I went to the Shards of Alara Prerelease on Sunday! It was awesome. To start off, I'll list my sealed pool. Some notes:
- At the end of the night, there were still 10 booster packs left, so the host gave them out randomly as a reward for those who stuck around till the bitter end. (A lot of players left early to preserve their rankings or some crap.) So I ended up with one of those, and when I got home, I mixed them all together. So I don't remember exactly which ones were in that booster and which were in my Sealed deck, but my list should be pretty accurate except for a few commons.
- There are 86 cards: 44 from Sealed (because one was a foil Plains) and 14 from each booster.
- I've organized the cards by shard, but I’m not 100% sure about which cards go in which shard. Most are easy to categorize, but some I just guessed.
Without further ado:
BANT
1x Angel's Herald
1x Angelic Benediction
1x Angelsong
1x Bant Charm
3x Bant Panorama
1x Clarion Ultimatum
1x Dawnray Archer (not sure about this one)
2x Excommunicate
2x Guardians of Akrasa
1x Knight of the White Orchid
1x Resounding Silence
2x Rhox Charger
1x Rhox War Monk
1x Seaside Citadel
1x Topan Ascetic
1x Waveskimmer Aven
2x Welkin Guide (one foil)
ESPER
1x Cloudheath Drake
1x Dispeller's Capsule
1x Etherium Sculptor
1x Filigree Sages
1x Obelisk of Esper
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Onyx Goblet (not sure about this one)
1x Punish Ignorance
1x Spell Snip
1x Steelclad Serpent
1x Thoughtcutter Agent
1x Tidehollow Strix
1x Tower Gargoyle
1x Vectis Silencers
1x Windwright Mage
GRIXIS
2x Banewasp Affliction
1x Blightning
1x Dreg Reaver
1x Fatestitcher
1x Grixis Panorama
2x Incurable Ogre
1x Kathari Screecher
1x Kederekt Creeper
1x Lightning Talson
1x Shadowfeed
3x Skeletal Kathari
1x Skeletonize
1x Undead Leotau
JUND
1x Branching Bolt
1x Carrion Thrash
1x Deathgreeter
1x Dragon Fodder
1x Goblin Deathraiders
1x Goblin Mountaineer
1x Hissing Iguanar
1x Magma Spray
1x Sarkhan Vol!!!
1x Tar Fiend
1x Thorn-Thrash Viashino
1x Thunder-Thrash Elder
NAYA
1x Cylian Elf
1x Exuberant Firestoker
1x Godtoucher (not sure about this one)
2x Gustrider Exuberant
2x Jungle Weaver
1x Lush Growth
1x Naya Charm
1x Obelisk of Naya
1x Qasali Ambusher
1x Rakeclaw Gargantuan
1x Resounding Roar
1x Savage Hunger
1x Soul's Fire
1x Soul's Grace
1x Soul's Might
1x Where Ancients Tread
1x Wild Nacatl
So as you can see, my pool was fairly heavily invested in green and white. Luckily, I love green and white, so my deck ended up being green-white-red splashing blue (for the three excellent tricolor Bant cards). Plus, almost all of my mana fixing was Bant, so I had to do SOMETHING with it. Also, I had to run red because of Sarkhan. With this deck…I got completely destroyed 0-2 against a green-white-red-black deck. Also, my deck was 50 cards because I just didn't have the heart to cut anything. Beginner's folly.
So then I said SCREW IT and completely redid my deck for the second round. I started with blue, and ended up with all 5 colors and another large deck of 46 or 47 cards. I went 1-1-1 with it (against a green-white-blue-black deck with Empyrial Archangel, which was not especially easy to deal with), though I probably would have won the last game but just barely. It was not a good deck since I could rarely play any of my spells until I had all 5 colors of mana out.
So then I said SCREW IT and was going to completely redo my deck but it was already time for the next round, so I lost 1-2 with my crappy 5 color deck again (against a solid Naya deck). But after THAT swift defeat, there was plenty of time to redo my deck over and over until I liked it. So I bit the bullet, chose a shard (Bant), and cut any card that was not ideal in a Bant deck, like Wild Nacatl and, sadly, Sarkhan Vol. The one time I had gotten to play him previously, I made a tactical error and stole a dude, but left my opponent with a flyer on his turn to finish off Sarkhan. However, my focus on Exalted made Sarkhan's abilities not especially useful, so cutting him wasn't really that painful. I managed to get my deck to 40 cards by running just 16 lands, but with no spells costing more than 5 mana. It worked pretty well, as I went 2-0 in the fourth round with it and 1-2 in the final round (though the 2-0 was against a guy who clearly was new). If I had made that deck for the first round, I might even have done respectably well. Oh well, at least I had fun with the new set!
I signed up for a Shards of Alara draft for this Friday. Drafting should be much different from Sealed, and I'm excited. I'm going to get crushed, but it will still be neat. I'm really hoping to get Elspeth, Knight-Errant since she is just SO AWESOME. Even with Jund. Free dragon food each turn! I will relate my drafting adventures next week.
As far as conclusions about the set go, I'm not really cut out for that sort of thing. I saw few dedicated Esper decks, but I suspect that will be a different story in a booster draft. I saw plenty of red and green, as Naya and Jund seemed to be popular in Sealed. As far as my personal tastes go, I am a fan of Bant, since Exalted is quite a powerful mechanic in Limited. With lots of defensive Exalted creatures (like Guardians of Akrasa) and a few evasive creatures, you can build up damage quickly without sacrificing defense. I really like Welkin Guide; at 4W, it's expensive for a 2/2 flier, but its comes-into-play ability can give another powerful creature evasion, and then become your evasive Exalted champion itself on subsequent turns. Sweet.
I also really like the interactions of the mechanics in the set – except for Esper, which is a jerk. Exalted works well with Naya cards that care about having a creature with power 5 or greater during combat or at end of turn, which is a fair number of them. Devour works well with anything involving creatures with power 5 or greater, since Devour creatures are often huge. And Devour also works with Unearth: Unearth a dude, attack with him, and if he's still alive, Devour him, since he's going to leave play anyway. But then there's Esper, which only cares about artifacts, which has nothing to do with anything else. You know what, Esper? BITE ME.
Well, that's all I have for now. Hopefully I'll have more to say next week after the draft. Until then, BANT RULES GRIXIS DROOLS KBYE.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Shards of Alara Prerelease
OH MAN. I signed up for the Shards of Alara Prerelease! A nearby store (well, somewhat nearby) is having an event on Sunday. I haven't posted in a while, so I thought this would be a good enough reason to do so.
As of this moment, MTGSalvation.com has spoiled 183 out of the 249 cards in the set (which includes basic lands, so it's really 163/229), and BOY ARE THEY AWESOME. I'ma talk about some shards.
BANT. The best shard ever, because it is white-green-blue which is the best color trio ever. Bant is the classic knights-and-castles world, with griffins and stuff. Like Erathia. Their signature mechanic, Exalted, is based on attacking with just one dude each turn, but when you do, that dude is HUGE. This lets you stand back and defend with lots of dudes each turn while still packing a punch in your attack. However, this strategy is weak against chump blocking and removal, since they can just block or pop off the one guy who attacks. And unfortunately, Jund looooves tokens. So although Bant is cool, I don't know how awesome it will actually turn out to be mechanically.
JUND. Jund is the black-red-green shard. As I said, Jund likes tokens. Their mechanic is devour. When a creature with devour comes into play, it devours some of your other creatures to pump itself up. So if you have lots of tokens, you can easily sacrifice them to your devourers to make them huge. And some even give back to the community by making more tokens for future devourers. Jund also likes Dragons, and it likes them A LOT. There's even an enchantment that pumps dragons exclusively. And Sarkhan Vol's ultimate ability makes a game-winning array of dragon tokens. I like red and green, so I wouldn't mind playing Jund. I certainly won't pass up the chance to play Sarkhan himself.
NAYA. Naya is the red-green-white shard. Naya likes big dudes even more than Jund. Their mechanic is stuff-involving-creatures-with-power-5-or-greater, which is a lot of their creatures. Red-green is going to be great for anyone who likes giant dudes, because both Naya and Jund are going to have massive dudes in red and green. There's not that much to say about them other than that they are pretty neat I guess?
ESPER. Esper is the white-blue-black shard, and man do I hate it. But that may be because I hate blue-black. And artifacts. Their theme is artifacts, and all of their creatures are artifact creatures. I don't know exactly why I hate Esper, but I just do. Probably because it will be CONTROL CITY, and as you know, I do not much like control. If my sealed deck contains insane Esper cards, I'll grudgingly play it (because WINNING IS EVERYTHING) but otherwise I will be packing plenty of artifact destruction.
GRIXIS. Grixis is the blue-black-red shard, and is totally uninteresting to me. It's just standard evil demons and stuff. Their mechanic is Unearth, which lets you return a dude from your graveyard to play with haste one more time before removing him from the game. Yawn.
I know I've been a total douche about which shards I like. But that's because this article is about me and what I'm going to do, not an informative article about the block. There are plenty of those here. So anyway, I don't really know what I will be playing since I'm not the type to enter a tournament saying "GONNA PLAY MONO RED TODAY NO MATTER WHAT," but I will try to play whatever is strongest in my packs. I know I talked about how much I hate black and blue, but a tournament is different from casual play, and the chance to win twenty bajillion booster packs is not something one gets every day. Nevertheless, if all things are equal, I am more likely to play something with white or green in it than not. And if I do win prizes, I'll be sure to build some decks ASAP and mention them here! (Even if I don't win anything, I'll still have the tournament pack and 3 boosters worth of cards to work with.) Hurray!
