Innistrad: What to Expect

So hello everyone and welcome back to another article on the might of the upcoming set, Innistrad which is scheduled for a September 30th, 2011 release date all around the world and today i'll be going over what to expect in Innistrad since some hints have been spoiled about it today during the latest Mark Rosewater article called State of Design 2011 which can be found here for viewing ---> State of Design 2011 Article in which he talks about the sets up till now he's done plus gives us a little flavour for Innistrad which is his latest and soon to be largest set in 3 years time, let's take a look at some of the many hints in the article

A card Based on a silver bordered white card - Now this is something nice, the Un-Sets which were pretty damn funny to begin with, were the only ones with Silver borders around them printed to date, to see this clue means one of the many cards in Innistrad is going to be based off one of the white cards in the Un-Sets.

Token Making Sorceries much larger then before - You'd think they could go bigger with this clue, it's basically saying were not done making good large casting cost token sorceries in game yet, here's a hint for innistrad go big or go home.

Enchantment that could let you play creatures for free - Do we really need a enchantment form of Elvish Piper or Master Transmuter that allows for free play, seriously Rosewater, seriously this is stupid this is kinda why survival got banned in Legacy due to it being a cheap casting cost spell dammit.

Spells that deal massive damage for cheap - You have to be kidding, cheap board sweepers, cheaper then Wrath of God or Day of Judgment now you are just asking for trouble again, Wizards will you ever learn from your players and take their advice, stop making these stupid cards.


Cards Inspired by Horror Stories - This one is expected since we have a few elements of Horror in this set, so this one is not very surprising at all personally but it is nice to see this hint confirmed by the man of magic himself, thanks MaRo.


A 2 mana creature that allows for more creature production - Seriously a really good token producer i'd like to see that on a stick, oh wait it's been confirmed via this hint, sheesh take all my dreams and aspirations away would you wizards.


Card Exchanging Life totals with something new - You mean we have a way to do something brand new in this set, thank god i was gonna get tired of that busted Infect mechanic from SOM block last year and to see this relieves me quite so.


A Planeswalker with Five Abilites - Didn't you learn from Jace, the Mind Sculptor wizards, really is this going to be thrown on the new Lillana of the set, if it is expect her to get banned in 2 years time from standard, i'm throwing out the prediction now folks, banning in 2 years from both Modern and Standard once wizards realizes this mistake of a choice.  


Well that's all for this edition of the emporium, remember kiddies innistrad previews begin next week, so stay tuned to the watch dog ship aka the Momma ship for more information, this is vergil signing off

Duel Deck Ajani vs Nicol Bolas: Deck Lists

So today the lists for this duel deck was revealed and i gotta say it's dissapointing to say the least, i would have expect wizards to give us more then what is present though the alternate art Lightning Helix, Behemoth Sledge and Ajani Vengenant for the Ajani deck is kinda nice, while on the Nicol Bolas side we have ourselves a alternate art Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Deep Analysis and Countersquall as seen in the picture below, immediately after the picture will be the lists for this deck.

Ajani List


Creatures


1 Woolly Thoctar
1 Firemane Angel
1 Fleetfoot Panther
1 Loxdon Hierarch
1 Marisi's Twinclaws
1 Spitemare
1 Qasali Pride Mage
1 Kird Ape
1 Canyon Wildcat
2 Ajani's Pridemate
1 Loam Lion
1 Nacatl Hunt Pride
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Jade Mage
1 Ageless Entity
2 Sylvan Ranger
1 Essence Warden
1 Pride of Lions
1 Briarhorn
1 Grazing Gladeheart

Enchantment


1 Searing Meditation
1 Ajani's Mantra
2 Recumbent Bliss
1 Griffin Guide

Sorceries


1 Titanic Ultimatium
1 Lead the Stampede

Instants


1 Naya Charm
1 Lightning Helix
1 Sylvan Bounty

Planeswalkers


1 Ajani Vengenant

Artifacts


1 Behemoth Sledge

Lands


2 Evolving Wilds
1 Kazandu Refuge
1 Graypelt Refuge
2 Jungle Shrine
8 Forest
6 Plains
3 Mountain
1 Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
1 Sapseep Forest


Nicol Bolas Deck


Creatures


1 Fire Fiend Ogre
1 Moroii
1 Jhessian Zombies
1 Dimir Cutpurse
1 Igneous Pounce
1 Blazing Specter
2 Hellfire Mongrel
1 Slavering Nulls
1 Ogre Savant
1 Nightscape Familar
1 Shriekmaw
1 Morgue Toad
1 Steamcore Weird
1 Brackwater Elemental
1 Surveilling Sprite

Sorceries


1 Rise/Fall
1 Pain/Suffering
1 Cruel Ultimatium
1 Slave of Bolas
1 Profane Command
1 Deep Analysis

Enchantments


1 Elder Mastery

Instants


1 Spite/Malice
1 Recoil
1 Countersquall
1 Grixis Charm
1 Undermine
1 Agonzing Denuse
1 Vapor Snag

Planeswalkers


1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Artifacts

1 Icy Maniuplator
2 Grixis Panorama

Lands


9 Swamp
5 Mountain
7 Island
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Rupture Spire


So those are the two lists for Ajani vs Nicol Bolas, this is kinda a dissapointment in my eyes since the only worthwhile cards are the walkers, Sledge, the Ultimatiums and a bunch of stuff for Zoo, other then that it's 20 dollars to buy this duel deck on September 3rd, 2011 and should give wizards a decent chunk of their money back, provided people buy this, thanks to MTGsalvation for obtaining the lists and that for use for this article, well that's it for today, tommorow's a day off since i play magic on saturdays so till next article this is vergil signing off.

Duel Deck Announcement: Venser vs Koth

Welcome back to the hack of the emporium where today's edition sees me looking at a new announcement in the form of a duel deck, perhaps my two favorite walkers of all time Koth of the Hammer and Venser, the Sojourner are finally getting that duel deck that was expected and well it appears wizards brought the A-game to the table this time, with the announcement of Koth vs Venser, the duel deck which is basically gonna be awesome me thinks, let's first take a look at the details of the this bad boy duel deck.

Languages - English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese
MSRP: 19.99 US
Deck Designers: Chris Millar and Mark Gottlieb
Release Date: March 30th, 2012

Now if that isn't a shocker checking out the art pieces for the updated art Koth of the Hammer and Venser the Sojourner

The link to the official announcement can be found here --->  Venser vs Koth Announcement and you can expect this to go on sale for a little higher then MSRP due to the fact Koth and Venser are around the 20 dollar range at this point, though we may see venser and Koth drop in price big time due to this announcement in the coming days, though it is doubtful, since these two are highly popular standard walkers that have seen some form of play as of late, though that may not be the case post rotation, anyways today's a short article since this announcement doesn't have much in the way of information, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Modern Magic: What to Expect to see in this format.

