LotusRing

On  MTGO main site, I 've just seen this message: MOC S and PTQ Prelim and Final Event Prize Changes Beginning January 30, booster prizes for all MOCS and PTQ Prelim and Final Events will award two-thirds  Khans of Tarkir  booster packs and one-third  Fate Reforged  booster pack. Those who collected KTK packs must sell them out asap. WOTC don't give packs of only one set as prizes now. The supply and KTK will match its demand. One of the pillars supporting pack investing is ruined. Another is at risk as the third set of KTK, Dragons is a big set. It's highly possible that the meta game will be changed by the coming of Dragons.

Khans is not another Theros. Its draft structure is like that of RTR. After the third set Dragons releases, the mainstream draft events will be switched to Dragons, Dragons, Fate. I see a chance to buy KTK cards form now (full set is around 87), during Fate Reforged prerelease events and until the time Standard becomes active again. I have picked the following cards: 1. Dig Through Time After the banning, it has dropped to under 2 tix. I think blue based control will keep rising and eventually dominate the Standard metagame in the next few months. Having learnt enough lessons form previous trades, I will start buying regularly but gradually. Maybe it can rest at around 0.5 - 1 tix during prerelease. 2. Flooded Strand and Polluted Delta When blue based controls rise back to popular decks, these lands are essential to them. But there is a risk that Zendikar fetchlands are reprinted in Dragons. 3. Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and Ashcloud Phoenix Decks today are filled with

After some testing, I got a different view of what the better cards are. Whisperwood Elemental was first considered a value adding card, but in GR decks, it's too slow to turn the game around. When I have 5 mana ready, I probably need to make monstrous World Eater or cast Stormbreath to race my opponent. Whisperwood is a defensive card rather than a card dealing huge damage. However in this speedy Standard, it 's a bit off beat. I hope Abazan midrange uses it as a finisher later. Something similar happened to Shaman of the Great Hunt. I found it difficult to use its drawing ability in late game. Still, it's a strong card for adding up potential damage if I have flying attackers. Occasionally, when the blockers are cleared, it even does huge damages and finishes the game quickly. Even Yasova Dragonclaw is not as deadly as I expected. Most of the time, I couldn't find worthy targets to take control at the expense of paying 1RR, which means tap out for one turn in earl

This article includes the bottom-to-top method to compare and rank cards from Fate Reforged. We will predict the potential of cards simply on their abilities; deck types are not considered in our ranking system. What do we care about? Pure damage - How many points of damage can it deal if resolved or unblocked? Card Advantage - What can the card do to bring you advantages over your opponent (one of for X)? Mana Feasibility - Is it easy to splash in various decks? How many mana do they cost? Protection - How strong are they against opponent's spells? 1. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon It's much slower than Elspeth but highly splashable among the control decks/ramp decks. I don't think it will be great in this Standard as enemies of control may be fast enough to finish the game before you draw Ugin. 2.  Monastery Mentor It's very good in Legacy and Vintage, where spells are cheap. In standard, I think it's hard to unlock its real power right now. 3. S

I want to analysis Whisperwood Elemental a bit harder before its entering into Standard. Wishfully, I am trying to fit it into various existing decks. Decks gathering tokens to win, decks with herds of creatures are first considered as the homes for Whisperwood. 1. Naya Tokens Dictate of Heliod Soul of Theros Xenagos, the Reveler Goblin Rabblemaster Wingmate Roc Elspeth, Sun's Champion As 4/4 body in today's Standard seems weak, we can try adding Dictate and Soul to upgrade it. 2. Sidisi Soul Elvish Mystic Sylvan Caryatid Satyr Wayfinder Sidisi, Brood Tyrant Soul of Theros This is the other deck with Soul of Theros I found in the meta. The deck uses around 30 creatures, it probably needs Whisperwood to protect them from mass removals. 3. RGx monsters Heir of the Wilds Rattleclaw Mystic Savage Knuckleblade Courser of Kruphix Ashcloud Phoenix Stormbreath Dragon Crater's Claws Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker X

Ugin is powerful, as both mass removal and direct damage. It deserves to be in some serious ramp decks. One of the best ramp cards, luckily, work quite well with Ugin and Whisperwood Elemental. I am talking about Nassa, Worldwaker. 3GG +1: Target land you control becomes a 4/4 Elemental creature with trample. It's still a land. +1: Untap up to four target Forests. −7: Search your library for any number of basic land cards, put them onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library. Those lands become 4/4 Elemental creatures with trample. They're still lands. After making a land 4/4 colorless creature, the card can provide 8 mana for green based decks the next turn it enters the battlefield. Your opponent is forced to answer Nassa or he 'll get swept by Ugin. The list may look like this: Sylvan Caryatid  4 Voyaging Satyr  4 Elvish Mystic  4 Courser of Kruphix  4 Genesis Hydra  4 Polukranos, World Eater  4 Arbor Colossus  4 Ugin, the Spirit Dra

Picking card to collect, we look at their future values. When a new deck type is showing signs of getting popular after the adding of a new set, I first choose cards based on the colors of the deck type. This time, I expect UB or UW control to come back. In a control deck, it likely for us to use 4 copies of  Dig Through Time . Pearl Lake Ancient and Jace, the Living Guildpact can also be something we need.  The fetchlands, especially Polluted Delta and  Flooded Strand a re good to buy but we must be patient, as KTK will be heavily drafted during prerelease. Then, cards from the set will keep dropping until the third set releases. We have plenty of time to buy. Something I feel confused is the effects of Soulfire Grand Master and Monastery Mentor on tri-color control decks. Frankly, they themselves make up a combo that can constantly burn, counter, draw, give out tokens, depending on the spells you cast. Even when players only gets either of them on the battlefield, with suf

Long time no see! It feels so nice to write about MTG again. The cards I want to review today: Shamanic Revelation Sorcery Draw a card for each creature you control. Ferocious — You gain 4 life for each creature you control with power 4 or greater Whisperwood Elemental Creature - Elemental At the beginning of your end step, manifest the top card of your library. (Put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it's a creature card) Sacrifice Whisperwood Elemental: Until end of turn, face-up, nontoken creatures you control gain "When this creature dies, manifest the top card of your library." Both 5 mana cards are green, one provides conditional draw advantage, the other serves as a response to mass removals that do not exile creatures.  I like the green elemental more. Giving a 2/2 creature every end of turn is an advantage less conditional than card drawing based on number