The weakness are that she costs more mana to cast, you lose mana on the table to return her, she helps you only when your ahead (And can afford to bounce lands) and her her powers one sided. (Does not count your opponents grave.)Originally Posted by Valleysdai
It is better to ask and look stupid then keep your mouth shut and remain so.
I hope your afterlife is filled with eternal torment.
Fuck. Which one of my quotes do I drop for this?
I agree about the cost being too much and being a win more card, the most multani would probably be used for is a way of replaying etb lands (e.g. bog)
Are Rishadan Ports about to be an antique from a bygone era?
I played tonight with a 3/3 split between Ghost Quarter and Port. The Ports were lackluster and I will consider dropping them entirely.
Highlight: I was able to completely strip every land from a burn deck with Ghost Quarter after I setup the Glacial Chasm shield.
Well, try doing that to Miracles, Death&Taxes or Sneak&Show before they combo off ;) The problem with all-Quarter build is that you are even more grave-depemdant than usual and you are much more vulnerable to hate game 2 and 3. Sure, it's nice to have 4 Strip Mines against bad manabases, but I really can't tell how many times I wished my single Quarter was 4th Port instead :)
This is why I like(d) my Ports.
I was holding my 4 Ports 1 Quarter build for a long time; before that, it was a 4 Ports 2 Quarters build. Now, I'm down from 6 to 5 to 4 PortQuarter cards. I don't know if that is 'good' but I just have the feeling not having enough space in my RGu build for more of those cards. Now, I'm trying a 2/2 split, just because almost everyone plays more Quarters. I don't know if I'm happy with that. Maybe I go to 3/1 or back to 5 PortQuarters by cutting another card (which would be Karakas, I think). I don't think I'll include more than 2 Quarters; I tell you why soon...
Just... sometimes it feels bad to draw a Port. Sometimes it feels bad to draw a Ghost Quarter... sometimes you wanted to draw the other card, sometimes just any other card. It's not easy to say which build is perfect.
Like you said, on gravehate, I like Ports more. (Sure, you can Quarter him once and again, when you draw another Quarter. Normally, he'll just get 2 basic lands and you lost 2 lands.)
Also in early-game, it's better to tap the opponent out than just give him a less-good mana-land (except for sol-lands and special ability-lands... which you can tap as well). My opinion.
In midgame, when you have an active Loam or CoW, yes then you can try to kill all of his lands with Quarter. I also did that a few times. But for midgame, you don't need to have 4 Quarters in your deck. I mean, in my RGu, I have 2 EE. You can stall the opponent with EE and Academy Ruins or with QC and Loam. Why should I need more GQ than EE for this midgame-combo?
Ports can be 'used' and you still have the land for mana, when you need it. GQ are lost mana, when used.
I have a RGu build, so more control, less tempo. Ports still make more sense in this build (my opinion).
Ports can be Spheres 7-10 (except for those ugly brainstorms...) where GQ can be Wastelands 5-8 just under special conditions.
Oh yes, Ports can be wastelanded and then they do nothing more... but on the other hand, they can be a good bait for opponents Wastelands to not destroy another important land.
And a little one: Copy a Port with Stage and you have one more taxing effect. Copy GQ and you lose your Stage if you use it.
Summary:
Gravehate: Ports
Early-Game: Ports
Midgame: GQ
Need Mana: Ports
Cost: GQ sacrifice, Port costs... let's call it a draw
In the end, it depends on your playing-style and the meta.
A hand full of GQ against Omnitell or Storm... nope. But a Port slows him down at least one turn.
Against decks with sol-lands, it doesn't really depend if you transform to a basic or tap it.
Against a fast deck with basics, what do you do with a hand full GQ?
The most people switched to GQ because of the fast(er) decks in legacy(?), but shouldn't that be the reason to stick to Ports? You don't slow them down with Quarters... not fast enough.
What are your experiences about that?
I believe the reason for GQ prevelance right now is the greedy manabases of Grixis and Czech which combined are generally 20-25% of any given meta.
Having 8 strip mines vs 20-25% of the field is nice. While the Port I feel is only stronger vs combo decks which make up a smaller percentage than the Grixis/Czech share.
Port is best against decks with heavy basic counts where delaying them will push you over the edge to win. GQ is better against decks that have low basic counts that seek to play a midrange game themselves and thus delaying them will only mean they get to their hay makers and smack you.
