Slippery Little Devils

The slippery Bogle is the Basis of the deck

Ok so after my, frankly, unprofessional moan about modern, I’ve decided to take some good advice and spend some time talking about the second-tier decks. These are decks that are not the main staples and, as such, do not have a large price tag, making them more accessible, but are, at the same time, nearly as competent and consistent as the higher-level decks.

The deck I am going to focus on today is a deck I ran in a Modern tournament held by the York Travelling Man last Sunday. It is a variation on a deck called “Slippery Bogles.” Below is the deck list, along with the average price of the individual cards on StarCityGames in dollars. After showing you the decklist I used, I will talk a bit about how the deck works (although it will be obvious once you see the list) and also tell you about the cards I would like to put in to it.

The Sun Titan is one of my own additions and a nasty surprise.

Right so let’s get on with this.

Creatures

4 x Slippery Bogle ($0.49 each = $1.96)

3 X Invisible Stalker ($0.99 each = $2.97)

4 x Gladecover Scout ($0.25 each = $1.00)

1 x Sun Titan, Duel Deck Promo ($2.99)

1 x Silhana Ledgewalker ($0.49)

Other Spells

4 x Ethereal Armour ($0.25 = $1.00)

4 x Spider Umbra ($0.49 = $1.96)

4 x Hyena Umbra ($0.25 = $1.00)

4 x Spectral Flight ($0.25 = $1.00)

3 x Rancor ($1.99 = $7.96)

3 x Keen Sense ($3.99 = $15.96)

4 x Path to Exile ($5.99 = $23.96)

The wealth of Multi-lands helps give versatility.

Lands

4 x Sunpetal Grove ($2.99 = $11.96)

3 x Razorverge Thicket ($2.99 = $8.97)

3 x Glacial Fortress ($2.99 = $8.97)

2 x Temple Gardens ($9.99 = $18.98)

2 x Breeding Pools ($7.99 = $15.98)

2 x Hinterland Harbour ($3.99 = $7.98)

1 x Forest, ($0.10)

1 x Island ($0.10)

3 x Plains ($0.10 = $0.30)

So that’s a total value of $135.59, if you bought each card separately from StarCityGames. that’s about £83. For a Modern deck, that is cheap and, believe me, it works very well. So, let’s go through it bit-by-bit for those of you that don’t know how Bogles works.

A 1/1 Unblockable for 1U is nice, but combine it with the enchantments…

Creatures – All the creatures in this deck have Hexproof, except the Sun Titan. Infact, the Bogles, Stalkers, Ledgewalker and Scout all have hexproof whilst the Stalkers are unblockable and the Ledgewalker also can’t be blocked, except by creatures with Reach or Flying. They are all 1/1’s but this is practically irrelevant as before long the other spells come into effect. The Sun Titan is a nasty little surprise as his ability to bring back anything from the graveyard with Converted Mana Cost three or less to the battlefield when he enters the battlefield or attacks allows you to start bringing back creatures and enchantments to stabilise the board or pump up for a major attack. That and, He’s a 6/6 with Vigilance.

Rancor is the enchantment that just keeps on trucking!

The Other Spells – Enchantment’s Galore, Spectral Flight gives enchanted creature +2/+2 and flying, Keen Sense means that whenever the enchanted creature deals damage to a players’ life points you get to draw a card, Hyena Umbra and spider Umbra both give enchanted creatures +1/+1, with Hyena also giving it First Strike and Spider giving it Reach. The Umbas also get destroyed instead of the enchanted creature if the creature would be destroyed so they are a great failsafe for if an opponent DOES find a way to deal with your creatures. Rancor gives the enchanted creature +2/+0 and Trample AND it returns to your hand if it is ever sent from the battlefield to the graveyard. All these enchantments work together to make your creatures big, hard and very very scary and then you play Ethereal Armour, giving enchanted creature +1/+1 for each enchantment you control and First Strike. Those of you that are not brand new to magic will be able to see that a creature with one of each of these cards becomes a 13/11, with Hexproof (as all the creatures in the deck have Hexproof), First Strike, Reach, Trample and draw a card every time it deals damage. Hexproof makes it very difficult for your opponent to kill it and Reach makes it a good blocker, if necessary, Trample makes it hard to block profitably, then First Strike makes it even worse to Block or an even more Scary attacker.

This isn’t just a “best-case-scenario” idea though, in the four-round tournament (with each round being best-of-three) I played in recently, I regularly had creatures with Power/Toughness in double digits and loads of abilities, only getting killed through a clever trick or multiple blocks.

Razorverge Thicket really helps with mana-fixing early on.

