My favorite Born of the Gods cards that have been spoiled
While all the spoilers were unrolling the last couple of weeks my friends and I were looking at the new treats we would get to play with. Everyone had their own favorite…apart from Brimaz (aka the Lion King), because he’ll be ridiculously good and a standard all-star soon enough. I will go through my pick for best card for Mythic, Rare, uncommon and common slots . You may not agree, but as with anything in Magic, anyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Mythic of choice:
The first card that caught my eye was one of the minor gods. Mogis is cool. Xenagos could make G/R monsters absolutely insane and power out bananas monsters that crush EVERYTHING. However, neither of these got me excited. One of the gods fit exactly into a deck I already have built, but is missing something…and the fact that she was staring right back, like an answer to a prayer, was tremendous. What caught my eye was Ephara, God of the Polis. While her ability looks a little underwhelming, for the casual player, she is a bomb and a can’t miss all star. Here’s what got me excited.
A little over a year ago I wrote an article detailing what is in essence an Azorius deck where I push the detain ability just about as far as I can go. The deck list is as follows:
Azorius Detain (casual)
Now, this deck list wants to do exactly what Ephara is looking for: play lots of dudes! And with this deck, everytime you do, you’ll be detaining a creature and slowing down your opponent. The problem that this deck runs into is the need to replenish your hand and while it has ways to this, Ephara is the perfect card draw engine to make things work for you even faster. You’ll cast your guys, slow down your opponent, and then refill your hand with new weapons to tie up your opponent.
Now, people will tell me “Wait! This deck isn’t standard! What are you doing!”. True…this is not a standard legal deck, but at its heart Magic is game designed to be fun and this casual deck is exactly that. It is also a deck that I routinely run in a multiplayer free-for-all environment and can be very effective and can shut down the whole table for turns on end. Also, it could certainly be adjusted to be Standard playable and the detain ability is still perfectly valid. So, for those Standard players out there, with little adjustment, Ephara could play a role for you too.
Basically, at its simplest, this becomes a solid addition to simple decks looking to drop lots of creatures to turn sideways and smash your opponent. However, it combos really well with Heliod in the Standard environment, or any Bant populate deck (which could totally become a thing with Advent of the Wurm still running around). The quiet ability of drawing extra cards for playing creatures is terrific. It rewards you for doing exactly what we all want to do: play dudes and let them fight.
Rare of choice:
So, while I was at excited, the sheer fact that this card is printed it amazing. However, couple it with Springleaf Drum now you are a) able to ramp b) tap your Pain Seer without combat and c) get yourself cards. Imagine this in a Mono-Black Devotion deck. Turn 1: play a Swamp, cast Springleaf Drum – Turn 2: play a Swamp, cast Pain Seer, tap Pain Seer, play Thoughtseize – Turn 3: untap Pain Seer, draw your card, play a Swamp, tap Pain Seer, tap your Swamps, cast Desecration Demon Turn 4: untap Pain Seer, draw your card, play a Swamp, tap Pain Seer, tap your Swamps, cast Gray Merchant…and you’re off to the races. I’m sorry…Mono-Black just got one more way to accelerate into stuff, draw more cards and frankly, be even scarier than it already was. If this excites me for the impact it could have in a game just imagine what someone who LIKES to play Black will do with it. One word comes to mind: Gross.
Uncommon of choice:
This fits nicely in G or G/R creature heavy decks and games where the board state has stalled a little. This can happen in a multiplayer game because people just can’t force through enough damage to finish off an opponent. Little Noble Quarry will quickly result in a blow out. Bestow it on your Sedge Scorpion, or some other innocuous creature (although Deathtouchers are always the most fun!) and watch the rest of your army punch through to your opponent and blow them out. Sadly, your Scorpion dies, but guess what? Noble Quarry, because it is now a creature allows you to untap, reload, and take out opponent number 2 with exactly the same maneuver. This cute little unicorn is a game breaker and I love it!
Common of choice:
We learned from Theros that cheap Heroic triggers are the way to go in order to take maximum advantage of the mechanic. So, Epiphany Storm being only one red mana is efficient and triggers Heroic on a creature. A great example is my Akroan Crusader that acts like a little mini Assemble the Legion in a aggressive W/R deck. I don’t REALLY want to attack with my Crusader, but I do want the tokens, so this is perfect and it can then be used to help me rummage through my deck to accelerate my aggressive deck.
The other ability is finding cheap ways to trigger the Inspired mechanic on…you guessed it…Pain Seer. In a Rakdos B/R build this is the perfect enabler on a Pain Seer to get him to tap without forcing combat. So, you’d rummage with the Epiphany Storm (to discard a card you don’t need), and then when Pain Seer untaps draw a card and then take your draw step. So, for little investment you’ve just dug three cards deeper in your deck and hopefully found the gas you needed to continue to beat down…or find an answer to slow down your opponent. Either way, this card is huge boon and something anyone looking to play Red should be looking to pick up in order to trigger Heroic or Inspired abilities.
Those are my picks for top cards for each of the four slots. You may have different picks on your own, but the bottom line is that Born of the Gods looks like it could a very interesting set with lots of neat new tricks, fun choices, and things that continue to make Magic enjoyable and fresh.
