Category: Magic The Gathering

Magic the Gathering (MTG) - Bitter Feud - Commander 2014 Card Review

7/16/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Magic: the Gathering has many cards that do similar things, and Bitter Feud is one such card that acts as a sort of redundancy for existing cards. To be fair, Bitter Feud is one exclusive card from the Commander 2014: Built from Scratch deck that I am surprised hasn't gotten more love. Its effect is essentially the same as Furnace of Rath and Dictate of the Twin Gods, doubling damage done to players and permanents.

The difference with Bitter Feud is that it designates two players, so that in a multiplayer environment, it would only affect two players. The cool thing about this, obviously, is that in a multiplayer setting, you need not be affected by the effects of the doubled damage.

You could make the argument, of course, that Furnace of Rath and Dictate of the Twin Gods are enough for this sort of effect. In Commander, however, having redundancy is important when you only have one copy of each card that isn't a basic land. In a one-on-one setting, it's understandable that Bitter Feud would indeed be a bit too redundant, as if you have all three of these on the board, you're increasing damage by eight whole times, which is a bit much perhaps.

As far as decks that actually have played Bitter Feud with any regularity, unsurprisingly Heartless Hidetsugu tops the list. Since his ability deals damage equal to half of each player's life total (rounded down), his deck absolutely loves any damage-doubling effect. Some Queen Marchesa decks have begun to include this card, too, despite Marchesa being a Commander you'd expect to be packing this sort of ability.

Bitter Feud is definitely a fun card in that it essentially puts two players into a life-and-death struggle. In 1v1 Commander, this is a particularly interesting card to consider, as long as the deck playing it can deal damage very quickly. It's a well-designed card for multiplayer Commander politics, and can be a deadly weapon in 1v1 Commander when deployed correctly.

While aggressive burn lists aren't extremely popular in the Commander format, they do exist. If ending games quickly by doubling damage is something you want to do, then Bitter Feud is definitely worth a look to play alongside other damage-doublers such as Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twin Gods, and the like.

Is Mana Confluence Better Than City of Brass? - Magic the Gathering (MTG)

7/11/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

If you've been playing Magic the Gathering for a long time, you might look at Mana Confluence and think: "Wait, isn't this City of Brass?" You would be mostly correct. However, this "pain" land is actually slightly better than the classic City of Brass.

Mana Confluence VS City of Brass

With City of Brass, anytime it became tapped, you took one damage. However, with Mana Confluence, you only take damage when you actually tap it for mana. While this is a very minor difference, it does technically make it very slightly better. It also means that there are now functionally two Cities of Brass in existence, meaning you can essentially run 8 copies of essentially the same card in one Constructed deck.

While paying 1 life to color-fix can sound like a lot, keep in mind that City of Brass has been used for a very long time in multiple formats. It's still used in some fringe Modern decks. Also, anything that would tap down lands would force you to take 1 damage. Mana Confluence only pains you when for tapping mana. Basically, Mana Confluence is a five-color pain land. However, it doesn't have the ability to tap for colorless mana without a life cost, such as the traditional "pain lands" from Ice Age/Apocalypse/Tenth Edition.

There's another case in which Mana Confluence is strictly better than City of Brass. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, which makes all lands in play Swamps in addition to their other types, was in Standard at the same time as Mana Confluence. This is great, because Urborg gives Mana Confluence the additional ability to tap for Black mana. Because it's an additional ability, you can tap it for Black mana without paying 1 life. While this is now a corner case ruling, it's important to remember just in case.

Mana Confluence in Modern and Other Eternal Formats

After enjoying quite a bit of play in Standard, Mana Confluence really only sees play in Dredge decks in Modern. It also sees play in dome Green/White Humans decks, and the occasional Allies deck. Interestingly enough, some Ad Nauseum combo lists play City of Brass over Mana Confluence, and it's not really clear as to why. Mana Confluence also sees play in Legacy Dredge, and the occasional Vintage deck in Magic Online.

Mana Confluence is definitely worthy of Commander play, and according to EDHERC, sees slightly more play than City of Brass. Unsurprisingly, both usually see play in the same decks. With Commander 2016's four-color commanders, Mana Confluence saw a slight rise in play. Atraxa, Praetor's Voice, Breya, Etherium Shaper, and Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder are the three Commanders who utilize Confluence the most.

Mana Confluence Price and Speculation

As a solid mana-fixer and a functionally superior version of an existing land, it's not surprising that Mana Confluence is a card with a fair amount of demand. Most of that demand comes from Commander, which is also not surprising, as it can fit in pretty much any three-color, four-color, or five-color EDH deck.

The price of Mana Confluence has remained fairly steady around $5-7 since it rotated from Standard in October of 2015. The funny thing is that it was reprinted as a Zendikar Expedition in Oath of the Gatewatch, just a few months after losing its Standard eligibility. The Expedition started out at $87.99 before falling to around $48. Both are solid pickups going forward, especially the Expedition version. Mana Confluence could be reprinted at some point. But even if it is, there's plenty of demand for it, since it fits into such a wide variety of decks.

It's actually a bit surprising that we don't see this card more in Modern than we do. But in any case, this land is superior to City of Brass, and will see play in Commander for many, many years to come.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) All Time Low - Kozilek's Return Price and Value Analysis

7/7/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

At its peak, Kozilek’s Return was a $25 card. But after not seeing the play many people had expected it to see in Eldrazi decks, Kozilek’s Return’s price has been on a steady downward trend. With its rotation in October 2017, its market price is around $4. However, it may not go much lower than that, due to seeing Modern and Legacy play.

The Legacy play makes sense. It’s a one-of in Legacy Sneak Attack sideboards, since it is technically possible to cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and take advantage of Kozilek’s Return’s second effect. But most of the time this is a Pyroclasm for one more mana that also happens to be colorless - meaning it dodges things like protection from red or protection from colored spells, which can be relevant at times. We’ve also seen a side-boarded copy of Kozilek’s Return in the occasional Miracle Control or OmniTell deck.

The Modern play is a bit more confusing. Primarily, Kozilek’s Return has been seen in Grixis Death’s Shadow Aggro decks. Again, it’s basically a colorless Pyroclasm for one more mana, as there is no Eldrazi to cast in that deck. But, yet again, being colorless helps against certain creatures, such as Burrenton Forge-Tender, which sees some sideboard play.

As a one-of in Modern and Legacy sideboards, and only barely any Standard play towards the end of its Standard life, it’s hard to see this card going much lower in price. This is definitely a good card in certain Eldrazi decks to help clear the way for the Titans such as Ulamog and Emrakul. Its exile ability is certainly decent, too. Of course, the main thing helping it keep its value is that it’s a mythic rare. Plus, being an Eldrazi-themed card, its price is propped up a bit, as well.

While it may list for $5, no one is paying much more than $4 for Kozilek’s Return now. It could hit as low as $2 or even less as Oath of the Gatewatch stock is liquidated around October 2017. But it may be worth holding onto if you already have copies. If it falls really low, it may be worth picking up a copy or two for the long run, as there is a chance that this card gets adopted by more Modern and Legacy decks in the future.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) All Time High - Weathered Wayfarer - Price and Value Analysis

7/5/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Weathered Wayfarer is one of those cards that you buy for $5, and three years later, it's $10! As of July 5th, 2017, Weathered Wayfarer has a TCG Player market price of roughly $10. The 9th edition printing is slightly higher than the original Onslaught, but the price points are nearly identical when you factor in shipping costs. (Although, on Amazon, the price points are reversed - which is interesting.)

Playability

While Weathered Wayfarer has seen occasional play in the Modern format, this creature's value is most appreciated in EDH. But despite seeing play in over 4000 deck lists on EDHrec, there isn't one commander that favors Weathered Wayfarer.

The reason for this is probably the simplicity of the Wayfarer ability. For just one White mana, you can tap Weathered Wayfarer to add any land card from your deck to your hand. Plus, Weathered Wayfarer is only a one drop creature to begin with. Basically, as long as decks use white mana and play lands, Weathered Wayfarer will be a great way to get some early card advantage.

Future Value

The supply of both printings of Weathered Wayfarer isn't all that high. Buy list prices aren't extremely high, and there's an over 40 percent spread between retail and most buy list prices. This is because despite being such a good card, most vendors don't seem concerned about running out quickly. Looking at the rapid growth of EDH, however, this supply probably won't last.

There is a real chance that Weathered Wayfarer could be reprinted, however. The wayfarer doesn't have many flavor restrictions that would keep it from being in an expansion set down the road. It definitely makes sense on a commander deck. This would have to be printed on a.major set release to see its value tank, however. A lot of players will soak up the supply of it in commander decks, because most players will just keep their copies.

As far as foil prices are concerned, Weathered Wayfarer is probably a good one to pick up. 9th edition foils push $30 and Onslaught foils about $25. That's not high considering how playable this card is in non rotating formats and how much rarer foils were with those sets.

Magic Online Cues

With the rising popularity of 1v1 Commander on Magic Online, Weathered Wayfarer nearly doubled in price online. It wasn't really expensive there to begin with, and it had an additional theme deck printing on MTGO. But being around 0.5 tix and jumping to 1 ticket a copy in a few days is obviously a sign of something.

There are Breya, Etherium Sculptor decks that play Weathered Wayfarer. She's one of the top commanders in the 1v1 Commander leagues right now. The Wayfarer is good in a lot of 1v1 Commander decks, actually. Obviously, the value is high in multiplayer EDH, as well. But it seems that the 1v1 Commander demand is driving the price online. If Wizards adopts 1v1 Commander as a sanctioned competitive format in paper Magic (who knows it could happen!) then Weathered Wayfarer’s price would probably spike.

Potential Price Spike and Reprint Risks

Honestly, the multiplayer EDH community in paper Magic is probably enough to make this a $20 card some day, especially if there’s no reprint incoming. But so many people are probably holding their copies right now that if there is a price spike, it could right itself very quickly.

When I think about reprint risk, I’d definitely be investing in a foil copy if I needed one for an EDH deck or if I wanted to try it in Modern Death and Taxes. It’s also a pretty fair deal on Magic Online at anywhere around 1 tix; the supply isn’t great there, either. I really like Weathered Wayfarer going forward, and this is definitely a card that without a reprint will become $15 to $20 very quickly once the current supply runs dry.

If Weathered Wayfarer does get reprinted in the near future, I’d definitely be picking up the new copies. This is just a really, really solid creature that does something that will be good forever.

Seraph of the Sword - Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

7/1/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

It is true that many Magic the Gathering players have an affinity for Angel cards - although they do not affect players' casting costs. With Seraph of the Sword from the Magic 2014 Core Set, we have an Angelic version of Fog Bank for 4 mana that conveniently has no Defender on it. Would she prove to be a good card in Constructed, as well?

