How To Use Magic Workstation Part 4 - Etiquette

Hi, and welcome to the final article in How To Use Magic Workstation! In the final article, we'll be covering etiquette. These are the kind of things that a new MWS player won't know, but can seriously piss off a veteran, even though they won't even know they're doing it. They're also quite important, so let's get to it! (This is all stuff I wish I knew when I was a newbie at MWS)

Your first piece of etiquette should be before you even play a game. Go to Game -> Test Deck in Solo Mode. Then, under your name in the right side of the screen, change it from Player to whatever username you like. A lot of MWSers don't like Player as a name as it's too anonymous and also can be symbolic of a noob (or an experienced player trying to catch people out). Personally, I'll play with people named Player but a lot of people don't.

Now we're ready to play. If you decide to create a game, specify what you want. "T2" isn't a good description. "T2 2/3 sb" is. (Note: that means a game of Type 2 (Standard) 2 out of 3 games, with sideboarding: i.e, a standard tournament-style match.)

Also make sure not to be too exacting with your requirements, because it makes you look like an asshole. "T2 Tier 1 no quitters no griefers no Player no noobs 2/3 sb must be fast and use phases" is the kind of game I simply won't join, because it seems to me that that person is very likely to fly off the handle if I'm a bit too slow or even if I lag a bit.

Once you get in the game, greet your opponent (a simple "Hi" will suffice), and then Ctrl + S to shuffle your deck a few times. Ctrl + I rolls the dice to determine who goes first, and then you should say whether you play or draw. If you keep, say so, if you mulligan, feel free to simply press Ctrl + M rather than say 'mull'.

Under M10 rules, after your first mulligan, you then wait for your opponent to decide. If they are reticent (generally trying to get you to reveal further information) ask them 'keep?'. They'll then have to reply.

When you play, at the end of your turn, it is a good idea to say 'End my turn'. Your opponent will then end your turn, or say EOT and perform something in that step. You do the same for him. This gives players the opportunity to respond to the end of turn step.

As to phases, generally you use them in more complex situations (such as when you're attacking with a Putrid Leech and expect a removal spell). or if you're in a tournament game or your opponent expects it. If you're a precise kind of person, you have the right to ask them to use phases (but if they aren't used to it, they may forget).

If you have a rules question, and you can't work it out with your opponent, go to magic-league.com and join the #judges4you chat. They'll be able to answer it.

If you want to play combo, it's a good idea to become fluent at goldfishing it before playing on MWS, for the happiness of all concerned.

Last but certainly not least, if you play against a rude or abusive opponent, simply leave. There's plenty of other opponents out there: don't waste time playing against someone who abuses you. It isn't worth it.

These are all tips that I simply picked up from learning. There seems to be a lot there, but don't worry: you'll pick it up bit by bit until most of it is second nature. It's okay to be slow with the program at first (just make sure you solitaire enough to remember the basic functions before you play), and you'll get faster before you know it. And now, you people who don't know how to use MWS have absolutely no excuse:) Hop on MWS, and play some games!

Enjoy!

Zendikar Spoilers: Article 4

Welcome back readers! We've got a bunch of new cards to analyse, so let's delve right in.

Blood Tribute
Sorcery
Kicker - Tap an untapped Vampire you control. (You may tap a Vampire you control in addition to any other costs as you cast this spell.) Target player loses half his or her life, rounded up. If Blood Tribute was kicked, you gain life equal to the life lost this way.
Illus. Alex Horley-Orlandelli

Pretty situational for Limited: pretty expensive for Constructed. I don't think this will see much play.

Roil Elemental
Creature - Elemental
Flying Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain control of target creature for as long as you control Roil Elemental.
Illus. Raymond Swanland	3/2

Limited or Sealed bomb. With all the removal in Standard, I don't think this'll be played in Constructed though.

Guul Draz Specter
Creature - Specter
Flying Gull Draz Specter gets +3/+3 as long as an opponent has no cards in hand. Whenever Gull Draz Specter deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card.
Illus. Mark Tedin	2/2

This, I could see being played in the eternal Tier-2 black discard deck alongside Nyxathid. As for Limited: watch out for this guy. Fragile though.

Nissa Revane
Planeswalker - Nissa
[+1] Search your library for a card named Nissa's Chosen and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. [+1] You gain 2 life for each Elf you control. [-7] Search your library for any number of Elf creature cards and put them onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Illus. Jaime Jones	2

At first glance, worst Planeswalker yet printed. The -7 is good, but by the time you get to it, an Elf deck's already won.

Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Legendary Creature - Demon
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have target player lose 3 life. If you do, put three +1/+1 counters on Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
	3/3

How many Limited bombs must they spoil as a group? Give us some Constructed cards, damnit. I'm starting to sound like a broken record.

Archmage Ascension
Enchantment
At the beginning of each end step, if you drew two or more cards this turn, you may put a quest counter on Archmage Ascension. As long as Archmage Ascension has six or more quest counters on it, if you would draw a card, you may instead search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle your library.
Illus. Christopher Moeller

EPIC Johnny card here. I could see this being played in EDH as well, as a 'why not?' card, since so much card draw is packed into them anyway. I look forward to seeing someone break it.

Verdant Marsh*
Land
, Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Verdant Marsh: Search your library for a Swamp or Forest card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.

