Urza's Mine

THE LOWDOWN ON MODERN MASTERS 2 I'm looking mainly at the common/uncommons when considering decks etc, the rares/bombs are surplus to the deck and consistency in my head is always key for drafting. Modern Masters 2 is no exception. Of course if you pull something crazy good in rare/mythic, then play it! But it's wrong to put lots of emphasis on those cards when analyzing a set because we're less likely to see them in our packs... We all know when a rare is good enough to take/splash for, so let's really dig deep into the meat of the set... The commons and uncommons and the gloriousness of them in this set. Firstly let's look into the Mechanics.... Anihilator - Mechanic of the Eldrazi/Ramp Strategy. - It's the mechanic I'm not massively worried about, but if the game goes late and your opponent lands an Eldrazi, then the 'toppling' effect is quick. Be more interested in the Eldrazi coming down on 8 & 9 mana (common/uncommon...

The Motherload of posts incoming.... Hey ya'll it's been a while since I've covered some heavy MTG spikey stuff (that's competitive play talking) and I'm gonna talk to you and I on this blog post regarding some of the cycles in the format and what to watch out for etc....So I'm gonna give the cards a school grade (A+ to F) based on how great they are... *loads up Mythic Spoiler and runs off to grab a coke*..... It's 1:47am christ!  Ok.... *breathes*... Here we go.... Dragons! (A+, A, A-)   These guys are the real deal, should be splashed and are only unplayable if literally nothing fits both of the colours in their casting cost. If I open a Dragon I'm heavily leaning into one of it's colours for a good deck! Atarka, Dromoka, Ojutai are the best of the bunch, Silumgar is okay if a little weak on the attack and Kolaghan is the weakest for me, but still fantastic! Dromoka at 5 mana is an insane Serra Angel... and Serra Angel is insa...

Long time since I did an update, FYI some posts have been deleted as they're now on Mana Leak's website (they have been somewhat edited too, don't judge me!) Anyways, on of my buddies over at Storm Count linked me onto a virtual sealed deck simulator and with the help of team mate Simon Skipper we decided to make a simulation sealed deck and play a few games.... I hope you will all agree that in the following pics it shows I had a "get to day 2" pool. Respond with your decklist and my next blog entry will be what I ended up going for :) Here's a list encase that works better.... 1 Zurgo Helmsmasher 1 Brutal Hordechief 1 Crackling Doom 1 Jeskai Ascendancy 1 Mob Rule 1 Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 1 Mardu Roughrider 1 Secret Plans 1 Temur Charm 1 Winterflame 1 Frontier Bivouac 1 Suspension Field 1 Dragon's Eye Savants 1 Bellowing Saddlebrute 1 Gurmag Swiftwing 1 Abzan Beastmaster 1 Cached Defenses 1 Honor...

They're coming along....

So this is a quick one but I'm building a conspiracy cube set for true drafting )11 commons, 3 uncommons, 1 rare) randomised into packs etc.  What set basic land to use though? Hmmm! 

Boros Burn, Analysis.  Decklist as follows 2 Grim Lavamancer 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Goblin Guide 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Lava Spike 4 Rift Bolt 3 Searing Blaze 4 Skullcrack 4 Lightning Helix 4 Boros Charm 2 Volcanic Fallout 4 Wooded Foothills 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Sacred Foundry 1 Stomping Ground 6 Mountain Sideboard as follows 4 Destructive Revelry 2 Shattering Spree 3 Ensnaring Bridge 2 Anger of the Gods 4 Deflecting Palm So I took this deck to a 17 player casual tournament today and went 3-2... The two defeats seemed harsh but the record is as it is... The deck plays well and the obvious burn strategy still has many lines as I remember well. This deck is awesome, it's not as clear cut and obvious as jam the burn spell every turn, one must know the exact sequence of spells and exactly when to hold and when to play burn... For example you don't just hit Skullcrack to give Monastery Swiftspear +1/+1 with p...

Reinforcements have arrived.... This feels like somewhat of a downgrade in power, but I feel the deck will play better (and by better I mean it'll feel like a swingy game of MTG, not just board sweepers and landslides)  Remember I'm trying to build a deck which is up against someone doing the exact same deck approach (all nu-new boarded) and I want it to look just awesome on the tabletop. Perhaps my Warhammer like love of nicely painted armies transfers over to MTG.  So here's the list and the why... -1 Cataclysm (Strictly an un-fun Commander card) -1 Virtues Ruin (Seems really poor when 80% of my games are against Sultai) -1 Aggressive Mining (The card design is sweet, it's application in this deck is not) -1 Burning of Xinye (Wildfire in Commander is balloni because mass LD is a little tedious)  -1 Longshot Squad (Bye bye dog archers, you are meh at best) -1 Sultai Flayer (The lifegain just isn't needed and we're replacing you) -1 ...