Seraph of the Sword was an obvious Limited bomb when it was first spoiled. Not only is Seraph of the Sword a 3/3 flyer that’s very splashable, but she can’t be dealt combat damage. This means that she could single-handedly block bombs - except things like Colossal Whale from the same set, which will just "devour" it. Even creatures with deathtouch can't affect Seraph of the Sword in combat, since at least 1 damage must be dealt for deathtouch to activate. It’s an easy first pick, hands-down. But since we're obviously not drafting Magic 2014 anymore, what does she do on her own?

Of course, Angel cards are always popular, and most tend to find a home somewhere. Seraph of the Sword would seem welcome in a wide array of Commander decks. However, she hasn't found many homes. You would think a 4-mana Angel would find a home, considering that there aren't all that many. But besides seeing play in the occasional Avacyn, Angel of Hope or Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Angel Tribal deck, Seraph of the Sword sees inconsistent play in EDH .

Is the Seraph good enough for Constructed play? As far as Core Sets rares go, this is in the middle of the pack. But there are just a lot better creatures that cost four mana in Construct, so it's little surprise that Seraph of the Sword never found a home in Standard. Outside of some casual Angel decks, there are just better options for this deck slot. However, besides the fair amount of EDH player, she does she play in some Budget Cubes as a creature who's solid on offense and defense.

While no one is falling over themselves trying to acquire copies of Seraph of the Sword, her price has been fairly consistent for the past few years. She's never quite hit $1, but has hovered around the $0.75 mark for quite some time. Seraph of the Sword is a card that could be reprinted someday, so if you're looking to pick up a copy, the best investment would be to pick up a $2 foil. Foil prices tend to stay more consistent, and this is a card best suited for a reprint in a preconstructed deck. Really, the Seraph could see more Commander play than she does, and perhaps someday a new Angel Legendary Creature will be printed that will be happy to run her on a regular basis. Until then, she's just a nice card to have in your collection

MTG Commander - Bring to Light in 5-Color EDH / Commander Decks

6/30/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Of all the Battle for Zendikar cards we reviewed on Gaming Successfully, one in particular was very popular. It wasn’t the new Kiora, Master of the Depths or any of the other planeswalkers. The most popular of all of our Battle for Zendikar spoilers was Bring to Light. It's a very interesting sorcery that costs 3UG and has Converge.

In our review, we found that there is plenty of potential for Bring to Light. This is especially the case in Commander, and in 4 and 5-color decks where its true power can be realized. Considering the amount of interest this particular card has, we’ve decided to go into greater depth into how Bring to Light can be used most effectively.

Bring to Light in Modern

As far as Constructed goes, it will take quite a specific brew that doesn’t mind waiting to have 4 or 5 colors of mana to seek out a specific creature and/or combo piece. There was a lot of fun during the early days of Battle for Zendikar Standard when people were cheating Siege Rhinos into play. It wasn't a bad deck and could win some games, although it wasn't going to win any major tournaments.

The one deck that I had in mind which seemed a natural fit was Scapeshift in Modern. Scapeshift decks already run four colors and has access to five. The sorcery Scapeshift itself costs 4 mana, so barring counter-magic, you could tutor up Scapeshift and win the game. I just don’t know what you’d cut from the deck to play a 5 mana sorcery that isn’t an optimal draw a good chunk of the time. People have definitely been trying, though, with varied success.

One interesting theme that has been discussed surrounding Bring to Light is using it cast the 0 CMC casting cost spells from Time Spiral: Ancestral Vision, Hypergenesis, Living End, Restore Balance, and Wheel of Fate. These spells have some powerful effects, but can’t ordinarily be cast unless they are Suspended with the costs on the card or cast for free by a Cascade Spell. In fact, Cascade cards have been used to great effect with Living End in the infamous Modern combo deck and has been also done at times with Restore Balance. Bring to Light gives you another way to play these cards for free without investing any extra colored mana. But is it worth ramping up to 5 mana just to have a chance to tutor them out?

The most important aspect to consider in Modern is how rampant counter-magic is in the format, especially Remand. Who wants to Bring to Light a Living End only to have it countered, or worse, put into their hand where you then have to suspend it? Granted, this is the same deal as with Cascade, which requires you to still cast the spell, even if it is for free. But with Cascade, you typically get the 3 or 4 mana to cast them far more quickly than you would with Bring to Light.

The chance of your opponent essentially countering 2 cards at once feels bad. With the Cascade spells, you typically will just have an opponent counter that and not simply wait for you to tutor the card you really want before actually casting a counterspell. A 5 mana card just seems a bit too slow to jam into Constructed if all it does is set you up to potentially waste one of your combo cards and possibly a whole turn.

The one of these five that I feel could benefit the most from Bring to Light is Hypergenesis, a card that only sees play in Commander decks like Phelddagrif and Maelstrom Wanderer. Hypergenesis is super good if you have a stacked hand of bombs. Being a “group hug” type of Commander, Phelddagrif decks don’t mind suspending it until such time that it’s okay to let everyone dump their hands onto the table. Maelstrom Wanderer would just cascade into it at often random times, making it not quite optimal for the deck.

Bring to Light makes it so that you can play Hypergenesis when you actually want to play it. This should help the card’s playability a bit. The only requirements are that you play blue and green, and there are plenty of Blue/Green commanders happy to oblige. But often Hypergenesis will be the best target, especially in a two-color deck. Getting a Birds of Paradise or another 1 or 2 mana creature doesn’t feel so powerful for 3UG.

The true power of Bring to Light will be in five-color Commander decks. This card’s true power comes from being able to simultaneously tutor and cast 4-5 CMC spells from the deck. The question is what spells are there for Bring to Light to get and how powerful is it as one of the 99. Underwhelmed by its Constructed prospects, it seems that there is real potential for this 5-mana Converging sorcery in Commander. Let’s take a look.

Scion of the Ur Dragon

Imagine a tutor that could go get a Dragon and put it directly onto the battlefield without having to pay its mana cost! True, Sarkhan Unbroken can help you do that in a big way. So how can Bring to Light help the 5-color Dragon deck? Most of your best Dragons are 6 or more mana, but there are some targets that this tutor can find you in a pinch.

One particular card that Bring to Light is good at getting is Crux of Fate, which is a 5-drop Black board wipe that can destroy all Dragons or all non-Dragons. In a dedicated Dragon deck, this is a sweet boardwipe. Being able to tutor it up and play it all for five mana is pretty sweet, providing you can tap WUBRG.

Creatures you could get with Bring to Light include Dragonlord’s Servant (1R to let you cast Dragon spells for 1 less), Dragonspeaker Shaman (1RR to let you cast Dragon spells for 2 less), Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon (who can kill opponents out of nowhere with Infect, and Thunderbreak Regent (which makes it painful for opponents to use targeted removal on your dragons). Kaalia of the Vast and Stormbreath Dragon are other creatures you tend to see in Scion that would be Brought into the Light easily.

Sorceries you may want to tutor up with Bring to Light include Fearsome Awakening (reanimate a Dragon with +2/+2) and Living Death (awesome with lots of Dragons in the grave). For instants, you have Sarkhan’s Triumph for 2R to tutor up any Dragon to your hand - which probably doesn’t seem like the most cost-effective way to do so, but it works in a pinch. You also have access to a suite of removal spells in Utter End, Putrefy, and Mortify. These cost 4, 3, and 3 respectively, but in the right spot, paying 5 with 3 or 4 different colored mana could be the difference in a game.

Verdict: B in this deck. There are enough solid target for Bring to Light to rarely be a dead card once you get to 3 out of 5 colors of mana. It gives you access to a bomb like Living Death, a one-sided boardwipe like Crux of Fate, and a few of your utility creatures. Grabbing a removal spell in a pinch isn’t bad, either, since otherwise you’d spend a Demonic Tutor or even Diabolic Tutor seeking them out sometimes.

Slivers

Sliver Overlord / Sliver Queen / Sliver Hivelord / Sliver Legion

If there were any archetype that appreciated Bring to Light, it would be Slivers. There are very few Slivers that even cost more than 5 mana. Those would be Battering Sliver (5R), Fury Sliver (5R), Megantic Sliver (5G), and Groundshaker Sliver (6G). Groundshaker and Battering Sliver both give trample, but Battering Sliver helps all Slivers, while Groundshaker only helps yours. Horned Sliver gives all Slivers trample for only 2G, however, so you can live without those two in play. Megantic Sliver gives all your Sliver +3/+3 and Fury Sliver gives all Slivers (including those you don’t control) double strike. Those would be the only 4 that you would care about that can’t be tutored up by Bring to Light.

The coolest thing about Bring to Light in Slivers is that you can get any of the WUBRG Slivers into play with it. Whichever one you’re not playing as your Commander can be almost essentially be cast from the deck! Slivers have such a toolbox to draw from that Bring to Light is essentially: WUBRG: Cast target Sliver with converted mana cost 5 or less from your deck. That’s extremely good and can probably be a game-winning play in some circumstances.

Beyond that, Bring to Light can tutor up Distant Melody (to draw you a bunch of cards) or Patriarch’s Bidding (to bring back a ton of Slivers). It also can tutor up Utter End to exile any nonland permanent that’s bugging you and/or preventing you from winning the game outright.

Yes, Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Tutor and company can get you the card you need when you need it, but getting 2 cards out of 1 is always cool and with Slivers, the synergy is there to make tutoring up the right guy super strong.

Verdict: A- in this deck. It doesn’t get every Sliver ever, but besides Megantic Sliver and Fury Sliver, it can get pretty much anyone you need. Plus tutoring up Distant Melody or Patriarch's Bidding under certain circumstances feels pretty good.

Allies

Top Commanders: General Tazri, Karona, the False God and Reaper King

With Battle for Zendikar, Allies have been a big deal. While only a handful became Standard playable, Allies got plenty of good cards for 5-color Ally tribal commander. Best of all, the ones you care about are 5 mana or less, so hurray.

While there weren't any 5 color Legendary Allies printed in Battle for Zendikar, there was one in Oath of the Gatewatch, General Tazri. Because of her 5 color ability, this makes her eligible to play every color Ally in a Commander deck led by her. So can she and the other two 5-color Legends commonly seen with Allies use Bring to Light to their advantage?

Karona, the False God gives all creatures of a chosen type +3/+3 until end of turn whenever she attacks. The downside is that Karona gets to run around the table as each player gets control of her during each upkeep. There are ways around this, like equipping her with Assault Suit or attaching any of the Vow Auras to her, which all prevent her from being able to attack you. Then she can get really fun.

