I don’t usually purchase booster packs, but I try to get a fat pack for each set if I can. I had the good fortune to find a fat pack at a nearby store tonight and made out pretty well. These are all the worthwhile cards I obtained from the fat pack (I am not usually this lucky).
When it comes to blowing up permanents, red and green usually do it best, but if you’re not playing those colors, what options do you have?
I present to you, Legacy Weapon. Legacy Weapon is a card inspired by the story of how Urza made a “weapon” capable of destroying the phyrexian plague. However, this card does a lot more than blow up permanents; it removes them from the game. Understandably this doesn’t see much play as you need to be playing a five color general to take advantage of this legendary artifact. If you are playing with all the colors of the Magic rainbow, why not include such a powerful, and even evasive, artifact.
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Most of the Magic players I know are very serious about the game, so I made these tokens to lighten the mood of our game-play.
What is Baiting and why is it necessary?
Baiting is a technique in gameplay, that when used effectively, forces an opponent’s action against one of your less valuable resources, and saves another. You might have even performed this trick without realizing it. Though baiting can be done with any deck type, my article focuses more on how baiting is used by an aggro player against a control player.
How does one perform an effective bait?
First, when attempting to use this strategy, keep in mind that your goal is to protect a resource while essentially sacrificing another. Baiting is partly psychological in that your opponent much be convinced that the resource(card) they seek to deny you is the best use of their mana leak, doom blade, etc. Let’s use a simple scenario borrowing two popular decks from the current metagame. Mono White Humans is our aggro deck, and Blue/Black Control will be out control deck. Using these two example decks, we will walkthrough two common scenarios and how the bait is effectively used to achieve a better game state for the aggro player.
Scenario # 1 - Distress
Your opponent has the play and on turn two plays a Distress. They get to see your hand and force you to discard a nonland card. As the aggro player, your hand contains a few lands, a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Sword of Feast and Famine, and a Mirran Crusader among other things. Realizing that you are playing an aggressive game, they originally have their eye on your Thalia because her ability would greatly reduce their ability to play noncreature/control spells. This is where the bait happens. You know Thalia may be the best choice, but instead you draw their attention to how the sword is probably the biggest threat since vapor snag can take care of anything else. Likely convinced, your opponent will ask you to discard the sword and you will play a turn two Thalia that will slow their game to a screeching halt. Now let’s look at a slightly different play.
Scenario # 2 - Mana Leak
Mana leak is infamous to those of us who play aggressive strategies. One thing to keep in mind when playing against control is that you don’t always want to play around the Mana Leak. You need to get your cards out and waiting is what they want you to do. Let’s say both players are still playing the same decks against one another. Imagine it is turn four and they left three mana open after playing a Delver of Secrets. You have two Champion of the Parish on the field and four open mana. Almost certain that they are going to Mana Leak a pump spell, you hold both Gather the Townsfolk and Honor of the Pure in your hand. Honor of the Pure is arguably better since it will pump all your creatures, but dropping the townsfolk to boost both your Champions could look pretty scary to your opponent. Play the Gather the Townsfolk, because of this immediate threat increase, your opponent will likely use their Mana Leak. If they do, then proceed to drop the Honor of the Pure. Honor of the Pure is also much more difficult to deal with when playing U/B Control. You get the better spell on the table, and your opponent is down one more Mana Leak.
As aforementioned, baiting an opponent can be done with a variety of deck types. Two control players could attempt it just the same as two aggro players. Ultimately, as an aggressive player, you will not have time to avoid the Mana Leak or similar control cards so it is best to play into the strategy while moving forward with your game plan.
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Most of the cards in New Phyrexia were nothing to shake a stick at, but the cards that have made a splash are the ones with phyrexian mana in their cost like Gut Shot and Dismember. These cards allow a player to overlook a color restriction for the price of a a few life points. While cruising a MTG forum, I came across a post by a user who had found a very useful sideboard card against the current flying metagame.
