I really don't like the people that admit to purposely riffle shuffling a persons deck simply because they have power cards.  They say thinks "oh you should see the look on his face..."  And "they're just pieces of cardboard..."  Those are ridiculous arguments.  They are someone property.  Someone paid $600+ for that Lotus.  That is like Keying someone car because they have a Porshe and you have a Toyota.  What right do you have to do that?  You are damaging someone property regardless if you believe it's just.

Strange, at the last tournament I was at my ONLY game loss was to Mono-White Weenie.  And a bad one at that.  No power or StP.  I owned face with a 13/13 dryad game one and the second game, he dropped a [card]Commander  Eesha[/card] and I was like wtf is that?  Didn't even reckognize it but I was like, oh jeez.  Haha.  

It was a 2/4 with protection from creatures.   And it flies.  I had like 3 1/1 Cloud of Faeries and Grim Lavamancer Out.  And I would have lost one a turn.  And he had out this crazy card that for every 3W you paid you could make a 1/1 Soldier token.  I think it was an enchantment.   So he kept pumping out these little 1/1s while he beat down for 10 turns with an unblockable - non untapping - (had some crazy enchantment that allowed his creatures not to tap when attacking).  

So I just watched as a bad mono-W weenie took it to the house.  Couldn't Fire it, Bolt it, Lavamancer it or anything.  But game 3 was much easier.  I also didn't see 1 dryad that game.  And it was funny, first game he pacified my Dryad and he just sat there are grew the whole game haha.

There is a 4cc control player in my meta.  It's always a good matchup when I play him.  It sucks watching turn 1 or 2 morphed angels hit the board.  But my best bet is to either Fire, Bolt, or Lavamancer the 2/2 before it becomes a 1/1 and keep killing his white mana sources with my Wastes/Strip (Crucible when I see it).  

I've also played against a version of TPS or something.   Not sure on the exact decklist, but the Tendrils deck is a rough matchup.  I've beaten it in a few games and lost a few.  It seems that you get like two or 3 turns to try to out tempo it.  Standstill is great in this though.  Wastelands too.  Standstill into FoW is always good.

I play a URG version and I absolutely love Dryad+Standstill.  The last tournament I played at last Saturday, Dryad owned.  He was a 8/8 or higher in at least 3 or games at least a 5/5 in almost every other game.  The thing is you play dryad one turn, and then if you still have mana, play your other colored spells.  Next turn you play more colored spells and drop Standstill last.  Boom, you've got at worst a 2/2 Dryad if you didn't play ANY spells.  But trust me, he is a LOT better than most people think.  And so far, I would rather have him than River Boa simply because it's too hard to keep a G open to regenerate.  Especially for multiple Boas.  I run 1 Boa and 3 Dryads.

Well, you need some web design skillz if you wanna make a real website.  But if you just want forums, you have some options.  But if you notice at the bottom of this forum it reads:

Powered by phpBB 2.0.6 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Check out www.phpbb.com and it should get you started.  But first, before all that, you should get yourself some web space and a domain name.  I use Ipowerweb.  www.ipowerweb.com.  It's like $95 bucks a year for I think like 800mb of space and a domain name.  So you can get like www.whateveryouwant.com or something.  

Hope I shed some light on the subject.

Remember when Ball Lightning + Blood Lust + Berserk + Fork was common?
Remember playing evil Black and Red decks with Baron Sengir and Sengir Vampires?
Remember when Preacher was the best card in your playing circle?
Remember when playing with all five colors made it better cause you could run more of your good cards?

remember when white was magics best color?

I DO remember when people played magic for fun.  What ever happened to those days?  Seems everyone wants to build a super competitive deck.  Either that or netdeck.  

Remember when Serra Angel was the sexiest thing you've ever seen?
Remember when you pulled a Phyrexian Dreadnought and said "holy crap! i could like blood lust and giant growth a few creatures easiliy and get it into play!!!!"
rememberr when playing with like 100 cards meant you could fit more good cards in?

But Berserk is a good finisher isn't it?  It also seconds as removal on one of their attacking creatures.  An extra 4 damage for G is good isn't it?  Your creature may die but you have plenty where that came from.  And rancor bounces back.  

What about Skullclamp?  I know this sounds janky but a Berserked and Clamped creature is great.  