Reaper King is another option, and by using Enchantments like Conspiracy and Xenograft to make all your creatures Scarecrows in addition to their other types, each creature that enters play basically says: destroy target permanent. Ouch.

General Tazri can tutor up any Ally from your deck when she enters the battlefield. While Bring to Light isn't 100 percent necessary, pretty much any Ally you'll want will be CMC 5 or less.

For purposes of Bring to Light, Reaper King is probably the one who can use it the best. With Reaper King, you can tutor up lots of Changeling creatures, which count as both Allies and Scarecrows without any outside assistance. Karona prefers to be more of an Enchantment-happy deck, something that Bring to Light doesn’t really like unless you’re playing all of the Theros block Gods. More on that later.

The best allies you can tutor up? Turntimber Ranger is the most obvious choice, as he costs 5 mana (3GG) and can overrun the board with Wolf tokens. Hagra Diabolist costs 4B and can make opponents lose life rather quickly. Kabira Evangel offers your Allies protection from the color of your choice each time he or another Ally enters battle. Seascape Aerialist costs 4U and gives all your Allies flying when he or another Ally enters.

From Battle of Zendikar? The only one I’d bother to tutor up is Drana, Liberator of Malakir. Her ability to quickly pump your team is pretty awesome when you’re going for an alpha strike. There’s another one I like, Tajuru Warcaller, who costs 3GG, and has a Rally trigger that gives all your creatures +2/+2 until end of turn. He’s stupidly fragile as a 2/1, though. None of the others seem like considerable enough threats to warrant being pulled out by Bring to Light.

Verdict: C. You can get some nice advantage by tutoring out Changelings and the right Ally when you need one, but it’s not really best suited in the 99 when it comes to Allies. In a more typical Reaper King deck, though, it’s going to be fine for grabbing any Changeling or Scarecrow you want, as most are 5 or less CMC. But even in that build it’s barely a C card choice.

Karona Enchantress

Because of the fact that Karona works best with the five Vows (and Assault Suit) being played on her to make her downside into an upside, it makes sense that she’ll want lots of Enchantments surrounding her. While she makes an interesting Tribal commander, which is why some Ally players like her, the real cool thing she can do is play God Tribal.

That’s right. Karona is typically built with the Theros Gods in mind. All 15 are played in some Karona lists. Best of all, all of the Theros block gods cost 5 CMC or less. So any of these can be solid targets with Bring to Light. Karametra, God of Harvests perhaps isn’t the best in this deck, but she’s almost always going to get you at least a land or two (her ability to grab Forests and Plains aren’t limited to basic lands). Having between 10-15 realistic targets for Bring to Light seems a decent plan.

You can go get Chromanticore, too, but you can’t use its alternate casting cost to Bestow it on another creature, which is probably the best thing about it in the first place, so that’s not really going to ever be a realistic target unless it happens to be your only remaining target for Bring to Light or something.

Verdict: B-, while not necessary as one of the 99, Bring to Light can seek out any of the Theros Gods you want or need at any given time. It’s otherwise pretty weak in an Enchantress deck, unless you’re using it to cast Demonic Tutor or Diabolic Tutor from your deck, which isn’t really that great.

Child of Alara

The best targets in Child of Alara aren’t really that wonderful. It’s typically a control deck based around planeswalkers. That said, Theros Gods appear in quite a few Child lists, as their being indestructible is really good with Child’s effect of blowing up all non-lands. You can also get any wraths, such as Supreme Verdict or Wrath of God with Bring to Light. Other than that, though, there’s nothing else exciting to get.

Verdict: C-, it has decent targets but Bring to Light is a bit of an awkward choice for this deck’s 99.

Progenitus

Here we have another Commander that loves Planeswalkers, but also really likes the Theros gods. Also, Child of Alara being able to be in the 99 gives Bring to Light a saucy target. Maelstrom Archangel, which is also seen in some Child builds, is also lots of fun to play with, cheating any nonland card into play whenever she deals combat damage to a player. Grabbing boardwipes is okay, too.

Verdict: C. Not sure I’d play it in my 99, but it can tutor up Child of Alara, which bumps it up a few points.

Horde of Notions Elemental Tribal

Tutoring up Mulldrifter and Shriekmaw at CMC 5 feels OK to me. Getting Torrent Elemental at 4U, a card really only playable in Elemental Tribal EDH, seems OK, too. Tutoring Incandescent Soulstoke, the Elemental lord who can let you cheat Elementals from your hand into play for 1R is less exciting, but fine. Soulstoke forces you to sacrifice those Elementals, but Horde of Notions can always get them back. Ingot Chewer and Wispmare are fine for value plays, but don’t seem worth casting Bring to Light. Grabbing Reveillark seems fine to reanimate a couple of little guys seems fine though.

There are a bunch of other cool Elementals you can get. Animar, Soul of Elements would be my favorite target. Forgotten Ancient can rack up quite a few +1/+1 counters for you to share with the rest of your army. Lord of Extinction is one of the most powerful Elementals ever, and he’s only 3BG. You could also bring in Fusion Elemental, an 8/8 for WUBRG - just to say you did it.

While not quite as exciting as what you can do with Slivers, Bring to Light does go get you your value creatures, although in the case of the Evoke creatures, you’re probably better off naturally drawing them and Evoking them to naturally reuse with Horde of Notions, anyway.

Verdict: B+. You get a pretty sweet variety of value with Elementals as you do with Slivers. Being able to tutor out Animar is pretty sweet, too.

Cromat

Typically, Cromat is a “Super Friends” Commander, in that the deck plays all the Planeswalkers you can stuff into a deck. Other players just build 5-color good stuff decks. Basically, anything that you’d want to get in Child of Alara or Progenitus decks you can and would get here.

Verdict: C-, you’ll want to focus on the Planeswalkers, probably, and this doesn’t feel like an optimal use of a slot in your 99.

Atogatog

Atog tribal is a cute deck, but besides grabbing Living Death or Patriarch’s Bidding (which are good in Slivers, too) and the usual suspects like Eternal Witness, this is probably the worst of the 5-color decks to play this

Verdict: D+. I wouldn’t play it in here. It would work, but it’s sub-optimal.

Overall, Bring to Light does work in a lot of 5-color strategies, but it’s probably not optimal in every deck. It can take the place of Diabolic Tutor in some decks, especially Slivers and Elementals, which is not nothing. If the tuck rule, which allowed players to return your Commander to the deck, wasn’t changed to allow you to prevent your Commander from being returned to the deck, this would always be a pretty good way to get your Commander back. As such, you technically still could, especially if you’ve cast your Commander a bunch of times in that game. This is a pretty sweet toolbox card in the right deck.

Could Bring to Light be good in other Commander decks that aren’t 5-color? I wouldn’t suggest it in Maelstrom Wanderer, as Cascading into it means you can only get 0 CMC spells. But there are plenty of Blue/Green/X decks that want certain creatures, instants or sorceries, so I definitely wouldn’t count it out. However, as we’ve seen, the real power is getting that full 5 CMC value out of the card you tutor, so in 2 or 3 color decks you’re definitely getting diminished returns. U/G/x decks have some decent targets, but most of them are 4 or 5 mana, so Bring to Light is pretty useless.

With the Commander 2016 decks came 4-color Legendary Creatures, along with the Partner Commanders which also allow for 4-color EDH decks. Bring to Light seems pretty solid in these decks, seeking out key spells at various points in the game. That's a whole other article, though.

I’d really love to see someone make Bring to Light a way to find the final piece of an unbeatable combo. I’m fairly certain that won’t happen outside of some crazy fringe Friday Night Magic deck or in casual play. What I am certain of is that Bring to Light will see some play in 5-color and other decks in Commander, which should keep it from ever falling to true bulk status.

How would you use Bring to Light in Commander? Or if you dare, how would you use it in Constructed?

Updated 6/30/2017

MTG - Void Winnower Mythic Rare Card Review : You Can't Even!

6/30/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Void Winnower is quite an odd Eldrazi. All “can’t even” and other “odd” jokes aside, the Winnower is pretty unique in its abilities. 9 mana for an 11/9 is already pretty good. Being unable to be blocked by creatures with even converted mana costs gives it a rather unusual form of evasion. But Void Winnower goes even beyond that, preventing opponents from casting spells with even converted mana costs. Obviously, this is a Limited bomb that you can likely drop before turn nine, but how good is it in Constructed?

For starters, tokens can’t block Void Winnower, due to tokens having a 0 CMC. According to a ruling from Wizards, 0 is considered even. Mathematical debates aside, it’s going to be fairly tough to chump block this guy. Then again, plenty of removal is at odd converted mana costs, so there are definitely ways to deal with this behemoth.

What Void Winnower seems best at is being a metagame answer to the big even converted mana cost spells in Standard. At the time of Void Winnower's release, these were Ugin, the Spirit Dragon at 8 mana and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger at 10 mana being the chief concerns. With Eldrazi Ramp a legitimate deck archetype, especially in Modern, Void Winnower is certainly a legitimate candidate for sideboard play. It can randomly hose a number of decks if their key cards have even converted mana costs.

In EDH, Void Winnower is a “just say no” card that will lock some Commanders out of the game. It’s a pretty mean card in the format. While someone will probably find an answer to it in a multiplayer game, it will wreak havoc while it remains in play. It may come down to using Swords to Plowshares on it and gaining the owning player 11 life. The fact that it can help your team get through for extra damage is also another big consideration. Because it's colorless, Void Winnower can be included in a wide variety of decks.

Naturally, the Commanders that will want to use Void Winnower the most are those that can sometimes cast him for free (Rakdos, Lord of Riots and Animar, Soul of Elements) or cheat him into play (Mayael the Anima and Jhoira of the Ghitu). But pretty much any deck can make use of Void Winnower if you can somehow get him into play on the cheap. Because he doesn't have an on-cast trigger, he's actually a big threat and always worth putting into play no matter how you do it.

While he may only be a $2 card for most of his life in Standard, there's so much demand from casual Eldrazi deckbuilders and both kitchen table and competitive EDH players that Void Winnower won't stay cheap forever. He's definitely a keeper.

How would you use Void Winnower?

Does Pheres-Band Warchief Make Centaur Tribal Possible? - Magic the Gathering

6/29/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

If you were ever thinking of building a Centaur Tribal deck in Magic the Gathering, the Centaur tribe does have a few good things going for it. Centaurs actually do have a lord creature: Pheres-Band Warchief from Journey Into Nyx. This Warchief gives his fellow Centaurs not only +1/+1, but also both trample and vigilance. He's also a 3/3 himself with trample and vigilance. That's a lot of value for only four mana.

Did Pheres-Band Warchief Ever See Play in Standard?

