Casual Encounters – Top 10 Casual Cards from Battle for Zendikar

Top 10 Casual Cards from Battle for Zendikar

by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters

The anticipation is mounting! In just a few short days we will be getting our first chance to play Battle for Zendikar and I’m pretty excited.  There are some amazing new cards in this set, and some terrific reprints that got some slick new art.  It looks like there are going to be some bonkers new additions to just about every format, including Casual Kitchen Table Magic.  Today I’m going to go through my Top Ten cards to bring to your next Casual Kitchen Table Magic game night and spice things up.  Let’s get down to business.

10. Common Land Cycle ( Sandstone Bridge, Skyline Cascade, Mortuary Mire, Looming Spires, Fertile Thicket ).  This common land cycle doesn’t look super spicy, but let’s be real, any time you can play a land card and have an effect that is normally created by a spell you have something that is deceptively powerful. There will be loads of decks looking to pick these up to replace just a regular basic land card, and the extra ability is always a solid trick. Now, let’s talk about how to abuse these (i.e. get more than one activation).  In a Kitchen Table world you are constrained only by your card pool and the rules you and your friends have established, so finding fun ways to take advantage of these should be easy.  Let’s start with the “Karoo” lands or “Bounce” lands from Ravnica.  These were reprinted in Modern Masters 2015 making them pretty readily available and an easy way to get more than one activation of these.  Emancipation Angel or Kor Skyfisher, or even Pearl Lake Ancient are also some of my favorites and could easily get you additional activations.  Going a little more in the the history of Magic, Soramaro, First to Dream would be hilarious.

As if just getting the value off these lands wasn’t enough, don’t forget this set is packing Landfall meaning that you are very likely to net all sorts of value off of just playing these lands. That makes these things even more appealing.  The nice part is that you will usually be pleased to see these guys, regardless of what stage of the game you’re in.  Keep your eyes peeled for these small, but significant, additions.

9. Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper: What isn’t to like about this guy?  He’s a 4/4 for 5 mana which is a pretty reasonable rate to start and you will not feel ashamed to run him out.  His size also makes him surprisingly robust and able to tussle if the need arises.  However, what is truly gross is his ability.  You get free +1/+1 counters on your lands every time you cast an instant or sorcery…and in Blue and White isn’t that what you want to do anyways?  I can well imagine EDH decks premised on this guy or just jammed in there for value.  However, what I think might be truly busted is playing Jeskai and slamming this guy and Zada.  Cast your instant on Zada, copy the spell a bunch of times, make a pile of Elementals, attack for the win…or something like that.  Yes, that is magical Christmas land, but it’s fun to dream.  I’m kind of excited to see this guy and try him out.

8. Omnath, Locus of Rage:  I don’t know what to do with this guy…but I like the fact that Omnath is getting a reprinting, and this time he’s pissed. I haven’t got a clue how good he will be, or any deck built around him using elementals as a centerpiece, but this guy sure looks unhappy and ready to kick some butt.  All he really asks of you is to play your land and benefit from an army of 5/5 tokens, but that feels a little too simple.  Omnath makes the list because of his unbridled anger…and big scary tokens. For those of you out there with RTR block cards still kicking around, time to dust off those Populate enablers..

7. Catacomb Sifter:  This guy is among my favorite cards in the set and the art is insane.  That is spectacular art!  The colours and contrast really stand out and makes this thing look super frightening.  But enough about the art.  This 3 mana creature packs 3/4 worth of power and toughness across 2 bodies which is a very good rate.  I know I play casually, but I also really like efficient creatures…they help me get to the much less efficient but fun part of my deck!  This is exactly the sort of thing I want to do. However, there is still more.  This packs the Scry 1 ability that Reaper of the Wilds packs just because…umm…value?  This is a very strong card and I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these guys and ride the Value Train.

6. Halimar Tidecaller:  How is this NOT a rare?  Can you just imagine pairing this with Noyan Dar and making FLYING land creatures?  Wow. And you even get to bring another relevant spell out of your graveyard to replay and get yet ANOTHER land creature.  Sure, it is a bit of a build around, but if you can successfully build around it this looks amazing!  For a paltry 3 mana this feels as if it has been pushed to try and push an elemental theme…and I’m taking the bait!  I can almost taste the Elemental Deck…Brews to come!