Hello everyone and welcome back to another emporium update, today i figured it's time to start talking about Modern Magic and what we can expect to see cards wise, deck wise and the overall feel of the new format which replaces Extended at this next pro tour, Philadephia in the early days of september.

Now as we all know Extended has a wide array of cards to choose from, Modern however has a lot more to go for, because it includes blocks all the way dating back to 8th edition what does this mean though, expect to see some flavourful decks once again, Dredge may end up making a appearance, Zoo, Goblins, Boat Brew, no fairies though though we could see Merfolk in this format, we have a lot of decks to go over, as well as cards so let's begin with the basics, the cards to expect in this format.

Punishing Fire/Grove of the Burnwillows - This two card combination is expected to be run in like 2 or 3 different decks in this format, it was a good combo in Extended and should quite handily see play in Modern magic due to the powerful potential of both Zoo and Boat Brew

Tarmogoyf - This is a powerful card all on it's own, it may start a 0/1 but it's potential is limitless, Zoo, Boat Brew and a few others expect to run this card, even though it's over a hundred bucks right now, it's a necessity for this format.

Planeswalkers - This includes such cards like Tezzert, Agent of Bolas/Elspeth Tirel/Gideon Jura and even Ajani Vengenant to be run in this format though some sleeper hit may or may not include Garruk Wildspeaker/Chandra, the Firebrand and Koth of the Hammer personally though i wouldn't hold it against the deck builders to do such a thing.

Protean Hulk - Yes this big dude is a potential threat in Modern with a ton of combo based decks built for this format, because of the powerful potential even without Hypergenesis in this format it's a very potential threat, though could be easily beat out by Jund

Bloodbraid Elf/Bit Blast - With Jund legal again we can expect to see this menace once more, it's powerful combination of threats to drop turn 3 into turn 4 was destructive, this menace may be one of the many aggro based builds, but it can sure hold it's own against just about anything.

Since this format never rotates, it provides new ideas with new sets that come out as long as they are printed in the modern card frame with black borders, we could see Zombies, some Blue/Black Control hell even Dragonstorm again the skies the limit with this format since it has a ton of decks to base itself off of, i hope you enjoyed my little analysis of this format in it's infancy and tommorow i hope to talk about one of those decks, Boat Brew, this is vergil signing off.

Innistrad Card Arts: What we know so far

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another innistrad article, courtesy of the emporium, today we take a look at Innistrad card arts, speculated abilites of said cards and how they may work in current standard enviroments, so let's begin with a card known as Skirsdag Cultist which is a red creature, here's the art

Ok, so what we know of this card is the following it's a 2/2 that costs 2 anything and 2 red mana to summon, has the ability tap to sacrifice a creature, Skirsdag Cultist deals 2 damage to target creature or player, it's basically an upgraded Prodigal Pyromancer that costs 2 times as much to summon, deals twice the amount of damage it does and is basically a Shock on legs so it would seem, this may seem like a good idea to give us another one of these creatures, mind you at a uncommon level, but it's not your just making it worse for a lot of other players, when Innistrad arrives on store shelves on September 30th, i'll be sure to go to the release and see how this card gets played along with everything else i'll discuss today, onto a more impressive card, which is blue called Murder of Crows 

That's a blue dude alright, it flies, isn't a vampire and does card draw when something dies, sweet, here's what is known about this murder of crows, it's a 4/4 costs 5 mana 3 and 2 blue, flies obviously at a uncommon level, it also has the ability whenever another creature dies, you may draw a card, if you do discard a card, seriously do we really need a flying Riddlesmith right now, those whom aren't aware riddlesmith does the same ability for artifacts though when they are played, is a 2/1 costs 1 and a blue, for those who don't keep up with spoilers, IE Scars, MBS, NPH etc. This is really underestimated, due to the fact it flies, is a big body too so it can easily block chumpers all day long, seriously this is good for a blue dude, nice to see Innistrad representing blue to the fullest, my next art is from a card called Bloodgift Demon let's take a look shall we.

That is one impressive piece of art for a demon, amazing job on the art for thise one wizards, now as a 4/4 that flies obviously and costs 3 regular mana and 2 black mana to summon, has the ability, at the beginning of your upkeep, target player draws 1 card and loses 1 life and is a rare to boot, so this might be a 2 dollar rare, i don't know but i will say this much, this being the first card to fly and have that ability is kinda interesting to be honest here, if he is a 2 dollar rare i'll probably expect to see him in the Intro Packs for this set, who knows, anyways let's take a look see at a card known as Spectral Rider which is a knight believe it or not.

Dude that's a cool horse, ok so let's go over the basics for this one, it costs 2 white mana to summon yes a mere 2 white mana, is a 2/2 that has Intimidate wait say what we haven't seen that keyword for a long bloody time, last time we saw something with that keyword was a while back if i am not mistaken, someone be sure to note which set had it last in the comments below because i cannot remember, but to see that ability again along with Flashback in the same set, wow seriously this is good, i like it a lot really i do, this is one of the many reasons i am falling in love with Innistrad once again due to the horror themed/returning abilites category man it's great to be a magic player these days, last card of the day, it's known as Wreath of Geists surprisingly this one is a green card, let's take a look at this final piece of art.

Seriously a fricking pirate in the art to this one, man this is good, ok so it costs 1 green mana to play, is a enchantment - aura, has the ability Enchanted creature gets +X/+X where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard, it's a uncommon, i get it it's a graveyard based enchantment that works to your advantage, seriously wow, i didn't know that was possible, this is good as a uncommon, i'm kinda anticpating the next set of spoilers, provided we don't get what happened with New Phyrexia again that was a total bust of a spoiler season if i do say so myself, anyways that is it for today, we will have to wait and see what shows up tommorow news wise and i'll probably discuss it as usual, for the Emporium this is vergil signing off.

Innistrad Ultrapro Products: Cool Designs Bro

Hello everyone and welcome back to a emporium update, which is all about Innistrad's new ultra pro products, on this special 200th article of the emporium, i'll be taking a little look see at all the future products we will be expecting to see on the market for Innistrad itself, including deck boxes, storage binders as well as everything else that normally comes out in magic these days, what a shocker there eh, let's begin with the basics.

Normally products of this nature are based around various pieces of artwork in a set, this being the case, let's take a look at our first suspect, a brand new binder with artwork of a familar nature i've already previewed.