There was a lot of speculation on what a Centaur Tribal deck in Standard would look like. It seemed like the pieces were there. Mono-Green Devotion was a strong archetype at the time, and it was thought he could see play in a Centaur-oriented version of the deck. Nylea's Disciple was a card that saw a fair amount of play at the time, and she could gain you a lot of life. The Warchief would make her into a 4/4 vigilant trampling threat, too. Swordwise Centaur was a 3/2 for two Green mana that saw a lot of play at the time, too. A 4/3 with vigilance and trample for only 2 mana seemed too good. Also, Courser of Kruphix was a major player at the time, and he is also a Centaur. At 5 mana, Centaur Battlemaster was a 3/3 Heroic creature that could gain 3 +1/+1 cottners. With Aspect of Hydra a major part of Green Devotion, this guy could have been extremely big. There was also Fated Intervention, which was a card that many Limited players called "surprise Centaurs," which would have fit in a Centaur deck as well. This deck never happened, though.

Naya Blitz was a real deck at the time, too, and there were also pieces for a Naya Centaur deck to work. Centaur Healer was a great sideboard card in Standard at the time while also having a reasonable 3/3 body. But with the Warchief, the Healer not only gained you 3 life, but would become a real threat for only 3 mana (1GW). Another solid Centaur was Fanatic of Xenagos, who seemed made for a Centaur tribal deck. Chronicler of Heroes was a fringe card at the time, but with plenty of ways to gain +1/+1 counter in the format, it seemed even this Centaur would be playable in some way as a feasible draw engine. Lagonna-Band Trailblazer may have been a White one-drop, but a 0/4 Centaur is a great way to hold the ground while you build up your army.

Neither of these decks ever happened. There would be Herald of the Pantheon in Magic Origins, but a Centaur Tribal deck didn't really have room for much of an Enchantment subtheme. So was Centaur Tribal just never meant to be?

Is Centaur Tribal Possible in Modern with Pheres-Band Warchief?

The Standard that Pheres-Band Warchief was a part of is long past. But as we look to Modern, is there anything good there that could make this deck possible now? Sadly, the cards that Centaur Tribal picks up in Modern aren't that many. Loaming Shaman is a nice card, but not really meant for a Centaur Tribal deck bent on aggro. Burning-Tree Shaman is a decent 3 mana creature that punishes playsers for using activated abilities that aren't mana abilities. Really, the best card that the deck picks up ins Stonebrow, Krosan Hero, who's good, and we'll get to him in a minute. However, while the deck gains some useful pieces and some additional staples like Lightning Bolt, it's too slow for the Modern format.

Is Pheres-Band Warchief a Useful Piece in a Centaur Tribal EDH deck?

In Commander, there are currently only three Centaur Legendary Creatures. They are Seton, Krosan Protector, Stonebrow, Krosan Hero, and Karador, Ghost Chieftain. All three are prety good Commanders, but Karador Centaur Tribal is more just for fun. Seton decks are most focused on Druids. So the only deck that Pheres-Band Warchief seems to fit best in is alongside Stonebrow. He sems like a perfect fit for Stonebrow decks, as Stonebrow's ability gives any of your attacking creatures with trample an extra +2/+2 until end of turn. While there are a limited amount of Centaurs in the game, there are enough other good creatures with Trample to fill out the deck. This includes a really good Centaur in Stonehoof Chieftain who gives other attacking creature trample and indestructible. He's 8 mana and not Modern-legal, but in EDH, he's great.

Sadly, Stonebrow, Krosan Hero is far from being a popular Commander. While there are good Centaurs, there aren't enough cards that make Centaur Tribal a deck that people really want to build. Currently, it's really only a deck that is just for fun. Even then, Pheres-Band Warchief is omitted from a bunch of Stonebrow decks.

Pheres-Band Warchief Price History and Future Value

As you might expect, Pheres-Band Warchief is pretty much doomed to long-term bulk rare status. He preordered for about a dollar before quickly falling to a quarter. The only way that Pheres-Band Warchief ever becomes worth anything is if we get a whole slew of good Centaurs in the future all at once. It's sad, because this is a good creature. But for this Warchief to truly be good, Commander isn't going to be where it happens. It would have to be a four of in a sweet kitchen table tribal deck. Even then, I can't ever see him being worth more than a dollar.

While Pheres-Band Warchief is underplayed in the couple of decks he may actually be good in, it's fairly easy to see why he's been overlooked in Commander. He still should see more play than he does, though. If Centaur Tribal ever does become a feasible deck with more support outside of just creatures, though, this Warchief will likely be a vital piece of that deck. Unless, of course, they print a better lord creature.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) Penny Stocks - Silence the Believers Price History and Card Review

6/29/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Silence the Believers: An Answer to Bestow Creatures and the Gods of Theros

The Strive mechanic from Journey Into Nyx created some very interesting cards. Silence the Believers is an interesting piece of removal for Black. It's essentially an instant-speed version of Gild, exiling a target creature for four mana. However, while it doesn't give you the Gold "trophy" that Gild does, it does have the ability to exile additional creatures for 2B each.

While this sounds pricey, the ability to exile any Auras attached to said creatures can be pretty relevant in the right Standard format. At the time it was released, Silence the Believers seemed sure to see play with the rampant use of Bestow creatures. Bestow creatures that have been played as Auras would be exiled, as well, rather than hitting the board as a creature when the enchanted creature leaves the battlefield. At times, you're going to 2 for 1 or even 3 for 1 your opponent with this card. For 4 mana, that is pretty decent. The additional Strive cost is fair, as well.

Also, since it is exiling a card, Silence the Believers is able to take care of Indestructible creatures. During the Theros block, the most popular indestructible creatures were the Gods. And most of them were played a lot. Used correctly, it's pretty efficient removal, especially against indestructibles. While the Strive cost can be pricey, in mono-black, with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx around, it could provide a lot of potential value printed onto one card.

What Really Happened with Silence the Believers in Standard?

Silence the Believers did see some amount of Standard play during the time of Theros block and Khans of Tarkir block, especially after the release of Magic Origins. The most successful deck to run Silence the Believers was Esper Dragons. Even then, it wasn't run in every Esper Dragons deck, and when it was, it was mostly a sideboard card. it was also occasionally seen in the mainboards of Abzan Midrange and Blue/Black (UB) Control.

Because of the metagame, it was worth running a copy. While the Gods weren't seeing as much Top 8 play at this point, there was one creature you really wanted to see exiled: Hangarback Walker. When the Walker died, he'd leave behind a bunch of flying Thopter tokens. Exiling the Walker means no tokens. It was also good against big creatures like the Dragons of the time and Siege Rhino. Four mana to deal with any one of these threats was worth it.

Silence the Believers Price History and Long Term Value

In most constructed formats, four mana is too much to remove any one creature. Typically, three mana is the most you'll see people want to pay, with cards such as Hero's Downfall and Murder fitting that bill. In Modern, 4 mana gets you Damnation. The format also has Path to Exile for a single White mana. So there isn't any room for Silence the Believers to succeed there, despite it probably being good in corner cases like against Aura-based Modern decks - Bogles, for instance. Usually, Path to Exile does the job, and Bestow and the Theros Gods (outside of maybe Keranos) see any Modern or Legacy/Vintage play.

How is Silence the Believers in EDH? Black is a very powerful color with plenty of mana acceleration available to it. Indeed, Silence the Believers does see a fair amount of EDH play, primarily in mono-Black decks. It's hardly a staple in the format, but as a card that can remove multiple creatures from play at once, it's certainly a playable removal spell. Exiling creatures is much more relevant in Commander than it typically is in other formats, but most Constructed formats usually have more efficient ways to do so.

Somewhat incredibly on Magic Online, Silence the Believers was a $5 card! It was actually worth more than $2 several other times during its Standard life. As it was a playable card in Standard, that's not totally crazy. In paper Magic, however, Silence the Believers was never worth more than $1.50, and that was at the release of Khans of Tarkir.

After its rotation from Standard, Silence the Believers' price hit about $0.25, but has slowly rebounded a penny at a time since then. This is mostly due to EDH playability. Still, you can easily find copies for a dime or two. While this card is hardly going to be a long-term sleeper, Silence the Believers could hit $1 in price someday, but it will be years before it does that.

Other than its EDH playability, the only way that Silence the Believers ever sees a major rise in price is if some Auras are printed that are poised to break the Modern format. While I wouldn't call Silence the Believers a good Magic "penny stock" to invest in, it can never hurt to stash a copy or two away of this bulk rare.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card to Watch - Blade Splicer

6/25/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Once a 6 dollar card, Blade Splicer saw a dramatic drop in price when she was reprinted in Modern Masters 2017. At one point, her MM2017 printing dropped below a dollar and her original New Phyrexia printing has steadily dropped towards $1.50. But finally, the two printings are starting to converge in price and the Masters version is on a slow rise.

It's not a surprise to see this card finally recovering from its reprint. Blade Splicer saw lots of play during her time in Standard, especially in Birthing Pod decks. She's long been played in Modern, as well. Even with the banning of Birthing Pod in Modern, Blade Splicer still sees top table play in Hatebear decks. She also does fairly well in Commander.

A card with the competitive pedigree of Blade Splicer won't be around $1 forever. Even the New Phyrexia foils are still $3 and MM2017 foils are even less. The low New Phyrexia foil price is due to being a foil in an intro pack deck. But even that extra supply won't last forever.

Since Blade Splicer gives any Golems you control first strike, it's possible a golem creature might be printed at some point that will work well alongside her. We have seen her and Solemn Simulacrum work well together before. First strike is a very relevant ability. Four power for 3 mana is also just always going to be good.

While it's not likely that Blade Splicer will skyrocket in price, she is definitely not going to stay at this cheap price. It's always good to catch these long term holds early. This is a card that can only get better with time. People aren't really going to let her go at this point. This is especially evident on Pucatrade where she is widely sought after, but no one is really sending them. Of course, foils are the better investment, as they will be considerably more valuable sooner.

Are there other cards you think are worth watching? Let us know in the comments!

An EDH Deck for Only $1 on Magic Online!? SaffronOlive's "Penny Dreadful" Isperia the Inscrutible Flying Tribal Commander Deck

6/23/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

I happened to be browsing MTGGoldfish for some budget Commander decklists, and came across this Isperia the Inscrutible Flying Tribal Commander deck brewed by none other than the legendary SaffronOlive!

At the time, that I found this decklist, it hadn't yet been played on MTGGoldfish's Commander Clash video series. It would be featured on the Penny Dreadful episode of Commander Clash. In this episode, SaffronOlive would play this deck against four other decks that cost around 1 event ticket to build on Magic Online! (This Isperia deck costs about $30 to build in paper, which is still mega cheap!)

