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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist OK, reading the title of this article, you already know what the best non-rare card is in the set of Alliances. But despite the fact that it is incredibly far and away the most expensive card in the set, Force of Will is not the only really good card in Alliances. There are some good rares – Helm of Obedience, Thawing Glaciers, Lake of the Dead, and Kjeldoran Outpost – but there are also some very solid commons and uncommons that should not be overlooked. Before we begin, here are a couple of Honorable Mentions  Honorable Mention #1 – Inheritance Inheritance is not a terrible card, but it won't make the Top 10. It’s an Enchantment for a single White mana that lets you pay 3 colorless mana to draw a card whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from play. It doesn’t see much play anymore, even barely in Commander, but it’s interesting enough to put on the list.  Honorable Mention #2 – Spiny Starfish I would be stretching to put this in the Top 10, but Spiny Starfish is a cool card for an uncommon. It costs 2U for a 0/1 which sounds fairly lame, except that it can regenerate for a single Blue mana. Cool, it makes a solid blocker. But not only that, at the end of each turn that you regenerate Spiny Starfish, you get a 0/1 blue Starfish creature token for each time that it is regenerated in a turn. Note that you can make as many regeneration shields as you want, but it only gets a token for each that one of those regeneration shields is used. So you can’t simply pay a whole bunch of blue mana and get a bunch of 0/1 tokens. Still, it’s a solid card, and I’m sure one that was abused back in the day before the official rulings were easily accessible. Now onto the list, and #10 is not surprisingly going to be one of the famous “pitch” cards:  #10 Bounty of the Hunt Once upon a time, there was a cycle of cards in Alliances at uncommon known as the “pitch” cards. They had a relatively high converted mana cost, 5 or 6, but could be played for free by removing a card of the same color in your hand from the game. Two of them required you to additionally pay 1 life, one of which is the #1 card on this list. Bounty of the Hunt is the Green card from that cycle. What does it do? “You may remove a green card in your hand from the game rather than pay Bounty of the Hunt’s mana cost. Until end of turn, target creature gets +1/+1, target creature gets +1/+1, and target creature gets +1/+1.” That doesn’t sound too bad. You get to pump 3 creatures by +1/+1, or one creature by +3/+3, or one by +2/2 and another by +1/+1. So it’s basically a Giant Growth that you can split three ways without paying mana? That sounds pretty cool. The problem is you’re probably better off just playing Mutagenic Growth or Giant Growth than this. Thus, it sees no play in any format outside of some very fringe Commander lists. At the time, it was certainly better, when combat tricks were far more common and plenty in the competitive atmosphere. But it basically only makes #10 because it IS a pitch card. Also, this card notably as a reprint with the modern Magic card border in one of the Coldsnap theme decks.  #9 Scars of the Veteran Easily the least known of the pitch cards is Scars of the Veteran, the White card in the cycle. It could easily be #10 instead of Bounty of the Hunt but its effect is rather interesting. Here’s the Oracle text: “You may exile a white card from your hand rather than pay Scars of the Veteran’s mana cost. // Prevent the next 7 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn. At the beginning of the next end step, put a +0/+1 counter on that creature for each 1 damage prevented this way.” The second half of that effect about the target creature gaining potentially +0/+7 on a permanent basis is pretty awesome. Never mind the fact that you can save yourself 7 damage in a turn. The problem is that this card is incredibly situational and it’s not really worth a slot in any main-board. You’d have to be playing against a very specific deck for this to even be relevant in the sideboard. It had a good idea behind it, but it’s just not really playable. Like Bounty of the Hunt, Scars of the Veteran was also reprinted in a Coldsnap theme deck.  #8 Pillage Pillage is one of the best uncommons in the set. The only reason it’s not worth more value-wise is that it’s been reprinted several times: 6th Edition, 7th Edition, the Fire & Lightning Premium Deck, and as an Arena Foil promotional card. It’s essentially a more powerful version of Stone Rain. Where as Stone Rain costs 2R to destroy a target land, Pillage is 1RR to destroy a target land or artifact, making it a bit more versatile. Also, the keyword bury means that said card can’t be regenerated. It’s a card that saw considerable play years ago, and still finds a home in land-destruction based decks in Commander. Pillage was later reprinted in Seventh Edition, as well as in foil in the Premium Deck: Fire vs Lightning.  #7 Contagion Contagion is one of the legendary “pitch” cards, a cycle of which a little card called Force of Will is also part. Here's what the Oracle text for this card reads: “You may pay 1 life and exile a black card from your hand rather than pay Contagion’s mana cost. // Distribute two -2/-1 counters among one or two target creatures.” This is a card that sees play in Legacy Manaless Dredge as removal. You might notice that it generates a sort of counter that you simply don’t see anymore: -2/-1 counters. Why is this relevant? It shuts down Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, the main counter to the Manaless Dredge deck, making a regular 4/7 into a 0/5. It also deals with a lot of other creatures, of course. Five mana is a bit much for a card like this, but the ability to pay 1 life and exile a black card from your hand makes it very useful for the deck that needs it most.  #6 Arcane Denial Arcane Denial was pretty good at the time of its original release, as well. While countering a spell and having its controller draw two cards at the next upkeep sounds like a major drawback to a counter-spell, you get to draw a card during the next upkeep, as well. As the power level of cards in Constructed has risen, of course, those extra two cards to your opponent have become much more relevant. So you won’t see it in Legacy or Vintage anymore, where Force of Will, Mana Drain, and plain old Counterspell are simply much better. However, it is a very popular counter-spell in the Commander format, as you’re limited to a single copy of each counter-spell, and in the 99-card singleton format, those extra two cards don’t mean quite as much. It took a long time, but it was finally reprinted in one of the Commander 2013 decks, which has made the original versions a bit less valuable. There are actually two separate versions of the card with different artworks, for collection purposes.  #5 Pyrokinesis Of all of the pitch cards, Pyrokinesis might be the second best of the five. It sees considerable play in Legacy Goblins. Here’s why: “You may exile a red card from your hand rather than pay Pyrokinesis’s mana cost. Pyrokinesis deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures.” Well, that’s cool, you don’t even have to pay one life! Yes, Pyrokinesis has a converted mana cost of 6 (4RR) but all you have to do is exile some red card from your hand to split 4 damage as many ways as you like among target creatures? That sounds pretty powerful. And it is. It can deal with 4 little 1/1’s or it can deal with a Restoration Angel and her 4 toughness. Very strong card. Also, you may not know that Pyrokinesis was actually reprinted much later with new artwork in Duel Deck: Heroes vs Monsters.  #4 Lim-Dul’s Vault This card saw a reprint in the Commander 2013 product with alternate artwork. The text on this card is pretty wordy, so here’s the Oracle version for clarification: “Look at the top five cards of your library. As many times as you choose, you may pay 1 life, put those cards on the bottom of your library in any order, then look at the top five cards of your library. Then shuffle your library and put the last cards you looked at this way on top of it in any order.” That’s definitely an interesting way to card filter, but it’s a bit complicated. Essentially, you can look at the top five cards, put them aside, shuffle your library, and put them back on top in any order. But you can also pay 1 life to put those five cards at the bottom and look at the next top five. It’s a very interesting way to dig for the cards that you need, that’s for sure. It does see some Legacy play in decks such as Ad Nauseum Tendrils, Tin Fins, and Hive Mind. It also sees play in a wide range of Commander decks, where card filtering is even more important.  #3 Shield Sphere Shield Sphere is particularly interesting due to the fact that it’s a 0/6 Wall for 0. If it is ever assigned to block, you put a -0/-1 counter on it. Still, for no mana, that’s a really solid blocker. It only sees fringe Commander play, but for a mere common, it’s a pretty solid card. It actually saw some tournament play at one point. Most famously it saw play in the Cocoa Pebbles deck in the now-defunct Extended format way back in 1999. It emerged again in 2007 in a Legacy deck called Spanish Inquisition.  #2 Elvish Spirit Guide Worth more than most rares in the set, Elvish Spirit Guide has been a Legacy staple for many, many years. The Spirit Guide is never truly meant to be played as a creature, but if you do cast her for 2G she is a 2/2 Elf Spirit. But her true utility is when you exile her from your hand to add G to your mana pool. Free mana acceleration is very good, especially in the Belcher and Hypergenesis decks that she is often played in at a very high level in the Legacy format. She also finds a home in Elf combo decks that just need that one more mana to “go off.” Despite not being on the reserve list, she has never been reprinted, mostly because of her power level, being a one-turn Mox Emerald. Simian Spirit Guide, which is the Red color-shifted version of this card, already exists in Modern, but the Green mana from the Elvish Spirit Guide could combo with more cards in Modern and potentially warp the format. It is a wonder, however, why hasn’t she been reprinted in some supplemental product, which would only be Legacy-legal. It would be cool to have a modern-bordered foil version, especially. But I can understand their hesitation, as it was a great card then, and it still is now.  #1 Force of Will
Yes, you can’t discuss Alliances without bringing up the best of the five pitch cards, Force of Will. Counter target spell for 3UU doesn’t sound all that fantastic, but removing a blue card and paying 1 life when you’re tapped out to counter a potentially game-breaking spell? Yeah, that’s pretty darn good. There’s a reason every Legacy deck with any sort of blue in it runs four copies. It’s just one of the most powerful counter-spells in the game, and definitely the most expensive money-wise outside of Mana Drain from Legends. It was a ton of fun looking through this set. It’s actually a very good set for the time, with a lot of interesting design elements. It’s cool to see that a bunch of cards from it are still seeing play, and that the Black and Red pitch cards are also still playable. It’s definitely one of the better early sets.