As of this moment, MTGSalvation.com has spoiled 183 out of the 249 cards in the set (which includes basic lands, so it's really 163/229), and BOY ARE THEY AWESOME. I'ma talk about some shards.
BANT. The best shard ever, because it is white-green-blue which is the best color trio ever. Bant is the classic knights-and-castles world, with griffins and stuff. Like Erathia. Their signature mechanic, Exalted, is based on attacking with just one dude each turn, but when you do, that dude is HUGE. This lets you stand back and defend with lots of dudes each turn while still packing a punch in your attack. However, this strategy is weak against chump blocking and removal, since they can just block or pop off the one guy who attacks. And unfortunately, Jund looooves tokens. So although Bant is cool, I don't know how awesome it will actually turn out to be mechanically.
JUND. Jund is the black-red-green shard. As I said, Jund likes tokens. Their mechanic is devour. When a creature with devour comes into play, it devours some of your other creatures to pump itself up. So if you have lots of tokens, you can easily sacrifice them to your devourers to make them huge. And some even give back to the community by making more tokens for future devourers. Jund also likes Dragons, and it likes them A LOT. There's even an enchantment that pumps dragons exclusively. And Sarkhan Vol's ultimate ability makes a game-winning array of dragon tokens. I like red and green, so I wouldn't mind playing Jund. I certainly won't pass up the chance to play Sarkhan himself.
NAYA. Naya is the red-green-white shard. Naya likes big dudes even more than Jund. Their mechanic is stuff-involving-creatures-with-power-5-or-greater, which is a lot of their creatures. Red-green is going to be great for anyone who likes giant dudes, because both Naya and Jund are going to have massive dudes in red and green. There's not that much to say about them other than that they are pretty neat I guess?
ESPER. Esper is the white-blue-black shard, and man do I hate it. But that may be because I hate blue-black. And artifacts. Their theme is artifacts, and all of their creatures are artifact creatures. I don't know exactly why I hate Esper, but I just do. Probably because it will be CONTROL CITY, and as you know, I do not much like control. If my sealed deck contains insane Esper cards, I'll grudgingly play it (because WINNING IS EVERYTHING) but otherwise I will be packing plenty of artifact destruction.
GRIXIS. Grixis is the blue-black-red shard, and is totally uninteresting to me. It's just standard evil demons and stuff. Their mechanic is Unearth, which lets you return a dude from your graveyard to play with haste one more time before removing him from the game. Yawn.
I know I've been a total douche about which shards I like. But that's because this article is about me and what I'm going to do, not an informative article about the block. There are plenty of those here. So anyway, I don't really know what I will be playing since I'm not the type to enter a tournament saying "GONNA PLAY MONO RED TODAY NO MATTER WHAT," but I will try to play whatever is strongest in my packs. I know I talked about how much I hate black and blue, but a tournament is different from casual play, and the chance to win twenty bajillion booster packs is not something one gets every day. Nevertheless, if all things are equal, I am more likely to play something with white or green in it than not. And if I do win prizes, I'll be sure to build some decks ASAP and mention them here! (Even if I don't win anything, I'll still have the tournament pack and 3 boosters worth of cards to work with.) Hurray!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Control
Lots of people like to have control. Obviously, this is true in most aspects of life, not just Magic. But control can be a dangerous tool. Taking control of your own life is greatly empowering, but control of others often leads to corruption. And this relates to Magic.
Control decks can be any color or combination of colors, and can have any number of ways of exerting control. However, what they all have in common is just that: ways of exerting control. It's of course possible to have control over just yourself. This could take various forms: a deck whose mana curve is well-balanced, modal spells, tutors, card draw, etc. They give you flexibility to react, find what you need, and make the best of bad luck. But when people talk about control in Magic, they are usually talking about exerting control over the game, and over the opponent.
Many players love control - if you call the shots, victory is only a matter of time. But there's an inherent problem with control - it's annoying. Now, this is a fairly personal issue, and I am sure there are plenty of players who don't share my sentiments, but I definitely know some who do. As I've mentioned in a previous article, the friend who taught me Magic in the first place refuses to play against heavy control decks at all. And I often find myself agreeing with him. Here are his - and my - reasons.
First off, let's consider a situation. Smith is playing any ol' deck. Jones is playing a permission deck - a deck that has enough counters that it can decide what Smith can or can't play. Jones has buckets of fun - he giggles when Smith tries to play a powerful creature and counters it. But what is Smith feeling? He entered the game assuming he would get to play his spells. Now maybe he shouldn't have made that assumption, but I don't think it's an unfair one. Besides, there's already a restriction on playing spells - it's called mana cost. When Smith finally manages to build up the 11 mana required for his Darksteel Colossus, and Jones is able to tap a mere two mana and play Remove Soul or Mana Leak, I think Smith is right to become angry. If he can't rely on the possibility of playing his own spells, what CAN he rely on?
So counterspells are one way that control is irritating. And it's irritating to any player - Johnnies, Timmies, or Spikes. If Johnny has laboriously set up his nineteen card combo, only to have it ruined by a single Cancel, his heart is broken. If Timmy prepares to summon a massive Baloth, only to have it sputter and die before it's even born, his heart is broken. And if a Rewind stifles Spike's chance at victory, his heart is broken.
Counterspells are by far the most common control method, but there are certainly others that can be quite aggravating. One is lockdown, which is perhaps even worse. What I mean by "lockdown" is a deck that attempts to stifle the opponent's ability to do anything at all, but not by countering each spell individually - rather, by setting up some situation that will not give the opponent a chance to play anything in the first place. This often takes the form of preventing the opponent from generating mana, either by killing his lands, keeping them tapped, stealing them, or some even more wicked and devious scheme. Another way is to take extra turns. Another way is to play spells that have gamebreaking conditions like "creatures can't attack you" or "target player can't play spells this turn." In any case, the same problems apply here as in the case of counterspells: if you're not allowed to play your spells, where's the fun in playing?
Of course, it can be a fun challenge for some to weasel their way out of such situations. But this requires a flexible deck, or a deck specifically designed for such purposes. Not every deck is packed with defensive maneuvers, and I don't think it would be fair to demand it. For many decks, especially casual ones, a lockdown situation will immediately render the deck helpless.
There are other kinds of "control" that are less pernicious, and are usually more specific in their prevention. One example is anti-creature control, such as tapping creatures, destroying creatures, Pacifism effects, etc. But even though these can be devastating to creature-based decks, they only affect creatures, they don't prevent you from playing anything altogether. Even a few cards dedicated to protecting your creatures from such effects can save the day. But lockdown and counterspells are much harder to defend against without employing them yourself, or specifically planning against them with cards like Vexing Shusher.
This may all seem familiar. I made similar complaints when talking about combo decks, about how they reduce fun by reducing options. Does this mean I only like aggro decks? Not at all; just look at some of the decks I've posted in other articles. I have plenty of control and combo decks, and even the occasional lockdown deck. However, as I mentioned in the other article as well, it's often a matter of the environment. If you're playing to win, such as in a high-level tournament, letting your opponents have fun is not even a factor (one reason why I have no desire to get involved in tournament play). But if you're playing with friends, and you insist on using a lockdown deck every time you play, no one is going to play with you. Sure, try it out once to show them how fancy your pants are, but then unless they actively desire tackling it again with a mind to crack it, put it aside as a beautiful but delicate antique. Or just enter a tournament. If you share your winnings with me, I promise not to rant about control anymore...
Control decks can be any color or combination of colors, and can have any number of ways of exerting control. However, what they all have in common is just that: ways of exerting control. It's of course possible to have control over just yourself. This could take various forms: a deck whose mana curve is well-balanced, modal spells, tutors, card draw, etc. They give you flexibility to react, find what you need, and make the best of bad luck. But when people talk about control in Magic, they are usually talking about exerting control over the game, and over the opponent.
Many players love control - if you call the shots, victory is only a matter of time. But there's an inherent problem with control - it's annoying. Now, this is a fairly personal issue, and I am sure there are plenty of players who don't share my sentiments, but I definitely know some who do. As I've mentioned in a previous article, the friend who taught me Magic in the first place refuses to play against heavy control decks at all. And I often find myself agreeing with him. Here are his - and my - reasons.
First off, let's consider a situation. Smith is playing any ol' deck. Jones is playing a permission deck - a deck that has enough counters that it can decide what Smith can or can't play. Jones has buckets of fun - he giggles when Smith tries to play a powerful creature and counters it. But what is Smith feeling? He entered the game assuming he would get to play his spells. Now maybe he shouldn't have made that assumption, but I don't think it's an unfair one. Besides, there's already a restriction on playing spells - it's called mana cost. When Smith finally manages to build up the 11 mana required for his Darksteel Colossus, and Jones is able to tap a mere two mana and play Remove Soul or Mana Leak, I think Smith is right to become angry. If he can't rely on the possibility of playing his own spells, what CAN he rely on?
So counterspells are one way that control is irritating. And it's irritating to any player - Johnnies, Timmies, or Spikes. If Johnny has laboriously set up his nineteen card combo, only to have it ruined by a single Cancel, his heart is broken. If Timmy prepares to summon a massive Baloth, only to have it sputter and die before it's even born, his heart is broken. And if a Rewind stifles Spike's chance at victory, his heart is broken.
Counterspells are by far the most common control method, but there are certainly others that can be quite aggravating. One is lockdown, which is perhaps even worse. What I mean by "lockdown" is a deck that attempts to stifle the opponent's ability to do anything at all, but not by countering each spell individually - rather, by setting up some situation that will not give the opponent a chance to play anything in the first place. This often takes the form of preventing the opponent from generating mana, either by killing his lands, keeping them tapped, stealing them, or some even more wicked and devious scheme. Another way is to take extra turns. Another way is to play spells that have gamebreaking conditions like "creatures can't attack you" or "target player can't play spells this turn." In any case, the same problems apply here as in the case of counterspells: if you're not allowed to play your spells, where's the fun in playing?