Lands – A mixture of White/Green/Blue multi-lands, the five basics and the four shocklands help the Sunpetal Groves, Glacial Fortresses and Hinterland Harbours to come down untapped, the Razorverge Thickets help with mana-fixing early in the game and the Shocklands themselves are very helpful.

The deck is very aggressive, usually being able to play really up the curve. Turn one, Bogle or Scout, Turn two, Umbra and Armour, attack, Turn three, Stalker and another enchantment, attack, Turn four, more enchantments and attack, maybe a path to keep you safe. Most games follow this pattern, and it will be clear really early on if you are going to win or not.

Bogles is harder for opponents to deal with than you would think, Again, the various abilities and stat increases granted by the enchantments makes them hard to block and Hexproof makes them immune to targeted removal.

Now my sideboard for this deck is unusual, but it is created with cards I felt would help in certain situations. Because none of these are part of the Decklist I have not put their values on.

A Helpful Wrath card, though I would rather have had Supreme Verdict

1 x Mistcutter Hydra

1 x Polukranos

2 x Celestial Flare

2 x Condemn

4 x Transguild Promenade

2 x Planar Cleansing

1 x Nemesis of Mortals

2 x Forest

So the sideboard has a few questionable cards, let me start with the obvious ones first. The two Celestial flares are very handy when fighting against just about any deck (I had a particularly good Flare against Emrakul which managed to win me the duel on the next turn) and the two Planar Cleansing’s are only there because I couldn’t borrow some Supreme Verdicts. However, the Nemesis, Mistcutter and Polukranos are only in there because I like them and, truth-be-told, they didn’t see much action in the tournament except for one round where I won game one easily and only lost game two because I didn’t draw any enchantments so I decided to have some fun. Polukranos as an 8/8 (+3/+3 Monstrous) with the Hyena Umbra and a Spectral Flight is scary as anything.

Celestial Flare is a great combat trick, as it can even kill Hexproof or Indestructible Creatures

I did quite well in the tournament. I won round one against a deck that was mostly Targeted burn and Seismic Assault, combined with Dredge and Life From the Loam. The pace of Bogles did very well and just over-ran it, winning 2-1. Second round was against a Controlling white deck called “Death and Taxes” which got used very aggressively and I just couldn’t keep up, even after sideboarding in my defensive cards. I lost that one 0-2. The next round went better against a “Tron” deck (using all three Urza’s lands and several of the larger Eldrazi) with me winning the first game in five turns, but my next two games were a little-off with me keeping a bad hand in the second game and forgetting some triggers in the third. I lost 1-2. The fourth round was against almost the exact-same “Tron” deck, and again I managed to out-run it for a quick win in the first game, lost the second to a very fast Emrakul. So I side-boarded in the two Celestial Flare’s and the two Planar Cleansing’s. Again Emrakul hit the field very early on but I managed to use Celestial Flare to kill it and, despite losing SIX permanents to Emrakul’s Annihilator, managed to win on the next turn with a lucky draw and some Rancors. I win 2-1.

So my score for the weekend was 2-2. There was another player there playing almost the exact same Bogles deck and he also went 2-2. These are decks that, supposedly, are not as good as the main Modern Decks, yet they managed to both get into the top eight of the 16-people tournament.

The tournament, combined with some brilliant advice I have recently received from some more-experienced writers has helped to give me a new perspective on Modern as a format. I always enjoyed the game as a casual past-time but now I am looking forward to the tournaments, I am reading up on different deck-lists and following some of the Modern pro’s for their new ideas and decks.

Another 1/1 Hexproof, the Gladecover Scout is just as effective as the bogles when powered-up.

I have always encouraged people to play Modern but now I want to encourage people to go into the competitive scene. If you like the look of the Bogles deck, then go for it, it’s not expensive. If you don’t like the look of Bogles then go on to the web. Competitive Modern is not the money-bloated pig I made it out to be. It’s reachable, achievable and really good fun.

So, that’s all for today folks. So, keep playing and, Remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

Pay to Play?

Today I am going to have a bit of a talk about Modern. Well, ok a bit of a moan actually.

Modern is a very popular format of Magic the Gathering. It uses cards from 8th Edition onwards (the “Modern” card borders) and has a much more competitive feel to the decks. The eligible cards include the likes of Tarmogoyf, Snapcaster Mage, Ulamog, three different versions of Jace (though not the mind sculpter), the GOOD Lilliana, and, in fact, just about all the planeswalkers.

With access to such a large pool of cards, it’s no wonder that Modern has crafted some interesting and powerful decks. Fancy teaming Return to Ravnica Dimir with it’s original Counter-parts? That’s ok! Four functional re-prints of lightning bolt including the original? That’s cool too! But, this is where the problem lies.