"Penny Dreadful" is a variant of Commander similar to 1DH in paper. In 1DH, you build a deck with cards that cost $1 or less each. In Penny Dreadful, you're looking to build an entire 100 card Commander deck - including the Commander - for 1 event ticket or less. This means spending only 0.01 tix - roughly a penny - on each card. While card values fluctuate, there's an official Penny Dreadful list that changes with each set release, so this is what you should build from. You can also use the Scryfall search engine, which has a filter for Penny Dreadful.

If you ever wanted to play Sphinx Tribal, or Flying Tribal in general, this is a nice cheap way to do so! There are three other "Penny Dreadful" decks featured in this Commander Clash video, led by Hazezon Tamar, Brago, the Eternal, and Shu Yun, the Tempest.

Here's the Penny Dreadful episode. The original episode page with the Penny Dreadful deck lists can be found here.

In case you’re interested in building an extremely cheap but fun tribal deck, here is the decklist!

Creatures (29)

1     Hypnotic Siren
1     Stratus Dancer
1     Stonecloaker
1     Argent Sphinx
1     Conundrum Sphinx
1     Dungeon Geists
1     Thunderclap Wyvern
1     Archon of Redemption
1     Cloudblazer
1     Guardian of Tazeem
1     Jwar Isle Avenger
1     Master of Predicaments
1     Prognostic Sphinx
1     Serra Sphinx
1     Sphinx of Lost Truths
1     Arbiter of the Ideal
1     Cerulean Sphinx
1     Draining Whelk
1     Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1     Sphinx of the Chimes
1     Sunblast Angel
1     Thousand Winds
1     Uyo, Silent Prophet
1     Alhammarret, High Arbiter
1     Diluvian Primordial
1     Emeria Shepherd
1     Goliath Sphinx
1     Resolute Archangel
1     Sphinx of Uthuun

Spells (21)

1     Curse of the Swine
1     Negate
1     Compulsive Research
1     Crib Swap
1     Dissipate
1     Dissolve
1     Forbid
1     Concentrate
1     Insidious Will
1     Plea for Power
1     End Hostilities
1     Jace's Ingenuity
1     Planar Outburst
1     Tidings
1     Traumatic Visions
1     Winds of Rath
1     Opportunity
1     Phyrexian Rebirth
1     Planar Cleansing
1     Recurring Insight
1     Treasure Cruise

Artifacts (9)

1     Brittle Effigy
1     Corrupted Grafstone
1     Azorius Cluestone
1     Azorius Keyrune
1     Magnifying Glass
1     Manalith
1     Ojutai Monument
1     Seer's Lantern
1     Spectral Searchlight

Enchantments (2)

1     Isolation Zone
1     Gravitational Shift

Lands (38)

1     Azorius Guildgate
1     Blighted Cataract
1     Calciform Pools
1     Coastal Tower
17     Island
1     Meandering River
1     Moorland Haunt
10     Plains
1     Tranquil Cove
1     Transguild Promenade
1     Vivid Creek
1     Vivid Meadow
1     Warped Landscape

If anyone would like me to do an in-depth deck tech on this deck, or any other deck, Penny Dreadful or otherwise, I’d be happy to do so. Just let me know. Until then, enjoy this extremely cheap EDH list!

Magic the Gathering (MTG) Anatomy of a Bulk Rare - Insidious Will from Kaladesh

6/20/2017

by Phoenix Desertsong, Gaming Successfully Staff

Here in the Anatomy of a Bulk Rare series, we’ve looked at a wide variety of cards worth less than 50 cents. There have been “true bulk” cards such as Serpentine Spike that no one will really ever play in Constructed. There’s somewhat playable creatures like Fathom Feeder. Then, you have a card that sees a fair amount of play in the ever-growing Commander format that’s probably still a bit underappreciated: Insidious Will.

Back in October 2016, Insidious Will was a $0.50 card that was buylisting for close to its retail price. Why’s that? People were actually pretty excited about this card. Even though it costs 4 mana for effects that typically cost only 2 or 3 mana, the versatility of this card seemed to make it worth it. With Baral, Chief of Compliance looking like he’d be a big part of Standard, it seemed to some people that Insidious Will was going to be at least a $1 or $2 card. This never happened, although Baral, who makes Instants and Sorceries you cast cost 1 less mana, is very good. In fact, Baral is probably going to be tied to this card’s long term value.

While two of its effect choices are Redirect and Twincast, which are cards that each cost 2 mana, being able to choose seems worth an extra price. And yes, Cancel is 3 mana as a straight counterspell. But wouldn’t having these choices in a control deck be a nice thing to have, even just as a one-of out of the sideboard?

The answer is yes, in Baral, Chief of Compliance Commander decks. Baral has become quite a force in the growing 1v1 Commander scene, thanks to Magic Online adopting the format as a competitive league. Considering the huge amount of foils that are wanted on PucaTrade, it’s clear that most demand for Insidious Will comes from Commander players. While Baral is hardly the only Commander that plays this versatile 4-mana instant, he’s definitely the one who’s added this spell to his library the most.

So what’s made this a bulk rare? It’s simply just not found relevance in the current Standard format. But long term, cards like this easily surpass $2. Foils of this card will definitely not be less than $2 forever, either.

When it comes to the anatomy of this bulk rare, it’s simply a card that was released at a time where its value simply hasn’t been realized. One copy per Commander player coming off the market at a time simply isn’t going to drive the price. This is a card that you want in foil if you’re looking to cash in on it in the long term. But as far as people who just want it to play with, it’s definitely well worth spending a couple hard earned dimes on so you can add into your collection.

Magic the Gathering Card to Watch - Authority of the Consuls from Kaladesh

6/20/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Back in October of 2016, I identified Authority of the Consuls as one of 5 cards under $5 to watch in Kaladesh. Every card on that list I believe I still are good investments, especially Panharmonicon, which has become a smash hit in Commander. Authority is a great one-drop Enchantment that sees a bunch of Commander play, too. But unlike Panharmonicon which only saw strong Standard play early on in Kaladesh Standard, Authority of the Consuls is a strong sideboard card that has usability beyond Standard.

One major indicator that Authority of the Consuls is a MTG card to watch is the disparity between its price on Amazon and TCGPlayer. Authority of the Consuls has been consistently a Top 100 best seller in Trading Cards on Amazon. While it’s been a $1 card on TCGPlayer for most of its life, Authority of the Consuls was a $4 card at one time when it was seeing consistent sideboard play in two of the better decks in Standard at the time, Copy Cat Combo and Mardu Ballista. Copy Cat Combo is no longer a deck, so that has seen its play greatly decline. Still, we know that this card can be $4.

What’s so good about Authority of the Consuls? It’s really a bit better version of Blind Obedience, an Enchantment that many players once thought would be a great answer to aggro decks. But at two mana, it was often a turn too late. Forcing your opponent’s creatures to come into play tapped is huge, and an Enchantment that costs only 1 mana to do this is significantly better.

The other upside to Authority over Blind Obedience is that you also gain 1 life each time an opponent has a creature enter the battlefield (even tokens!) Blind Obedience had extort, which is a nice ability, but it first required your to cast a spell and also pay one mana to drain your opponents. In most cases, Authority of the Consuls is simply going to be more efficient.

Blind Obedience actually sees more than twice as much play as Authority of the Consuls in EDH (as of June 2017), but that’s because it also causes artifacts to come into play tapped. Also, in Commander, the Extort mechanic is more relevant, since mana is more plentiful and plenty more spells will be cast over the course of a game. Plus, Extort affects all opponents, so a single activation of Extort can drain each opponent for 1 life and gain you that much life. That’s often at least a 3 point life gain. So it’s much more cost effective.

Still, Authority of the Consuls and Blind Obedience see play in the same exact decks in Commander, as they complement one another instead of merely being redundant. So there is definitely demand from the Commander crowd, which explains the higher price on Amazon; many Commander-friendly cards see higher prices on Amazon.

It’s a bit surprising that Authority of the Consuls hasn’t been seen more in Modern. There are so many aggro decks in the format, too, so it seems like a no-brainer. The best part is that even if you happen to draw a second copy of Authority, the lifegain it can provide is still relevant. There’s also a good chance that it returns to more Standard sideboards after the rotation of the Battle for Zendikar and Shadows Over Innistrad blocks.

In any case, this is a really good card to pick up for $1 or less. It’s also very good to see that there’s tons of interest in both non-foil and foil copies of Authority of the Consuls on PucaTrade. If people want foil playsets of a card, they plan to have them for a long time. Since this is a card that could easily find itself being played more in Modern, and has room to grow in Commander, Authority of the Consuls is definitely a card worth picking up and holding for the long term.

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PucaTrade Trends - Dead Weight Among Top Traded Cards

6/19/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Dead Weight is not a card that you might expect to be among the Top Traded Cards on PucaTrade. But recently, it’s cracked the Top 20. PucaTrade is a great way to pick up little cards that you might need for a deck. While Dead Weight was originally printed in Innistrad, it was also reprinted in Shadows Over Innistrad, so there’s a decent supply of them out there.

Also, while Dead Weight doesn’t see much competitive play, it actually is quite good in Dimir Control decks in Pauper. But isn’t Pauper more of a Magic Online format? While competitively Pauper is bigger online, there are becoming more and more paper Pauper tournaments at local game stores. This is a very good common to have around.

It’s a very simple Enchantment, one Black mana to give the enchanted creature -2/-2. It’s strong early game removal, but it’s also a nice way to weaken a bigger creature that might be out of range of your other removal spells. It’s also a way to bring a bigger creature down to the level of your creatures. Dead Weight is definitely not a dead card, even if it doesn’t currently see Standard play.

While Dead Weight isn’t the most exciting common, it’s interesting to see some players stocking up on copies. This is definitely a card to watch for and get ahold of as you see them, especially in foil. As it has been a part of many draft decks, there are plenty of copies to go around.

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Story of a Price Spike - Nimbus Maze from Future Sight (MTG)

6/18/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Nimbus Maze is one of those cards that people expected to hit a $20 price for a long time. Why is that? It’s a decent dual land that can give you White mana if you control an Island, and Blue mana if you control a Plains. That sounds kind of backwards, but it is what it is.

The Maze is actually rather similar to the dual lands from Battle for Zendikar in that it cares about what basic land types you already control. But it’s a unique land in that it was one of those one-of oddities from Future Sight. Another land from that set, Grove of the Burnwillows, has become widely successful and very expensive. So why not Nimbus Maze?

Why not, indeed? It’s a valuable land in EDH, where people play Hallowed Fountain, Prairie Stream, and other lands with the basic land types Plains and/or Island. But as far as competitive play is concerned, especially Modern, you just never really see it. So why did this once $5 land slowly creep up to $8 over the course of 2016, and suddenly spike to nearly $40 (before settling around $25 for a bit) in late June of 2016?

