[Primer] Elves!

[Shagstaman]

danyul, yea I guess I'm curious to know the reasoning for it over more discard from Julian tho... since all my storm opponents seem to duress me before attempting to combo off, and all my show opponents lose if they don't have counter backup already (for my discard or glimpse turn).

Guess I am just skeptical by nature! Julian is obviously the man, but I feel like this is a bandwagon that only european players should jump on...the US metagame doesn't seem ripe for swan song yet (at least in the eastern US, the discard + discard package has been devastating to most of my opponents...and even mindbreak trap is a joke in this side of the country)

[danyul]

Ah that makes sense. I had not really taken regional metagames into account. Over here I'm mostly battling through a bunch of Delver and Stoneforge decks so there isn't much application for Swan Song there. It is nice to have the option of hitting the occasional Terminus or Show and Tell, though. But if we take local metagames into account, then yes I would have to agree with you.

...But I'm still gonna hunt down those foil Swan Songs just in case.

[Alexeezay]

Is boarding in Swan Song vs. canadians Rough/Tumble a good idea? :D What do you think?

[Shagstaman]

foil songs are gonna be hot in the next few years. =) looks cool and almost maindeckable...legacy staple for the foreseeable future

[Benjammn]

Really...what made you change your mind, Julian? A month ago we were anti-Envelop/Swan Song and now everyone wants it. Swan Song strikes me as a card that is pretty narrow in comparison to Thoughtseize. If you feel that is what is needed at that metagame than so be it, but only high numbers of Storm, Show and Tell variants, and Miracles are going to make me want Swan Song.

[Eternal]

I'm european, and I hate Swan song and Ruric in main. Give a chump blocker to the opponent in S&T match up like Omniclash or Sneak and show is terribly bad. Envelop is really better, as I have already said. For Ruric it's more a question of "local metagame".

But that's his choice and I respect that.

A month ago we were anti-Envelop/Swan Song and now everyone wants it

I remember asking a question about the U splash for counts few months ago. Many guys were totally against that. :D

[danyul]

We are all bandwagoning netdeckers. I have no shame.

[yaWgnorW]

I'm european, and I hate Swan song and Ruric in main. Give a chump blocker to the opponent in S&T match up like Omniclash or Sneak and show is terribly bad. Envelop is really better, as I have already said. For Ruric it's more a question of "local metagame".

But that's his choice and I respect that.

I remember asking a question about the U splash for counts few months ago. Many guys were totally against that. :D

There was a brief kick of this U splash overall a few months back, mostly for spell pierce / flusterstorm however. I like Swan Song when it comes to heavy storm/show&tell/miracle decks. While Swan Song has the potential to bite you in the butt, as long as your not at a low life count it shouldnt be too bad. We still have Wirewood lifts and DRS shocks. It also is a big thing against Engineered Plague, which from the last tournament in my meta the top 8 alone had somewhere between 6-9 copies. Just remember I think everyone needs to account for their meta. Now I have to try to research my meta a bit more and see if Swan Song will do work there, or If I should just keep things as normal.
Oh, just for the sake of it, I'm in Europe and I haven't truthfully had success with Ruric MD. Sure he's won games vs storm, never as a result of game one. Even on MTGO, never won a game 1. And as someone (sorry, lazy to go back to the last page) has noted, Ruric + 3 NO can be awkward when we would normally have 4 NO for such a thing. I know the % increase to win is there, but in the other MUs I kind of feel its in the way. Contributes to bad hands/Draws. Don't get me wrong, not bashing on Ruric MD, I think its great; just perhaps not for me or where I am.

What I really like is dropping Heritage to 3 as a result of the extra cards going in (Ooze most likely). Online over the last week I've dropped Heritage to 3 as well, but as usual Julian is ahead of the curve. If your trying to fit something in the main, I recommend not cutting mana dorks like many do, but cut 1 (and only 1) Heritage Druid.

[Lemnear]

And as someone (sorry, lazy to go back to the last page) has noted, Ruric + 3 NO can be awkward when we would normally have 4 NO for such a thing. I know the % increase to win is there, but in the other MUs I kind of feel its in the way. Contributes to bad hands/Draws. Don't get me wrong, not bashing on Ruric MD, I think its great; just perhaps not for me or where I am.

It is, that's why I'm still not running Thar MB unless some other peeps locally play storm (and therefore I mentioned it a site back). Where are you playing (curiousity)?

Splashing Blue for SB counters look strange as you still can disrupt your opponent on different levels with Thorn, MBT and discard. Topdecked Counterbalance, Blood Moon, Humility or Deed won't make me consider a colorsplash and playing Swan Song over Envelop tbh.

[yaWgnorW]

It is, that's why I'm still not running Thar MB unless some other peeps locally play storm (and therefore I mentioned it a site back). Where are you playing (curiousity)?