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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist Today, we’ll be taking a look at one of my favorite expansions of all time, Alara Reborn. In particular, we'll be looking at the top commons and uncommons in Alara Reborn. It's a set full of some valuable non-rare cards, and we'll be looking at the top 10 here today. We’ll go in reverse order, starting with_ Ardent Plea at #10:  Despite the fact that Ardent Plea does in fact have art of Elspeth Tirel, my favorite Magic planeswalker, on it, that is not why it makes this Top 10 list. In fact, it’s not a bad card, and there’s a reason that copies of this card can sell for nearly $1 USD a copy. It’s an enchantment that costs 1WU (1 colorless, White, Blue) to cast and has Exalted and Cascade. Exalted is a neat mechanic that gives a creature attacking alone an extra +1/+1. These triggers all stack, so having multiple instances of Exalted are really good. Also, Ardent Plea is also one of the best Exalted cards around, as it also has Cascade. The way that the Cascade mechanic works is that when you cast a spell with it, you reveal cards from the top of your library from the game until you hit a non-land card that costs less, in this case, 0, 1, or 2 mana to play. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Then every other card you removed from your library goes to the bottom of your library in a random order. Two of the best Exalted creatures of all time are Noble Hierarch and Qasali Pridemage, highly playable cards. Hierarch costs one mana and Pridemage costs two. It’s very likely you’ll hit one of those two cards with this card’s Cascade trigger. Because of the Exalted deck’s casual appeal, as well as fair amount of play-ability with cards like Cathedral of War and Sublime Archangel that were printed in the Magic 2013 Core Set, Ardent Plea is a very nice cog in that sort of deck.  Behemoth Sledge, an extremely popular card from the set, is at #9. It’s since been reprinted twice, in the Ajani vs Nicol Bolas duel deck and in one of the Commander 2013 pre-constructed decks. The Sledge is very popular is Commander decks, due to the fact that it gives both lifelink and trample, plus an extra +2/+2. That’s quite a boost for a 3-mana Equipment with a 3 equip cost. It just doesn’t quite have the potential game-ending quality of the next card on this list, but it can create quite a life total swing and help a creature that might otherwise be chump-blocked all day into a much bigger threat.  At #8 is Lorescale Coatl. He has a pretty silly effect, which allows you to put a +1/+1 counter on the Coatl every time you draw a card. The Coatl could get out of hand pretty quickly, and at 1GU, he was highly playable and was something an opponent had to deal with quickly before it got out of hand. But the Coatl’s main home today is in Commander decks. Because of all the ways that counters can be used and abused that have been printed since Alara Reborn, the Coatl’s counters can be used in many different ways. Due to reprints, however, he's no longer as valuable price-wise. He was around $2 before a reprint in the Elspeth vs Kiora Duel Deck. His price dropped further with yet another reprint in Modern Masters 2015. Still, if you can draw a lot of cards and give him a lot of counters, he gets quite silly. Heck, his effect can be so abused that Star City Games even offered a Legacy decklist featuring the Coatl in 2009.  At #7 is Mage Slayer, which was later reprinted in one of the Planechase decks. You might wonder how this card beats out Behemoth Sledge on this list. It’s very close, but the fact that the _ gives an effect on a creature declaring an attack is pretty sweet. Mage Slayer is an Equipment that costs 1RG to cast and 3 to equip. Whenever the equipped creature attacks, it deals damage equal to its power to the defending player. Put on the right creature, Mage Slayer can deal quite a bit of damage without a creature ever actually having to connect for damage. While it’s not the more popular of the two Equipments on the list, it is the one that can potentially deal more damage.  Mind Funeral is an extremely powerful mill card, and here it is at #6. It’s actually the most valuable card on this list, and it was even reprinted in the first Modern Masters set. While the reprint didn't help its overall value much, it's still a $3 USD card. But it’s in the middle of the pack for our top 10. Why is that exactly? As much as I personally love the mill deck, and it is actually an interesting strategy that’s been making more of a push in the Modern format, Mind Funeral is a bit inconsistent in that it could potentially hit 4 straight lands. Cards such as Archive Trap, Breaking // Entering, and Glimpse the Unthinkable are more reliable as far as dumping cards in the graveyard. However, many Modern Mill lists are still finding room for at least two copies of Mind Funeral as played correctly, they are still very potent mill cards. In any case, it’s perhaps currently the most valuable and widely played uncommon from Alara Reborn, besides the number #1 card on this list…  Wall of Denial was once one of my favorite cards in all of Magic. If not for its three reprints in Commander 2011, the Venser vs Koth Duel Deck, and Modern Masters 2017, it might still be as valuable money-wise as Mind Funeral. Still, it's a great card. For 1WU you get a 0/8 defender with both flying and shroud. Not only can it not be targeted by spells, but it holds down the air like no one’s business. Fog Bank gets a lot more love today, as that card simply prevents damage. Wall of Denial still is simply one of the best Walls ever made, and it still gets plenty of Commander deck love, which is why it makes #5 on this list.  Zealous Persecution is our #4 card. The reason it ranks so highly is not only is it an important part of Black/White tokens in Modern, but it is a potential combat trick that can lead to some incredible blowouts. It’s splash-able in “Junk” (green/white/black) aggro decks as well as Deadguy Ale, a Modern variation on the Death & Taxes deck from Legacy. It even sees Legacy play in Esper Stoneblade and the Legacy version of Deadguy Ale. A card that is so often played in Eternal Formats is obviously good for a reason. For only 2 mana, you pump your own creatures by +1/+1 and creatures your opponents control get -1/-1. Most often you’ll be playing this after blockers have been declared and the potential blow-out can essentially win you the game. It’s a very powerful card, and if it hadn’t been reprinted in both the Sorin vs Tibalt Duel Deck and the ill-fated Modern Event Deck, it would have a much higher dollar value.  