So, much time has passed since I last wrote about underappreciated cards, but it has now been a full year since Dragon’s Maze joined us as far as a set to be played. By and large, the reception for Dragon’s Maze was lukewarm at best despite having all the flash and dazzle of being the final set for the Return to Ravnica block. However, the set was rife with cards that are geared for EDH and multiplayer formats with only a few staples that would get seriously added to the pool of competitive cards. It did allow for the full Return to Ravnica block draft, which was also very challenging and tons of fun, but constructed players were deeply saddened by the near unplayable cards and fringe options the set yielded. However, this set was a veritable gold mine for casual players of all stripes. Today, I’ll be going through my selections for some underappreciated cards at each of the 4 rarity slots (common through Mythic) that you might want to slide into a deck the next time you sit down to play at your next Casual Encounters.
Dragon’s Maze gave us a full set of 10 Maze Runners, champions for each guild that would negotiate the Maze and dominate Ravnica. However, while it would seem that the Maze Runners were going to be the most powerful cards printed in the set, the reality was that many of them were clunky and poor at best. No, the most powerful cards were creatures like Voice of Resurgence, Aetherling, and Blood Baron of Vizkopa and a select few spells like Advent of the Wurm. However, while the Maze Runners weren’t much fun to play with, and these select high priority spells cost a small fortune to acquire a play set, there are still plenty of viable cards at all 4 slots that can bring some variety and fun effects to your next game.
Each of the 5 colours had a Gatekeeper for 4 mana. These 2/4 creatures were serviceable bodies in their own right but hardly exciting unless you controlled a pair of guildgates, in which case you were able to reap some sort of benefit. Now let’s be honest with ourselves. In draft were you likely to EVER be able to grab a pair of guildgates? Not likely. In any form of constructed format, were you likely to even THINK about playing guildgates, much less these guys? NOPE. In EDH you are only likely to have a pair of guildgates, at best, among your 100 cards which means you would be unlikely to be keen to run these cards either. No, these gatekeepers fall firmly in the realm of casual players looking to do something silly with them. Of their abilities, they are pretty standard (ie. Blue draws a card, Black gives target creature -2/-2, Red gives a threaten effect etc) and only impact the board when they enter play…but if you’ve read some of my previous articles I LOVE making these effects recur by finding ways to get my stuff to leave play and then re-enter the battlefield. Also, as a Casual player, I’m very apt to play guildgates because they are very functional (if unexciting) ways to help smooth out your mana. Particularly in a multiplayer game of some sort where things may be a little slower, the requirement for the correct colours is key and you may be spared the punishment of having lands come into play tapped by the slower pace of the multiplayer environment. These 5 guys are solid additions with decent bodies and good upside. Give them a second look and see if you can make them fit into a deck the next time you sit down to play.
If you’ve been reading my other articles, you might have got the sense that I’m big on the shenanigans that +1/+1 counters can do for you in Return to Ravnica block. Scavenge and Evolve are both super interesting mechanics and the ability to then turn around and draw cards off of those counters is super fun. In a previous article about Gatecrash I attempted to describe how Zameck guildmage can be abused to draw all sorts of cards off those counters…but with Give//Take you don’t even need a Zameck in play to go card crazy. Perhaps my most favorite play is to land Prime Speaker Zegana on the battlefield and draw cards equal to her power. This can usually be a fairly solid number of cards because having her be at least a 5/5 is no real stretch. However, on your next turn, cast both halves of Give and Take and turn all those +1/+1 counters into cards and suddenly your card advantage has gone bananas. In a multiplayer casual variant this is totally possible and means that you now have a significant edge over the opposition because of the resources available to you. Let me assure you, it’s fun and your opponents will be doing their utmost to prevent this from happening since they don’t want to get caught behind in the race for resources…and when you pull it off it’ll be amazing! Try it out for yourself!
This guy is so simple in terms of design and so mindlessly powerful that he gets overlooked. A 2/2 indestructible creature for 4 mana means he’s likely too expensive for a Constructed format (and to trip his Battalion ability takes WAY too much set up cost), but in a casual environment this guy is a true menace. It is very conceivable to see this guy get his Battalion ability triggered and be a MONSTROUS 7/7 wrecking ball of hate smashing around…and he’s indestructible meaning he’s wildly difficult for your opponents to deal with. If nothing else he becomes a reliable blocker and suitable target to dress up with auras to pump him with because you are unlikely to get 2 for 1ed off of an exchange. But here’s the thing, more than a few people in my play group will just flip right on by Tajic in favour of other creatures…and every time I ask “WHY? ARE YOU SICK? PLAY THAT DUDE!”. He crushes face, is hard to deal with, isn’t unreasonably costed and is in perhaps the most aggressive colour combo available…making him a perfect bulldozer in your next game. Trust me…you won’t regret it.
As always, the mythic slot is hard to pick because they are all powerful. Dragon’s Maze was no exception and the planeswalker of the set seems like a dead obvious place to start when picking a card, but Ral was spoiled with great fanfare. His ultimate, of flipping coins and taking extra turns, is hilarious and immediately caught the attention of the Magic playing community…only to hit the ground at release with a resounding THUD! He was unplayable in competitive Standard, and cost too much to play any Eternal format. His first two abilities are reasonable, but hardly awe inspiring, and the ultimate leaves a lot to be desired. Basically, he was very quickly resigned to his role of coming off the bench for Casual Magic and I’ll happily pick him up to pinch hit for me!
If nothing else, the ultimate ability on Ral Zarek just SCREAMS Casual all-star. When you think of playing Casual Magic you think of splashy cards, crazy abilities, and full on shenanigans…well…here you go! All of these things are rolled into the flip of coins as part of Ral Zarek’s ultimate. Also, his +1 ability of tapping and untapping various permanents just leads to soooo many ridiculous plays that it is almost impossible to list all the possibilities. Basically, Ral Zarek opens up loads of fun and innovative options that will totally take your opponents by surprise that I think he’s well worth the time to pick him up and give a try.
So, no article highlighting underplayed cards would be complete without some sort of deck showcasing some of the cards and today is no exception. Now, if I asked you how do the vast majority of games get won and lost, what would you say? If you said attacking with creatures, you would be right. Sure, sure, there are some people who prefer combo or mill or locking out your opposition with a control deck, but let’s be real, you play Casual Magic to cast fat creatures, turn them sideways and see what powerful interactions you can dream up. Now, let’s change the axis on which you are prepared to engage your opponent and instead of you using YOUR creatures to kill your opponent, why not use HIS creatures to kill your opponent.
