Puschkin

112 Decks, 2,325 Comments, 1,030 Reputation

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Posted 13 September 2015 at 13:19 as a comment on Super Ral To The Rescue!

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Hello. You have been chosen to be part of the Deckhelp Alliance. Please check this out:
http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/the-deckhelp-alliance/

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Posted 13 September 2015 at 13:09 as a comment on Bloodletting

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I did my work, now it's your turn. Starting now to send invitations.

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Posted 13 September 2015 at 13:07 in reply to #561026 on Brainstorming: Final Curtain

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I currently have time issues but I will cook something up this weekend to connect us all. Just a handful of people with the same mind are enough to get our own thing rolling. Stay tuned.

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Posted 12 September 2015 at 11:26 in reply to #561026 on Brainstorming: Final Curtain

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Northy has actually been lazy for a long time, his decks aren't that good anymore (maybe after incorporating suggestions made by others).

I basically stopped posting and commenting, too, because there is just no reward for it. To everybody here reading this: If you want deckhelp, just post something in one of my decks. My field of expertise is sophisticated casual play, though. I might still be of lesser value regarding tournament decks but it has been way too many years that I played one myself. Just don't bother me with Type II :)

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Posted 08 September 2015 at 18:31 in reply to #561026 on Brainstorming: Final Curtain

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He isn't actually *that* good but most people have the same reaction as you, which is worth something inmultiplayer :)

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Posted 08 September 2015 at 18:06 in reply to #561071 on Library assholes

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* With the exception of Price of Knowledge I don't see any cards that support your commander. I would expect Black Vise, Iron Maiden, Viseling etc., all of which are budget. Next step would be to include cards that let everybody draw. If good old Howling Mine is still too expensive for you, there is Otherworld Atlas and Temple Bell. Instead you run stuff like Blightning which has bad synergy with both Price of Knowledge and your commander.

* Is this for single play or multiplayer? Cards like Blightning do not only have bad synergy with your commander, they are also pretty useless in multiplayer EDH. Slightly annoying a single player isn't worth much, especially in a free-for-all, all you are doing is making enemies without achieving much. Skull Rend, at least, hits all opponents, but Blightning has the additional disadvantage that it can't hit creatures. You don't see people running Hymn to Tourach in their EDH decks even though Hymn is one of the best discarders ever made. Why? Because this is a 1-on-1 card where games are fast and where an advantage of a single card makes all the difference. But in EDH you can consider it a wasted draw since you have more than one opponent, discarding often times helps them and the games last longer, so you could have had something devastating instead.
Having said all of that I would KEEP that Duress! You can pick what to discard and that can make all the difference, sometimes you just have to get rid of a bomb.

* Witch Hunt, while being a fun card, does probably not belong here. Yes, you have no lifegain yourself that Witch Hunt could shut down, however, that's precisely why you shouldn't play this. See, every single life of yours is precious and Witch Hunt does it's first 4 damage to you! Since your deck tends to be annoying, you won't have many friends anyway, so I don't see how this would help when several opponents are angry with you. Again, this would probably be okay in 1-on-1 where it is easier to judge how much damage will be incoming. However, in 1-on-1 the With Hunt will come back to you every turn for sure!
Same is true for Havoc Festival - you also have to cut your life into half each turn and I don't see any card in the deck that let's you get rid if it.
If you want to prevent lifegain, my suggestions would be:
- Leyline of Punishment (this, at least, doesn't hurt you)
- Skullcrack (it's one-shot, however, it can be played in response to lifegain, wasting that lifeganing spell and cathing the opponent by surprise because he counted on that life. Enchantments suffer from the problem that the opponents see them - so they wait with their lifegaining spells until they can destroy the enchantment)
- Punishing Fire (it doesn't prevent the lifegain but you get it back each time and thus can negate to of the life - or kill a creature which is also fine)

* Smash is good but for multiplayer I would strongly prefer Shattering Pulse.