Pardon my nostalgic longing to use Berserk.  Lol.

whatever happend to Blood Lust and/or Berserk??  Those were great together.  And Berserk.  How come nobody runs Berserk anymore in R/G?

Remeber when Firebreathing was like omg!!!
Remember thinking a revised Blessing was better than a 4th edition Blessing cause it didn't say until end of turn?
Remember going to your first tournament and see a guy play a Forcefield and you crapped your pants?
Remember trading that Kjeldoran Outpost for 3 Millstones and thinking you totally ripped off that guy?
Remember when Aspect of Wolf was the coolest card?
Remember going to the card shop trying to sell your Feldon's Cane and Glasses of Urza to the store owner and have him tell your mom that they are good cards?
Remember thinking that Flanking and Phasing were permanent abilities that would be in every set after?
Remember when The Wretched was a great card?
Remember  cutting up old cards and pasting them together to make a new one?

haha these were great i miss those days

Okay with the help of a few memebers on MOTL and an online translator I managed to file a police report against him.  I used this site:

http://www.politiemwb.nl/index.asp?pagina=content&rubriekid=116

I supplied all of the information I could.  He is now a Confirmed Bad Trader on MOTL.  And some others are pursuing him.  I will update when I get new information.

Yes you are right.  However it was already too late by the time we discussed doing a third party.  I definitley won't be making the same mistake any time soon.  I just hope that with all the other people that he's ripped off we can do something about it.

Speaking of Mr. Alexthemaster:

http://www.magictraders.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/003462.html#19

Seems like A LOT of people are getting RIPPED by this guy for BIG deals.  This guy is getting lots of power and high priced cards in the mail and he's ripping everyone.  Something needs to be done about this.  I will get back more later....

kinda reminds me about the thread below this about trading in type one.  Yeah it's been a month and the guy (Alexthemaster from the Netherlands) still won't email back or send cards.  I sent him $300 in cards and paid $28 to ship it there.  I lost out big time unless I can get the police involved.  Kinda confused on what to do.

I have tested this deck out with 4 Quirion Dryads and I do like the idea of adding a fourth Cloud of Faeries and going down to 3 Dryads.  A lot of times it would slow me down to play a Dryad early in the game instead of the usual Faeries, untap, Spiketail.  But I like the idea of a second turn Faeries untap Dryad with next turn Curiosity + Standstill.  And most likely with a Factory on the table.  That's such a great play.  

I am also concerned about only running 3 Volcanics.  This I think hurts you if your opponent wastes at least one or two away.  With all the fetch lands, you don't usually get color screwed, but if they get Wasted, then you are left with fetching only for your Trops or an Island.  I was think about cutting that last Island for a Volcanic Island.  Anyone else see any sense in this?

I got the phone number, but I am not gonna call just yet.  It's still a little early for that I think.  I will wait a bit to see if any cards arrive in the mail.  They probably won't but after a while I can take some action.  Hope you can get some good information on this guy from your friend.

I see.  Here is the address he gave the other trader on the BTA:

Alex JAckal
Hugo Wolfstraat 6
5144 TM Waalwijk
Netherlands

He spelled it Waalwijk there.  I dont know if this is a previous address or what.  But maybe it can help.

interesting info on this guy.  why would he spell the street address wrong??  strange.  let us know any more info you find of course.  and what is the phone number just so we have it for reference.  thanks a lot!

Here we go:

Real Name:  Alex (Jackal?)
I don't know his last name, but this was his last name on the BTA on MOTL...sounds kinda fishy if you ask me.

Link to his BTA thread on MOTL:
http://www.magictraders.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/003278.html

Link to his H/W list on MOTL:
http://www.magictraders.com/ubb//Forum2/HTML/184092.html

Link to his MOTL profile:
http://forums.magictraders.com/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getbio&UserName=Alexthemaster

MOTL name:  Alexthemaster
Email:  meehmahselfnd1@hotmail.com

Link to his MOTL reference page:
http://refs.magictraders.com/Alexthemaster.html
---note that it NOW says the user has been BANNED after I had already sent my cards out.

