CCC: Baroque

We're excited to continue Coast to Coast Casual (CCC), a blog series written by East2West, published on MTG Cardsmith.

So I'm pushing back the Future Sight article by another month due to something I want to talk about that's been coming up more and more lately in the Magic community, deck prices. Modern decks have actually gone up in price lately and the format is now out of reach for many that want to play. This is the duality of our game, the more popular it is the more expensive our cards will become, making it even harder for new players. Pauper is an amazing alternative, for now. As it too becomes more prevalent it's likely those prices will rise as well. EDH has many budget options but as a recent episode of The Command Zone stated, the deck that has the highest price will win more often than a budget deck. I spent the past month looking for a solution and I believe I found one in the form of a new format I've crafted similar to Penny Dreadful. I present, for the approval of the players, Baroque.

The deck building restriction for Baroque is simple, no cards in your deck can be worth more than $1.00 (USD) according to Scryfall, the usual "no conspiracies, no un-cards, etc" applies as well. Baroque will rotate when Standard does so even if a card in your deck goes over a dollar you won't have to remove it until Standard rotates out. This makes it very easy to maintain your deck, every rotation just check your cards and find alternatives for what's rotated. This also means that most big cards aren't legal in the format so new alternatives must be found. The best part though is that every type of deck is represented in the possible meta. I've compiled multiple deck lists as you'll see below. I've given the technical names on this article and some fun alternatives on the decklists.

This build is pretty straightforward, get one of our evasive creatures out and swing in with our enchantments boosting it. Classic Bogle cards like Ancestral Mask, Ethereal Armor, and well Slippery Bogle are all legal making this a pretty easy transfer. Our sideboard features the standard removal as well as the spicy additions of Dryad Sophisticate, for our Tron matches (yes, Tron is a deck) and Rampage of the Clans which can be used to flood the board with 3/3 Centaurs at instant speed.

One of the main issues I've found with this format is that, unlike other formats, quick mana isn't really a thing. RDW gets around this by just being able to play 24 mountains. Bomat Courier gives us solid card advantage if we can get it down early and our multitude of burn spells combined with Chandra's Phoenix can give us a near impossible to remove threat in the air. All in all RDW is a solid build of the classic strat.

Similar to RDW White Weenie wants to get creatures out fast and swing in with them, however we get to mix in a little splash of midrange type cards to push through. Cards like Imposing Sovereign give us an edge over RDW by tapping down their hasty dudes and Mentor of the Meek makes sure our hand remains full. We also run multiple anthems to boost our on board attackers for one final push through our enemies defenses. Our sideboard has one addition I'd like to specifically point out which is Eight-and-a-Half-Tails. This is the Mother of Runes of Baroque, in specific matches this card will save you in a pinch.

Entering the format due mostly to the drop in price of Kaladesh singles, Vehicles is a super fun option combining bits of Affinity and Mardu Vehicles. Court Homunculus and Toolcraft Exemplar give us early crew targets while Depala gives us the ability to crew late game as well as dig. Dispatch and Galvanic blast make sure we're able to keep the board clear or even ping to the face if needed. Finally our vehicle selection is pretty great. Vehicles like Heart of Kiran, Peacewalker Colossus, and a single copy of Skysovereign, Consul Flagship allow us some pretty good finishers. A solid Midrange if ever there was one.

Anyone for a game of Standard? Baroque Merfolk is given amazing help by the new Green Merfolk from Ixalan. Our early game includes Mist-Cloaked Herald and Triton Shorestalker to give us some unblockable threats which can be targeted by their best friend Jade Bearer. Merfolk Mistbinder and Merfolk Sovereign encourage our little guys as they smash into enemy lines. Deeproot Waters ensures us a small army while Wistful Selkie gives us an Elvish Emissary like effect. And for disruption our copies of Repulse and Harbinger of Tides are solid plays. Our sideboard could use some work but Baroque Merfolk is a fun option for the format.

As a quick disclaimer, I have no idea how to build control and I think this may actually be midrange but nevermind that. Dimir Winds relies on it's heavy amount of removal and counterspells to make it to either a Sphinx of Foresight or a Wydwen, the Biting Gale. Judge's Familiar and Oona's Warden give us some quick defense and running them allows us to play Favorable Winds since all our creatures have flying. We're running Countersquall, Force Spike, and Deprive to keep our opponents down while Smother and Ultimate Price keep their board clear. This deck is mean and consistent but boy is it fun.