Let’s see what I’ve got today:
The game plan with this deck was inspired by that older brother who used to take your hand and smack you in the face with your own hand…and then say “Stop hitting yourself!”. So, your opponent is expecting you cast creatures and attack, but in reality you are waiting for them to cast creatures and then use Act of Treason and Traitorous instinct to take their creature and smack them in the face. However, what made this deck really sweet was the addition of Smelt-Ward Gatekeepers who is an Act of Treason attached to 2/4 body…and if it is attached to a body it can be recurred. So, the ability to have Roaring Primadox return Smelt-Ward Gatekeepers to your hand and cast it again for the recurring Threaten effect. Ubul-Sar Gatekeepers is basically a Dead-Weight on a stick and Saruli Gatekeepers gains you a huge pile of life that can quickly put things out of range, but they aren’t the real threats. Now, after you’ve taken the creatures with the Threaten effect, most opponents won’t block because they don’t want to block their own creature, when they know that they will be getting the card back shortly so they eat the damage and hope to move on. Before you return the creature, nothing is more hilarious that sacrificing it to one of the numerous Sacrifice outlets in the deck for a) more damage b) cards c) to mill them d) attack their hand e) gain more life. The options are endless and drive your opponent bonkers because they are expecting to get the creature back. As an additional way to close out the game Crackling Perimeter allows you to tap the large number of gates in your deck to do damage to your opponent and close out the game. All in all, this deck is a funny way to punch your opponent in the face with their own creatures and to reap the benefits.
So, that’s my selection for underappreciated cards from Dragon’s Maze and a little sample of what you can do with the cards to make a fun and unexpected deck that can really frustrate your opponent. Perhaps I’ve missed something and some of you have other things you would rather play, or cards that I may have skipped over, so I’m always game to hear what others think. Shoot me a tweet and let me know what you thought…or go ahead and build yourself your on deck and see what you can find from Dragon’s Maze to make your next Casual Night fun and lively.
Until next time, keep fun, keep it safe…keep it Casual.
By Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791
Usually I sit down to write about cards, or decks, or other fun parts of Magic. However every once in a while I experience something that I can only describe as being “wrong” and it sets me off. So, today I’m going to take that rant and run with it. This past weekend my brother and his roommate went off to the Local Game Shop to play in a Sunday afternoon draft. Their experience can only be described as being “suboptimal” and not because they made mistakes, but because other players very seriously overstepped the bounds of what is acceptable conduct. Let me explain.
My brother sent me a message saying that the player he was facing in round 1 of the draft had spent most of the actual drafting process gloating about how he and his friend were going to meet in the finals because everyone else at the draft table were “noobs”. My brother bit his tongue, and sat down and played the guy. Throughout the entire match the same sorts of comments continued to come out my brother’s opponent to the point where my brother was very annoyed. In the end my brother, the “noob”, mopped the floor with this other guy and sent him off to pout.
Now, the first point here is that you can never underestimate your opponent, regardless of format, and to assume that you will be in the finals because you are facing less experienced players is a grave error. You simply can’t assume to be familiar with the playing background of the players around you just because you don’t recognize them as local regulars. In the case of my brother, who is a doctor and spends extensive amounts of time at local area hospitals, he doesn’t get an opportunity to play at the store very often, but he’s hardly inexperienced. He plays plenty of Magic online, drafts with me and my friends regularly enough, and has been playing Magic on and off again since he was 12 years old. He’s no “noob” and to assume that he is a “noob” is asking for a humbling experience. That lesson extends from your local FNM to the highest level events. Magic is a terrific game and with any series of games almost anyone can win. Yes, experience helps, but you can’t assume you will win. You need to still play the games and play to the best of your abilities or else you will end up getting beaten more often than not.
Next, while you may be the more experienced player and you may have the superior deck, it still doesn’t give you license to gloat about how you win almost every match. Let’s remind people why we play Magic. Yes, it’s fun to win, but at its core people enjoy the experience of PLAYING regardless of whether they win or lose. We, as a community of Magic players, should be looking to make that experience as positive as possible for everyone. This doesn’t mean you need to try and prop up the guy who finishes last at your FNM, or drafts junk at side event of a PTQ just so he doesn’t feel bad. However, what it does mean is that you at least need to be courteous to the other players at the event and allow them to have as much fun as they can. In my career as a teacher, we repeatedly talk to the students about treating others the way they would like to be treated, and this same lesson applies here. In the my brother’s experience this other player could only be described as a jerk and in my personal opinion got what he deserved when he got wiped all over the table. However, any player shouldn’t have to put up with a guy boasting like that and spoiling the fun of others.
Thirdly, what IF you are playing an inexperienced player? My brother could handle himself just fine, but I’ve been to enough drafts where there are players that are drafting for the first time. They make poor card selections, play things incorrectly, and generally aren’t real sure of what to do and when. I feel like it is the job of more experienced players to try and help these newer players learn how to improve their skills. All it takes is a moment to stop play and explain what a card does, or suggest that they target the real problem on the board because they may have misidentified or misunderstood what is happening. However, when players boast and gloat about their relative abilities and prospects of winning, I find it difficult to believe that in the next breath they will be willing to sit down and help a newer player to learn. We want to encourage more people to enjoy the game, and that means having them come out to play at different events, but by acting in a way that intimidates or spoils their experience then we end up further discouraging players and turning players off of our great game. That really isn’t optimal for the long term health of Magic.
Now, by no means am I trying to paint all Magic players with the same brush. My experiences have been exactly the opposite of what my brother witnessed and for that I am thankful. Many of the players I have played with when I venture to the Local Game Shop have been very friendly and willing to answer questions, give a quiet tip here or there, and just generally be sociable. I can think of numerous examples of very helpful opponents who have gone out of their way to help me and I can only try to repay the favor. Some players aren’t overly sociable and willing to talk about cards, or lines of play, or really anything, but at least they are usually courteous. We play our game, somebody wins and somebody loses, and we both move on with life. I can live with that and really expect nothing more from my opponent.
If you can live up to that simple expectation then you too play the game with what I can simply term “class”, and really that is all I can ask. Some players play with more class than others, and that’s fine. The issue becomes when players have forgotten that their opponent has taken time out of their busy life to try and play a little Magic and have some fun, and they opt instead to be play the game without any class and act like a jerk.
What can we really do about it? Well, nothing. I can’t give anyone the moral high ground to walk around their favorite game shops and be the “class” police. However, what we can do is to sit back, be somewhat reflective, and think about how we treat other players when we head out to the shop to play. I’m not saying to quash genuine emotion, or to make the game cold and calculating, but I am asking players to come to the table and play in such a way as to treat your opponents with the respect they are due. It seems like such common sense and easy to do, but a wiser man than I once said “common sense isn’t all that common”. How true, indeed.
So, when you head out to your Local Game Shop for FNM, a pre-release, or casually with your friends in a basement, remember you never know who you’re playing against, so consider how you would like to be treated and then play your game of Magic with all the class you can muster. Your opponent deserves at least that much.
Ok…rant over.
Thanks very much, and until next time keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.
Bruce Gray
Spring is here! Thank goodness because winter felt VERY long. The sun feels warmer, the snow is all gone and the excitement of summer is just around the corner. It is also the time of change. New flowers, new leaves, new clothes, new activities, new plans…ah…new plans…here’s an idea.
The Spring set is here with Journey into Nyx. Standard will start to evolve with the new cards, but rotation is only 4 months away with a new block on the way that will change the complexion of the Meta-game completely. Players who aren’t already committed to this Standard format but are looking to get into playing Standard have a very serious conundrum. They COULD run around and track down the chase rares to put together a strong Standard deck, but that can be pretty pricey for a limited 4 month window where the cards will be well and truly playable. And if you are on almost any sort of budget, well, now we are talking a near impossibility. So what is an aspiring Standard player to do? Well, let this be a sort of a road map to help you find your way to getting ready to play Standard. I’ll lay out a series of steps that an aspiring Standard player on a tight budget could follow in order to get ready to join the ranks of competitive Standard players at any Local Game Shop.
