The Magic Formula

Legality: Standard

Color Signature: Blue, White

Card Count: 63

Lands: (22)

4x Seachrome Coast

3x Glacial Fortress

7x Island

6x Plains

2x Cavern of Souls

Creatures: (22)

3x Phantasmal Image

1x Geist-Honored Monk

4x Restoration Angel

2x Snapcaster Mage

4x Blade Splicer

2x Sun Titan

3x Stonehorn Dignitary

3x Fiend Hunter

Spells: (19)

2x Venser, the Sojourner

3x Dissipate

4x Cloudshift

2x Day of Judgement

4x Ponder

4x Mana Leak

Well, Venser has always been one of my favorite planeswalkers, so I’ve decided to make a few decks based around him. Venser calls for a very specific deck to be played in, so these decks are all going to be flicker and blink decks (i plan on posting a few of the deck lists) but they’re all in different color combinations. This one relies on stalling very late into the game to win, all the while cancelling spells, exiling their creatures, and preventing them from attacking. If the opportunity arises, you can win by making your creatures unblockable with Venser’s -2 ability, but most of the time this deck will just stall until you can pop off Venser’s -8 and get his emblem, allowing you to exile a permanent whenever you cast a spell, at which point most opponents usually forfeit the match. 

Its a fun deck to play but requires patience to use properly.

werebeargen:

mindcrank:

introverted-planeswalker:

I need more Multiverse on my dash.

For your consideration:

Hello, I’m Mindcrank! I do a bit Custom card design and am trying my hand at competitive magic! I’m a little bit addicted to competing.

Tales from an aspiring pro is what you’ll find here. Decklists, Tournament reports, and just me talking about my favorite cards (many of which are bears!!!)

We’re The Magic Formula; Wil, Keith, and our two newest members Joe and John q. (he wanted to be kept anonymous) we post decklists, reports, opinions on cards, and other magic stuffs. Tune in daily for our Deck of the Day (which will start again tomorrow)

(via werebeargen-deactivated20120926)

and i put a couple of the Decks of the Day on my account. I’ll be doing this for all of them and i’ll put links to the decks on the decklists page. You know, just in case you wanted to playtest any of them. 

Happy Gaming!

     -Wil

Lands: (22)

4x Drowned Catacombs

4x Glacial Fortress

3x Isolated Chapel

5x Island

3x Plains

3x Swamp

Creatures: (8)

4x Painter’s Servant

4x Wall of Denial

Spells: (30)

4x Brainstorm

2x Counterbalance

4x Counterspell

4x Dismember

3x Extirpate (or sugical extraction, whichever you prefer)

4x Force of Will

4x Grindstone

3x Silence

2x Swords to Plowshares

Sideboard: (15)

3x Blue Elemental Blast

3x Dispel

1x Grafdigger’s Cage

1x Elixir of Immortality

2x Pithing Needle

1x Silence

2x Spell Snare

2x Swords to Plowshares

Well, here’s another control I’m building over the summer so i can start to play legacy events. As you can tell, its a control deck. The win factor is the combo of Painter’s Servant and Grindstone. As Painter’s Servant enters the battlefield, you choose a color, and all cards everywhere become that color, then you activate grindstone’s ability which makes the opponent mill 2 cards and if they share a color they repeat the process. This combo results in an instant mill, so the next turn when they draw a card they lose the game .

Its a potential 3rd turn win.

hehehe…

     -Wil

ok so this is a fun little casual format ive been working on for a loooong time. so far its a little unbalanced and i need to tweek it to make it work. but its really simple and all standard magic rules apply. pretty much the way it works is basic lands have abilities that correspond to their colors that activate when they enter the battlefield. The only rule is You cant have more than 30 basic lands in your deck if you play this format.

Mountains- Deal one damage to target player; or target creature cant block this turn

Forests- Target Creature gets a +1/+1 counter; or target creature gets trample until end of turn.

