Mental Magic: Style >>> Skill combos

[gosumog]

2-3 card combos that are amusing to the audience but still powerful ^^!

orims chant/boseiju + hidetsus second rite
sarcomany + oblation
Urborg tomb of + everything (name some u think are original)
negator + alexis cloak ^^
turf wound + squee > stone rain (just realized this one, hot shit!) first turn multi land, second turn ancient tomb pass, combo, 3 land/0 land =D with card advantage

[FakeSpam]

you mean like Fact or Fiction -> Deep Analysis?

[Citrus-God]

Or FoF -> Mystical Teachings.

[Nightmare]

turf wound + squee > stone rain (just realized this one, hot shit!) first turn multi land, second turn ancient tomb pass, combo, 3 land/0 land =D with card advantageSolfatara Squee Turf Wound is better.

[bigbear102]

Survival is also quite fun to play in Mental Magic. It turns expensive/useless creatures into burn, counters, or better creatures. And you sometimes have Squee, and don't forget about Genesis or Krovikan Horror.

[Nightmare]

Yeah, I just figured out some redic stuff with :3::b:.

(Hint: Dimir House Guard, Ichorid, Ashen Ghoul, Krov Horror, and 2 different "Draw 3 cards, lose 3 life" cards all cost :3::b:).

[kirdape3]

If you aren't killing in some impressive fashion on turn 2 or turn 3, you're not trying in Mental Magic.

Dredge is absolutely the sickest ever.

[Citrus-God]

The best Legacy can get is to ban all Tutors, and play T1.5. This allows the game to be much more complex, imo.

[Zach Tartell]

Solfatara Squee Turf Wound is better.

You're welcome.

[bigbear102]

The best Legacy can get is to ban all Tutors, and play T1.5. This allows the game to be much more complex, imo.

So you have illusionary mask, mana drain, metalworker, bazaar, dragon, and goblin recruiter???

[Di]

Actually around here we play Vintage, not Legacy.

[Zach Tartell]

Not the way I proscribed. Adam plays where you actually have a land that's of all five types - I suggested a basic land named utopia, so you can't daze or massacre or have anger for one turn.

Also, Legacy is better, without enchantresses and exploration. That way nothing broken goes down.

[Citrus-God]

So you have illusionary mask, mana drain, metalworker, bazaar, dragon, and goblin recruiter???

I should edit that... it was suppose to be Mental Magic, not T1.5... I feel so dumb right now, I'm not even going to edit that, because I'm dumb like that.

But I do want to see 1.5 with all that goodness legal. Dragon is easy to disrupt, Mana Drain is awesome, Mishra's Workshop is awesome, and Illusionary Mask is awesome.

[TeenieBopper]

Also, Legacy is better, without enchantresses and exploration. That way nothing broken goes down.

That's why it should be vintage, though. To see if you can come up with really creative ways of doing broken shit.

[Citrus-God]

That's why it should be vintage, though. To see if you can come up with really creative ways of doing broken shit.

What? Turn 2 High Tide, Cloud of Faeries, Snap, Dark Ritual, Seething Song, Yawgmoth's Bargain into fucking olivion followed by a Yawgmoth's Will to kill 5 players on your table?

Gawd it's fun. But if it has to be vintage, restricted tutors should still be banned... unless you draw into them of course.

[Zach Tartell]

But I do want to see 1.5 with all that goodness legal. Dragon is easy to disrupt, Mana Drain is awesome, Mishra's Workshop is awesome, and Illusionary Mask is awesome.

Why would you play a land card that isn't tabernacle or maze of ith or bazaar or nantuko monastary?

[Citrus-God]

Why would you play a land card that isn't tabernacle or maze of ith or bazaar or nantuko monastary?

Because 3Sphere off a Workshop is so much cooler than Monasteries and Bazaar. Just you wait, if they ever became legal, we'd have Pitch Stax or something. In fact, here's a random and shitty list off the top of my head.


// Badlands Stax
// Mana 30
4 Mox Diamond
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Wasteland
4 Black/Red Fetchlands
4 Badlands
4 Bazaar of Beghdad


// Creatures 4
4 Goblin Welder


// Spells 26
4 Trinisphere
4 Smokestack
4 Crucible of Worlds
3 Uba Mask
4 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Powder Keg


// Sideboard 15
4 Thoughtseize
4 Duress
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Serum Powder


mehh.... I shouldnt post tech here.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

If you aren't killing in some impressive fashion on turn 2 or turn 3, you're not trying in Mental Magic.