With such creativity, the magic community has crafted several Archetypes of deck. These are a core (or “shell”) of cards that you then add the more extravagant or powerful cards to to create your deck. This leads to Modern Tournaments of forty-fifty players playing with about eight different decks between them. All that possibility distilled to about ten super-decks.

Now, this is the curse of modern players. With Magic sets rotating out every year, the pool for Modern gets larger every year but we STILL get the same ten decks played again and again. Newcomers to the format come to tournaments with their deck built from last-years top cards and get crushed by these Goliath-esque decks.

You see it turns out that to have ANY hope at competitive Modern, you must splash some cash. ALL of the main Archetypes have a “shell” that costs anything between fifty and five hundred dollars, depending on what rarity, expansion and promotional version of the cards you can get. This does, however severely limit what people can access in Modern. Yeah, sure clever trading can get you a good set of cards, but you are going to have to spend eventually.

I hate to sound like I am moaning (ok I love it but I try to be professional) but you could be one of the best tactical players in the game and still get thrashed by someone with a slightly-above-average skill and a lot of cash. Now any talented player can play a good game but, in Modern, it really does seem to be about the price tag (take that, Jessie J!)

I have played many casual games of Modern that have been enjoyable, played with decks made of last-years cards and extra bits, but taken the same deck to a tournament or even a Friday Night Magic Modern Event and it gets ruined. This leads to players feeling despondent (the mood in the car after the groups first Modern event was, to say the least, depressing) and possibly giving up what can be a fantastic format. This can then taint any future games, either against the same opponent or in the same group. Magic is supposed to be about having fun (even in the pro-tours the players seem to enjoy it) and connecting with others. But the “elitism” of Modern hampers this some-what.

I would recommend that everyone builds themselves a Modern Deck and plays it casually. The pool of cards leads to some brilliant combinations and the format itself plays really well. If you do want to go into competitive Modern, be prepared to spend or trade some of your value cards off for cards that don’t seem worth it. Despite my page-long whinge above, I would tell anyone that can to play Modern, as, if they keep it fun and casual, they will enjoy it.

So, there we go. Until next time, Keep playing and, Remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

Sir! Sir!

Today, having talked (at some length) last week about the EDH/Commander format and with the recent release of five new Commander decks from wizards, I thought i would have a look at the five new Commanders that each deck comes with. 

First a brief re-cap, Commander is a format of magic where each player has a deck of 99 cards (all cards are legal) but the deck can contain only one of each card that is not a basic land (called a singleton format). You then chose a Legendary creature OR a creature that costs 7 or more in total to cast.They are the deck’s commander (there are restrictions or deck building in that the deck can only contain mana-symbols that appear on your commander). The commander sits in a special “Commander Zone” on the battlefield and they can be summoned at ay time by paying their mana cost plus 2 extra colourless mana for each time they have died (so it stars at 2R, then 4R if it dies once, 6R if it dies twice etc). They return to the commander zone when they die. 

Right, that’s all you need to know to appreciate thes fantastic new commanders so let’s dive right in.

 

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is a 2/3 Legendary Bird Wizard that casts for GWB. She has flying and whenever she enters the battlefield, or a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, you may tap OR untap target permanent. You can also pay 1GWB to put him onto the battlefield from the commander zone (negating the cumulative penalty from multiple deaths). She is great and the deck that comes with her includes a lot of control cards and big creatures so she fits it perfectly. Her tapping ability helps lock-down your opponent’s creatures turn after turn and she comes our for a total of Four no matter how many times she has died. I can see her being used to make many different control-heave EDH decks in the future.

Jeleva, Nephalia’s Scourge is a 1/3 Legendary Vampire that casts for 1UBR. She has flying and whenever she enters the battlefield each player exiles the top X cards of their deck, where X is equal to the amount of mana spent to cast Jeleva. This, in itself, is a great ability with the cumulative increase in casting cost if she dies but her second ability says that whenever Jeleva attacks, you may cast ANY instant or Sorcery card exiled by her, without paying the mana cost. This makes her not only a great commander, but a great card. So you attack with her and “Borrow” one of your opponents spells to make it a profitable attack. Personally I love this card and am thinking of building a deck with her using a lot of the Return to Ravnica Dimir cards to just mill my opponents out and use their own spells against them, 

 

Marath, Will of the Wild is a 0/0 Legendary Elemental Beast that casts for RGW. It enters the battlefield, with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the amount of mana spent to cast it. You can then pay X and remove the same number of +1/+1 counters from Marath and choose one, either put X +1/+1 counters on target creature, or it deals X damage target creature or player or put an X/X green elemental creature token on to the battlefield. First things first, this guy is hard. Each time you summon him from the Commander Zone he gets more and more powerful. But then his second abilitie(s) make him so strong, for one main reason. He’s Versatile. He can buff a creature, burn a creature, shoot a player or summon a token. And then a couple of turns later you summon him back and then do it all again, for more. 

