Messages

I agree that playing "your pet deck" helps to win, mostly because you have the most experience with. I doubt that playing "your cards" is helpful as the card does what it does, certainly in regards to the deck strategy/design.

For me: I will most probably be more successful on tournaments if I would play Bant all the time, but an old pet card like Stonecloaker will most probably lower the power level of the deck and is not the best choice. I can also write heroic stories what Stonecloaker did for me in the past but in the end the card is to borderline to be a staple. Certainly if you have a meta full of Reanimators he will be set again.

Another aspect is that pet decks tend to disregard basis rules of successul deck design. Playing GG/UU/WW in Bant is obsolete IMO with the new mulligan and should be reduced to UGw or GWu. Having Courser, Counterspell and Hero of Bladehold in the same deck might look like a good idea for "your pet deck" on paper but is not the best idea if you want to have the best Bant tournament deck as you will very often not be able to play Counter/Courser/Hero in T2-4.

Thanks for your work! I enjoyed looking your videos and would like to encourage you to do this again. Perhaps you could show the starting hands for a longer time (or even update them during the match somehow), so the view is more into the game.

Anyway, thanks a lot. Btw, great timing for the tournament in Hanau. It would be great to have coverage for the Highlander Cup like we had some years ago.

Any chance to see the UR tempo decklist?

I fail to find enough (and cheap enough) threats to let Moon/BtB shine. Lists online seem to have an insufficient amount of it.

At first I would like to thank you for your efforts to promote our format and your activity in this forum which still not very active beside the banning seasons. It would be great if Highlander would have a French Community in future as well.

Actually I think that things got better in the last months regarding tournament attendence. Also the "new council" is doing a good job lately IMO and as far as I can understand the name of the lately active council topic they are thinking of a revision of the homepage which will be a great deal for all of us.

So it seems it is just me an my small personal community which "dies" as we are getting older and life goes on. I see that other communities are stable (or even growing?).

I even think that this years HL Cup could probably top the last years player total of 131 players, but we will see. At least from my local player base we will come of with five guys, three of them usually retired from "magic life".

Regarding french Commander I understand that this is as competitive as Highlander (and unfortunately has a very similar player target group), just the regular Commander is non-competitive. With only one 1on1 Singleton format the other player base would be much bigger as I think the Highlander community would also enjoy French Commander but things are as they are.

Regarding the old deck lists, I will try to find something for you but I expect that they are lost.

So you heavily failed the first time in Berlin...it was just a matter of time  

I didn´t know that Mono G Midrange is a deck at all. Perhaps a metagame choice to beat Chain of Vapor   OK, I try to stop taunting from now on.

So what is Aggro Midrange, then? Similar to the HL Cup winners list, or...?  

Love to see the Top 3 lists to give the community food for thought. Seems that HL deck possibilities are still quite unexplored and the possible meta can be wider as some might think.

Your line of argumentation makes sense to me. Just my two cents on that:

Exchanging Imperial Seal with Oath of Druids in the banned list to keep combos alive and take out THE "most frustrating hard to deal with no brainer oops I win" two drop looks as it would be an improvement of the format in a perfect world disregarding price and availability. IMO Oath of Druids should be banned due to power level and unfun reasons anyway.

I was simply not aware that fun/frustration, emotion and price tag/development are official valid arguments for the council. Actually I appreciate that the council takes care about these "soft factors" as in the end this is still a fun niche format. I´ll go to contact WotC for a Judge Promo, then 

P.S.: Perhaps Kenshin is right as the description of THE "most frustrating hard to deal with no brainer oops I win" two drop also fits to Price of Progess...

I request to receive a statement from the council why Imperial Seal is banned.

It's too expensive. Once Wizards reprints it as a judge foil, then sure.

Alternatively, if majority of the players think that price point shouldn't be used as an argument, then sure, it can also be unbanned.

But then logical follow-up measure would be that all IE & CE cards will also be banned.

You know what questions will follow:

What about the Workshop/Tabernacle argument? The price tag is the same.
Why is an unban of Imperial Seal connected to IE/CE bannings in this context?

I have no problem when the community says "NO" due to the financial aspect but than you should communicate a critical value and take the others out as well.

@tonytahiti:

"Very clear" as playing Chain of Vapor?  

In midrange decks it will be most probably Batterskull and SoFaI which you play along with Stoneforge Mystic. I do not see it a liability to play SoFaI in any creature based deck, in fact there are situations where I use Enlightened Tutor to get it. Drawing one of these equipment's naturally is no liability for me either as they are both strong enough on their own. I have won many games not although but because of an equipped mana dork or a hardcast Batterskull. I still play SoFaI in nearly all creature decks and Batterskull in most control shells, even without Stoneforge Mystic available. Both are certainly clunky but there should be something in your hand to interact with your opponent before you hit five Mana, otherwise I would question your keep. Having the second equipment on hand with an active Stoneforge can even be very nice. Paired with any hexproof/protected creature he will be a force not speaking about the devastating situation when you have Stoneforge AND TNN. Certainly in white aggro decks you should think about cutting Batterskull but also playing one of the others swords (at least SoWaP) is not a mistake IMO.