Of course, it can be a fun challenge for some to weasel their way out of such situations. But this requires a flexible deck, or a deck specifically designed for such purposes. Not every deck is packed with defensive maneuvers, and I don't think it would be fair to demand it. For many decks, especially casual ones, a lockdown situation will immediately render the deck helpless.
There are other kinds of "control" that are less pernicious, and are usually more specific in their prevention. One example is anti-creature control, such as tapping creatures, destroying creatures, Pacifism effects, etc. But even though these can be devastating to creature-based decks, they only affect creatures, they don't prevent you from playing anything altogether. Even a few cards dedicated to protecting your creatures from such effects can save the day. But lockdown and counterspells are much harder to defend against without employing them yourself, or specifically planning against them with cards like Vexing Shusher.
This may all seem familiar. I made similar complaints when talking about combo decks, about how they reduce fun by reducing options. Does this mean I only like aggro decks? Not at all; just look at some of the decks I've posted in other articles. I have plenty of control and combo decks, and even the occasional lockdown deck. However, as I mentioned in the other article as well, it's often a matter of the environment. If you're playing to win, such as in a high-level tournament, letting your opponents have fun is not even a factor (one reason why I have no desire to get involved in tournament play). But if you're playing with friends, and you insist on using a lockdown deck every time you play, no one is going to play with you. Sure, try it out once to show them how fancy your pants are, but then unless they actively desire tackling it again with a mind to crack it, put it aside as a beautiful but delicate antique. Or just enter a tournament. If you share your winnings with me, I promise not to rant about control anymore...
Monday, August 11, 2008
Decks That Are Cool
I have been a naughty boy. It's been almost two weeks since my last post, because I got tired of putting links to every single card I mentioned. But now I've figured out a way to do it easily, so I'm back – for now. I'm going to California for a week starting tomorrow. Owned.
For now, then, I'm just going to talk about some decks I've made recently. I spent several hours trying to figure out how to post decklists without having to do the whole thing manually, but I failed. So you'll just get the usual – a description of the deck's general function and important cards. The format I'll use for the deck names will be "Color Type Name," where T2 is Standard, T1 is Extended, and T0 is Legacy. (I know 1.5 and 1 are usually used for Extended and Legacy, but I am too cool for decimals.)
BG T2 Deathling
This deck is fairly slow to get going, but the idea is to attach a Thornbite Staff to a dude with Changeling, then give your Changelings deathtouch with Wren's Run Packmaster, since they'll all be wolves. (Moonglove Changeling doesn't even need the Packmaster, though he has to activate his deathtouch.) Then your dude has, essentially, "2: Destroy target creature." And that should be enough for victory. Gilt-Leaf Palace and Murmuring Bosk are nice because you'll very often be able to play them untapped.
BR T0 Goblin Game
This is a completely ridiculous deck based on the combination of Goblin Game and Wound Reflection. If you can play Goblin Game while you have a Wound Reflection in play, you can often pick a number of objects that will guarantee your opponent's doom. As long as you have one more than half your opponent's life, you can pick a number two below your life total and your opponent will die no matter what number he picks. Example: you have 14 life and your opponent has 20. You hide 12 objects. If your opponent hides 12 or fewer objects, he'll lose at least half his life, and Wound Reflection will kill him. If he hides more than 12 objects, he'll lose that much life…which is more than half his life, and Wound Reflection will kill him. You, on the other hand, will only lose at most 13 life, leaving you with 1. Of course, this deck is weak against almost everything, but Goblin Game is hilarious enough that it totally doesn't matter. Most of my "T0" decks sacrifice effectiveness for hilarity, and I regret nothing. In order to get the massive amounts of mana necessary to play both of these spells, the deck is packed with mana spells, as well as the awesome combo of Cathodion + Burnt Offering. The lifelink guys help you keep your life at least half as high as your opponent's so that you can use the main combo. A barrel of lulz.
GU T0 Pool Party
Another ineffective deck, this one is based around the mana pool. Upwelling is the main force behind the deck, allowing you to build up mana over time. Doubling Cube makes a large mana reserve into a nigh inexhaustible one. Pygmy Hippo can steal your enemy's mana, preventing them from abusing your own Upwelling. There are a bunch of buyback spells to give you control of the board, which lets you get your weak creatures through to slowly wear your opponent down to death. I've played this deck a few times, but it has never even come close to working. I love it.
UR T0 Stroke of Mirror Harvest
Another inane combo deck. This one is named for Stroke of Genius, Mirror Sheen, and Early Harvest. Once you have 6 mana (from at least 3 blue and 2 green sources) with Mirror Sheen in play, play Early Harvest. Copy it with Mirror Sheen, then let the copy resolve. Your lands magically untap! Then copy Early Harvest again, and float the rest of your mana. Repeat until you have infinite mana, then play Stroke of Genius on your opponent. Mind Spring and Dimir Guildmage can help you get Stroke of Genius, and various Elves help you get the required 6 mana to start the combo. Not wonderfully interesting, but I thought it was cool.
GU T1 Proteus Staff
OH MAN. I love this one, even if it is rather clunky. The main combo is Proteus Staff + Squirrel Nest. Make a Squirrel, then staff it. Whatever creature you end up getting (the only ones in the deck are various Elemental Incarnations and Darksteel Colossus), it will be totally awesome. Impromptu Raid is great since it lets you get more dudes out, and when all your guys have 6 or more power and trample/fear/flying, haste is great. And when you have to sacrifice a dude, he just gets shuffled back in. Cream of the Crop can help provide fresh targets for Impromptu Raid. You can Polymorph your Darksteel Colossus to get another dude easily. A few draw/discard spells let you get rid of the usually unplayable dudes in your hand and replace them with useful stuff. Although sometimes there is conflict between Cream of the Crop and the shuffling of dudes into your library, it is usually not a problem, especially as you get more pieces.
GW T0 Saffi
Another goofy combo deck. The main combo has three parts: Saffi Eriksdotter, Altar of Dementia or Blasting Station, and Karmic Guide. Get one of each of these on the board. Then, sacrifice Saffi to the artifact targeting the Guide. Then sacrifice the Guide, who comes back into play, bringing Saffi with him. Repeat until pwning has occurred. There's also another combo recommended by Brendan, consisting of one of the aforementioned artifacts plus Eternal Witness and Aluren. With one Witness in play and one in your hand, sacrifice the one in play to the artifact. Play the other for free, return the dead one to your hand, repeat until pwning has occurred.
R T1 Chargehead
The theme is charge counters, not surprisingly. Not much to say about this…it was originally based around Ion Storm as the main win condition, but Darksteel Reactor and Chimeric Egg can also do things. Most of the rest of the stuff is for producing charge counters, moving them around, or using them to get the main kill cards. It's cool, though.
U T0 Cryptic Rape
The title "Cryptic Rape" is perhaps misleading, because it does nothing of the sort. This deck was based on a cool premise, but is extremely clunky. The idea is to get Cryptic Gateway and two Changelings. Then you can play various awesome dudes for free, because they'll all share creature types with your Changelings. Shapesharer is nice because he can double as a Clone of one of your big dudes. If you get Grozoth, you can immediately tutor a ton of awesome dudes (such as Bringers). I took Intruder Alarm out of this deck despite its power to allow you to dump an entire deck's worth of creatures into play in one turn. I don't remember quite why. I think it was a bad choice.
U T1 Erayo
If you thought Cryptic Rape was bad…you were right. But this one is worse. The goal is to get a flipped Erayo, Soratami Ascendant and an Arcane Laboratory in play. Then, the first and only spell your opponent can play each turn will be countered, effectively preventing him from playing spells altogether (albeit with some exceptions, such as Replicate). One problem with this deck is that you have to be able to play four spells in a turn, but there are a bunch of 0-mana spells for that purpose. Still, it can take a while to set up. Another problem is that you can't play the Laboratory before Erayo, or you'll never be able to flip Erayo. Another is that even when you get them both active, your opponent might still have an army of creatures or a dangerous assortment of artifacts and enchantments. Azorius Aethermage is intended to take care of pesky activated abilities, and Boomerang to remove the threat of creatures, but it's tenuous. Also, the Aethermages are themselves the win condition, so if you lose them, you have no way to actually win, unless your opponent happens to be drawing more cards. A massive pile of suck, but maybe it has potential to turn into something almost palatable.
U T2 Islandwalk
Finally, a deck that can almost be considered "good." And what's more, it's Standard-legal. This deck was inspired by Cold-Eyed Selkie, and evolved into an Islandwalk-fest. It's a blue deck, but it splashes the tiniest bit of white for Sygg, River Guide. Most of the creatures have Islandwalk, and there are a few ways to ensure that it is useful. It is quite lucky (or perhaps sneaky on the part of the designers) that Stonybrook Banneret and Merrow Harbinger both have Islandwalk, because they are extremely useful to any Merfolk deck. With mass unblockability and card draw, this deck actually seems to be pretty decent.
UB T1 Underworld Dreams
This was originally an Underworld Dreams deck, but soon became a Megrim deck as well. With a mere one of each of these in play, Wistful Thinking deals TEN damage, as well as its rather powerful regular effect. The rest is basically just stuff to make your opponent draw and discard, but Mind's Eye is a nice addition, since you can trigger it using your own spells that force opponents to draw. It's a bit slow and fragile, but neat.