Islands- Target creature gains flying until end of turn; or target land doesn’t untap during its controllers next untap step

Swamps- Target player loses 1 life; or put a -1/-1 counter on target creature

Plains- Target creature gains protection from a color of your choice until end of turn; or you gain 1 life

im still tweaking this format and i think once wil sees it we’re gonna do some major play testing. i have a feeling that playing this format will be a tone of laughs. So try it out and let the hilarity ensue :)

suggestions and tips are welcome :)

happy gaming everyone

-keith

P.S. Fight for Your Friends.

(me and my little brother actually played something like this last night lol. its fun =)  -wil)

Opinions guys? this deck is for a 2 Headed Giant tourney me and keith are entering in april

Legality: Legacy

Color Signature: Black, Red

Card Count: 

Lands:

14x Swamps

3x Mountain

4x Blackcleave cliffs

Creatures:

4x Guul Draz Assassin

2x Vampire Nocturnus

4x Stromkirk Captains

4x Guul Draz Vampire

4x Vampire Nighthawk

4x Bloodline Keeper

3x Stromkirk Nobles

Spells: 

4x Dark Ritual

1x Sorin Markov

4x Go for the Throat

2x Geth’s Verdict

Artifacts: 

3x Blade of the Bloodchief

This is just a vampire aggro deck, hit hard and fast, using the Dark Rituals to play nighthawks or other large creatures early on for an advantage over your opponent, or maybe one of your many lords out, like Stromkirk Captain or Captivating vampire or Vampire Nocturnus. Go big or go home.

-wil

To many of us, whether you are new to the game or a long-time veteran of the various Planes Wizards of the Coast has founded on its travels through the Blind Eternities, Magic is much more than a game. It is something that consumes so much of our time it begans to become part of us and shapes our personalities. It provides and opportunity to make great friends, for people of all makes and sizes to come together and do something we love and for hours thrive on the variety, competition, and entertainment that the game has provided us. 

Recently, at GP: Baltimore, 25 or so backpacks were stolen from various players and spectators. Drafting cubes, trade material, and countless ideas will never be used, traded, or tested now because of the people that stole them. To further the efforts to find the people, im making this post, containing a letter from Justin Parnell, one of the victims who had a massive amount of his collection taken from him.

To thieves:

My name is Justin Parnell. I don’t think we’ve met. Well, actually, we probably have. That’s too bad I didn’t know who you were at the time. If I did, I doubt I would be writing you this letter.

You took my blue and grey Vans backpack from me on Sunday, February 26th around 6:45 at Grand Prix Baltimore. You were able to grab it in the moments I had my eyes off of it, while I was just feet away around a group of people I know and trust. You must be good at what you do, because that was the only time it foolishly left my touch or sight all weekend. Just in case you’ve forgotten, let’s go over everything you’ve taken from me.

Well, you certainly got my bag, which I’ve loved for many years because it was secure and sturdy enough to hold my most prized possession. It has a tear in the right shoulder at the strap from lovingly caring me on my journeys around the country to play the game I love. You probably dumped my bag in a trashcan somewhere.

You got several of the notes from a project I was working on with my best friend, which we’ve put hundreds and hundreds of hours into. Those notes meant everything to me and my friend, and nothing to everyone else in the world.  You probably scanned over them before realizing that and discarded them too.

You got my extra sleeves and favorite dice, including some of each that I was holding for a friend. The dice are an assorted variety, collected from trading with generous people to finally get all of the shapes and sizes I needed. There’s only about one of each kind, so those probably got tossed in the trash with my bag.

You got 95% of my Legacy and Modern staples. Those mean something to you for sure. Maybe you can sell them like I was going to. I was going to use the large portion of the money from those cards to put towards a new car for my girlfriend. We really can’t afford it, but we can afford even less for her current car to break down. I’m sure she’ll understand why we’ll have to wait several months longer and work a little bit harder at our average paying jobs. I guess we can just cross our fingers.