He will be even "splashed" in creature less UWx builds to get either Batterskull or Sword of the Meek which cannot be said for TNN.

Center a strategy didn´t meant to play bad tutors or "waste" a 1st turn Worldly Tutor but he will definitely be the main target for Eladamri´s Call and Fauna Shaman as he simply brings the most value for many game states due to his cheapness. The rest of the statement could be copied from ChristophO´s post...

@ ChristophO:

Comparing cards is always very hard to do. Either side can argue with a good reason from either position.  Jitte is perhaps even better in creature matchups but TNN always threatens Planeswalkers and has an immediate effect on a board which has creatures on it. Also it is very unlikely that you waste mana into casting TNN which is very possible while equipping Jitte. Also I would better draw TNN as Jitte against control decks in general. A clear advantage is certainly that Jitte is colourless and would go into any creature deck, so I can really understand its ban. So TNN is very borderline for me and I wouldn´t raise my eyebrows if TNN would be banned in future. I see all three cards on a similar power level, but they are certainly very different on their own and have differently strengths in different situations.

Regarding Imperaial seal I don´t want to give up. I request to receive a statement from the council why Imperial Seal is banned. IMO Seal exclusively improves combo strategies. Combo is nearly non-existent in HL and could need some help from the banned list. So what are the council´s restrictions? Having Demonic/Mystical allowed and this on the banned list is simply causeless.

[True-Name Nemesis –]

OK, so I will cast the first stone even if I am not into actually playing with cards lately. So this is my theoretic approach on it:

True-Name Nemesis – seems OK, even if I think that Jitte has a similar power level. Both are oops I win cards in creature matchups.

Tolarian Academy – The power level of this card is just absurd. But as long as no deck shows up which breaks the metagame I cannot argue. Similar status than Yawgmoth´s Will IMO.

Mystical Tutor – This is where things went wrong IMO. Unbanning Mystic was the last piece of the puzzle to raise blue based control above the other deck strategies. With Cards like Entreat the Angels available you can even center your strategy on Mystical Tutor. I wonder why control decks do not play Merchant Scroll and Mystical Teachings as standard setup.

The best cards in the format can be played in one deck strategy. Mana Drain, Demonic Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Jace the Mindsculptor, Brainstorm, Sensei, Divining Top, (Tolarian Academy), (Yawgmoth´s Will) and even splashing Oath of Druids if you want. Perhaps Dig through Time is even another card which comes into this elite circle (not played with it yet). The only question for me is if an UWb(x) Control or Tezzerator deck will win the next HL Cup.

Entomb – Not sure about that. Creates no-brainer games like Oath of Druids does. I would not allow both if I could choose.

Fastbond – Niche application with a huge payout like Tolarian Academy and Yawgmoths Will. It is worth a test IMO

Gifts Ungiven – I am happy that the council thinks that this card does not belong in our format any more. I would love to play with it but I think it will just create silly decks together with the above mentioned power cards.

Natural Order – Perhaps this is not a must ban but I have to cut 2 cards in all green based deck. Natural Order for Primeval Titan is just a no-brainer and must play for me. I don´t see the use of unbanning it again.

Stoneforge Mystic – same as NO. I will just put this guy in every white deck available. But this goes even further. I expect that I could even center my strategy on it in midrange decks as there are a lot more creature tutors out.

Btw, I am still missing to see Imperial Seal on the watch list for unbannings. Don´t see that this is any better than the other tutors around.

The same goes for Demonic Tutor, Mana Drain, Enlightened Tutor, Jace the Mindsculptor and Oath of Druids. Not that I want them to go now but everyone taking a look on the HL rules should now that these cards are on the borderline regarding the allowed power level.

I seems OK either way (as a two day event) but I would advise to start the marketing actions asap as there are just eleven weeks left. Also he should improve marketing as I remember he just used planetmtg for his promotion last time.

mmd, you seem to be getting emotional and tell me about my wrong doings instead of staying on topic. you say you dont care but your whole posts screams that you care alot. the -16 karma guy tells me how to find acceptance in the community, come on, we are not in 5th grade, its not always about acceptance, this is not some mafia clan family.

and you say "as it sees obviously no play otuside of combo". the last magiccardmarket tournament in erfurt (32 players or something) had two non combo decks in the final (one has splinter twincombo in the deck but is not a combo deck really). both finalists play chain of vapor. i dont know why you say that. doing research first helps.

OK, so I am off topic. So what is the topic then? "Chain of Vapor is the best tech ever and I want my credit for it but I could cry that nobody cares except some of my hometown buddies which made the 1st and 2nd place in a 30 person tournament with my tech"?

I can assure you that I really don´t care about this. I care that some guys from Berlin post like they are superior to the rest of the community.