UR T0 Dream Halls
I absolutely LOVE this one. Dream Halls is of course the main card, but I am very proud of my discovery that the Eidolons could make this deck amazing. Dream Halls is blue, but there aren't any other spells that require another color; I chose red at first because it is awesome, but then I realized that I could do whatever color or colors I wanted, so I made three more variations of this deck with each of the other colors and blue. Anyway, the idea is to get Dream Halls and ideally two Eidolons in hand. Then you can play another spell for free discarding one Eidolon. When you play another spell for free discarding the second Eidolon, the first one returns to your hand, since pretty much all the spells are multicolored (since that's the whole point of using Eidolons in the first place). With two Eidolons, you can play any of your expensive and powerful spells for free. I chose spells that help you draw more cards as well as doing something awesome, and I threw in Kaervek the Merciless because he is just so awesome. And if you don't have two Eidolons, you can often play a spell with your regular mana (which would just go to waste anyway) and get your one Eidolon back, or hopefully draw one. Unfortunately Dream Halls might be very useful to your opponent, which can be dangerous. But hopefully, it will be more useful to you, and tempting enough to your opponent that he will think twice about Disenchanting it.
WB T1 Teysa
And finally, another one I really like. The main combo is Teysa, Orzhov Scion and Painter's Servant, naming black. Then all your white creatures are black, and any of them that die will give you white (and black) spirits. If you have three or more, you can use Teysa's first ability indefinitely, wiping the board for free. Spectral Procession helps to accomplish this. But that's not all. There is also a Sliver theme, using Hivestone and Necrotic Sliver plus Basal Sliver to make you a pwning machine. With those guys plus Teysa, the Servant, and one spirit, you can destroy ANY permanent for free. Sacrifice the spirit-Sliver using Basal Sliver's ability to get two mana...and a new spirit-Sliver. Repeat until you have, say, 6 mana, then sacrifice your spirit-Sliver using Necrotic Sliver's ability to destroy a pair of permanents. Oh, and Blasting Station can also be used to go infinite. Lots of components, but they work together nicely. Ward Sliver is a great help too.
Well, that was certainly a lot of decks (thirteen! holy crap!) but I hope it makes up for my long silence. I welcome comments, criticisms, advice, or any other form of feedback to help me improve my decks. Please?
For now, then, I'm just going to talk about some decks I've made recently. I spent several hours trying to figure out how to post decklists without having to do the whole thing manually, but I failed. So you'll just get the usual – a description of the deck's general function and important cards. The format I'll use for the deck names will be "Color Type Name," where T2 is Standard, T1 is Extended, and T0 is Legacy. (I know 1.5 and 1 are usually used for Extended and Legacy, but I am too cool for decimals.)
BG T2 Deathling
This deck is fairly slow to get going, but the idea is to attach a Thornbite Staff to a dude with Changeling, then give your Changelings deathtouch with Wren's Run Packmaster, since they'll all be wolves. (Moonglove Changeling doesn't even need the Packmaster, though he has to activate his deathtouch.) Then your dude has, essentially, "2: Destroy target creature." And that should be enough for victory. Gilt-Leaf Palace and Murmuring Bosk are nice because you'll very often be able to play them untapped.
BR T0 Goblin Game
This is a completely ridiculous deck based on the combination of Goblin Game and Wound Reflection. If you can play Goblin Game while you have a Wound Reflection in play, you can often pick a number of objects that will guarantee your opponent's doom. As long as you have one more than half your opponent's life, you can pick a number two below your life total and your opponent will die no matter what number he picks. Example: you have 14 life and your opponent has 20. You hide 12 objects. If your opponent hides 12 or fewer objects, he'll lose at least half his life, and Wound Reflection will kill him. If he hides more than 12 objects, he'll lose that much life…which is more than half his life, and Wound Reflection will kill him. You, on the other hand, will only lose at most 13 life, leaving you with 1. Of course, this deck is weak against almost everything, but Goblin Game is hilarious enough that it totally doesn't matter. Most of my "T0" decks sacrifice effectiveness for hilarity, and I regret nothing. In order to get the massive amounts of mana necessary to play both of these spells, the deck is packed with mana spells, as well as the awesome combo of Cathodion + Burnt Offering. The lifelink guys help you keep your life at least half as high as your opponent's so that you can use the main combo. A barrel of lulz.
GU T0 Pool Party
Another ineffective deck, this one is based around the mana pool. Upwelling is the main force behind the deck, allowing you to build up mana over time. Doubling Cube makes a large mana reserve into a nigh inexhaustible one. Pygmy Hippo can steal your enemy's mana, preventing them from abusing your own Upwelling. There are a bunch of buyback spells to give you control of the board, which lets you get your weak creatures through to slowly wear your opponent down to death. I've played this deck a few times, but it has never even come close to working. I love it.
UR T0 Stroke of Mirror Harvest
Another inane combo deck. This one is named for Stroke of Genius, Mirror Sheen, and Early Harvest. Once you have 6 mana (from at least 3 blue and 2 green sources) with Mirror Sheen in play, play Early Harvest. Copy it with Mirror Sheen, then let the copy resolve. Your lands magically untap! Then copy Early Harvest again, and float the rest of your mana. Repeat until you have infinite mana, then play Stroke of Genius on your opponent. Mind Spring and Dimir Guildmage can help you get Stroke of Genius, and various Elves help you get the required 6 mana to start the combo. Not wonderfully interesting, but I thought it was cool.
GU T1 Proteus Staff
OH MAN. I love this one, even if it is rather clunky. The main combo is Proteus Staff + Squirrel Nest. Make a Squirrel, then staff it. Whatever creature you end up getting (the only ones in the deck are various Elemental Incarnations and Darksteel Colossus), it will be totally awesome. Impromptu Raid is great since it lets you get more dudes out, and when all your guys have 6 or more power and trample/fear/flying, haste is great. And when you have to sacrifice a dude, he just gets shuffled back in. Cream of the Crop can help provide fresh targets for Impromptu Raid. You can Polymorph your Darksteel Colossus to get another dude easily. A few draw/discard spells let you get rid of the usually unplayable dudes in your hand and replace them with useful stuff. Although sometimes there is conflict between Cream of the Crop and the shuffling of dudes into your library, it is usually not a problem, especially as you get more pieces.
GW T0 Saffi
Another goofy combo deck. The main combo has three parts: Saffi Eriksdotter, Altar of Dementia or Blasting Station, and Karmic Guide. Get one of each of these on the board. Then, sacrifice Saffi to the artifact targeting the Guide. Then sacrifice the Guide, who comes back into play, bringing Saffi with him. Repeat until pwning has occurred. There's also another combo recommended by Brendan, consisting of one of the aforementioned artifacts plus Eternal Witness and Aluren. With one Witness in play and one in your hand, sacrifice the one in play to the artifact. Play the other for free, return the dead one to your hand, repeat until pwning has occurred.
R T1 Chargehead
The theme is charge counters, not surprisingly. Not much to say about this…it was originally based around Ion Storm as the main win condition, but Darksteel Reactor and Chimeric Egg can also do things. Most of the rest of the stuff is for producing charge counters, moving them around, or using them to get the main kill cards. It's cool, though.
U T0 Cryptic Rape
The title "Cryptic Rape" is perhaps misleading, because it does nothing of the sort. This deck was based on a cool premise, but is extremely clunky. The idea is to get Cryptic Gateway and two Changelings. Then you can play various awesome dudes for free, because they'll all share creature types with your Changelings. Shapesharer is nice because he can double as a Clone of one of your big dudes. If you get Grozoth, you can immediately tutor a ton of awesome dudes (such as Bringers). I took Intruder Alarm out of this deck despite its power to allow you to dump an entire deck's worth of creatures into play in one turn. I don't remember quite why. I think it was a bad choice.
U T1 Erayo
If you thought Cryptic Rape was bad…you were right. But this one is worse. The goal is to get a flipped Erayo, Soratami Ascendant and an Arcane Laboratory in play. Then, the first and only spell your opponent can play each turn will be countered, effectively preventing him from playing spells altogether (albeit with some exceptions, such as Replicate). One problem with this deck is that you have to be able to play four spells in a turn, but there are a bunch of 0-mana spells for that purpose. Still, it can take a while to set up. Another problem is that you can't play the Laboratory before Erayo, or you'll never be able to flip Erayo. Another is that even when you get them both active, your opponent might still have an army of creatures or a dangerous assortment of artifacts and enchantments. Azorius Aethermage is intended to take care of pesky activated abilities, and Boomerang to remove the threat of creatures, but it's tenuous. Also, the Aethermages are themselves the win condition, so if you lose them, you have no way to actually win, unless your opponent happens to be drawing more cards. A massive pile of suck, but maybe it has potential to turn into something almost palatable.
U T2 Islandwalk
Finally, a deck that can almost be considered "good." And what's more, it's Standard-legal. This deck was inspired by Cold-Eyed Selkie, and evolved into an Islandwalk-fest. It's a blue deck, but it splashes the tiniest bit of white for Sygg, River Guide. Most of the creatures have Islandwalk, and there are a few ways to ensure that it is useful. It is quite lucky (or perhaps sneaky on the part of the designers) that Stonybrook Banneret and Merrow Harbinger both have Islandwalk, because they are extremely useful to any Merfolk deck. With mass unblockability and card draw, this deck actually seems to be pretty decent.
UB T1 Underworld Dreams
This was originally an Underworld Dreams deck, but soon became a Megrim deck as well. With a mere one of each of these in play, Wistful Thinking deals TEN damage, as well as its rather powerful regular effect. The rest is basically just stuff to make your opponent draw and discard, but Mind's Eye is a nice addition, since you can trigger it using your own spells that force opponents to draw. It's a bit slow and fragile, but neat.