Once again, here is my usual disclaimer. There will be some players out there that won’t heed a single word of this. They have the deep pockets needed to pick up all the Standard playable staples they need. I however have players with a limited budget each month. What exactly is that budget? I have no precise number in mind, but the basic tenets will remain the same. Players with slightly larger budgets can likely accomplish the steps more quickly, but even those with tighter budgets can hope to get there following these steps. So, without further delay let’s see what we’ve got.
As uncool as this sounds, the mana base is the backbone to every deck. I have often maintained that the mana base can’t win you the game…but you sure as heck can lose the game if you don’t have the right mana. Now is the time to track down full play sets of all the Scry lands, Nykthos, and Mana Confluence as these will be key lands in every two colour (or more) deck once rotation hits. The nice thing with the mana base, from a monetary standpoint, is that they at least seem to hold their value once you’ve invested in them. So, once they rotate out, you can probably still find a taker who will be willing to either allow you to trade for reasonable value or a shop that will give you decent (notice…decent) value off their Buy list.
Now, this is absolutely an investment. Lands don’t come cheap and the scry lands all look to run at least $5 a piece (more for some of them), but if you can find someone willing to trade with you for them ,or a decent price on them somewhere, your budget will be wisely spent on these. Don’t worry if you get fleeced a little on your trade. If your end goal is to play Standard, then you will need the lands to play, and if you have other older cards that someone is willing to trade for to give you those lands, well, guess what? You’re doing it.
One of the biggest traps that players fall into is that they want to “crack packs”. I love cracking packs…we all do…but the numbers don’t play out very well in your favour. So, how else do you get cards? The answer is easy…draft. For your entry fee into a draft you get the equivalent of 3 packs of cards…AND you get to try those cards out in game play. This is the perfect place to try out that kind of unusual rare card you opened, just to see what it does. Maybe you want to try out a different colour combination that isn’t your all time favorite in order to get a feel? Draft is a great place to get your feet wet experimenting and trying out new ideas. Heck, you might even win a few prizes along the way to further expand your pool of available cards without costing you any extra. Don’t bank on the prizes because you are out experimenting, so your decks may be somewhat less streamlined than other players, but every once in a while a little prize support is a nice bonus for your night of drafting.
Now, the danger with draft this time of year is that soon the new stand alone set will be out. Last year it was Modern Masters, this year it’s Conspiracy. These cards aren’t Standard playable, so if you do sit down to draft these, this won’t help you much in terms of getting you ready for Standard post-rotation (although it is fun!). So, be sure to be familiar with the format you will be drafting and the sets that will be used.
It has already been said by Gerald right here on Three Kings Loot that one of the best ways to prepare yourself for the NEXT Standard format is to sit down and make a conscious effort to play block constructed. Whether that is with your buddies at a kitchen table, or at a shop if they host a Block Constructed event, the experience of limiting your key card pool will be a huge factor in determining how prepared you will be for the next Standard format. You will see what cards emerge as cards that were underplayed in the current format and that might make a splash once rotation hits. So, Herald of Torment…time to shine big guy!
The biggest difference with Magic in 2014 versus when I started in 1996 is that the amount of information available to players is staggering. Between all the various discussion groups, websites, articles, podcasts, and videos there is no shortage of information for the average player. I would strongly suggest that you take the time to sit down and read the thoughts of players and writers you like and respect. As we near rotation many of these players will have the advantage of sitting down and doing their utmost to figure out the best strategies in the new format and can give you some helpful tips to help you along…just by reading the internet.
The other great asset is all the coverage of various events available. Between the Pro tour coverage and coverage from other events around the globe (and watching MTGO for those who have time) you can not only see the deck lists of these many top players, but you can actually see them in action. This will give you a chance to see the decision making processes tied to each choice made. This is super useful so that you can make optimal use of whatever strategy you like best. Let’s be honest, many of the guys on the Pro-Tour are going to get maximum bang for their buck with each card and it is undoubtedly helpful for us less experienced players to see them in action. The same can be said of watching players at your local game shop that you respect and like the way they play. Yes, it can be nerve wracking to sit down and watch someone live and in person at a store, but if you start talking to them you might find that they are quite willing to sit and talk shop with you to give you some pointers
It takes a lot of time in order to get really good at something and Magic is no different. If you want to play Standard, and presumably if you are playing on a competitive (or semi-competitive ) basis you would like to be as good as possible, then you will need to sink time into this. This is by far and away the hardest part of making this transition. Up until this point you can do most of the steps I’ve laid out with some money you’ve saved up or for free on open sources on the internet. However, there is a finite amount of time in each day and unless you are independently wealthy or playing Magic for a living, there will be other things that will drain your time. This will mean evening trips to the game shop to sit down and play. It likely also means some weekend as well. You will need to sit and read about changes to the meta game and how it will impact your deck of choice. And most of all, you will need to play. Play lots. Play lots against just about anyone. The more you play, the better you will get at playing your deck and the choices you will need against each other archetype. Time is absolutely a commodity and something else you will need to gauge closely if you hope to perform to the best of your abilities.
So, these are the 5 steps that I’ve seen and other players I know take in order to climb into the realm of Standard competitive Magic. For some this works out great because they are prepared to invest wholeheartedly. For others, this process is difficult for a number of reasons. Needless to say, these 5 steps each have their own pit falls that must be navigated and may not come easy. This is part of the reason making the transition from playing Casual Magic to Standard is tricky. Not impossible…but it is tricky. Needless to say, it can be very rewarding once you get yourself into the format, but it is not for everyone, and that’s ok. Not everyone on the planet needs to play Standard…there are formats aplenty for each and everyone.
Thanks everyone and I hope that some of you find this helpful. If there are aspiring Standard players out there I hope I haven’t made the process seem too daunting. It is achievable, but it does take a plan. This is just one of many ways to getting to your end goal. In the mean time, I’ll go back to brewing up silliness and see where my Casual meandering takes my Magic and my decks.
Take care and until next time Keep it fun, Keep it Safe…Keep it Casual.
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791
I had an interesting discussion with someone over the weekend about a previous article I wrote. I have long maintained that getting into Modern doesn’t have to be overly expensive, as I have explained in a previous article right here on Three Kings Loot. However, people still don’t seem to believe me. So, I set myself a little challenge to show another, different way to get into playing Modern.