I am so glad this can happen, Owling Mine is one of my favorite decks of all time and we get almost all the pieces. Ebony Owl Netsuke, Black Vise, and Fevered Visions give us repeatable damage based on cards in hand while Cerebral Vortex, Molten Psyche, Runeflare Trap, and Toil /// Trouble give us extra spell based damage. Arcane Denial keeps their threats off board and fills their hand while Prosperity, Vision Skeins, and Dictate of Kruphix. make sure both players have full hands. I'm ecstatic to see one of my favorite decks playable in my format.

Taking a hint from a Standard season gone by, Mono-Blue Gift aims to reanimate a massive threat as quick as possible using Argivian Restoration and God-Pharaoh's Gift. The big bads we sport are Ulamog's Crusher, Artisan of Kozilek, and the main guy Desolation Twin. Our ways of getting Gift and it's targets into the grave are pretty solid including Taigam's Scheming, Contingency Plan, Careful Study, and Frantic Search. Early game we can get Judge's Familiar for disruption or Hapless Researcher for additional digging. Nothing too spicy in the sideboard but two copies of Tolarian Winds are a nice touch in my opinion.

You may be wondering why Dredge (?) has that question mark, it's because this deck really isn't a dredge deck, it has more in common with Hollow One than anything else. The one Dredge card run is Golgari Brownscale which is included more for it's life gain than anything else and is completely on the chopping block for if the deck gets upgraded. We run a lot of rummage effects and discard payoffs to get both value and threats into the right zones. Our payoffs are cards like Basking Rootwalla, Flameblade Adept, and Wild Mongrel while we run Faithless Looting and Tormenting Voice to get the right cards into the right zones. Bloodsoaked Champion is a card that works similar to Rootwalla in the deck and helps us with repeatable aggro. This deck is shaky, I wasn't sure if I should lean on the graveyard or discard strat so it's very open to improvement. I do want to point out the inclusion of Darigaaz's Caldera in our mana base though since I love the lair cards.

Now these aren't all the possible decks of the format, I mentioned Tron earlier and that was good reason. The main problem is there are some pieces of decks that I personally can't figure out how to make, and it's my hope you guys can. Here's a quick list of decks that can be made, I just couldn't figure out.

• Storm - (Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Fecundity.)
• Affinity - (Galvanic Blast, Dispatch, Carapace Forger, Ardent Recruit, most of the artifact lands)
• Death and Taxes - (Lodestone Golem, Vryn Wingmare, Flickerwisp)
• Tron - (Cloudpost and other Locuses, Eldrazi)
• Charbelcher - (Goblin Charbelcher)
• Mill - (Drowned Secrets, Jace's Erasure)
• Chromatic Beatdown - (Glass of the Guildpact, cheap multicolor creatures.)

Baroque is a format full of possibility, if you're willing to give it a shot leave a deck list below. Let's play on untap. Try the format with your friends and tell me about it. Baroque is something I want to see more of in the community. Even if you don't try it out, leave a comment. I love hearing from you guys. As always this has been East2west with CCC.

Here's the current list of cards legal in Baroque: Full List

East2West is an aspiring writer from NJ currently seeking fame and fortune on the internet. She's been playing Magic since Zendikar block (the original one) and is a commander player with one deck for each two color pair and one for each single color. The only non EDH deck she plays is her own personal Pauper brew, Pauper Eggs. Follow her on her newly created and probably soon to be underused twitter @East2WestMTG.

How To Get Recognition on MTG Cardsmith

So you're looking for some recognition.

For some Cardsmiths, MTG Cardsmith can be difficult to get recognition from, while other Cardsmiths seem to find success with great ease. Since many new, and even some old, Cardsmiths want to know what it takes to get recognition on MTG Cardsmith, we decided to ask a handful of highly recognized Cardsmiths what they think are the most important things that new Cardsmiths can do to increase their chances of getting recognition.

Where does recognition come from?