Here is the address he gave me to ship to:

AS Ausems
Massenetstraat 26
5144 WR Wolluk
The Netherlands

Well the tracking on my package said that it was delivered on 07/21/04 at 11:50am.  But ever since I told him that I sent out my cards, he has not responded.  I emailed him once after the delivery of the cards, but no reply.  I also emailed him again about 4 or 5 days later just asking him to reply and tell me he got my cards and that he sent out.  But still nothing.  And it's July 28th.  

So it's been a week since he got my cards, but he is not responding.  He didn't have a problem emailing before I sent my cards.  He would respond very quickly, and sometimes 3 times a day.  

I am wondering when we should take action?

True, but you have to know what to bounce and what not to.  Swords is limited to creatures.  And this deck NEEDS some kind of removal to deal with the random annoyance (like Platinum Angel which you CAN swords anyway and others you can't like Mindslaver, Smokestacks, etc).   You have to think before you Chain of Vapor anything, "Do I NEED to bounce that or can my Colossus trample over and win anyway?  Is the target I want to bounce going to prevent me from trampling over with my Colossus in two turns?"  If not, then you don't need to bounce it.  A lot of times I save my Chain for emergency use only.  And you want to at least attack before you do it just in case they decide to bounce back your Colossus.  Colossus can get through almost anything, but also, if they try to swords your Colossus, you can Chain it back to your hand if you wish.  Chain also works as a utility card as well for yourself.  Lets say they end up blowing up a disk, deed, or whatever, you can Chain back your Oath or whatever you have back and more if you sac lands.  

Point is, Chain is better than Swords in my opinion by its versatility.  You have to be smart to play it.  If they have a Platinum Angel out and you Chain it before you attack that is dumb.  They WILL bounce back your Colossus and laugh at you.  But attack, they take the damage and survive under zero life and say, "Haha okay I'm still alive!"  And then you Chain their Angel and be like "what now!"  Then you laugh at them,

I do run Swords in my sideboard however.  Its a good wish target if you really need it.  Also, Chain is good against opposing Colossuses too.

EDIT:  How could I forget using CoV against Trix?!  It's quite fun when your opponent drops an Illusions of Grandeur and you respond with the coming into play ability on the stack and Chain it.   It leaves play without them ever gaining 20 life.  And then they lose 20 life and the game.



My only problem with AK in this deck is that it lacks synergy with Gaea's Blessing.  Too often it gets shuffled back into the deck.  With Standstill, you can put your opponent on edge and make them stall a few turns.  It keeps them from casting their stuff while you beat down with manlands.  However if you don't run the manlands (which I don't see why not) then Standstill really isn't needed.  AK would probably be better.  Because what else could you do under a Standstill if you couldn't hit em with manlands?



Yes Stifle is a great card.  It comes in handy an awful lot.

I love playing Oath.  It's by far the most fun deck I have played in all of my years playing Magic.  Here is my current decklist: (We are allowed up to 10 proxies at my local tournaments).

// NAME: Landstill Oath //

// Mana Base = 24 //
        4 Tropical Island (proxied)
        4 Gemstone Mine
        4 City of Brass
        1 Forest
        1 Black Lotus (proxied)
        1 Sol Ring
        1 Mox Emerald (proxied)
        1 Mox Sapphire
        1 Mox Pearl
        4 Mishra's Factory
        2 Faerie Conclave

// Oath Engine = 12 //
        4 Oath of Druids
        2 Darksteel Colossus
        2 Gaea's Blessing
        2 Dragon Breath
        2 Funeral Pyre

// Board Control = 12 //
        4 Force of Will
        2 Stifle (proxied)
        2 Nevinyrral's Disk
        2 Null Rod
        1 Balance
        1 Chain of Vapor

// Draw/Search = 11 //
        4 Brainstorm
        2 Standstill
        1 Ancestral Recall
        1 Demonic Tutor
        1 Enlightened Tutor
        1 Mystical Tutor
        1 Cunning Wish

// Other = 2 //
        1 Time Walk
        1 Yawgmoth's Will

// Sideboard = 15 //
SB:  2 Red Elemental Blast
SB:  2 Pyroblast
SB:  2 Teferi's Response
SB:  2 Energy Flux
SB:  2 Chill
SB:  2 Chalice of the Void
SB:  1 Misdirection
SB:  1 Swords to Plowshares
SB:  1 Aura Fracture

Mana Base: I currently don't have any Fetch Lands, so I run 4x City of Brass and 4x Gemstone Mines.  I recently traded my Tropicals overseas to a guy I found out is on the Bad Trader Alert so I most likely will not see those cards again.  But so far, this mana base has worked great.  The life loss from the Cities of Brass usually doesn't mean much because as soon as I get a Colossus out, it's usually game in the next 2/3 turns.