The Duel Decks, for those that aren’t familiar, are a pair of themed decks sold together with the intent of being played against each other. This is for those players who are somewhat familiar with the game play of Magic, but aren’t really comfortable building their own decks yet. The nice part about the Duel decks, particularly those built around Planeswalkers, is that there is a surprising amount of value and very playable cards contained within each. You can’t argue when decks contain foiled Planeswalkers, solid cards like Underworld Connections, premium creatures like Hellrider and Reaper of the Wilds, and splashy counter magic like Remand. So, I periodically pick up these Duel decks, sometimes because of the sweet alternate art on the cards, or because I’m actually pretty jazzed about the cards that they contain. The only issue with the Duel decks is that, because they are pre-constructed, they contain a large number of single cards as opposed to the more powerful 3 or 4 of certain cards that get used in other constructed decks made by players. This means that your deck has a high degree of variance each time you draw. This is fun if the other deck has an equal amount of variance, but if the deck is more concentrated and loaded with high powered spells then the reality is that you are likely to get blown out. What can you do about this?
My solution has been to take two of the Duel Decks and to mash them together to see what I can brew up as the best deck. My starting point was to take the Tibalt deck from Sorin vs Tibalt and then to take the deck made for Vraska out of Jace vs Vraska. This means that you get R/B/G deck in terms of colours, which is normally referred to as Jund. Now, my limitations were that I could only use the cards contained in the decks. You’ll see I violated this a little bit, but that I’ll explain what I did and I don’t really think that I violated the spirit of the deck. I will also go through some of the options you could make in order to spice up this new deck that I have affectionately taken to calling Jund Mash-up.
First off, let’s review the deck list for each of the decks I’m using for the Mash-up.
Here is Tibalt-
Now, for Vraska.
These two decks give us quite a number of options to take any Mash-up in, but there are some very obvious cards that are too good to pass up. First off, Tibalt and Vraska need to make the cut because they both offer us some very powerful abilities. Both of these Planeswalkers get a bit of a bad rap, but only because there are others out there that are far more powerful. That doesn’t mean that these two can’t be solid additions to a deck such as this. Next, Underworld Connections is too good a card to leave out simply because of the card draw ability. Reaper of the Wilds and Hellrider are extremely powerful 4 drops that can’t be ignored. Terminate is an extremely efficient removal spell and Browbeat allows you to do two things you want: either draw cards, or make your opponent take damage. So let’s take a look at what I slotted in here to make up the 60 cards in the Mash-up deck.
Jund Mash-Up deck
So, there is the 60 card list. You’ll notice that the only additions I made were to add an extra Reaper of the Wild, because I had an extra, an extra Treasured Find (for exactly the same reason). I substituted Night’s Whisper and replaced it with the improved Read the Bones. Finally, Last Kiss was replaced with the virtually identical Pharika’s Cure. For the Read the Bones I was prepared to pay the extra colorless mana to Scry 2 and then draw 2 meaning my card selection was vastly improved. For Pharika’s Cure I decided that the double black in the casting cost was preferable to paying three mana (2 colourless and a black) because I could have access to it earlier.
So, with only minor substitutions I have created a Jund Mash-Up deck that can do a little bit of everything. The heavy creature removal package pretty much assures everything dies to my spells. The Underworld Connection and Browbeat and Read the Bones allow for additional card draw to keep up the pressure. Blightning is the only real source of hand disruption, but with the ability of Treasured Find I could replay this card and make use of the ability again…and I could go and craft a sideboard out of the remaining cards that will assuredly pack some pretty good discard options. Lastly, the curve of creatures is pretty reasonable. Jund decks have the ability to get out early and this deck is no different. With a number of 2 drops early pressure is almost a guarantee and by 4 mana the real heavy hitters are hitting the battlefield allowing you to really take charge. All in all, the build “feels” pretty decent, if still a little high on the variance order due to all the single cards in the deck.
The easiest way to spice this deck up would be to tinker with your land base. Now, I’m not going to go for pricey lands because you may not have the high price lands like Shocklands from Return to Ravnica. However, there are still a number of options available to you still in the form of Guildgates, namely Rakdos, Golgari and Gruul. The issue becomes if you add in these 12 Guildgates a lot of your land comes into play tapped…which is a perfectly valid observation…but with a tri-colour deck such as this you may put more of a premium on the lands that produce 2 colours instead of just playing basic lands. It also means Tainted Wood may not be a strong choice because you may not control a swamp to allow it to produce green and black mana. Other options are more of the Zendikar life-gain lands like Kazandu Refuge or Akoum Refuge. These inexpensive lands still give you access to both colours of mana, but at least you get a life when it enters the battlefield. Of course, you can keep going on down the line and find plenty of expensive lands if you want, but if the goal is to try and keep your deck cost down and at a reasonable level these choices are perfectly acceptable.
For those interested, the Duel Decks themselves run about $25 for either the Sorin vs Tibalt or the Jace vs Vraska decks at your local game shop, so you would need to shell out about $50 in order to put this together. All in all, that’s pretty decent value and gives you a starting point from which to begin to build your Jund deck to make it more competitive. This shell will give you enough of the key ingredients that you can play and not look out of place, but as discussed, you will miss out on the consistency due to the much higher degree of variance in the cards in your deck. Still, it is a beginning and a fun stepping stone to get you into Modern and ready to play…and gives these Duel decks a new lease on life outside of just being decks primed to face off against each other.
So, before you turn your nose up the next Duel Deck you see, take a second and give it a deeper look. Is there something more you could be doing with this collection of cards? What pieces could you put together in order to maximize what you get out of these deck lists? The possibilities are just about endless even with such a limited card pool and it won’t break the bank…and has plenty of fun available when you play.
Thanks very much and if you guys have any feedback or suggestions on things you would like to see me explore, I’m all ears and would love to hear what you guys want to see me dig up and bang on next.
So, until next time, Keep it fun, keep it safe…Keep it Casual.
Bruce Gray
I hope everyone enjoyed their pre-release events this weekend. I had a blast playing in a Two Headed Giant pre-release and got my first up close and personal look and feel for Journey into Nyx. The consensus around the room was that the set was very solid and very interesting. There are some terrific cards, some very intricate cards that will need careful timing to work, and a bunch of very useful and relevant creatures that make the whole process a lot of fun. I wanted to take a moment, now that we’ve all got a taste, what I think are some of the more exciting and interesting cards from Journey into Nyx.
Let’s start off with this disclaimer. I may not be picking the best cards, or the flashiest cards. I’ll leave that to players who will trying to brew up top level competitive decks. No, I’m taking more of a Casual approach and looking at cards that I feel offer us something interesting that we may not have seen in a while, offer some interesting deck ideas, or are just plain fun. So, without further delay, let’s get to looking at what new treats I can’t wait to get my hands on where Journey into Nyx is with us for real.
Commons-
There are actually a number of really sweet commons that have been printed in the set and I had a hard time settling on one…so I picked 2.
Desecration Plague I love the versatility of this card. The ability to take out an enchantment or a LAND is super fun, particularly the land. With this and Red’s Demolish in the same set, the Casual Brewer in me is seriously looking at building a R/G land destruction deck and just make a wreck of the land base for my opponent and frustrate the heck out of them. I bet there is no one else on the planet that is actually jazzed for this card, but I think this will be a fun addition to our repertoire of spells. Nothing quite like undercutting your opponent by eating his land.