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is a 4/5 Legendary Giant Soldier that casts for 3WUB. At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain two life. Whenever you gain life, you may pay 1 mana. If you do draw a card and each opponent loses one life. At the beginning of your upkeep, if Oloro is in the Commander Zone, you gain two life.So this guy helps keep your life total healthy and can ping your opponents whilst giving you two cards a turn. His whole deck helps you to gain life and make your opponent pay for it, and to help you gain a massive card advantage. I’ve played against him and he’s very hard and very good. 

 

The last of the new Commanders is Prossh, Skyraider of Kherr. It is a 5/5 Legendary Dragon with flying that casts for 3BRG. So he comes out late in the game, but when you cast Prossh, put X 0/1 red Khobold creature tokens named Khobolds of Kherr Keep onto the battlefield where X is the amount of mana spent to cast Prossh (thats 6 on the first casting, 8 on the second etc) at any point you can sacrifice another creature to give Prossh +1/+0 until end of turn for each creature sacrificed this way. So he’s a little complicated but it boils down to this: He brings a small army of little tokens with him that you can then use to sacrifice to him to help kill big things or seriously damage an opponent. He fits the aggro theme of most Red/Green/Black decks very well and the deck he comes with features very aggressive cards. 

So there we have it, a good look at the five new commanders, each of which is a monster in their own right but have been artfully crafted to work best in EDH. I am so excited about these decks and look forward to purchasing mine (Jelera, you call to me).

So there we go guys, keep playing and, Remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

In Command

With the recent release of Commander 2013, combined with the popularity of Commander as a format, I thought I would take some time today to talk about this uniquely amusing form of Magic the Gathering.

Firstly, how is Commander (also called EDH) different to other formats? Well Commander is actually a hybrid of two other casual formats, one of which is now defunct. EDH stands for Elder-Dragon Highlander. Highlander is a format played as normal but with a deck of 100 cards with only one copy of anything that is not a basic land (called a singleton format) whereas Elder Dragon was a format with a 59-card deck (again singleton) and one legendary creature that “led” the deck and had it’s own special zone on the battlefield that it returned to when it died and could be summoned back from. Both formats used legacy rules for card eligibility.

So EDH has decks of 99 cards, with only one copy of anything that is not a basic land, but ALL cards are legal, even the Unhinged/Unglued cards. You then chose one legendary creature (or a creature that costs more than 7 to cast if you have no legendaries). There have been a few new rules added though. No card can have a mana symbol appear on it that does not appear on your commander, so if your commander is Heliod from Theros, your deck can only be made from White cards that do not have activated abilities using another colour (so you couldn’t include Selesnya Sentry, who has the ability to regenerate it using green mana). Players start with 40 life instead of 20 and the commander sits in it’s own special place on the battlefield.

The commander can be summoned from it’s “Commander Zone” by paying it’s mana cost.  When it dies it returns to the zone BUT costs 2 colourless mana extra the next time it is summoned (so using Heliod as an example (even though he IS indestructible, casts for 3W when first summoned, then 5W if it gets returned to the zone, then 7W the next time etc)

EDH is most fun if played in multi-player, though even with just two players it can still take an hour or two to finish a game, so players usually only play a single game rather than a match. There are no official EDH tournaments though, as it is not supported by Wizards, though they recognise it’s popularity and have started making cards that are effective in EDH as well as official formats, and Commander 2013 is the third set of EDH decks that have been released.

As a group, we once had a five-way EDH game that was very fun and lasted for nearly five hours. It was one of the most entertaining days we ever had as a group and we all really enjoyed it (I won, by the way). I reccommend getting involved in EDH even if you have to borrow a deck from somebody (though the recent Commander 2013 decks are very good and well balanced and a great way to get started).

To give you a bit of a better clue about the way the decks work I’m going to briefly talk about my current favourite.

I have always had a soft-spot for goblins, so I wanted to build an EDH deck that had goblins all through it, but also had a lot of flavour. The Commander is Wort, Boggart Auntie and it includes fourty-two lands (including several non-basics), 30 creatures (25 of which are goblins) and 27 other spells. The goblins include Legion Loyalist, Goblin Arsonist, Goblin Piker and many others but the other 5 creatures are Ogre Slumlord, Wrecking Ogre, Gray Ogre, Ogre Battledriver and Hill giant. I chose these creatures because I like the idea that there is these creatures that follow the horde of goblins because they are a, easy to intimidate and boss around, b, there will probably be a good fight at some point, c, they ALWAYS steal more stuff than they need and can carry or d, all of the above. The spells are mostly burn spells but I have also included Krenko’s Command, Dragon Fodder, Goblin Rally, Doomblade, Murder, Ultimate Price, Grisly Spectacle, Devour Flesh and a few power-ups such as Dynacharge and Weapon Surge.