I think he's referencing Legacy mental magic.

Hijitsu's Second Rite is crazy all by itself.

Mirrodin Affinity for [basic land] Golems + Dragon enchantments from Scourge.

Ravnica Guildmages + Eidolons.

Also Turf Wound + Squee + Smash/Zap is often better than trying for the Sulfurtara.

And the answer to that, of course, is Remand.

[Tacosnape]

I would just like to say that everyone with an in-depth strategy post in this thread ought to look into this thing called "Porn," to kill some of your spare time. Seriously. This thread is even more retarded than the thing I do on long car trips of rewriting songs to have Magic-related lyrics.

[Mijorre]

You realise, of course, we now want proof of said lyrics to compare the level of retardation, right?

[hi-val]

I think he's referencing Legacy mental magic.

Hijitsu's Second Rite is crazy all by itself.

Mirrodin Affinity for [basic land] Golems + Dragon enchantments from Scourge.

Ravnica Guildmages + Eidolons.

Also Turf Wound + Squee + Smash/Zap is often better than trying for the Sulfurtara.

And the answer to that, of course, is Remand.

Turn 1: cycle Fade into Memory, dredge Darkblast.

Turn 2: Dredge up Golgari Thug on the draw, cycle Expunge, dredging it into Stinkweed Imp.

Turn 3: return Death Spark to your hand during upkeep, cast Rite of Flame into Book Burning, mill 6 cards, cast Dark Ritual, cast Cabal Ritual, cast Reaping the Graves, pull back the 5 best cards in your graveyard and never lose ever.

Alternately, turn 3 can look like Unearth Psychatog, cast Reckless Charge on it, Berserk it, win.

Or it can look like:

Turn 1: Birds of Paradise

Turn 2: Fluctuator. Cycle Blasted Landscape, dredge back Dakmoor Sludge, Cycle Remote Isle, cycle Lull into Life from the Loam, cycle Hush into Greater Mossdog, cycle Barkhide Mauler into Golgari Grave-Troll, cycle Scrap into dredged Stinkweed Imp, cycle Disciple of Malice and Dredge back Golgari Thug, cycle Sicken into Darkblast, cycle Radiant's Judgement into Necroplasm, cast Dark Ritual, cast Haunting Hymn for 23 damage.

Mental Magic with graveyards is too st00pid for words.

Pat Chapin told me once when talking about Mental Magic that good players go for 3U as FOF into Deep Analysis, but great players go for cycle Pendrell Drake into blue Eidolon into Inspiration into Deep Analysis.

One of the most stupidly easy kills to set up is:

Turn 1 Aether Vial

Turn 2 Vial in Nomads En-Kor, play Cephalid Illusionist. Mill library, play Narcomoeba, Dread Return up whatever amazing fattie you have and put all the Dragon enchantments on it that you can. Sometimes, you can hit stuff like Magnivore and just clock them for 17 right off the bat.

Sometimes you can get Blossoming Wreath into Necrologia and win. Sometimes you can do Dredge stuff and then cast Mortal KOMBAT and win. Other times you can Wreath into Test of Endurance and win.

Doug's Rules for (mostly) Fair Mental Magic:

Leyline of the Void is in play at all times for both players

Tutoring effects are banned

Legacy Banned rules apply, and additionally, Argothian Enchantress is banned.

Effects that put lands into play like Exploration and Summer Bloom can only put actual land cards into play.



I love playing casual Mental Magic with stuff like Striped Bears, but once you know how to go broken in MM, there's no real turning back without getting rid of graveyards. If you play against someone with the common routes to victory memorized along with all the Dredge cards and Cycling cards, it's just unfun.

[Tacosnape]

You realise, of course, we now want proof of said lyrics to compare the level of retardation, right?

I'll release the entire lyric collection on here someday. When I'm finished and incredibly drunk.

Tracks include:

*Breakin' The Format (Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs)
*Solidarity (The Police - Synchronicity)
*Modular (Soundtrack from Wicked - Popular)
*Piledriver (Dio - Holy Diver)
*Brass Man (Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey)
*Break Standstill (Rush - Time Stand Still)

...And More!

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Turn 1: cycle Fade into Memory, dredge Darkblast.

Turn 2: Dredge up Golgari Thug on the draw, cycle Expunge, dredging it into Stinkweed Imp.

Turn 3: return Death Spark to your hand during upkeep, cast Rite of Flame into Book Burning, mill 6 cards, cast Dark Ritual, cast Cabal Ritual, cast Reaping the Graves, pull back the 5 best cards in your graveyard and never lose ever.