Flurry of Horns- The more I look at this card, the more I think it is going to be a ton of fun. I love me a tribal deck. Goblins, Merfolk, Spirits…you name it, I love it. Now, Minotaurs are a thing. They REALLY REALLY are. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself. This spell will be an awesome addition to a Man-Bull deck and for 5 mana is suitably costed, gives you 2 more Minotaurs with haste, and lets you stampede over your opponent. If you’ve got Kragma Warcaller or Felhide Petrifier in play as well, well, wow, things are going to get ugly…FAST. This is dripping with flavour in a mythology inspired block and is a fun and card to rock in your new Minotaur deck.
Uncommons-
Fleetfeather Cockatrice- This gold card has too much text for it to not be good. Honestly, Flying, Flash, Deathtouch and MONSTROSITY all on the same card? This will be awesome. Sure, it’s 5 mana, but it comes out of no-where thanks to flash and straight up kills something. It’s big enough that it could survive combat, which is awesome, and it can then take over the skies if you can trick it out with the Monstrosity ability to make it a 6/6…that’s a freaking dragon!? I love it. I am sure that my G/U flash deck is going to love seeing this addition in at least a pair of, but I might be prepared to take this guy out and see what other carnage I can cause with him. He doesn’t lend too much in the way of combos or wild synergy, but there is something to be said for just a straight up good creature that will do a lot for you. This is the sort of creature I want and will get good value from him. Oh, and I love the reference to the original Cockatrice from Revised which was a staple and can now have a new play mate in 2014.
Rare:
There are a number of fun rares in this set and generally I feel like they are powerful without being broken. There has been lots of buzz around Eidolon of Blossoms, but I’m not convinced that the Constellation trigger on it will actually end up being that cool. No, the rare that caught my eye, just because of the simplicity is Dawnbringer Charioteer. This is a tried and true tested formula in Theros block and you can’t miss with this guy. We saw very early on that Wingsteed Rider was good. Like ridiculously good. Then, we saw that Akroan Skyguard was good too. We have seen that just about ANY Heroic Trigger that puts +1/+1 counters on it is good, and if it flies it is even better…so how can you miss with the Charioteer? Bottom line, you can’t. It’s a 2/4, flying, lifelinking, Heroic BOMB and it just destroys your opponent. I raved about this one when it was spoiled and I still think it is awesome. Is it going to be Constructed playable? Doubtful, but the Casual Brewer in me is already hard at work trying to brew up something disgusting to do with this guy.
While we are on the topic of Rare cards, I wanted to diverge a little. Yes, I said I would talk about cards that got me excited, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about a card that I can’t imagine playing. Dictate of the Twin Gods is just about as unplayable a card as I have ever seen. Yes, I get that there are some people that will love this one, but my honest sense is that it will backfire and end up costing the caster far more often than not. If you can’t close out the game the turn this lands on the table, my honest sense is that it is game over for you because you have committed to being all in…and didn’t get there…and now the backswing from your opponent is going to sting twice as much. I had an opponent run this at our pre-release and instead of allowing them to run up the damage with their Minotaurs, it resulted in double damage to the face when my Charioteer punched through for about a million. Yeah, this card seems like more trouble than it is worth and I am really struggling at seeing too much in the way of quality uses. Funny uses? Oh hell yes, I can dream up FUNNY…but they aren’t GOOD uses. Rant over…thank you.
Mythic-
It seems like a bit of a cop out to pick one of the Gods, but they all look really cool in this set. The one that has me most excited is actually the last one I thought I would like when I read his abilities. Kruphix, God of Horizons is actually super neat, but initially I misunderstood his abilities. Apparently I wasn’t the only one as the twitter universe was all a-buzz about his abilities. The first ability, of having no max hand size is nice. However, what makes him exciting is the second ability that basically means you get to store your unused mana as Colourless mana. The more I think about it, the more I think that the second ability is tremendous in some strategies and casual decks. The sky is now the limit! Just keep pouring in that mana into good ol’ Kruphix and watch the fireworks. Think about it! Giant Sphinx’s Revelation. The biggest Mistcutter you’ve EVER seen. Wild Strive Triggers. Going Monstrous with Polukranos for…oh…I don’t know…about a million and blowing out the whole other team. The options available are just about endless. Now, this is living in Magical Christmas land again, but honestly, there’s nothing wrong with living there for a little while. Heck, that’s why we love the new cards! Magical Christmas Land has come and you can see all the cool new treats and the silly things you can do with them…and Kruphix is just the same. I’ll let the Scrooges out there dump all over Kruphix for Constructed purposes, but for Casual he’s going to be HILARIOUS!
So, there we have my picks for cards for Journey into Nyx. It is interesting to see the difference between Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx, both of which were similar add-ons to Theros, but while Born of the Gods was almost simplistic in nature, Journey into Nyx is actually pretty complex with a bunch of really interesting new abilities and mechanics to weigh when considering making a deck. Is a Constellation deck possible? Would it be any good? How good will Strive be? We didn’t have the same questions from Born of the Gods because the mechanics were pretty straight forward. This time we have new things to consider and some very serious options to weigh when building decks. Oh well…time to get down to work and see what else I can brew up. I’ll catch you guys later.
Until next time, keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.
Bruce Gray
I love spoiler season! The new cards start to open up so many crazy and neat new ideas to make decks, revisit old ones, and brew up some silly things that I can take with me to my next Casual card night. Well, Journey into Nyx is no different and has offered up loads of fun new ideas already and I wanted to take some time to share some of the Casual new brews I’ve been piecing together even before Nyx drops in May.
The first deck I started brewing up was for our return to “Hobo” night at our Casual card night. I wrote about Hobo night in a previous article, but basically we all agreed that we would play no Rare or Mythic Rare cards in our decks, but we could play commons and uncommon from any set. This really challenges you because many of the most potent spells that we all like to play are Rares or Mythics, so to force ourselves to play commons and uncommon is healthy and refreshing, and usually evens out the power level of the various decks. Yes, this format is usually called Peasant, but that just sounds dull, so we opted to call it “Hobo” and the name has stuck.
My inspiration for the deck came from watching the coverage of the MTGO championships a couple of weeks ago where I saw a Standard take on a “dredge” style deck. The deck exploited the power of cards in the graveyard to deal some pretty healthy amounts of damage and looked pretty exciting, so I sat down to see if I could create something similar for Hobo night.
I started with the auto include cards for this sort of deck, namely Satyr Wayfinder and Grisly Salvage. These cards allow me to start to burn through the top of my library to find land or creatures and fills up my graveyard to be used at a later time. These are the “raison d`être” for this deck and need to be there in suitable quantities to fill up your yard, but more importantly ensure you never lack for land so that you can chain together powerful spells as the game moves along.
The next creature that is an automatic in this sort of deck, particularly in a Hobo variant, is Nemesis of Mortals. The 5/5 for 6 mana sees the cost to cast him reduced by 1 colourless for every creature in your graveyard. As a result, you could be casting this guy for much less than the 6 mana in the casting cost without much trouble. However, Nemesis of Mortals gets better from there because his Monstrosity 5 ability gets reduced in cost by 1 colourless for each creature in your graveyard. This guy can very easily get silly big for a bargain basement price thanks to all the graveyard shenanigans in your deck and makes the prospect of going into combat very difficult because it is such a huge monster.
