Category: Modern - Life... Successfully

Will Echo of Eons from Modern Horizons Break the Modern Format?

6/1/2019

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

When perusing the spoilers of new sets, savvy Magic the Gathering players are looking for cards that will impact one or more formats. In the case of Modern Horizons, many cards from the set will impact Modern and Commander. But one card stands out as a card that may actually be a lot more powerful than Wizards of the Coast may have intended. That card is the mythic rare Echo of Eons, a reimagined version of the Power Nine card, Timetwister.

Timetwister is banned in every format except Vintage and Commander for a reason. It’s extremely powerful. For only three mana, you and your opponents shuffle your hand and graveyard back into your library and each draw seven new cards. While it’s a symmetrical effect on paper, depending on the state of the game, it may not be. Putting that Timetwister effect into Modern is quite dangerous. Sure, Echo of Eons costs six mana (4UU) to cast, but it also has a flashback cost of only three (2U). That means as soon as Echo of Eons hits your graveyard, you have a functional Timetwister at your disposal.

Of course, because it is six mana to cast normally, it doesn’t appear overpowered. In fact, at six mana, the effect is probably almost fair, since all players benefit. But it’s not hard to toss this card into the graveyard early. There are decks more than happy to toss it in the bin and cast it for its flashback cost as early as turn two - perhaps, even turn one!

The sentiment among the player community is that it’s more likely that Echo of Eons will be more broken in Legacy. Some people are even expecting it to be banned. Then again, as it plays out, it will be interesting to see if it’s as powerful as it appears on paper. After all, Day’s Undoing - another card similar to Timetwister - never took off, but it also ended your turn if you cast it on your turn. Even so, Day’s Undoing has found homes in Modern and Legacy, although not in high level decks. Echo of Eons may prove to be better, but only time will tell.

The one deck that has tried out Echo of Eons with some success is Ad Nauseum Tendrils combo in Legacy. It's typically just one copy in the sideboard as a target for Burning Wish - also the way the deck often gets Tendrils of Agony into its hand. It's not a key component of the deck, but it's certainly a good card to have in a pinch.

Do you think Echo of Eons will break Modern, or more likely Legacy? If so, will it end up banned in one or more formats?

Is the First Sliver the Best Sliver Ever?

5/24/2019

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

The First Sliver is easily one of the most flavorful Slivers ever printed in Magic the Gathering. This mythic rare legendary creature is featured in Modern Horizons, a set designed to introduce powerful new cards into the Modern competitive format, as well as other Eternal formats such as Legacy and Commander. While some players aren’t sure that The First Silver will overtake the stalwart Sliver Overlord as the Commander of choice for Sliver decks in EDH, this is easily the most powerful Sliver ever printed. Not only is The First Sliver a 7/7 for 5 mana with Cascade, but it gives other Sliver creatures you control Cascade, as well.

What is Cascade?

For those unfamiliar with the Cascade mechanic, it was introduced during the Shards of Alara block. Whenever you cast a spell with Cascade, you reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal a nonland card that has a lower converted mana cost than the cast spell. So, in the case of The First Sliver, which costs 5 total mana to cast, any spell that you reveal that costs a total of four mana or less is automatically cast.

Cascade is a very popular mechanic that is best known on Bloodbraid Elf. In fact, Cascade was so powerful that at one time, Bloodbraid Elf was banned in Modern. This is no longer the case. Two other powerful Cascade cards in Modern are Demonic Dread and Violent Outburst, both of which cost three mana each. They are both played in the Living End deck in Modern, as Living End has no converted mana cost, meaning that it can either be suspended or cast through Cascade spells. To ensure that those Cascade spells always hit, every other spell in the deck costs 3 mana or more. It’s a pretty powerful deck.

How will Cascade work with Slivers?

As Slivers are meant to multiply quickly, The First Sliver finally creates an opportunity for Slivers to become a much quicker deck archetype. While five-color decks can be tricky to make work in Modern, the payoff of The First Sliver may be worth it. After all, there is Sliver Hive, which helps to fix mana for casting Slivers - which is a card that immediately got bought up when Slivers were revealed in the Modern Horizons set. There have been Sliver decks in Modern in the past, but they were never top-tier competitive decks. This may now change with the existence of a boss monster that gives the deck instant card advantage.

Because The First Sliver also gives other Slivers you control Cascade, every Sliver you then cast will cast yet another spell. While this is powerful, it does force the deck builder to be careful about setting up a mana curve that takes full advantage of Cascade. It’s also important to remember that if you hit another card that has Cascade, because that spell is actually cast (for free), that Cascade trigger will occur.