Qasali Pridemage is our #2 card not only because he’s a Cat Wizard (which is freaking awesome typing) but also because he has Exalted (very relevant) and some of the most cost-effective artifact and enchantment removal in the game on a 2/2 creature. He’s played heavily in every Eternal format: Modern, Legacy, and Commander (heck, even Vintage!) A 2/2 creature with all of that on it is pretty special, and even his Exalted ability is relevant due to the fact that he’s typically played alongside his Exalted brethren, Noble Hierarch. He’s a very splash-able, main-deck-able creature, and he’s only a common! He was reprinted in the Ajani vs Nicol Bolas duel deck, as well as a Friday Night Magic promotional version. I don’t think the #1 card on this list can be a surprise, as format-defining as this little Elf has been…  Terminate was actually first printed in Planeshift, but was reprinted for Alara Reborn, which brought it into the Modern Format. It’s our #3 card as it is simply one of the most effective creature-kill spells in the game of Magic. Despite Jund no longer being the top deck in Modern, it still sees some play in Grixis Control and various permutations of “The Rock” (which is primarily black/green but can splash red on occasion.) Terminate is also a staple in pretty much any Commander deck that utilizes both Red and Black. It’s been reprinted a ton of times, and yet it’s still worth about a dollar per copy. It’s a very strong card.  While I greatly prefer her alternate art version, you can’t deny that Bloodbraid Elf was one of the best cards of Alara Reborn. She was the deck that made Jund the top deck in that Standard format, and she was played in Naya Aggro decks, as well. Since then, she was a force in Extended, was banned in Modern, and still sees tons of play in Legacy because of her combo with Shardless Agent. Bloodbraid Elf is the number #1 non-rare in the set for a great many reasons. She costs 2RG which sounds a bit pricey for a 3/2 with Haste, but it’s her Cascade ability that is so vital to her success. Pretty much every card you would want to hit with her in Jund: Fulminator Mage, Kitchen Finks, among others, was three or fewer mana. She was two cards for the price of one, and heck, most of the time hitting a Terminate or Thoughtseize wasn’t the worst thing in the world, either. As someone who played a ton of Jund and Naya back in my online Magic Workstation days, I fell in love with this card. The Steve Argyle alternate art on the Friday Night Magic promo (also displayed on the Planechase reprint) made me love her more. In 2013, she was banned in Modern, due to the fact that she could Cascade into Liliana of the Veil among other ridiculously powerful cards such as Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant. This still happens, of course, in Legacy Jund. But the more powerful interaction is with Shardless Agent, a card that’s only ever been printed in a Planechase product.  One thing that I must point out about Shardless Agent is that you may notice a subtle change in the reminder text about Cascade. Note that it says “cast” and not “play.” That’s right, Cascade counts as casting a card. This means that if you Cascade into a Shardless Agent with Bloodbraid Elf, you get to Cascade a second time with the Agent. In Legacy, this allows you to hit your Deathrite Shamans and Tarmogoyfs. That’s all well and good, but you can also hit Ancestral Vision, which basically means you draw three cards for free. It’s a very powerful and silly deck. Ancestral Vision was banned in Modern due to its synergy with Cascade. Ordinarily, you’d have to suspend it for one blue for several turns. Not with Cascade, due to its converted mana cost of zero. It’s a silly combo.
So there you have it, the top 10 commons and uncommons of Alara Reborn. Yes, you could argue that some of the cards could have ranked higher or lower, but all ten cards deserve to be on the list. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  To be fair, I was never really into the whole Werewolf archetype. Despite being a tribe that I would typically find some interest in, as far as Magic the Gathering was concerned, Werewolves didn't seem like a viable tribe to play just with Innistrad alone. However, the release of the Dark Ascension set seemed to promise Red/Green Werewolves becoming a viable archetype. (It really didn't.)
Vampires were shaping up pretty well in Innistrad, but Zombies became more of a force in Standard with the release of this set. Still, Dark Ascension released some fine Werewolf cards. Mondronen Shaman is far from being one of the best Werewolf cards in this set, but if you get it to transform, it’s actually quite a decent play. A 3/2 for 4 mana is a little pricey, perhaps, but it’s 3R, so that’s not too bad considering when the flip-side is a 5/5 with a decent secondary ability. It transforms like most other Werewolves, on the condition that no spells are cast on the previous turn. The flipside, Tovolar’s Magehunter is a fun little card. Whenever an opponent casts any sort of spell, the Magehunter deals 2 damage to that player. Pretty sweet. Trouble is, at the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast two or more spells the previous turn, it flips back into being a vanilla 3/2. The hope was that you would have Immerwolf on the board. Immerwolf is a little 3-drop uncommon from Dark Ascension that has Intimidate and gives all Wolves and Werewolves +1/+1. It also has a little ability that says that non-human Werewolves cannot transform. Once the Shaman becomes the Magehunter, as long as you control an Immerwolf, it stays that way. In a dedicated red/green Werewolf deck, the Magehunter could cause a lot of hurt. In Constructed, though, Mondronen Shaman and even the Magehunter was still susceptible to Dismember still being in play at the time. Still, there was the hope that it would become a must-kill upon flipping, because it had the potential to whittle away your opponent until they potentially couldn’t even cast spells anymore! I loved this card's potential. But as it was a four-drop that began as a 3/2 vanilla creature, it never worked its way into a competitive Werewolf deck. Another decent card called Huntmaster of the Fells took up that four-drop slot. If not for the Huntmaster, the Shaman may have actually seen some play. As far as collectability, Mondronen Shaman is never going to be worth much in price. However, the Launch Party Mondronen Shaman foil promo is nice to look at and has some future value just for being a Werewolf. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  The Journey Into Nyx Event Deck - Wrath of the Mortals is a red/blue deck built around Young Pyromancer! In a departure from recent event decks, this Event Deck actually had cards that were only going to be good in Standard for another five months upon release. Also, despite having the usual 10 rares, none of the cards in this deck were worth more than $2 a copy at the time, meaning it doesn't quite have the "bang for the buck" that previous decks have had. Still, Izzet players rejoiced for this deck which gave them the ability to have a solid foundation to start from that would be good for sometime. It's quite a playable deck. Let's take a look at the list: CREATURE SPELLS However, the creature line-up is where the deck gets interesting, and it is actually quite good. You get an Aetherling, which can be a major finisher late game if you have the mana to protect it. While not a "money" card now, it's still very good. Battlefield Thaumaturge is an excellent play in this deck when you later peruse the non-creature spells - as many of them target creatures and you'll be able to cast them for considerably cheaper with him on the board. You also get a Chandra's Phoenix, the hasty flier that you can get back to your hand from your graveyard whenever you cast a red instant or sorcery spell that deals damage to an opponent. These are three pretty decent rares already. The other two rares in the deck are Ogre Battledriver and Oracle of Bones. I've been championing Battledriver since his release in Magic 2014, but unfortunately, he never really found a home. Not having Haste himself really hurt his cause. Alas, he was not the new Hellrider, which was a great card from Dark Ascension. In this deck, though, giving your Elemental Tokens from Young Pyromancer haste and a little pump upon entering is certainly not bad. Oracle of Bones is a better fit in this deck. Having 5/3 with Haste or a 3/1 with Haste that lets you play an instant or sorcery from your hand for free seems pretty good to me. Oracle had the potential to be a pretty good card in Constructed, but it has never really caught on after seeing some early Standsrd play upon release. But the heart of the creature lineup is in the uncommons: Young Pyromancer, Spellheart Chimera, and Guttersnipe. At the time, Pyromancer and Guttersnipe were each worth more than any individual rare in this deck. Pyromancer still is, and should need no introduction. He's still seeing play in Eternal formats, as getting free creatures each time you cast and instant or sorcery spell is pretty good. Guttersnipe also should need no introduction, as dealing 2 damage to each opponent whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell is a nasty effect. Also, Spellheart Chimera is a fan of Izzet players everywhere, as he only gets bigger for each instant or sorcery you have in your graveyard, making for a nice finisher to pair with Aetherling. Lands (25) 9 Island 4 Izzet Guildgate 12 Mountain Creatures (15) 1 Aetherling 1 Battlefield Thaumaturge 1 Chandra’s Phoenix 3 Guttersnipe 1 Ogre Battledriver 1 Oracle of Bones 4 Spellheart Chimera 3 Young Pyromancer Other spells (20) 1 Anger of the Gods 2 Divination 1 Fated Conflagration 2 Flames of the Firebrand 1 Harness by Force 4 Lightning Strike 3 Magma Jet 1 Mizzium Mortars 2 Searing Blood 1 Steam Augury 2 Turn // Burn Sideboard (15) 2 Dispel 2 Elixir of Immortality 3 Essence Scatter 2 Flames of the Firebrand 3 Izzet Staticaster 3 Negate Noticeably absent from the mana base is a red/blue shock-land (Steam Vents) or the red/blue scry land (Temple of Epiphany). It seems odd that this deck, being a Journey Into Nyx deck, doesn't have one of the set's Temples. You are given the standard boring Ravnica Guildgates instead. NON-CREATURE SPELLS The non-creature spell line-up is solid. Anger of the Gods is very effective removal that sees play in Modern as well as Standard. Divination is very standard card-draw but good for this sort of deck, as it triggers both Guttersnipe and Pyromancer. Fated Conflagration is pricey removal, but there will be opportunities for it to be good - though, the triple red in its cost is annoying in a multi-colored deck. Flames of the Firebrand is a lot better when Battlefield Thaumaturge is on board, so while it's usually only good in Limited it's not bad here, especially when you also have a full play-set of Lightning Strike and 3 Magma Jet, which also get cheaper with Thaumaturge on board when they target creatures. Harness by Force has the ability to be a blow-out. Again, Thaumaturge helps with its Strive cost. Having an Act of Treason that can target multiple creatures is super powerful, and can be yet another finisher. Mizzium Mortars can hit a creature for 4, or be overloaded to deal 4 damage to all opposing creatures; it's simply good removal. Searing Blood has become very useful removal, and there are two copies of it here. Then you have Steam Augury to both fuel your hand and your graveyard, a pretty popular sort of card for decks like this. Finally you have 2 Turn and Burn, one of the best utility cards around, and one that's definitely made better by the presence of Thaumaturge. SIDEBOARD
The sideboard is fairly generic, but is full of useful cards to deal with certain match-ups. If you are facing more control or burn builds, you have Dispel and Negate to deal with those. You also have two copies of Elixir of Immortality to help you win the race versus burn and reload your deck. Two more copies of Flames of the Firebrand and 3 Izzet Staticaster help you to deal with lots of little threats. It's a simple board, but one that should prove useful. FINAL THOUGHTS Overall, this is a very playable deck. The deck's greatest weakness, in fact, is its mana base. It really needs full play-sets of Steam Vents and Temple of Epiphany to be truly consistent. Ogre Battledriver could be replaced by a second Thaumaturge. Depending on how you feel about Oracle of Bones, it could be replaced by another Thaumaturge or Chandra's Phoenix. Personally, I would max out Thaumaturge to make the heart of this deck, casting burn spells for as cheaply as possible, more attainable. I'd also board out the Fated Conflagration for other Flames of the Firebrand, or replaced with a second copy of Mizzium Mortars, unless the Conflagration is found to be truly necessary in whatever match-up you may be facing. I'd give this deck a B-plus out of the box. It had a chance to be a very good Izzet burn deck before a huge chunk of the deck's core rotated out of Standard in October 2014. Even now, it still does offer a strong base for a Modern burn deck. However, for Modern you'll have to invest even more heavily into the mana base (Scalding Tarns, anyone?) It's not one to buy for the money, but if you want to get 3 Guttersnipes and 3 Young Pyromancer, this is a great way to get them. It's not worth it for FNM anymore, but if you want a cool burn deck out of the box, just ramp up the mana base, make a few tweaks, and you should be good to go.
