You could try just making a Nicol Bolas deck: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=109754Mahorfeus said:I have the Nicol Bolas deck, it's definitely fun to screw around with. My friends have explicitly forbidden me from using it against them unless I toss them the Ajani deck. Obviously that's the way it's supposed to go being a duel deck and all, but it's funny to wipe out mediocre standard decks with it.
Now I just need to find a Commander that will let me shove Bolas and Cruel Ultimatum into it.
Thanks for the story link, that certainly explains their mutual aggression! I'd take that pretty personally if I were Venser.deth2munkies said:The story of why they're fighting is explained here:
http://wizards.com/Magic/Multiverse/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/feature2/110a#
The basic rundown is that Koth escapes Mirrodin to look for help finding the Phyrexians, find Elspeth who takes him to Venser, the resident expert on Phyrexians. Koth finds Venser studying and using Phyrexian technology and...strongly objects. It's an ideological difference, though they fight on the same side.
Specifically, the storyline of the original Mirrodin block was of how Memnarch, the corrupted guardian of Mirrodin, brought a ton of different races from other planes to Mirrodin as part of a huge social experiment to generate a planeswalker that inhabitants are still VERY resentful over. When he sees Phyrexian plane-travelling technology, it brings back a lot of unpleasent memories
Also, for the record on the question of the day:
702.17b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that's being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that's actually dealt. The attacking creature's controller need not assign lethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case can't assign any damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.
Example: A 2/2 creature with an ability that enables it to block multiple attackers blocks two attackers: a 1/1 with no abilities a 3/3 with trample. The active player could assign 1 damage from the first attacker and 1 damage from the second to the blocking creature, and 2 damage to the defending player from the creature with trample.
Example: A 6/6 green creature with trample is blocked by a 2/2 creature with protection from green. The attacking creature's controller must assign at least 2 damage to the blocker, even though that damage will be prevented by the blocker's protection ability. The attacking creature's controller can divide the rest of the damage as he or she chooses between the blocking creature and the defending player.
So you take 6 damage.
To explain further: The Mirran Crusader has double strike and is a 5/2 with trample and lifelink. On the first strike combat step, it does 4 damage to the blocking 1/4 for the "lethal damage" despite not killing it, then does 1 remaining to the player. On the regular combat damage step, it checks what damage has already been done to the creature, finds 4 damage has been done to the creature, and allows it to do all 5 damage straight to the player, culminating in 6 total damage.
There aren't too many UBR commanders, but Thraximundar [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201213] all seem like they could be fun to play, albeit hard to actually cast.Mahorfeus said:Now I just need to find a Commander that will let me shove Bolas and Cruel Ultimatum into it.
You're right, I read someone else's answer, then reread the card and deleted that section. Damage prevention happens on the combat step, so the first strike damage is prevented before the combat damage step.Encaen said:Thanks for the story link, that certainly explains their mutual aggression! I'd take that pretty personally if I were Venser.deth2munkies said:The story of why they're fighting is explained here:
http://wizards.com/Magic/Multiverse/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/feature2/110a#
The basic rundown is that Koth escapes Mirrodin to look for help finding the Phyrexians, find Elspeth who takes him to Venser, the resident expert on Phyrexians. Koth finds Venser studying and using Phyrexian technology and...strongly objects. It's an ideological difference, though they fight on the same side.
Specifically, the storyline of the original Mirrodin block was of how Memnarch, the corrupted guardian of Mirrodin, brought a ton of different races from other planes to Mirrodin as part of a huge social experiment to generate a planeswalker that inhabitants are still VERY resentful over. When he sees Phyrexian plane-travelling technology, it brings back a lot of unpleasent memories
Also, for the record on the question of the day:
702.17b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that's being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that's actually dealt. The attacking creature's controller need not assign lethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case can't assign any damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.
Example: A 2/2 creature with an ability that enables it to block multiple attackers blocks two attackers: a 1/1 with no abilities a 3/3 with trample. The active player could assign 1 damage from the first attacker and 1 damage from the second to the blocking creature, and 2 damage to the defending player from the creature with trample.
Example: A 6/6 green creature with trample is blocked by a 2/2 creature with protection from green. The attacking creature's controller must assign at least 2 damage to the blocker, even though that damage will be prevented by the blocker's protection ability. The attacking creature's controller can divide the rest of the damage as he or she chooses between the blocking creature and the defending player.
So you take 6 damage.
To explain further: The Mirran Crusader has double strike and is a 5/2 with trample and lifelink. On the first strike combat step, it does 4 damage to the blocking 1/4 for the "lethal damage" despite not killing it, then does 1 remaining to the player. On the regular combat damage step, it checks what damage has already been done to the creature, finds 4 damage has been done to the creature, and allows it to do all 5 damage straight to the player, culminating in 6 total damage.
As to the question, I believe you're thinking of Indestructible creatures, which would work exactly as you've described (say the Palace Guard is equipped with Darksteel Plate [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=213749].) In the case of Inviolability, however, the Damage is prevented and never marked on the creature, so the second combat damage step will look just like the first, with 1 damage going through to the player in each step. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that's being assigned during the same combat damage step
There aren't too many UBR commanders, but Thraximundar [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201213] all seem like they could be fun to play, albeit hard to actually cast.Mahorfeus said:Now I just need to find a Commander that will let me shove Bolas and Cruel Ultimatum into it.
Speaking of which: http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/deck/939Mahorfeus said:I have the Nicol Bolas deck, it's definitely fun to screw around with. My friends have explicitly forbidden me from using it against them unless I toss them the Ajani deck. Obviously that's the way it's supposed to go being a duel deck and all, but it's funny to wipe out mediocre standard decks with it.
Now I just need to find a Commander that will let me shove Bolas and Cruel Ultimatum into it.