UR T0 Dream Halls
I absolutely LOVE this one. Dream Halls is of course the main card, but I am very proud of my discovery that the Eidolons could make this deck amazing. Dream Halls is blue, but there aren't any other spells that require another color; I chose red at first because it is awesome, but then I realized that I could do whatever color or colors I wanted, so I made three more variations of this deck with each of the other colors and blue. Anyway, the idea is to get Dream Halls and ideally two Eidolons in hand. Then you can play another spell for free discarding one Eidolon. When you play another spell for free discarding the second Eidolon, the first one returns to your hand, since pretty much all the spells are multicolored (since that's the whole point of using Eidolons in the first place). With two Eidolons, you can play any of your expensive and powerful spells for free. I chose spells that help you draw more cards as well as doing something awesome, and I threw in Kaervek the Merciless because he is just so awesome. And if you don't have two Eidolons, you can often play a spell with your regular mana (which would just go to waste anyway) and get your one Eidolon back, or hopefully draw one. Unfortunately Dream Halls might be very useful to your opponent, which can be dangerous. But hopefully, it will be more useful to you, and tempting enough to your opponent that he will think twice about Disenchanting it.
WB T1 Teysa
And finally, another one I really like. The main combo is Teysa, Orzhov Scion and Painter's Servant, naming black. Then all your white creatures are black, and any of them that die will give you white (and black) spirits. If you have three or more, you can use Teysa's first ability indefinitely, wiping the board for free. Spectral Procession helps to accomplish this. But that's not all. There is also a Sliver theme, using Hivestone and Necrotic Sliver plus Basal Sliver to make you a pwning machine. With those guys plus Teysa, the Servant, and one spirit, you can destroy ANY permanent for free. Sacrifice the spirit-Sliver using Basal Sliver's ability to get two mana...and a new spirit-Sliver. Repeat until you have, say, 6 mana, then sacrifice your spirit-Sliver using Necrotic Sliver's ability to destroy a pair of permanents. Oh, and Blasting Station can also be used to go infinite. Lots of components, but they work together nicely. Ward Sliver is a great help too.
Well, that was certainly a lot of decks (thirteen! holy crap!) but I hope it makes up for my long silence. I welcome comments, criticisms, advice, or any other form of feedback to help me improve my decks. Please?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Fun vs. Power
Today, a shorter article! Hurray?
When I make decks, I label them by format and color. As someone with no interest in tournament play (a pure casual player), I don't attach any special meaning or importance to this process, but it's a helpful guideline for approximate power level. Maybe. When I first got Magic Workstation and began making decks, the only experience I had was with my own crappy collection of mostly commons. With the entire history of Magic at my fingertips, I was completely overwhelmed. I didn't know enough about any old cards to make an interesting deck. So I started out making only Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed decks.
This worked okay for a while. I made some cool decks, using the mechanics from those sets. I learned the cards better, and got a feel for making decks. I gradually expanded to Standard, and threw in some Extended and Vintage. (Note: by "Extended" I mean "things that the Gatherer lists under Extended," and by "Vintage" I mean "all black-bordered cards ever.") If I made a combo deck, I'd try to keep the format as small as possible. For instance, if all the important combo pieces were in Mirrodin block, I'd try to keep the deck to Extended, even though there may have been some older cards that might have improved it.
But when I was playing some more games against mAc Chaos last night, I used some Vintage decks that include the Alpha dual lands. Whenever I have a deck that requires Vintage cards, I don't shy away from using these, because hey, they're legal in Vintage, aren't they? But he pointed out that they are unbalanced. And I realized my own hypocrisy.
Flash back to an earlier game I played against Brendan. He doesn't care about formats either, but he doesn't even try to restrict himself. All his decks have Alpha dual lands in them. And this is fine with me. But he uses Lightning Bolt. When he played Lightning Bolt, I got angry. Lightning Bolt and Shock are identical except that Lightning Bolt is better. Lightning bolt is JUST PLAIN OVERPOWERED, which is why Shock exists. If you choose Lightning Bolt over Shock, you're making a conscious decision to sacrifice fairness for power, and this is not a feature of casual play. So that's why I was upset.
As for Alpha dual lands, I justified using them because all they do is even out your mana base. It's no fun for anyone if someone can't get the right color of mana, and being able to play your spells isn't something that you should have to fight for. But when mAc made the comment about them, I recalled the Ravnica dual land cycle that is identical to the Alpha dual lands, except that they come into play tapped unless you pay 2 life. So the dual lands are no different from Lightning Bolt in this respect. And I am going to go through all my Vintage decks and take them out.
But this brings up a larger issue. What is the proper relation between fun and power in casual Magic? Is it fair to use Lightning Bolt in a casual deck? Is it fair to forbid it? There's no obvious answer to this question, but I think deckbuilders should at least be conscious of their opponents. My friend Jovan (who taught me Magic in the first place) won't even play against combo decks or control decks, so I have to be very careful when deciding which deck to play against him so that I don't ruin it for him. If mAc's fun is diminished by my using overpowered Alpha cards, then I'll take them out, because I'd rather be able to play all my Vintage decks without feeling like I'm cheating. And when I get upset at Brendan's lockdown decks or decks that make copious use of banned cards, he knows not to play them against me in the future.
Of course, you don't have to fuss over every deck you build to please every single possible opponent. Building ridiculously overpowered decks is fine - just be careful who you play them against.
When I make decks, I label them by format and color. As someone with no interest in tournament play (a pure casual player), I don't attach any special meaning or importance to this process, but it's a helpful guideline for approximate power level. Maybe. When I first got Magic Workstation and began making decks, the only experience I had was with my own crappy collection of mostly commons. With the entire history of Magic at my fingertips, I was completely overwhelmed. I didn't know enough about any old cards to make an interesting deck. So I started out making only Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed decks.
This worked okay for a while. I made some cool decks, using the mechanics from those sets. I learned the cards better, and got a feel for making decks. I gradually expanded to Standard, and threw in some Extended and Vintage. (Note: by "Extended" I mean "things that the Gatherer lists under Extended," and by "Vintage" I mean "all black-bordered cards ever.") If I made a combo deck, I'd try to keep the format as small as possible. For instance, if all the important combo pieces were in Mirrodin block, I'd try to keep the deck to Extended, even though there may have been some older cards that might have improved it.
But when I was playing some more games against mAc Chaos last night, I used some Vintage decks that include the Alpha dual lands. Whenever I have a deck that requires Vintage cards, I don't shy away from using these, because hey, they're legal in Vintage, aren't they? But he pointed out that they are unbalanced. And I realized my own hypocrisy.
Flash back to an earlier game I played against Brendan. He doesn't care about formats either, but he doesn't even try to restrict himself. All his decks have Alpha dual lands in them. And this is fine with me. But he uses Lightning Bolt. When he played Lightning Bolt, I got angry. Lightning Bolt and Shock are identical except that Lightning Bolt is better. Lightning bolt is JUST PLAIN OVERPOWERED, which is why Shock exists. If you choose Lightning Bolt over Shock, you're making a conscious decision to sacrifice fairness for power, and this is not a feature of casual play. So that's why I was upset.
As for Alpha dual lands, I justified using them because all they do is even out your mana base. It's no fun for anyone if someone can't get the right color of mana, and being able to play your spells isn't something that you should have to fight for. But when mAc made the comment about them, I recalled the Ravnica dual land cycle that is identical to the Alpha dual lands, except that they come into play tapped unless you pay 2 life. So the dual lands are no different from Lightning Bolt in this respect. And I am going to go through all my Vintage decks and take them out.
But this brings up a larger issue. What is the proper relation between fun and power in casual Magic? Is it fair to use Lightning Bolt in a casual deck? Is it fair to forbid it? There's no obvious answer to this question, but I think deckbuilders should at least be conscious of their opponents. My friend Jovan (who taught me Magic in the first place) won't even play against combo decks or control decks, so I have to be very careful when deciding which deck to play against him so that I don't ruin it for him. If mAc's fun is diminished by my using overpowered Alpha cards, then I'll take them out, because I'd rather be able to play all my Vintage decks without feeling like I'm cheating. And when I get upset at Brendan's lockdown decks or decks that make copious use of banned cards, he knows not to play them against me in the future.
Of course, you don't have to fuss over every deck you build to please every single possible opponent. Building ridiculously overpowered decks is fine - just be careful who you play them against.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Combos
I have mixed feelings about combo decks in Magic. Basically, combo decks reduce the entire game down to a single yes-or-no question: can you get the combo off? If you do, you win. If you don't, you lose. (I know not everyone would define "combo deck" in this way, but this is the definition I'm going to use here.) But the real yes-or-no question is: are combo decks fun or not?
First, the pros. Part of the joy of Magic is finding unique interactions between cards. This often results in combos that are powerful enough to be worth building a deck around. The possibility of winning the game by playing just a few cards in a certain sequence is exciting, and it motivates deckbuilders (especially Johnny types) to look for new and interesting combos. Finding a good combo, and building a deck that will make it work, is certainly fun. They also require creativity and astuteness, so they act as a good mental exercise as well. But actually playing with combo decks can be a different story.
For most Johnnies (and I list myself among them), I would guess that the joy of actually playing combo decks is in showing them to your friends. When the opponent is oblivious, and you're secretly racing against the clock, trying to pretend that everything is perfectly normal as you scramble to assemble your combo, and you try to act calm and casual despite the mad thumping in your chest, and you draw the final piece of your combo and glance at it as disinterestedly as possible even though your heart has just leaped through the roof of your mouth...that's fun. When you have three of your four combo pieces in play, and the fourth in your hand, and your opponent is studying them with furrowed brow, and you're giggling to yourself because you know you're about to win and she has no idea whatsoever because she can't foresee your brilliant and carefully planned combo, and you slam down the final piece and leap up and dance around the table hooting like a maniac...that's fun. When your opponent looks at your combo pieces, each in turn, figuring out what could possibly make you cavort about like a madman, and it finally dawns on her, and she leans back and lets out a low whistle, eyes wide and brow raised, and rakes her fingers through her hair, and you knock over lamps this way and that in your crazed victory dance, shattering ancient Grecian relics willy-nilly, whirling like a cyclone through your living room...that's fun.