by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist 
“Thrive and Thrash” was one of two Event Decks that Wizards of the Coast released for Gatecrash, the second set in the Return to Ravnica block. Its counterpart, the red/white “Rally and Rout” was far more popular, as it had a bit more “value” in it. Boros was a far more popular guild, and the Simic (green/blue) event deck was pretty much destined not to sell as well. Wizards reprinted Thragtusk, making it the third time that the once Standard staple had been included in an Event Deck.
Overall, however, this deck was not quite as easily playable out of the box as “Rally and Rout.” As with many blue/green decks, the strategy to playing the deck well was far more complex than the straightforward aggressive red/white strategy. definitely the trickier of the two to play. Let’s take a look at the list: MANA BASE 2 Evolving Wilds 10 Forest 6 Island 1 Mountain 4 Simic Guildgate At the time, the inclusion of the blue/green Innistrad “buddy” land Hinterland Harbor, would have been a nice sight. A Breeding Pool would’ve been even better, and would have sold plenty of copies of this deck on its own. There is, however, a purpose to that singleton Mountain. CREATURES 2 Acidic Slime 4 Arbor Elf 3 Borderland Ranger 1 Deadeye Navigator 1 Dungeon Geists 2 Fog Bank 1 Gruul Ragebeast 2 Mist Raven 1 Sphinx of Uthuun 3 Strangleroot Geist 1 Thragtusk 1 Wolfir Silverheart 1 Yeva, Nature’s Herald At the time, Wolfir Silverheart was a pretty valuable rare, as was of course Thragtusk. The rest of the rares were interesting, but fringe playable cards at that point in Standard. However, there were methods to the madness in these card selections. Gruul Ragebeast does have the ability to finish a game off, with his automatic fight trigger that works with a good number of creatures in the deck. Dungeon Geists was a useful creature, as well, keeping problem creatures tapped down for good as long as the Spirit stuck around. Yeva, Nature’s Herald gives all of your green creatures Flash and has flash on her own; there are enough green creatures in the deck to warrant her inclusion. For those that played during that Standard format when Thragtusk was around, you would remember the power that he had. He gained you 5 life upon entering the battlefield, and whenever he’s removed from the field, you get a 3/3 beast token. The pure value for 5 mana, requiring only a single Green mana, meant that he rounded out the mana curve of many decks in the format, helping you stabilize a tough situation and get a 3/3 creature ifThragtusk is somehow removed. This was the money card in the deck, by far. Three Strangleroot Geists made perfect sense as a green creature staple.Arbor Elves and Borderland Rangers helped mana fix in different ways.Mist Raven could be a handy little control card, while Fog Bank is a highly useful Defender that is difficult to get through. The inclusion of Deadeye Navigator was interesting. He had nice interactions with Thragtusk, Dungeon Geists, and perhaps Mist Raven andBorderland Ranger. Lastly, you had Sphinx of Uthuun. Often called “The Sphinx of Unfun,” he basically acts as a Fact or Fiction on an enter the battlefield ability: “reveal the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.” It was a fringe-playable Standard card at the time, but used effectively could help you out. NON-CREATURE SPELLS 1 Bramblecrush 4 Farseek 2 Ground Assault 3 Urban Evolution 4 Verdant Haven As you can see, there was plenty of mana acceleration available for the high mana cost creatures. Bramblecrush could destroy any problem permanent: planeswalker, enchantment, or even a land. Farseek could grab Islands or the singleton Mountain. Ground Assault was a little removal card that requires Red mana, and was the purpose of that one Mountain. Urban Evolution looks pricey. but it was worth the cost in a deck like this: draw three cards and gain the ability to play an additional land card during that turn. Verdant Haven was a nice little enchantment that gains you 2 life and made the land that it enchants give you an extra mana of any color when you tap it. It would then be possible to cast an Acidic Slime on perhaps even turn 4. This mana acceleration made the deck somewhat work. Those two copies of Ground Assault, though, honestly, barely seemed worth having the single copy of the Mountain. Having Ground Assault be a dead draw or having that Mountain be the wrong color you need at the wrong time perhaps isn’t the biggest issue in this deck. It’s more of a head-scratching brewing decision. That’s what the deck felt like, a fairly solid, if not tricky to pilot, passive-aggressive control deck brew. It didn’t feel like something you’d want to take to an event without extreme tweaking. SIDEBOARD 4 Dissipate 4 Flames of the Firebrand 2 Naturalize 2 Negate 3 Rancor The sideboard had quite the control package: Dissipate, Naturalize, and Negate. Three copies of Rancor and a play-set of Flames of the Firebrand allowed for a more aggressive strategy. Flames of the Firebrand really can only deal with early threats, however, but Wizards has long been in love with including that card in Event Deck sideboards. Overall, for it’s original MRSP of $25, it was worth picking up considering the value of the deck’s individual parts at that time. This was clearly quite a brew, with Wizards trying to introduce something different. But it felt like the deck tried to do too much. Some of the card slots seemed a bit misused. Simic Charm over Mist Raven seemed a better option. Experiment One was a great one-drop that you could flash in with Yeva, but the deck really focused on the late-game so its exclusion made sense. The