Build a Magic 2013 Intro Pack Contest: Part 4
While the conversation was lively and spirited, in the end there could be only… two? That’s right, our last poll let you, the readers, pick the two rare cards for our Goblin Artisans “M13” Intro Pack build, and as our deck develops it will be doing so on the back of the Raiding Pirate!
Given that the theme of the deck is Pirates!, it was perhaps a foregone conclusion that the Raiding Pirate was going to make the cut. With 89% of the vote, it was perhaps more surprising that some folks didn’t take it (Unsightly Gorgon claimed second place). With such overwhelming support, we’ll call this one the foil premium rare. That, of course, leaves the deck’s other card, and that was far less certain.
Nearly half of you voted for either Predictive Emulation or Mutilate, but every single card earned at least a couple of votes. In the end, readers liked the “loot your opponent’s library” feel of Predictive Emulation best, and that will be our second rare card. Great job, everyone!
Now, on to the nitty-gritty of filling out the rest of the deck. Today we’re looking at creatures, and again we’ll have two polls: one for commons, and one for uncommons. We’ll use the top vote-getters in each category to help flesh out the deck. Each name in the poll is hyperlinked to the card art, so you’re just a click away from seeing any card. We’ve omitted a few that didn’t work with this colour scheme, but the rest are up to you!
Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and you’ll be automatically entered to win one of the two prize packs of a real M13 Intro Pack and trio of boosters!
Ertai's Lament 
Well gee, let’s think. How about ALL THE PIRATES YARRR
It is really difficult to avoid taking the easy way out and tossing in all of the pirates.
Tried to convey a “maritime” feeling, with Raven Messenger, Scourge of the Seas, Rishadan Airship, Coral Merfolk, Dark Cove Pirates, Mourning Banshee, Cursed Tomb, Streamtide Philosopher. Added Gravedigger (utility), Bogcurse Schemer and Ghostly Mentor (these two a bit randomly, I admit.)
I went with “full flavour”, choosing all the available pirates at common, adding the Tidal Serpent (nice combo with the Explorer) and the Gravedigger. The uncommons are a bit less cohesive, so I simply added strong power in the air and some nifty tricks (Mentor/Philosopher/Schemer)
Going to try and center around flavor.
Common:
-Gravedigger: It’s like searching for buried treasure, only the treasure is a creature!
-Explorer of the High Seas: It’s a pirate.
-Dark Cove Pirates: It’s a pirate.
-Scourge of the Seas: It’s a pirate.
-Bog Raiders: They’re like pirates.
-Tidal Serpent: We need a big creature, I think, and an underwater serpent looks good.
Uncommon:
-Streamtide Philosopher: Islands matter may be a subtheme in this deck.
-Cursed Tomb: Dead men tell no tales…
-Bogcurse Schemer: Or maybe lands matter in general.
-Mnemonic Wall: I’m not overly happy with two walls in the deck, but I think the upcoming sorceries and instants could use this.
-Vedalken Plotter: Yeah, lands matter in this deck for sure.
I chose Scourge of the Seas, Explorer of the High Seas, Tidal Serpent, Dark Cove Pirates, Bog Raiders and Riashadan Airship, because they are maritime themed commons. I also chose Mnemonic Wall, Streamtide Philosopher, Neri Sage, Bogcurse Schemer, and Vedalken Plotter because lands matter for uncommons.
I won’t even pretend I remember or made notes of what I picked. What felt “piratey” is what I picked. Plotter for fun times and all. Shouldn’t pick stuff when half asleep.
For commons all the pirates of course plus Coral Merfolk for the sake of mana curve and that they tie-in with the pirate mythos along with my last common pick of Tidal Serpent. For uncommons I liked both Cursed Tomb for defense and flavor as well as Ghostly Mentor for the idea of risk/reward. I like Streamtide Philosopher for it’s ability to open holes in your oponents defense to allow Raiding Pirate to really shine, Neri Sage for some size and deck fixing, and Mourning Banshee just because I imagine pirates would run into one at some point, plus, flying.
I definitely focused on flavor…if it was a pirate forwarded piratical themes, I put it in. As others have stated, land matters (Bogcurse, Vedalken) seems well supported.
Picked pirates because….well….yargh. and for the uncommons I went along with a lands matter theme, as someone else posted above.
GRAVEDIGGER : well, digging for coffins ain’t the same as digging for treasures, yet it’s digging anyway…and you can always steal those gold teeths (PS : oh, I would have thought that The Dark ‘s GRAVE ROBBERS would have been seen around here ;))
DARK COVE PIRATES : Pirates+Land Bond…I think we have a theme
SCOURGE OF THE SEAS : Pirates
EXPLORER OF THE HIGH SEAS : what are Pirates if not plunder…er, explorers I mean…
TIDAL SERPENT : either the Captain’s pet or some troubles coming
MISTRAL VAMPIRE : to continue with the Land Bond. It’s not flavourful, yet in a recent old Fighting fantasy-like book by Dave Morris, I’ve met a vampire pirate captain…so, tribute to Dave Morris with this one.