So basically, for a Johnny, the fun is in revealing your combo. If you then go to play a rematch, you'll probably be much less interested, if not outright bored. The fun was all in the surprise, and in demonstrating your brilliance. Once you've done it, the game is truly nothing more than a yes-or-no question. There are no secrets to keep, no traps to spring, no magnificent schemes to unveil. They've seen it, and now the cat's out of the bag, and the deck is nothing more than a conversation piece until you find your next victim. And this is the first vice of combo decks.
They're not replayable. Once you spring the combo, most of the fun is gone. The opponent might have more fun in a rematch trying to think of ways to stop your combo, but all you're doing is waiting. And waiting is no fun at all.
I should make a quick note at this point. I know that not all combo decks are all-or-nothing. Many have failsafes, or several different combos, or a number of alternate win conditions. But the true heart of a combo deck is the combo, and that's all I'm really concerned about. If you have three different combos in a deck, it may be fun to play it more than once per opponent, but it's still limiting. And if a deck has a ton of failsafes - enough that it doesn't really need the combo to win - then it's not strictly a combo deck by my definition. So there.
Moving on...the unreplayability of combo decks is one thing, but it's a problem that mostly affects the player of the combo deck. But what about the opponent? There are some decks, like Brendan's Mycosynth Lattice/Shattering Spree deck, which can lock down many casual decks, completely neutralizing them (at least, the ones I build). This type of combo deck is bad for the opponent because it is not an instant win, but as soon as you're locked down, you know there's nothing you can do, and you just have to wait and get killed. When this happens to me, I usually get angry, because waiting to die is no fun for anyone, but if I just scoop whenever I see a lockdown deck, it's no fun for the deckbuilder either, because they don't get to show off their cleverness. So combos can be dangerous - they might be fun to make and think about, but actually playing them could end in disaster.
But not all combo decks aim at neutralizing the opponent and then winning at leisure. Many focus on winning as soon as the final piece of the combo has been revealed: a certain sequence of spells and abilities is set off which leads to the opponent being eliminated. But this too can reduce the opponent's fun. If my opponent wins the game completely out of the blue with some obscure combo, it makes me question why I was even playing in the first place. What's the point in thinking so hard about which creature to play when his combo renders my decision meaningless? Now, this may just be my own immaturity, and this argument could apply to other types of deck as well, but I find it more often with combo decks, and it's at least something to think about.
And finally, combo decks often need ways to ensure the combo works, and often this means holding the opponent at arm's length while you prepare. This frequently takes the form of hand destruction, counters, and other control strategies that can be frustrating to casual players.
So, are combo decks fun? Obviously there's no right or wrong answer to this, since it depends a lot on the context. Combo decks might be effective in tournaments where winning is more important than fun, but in the casual arena, which is my primary area of concern, combo decks can create resentment and irritation - at least, they often have for me. I don't think casual players should avoid combo decks altogether, though. They're very fun the first time around, especially if they're highly narcissistic (as in, they're only interested in themselves - they focus on their own goals and spells, and do little to disrupt the opponent's). But they should generally not be played repeatedly, especially if they exert a great deal of control over other players. At least for myself, being controlled absolutely ruins the game, and I do not wish it on others.
Now that I've talked about combo decks in general, I'll mention some in specific. I myself have made many a combo deck, and played them against friends, but I usually only play them once (or until I actually get to show them the combo - many times they don't work, and I just die before I can activate it). I am more impressed by engine-based decks (which Brendan is quite skilled at - see my previous articles), and I would much rather be able to make effective engines than effective combos. But I do enjoy a good combo, if only for the fun of proving I can design it.
So here I'll mention some combos that I've come up with recently, because I think they're cool. NOTE: If you play Magic with me, and you like surprises, don't read the rest of this post.
Panoptic Mirror + Undying Flames, with support from Paradox Haze, Sigil Tracer, and Mischievous Quanar
This is a somewhat expensive and awkward combo, but a fun and amusing one. Imprint Undying Flames onto the Panoptic Mirror, hopefully while you have some or all of the support spells in play (let's suppose you have one Paradox Haze). Then, at the beginning of your next turn's first upkeep, the Mirror triggers, copying Undying Flames. You perform its effect, and you have one Epic copy of Undying Flames. During your second upkeep, the Mirror triggers again, making a second Epic copy, and your first Epic spell triggers, making a non-Epic copy. You'll get to use the ability three times in one turn, which can often be quite deadly to the opponent, especially since many of the deck's spells are expensive. Then on your next turn, you'll get three Flames during your first upkeep (one Epic one from the Mirror and two non-Epic from the previous Epic copies), and four during your second upkeep. This will keep adding up, generating more and more iterations of the spell each upkeep, until your opponent is roasted to a delicious golden brown. (Even without Paradox Haze, the flames will still accumulate, albeit more slowly.) Finally, Braids, Conjurer Adept can help you accelerate your victory even faster by getting around the Epic restriction.
Spellweaver Helix + Mystic Speculation + Time Stretch/Searing Flesh, with support from Merfolk Looter/Bonded Fetch
This one was inspired by an article I read on the Wizards website a while ago. It suggested imprinting a cheap sorcery and an expensive sorcery onto Spellweaver Helix, which seems fairly obvious now, but using Mystic Speculation (one of my favorite cards) as the cheap sorcery seemed to me the perfect use of it. Mystic Speculation also helps you find the combo pieces quickly, which makes it even more useful. The basic idea, if you haven't already guessed, is to get Mystic Speculation into your graveyard (easy: just play it), and either Time Stretch or Searing Flesh into your graveyard (using Merfolk Looter/Bonded Fetch), and then play the Helix, imprinting them both onto it. Then, once you have another Mystic Speculation (ideally you'll already have a second one before playing the Helix), you either have a repeatable 3-mana 7-damage burn, or infinite turns, either of which will quickly result in your victory. Hilarious.
Hell's Caretaker + Intruder Alarm + Merrow Witsniper/Infectious Host
This one I'm especially proud of because I thought it up All By Myself. Get Intruder Alarm, Hell's Caretaker, and at least one other creature into play, and Merrow Witsniper or Infectious Host in your graveyard. During your next upkeep, use the Caretaker to sacrifice the other creature, returning one of the dead guys to play. This causes Intruder Alarm to untap the Caretaker. Repeat until the opponent is dead or has no library. The fact that you want guys in your graveyard is also useful, since it allows you to chump block with your first few guys.
Jhoira of the Ghitu + Dragonstorm, with support from Jhoira's Timebug, Clockspinning, Paradox Haze, and a bunch of dragons
Usually, you can play Jhoira on turn 3, and suspend two things on turn 4. If you can suspend two Dragonstorms, then you are totally awesome. The goal is to get Dragonstorm to unsuspend at the same time as one or more other spells, so you can stack them in order to build up a storm count. Paradox Haze helps you get things into play faster, and the Timebug and Clockspinning can do so as well, but can also align other spells with Dragonstorm for storm count. It takes a few turns to get going, but is rather consistent, and dragons are sweet.
Kobolds of Kher Keep + Cloudstone Curio + Cinder Pyromancer/Grapeshot
This is a variation of one of my Grinning Ignus decks, but infinite. Play the Curio. Then either get the Pyromancer in play or the Grapeshot in your hand, plus two Kobolds in your hand (one can be in play, but it's more surprising if they're both in your hand). Play a Kobold, play another Kobold and bounce the first Kobold, and repeat as needed. Poof.
Mycosynth Lattice + March of the Machines + Hurkyl's Recall
I am uncertain about this deck because it is the pinnacle of douchemastery. If you play Mycosynth Lattice and March of the Machines, all lands are 0/0 artifact creatures and die immediately. (The deck has some Lumithread Fields to save your own lands.) Then, if your cast Hurkyl's Recall on your opponent, any permanents he has left over will get bounced. Any land he plays will die instantly, so unless he has enough Simian Spirit Guides to finish you off, he's probably not going to be able to do much. I would never want to play against this deck myself, so it's unlikely that I'll play it against my friends, except just to show it off.
So, those are a bunch of combo decks I've made recently. I think they're cool. The End.
First, the pros. Part of the joy of Magic is finding unique interactions between cards. This often results in combos that are powerful enough to be worth building a deck around. The possibility of winning the game by playing just a few cards in a certain sequence is exciting, and it motivates deckbuilders (especially Johnny types) to look for new and interesting combos. Finding a good combo, and building a deck that will make it work, is certainly fun. They also require creativity and astuteness, so they act as a good mental exercise as well. But actually playing with combo decks can be a different story.
For most Johnnies (and I list myself among them), I would guess that the joy of actually playing combo decks is in showing them to your friends. When the opponent is oblivious, and you're secretly racing against the clock, trying to pretend that everything is perfectly normal as you scramble to assemble your combo, and you try to act calm and casual despite the mad thumping in your chest, and you draw the final piece of your combo and glance at it as disinterestedly as possible even though your heart has just leaped through the roof of your mouth...that's fun. When you have three of your four combo pieces in play, and the fourth in your hand, and your opponent is studying them with furrowed brow, and you're giggling to yourself because you know you're about to win and she has no idea whatsoever because she can't foresee your brilliant and carefully planned combo, and you slam down the final piece and leap up and dance around the table hooting like a maniac...that's fun. When your opponent looks at your combo pieces, each in turn, figuring out what could possibly make you cavort about like a madman, and it finally dawns on her, and she leans back and lets out a low whistle, eyes wide and brow raised, and rakes her fingers through her hair, and you knock over lamps this way and that in your crazed victory dance, shattering ancient Grecian relics willy-nilly, whirling like a cyclone through your living room...that's fun.