Hot Tip; if your playgroup hasn't banned Reaping the Graves, you could just play War and get it over with. Once you accept that Mental Magic needs a seperate banned list than any other format, you can have fun.

Also, Songs of the Damned >>>> Dark Ritual. But like above, it should be banned if you want sanity.


Alternately, turn 3 can look like Unearth Psychatog, cast Reckless Charge on it, Berserk it, win.

Again, we tend to ban obviously broken shit like Psychatog.

Turn 1: Birds of Paradise

Turn 2: Fluctuator. Cycle Blasted Landscape, dredge back Dakmoor Sludge, Cycle Remote Isle, cycle Lull into Life from the Loam, cycle Hush into Greater Mossdog, cycle Barkhide Mauler into Golgari Grave-Troll, cycle Scrap into dredged Stinkweed Imp, cycle Disciple of Malice and Dredge back Golgari Thug, cycle Sicken into Darkblast, cycle Radiant's Judgement into Necroplasm, cast Dark Ritual, cast Haunting Hymn for 23 damage.[/quote]

I would allow that only because the odds of that draw are so low.


Mental Magic with graveyards is too st00pid for words.

Seriously. Why wouldn't you just ban obviously stupid shit?


One of the most stupidly easy kills to set up is:

Turn 1 Aether Vial

Turn 2 Vial in Nomads En-Kor, play Cephalid Illusionist. Mill library, play Narcomoeba, Dread Return up whatever amazing fattie you have and put all the Dragon enchantments on it that you can. Sometimes, you can hit stuff like Magnivore and just clock them for 17 right off the bat.

Coffin Purge/Moment's Peace/Ray of Revelation/Krosan Reclamation can all deal with that without spending cards in hand.

And unlike in Legacy, your Therapy back up is useless in Mental Magic.


Doug's Rules for (mostly) Fair Mental Magic:

Leyline of the Void is in play at all times for both players

Tutoring effects are banned

Legacy Banned rules apply, and additionally, Argothian Enchantress is banned.

Effects that put lands into play like Exploration and Summer Bloom can only put actual land cards into play.

Banned: Reaping the Graves
Songs of the Damned
Living Death
Living End
Psychatog

I'm sure there are others, but that's off the top of my head.

In 1 on 1 MM:
Sylvan Library
Sensei's Divining Top
Mirri's Guile


I love playing casual Mental Magic with stuff like Striped Bears, but once you know how to go broken in MM, there's no real turning back without getting rid of graveyards. If you play against someone with the common routes to victory memorized along with all the Dredge cards and Cycling cards, it's just unfun.

Or you could...you know... ban the broken cards. Since you have such a fabulous time picking on Argothian Enchantress.

P.S. - Argothian isn't worth banning. She's killed by every red and black card, plus some random white stuff.

[hi-val]

Argothian is certainly on the fence; it can get really, really degenerate but it can also be handled decently. It's really stupid if you play it on times other than turn 2.

The thing about RFGing the graveyard instead of banning problem cards is that it streamlines things. If Psychatog is banned, can I use Sarcatog instead and go almost as broken (considering that there even would be a 1BR in the stack, gogo Fire Covenant!). If Reaping the Graves is gone, then Death's Duet is still really strong. If Living End and Living Death are gone, then I can still Twilight's Call for the win. I can still cycle Barkhide Mauler to dredge Golgari Gravetroll and then cast All Sun's Dawn and win.

Since so many cards are possible in mental, I'd rather just eliminate the problem thing instead of having situations of "wait, that seems broken. No, you can't do that". Trade Routes is banned too, for pretty obvious reasons. I'm not sure about Meloku; I let him in since he's so easy to kill.

The Fluctuator kill is incredibly easy to do if you know all the cycling and dredging cards. It rewards memorization of otherwise-irrelevant cards. That brings me to my central core of Mental, that it should be about playing good magic and not depend so much on memorizing card patterns for 3B or remembering every cycler ever printed. With graveyards, strategies tend to center around filling up your graveyard and blowing out the opponents yard. Cycling Hush into dredging up Greater Mossdog is a good play when graveyards are around. Casting Traumatize on yourself is an excellent way to win since you basically draw 26 more cards. I find the game is a bit more "pure" without graveyards because it rewards knowing relevant cards and there aren't on-the-fly bannings.

I'd much prefer to be killed by Fling + Wall of Blood than someone going nuts with Fluctuator and just ending things on turn 3 : \

That said, I'll play Mental with anyone's rules and enjoy it : )