CURSED TOMB : is where all the treasures are
GHOSTLY MENTOR : all Pirates have someone who gives them useful informations…
VELDAKEN PLOTTER : …especially about new lands to plunder!!
BOGCURSE SCHEMER : ain’t it that guy leading us through that secret passage in the swamp, so we can raid the village?
NERI SAGE : sometimes, even the best captain needs advices from an higher source than just the regular street information seller.
I chose all of the available pirates for obvious reasons, then made the rest of my picks with a decent curve in mind.
I went full pirates at common, to maintain the theme, along with the serpent, that fits the deck too, both in flavour and also in sinergy with some uncommons i chose.
For the uncommons (not a single pirate there?! D: ), i chose the two cards that turn land drops into effects ( exclusive landfall ), the vedalken that trades one of your islands with your opponent to let the serpent pass, and some other two that didn’t felt too connected to the deck but offer card advantage and board control.
At common I picked the pirates, since it’s the theme of the deck. At uncommon it became difficult to stay on spot so I tried to avoid zombies and concentrated on the sea and loot. There is a disturbing lack of pirates at uncommon.
Then again I just voted for all pirates! I just love tribal decks… It got me think, I wish there was a new cards to make a pirate deck!
Commons: All the pirates, Gravedigger for “tomb looting”, Bog Raiders for some “land matters” support.
Uncommons: Cursed Tomb, Streamtide Philosopher, Neri Sage, Bogcurse Schemer, Ghostly Mentor
Streamtide Philosopher! Gimme more, plz.
Oops…
change username.
Can’t access hyperlink to Jace’s Mesmerist.
Fixed, thanks!
Almost too many fum and flavorful options in the common pool. Tidal serpent and explorer of the hight seas have fun synergy. Same goes for the Plotter at uncommon, which has excellent flavor text. I can see that guy getting along well with pirates. The other uncommon options were trickier, but the Sage and the Cursed Tomb have nice utility, and work in the broader mystical flavor that “Pirates of the Caribbean” brought to the high seas.
Of course all the pirates!
Add some merfolk in too, since there from the sea as well. And I couldn’t resist putting Mistral Vampire in since it has island bond.
Of course, we definitely need all the pirates, what with our premium foil getting better the more pirates we have in the deck. The Mourning Banshee and Neri Sage give us some nice flying fat as well as some good abilities. Cursed Tomb can get us stuff back, which is nice. The wall helps us cast our other rare a few times, and the Streamtide Philosopher is just nice utility.
I considered in my voting having balance of black and blue spells, but this proved pretty hard since the vast majority of the awesome creatures were blue. I disliked the idea of zombies and other things that’d take some justifying to have in a pirate crew – and I’m glad the results of the poll were also similar to my feelings. Looking good so far.
I stuck to flavor as closely as possible with my votes. Fortunately it seems a lot of the more flavorful cards have good synergy with one another, so this worked out well.
So here are my picks. Tried to go for the elements of Blue/Black control:
Commons:
Dark Cove Pirates
Raven Messenger
Explorer of the High Seas
Armored Cancrix
Coral Merfolk
Jace’s Mesmeristy
Uncommons:
Frigid Captor
Bogcurse Schemer
Mnemonic Wall
Streamtide Philosopher
Cursed Tomb
I definitely think that the pirate theme will go hand in hand with control, so I stayed true to that when voting. My area was hit by a huge storm so i cant really elaborate… Typing and voting on a phone is very annoying.
Tried to stay on theme with a bunch of pirate cards and control
For the uncommons: Ghostly Mentor, Cursed Tomb (fun mechanic and feels Piratey), Frigid Captor (cold Pirate, argh!), Vedalken Plotter (great fun for anything with islandwalk/swampwalk), and Streamtide Philosopher (fun control).
For the commons:Tidal Serpent (works well with Streamtide Philosopher), Bog Raiders (works well with Vedalken Plotter), Explorer of the High Seas (convert your traded land into what you want), Dark Cove Pirates, Rishadan Airship (Pirates! Argh!), Scourge of the Seas
Explorer seems good with Tidal Serpent.
Streamtide Philosopher seems good to help get your pirates pillaging.
I could have been unique, but nothing felt right but piratey stuff. The Banshee was something that just had to go in, too. Haunted seas and all that.
Here are my choices:
Commons:
* Flittering Faerie: Although not a pirate, the draw option is tempting
* Raven Messenger: Looting combined with combat, that’s pirate style
* Dark Cove Pirates: a pirate showcasing a new mechanic? Yes!
* Scourge of the Seas: Intimidating Sparrow!
* Explorer of the High Seas: a land shaping pirate … wow.
* Tidal Serpent: And as for mastering the Seven Seas …
Uncommons:
* Cursed Tomb: I like the unpredictability aspect
* Neri Sage: Although the Sphinx does not contribute to the pirate theme, it’s a solid flying body with a handy etb ability
* Streamtide Philosopher: A seabound manipulator, that’s as close to the main theme as you could get.
* Vedalken Plotter: Dealing with lands seems to be what pirates like to do …
* Bogcurse Schemer: That guy seems like the brains on our ship.
Well, I’m getting more and moure curious what our final product will look like!