* Since you have access to black mana, Tormod's Crypt is a bad choice, should be upgraded to Nihil Spellbomb.

* I may be wrong but I think you run a tad bit too much artifact mana. Problem being here that a) at some point you don't need more mana and b) sooner or later somebody will blow up a Disk, Pernicious Deed or similar, destroying all your jewellery. I recommend to at least replace that Worn Powerstone with Mind Stone which can be sacced in response to destruction or when you don't need it in order to draw a replacement card. Also, in a 2 colour deck, I would play Bloodstone Cameo over Prismatic Lens.

* For the same reason I would not play with those Myrs at all! As low-toghness artifact creatures they are MUCH more fragile, in fact a toughness 1 artifact creature is about the most easily destroyable permanent. Instead try:
- Nightscape Familiar (makes your red spells cheaper und unlike those Myrs he can regenerate)
- Grinning Ignus (you generate +2 mana the turn you use him and then he sits safely in your hand)

Oh and Scuttlemutt is strictly better than than Palladium Myr.

* The deck is light on mass creature removal. Probably due to budget reasons because Damnation, Mutilate and so on are expensive. However, there are budget alternatives and isn't it your job to find those? EDH decks can't survive without mass removal, especially not a deck like this that runs no lifegain and has no defense, just offense that pisses everbody off! Archfiend of Depravity is a good start and Massacre Wurm deals with weenies, but that's hardly enough. You also run Earthquake but that hurts yourself, too, I wouldn't play that in this deck because when you need it, you probably can't afford to play it anymore. There are cards (within budget restaints!) that equal damnations in multiplayer EDH:
- Chain Reaction
- Chandra's Ignition (that is, if you have one fatty)
- Magma Quake (should replace the Earthquake, it hits ALL creatures AND planeswalkers but NOT you! This is a no-brainer)
- Deathbringer Regent

* Running 35 lands in addition to all those mana artifacts and creatures is also risky. Yes, you have some quite expensive cards, but sooner or later you will sit there with lots of mana and an empty hand. I would replace one Mountain and one Swamp with cycling lands. It probably doesn't matter much for this deck if you go with Barren Moore and Forgotten Cave or with Smoldering Crater and Polluted Mire. Go with whatever is a few cent cheaper :P

* You have zero ways to handle enchantments. I know that there isn't much you can do in black and red and that the few options may be too expensive for budget, but I would at least run a Nevinyrral's Disk that you can tutor for. The ones from Commander 2013 and 2014 are way below 2 dollars.

* Similarily you run zero land destruction which will also come back on you in any environment that isn't complete noobs/budget. If you can't stop Volrath's Stronghold or out-of-control Cabal Coffers or Tolarian Academy for example, you'll be dead. There are lots of viable options, easiest (and budget) would be Ghost Quarters but since you are running the the primal land destruction colour there is a plethora of other options like Lay Waste/Volcanic Summersion (can be cycled if you don't need it).

* Skimming the rest of the cards I have to stress once more the fact that you damage yourself alot without having any way to replenisch your life. I especially question that Kothophed guy - in fact the presence of him in this deck makes me wonder if you have ever actually played EDH. His last ability is NOT a *may* effect! A simple Wrath of God may cause you to lose a dozen or two life. Kothophed is suicide in multiplayer!
Even if this is for 1-on-1 (which I doubt because you run Skull Rend), he is way too risky. And you already run Read the Bones and Bloodgift Demon ... at least, the latter one's ability is a may effect, but at this point I really think you should add lifegain. To make room I would cut, as explained above, the Myrs. And the Kothopod guy. Here are good budget EDH lifegainers:
- Crypt Incursion, Suffer the Past (doubles as a foil against reanimation strategies which virtually any good EDH deck employs)
- Sun Droplet (triggers in each player's upkeep, so in a 5 player game, you get back 5 life per turn)
- Exsanguinate (it costs a dollar but it's so much worth it inmultiplayer!
- Whip of Erebos (gains you MASSIVE amounts of life. It's also about 1 dollar, though)
- Eternal Thirst/Mark of the Vampire (If 1 dollar is still too much to ask you can use these to grant lifelink. If you manage to put one on Kaervek, it should be a pretty sweet deal)