Yes everyone remembers this piece of art, the giant man holding a axe, this is the art for Innistrad's ultra pro binder, as we've probably speculated before hand, this indicates the possibility of a new garruk not even 3 months after Garruk 2.0 was spoiled in the form of Garruk, Primal Hunter though let's hope this isn't the case but usually pieces of ultra pro products end up spoiling a few cards art, so i expect to see this art on something in Innistrad, provided it is not a new walker but who is to say personally, let's move onto the deck boxes themselves, as a big fan of potential, let's see the artwork innistrad gave us for our deck boxes

Yes with werewolves being a key tribe in innistrad, they are giving us a Deck Box that has werewolf art on it, it is about time, Wolves have been popular in fiction these days, but have not been represented properly, innistrad i hope changes all we know of Wolves and how they work, again with usually artwork being spoiled first, this means we can expect to see this piece of artwork on something in the near future Innistrad spoiler wise, with that being said i'd like to draw your attention to one final piece of art in Innistrad that has been spoiled up to this point, it's a art for a card named Creepy Doll or so it is speculated to be named that.

If innistrad's horror theme has given us a idea of what to expect it's this art on the card speculated above, let's hope it is similar to a card named Stuffy Doll which was very fun to play, this may be the same art, but i'm gonna go on a limb here and say it's a similar process to Stuffy with the usual speculated Indestrucibility, but who knows, we won't know till this card is officially spoiled sometime during the spoiler season of course, well that's it for me for now, if your reading this before magic game day, good luck and have fun, if not i hope you had a successful game day today and wish you all the best luck possible, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Pro Tour Philadelphia Change: Official Unveiling of Modern Magic

Hello everyone and welcome to a bomb shell of a announcement as announced by Wizards of the Coast in a official unveiling of a new format which is going to take over Pro Tour Philadelphia's format in the form of Modern Magic, the official announcement was made here ---> Pro Tour Philly Change and features a ban list to go along with it, today's article will talk about those changes which have been made to a existing format Extended and replacing it with Modern Magic which details cards from the current modern card frame from 8th edition to current block standards, so let's go.


As we all well know Modern Magic was a format of this year's community cup, now it appears this format is now official and we will see it in future pro tours/grand prix's that being said however if your going to make a format, you kinda need a ban list to go along with the format announcement, 21 cards exist currently on the format's ban list with cards from various decks being banned outright, let's take a look at the current ban list before today's announcement


- Ancient Den
- Chrome Mox
- Dark Depths
- Golgari Grave-Troll
- Great Furnace
- Seat of the Synod
- Sensei's Divining Top
- Skullclamp
- Sword of the Meek
- Tree of Tales
- Umezawa's Jitte
- Vault of Whispers


But i know what your saying, vergil you said there is 21 cards on the ban list for this format, this is only 12, where's the other 9, the other 9 cards come in the form of the other half of today's announcement which is found here --->  Ban List Update and Explanation which details the other 9 cards in their utmost form, including specific cards from current standard let's break down some of the cards in this updated ban list


Jace, the Mind Sculptor - You know when your banned in standard 3 months before rotation wizards kinda made a oopsie on this card, controlling the game outright with all current format defining abilites, brainstorming for 0, fatesealing for a +2 and bouncing dudes with a -1 with a ultimate to basically say no more library for you, you may be a powerhouse in legacy but you can stay there for all i care mr mind sculptor.


Stoneforge Mystic - This in combination with Meta Sculptor made for a powerful combo, turn 3 play this, bounce it with jace's ability, replay it turn 5, attach turn 3's equip to mystic and swing a turn later, while holding counter magic and being able to brainstorm at will, this was the basis i feel for the banning, but as Tom Lapille wrote and i quote "We prefer to just ban this card rather than risk yet another format dominated by Stoneforge Mystic." means that they don't want a format dominated by Caw-Blade version 1.0 again, seriously that deck was busted fun.


Hypergenesis - I get why you banned this one wizards from a new format, suspend this turn 3, turn 6 this comes out, drop all your big dudes and end the game in like a turn, i get this is a cheap way to win and i guess wizards is finally learning it's lesson on printing values of specific cards in a format that will basically rule over Extended.


Glimpse of Nature - This i also understand why, this card is busted fun in Elves for a reason, drop this turn 3, draw a bunch of cards after dropping dudes like crazy, it had a what wizards like to call it "Breaking the Three turn kill rule" which makes formats kinda unfun i agree too on this fault, it is really sad this was one of the key cards for elves to work off of.


Dread Return - A massive facepalm of a decision here, just ban Bridge from Below and get it over with. stop beating around the bush wizards, seriously if you don't want dredge fine just ask the players to stop playing dredge by banning bridge instead of Dread Return, i mean my playgroup has a player whom plays bridge and it's retardedly good in the deck it's in, this is just a stupid decision to ban a recursion card.


Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - Wow banning another land from the format, seriously if your going to ban the Zendikar Lands just do it already, i'm sick and tired of the damn things since they should never have been printed, this was a good choice though, there is so much potential in a Valakut deck these days in current standard, i feel this was a decent decision, even though Ravnica Shock lands still aren't banned i'm looking at you wizards.


Bitterblossom - An enchantment that deserved to get banned in any format it touched, when this menace was in standard it was a joke, i'm serious here this card was a total utmost of a joke, i'm glad Fairies won't see the light of day now personally in Modern.


Mental Misstep -  A decent blue counterspell that should have never been printed, counters Lackey, Top and Skullclamp along with any good 1 drop spell in the format, deserved a banning in Modern as well, since it's a legacy powerhouse of a card


Ancestral Vision - I can see this card getting banned as well, suspending this turn 1, drawing 3 cards a few turns later, this is a decent piece of legacy for blue, runs in a few decks these days, but over JTMS i'm not sure anymore to be honest, though i like the fact it's being regulated well.


Well that's it for me this time around in the emporium, tommorow i hope to look at the Innistrad Ultra Pro stuff which hits the store shelves around the time Innistrad comes out, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Innistrad Preview: Mikaeus, the Lunarch. From the Vault Legends Final Update

Hello everyone and welcome back to another emporium update featuring both Innistrad and From the Vault in the same update, blasphemy i say, however it is quite true, we got our final look at From the Vault: Legends, along with our Innistrad preview card which is known as Mikaeus, the Lunarch a white legend that is very similar to a lord type dude, wanna see this preview card, let's take a look see at it.

Wow, so our first full card out of innistrad not counting the duels 2012 game file cards, but still a human cleric lord, who'd have thought of it, +1/+1 counters go into effect with this dude and believe me he's a damn good legend for this upcoming set of Innistrad. He may start as a 0/0 but that depends on if he is paid in X for his mana cost, for example if you pay 5 mana for X you get 5 +1/+1 counters on this guy and he enters as a 5/5 which isn't that bad, his first tap ability is to put a +1/+1 counter on himself, great but slow i must imagine, his second tap ability allows for a permanent Honor of the Pure effect granting all your other dudes, +1/+1 by removing a counter off Mikaeus and putting it on your other creatures, his rarity level for Innistrad is not yet determined but all From the Vault: Legends stuff is marked as mythic rare, let's hope wizards kept his rarity level too to be honest.