The deck works really well, with Goblins appearing, disappearing and returning in quick succession. The removal helps deal with some big things but the burn spells help me keep the opponents life low or their creature-count low. Wort’s ability is that, during my upkeep, I can return one goblin creature from my graveyard to my hand. The deck came about mostly by accident, being just all my goblins and burn in one deck, but is fun, fast and better than expected. Due to the high number of goblins and large amount of burn I have named the deck Goblin Fireworks.

Forge of the Gods

As promised, today I shall be talking about the OTHER unique, powerful and useful cards released n Theros, The weapons of the Gods. Each weapon is a Legendary Enchantment Artifact and works well on its own or in conjunction with it’s wielder. They all have a casting cost that includes double of their colour (e.g. the Spear of Heliod needs one normal and two white mana)

So here we go, lets start with the weapon of the Head God, The Spear of Heliod

 

Known as Khrusor, The Spear of Heliod casts for 1WW. It gives each creature you control +1/+1 and, by paying 1WW and tapping it, you can destroy target creature that dealt damage this turn. As you can see it works very well with Heliod. He makes them vigilant, his spear gives them all +1/+1 and, with the amount of heroic stuff white has available, they will very quickly become quite large. This fits Heliod’s flavour very well, just the very presence of the spear inspires his followers and it can be used to deliver his wrath to those that fight against him. Personally I think the spear is more likely to be useful than Heliod, but they form a very nice pair.

 

Known as Akmon, the Hammer of Purphoros casts for 1RR. It gives all creatures you control haste and, by paying 2R and tapping it and sacrificing a mountain, it creates a 3/3 Golem Enchantment Artifact creature Token. Again, it combos well with Purphoros. You summon a creature, the hammer gives it haste and Purphoros deals two damage to your opponent, so it fits RDW decks perfectly and, if need be, he can summon an extra creature, which DOES trigger his deal two damage effect. This also fits the flavour of the god, he re-shapes the very landscape into soldiers to fight alongside his followers.

 

Called Dekella, the Bident of Thassa casts for 2UU. It allows you to draw a card whenever a creature you control deals damage to a player. For 1U and tapping it, creatures your opponent controls must attack if able. So it combines with Thassa’s Scry ability to let you gain massive card advantage, and when your opponent is trying to stay on the defensive, you draw his creatures into attacking you and make profitable blocks. Once again, this fits the flavour of Thassa so well, with her preference for manipulation and control and her ability to plan far ahead into a battle.

 

Known as Mastix, The Whip of Erebos casts for 2BB. It gives all creatures you control lifelink. That is it’s most powerful ability, and very quickly leads to mono-black players having well over 30 life by the end of the duel. For 2BB and tapping it, you can bring a creature card back from your graveyard to the battlefield, it gains haste. It must be exiled at the end of the turn or if it would be sent to the graveyard before the end of the turn. Another example of great flavour, as Erebos uses his whip to drag the souls of the dead back into the realm of the living to help his followers fight. I love this card and it combines brilliantly with Erebos himself, who stops opponents gaining life and whose activated ability requires sacrificing two life.

 

Known as Ephixisis, the bow of Nylea casts for 1GG. It gives all attacking creatures you control Deathtouch. for 1G and tapping it, you can do ONE of the following: put a +1/+1 counter on target creature, Deal two damage to target creature with flying, gain three life or put the top four cards from your graveyard on to the bottom of your deck in any order. Right this one is my pick for “going to be most popular” as it is so versatile. It works well in conjunction with Nylea herself, she gives everything trample and then you either damage a flyer, buff a creature (probably one with heroic getting a nice trigger from it) or in a tight spot, you can gain a little bit of life or even put some of your best cards back into your deck before using something like Lay of the Land (G, Search your library for a basic land card, put it into your hand then shuffle your library) to shuffle your deck up. The bow also fits with Nylea’s flavour, its deathtouch ability showing her aggressive and vengeful side whilst the activated ability showing her ever-changing nature.

So there we have it, five gods, five weapons. Each a powerful card on their own but made infinitely more so by combining with their specified god.

Right guys, keep playing and Remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

By the Gods

In Theros, we have been blessed with five singularly-powerful cards representing the five main Gods of Theros. These cards are not only useful with fantastic abilities, but work in a unique way that is so full of flavour it tastes like chicken.