But, hold on for a moment before you get too, too excited. While The First Sliver will likely hit another Sliver with its Cascade ability, that Sliver doesn’t get Cascade until The First Sliver resolves. This means that The First Sliver doesn’t immediately bring a whole bunch of Slivers with it. However, once The First Sliver and the other Sliver have resolved, each Sliver spell cast afterward WILL set off a chain.

So, let’s say that you cast The First Sliver and it cascades into a Blur Sliver. That Blur Sliver will only gain Cascade after both spells resolve. But then, any Sliver you cast afterward WILL have Cascade. So, say you have a four-mana Sliver like Bonescythe Sliver. If you cast that, you will then hit a three-mana or less spell.

If that spell you hit with Cascade is a three-mana Sliver, such as Blur Sliver, it will now have Cascade and then hit a two-mana spell or less. If you hit a two-mana spell that’s another Sliver, such as Manaweft Sliver, it will then cascade into a one-mana or zero-cost spell. Then, if you hit a one-mana Sliver such as Galerider Sliver, it will then again attempt to cascade into a 0-cost spell. Mox Tantalite, anyone?

Of course, you won’t always hit a perfect chain of four mana into three mana into two mana into one mana, etc. A lot of times you will just have The First Sliver hit a one-mana spell. But that’s OK, because the possibility for a Cascade chain exists, and that’s why The First Sliver allows lines of play that are very powerful.

How Will The First Sliver Improve Existing Competitive Modern Sliver Decks?

Previously, the best competitive Modern Sliver decks utilized Collected Company to give the deck the ability to cast one or two Slivers at once. Of course, Collected Company doesn’t guarantee that you will hit anything, as it only looks at the top six cards of your deck. Collected Company is quite powerful in that you can put up to two creatures with converted mana cost 3 or less into play for only four mana. It’s actually pretty consistent, but it greatly limits how you can construct your deck.

Because Collected Company is suddenly no longer necessary, you have much more freedom in what Slivers you decide to play in your deck. One card that will definitely remain in Slivers is Aether Vial - which you could also hit with Cascade. Aether Vial is actually OK in interrupting the Sliver chain because of what it does. The Vial has the ability to let you put a charge counter on it at the beginning of each of your upkeep steps. Then, at any time, you can tap the Vial to put a creature from your hand into play that has a converted mana cost equal to the number of charge counters on that Aether Vial.

Having multiple Vials in play is OK, because you can choose to not put a charge counter on one Vial, but choose to tick up another. Aether Vial is fine in this deck, even with Cascade. That’s because having Vial in play only speeds up the deck further and ramps up the consistency of the deck.

Will the First Sliver be a Good Sliver Commander in EDH?

The early consensus among Commander players is that The First Sliver is better served as one of the 99 cards in a Sliver Overlord deck. It would seem players seem to consider The First Sliver as the second best option now ahead of Sliver Hivelord, Sliver Queen, and Sliver Legion. As powerful as The First Sliver is, its power is much more concentrated in a 60-card deck where you can play multiple copies of key Slivers. That being said, there are enough Slivers and other Cascade cards, such as Maelstrom Wanderer and Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, that can make Cascade with Slivers extremely powerful in Commander.

We will definitely return to examining the most powerful build of The First Sliver in EDH as players begin to upload lists online.

Are There New Slivers in Modern Horizons to Complement The First Sliver?

There are a few new Sliver creatures in Modern Horizons. One is a two-mana red and white Sliver called Cloudshredder Sliver. This little guy is actually quite powerful, in that he gives Sliver creatures flying and haste (himself included). Another is Lavabelly Sliver, a three mana red and white Sliver that gives all Slivers you control an enter the battlefield ability: “When this creature enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to target player or planeswalker and you gain 1 life.”

Tempered Sliver is a three-mana Green sliver that gives your Slivers “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.” I’m not sure this is one that will see a bunch of Modern play, but it will certainly see play in Commander. There’s also the 3-mana Red Hollowhead Sliver, which turns all of your Slivers into Merfolk Looters - tap to discard a card and draw a card. It’s not bad.

One of the most interesting new Slivers is Dregscape Sliver, a two-mana Black Sliver who gives all Slivers Unearth for 2 mana. Unearth gives a creature the ability to return to the battlefield from the graveyard and gain haste. However, that creature is exiled at the next end step and Unearth can only be used as a Sorcery. Still, considering all of the abilities that Slivers can give one another, this is a Sliver that could prove relevant.

Other new slivers include First Sliver’s Chosen, Scuttling Sliver, Enduring Sliver, and Lancer Sliver.

Could Morophon, the Boundless and The First Sliver Be Best Friends?