The first thing we wanted to do was dissect where recognition comes from. We eliminated any qualities we felt only lead to negative recognition and came up with a list of TEN notable things you can do in order to gain the positive notoriety you might be looking for. Here they are...

• A- Improve the quality of your cards.
• B- Create many cards.
• C- Add other cardsmiths' cards to your favorites.
• D- Follow other cardsmiths.
• E- Participate in FORUM contests/challenges/events.
• F- Host contests/challenges/events in the FORUMS.
• G- Make cards for other cardsmiths.
• H- Ask for feedback on your cards in disqus or in the FORUMS.
• I- Post funny, nice, or friendly comments.
• J- Give constructive criticism to others.

Each of the Cardsmiths we presented these points to were asked how important each one was to them. We then asked them to put each point in order from most important to least important. We were surprised by some of the responses and how varied some of them were from Cardsmith to Cardsmith.

So what were the results?

Of the Cardsmiths polled, there were some clear favorites among the best ways to earn recognition, so let's take a look...

And here are some of the things they said...

• E- Participate in forum contests/challenges/events.
• - The easiest and quickest way to get out there and show off your name and cards.
• - Noticing the amazing creations in them makes you feel fresh and motivates you to do something of your own!
• I- Post funny, nice, or friendly comments.
• - If you want recognition, you should probably give recognition. If your time is limited, leave a nice comment, and people will remember you.
• - It's very comfortable to log into this site thanks to its amazing users!
• A- Improve the quality of your cards.
• - Study card design and the logic behind it. Reading literally anything written by MaRo is a great starting point for a new Cardsmith.
• - I wish this could be higher, however, simply improving your cards currently isn't a great way to expand your online presence. Although creative and well-designed cards can accumulate enough favorites to make it on the Favorites section for all to behold, that happens most often with users who have established a prominent online presence.
• -This is nearly as important as socializing. One of the things I find that triggers acknowledgement and sparks interest from others is a unique approach to card design, both in mechanics and flavour. This idea is fairly unobtainable without, however, having a solid foundation within the realm of realistic MTG design. And as such, should be a fundamental purpose.
• H- Ask for feedback on your cards in disqus or in the forums.
• - It's better if your disqus user name and cardsmith user name are the same.
• - A good way to make contact and get feedback but can be somewhat ineffective if the person asking has not created enough cards.
• - If you get good criticism on your cards, recreate/edit those cards. People won't continue to give feedback if you don't listen to what they have to say and put some of it into good use.
• J- Give constructive criticism to others.
• - This is another way to establish a connection with others. That being said, I've seen plenty of Cardsmiths show that they don't understand what 'onstructive criticism' means, and that has lead to hurt feelings on both sides. As a rule of thumb, I think that Cardsmiths should focus less on the 'smith and more on the cards.
• - A good way to learn is to teach. The problem is when there is no "correct" way of creating cards. If the one giving criticism is not experienced enough or well known there is a risk that the critic does not hit the correct spot for the receiver.
• - This is an artistic site, so people might not know what might be exactly wrong in their creations. Luckily, other people tend to be able to spot the mistakes, and help fix them!
• F- Host contests/challenges/events in the forums.
• - This is probably the one and best way to receive recognition. However to create a contest, challenge or even saga requires a basic set of knowledge and a will to fulfill these. Also it might end up making the creator disappointed if the contest does not get much recognition in the first place. It's a high cost, high risk, high reward thing.
• - The MTG Cardsmith forums are a powerful tool towards becoming renowned, and we all love contests. Hosting a challenge or an event is a great way to meet people, as it helps you establish a presence on MTG Cardsmith.
• C- Add other cardsmiths' cards to your favorites.
• - If you favorite a card, your name is shown in that page, and we can go to your page by clicking your name. It's a very easy and nice way to let others notice you.
• - Even that little star of appreciation can make someone's day!
• D- Follow other cardsmiths.
• - Although it can sometimes be hard to keep up with their creations if you follow too many, it doesn't hurt at all to let them know you want to see more from them and that you're interested in their upcoming cards!
• B- Create many cards.
• - This is only good if we can tell you are trying to make realistic cards. If your cards are bunch of anime characters and breaking mtg rules, wording, color pie, it could work in the opposite way.
• - Quality over quantity. I try to put as much dedication to every single card as possible, because I like it! But there is nothing wrong with being in a flow and creating cards from the many amazing ideas which you have in mind in one sitting!
• G- Make cards for other cardsmiths.
• - A kind gesture to do for friends but not a good way to get recognition unless you want to be "creepy" and make cards for people that don't know you at all, then I guess it is a quick way to get recognition from that person but not the right kind. You want to make cards for people when you already know them, unless they ask for it in a challenge/contest or something like that.
• - This is the greatest free prize you can give someone, be it as a thank you or a reward for a contest, to me. People are not necessarily egotistical, but let's be honest, everyone loves having cards modeled after themselves. That being said, this should always fall after "improving card quality", because despite the fact that people will ninety nine percent of the time favorite a card made for them, it doesn't mean they like it. So it can be a precarious edge to traverse if you lack the skill to perform well.