deck was built to ramp up to land big creatures early before an opponent could set up. But losing Arbor Elves and Fog Banks early on, and not being able to land the mana acceleration could cost the deck serious tempo. The more aggressive decks would rip this list to shreds. At the time, I felt that this deck was trying to focus on board presence and control at the same time, and while it seems to work in theory, in practice it seemed clunky. There were cards that could make a solid foundation for a “RUG” (red/blue/green) list at the time. In any case, out of the box, it wasn’t viable in the then-current Standard meta-game, and didn’t quite give you the “bang for your buck” you would look for in an Event deck product. by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff  When the Gatecrash Boros "Rally and Rout" Event Deck was first released, I was convinced that it was the best Event Deck ever. While some preferred the inclusion of Thragtusk in the Simic counterpart to this deck, Thrive and Thrash, this Event Deck had money cards up the wazoo. The inclusion of Clifftop Retreat and Silverblade Paladin officially made this deck worth the $25 MSRP price. While the Paladin isn’t worth much anymore, there's still plenty of value left to be had. As for the list itself: MANA BASE: 3 Boros Guildgate 1 Clifftop Retreat 8 Mountain 10 Plains 1 Slayers’ Stronghold
The Clifftop Retreat is a great inclusion, as is the Slayers’ Stronghold is a nice inclusion, as well. Three copies of Boros Guildgate is also quite welcome for the mana fixing, as they weren’t going to throw in the Sacred Foundry after throwing in two other rare lands. It’s a pretty solid mana base here if you add in Sacred Foundries. CREATURES 1 Ash Zealot 4 Boros Elite 1 Champion of the Parish 4 Doomed Traveler 2 Firefist Striker 2 Lightning Mauler 1 Silverblade Paladin 3 Skyknight Legionnaire 1 Spark Trooper 2 Sunhome Guildmage 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 2 Truefire Paladin  This is where the bulk of the value for this deck comes in. Ash Zealot is a fantastic card which has seen tons of Standard play and has even worked her way into Modern. In Modern, Ash Zealot’s punishing of cards being cast from the graveyard hoses Snapcaster Mage, one of the most powerful cards in the format. It also messes up people trying to recast creatures such as Bloodghast and Gravecrawler from their graveyard.  A playset of Boros Elite is fantastic. Who doesn’t want a 3/3 for 1 mana? Most of the time, in aggressive decks, that’s what she was. Without the Battalion activation, though… not so good.  The inclusion of Silverblade Paladin was just amazing. Double strike with any aggressive deck is extremely powerful. Sadly, the Paladin has basically disappeared from Constructed after his rotation from Standard. He barely shows up on the fringes of Modern, but still finds a home in some Commander decks.  Spark Trooper is an interesting card. He’s a 6/1 with trample, lifelink, and haste. Yes, this guy has LIFELINK. So who cares if this guy gets blocked? He’s pretty much an automatic 6 life for you every time he swings. He’s gone at the end of combat, but really, this guy is more than worth his 4 mana cost. The Trooper did see some solid play towards the end of his time in Standard, but now only sees play alongside Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and other red/white Legendary Creatures in Commander.  Thalia was a fantastic sideboard card for awhile in Standard, and she’s a beauty in Modern and Legacy. She makes all non-creature spells cost 1 colorless mana extra. She wasn’t such a fine main boarding option during her later times in Standard at the time, especially if you were running a Boros deck. You would mind paying 1WR for Boros Charm, 2W for Gather the Townsfolk, 1R for Pillar of Flame, and 2R for Searing Spear. Still, she was a hoser in control match-ups. Now, she’s still an all-star card in Death and Taxes decks in both Modern and Legacy.  Champion of the Parish is a great card and the build of the Event Deck works fantastically with him. He’s going to get really big, really fast. The Champion is just a really solid card all around. Especially when you considered that you have the Doomed Travelers and Boros Elites for one-drops alongside him, you could be bashing through your opponent's lines really, really quickly. He still sees some play in Modern alongside Norin the Wary in some very quirky Boros decks; those decks have never won major events but they have won some minor tournaments here and there. Some of the other creatures are certainly worth mentioning. Firefist Strikeris an interesting card. His Battalion ability reads that if you attack with him and at least two other creatures, you can target a creature and have it unable to block for that turn. Not a bad card, but I think there are better options. Lightning Mauler has a Soulbond option to give a creature haste, which isn’t bad. Skyknight Legionnaire is an old Ravnica throwback, a 2/2 flyer with Haste (the author actually prefers the old artwork, as well as the Arena Foils). The last couple of creatures, Sunhome Guildmage and Truefire Paladin are interesting, as well. I find the Paladin a bit better than the Guildmage. The Guildmage has an ability for 1WR that gives all of your creatures +1/+0 until end of turn. As it’s a mana ability, you can potentially use this a couple times in a turn to deliver the final blow. However, his second mana ability for 2WR to put a 1/1 soldier token with haste on the board is over-costed in my humble opinion. He's useful as the head of a Pauper Commander deck, however. However, the Truefire Paladin is a nice little uncommon. He’s a 2/2 Vigilant for RW, and his mana abilities are strictly better than the Guildmage’s honestly. His first ability gives him +2/+0 until end of turn for just RW. His second ability, which also only costs RW gives him first strike until end of turn. I definitely like this guy, but he was a bit slow for Standard. (Likewise, he makes for an aggressive leader for Pauper Commander.)  NON-CREATURE SPELLS