Thanks,
Bruce Gray
@bgray8791 on Twitter
So another release has passed us by and with Dragon’s Maze a highly multi-colored set without a doubt we are going to find a ton of great EDH cards ranging from very useful to highly specialized. In fact I found enough very interesting cards that I’m going to split it into two articles this time. And just in case you missed my review for Gatecrash you can read it here.
The first part of my review is going to focus on the ten maze runner legends. I have to say they didn’t impress me much overall, especially compared to the guild leaders, but a few of them did grab my eye. I also included a group of cards I found intriguing, one from each guild, that have interesting possibilities.
Tajic, Blade of the Legion – this guy makes me wonder if I prefer him over Aurelia as my Boros commander. He definitely has a spot one way or another as he is simply amazing in every way. Indestructible is invaluable and seven power when he gets his pump means three hits of commander damage for the win.
Melek, Izzet Paragon – a total build around ability but he is in the right colors to get some truly ridiculous effect. Also, easily finds a home in a Riku deck to further abuse the might of copying super powerful spells.
Lavinia of the Tenth – definitely a great effect to slot into an Augustin deck but not strong enough to lead a deck. Pair her up with a Mistmeadow Witch to make sure you have a constant lockdown.
Mirko, Vosk, Mind Drinker – while decking isn’t usually very powerful in multiplayer, if you do 1v1 EDH he can be very powerful as your general in a mill themed Dimir deck. That’s what they do best.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed – might be able to support a very creature-centric deck as a general, but you will be hardpressed to not include any non-creature spells. If you are able to mitigate the damage with lifelink think of all the life you could gain.
Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts – I’m not overly impressed by her cost but as long as she doesn’t draw out a removal you should be connecting with her every turn. Its rough that you need to take the damage in order to trigger the death effect, make sure you have some lifegain to stem the bleeding.
Varolz, the Scar-Striped – sure there’s Phyrexian Dreadnought, Death’s Shadow and Force of Savagery which are amazing with him, I’d like to see if there’s a good deck to be built around him. His built-in protection does need another creature around him but no doubt the deck will be stocked with creatures.
Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch – not extremely exciting as a general but could find a supporting role perhaps in Kresh or Thraximundar. You might be able to work her as a very aggro Rakdos general but would need to find enough creatures the enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters to make her worthwhile.
Emmara Tandris – despite the enormous cost she can easily find a home in Ghave. While it’s not a bad ability to prevent all damage, it is a far cry from indestructible which would make her worth her weight in gold.
Vorel of the Hull Clade – the fact that he can’t target planeswalkers, for obvious reasons, is what really let me down on this one. Sure it’s a powerful ability, absolutely its mega-insane with Doubling Season, definitely you’re going to gain value from him whenever you use the ability but it’s just not enough to build around. While he could do well in a supporting role he doesn’t even help in a Zegana deck.
So those are the guilds maze runners. I really like Tajic, Melek and Lavinia a lot, but they are probably just going to be supporting stars. Mirko, Ruric and Varolz have potential as build arounds and could be fun projects. The others have some potential to find homes but definitely not as generals.
Haunter of Nightveil – I can see situations where you are able to clone him and pair that up with Jace, Architect of Thought to lock down your opponents creatures, just be sure you actually have a plan to win the game after that.
Gleam of Battle – I absolutely love the flavor of this card. Soldiers becoming veterans as they ride into battle gaining a level up experience. This truly captures the feel of what the Boros Legion is all about and guaranteed finds a spot in Aurelia.
Obzedat’s Aid – not only an additional tool in a reanimator deck but just an all around great utility card. That its not limited to any specific types so it can get you back a stripped land or slaughtered planeswalker, #VALUE !!!
Advent of the Wurm – the sheer quality of the token it produces is what makes me want to pair this up with Doubling Season/Parallel Lives to wonderous effect. Bonus that it’s an instant to act as an ambush if you need.
Progenitor Mimic – the ridiculous shenanigans that can ensue for having the right target on the field. Without a doubt you should at most any time find at least a ‘great’ if not ‘amazing’ target and then let the mass cloning ensue.
Gaze of Granite – as if Pernicious Deed wasn’t good enough here’s another mass sweeper that’s sure to destroy a ton of mana rocks. Let’s not forget the added bonus that it can hit planeswalkers which Deed misses. If you are going to be playing with it either make sure you’re playing cmc permanents above where you want to be using this or a way to return them from the grave.
Zhur-Taa Ancient – a Mana Flare guy is always an interesting effect but needs to be planned around to reduce the benefit to your opponents.
Council of the Absolute – I can see this as an additional tool for your Augustin control deck. Certainly helps lockdown certain strategies as long as they need to cast the spell and not cheat it out. Can also be used to benefit one of your big spells, especially if you know your opponents play it as well.
Sire of Insanity – definitely a build around me card. As long as you’re setup to abuse your graveyard and benefit from hellbent every turn there’s no doubt you gain the advantage from forcing everyone to dump their hand every turn.
Blast of Genius – I might be inclined to put this into an Epic Experiment shell to gain value from both the draw and damage effects.
So that’s the first part of my Dragon’s Maze review, come back next week for another load of cards which caught my eye. Whether you’re a relative newcomer to commander like me or an EDH veteran I love to see awesome decks. Feel free to contact me on twitter or share your decklists to my hotmail. Thanks for reading.
– Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
ejseltzer@hotmail.com