Golden Acorns

We also asked them if they had any words of wisdom to pass along. These are some of those Golden Acorns of knowledge.

The most effective way to get popular recognition on MTG Cardsmith is to stick around. Simply put, the longer you have been on MTG Cardsmith, the more people know you and your cards exist. Of course, this relies on you being somewhat active creating cards and interacting with others in the forums. But the more time you have spent on MTG Cardsmith, the more likely you'll regularly get positive recognition in the community.

I definitely think the NUMBER ONE way to get recognized is a few things that need to occur in a specific order.

1. Make cards that look like WotC cards- wording, art, templating, etc...
2. Make cards that do things WotC cards don't do, while still looking like WotC cards.
3. Put those cards into the forums for people to see.
4. Comment politely on other cards in the same forum thread that your card is in.
5. Do this over and over. And wait patiently for your reputation to improve.

To me, MTG Cardsmith is about having fun and making the cards we've always wanted to see. Accept criticism with grace and give it with kindness. Challenges aren't about winning, as much as they are about improving your craft and building friendships within the community.

Give credit to Artists!

My "golden acorn" would be "give out love, and you'll receive love" or properly translated "favorite and say a nice thing on a ton of cool, interesting, creative, beautiful cards, and people will start to notice and return the affection by favoriting your own cool, interesting, creative and beautiful creations." And be patient about it. You'll slowly get better over time, people will notice, and you'll start to make friends and gain followers.

Don't be afraid. This is a blanket statement that covers soooooo much.
Don't be afraid to ask. Ask cardsmiths why they said what they said, ask where they got their information, ask why that rule is there, ask why that doesn't fit within that colour. Magic is an incredibly complicated game with rules and rules and rules inside or rules ruling over lesser rules with a ruling fist. Magic is Azorius, it's unbending hidden laws written in context and subtext most people can't fathom. So never just accept something someone says you don't understand. Always ask why.

I think the most important thing anyone can do is to perform research for each card they publish. To elaborate, a relatively new MTG Cardsmith should approach each new card as a learning opportunity. They should refer to real WoTC cards that are similar to what they are trying to create (especially cards they like), and they should also refer to custom cards they like here on the site. They should "Disqus" the custom cards they like with their creators and ask questions if they don't understand something (referencing their next design and requesting help is always a good tact here). Now they've built up interest in their design before publishing and heighten their chances of getting the most important "early faves" so that their cards will be more visible to others. This kind of research will quickly and greatly improve one's ability to design custom cards and will make the journey more fun/rewarding.

"World and story Building". Create cards that are related to a world and story. This is something I have done since day 1 and even though I don't believe it got much recognition at first, it did put a marker on my name for those that saw it. It is not always easy to see these traits but when they are seen they are remembered.

Step outside your comfort zone. It's cliché, but true. Make cards you would never use. Make cards for colours you never play or hate playing. Make spells you don't like. We learn a lot from doing that which we don't enjoy. Being on this site doesn't always need to be easy. Working out at a gym is hard, but it's how you grow stronger or healthier. The same can be said for here. If you just make mythic creatures, you'll only be able to improve a little. If you cover the entirety of the spectrum of card types, you'll not only improve significantly more, you'll open up crazy new concepts and ideas you never would have before. Being a cardsmith can be hard, and through that difficult path you'll find much greater rewards.