First of all, copies of Nimbus Maze have been slowly trickling off of the internet for some time. Usually it’s one at a time, which is why the price increase has been so slow, but steady. A few speculators have bought multiple copies over the past few years, which has eaten up some of the supply. But these sales are rare enough that it’s made the card widely unavailable. It’s not a card that’s in high demand. Still, there is enough of a desire to have it available for Commander decks that people have been hoarding their copies.

What is a fair price for Nimbus Maze? Clearly, $25 is most certainly not. This simply isn’t a sustainable price for this card. The race to the bottom on TCGPlayer would be fairly quick. By “race to the bottom,” I mean sellers continuously undercutting each other until a price equilibrium is found.

At best, Nimbus Maze is probably a $10 card long-term. We've seen the market price of this card fall to around $8-12 by June 2017, depending on condition. What makes this a fair price is based mostly on the card’s overall scarcity. It’s doubtful that this land will be reprinted as there is really no expansion set that it makes sense to include within. (There was once speculation that it would be included as part of a new land cycle in Theros. But nothing ever came of that.)

If Wizards of the Coast decides to create a cycle of lands similar to it, which is totally possible, Nimbus Maze would definitely become a lot more valuable. Vendor buylists weren’t willing to pay much more than $4 to $5 after the spike, with the outlier being high as $7. By 2017, the buylist price is closer to $8, which is a good sign for the future of this card.

While the market did regain some sanity in regards to Nimbus Maze, there may yet be another spike in its future. It's not like there are a bunch of near-mint copies left on the open market. Still, with this spike in its price history, we can take away a few things from this event which can tell us a lot about what people think about this card.

Clearly, lands that are unique in some way are going to be worth something. White & Blue is a popular color combination, especially in Control-type decks. It’s actually a bit surprising that we don’t see Nimbus Maze more often in Modern. This may be due to the fact that the filter land, Mystic Gate, is much more playable in Modern. Being able to fix your mana by filtering the color you don’t need is very, very valuable when you need to cast cards that require 3 White or 3 Blue or some other tricky combination of colors.

So what’s holding this card back? It’s clearly Mystic Gate. That’s about a $20 card as of June 2017, about the same price as Nimbus Maze was post-spike. So if you want to put your $20 into a good dual land, I’d put it on the "strictly better" Mystic Gate. It’s already been reprinted as a foil Expedition in Oath of the Gatewatch, and it’s unlikely we’ll see these filter lands reprinted again soon. Filter lands in general seem to be a pretty solid investment. Nimbus Maze is a cool land, but it’s as expensive as it will ever get.

Clearly, Nimbus Maze’s price spike was due to a buyout. Yes, it was due to hit $10 eventually. But as the market sometimes does, there’s an opportunity seen by a few people who have the cash to buy out a ton of copies at once. Oddly enough, this usually benefits those who are holding onto single copies more than it does those that actually initiate the buyout. It also benefits those who had the foresight to stash away copies in anticipation of a price jump. There are a lot of happy people right now, and you have to give them credit for their foresight.

This is a card that simply isn’t widely available any more. Anytime that happens, silly price spikes can occur. While the story of this Nimbus Maze price spike has come to an end, it may not be the last for this unique land. But for all those that have called this card a great investment over the past few years, congratulations on your crazy gains. If you sold out at the right time and bought back in when it came back to earth, you have a chance to make a bunch of money again eventually.

Even if this card never enjoys a second spike, Nimbus Maze is definitely worth a $10 price tag.

Pucatrade Trends - Kazandu Refuge and Akoum Refuge - Magic the Gathering (MTG)

6/16/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Kazandu Refuge and Akoum Refuge are two of the top traded cards on PucaTrade this past week. What's that about?

Originally printed in Zendikar, the Allied-color Refuge lands come into play tapped. However, when they do, you gain 1 life. For a long time, they were decent dual lands for players on a budget.

But with Khans of Tarkir came what players have come to call the “gainlands” at common. They come in all 10 color combinations as well. Still, the Refuges see play in EDH, since you can only play one of each nonbasic land in your deck.

What's interesting is that there seems to be sudden interest in these two Refuges, but not the other three (although Sejiri Refuge is in the top 50 top traded PucaTrade cards). Kazandu Refuge has 7 other printings and Akoum Refuge has 5. Albeit, those are limited printings as they appear only in preconstructed decks.

According to EDHREC, Akoum Refuge is the second most played of the three Refuges, with Kazandu coming in 4th. Jwar Isle Refuge, which is Blue/Black, comes in 1st. Sejiri Refuge, which is white/blue, comes in 3rd. The Green/White Refuge, Graypelt Refuge, comes in last. The Green/White Refuge, Graypelt Refuge, comes in last. It seems that someone had a pile of these they just wanted to unload.

Perhaps the reason we haven’t seen much price movement on the Refuges is that they simply have a good amount of supply. Akoum and Kazandu Refuges have the most supply, so it makes sense that they would be among the most traded. So if you have copies of these or any of the five Refuges you're looking to unload, it seems shipping them out on PucaTrade is better than just getting getting a nickel or so from your local buylist.

PucaTrade is the best way to trade Magic the Gathering and MTGO cards (plus event tickets and packs!) online. Join the PucaTrade fun today!

Asylum Visitor in Modern? - Magic the Gathering (MTG) Shadows Over Innistrad Penny Stock

6/3/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

There’s a lot of things to like about Asylum Visitor from Shadows Over Innistrad. Not only is she a vampire, but she has the Madness ability. This means if you happen to discard her, you can pay 1B to cast her! Having a 3/1 for 2 mana is good enough. But she also has an ability that may remind you of a poor man’s Dark Confidant and Phyrexian Arena rolled into one. At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand, you lose 1 life and draw a card. The beauty of this ability is that it’s a pure bonus

While people have built plenty a Madness deck and taken them to their Local Game Store, the Madness mechanic hasn’t quite broken through as a major contender in competitive play. Quite a few of these Madness creatures have made noise on Magic Online, though, so it seems that Asylum Visitor and friends have been a bit underappreciated. But with Asylum Visitor leaving Standard in October 2017, it seems that her time to shine is over… or is it?

It turns out that one clever deckbuilder found a way to work Asylum Visitor into a Modern deck! This Mardu Madcap Experiment list came in 8th place at SCG Modern IQ Ludlow, and it’s a cool one! Like Asylum Visitor, Madcap Experiment is a card that plenty of deck builders have brewed around, but it hasn’t found a consistent build just yet. Fortunately for Madcap Experiment, its drawback of potentially burning you to death is negated by the emblem of Gideon of the Trials, which prevents you from losing the game if you control a Gideon planeswalker.

So how do three copies of Asylum Visitor made it into this deck. Well, this deck has two planeswalkers that will require you to discard a card on occasion, Liliana of the Veil and Nahiri, the Harbinger. Ticking these gals up and essentially getting a free creature puts you ahead on tempo. Faithless Looting also requires you to discard a card, so the Visitor can come down in that case, too. Asylum Visitor is also nice as a choice to discard when an opponent activates his or her Liliana’s discard ability. The potential card advantage from her conditional Phyrexian Arena type ability is just gray.

The best part about Asylum Visitor is her price. On Magic Online, she’s often been available for a mere penny. In paper, she’s hung around $0.50, and has been under a dollar since June of 2016. If you’re looking for a penny stock to invest in from a set rotating from Standard, Asylum Visitor is definitely a good target. Beyond simply being a good Vampire for casual players to eat up, the Visitor could find a home in this Mardu Madcap archetype going forward. You really can’t lose much either way, especially on MODO.

P.S. While you’re at it, you may want to take a look at Madcap Experiment, which is around the same price or lower.

Start // Finish in Modern Dredge? - Magic the Gathering (MTG)

6/1/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Start // Finish MTG Amonkhet

Start // Finish is an uncommon card from Magic: the Gathering's Amonkhet set. It features the Aftermath mechanic, meaning that it has one half that you can cast from your hand, and another half that can only be cast from your graveyard. While it hasn't been much Standard play, Start // Finish does have some decent effects. As it turns out, one Dredge deck in Modern played a single copy in the main deck. Is this Aftermath card going to become a fixture in Modern Dredge decks?

Paying 2W to get two 1/1 tokens with vigilance at instant speed is a decent effect. But that's not really the best part about this card. It's Finish that people like most about this card. Paying 2B and the sacrifice of a creature allows you to destroy a target creature. Dredge decks have plenty of expendable creatures, so having this card end up in the graveyard is actually a sneaky way to kill a problem creature should the need arise.

Start // Finish is a solid card and it wouldn't be a surprise to see this card show up in more Dredge decks in the future. Really, any deck that plays off of the graveyard could find a way to use this card.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) Casual Hits - Wight of Precinct Six

6/1/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Wight of Precinct Six

One of the best ways to identify a hit card among casual Magic the Gathering players is not by looking at price histories. Just see what sells well on Amazon. Wight of Precinct Six is a perfect example of a casual hit. Here’s why.

Many cards in Magic aren’t ever going to be played in top-tier competitive decks. However, in the case of Wight of Precinct Six, this Zombie did see some fringe Standard play at one point. As a creature, he’s actually quite efficient.

A 1/1 Zombie for 1B is pretty bland, but his ability allows him to gain +1/+1 for each creature in your opponents’ graveyards. So once an opponent has 2 creatures in a graveyard, your Wight is already a 3/3. This doesn’t include any buffs from popular Zombie creatures such as Cemetery Reaper or Death Baron. Already, he’s a good card.

Most casual hits are cards that are good in and of themselves. But most of the time, they simply don’t find a home competitively for the long-term. However, Zombies, in particular, are a very popular Magic the Gathering tribe when it comes to deck-building. This is why creatures like Wight of Precinct Six tend to be such good investments. You really do want to have 4 copies of this guy if you’ll be playing him. Whenever you have a card that is best played as a full playset, they will sell much more quickly that cards that you really only need one of in your deck.

On Amazon, Wight of Precinct Six sells for about $1 (as of 6/1/17). On TCGPlayer, it sells for closer to $0.30. The Wight also has two other printings, albeit limited ones, in Commander 2013, Duel Decks: Jace vs Vraska, and Commander 2016. Notably on TCGPlayer the market price - meaning an average of what the card has recently been selling for - is higher than the median for the smaller three printings. This means that the price is slowly creeping upwards due to demand. This isn’t the case with the original Gatecrash version, but that’s only because the supply for that printing is still enough to satisfy demand.