However, what happens when some of my key components end up in the graveyard because I’ve put them there myself? There are a number of ways to return lost creatures to your hand and have them be available to you again. Now, I will be honest, this isn’t the same dropping them onto the battlefield and cheating big fatties into play because you still need to cast the spells again, however it does ensure that you have access to the creatures and a chance to re-use them, which is very helpful. Pharika’s Mender, Odunos River trawler, and other “Raise Dead” effect cards allow you to get your most potent threats back again and force your opponent to burn more removal spells on things that just don’t stay dead.
The final piece is the plethora of Bestow creatures that this deck packs. Bestow has proven to be a very valuable ability in Limited formats, and once again this is a form of limited format. Baleful Eidolon and Nyxborn Wolf can come down early as blockers to plug up the ground and play solid D to get us through to the point where our bigger bombs can take over. Nyxborn Wolf, at 3/1 can trade up to take out larger creatures, but the Eidolon can shut down attacking by virtue of the Deathtouch ability. Once they have served their purpose they can then be brought out of the yard and used to Voltron up another threat and really do some work.
Here’s the deck list.
Hobo – G/B “reanimator”
So, people will point out that this decklist isn’t Standard and my response is, you’re 100 percent correct. However, without much trouble you could make this Standard playable. A few minor adjustments like replacing Sign in Blood for Read the Bones would be the first switch. I could absolutely replace the Disentomb, and Raise Dead with Treasured Finds. So without breaking the spirit of the Hobo deck I could make some adjustments and make it completely Standard Legal, but sifting through my boxes I came across these cards and they did the job just as well and for less mana. It can also be ramped right up to match the Standard “Dredge” decks running around these days making this a decent skeleton upon which to build a more robust Standard deck.
The next deck is entirely Casual based on one of recurring theme in Theros block on Kraken, Octopuses, and other sea creatures. Whelming Wave was given to us in Born of the Gods, and now with the spoilers from Journey into Nyx we have Scourge of Fleets. With these two sweeper effects in Blue’s arsenal the possibility exists for a viable Kraken/Control deck. Don’t believe me? Check this out.
Mono-Blue Kraken Control
The idea behind this deck revolves around the interaction between Archaeomancer and Mnemonic wall and Whelming Wave. When you hit turn 4 you are banking that you have Whelming Wave in your hand and return all creatures that aren’t Kraken, Leviathans, Octopuses or Serpents to their owners hands. Then on turn 5, cast your Archaeomancer or Mnemonic wall, buy back your Whelming Wave and restart the cycle. You will continue to cast the wave and buy it back with the Archaeomancer/ Menmonic Wall interaction as you stall looking for one of your bigger Sea critters. So, hit the Sealock monster and when you wash away your opponent’s creatures Sealock Monster stays and can now attack into a open board. If you get stuck, Sea God’s Revenge approximates the same effect as you wait to piece together the combination and the dissolves are there to protect your creatures, should things get ugly. Scourge of Fleets is another possible sweeper condition that comes with a huge body and is asymmetrical in design, so he’s sort of like Plan C if you need to go down that road. The last pieces of this deck, the Hypnotic Siren and the Voyage’s End are to play some early interference as you set up your board.
Now, you may have missed it, but I stated that this was a Casual deck list. There is no way I’d even attempt to play a Tier 1 Standard deck with this list, but the hilarious interactions between Archaeomancer and the Whelming Wave are well worth the risk. I can’t wait to see the face of my opponent when I repeatedly wash away his stuff as I stall…and then swim across the table with my Sealock Monster and crush him. That would be priceless. It would certainly be entertaining and very flavourful with all that we have seen from Standard.
So, there you have it. Some fun deck ideas that are flavourful, relatively inexpensive, and fun to play. By all means, give them a try and see what think. The Hobo Dredge deck might be really good for a player who isn’t convinced playing B/G Dredge is for them, but once they get the hang of it with this less high octane model might be willing to speed matters up and go play with the big boys of Standard. The Wave deck is just funny and I can’t wait to put it together.
If you have other ideas or more fun ideas for funky decks I would love to hear about them. I`m always working on some new deck ideas that could make playing at my Kitchen table fun, entertaining, and fresh.
As always Keep it fun, Keep it safe…keep it casual. Until next time!
Bruce Gray
As I sit here writing we are slightly more than 6 months away from another rotation and seeing all those lovely cards from Return to Ravnica block disappearing from Standard. In the world of Magic, six months is an eternity as there are countless events across the world. The game will change week to week meaning that 6 months will take a very long time and there will be a near infinite combination of cards that can come together to redefine the game. However, in real terms, 6 months isn’t very long at all. In 6 months we’ll be finishing summer up and bracing for the return of cooler weather and another long bout of winter. My work will be restarting the cycle of the school year for school aged children. The new NHL or NFL season will just be starting. 6 months isn’t really that much time…and so it is the perfect time to be checking out those casual playable gems that may have been overlooked. Once again, today I will go through my pick for underappreciated card at each of the 4 card slots (common, uncommon, rare, mythic) in search of those hidden gems that a more casual player can make use of to help make their games fun and yet still keep an eye on their bottom line. Today’s set is Gatecrash.
While I was initially a little underwhelmed by Return to Ravnica (despite the high number of ultra powerful and valuable cards), Gatecrash was right in my wheel house and appealed to me straight away. Boros and Gruul were immediately colour combinations that I could get behind. The Simic colour combination was a little unusual, but the Evolve mechanic that they carried intrigued me and made me curious. Extort and Orzhov quickly proved to be a powerhouse mechanic in a duel and absolutely devastating in a multiplayer game. Dimir’s colour combination is always a force and some of the cards did not disappoint. All in all, it was a set full of terrific cards and some fantastic casual gems that a player like me can use to full advantage.
I also could fully get behind the set because this was the first time I had ventured into the realm of Limited play. I experienced my first ever Draft with Gatecrash and immediately loved the experience. Playing Limited is still my favorite way to play when I can find time to play at my local game shop. I don’t claim to be an expert but I really enjoy the challenge of card evaluation and selection and then building a deck that is hopefully strong enough to get some wins. Everyone is technically on the same even playing field and I have found that it makes for some great variety and fun games.
Common:
My common is a little guy that got overlooked for the most part but has time and time again proved to be a valuable little addition to most decks. Shambleshark is a 2 mana 2/1 creature with Flash and the Evolve mechanic. He isn’t going to wow anybody with his stats, but he is very versatile and a nice addition to decks running Green and Blue. Flash is his biggest attribute because it gives him the ability to sneak in at any time. Need a surprise blocker to mix up the combat math? Need an inexpensive trigger to boost another Evolve creature? He has a quasi-haste like ability if you drop him on your opponents end step. He trades favorably with “Bears” and can be used in all sorts of situations. Some will say that this guy saw Standard play and had his moment in the sun, and I fully agree. However, he is not omnipresent like Voice of resurgence, Blood Baron, Loxodon Smiter or some of the other powerful creatures in Standard. He had a role in one particular deck that made waves for about 2 weeks, or until everyone figured it out. However, the Standard format quickly recovered and is very much still defined by the three way dance that Mono-Black, Mono-Blue and Blue/White control. However, this little guy can still be a useful little critter not to be overlooked.