All five gods share a Devotion ability. They are all indestructible, which helps keep them around. They are all Enchantments unless you Devotion to their colour is five or greater, which is when they become creatures. This fits their flavour so well. They float about behind the scenes granting favours (they each have an activated ability) until their followers are devoted enough that they deign to appear as creatures. Right, let’s look at each of them in order.

Heliod enters the battlefield as an Enchantment for 3W. He gives all other creatures you control Vigilance and, for 2WW, he creates a 2/1 White Cleric, Enchantment Creature token. When you have 5 Devotion to white, he becomes a 5/6 Creature to boot. So he’s big, heavy and spawns creatures to help expand your board. He is the epitome of the white-token deck but a very powerful card in his own right.

Flavour-wise, Heliod is the leader of the Theros Gods. He is the god of the sun and keeps his position by placing his devout followers amongst the populace. He is proud yet convivial, having no trouble making friends, but his loyalty can be fickle.

Purphoros casts as an Enchantment for 3R. He has the “normal” god rules (Indestructible, Enchantment until Devotion is five or more) and whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control he deals two damage to each opponent. You can also pay 2R to give each creature you control +1/+0 until the end of the turn. He’s big, he burns people whenever you summon a creature and he can increase the power of your entire board, When you do have the devotion, he also then becomes a 6/5. He is the pinacle of burn decks. At only four to cast, he isn’t even too slow for most RDW decks.

In the Theros background, Purphoros is the god of the Forge, he crafted the weapons that the gods wield and knows smithing in a way no mortal ever could. He is reasonable, but unrestrained and he crafts the landscape as well as metal, creating the cycle of Destruction and Re-birth vital to Theros’ survival.

Nylea casts as an enchantment for 3G, she has the usual God abilities and gives all creatures you control Trample. For 3G, she grants Target Creature +2/+2 until end of the turn. When your devotion is high enough, she becomes a 6/6. So for those green decks, all your big creatures have trample, and your small and medium sized creatures can be made bigger, and have trample. Again the very definition of the mono-green decks, Nylea has already proven popular in the Pro Tour.

In the Theros world, She is the Goddess of the hunt, representing nature and the seasons. She hates agriculture, seeing it as a travesty against nature and defends her groves against any attempt at logging.

Erebos casts for 3B as an Enchantment. He stops opponents from gaining life and, if you pay 1B and two life, you can draw a card. Whilst not being the most effective of the god cards, stopping your opponent gaining life can cripple those mono-white, or white-green life-gain decks. And being able to draw a card has helped me out of a few sticky situations in several games.

Flavour-wise, Erebos is the god of the dead, in charge of the under-world (banished there by Heliod) he is the only god not connected to their home of Nyx. He is most closely associated with Death, Misfortune, Ill Fate and Envy.

Thassa casts for 2U, making her the cheapest god, she lets you Scry one at the beginning of your upkeep. You can pay 1U to make target creature unblockable until the end of the turn. She plays very well into the blue-evasive decks, letting you control your draw every turn and avoid blockers, no matter what size they are. Thassa has been the most popular god at the recent pro-tour, appearing in several decks, including the winning deck.

In the Theros Background, she is the goddess of the sea. She is associated with Hidden Knowledge, Long Voyages, Vast Distances and The Passage of Time.

So there we have it, the Gods of Theros. They are powerful, useful and each one epitomizes their respective mono-coloured tactics. I love these cards, I have even started work on a mono-black devotion deck with Erebos.

But, what are the gods without their weapons? More about these Artifacts of the Gods in the next Article.

Right guys, keep playing and Remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

Right guys, keep playing and, Remember,

Worth a Fortune.

Today, as I said in my last article, I am going to focus on Scry.

Scry was first created in the Fifth Dawn set, but has appeared in Futuresight, M11 and, ofcourse, Theros. Scry is a very powerful ability that allows you to look at the top X cards of your deck (where X is equal to the Scry number, eg Scry 2) and put any of them on the the bottom of your deck OR the top of your deck in any order. So you Scry two, get a Land you don’t want/need and an Instant you do want below it. You send the land to the bottom of the deck and put the Instant on the top, negating a dead-draw on your next turn.

As you can guess, Scry is not only powerful but is very popular. Being able to basically pick what card you want to draw puts you in much more control of the game.

I’ll go through some of the best Scry cards from the set and tell you why they are so good.

First up, a Fifth Dawn re-print. Magma Jet is an Instant that casts for 1R. It deals two damage to target permanent and allows you to scry two. Burn spell + Scry 2 = Fanatstic. It allows red decks to push away un-wanted cards and start to control the deck, something that makes the average Red Deck Wins deck even better.

