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I actually posed the question of Fae v. Jund to our twitterers the other day and it was almost a 50/50 split between the answers! It's really tough to judge a "the deck" outside of its own format. The quick answer to your question would probably be the "Turn 2 Win" channel-fireball decks from the legacy days. Or maybe the Dark Ritual / Hymn to Tourach / Hypnotic Specter decks that I always wished I were around for. I think a more interesting and workable question/answer would be to compare two "The Decks" from the same era. Jund vs. Fae? I'd put money on Fae. If the leeches start landing on turn two you're going to have problems, but if you can keep blightning at bay with Negate, and Glen Elendra, Archmage I think you'll be set with your evasive creatures and board lockdown.I think the "Premium Sliver Deck" could have used a few more rares but it is definitely one of the strongest preconstructed decks ever printed. I've also had a lot of success with the "Jace Deck" in Jace vs. Chandra. I wasn't around for the Tempest slivers or any of the other classic precons but generally speaking, cards are more powerful today anyhow so I'd go with one of the planeswalker's decks or the Premium Sliver deck.
However much Mike Turian wishes there would be both "Green" and "Dark Green" in Magic the Gathering- it ain't happening. I think you could make a strong case that Artifacts are more or less their own color. Though they can be used by other colors, they still have their own unique strengths and weaknesses and tribal elements. There are only so many things you can do in Magic the Gathering. If you think about the abilities on cards in the core sets, are there any abilities that are "colorless" that you could really divvy up to another, 6th color? R&D would have to either take abilities from the other colors or just start making up stuff for this potential new color. Both of which aren't very likely or desirable. I think there's something to be said for simplicity in a game that revels in its own complicatedness. Adding another, entire color would change the game fundamentally, and while I'm not afraid of change once in a while, I am in love with the fundamentals of Magic the Gathering. I could see something like the Eldrazi sort of being their own "color" for a set or two but a permanent change to the color wheel would be a disaster. Don't do it Mike! Keep fighting for the fundamentals! Freeedooooooooom!!!!
I'm no judge, but.. a clone of a permanent is a clone of the permanent without any effects applied to it. It doesn't matter if you pumped up your Shivan Dragon before you Cloned it. The Clone would come in to play as a brand new, just cast, creature. In your scenario, you would get a copy of an unanimated man-land (or 5 if you kicked it!) Feel free to activate them all if you've got the 20 mana!
Of course not! Bribery is the sincerest form of flattery... or something like that. Plus, he's just a fine looking dude!
You must have seen this! Of course! Leaf is quite proud of his green-blue plant hybrid. Here ya go -
[deck title=Rite of Avenging]
[Creatures]*3 Arbor Elf
*4 Avenger of Zendikar
*4 Llanowar Elves
*2 Terastodon
[/creatures]
[Other Spells]*4 Rite of Replication
3 Beastmaster Ascension
4 Explore
4 Harrow
2 Jace Beleren
2 Khalni Heart Expedition
4 Rampant Growth
[/other spells]
[Land]*3 Khalni Garden
*4 Misty Rainforest
*4 Island
*13 Forest[/land]
[/deck]
Dragon Whelp. So much potential! (and so cute!)
Yep, happened in the final match (Jund vs. Jund) at Pro Tour San Diego actually. Bloodbraid Elf cascaded into a Goblin Ruinblaster which was then kicked. Deadly!
M10 was a big turning point for Magic. Whatever your opinions of the Alara block, you have to admit that it is one of those "love it or hate it" expansions. % 100 gold sets get a lot of people excited but alienate a lot of the casual, new players who don't have the $200 mana base, or even the skills to pull off a proper tri-color deck. M10 did an about-face from Alara and firmly declared that the colorwheel was back. Zendikar has followed up with more of that philosophy. That background established- I think Magic should and will continue towards a more wholistic approach to creating and marketing their cards. I've written about this in almost every article in the past year but I'll say it again- Magic needs to appeal to the masses. If fantasy like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter can take the world by storm, Magic can too. I hope it will keep moving in the direction I see it heading now. The Wii-methodology- The more players in the game, the healthier it will be for everyone. Bigger prizes, more tournaments, more cards, more interesting side products, etc.
Personally, I've been trying to sharpen my MTGO skills lately and want to start really trying for Pro Tour invites online this year. I think Magic will become more and more integrated with the digital world. I've written about that as well. The future of Magic looks very bright and I wouldn't be surprised to see it more "main-streamed" some time in the next few years!
I'd like to thank everyone for their questions, even those who didn't get to see theirs answered! We'll probably end up doing this again some time in the future so be sure to follow us on twitter and/or join our forums if you want to participate in the next one!
And now... your moment of Zen-
I never knew Adolf and I had so much in common!