So what is causing the higher price on Amazon? Shadows Over Innistrad introduced a few new Zombies, including Diregraf Colossus and Relentless Dead. Amonkhet introduced quite a few more, including a very good one in Lord of the Accursed, among others. Naturally, with new Zombies to build around, Wight of Precinct Six is being considered somewhat more often. As an efficient creature that gets better as the game goes along, it’s a pretty good Zombie to consider when throwing together a fun little Zombie deck.

Additionally, there are Commander decks that use him, too. Wight of Precinct Six is even better in multiplayer, simply because his ability includes all opponents' graveyards. EDHREC has the Wight listed in about 1500 decks, so there's definitely demand for him. With the Commander interest, copies drift off the market here and there from that format.

If you have copies of Wight of Precinct Six hanging around, be sure to hang onto them. While they have been more than simple bulk for a long time, in the future, this card could disappear in a hurry. Uncommons like this can hit several dollars a copy just from people buying 4 at a time over a number of years. This guy is definitely a keeper.

Magic the Gathering - Nickels and Dimes - Mortuary Mire from Battle for Zendikar

5/28/2017

by RGFoxx, Gaming Successfully Contributor

Battle for Zendikar is a Magic set with lots of interesting commons and uncommons. A lot of these are often seen on local game store buylists for a nickel or dime, due to their playability outside of competitive Magic. One of these “nickel and dime” cards is Mortuary Mire. It’s a little Black utility land that has an effect that’s more powerful than you may at first realize.

Like many utility taps, Mortuary Mire comes into play tapped. But it has an enter the battlefield ability that interests a lot of people. When you put it in play, you may take a creature card from your graveyard and put it on top of your deck. Imagine you could draw into a creature that you could really use from your graveyard. This is exactly what Mortuary Mire allows you to do.

Now, in Standard, letting your opponent know what your next draw will be isn’t always optimal. However, in Commander, a format in which you’ll be likely very able to draw that creature before your next turn, a card like Mortuary Mire is invaluable. In Commander, you only have one of each creature, so being able to get back a key creature and put it right back into your deck is a big deal.

Mortuary Mire sees a ton of play in Commander according to EDHREC. The top Commanders that use this utility land include Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Meren of Clan Nel Toth, and Gisa and Geralf. None of these Commanders are particularly surprising to see, as Mortuary Mire helps get back key creatures in these decks. Plus, getting back a creature on a land that gives you colored mana means that you can get a lot of value out of this one card.

I always look for utility lands with decent effects like this that provide one or more colors of mana. Many utility lands only provide colorless mana. While it would seem to limit their usefulness, utility lands that provide colored mana are usually pretty good, especially in Commander. Whenever you see a copy of Mortuary Mire lying around, make sure you keep it within reach, because you never know when someone might need a copy.

Digging for Bulk - Theros Block (Theros, Born of the Gods & Journey into Nyx) Commons and Uncommons

5/28/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Have a pile or two of cards from Theros block laying around? Theros had some cool stuff, as did Journey into Nyx. Born of the Gods also had very interesting cards. But are there any commons and uncommons still worth anything? Turns out that there are.

Archetype of Courage

There are a lot of popular EDH (Commander) cards in the Theros sets, and Archetype of Courage is one of them. Giving all of your creatures first strike is cool, but denying your opponents’ creatures from having it is even better.

Archetype of Courage has become a very popular card in aggressive Commander decks such as Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, Odric, Master Tactician, and Kytheon, Hero of Akros, among others. They buylist for about a nickel (0.05 USD) and foils tend to list much higher, around a quarter (0.25 USD). So there is a little cash to be had digging up extra copies of this Archetype.

Archetype of Imagination (FOIL)

Like, Archetype of Courage, Archetype of Imagination is a popular Commander card. It’s for a much different reason, however. The regular non-foil printings are about 0.05 - 0.10 USD on buylists, rivalling Courage. But foils buylist for as much as 1.25 USD. It turns out making your creatures gain flying and make all others lose it is a lot better. The Commanders who take advantage of this Archetype most include Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor, Tibor and Lumia, and Tromokratis, among many others.

Banishing Light

This functional reprint of Oblivion Ring is, guess what, popular in Commander. Overall, it’s just a good card, though. Casual players run it, too. The non-foil versions will probably never be worth a ton of money, especially as there was a reprint in Commander 2015. They can buylist for only a nickel (0.05 USD).

However, the foils are where the money is for this card, much like the Archetypes. Foil copies buylist for about 0.75 USD, but can be found on some lists for as high as 1.50 USD or more!

Dissolve

Like Bile Blight, Dissolve was a pretty good card during its time in Standard. The Scry 1 made it strictly better than most 3 mana counterspell. Now, it mostly just sees Commander play. You can still get a dime for these, and a quarter for foils - including the FNM promo. So if you have a bunch of these around, be sure not to just throw them in a bulk box.

Gnarled Scarhide

Minotaurs were made very popular by a number of cards from Theros. What the deck really needed to be good, though, was a consistent turn-one play. The deck got this with Gnarled Scarhide, a 2 / 1 that can’t block. What’s especially good about this card, though, is its Bestow ability. This allows it to enchant a creature, giving it +2/+1, although it also takes away that creature’s ability to block. If the Enchanted creature dies, you still get to keep Scarhide on the battlefield as a creature again.

With Ragemonger on the board, you could actually play this guy for free. He’s a Minotaur that reduces Minotaur casting costs by RB. In casual play, Minotaurs are actually quite playable. As far as buylists are concerned, this is the only piece you will find that’s not bulk. You’re talking only a nickel (0.05 USD) for these guys in non-foil. For foils, though, you’re looking at $0.50 cash.

As someone who built a casual Minotaur deck for fun (they’re extremely cheap), I can say they are actually reasonably powerful. This is a must-have for that deck. With more Minotaurs being printed in Amonkhet, Minotaurs will probably become an even more popular deck to build.

Nyx-Fleece Ram

One of my favorite cards from Journey into Nyx, the 0/5 Ram was actually quite popular in Standard for a time. Not only could he block well for just 1W, but he is an Enchantment creature, which made him very good in Constellation decks. He also gains you 1 life at the beginning of each of your upkeeps. He’s a lot of value on one card.

Outside of the occasional copies included in Modern Doran the Siege Tower/Assault Formation lists, you don’t see the Ram played much anymore. In those decks, though, the Ram can attack for 5. That’s pretty powerful. Assault Formation decks aside, this is a card casual players eat up. Considering the Ram’s competitive pedigree, that’s not at all surprising. While most buylists only pay about 0.10 USD for this uncommon, some buylists will pay more. It’s one of the more valuable cards on this list. Foils are especially valuable, buylisting for $2 or more!

Searing Blood

Another Theros block card that was good in Standard, Searing Blood was pretty good in Burn decks in Modern for a time, too. Buylists used to pay as much as $0.25 for this card, but it's more like a nickel now for non-foil copies. But because it sees play in Modern, people have hoarded foil copies. Buylists will often pay $1 for this card in foil, and sometimes considerably more if Burn is doing well in Modern at that time.

Searing Blaze, an older card that’s similar, does more work in Modern than this does, however. It’s probably best to just hold onto 4 copies of this card and see if it ever gets played again - or reprinted in a Standard-legal set.

Springleaf Drum

Originally printed as a common in Lorwyn, Springleaf Drum is a powerhouse in Pauper on Magic Online. It’s also pretty good in Affinity in Modern, one of the top decks in the format. While the Lorwyn foils buylist for twice as much as Born of the Gods versions ($6 to $3), the non-foils each buylist for about 0.25 - 0.50 USD. This is probably the most valuable card on this list, as it will always see play somewhere. Casual and Commander players both like this card, too.

Sunbond

This enchantment is super popular among casual players, as lifegain is an extremely popular mechanic on kitchen tables. Turning that lifegain directly into +1/+1 counters on your best creature is very powerful. There’s even been a Modern combo deck with Spike Feeder, which can remove a +1/+1 counter from itself to gain 2 life. This means that Sunbond will give it 2 +1/+1 counters from the lifegain. So not only is it infinite lifegain, but it also gives you an infinitely big creature to swing with. Sunbond has also gained in popular in Karlov of the Ghost Council EDH decks, a very lifegain happy Commander.

Sunbond can net you a quarter (0.25 USD) on some buylists. Foils can even net you as much as $1 or more.

Titan's Strength

Later reprinted in Magic Origins, Titan's Strength is perhaps one of the best Red creature pump spells ever printed. Not only does it give a creature +3/+1 for only a single Red mana, but you also get to Scry 1. Being able to manipulate the top of your deck is like drawing half of a card, as experts say - since you can send an undesirable draw to the bottom of the deck. In aggro decks where you need to keep drawing gas, this is a very desirable attribute for a card.

Copies of Titan's Strength used to buylist for about 0.10. Were it not for the reprint, it would be more. This is the only common on the list, but it’s that good and was legal in Standard through October 2016. After leaving Standard, there hasn't been much buylist demand, but it's still worth picking these out. There are occasionally decks in Modern that will play it.

(While not worth much to most buylists anymore, you should also pull out any copies you find of Bile Blight and Drown in Sorrow, as these Black removal cards still see Modern play from time to time.)

If you were to buylist just 4 copies - a playset - of each of these cards, you’d probably net a few bucks. That’s not including foils or additional copies of each card. On top of the 0.08 - 0.10 USD you could net from any bulk rares you have from the sets, you could find yourself a decent amount of pocket money.

Magic the Gathering - Can an Enigma Drake Deck Be Competitive?

5/27/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

If you’ve been playing Magic: the Gathering since around the Theros set, you may remember a card called Spellheart Chimera. Then, you may think that Enigma Drake from Amonkhet looks very familiar. Both creatures fly and their power is equal to the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard. Whereas the Chimera has 3 toughness and trample, the Drake has 4 toughness, but no trample. Which one is better?

Spellheart Chimera decks weren’t exactly top-tier winning lists back in the day, but they were fairly competitive. They would win a local tournament here and there, and performed decently on Magic Online. Being only a three-mana creature, the Chimera could come down rather quickly and start swinging for some real damage. The trample was particularly effective. But a simple Lightning Strike would bring it down. So you had to time playing the Chimera correctly.

Now, the Drake has no trample, but an extra point of toughness. This puts it out of range of a lot of burn spells and some removal. But really, it’s the same card as the Chimera, especially when you consider there’s a creature in the same set that has great synergy with it: Cryptic Serpent.

This uncommon is actually seeing Legacy play, specifically in Delver of Secrets decks that play a ton of spells already! And it’s for good reason. Even though the Serpent costs 5UU to cast, his cost decreases for each instant or sorcery in your graveyard. So it’s actually fairly easy (especially in Legacy) to get a 6/5 for 2 mana. While he doesn’t have trample, and is a fairly vanilla creature otherwise, that’s a lot of power!