2 Boros Charm 4 Gather the Townsfolk 4 Pillar of Flame 3 Searing Spear You’ll certainly want to be running 4 copies of Boros Charm, but the other spells here are good options. Four copies of Gather the Townsfolk interacts quite well with the Champion of the Parish by activating his ability twice. If you decide to focus on the Champion, Gather the Townsfolk is for you. Pillar of Flame and Searing Spear are pretty standard removal/burn cards that you pretty much have to sideboard at the very least. Sideboard 3 Bonds of Faith 3 Electrickery 2 Oblivion Ring 2 Skullcrack 2 Thunderous Wrath 3 War Priest of Thune This was a pretty solid sideboard here for the Standard meta at the time. Thunderous Wrath and its Miracle ability could always pull a win out of nowhere. Skullcrack was the perfect answer to Thragtusk, and continues to be very strong card in Modern. Electrickery is a nice option against token-heavy decks or decks that love to throw out a lot of 1/1 creatures. Oblivion Ring is standard white removal, which has since been replaced in Standard by the functional reprint Banishing Light - which can only target opponent’s things. War Priest of Thune offers a great way to exile nasty enchantments. Bonds of Faith is the only card here I’m not too thrilled with. It’s an Enchantment that gives a creature +2/+2 but it has to be a Human; otherwise, it can’t attack or block. I’d ditch these in Constructed, as there are far better options to consider for pumping your creatures quickly and cheaply. "BANG" for Your Buck? This deck gave you more “bang for your buck” than most event decks I’d ever seen before it. The Golgari event deck during Return to Ravnica was also very solid at the time. However, the Vampire Onslaught deck from Magic 2012 is still the best value Event Deck ever, due to the Verdant Catacombs and two Bloodghast. Both of them are huge Modern and Legacy cards, especially the fetch land, Catacombs. (Verdant Catacombs wasn't quite to the price point that it is now.) Still, Boros Rally was probably the second-best ever at the time If you were running Boros at the time that Innistrad block was still in Standard, it was definitely worth buying at least one copy of this event deck. Many people just bought them out for the Clifftop Retreats, Champion of the Parish, and Silverblade Paladins for Naya Humans. Is it worth buying now? It does have Ash Zealots, 2 Boros Charms, Clifftop Retreat, Champion of the Parish, 2 Skuillcracks, and Thalia, but that’s about it for value. If the Silverblade Paladin is ever worth more than $2 again, it’s worth a buy. But if you just want to buy it just to play the deck, you’ll make most of the value back easily. Just remember that the majority of the cards aren’t in Standard, anymore, so don’t try to play it at your FNM unless it’s Modern. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Telling Time is a very useful draw card with a somewhat unique effect. Originally printed at uncommon in its previous two printings in Ravnica and Tenth Edition, Modern Masters 2 now releases this card at the common rarity. It's similar to an older card called Impulse, but its effect is slightly different.
Impulse is a card that is not legal for Modern that lets you dig 4 cards deep into your library, You get to choose one to add to your hand and put the rest on the bottom in any order. Telling Time lets you dig three deep, put one in your hand, one on top, and one on the bottom. It allows you to set up your next draw while also putting a card you may not need to the bottom. While Serum Visions is a bit more powerful, as it costs only one mana and does something similar, Telling Time is a useful card. With Brainstorm, Ponder, and Preordain already legal in the Pauper format, the addition of Telling Time to the all-common format is probably not that big of a deal. However, in Modern Masters 2015 limited environments, having this card at the lowest possible rarity will make it a valuable pick. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Modern Masters 2015 has shaken up the Magic world by reprinting cards at much lower rarities than they were originally printed. Several semi-valuable mythic rares have been reprinted at rare, and some rares dropped to uncommon. One case of a former rare dropping all the way down to common is Scion of the Wild.
Originally printed in Ravnica, and again in Tenth Edition, the Scion grows in power and toughness with each creature you control. It's a fun card that could be a bomb in draft, but otherwise it's pretty much always been a bulk rare. Now it's at common. From a draft perspective, this is pretty neat, but more importantly, it makes it accessible to Pauper players. The all-common Pauper format is always happy to see former uncommons drop to common, but for a rare to drop down to common is especially unusual. As green beatdown decks are fairly common in Pauper, it's a bit of a surprise that Scion of the Wild hasn't really seen play in the format. There is a Green/White Token list I found that runs two copies, but beyond that, it only sees some limited play in Rhys the Redeemed and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice Commander decks. It could be a good choice for a Pauper Commander token deck, however. |
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