Regarding your Karma "argument": The negative Karma on this account is more or less completely from the "Spoils party" during the mulligan discussion. As always, people out of arguments threaten to start a world war or hit a "bad karma button".

you havent tested the card and havent played with it and say its incorrect. umm .

the way i said that chain of vapors is a must rubbed you the wrong way. instead of it bothering you that "i think a great deal of myself", maybe test cards that are successful somewhere else. that makes you a better player.

No. I wrote the whole community thinks it is incorrect as the card obviously sees no play outside of Combo.

Actually I personally don´t really care that you and whole Berlin plays this card because I:

-   Can understand the card text
-   Can connect this to potential applications
-   Can connect this to opportunities and threats
-   Made my own experiences since the card was printed
-   Know the options
-   Know what a bounce spell should basically do for me in a tempo deck (and none of your examples are matching these criteria. I could spam you with examples where the card is terrible or at least worse than the available options)

You tell us "data is of no use" because the card is not listed which is a unique understanding of the data available.
You tell us that when you (and your local crowd) play this card it is obviously the correct choice and all others are wrong.
Very Interesting.

The know-it-all behavior made me to write my post; it's not the missing deck lists or even a single card. If you want to find acceptance in the community I would advise to work on your communication skills or accept people turn away from what you have to say.

I also doubt that data of a <10 person regional tournament has any use regarding the evaluation of the format. But it can be "nice" to promote new deck ideas and showing deck development progress which is better than nothing in a format which has no other content available. So I am happy with every deck list which gets online.

@ tonytahiti: Your statement sounds like you think a great deal of yourself. Is it possible that the rest of the community thinks that playing Chain of Vapor is "clearly incorrect" and "obviously not the best choice" in blue based midrange due to the conditional behavior of the card? Actually the card sees no play outside of combo decks due to a good reason. This does not belong to the topic, so I will not go into detail here but as you know better than me there are even uncommon game states where Chain of Vapor can be unplayable.

Which city really has the big heads?

[Savage Knuckleblade]

I have not intensively worked on the KTK list yet but can say that the overall power of the set looks mediocre to me at first glance. I personally expected a slightly higher power level on cards which require 3 different colors to cast.

For the moment I just "worked" on the mythics and rares for pre-order reasons. Most cards do have high mana cost requirements but if you have a deck which can fulfill them you should try these out:

Savage Knuckleblade – My rough creature benchmark (CC>2) is the following: Creature should have either haste, hexproof, flash, a relevant CIP trigger, some sort of evasion or a very good P/T value. In other words I want creatures to be quite resistant against removal and/or have a good chance to kill planeswalkers. Savage Knuckleblade can fulfil this requirement and is one of the very few 3CC creatures which you happily draw in the late game. My card of the set.

Mantis Rider – welcome addition for the UWR aggro/midrange strategy. Hasty evasion is a very useful combination to fight planeswalkers. P/T is not optimal as he falls to a lot of removal and can block only the smaller dorks to stay alive but hey, the investment is only three mana which is a very good buy IMO.

Siege Rhino – Loxodon Hierarch is obsolete nowadays due to increased average power level but this card is on steroids. 4/5 trample with a six life swing should often dominate the board which is very good for CC4 IMO.

Anafenza, the Foremost –The ability might be more or less irrelevant but this is irrelevant  as 4/4 for 3mana can be good enough by its own and there are some situations where her ability can be game winning (Persist, Reanimator) or at least sweat (2nd big/evasion attacker, mana elf).

Bloodsoaked Champion – 2/1 for one mana with a relevant ability...bought.

Wingmate Roc – 5 mana is a lot but hard to kill 6 power evasion is nothing to spit on. The second ability is quite week but can help you in race situation; I see it as a free bonus. 5 mana slots are very limited so it will be very hard to make the cut, perhaps in two colored midrange decks.

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker – RR3 is not what I usually want to pay for a planeswalker but both abilities are very useful and he passes the planeswalker test to defend himself. In a world of planeswalkers he is the boss.

Butcher of the Horde – fulfills some of the requirements I have on creatures (P/T, flying,(haste)) and should find a home in decks which can pay him (mana) but definitely in decks with can pay both (mana/creature)

Temur Ascendancy – The card should at least cantrip in Temur Ramp decks and haste is one of the creature key abilities against removal and planeswalkers, as already mentioned. Certainly a bad top deck, so it might be too conditional but I would give it a try.

Sagu Mauler – The pre-order market says he is crap but I love his stats and abilities. He is very hard to kill and has evasion. If you reach 5 mana your opponent has no chance to save his planeswalker without losing a lot of toughness on the board. But I don´t know which deck want to pay so much mana for him, except perhaps RUG ramp.

Rattleclaw Mystic – The pre-order market says that he is good but I am not convinced.  He dies to everything and is no threat. Ramping from four to six is also not what I search for (except I have a Sagu Mauler in hand...)

Narset, Enlightened Master – I do not want to argue that this is playable but her effect can be very powerful and has combo potential. Some setup ideas for Highlander? There is even a Turn1 modern combo with it: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/modern-deck-creation/571175-turn-1-combo-using-narset