Yes it is true, from the vault has been revealed name wise, it is known as From the Vault: Realms, meaning there will be 15 different lands, all in foil of course now, we also got a piece of preview art with this, let's see it before we continue.
Oh wow, this is a very nice piece of art spoiled along with this set, i must admit. Flavor wise it feels like Dark Depths, you know the one that generates that 20/20 Marit Lage token and combos quite well with a certain vampire from Zendikar block. According to the announcement as well, some of these cards have never been printed in the current black border frame and for them it is the first time being done, well remember From the Vault: Legends did that as well, with a certain few cards from Portal Three Kingdoms and such.
So here is what we know for this at the moment.
MSRP: 34.99 US
Product, Concept and Development Team: Mark Gottileb
Release Date: August 31st, 2012.
Yes you can expect to see this being much higher then MSRP along with being released at the end of August, officially ending 2012's summer of magic as i like to call it, for the full link to the announcement please see the link below.
Link to Announcement ---> From the Vault Realms Announcement
With that this ends another edition of the emporium, on a very strange leap day in February, so without further ado this is vergil signing off.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Magic the Gathering News Vol 15: PT Dark Ascension, Changes to Prerelease, Release Parties and much much more.
Hello everyone and welcome back to yet another monthly edition of the magic news, let's recap what happened in the month of february with some of the big changes to Magic as we may know it.
So as all may end up remembering, Launch Parties are going to change starting with Avacyn Restored in the fact that the term "Launch Party" is going to be phased out and that stores will be given more chances to run more prereleases and such depending on what store you go to to play magic on a weekly basis, it also means the promotional cards for said Launch Party are allowed to be distributed early on the release date of the new set, which is kind of nice i suppose in all honesty, plus since the upcoming set Avacyn Restored is a large set, it will be drafted on it's own for prereleases and booster drafts everywhere meaning no Innistrad for you, sorry, informational link will of course be below as always.
Article with Changes --> Changes to Launch Parties
Pro Tour Dark Ascension also happened earlier this month, with Wolf Run Ramp taking the entire event both PVDDR and Brian Kibler had a epic clash of 5 games to end the event with a mirror match wolf run ramp deck, that was a blast but the big shocker is the Jon Finkel vs Brian Kibler matchup where there was some serious classic moments there, congrats to Brian for his win and the next Pro tour as we know is Barcelona.
Grand Prix's a plenty this month, Kobe, Madrid were both booster draft/sealed deck while Lincoln saw Modern action, Baltimore saw a lot of standard decks once again but congrats go out to Bronson Magnan for winning Grand Prix Lincoln with his CAL deck, Grand Prix Kobe saw Masahiro Hiraga take the title in the booster draft, Grand Prix Baltimore saw standard and the winner of that event after a successful top 8 run was Matthew Costa while in Grand Prix Madrid, Ivo Grossholtz took the crown in a Sealed Deck/Booster Draft field which was over 1000 players, congrats to all four of you for winning your respective events and see you at Pro Tour Barcelona.
For those wondering if Tarmogoyf was going to be in Avacyn Restored, well kiss those dreams good bye as Mark Rosewater stated the following "While he makes sense mechanically, in makes no sense in a top down persepective in a horror block, so no we've never even considered reprinting it in Innistrad Block" the source will be below as always.
Source ---> Tarmogoyf Rumor Crushed
As we all know, this friday is the first night of Friday Night Magic in march, meaning a brand new promotion card, what could it be i wonder, well it's Tectonic Edge, the picture will of course be below
Yes friends you too can own your very own foil editions of the cheap version of Wasteland by winning your first FNM if it is your first of course, most stores like to have Standard though for their FNM's so keep that in mind before heading to your first new FNM for the month.
Well with that, that is the second month of the year done, we move towards a new month with a new product coming out Duel Decks: Venser vs Koth, so until next time you fine folks out there in magic land, this is vergil signing off.
So as all may end up remembering, Launch Parties are going to change starting with Avacyn Restored in the fact that the term "Launch Party" is going to be phased out and that stores will be given more chances to run more prereleases and such depending on what store you go to to play magic on a weekly basis, it also means the promotional cards for said Launch Party are allowed to be distributed early on the release date of the new set, which is kind of nice i suppose in all honesty, plus since the upcoming set Avacyn Restored is a large set, it will be drafted on it's own for prereleases and booster drafts everywhere meaning no Innistrad for you, sorry, informational link will of course be below as always.
Article with Changes --> Changes to Launch Parties
Pro Tour Dark Ascension also happened earlier this month, with Wolf Run Ramp taking the entire event both PVDDR and Brian Kibler had a epic clash of 5 games to end the event with a mirror match wolf run ramp deck, that was a blast but the big shocker is the Jon Finkel vs Brian Kibler matchup where there was some serious classic moments there, congrats to Brian for his win and the next Pro tour as we know is Barcelona.
Grand Prix's a plenty this month, Kobe, Madrid were both booster draft/sealed deck while Lincoln saw Modern action, Baltimore saw a lot of standard decks once again but congrats go out to Bronson Magnan for winning Grand Prix Lincoln with his CAL deck, Grand Prix Kobe saw Masahiro Hiraga take the title in the booster draft, Grand Prix Baltimore saw standard and the winner of that event after a successful top 8 run was Matthew Costa while in Grand Prix Madrid, Ivo Grossholtz took the crown in a Sealed Deck/Booster Draft field which was over 1000 players, congrats to all four of you for winning your respective events and see you at Pro Tour Barcelona.
For those wondering if Tarmogoyf was going to be in Avacyn Restored, well kiss those dreams good bye as Mark Rosewater stated the following "While he makes sense mechanically, in makes no sense in a top down persepective in a horror block, so no we've never even considered reprinting it in Innistrad Block" the source will be below as always.
Source ---> Tarmogoyf Rumor Crushed
As we all know, this friday is the first night of Friday Night Magic in march, meaning a brand new promotion card, what could it be i wonder, well it's Tectonic Edge, the picture will of course be below
Yes friends you too can own your very own foil editions of the cheap version of Wasteland by winning your first FNM if it is your first of course, most stores like to have Standard though for their FNM's so keep that in mind before heading to your first new FNM for the month.
Well with that, that is the second month of the year done, we move towards a new month with a new product coming out Duel Decks: Venser vs Koth, so until next time you fine folks out there in magic land, this is vergil signing off.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Standard Deck Examination: Mono Green Dungrove Elder
And so we come to the last of the deck examinations, this one is a bit post Dark Ascension but it's core was built in Innistrad thanks to a few cards from it, though i didn't get a chance to examine it till now, that is Mono Green Dungrove Elder which is one of the decks we saw at Pro Tour: Dark Ascension which focuses on the M12 rare Dungrove Elder while having a lot of ramp elements to it to get lands on the battlefield quicker, let's take a look at the first list now though.
The first list of choice is Todd Anderson's take on Mono Green Dungrove Elder, which seems to be one of the more difficult builds to beat these days due to the sheer ramp the deck has to offer, let's see it.
Todd Anderson's Dungrove Elder - Pro Tour Dark Ascension
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Daybreak Ranger
4 Dungrove Elder
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Strangleroot Geist
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Spells
3 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Gut Shot
4 Sword of War and Peace
Lands
24 Forest
Sideboard
2 Corrosive Gale
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Glissa, the Traitor
3 Naturalize
2 Precursor Golem
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
Already we are seeing the basics of the deck come together here, sure it's name sake and the basic lands are a start, but what are some more common themes with this deck archetype as a whole, well let's find out with our second list courtesy of Pro Tour Dark Ascension once again, this time however run by Iain Bartolomei
Iain Bartolomei's Dungrove Elder - Pro Tour Dark Ascension
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Dungrove Elder
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Strangleroot Geist
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Spells
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Gut Shot
4 Sword of War and Peace
Lands
24 Forest
Sideboard
1 Batterskull
2 Creeping Corrosion
1 Glissa, the Traitor
2 Naturalize
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Tumble Magnet
So the creature base is consistent with these two decks, a singleton Acidic Slime and Bellowing Tanglewurm which can be copied via a Phyrexian Metamorph, the standard ramp package of Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves are pretty basic for green these days, leading into a turn 2 to fetch a early attacker in Strangleroot Geist, or even a turn 3 green sun's zenith to fetch one of the deck's 4 copies of Dungrove Elder as a good way to start off the deck, of course spells may vary the creature base is starting to come together though as a whole, so with these two lists we pretty much understand the core cards of the deck already, so without further ado let's take at the core cards of Dungrove Elder
Creatures
Dungrove Elder - This deck's name sake for green justice of course, always consider this 4 slots in your 60 regardless if your playing this archetype.
Llanowar Elves/Birds of Paradise - Standard ramp package, sure we could be playing Rampant Growth, but it's not preferred here, standard creature ramp is much better honestly and these two are always 4x no matter what.
Acidic Slime/Bellowing Tanglewurm - You only need 1 of these each, considering the fact you can fetch them via your Green Sun's Zenith a lot easier then waiting for them.
Phyrexian Metamorph - Sure let's pay 2 life to get a copy card onto the battlefield, copying a sword, copying a creature like Slime or Tanglewurm, or how about a second Dungrove Elder or even a second Strangleroot Geist for that matter
Strangleroot Geist - Kinda required since he's the only 2 drop in the deck, undying, haste does help quite a bit and allows you to churn the extra bits of damage needed, i'd consider him a 4x but minimum of 3 in the deck at any given time.
Thrun, the Last Troll - Honestly the last time we saw this troll was a while back and well he's nice to have, 4/4 for 4, great bait for sweepers and all that neat stuff, you only need 1 of him honestly.
Spells
Green Sun's Zenith - A requirement honestly for this deck, fetching anything in it, period except for Metamorph, makes any green deck worth twice as much, 4x requirement here.
Garruk Relentless/Garruk, Primal Hunter - Just a back up plan in case stuff goes haywire, primal hunter's secondary ability is more useful then anything since it reloads your hand on occasion, Relentless is more useful as a token generator as well, but walker rule can't have two of the same subtype on the field, consider this 2x each easily
Sword of War and Peace - White and red decks a problem for you, no problem this is your answer right here, pro red, pro white, lifegain, direct damage need i say more, 4x easily and this will be the most expensive card in the deck since it sits at 30 bucks right now.
Gut Shot - Another 2x spell of the deck, it's pretty consistent, being one of the two phyrexian mana cards in our deck, dealing those last 2 points of damage is always crucial here.
The lands for the deck should always be basic lands, regardless, meaning you won't need to worry about mana fixers, no real reason to be running duals here, since you want the elder as strong as possible, so with this basic core of the deck, let's build our example list.
Vergil's Example List
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Dungrove Elder
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
Spells
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Sword of War and Peace
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Gut Shot
Lands
24 Forest
The sideboards for both decks though vary and deal with different archetypes the same way here, though if you can't get swords, then i would suggest either Batterskull or perhaps another good living weapon card, or even get your hands on a set of Trepanation Blade for the final 4 slots of the deck, sideboards though of course as i state may vary but the consistency of the sideboard remain and i leave that to you the reader to decide, but without further ado it's time to end another article, this is the last standard deck examination i will do for post Dark Ascension, until next article this is vergil signing off.
The first list of choice is Todd Anderson's take on Mono Green Dungrove Elder, which seems to be one of the more difficult builds to beat these days due to the sheer ramp the deck has to offer, let's see it.
Todd Anderson's Dungrove Elder - Pro Tour Dark Ascension
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Daybreak Ranger
4 Dungrove Elder
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Strangleroot Geist
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Spells
3 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Gut Shot
4 Sword of War and Peace
Lands
24 Forest
Sideboard
2 Corrosive Gale
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Glissa, the Traitor
3 Naturalize
2 Precursor Golem
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
Already we are seeing the basics of the deck come together here, sure it's name sake and the basic lands are a start, but what are some more common themes with this deck archetype as a whole, well let's find out with our second list courtesy of Pro Tour Dark Ascension once again, this time however run by Iain Bartolomei
Iain Bartolomei's Dungrove Elder - Pro Tour Dark Ascension
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Dungrove Elder
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Strangleroot Geist
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Spells
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Gut Shot
4 Sword of War and Peace
Lands
24 Forest
Sideboard
1 Batterskull
2 Creeping Corrosion
1 Glissa, the Traitor
2 Naturalize
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Tumble Magnet
So the creature base is consistent with these two decks, a singleton Acidic Slime and Bellowing Tanglewurm which can be copied via a Phyrexian Metamorph, the standard ramp package of Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves are pretty basic for green these days, leading into a turn 2 to fetch a early attacker in Strangleroot Geist, or even a turn 3 green sun's zenith to fetch one of the deck's 4 copies of Dungrove Elder as a good way to start off the deck, of course spells may vary the creature base is starting to come together though as a whole, so with these two lists we pretty much understand the core cards of the deck already, so without further ado let's take at the core cards of Dungrove Elder
Creatures
Dungrove Elder - This deck's name sake for green justice of course, always consider this 4 slots in your 60 regardless if your playing this archetype.
Llanowar Elves/Birds of Paradise - Standard ramp package, sure we could be playing Rampant Growth, but it's not preferred here, standard creature ramp is much better honestly and these two are always 4x no matter what.
Acidic Slime/Bellowing Tanglewurm - You only need 1 of these each, considering the fact you can fetch them via your Green Sun's Zenith a lot easier then waiting for them.
Phyrexian Metamorph - Sure let's pay 2 life to get a copy card onto the battlefield, copying a sword, copying a creature like Slime or Tanglewurm, or how about a second Dungrove Elder or even a second Strangleroot Geist for that matter
Strangleroot Geist - Kinda required since he's the only 2 drop in the deck, undying, haste does help quite a bit and allows you to churn the extra bits of damage needed, i'd consider him a 4x but minimum of 3 in the deck at any given time.
Thrun, the Last Troll - Honestly the last time we saw this troll was a while back and well he's nice to have, 4/4 for 4, great bait for sweepers and all that neat stuff, you only need 1 of him honestly.
Spells
Green Sun's Zenith - A requirement honestly for this deck, fetching anything in it, period except for Metamorph, makes any green deck worth twice as much, 4x requirement here.
Garruk Relentless/Garruk, Primal Hunter - Just a back up plan in case stuff goes haywire, primal hunter's secondary ability is more useful then anything since it reloads your hand on occasion, Relentless is more useful as a token generator as well, but walker rule can't have two of the same subtype on the field, consider this 2x each easily
Sword of War and Peace - White and red decks a problem for you, no problem this is your answer right here, pro red, pro white, lifegain, direct damage need i say more, 4x easily and this will be the most expensive card in the deck since it sits at 30 bucks right now.
Gut Shot - Another 2x spell of the deck, it's pretty consistent, being one of the two phyrexian mana cards in our deck, dealing those last 2 points of damage is always crucial here.
The lands for the deck should always be basic lands, regardless, meaning you won't need to worry about mana fixers, no real reason to be running duals here, since you want the elder as strong as possible, so with this basic core of the deck, let's build our example list.
Vergil's Example List
Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Dungrove Elder
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
Spells
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Sword of War and Peace
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Gut Shot
Lands
24 Forest
The sideboards for both decks though vary and deal with different archetypes the same way here, though if you can't get swords, then i would suggest either Batterskull or perhaps another good living weapon card, or even get your hands on a set of Trepanation Blade for the final 4 slots of the deck, sideboards though of course as i state may vary but the consistency of the sideboard remain and i leave that to you the reader to decide, but without further ado it's time to end another article, this is the last standard deck examination i will do for post Dark Ascension, until next article this is vergil signing off.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Standard Deck Examination: U/W Spirit Delver
So Pro Tour: Dark Ascension is over and well we know that this particular deck is superb, piloted by the hands of guys like Jon Finkel and the like, it's time to take a look at the deck which basically made it's way to the top 8 of the latest pro tour without much difficulty.
Jon Finkel's U/W Delver Spirits - 3rd Place - PT Dark Ascension
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Dungeon Geists
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
1 Divine Offering
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Gut Shot
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
1 Revoke Existence
4 Vapor Snag
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
Sideboard
1 Celestial Purge
1 Dismember
1 Demystify
1 Dissipate
1 Divine Offering
2 Dungeon Geists
2 Gut Shot
1 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Revoke Existence
2 Surgical Extraction
Now this is what i feel is going to define this archetype after the recent end to Pro Tour: Dark Ascension which was spectacular if i might add, with this deck there are 3 creatures that stand out besides Delver of Secrets here, Phantasmal Image, Drogskol Captain and Dungeon Geists which all have their purposes for spirits in this deck, but that's not the only pro tour list i wish to look at, let's look at Jelger Wiegersma's version of this deck which featured a completely different spell base and sideboard.
