[Free Article] The Best of 2010

[voltron00x]

In which I take a look at my favorite cards from 2010, with an Eternal-centric slant.

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/20795_The_Long_and_Winding_Road_The_Best_of_2010.html

Besides a top 10 cards of 2010 (and a list of candidates that covers most of the cards you should own across formats), I also list the top blunders, under-achievers, and top videogame and album of the year.

(Sorry, I enjoy making lists...)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone on The Source!!!

And thanks for your support throughout the year, it is much appreciated.

[jrsthethird]

Good article, just wanted to point out that the reason why Wurmcoil is an affordable mythic is because it was a prerelease card; that's what kept Vampire Nocturnus and Ajani Vengeant from hitting $30. If Wizards would only make all prerelease/launch party cards playable mythics...

You can count Sun Titan in that list too; if it ends up reaching the potential it has, it won't get any higher than $15.

[SpikeyMikey]

Just goes to show how different people's opinions are. I think that Emrakul is the third worst card ever printed, after Trinisphere and Progenitus. I was fine with overcosted fatties with ridiculous abilities when they were like Verdant Force, Pit Spawn or Akroma, Angel of Wrath. Or had a "hardcast me or lose" clause a la Phage the Untouchable. That was fine. Timmy's got their uber rares that were largely untouchable in competitive formats. Now it's "I'll pay 6 to Summoning Trap and you lose!". Well isn't that fucking peachy. I remember when Spiritmonger had people's jaws on the floor. If it were printed now, it wouldn't even warrant comment. I hate how Wizards has pushed T2 into big gay spells vs. big gay spells.

[FieryBalrog]

Agree with a lot of it, disagree with Emrakul as well, and the Eldrazi in general. With the abundance of ways to cheat things into play, even if its just ramp, I don't think throwing more and more and more steroids at the big stuff is such a good idea. It makes the game sillier. We already got fatties to a good level a while back. They are cool. They are not so amazing that I want to see more, more more more more more more!

[Pastorofmuppets]

Emrakul is definitely bad from a design standpoint.
Oh well, it's here to stay at this point.
I'd have a few choice words for Mindsculptor, too, but I love the card too much.


I think that Emrakul is the third worst card ever printed, after Trinisphere
Why the hate for Sphere?

[Shabbaman]

Even if New Vegas would be just an expansion to Fallout 3, how could that possibly be a bad thing? :D I have to disagree with you on VV, I can't possibly love a card that has my favorite green card banned. Also: please stop writing about vintage Dredge, all it does it rub it in that I thought $30 was too much for a beat-up Bazaar...

Still, I like your take on it. Would running Serum Powder and Leyline main have it's merits in Legacy?

[voltron00x]

Even if New Vegas would be just an expansion to Fallout 3, how could that possibly be a bad thing? :D I have to disagree with you on VV, I can't possibly love a card that has my favorite green card banned. Also: please stop writing about vintage Dredge, all it does it rub it in that I thought $30 was too much for a beat-up Bazaar...

Still, I like your take on it. Would running Serum Powder and Leyline main have it's merits in Legacy?

It might have been a good strategy for beating Survival. I'm not sure though, Serum Powder never caught on in Legacy Dredge like it did in Vintage. I've always assumed this was because the engine cards take up so much more room, due to the lack of Bazaar.

Legacy Dredge has always befuddled me though. I can never get a handle on it. My mind seems to have been permanently warped by the use of Bazaar in Vintage.

re: VV, I've really enjoyed playing it in Standard and Block. It does so many cool things; while the Survival banning in Legacy is unfortunate, if it wasn't Vengevine, something would've probably resulted in Survival being banned eventually.

[SpikeyMikey]

Emrakul is definitely bad from a design standpoint.
Oh well, it's here to stay at this point.
I'd have a few choice words for Mindsculptor, too, but I love the card too much.


Why the hate for Sphere?