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Posted 21 August 2015 at 11:31 as a comment on Budget EDH: Kaervek's Wrath

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I am still scratching my head why Avatar of the Resolute is so cheap (moneywise). What's wrong with standard that a 3/2 for 2 mana with no less than 3 abilities (one of which can make it considerably bigger!) is below-one-dollar-rare? I bought a playset when they were at about 1.30€ apiece because I thought "such a powerhouse can't possibly get any cheaper, buy them NOW". Meh.

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Posted 19 August 2015 at 07:35 as a comment on Decks with Stuff: Green Aggro

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Who needs life? ;)

Besides, that question can never be answered because so much depends on what the opponent is doing.

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Posted 10 August 2015 at 04:30 in reply to #558564 on Budget Decks: Who Needs Life?

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It's getting ridiculous now if something like Dark Ritual is "banned" from these decks. What's the point in this? It's a 9 dollar deck ... more importantly, budget or not, Dark Ritual is a card that is still comparebly cheap for what it offers. And you can reuse them again and again in almost any black deck you will build. Nobody is doing himself a favour if he downplays like that.

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Posted 07 August 2015 at 20:46 in reply to #558152 on Budget Decks: Who Needs Life?

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* I would upgrade Tribute to Hunger to Consuming Vapors.

* The Gray Merchants are great in multiplayer, but -along with Tribute to Hunger/Vapors- don't really fit the philosophy of this deck (if one would take the title and description "Who needs life?" serious).

* This has a bumpy mana curve, regarding creatures. You either need to add those Dark Rituals so you can go Grinning Demon on turn two or add casting cost 2 guys, preferably you do both. Flesh Reaver would fit the theme nicely - seems like he was already suggested, so this is another "vote" for him. Another contender would be Fledgling Djinn (you lack flyers).



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Posted 07 August 2015 at 19:17 as a comment on Budget Decks: Who Needs Life?

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Yes, that's what I would do as well and I would have suggested that in the forums if they weren't defunct for about what, 2 years now?

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Posted 03 August 2015 at 20:58 in reply to #556160 on Brainstorming: Final Curtain

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"what this site needs is not an abundance of decks, but rather more people knowing their stuff taking their time to help explaining card choices and strategy to people"

Well, I did that some time ago. I had a "deck" here that was basically a Forumsthread where people could drop a line when they need help. I would then inspect their deck and give advice with lots of explanations for each card choice. I was quite busy for a while. But you know what? That "Deck" where you could ask for helkp had more than 2500 views and several hundreds of comments which means at least 50 people I helped out with. But it got just SIXTEEN likes! Most of them didn't even bother to like the comment with the actual help. Now, I don't crave for likes, but this shows the attitude of many people here.
Moreover, with the exception of a few souls, nobody ever thought of returning the favour to me. Most of decks go by unnoticed, no matter how well thought through and casual they are, even the budget-ish ones get ignored. THis weekend I posted this one here http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/faustus/ which got a mere 8 views ... VIEWS! It's like nobody ever tag-searches or checks any list other than that darn "hot" page. Tell me what's wrong with that deck: It it is fun, it is unusual, it is casual and for most parts it uses cheap cards (make some easy adjustments like replacing the Chromatic Stars with Chromatic Sphere and the only expensive card is the one that deck is basing around. It brims with synergies and little funny combos. But something likes this doesn't fly here. IF it gets any views now (or comments even) then that's only because I plugged it here on this deck that is already on the hot page. Which isn't even a deck. This is stupid.

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Posted 03 August 2015 at 18:17 in reply to #556160 on Brainstorming: Final Curtain

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To anyone still subscribing this: Please check out my newest creation:
http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/faustus/

And the offer oft this thread is still due, just ask and I will check out your deck.