Uncommon:
While Gatecrash facilitated a super aggressive format, in no small part to the Gruul and Boros guilds being hyper aggressive, there are a few other cards that can allow for some interesting abilities. One such card starts to push into a hand disruption angle which can be very debilitating to players as the game moves along. Vizkopa Confessor is a pricey 5 mana (1 White, 1 Black, 3 colourless) for a 1/3 with Extort, that when it enters the battlefield you may pay life and your opponent will reveal cards in his hand equal to the life paid and then you get to select a card he will discard. This is an expensive card to play both from the mana invested and then in turn from the standpoint of the life paid to force him to reveal cards. However, if you have gone the route of playing an Orzhov deck you likely have multiple Extort triggers in effect, particularly by the time you hit 5 land to cast this bad boy in which case you could make up the life lost simply by casting spells. Also, if this is a multi-player game, the Extort triggers return an enormous amount of life points, so using life points as a resource to crush the hands of your opponent is probably just fine. The crushing of the hand is only escalated if you can flicker the Vizkopa Confessor with Cloudshift, or recently one of my new favorite tricks from Theros, Triad of Fates.
The biggest problem with this guy is the 1/3 body you get for your 5 mana. It isn’t very big, but you aren’t playing this guy to lay a beating on your opponent. I was running him in an Esper deck that was premised on destroying the hand of my opponent and this guy fit right in. However, while I really like the Vizkopa Confessor, I didn’t like the deck and took it apart. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on him. What it means is that I am looking for another deck to make use of this guy and once I do I will use the ability to target hands of my opponents and leave them crippled and dejected.
Rare:
My rare card of choice appears on the outset to be a hyper aggressive card, however with a little adjusting it can far more than just be an aggressive beater. Rubblebelt Raiders is a 4 mana (3 hybrid red/green, and 1 colourless) for a 3/3 creature that gets a +1/+1 counter whenever it attacks for each creature you control that is attacking. Ok, in a straight Red/Green deck this card is monstrous. This card rewards R/G for casting dudes and attacking and in the process grows Rubblebelt Raiders into a gigantic monster. However, if left unchecked Raiders become an instant target for a removal spell and then all that hard works goes for nothing. So, how do you get more value for your Rubblebelt Raider? Here’s how.
Instead of looking at Rubblebelt Raiders as a R/G spell, look at the hybrid casting cost as being all Green and then slide Raiders into a Simic build. This will give you access to Zameck Guildmage and the very handy ability to transform +1/+1 counters into cards. So, swing in with your Raiders and friends (I like Elusive Krasis as a starting point, but the more the merrier) and have Raiders power up a bunch of counters. Eventually your opponent will play a removal spell to deal with the ridiculously large monster you have stomping around but this is when you start tapping your lands to turn those counters into cards. Also, you can protect your Raiders with a Simic Charm or Mizzium Skin to grant it hexproof and save your card draw engine. You may or may not lose the raiders, but you can absolutely pickup 2,3 or maybe even 4 extra cards in the process by using your Zameck Guildmage. Give//Take would afford you a similar ability if you lack a Guildmage. Or more enjoyable yet still, Bioshift those counters onto your Elusive Krasis and have your Krasis bring the pain. All those counters create so many possibilities and represent loads of resources that a Simic deck would love to rock. These quirky little relationships allow you to approach your casual game from a slightly different angle and presents you with more options, and potentially more ways to frustrate you opponents.
Mythic:
Once again, mythics are usually very strong and so it hard to identify one that is “underappreciated”, but in this set there is one that is ultimately quite playable, but never really fit anywhere. Borborygmous Enraged was very straight forward and difficult to cast at a massive 8 mana. Deathpact Angel wasn’t much different at 7 mana. However, Master Biomancer was a very reasonable 4 mana and provided for a very interesting ability.
Master Biomancer is a 2/4 creature for 4 (1 blue, 1 green, 2 colourless) that grants each creature entering the battlefield a number of +1/+1 counters equal to Master Biomancer’s power. So, at a minimum, your creatures enter the battlefield with +2/+2, but with the right deck this can result in creatures of a ridiculous size. Slam Master Biomancer in a BUG deck and scavenge an early creature or two on to Master Biomancer and watch your little 1 drops turn into massive bombs. Or, use the counters from Rubblebelt raiders and bioshift the counters onto Master Biomancer for a humungous boost. It takes time, but often in a multiplayer game you can find yourself with an extra turn or two to put this combination together and have it come off looking pretty amazing. Here would be a pretty fun example of how this might play out in a RUG deck rocking mostly Simic creatures:
Turn 1- forest, tap the forest, play experiment one.
Turn 2- island, tap forest and island, gyre sage, evolve experiment one (1 counter). Attack with experiment one
Turn 3- forest– tap your lands, Elusive Krasis (or Drakewing Krasis) evolve experiment 1 and Gyre sage. (2 counters this turn, 3 in total). Attack with Experiment one
Turn 4- forest, tap your lands, Rubblebelt Raiders, evolve Gyre Sage and Elusive Krasis (2 counters this turn, 5 total). Attack with Elusive Krasis and Experiment One.
Turn 5- Island– Attack with Raiders, Experiment one, and Krasis. Raiders get three counters. Second main phase drop master biomancer and bioshift counters off of the Raiders, and now Master Biomancer has 3 counters on it. With one remaining mana cast another experiment one. It comes into play with +5/+5 and is a 6/6 creature ready to lay down the beats…and the counter shenanigans start from there.
For some reason Master Biomancer was largely overlooked despite the obvious benefits it can provide. It takes a little work in order to get Master Biomancer where it can be suitably explosive, but once he comes online he is well worth the investment. You can trade the counters generated for cards, shift them around to make combat math a nightmare, or even use them in conjunction with Simic Manipulator to take control of creatures. This is the perfect casual card for someone who likes to play around with counters and can be very entertaining. Don’t overlook this guy in your trade binder. Instead, sleeve him up and take him out for a spin to see what he can do for you!
There we go…I have gone through my choices for common, uncommon, rare and mythic for Gatecrash that you should go and dig out of that box or that trade binder. Give them a second look. Maybe they can liven things a little the next time you sit down with some pals on a Saturday night. Maybe you can go one better and build them into a funny combination that can make life difficult for an opponent. Whatever you choose to do with them, I’m all ears…I love to hear about how those gems got used, or if you have some of your own that I’ve neglected. The beauty with playing Magic is that everyone has an opinion and every opinion has merit. So, drop me a line and let me know what you like, don’t like, or anything else that is on your mind. Once again, thanks very much and may your next Casual Encounter be loads of fun.
Bruce Gray
One of my favorite types of decks is full of big, green, stompy creatures. They have always been a thing, right from the days of War Mammoth and Craw Wurm right up to today. Other archetypes have changed enormously but the contents of the Mono-Green deck is basically unchanging…lots and lots of creatures. So, with everyone’s favorite creature heavy archetype in mind I thought I would take a moment and share with all of you my version of a Budget Mono-Green deck that is fun to play and ridiculously inexpensive to build.
