Jessie

So, in other words. I have Blood Artist in play with 4 other creatures. My opponent has 4 creatures too.
I cast Damnation. All creatures die and Blood Artist deals out 9 damage to the opponent and I gain 9 life. Right?

If so, If I have a Sanguine Bond in play when I cast Damnation. That 9 life I gained from Blood Artist, would it trigger Sanguine Bond to deal 9 more damage to my opponent, since I gained 9 life?

I freaking hope so.
Please tell me it does.

If i were to add Sower of Temptation or Glen Alandra Pranksters to my deck...what would you suggest I take out?

Looked up "Tempo" in Magic...you nailed it on the head, I think over the last year...getting back into Magic...my Tempo has improved the most. I think I need to work on being versatile and consistent and trying to work on having alternate win conditions in my decks.

Okay. Okay. So...I am a little slow with the rules. Let us say I have Blood Artist and 4 other creatures out.
I have Sanguine Bond out.
I cast Damnation.
What happens?
Do I gain 5 life for all 5 creatures going into the graveyard, and if so, does my opponent lose 5 life or 10 life because of Sanguine Bond?

Does his creatures count too? Let us say he also has 4 creatures, what happens?
Does Blood Artist work on his creatures?

Done. I should add 3 Distortion Strike in replace of Clout.

What about Zephid's Embrace...should I run 4? That is my biggest fear, as soon as Constable Cephalid comes out, here comes removal spells. Give it shroud asap, because if I don't, here comes Lightning Bolt or Terror to destroy the Constable. Waste of 3 mana, waste of a turn. Razka pointed that out to me too.

But I see where Distortion Strike would be very nice. Unblockable, 2 cards being bounced.
Super dumb question...shows my ignorance. I could cast Distortion Strike on Constable THEN cast Zephid's Embrace on Constable. But what about Rebound on Distortion Strike? I couldn't use it, could I, if Zephid's Embrace is enchanting Constable?
In other words, if I cast Distortion Strike on a Constable and then put an Zephid's Embrace on him...next turn I would have to use the rebound on a Cryptoplasm?

Sorry...I do not know the rules as well as I should.

I think Restoration Angel may be the prettiest. But too expensive to buy.

Yes there is...sorta. Zuran Orb.

Same idea. Play Armageddon and then sack all of your lands to Zuran Orb. You and your opponent both loses all lands...but you benefited from it, your opponent didn't.

But probably not a card like that for artifacts/enchantments/creatures.

Yes, yes. That is it. Now...my winning condition is Sanguine Bond...every time I gain a life my opponent loses a life. So...idea is to play something that lets me gain life for sacking permanents...then play Damnation or Disk. Idea is that my creatures and stuff are already going to die...might as well make it hurt my opponent more.

Thing with Claws of Gix...is that if I cast Damnation on Turn 4...I would not have any mana to use Claws of Gix to nuke my own creatures.

I even thought about adding Culling the Weak...since I already have to lose my creatures to Damnation...might as well sack one of them for 4 mana.

Ultimately...i would love a card that read just like this, "Sac a permanent you control: Gain 2 life." No mana cost to it. lol. Is there a card like that?

It is a demon...i can't use. But yes, something like that.

Damn...was thinking the same.

Was looking for something to take advantage of Damnation and Nevinyrral's Disk.

Kinda...since I am already nuking the board...and I am trying to take advantage of my stuff dying.

Was thinking something like Claws of Gix or High Market...or something.

Thanks a million!!! Will show wife very soon! Guess this means I really have to teach her, now!

Have a question about my Vampire deck. I just made it.
Card in question is called High Market.
It says, Tap it, Sac a creature: Gain 1 life.
So If i plan to play Damnation and kill everyone's creatures.
Can I sac multiple creatures? Or is it 1 creature per 1 tap?

Awesome idea!

Yes.

Only concern...is that you can consider that she has never played Magic before. Something like Counterspells and the tricks that Faeries bring to the table...may be too much for a beginner. I sorta wished she liked easy to understand Beasts...or something of that nature! But, alas, Faeries are "pretty," says my wife. :)

Thanks for sharing your method of deck building guys...