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Posted 03 August 2015 at 10:37 as a comment on Puschkin, please help me!

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Cauldron of Souls!

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Posted 02 August 2015 at 17:40 as a comment on Life Sentence

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Never told me about that rule.

About the current built:
You now run 2 Damnations alongside a WRath of God AND Balance ... isn't that a bit too much considering this is the one deck of the 4 that actually has a decent amount of creatures? Please note that Damnation and Wrath won't stop something like a Darksteel Colossus and all 3 of them are sorcery speed, so they are useless against anything that comes out of Sneak Attack. I would run no more than 2 of Damnation/Wrath/Balance and instead play Path to Exile (and since that isn't allowed due to that new rule it would be Swords to Plowshares).

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Posted 31 July 2015 at 12:20 in reply to #557498 on Risotto

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Okay, about this new version:

* There is no reason to run Ice Storm if you don't have 4 Sinkholes already - Sinkhole is one crucial turn faster.

* Argothian Wurm is quite bad in any format and especially so in Vintage. Opponents will happily sacrifice a land which means you'll draw it again (you don't draw anything else) and you have to replay it again for 4 whopping mana. That's basically a Timewalk for your opponent. You have to realize how fast Vintage is and how less dependant decks are on their lands.
This is somewhat true for the deck as a whole ... land destruction is a weak strategy in general (in Vintage no less). A Hymn To Tourach or Duress is typically way more useful. But it's hard to explain that to inexperienced players and I won't talk you out of your LD theme, but I prophecize you here and now that this deck will do the worst out of your 4 decks (when played against those other 3 of course).

* Maelstrom Pulse is quite bad in a format that is dominated by restricted spells and where nobody plays weenie decks (the only deck that frequently has more permanents of the same name in play). These should be Abrupt Decays which fit nicely in any LD theme.

* No Time Twister in this, please! You don't want to give a Vintage play a fresh new hand (including mana sources!) after you fought so hard to have him down on resources! Yes, you' will also draw new desctrution, however, in Vintage there is so much fast mana and cheap bombs to play that the opponent can do something nasty with the fresh hand right away. The damage will already be done when you blow up his new lands.

* With Time Twister gone and the need to have two black mana ready asap it is questionable if this should run blue at all! Time Walk is nothing more than a very expensive cantrip and while Ancestral Recall is one of the best cards ever printed, it still might no be worth splashing if that means it ruins your entire mana base. For example, without blue you could afford to run a full playset of Wastelands (which are crucial because of Crucible of the Worlds).

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Posted 31 July 2015 at 12:11 in reply to #557492 on Jambalaya

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I just want to know if your are going that way or if I should work on a Vintage Oath deck. I don't recommend the latter but it's your decks after all and the customer is king :)

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Posted 30 July 2015 at 14:35 in reply to #557492 on Jambalaya

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Woah, that is waay too complicated and still contraproductive. To guarantee you oath into a Colossus you simply don't use other creatures in the deck (no Braids for example). To put them back in the library if you draw them accidentally you run things like Brainstorm and Scrollrack, cards that also help you finding Oath or whatever else you need. With only 2 or so creatures you fear you will mill yourself to death? That's where Gaea's Blessing comes in! It both protects you from getting decked (where from your opponent or your own Oath) and at the same time puts any creature that got killed back into the library, so you are not limited to creatures that put themselves back in the lib.

Oath is VERY dangerous in Vintage, Gaspacho and Chili con Carne should prove that, IF you want to play Oath, then you should do so straight. A sidetrack like that with Braids and stuff will never work.

So, should I make another proposal with Oath? Or did you like my MaskNought/Braids/Control mix?

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Posted 29 July 2015 at 08:37 in reply to #557492 on Jambalaya

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Oh and Tinker.

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Posted 28 July 2015 at 13:18 in reply to #557498 on Risotto

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