Featured Cardsmiths

This month we chose two more incredible Cardsmiths to feature... jpastor & Nirvava!

jpastor

Anyone who has been to the Forums knows who jpastor is. He is the inventor and proprietor of the Mystery Box thread. If you haven't been to the Forums and gotten a Mystery Box, then you haven't lived! There are some Cardsmiths who only come on the Forums to do the Mystery Box Challenges! We picked five of his cards to feature, but you should check out the rest of his creations as well!

Nirvava

Nirvava is a bit of a different choice for a Featured Cardsmith, but we promised to mix things up this year and do things a bit different than last year. Nirvava doesn't come to the Forums and their cards aren't always WotC approved, so why give them a Feature? Nirvava has created nearly 700 cards in only FOUR months! We felt that kind of dedication should be noticed, so take a little gander at Nirvava's cards, maybe you'll find something that inspires you!

Each month we're excited to highlight a few Cardsmiths that have helped make MTGCardsmith the best interactive online Card Creator. We hope you'll take some time to check out their creations!

CCC: Archenemy

We're excited to continue Coast to Coast Casual (CCC), a blog series written by East2West, published on MTG Cardsmith.

No matter where you are in the multiverse there is a darkness, an evil that lurks within the hearts of all sentient beings. Heroes may rise against these great evils but more often than not they fall to the sheer power of their foes. In the game of Magic only one format truly allows you to experience the power wielded by these beings. Whether a crazed inventor scheming and tinkering their doomsday weapon,a mad druid, bent on the destruction of all that is civil, an ancient dragon through whose eyes we are all nothing more than food, or a vastly powerful necromancer whose endless hordes will overpower any opponent. This is the format known as Archenemy. (For details see https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Archenemy_(format) )

I first encountered Archenemy in my local target just after learning how to play the game. At the time I had no idea what it was or how it worked but it had Magic cards inside, and I wanted them. I never actually read the rules and the cards just sort of floated around in my collection for a while. Recently I heard about the format online and dug out the old box. I set it up and was kind of disappointed actually. The gameplay was fine but there was never any excitement in being the villain. They made the archenemy faceless so the player could implant themself but I honestly didn't like that. Then the second installment, Archenemy: Nicol Bolas came out. This is what I wanted. It was flavorful, it was fun, and for the first time the heroes had decks too! This gave birth to the idea of making my own Archenemy line.

First, I asked a friend what their favorite character from the MTG storyline was, then I got to work. They answered Phage who makes a great archenemy, now historically Phage was faced in a massive battle by Ixidor, Kamahl, and Akroma so the player decks were set. Almost every card included has a flavor reasons with a few added just so the deck can function. Below are the decklists as well as the designed Scheme cards for Phage

Phage VS Ixidor, Kamahl, and Akroma

When you set this scheme in motion for each opponent destroy a creature that player controls. For each legendary creature destroyed this way draw a card.

When you set this scheme in motion each player puts the top three cards of their library into their graveyard. Then for each opponent put a creature from that player's graveyard into play under your control.

When you set this scheme in motion put your commander from your command zone into your hand. You may cast your commander without paying its mana cost until end of turn.

When your commander dies abandon this scheme. When you abandon this scheme destroy all creatures then create an 8/8 black Wurm creature token named Deathwurm.

When you set this scheme in motion you may have target creature you control become unblockable until end of turn, if you do not then creatures your opponents control can't attack you until your next turn.

When you set this scheme in motion each opponent loses 3 life, you gain life equal to the amount of life lost this way.

At the beginning of your end step each opponent chooses to either sacrifice a permanent or lose 3 life. The next time you are dealt damage abandon this scheme.

When you set this scheme in motion each opponent sacrifices a creature and loses 1 life.

When you set this scheme in motion gain control of up to three target creatures until end of turn, at the beginning of your end step sacrifice a creature.

Whenever an opponent casts a non-black spell they lose 1 life. At the beginning of your opponent's turn, abandon this scheme unless at least one of them has 10 or less life.

When you set this scheme in motion all opponents lose life equal to the number of lands they control.

When you set this scheme in motion draw a card for each opponent unless each opponent discards a card.