Jelger Wiegersma's U/W Delver Spirits - 8th Place - PT Dark Ascension
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Dungeon Geists
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
1 Divine Offering
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Mutagenic Growth
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
1 Revoke Existence
4 Vapor Snag
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
Sideboard
1 Celestial Purge
1 Dismember
1 Dissipate
1 Divine Offering
1 Dungeon Geists
2 Gut Shot
2 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Revoke Existence
1 Surgical Extraction
Now his sideboard is a bit different since he has Ratchet Bomb, Timely Reinforcements and only a singleton Surgical Extraction in there to deal with things, but you'll notice the spell list it has a singleton copy of Mutagenic Growth which means his list was a bit different but didn't seem to do as well, thanks to his 8th place finish in the event though, both lists did quite well at the pro tour at that, now in comparison with the two lists in question it's not really difficult to tell the core cards of this deck just based off these two particular lists.
Creatures
Delver of Secrets - Pretty much required since the deck is named after this somewhat, plus the fact it's a 1 drop even makes it a lot better honestly.
Phantasmal Image - Sure copying a Delver is fun and all but how about when you copy a Drogskol Captain with this and your entire team is now hexproof
Drogskol Captain - Another very required card in this deck, prevents targeted removal on your entire team and when a second one or a imaged captain is out, well targeted removal doesn't do very much here.
Snapcaster Mage - Since when is snappy never required to do the job, flashback on your non flashback spells, is a decent attacker and when there is a chance it usually means something happens that is good for you and bad for your opponent when he drops.
Dungeon Geists - The entire reason spirits are good now, 3/3 that permanently locks down a opponent's creature as long as it exists on the battlefield, flies and is the biggest creature in the deck.
Spells
Ponder - This sets up your delver activation and pretty much sets you up for the next 2 turns officially, perhaps the single best way to flip delver of secrets on 3rd turn easily.
Vapor Snag - Another 1 drop spell that is very effective in the long run, sure swing with your entire team and play this as a response to attacking, negating a blocker and getting those few extra points of damage through, or good to deal with a big threat like a titan, send it back to their hand and make a opponent lose 1 life.
Lingering Souls - 1 of your 2 token generators of the deck, which for it's mana cost is pretty damn decent, puts 2 1/1 spirits onto the field with flying and with a captain or two that can turn into a lethal team.
Mana Leak/Gitaxian Probe - This combination of cards is required since we are going blue, card draw and the ability to tell what is in your opponent's hand with the probe, then to follow that up with a counter spell in leak, basically the 1, 2 punch for the deck.
Lands
Seachrome Coast/Darkslick Shores - Required if your going to be needing mana fixers, since there are only 7 basic lands in the deck usually, 4 of each is required
Moorland Haunt - The second token generator of 2 this deck has, need a extra blocker for a quick chump block, sure, or perhaps you want a attacker next turn, activate this on your opponent's end step, untap and swing, this is a 2 of easily in this deck since it's not as required as Lingering Souls
Glacial Fortress - The only core set dual required for this deck since the black fixers are in Darkslick Shores and the basic swamp, since white/blue is more required this is a necessity as a 3 of in this particular deck of choice.
So without further ado let's throw together this particular deck in our way with additions not included here.
Example List
Creatures
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Dungeon Geists
Spells
4 Lingering Souls
3 Midnight Haunting
2 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Vapor Snag
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
Believe it or not there isn't much we can do if we want to change it to a more aggressive token style build, just add 3 midnight haunting to the deck, that's it, that is all we can do if we want it to be more aggressive honestly, anyways i'm afraid that's it for this particular examination, so i'm vergil and hope you enjoyed this little "Delve" into the U/W Spirit Delver i'll see you next time
Jon Finkel's U/W Delver Spirits - 3rd Place - PT Dark Ascension
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Dungeon Geists
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
1 Divine Offering
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Gut Shot
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
1 Revoke Existence
4 Vapor Snag
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
Sideboard
1 Celestial Purge
1 Dismember
1 Demystify
1 Dissipate
1 Divine Offering
2 Dungeon Geists
2 Gut Shot
1 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Revoke Existence
2 Surgical Extraction
Now this is what i feel is going to define this archetype after the recent end to Pro Tour: Dark Ascension which was spectacular if i might add, with this deck there are 3 creatures that stand out besides Delver of Secrets here, Phantasmal Image, Drogskol Captain and Dungeon Geists which all have their purposes for spirits in this deck, but that's not the only pro tour list i wish to look at, let's look at Jelger Wiegersma's version of this deck which featured a completely different spell base and sideboard.
Jelger Wiegersma's U/W Delver Spirits - 8th Place - PT Dark Ascension
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Dungeon Geists
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
1 Divine Offering
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Mutagenic Growth
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
1 Revoke Existence
4 Vapor Snag
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
Sideboard
1 Celestial Purge
1 Dismember
1 Dissipate
1 Divine Offering
1 Dungeon Geists
2 Gut Shot
2 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Revoke Existence
1 Surgical Extraction
Now his sideboard is a bit different since he has Ratchet Bomb, Timely Reinforcements and only a singleton Surgical Extraction in there to deal with things, but you'll notice the spell list it has a singleton copy of Mutagenic Growth which means his list was a bit different but didn't seem to do as well, thanks to his 8th place finish in the event though, both lists did quite well at the pro tour at that, now in comparison with the two lists in question it's not really difficult to tell the core cards of this deck just based off these two particular lists.
Creatures
Delver of Secrets - Pretty much required since the deck is named after this somewhat, plus the fact it's a 1 drop even makes it a lot better honestly.
Phantasmal Image - Sure copying a Delver is fun and all but how about when you copy a Drogskol Captain with this and your entire team is now hexproof
Drogskol Captain - Another very required card in this deck, prevents targeted removal on your entire team and when a second one or a imaged captain is out, well targeted removal doesn't do very much here.
Snapcaster Mage - Since when is snappy never required to do the job, flashback on your non flashback spells, is a decent attacker and when there is a chance it usually means something happens that is good for you and bad for your opponent when he drops.
Dungeon Geists - The entire reason spirits are good now, 3/3 that permanently locks down a opponent's creature as long as it exists on the battlefield, flies and is the biggest creature in the deck.
Spells
Ponder - This sets up your delver activation and pretty much sets you up for the next 2 turns officially, perhaps the single best way to flip delver of secrets on 3rd turn easily.
Vapor Snag - Another 1 drop spell that is very effective in the long run, sure swing with your entire team and play this as a response to attacking, negating a blocker and getting those few extra points of damage through, or good to deal with a big threat like a titan, send it back to their hand and make a opponent lose 1 life.
Lingering Souls - 1 of your 2 token generators of the deck, which for it's mana cost is pretty damn decent, puts 2 1/1 spirits onto the field with flying and with a captain or two that can turn into a lethal team.
Mana Leak/Gitaxian Probe - This combination of cards is required since we are going blue, card draw and the ability to tell what is in your opponent's hand with the probe, then to follow that up with a counter spell in leak, basically the 1, 2 punch for the deck.
Lands
Seachrome Coast/Darkslick Shores - Required if your going to be needing mana fixers, since there are only 7 basic lands in the deck usually, 4 of each is required
Moorland Haunt - The second token generator of 2 this deck has, need a extra blocker for a quick chump block, sure, or perhaps you want a attacker next turn, activate this on your opponent's end step, untap and swing, this is a 2 of easily in this deck since it's not as required as Lingering Souls
Glacial Fortress - The only core set dual required for this deck since the black fixers are in Darkslick Shores and the basic swamp, since white/blue is more required this is a necessity as a 3 of in this particular deck of choice.
So without further ado let's throw together this particular deck in our way with additions not included here.
Example List
Creatures
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Dungeon Geists
Spells
4 Lingering Souls
3 Midnight Haunting
2 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Vapor Snag
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp
Believe it or not there isn't much we can do if we want to change it to a more aggressive token style build, just add 3 midnight haunting to the deck, that's it, that is all we can do if we want it to be more aggressive honestly, anyways i'm afraid that's it for this particular examination, so i'm vergil and hope you enjoyed this little "Delve" into the U/W Spirit Delver i'll see you next time
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Standard Deck Examination: Zombies [Better known as Braaaaaains]
With Dark Ascension, we got ourselves a few decent brains creatures these days and well, what better time to take a look at one of the new possibilites of standard in the form of a Braaaaains deck, you may know this as zombies, one of the classic horror trope themes, let's begin with a few example decks from various Salvation users first off.
Our first list is from the user Rage-Kage whom put together this rather impressive zombie deck featuring elements of New Phyrexia's biggest threats, Phyrexian Obliterator and Phyrexian Metamorph
Rage-Kage's Braaains Deck
Creatures
4 Gravecrawler
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Highborn Ghoul
4 Cemetery Reaper
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
Spells
3 Lillana of the Veil
2 Lashwrithe
4 Tragic Slip
2 Ghoulcaller's Chant
Lands
24 Swamp
Now this isn't bad to start with, but it has to be improved somehow, what if we went Black/Blue for the deck instead, Sheermadness10 decided to use a Black/Blue deck with elements of both the good zombies, plus Snapcaster Mage to recur all the really good spells of the deck, here's his list
Sheermadness10's Black/Blue Brains
Creatures
4 Gravecrawler
3 Highborn Ghoul
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Diregraf Ghoul
3 Diregraf Captain
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
Spells
3 Vapor Snag
3 Geth's Verdict
1 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
4 Ponder
1 Gravepurge
2 Dismember
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
11 Swamp
3 Island
Now out of this deck i like the land base for it, it's actually perfect for what we need and is very similar i feel to the black/white tokens balance of the land base, what if we were to use this land base to construct a black/blue style zombies deck focused on the aggro portion, with some seriously good cards to clear the way like sheermadness did in a sense, let's just make a example list for this variant.
Aggro Zombies Variant
Creatures
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Highborn Ghoul
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Diregraf Captain
4 Gravecrawler
4 Cemetery Reaper
Spells
2 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
3 Dismember
2 Gravepurge
3 Lillana of the Veil
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
11 Swamp
3 Island
With this aggro variant basically our gas never stops until our opponents are dead, the notable 1 drops of the deck Gravecrawler and Diregraf Ghoul have always performed well in a pinch and a 2/2 on your first turn is usually nothing to laugh at honestly, considering you drop a Highborn Ghoul on your second turn to follow it up, meaning even if your opponent has a blocker, you always get through for maximum damage, dropping Lillana however basically ends their game since the board is constantly clear for your zombies to stumble their way through direct damage, what if though we were to use a more controlled/slower variant instead of the aggressive deck we are used to, Ben Delat of Salvation went that route at a recent FNM and 4-0'ed the event with his control zombies, here's his list.
Ben Delat's Blue/Black Brains Control
Creatures
4 Gravecrawler
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Phantasmal Image
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Diregraf Captain
Spells
4 Mana Leak
2 Negate
2 Dismember
2 Tragic Slip
2 Vapor Snag
3 Gitaxian Probe
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Evolving Wilds
11 Swamp
1 Island
Sideboard
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Geth's Verdict
2 Flashfreeze
1 Bloodline Keeper
2 Ghoulcaller's Chant
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Tragic Slip
You will note this is the only deck that has a sideboard so far, as the previous two are variants that really didn't have much, but with Phantasmal Image you are constantly going to be copying someone's titan's, big dudes and even Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite whom seems to be making a rise in a lot of decks these days, including Wolf Run Ramp, but if we are seeing a answer to most of the main threats decks have to offer which is good, meaning one of these days it's gonna be all about the control deck once again, or so i would hope, anyways now that we have a few lists, it's time to take a look at the core cards of zombies.
Creatures
Diregraf Ghoul - 2/2 that enters tapped, sure but it costs a single black mana, probably the best common zombie out there and should be a auto 4 of in any brains build in standard these days.
Gravecrawler - You know when you constantly return to the battlefield you are one of the best creatures in the format, even for 1 black mana, sure chump, play a zombie like Diregraf, recast this, continue till they are worn down, another auto 4 of in brains.
Geralf's Messenger - I think if undying worked well enough, this would be the go to guy for the deck, sure triple black for a 2/2 undying dude, it's enter the battlefield trigger is what brains decks love though.
Diregraf Captain - If you splash blue at all in brains, this is the card to splash for, honestly what's not to like about the lord of choice, or even if your going half blue, half black, still you have 8 duals in your deck which fix it for this dude.
Cemetery Reaper - If you go mono black, this is your man, or zombie i should say, lord for mono black and is a damn good dude of choice for the late game, churns out tokens off dead creatures to boot
Highborn Ghoul - Our 2 drop for the deck, probably the only 2 drop besides Black Cat, whom can be opted in for this guy due to the cat's effect, plus it being a zombie and all.
Spells
Tragic Slip - Stuff is going to die all the time, with this being bar none the best removal in the form of a single black mana, your going to have lots of fun with this particular removal spell, consider this a 4 of in any brains build.
The rest of the deck however is completely optional, with so many good black cards to consider to use, Dismember, Lillana, even blue cards like Phantasmal Image and Mana Leak for a more control sense there are quite a few directions zombies players can take their decks out there, you just gotta know where to look, anyways that's it for me for this edition, until next time this is vergil signing off.
Our first list is from the user Rage-Kage whom put together this rather impressive zombie deck featuring elements of New Phyrexia's biggest threats, Phyrexian Obliterator and Phyrexian Metamorph
Rage-Kage's Braaains Deck
Creatures
4 Gravecrawler
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Highborn Ghoul
4 Cemetery Reaper
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
Spells
3 Lillana of the Veil
2 Lashwrithe
4 Tragic Slip
2 Ghoulcaller's Chant
Lands
24 Swamp
Now this isn't bad to start with, but it has to be improved somehow, what if we went Black/Blue for the deck instead, Sheermadness10 decided to use a Black/Blue deck with elements of both the good zombies, plus Snapcaster Mage to recur all the really good spells of the deck, here's his list
Sheermadness10's Black/Blue Brains
Creatures
4 Gravecrawler
3 Highborn Ghoul
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Diregraf Ghoul
3 Diregraf Captain
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
Spells
3 Vapor Snag
3 Geth's Verdict
1 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
4 Ponder
1 Gravepurge
2 Dismember
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
11 Swamp
3 Island
Now out of this deck i like the land base for it, it's actually perfect for what we need and is very similar i feel to the black/white tokens balance of the land base, what if we were to use this land base to construct a black/blue style zombies deck focused on the aggro portion, with some seriously good cards to clear the way like sheermadness did in a sense, let's just make a example list for this variant.
Aggro Zombies Variant
Creatures
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Highborn Ghoul
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Diregraf Captain
4 Gravecrawler
4 Cemetery Reaper
Spells
2 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
3 Dismember
2 Gravepurge
3 Lillana of the Veil
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
11 Swamp
3 Island
With this aggro variant basically our gas never stops until our opponents are dead, the notable 1 drops of the deck Gravecrawler and Diregraf Ghoul have always performed well in a pinch and a 2/2 on your first turn is usually nothing to laugh at honestly, considering you drop a Highborn Ghoul on your second turn to follow it up, meaning even if your opponent has a blocker, you always get through for maximum damage, dropping Lillana however basically ends their game since the board is constantly clear for your zombies to stumble their way through direct damage, what if though we were to use a more controlled/slower variant instead of the aggressive deck we are used to, Ben Delat of Salvation went that route at a recent FNM and 4-0'ed the event with his control zombies, here's his list.
Ben Delat's Blue/Black Brains Control
Creatures
4 Gravecrawler
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Phantasmal Image
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Diregraf Captain
Spells
4 Mana Leak
2 Negate
2 Dismember
2 Tragic Slip
2 Vapor Snag
3 Gitaxian Probe
Lands
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Evolving Wilds
11 Swamp
1 Island
Sideboard
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Geth's Verdict
2 Flashfreeze
1 Bloodline Keeper
2 Ghoulcaller's Chant
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Tragic Slip
You will note this is the only deck that has a sideboard so far, as the previous two are variants that really didn't have much, but with Phantasmal Image you are constantly going to be copying someone's titan's, big dudes and even Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite whom seems to be making a rise in a lot of decks these days, including Wolf Run Ramp, but if we are seeing a answer to most of the main threats decks have to offer which is good, meaning one of these days it's gonna be all about the control deck once again, or so i would hope, anyways now that we have a few lists, it's time to take a look at the core cards of zombies.
Creatures
Diregraf Ghoul - 2/2 that enters tapped, sure but it costs a single black mana, probably the best common zombie out there and should be a auto 4 of in any brains build in standard these days.
Gravecrawler - You know when you constantly return to the battlefield you are one of the best creatures in the format, even for 1 black mana, sure chump, play a zombie like Diregraf, recast this, continue till they are worn down, another auto 4 of in brains.
Geralf's Messenger - I think if undying worked well enough, this would be the go to guy for the deck, sure triple black for a 2/2 undying dude, it's enter the battlefield trigger is what brains decks love though.
Diregraf Captain - If you splash blue at all in brains, this is the card to splash for, honestly what's not to like about the lord of choice, or even if your going half blue, half black, still you have 8 duals in your deck which fix it for this dude.