Also, while he’s not actually a Sliver, Morophon, the Boundless could prove to be important in a five-color Slivers deck. First off, he’s a Changeling, meaning that he counts as a Sliver because he is every creature type at once. Also, when he enters the battlefield, you choose a creature type. Creatures of the chosen type have their mana costs reduced by one of every color of mana (WUBRG). This makes The First Sliver and other 5-color Sliver legends essentially free to cast. If that wasn’t enough, Morophon also makes other creatures of the chosen type gain +1/+1 while he’s on the field.

While Morophon is a whopping 7 colorless mana to cast, he’s pretty much good no matter when he comes down in a game. He’s going to be dramatically cutting the casting costs of your Slivers, or he’ll serve as a Sliver himself, or he’ll be helping you Cascade. He seems like an auto-include in any Sliver deck at this point. He’s also going to be a mighty fun Tribal Commander.

Also, existing Changelings such as Chameleon Colossus and Mirror Entity will likely see play in a deck built around The First Sliver. They see Modern play already and can fit into the Sliver game plan already, so expect to see deck builds that incorporate those two. There’s also the common Imposter of the Sixth Pride, a 2 mana 3/1 vanilla Changeling, who may end up being relevant.

The First Sliver is a creature that breathes new life into a Tribe that was becoming stagnant. It’s a tribe that’s already hung around the outskirts of Modern. Sliver Tribal has always been a fun deck, but now it has the tools to become an actual contender in Modern. Slivers can become a deck that can overwhelm the board in a hurry. There’s a lot to be excited about here and a lot of creative decks will likely come out of the new Slivers introduced in Modern Horizons.

Jeskai Ascendancy in Modern: 2019 Edition

3/30/2019

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Jeskai Ascendancy was one of the more exciting cards to come out of the Magic: the Gathering set Khans of Tarkir. It’s an enchantment that gives you a couple of things to do anytime you cast a noncreature spell: it gives creatures you control +1/+1, plus gives you the option to draw a card and discard a card - otherwise known as looting. Even being three colors to cast, it’s a pretty powerful card in a Jeskai deck.

When the powerful Monastery Mentor and his army of Monk tokens were in Standard, Jeskai Ascendancy was a key card in the Jeskai strategy. Not only did the Ascendancy pump the Mentor and tokens, but the Mentor and tokens themselves had Prowess, which gave each of them an additional +1/+1 for each noncreature spell you cast.

The Mentor strategy carried over to Legacy, where there are plenty of cheap powerful noncreature spells to fuel the Mentor. But, Jeskai Ascendancy wasn’t a key part of the Legacy strategy. It seemed eventually that Jeskai Ascendancy would eventually break through in Modern, though. While it would make occasional top appearances at Modern tournaments here and there, it wasn’t until March 2019 when a list took down a Magic Online Competitive Modern League.

Here is that Jeskai Ascendancy Combo Modern deck list piloted by Kayu:

Jeskai Ascendancy Combo

LANDS (20)
2 Faerie Conclave
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents

CREATURES (6)
4 Fatestitcher
2 Monastery Mentor

INSTANTS and SORCERIES (30)
4 Faithless Looting
4 Opt
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Spell Pierce
4 Thought Scour
2 Visions of Beyond

ENCHANTMENTS (4)
4 Jeskai Ascendancy

SIDEBOARD
2 Abrade
1 Dispel
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Negate
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Timely Reinforcements
3 Young Pyromancer

The strategy of this Jeskai Ascendancy deck is pretty straightforward. Fatestitcher allows you to tap or untap target permanents, which either allows you to untap your lands or tap down opponent’s cards. Then, each time you cast one of the cheap noncreature spells in the deck, Monastery Mentor creates a 1/1 Cleric token with Prowess. With the addition of Jeskai Ascendancy in play, you get the extra +1/+1 on top of the Prowess, plus the ability to loot for additional spells to play.

Unlike some enchantments, Jeskai Ascendancy is actually a card you don’t mind having more than one of in play at one time. Each copy of the Ascendancy gives you another +1/+1 trigger, as well as another “looting” trigger. Also, casting additional copies of the Ascendancy, as a noncreature spell, triggers Prowess and any other Jeskai Ascendancy in play. This deck can overwhelm quite quickly if Mentor is allowed to stick around in play.

Also, this deck has the ability to bring in Young Pyromancer and Timely Reinforcements from the sideboard, so that the deck can keep up with more aggressive decks.

This isn’t the only competitive Jeskai Ascendancy deck that appeared in March 2019. Here’s another interesting approach to a 4-color Jeskai Ascendancy Modern deck that uses Glittering Wish as a toolbox card to search out any multi-colored card from the sideboard.