Man Lands:  4x Mishra's Workshop and 2x Faerie Conclave.  I choose not to have 4x Conclaves because most of the time they are too slow and too much mana to activate.   I have found that this combination works pretty well.  These are also great cards to play underneath Standstill as we all know.  

Oath Engine:    Typical Nu Oath Engine here.  No Morphlings, Feeders, or Weavers because they are inferior to the Darksteel Colossus.  I sacrifice the board control of the Spike Weavers because Darksteel kills in 2/3 turns.  Most of the time I just Trample over opposing creatures.  The Darksteel kills fast enough that I don't need to worry about fogging every turn or controlling the board to drop a Morphling.  No other creatures besides Darksteel.  I don't want to Oath out anything else.  It makes the deck more consistent.  

I have 2x Dragon Breath here.  These have been awesome so far.  I has helped so many times.  It's great when you get the combination of Dragon Breath and Blessing.  You get a Hasty Firebreathing Colossus (I have the mana base to support the firebreathing IF, I said IF I need it.  Most of the time the 11 damage is enough.  

2x Funeral Pyre are there to trigger the Oath.  A lot of times I drop an early Oath (first or second turn) and that usually controls the board.  The opponent knows that if they play any creatures they are just gonna die in a few turns to a Colossus.  So a lot of times, the Oath just stays in play while I build card advantage.  Attack with manlands.  Draw cards from Ancestral, Brainstorms, Tutors, or Standstill.  Or build up my mana base.  Just dropping an Oath with the threat of a Darksteel Colossus is enough to make your opponent immediately play defensively.

I was also thinking about running 1x Tinker.  I play with enough artifacts that this would work.  If for some reason I couldn't get Oath to stay on the board (Naturalize, Emerald Charm, Disenchant) I could tinker for the Darksteel.  I usualy just need Oath out for a turn to get the Colossus and then it's usually game after that.

Board Control:  4x Force of Wills are obvious.  The Null Rods have been GOLDEN even though I run 7 other artifacts.  More often than not, Null Rods WRECK the opposing deck enough where it doesn't matter if I can't blow up my disk.  Not being able to use my Moxen is a fair trade if I can stop my opponents Affinity/Mindslaver/Pentavus/Moxen/Mana Crypts/Mana Vaults/Monoliths, etc.  And most of the time I need only a few mana to cast my spells.  Everything in the deck is 3 mana or less to cast.  Moxen are there for the early first turn drops.  If I could find a way to add Tinker, that makes my Moxen easy targets.

2x Nevinyrral's Disk prove to be enough.  Dropping a disk with the threat of ManLands and/or a Darksteel either on the table or imminent with Oath in play is very threatening to the opponent.  Disk gets rid of annoying Platinum Angel and other Affinity based decks.  If they swarm you with creatures early, a disk is usually enough to blow them away.  

2x Stifles are a recent addition.  I don't own any at the moment, so they are proxied.  They were great in the last tournament I played in.  Stifleing Goblin Welder was fun.  There are many good uses for this card.  Sometimes, I can stifle my opponents Oathing ability.  This also comes in handing against Tendrils of Agony and Dragon.

Balance is obvious.

Chain of Vapor is better than Swords to Plowshares I think in this deck.  Most of the time I can trample over anything with Darksteel and deal some damage.  I don't want to give them life beacuse that gives them an extra turn to find an answer.  Chain of Vapor gives me so much more options.  It's great to hit them below zero life when they have a Platinum Angel out and then I Chain of Vapor their Angel.  Chain also removes Welded out artifacts and other threats.  And most of the time I only need them removed for a turn because of Darksteel.

draw/search:Obvious choices here.  I play both Enlighted and Mystical Tutor.  Enlighted fetches me Oath, Null Rod, Disk, Standstill, Engery Flux and Chill  (after sideboarding).  It may be slow but it's always efficient enough to get what I need.  Mystical Tutor gives me Ancestral, Time Walk (so I can hit them twice with Darksteel without them having an answer) and Yawgmoth's Will.