Cemetery Reaper - If you go mono black, this is your man, or zombie i should say, lord for mono black and is a damn good dude of choice for the late game, churns out tokens off dead creatures to boot
Highborn Ghoul - Our 2 drop for the deck, probably the only 2 drop besides Black Cat, whom can be opted in for this guy due to the cat's effect, plus it being a zombie and all.
Spells
Tragic Slip - Stuff is going to die all the time, with this being bar none the best removal in the form of a single black mana, your going to have lots of fun with this particular removal spell, consider this a 4 of in any brains build.
The rest of the deck however is completely optional, with so many good black cards to consider to use, Dismember, Lillana, even blue cards like Phantasmal Image and Mana Leak for a more control sense there are quite a few directions zombies players can take their decks out there, you just gotta know where to look, anyways that's it for me for this edition, until next time this is vergil signing off.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Standard Deck Examination: Burning Vengeance
Well it has happened and Burning Vengeance has arrived onto the scene, everyone may remember my article on the deck prior to the release of Dark Ascension, but now it's time to take a look at the MTGSalvation primer of Burning Vengeance done by the user Jubokko on Salvation, here's an example list for starters since there is no primer list for the deck.
Burning Vengeance Grixis - MTGSalvation Primer
Creatures
3 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Mana Leak
2 Dissipate
4 Think Twice
3 Desperate Ravings
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Geistflame
3 Slagstorm
2 Whipflare
2 Doom Blade
2 Bump in the Night
Lands
4 Island
3 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Dragonskull Summit
2 Shimmering Grotto
Sideboard
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Mental Misstep
3 Flashfreeze
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Nihil Spellbomb
For a 3 color deck it sure is loaded with all 3 colors worth of spells that are currently used in today's meta, Slagstorm, Whipflare for sweeping, Doom Blade, Geistflame and of course Burning Vengeance to deal with threats and deal the necessary damage the deck has to offer along with the standard control package of Mana Leak/Dissipate to counter a lot of the big threats early on. With lots of potential changes this deck can make, it's a wonder this isn't just a Blue/Red list instead of it being a grixis list with all this mana fixing in it, seriously strange to see here, but this leaves us open for black on such a huge scale here, now let's take a look at another style of deck which is another triple colored deck featuring Burning Vengeance.
Blue/White/Red Vengeance - Salvation Primer
Creatures
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
3 Day of Judgment
3 Desperate Ravings
2 Dissipate
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Geistflame
4 Mana Leak
4 Think Twice
2 Slagstorm
1 Whipflare
Lands
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Clifftop Retreat
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Copperline Gorge
1 Shimmering Grotto
5 Island
4 Mountain
For another triple colored list you are going to see a lot of sweeper spells like Day of Judgment, Whipflare, Slagstorm, etc, with Snapcaster Mage each spell becomes double it's potential value always and is a considered one of the core cards of this deck period, everything else is secondary but most of the time spells with flashback are preferred over spells without flashback, Think Twice, Desperate Ravings, Faithless Looting, etc meaning it's easier to cast these without having to blow a snapcaster on a flashback card then it is to blow it on a Mana Leak or a Day of Judgment for that matter, now what are the core cards of the deck for that matter, let's take a look.
Creatures
Snapcaster Mage - Considering what he does on a enter the battlefield trigger, this guy is a must for a 2/1 flash, even if he goes for 30 bucks now, drop a 120 on a set of these and your laughing, that's the most expensive card in the deck period.
Spells
Burning Vengeance - The deck is named after this card, but remember playing this style of deck means you've gotta exchange creatures for spells, so consider your choices carefully
Faithless Looting/Desperate Ravings - Either one of these two cards can be in this deck, most of the time, Faithless Looting will be put aside and Desperate Ravings is thrown in, but there are odd occasions where Faithless Looting is chosen over the ravings and i think Looting gets the higher edge here for the deck.
Think Twice - Blue card draw, yes please, and it's very consistent too, this is a must have 4 copies of
Forbidden Alchemy - Personally if you want to put a ton of flashback material in the yard and not worry, this is your guy, even if it does have a black flashback cost, it's remedied via the mana fixers in the deck at all times.
Mana Leak - Come on, your playing blue, you must have this as a 4 copies in your deck, it's a must have here, you know what this does i should hope.
Slagstorm - One of the many sweepers we have available here to use for this deck, it's probably the best one considering we can target a opponent directly with the damage from this and vengeance.
Dissipate - Another counter spell that can save your butt late game in this deck, probably give this 2 slots in the deck for a fact.
Lands
Sulfur Falls - Fixes our mana issues since we are going Blue/Red here, is probably the only dual you'll want to consistently play in this deck, with the rest being either Islands or Mountains for a fact.
Evolving Wilds - Since it's return in Dark Ascension, this is probably going to be the land fixer of choice for you, fetches whatever you need whenever you need it, does basically everything that you need it to do.
Shimmering Grotto - Probably the only off color fixer this deck will have, if we want to splash black since we have Forbidden Alchemy in the deck, we can play this and boom our colors are fixed.
So with this we have the basis for our deck, preferences aside here's how i would put this deck together.
Vergil's Burning Vengeance
Creatures
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Think Twice
4 Desperate Ravings
4 Faithless Looting
4 Mana Leak
2 Dissipate
2 Slagstorm
2 Whipflare
4 Geistflame
2 Devil's Play
Lands
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Evolving Wilds
6 Island
9 Mountain
1 Shimmering Grotto
Now that we've gotten a generic idea of what to play in Vengeance, let's take a look at the sideboard material we can use for this deck, it's probably going to be consistently to deal with most of the meta as per usual.
Now these are mere suggestions for the sideboard, as per usual, so with that in mind let's begin.
Flashfreeze - You know your a good counter spell when you can basically hard counter all of Wolf Run Ramp period, end of story if your playing Vengeance this is a must have 4x for it.
Ancient Grudge - Artifact removal, with flashback and all that neat stuff, really if your not going to be using this, well be prepared to be overrun via Inkmoth Nexus's, Solemn Simulacrum's and the baddest mythic of scars block, Wurmcoil Engine, as well as the entire tempered steel meta.
Blasphemous Act - Consider this a 2x of sweeper when slagstorm/whipflare doesn't get there, 13 damage is a total boss, what more do i need to say with this particular card, it's basically a Gaea's Might Get there as they like to say when it counts.
Phantasmal Image - Hexproof dudes, please, Geist of Saint Traft, meh, Thrun, just show him your untapped island and anything else and he cowers in the corner, next.
Gut Shot - A little pinger for massively cheap, gets the last few points of damage through in a pinch and is a nice way to respond to a certain delver.
Delver of Secrets - You know your the best blue common creature in the format when you can deal with almost anything these days, Legacy loves him, standard loves him, Modern loves him, only realm he doesn't get love in is Vintage these days, geez wizards.
Anyways, just keep this all in mind when of course you go to build a vengeance deck and you should be fine, one would hope, with that in mind this is vergil signing off.
Burning Vengeance Grixis - MTGSalvation Primer
Creatures
3 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Mana Leak
2 Dissipate
4 Think Twice
3 Desperate Ravings
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Geistflame
3 Slagstorm
2 Whipflare
2 Doom Blade
2 Bump in the Night
Lands
4 Island
3 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Dragonskull Summit
2 Shimmering Grotto
Sideboard
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Mental Misstep
3 Flashfreeze
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Nihil Spellbomb
For a 3 color deck it sure is loaded with all 3 colors worth of spells that are currently used in today's meta, Slagstorm, Whipflare for sweeping, Doom Blade, Geistflame and of course Burning Vengeance to deal with threats and deal the necessary damage the deck has to offer along with the standard control package of Mana Leak/Dissipate to counter a lot of the big threats early on. With lots of potential changes this deck can make, it's a wonder this isn't just a Blue/Red list instead of it being a grixis list with all this mana fixing in it, seriously strange to see here, but this leaves us open for black on such a huge scale here, now let's take a look at another style of deck which is another triple colored deck featuring Burning Vengeance.
Blue/White/Red Vengeance - Salvation Primer
Creatures
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
3 Day of Judgment
3 Desperate Ravings
2 Dissipate
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Geistflame
4 Mana Leak
4 Think Twice
2 Slagstorm
1 Whipflare
Lands
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Clifftop Retreat
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Copperline Gorge
1 Shimmering Grotto
5 Island
4 Mountain
For another triple colored list you are going to see a lot of sweeper spells like Day of Judgment, Whipflare, Slagstorm, etc, with Snapcaster Mage each spell becomes double it's potential value always and is a considered one of the core cards of this deck period, everything else is secondary but most of the time spells with flashback are preferred over spells without flashback, Think Twice, Desperate Ravings, Faithless Looting, etc meaning it's easier to cast these without having to blow a snapcaster on a flashback card then it is to blow it on a Mana Leak or a Day of Judgment for that matter, now what are the core cards of the deck for that matter, let's take a look.
Creatures
Snapcaster Mage - Considering what he does on a enter the battlefield trigger, this guy is a must for a 2/1 flash, even if he goes for 30 bucks now, drop a 120 on a set of these and your laughing, that's the most expensive card in the deck period.
Spells
Burning Vengeance - The deck is named after this card, but remember playing this style of deck means you've gotta exchange creatures for spells, so consider your choices carefully
Faithless Looting/Desperate Ravings - Either one of these two cards can be in this deck, most of the time, Faithless Looting will be put aside and Desperate Ravings is thrown in, but there are odd occasions where Faithless Looting is chosen over the ravings and i think Looting gets the higher edge here for the deck.
Think Twice - Blue card draw, yes please, and it's very consistent too, this is a must have 4 copies of
Forbidden Alchemy - Personally if you want to put a ton of flashback material in the yard and not worry, this is your guy, even if it does have a black flashback cost, it's remedied via the mana fixers in the deck at all times.
Mana Leak - Come on, your playing blue, you must have this as a 4 copies in your deck, it's a must have here, you know what this does i should hope.
Slagstorm - One of the many sweepers we have available here to use for this deck, it's probably the best one considering we can target a opponent directly with the damage from this and vengeance.
Dissipate - Another counter spell that can save your butt late game in this deck, probably give this 2 slots in the deck for a fact.
Lands
Sulfur Falls - Fixes our mana issues since we are going Blue/Red here, is probably the only dual you'll want to consistently play in this deck, with the rest being either Islands or Mountains for a fact.
Evolving Wilds - Since it's return in Dark Ascension, this is probably going to be the land fixer of choice for you, fetches whatever you need whenever you need it, does basically everything that you need it to do.
Shimmering Grotto - Probably the only off color fixer this deck will have, if we want to splash black since we have Forbidden Alchemy in the deck, we can play this and boom our colors are fixed.
So with this we have the basis for our deck, preferences aside here's how i would put this deck together.
Vergil's Burning Vengeance
Creatures
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Think Twice
4 Desperate Ravings
4 Faithless Looting
4 Mana Leak
2 Dissipate
2 Slagstorm
2 Whipflare
4 Geistflame
2 Devil's Play
Lands
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Evolving Wilds
6 Island
9 Mountain
1 Shimmering Grotto
Now that we've gotten a generic idea of what to play in Vengeance, let's take a look at the sideboard material we can use for this deck, it's probably going to be consistently to deal with most of the meta as per usual.
Now these are mere suggestions for the sideboard, as per usual, so with that in mind let's begin.
Flashfreeze - You know your a good counter spell when you can basically hard counter all of Wolf Run Ramp period, end of story if your playing Vengeance this is a must have 4x for it.
Ancient Grudge - Artifact removal, with flashback and all that neat stuff, really if your not going to be using this, well be prepared to be overrun via Inkmoth Nexus's, Solemn Simulacrum's and the baddest mythic of scars block, Wurmcoil Engine, as well as the entire tempered steel meta.
Blasphemous Act - Consider this a 2x of sweeper when slagstorm/whipflare doesn't get there, 13 damage is a total boss, what more do i need to say with this particular card, it's basically a Gaea's Might Get there as they like to say when it counts.
Phantasmal Image - Hexproof dudes, please, Geist of Saint Traft, meh, Thrun, just show him your untapped island and anything else and he cowers in the corner, next.
Gut Shot - A little pinger for massively cheap, gets the last few points of damage through in a pinch and is a nice way to respond to a certain delver.
Delver of Secrets - You know your the best blue common creature in the format when you can deal with almost anything these days, Legacy loves him, standard loves him, Modern loves him, only realm he doesn't get love in is Vintage these days, geez wizards.
Anyways, just keep this all in mind when of course you go to build a vengeance deck and you should be fine, one would hope, with that in mind this is vergil signing off.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Standard Deck Examination: Black/White Tokens
So as per the normal procedure after the release of a brand new set, it's time to take a look at the decks which spawned courtesy of Dark Ascension's arrival onto the scene in standard, but first as per the normal procedure let's take a look at the primer for this deck, courtesy of MTGSalvation, special thanks for this primer goes to King Shane for his hard work in putting the primer together.
MTGSalvation Primer for Black/White Tokens
Creatures
3 Hero of Bladehold
4 Doomed Traveler
Spells
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
3 Shrine of Loyal Legions
3 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Oblivion Ring
Lands
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
12 Plains
5 Swamp
So that is the basis of the primer right there in it's entirety, 24 lands, 7 creatures and of course 29 spells make the core of the deck, but let's put a bit more analysis into this particular list starting with the core of the deck
Creatures/Spells
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - Every list with him should contain at least 3 copies of this guy, his 2nd ability alone gives you a overwhelming edge and his first is just nasty at all times, meaning even if don't get a chance to use his 3rd ability your still gonna have a very potent generator on your side.
Intangible Virtue - The only non color based pump spell this deck can use, Honor of the Pure focuses on White, this focuses on how many tokens we can churn out, which is what we want here.
Gather the Townsfolk/Midnight Haunting/Lingering Souls - Basically our main token producers in this deck, should usually be maxed out at 4 copies each regardless, unless your playing a different style of Black/White tokens which i'll get into later.
Hero of Bladehold - I feel this creature is a perfect fit for this deck, Battle cry is so relevant here it's not even funny and the the fact it generates a constant presence in the deck at 4 mana is just insane.
Oblivion Ring - Do you know how many situations this is good for, 10, deals with Swords, creatures, pretty much any threat on the board and being one of the three drop spells in the deck, 2 main deck at all times, regardless of what you play, with the spare 2 in the sideboard.
Lands
Vault of the Archangel - The relevance of lifelink here is nil, but deathtouch is the most relevant ability, activate the vault on your opponent's attack step, use your 2/2's to block say a titan and trade effectively then return fire.
Isolated Chapel - The only real enemy land we can use here, it's a consistent drop when we need fixing, even if we have just plains, this is our black source so we can cast Sorin, flashback a Lingering Souls or use our vault's ability.
Now that we are done analyzing the core stasis of the deck it's time to take a look at some of the many lists featured in the Primer on Salvation, starting with a more control based variant of the deck, which is somewhat the same in terms of what the core of the deck should be with a few minor changes to it.
Salvation Primer - Black/White Tokens Control
Creatures
3 Hero of Bladehold
Spells
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
2 Day of Judgment
4 Despise
3 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Oblivion Ring
Lands
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
11 Plains
6 Swamp
Now let's go over the changes to this style, with the addition of Despise and Day of Judgment we removed the following, 4 Doomed Traveler, 1 Shrine of Loyal Legions and 1 Gather the Townsfolk, so we can slot in the 4 copies of Despise and the 2 Day of Judgment for the deck to make it a control style, plus the land base is just a tad different with the ratio of Plains and Swamp at 11/6 overall for the deck, making it a bit more black focused. With this next list is more the Aggro style of play with this deck, featuring a few additions that i thought would never make the list.
Salvation Primer - Black/White Tokens Aggro
Creatures
3 Hero of Bladehold
4 Doomed Traveler
3 Suture Priest/Accorder Paladin
Spells
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Honor of the Pure
3 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Oblivion Ring
Lands
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
12 Plains
5 Swamp
With this deck you'll notice it's not 60 but 62 cards, yes there is a reason why because of the fact Honor of the Pure is in this deck plain and simple, which you never have seen this particular enchantment in this type of deck ever honestly, but most of our token generators are white, besides Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. Now let's take a look at the changes made to this particular list, the lands are switched back to the proper numbers meaning it's more focused on white then anything with only 3 black cards and 1 black ability required for the deck, the addition of the extra creature can either be Priest or Paladin, it is your call on this but i'd pick the priest for the mirror match up honestly, since then they will lose life for each token hitting the board and you gain life off each token played. Honor of the Pure replaces our Shrine for this deck meaning we have to basically stay focused on white and we can't just use colorless mana much anymore, oh well. Other then those slight changes to the deck, the deck pretty much remains the same as the core deck presented at the beginning, including the creature base.
Now after that lengthy examination we are not done by a long shot, there are still a few more things i want to look at, the Matchups for this deck, in this heavy U/W Delver, Red Deck Wins and of course Wolf Run Ramp at that, with such things as Delver of Secrets and turn 1 Stromkirk Nobles out there floating around, how do we deal with this kind of stuff, well let's take a look at the sideboard material cards also provided by the primer.