Onto some From the Vault: Legends news, we got our remaining legends today, let's take a look at them.

Yes, these are the final legends for this particular FTV, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Oona, Queen of the Fae, Visara, the Dreadful, Omnath, Locus of Mana, Captain Sisay and finally Cao Cao, Lord of Wei are the six remaining legends from this set, each with unique abilites for Commander and Collectors alike, my final thoughts on this particular from the vault is as follows, this is a real good set, with commander potential up the ying yang, we have some great legends in this set and am excited to see when it arrives on store shelves when and if this sells out almost as fast as the previous From the Vault's but i know it will, so pick it up quickly, this is only given to a select few people since quantites are limited for these usually, well that's all for this edition of the Emporium, i know i promised innistrad ultra pro stuff but this couldn't wait i mean a actual Innistrad spoiler hell yes, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Magic 2012 Event Decks: Lists and Thoughts

Hello everyone and welcome back to another spectacular edition of the emporium, today i'll be looking at the Magic 2012 event decks which go on sale as of 2 days time of this posting, which go on sale for a suggested retail price of 24.99 US and come with a 60 card maindeck and a 15 card sideboard with a dice and a rules insert as per usual of event decks, which seem to give way to a lot of good ideas for future magic players, let's take a look see at the first of the two decks, Illusionary Might which is the mono blue build featuring Illusions.

Illusionary Might


Creatures


1 Lord of the Unreal
1 Phantasmal Image
4 Phantasmal Bear
3 Phantasmal Dragon
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Precursor Golem
1 Steel Hellkite
4 Spined Thopter
4 Aether Adept
2 Grand Architect

Lands

1 Glacial Fortress
4 Glimmerpost
19 Island

Spells

4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
3 Mind Control

Sideboard

2 Flashfreeze
2 Negate
2 Frost Breath
3 Master Thief
4 Neurok Commando
1 Mind Control
1 Stoic Rebuttal

Now let's see the 2nd event deck, Vampire onslaught shall we?

Vampire Onslaught

Creatures

2 Bloodghast
4 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Kalastria Highborn
4 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Vampire Hexmage
4 Vampire Lacerator
2 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Vampire Outcasts
4 Viscera Seer

Lands

23 Swamp
1 Verdant Catacombs

Spells

2 Blade of the Bloodchief
4 Dismember
1 Mimic Vat

Sideboard

4 Distress
2 Go for the Throat
4 Skinrender
3 Vampire Hexmage
2 Vampire Nighthawk

Believe it or not those are the lists for these two event decks which go on sale as of August 12th, 2011 for a suggested retail price of 24.99 but the vampire one is gonna be like 34.99 due to the fact that there are so many worthwhile cards in it like the War of Attrition deck which was in new phyrexia. However when these go on sale be expected to pick at least 2 of these up, vampire wise and 4 if you want full play sets of course for this, anyhoo that's it for this one, stay tuned tommorow when i talk about the upcoming products to go along with Innistrad of course, this is vergil signing off.

Innistrad, Innistrad, Innistrad: What Propels you to be awesome

Hello everyone and welcome back to a Innistrad update, where today i will talk about the various things we know about innistrad in one handy dandy article, including speculated rumours around this particular set's planeswalkers, tribal based themes and what each tribe is going to encompass, along with some neat artwork for a old friend created by Steve Argyle so let's go.

Let's start this right with a speculated thing we know, which is a mechanic of this block, Flashback, which hasn't been seen for some time, last time it occured it was in Judgment way back when, now it seems however this particular mechanic is going to make it's glorious return to current meta in some cards from this set, so it would seem, personally i am excited for this and hope to see if we get some good stuff from this, provided wizards did it correctly as usual, but i digress this set might just be the best starting set since Shards of Alara if all this good stuff keeps coming back by checking out a artwork from a speculated flashback card called Moan of the Unhallowed

So earlier last month we learned the five main tribe themes that are going to be in the set, they are as follows Red/Green Werewolves, Green/White Humans, Blue/White Spirits or Ghosts, Red/Black Vampires and of course to finish Black/Blue Zombies, which haven't been since since Shards block, with the last Blue/Black Zombie being Zombie Outlander, if they print the tribes this way it makes you wonder there is obviously going to be a sub tribal theme here, because apparently drafting we won't have to draft tribes, just the colors, since this set has 264 cards in it, giving us a wide array of choices for a starting block set which is a rarity since the last 3 blocks ended at 249 cards which is kinda small if you ask me, this will give us a bigger starter set then the past 3 starting sets of the past 3 block seasons, nice if you ask me personally. Vampires is expected because they've had instances where red abilites are sometimes given onto black vampires, IE Bloodghast when the requirement is met, or a pump effect which is similar to Bloodthrone Vampire. However we've not seen many werewolves in the game of magic with a grand total of 3 existing werewolves in magic today, so this is new terroritory for us all, in terms of that tribe, Humans and Spirits though are pretty common in magic being different but effective tribal themes, unlike the tribal themes of Lorwyn block which was pretty damned awesome, let's hope this is a good one personally.

So apparently rumor had it is that Steve Argyle was making a new Lillana called Lillana of the Veil which can be seen below

That my friends is some fantastic artwork right there, dark and dreary perfect for a graveyard based block, i wanna see more of this dark gothic style of artwork from mr Argyle here, he does some pretty unique art for magic and this is probably his best piece of art yet, if you haven't seen his work i will provide a link to his site at the end of this article, let's take a look at one final thing, which is artwork for a new Garruk apparently spoiled at Gen Con not too long ago.

Wow that's a giant axe there, geez and this is on a magic binder of all things, bloody hell if this is a legitmate card i am going to be shocked, it has the dark and gothic theme written all over it, rotting tree branches, big dude holding a axe, if this is Garruk 3.0 i'm going to be shocked since this is going to be the first time we have two different versions of garruk post rotation, just maybe i could be wrong though, anyhoo that's about it for today's innistrad feature, tommorow i want to take a look at the M12 event decks which are going on sale as of this Friday, stay tuned this is vergil signing off.

Link to Argyle's site --->  Steve Argyle's Site

Top 5 Unexpected M12 Cards for Standard

Yes after a hiatus and a half i've returned with another article, today we will be looking at 5 M12 cards which no one thought was going to get used for a standard environment with a bunch of decks that no one expected to even survive the bannings of a certain Meta Sculptor and a Mystic, so let's begin

Timely Reinforcements - Seriously if you were to ask me about this card i'd probably tell you it's utter crap, however it's in Neo Caw-Blade and a few other white archetypes, so i cannnot complain it generates advantages, gives life, makes dudes and even cooks Juillene fries for crying out loud, who loves this card now, me that's who.