Port is best against DnT, Miracles (A word I still need spellcheck for...) and shit like Nicfit, Fish, Golbins and High Tide. Of these decks only one of them is really popular right now.
It is better to ask and look stupid then keep your mouth shut and remain so.
I hope your afterlife is filled with eternal torment.
Fuck. Which one of my quotes do I drop for this?
Did anyone see Roucas's list in this league? I think other than the black splash just for Malestrom Pulse that there's some promise here for burning wish.
I think Ports still have a place, if not just for Miracles and some combo matchups. There's a lot of maneuvering vs Miracles where you can't just start GQing because of Surgical and CB, Port allows you to play a draw go game if you find yourself in this spot. I'm on 3 GQ and 2 Ports at the moment.
How are your builds right now regarding 'flex' slots. Do you have them main, SB or cut it?
Barbarian Ring
Karakas
Tickets
Manabond
...others
What about CotV, Trinisphere...?
Do you include any exotic cards? (wishes, Riftstone Portal, Intuition or even more exotic)
Do you have a RG, RGu or maybe RGb build?
Maybe with explanation why.
My current build is not really exotic. Not sure about the 3rd Maze ; I could cut it for a Barbarian ring I guess.
In the SB I would like to find room for a 4th Kgrip (against Moon decks for instance), but what should I cut ? One Tireless tracker ?
Lands (36)
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Dark Depths
1 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Glacial Chasm
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
3 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Rishadan Port
1 Sheltered Thicket
2 Taiga
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
4 Thespian's Stage
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
4 Mox Diamond
4 Exploration
1 Manabond
4 Crop Rotation
3 Punishing Fire
4 Gamble
4 Life from the Loam
SB (15)
1 Ancient Tomb
2 Drop of Honey
3 Krosan Grip
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Trinisphere
Pox --
Miracles --
Lands --
Dragon Stompy -- Eldrazi Stompy --
imho Tracker is way too good to drop below 2 copies. I am currently even considering playing 3.
Why the Surgicals, though?
I like surgicals against Dredge, Reanimator, or Storm on the play. It is also good against other Loam decks.
Trackers were superpowerful when people used to side out their StP / Push / etc for game 2 against Lands. Now they know the trick :)
But yeah, the card is amazing.
I cut the 3rd maze for a Mishra's Factory. I'm never disappointed drawing one.
Btw my exotic one is the single Tolaria West. It does a better job than Karakas, which I cut online but not on paper so far.
How does Karakas perform for you?
Currently I’m on a RG build with 3 PF and 2 Vortex, 34 Lands with Barbarian main, and no spicies cards except a Mishra’s Factory. Sideboard is more or less classic.
But I’m also experimenting a Black version with Abrupt Decay instead of Vortex, and Chains of Mephistopheles in side.
I didn’t yet play any single serious game, but it still fun and efficient up to now.
IT IS TWO AND A HALF MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
Dredge is almost non-existing, or is that a thing in your meta? Anyway, you have access to Crop Rotation for Bojuka Bog.
There is no trick behind Tracker, he is just a good clock and CA engine which is not reliant on the GY and works under Blood Moon. When people's top priority is to disrupt your 20/20 from being put into play or attacking, Tracker is still a force to be reckoned with.
From time to time I'm also thinking about a black version with abrupt decay and chains. Chains is so funny against brainstorm. But the downside is: You don't want to dredge away those cards where punishing fires can be brought back.
Because I like my blue splash,I would go GBu and not RGb. So cutting fires and gamble for decay and entomb doesn't seem to work.
Tell me if you tested your version...
Btw. I would also like to try a more lands version of LandsNauseam...
Dredge is a thing in my meta, and it is one of the few tough matchup to me (with Dragon Stompy)
Florian
Also your question seems quite surprising since Surgical is widely used in Lands SB.
In recent Top8 decklists, it sees as much play as cards like Drop of honey or Chalice, and more than Ancient tomb.
Haven't seen it so far and Crop Rotation + Bog was enough GY hate for me personally so far (I switched to Lands recently though). If Dredge sees more play in your area, I understand your choice, of course. ^^
btw, that's how Lands SB look according to mtggoldfish :P
91% 4x Sphere of Resistance
91% 3x Krosan Grip
91% 2x Tireless Tracker
55% 1x Chalice of the Void
45% 1x Drop of Honey
45% 1x Thorn of Amethyst
45% 1x Choke
36% 1x Ancient Tomb
27% 1x Molten Vortex
27% 2x Surgical Extraction
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