Ratchet Bomb - Sweeper spell that kills tokens, etc, slow but very deadly when it goes off, this will be one or the only sweeper missed in the deck if not playing control.
Stony Silence - Artifacts, please this stops em all, tempered steel, Shrines, Opals you name it it stops them all, regardless at least a 1 or a 2 of in your sideboard for most of those based style decks.
Nevermore - It's the unquestionable card that stops all hexproof creatures, Dungrove Elder, Geist of Saint Traft, walkers you name it, it stops period, simple as that, considerably good sideboard material for the deck.
Timely Reinforcements - Personally i don't understand what the big deal of a 3 drop sorcery is in this case, sure it's a situational card like most sideboard material cards but hasn't proven itself to be the threat level necessary even for the sideboard
Hex Parasite - Anything that eats counters for breakfast is sickening, sure with stuff like Phantasmal Image and stuff in the current meta, i'd consider this one of the more versatile cards of the sideboard.
Most of the other spells in the deck are considerations including Black Sun's Zenith, Swords, Dismember, Spellbomb, Abolisher etc, but the ones listed here are probably the most productive sideboard material cards to run for the deck as a whole, but also remind yourself 2 of the sideboard slots always belong to the remaining Oblivion Ring's in the deck, so with 13 slots to work with, each card is a deep consideration when building White/Black tokens as a whole, but for now i will leave you to consider this and such, because that's all the time i have for this article, until next time this is vergil signing off.
MTGSalvation Primer for Black/White Tokens
Creatures
3 Hero of Bladehold
4 Doomed Traveler
Spells
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
3 Shrine of Loyal Legions
3 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Oblivion Ring
Lands
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
12 Plains
5 Swamp
So that is the basis of the primer right there in it's entirety, 24 lands, 7 creatures and of course 29 spells make the core of the deck, but let's put a bit more analysis into this particular list starting with the core of the deck
Creatures/Spells
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - Every list with him should contain at least 3 copies of this guy, his 2nd ability alone gives you a overwhelming edge and his first is just nasty at all times, meaning even if don't get a chance to use his 3rd ability your still gonna have a very potent generator on your side.
Intangible Virtue - The only non color based pump spell this deck can use, Honor of the Pure focuses on White, this focuses on how many tokens we can churn out, which is what we want here.
Gather the Townsfolk/Midnight Haunting/Lingering Souls - Basically our main token producers in this deck, should usually be maxed out at 4 copies each regardless, unless your playing a different style of Black/White tokens which i'll get into later.
Hero of Bladehold - I feel this creature is a perfect fit for this deck, Battle cry is so relevant here it's not even funny and the the fact it generates a constant presence in the deck at 4 mana is just insane.
Oblivion Ring - Do you know how many situations this is good for, 10, deals with Swords, creatures, pretty much any threat on the board and being one of the three drop spells in the deck, 2 main deck at all times, regardless of what you play, with the spare 2 in the sideboard.
Lands
Vault of the Archangel - The relevance of lifelink here is nil, but deathtouch is the most relevant ability, activate the vault on your opponent's attack step, use your 2/2's to block say a titan and trade effectively then return fire.
Isolated Chapel - The only real enemy land we can use here, it's a consistent drop when we need fixing, even if we have just plains, this is our black source so we can cast Sorin, flashback a Lingering Souls or use our vault's ability.
Now that we are done analyzing the core stasis of the deck it's time to take a look at some of the many lists featured in the Primer on Salvation, starting with a more control based variant of the deck, which is somewhat the same in terms of what the core of the deck should be with a few minor changes to it.
Salvation Primer - Black/White Tokens Control
Creatures
3 Hero of Bladehold
Spells
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
2 Day of Judgment
4 Despise
3 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Oblivion Ring
Lands
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
11 Plains
6 Swamp
Now let's go over the changes to this style, with the addition of Despise and Day of Judgment we removed the following, 4 Doomed Traveler, 1 Shrine of Loyal Legions and 1 Gather the Townsfolk, so we can slot in the 4 copies of Despise and the 2 Day of Judgment for the deck to make it a control style, plus the land base is just a tad different with the ratio of Plains and Swamp at 11/6 overall for the deck, making it a bit more black focused. With this next list is more the Aggro style of play with this deck, featuring a few additions that i thought would never make the list.
Salvation Primer - Black/White Tokens Aggro
Creatures
3 Hero of Bladehold
4 Doomed Traveler
3 Suture Priest/Accorder Paladin
Spells
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Honor of the Pure
3 Doom Blade
2 Go for the Throat
2 Oblivion Ring
Lands
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
12 Plains
5 Swamp
With this deck you'll notice it's not 60 but 62 cards, yes there is a reason why because of the fact Honor of the Pure is in this deck plain and simple, which you never have seen this particular enchantment in this type of deck ever honestly, but most of our token generators are white, besides Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. Now let's take a look at the changes made to this particular list, the lands are switched back to the proper numbers meaning it's more focused on white then anything with only 3 black cards and 1 black ability required for the deck, the addition of the extra creature can either be Priest or Paladin, it is your call on this but i'd pick the priest for the mirror match up honestly, since then they will lose life for each token hitting the board and you gain life off each token played. Honor of the Pure replaces our Shrine for this deck meaning we have to basically stay focused on white and we can't just use colorless mana much anymore, oh well. Other then those slight changes to the deck, the deck pretty much remains the same as the core deck presented at the beginning, including the creature base.
Now after that lengthy examination we are not done by a long shot, there are still a few more things i want to look at, the Matchups for this deck, in this heavy U/W Delver, Red Deck Wins and of course Wolf Run Ramp at that, with such things as Delver of Secrets and turn 1 Stromkirk Nobles out there floating around, how do we deal with this kind of stuff, well let's take a look at the sideboard material cards also provided by the primer.
Ratchet Bomb - Sweeper spell that kills tokens, etc, slow but very deadly when it goes off, this will be one or the only sweeper missed in the deck if not playing control.
Stony Silence - Artifacts, please this stops em all, tempered steel, Shrines, Opals you name it it stops them all, regardless at least a 1 or a 2 of in your sideboard for most of those based style decks.
Nevermore - It's the unquestionable card that stops all hexproof creatures, Dungrove Elder, Geist of Saint Traft, walkers you name it, it stops period, simple as that, considerably good sideboard material for the deck.
Timely Reinforcements - Personally i don't understand what the big deal of a 3 drop sorcery is in this case, sure it's a situational card like most sideboard material cards but hasn't proven itself to be the threat level necessary even for the sideboard
Hex Parasite - Anything that eats counters for breakfast is sickening, sure with stuff like Phantasmal Image and stuff in the current meta, i'd consider this one of the more versatile cards of the sideboard.
Most of the other spells in the deck are considerations including Black Sun's Zenith, Swords, Dismember, Spellbomb, Abolisher etc, but the ones listed here are probably the most productive sideboard material cards to run for the deck as a whole, but also remind yourself 2 of the sideboard slots always belong to the remaining Oblivion Ring's in the deck, so with 13 slots to work with, each card is a deep consideration when building White/Black tokens as a whole, but for now i will leave you to consider this and such, because that's all the time i have for this article, until next time this is vergil signing off.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Magic the Gathering News Vol 14: Dark Ascension Spoilers, Intro Packs, GP updates and much much more
Hello everyone and welcome to this first edition of the news for 2012, in this edition we will be covering the following items Dark Ascension Spoilers, DKA intro packs, GP's for the month of January, as well as the most interesting piece of news to come out of magic, which was the App for Android and Iphone's which is scheduled to be released sometime soon, so let's get to it.
Well another spoiler season come and gone, Dark Ascension's season officially ended on the 23rd of the month, but left that residual taste in our mouths which isn't good, about 60% of the rares i feel are completely unplayable outside of limited/EDH and casual play, which sucks because usually rares usually end up defining a set, but here's the breakdown of the rarity for those curious souls 12 Mythic Rares, 38 rares, 44 uncommons and 64 commons which make up the 158 cards in the set, out of the set though here's just a general top 5 for those interested.
5. Gravecrawler
4. Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3. Vorapede
2. Huntmaster of the Fells
1. Grafdigger's Cage
Yes my list is a little whacked with the two mythic DFC's of the set taking the top 2 slots, but DFC's have proven to be good, look at Mayor of Avabruck for crying out loud, anyways when the set is released this friday, please be sure to make sure to pick up at least 2 boxes to get the majority of the good stuff in this set, since a lot of the uncommons/commons are better then most of the rares here.
During the same week of spoilers we also got the intro packs for the set, the names of the intro packs are as follows Swift Justice, Relentless Dead, Dark Sacrifice, Monstrous Surprise and of course Grave Power and these will go on sale the same day Dark Ascension is released to the public on Feburary 3rd, 2012, they will range from about 8 dollars to 14 dollars a intro pack depending on the contents of the rares and how your local game store prices them, for the intro pack lists please see the following link
Intro Pack lists --> Intro Pack Lists
So a new app for the IPhone, IPad and Android phone users is scheduled to come out sometime within the next while as of this writing, did i mention it's free it's called the Magic the Gathering Toolbox and it lets you build decks, gives you a article reader, card search, Life tracker and it even has a event calendar and store locator for you, interesting i know right, updates though for later sets after the release of this will cost a bit of money, how much is still unknown as of this point, but it is a great resource for any magic player to have on the go, for the full arcana link to the description of this app please see the link below
Application Arcana --> Magic the Gathering Application
As per usual of me it's time to take a look at the Grand Prix's which happened this month, starting with the first one Grand Prix Austin which saw long time bad boy Raphael Levy take the crown of being austin's champ for 2012, earning his spot in a upcoming pro tour, as well as the more recent stuff with Grand Prix Orlando which saw a epic finale bewteen Patrick "The Innovator" Chapin and Conley "Deck Doctor" Woods duking it out with new innovations in terms of decks but it was Conley Woods whom dominated the event and claim his trophy showing why he had a undefeated run at worlds, he's a changed man folks.
Anyways that's all the time we have for this edition of the monthly, stay tuned next month when we finally learn of the Event decks for Dark Ascension, look back at Pro Tour Honoluhu and of course so so much more, until next time though this is vergil signing off.
Well another spoiler season come and gone, Dark Ascension's season officially ended on the 23rd of the month, but left that residual taste in our mouths which isn't good, about 60% of the rares i feel are completely unplayable outside of limited/EDH and casual play, which sucks because usually rares usually end up defining a set, but here's the breakdown of the rarity for those curious souls 12 Mythic Rares, 38 rares, 44 uncommons and 64 commons which make up the 158 cards in the set, out of the set though here's just a general top 5 for those interested.
5. Gravecrawler
4. Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3. Vorapede
2. Huntmaster of the Fells
1. Grafdigger's Cage
Yes my list is a little whacked with the two mythic DFC's of the set taking the top 2 slots, but DFC's have proven to be good, look at Mayor of Avabruck for crying out loud, anyways when the set is released this friday, please be sure to make sure to pick up at least 2 boxes to get the majority of the good stuff in this set, since a lot of the uncommons/commons are better then most of the rares here.
During the same week of spoilers we also got the intro packs for the set, the names of the intro packs are as follows Swift Justice, Relentless Dead, Dark Sacrifice, Monstrous Surprise and of course Grave Power and these will go on sale the same day Dark Ascension is released to the public on Feburary 3rd, 2012, they will range from about 8 dollars to 14 dollars a intro pack depending on the contents of the rares and how your local game store prices them, for the intro pack lists please see the following link
Intro Pack lists --> Intro Pack Lists
So a new app for the IPhone, IPad and Android phone users is scheduled to come out sometime within the next while as of this writing, did i mention it's free it's called the Magic the Gathering Toolbox and it lets you build decks, gives you a article reader, card search, Life tracker and it even has a event calendar and store locator for you, interesting i know right, updates though for later sets after the release of this will cost a bit of money, how much is still unknown as of this point, but it is a great resource for any magic player to have on the go, for the full arcana link to the description of this app please see the link below
Application Arcana --> Magic the Gathering Application
As per usual of me it's time to take a look at the Grand Prix's which happened this month, starting with the first one Grand Prix Austin which saw long time bad boy Raphael Levy take the crown of being austin's champ for 2012, earning his spot in a upcoming pro tour, as well as the more recent stuff with Grand Prix Orlando which saw a epic finale bewteen Patrick "The Innovator" Chapin and Conley "Deck Doctor" Woods duking it out with new innovations in terms of decks but it was Conley Woods whom dominated the event and claim his trophy showing why he had a undefeated run at worlds, he's a changed man folks.
Anyways that's all the time we have for this edition of the monthly, stay tuned next month when we finally learn of the Event decks for Dark Ascension, look back at Pro Tour Honoluhu and of course so so much more, until next time though this is vergil signing off.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Dark Ascension Prerelease Primer
As per usual with the prerelease of a new set, let's go over the information on the Dark Ascension prereleases which happen around the world at your local game store this weekend, bear in mind some of this information is more recent.
Some prereleases around the world will have a Monsters vs Humans theme going on with Monsters from all different tribes being chosen out of the various players, the 4 tribes are Werewolves, Vampires, Spirits and Zombies which depending on the size of your prerelease will be different, each prerelease will be giving away the card of choice as per usual which is
Ravenous Demon/Archdemon of Greed and these promos will be in quite a large supply as per the policy of Wizards of the Coast or at least i hope so when it comes around to picking one of these up, some prereleases will be occuring on both days of the weekend at some game stores around the world, for more information on this i suggest you look at your local game store where you go to play magic.
For your prerelease it also depends on your LGS but the standard tradition for a 2nd set is the following 3 packs of the first set, in this case Innistrad and 3 packs of the new set which in this case is Dark Ascension, if your prerelease is 6 packs of Dark Ascension however feel free to report their butts to wizards since they are in violation of the prerelease rules in regards to the product they can give out for the event, each event will be usually 5-6 rounds of round robins with packs being given out at the end of the event for prize distrbution of course.
Of course as always please be sure to have fun while playing the game of Magic and that you adhere to the code of conduct of being a magic player, which is always be professional, after all it's just a game but people often judge others on their code of conduct so keep that in mind, anyways for those attending this weekend's events be sure to have fun and enjoy the Dark Ascension prerelease events happening worldwide, because next week the set is officially released to the world, this is vergil signing off.
Some prereleases around the world will have a Monsters vs Humans theme going on with Monsters from all different tribes being chosen out of the various players, the 4 tribes are Werewolves, Vampires, Spirits and Zombies which depending on the size of your prerelease will be different, each prerelease will be giving away the card of choice as per usual which is
Ravenous Demon/Archdemon of Greed and these promos will be in quite a large supply as per the policy of Wizards of the Coast or at least i hope so when it comes around to picking one of these up, some prereleases will be occuring on both days of the weekend at some game stores around the world, for more information on this i suggest you look at your local game store where you go to play magic.
For your prerelease it also depends on your LGS but the standard tradition for a 2nd set is the following 3 packs of the first set, in this case Innistrad and 3 packs of the new set which in this case is Dark Ascension, if your prerelease is 6 packs of Dark Ascension however feel free to report their butts to wizards since they are in violation of the prerelease rules in regards to the product they can give out for the event, each event will be usually 5-6 rounds of round robins with packs being given out at the end of the event for prize distrbution of course.
Of course as always please be sure to have fun while playing the game of Magic and that you adhere to the code of conduct of being a magic player, which is always be professional, after all it's just a game but people often judge others on their code of conduct so keep that in mind, anyways for those attending this weekend's events be sure to have fun and enjoy the Dark Ascension prerelease events happening worldwide, because next week the set is officially released to the world, this is vergil signing off.
Dark Ascension Spoiler Part 7: Artifacts
For the artifacts for this set, let's hope they are as good as the last set, or a little better but knowing wizards it's gonna be dull for artifacts this particular set in question, but let's see what they have for us.
#144) Altar of the Lost - Flashback has it's mana generator now, for 3 mana you get a artifact that enters the battlefield tapped, can generate 2 mana for any flashback spell period, so that's going to make flashback much more versatile in this writer's opinion.
#145) Avacyn's Collar - 1 mana for a equip that grants a creature +1/+0 and gives it vigilance, whenever the creature dies put a 1/1 white spirit creature token in it's place, really good and it costs 2 mana to equip too, perfectly balanced.
#146) Chalice of Life/Chalice of Death - Ok so the first chalice gives 1 life, has a transform clause that states "when you have 10 life more then you started with, transform it" so 30 life and this changes into the Chalice of Death which when you tap it target player loses 5 life, interesting little non creature transformer here.
#147) Elbrus, the Binding Blade/Withengar Unbound - Whoa another DFC mythic for this set, this isn't really happening is it, ok so let's break down the basics a 7 mana converted cost to play, 1 to equip, gives +1/+0 and is a legendary artifact, so that's a given. The transform clause for this particular card is when it deals damage and it changes into Withengar Unbound which is a 13/13 legendary demon with flying, trample and intimidate and whenever a player loses the game put 13 +1/+1 counters on Withengar, holy crap this is stupidly insane.
