City of Brass

[Killer Joe]

Hey, is it me, or did I see a City of Brass in the decklist that won PA State Champs!!??
http://www.professional-events.com/deck2001PAStates.htm

Wow, how conditioned was I to not ever use City of Brass in a deck due to Rishadan Port?

Alot. And I'm willing to bet alot of other T2 players as well.

Here's the list (You can check-out all of the details at the link above):

U/G/r PA State Championship Deck
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Gaea's Skyfolk
4 Kavu Titan
4 Call of the Herd
4 Flametongue Kavu
3 Beast Attack
4 Fire/Ice
3 Urza's Rage
2 Repulse
3 Fact or Fiction
2 Prophetic Bolt
4 Shivan Oasis
4 Yavimaya Coast
2 Shivan Reef
2 Karplusan Forest
1 Mossfire Valley
5 Forest
4 Island
2 Mountain
and one City of Brass !!

I love the City of Brass, In fact, during the T2 scene when Mirage & Tempest Block ruled, I used CoB in most of my multi-colored decks, it was a 'staple' card.

Then Rishadan Port showed up and BOOM!, like the Dinosaurs, it was gone forever .

Then comes Nov 1st. and like the heavens opening, comes down the City of Brass!!!! Okay, not really, but I'm psyched about seeing it in play again.

So it was obvious to you and everyone else, but not me.

Hooray for CoB, may you tap like mad forever, or at least until the NEXT port comes out .

 

[Hetemti]

I had to vote indifferent for, while I like City, I don't love it.

City is a tool. Alone, it does nothing but kill you. It is a way to make off-color cards work more often. A good thing.

 

[Istanbul]

I'd say it's the only land that can produce one mana of any color that's also balanced.

 

[Gizmo]

Im a big fan of City Of Brass, we`ve been using them liberally in our decks because many decks run better with 4 CoB than they do with 10 pain lands. It was good to see one of the winners (I think he won the New York States, his deck was called 'Sportosition') was playing this mana base:

4 City Of Brass
1 Caves Koilos
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Sulfurous Springs
6 Plains
6 Swamp
6 Mountain

It was a very interesting approach, I like it a lot.

 

[Spiderman]

Back in the day of Mirage Block (and kinda Ice Age, although there were the painlands), City of Brass was almost the only way to get mana for a deck that had more than two colors (i.e. my Manabarbs deck). Until Gemstone Mine came along...

Were decks running 4 of them when Port came along? I can't imagine why you wouldn't run 1 even with Port around (if you needed it).

 

[rkoelsch]

I always hated the pain that was involved with it but I might put it in my R/W/U deck to help with mana smoothing.

 

[Hetemti]

I've tried City in my R/W builds (both control and weenie) and it never worked out. In control, I took too much damage; in weenie, I rarely needed double-color, so I ran basics until I got Battlefield Forgii.

 

[CAMDEX]

Although its a shame that Ivory Mask isn't around anymore. It protects you from CoB.

Ivory Mask
2WW, Enchantment, Mercadian Masques Rare
You can’t be the target of spells or abilities.
“I did not choose my role, Orim,” said Cho-Manno patiently, “and I suspect Gerrard did not choose his.”

Since City of Brass targets you whenever it is tapped, Ivory Mask prevents the damage.

City Of Brass
Land
Rare
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
City of Brass deals 1 damage to you when it is tapped.

I think it would work, right?

 

[Spiderman]

If it doesn't say "target", then you're not being targetted. So City of Brass does not target you, and thus Ivory Mask would not help in this situation.

 

[Zadok001]

I love the City. After two complete blocks being essentially unable to play it due to Port, getting them back is wonderful. I got four fairly early in my Magic-playing career (though I have only recently gotten to four of all the painlands), and they're wonderful!

 

[Mr_Pestilence]

I avoid COB in 2-color decks, but they are invaluable when using 3 or more colors.

Like most of you, I avoided COB when every @#$$%^ deck had Rishadan Ports (OK, I was using them too), but now that Port has gone the way of the Dodo in Standard, COBs are again a viable option.

In my experience, COBs seem to work especially well in combo decks, where life is just another resource used to put your opponent away quickly.

I especially like the 7th Ed. art for COB, which I guess is the Taj Mahal. I don't really like foils, but this is one foil I'd like to get!

 

[Hetemti]

Heh...I know Ron Walotsky, who did 7th Ed City, in a way...he bought my old house.