You’re probably licking your chops now, because you know what’s coming next. It’s likely why you grabbed my bag in the first place.

You took my cube from me. My entirely foiled cube, you know, aside from stuff like Mana Drain, Library of Alexandria, or dual lands. The single most valuable thing I own. It’s taken me over four years to get it completely foiled, but of course I couldn’t do it alone. I’ve had tons of people donate cards, as well as their time to locate hard to find items for me. Even dealers have gone out of their way to make sure I got the best deals possible, because they know how much this cube means to me and how much a player’s happiness in Magic means to them. This cube was more than a collection of cards. It was an extension of me, and representation of what I stand for in the Magic community. I had thousands of hours sharing that cube with hundreds of people. I’ve touched the community and helped countless others discover what they loved about the game. All the way from a kid who starting playing Magic because cubing looked so much fun o our current National Champion.

You most likely spent a few minutes figuring out how to sell it the quickest way.

Really, you’ve take this cube from the community. I can no longer share what I love most about this game with anyone. I’ll have to cancel my weekly cube event at my local store. A place where the love for cube drafting has become so strong I have had to tell people there isn’t enough room on multiple occasions. I won’t be able to share my joy on the Open Series or at any Grand Prixes, bringing people together to do what we all love. You’ve stolen a peg in both the cube and Magic community.

What’s taken me so long to craft and perfect through time, money, and dedication was destroyed in seconds. I’ve had an average job with average pay since I was sixteen, and Magic is where I’ve choose to put the little excess funds I’ve had.

You even have my favorite lands that are each worth no more than any foil basic lands. I’ve been collecting them since the release of Invasion.

My worst nightmare in the hobby that I deeply love has become a reality.

You won’t find anything else in that bag, but you’ve taken incredibly so much more that you can’t possibly see.

You stole a moment away from one of my best friends, who had just secured a Pro Tour invite by Top 4ing the Grand Prix. In what would have been the best moment in his career and an awesome celebration you managed to turn into hours of panic and despair for our close group of friends. We’ll just have to wait until he does it again to celebrate.

While my friends were helping me in my search, you broke into their car and stole their bags, containing a computer used to run a business and the portion of a collection, minus the cards that he was loaning me for use in my cube. You know, which you have as well.

You’ve taken the thing that allowed me to meet my best friends, travel to fantastic places, create amazing memories, and grow as a person.

You stole Magic from me. If fourteen years ago, when I first opened that pack of Urza’s Legacy, someone had told me that eventually everything that I held dear would be stripped away by some immoral slime who never made anything of himself, I would have never gone on this incredible journey.

I am not alone. At GP Baltimore more than 25 backpacks were taken by you. Some of you were caught, most of you were not. These people you stole from had, in large part, come to this Grand Prix to have a wonderful time with the people they enjoy and playing the game they love. How many people have you hurt? How many days, weeks, months, years have you ruined? Every night since has been sleepless for me, and I can only imagine what you’ve done to thousands of others. How many have quit this game, with tears, anger, and frustration, to fuel your greed?

This problem you cause has become absolutely ridiculous. I speak for the community when I say that this is the tipping point, where we say no more. We will watch out for each other’s bags, boxes and decks. Not just watch for you walking off with them, but taking the time to know what our friends are carrying. We will be sure to never let our bags leave our grasps, even for sixty seconds. That was all it took for you to take a huge part of my life.

We’ll know it is not enough to simply acknowledge that theft exists. We have to actively seek you out, and let everyone know who you are. You and I both know that the tournament organizers are not doing enough to curb your appetite for crime, and I hope that changes. We do not deserve to be fearful of our property vanishing.

Luckily, the community has been more amazing than you could ever imagine. We are coming together to stop this from happening to anyone else. This is the breaking point. We have had enough of you. There is no place for you in our community. Every player, vendor, tournament organizer, and Wizards employee will come together to stop you.