Stonehorn Dignitary - Apparently while i was gone i figured out this guy is a beast in Venser, drop him turn 4, play venser off turn 5, blink him, no combat for your opponent for the rest of the game, all the while you get to attack with all your big dudes, sick and effective personally i wanted to think of a card that wasn't white but my mind is still half asleep as of this writing.

Mana Leak - Why is this on here, i'll explain straight up, first i thought at one point this wasn't getting a reprint and soon after i find out it is, i'm kinda shocked they reprinted this over Counterspell which is double blue to cast, but far superior in the late game personally, i didn't want Leak for another year but we ended up getting stuck with a horse head in my bed apparently

Zombie Infestation - This card made me think at first, then i realized they reprinted it because of the fact Innistrad is going to be a graveyard based block, so it kind of makes sense to me to reprint this enchantment which we've not seen for a while now, but i digress making dudes off discards is fun and all, worth every slot to me at least, for the time being we will have to wait and see what Innistrad comes out with so we can determine how this can be used.

Goblin Grenade - With a few goblins in standard as of right now it seemed bout right to reprint this card, 1 drop, sacrifice a goblin and deal 5 damage to a player or creature, that's a mighty big stick goblins are carrying and apparently this has turned out to be a decent reprint for goblin decks everywhere, here's hoping we see goblins used in standard again for crying out loud.

Well that's it for me, just a short one from my hiatus of all things insane, tommorow i will return normally and take a look at the M12 event decks which go on sale next friday if i am not mistaken, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Magic the Gathering News Vol 8: Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Comic Con Wrap Up

Hello all and welcome to the 8th edition of Magic News via the emporium as usual, this monthly edition will cover Magic 2012's arrival onto the scene, Innistrad news and rumours and Dark Ascension which is scheduled to be the small set of Innistrad block scheduled for release next Feburary so let's begin with a look back at M12 as a whole

Magic 2012 brought with it a few new terms and a change to what we know today as Shroud and Leaving the Battlefield turning into Hexproof and Dies, that's not all it brought, we also saw new incarnations of Jace, Chandra and Garruk along with the return of Gideon and Sorin as the core set walkers of choice for the respective colors, after a few weeks magic 2012 has impacted quite a few things, changed some decks altogether, made new decks out of existing cards and brought back a old mechanic known as Bloodthirst from the ravnica block which is a nice change since last year's core set consisted of Scry cards, this year seems to be focused on the Black/Red bloodthirst style deck with the return of my favorite Lorwyn block common Ponder not because of how powerfully good the card was, but how well it got you good cards to use on turn 1, drafting of the core set has never been better as most players are returning find a certain familarity to the core set as a whole with returning commons and now being uncommons like Sengir Vampire and Shock being ever present in this year's post rotation. Magic 2012 has been a long time coming and i was personally glad to see the return of some old favorites, new cards which may end up impacting other formats and well just overall balance in terms of power levels of specific cards, remember folks we have 2012 and 2011 for the next 2 months in standard don't be afraid to use 2011's cards in existing decks till rotation if not just to make space.

Innistrad had a bit of a reveal at comic con in san diego recently with the release of new information, here is what we know so far, 2 planeswalkers will be present in this set, we are going to have dual colored mythical creatures like Werewolves, Ghosts etc, the card from the newest from the vault has yet to be spoiled, which is supposed to be a mythic level card, Lillana is confirmed to be in this set for the most part, we have yet to see proof she is but i would like to believe she is, this set is going to be the largest set we've seen in a long time, with the last largest set being Time Spiral if memory serves me correctly, if i am wrong please don't hesitate to tell me, i'm not going to fact check this fully i'm just using my memory of past sets to determine this fact. The amount of cards for the set is scheduled to be 264 cards, with about 16 mythics i would think for a set of this size, multicolor cards are abound and old types of creatures not used for horror themed sets will probably see a return, in other words, we don't know much bout innistrad at this point other then that, we do know that it is going to be huge and will impact standard for sure as expected.

Recently set number 2 of the innistrad block was revealed and it's known as Dark Ascension which is the small set of this particular block, for the official arcana announcement please go here for the full information
---> Dark Ascension Announcement which contains all the set information, even though it was first revealed at Comic Con this year, the official announcement for this set was revealed the monday after the event which as of this writing was about 6 days ago. Even though comic con didn't give us much else about this, except for a few pieces of art and the basic set information, i can tell you it drops on Feburary 3rd 2012, has a total set number of a 158 cards and may end up featuring a new sorin based on the art, we will have to wait and see of course.

Finally Comic Con 2011 is over and the wizards official panel happened twice in the 5 day span of the event, we got a taste of what's going down in From the Vault: Legends, we also got a taste of Innistrad's new stuff which is dual colored tribal theme along with stuff we've not seen before in magic, we've also got our hands on the ability to check out some of the cool products wizards is going to be sporting in the next 12 months, one of them being the new premium deck series Graveborn which i talked about already, before i make this article sound boring as hell, let me remind you that there are only a few more things to be released magic wise this year, one of them being the first set of the new block Innistrad, with a duel deck, a premium deck series and From the Vault: Legends left to go according to the chart for this year, well that's it for me for this time, this is vergil signing off for the month of July 2011, see you next magic news where i can finally talk about FTV: Legends in full glorious detail.

From the Vault: Legends Update, Reprints and old Friends

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the Emporium, today's big thing is going to be all about the upcoming From the Vault: Legends and what we will see in it come it's arrival, we already know of Progenitus, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Kresh the Bloodbraided, Rafiq of the Many and Sharrum the Hegemon well two more legends were confirmed at the San Diego Comic Con magic the gathering panel most recently, one of them is a old Portal 3 Kingdoms rare and the other is a old treefolk let's see the cards i'm talking about

Yes both Sun Quan, Lord of Wu and Doran, the Siege Tower are the newest additions of From the Vault: Legends which goes on sale in August, now let's examine both of these decisions from a price standpoint, Sun Quan is currently a 29 dollar card, while Doran the Explorer is about a 6 dollar card, so it balances itself out perfectly, both of these cards will be in foil when this is printed, for perhaps the first time ever, so we now know 7 out of the 15 cards in FTV: Legends and are sure to find out more in the coming weeks before this product is put on store shelves in august.

I would personally say this is a good choice to include a popular Black/Green/White legend in this set since the only other one printed thus far has been a certain dragon from time spiral, so this is good to see this getting foiled along with the horsemanship dude, tommorow i will most likely talk about the whole innistrad shenigans that happened at Comic Con and it's next set which is now known as Dark Ascension, till next time this is vergil signing off

General Musings on New Decks: Post Rotation U/B/R Tezzert

Hello everyone and welcome back to the 5th edition of General Musings, where i vergil focus on current standard builds and how they will be affected for post rotation, this edition we will focus on Blue/Black/Red Tezzert and U/B/W Tezzert which is 2 of the most dominant decks ever built, let's see a list before we begin analysis as per usual.