Glittering Jeskai Ascendancy

LANDS (17)
1 Botanical Sanctum
1 Breeding Pool
4 Flooded Strand
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Steam Vents
1 Temple Garden

CREATURES (11)
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Fatestitcher
4 Sylvan Caryatid

INSTANTS and SORCERIES (28)
3 Cerulean Wisps
2 Faithless Looting
4 Glittering Wish
1 Lightning Bolt
4 Manamorphose
1 Mystic Speculation
1 Nagging Thoughts
1 Noxious Revival
1 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
1 Silence
4 Sleight of Hand
1 Swan Song

ENCHANTMENTS (4)
1 Abundant Growth
3 Jeskai Ascendancy

SIDEBOARD
1 Abrade
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Detention Sphere
1 Failure / Comply
1 Fiery Justice
1 Flesh / Blood
1 Jeskai Ascendancy
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Path to Exile
1 Scarscale Ritual
2 Silence
1 Swan Song

The idea of beating down your opponent with Birds of Paradise (and Fatestitchers perhaps) is a pretty wild thing. But, with this deck, that is completely possible, and actually expected. It’s a clever deck, for sure. While it didn’t take down a Competitive Modern League, it certainly held its own as a neat brew.

With Jeskai Ascendancy showing it's competitive with the rest of the Modern format in 2019, it’s an enchantment that you could definitely be adding to your Magic: the Gathering card collection. Going into April 2019, it was still remarkably cheap - $0.50 nonfoil, $2.50 to $3.00 in foil). But, it would also be in the top 10 of best selling Magic cards on TCGPlayer going into April 2019. By mid-July 2019, Jeskai Ascendancy would creep up in price to nearly $2 in foil and over $7 in foil. Jeskai Ascendancy is not a card you will want to miss out on before it starts seeing more play!

Is Jeskai Charm Good in Modern? - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

1/5/2018

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Jeskai Charm is the URW (Blue, Red & White) card in the 5-card cycle of Charms from Khans of Tarkir. Each is based around the colors of the 5 Tarkir Clans. This one is especially interesting in that one of its modes is the same as a very popular card in Modern, Boros Charm. But all three modes are decent. While it’s seen some Standard play, is it good enough to see significant play in the non-rotating Modern format?

These are your three choices:

Put target creature on top of its owner's library
Jeskai Charm deals 4 damage to target opponent
Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain lifelink until end of turn

The first mode is essentially Griptide, a 4-mana card (3U) printed in Theros & Dark Ascension. Forcing a creature away and forcing an opponent to draw is nice. Likewise, you can use it to save one of your own creatures, as long as you don't mind having it as the next card you draw. For 3 mana, that's a really good deal.

The second mode is much like the first and most popular mode on the popular burn spell, Boros Charm: deal 4 damage to a player. You can also redirect that damage to a planeswalker - unless the defending player has a Leyline of Sanctity on the board - because to direct the damage to a planeswalker, you have to be able to target the opponent first. This mode is a bit redundant in Modern, as why would you want to pay one more mana for it?

The third mode gives creatures you control +1/+1 and lifelink until end of turn. The quick boost in power is good, but the lifelink is even better. It's hard to say how often this mode would be used in Modern, but it's a great option to have late in games. In a deck that runs Monastery Mentor, being able to give the Mentor and his tokens an additional +1/+1 and lifelink in addition to their Prowess triggers seems good enough to play this card.

All three of these modes are solid enough, and Jeskai (Red/White/Blue) is a popular archetype in Modern. Here’s one Jeskai Midrange deck that saw some success on Magic Online, and this Jeskai Geist of Saint Traft deck from a Modern PPTQ. A few decks have played one copy in either the main board or the side board. Being in three colors isn’t really a problem in Modern. Yet, these lists are from 2017. Jeskai Charm hasn't seen competitive Modern play since.

Why is Jeskai Charm not seeing play in Modern despite its versatility? Boros Charm is strictly better for the 4 damage, due to being one mana less. The Griptide effect isn’t bad, and is useful for Tempo, but it would easily be the rarest used mode in that format. The last ability is probably the one that would be the best use for this card in Jeskai Modern decks, since they typically run Monastery Mentor or other creatures, such as Restoration Angel, that would happily take the boost and lifelink.

All that being said, is Jeskai Charm good enough for Modern? It certainly fits into what those colors are trying to do in Modern, and as a one-of is a nice utility card. However, it probably won’t ever be a staple in the format.

Read more Magic the Gathering Modern articles here.

Magic the Gathering - Mono-Green Infect - Budget Modern Deck Profile (November 2017)

11/19/2017

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

The Modern format can be very expensive for Magic players, especially with so many decks that need the increasingly expensive fetch-lands. So when building Modern decks that are reasonably budget friendly, we are looking to keep the deck's total cost less than $200 USD and really no higher than $250. This one is actually under $75, and it’s Mono-Green Infect.