Aqueous Form is an Enchantment that casts for U. It enchants a creature, makes that creature Unblockable and allows you to Scry one every time that creature attacks. This is awesome. Just frigging AWESOME. It plays perfectly to blues’ strengths and makes even a little creature powerful.

 

Battlewise Hoplite is a great example of two Theros mechanics working well together. First he’s a 2/2 Human Soldier that casts for WU. So he’s a 2/2 for two, which is always good. He has Heroic that, when triggered, puts a +1/+1 counter on him AND lets you Scry one. So he gets bigger whilst helping you mould your deck and improve your draws.

 

Witches eye is an Equipment card that casts for 1. Its’ Equip cost is also 1. Equipped creature then has “1, tap: Scry 1” So you put it on a defender and then, at your opponent’s end-step, you Scry one to peek at the card you are about to draw. Don’t want it? Push it and take the next card. Brilliant at helping manipulate your deck.

 

Dissolve is an Instant that casts for 1UU. It counters target spell and lets you Scry 1. So its a BETTER Cancel (1UU, counter target spell). It costs the same, counters any spell BUT lets you Scry as a bonus. Love this card, my favourite counter-spell of the set.

 

Finally, one of the most popular cards in the set. Read the Bones is a Sorcery that casts for 2B. You Scry 2, Draw 2 then lose two life. This card has saved my life several times. It is essentially better than a Sign in Blood (BB, target player draws two cards and looses two life) because it lets you look at the two cards before you draw them and decide if you want to draw THOSE cards or just one of them or the next two. Fantastic way to re-gain control of the game or get ahead of your opponent.

Before I go I Have to mention the new Multi-Lands, the Temples. Each Temple can be taped for one of two colours of mana. They enter the battle-field tapped but allow you to Scry one when the enter. They come in Blue/Black, Blue/Green, Green/Red, Red/White or White/Black.

 

Right, that is Scry, Next week, we talk GODS! So until then, Keep Playing and Remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

 

Holding out for a Hero

I realised something, whilst writing last weeks’ articles, that I have neglected not one but two mechanics from the Theros block. There is the new mechanic, Heroic, and the return of Scry. So lets go through them and some of the best examples right now. Today, I’ll be focusing on Heroic but keep your eyes peeled for my thoughts on Scry.

Heroic is an ability that activates whenever the creature is targeted by a spell you control. ANY spell. Instant, Sorcery, enchantment or Bestowed creature, no matter what it is, you target your creature and you get a great effect.

Firstly, one of the set’s legendary creatures.

Anax and Cymede is a 3/2 Human soldier that casts for 1RW. It has First Strike. Oh, AND vigilance. That, right there, is awesome. But it’s Heroic ability is fantastic. Whenever you trigger it, Anax and Cymede gives all creatures you control +1/+1 and Trample until the end of the turn. So you team it up with several medium creatures or a few bigger/buffed creatures, cast a combat trick or something onto Anax and you suddenly have a very scary front line for the turn. This is only temporary though so you have the be cautious of over-committing and getting killed in response.

Agent of the Fates is a 3/2 Human Assassin that casts for 1BB. It has Deathtouch and, when its’ heroic is triggered it forces all opponents to sacrifice a creature. This guy rules, he is a decent stats, has Deathtouch and makes your opponent lose creatures, even Hexproof or indestructible creatures, as it doesn’t target any specific ones and doesn’t destroy. Oh and he increases your black devotion by two. Very nice card.

Anthousa, Setessan Hero is a 4/5 Human Warrior that casts for 3GG. So she’s a 4/5 for 5, that’s cool because she has double green, helping increase the green devotion. But when her Heroic is triggered, she turns up to three lands you control into 2/2 warriors. So you summon her with four lands and an elvish mystic turn four, then next turn play another forest, attack with her, cast a spell on her then boom, you suddenly have an extra six damage heading your opponent’s way. Even without her trigger, she is still a nice blocker. Love this card.

Artisan of Forms is a 1/1 Human Wizard that casts for 1U. But it’s heroic trigger allows it to become a copy of target creature, but keeping the heroic ability allowing it to change. So it starts off, frankly, rubbish. Then you trigger it and suddenly your little 1/1 becomes a Voice of Resurgence or a Desecration Demon, or even a God. Then if your opponent finds some way around that (say its copying Porphuros and they hit it with a Doomblade) you cast something on it, such as triton tactics, and make it a copy of a black creature (negating the Doomblade). I really like this card and a couple may find their way into my blue/black devotion deck.

Akroan Crusader is a 1/1 Human Soldier that casts for R. Its heroic trigger generates a 1/1 soldier token with haste for each spell cast on it you control. This is very solid. A 1/1 for One that expands your board the more you target it. With enchantments such as messenger speed and dragon mantle in Theros alone, you can very quickly have a bunch of soldiers chipping away at your opponents’ life or ganging up to block the big stuff. Solid card, a soon-to-be-staple in loads of decks.