Tezzert U/B/R List Primer


Creatures


1 Treasure Mage
1 Wurmcoil Engine


Spells


4 Everflowing Chalice
2 Galvanic Blast
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Mindslaver
2 Mox Opal
4 Preordain
4 Prophetic Prism
2 Pyroclasm
2 Slagstorm
3 Sphere of the Suns
2 Stoic Rebuttal
4 Tezzert, Agent of Bolas
3 Tumble Magnet


Lands


1 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Inkmoth Nexus
3 Island
2 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tectonic Edge


Sideboard


3 Duress
1 Flashfreeze
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Kuldotha Rebirth
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pyroclasm
4 Spreading Seas
2 Stoic Rebuttal

Now this list is prior to the banning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor thus the reason he exists in this list for my analysis, i'm sure most people have figured out what to replace him with, if you haven't yet well get to it, let's see what has to be removed for the rotation as per usual.

Tectonic Edge/Scalding Tarn/Creeping Tar Pit - As per usual, we lose these three land sources for the deck either we can add 1 Darkslick Shores/3 Blackcleave Cliffs/2 Inkmoth Nexus to this build to replace the missing land base and throw the rest into basics for the deck.

So after landbase changes it looks something like this

Lands


4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Inkmoth Nexus
6 Island
4 Mountain

Or we could go into something like this for the build

3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Island
3 Mountain


Spells wise there isn't a lot to replace either, we do lose a tad bit of ramp in this deck due to rotation, we do lose a sweeper spell but we can easily replace it, we also lose a bit of card draw, but again replaceable.

Preordain/Pyroclasm/Everflowing Chalice - Ponder and Whipflare can take all the slots for Pyroclasm/Preordain in this list easily, card draw and sweeper spells still apparent in this deck, the chalice is a bit tricky to decide on, we do have access to Manalith, i could see that replacing this, but there maybe other choices for this spot but i'll put Manalith in that spot for conveniece sake during this article

Jace, the Mind Sculptor - We have to get rid of him now that he's banned and would be rotating effectively, so double the reason to remove him from this list, i think a sideboard singleton Elixir of Immortality and probably throw in Mana Leak as a 3 of in this list so spells wise it looks a little something like this

Prophetic Prism - If i had to guess here i would suggest Ichor Wellspring or even perhaps add a Sphere of the Suns/Tumble Magnet/2 Stoic Rebuttal in it's place

Spells


4 Manalith
2 Galvanic Blast
3 Mana Leak
2 Mox Opal
1 Mindslaver
4 Ponder
4 Sphere of the Suns
4 Tumble Magnet
4 Stoic Rebuttal
2 Slagstorm
2 Whipflare
4 Tezzert, Agent of Bolas


Creatures wise this list doesn't need to change it's only 2 dudes, i was going to suggest Buried Ruin for a sideboard card as a 2 of to replace the remaning stoic rebuttal in the list so sideboard looks a little something like this

Sideboard


3 Distress
1 Flashfreeze
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Kuldotha Rebirth
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Whipflare
2 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mana Leak
3 Negate


The final list looks a little something like this

Final Tezzert U/B/R Generic List

Lands

4 Blackcleave Cliffs

4 Darkslick Shores

4 Inkmoth Nexus

6 Island

4 Mountain

Creatures

1 Treasure Mage

1 Wurmcoil Engine

Spells

4 Manalith

2 Galvanic Blast

3 Mana Leak

2 Mox Opal

1 Mindslaver

4 Ponder

4 Sphere of the Suns

4 Tumble Magnet

4 Stoic Rebuttal

2 Slagstorm

2 Whipflare

4 Tezzert, Agent of Bolas

Sideboard

3 Distress

1 Flashfreeze

1 Elixir of Immortality

1 Kuldotha Rebirth

1 Ratchet Bomb

2 Whipflare

2 Ichor Wellspring

1 Mana Leak

3 Negate

Thank you very much for reading one of my final primers for the deck, if you have different ideas how to take this list, please do let me know, this is vergil signing off.

General Musings on New Decks: Post Rotation Kuldotha Red

Kuldotha Red being a new deck type in standard these days has seen quite a bit of play since the inception of the card that spawned it, Kuldotha Rebirth being the card this deck is based around has been around for some time and spawned a deck in itself with inclusions from the core set, scars of mirrodin, mirrodin besieged and even New phyrexia, let's see the list for it.

Petr Brozek's Kuldotha Red


Creatures


4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Ornithopter
4 Goblin Bushwacker

Spells


3 Mox Opal
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Flayer Husk
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Devastating Summons
4 Chimeric Mass

Lands


15 Mountain
4 Contested War Zone

With that there's not a lot in this list that needs to be altered for post rotation purposes, the landbase is just fine as it is, 19 lands with 15 basics and 4 contested war zone is perfect for the deck to replace the cards we're gonna look at, let's take a look at potential choices for the deck itself.

Shock - The new replacement for Lightning Bolt, will easily fit into the 2 of slot, probably gonna end up bumping it to 3 maybe if there is room.

Crush - Believe it or not this one red drop spell is pretty awesome in itself, deals with opals, bombs etc takes out a whole slew of heavy artifact things, including ramp cards like Sphere of the Suns


Panic Spellbomb - Yes another great target for kuldotha red in this case, if your going artifact heavy this is your choice of card for the deck, plus you can use it's secondary ability when it goes boom from rebirth.

With that in mind let's look at the spells now

Spells


4 Flayer Husk
3 Mox Opal
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Shock
4 Panic Spellbomb
4 Chimeric Mass


Creatures wise we are gonna have to replace the goblin guide and bushwacker with something a bit more impressive let's look at some better dudes for the deck.

Phyrexian Revoker - Yep, something that deals with walkers, ratchet bombs, the works basically, perfect rebirth target too, probably put him as a 3 of in the deck or 4 of, depending on what he's needed for.

Goblin Wardriver - Why isn't this in the list, this is the best dude in red and double red is nothing to scoff at, seriously this guy is the best red dude ever printed, 2/2 for a 2 red mana dude with battle cry, busted fun.

Goblin Chieftain - I guess since he's back in M12 i guess this makes him a valued choice for this deck since it makes tons of goblins, +1/+1 and haste is also nothing to scoff at for 3 mana as a 2/2 period powering the extra few points of damage so well.