Mono-Red Burn is is often the least expensive deck to play in Modern that has a definite chance if being competitive. But Mono-Green Infect can definitely hold its own. There are other budget variants, such as Mono-Black Infect, which is more of a control-oriented build. Then there's a deck on opposite side of the financial spectrum with BUG Infect, which is more consistent, but requires quite an investment in the mana base. (Also, the banning of Gitaxian Probe in Modern really hurt the deck.)

For today’s list, we’ll base it off of a list run by Wigi in a MTGO Modern Premier. He piloted the deck to a 4-1 finish, but that was back in 2014. To update this list to include newer cards, there are some major adjustments made to the list. Let’s take a look.

CREATURES

4 Glistener Elf
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Necropede

NON-CREATURES

4 Apostle’s Blessing
4 Rancor
4 Groundswell
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Blossoming Defense
2 Become Immense

LAND

16 Forest
4 Cathedral of War
2 Pendelhaven

The deck plays only 12 creatures, all of which have infect. Let’s break them down.

The most basic of the Infect creatures, Glistener Elf is just a 1/1 Elf Warrior for a single green mana. For those that have never played Infect, essentially, Infect creatures deal damage in the form of -1/-1 counters instead of regular damage and in the form of poison counters to players. Once a player reaches 10 poison counters, that player automatically loses the game. It sounds like a cheap win condition, but it’s easier said than done.

Ichorclaw Myr is a very strong Infect creature from Scars of Mirrodin. It’s actually only a common, as well. It’s a 1/1 Infect creature for 2 colorless mana, but whenever it becomes blocked, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn. With all of the “pump” spells in this deck, this means that the Ichorclaw will win a lot of combats that you wouldn’t expect it to win.

Necropede is a very solid artifact creature. It’s a 1/1 for 2 colorless mana, but it has an added effect when it dies: allowing you to put a -1/-1 counter on a target creature. It’s not quite as good as Ichorclaw Myr, but it’s a solid Infect creature nonetheless.

Now onto the non-creature spells. There is actually one non-Green card in the deck.

One of the defining elements of the New Phyrexia set was the Phyrexian mana symbols. These symbols allow you to pay 2 life rather than the colored mana cost of a card. Apostle’s Blessing ordinarily costs 1W to cast, but as this is a mono-green deck, you will pretty much always be paying 1 colorless and 2 life.

What’s so useful about this card is that it gives a creature (or artifact) protection from a color of your choice or artifacts until end of turn. The artifact part is especially useful when facing decks that utilize artifact creatures like Solemn Simulacrum and Wurmcoil Engine, both of which are seen quite often in Modern. That protection can give one of your Infect creatures the chance to strike for lethal, an effect well worth paying 2 life for. That’s why there are 4 copies of it in this deck.

Rancor is a very strong Green Enchantment that was last printed in Magic 2013. It wasn’t in Standard when Infect was, but it was a very popular card whenever it was in Standard. For only a single Green mana, the Enchanted creature gains +2/+0 and trample. Then, when it’s put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you return it to its owner’s hand.

Gaining that extra two power and trample allows you to be far more aggressive in attacking, especially when knowing you’ll get Rancor back if and when that creature dies in combat or is removed from the field. Multiple copies of Rancor on a creature can spell the end of the game for your opponent.

I should note that the effect to return it to your hand only works if it actually makes it onto the battlefield. Were you to try to equip it to a creature and that creature is destroyed before the Enchantment resolves, it will simply go to the graveyard and it won’t come back.

Groundswell looks like an ordinary pump spell, +2/+2 to a target creature until end of turn for a single green mana. But being from the Zendikar block, it has a Landfall ability on it. If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control during the turn that you play this, that creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn instead. That’s quite potent when sticking it on an Infect creature.

Vines of Vastwood from Zendikar does something similar to Groundswell, but in a different way. For one green, a target creature can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control this turn. This is handy for stopping opponent’s removal spells. But if you pay an additional green mana as you play it, that creature gains +4/+4 until end of turn, as well. It’s a very strong kicker spell that can both protect your creature and make it bigger.

Mutagenic Growth serves multiple purposes in this deck. In fact, mono-Green infect isn’t the only Modern deck that this card sees play in. It sees play in Zoo, as well. Giving a target creature +2/+2 until end of turn helps creatures get out of the range of Lightning Bolt, and considering that this card has the alternative Phyrexian mana cost (2 life), you don’t even have to have open mana to play it. In an infect deck, it’s just another couple damage, but keep in mind that it can help you win combats that you may not otherwise win, and your opponent must be aware that you don’t need open mana to play it. It’s a very strong card.