I have only one Cunning Wish at the moment, but I don't have a sideboard full of Instant utility really.  This has proven to be enough most of the time.  I am not sure what I would take out to add more Wishes.

other:  Time Walk is obvious.  It is great after Oath out a Darksteel.  Even greater after Oathing out a Hasty Darksteel with Dragon Breath.  Yawgmoth's Will is a no brainer.  After dumping lots of cards into the grave with Oath, there is plenty to choose from.  It's not the most effecient in this deck as it is in other decks (like running dark rits) but it serves its purpose good enough.  It's definitley good to recur lost Ancestrals and Time Walks and other tutors.

Sideboard:  My meta game consists of affinity, slavery, tooth n nail, burn, slivers, madness, mono Black LD, tendrils, and other random decks.  My sideboard so far seems like it's good.  Energy Flux has been Golden.  Instant scoop against Slavery, Affinity and other artifact based decks.  That with Null Rod are pure evil.  

So there is my decklist and card choices for Oath.  I want to find room for Tinker.  Not sure what to take out.  I also want to add some fetch lands so I can smooth out my mana base and utilize Brainstorm better.

I also like the comment of adding Diamond Valley as a way to sacrifice Darksteel if I need to.  Neat card choice.

Library of Alexandria also seems like a good choice.  But again, not sure what I would remove.  

Hope I provided some insight and any suggests or comments about my deck are of course appreciated.

Yeah I read your "how to spot a ripper" primer.  It was a good read.  However, this guy seems to only share one characteristic with the list you provided.  And that is just trading in my favor.  I dunno, my cards are sent.  We will see what happens in the next week or two.  

But anyway, back onto topic [sorta].  I have two Berserks, one Alpha (signed) and one Beta.  They are definitely sweet.  I don't think I would trade them.  Sinkholes are only really good in Suicide Black.  I DO have my Suicide Deck from a year or two ago still intact.   I never play it anymore.  It's pretty pimp itself even though there isnt' anything really expensive in it.  It's not powered.  It has 4 Sinkholes, 2 are Beta, the other are UL.  All the Swamps are Beta.  The Dark Rituals are Alpha.  Everything else in the deck is mediocre pimpness.  

My old school red/green deck is moderately pimped.  4 Lightning Boltz, 2 Alpha, 2 Beta.  4 Kird Apes, Arabian Nights.  1x Beta Regrowth.  4x Chain Lightninngs.  2x Berserk Alpha/Beta, 4x Blood Lust Legends.  That's about it.  

But more on topic, some have said that it's more important to get the cheapest playable version of the card.  You get more bang for your buck that way.  But a friend of made a good point.  There is a small intangible plus when playing with PIMP cards.  Your opponent might get a little intimidated when you play your entire Alpha/Beta/DCI Foil deck.  It may not be good, but the opponent will assume you are a long time player of Magic with a lot of experience and skill.  And they might make mistakes because they feel that their moves are subpar to yours.  

This may or may not be true, however, but I do recall feeling a little intimdated against older players who have all of those uber sweet pimped out decks.  If they own a set of power as well as playsets of all the teir two power and lots of foil/dci/promo/forein versions of their cards it makes you feel like a scrub.  Haha.

Well, the guys name on MOTL is "Alexthemaster."  I actually sent my cards out today.  So they are gone.  Say bye bye.  I did however spend $28 bucks to get the package Insured ($300), tracked 2 ways (Global Express Mail and the Insurance number), and he has to sign for it when he gets my cards.  So it's pretty safe to say that he will get them.  And Global Express Mail starts at $13.50 and it says it's guaranteed.   So that makes me feel safer.

We did exchange a few emails the other day.  I told him how I felt the trade was well in my favor and that I felt weary and cautious.  He said that I should trust him because he has 65 refs on MOTL, he's traded overseas before, and he will send his cards insured and tracked.  He said if we both do that then we have nothing to worry about.  I dunno, from emailing him, he doesn't sound like a ripper.  He seems to be a pretty nice guy.  But hey, it's easy to act like that if you plan on ripping someone.

But I do have all my receipts and all my emails sent and received.  So if something DOES happen, I can either A) ty to get my insurance money or B) mail fraud.  He didn't want to do third party because it takes such a long time.  