5. Defiant Bloodlord: Ok folks, this makes the list because you now have Sanguine Bond attached to a 4/5  flying body. This gives those janky “life gain” decks you  see around the Kitchen table yet another win condition and NOW it gets to attack too!  I’m just dreaming of casting this and Feed the Clan to maximum effect.  The interaction between this and Gray Merchant of Asphodel seems like it could be potent too. All in all, there will be lots of ways to abuse this around the Kitchen Table so you had better buckle down.

4. Felidar Sovereign:  Felidar Sovereign is yet another example of the power of alternate win conditions.  This guy is a reprint from the original Zendikar block and became a staple in EDH decks all over the place as an alternative win condition.  The issue WAS that Felidar was a $10-12 card that essentially exclusively saw play in Casual formats.  By getting a reprint players will be getting a shot to grab this guy at a much more affordable $2 price point.  Enjoy the savings Casual players, this one is for you.

3. Kiora, Master of Depths:  Kiora made this list because her ultimate is nutty. Three 8/8 octopus tokens PLUS they get to fight your opponent’s creatures?  Whatever…you win the game if you get this Emblem online.  If you can look me in the eye and honestly tell me that you aren’t interested in doing that then you’re lying to yourself.

2. Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger: If the Eldrazi somehow didn’t make this list then I wouldn’t be doing my job.  What’s NOT to like?  It’s big, splashy, hard to kill, wrecks the game instantly, can be played in virtually every deck and looks to be about the best thing you can do with 10 mana. Also, because this version of Ulamog doesn’t come with the “feel bad” Annihilator mechanic your buddies around the kitchen table are more apt to agree to let you play it.  Yeah, Ulamog is a thing and makes our list.

1. Zada, Hedron Grinder:  Zada is getting lots of buzz and with good cause because her ability is just outright insane.  Any time you can copy spells you have a strong effect.  Zada will let you copy them multiple times for FREE! Magic players love the word FREE and so Johnnies around the world are setting up to break this.  I’ve heard lots of players talk about casting Titan’s Strength or Become Immense on Zada and then pumping your team to significant effect, but I was going somewhere completely different.  I was going to aim for Feat of Resistance and essentially allow your team to get protection from…oh…everything…and crash in for the win.  But things at the Kitchen table can get better!  Ranger’s Guile protects ALL your stuff.  Rootborn Defenses fights off Board wipes.  Retraction Helix allows you to turn all your creatures into Unsummon spells! Really, the possibilities are endless and this is why so many people are excited about Zada.  There really isn’t much doubt, Zada is the real winner for the Casual Magic crowd.

Well, there we have our top ten cards for Casual Magic.  I’m sure there are a few spicy things that I left off the list, but I have to draw the line somewhere.  If you have something you think should be added to the list, send me a tweet and let me know.  I’d love to hear what has got other people excited!

Thanks for taking the time to stop in and have a visit and have yourself a great MTG day!

By Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters

@bgray8791 on Twitter

Casual Encounters – G/B “I like Big Butts”

G/B “ I like Big Butts”

By Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters

Sir Mix-a-Lot would be proud of me.  Perhaps not in the same way as his famous song, but I too admire a good back side.  The bigger the better.  Of course, when I’m talking about playing Magic I’m referring to the toughness of creature which is sometimes referred to as the creature’s “butt”.  C’mon! What did you think I was talking about?  Get your mind out of the gutter! Sheesh. Today I’ve got something a little off the wall that some of you might enjoy the next time you sit around the Kitchen table to battle it out.  Let’s see what I’ve got on tap for you guys.

A couple of weeks ago I was playing a Theros Block sealed event on MTGO and opened up a busted pool.  Elspeth, Ajani, Pain Seer, good removal in Black, solid creatures in Green…including a Scourge of Skola Vale.  I ended up playing Abzan (also known as Junk) mostly for Elspeth and Ajani, however my deck was predominantly B/G.  Yes, Elspeth and Ajani were amazing and they were the number one reason I won a number of my games.  However, The Scourge of Skola Vale was my big hitter.  The worst part was, when I put him in the deck I just imagined that he might be useful, but little did I know that he would be awesome.

The Scourge of Skola Vale is a rather janky rare from Born of the Gods that is 3 mana for a 0/0 Hydra that enters play with two +1/+1 counters on it and trample. Those stats are hardly overwhelming. However, tap Scourge of Skola Vale, sacrifice a creature, and at instant speed it can gain +x/+x counters where X is equal to the toughness of the creature that is sacrificed.  That still hardly seems game breaking, but let me assure you, the ability can be very potent.  The question is all a matter of timing.  You declare a creature as being a blocker.  That ensures that there actually is a block and you don’t get hit.  Then, before damage is assigned, sacrifice your creature (particularly if it was going to die anyway) to the Scourge and boost the Scourge. In short order your Scourge of Skola vale is an unhealthy sized creature with Trample that no longer behaves like a 3 drop but more like a 6 or 7 drop.