While older lists ran Ranger’s Guile, the Kaladesh set offered something far more powerful in Blossoming Defense. It's similar to Vines of Vastwood in that your opponent’s spells and abilities can’t target the creature you choose. It also gives that creature +2/+2, which isn’t quite as good as the Vines, but no kicker is involved. You play this card more to protect creatures from removal. The +2/+2 boost is just a nice bonus.

There are the full four copies of it in this deck, taking the place of 2 Ranger's Guile and 2 copies of Might of Old Krosa.

Might of Old Krosa was actually $10 a copy for a time, as it’s a staple in many Modern Infect decks. Fortunately, a Modern Masters 2017 reprinting put this card back in budget range.

For a single Green mana, it gives a target creature +2/+2 until end of turn. However, if you play it during your main phase, and not as a combat trick, that creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn instead. Because it’s not as useful as a combat trick, there are only 2 copies of it in the deck. It’s a very solid card nonetheless.

The original version this list is based on ran two copies of Giant Growth, as classic a pump spell as you can get. Giant Growth is still as good as it ever was. In an Infect deck, +3/+3 for one Green mana as a combat trick is extremely potent.

But Khans of Tarkir gave us Become Immense. While on the surface it costs 6 mana to cast, it has Delve, which allows you to remove cards from your graveyard to make it cheaper. The +6/+6 can win you a game out of nowhere. As just another +3/+3 pump spell, Giant Growth is now redundant.

Now we take a look at the lands. We start with 12 basic Forests. Then we have an interesting card called Cathedral of War.

The Magic 2013 Core Set had an interesting sub-theme of Exalted in it. However, there weren’t enough good Exalted cards to make it very useful in Standard. At one time, during the Shards of Alara block, Exalted was a very potent mechanic. It existed on some very popular creatures, including Noble Hierarch, which is still an extremely popular card in Modern and Legacy today. What Exalted does is give a creature that is attacking alone an additional +1/+1 until end of turn.

As there are four copies of Cathedral of War in this deck, that’s a potential additional +4/+4 as long as you have a creature attacking alone, which oftentimes with this deck is not all that unusual. The one downside to this card is that it enters the battlefield tapped, but in a deck like this with such a low mana curve, that’s not a huge drawback.

You may wonder how a card with the old Magic border is in Modern. Because Pendelhaven was printed as a Time-shifted special card in Time Spiral, it is considered part of Modern. (There is also a Modern-bordered Friday Night Magic version, as well.) Pendelhaven is a Legendary Land that allows you to add Green mana to your mana pool, but it also has a tap ability to give a target 1/1 creature +1/+2 until end of turn. This makes any of your 1/1 creatures into 2/3’s before you pump them at all. The fact that it can also double as a Forest is very useful. It’s a very strong card first printed back in the early days of Legends.

For the sideboard, we have 4 Tormod’s Crypt, a zero-drop that can tap to remove all cards from a target player’s graveyard. This can deal with any graveyard strategies, and hurt opposing Tarmogoyfs by depriving them of card types in the graveyard. There are 4 copies of Nature’s Claim, which is a one-drop Green instant that destroys a target artifact or enchantment, but gives that player 4 life. Then again, life totals do not matter when you are playing an Infect deck.

There are 2 copies of Fog in the sideboard, to help protect you from aggressive strategies that simply have more creatures than you can handle. By playing Fog when an opponent is swinging out, you get to prevent all combat damage. There are also two more copies of Might of Old Krosa, and an additional copy of Ranger’s Guile.

The last card in the sideboard is two copies of Pithing Needle. It’s a very useful 1-drop Artifact that can stop the activated abilities of many different sorts of cards, including specific fetch-lands, artifacts, or planeswalkers that might deal you a problem. It was very good against Deathrite Shaman when it was legal in Modern, but that card is now banned. It still deals with a lot and is a good inclusion in most Modern sideboards.

You may wonder what happened to one of the premier infect cards in Magic, Inkmoth Nexus. This land from Mirrodin Besiged is the center of any infect-based deck. In fact, it is such a good card that during the Scars of Mirrodin block days of Standard, a lot of decks played it just to make opponents have to worry about it. It’s a colorless land that can become a 1/1 artifact creature with flying and infect until end of turn for only a single mana. With just a few pump spells, one Nexus can finish a game on its own.

The problem is that the cost of four Nexus doubles the cost of the entire deck. A playset of Nexus can cost about $70 (as of November 2017). It's because Inkmoth Nexus also sees a lot of play in Modern Affinity decks that can equip it with a card like Cranial Plating for a quick finish. If you do want to pick up a playset of Inkmoth Nexus, it is well worth the investment.