With Spellheart Chimera, you didn’t have another creature in Standard that could pair so well with him. Also, now, there are solid spells such as Magma Spray, Fiery Temper, and Lightning Axe that not only do some quick damage, but also fill your graveyard. Fiery Temper is particularly good for Lightning Axe, since when you discard it, you can just cast it for its Madness cost.

Sweltering Suns is a version of Anger of the Gods that you can also cycle for a card, so it’s rarely a dead draw. (Note having 4 toughness saves the Drake from Sweltering Suns!) We also have Anticipate to help filter through our deck to get the right cards, plus Cathartic Reunion and Take Inventory to draw cards and fill our graveyard, too. Censor is a great permission spell that can also cycle for a card, too!

Another creature that works well in an Enigma Drake deck is Bedlam Reveler from Eldritch Moon, who has seen play in Standard, Modern and Legacy. Like the Cryptic Serpent, he also gets cheaper to cast for each instant and sorcery in the graveyard. Then, not only does he have prowess, but when he comes into play, he makes you discard your hand and draw three cards. While this sounds like a drawback, in this deck, it’s certainly not!

Here’s what an Amonkhet Standard Enigma Drake Deck would look like. I found a U/R Drake list just like this on MTG Salvation. I’d build it about the same way.

Creatures:

4 Enigma Drake
3 Bedlam Reveler
3 Cryptic Serpent

Non-Creature Spells:

3 Anticipate
3 Cathartic Reunion
4 Censor
4 Fiery Temper
4 Lightning Axe
2 Magma Spray
3 Sweltering Suns
4 Take Inventory

Lands:

4 Aether Hub
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Wandering Fumarole
5 Mountain
6 Island

Looking at this list, I can see this being easily adapted for Modern. It would probably look something like this

Creatures:

4 Delver of Secrets
3 Enigma Drake
2 Bedlam Reveler
2 Cryptic Serpent

Non-Creature Spells:

4 Serum Visions
3 Cathartic Reunion
4 Censor
3 Fiery Temper
3 Lightning Axe
2 Sweltering Suns
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Take Inventory

Lands:

4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Wandering Fumarole
4 Steam Vents
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Mountain
4 Island

In this case, we turn it into more of a Delver-type deck, since you really want to have that creature down on Turn One. Also, unlike Spellheart Chimera, Enigma Drake is out of Lightning Bolt range. It’s also out of Anger of the Gods range, which is a common card for Modern. Likewise, Bedlam Reveler has 4 toughness to begin with, and the Serpent has 5. But while this deck wants all of these guys, we run fewer copies since we’re trying to get in early damage with the Delvers.

Can an Enigma Drake deck be competitive? I think it’s pretty good in Amonkhet Standard. Hour of Destruction could bring some sweet new stuff for the deck. I think with some tweaking, there could be room for the Drake in Modern, too - although there you may be fine with just the Reveler and the Serpent.

What do you all think? Do you know how you could make decks like these better?

Magic the Gathering - Garza Zol, Plague Queen: Perfect for Grixis Vampire Tribal Decks in EDH (Commander)

5/27/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Looking for a Commander to lead a Tribal Vampire EDH deck so you can jam in all your new Vampires from Shadows Over Innistrad? Wondering how to slip in the notoriously blue flip-side of Elusive Tormentor: Insidious Mist? Garza Zol, Plague Queen just may be the gal to be your Vampire Commander.

From way back in Coldsnap, Garza Zol’s not the most popular Vampire Commander out there. But because of the three colors in her mana cost, she allows you to splash Blue. This allows you to play the often overlooked but color intensive Blood Tyrant, plus another semi-popular blue/black Vampire Commander Szadek, Lord Of Secrets. Meanwhile, you can jam other Blue staples such as Counterspell, Cyclonic Rift, Hinder, Rhystic Study and more. While you’re at it, why not jam in Bident of Thassa and Thassa, God of the Sea herself? Making your Vampires unblockable is good stuff, and who doesn’t want to draw some extra cards?

What’s cool about Garza Zol is while she’s expensive to cast, she can get bigger fairly easily and also draw you cards. You can just play all of the best Vampires available. In particular, Shadows over Innistrad provides some of the best ones ever printed for use in a Tribal deck. Falkenrath Gorger gives all of the Vampires in your hand Madness, allowing you to play them as you discard them from your hand! Olivia, Mobilized for War allows you to discard a card to give another creature a +1/+1 counter and haste. It even makes it a Vampire! Asylum Visitor and Indulgent Aristocrat are playable, too.

Here’s a sample decklist for a powerful Garza Zol, Plague Queen EDH Vampire deck!

Commander

Garza Zol, Plague Queen

Creatures (37)

Falkenrath Gorger
Guul Draz Assassin
Stromkirk Noble
Asylum Visitor
Blood Artist
Blood Seeker
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Kalastria Highborn
Vampire Hexmage
Captivating Vampire
Dark Impostor
Markov Blademaster
Olivia, Mobilized for War
Rakish Heir
Stromkirk Captain
Vampire Nighthawk
Bloodline Keeper
Falkenrath Aristocrat
Falkenrath Noble
Mirri the Cursed
Olivia Voldaren
Sangromancer
Vampire Nocturnus
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Fiend of the Shadows
Malakir Bloodwitch
Mephidross Vampire
Necropolis Regent
Nirkana Revenant
Vein Drinker
Blood Tyrant
Butcher of Malakir
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Szadek, Lord of Secrets
Baron Sengir

Non-Creature Spells (25)

Blade of the Bloodchief
Bloodchief Ascension
Sol Ring
Cyclonic Rift
Demonic Tutor
Dimir Signet
Feast of Blood
Go for the Throat
Izzet Signet
Lightning Greaves
Rakdos Signet
Terminate
Urge to Feed
Chromatic Lantern
Murder
Obelisk of Grixis
Phyrexian Arena
Diabolic Tutor
Gilded Lotus
Liliana Vess
Sanguine Bond
Blood Tribute
Sorin Markov
Cruel Ultimatum
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Lands (37)

Akoum Refuge
Blood Crypt
Command Tower
Crumbling Necropolis
Dimir Aqueduct
Dragonskull Summit
Drowned Catacomb
Evolving Wilds
Grixis Panorama
Island
Izzet Boilerworks
Jwar Isle Refuge
Mountain
Rakdos Carnarium
Steam Vents
Sulfur Falls
8 Swamp
Terramorphic Expanse
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Watery Grave

Budget Considerations

Nirkana Revenant is best at home in a mono-Black deck, and being a $20 card, she can be replaced with a more budget friendly Vampire such as Chancellor of the Dross. While this is a significant downgrade in overall power level, it’s a way to save nearly $20.

Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is another powerful Vampire that you can consider. But due to his strength in competitive play, his price has been as high as $30 - although it's settled to closer to $15.

Drana, Liberator of Malakir is another Vampire you could consider not listed above, and she’s reasonably priced around $5.

For non-creature spells, if you don’t have the $25 to shell out for a Demonic Tutor, then Dark Petition will usually work just as well in its place for less than a quarter of the price. Otherwise, the deck is fairly affordable and great for anyone who wants to take Tribal Vampires for a spin with the best cards available.

Throne of the God-Pharaoh - An Artifact Made for Aggro? (Magic the Gathering)

5/24/2017

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

When you think of aggro decks, you’re not typically looking to play artifacts that don’t have an immediate effect on the board. For example, Obelisk of Urd used to see play in tribal aggro decks, but it gave your creatures an immediate big boost in power and toughness. On first glance, Throne of the God-Pharaoh doesn’t look exciting. But for a deck that turns a bunch of creatures sideways, the effect that this Throne provides can do some work!

This artifact costs only 2 mana, so it’s not going to wreck your mana curve. At the beginning of each of your end steps, each opponent loses life equal to the number of tapped creatures you control. This card is good in aggro for a couple of reasons. First of all, you have Zombie decks that have Zombies coming into play tapped. Even though you can’t attack with them, the Throne allows those Zombies to actually do damage before they’re able to do anything else. See this White/Black Zombies list that ran two copies of Throne of the God-Pharaoh. It topped a tournament.

But Zombies aren’t the only aggro deck that can use the Throne. Earlier we mentioned Obelisk of Urd. This artifact costs 6 mana to cast, which doesn’t seem to fit in an aggro deck at all. However, it has the Convoke mechanic. It’s similar to Amonkhet’s Improvise mechanic, except that instead of tapping artifacts to help pay for its mana cost, you tap creatures. Even though this can slow down an aggro deck’s onslaught, the payoff is that your creatures of a chosen type all gain +2/+2.

Now, this Modern Elves deck list that placed 6th at a tournament didn’t run Obelisk of Urd. But it did run one copy of the Throne, plus a copy of another popular card with Convoke, Chord of Calling. There are also two additional copies in the sideboard. The Chord allows you to play a creature straight from your deck at Instant speed! The Throne is good to have on board to allow you to deal some extra damage from a turn where you used Convoke to cast Chord of Calling.

But since you’re not going to be getting any creatures with a converted mana cost higher than 3 in this deck, that’s not the big payoff for the Throne. Elves tap themselves a lot to provide mana, so this means that by tapping your mana dorks, the Throne will actually turn that tapping into a weapon against your opponent. It’s a neat piece of tech.

While it hasn’t been widely adopted quite yet, the Throne of the God-Pharaoh looks like it can do a lot of work. It may allow for some decks, such as we saw with Elves, a way to speed up the clock against their opponents. It’s a neat card and we haven’t seen it at its best yet.

Magic the Gathering Stock Watch - Oblivion Sower Price Still Near All-Time Low

5/24/2017

Oblivion Sower is one of a number of good, cheap Magic the Gathering cards from the Battle for Zendikar set.

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Oblivion Sower is a pretty good Eldrazi. At one time, the 6-mana creature was well over $8 a copy. Nowadays, you can find copies of Oblivion Sower for just over $1. He's been long forgotten in Standard, and related to the sideboard of Modern Eldrazi Tron decks.

But in Legacy, he's been seen as a four-of in a tournament winning Eldrazi deck. He also sees a good amount of play in Commander. EDHREC has Oblivion Sower listed in over 2800 decks. Still, with a Duel Deck foil printing, there are a lot of copies out there in the wild.

Legacy demand alone won't drive this card in the way that the format used to, but it's so widely usable in Commander that copies will always be selling. But, if a Modern deck happens to win a major event with multiple copies in the 75, it's likely this card could end up spiking in price.

If a price spike doesn't happen ever again for Oblivion Sower, it's hard to see this card ever being worth less than $1. So if you need your copies, now is as good a time as any to pick up Oblivion Sower.