Well, if I do get ripped.  And my package was insured, is there anything I can do about it?  Can I get the money back?  Or is that ony if it was damaged or lost?

[card]Sunken Field[/card]

Does this card stand a chance in Fish?  I am not a Fish player, but after seeing [card]Daze[/card] and [card]Spiketail Hatchling[/card] see a lot of play, I just came across this card in my binder.  I just wonder if it's useful in the deck or if it has been proven sub optimal.  I used to use it in a [card]Tangle Wire[/card]/[card]Umbilicus[/card] control/prison deck and it proved to be very useful.  But that was years ago.  Is [card]Sunken Field[/card] even a viable card in Type One?  Your thoughts?

yeah it could be a good idea.  like i would probably keep my duals and the psionic blasts in a seperate trade.  i will email the guy and ask him about it.

Well I assume that he is honest.  But I don't really know. It's a scary thing.  But I just have to detach myself from the value of the cards and make believe they aren't mine anymore.  And just let them go.  I can file for mail fraud if anything happens.  

I am going to ship with insurance and delivery confirmation and tracking on the package so I can make sure it gets there.

it's interesting because I have 0 refs and I have to send first.  I know this deal is highly in my favor.  He lives in the Netherlands, so I gotta send my cards overseas.  How "careful" can I get without refusing to send my cards?

yeah these are all good points.  I am actually doing a trade to the Netherlands tomorrow (which I am a little cautious on doing, but I think it should be okay).  I am trading away lots of cards.  And I am getting lots in return.  Here is the trade:

I am giving up:
2x Power Artifact
1x Morphling
3x Tradewind Rider
4x Psionic Blast UL NM
4x Deranged Hermit
4x Horn of Greed
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Tolarian Academy
2x Maze of Ith
1x Dust Bowl
4x Tropical Island
3x Taiga

He is sending me:
4x Tundra
4x Underground Sea
4x Volcanic Island
4x Mana Crypt
1x Berserk UNL
4x Birds of Paradise 02 7TH 02 8TH
3x Mishra's Factory AQ Winter, Fall, Summer
2x Grim Lavamancer
4x Meddling Mage
4x Stifle
1x Chrome Mox
1x Mox Diamond

Now I feel that I am getting the good part of this deal.  But there is the risk of him not sending his cards.  But I think that chance is slim considering he has 65 refs on MOTL and they all seem legit.  

A lot of times I fall for the allure of out of print old chase cards.  Like Old Man in the Sea, Forcefield, Drop of Honey, etc.  Stuff like that that ISN'T playable in type one really.  I would be excited to trade for it and I would give up probably more than it's worth thinking I can actually trade UP my Old Man for something better.  But I don't really think it works that way.  I would guess players who have power aren't gonna trade it to me cause I have an Old Man and a Forcefield.   I remember owning a Beta Lotus back in 1999 and trading it for a LoA, 4x BoP, and about 15 or so duals of my choice.  BAD idea.  But then I was thinking, "gee what is more useful to me, a Beta Lotus in a BAD scrubby aggro deck I had at the time, or 15 duals and an LoA Plus 4 birds?  So it was, so I thought, a good decision.  Turns out the Lotus has more than tripled in value since then.

I have 2x Beta Sinkholes, and 1x Beta Berserk, and 1x Alpha Signed Berserk.  Say I sold those on ebay and bought their UL counter parts this is how much I would save:

EXCHANGING SINKHOLES
2x Beta Sinkhole = $44
2x UL Sinkholes = $31.74
I would gain = $12.26

EXCHANGING BERSERKS
1x Alpha Berserk Signed = $60
1x Beta Berserk = $62.28
total: $122.28
2x UL Berserk = $87.08
I would gain: $35.20

EXCHANGING REGROWTHS
1x Beta Regrowth = $12.34
1x Revised Regrowth = $0.98
I would gain: $11.36

Just from these cards I would gain:  $58.82

What would be the most important thing to pick up?

Another question....I have about 18x Alpha Swamps, and 4x Alpha Dark Rituals, are they worth exchanging?  I like "pimping" out my deck, but is it even worth it?  I like to get Alpha/Beta version of the staple cards, but what is more important?

would it be a better choice to sell the entire binder?  or to sell them all individually?