If you’re looking to be competitive in the Modern format on the cheap without having to resort to Mono-Red Burn decks, this might be a good option for you. Mono-Black Infect is a bit less expensive, but not quite as consistent in winning. All of the cards in this deck, perhaps with the exception of Cathedral of War, are played in Modern and other formats. So, building this deck is also a great boost to your collection!

If you’re looking for another Modern deck for you that you can build on the cheap, let us know what archetypes you would like to play. Then, we'll build the best deck that we can under $200.

Read more Magic the Gathering Modern articles here.

Is Deflecting Palm a Modern Burn Sideboard Staple? - Magic the Gathering Q and A

5/10/2017

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Deflecting Palm is an instant from Khans of Tarkir with an effect in the vein of Reverse Damage and Divine Deflection. But Reverse Damage gained you life instead of dealing damage, and Divine Deflection required a mana investment of X - making it very inconsistent and usually rather inefficient as a sideboard card.

With all of the damage that some decks can dole out, Deflecting Palm can serve as a valuable secret weapon. As good as this card can be, though, it never took off in Standard as a regular sideboard card. While it seems like it would be good against the monster that Atarka Red became in Standard, it was considered too narrow to keep in the board.

Despite missing its chance to make an impact in Standard, Deflecting Palm is definitely useful enough to hold onto. In fact, Deflecting Palm is a one or two-of in most Modern Naya Burn and Boros Burn sideboards. It’s good in a lot of match-ups, and even in those that it ordinarily isn’t, two or three points of damage swung the other way can mean the difference between a loss and a out-of-nowhere victory.

Why is Deflecting Palm Good in Modern?

One of the main reasons Deflecting Palm is a one-of in many Modern sideboards is that it helps Burn decks find the last few points of damage that can sometimes be elusive. What matchups is it best against?

The coolest thing about Deflecting Palm is that it does not actually target a source of damage. This means it can get around hexproof, such as creatures targeted by Vines of Vastwood. It also means that a deck like Bogles which lives on hexproof creatures such as Gladecover Scout and Slippery Bogle isn’t protected from Deflecting Palm. So this is a perfect counter to a pumped up Bogle, too. It also can’t be stopped by the popular Spellskite, since Deflecting Palm never targets.

Is Deflecting Palm Good Against Infect?

Another matchup that comes to mind is Infect. Even though the damage is no longer infect damage once Deflecting Palm redirects it, all you have to do is wait until your opponent uses a great many pump spells on one creature in a bid for the win. It’s usually going to be in the neighborhood of 10 damage you’re throwing back at your opponent’s face. If you’re playing a Burn deck, that’s usually going to be enough to win the game outright. Infect likes to win quick. Even if Deflecting Palm doesn’t win the game right there and then, it’s made the Infect player expend enough resources that they may not be able to reload before the rest of your burn spells finish them off.

Deflecting Palm and Emrakul & Other Eldrazi Titans

Another great use for Deflecting Palm is against the massive Eldrazi. Even Emrakul, the Aeons Torn can’t stop 15 damage from being redirected to its controller’s face, even with protection from colored spells. You’re only choosing a source of damage - not actually targeting the creature. If you play Deflecting Palm in response to Emrakul’s annihilator trigger, it’s usually good game for you - as 15 damage is a lot for any opponent to take. Against a Kozilek or Ulamog, it’s pretty much a win for you, too.

Because it doesn’t target, any protection that a creature might have from colored spells doesn’t matter. This includes popular creatures like Etched Champion in Affinity. It’s also to good to have in the deck in case you’re going up against a huge Arcbound Ravager, so playing against Affinity is a good time to bring it in.

Is Deflecting Palm Good Against Lifelink?

Yes, Deflecting Palm nerfs opposing creatures with lifelink. Because the damage becomes prevented first, the lifelink no longer applies when the damage is then re-dealt by the effect of the Palm. It’s really good in the corner cases where you may be staring down a Serra Ascendant or massive Bogle with Daybreak Coronet attached. Also, if you have a Soulfire Grand Master in play, you benefit from getting the lifelink from any damage it causes.

What’s Deflecting Palm NOT So Good Against?

People will ask if Deflecting Palm is good against cards like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle or Grapeshot on a regular basis. The way that Deflecting Palm is worded, it only affects the next time a source of your choice would deal damage. Because Valakut has so many triggers and Grapeshot has Storm (meaning you actually copy the spell) you only get to stop one instance of damage.

Can Deflecting Palm Be Good Against Scapeshift Decks?