Variable board wipes have shown their worth, especially given the double Whipflare used by Brian Kibler in the Pro Tour Honolulu finals. There is no doubt that spirits has become a popular deck, and Wizards did all they could to ensure spirits were a powerful force after the release of Dark Ascension. Given the number of fliers, it really shouldn’t be surprising how powerful Corrosive Gale can be in the metagame. Most of the time flier-hate is limited to the color green, but phyrexian mana makes Corrosive Gale a great sideboard card against spirits for any color deck to use.
What do you think of Corrosive Gale as the new anti-flier tech?
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Dark Ascension has really been heating up games of commander since its release. Today we look at a blue creature card focused on control that hasn’t really made an impact in standard constructed, but is doing its part in the commander format.
That’s right, Beguiler of Wills is today’s commander card. This creature card costs just as much mana as Mind Control, but is reusable for as long as it’s alive. The best part about this creature’s ability is you don’t lose control of the creatures you’ve captured even if Beguiler of Wills leaves the battlefield. Wow!
Are you planning, or have you already made room for Beguiler of Wills in your commander deck?
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I am always looking for cards that could be great in different formats. This last week I came across two cards that are not only mana cheap, but seem greatly effective given the creature/token heavy standard environment.
Spirit Mantle feels very much like a “budget sword.” No it does not protect from colors, which may have been more useful, but instead cannot be targeted by creatures abilities and cannot be dealt damage or blocked by creatures. I think this could be good on a Geist of Saint Traft if you were worried about them blocking with a 2/2.
Choking Fumes screams value to me. It wouldn’t be good against the Tempered Steel matchup, but otherwise, this is like a three mana cost Marrow Shards that sticks. Could wipeout an entire fleet of spirits as well as multiple Inkmoths regardless of if they pumped them with Kessig Wolf Run. Choking Fumes feels more at home in a control deck, but I could see it making a splash in Humans right now.
Do you think these two would be viable in standard right now? Why or why not?
Thanks for reading.
Last night I was lucky enough to have time to attend my FLGS’ Monday Night Magic, which was quite a treat considering I have been so busy with work. It is easy to fall out of favor with a deck when you play it every week, so this week I decided to borrow a friends mono white humans deck and see how I did.
Here is the budget Mono White Humans deck I borrowed:
21 Plains / 3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Doomed Traveler / 2 Mirran Crusader / 2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben / 3 Blade Splicer / 4 Champion of the Parish
3 Fiend Hunter / 1 Gideon’s Lawkeeper / 2 Gather the Townsfolk
1 Divine Offering / 1 Elite Inquisitor / 1 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Kemba’s Skyguard / 1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch / 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Body and Mind / 4 Honor of the Pure
There were five rounds, and surprisingly I did not see much Delver or Huntmaster (which is what I prepped for after watching Brian Kibler and Jon Finkel at the Pro Tour).
Match 1
I was on the play and had a great hand(I only remember two specific hands from this night that led to a turn four win). He was playing White/Red Kuldotha. I took game one due to creature overrun and Honor of the Pure. Second game he used Day of Judgement a turn before lethal from me, although my Thalia did slow him down before Day of Judgement hit. He sac’d his artifacts to put a Blightsteel Colossus on the field and all I had was a Divine Offering. Game three I used my Leonin Relic-Warder on the wrong artifact and he used hexproof boots to swing with a Blightsteel.
1-2
Match 2
My opponent was playing White / Blue / Red Runechanter’s Pike. This is the hand I remember on game one: 3 Island, 1 Thalia, 1 Champion, 1 Honor, and Sword of Body and Mind. My turn two Thalia locked him out of playing anything except an Invisible Stalker. While he was stuck at two lands, I drew a blade splicer and then an artifact hate bear, and swung for a flawless victory. Going to game two I did not know what to board since I hadn’t seen much or even his red mana yet. Thinking I had him this next turn, I kept a shaky hand with four mana, and no champion or one drop. He was able to use arc trail to slow me down. I equipped a sword of Body and Mind and swung only realizing after that I was enabling his Runechanter’s Pike(I really wanted a wolf though!). I eventually had him beat with creature overrun and Honor doing its part to help.