The question remains, How do you maximize the number of counters you put on the Scourge of Skola Vale? Clearly you want to play things with high toughness , block with them, and sacrifice them to your Scourge. It seems simple, but the problem with most high toughness creatures is that they attack very poorly or not at all.  What is a guy to do? Let’s see what I did.

G/B “I like big butts” – Casual standard deck

The creature package is pretty straight forward.  Elvish Mystic is going to be a big key to the game plan because it helps ramp you to some of the more expensive pieces in your deck.  You really want to play one of these guys on Turn 1 to get you out of the gate quickly.  On Turn 2 you really want to be playing an Archers’ Parapet to hold off any immediate threats and early drops that your opponent can get down and bash away with.  Also, with 5 toughness, the Parapet is an ideal target to sacrifice to the Scourge.  The curve is a little wonky because you don’t really want to play a Scourge on Turn 3 so you end up skipping and waiting to play a 5 drop.  Nessian Asp  or Pheres-Band Centaur are both really solid 5 drops.  With either of these guys on board you can follow up with Scourge and still hold up mana for a Ranger’s Guile.  It is pretty key to hold up the Ranger’s Guile the moment  your opponent sees you tap out your  Scourge is going to eat a removal spell.  Ranger’s Guile pretty much laughs at targeted removal spells and ensures your Scourge survives.   Sac just about ANY creature to your Scourge, protect it with a Ranger’s Guile and then rumble in for a huge pile of damage.  Sound like fun?  I thought so.

The other route this deck can take is a little different.  You have a whole bunch of creatures that have been sacrificed and are in your graveyard thanks to your own Scourge and you are running out of ways to get through for damage.  What can you do?  Well, hello my old friend Nighthowler.  Bestow this on just about anything with a whole bunch of creatures in the graveyard and you instantly have a menace requiring an immediate fix.  The synergy between the Scourge and Nighthowler is unmistakable because as you power up the Scourge you are powering up future Nighthowlers.  I love a good plan B!

The spells all exploit creatures with high toughness.  Grim Contest  is a neat take on the fight mechanic that will ensure that just about anything you fight will die thanks to the extremely high toughness stats on many of your creatures.  Kin-Tree Invocation gives you yet another potent attacker so long as you have something sizable kicking around on the board.  Fruit of the First Tree pairs really nicely in this sort of deck because if it is on a creature, sacrifice that creature (to Scourge no less) and then reap the benefits of gaining a whole pile of life, but more importantly, drawing a whole pile of cards. Green card draw is a little tricky to find and play, but the reward for using it like this is extremely high and could really dig you out of a jam.

There’s the deck.  It isn’t very fancy, but it does take a bit of peculiar take on getting to your opponent.  The best part is that the whole deck is really quite affordable.  The rares are all $0.50 bulk rares, the other spells are also equally cheap and the mana base is ALL basics. Could it really get any cheaper ?  Not really.  There are lots of ways to upgrade the deck ranging from Scry lands and Life Gain lands in the mana base to Courser of Kruphix and Sylvan Caryatid in the creature package thanks to their versatility and high toughness.  Also, some other potent creatures like Rotting Mastodon and Swarm of Bloodflies work well in this deck and could be added in as need be. There are also a number of other options available to you too that can help maintain this deck and help you to keep the cost down while still having a loads of fun.

This looks like something fun to take for a spin around a kitchen table.  Will it have legs at a competitive event?  No way.  The curve is way off, the removal is suspect and is generally too slow.  However, around the kitchen table with your pals this will get a giggle or two…until your Scourge of Skola Vale stomps a mud hole through one of your pals and then they will sit up and take notice.  It’s cheap, is capable of some silly shenanigans and is totally unassuming from the outset.  Time to play rope a dope and be crowned Kitchen Table Champ!

Thanks for taking the time to stop in here at Casual Encounters and Three Kings Loot.  I hope you guys enjoy the deck and have a chance to go on out and give it a try.  Until the next time, have yourselves a great MTG day and remember keep it fun, keep it safe…and keep it casual!

By Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters

@bgray8791 on Twitter

M15 Core set spoiler- Card Gallery, Release notes and Artwork

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M15 Core set spoiler

White

Blue

Black

Red

Green

Artifact

Multicolored

Lands

Tokens

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 Promo pack

M15 Core set Artwork