#148) Executioner's Hood - 2 mana equip that gives a creature intimidate, has a equip cost of 2, common, limited fodder.
#149) Grafdigger's Cage - 1 mana for a artifact that basically prevents casting from the graveyard, as well as from the library, also prevents creatures from entering the battlefield via the graveyard or library, not bad.
#150) Heavy Mattock - Another really weird equipment, 3 mana to play which seems to be a common trait in this set for artifacts, gives a creature +1/+1 and if it is a human another +1/+1, is a common and has a equip cost of 2 mana to boot, interesting to say the least.
#151) Helavault - 3 mana for a Mythic rare legendary artifact that exiles things from both your and your opponent's side of the field for 7 and 1 mana respectively, when this is destroyed return everything exiled by Helavault, EDH card i'm sorry to say.
#152) Jar of Eyeballs - Honestly for 3 mana i would expect better, even as a rare artifact, for 3 mana you get a artifact that states whenever a creature you control dies, put 2 eyeball counters on this card, then it's secondary ability states pay 3 and tap it, remove all eyeball counters on this card and look at the top X cards of your library where X is the number of counters removed this way, put 1 into your hand and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order, i swear this was solely designed for EDH honestly.
#153) Warden of the Wall - 3 mana for a uncommon artifact that can generate 1 mana, when it's not your turn it turns into a 2/3 gargoyle with flying which means it's also a blocker, not bad, for limited.
#154) Wolfhunter's Quiver - 1 mana for a artifact equip that hits werewolves and players but has a 5 mana equip cost sorry folks.
Well that's it for this particular set, remember the prereleases are this weekend and all that, have fun, see you next time for Avacyn Restored.
#144) Altar of the Lost - Flashback has it's mana generator now, for 3 mana you get a artifact that enters the battlefield tapped, can generate 2 mana for any flashback spell period, so that's going to make flashback much more versatile in this writer's opinion.
#145) Avacyn's Collar - 1 mana for a equip that grants a creature +1/+0 and gives it vigilance, whenever the creature dies put a 1/1 white spirit creature token in it's place, really good and it costs 2 mana to equip too, perfectly balanced.
#146) Chalice of Life/Chalice of Death - Ok so the first chalice gives 1 life, has a transform clause that states "when you have 10 life more then you started with, transform it" so 30 life and this changes into the Chalice of Death which when you tap it target player loses 5 life, interesting little non creature transformer here.
#147) Elbrus, the Binding Blade/Withengar Unbound - Whoa another DFC mythic for this set, this isn't really happening is it, ok so let's break down the basics a 7 mana converted cost to play, 1 to equip, gives +1/+0 and is a legendary artifact, so that's a given. The transform clause for this particular card is when it deals damage and it changes into Withengar Unbound which is a 13/13 legendary demon with flying, trample and intimidate and whenever a player loses the game put 13 +1/+1 counters on Withengar, holy crap this is stupidly insane.
#148) Executioner's Hood - 2 mana equip that gives a creature intimidate, has a equip cost of 2, common, limited fodder.
#149) Grafdigger's Cage - 1 mana for a artifact that basically prevents casting from the graveyard, as well as from the library, also prevents creatures from entering the battlefield via the graveyard or library, not bad.
#150) Heavy Mattock - Another really weird equipment, 3 mana to play which seems to be a common trait in this set for artifacts, gives a creature +1/+1 and if it is a human another +1/+1, is a common and has a equip cost of 2 mana to boot, interesting to say the least.
#151) Helavault - 3 mana for a Mythic rare legendary artifact that exiles things from both your and your opponent's side of the field for 7 and 1 mana respectively, when this is destroyed return everything exiled by Helavault, EDH card i'm sorry to say.
#152) Jar of Eyeballs - Honestly for 3 mana i would expect better, even as a rare artifact, for 3 mana you get a artifact that states whenever a creature you control dies, put 2 eyeball counters on this card, then it's secondary ability states pay 3 and tap it, remove all eyeball counters on this card and look at the top X cards of your library where X is the number of counters removed this way, put 1 into your hand and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order, i swear this was solely designed for EDH honestly.
#153) Warden of the Wall - 3 mana for a uncommon artifact that can generate 1 mana, when it's not your turn it turns into a 2/3 gargoyle with flying which means it's also a blocker, not bad, for limited.
#154) Wolfhunter's Quiver - 1 mana for a artifact equip that hits werewolves and players but has a 5 mana equip cost sorry folks.
Well that's it for this particular set, remember the prereleases are this weekend and all that, have fun, see you next time for Avacyn Restored.
Dark Ascension Spoiler Part 6: Multicolor and Lands
As per usual Multicolor cards and lands are thrown into one article, this should be quite fun for honesty's sake, let's see what those two particular card forms are up to.
#135) Diregraf Captain - A uncommon lord for a change, no way, a 2/2 that costs 1, blue and a black to play, grants zombies +1/+1 and has deathtouch, whenever a zombie dies, target opponent loses 1 life, wow a nice way to start the lords off.
#136) Drogskol Captain - 1, white and a blue for a uncommon lord for spirits, grants them +1/+1 and hexproof and is a 2/2 with flying, wow this will give spirits a serious boost.
#137) Drogskol Reaver - For being a mythic it's pretty good, flying, lifelink and double strike on the same body, whenever you gain life it draws cards equal to that amount, but it's mana cost ugh, 5, white and a blue for a 3/5 ugh i'm not too sure about this one.
#138) Falkenrath Aristocrat - Yeah i'm a fan of this card, 4/1 for a 2, red and a black, mythic rare that has haste, flying and sacrifice a creature Aristocrat is indestrucible for that turn, if a human was sacrificed this way, put a +1/+1 counter on it as well, well Olivia Voldaren has a new dance partner.
#139) Havengul Lich - A 5 mana mythic for a 4/4 that copys activated abilites during your turn whenever you use it's ability to cast a creature, sweet, it can be any creature in your graveyard, wow blue and black just got the boss cards i swear.
#140) Huntmaster of the Fells/Ravager of the Fells - Double Faced mythic for the set, seems to be a lot of multicolor mythics for this set honestly, 2/2 that costs 2, green and a red, when it comes into play or transforms back to Huntmaster put a 2/2 green wolf creature token onto the battlefield, gain 2 life to boot, transform clause is simple and the other side basically states deal 2 damage when it transforms, oh god, i can see this getting broken in so many ways honestly, did i mention ravager has trample too.
#141) Immerwolf - 1, red and a green for a 2/2 uncommon that has intimidate, grants other wolf and werewolves +1/+1 and prevents them from changing back, broken much.
#142) Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - I got chills from seeing this card, a 2, white, black yes another color combination walker, he has 3 abilites +1 puts a 1/1 black vampire creature token onto the battlefield with lifelink, his -2 gives you a emblem with creatures you control get +1/+0 and his ultimate -6 destroys 3 target creatures and/or other planeswalkers, return each card put into a graveyard this way onto the battlefield under your control, how sick is this guy, seriously sick folks.
#143) Stromkirk Captain - Oh wow, a 1, black and a red dude for a uncommon lord type effect, granting vampires +1/+1 and first strike, is a 2/2 with first strike and isn't legendary or anything wow are you pushing vampires here wizards or what.
#155) Evolving Wilds - Was not expecting to see this reprinted honestly in this set, but it makes sense flavor wise now, sac this, search for a basic land, put it onto the battlefield tapped, yes i know what this does off by heart folks.
#156) Grim Backwoods - G/B enemy land for this set, sacrifice a creature, draw a card for 2, green and a black mana while tapping it, generates 1 colorless as expected for a non color land, not bad, not good for a rare.
#157) Havengul Fengraf - So you tap this to add 1 to your mana pool, it's secondary ability is you pay 3, tap and sacrifice this, return target creature from your graveyard to your hand at random, note the random wording for this set, meaning you cannot choose yourself it's all based on luck.
#158) Vault of the Archangel - So a rare land that generates 1 colorless mana, for 2, white and a black while tapping this it grants your creatures lifelink and deathtouch until end of turn, um wow this is a sick enabler for Black/White tokens here.
And so that ends part 6 of the spoilers, stay tuned for the final part, artifacts which will be part 7.
#135) Diregraf Captain - A uncommon lord for a change, no way, a 2/2 that costs 1, blue and a black to play, grants zombies +1/+1 and has deathtouch, whenever a zombie dies, target opponent loses 1 life, wow a nice way to start the lords off.
#136) Drogskol Captain - 1, white and a blue for a uncommon lord for spirits, grants them +1/+1 and hexproof and is a 2/2 with flying, wow this will give spirits a serious boost.
#137) Drogskol Reaver - For being a mythic it's pretty good, flying, lifelink and double strike on the same body, whenever you gain life it draws cards equal to that amount, but it's mana cost ugh, 5, white and a blue for a 3/5 ugh i'm not too sure about this one.
#138) Falkenrath Aristocrat - Yeah i'm a fan of this card, 4/1 for a 2, red and a black, mythic rare that has haste, flying and sacrifice a creature Aristocrat is indestrucible for that turn, if a human was sacrificed this way, put a +1/+1 counter on it as well, well Olivia Voldaren has a new dance partner.
#139) Havengul Lich - A 5 mana mythic for a 4/4 that copys activated abilites during your turn whenever you use it's ability to cast a creature, sweet, it can be any creature in your graveyard, wow blue and black just got the boss cards i swear.
#140) Huntmaster of the Fells/Ravager of the Fells - Double Faced mythic for the set, seems to be a lot of multicolor mythics for this set honestly, 2/2 that costs 2, green and a red, when it comes into play or transforms back to Huntmaster put a 2/2 green wolf creature token onto the battlefield, gain 2 life to boot, transform clause is simple and the other side basically states deal 2 damage when it transforms, oh god, i can see this getting broken in so many ways honestly, did i mention ravager has trample too.
#141) Immerwolf - 1, red and a green for a 2/2 uncommon that has intimidate, grants other wolf and werewolves +1/+1 and prevents them from changing back, broken much.
#142) Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - I got chills from seeing this card, a 2, white, black yes another color combination walker, he has 3 abilites +1 puts a 1/1 black vampire creature token onto the battlefield with lifelink, his -2 gives you a emblem with creatures you control get +1/+0 and his ultimate -6 destroys 3 target creatures and/or other planeswalkers, return each card put into a graveyard this way onto the battlefield under your control, how sick is this guy, seriously sick folks.
#143) Stromkirk Captain - Oh wow, a 1, black and a red dude for a uncommon lord type effect, granting vampires +1/+1 and first strike, is a 2/2 with first strike and isn't legendary or anything wow are you pushing vampires here wizards or what.
#155) Evolving Wilds - Was not expecting to see this reprinted honestly in this set, but it makes sense flavor wise now, sac this, search for a basic land, put it onto the battlefield tapped, yes i know what this does off by heart folks.
#156) Grim Backwoods - G/B enemy land for this set, sacrifice a creature, draw a card for 2, green and a black mana while tapping it, generates 1 colorless as expected for a non color land, not bad, not good for a rare.
#157) Havengul Fengraf - So you tap this to add 1 to your mana pool, it's secondary ability is you pay 3, tap and sacrifice this, return target creature from your graveyard to your hand at random, note the random wording for this set, meaning you cannot choose yourself it's all based on luck.
#158) Vault of the Archangel - So a rare land that generates 1 colorless mana, for 2, white and a black while tapping this it grants your creatures lifelink and deathtouch until end of turn, um wow this is a sick enabler for Black/White tokens here.
And so that ends part 6 of the spoilers, stay tuned for the final part, artifacts which will be part 7.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Dark Ascension Spoiler Part 5: Green
It's green's turn on the color wheel and the final color it is, except for the multicolored cards, this should be interesting to see green's offerings for the small set.
#108) Briarpack Alpha - Another wolf, 3 and a green for a 2/2 with flash, when it enters the battlefield it provides a +2/+2 boost until end of turn as a uncommon, limited much.
#109) Clinging Mists - 2 and a green for a instant speed Fog with Fateful hour when it prevents the attacking creatures from untapping if the conditions are met at the common level, really in limited not bad.
#110) Crushing Vines - 2 and a green for a instant that is a common, you get to kill either a artifact or a creature with flying with this, interesting removal piece.
#111) Dawntreader Elk - Civic Wayfinder's newest reprint, 1 and a green for a 2/2 that you can pay 1 green mana for and sacrifice it to search for a basic land, put it on the battlefield tapped and all that, really here, really.
#112) Deranged Outcast - 1 and a green for a rare that you can pay 1 and a green, sacrifice a human and put 2 +1/+1 counters on a target creature for a 2/1, hmm you can target him with it too, not bad, not good for the first rare of the color.
#113) Favor of the Woods - 2 and a green for a enchantment - aura that whenever a creature enchanted with this attacks you gain 3 life, really limited material here.
#114) Feed the Pack - An 6 mana enchantment that you can sacrifice creatures at the end step to allow yourself to put 2/2's on the field where the amount of them you can put into play depends on the sacrificed creature's toughness, EDH card much.
#115) Ghoultree - A hefty 7 and a green mana while being a treefolk zombie what a Treefolk zombie, a 10/10 for a 8 mana rare, with the ability this costs 1 less for each creature card in your graveyard, seriously this could be a big contender if it had trample and/or evasion.
#116) Gravetiller Wurm - More wurms in magic, great just great, for 5 and a green you get a 4/4 trampler that is a uncommon with morbid that gives it 4 +1/+1 counters, really a powerhouse in limited, green has the stuff for limited now for early picks.
#117) Grim Flowering - 5 and a green for a sorcery that lets you draw a card for each creature in your graveyard, really late game limited material here.
#118) Hollowhenge Beasts - 3, green, green for a 5/5 vanilla nope.
#119) Hunger of the Howlpack - Morbid's back as expected, limited fodder though with this 1 mana instant speed spell that puts a +1/+1 counter on target creature, but morbid gives 3 of those counters instead, interesting.
#120) Increasing Savagery - The last of this cycle and wow is it a good one, this one costs 4 and a green, for a +5/+5 boost for one creature for the rest of the game, but if it was cast from a graveyard give a creature +10/+10 instead and it's flashback cost is a nice 5, green, green to boot as a rare.
#121) Kessig Recluse - 2, green, green for a 2/3 with reach and deathtouch, sorry.
#122) Lambholt Elder/Silverpelt Werewolf - 2 and a green for a 1/2 and a 4/5 when it transforms, the 1/2 has the standard transform clause and the 4/5 allows you to draw cards when it deals damage, kinda iffy personally.
#123) Lost in the Woods - 3, green, green for a rare enchantment that is basically a new Fog for green players, when a creature attacks either you or a planeswalker, reveal the top card of your library, if it was a forest, remove that creature from combat then put the revealed card on the bottom of your library, really nice EDH material here.
#124) Predator Ooze - My favorite rare of the set, triple green to cast, is a rare, 1/1 that's indestrucible, gets
+1/+1 counters when it deals fatal damage to creatures and when it attacks, not bad honestly.
#125) Scorned Villager/Moonscarred Werewolf - Ok so 2 mana for a 1/1 that generates 1 green mana, has the standard transform clause and it's other side has vigilance, is a 2/2 and generates two green mana by tapping of course, nice very nice common.
#126) Somberwald Dryad - 1 and a green for a 2/2 forestwalker common, come on.
#127) Strangleroot Geist - 2 green mana for a 2/1 that has Undying and haste, which means it will become a 3/2 when it dies but still retain haste best undying card i've seen to date.
#128) Tracker's Instincts - 1 and a green for a reveal the top four cards of your library, put a creature from among them into your hand and put the rest on the bottom with a flashback cost of 2 and a blue mana, interesting.
#129) Ulvenwald Bear - Oh crap it's a bear, run oh no maybe not, 2, green for a 2/2 with morbid when a creature died and this enters the battlefield put 2 +1/+1 counters on a target creature, yes this gives a boost with morbid as expected.
#130) Village Survivors - 4 and a green for a 4/5 vigilance with fateful hour giving your other creatures vigilance, late game limited material here.
#131) Vorapede - 2, green, green, green for a mythic that's a 5/4 with undying, vigilance and trample, pod target anyone?
#132) Wild Hunger - 2 and a green for a instant that grants +3/+1 until end of turn and trample, with a flashback cost of 3 and a red to boot, mini Kessig Wolf Run in limited anyone?
#133) Wolfbitten Captive/Krallenhorde Killer - So a 1 mana rare DFC that is a 1/1 that can give a +2/+2 pump to itself for 1 and a green, transformed it gives +4/+4 to itself for 3 and a green mana, as well as being a 2/2 serious beats.
#134) Young Wolf - 1 green mana for a common 1/1 with undying, first really good common with this particular mechanic honestly.
Anyways that's the main 5 colors of the set, stay tuned for the multicolors and lands.