So basically, for a Johnny, the fun is in revealing your combo. If you then go to play a rematch, you'll probably be much less interested, if not outright bored. The fun was all in the surprise, and in demonstrating your brilliance. Once you've done it, the game is truly nothing more than a yes-or-no question. There are no secrets to keep, no traps to spring, no magnificent schemes to unveil. They've seen it, and now the cat's out of the bag, and the deck is nothing more than a conversation piece until you find your next victim. And this is the first vice of combo decks.
They're not replayable. Once you spring the combo, most of the fun is gone. The opponent might have more fun in a rematch trying to think of ways to stop your combo, but all you're doing is waiting. And waiting is no fun at all.
I should make a quick note at this point. I know that not all combo decks are all-or-nothing. Many have failsafes, or several different combos, or a number of alternate win conditions. But the true heart of a combo deck is the combo, and that's all I'm really concerned about. If you have three different combos in a deck, it may be fun to play it more than once per opponent, but it's still limiting. And if a deck has a ton of failsafes - enough that it doesn't really need the combo to win - then it's not strictly a combo deck by my definition. So there.
Moving on...the unreplayability of combo decks is one thing, but it's a problem that mostly affects the player of the combo deck. But what about the opponent? There are some decks, like Brendan's Mycosynth Lattice/Shattering Spree deck, which can lock down many casual decks, completely neutralizing them (at least, the ones I build). This type of combo deck is bad for the opponent because it is not an instant win, but as soon as you're locked down, you know there's nothing you can do, and you just have to wait and get killed. When this happens to me, I usually get angry, because waiting to die is no fun for anyone, but if I just scoop whenever I see a lockdown deck, it's no fun for the deckbuilder either, because they don't get to show off their cleverness. So combos can be dangerous - they might be fun to make and think about, but actually playing them could end in disaster.
But not all combo decks aim at neutralizing the opponent and then winning at leisure. Many focus on winning as soon as the final piece of the combo has been revealed: a certain sequence of spells and abilities is set off which leads to the opponent being eliminated. But this too can reduce the opponent's fun. If my opponent wins the game completely out of the blue with some obscure combo, it makes me question why I was even playing in the first place. What's the point in thinking so hard about which creature to play when his combo renders my decision meaningless? Now, this may just be my own immaturity, and this argument could apply to other types of deck as well, but I find it more often with combo decks, and it's at least something to think about.
And finally, combo decks often need ways to ensure the combo works, and often this means holding the opponent at arm's length while you prepare. This frequently takes the form of hand destruction, counters, and other control strategies that can be frustrating to casual players.
So, are combo decks fun? Obviously there's no right or wrong answer to this, since it depends a lot on the context. Combo decks might be effective in tournaments where winning is more important than fun, but in the casual arena, which is my primary area of concern, combo decks can create resentment and irritation - at least, they often have for me. I don't think casual players should avoid combo decks altogether, though. They're very fun the first time around, especially if they're highly narcissistic (as in, they're only interested in themselves - they focus on their own goals and spells, and do little to disrupt the opponent's). But they should generally not be played repeatedly, especially if they exert a great deal of control over other players. At least for myself, being controlled absolutely ruins the game, and I do not wish it on others.
Now that I've talked about combo decks in general, I'll mention some in specific. I myself have made many a combo deck, and played them against friends, but I usually only play them once (or until I actually get to show them the combo - many times they don't work, and I just die before I can activate it). I am more impressed by engine-based decks (which Brendan is quite skilled at - see my previous articles), and I would much rather be able to make effective engines than effective combos. But I do enjoy a good combo, if only for the fun of proving I can design it.
So here I'll mention some combos that I've come up with recently, because I think they're cool. NOTE: If you play Magic with me, and you like surprises, don't read the rest of this post.
Panoptic Mirror + Undying Flames, with support from Paradox Haze, Sigil Tracer, and Mischievous Quanar
This is a somewhat expensive and awkward combo, but a fun and amusing one. Imprint Undying Flames onto the Panoptic Mirror, hopefully while you have some or all of the support spells in play (let's suppose you have one Paradox Haze). Then, at the beginning of your next turn's first upkeep, the Mirror triggers, copying Undying Flames. You perform its effect, and you have one Epic copy of Undying Flames. During your second upkeep, the Mirror triggers again, making a second Epic copy, and your first Epic spell triggers, making a non-Epic copy. You'll get to use the ability three times in one turn, which can often be quite deadly to the opponent, especially since many of the deck's spells are expensive. Then on your next turn, you'll get three Flames during your first upkeep (one Epic one from the Mirror and two non-Epic from the previous Epic copies), and four during your second upkeep. This will keep adding up, generating more and more iterations of the spell each upkeep, until your opponent is roasted to a delicious golden brown. (Even without Paradox Haze, the flames will still accumulate, albeit more slowly.) Finally, Braids, Conjurer Adept can help you accelerate your victory even faster by getting around the Epic restriction.
Spellweaver Helix + Mystic Speculation + Time Stretch/Searing Flesh, with support from Merfolk Looter/Bonded Fetch
This one was inspired by an article I read on the Wizards website a while ago. It suggested imprinting a cheap sorcery and an expensive sorcery onto Spellweaver Helix, which seems fairly obvious now, but using Mystic Speculation (one of my favorite cards) as the cheap sorcery seemed to me the perfect use of it. Mystic Speculation also helps you find the combo pieces quickly, which makes it even more useful. The basic idea, if you haven't already guessed, is to get Mystic Speculation into your graveyard (easy: just play it), and either Time Stretch or Searing Flesh into your graveyard (using Merfolk Looter/Bonded Fetch), and then play the Helix, imprinting them both onto it. Then, once you have another Mystic Speculation (ideally you'll already have a second one before playing the Helix), you either have a repeatable 3-mana 7-damage burn, or infinite turns, either of which will quickly result in your victory. Hilarious.
Hell's Caretaker + Intruder Alarm + Merrow Witsniper/Infectious Host
This one I'm especially proud of because I thought it up All By Myself. Get Intruder Alarm, Hell's Caretaker, and at least one other creature into play, and Merrow Witsniper or Infectious Host in your graveyard. During your next upkeep, use the Caretaker to sacrifice the other creature, returning one of the dead guys to play. This causes Intruder Alarm to untap the Caretaker. Repeat until the opponent is dead or has no library. The fact that you want guys in your graveyard is also useful, since it allows you to chump block with your first few guys.
Jhoira of the Ghitu + Dragonstorm, with support from Jhoira's Timebug, Clockspinning, Paradox Haze, and a bunch of dragons
Usually, you can play Jhoira on turn 3, and suspend two things on turn 4. If you can suspend two Dragonstorms, then you are totally awesome. The goal is to get Dragonstorm to unsuspend at the same time as one or more other spells, so you can stack them in order to build up a storm count. Paradox Haze helps you get things into play faster, and the Timebug and Clockspinning can do so as well, but can also align other spells with Dragonstorm for storm count. It takes a few turns to get going, but is rather consistent, and dragons are sweet.
Kobolds of Kher Keep + Cloudstone Curio + Cinder Pyromancer/Grapeshot
This is a variation of one of my Grinning Ignus decks, but infinite. Play the Curio. Then either get the Pyromancer in play or the Grapeshot in your hand, plus two Kobolds in your hand (one can be in play, but it's more surprising if they're both in your hand). Play a Kobold, play another Kobold and bounce the first Kobold, and repeat as needed. Poof.
Mycosynth Lattice + March of the Machines + Hurkyl's Recall
I am uncertain about this deck because it is the pinnacle of douchemastery. If you play Mycosynth Lattice and March of the Machines, all lands are 0/0 artifact creatures and die immediately. (The deck has some Lumithread Fields to save your own lands.) Then, if your cast Hurkyl's Recall on your opponent, any permanents he has left over will get bounced. Any land he plays will die instantly, so unless he has enough Simian Spirit Guides to finish you off, he's probably not going to be able to do much. I would never want to play against this deck myself, so it's unlikely that I'll play it against my friends, except just to show it off.
So, those are a bunch of combo decks I've made recently. I think they're cool. The End.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Goats
Today I am going to talk about goats. That is, I am going to talk about three games I played against my friend Brendan's white-blue goat deck. Here I goat!
The first game I'll discuss occurred two nights ago. However, I didn't know he was going to be playing goats, so I picked a Leyline of Singularity deck that I had made. Of course, this almost immediately ruined his entire deck, since the point of his deck is to mass goat tokens with Springjack Shepherd. But we played it out.
I didn't keep careful notes of the game, so I'll talk about the decks. My deck is based on Leyline of Singularity, and things that abuse it. There are a ton of Legendary creatures; since all my creatures are going to be legendary anyway, I might as well get good ones. I tried to keep to the singularity theme by focusing on legend-rule-based removal; no straight-up destroying or burning (unless you count Hero's Demise, and later, the devastating Tsabo Tavoc). My favorite method of removal is Shapesharer plus Unnatural Selection. As long as the enemy has two creatures, I can kill them both with just 4 mana. And if he only has one, it's usually not too dangerous. (Or if it is, I have Spitting Image to take care of it). I also have Copy Enchantment and Sculpting Steel for enchantment/artifact removal, and Hanna, Ship's Navigator allows me to do it repeatedly.