There it is. The card I pray to open at the Prerelease. That, or any fetchland I can trade for this with. Sal needs his playset!

Obsidian Flats*
Land
, Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Obsidian Flats: Search your library for a Plains or Swamp card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.

I can seriously see W/B control being a viable archetype in Zendikar. Day of Judgement, Quest of the Gravelord, Luminarch's Ascension, various removal, perhaps another Wrath effect...


Combined with this to fix mana, it could be good.

Unstable Geyser*
Land
, Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Unstable Geyser: Search your library for a Island or Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.

Awesome card, uninteresting to talk about. NEXT!

Luminarch Ascension
Enchantment
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if you didn't lose life this turn, you may put a quest counter on Luminarch Ascension. (Damage causes loss of life) : Put a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying onto the battlefield. Activate this ability only if Luminarch Ascension has four or more quest counters on it.
Illus. Michael Comarck #25/249

Sweet. Either awesome for Multiplayer, or the next thing to be broken in Standard. How about Turbo-Fog with this as a win condition? Or the aforementioned B/W Control deck. I love subgames in Magic, and this one has it on both sides of the table: Quest for the Angels vs. Quest to Ping The Opponent Every Turn.

Misty Rainforest
Land
, Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Misty Rainforest: Search your library for a Forest or Island card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Illus. Shelly Wan #220/249

Lastly, the U/G fetchland.


Well, that's all the cards spoiled so far. Let's sneak some strategy articles in before 10 more cards show up!


See you tomorrow!

Catching Up On Magic - Part 4

The Rise of Multicolor Decks

Thanks to a current glut in non-basic lands that produce several colors, it's possible to play three, four or even five colors with minimal sacrifice in the current Standard. Observe these two cards:

As long as you have a single counter on a Vivid land, you can use Reflecting Pool to tap for any mana you like, without any drawback. Hence, Five-Color Control is a deck that is quite possible, that uses Vivid lands and Reflecting Pool to tap for any mana it wants to play the best control cards in Standard, whatever colors. The only drawback is that they're slightly slower and play 1-2 more lands than most decks: certainly worth the trade-off of the power of the whole color pie.

Our only crusader in the fight against non-basic dominance is Anathemancer:

The expensive Unearth cost means that at seven mana you can uncounterably play Anathemancer, and will probably hit the opponent for 6 or more. It's a strong card, and any non-Five-Color deck (and indeed some five-color decks) should play 4 of this guy in the maindeck: even mono-color decks run some nonbasic lands.

Staple Cards

I can't claim to know all the staple cards in Standard, but I'll attempt to cover as many as possible that aren't rotating in October. Here are the cards you'll want to have, since you'll be using them for over a year, guaranteed:

Anathemancer. An excellent non-basic hoser, which might become weaker with Zendikar, but will probably have a spot in a sideboard next year.

Baneslayer Angel. Any white deck that has 5-mana spells in it should have this creature, who's likely to get even better when Reveillark and Cloudgoat Ranger leave the format.

Bant Charm. Deals with almost anything your opponent can throw at you, for just three mana.

Bituminous Blast. Good in almost any B/R deck for cascading into an aggressive creature or a second removal spell.

Bloodbraid Elf. The best aggro creature in the format. End of story.

Doom Blade. An excellent piece of removal that kills almost any relevant creature in the format.

Esper Charm. Two three-mana abilities to choose from on a three mana card? Awesome. Wait, it destroys enchantments too?

Gargoyle Castle. No need to pick up 4 of these, but 2 of them would be a useful asset for your collection.

Garruk Wildspeaker. An excellent card that will be a staple in green decks for quite some time.

Great Sable Stag. A 3/3 for 3 that also dodges a good chunk of control cards: perfect for any aggressive deck with green in it, at least in the sideboard.

Harm's Way. An excellent combat trick or a way to force through the last few points of damage.

Jace Beleren. An excellent control card that allows you to draw more cards than your opponent. Absolutely wrecks the control mirror or acts as a useful decoy against aggro.

Jund Charm. A sweeper, combat trick, and occasional Anathemancer-foiler all in one? This one's a keeper.

Lightning Bolt. 3 damage. One mana. No other burn spell comes close to this one, and any deck with red ought to be playing this.

Maelstrom Pulse. A planeswalker-killer that can also take out any number of tokens, or multiples of the same creature or enchantment. A very versatile removal spell.

Path to Exile. Another one-mana piece of removal, getting rid of your opponent's best guy for one mana and a basic land of their choice is too good to pass up.

Qasali Pridemage. A good way to get rid of artifacts / enchantments, and a nice-sized creature too.

Terminate. Similar to Doom Blade, but this kills any creature that can be destroyed and targeted for two mana. Nifty.

Volcanic Fallout. A sweeper that can be played instantly and can't be countered is always a staple, especially when it's this good.

Wall of Denial. A control deck often just needs to survive to get it's good cards, and what helps a deck do that better than a huge, flying, untargetable wall?

The tri-lands (Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Jungle Shrine, Savage Lands, Seaside Citadel) and the M10 duals (Dragonskull Summit, Drowned Catacomb, Glacial Fortress, Rootbound Crag, Sunpetal Grove) are also worth obtaining.

See you tomorrow, when we discuss drafting the new sets.

To be continued...