Because it ruined T1 for me. It had help in the form of Crucible, Tetravus, artifact lands and Mindslaver, but it was what really broke the format. It turned Staxx from a tier 1.5 deck into a foil for anything not running 4 Force, 4 Daze and 4 Null Rods. Even if you played 20 cards of dedicated hate, it would often just win anyway on the back of T1 3sphere and turn 2 Smokestack or Crucible -> Strip.

[Doomsday]

Yeah I think Powder loses most of its usefulness when your mulligan strategy isn't "find Bazaar or die trying". Also that Method Man song is Release Yo' Delf.

[voltron00x]

I believe it was changed by the editor, "Delf" doesn't pass spell-check.

[inside88]

Hello, what is the evolution of your Zoo Deck MD and Side :smile:
Thanks

[Amon Amarth]

As a huge fan of lists, I approve of this article.

[mchainmail]

Hello, what is the evolution of your Zoo Deck MD and Side :smile:
Thanks

Sideboard (Current as of 6-5-10)
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Mindbreak Trap
4 Serum Powder
1 Price of Progress
2 Krosan Grip

[voltron00x]

The last one I had was something like this:

2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroblast
2 Krosan Grip
1 Jitte
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Mindbreak Trap

I really stopped trying to force Zoo at my local events the past few times though, too many good players were on Lands, Survival, Storm, and Landstill/Dreadstill. It was pretty hostile.

Maybe things will be different now.

[Shabbaman]

Legacy Dredge has always befuddled me though. I can never get a handle on it. My mind seems to have been permanently warped by the use of Bazaar in Vintage.

All you do is rub in that I don't have Bazaars ;)

[mchainmail]

The last one I had was something like this:

2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroblast
2 Krosan Grip
1 Jitte
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Mindbreak Trap

I really stopped trying to force Zoo at my local events the past few times though, too many good players were on Lands, Survival, Storm, and Landstill/Dreadstill. It was pretty hostile.

Maybe things will be different now.


Nope, I'll be playing Lands!

Also, there's two (small-ish) tournaments in Maryland the next two Saturdays I'm headed to, if you're interested.

[voltron00x]

I have Vintage in NY, and Vintage in Blue Bell, so I will be knee-deep in Vintage - but let me know how it goes!

[Amon Amarth]

The last one I had was something like this:

2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroblast
2 Krosan Grip
1 Jitte
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Mindbreak Trap

I really stopped trying to force Zoo at my local events the past few times though, too many good players were on Lands, Survival, Storm, and Landstill/Dreadstill. It was pretty hostile.

Maybe things will be different now.

Really? I mean you can try and prey on bad Merfolk and Goblins players but what does traditional Zoo really have a good game against. This is an honest question because I have the deck built but don't feel like playtesting.

[Tammit67]

Zoo has good game against aggro, particularly tribal, and often enough CB. Most CB lists run firespout main for this reason, along with the tribal matchups. If they didn't, zoo gets there more often than not.

[mchainmail]

Zoo also kinda beats up on sloppy play. That one-land Brainstorm hand doesn't look so hot when your opponent is able to curve out consistently.

[voltron00x]

Zoo beats up on a lot of things. Merfolk, U/W Tempo, basically anything that someone wants to call, “____ Tempo”, it’ll probably beat. I like the Goblins match-up as a general rule, but it depends how each deck is built. I’ll take the CB/Top and even Landstill match-ups most of the time, especially against people playing in local events. The 30-40% of the field that is random.dec, I will definitely enjoy playing against with Zoo. Those match-ups tend to go,

Opponent: Play some silly spell you’ve never heard of

Zoo: Die?

Opponent: <sad panda face>

The bad match-ups – chiefly Survival, and Tendrils combo – those were decks being played by a good percentage of the better players in recent local tournaments. That made me want to play something that wasn’t Zoo.

[Rico Suave]

It's more like...

what does Zoo *not* have a good game against? That list will be much, much shorter.