Mono-Green decks are sort of like a big piece of artillery that everyone can see. You know that once the cannon fires, if it hits ANYTHING, it is game over, and there really isn’t much you can do about it. So, you can watch the Mono-Green deck load up and cast ramping spells and creatures and all you’re hoping is that you can disrupt the canon just enough so perhaps it mis-fires, or you can dodge the bullet. If you can’t shut the deck down it is just a matter of time before some hulking Green beast crushes you underfoot leaving you wondering what freight train just ran you over.
I’ve seen a number of iterations of Mono-Green stompy decks since the release of Theros and while I’m impressed I’m not satisfied. I want MORE. I want BIGGER! I WANT MORE DAMAGE! And Born of the Gods gives me the perfect tool to drop wild amounts of damage on my opponent and to push mono-green from good to ridiculous. Here’s how.
In the past, Mono-green has been afflicted by the reality that usually big creatures are expensive. So, Green mages have developed all sorts of ways to ramp out lots of mana and then cast their giant fatties. However, in today’s Standard environment green creatures are leaner and meaner than ever before but can still pack a mighty punch making Mono-Green really and truly something viable and fun. I’ll go through some of the all stars I’ve picked out for my deck and why you should consider playing them in your Mono-Green deck.
Voyaging Satyr– Is there a better, inexpensive Mana dork than this guy? Probably not. He’s just good, and super readily available as an inexpensive creature. Add in that he isn’t a 1/1 but a 1/2 and suddenly he has a little more upside as well. This deck needs 4.
Swordwise Centaur– He is solid as a 3/2 for 2 green mana …and a devotion engine in this deck. While I won’t call this a devotion deck, there are times when this is a useful attribute and well worth the time to put these guys in. They start the beat down early and give you targets for some of your spells later in the game. On a side note, you could just as easily play Kalonian Tusker as a 3/3 for 2 green, but I said this was a budget deck. Sure, Tuskers are only $0.50 a card on Three King’s Loot, but Swordwise Centaur is $0.15…and you likely have a million thanks to any drafts you’ve played or packs you’ve cracked. Save yourself the money and play the Centaur because you will rarely see any difference in terms of play.
Korozda Monitor– This 3/3 4 drop (2 Green, 2 Colourless) is the meat and potatoes of this deck. He’s 3/3 and has trample, making him ideal for a Stompy deck of any sort. Also, his scavenge ability is relevant because if your first one ends up in the yard, oh well, scavenge him onto something else (like another Monitor) and smash away. With 2 green in his casting cost he is also a solid contributor to devotion.
Thrashing Mossdog– This handy 4 drop gives you a 3/3 with reach. This is super relevant because this deck will struggle against decks that carry lots of fliers. The reach can help settle down your defence, and again, when he dies, scavenge his on to a Korozda Monitor and have the 6/6 bring the pain.
Nylea’s Emissary– The 3rd 4 drop in the deck is essentially because he can grant something else you control trample, contributing to the Stompy nature of the deck. If you need him on the battlefield as a creature, that’s fine as well, but he’s exactly the sort of creature this deck wants.
The deck is running a playset of Forced Adaptations. These can totally take your Korozda Monitor and turn him into an unstoppable beast very quickly and for 1 mana, who can go wrong.
However, the really spicy pieces are six cards that can only be described as back breaking. The first is one out of the M14 Core set that was largely overlooked. It isn’t flashy, but it just ends games. Yup, you got it…Fireshrieker. This seemingly innocuous 3 mana artifact gives something double strike. Now, we all know that Double strike is powerful, but how powerful is it? Trust me…on creatures with trample it straight up ends games…like…immediately. So, a pair of Fireshriekers make the deck and give you an enormous ability to do damage. The final 4 spells are from Born of the Gods and are one of the few spots where this deck actually cares about devotion. Aspect of Hydra gets good reviews at Draft, so why not apply the same logic to constructed and put 4 in this deck? It would mean that any creature with Trample would be able to do a devastating amount of damage and really turn the heat up on an opponent.
As a little demonstration let’s see what this deck can do.
Turn 1- Play Forest, pass the turn.
Turn 2- Play Forest, tap out, cast Swordwise Centaur.
Turn 3- Play Forest, tap out, cast Fireshrieker, Attack with Centaur.
Turn 4- Play Forest, tap out, Cast Korozda Monitor,
Turn 5- Play Forest, equip Fireshrieker on Monitor, cast Aspect of Hydra on Monitor, attack with the team. At this point The Monitor is 3/3 double striking and gets +4/+4 from the Aspect of Hydra…meaning he’s hitting for 14 points of trample damage. That’s huge! And if the Centaur can sneak through as well it’s game over…or at the very least you are in the driver’s seat. As always, this is against a goldfish with no responses, but the potential exists for this deck to deliver a wild amount of damage.
So, without further delay, here’s the deck list.
Mono-Green Stompy- Budget Standard
The nice piece with this deck is the cost to you in order to build. Many budget decks put the threshold for overall cost at $2/card or maybe $50-75 for the whole deck. This deck comes in at …under $20! Yup, for a crisp $20 dollar bill you to could be the proud owner of a ridiculously stompy mono green build. However, this deck is like the old beat up Honda Civic you bought as a 17 year old kid…it’s straight forward, it works, and it gets the job done. However, you could totally trick this deck out with some fun additions that will push your price tag up, but still keep it very affordable.
The first addition is a no-brainer…add in a couple of Arbor Colossus. This gigantic 6/6 for 5 (2 colourless and 3 green) is an almost automatic include once you are prepared to open up your wallet and go a tad pricier. He’s big, he kills fliers, he gets bigger when he’s monstrous, and is a huge devotion engine for your aspect of hydra. He’s the first guy off the bench for sure.
Next, if you want to go a little further, is the Bow of Nylea. This Swiss Army knife of an artifact does a little bit of everything with its various modes, but the real fun is giving everything you have deathtouch when you attack. Who really wants to put something in front of a deathtouch creature? Not me…so it makes combat super awkward and something most opponents will seriously re-evaluate.
The third addition is something that usually gets forgotten is Deadbridge Goliath. He’s big at 5/5 for 4 and when he dies (as you likely hope that he does) you can scavenge his +5/+5 on to another creature giving you an instant WMD that will need to be answered. Plus, he’s cheap to pick up because everyone has opted to play Poly (aka Polukranos) for the same 4 mana.
After that, the choices are up to you…do you want to play spells that draw you cards? Hunter’s Prowess or Warriors’ Lessons are options. How about just more damage? Don’t forget Giant Growth. Want to kill things in the air? Plummet is always an option. Are the Gods or other enchantments causing you grief? Fade into Antiquity. Need to kill a creature? Pit fight or Time to Feed. You can cover all the bases and the deck still doesn’t break the bank!
So, if you are looking for a very inexpensive deck to build and enter the realm of Standard, feel free to give this little guy a test drive and see what you think. He’s fared pretty well for me in a number of match ups, and when your big fat stompy guy flattens an opponent the satisfaction is well worth it. So, give it a try and let me know how it goes for you and what changes you made to the deck…I’m always keen to hear how decks change and evolve.
So, until next time, keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.
Bruce Gray