2-0
Match 3
Played against mono red. He did the usual goblin that pings for one, played a berserker, then shrine with multiple volt charges. I was able to beat him using a Champion and Mirran Crusader dropping multiple Gather the Townsfolk to make Champion huge. Game two I had a turn two Thalia after a mulligan, but he had a turn one Stromkirk Noble. I played a Blade Splicer before next turn lethal and he volt charged the golem so I scooped. Game three was very similar. A Stromkirk and Berserker, but I had two Celestial Purges from my sideboard. I only had three creatures which he slagstormed, I used my only two purges early only to see a hasty Hero of Oxide Ridge smash my face for the win.
1-2
Match 4
Played against Blue / White Delver Pike. I kept a shaky hand and lost to a Geist of Saint Traft and numerous Vapor Snags. Game two I knew I needed some control hate early. I mulled to six and instantly kept my hand. Thalia, Honor, 2 Plains, Revoke Existentence, and Champion. Turn two Thalia left him unable to do much with his two lands(He had not seen Thalia first game, which was an advantage for me somewhat). Dropping Honor followed by a next turn Gather the Townsfolk had him scooping. Game three I kept a shaky hand, but it had a Thalia and I knew I needed her early against this deck. He boarded in Oblivion Rings and I did not draw any enchantment hate. We grinded it down to five minutes on the clock when I was a turn away from lethal leaving him at three. He swung in the air leaving me at one life. I made a joke about Gut Shot and he played Vapor Snag remarking, ” I only play good cards.” Good laughs were had.
1-2
Match 5
Last match of the night I had an excellent matchup against another budget deck. He was playing budget mono black zombies. He distressed my hand on turn two revealing a Thalia and Sword of Feast and Famine among other things. I drew his attention to how the Sword was his biggest threat and he agreed having me discard it. I play Thalia on turn two, he realizes how bad two lands are when you have a grip of noncreature spells. I keep him on two lands for a while until he plays Lashwrithe. I exile Lashwrithe and swing to win. Game two we both laugh about having junk hands and talk while we both mulligan to six. I had a Thalia first hand, but only that and six plains. I talk with him about how we probably would have won more games if we, “Got aggressive with our mulls.” I have a pretty good hand, and he says he can’t afford to draw less land, but keeps anyway. I play the usual champion followed by Thalia, but he has Graveclawers and the reincarnation zombie from M12. He also has two Mortar pods, which I ask jokingly if he boarded. He laughs saying, “Maindeck!” He destroys my Thalia with a glorious Mortarpod barrage, but I have a second in my hand. We grind it out to my nine life and his eleven. I exile his stuff left and right and eventually win with a Sword of Feast and Famine Equipped to a hate bear.
2-0
There is already a lot going on so I’ll wrap this up with some cards I wish I didn’t included, then my MVP cards of the night. First, I know everyone likes Doomed Traveler, but not once did he transform into a Spirit. My opponents realized how dangerous it was as a flying creep and just bocked with a Spellskite or took the damage. I might keep one or two, but not four. Terrible.
Solemn Simulacrum was great, but I almost always wanted a Spellskite instead to block and redirect spells. That or Revoker. Solemn is expensive and not worth the ramp. If I am at four or more lands, I already have enough to play anything else I draw.
Next, my MVPs had to be Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Revoke Existence, and finallyCelestial Purge. Thalia is unbelievable! This deck runs on creatures plus an Honor of the Pure which costs a minimal three if Thalia is standing guard. Thalia hurts decks that run a balance of creatures and spells or decks that are heavy control. I thought two would be enough, but added a third before my matches just because I expected more Delver. In hindsight, I am running four in the future and you can be sure your opponent will complain about how good she is. Also, Revoke was fantastic. Again I wish I had four instead of just two. I would say 7/8 times it worked and hit the target I needed. The only time I missed was on a Forgemaster, but I had a Fiend Hunter ready for the Blightsteel. Finally, Celestial Purge and your hate bears will win you the game against mono red or Huntmaster more often than not. Red and black are popular colors right now and I would suggest four in the side board. Some other cards I wish I had more of: Mirran Crusader and Gather the Townsfolk.
If you had taken the time to read my analysis please feel free to comment or give feedback.
Thanks for reading.
P.S. Kemba’s Skyguard was a fantastic two for one, especially against Delver and spirits.