I will be honest and admit to being a tool and sheep. When creating the last 12 decks...i have used Magic Search. And particularly looked up cards by their high rating. Example Angel deck. Searched to see which was the highest rated in Magic. Looked at them...then brainstormed on how I could use them and what cards would work/combine/sync with them. I am a poser, lol.

But I usually do the notebook thing...writing down all the decent cards...trying to form a main idea out of the larger list of cards...a theme, and go from there. Much like HokeyPokey :)

As a young kid my dad preached to me to collect baseball cards. Would be worth money one day. I then started to collect Magic cards...and he scoffed at me. Now i go online to see how much my baseball cards are worth...and they are a dime a dozen. And yet I have some Magic cards worth 20 and 30 dollars. Go figure. But you are right KJSJ3...I get to actually use the more valuable Magic cards, not put them in the closet.

Since Urza's Saga is my favorite, and Matron is in Saga...I guess I will add her. :)

Running 3 copies of almost every Goblin now...but Matron should add versatility in that I can get any Goblin that I need in my hand, to play the next turn. I agree with you on that.

Thanks for the advice PhyrexianPossum!

Mikaeus seems amazing!!! Absolutely need him. Let me look and think about the other cards...and what would be best taken out.

I think maybe Gray Merchant is a weak link or doesn't fit any sort of deck design I may have going.

Or maybe instead of 6 cards that put cards in the graveyard and 6 cards that get cards out of the graveyard...maybe I can run 4 of each? But which would I take out between Buried Alive/Entomb. And which one out of Exhume/Unearth?

As always, thanks for the help!

Out of curiosity (and laziness that I have not searched), do you have a budget Faerie deck? My wife has been begging, for a long time now, for me to teach her magic. I am thinking a "pretty" Faerie deck would be a start.

With the Scepter and Abeyance/Orim's Chant combo, plus Lifegain, plus Linvala and Blinding Angel...I think the Angels have a great chance at being the top Creature in the tournament. I am not an expert player, but I do not know a way around the Scepter/Chant combo besides the Faeries counterspells. I think a few of the Creature Challenge decks have Artifact destruction...so maybe those cards could get through and kill Scepter.

Just noticed...what a loser I am, that Restoration Angel (while being one of the best angels in magic) does not work on Angels. So, let me look into it, KnightoftheHokeyPokey, and Entreat the Angels may be a perfect replacement. Thanks for the support!

Another solid Zombie deck. You do them justice, and I do not. :) Speaking of...Creature Challenge deck #12 is done. It is Zombies. Since you rock making them, could you lend some advice for me? Main flaw seems to be...the deck is all over the place. It has a little bit of everything in it: regeneration, search ability, draw ability, board swipe, life gain, death touch, +1/+1 pump, first strike, direct damage...just there seems to be no major win condition. It is pesky, in that, my creatures keep coming back from the graveyard...but it feels 100 percent beatable.

Fyi, I only have to revise my Vampire deck (Creature Challenge #6) and my Creature Challenge decks will be finished. Any help on it would be helpful too. I had the Vampire deck done before I realized that Gravecrawler was a Zombie and not a Vampire. Was trying for the boring Altar/Blood Artist/Gravecrawler deal.

A question...do you always keep your mana curve in mind, when making a deck, NorthernWarlord? Or do you design the deck first...then look at the mana curve, and change cards accordingly? Regardless, your mana curve always looks perfect. I have to say, over the last year (getting back into magic), I think that is the number 1 thing I have improved on. Now I need to work on consistency. My friend once said this about my decks, "Either your decks kick super ass and royally destroys someone by turn 5 or 6, or your decks get completely and utterly destroyed. There is no middle ground for your decks. You need consistency."

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Take out Gray, and add in Festering Goblin or Fleshbag Marauder? Maybe? Or Putrid Imp?

Definitely need help, here.

Big "Furry" Monster is 99/99. But the card is split into two cards. He could never get both pieces of the card on the battlefield at the same time. :)