So here is the creatures for the deck let's take a look

Creatures


4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Wardriver


So with that let's see the final list of Kuldotha red as of post rotation

Final List

Creatures

4 Memnite

4 Signal Pest

4 Goblin Chieftain

4 Goblin Wardriver

Spells

4 Flayer Husk

3 Mox Opal

4 Kuldotha Rebirth

4 Galvanic Blast

2 Shock

4 Panic Spellbomb

4 Chimeric Mass

Lands

15 Mountain

4 Contested War Zone

With that that's pretty much how i see Kuldotha Red being till innistrad arrives, if innistrad brings a few good cards this list will of course be updated, till next time this is vergil signing off.

General Musings on New Deck: Post Rotation Boros

Boros as it's effectively known is a dominant White/Red archtype that has seen a lot of tournament play, even making some successful top 8 lists around the world, even at the pro tour level, let's see how boros is affected after the rotation hits with 2 lists this time

Pro Tour Paris List 1- Run by Vincent Lemoine

Creatures


4 Steppe Lynx
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Goblin Guide
3 Plated Geopede

Spells


1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Bonehoard
2 Adventuring Gear
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Arc Trail

Lands


4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Teetering Peaks
6 Plains
3 Mountain


Pro Tour Paris List 2 - Run by Paul Rietzl


Creatures


4 Steppe Lynx
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Spikeshot Elder
4 Goblin Guide
4 Plated Geopede
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge

Spells


1 Koth of the Hammer
2 Adventuring Gear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Lightning Bolt

Lands


4 Arid Meas
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
3 Evolving Wilds
1 Teetering Peaks
5 Plains
5 Mountains

Now if we were to compare these two lists, most of the creatures/spells and lands would be gone, we would be left with the following

Hero of Oxid Ridge, Mirran Crusader, Spikeshot Elder, Koth of the Hammer, Sword of Body and Mind and Sword of Feast and Famine, Arc Trail and Bonehoard, along with the basics for the respective colors, though through comparison of the two lists, we've seen differences, Paul Rietzl played a singleton Spikeshot Elder and 2 Hero of Oxid Ridges in his creature base cutting the obvious extra mystic and 2 mirran crusader to do so while he also opted out of Arc Trail in his list, it ended up being a dominant powerhouse since he took 2nd place behind Ben Stark while Lemoine finished in 3rd place, Now what can be added to this deck to make it standard legal again let's take a look at some choices since most of the deck is dead at this point.

Spikeshot Elder - Not only is this guy a total beast to deal with, he can be pumped to make his ability seem more powerful, or something along that lines, one of the perfect 1 drops for the deck now that Mirran Crusader can back him up easily

Mirran Crusader - If i said to you, a double striking fiend of justice, no way, i'd say yes way in this fact Crusader will always make the cut and brunt of the deck, equipped he is nasty, unequipped he is equally as nasty to deal with, pro black and green help a lot to do with this.

Stormblood Berserker - With bloodthirst back, i saw this guy at first and thought to myself he is going to make a excellent addition to any boros deck, turn 3 crusader, turn 4 attack, drop this dude have a 3/3 on your side with a double striking fiend, that's game, plus he costs a mere 2 mana, perfect for the replacement of Plated Geopede in this deck.

Porcelain Legionnare - 3/1 first strike for a mere 2 mana, i'll take it, boros don't care about losing life, as it ends up dealing more damage then it takes, sure we have a fiend here in a 3/1 sure he can be equipped easily to make for more shenigans in this deck.

Benalish Veteran - Sure he may seem like your typical 2/2 for 3 but wait till he attacks, making him a powerful force to reckon with, the first of the perfect 3 drops for this deck, i think this guy suits boros just fine

Hero of Bladehold/Hero of Oxid Ridge - Both of these fit perfectly in a boros deck as the standard 4 drops one makes tokens while attacks just get uglier and uglier, expect these as at least 2 of's in the deck of choice

So looking at the creature base we have so far

Creatures


4 Porcelain Legionnare
4 Spikeshot Elder
4 Benalish Veteran
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Mirran Crusader


Looking at potential spells for the deck is not going to be that difficult, we have a singleton Koth which i feel should remain as is, The swords do have a use here even though we have no way to fetch em, since Mystic's been banned to high hell, Bonehoard is perfect and should be bumped to a 2 of at least, If we are going to talk about walkers let's see if Elspeth Tirel does the job, sure she may cost 5 mana, sure she churns out dudes at will, but this deck is all about raw power, she should be put as a 2 of in this deck since she provides a lot of useful material for it, onto the replacements though, Bolt, Journey to Nowhere and Adventuring Gear

Now we have a few choices to look at here, with the return of Oblivion Ring, Shock and Incinerate the options are as strict as can be for a time, let's look at the the potential

Oblivion Ring - Best way to deal with walkers ever printed in white, 3 drop enchantment that's nasty to deal with, nasty to get rid of, i'd probably guess it as a 3 of in the list to replace Journey to Nowhere

Shock - Perfect finisher or a good activation of Bloodthirst is key with this deck, 2 damage for 1 red mana, very reasonable i would think a good addition as a 2 or perhaps 3 of in the deck

Incinerate - Great to take down pretty much any 3 toughness creature, for a mere 2 mana too, can't be regenerated, so a good addition.

The spells for the deck look a little something like this

Spells


1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Elspeth Tirel
3 Shock
2 Incinerate

Onto the lands for the deck, we have a few options open to us, but not many, Contested War Zone, Basics, Phyrexia's core and Duals as of this point, with that being said however let's look at potentials for the deck

Contested War Zone - A great addition to the deck to replace a fetch land, should at least be a 4 of here.

Dual Lands are also nice to have for the deck, Seachrome Coast/Blackcleave Cliiffs is good, along with Sunpetal Grove/Dragonskull Summit, so a mix and match is in order

Lands

4 Contested War Zone
3 Seachrome Coast
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Dragonskull Summit
6 Plains
6 Mountains


Now as for the sideboard for the deck it's a mix and match situation let's see the sideboard from Rietzl's List first

Sideboard for Rietzl's List

3 Kor Firewalker
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Koth of the Hammer
4 Cunning Sparkmage
4 Arc Trail
1 Mark of Mutiny
1 Basilsk Collar


So looking at this sideboard we need to find a replacement for Kor Firewalker, Cunning Sparkmage, Mark of Mutiny and Basilsk Collar let's look at some potential suggestions based off this sideboard first

Gideon Jura - He comes to mind whenever you think of this type of deck, probably as a 2 of to replace the Mark/Collar in the sideboard, can also easily deal with most of the stuff thrown at him.

Grand Abolisher - Being able to say no to counters during your turn is awesome, activations and other things as well, a 2/2 body to boot right up Firewalker's Alley to replace him as the 3 of in the sideboard.