#108) Briarpack Alpha - Another wolf, 3 and a green for a 2/2 with flash, when it enters the battlefield it provides a +2/+2 boost until end of turn as a uncommon, limited much.
#109) Clinging Mists - 2 and a green for a instant speed Fog with Fateful hour when it prevents the attacking creatures from untapping if the conditions are met at the common level, really in limited not bad.
#110) Crushing Vines - 2 and a green for a instant that is a common, you get to kill either a artifact or a creature with flying with this, interesting removal piece.
#111) Dawntreader Elk - Civic Wayfinder's newest reprint, 1 and a green for a 2/2 that you can pay 1 green mana for and sacrifice it to search for a basic land, put it on the battlefield tapped and all that, really here, really.
#112) Deranged Outcast - 1 and a green for a rare that you can pay 1 and a green, sacrifice a human and put 2 +1/+1 counters on a target creature for a 2/1, hmm you can target him with it too, not bad, not good for the first rare of the color.
#113) Favor of the Woods - 2 and a green for a enchantment - aura that whenever a creature enchanted with this attacks you gain 3 life, really limited material here.
#114) Feed the Pack - An 6 mana enchantment that you can sacrifice creatures at the end step to allow yourself to put 2/2's on the field where the amount of them you can put into play depends on the sacrificed creature's toughness, EDH card much.
#115) Ghoultree - A hefty 7 and a green mana while being a treefolk zombie what a Treefolk zombie, a 10/10 for a 8 mana rare, with the ability this costs 1 less for each creature card in your graveyard, seriously this could be a big contender if it had trample and/or evasion.
#116) Gravetiller Wurm - More wurms in magic, great just great, for 5 and a green you get a 4/4 trampler that is a uncommon with morbid that gives it 4 +1/+1 counters, really a powerhouse in limited, green has the stuff for limited now for early picks.
#117) Grim Flowering - 5 and a green for a sorcery that lets you draw a card for each creature in your graveyard, really late game limited material here.
#118) Hollowhenge Beasts - 3, green, green for a 5/5 vanilla nope.
#119) Hunger of the Howlpack - Morbid's back as expected, limited fodder though with this 1 mana instant speed spell that puts a +1/+1 counter on target creature, but morbid gives 3 of those counters instead, interesting.
#120) Increasing Savagery - The last of this cycle and wow is it a good one, this one costs 4 and a green, for a +5/+5 boost for one creature for the rest of the game, but if it was cast from a graveyard give a creature +10/+10 instead and it's flashback cost is a nice 5, green, green to boot as a rare.
#121) Kessig Recluse - 2, green, green for a 2/3 with reach and deathtouch, sorry.
#122) Lambholt Elder/Silverpelt Werewolf - 2 and a green for a 1/2 and a 4/5 when it transforms, the 1/2 has the standard transform clause and the 4/5 allows you to draw cards when it deals damage, kinda iffy personally.
#123) Lost in the Woods - 3, green, green for a rare enchantment that is basically a new Fog for green players, when a creature attacks either you or a planeswalker, reveal the top card of your library, if it was a forest, remove that creature from combat then put the revealed card on the bottom of your library, really nice EDH material here.
#124) Predator Ooze - My favorite rare of the set, triple green to cast, is a rare, 1/1 that's indestrucible, gets
+1/+1 counters when it deals fatal damage to creatures and when it attacks, not bad honestly.
#125) Scorned Villager/Moonscarred Werewolf - Ok so 2 mana for a 1/1 that generates 1 green mana, has the standard transform clause and it's other side has vigilance, is a 2/2 and generates two green mana by tapping of course, nice very nice common.
#126) Somberwald Dryad - 1 and a green for a 2/2 forestwalker common, come on.
#127) Strangleroot Geist - 2 green mana for a 2/1 that has Undying and haste, which means it will become a 3/2 when it dies but still retain haste best undying card i've seen to date.
#128) Tracker's Instincts - 1 and a green for a reveal the top four cards of your library, put a creature from among them into your hand and put the rest on the bottom with a flashback cost of 2 and a blue mana, interesting.
#129) Ulvenwald Bear - Oh crap it's a bear, run oh no maybe not, 2, green for a 2/2 with morbid when a creature died and this enters the battlefield put 2 +1/+1 counters on a target creature, yes this gives a boost with morbid as expected.
#130) Village Survivors - 4 and a green for a 4/5 vigilance with fateful hour giving your other creatures vigilance, late game limited material here.
#131) Vorapede - 2, green, green, green for a mythic that's a 5/4 with undying, vigilance and trample, pod target anyone?
#132) Wild Hunger - 2 and a green for a instant that grants +3/+1 until end of turn and trample, with a flashback cost of 3 and a red to boot, mini Kessig Wolf Run in limited anyone?
#133) Wolfbitten Captive/Krallenhorde Killer - So a 1 mana rare DFC that is a 1/1 that can give a +2/+2 pump to itself for 1 and a green, transformed it gives +4/+4 to itself for 3 and a green mana, as well as being a 2/2 serious beats.
#134) Young Wolf - 1 green mana for a common 1/1 with undying, first really good common with this particular mechanic honestly.
Anyways that's the main 5 colors of the set, stay tuned for the multicolors and lands.
Dark Ascension Spoilers Part 4: Red
With any set of magic, red is the fourth piece on our color wheel and should probably have some interesting cards to talk about this time around, we will see though with red's take on Dark Ascension.
#81) Afflicted Deserter/Werewolf Ransacker - 3/2 and a 5/4 for 4 mana isn't that bad honestly, whenever the deserter transforms from it's standard transform clause you can blow up artifacts, while dealing 3 damage as a uncommon too, not bad.
#82) Alpha Brawl - 6, red, red for a sorcery that makes one of your creatures fight the opponent's entire team, then they fight back basically dealing damage equal to their power to that one creature, rare, sorry just the mana cost alone is way too much even for limited.
#83) Burning Oil - 1 and a red for a instant that is a uncommon and it deals 3 damage to target attacking or blocking creature, has a flashback of 3 and a white as well, not bad for Red/White
#84) Blood Feud - 4, red, red for a uncommon that makes 2 creatures fight, nope.
#85) Curse of Bloodletting - Another curse, are you kidding me, but this one is a damage doubler, hmm i don't know but it sounds to me a curse deck is looking mighty tempting to build now, costs 3, red, red and is a rare to boot.
#86) Erdwal Ripper - 1, red, red for a 2/1 with haste, whenever it deals combat damage put a +1/+1 counter on it, is a common, yeah i'd choose this for black red vampires in limited easily, probably pick 3 too.
#87) Faithless Looting - Are you kidding me, 1 red mana for a sorcery that is a Careful Study for red and is a common to boot with a flashback cost of 2 and a red mana, so it appears Burning Vegeance might have it's cards of choice now, overall a good common in Dark Ascension so far.
#88) Fires of Undeath - 2 and a red for a instant common that deals 2 damage to target creature or player, with a flashback cost of 5 and a black, decent but limited material once again.
#89) Flayer of the Hatebound - 5 and a red mana for a rare that is a Devil, i knew devils would be in this set, 4/2 for a undying rare, whenever it or another creature enters the battlefield from a graveyard deal damage equal to it's power to target creature or player, whoa this is nuts for a Johnny card.
#90) Fling - Well this is getting another reprint, 1 and a red for a instant speed spell that you sacrifice a creature, you deal damage equal to that creature's power to target creature or player, nice to see this back.
#91) Forge Devil - Another serious Red Deck wins enabler, 1 red mana for a 1/1 that basically pings both you and a creature you control, so what it's a extra attacker and it's common sick.
#92) Heckling Fiends - You know i don't like mana ability creatures a lot, this one i don't like either, 2 and a red mana to cast for a 2/2 uncommon that has pay 2 and a red mana, target creature attacks this turn if able, forcing attacks is nice in limited you know.
#93) Hinterland Hermit/Hinterland Scourge - 1 and a red for this particular DFC to play, has the standard werewolf transform clause, it's other half the scourge forces blockers when it attacks and has the standard transform back into human clause
#94) Increasing Vengeance - 2 red for a instant that copies other spells 1 if played from the hand, twice if cast from the graveyard, is a rare and has a flashback cost of 3, red, red to boot, wow one of the better Increasing cards from the set so far.
#95) Hellrider - 2, red, red for a rare that when a creature you control attacks deal 1 damage, it has haste, is a 3/3 and has some sweet looking art.
#96) Markov Blademaster - 1, red, red for a 1/1 that gets bigger whenever it deals combat damage like Stromkirk Noble and it has double strike at that, making it that much better.
#97) Markov Warlord - 5 and a red for a uncommon that is a 4/4 with haste, when it enters the battlefield up to two target creatures cannot block that turn, really for this much it's supposed to be balanced not.
#98) Mondronen Shaman/Tovolar's Magehunter - The shaman has the standard transform clause, is a 3/2 while the magehunter is a 5/5 that when a opponent casts a spell it deals 2 damage to him/her and this is the release card as well for this set with 2 different card arts
#99) Moonveil Dragon - 3, red, red and red for a 5/5 that gives Firebreathing to your entire team and it is a mythic rare, as well as a flyer, boo yeah love me some dragons for this set.
#100) Nearheath Stalker - New ability means new keyword, this is a 4/1 with the new keyword Undying, which gives a +1/+1 counter when it dies and it comes back with said +1/+1 counter and becomes a 5/2 as a common
.#101) Pyreheart Wolf - 2 and a red for a 1/1 with the new mechanic Undying, kinda lame, but it does prevent single creatures from blocking your entire team ensuring more damage gets through.
#102) Russet Wolves - 3 and a red for a vanilla 3/3 nope.
#103) Scorch the Fields - 4 and a red for a sorcery that is a common, destroys a target land and deals 1 damage to each human, again why does this kind of stuff exist oh yeah filler.
#104) Shattered Perceptions - 2 and a red for a sorcery that's a uncommon, you discard all the cards in your hand and draw that many, with a flashback cost of 5 and a red, hmm maybe limited material.
#105) Talons of Falkenrath - 1 and a red for a aura enchantment that's a common, gives +2/+0 for 1 and a red mana, has flash to boot, hmm limited material much
#106) Torch Fiend - 1 and a red for a 1/1 that you pay 1 red mana and sacrifice it, destroy target artifact, Shatter on a stick much.
#107) Wrack with Madness - 3 and a red for a common that forces a creature to deal damage equal to it's power to itself hmm nope.
Anyways that's it for red, stay tuned for green next.
#81) Afflicted Deserter/Werewolf Ransacker - 3/2 and a 5/4 for 4 mana isn't that bad honestly, whenever the deserter transforms from it's standard transform clause you can blow up artifacts, while dealing 3 damage as a uncommon too, not bad.
#82) Alpha Brawl - 6, red, red for a sorcery that makes one of your creatures fight the opponent's entire team, then they fight back basically dealing damage equal to their power to that one creature, rare, sorry just the mana cost alone is way too much even for limited.
#83) Burning Oil - 1 and a red for a instant that is a uncommon and it deals 3 damage to target attacking or blocking creature, has a flashback of 3 and a white as well, not bad for Red/White
#84) Blood Feud - 4, red, red for a uncommon that makes 2 creatures fight, nope.
#85) Curse of Bloodletting - Another curse, are you kidding me, but this one is a damage doubler, hmm i don't know but it sounds to me a curse deck is looking mighty tempting to build now, costs 3, red, red and is a rare to boot.
#86) Erdwal Ripper - 1, red, red for a 2/1 with haste, whenever it deals combat damage put a +1/+1 counter on it, is a common, yeah i'd choose this for black red vampires in limited easily, probably pick 3 too.
#87) Faithless Looting - Are you kidding me, 1 red mana for a sorcery that is a Careful Study for red and is a common to boot with a flashback cost of 2 and a red mana, so it appears Burning Vegeance might have it's cards of choice now, overall a good common in Dark Ascension so far.
#88) Fires of Undeath - 2 and a red for a instant common that deals 2 damage to target creature or player, with a flashback cost of 5 and a black, decent but limited material once again.
#89) Flayer of the Hatebound - 5 and a red mana for a rare that is a Devil, i knew devils would be in this set, 4/2 for a undying rare, whenever it or another creature enters the battlefield from a graveyard deal damage equal to it's power to target creature or player, whoa this is nuts for a Johnny card.
#90) Fling - Well this is getting another reprint, 1 and a red for a instant speed spell that you sacrifice a creature, you deal damage equal to that creature's power to target creature or player, nice to see this back.
#91) Forge Devil - Another serious Red Deck wins enabler, 1 red mana for a 1/1 that basically pings both you and a creature you control, so what it's a extra attacker and it's common sick.
#92) Heckling Fiends - You know i don't like mana ability creatures a lot, this one i don't like either, 2 and a red mana to cast for a 2/2 uncommon that has pay 2 and a red mana, target creature attacks this turn if able, forcing attacks is nice in limited you know.
#93) Hinterland Hermit/Hinterland Scourge - 1 and a red for this particular DFC to play, has the standard werewolf transform clause, it's other half the scourge forces blockers when it attacks and has the standard transform back into human clause
#94) Increasing Vengeance - 2 red for a instant that copies other spells 1 if played from the hand, twice if cast from the graveyard, is a rare and has a flashback cost of 3, red, red to boot, wow one of the better Increasing cards from the set so far.
#95) Hellrider - 2, red, red for a rare that when a creature you control attacks deal 1 damage, it has haste, is a 3/3 and has some sweet looking art.
#96) Markov Blademaster - 1, red, red for a 1/1 that gets bigger whenever it deals combat damage like Stromkirk Noble and it has double strike at that, making it that much better.
#97) Markov Warlord - 5 and a red for a uncommon that is a 4/4 with haste, when it enters the battlefield up to two target creatures cannot block that turn, really for this much it's supposed to be balanced not.
#98) Mondronen Shaman/Tovolar's Magehunter - The shaman has the standard transform clause, is a 3/2 while the magehunter is a 5/5 that when a opponent casts a spell it deals 2 damage to him/her and this is the release card as well for this set with 2 different card arts
#99) Moonveil Dragon - 3, red, red and red for a 5/5 that gives Firebreathing to your entire team and it is a mythic rare, as well as a flyer, boo yeah love me some dragons for this set.
#100) Nearheath Stalker - New ability means new keyword, this is a 4/1 with the new keyword Undying, which gives a +1/+1 counter when it dies and it comes back with said +1/+1 counter and becomes a 5/2 as a common
.#101) Pyreheart Wolf - 2 and a red for a 1/1 with the new mechanic Undying, kinda lame, but it does prevent single creatures from blocking your entire team ensuring more damage gets through.
#102) Russet Wolves - 3 and a red for a vanilla 3/3 nope.
#103) Scorch the Fields - 4 and a red for a sorcery that is a common, destroys a target land and deals 1 damage to each human, again why does this kind of stuff exist oh yeah filler.
#104) Shattered Perceptions - 2 and a red for a sorcery that's a uncommon, you discard all the cards in your hand and draw that many, with a flashback cost of 5 and a red, hmm maybe limited material.
#105) Talons of Falkenrath - 1 and a red for a aura enchantment that's a common, gives +2/+0 for 1 and a red mana, has flash to boot, hmm limited material much
#106) Torch Fiend - 1 and a red for a 1/1 that you pay 1 red mana and sacrifice it, destroy target artifact, Shatter on a stick much.
#107) Wrack with Madness - 3 and a red for a common that forces a creature to deal damage equal to it's power to itself hmm nope.
Anyways that's it for red, stay tuned for green next.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Dark Ascension Spoilers Part 3: Black
Black's turn on the wheel with this edition, for a small set though we saw some good stuff last year, now will it follow up with this small set, let's find out.
#54) Black Cat - 1 and a black for a 1/1 that when it dies a target opponent discards a card, interesting, but not desirable.
#55) Chosen of Markov/Markov's Servant - So the first DFC of this color a 2/2 that you tap to tap a vampire and transform it, costs 2 and a black and changes into a vanilla 4/4 no thanks.
#56) Curse of Misfortunes - 4 and a black for a curse that searches out other curses, rare at that so it makes it a lot easier personally, interesting but it only searches for curses you don't have on the field.
#57) Curse of Thirst - A curse that deals damage equal to the number of curses on one player during their upkeep, right costs 4 and a black and is a common, sorry.
#58) Deadly Allure - 1 black mana for a combat trick that grants deathtouch and forces a blocker to block, not bad, has a flashback cost of 1 green mana at that so Black/Green looks nice now, other then that limited has this one.
#59) Death's Caress - 3, black, black for a sorcery that destroys a target creature but if it was a human you gain life equal to it's toughness, lame much.
#60) Falkenrath Torturer - 2 and a black for a 2/1 common that you can sacrifice a creature to gain flying, if it was a human put a +1/+1 counter on him, really if he had deathtouch he'd remind me of a young Vampire Nighthawk
#61) Farbog Bonefinger - 4 and a black for a 2/2 that when it enters the battlefield, target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn, decent if your playing zombies in limited.