So what do I do now that you’ve taken everything from me? I can’t build decks, trade, sell my cards, or cube. It looks like I’ll have to use my time doing something else.

I will dedicate my new found time to finding you.

Once you are found, I am going to put every necessary resource into prosecuting you to the fullest extent of the law. I am going to take from you everything you have taken from me. As much as I can from all of you will all be given back to the community, to help them move forward as they have helped me to do.

I want justice, and I will not stop until I get it. I hope you understand exactly what you’re up against. You are a few fighting against thousands. You will not win. You will not deter us. This is only the beginning.

The Baltimore PD doesn’t take grand larceny lightly. Neither will any other city you are in.

The community is fighting back.

Justin Parnell

Please reshare this message.

Please contact me at jparnell.101@gmail.com or through Facebook or Twitter (@JParnell1) directly with any information on my case, or any other case you would like me to share. Getting every bit of information shared with our amazing community, the city’s convention center staff and the local police for ANY case involving belongings stolen at events helps prevents future theft and will help lead to these criminals. Any piece of concrete evidence helps in these situations. Thanks for listening and sharing, you guys are all truly amazing.  

I know tumblr brings together a vast amount of people from a majority of places, so please, reblog this and spread the word even further so that more and more people know what happened and can  assist in finding the thieves as well as be prepared themselves so that no one else falls victim. 

Thank you,
     -Wil (Ahoboandhisbox)
        The Magic Formula 

Sorry guys, when i’m at school architecture kinda takes over my life. But i have been doing a few Magic related things! 

1) made a few causual (very, very casual) decks for my girlfriend to learn on.
     a) U/W Spirit Semi-control
     b) R/B Vampires Kill/Aggro
     c) R/G Werewolf Aggro 
they’re very basic, just simple enough for her to learn to play on. after she learns we can hunt down better cards together and i can start teaching her about deckbuilding

2) begun a G/W Human/Aggro that will eventually be a Deck of the Day

3) me and a few friends are starting a magic club at my school called MtG: Pratt (i go to pratt institute in brooklyn) so we’re working on getting permission to meet and funding and fun stuff like that

4) i made a list of things i owe you guys
     a) a Rat vs. Squirrel Duel Deck
     b) a Demon deck based around Rakdos
     c) a Cat deck to help that girl i reblogged that post about there not being                    enough cats to make a deck around 

     d) Finish/post our first EDH deck for a DotD, I have two in the works right now,               so which ever one finishes first will get posted (they’re a 5 color                         progenitus deck and a 5 color Sliver deck)

Midterms are starting for me, and that usually means two weeks of not sleeping, Rhino, Autocad, model-making, and lots of monster and coffee, but ill try and post these soon, maybe if i need a break one day ill make them.

Thanks so much to all of our followers  for sticking with us! and just because i cant post a full deck every day that doesnt mean i cant help you guys out if you need it, so please feel free to message us, we’re more than happy to be of service

Happy gaming Planeswalkers,
-Wil (ahoboandhisbox) 

goodgrief41:

Thinking about making a deck that basically negates both power and defense…i.e. -1/-1 counters on things. 

Not sure what colors yet. But seeing that I officially reached upwards of 1000 cards Im sure I can come up with something. Although it looks like it’ll be B/R…probably gonna call up Mama said knock you out! lmao

Even though this idea isnt that new, its pretty solid if done right. Its color signature should be U/B because having a deck that just weakens your opponent wont really do much. You’ll need spells like Fuel for the Cause and Contagion Engine, and others that have the Proliferate ability.

As for creatures, you can go for Infect or Wither. Both of those abilities deal damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters, although infect deals damage to players in poison counters while wither deals damagae to players regularly.