Phalanx Leader is, personally, one of my favourite Heroes. He is a 1/1 Human Soldier that casts for WW. His heroic trigger puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control, including himself. So you summon him down and just target him with everything applicable. Ethereal Armours, Bestow creatures, Gods’ Willing, Dauntless Onslaught, whatever you cast, he buffs ALL your creatures permanently. I have found that the leader, the crusader and Anax combine to form a wall of ever-expanding soldiers constantly getting larger and gaining trample. But this guy is dynamite on his own.

So, what do we all think? Are the Heroes going to see much play. They didn’t have a very strong presence in the standard rounds of the Theros Pro-Tour but played well in the Draft rounds. Only time will tell.

So guys, keep playing and, remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

Opposites Attract (Epilogue)

And, because I just couldn’t bear to leave it out, instead of an RCC today, we are going to have my thoughts on Green in the MTG universe, and it’s usual Mono-Coloured Decks.

In the MTG universe, Green represents Nature and Growth, but also decay and rebirth. Green mages use their talents to entwine the opponents in vines or summon hordes of savage beasts, tribal centaurs and graceful elves to help defeat their foes.

Most Mono-Green decks include a lot of cards such as Lay of the Land, Elvish Mystic or Gatecreeper Vine, increasing the amount of land available allowing the decks’ two other main parts to be used more effectively. These are very Large creatures and Combat Tricks. The increased land gets your seven and eight cast guys down on turn five or six, and the lands means you will usually have one or two free to cast your combat tricks such as giant growth.

Green players will increase their mana (known as ramping) as a priority turns one, two and three, no matter how much they life they lose. Once the mana is in sufficient supply, they start dropping smaller creatures as blockers, or attacking with them and using combat tricks to start whittling down the opponent’s board. Then, a few turns earlier than expected, the big 6/6’s and 7/7’s come down on to the board. By this point, the game is usually in favour for the green player.

So there we have it, my opinion on all FIVE colours sorted.

Until next time guys, keep playing and, Remember, Have Fun!

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746

Opposites attract (Part 2)

Time for part two of our Mono-Coloured Special, this time, two other opposite colours to compare, including their usual mono-coloured decks. Here we go……

Black

In the MTG universe, black is the colour of death. Of rot, plague and despair. Black mages use their powers to weaken their opponents, sow despair in their minds and attack their very souls, leaving their enemies as life-less husks, driven by basic instinct. 

Your usual mono-black deck is packed with spells that make your opponent discard, weaken or outright kill your opponents creatures and creatures of your own that have abilities that force your opponent to play in a certain way (my favourite example of this in the current standard is the Desecration Demon, during combat, your opponent can chose to sacrifice a creature to tap Desecration Demon and put a +1/+1 counter on it, so your opponent kills his own creatures and powers yours up). 

A Black Player’s major tactic is to use removal to kill the opponents’ creatures whilst attacking back with their own creatures (usually quite large demons and vampires), and making your opponent discard his combo-cards. Black decks can be very quick, but also get stronger the longer the game goes. 

White

In the MTG universe, White is the colour of healing, of courage and religion and honour. White mages use their abilities to embolden their soldiers, healing their injuries and lengthening the fight until they have enough holy wrath to destroy the enemy.

White decks tend to feature a lot of specialist creatures with powerful effects and enchantments. Staples are things like Pacifism (stops enchanted creature attacking or blocking) and the Fiendslayer Paladin (protection from Black and Red, Lifelink, First Strike) and combos these cards to great effect, creating a board full of creatures with great stats and abilities and enchantments protecting the player from harm.

The main aim of the white deck is to combine smaller creatures with great effects with enchantments that make them stronger or grant them new abilities to increase their value. You combine this with other enchantments to lock-down your opponents’ creatures or stall an attack (both Pacifism and Sphere of safety do this very well, sphere makes your opponent pay X mana to attack you or a planeswalker you control, where X is the number of Enchantments you control). Then you hit back with your enhanced creatures. 

Now, I know what you may be thinking. “Where is Green in all this?” my problem is that green doesn’t really have an opposite in the MTG universe as it represents Nature. However, stay peeled and it might come up.

 

Please note I own none of the material mentioned in this article. Magic : The Gathering is property of Wizards of the Coast and I have no rights or legal ownership of any images or material used. They are used under Fair Use and I make no claims of ownership.

 

Also, check out our new, Harrogate based Tournament Organisers and soon-to-be collectibles store https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatehouse-Collectables/1434717780085746