#62) Fiend of the Shadows - Intro pack rare no 3, costs 3, Black, Black and is a Vampire Wizard, major beef with this is the mana cost is a high one considering the fact we've got better rares already in this set.
#63) Geralf's Messenger - Triple black for a 3/2 that enters the battlefield tapped, has undying and when it enters the battlefield target player loses 2 life, did i mention this is a rare too, wow 2 rares in a row here.
#64) Gravecrawler - Buy a box promo card, is a 2/1 zombie that costs 1 black mana, can't block but it can be cast from the graveyard as long as you control a zombie, sweet.
#65) Gravepurge - 2 and a black for a instant common that puts any number of target creatures on top of it's owner's library, draw a card too, great recursion.
#66) Gruesome Discovery - 2, Black, Black for a sorcery that is a common, makes a player 2 cards, has morbid where morbid states if a creature died this turn, choose two cards from that player's hand and that player discards them, really limited material here.
#67) Harrowing Journey - 4 and a black for a sorcery that draws 3 cards, that player loses 3 life too, wouldn't ever play this outta limited.
#68) Highborn Ghoul - 2 black for a 2/1 intimidate common, maybe
#69) Increasing Ambition - 4 and a black mana for a tutor effect that fetches one card from your library of your choice, but if it was cast from a graveyard search for 2 cards this way, put them into your hand and shuffle the library, but the flashback cost is kinda high at 7 and a black, EDH material here.
#70) Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - What's this a black legendary, oh wait it's mikaeus just undead, yes he died along with most humans, transforming into a zombie, 3, Black, Black, Black mythic rare, 5/5 for a Intimidate, destroy any humans whom deal combat damage to you, grants +1/+1 and undying to all non humans, so making this worthwhile is sweet, this happens to be one of the better mythics for the set.
#71) Ravenous Demon/Archdemon of Greed - Prerelease card, the demons are 4/4 and 9/9 with the first one transforming when you can sacrifice a human at sorcery speed, the second having trample, flying and a upkeep cost to sacrifice a human otherwise it taps, deals 9 damage to you, wow.
#72) Sightless Ghoul - 3 and a black for a no blocker that has undying and is a 2/2 no thanks
#73) Reap the Seagraf - 2 and a black for a zombie creature token generator with a flashback cost of 4 and a blue mana
#74) Skirsdag Flayer - 1 and a black mana for a common that's a 1/1, pay 3 and a black, tap it and sacrifice a human, you can destroy target creature, am i reading this right is this a creature with doom blade on it, nice limited material here.
#75) Spiteful Shadows - 1 and a black for a aura enchantment that attaches to target creature, whenever it deals damage, double it, lame much
#76) Tragic Slip - 1 black for a instant speed common that gives a creature -1/-1 until end of turn, with a morbid ability that bumps it up to -13/-13 until end of turn, i think this is going to end up replacing Dismember in construted honestly.
#77) Undying Evil - 1 black for mana for a instant that grants undying until end of turn, wow way to promote the mechanic.
#78) Vengeful Vampire - 3/2 flyer, undying 6 drop not in my formats.
#79) Wakedancer - 2 and a black for a 2/2 that has morbid when it enters the battlefield if something died, put a 2/2 zombie creature token on your side of the field, not bad honestly.
#80) Zombie Apocalypse - Did i read this right, a sorcery that costs 3, Black, Black, Black and returns all zombies you control from the graveyard to the battlefield tapped, as well as blowing up all humans sweet
Well that's all she wrote for part 3, tommorow will be part 4 as promised.
#54) Black Cat - 1 and a black for a 1/1 that when it dies a target opponent discards a card, interesting, but not desirable.
#55) Chosen of Markov/Markov's Servant - So the first DFC of this color a 2/2 that you tap to tap a vampire and transform it, costs 2 and a black and changes into a vanilla 4/4 no thanks.
#56) Curse of Misfortunes - 4 and a black for a curse that searches out other curses, rare at that so it makes it a lot easier personally, interesting but it only searches for curses you don't have on the field.
#57) Curse of Thirst - A curse that deals damage equal to the number of curses on one player during their upkeep, right costs 4 and a black and is a common, sorry.
#58) Deadly Allure - 1 black mana for a combat trick that grants deathtouch and forces a blocker to block, not bad, has a flashback cost of 1 green mana at that so Black/Green looks nice now, other then that limited has this one.
#59) Death's Caress - 3, black, black for a sorcery that destroys a target creature but if it was a human you gain life equal to it's toughness, lame much.
#60) Falkenrath Torturer - 2 and a black for a 2/1 common that you can sacrifice a creature to gain flying, if it was a human put a +1/+1 counter on him, really if he had deathtouch he'd remind me of a young Vampire Nighthawk
#61) Farbog Bonefinger - 4 and a black for a 2/2 that when it enters the battlefield, target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn, decent if your playing zombies in limited.
#62) Fiend of the Shadows - Intro pack rare no 3, costs 3, Black, Black and is a Vampire Wizard, major beef with this is the mana cost is a high one considering the fact we've got better rares already in this set.
#63) Geralf's Messenger - Triple black for a 3/2 that enters the battlefield tapped, has undying and when it enters the battlefield target player loses 2 life, did i mention this is a rare too, wow 2 rares in a row here.
#64) Gravecrawler - Buy a box promo card, is a 2/1 zombie that costs 1 black mana, can't block but it can be cast from the graveyard as long as you control a zombie, sweet.
#65) Gravepurge - 2 and a black for a instant common that puts any number of target creatures on top of it's owner's library, draw a card too, great recursion.
#66) Gruesome Discovery - 2, Black, Black for a sorcery that is a common, makes a player 2 cards, has morbid where morbid states if a creature died this turn, choose two cards from that player's hand and that player discards them, really limited material here.
#67) Harrowing Journey - 4 and a black for a sorcery that draws 3 cards, that player loses 3 life too, wouldn't ever play this outta limited.
#68) Highborn Ghoul - 2 black for a 2/1 intimidate common, maybe
#69) Increasing Ambition - 4 and a black mana for a tutor effect that fetches one card from your library of your choice, but if it was cast from a graveyard search for 2 cards this way, put them into your hand and shuffle the library, but the flashback cost is kinda high at 7 and a black, EDH material here.
#70) Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - What's this a black legendary, oh wait it's mikaeus just undead, yes he died along with most humans, transforming into a zombie, 3, Black, Black, Black mythic rare, 5/5 for a Intimidate, destroy any humans whom deal combat damage to you, grants +1/+1 and undying to all non humans, so making this worthwhile is sweet, this happens to be one of the better mythics for the set.
#71) Ravenous Demon/Archdemon of Greed - Prerelease card, the demons are 4/4 and 9/9 with the first one transforming when you can sacrifice a human at sorcery speed, the second having trample, flying and a upkeep cost to sacrifice a human otherwise it taps, deals 9 damage to you, wow.
#72) Sightless Ghoul - 3 and a black for a no blocker that has undying and is a 2/2 no thanks
#73) Reap the Seagraf - 2 and a black for a zombie creature token generator with a flashback cost of 4 and a blue mana
#74) Skirsdag Flayer - 1 and a black mana for a common that's a 1/1, pay 3 and a black, tap it and sacrifice a human, you can destroy target creature, am i reading this right is this a creature with doom blade on it, nice limited material here.
#75) Spiteful Shadows - 1 and a black for a aura enchantment that attaches to target creature, whenever it deals damage, double it, lame much
#76) Tragic Slip - 1 black for a instant speed common that gives a creature -1/-1 until end of turn, with a morbid ability that bumps it up to -13/-13 until end of turn, i think this is going to end up replacing Dismember in construted honestly.
#77) Undying Evil - 1 black for mana for a instant that grants undying until end of turn, wow way to promote the mechanic.
#78) Vengeful Vampire - 3/2 flyer, undying 6 drop not in my formats.
#79) Wakedancer - 2 and a black for a 2/2 that has morbid when it enters the battlefield if something died, put a 2/2 zombie creature token on your side of the field, not bad honestly.
#80) Zombie Apocalypse - Did i read this right, a sorcery that costs 3, Black, Black, Black and returns all zombies you control from the graveyard to the battlefield tapped, as well as blowing up all humans sweet
Well that's all she wrote for part 3, tommorow will be part 4 as promised.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Dark Ascension Spoilers Part 2: Blue
White gave us some good cards this time around for Dark Ascension, but we've yet to see the blue cards in this set which are following up the excellence of last year's blue cards in Innistrad featuring Snapcaster Mage so let's see what wizards is going to give blue players this set.
#27) Artful Dodge - 1 blue mana for a sorcery that makes a target creature unblockable, has a flashback cost of 1 blue mana and is a common, wouldn't even bother to draft this, unless i didn't draft Invisible Stalker instead
#28) Beguiler of Wills - A mythic for blue, say it ain't so batman, a 1/1 for 5 mana that taps to take control of target creature, say what, a glass cannon sorry your princess is in another castle.
#29) Bone to Ash - 2, blue, blue for a instant speed common that is a counter spell that lets you draw a card, finally something worthwhile for limited control, pair it with Dissipate and you have some nasty counter spells.
#30) Call to the Kindred - 3, blue for a enchantment aura that is a rare, allows you to look at the top five cards of your library, put a creature that shares a creature type with the enchanted creature onto the battlefield for free at the beginning of your upkeep, whoa much, seriously a decent rare if i do say so.
#31) Chant of the Skifsang - 2 and a blue for a common aura that gives a creature -13/-0 when it comes into play attaching itself to a creature, not bad, not good.
#32) Chill of Foreboding - 2, blue for a sorcery that's a uncommon and has a flashback cost of 7 and a blue, mills the top 5 cards of your library, good in limited not
#33) Counterlash - Ok so magic just got a bad ass counter spell, 6 mana for a counter spell that when it counters something you get to cast the exact same type of card countered this way for free, regardless of casting cost, really and it's a rare.
#34) Curse of Echoes - 4 and a blue for a curse that copies spells and sets them loose on other targets, great for a multiplayer game, but also great for limited if you can draft it.
#35) Divination - Well this is getting a reprint, second reprint of the set, 2 and a blue for a sorcery that's a common, draw 2 cards, don't we already have this in the core set.
#36) Dungeon Geists - 2, blue, blue for a rare that's a 3/3 and flies, when it enters the battlefield it taps a creature and that creature doesn't untap while this exists on the battlefield, not bad for a blue rare, but again this set isn't impressing me a lot.
#37) Geralf's Mindcrusher - 4, blue, blue for a rare that when it enters the battlefield target player puts the top 5 cards of his or her library onto the battlefield, has undying and it is a 5/5 to boot, really too expensive for a rare honestly.
#38) Griptide - 3 and a blue for a instant speed common that puts a target creature on top of it's owner's library really lame.
#39) Havengul Runebinder - 4 mana rare that's another intro pack rare, is a Human Wizard at that so gives the humans a new target but it's abilites are left to be desired.
#40) Headless Skaab - 2 and a blue for a 3/6 that makes you exile creatures from your graveyard to cast, as well as entering the battlefield tapped, sorry for limited only.
#41) Increasing Confusion - So mill has it's new spell for X and 1 blue, you put the X cards where X is the number of mana paid for X into target player's graveyard, if it was cast from a graveyard put double the number of X instead and it has flashback of X and 1 Blue mana, seriously sweet.
#42) Mystic Retrieval - So for 3 and a blue you get a sorcery that's a uncommon that returns a target instant or sorcery card back to your hand and has a flashback cost of 2 and a red mana, so Burning Vengeance anyone.
#43) Nephalia Seakite - 3 and a blue for a Flash, Flying 2/3 not.
#44) Niblis of the Breath - Another niblis 2 and a blue for a 2/1 flyer that you can pay 1 blue and tap it to untap target creature, not bad in limited.
#45) Relentless Skaabs - 3, blue and blue for a 4/4 that you have to exile a creature from your graveyard to cast and it has undying, hmm interesting limited material here folks.
#46) Saving Grasp - 1 blue for a instant that bounces a creature you control back to your hand and has a flashback cost of 1 white mana, very impressive here for a dual Unsummon for your creatures
#47) Screeching Skaab - 2/1 for a 2 drop that mills the top two cards of your library when it enters the battlefield, great zombie fodder, but not as good as Deranged Assistant
#48) Secrets of the Dead - You know Burning Vengeance smells good right about now honestly, for 2 and a blue you get a enchantment that states, whenever you cast a spell from the graveyard, draw a card, at the uncommon level too, very sweet
#49) Shriekgeist - 1/1 flyer for 2 mana that whenever it deals combat damage to a player that player puts the top two cards of their library into the graveyard, wow for a common it's sick tech for limited.
#50) Soul Seizer/Ghastly Haunting - A creature that when it deals combat damage, flies and is a 1/3 that transforms into a enchantment - aura that is another Mind Control seriously why wizards would you do this.
#51) Stormbound Geist - 1, blue, blue for a 2/2 that has flying, but has undying and can only block other flyers, not bad for a 3 drop in this limited format.
#52) Thought Scour - 1 blue mana for a instant speed common that mills, draws a card and puts you on track to basically win via Laboratory Maniac not bad, not bad at all in limited.
#53) Tower Geist - 3 and a blue for a 2/2 flyer that when it enters the battlefield you look at the top 2 cards of your library and draw one, putting the other on the bottom of the library, not bad for a creature honestly and it's a uncommon so even better.
Anyways that's it for Part 2 of these spoilers, stay tuned tommorow for Parts 3 and 4, Black and Red the good stuff.
#27) Artful Dodge - 1 blue mana for a sorcery that makes a target creature unblockable, has a flashback cost of 1 blue mana and is a common, wouldn't even bother to draft this, unless i didn't draft Invisible Stalker instead
#28) Beguiler of Wills - A mythic for blue, say it ain't so batman, a 1/1 for 5 mana that taps to take control of target creature, say what, a glass cannon sorry your princess is in another castle.
#29) Bone to Ash - 2, blue, blue for a instant speed common that is a counter spell that lets you draw a card, finally something worthwhile for limited control, pair it with Dissipate and you have some nasty counter spells.
#30) Call to the Kindred - 3, blue for a enchantment aura that is a rare, allows you to look at the top five cards of your library, put a creature that shares a creature type with the enchanted creature onto the battlefield for free at the beginning of your upkeep, whoa much, seriously a decent rare if i do say so.
#31) Chant of the Skifsang - 2 and a blue for a common aura that gives a creature -13/-0 when it comes into play attaching itself to a creature, not bad, not good.
#32) Chill of Foreboding - 2, blue for a sorcery that's a uncommon and has a flashback cost of 7 and a blue, mills the top 5 cards of your library, good in limited not
#33) Counterlash - Ok so magic just got a bad ass counter spell, 6 mana for a counter spell that when it counters something you get to cast the exact same type of card countered this way for free, regardless of casting cost, really and it's a rare.
#34) Curse of Echoes - 4 and a blue for a curse that copies spells and sets them loose on other targets, great for a multiplayer game, but also great for limited if you can draft it.
#35) Divination - Well this is getting a reprint, second reprint of the set, 2 and a blue for a sorcery that's a common, draw 2 cards, don't we already have this in the core set.
#36) Dungeon Geists - 2, blue, blue for a rare that's a 3/3 and flies, when it enters the battlefield it taps a creature and that creature doesn't untap while this exists on the battlefield, not bad for a blue rare, but again this set isn't impressing me a lot.
#37) Geralf's Mindcrusher - 4, blue, blue for a rare that when it enters the battlefield target player puts the top 5 cards of his or her library onto the battlefield, has undying and it is a 5/5 to boot, really too expensive for a rare honestly.
#38) Griptide - 3 and a blue for a instant speed common that puts a target creature on top of it's owner's library really lame.
#39) Havengul Runebinder - 4 mana rare that's another intro pack rare, is a Human Wizard at that so gives the humans a new target but it's abilites are left to be desired.
#40) Headless Skaab - 2 and a blue for a 3/6 that makes you exile creatures from your graveyard to cast, as well as entering the battlefield tapped, sorry for limited only.
#41) Increasing Confusion - So mill has it's new spell for X and 1 blue, you put the X cards where X is the number of mana paid for X into target player's graveyard, if it was cast from a graveyard put double the number of X instead and it has flashback of X and 1 Blue mana, seriously sweet.
#42) Mystic Retrieval - So for 3 and a blue you get a sorcery that's a uncommon that returns a target instant or sorcery card back to your hand and has a flashback cost of 2 and a red mana, so Burning Vengeance anyone.
#43) Nephalia Seakite - 3 and a blue for a Flash, Flying 2/3 not.
#44) Niblis of the Breath - Another niblis 2 and a blue for a 2/1 flyer that you can pay 1 blue and tap it to untap target creature, not bad in limited.
#45) Relentless Skaabs - 3, blue and blue for a 4/4 that you have to exile a creature from your graveyard to cast and it has undying, hmm interesting limited material here folks.