Splashing Blue for SB counters look strange as you still can disrupt your opponent on different levels with Thorn, MBT and discard. Topdecked Counterbalance, Blood Moon, Humility or Deed won't make me consider a colorsplash and playing Swan Song over Envelop tbh.

I'm playing in Nürnberg, I wouldn't be surprised if you were familiar with the meta/players. Honestly, out of the average 50 decks that play in the monthly events over the last few months, Ive only played storm twice. I know there is a small amount of storm running around, but I don't consider the quantity of it relevant enough for a main deck Ruric. Of course some may argue that; but I don't really have a set % that would determine whether or not I run it. And like I said, whether its online or on paper Ruric game 1 has rarely done anything positive for me, and not against storm. Game 2 and 3, yes of course. It may help if storm didn't always take me out turn 1 or 2 though ;)

Edit: On the note of what a worthy % of storm is, I'd say I'd run Ruric main in a larger event.

[Lemnear]

Lost touch for the Nürnberg metagame since I moved away from Regensburg years ago. Used to play there or in Munich during the time the Legacy Events were held in the "Sabelschule"

[Julian23]

Sabelschule, place to be!!!! That place taught me how to play Masticore. Or at least tried to. Then I was busy casting Sterling Grove and retyping every other word in this post.

Once you keep Dyard Arbor and Cradle against Canadian and get away with it, you feel immortal. Until you run into too much of that Cuba Libre LOL

Cheers guys, 2013 was a-to-the-we-SOME! Have a great new year and keep casting green dudes! Over and out for the night, enjoy your lifeeeeeeee! As I just messaged Koby, will type words again soon!!!

You have included a total of 14 images in your message. The maximum number that you may include is 11. Please correct the problem and then continue again.

[Lord_of_Rivendell]

Sabelschule, place to be!!!! That place taught me how to play Masticore. Or at least tried to. Then I was busy casting Sterling Grove and retyping every other word in this post.

Once you keep Dyard Arbor and Cradle against Canadian and get away with it, you feel immortal. Until you run into too much of that Cuba Libre LOL

Cheers guys, 2013 was a-to-the-we-SOME! Have a great new year and keep casting green dudes! Over and out for the night, enjoy your lifeeeeeeee! As I just messaged Koby, will type words again soon!!!

You have included a total of 14 images in your message. The maximum number that you may include is 11. Please correct the problem and then continue again.

Many thanks to you, Julian. You gave us a tremendous amount to root for and to respect this year. Thanks for sharing this excellent adventure with us and our green men. Happy new year to you and to all on this thread.

LoR

[Freggle]

Sabelschule, place to be!!!! That place taught me how to play Masticore. Or at least tried to. Then I was busy casting Sterling Grove and retyping every other word in this post.

Once you keep Dyard Arbor and Cradle against Canadian and get away with it, you feel immortal. Until you run into too much of that Cuba Libre LOL

Cheers guys, 2013 was a-to-the-we-SOME! Have a great new year and keep casting green dudes! Over and out for the night, enjoy your lifeeeeeeee! As I just messaged Koby, will type words again soon!!!

You have included a total of 14 images in your message. The maximum number that you may include is 11. Please correct the problem and then continue again.

Sterling Grove! ...be still my heart. Enchantress? ...Pleasure chating with you on MTGO. ..and keep on being you. -Freggle

[BlackStarDeceiver]

R7: Team America, 2-0

LIAR :D

Game 3 was pretty ugly though, whiffing on land with the ponder was brutal. Nice games and congrats to top

[matty]

Swan song just bought me a turn against lands and I won on the following turn. I countered one of my own spells to get the bird to block marit. I wish I could have seen my opponents face lol

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Julian23]

And so it starts again...



I'm currently back at work but will get back to you once I'm done with all these emails that have been stockpiling over the last 2 weeks...

Also, I like how the last two stories I heared about Swan Song were about people actually countering their own stuff, lol. If you really want to, always remember that you can Swan Song your own Abrupt Decay and get still get full value out of both cards.

[matty]

And so it starts again...



I'm currently back at work but will get back to you once I'm done with all these emails that have been stockpiling over the last 2 weeks...

Also, I like how the last two stories I heared about Swan Song were about people actually countering their own stuff, lol. If you really want to, always remember that you can Swan Song your own Abrupt Decay and get still get full value out of both cards.

Wow I never thought it would work like that. For some reason I thought the "can't be countered" clause would make any attempt to counter it illegal and then just do something like a take backsies. So swan song resolves in this case?

[Zombie]

Wow I never thought it would work like that. For some reason I thought the "can't be countered" clause would make any attempt to counter it illegal and then just do something like a take backsies. So swan song resolves in this case?

Mhm. The spell does as much as it can - which amounts to putting a token into play under your control.

[danyul]

Anybody looking for a side boarding guide from the BOM Champ can find his very guide right here (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...l=1#post731679), conveniently posted immediately after the primer. There are also links to his two BOM articles from SCG. I hope that helps take some pressure off of your inbox Julian!