The rest of the deck is mostly just cool legendary creatures and equipment, but there are a few other neat tricks. Tsabo Tavoc (as mentioned above) can destroy any creature for 2 black mana and a tap, and Minamo, School at Water's Edge let's him do it repeatedly, or attack for an unblockable 7 on the same turn, or just stay untapped to block. Another neat trick is Forbidden Orchard, whose drawback is neutralized by Leyline of Singularity, giving me excellent mana control. (And I need it, since the deck has four colors.)
Brendan's deck, as I said, is based on goat tokens made from Springjack Shepherd (and, occasionally, Springjack Pasture). Basically, he has lots of excellent creatures with many white mana symbols such as Kitchen Finks and Knight of Meadowgrain. Then he plays the Shepherd to make lots of goats, and has things like Momentary Blink to do it again and again. His win condition is usually Mirrorweave or Fortify, overrunning his opponent with an army of beefed up goats.
As for the actual game between these two decks, it wasn't really a contest. Leyline utterly prevented him from making more than 1 goat token at a time, and I used Unnatural Selection to make even that one goat harmless, by turning it into a Fungus, Sponge, or whatever else I could come up with during each of his upkeeps. (After a while I ran out of obscure creature types and just picked fake ones like Bus, or Unicorn.) He kept playing Kitchen Finks, and then I'd finally get rid of them and he'd have another one in his hand, which was both hilarious and annoying. It bought him some time, but eventually I just got some big dudes out and smashed through for the win.
Then we played some other games, but they didn't have goats, so I won't deign to tell you about them. But then the goats returned.
This time, I was playing a straightforward green-blue +1/+1 counter deck, inspired by an article I had read mentioning that Lignify could make Vigean Hydropon into a 5/9 Treefolk attacker. He had trouble drawing though, and I had pretty much the perfect hand for my deck, so he didn't stand much of a chance. I also learned more about my deck; I have Mirrorweave in it, the idea being that I could cast it on the Hydropon (or any other 0/0 guy with a counter) for mass removal. But if I were to target Fungal Behemoth instead, I would get the removal PLUS all my guys getting (usually) much bigger. And that would be sweettacular.
The third game I played against the goatswarm was the most epic game of Magic in the history of the universe. It was so epic that I took a screenshot. But you should read about it first.
Things went pretty slowly at first. He played some dudes, I played some dudes. Not much happened...until turn [whatever number turn it was].
Here's what the board looked like: I had four Relentless Rats, just sitting back and biding their time. He had a Kitchen Finks, a Knight of Meadowgrain, and a Springjack Shepherd, plus six goat tokens. On my turn, I drew Diabolic Tutor. Ecstatic, I fetched the Ultimate Secret: Thrumming Stone. I played it. At this point, he revealed that he had a Mirrorweave in hand (which meant that he could Mirrorweave targeting the Rats, and overwhelm me with 14/14 attackers since he had 4 more creatures than me), but he was curious to see what I would do, so he held off. Instead, in preparation for the inevitably epic battle, he played Momentary Blink targeting his Springjack Shepherd, giving him six more goats...and then he played another Momentary Blink, giving him six MORE goats. He had now assembled an eighteen-goat army. Truly terrifying.
On my next turn, I played a Relentless Rats. Revealing the top four cards of my library produced...no Relentless Rats. On my next turn, I drew Relentless Rats (meaning I had been just one card away), and played it, producing...no Relentless Rats. On my NEXT turn, I drew Relentless Rats AGAIN (meaning I had been just one card away AGAIN), and played it. This time, I hit gold.
My Relentless Rats deck contains 150 cards, and 50 of those are Relentless Rats. On that fateful ripple, I got all the rest of my Relentless Rats into play, with eight more ripples on the stack. I had fifty rats, and all of them were 51/51. I passed the turn.
At the end of my turn, Brendan used Springjack Pasture sacrificing enough goats to give him 8 mana. He then cast Mirrorweave, targeting Kitchen Finks. Every goat (and Kithkin and rat) now had two white mana symbols in its mana cost. Then he flashed back Momentary Blink.
The result of this maneuver is indescribable in words. So I present it in visual form.
It was then his turn. He had 66 goats to my 50 rats. He cast Fortify and attacked. GG.
If anyone ever tells you that they have played the most epic game of Magic in the history of the universe, then that person is either me, Brendan, or a liar. And if anyone tells you otherwise, well, they have a right to hold that opinion, but I assure you, their opinion is wrong. Amen.
The first game I'll discuss occurred two nights ago. However, I didn't know he was going to be playing goats, so I picked a Leyline of Singularity deck that I had made. Of course, this almost immediately ruined his entire deck, since the point of his deck is to mass goat tokens with Springjack Shepherd. But we played it out.
I didn't keep careful notes of the game, so I'll talk about the decks. My deck is based on Leyline of Singularity, and things that abuse it. There are a ton of Legendary creatures; since all my creatures are going to be legendary anyway, I might as well get good ones. I tried to keep to the singularity theme by focusing on legend-rule-based removal; no straight-up destroying or burning (unless you count Hero's Demise, and later, the devastating Tsabo Tavoc). My favorite method of removal is Shapesharer plus Unnatural Selection. As long as the enemy has two creatures, I can kill them both with just 4 mana. And if he only has one, it's usually not too dangerous. (Or if it is, I have Spitting Image to take care of it). I also have Copy Enchantment and Sculpting Steel for enchantment/artifact removal, and Hanna, Ship's Navigator allows me to do it repeatedly.
The rest of the deck is mostly just cool legendary creatures and equipment, but there are a few other neat tricks. Tsabo Tavoc (as mentioned above) can destroy any creature for 2 black mana and a tap, and Minamo, School at Water's Edge let's him do it repeatedly, or attack for an unblockable 7 on the same turn, or just stay untapped to block. Another neat trick is Forbidden Orchard, whose drawback is neutralized by Leyline of Singularity, giving me excellent mana control. (And I need it, since the deck has four colors.)
Brendan's deck, as I said, is based on goat tokens made from Springjack Shepherd (and, occasionally, Springjack Pasture). Basically, he has lots of excellent creatures with many white mana symbols such as Kitchen Finks and Knight of Meadowgrain. Then he plays the Shepherd to make lots of goats, and has things like Momentary Blink to do it again and again. His win condition is usually Mirrorweave or Fortify, overrunning his opponent with an army of beefed up goats.
As for the actual game between these two decks, it wasn't really a contest. Leyline utterly prevented him from making more than 1 goat token at a time, and I used Unnatural Selection to make even that one goat harmless, by turning it into a Fungus, Sponge, or whatever else I could come up with during each of his upkeeps. (After a while I ran out of obscure creature types and just picked fake ones like Bus, or Unicorn.) He kept playing Kitchen Finks, and then I'd finally get rid of them and he'd have another one in his hand, which was both hilarious and annoying. It bought him some time, but eventually I just got some big dudes out and smashed through for the win.
Then we played some other games, but they didn't have goats, so I won't deign to tell you about them. But then the goats returned.
This time, I was playing a straightforward green-blue +1/+1 counter deck, inspired by an article I had read mentioning that Lignify could make Vigean Hydropon into a 5/9 Treefolk attacker. He had trouble drawing though, and I had pretty much the perfect hand for my deck, so he didn't stand much of a chance. I also learned more about my deck; I have Mirrorweave in it, the idea being that I could cast it on the Hydropon (or any other 0/0 guy with a counter) for mass removal. But if I were to target Fungal Behemoth instead, I would get the removal PLUS all my guys getting (usually) much bigger. And that would be sweettacular.
The third game I played against the goatswarm was the most epic game of Magic in the history of the universe. It was so epic that I took a screenshot. But you should read about it first.
Things went pretty slowly at first. He played some dudes, I played some dudes. Not much happened...until turn [whatever number turn it was].
Here's what the board looked like: I had four Relentless Rats, just sitting back and biding their time. He had a Kitchen Finks, a Knight of Meadowgrain, and a Springjack Shepherd, plus six goat tokens. On my turn, I drew Diabolic Tutor. Ecstatic, I fetched the Ultimate Secret: Thrumming Stone. I played it. At this point, he revealed that he had a Mirrorweave in hand (which meant that he could Mirrorweave targeting the Rats, and overwhelm me with 14/14 attackers since he had 4 more creatures than me), but he was curious to see what I would do, so he held off. Instead, in preparation for the inevitably epic battle, he played Momentary Blink targeting his Springjack Shepherd, giving him six more goats...and then he played another Momentary Blink, giving him six MORE goats. He had now assembled an eighteen-goat army. Truly terrifying.
On my next turn, I played a Relentless Rats. Revealing the top four cards of my library produced...no Relentless Rats. On my next turn, I drew Relentless Rats (meaning I had been just one card away), and played it, producing...no Relentless Rats. On my NEXT turn, I drew Relentless Rats AGAIN (meaning I had been just one card away AGAIN), and played it. This time, I hit gold.
My Relentless Rats deck contains 150 cards, and 50 of those are Relentless Rats. On that fateful ripple, I got all the rest of my Relentless Rats into play, with eight more ripples on the stack. I had fifty rats, and all of them were 51/51. I passed the turn.
At the end of my turn, Brendan used Springjack Pasture sacrificing enough goats to give him 8 mana. He then cast Mirrorweave, targeting Kitchen Finks. Every goat (and Kithkin and rat) now had two white mana symbols in its mana cost. Then he flashed back Momentary Blink.
The result of this maneuver is indescribable in words. So I present it in visual form.
It was then his turn. He had 66 goats to my 50 rats. He cast Fortify and attacked. GG.
If anyone ever tells you that they have played the most epic game of Magic in the history of the universe, then that person is either me, Brendan, or a liar. And if anyone tells you otherwise, well, they have a right to hold that opinion, but I assure you, their opinion is wrong. Amen.
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