#46) Saving Grasp - 1 blue for a instant that bounces a creature you control back to your hand and has a flashback cost of 1 white mana, very impressive here for a dual Unsummon for your creatures
#47) Screeching Skaab - 2/1 for a 2 drop that mills the top two cards of your library when it enters the battlefield, great zombie fodder, but not as good as Deranged Assistant
#48) Secrets of the Dead - You know Burning Vengeance smells good right about now honestly, for 2 and a blue you get a enchantment that states, whenever you cast a spell from the graveyard, draw a card, at the uncommon level too, very sweet
#49) Shriekgeist - 1/1 flyer for 2 mana that whenever it deals combat damage to a player that player puts the top two cards of their library into the graveyard, wow for a common it's sick tech for limited.
#50) Soul Seizer/Ghastly Haunting - A creature that when it deals combat damage, flies and is a 1/3 that transforms into a enchantment - aura that is another Mind Control seriously why wizards would you do this.
#51) Stormbound Geist - 1, blue, blue for a 2/2 that has flying, but has undying and can only block other flyers, not bad for a 3 drop in this limited format.
#52) Thought Scour - 1 blue mana for a instant speed common that mills, draws a card and puts you on track to basically win via Laboratory Maniac not bad, not bad at all in limited.
#53) Tower Geist - 3 and a blue for a 2/2 flyer that when it enters the battlefield you look at the top 2 cards of your library and draw one, putting the other on the bottom of the library, not bad for a creature honestly and it's a uncommon so even better.
Anyways that's it for Part 2 of these spoilers, stay tuned tommorow for Parts 3 and 4, Black and Red the good stuff.
Dark Ascension Spoilers Part 1: White
Hello everyone and welcome back to another set of spoilers for the emporium, this time it's on the set Dark Ascension which hits store shelves in Feburary, this first edition as always covers the white cards, which are going to be in chronological order for these spoilers as always so let's begin.
#1) Archangel's Light - First card of the set and it's a mythic oh great, 7 and a white to cast and it's a sorcery that states, gain 2 life for each card in your graveyard, then shuffle your graveyard into your library, really good EDH material here.
#2) Bar the Door - 2 and a white mana for a instant speed spell that gives your creatures +0/+4 until end of turn and it's a common, limited material much here.
#3) Break of Day - 1 and a white to play for a instant speed spell that gives creatures you control a +1/+1 boost until end of turn and it also has fateful hour which gives them indestruciblity which is still just another combat trick honestly.
#4) Burden of Guilt - Lame 1 white drop enchantment is lame next.
#5) Curse of Exhaustion - 2, white, white for a curse that basically prevents the player it is attached from playing more then one spell, no thanks vladmir i'm not touching this out of limited.
#6) Elguad Inquisitor - 3 and a white mana for a 2/2 cleric that when it dies it produces a 1/1 white spirit with flying, sorry rather have Doomed Traveler
#7) Faith's Shield - 1 white mana for a target creature gets protection from the color of your choice till end of turn, has fateful hour which gives you and all creatures you control protection instead, not bad in limited.
#8) Gather the Townsfolk - A 2 mana sorcery that generates 2 1/1 white human creature tokens, has the new ability Fateful Hour which states at 5 life or less, put 5 of those tokens onto the battlefield instead, seriously this is stupidly good for a sorcery, expect this in human decks and possibly with another DKA card.
#9) Gavony Outwright - 2 and a white for a 1/4 that has fateful hour and it gives other creatures you control +1/+4, lame much.
#10) Hollowhenge Spirit - 2/2 for a 4 drop flyer that removes target attacking or blocking creature from combat, really good spirit here for limited.
#11) Increasing Devotion - A sweet token generator folks, this for 3, White, White is seriously good, the flashback cost though is iffy but with a little help from Snapcaster Mage the flashback can be reduced, plus this is a sweet finisher.
#12) Lingering Souls - 2 and a white for a instant token generator that has a flashback cost of 1 and a black mana, uncommon. Um wow much this is going to Black/White token material for sure, i will admit that much.
#13) Loyal Cathar/Unhallowed Cathar - First DFC of the set, a 2/2 and a 2/1, the 2/2 costs 2 white mana is a uncommon, has vigilance and when it dies transform it, the 2/1 is a black card that cannot block but is great for attacking, limited fodder.
#14) Midnight Guard - 2/3 for 3 mana that when another creature enters the battlefield untap it, not bad, not bad at all for a 2/3 honestly one of the more fruitful commons
#15) Niblis of the Mist - 2 and a white for a 2/1 that when it enters the battlefield you get to tap target creature, it has flying as well as being a common, interesting not.
#16) Niblis of the Urn - 1/1 for 2 mana, flyer and when it attacks you get to tap target creature, better at least then the last one.
#17) Ray of Revelation - 1 and a white for a instant speed enchantment removal, with a flashback cost of 1 green mana, nice to see this back for standard.
#18) Requiem Angel - 6 mana for a 5/5 flyer that when other things die on your side of the field you get to produce a 1/1 white spirit creature token in it's place, great for EDH honestly.
#19) Sanctuary Cat - Vanilla creature is stilll vanilla next.
#20) Seance - Another copying enchantment, similar to mimic vat, costs 2, white and a white, is a rare and basically states you can exile a creature from your graveyard and put a token into place where that token is a copy of that creature exiled this way, exile the token at the beginning of the next end step, really this is my least favorite rare so far.
#21) Silverclaw Griffin - 3, white, white for a flying, first strike 3/2, uh too over costed.
#22) Skillful Lunge - Instant speed spells that cost 1 and a white are some times good, this grants a creature +2/+0 and first strike until end of the turn, combat trick much.
#23) Sudden Dissapearance - 5 and a white for a sorcery that exiles all the non land permanents that a player controls, is a rare at that and they don't return to the field till the next end step, very nice.
#24) Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - So you get a 2/1 first striker that is a rare for 2 mana, noncreature spells costs 1 more to cast, this is so sick i'm happy to finally see a legendary in this set.
#25) Thraben Doomsayer - 1, White and a White for a 2/2 rare that generates 1/1 tokens each time you tap it, has Fateful hour which states at 5 life or less creatures you control get +2/+2 seriously this isn't a legendary either, oh god ok this is sick tech.
#26) Thraben Heretic - 1, white for a 2/2 that you can tap to exile creatures from the graveyard, really good in limited.
Anyways that's it for the white cards of the set, stay tuned for the blue cards of Dark Ascension.
#1) Archangel's Light - First card of the set and it's a mythic oh great, 7 and a white to cast and it's a sorcery that states, gain 2 life for each card in your graveyard, then shuffle your graveyard into your library, really good EDH material here.
#2) Bar the Door - 2 and a white mana for a instant speed spell that gives your creatures +0/+4 until end of turn and it's a common, limited material much here.
#3) Break of Day - 1 and a white to play for a instant speed spell that gives creatures you control a +1/+1 boost until end of turn and it also has fateful hour which gives them indestruciblity which is still just another combat trick honestly.
#4) Burden of Guilt - Lame 1 white drop enchantment is lame next.
#5) Curse of Exhaustion - 2, white, white for a curse that basically prevents the player it is attached from playing more then one spell, no thanks vladmir i'm not touching this out of limited.
#6) Elguad Inquisitor - 3 and a white mana for a 2/2 cleric that when it dies it produces a 1/1 white spirit with flying, sorry rather have Doomed Traveler
#7) Faith's Shield - 1 white mana for a target creature gets protection from the color of your choice till end of turn, has fateful hour which gives you and all creatures you control protection instead, not bad in limited.
#8) Gather the Townsfolk - A 2 mana sorcery that generates 2 1/1 white human creature tokens, has the new ability Fateful Hour which states at 5 life or less, put 5 of those tokens onto the battlefield instead, seriously this is stupidly good for a sorcery, expect this in human decks and possibly with another DKA card.
#9) Gavony Outwright - 2 and a white for a 1/4 that has fateful hour and it gives other creatures you control +1/+4, lame much.
#10) Hollowhenge Spirit - 2/2 for a 4 drop flyer that removes target attacking or blocking creature from combat, really good spirit here for limited.
#11) Increasing Devotion - A sweet token generator folks, this for 3, White, White is seriously good, the flashback cost though is iffy but with a little help from Snapcaster Mage the flashback can be reduced, plus this is a sweet finisher.
#12) Lingering Souls - 2 and a white for a instant token generator that has a flashback cost of 1 and a black mana, uncommon. Um wow much this is going to Black/White token material for sure, i will admit that much.
#13) Loyal Cathar/Unhallowed Cathar - First DFC of the set, a 2/2 and a 2/1, the 2/2 costs 2 white mana is a uncommon, has vigilance and when it dies transform it, the 2/1 is a black card that cannot block but is great for attacking, limited fodder.
#14) Midnight Guard - 2/3 for 3 mana that when another creature enters the battlefield untap it, not bad, not bad at all for a 2/3 honestly one of the more fruitful commons
#15) Niblis of the Mist - 2 and a white for a 2/1 that when it enters the battlefield you get to tap target creature, it has flying as well as being a common, interesting not.
#16) Niblis of the Urn - 1/1 for 2 mana, flyer and when it attacks you get to tap target creature, better at least then the last one.
#17) Ray of Revelation - 1 and a white for a instant speed enchantment removal, with a flashback cost of 1 green mana, nice to see this back for standard.
#18) Requiem Angel - 6 mana for a 5/5 flyer that when other things die on your side of the field you get to produce a 1/1 white spirit creature token in it's place, great for EDH honestly.
#19) Sanctuary Cat - Vanilla creature is stilll vanilla next.
#20) Seance - Another copying enchantment, similar to mimic vat, costs 2, white and a white, is a rare and basically states you can exile a creature from your graveyard and put a token into place where that token is a copy of that creature exiled this way, exile the token at the beginning of the next end step, really this is my least favorite rare so far.
#21) Silverclaw Griffin - 3, white, white for a flying, first strike 3/2, uh too over costed.
#22) Skillful Lunge - Instant speed spells that cost 1 and a white are some times good, this grants a creature +2/+0 and first strike until end of the turn, combat trick much.
#23) Sudden Dissapearance - 5 and a white for a sorcery that exiles all the non land permanents that a player controls, is a rare at that and they don't return to the field till the next end step, very nice.
#24) Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - So you get a 2/1 first striker that is a rare for 2 mana, noncreature spells costs 1 more to cast, this is so sick i'm happy to finally see a legendary in this set.
#25) Thraben Doomsayer - 1, White and a White for a 2/2 rare that generates 1/1 tokens each time you tap it, has Fateful hour which states at 5 life or less creatures you control get +2/+2 seriously this isn't a legendary either, oh god ok this is sick tech.
#26) Thraben Heretic - 1, white for a 2/2 that you can tap to exile creatures from the graveyard, really good in limited.
Anyways that's it for the white cards of the set, stay tuned for the blue cards of Dark Ascension.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Dark Ascension Spoilers: Day 4, Week 2
Hello everyone and welcome to this rather lackluster edition of the Dark Ascension spoilers, i'm vergil who hates the weather changing constantly cause it makes me sick as a dog, let's check out what was spoiled today in terms of cards.
So the judges in New Zealand and Australlia showed this one off, it's called Lost in the Woods for 5 mana you get a enchantment that is a rare, whenever a creature attacks you or a walker you control reveal the top card of your library, if it's a forest card remove that creature from combat, the put the revealed card on the bottom of your library, sounds like a handy dandy Fog effect to me anyways sounds good but we will see onto card #2.
The third addition to the Increasing cycle which is called Increasing Savagery, wow it's pretty damn decent honestly, puts 5 +1/+1 counters on something, if it was cast from a graveyard put 10 of em on a creature instead, flashback is 5, green, green and it's a rare as expected, i like this card a lot and it has some usefulness to me at least now in EDH.
Geralf's Messenger is the 3rd card of the day, rare, 3/2 with undying, when it enters the battlefield it enters tapped and a opponent loses 2 life, costs 3 black mana to play and is a zombie, this i feel is the missing piece to the zombie deck i wanted to see honestly, good on you wizards.
The final card of the day is Sudden Disappearance which costs 5 and a white mana, is a rare and it's a sorcery that exiles all non land permanents target player controls, return the exiled cards to the battlefield under their owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. This itself is a way to win since you can target your opponent and prevent him from blocking for a huge way to win, but at 6 mana i'd honestly rather play a Titan right now, there are a lot of 6 mana cards in this set for some reason. Anyways that's it for me for today, tommorow i'm going to show off the last cards of this week and all that neat stuff, until next time this is vergil signing off.
So the judges in New Zealand and Australlia showed this one off, it's called Lost in the Woods for 5 mana you get a enchantment that is a rare, whenever a creature attacks you or a walker you control reveal the top card of your library, if it's a forest card remove that creature from combat, the put the revealed card on the bottom of your library, sounds like a handy dandy Fog effect to me anyways sounds good but we will see onto card #2.
The third addition to the Increasing cycle which is called Increasing Savagery, wow it's pretty damn decent honestly, puts 5 +1/+1 counters on something, if it was cast from a graveyard put 10 of em on a creature instead, flashback is 5, green, green and it's a rare as expected, i like this card a lot and it has some usefulness to me at least now in EDH.
Geralf's Messenger is the 3rd card of the day, rare, 3/2 with undying, when it enters the battlefield it enters tapped and a opponent loses 2 life, costs 3 black mana to play and is a zombie, this i feel is the missing piece to the zombie deck i wanted to see honestly, good on you wizards.
The final card of the day is Sudden Disappearance which costs 5 and a white mana, is a rare and it's a sorcery that exiles all non land permanents target player controls, return the exiled cards to the battlefield under their owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. This itself is a way to win since you can target your opponent and prevent him from blocking for a huge way to win, but at 6 mana i'd honestly rather play a Titan right now, there are a lot of 6 mana cards in this set for some reason. Anyways that's it for me for today, tommorow i'm going to show off the last cards of this week and all that neat stuff, until next time this is vergil signing off.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Dark Ascension Spoilers: Day 3, Week 2
Hello everyone let's get straight down to business in this edition with the 6 sweet previews for Dark Ascension.
Oh what's this token generator with Flashback, oh this looks so sweet to play, wait flashback is in Black, so Black/White tokens is legit now, oh god oh dear, yeah, oh look we got our 10th mythic today.
Helavault, Legendary artifact that sucks honestly i don't like it, Mythic rare that basically exiles stuff like Karn does, costs 3 mana but it's secondary ability costs 7 mana to use honestly i'd rather use Karn till he rotates honestly.
Boston Examiner previewed this eh, Markov Blademaster 1/1 rare for 1, red, red double striker and when it deals combat damage it gets +1/+1 counters on it, howdy red deck wins.
Stromkirk Captain eh, 2/2 for 1, red, black, first striker, other vamps get +1/+1 and first strike, lordy lord oh my goodness i like this guy he's legitimate for Black/Red vampires now, with a lot of em entering into this set, expect to see a good Red/Black vamps deck show up.
Honestly limited fodder is still fodder but good fodder none the less, Thought Scour is the latest self mill spell for Blue, costs 1 blue, you put the top two cards of a library into target player's graveyard, draw a card, not bad, you get rewarded with a reload card, not bad at all, expect this to be maybe 8th pick in limited.
Oh hai Fling welcome back to the format again, yes it's legit for 2 sets this particular card, M12 has it and now Dark Ascension, much like Innistrad went and got a reprint of Naturalize for itself. we all know what it does right, right, good anyways that's all the sweet little previews today, tommorow we get more, until then this is vergil signing off.
Oh what's this token generator with Flashback, oh this looks so sweet to play, wait flashback is in Black, so Black/White tokens is legit now, oh god oh dear, yeah, oh look we got our 10th mythic today.
Helavault, Legendary artifact that sucks honestly i don't like it, Mythic rare that basically exiles stuff like Karn does, costs 3 mana but it's secondary ability costs 7 mana to use honestly i'd rather use Karn till he rotates honestly.
Boston Examiner previewed this eh, Markov Blademaster 1/1 rare for 1, red, red double striker and when it deals combat damage it gets +1/+1 counters on it, howdy red deck wins.
Stromkirk Captain eh, 2/2 for 1, red, black, first striker, other vamps get +1/+1 and first strike, lordy lord oh my goodness i like this guy he's legitimate for Black/Red vampires now, with a lot of em entering into this set, expect to see a good Red/Black vamps deck show up.
Honestly limited fodder is still fodder but good fodder none the less, Thought Scour is the latest self mill spell for Blue, costs 1 blue, you put the top two cards of a library into target player's graveyard, draw a card, not bad, you get rewarded with a reload card, not bad at all, expect this to be maybe 8th pick in limited.
Oh hai Fling welcome back to the format again, yes it's legit for 2 sets this particular card, M12 has it and now Dark Ascension, much like Innistrad went and got a reprint of Naturalize for itself. we all know what it does right, right, good anyways that's all the sweet little previews today, tommorow we get more, until then this is vergil signing off.
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