Also look into cards like Clockspinning , Skinrender, and Hex Parasite. I think a Hex Parasite equipped with a Spirit Mantle and something that gives it hexproof, first strike, or double-strike could be a pretty terrifying thing to face in a deck that relies on counters. maybe you could also splash green to give +1/+1 counters to your own creatures?

because she wants to learn more about the things i like doing, but im not entirely sure what kind of deck to build. Im considering standard U/W spirits because they’re tribal (i believe that tribal decks are easier to play because most creatures of the same tribe have similar abilities. I’m throwing in control too that way if we ever play at an FNM (if i can convince her too) it might actually stand a chance). My other idea is to create her a variation of my Elf deck that isnt as aggressive, or a life gain.

Every deck that is made has a particular flavor or style to it that reflects its creators personality/play style. Take Kieth Keith for instance, he plays mainly fast, hard hitting decks or much slower decks that like to toy with you, while i play decks that tend to focus a little too much on creatures (alot of my older decks dont have alot of removal and arent very good, i need to fix them). I picture my girlfriend playing in a more passive manner, which is why i like the idea of a control deck that slowly builds momentum with little creatures in it suitable for her, which is why i leaned towards spirits in the first place. I even considered giving her my elves at one point because i think she’d enjoy that (its not aggressive until you get certain cards out, other times its just sitting there biding its time), and im not totally against doing that, but it was the first deck i ever made and im kinda attached lol.

 So anyways, i guess im asking all of your opinions, what type of deck (preferrably standard but im flexible) would be easiest to teach someone to play Magic with?

(P.S. you spelled my name wrong. yea. im THAT asshole. :P -keith)

(P.S.S. Who’s keith? -Wil)

Legality: Standard

Color Signature: Blue/Green

Card Count: 60 +Sideboard

Lands:

4x Hinterland Harbor

7x Forest

7x Island

Creatures:

4x Birds of Paradise

4x Delver of Secrets

3x Invisible Stalker

2x Predator Ooze

Spells:

4x Cancel

3x Dismember

4x Dissipate

4x Hunger of the Howlpack

3x Gitaxian Probe

3x Increasing Savagery

2x Prey Upon

Artifacts:

4x Runechanter’s Pike

2x Trepanation Blade

Sideboard:

2x Grafdigger’s Cage

2x Ratchet Bomb

2x Witchbane Orb

3x Atumn’s Veil

3x Surgical Extraction

3x Spellskite

Alrighty guys, here’s another DotD i owe. Alright, so basically this deck is your standard delver deck, you know, get one out, flip it, yada yada yada and start picking your opponents off for three, powering up your delver with runechanters pike. Since this is a green deck however, you have a few other ways to boost your creatures, as well as gain a little extra mana with Birds of Paradise. Using hunger of the Howlpack or Increasing Savagery, boost up your delvers (or your Birds if you want) to make some fairly efficient bombs early on in the game, flashing back if necessary. To activte the morbid ability of Hunger of the Howlpack, use a Dismember or a Prey Upon (predator ooze is particularly good in this case since he’s indestructible), this is a fairly straight forward deck, easy to play and pretty good in games as well. 

Happy Gaming!

-wil

(where is ponder??? you cant have a delver deck without it. and you need evolving wilds- keith)

(you know this deck isnt my style, so i forgot about ponder. My bad. Throw that in there somewhere -wil)

I’m slowly working on developing pages and such whenever i have a chance in order to keep this site organized for our fellow Planeswalkers (you’re welcome =P).

If anyone happens to notice any faulty links or something that seems out of place then please help a brutha out and shoot us a message so we can fix it.

UPDATES:

DECKLISTS PAGE: as well as having decks we post and our DotD posts, it also has the list of “themes” we have designated for our DotD posts. This is helps me and Keith out, but this way you guys can keep track as well.

HELP PAGE: I have created a “Tips, Tricks, and Rules” page, where i will put links for any posts Keith and i create, including links we find, concerning rulings, formats, strategies, etc.

Please check them out and let me know if anything is amiss, or if you think i should add another page for something. Constructive criticism is always welcome

Happy gaming, 

-Wil

lorstarcutter:

My personal assortment of commanders.