Manic Vandal - Deals with Mirror matchups/artifact based decks, etc, a 3 drop for a 2/2 it's perfect slot him in where Sparkmage goes as a 4 of in this build

So based off that here's the sideboard for now,

Sideboard for Deck


3 Grand Abolisher
4 Manic Vandal
2 Gideon Jura
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Mirran Crusader
4 Arc Trail


There isn't a lot of difference in the second sideboard other then the usual assortment of the 2nd sword in the list being there, an extra mark of mutiny, some Luminarch Ascension and a extra Journey and Kor Firewalker in there, i'll just leave it at that, so with that let's see the final outcome, lands varying of course but still a good amount of cards for boros to work with

Finished Deck

Creatures

4 Porcelain Legionnare

4 Spikeshot Elder

4 Benalish Veteran

2 Hero of Bladehold

2 Hero of Oxid Ridge

4 Stormblood Berserker

4 Mirran Crusader

Spells

1 Koth of the Hammer

1 Sword of War and Peace

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

3 Oblivion Ring

2 Elspeth Tirel

3 Shock

2 Incinerate

Lands

4 Contested War Zone

3 Seachrome Coast

3 Blackcleave Cliffs

2 Sunpetal Grove

2 Dragonskull Summit

6 Plains

6 Mountains

Sideboard

3 Grand Abolisher

4 Manic Vandal

2 Gideon Jura

1 Koth of the Hammer

1 Mirran Crusader

4 Arc Trail

Well that is that for this deck, after a long and through examination of the deck type, this is what i feel will work for the coming months, till innistrad arrives in september, but we will have to wait and see of course, but till next time remember folks, standard is all about the metagame, deal with that and you are on your way to victory, this is vergil signing off.

General Musings on New Decks: Post Rotation Mono Black Control

Hello all and welcome back to the 3rd edition of general musings with me vergil, today we will be taking a look at a deck that should potentially surface after the arrivial of Innistrad which is in october of this year, but for now let's see how Mono Black Control looks after the arrival of the latest core set M12, starting with a speculated list from our boys over at MTGsalvation.com

Lands
23 Swamp
4 Tectonic Edge

Creatures
3 Lillana's Specter
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Skinrender
3 Grave Titan

Spells
4 Sign in Blood
2 Doom Blade
3 Grasp of Darkness
3 Mind Sludge
2 Consuming Vapors
2 Corrupt

Artifacts
3 Mimic Vat

Sideboard
4 Duress
3 Black Knight
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Malakir Bloodwitch

So this deck as it is is not going to survive the rotation since half of it is zendikar block, perhaps it's time to take a look at potentials for the deck itself, starting with the creature base since the Specter and Gatekeeper are gonna rotate with Zendikar block, let's see what Scars block offers in terms of dudes.

Phyrexian Obliterator - If you were going to tell me this dude wasn't going to be on the list, i would have told you to shut the hell up, this guy is bonkers, 4 black for a 5/5 trampler and makes opponents sacrifice permanents when it gets damaged talk about a bountiful harvest of a dude.

Wurmcoil Engine - Ok so a artifact dude that can be basically a huge busted 6/6 with deathtouch/lifelink and make a dude with lifelink and a dude with deathtouch is just bad ass, this is considerating the fact that control in this deck is crucial, probably gonna be a 2 of in the deck itself.

So as of this point i'd say the creature base looks a little something like this

Creatures
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
2 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Skinrender
3 Grave Titan


Spells wise is where the control elements of the deck take off like a rocket with so much returning stuff, though the lack of card draw is a dissapointment, let's see what we can scrounge up for control aspects

Smallpox - Forcing a player to sac a creature, discard a card and lose 1 life for 2 black is perhaps the best thing you could do for a deck of this nature, 4 copies of these are a must for the deck itself.

Dismember - Lists should always have 4 of these somewhere in em, phyrexian mana is awesome, it breaks the fact you can throw it in a off color deck, go nuts and still smash face -5/-5 is nothing to scoff at either, plus we have things to follow up this card should one fail.

Memoricide - Perhaps a 2 of in the sideboard to deal with those nasty infect builds and tempered steel for post rotation, 4 mana to basically remove the best card in their deck for the rest of the game and other copies of the card in their deck, this is a no scoff at card.

Go for the Throat - Instantly gonna be the next big Doom Blade for the deck, 3 Doom Blade with 4 of these in a build, time to go nuts folks, removal at it's finest hour has arrived

Despise - Pretty much the strongest answer to walkers in this format, walker deck giving you a hard time, sideboard a few of these puppies in, draw one of these, make your opponent discard a walker or a creature and boom instant awesomeness, defintely a 3 or 4 of in the deck.

Praetor's Grasp - Deck robbing has never been so fun with this thing, sorcery speed it may be but 3 mana is still a good thing in this deck, remove a walker from your opponent's deck, put it into play yourself, boom instant happiness, good way to deal with infect/tempered steel decks.

So with that in mind let's take a look at what we gotta take out of the deck for rotation purposes, not a whole lot needs to be removed from this deck, but we do lose our card draw

Sign in Blood/Consuming Vapors/Corrupt and Mind Sludge all need to go from this list but what to replace all this good stuff with let's see if this works

Spells


2 Praetor's Grasp
4 Go for the Throat
3 Grasp of Darkness
4 Dismember
4 Smallpox
3 Doom Blade


Our sideboard is developing nicely as well at this point in time, let's take a look at it.

Sideboard

2 Memoricide
4 Despise
1 Doom Blade


Our landbase is gonna change a bit to suit the format, let's look at potential candidates for the deck for our land base.

Dragonskull Summit/Blackcleave Cliffs - If it isn't broken don't fix it, this particular fixing isn't necessary but does give us a bit of a advantage since we no longer really require swamps for the deck and Tectonic Edge is done for since Worldwake rotates as of October.

Buried Ruin - Surprisingly enough, this allows us to return out Wurmcoil's or Mimic Vat's at will, something to be considered for the deck.

So the landbase is gonna look a little something like this

Lands
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Buried Ruin
17 Swamp


Our final product turns out to be something cool like this

Lands

4 Blackcleave Cliffs

3 Buried Ruin

17 Swamp

Creatures

4 Phyrexian Obliterator

2 Wurmcoil Engine

4 Skinrender

3 Grave Titan

Spells

2 Praetor's Grasp

4 Go for the Throat

3 Grasp of Darkness

4 Dismember

4 Smallpox

3 Doom Blade

Sideboard

2 Memoricide

4 Despise

1 Doom Blade

The sideboard for the deck has yet to be decided on, i was thinking something along the lines of 

+2 Lashwrithe 

+1 Mindslaver

+3 Bonehoard

+2 Hex Parasite

That should do it though, i've got a lot done for this one, this maybe a potential list for MBC as of Innistrad or perhaps not, but i'd like to think it works as of this point, so this is vergil signing off