starter-level sets and are jsut changing to producing the base sets like 7th and 8th editions.

well thats a mixed blessing...

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Antonius Block
Unblockable creatures can always be otherwise controlled or destroyed by a good deck.

I agree on this point, but Shadow decks totally drove slow decks out of the format for as long as they were legal in Standard. Casual play doesn't matter, but the loss of diversity in Standard decks due to Shadow and Combo back-to-back drove skill out of serious tournament Magic, except in finding ways to go off faster or get more shadow creatures in play and attacking faster.

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Johann MacLeod

well thats a mixed blessing...

I think it a good thing; there are actually some quality cards in 7th and 8th edition, as mostly opposed to Starter, which is filled with cards that are strictly inferior to those in the expansions.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

I recall the shadow days as very diverse- sligh was big, but so was Tradewind rider propaganda. Everybody but green had something cool to do.

Did green ever get any better? My best green phase was when the uktabi orang/stampeding wildebeest/creeping mold came out while Yavimaya ants were still legal...

 

[Johann MacLeod]

i love shaodow, a also love to use it against newbies that have never heard of it and get all freaked out when i use it, LONG LIVE THE DAUTHI!

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Antonius Block
Did green ever get any better? My best green phase was when the uktabi orang/stampeding wildebeest/creeping mold came out while Yavimaya ants were still legal...

Green is the best color in Odyssey block, but it is still only really good in combination with another color. It depends on the block. The best green combinations by block are probably like this: Invasion: red-green Odyssey: blue-green. Onslaught: black-green.

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by Johann MacLeod
i love shaodow, a also love to use it against newbies that have never heard of it and get all freaked out when i use it, LONG LIVE THE DAUTHI!

I love it when people use all those 1 and 2 toughness shadow creatures against me. It's like stepping on ants because they are so easy to kill with mass burn or Chainflinger or Painbringer.

 

[Johann MacLeod]

just out of curiosity how long have you been playing?

 

[GerrardCapashen]

Originally posted by GerrardCapashen
I don't really have "nostalgia" for MtG as I still play. Only on a casual level though; I don't have the spare money to play on a tournament level. However, I do admit, with my lack of modesty, that I do kick butt against nearly all the other casual-only players around (the tournament-goers dust me off).

I was introduced to the game during Ice Age but only really started to play a lot after Mercadian Masques came out (the block after Urza's block). I much prefer the new 6th edition rules and post-Urza block cards; Wizards of the Coast has really done a good job in preventing broken cards from seeing print (Necropotence or Replenish anyone?) more recently and since Urza's block there have been no banned cards in Type 2.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

I liked the white shadow monks and priests- can't be terrored, can't be burned, can't be blocked. But then, I still use Crusades...