Deflecting Palm can be good against Scapeshift if your opponent doesn’t have enough triggers to win the game if you can prevent 3 of the damage. Similarly against Grapeshot and Storm decks, you can stop 1 of the damage. Sometimes your opponent will have just enough for exact damage, and you can delay their win by a turn. It's probably not a great card to sideboard in against Scapeshift, though.

Is Deflecting Palm Good Against Ad Nauseum Decks?

Another common question is if Deflecting Palm is good against Lightning Storm, a win condition of the Ad Nauseam Combo deck. In a vacuum, yes, Deflecting Palm would throw the Lightning Storm right back at your opponent. But Angel’s Grace can put that down in a hurry. Still, the alternate way to go below 0 life, Phyrexian Unlife, would likely turn a lot of that damage into infect. So it’s not the worst card to have in reserve against that deck, especially if you’re sure Lightning Storm is their win condition.

Deflecting Palm and Double Strike

Another thing that Deflecting Palm isn’t so good against is double strike - something that Boros Charm gives creatures all the time in Modern. It only stops one half of the damage, whether it’s the first strike or regular damage. Speaking of Boros Charm, Deflecting Palm is pretty good against that card’s 4 damage to the face mode - but you need to watch for Skullcrack, which is an extremely popular card in Modern, especially in Burn mirror matches.

Future Value of Deflecting Palm

With the bannings of Splinter Twin and Summer Bloom in Modern, two of the decks that Deflecting Palm wasn’t too good against are no longer in play. Deflecting Palm was useless against the essentially infinite number of Deceiver Exarch tokens with haste that Splinter Twin could make. Amulet Bloom decks had Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion to give Primeval Titan double strike, and Pact of Negation usually stopped it in its tracks. The decks that have replaced Bloom are either Scapeshift or Red/Green decks that use Kessig Wolf Run’s pump ability to win the game with the Titan. Deflecting Palm has no problem throwing Wolf Run’s damage back.

Even before the bannings and major metagame shifts, Deflecting Palm had a 5x foil multiplier when it comes to price - with non-foils at about 50 cents vs $2.50 for foils. Modern sideboard cards have a funny way of driving up foil prices. Naya Burn and similar decks are so popular that even one or two foil copies coming off the market still goes a long way in price growth. By late 2017, non-foil Deflecting Palm would pass $1.50 and foils pushed $5.

While I wouldn't recommend hoarding every Deflecting Palm you can find, keeping a few in your collection is a good move. While it’s not good against every deck, if you’re already throwing a lot of burn spells around, you never know when you might need those last few points of damage to win the game.

Read more Magic the Gathering Modern articles here.

Abundance - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Modern Card Review

3/9/2017

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Originally printed in Urza's Saga, Abundance is a very good Enchantment that was reprinted in Magic the Gathering's Tenth Edition Core Set. While legal in Modern, 4-mana enchantments don't really see play in the format. Still, Abundance is a great card that many Commander and Cube players were happy to see reprinted in Duel Decks: Nissa vs Ob Nixilis.

What's great about Abundance is that it allows you to be able to not draw a land if you want to. It also allows you to draw a land if you do want. In a format like Commander, Abundance can be invaluable. Getting mana-screwed (not enough land to play your spells) or mana-flooded (too many lands and not enough spells) are common issues in the format. This Enchantment offers very useful card selection, although, it is a bit mana-intensive for a highly competitive format like Modern.

Despite not seeing play in top tournament play, Abundance is a highly sought after card due to having such a useful effect. Green decks often have access to more than 4 mana on turn 4, so this can come down as early as turn 2 in some decks. Abundance was a nearly $4 card before the Duel Deck reprint and it's still creeping back up. While you can't expect to see this card in a top 8 Modern deck, Abundance is a great card that you shouldn't overlook in a trade binder.

Read more Magic the Gathering Modern articles here.

Fetch Lands, Tri Lands, and Guildgates, Oh My! - Modern Masters 2017 Reprints (MTG)

2/27/2017

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

When three land cycles were released in Modern Masters 2017 spoilers, few players were probably surprised to see land cycles each at the common, uncommon, and rare rarities. What may have surprised some players is that the rare cycle of lands were the enemy-colored fetch lands from Zendikar!

That’s right. Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, and Verdant Catacombs are a part of the Modern Masters 2017 set. They’ve been awaiting reprints for years now, and considering that they are staples in the Modern format, it makes sense that a Modern Masters set finally contains them. Without a doubt, these are going to be five of the chase cards in the entire set (plus, a little Black sorcery called Damnation!)

Obviously, this reprint will put a huge dent in the prices of the original Zendikar printings of these five lands. At the time of the announcement, Arid Mesa was $50, Marsh Flats was $35, Misty Rainforest was $45, Scalding Tarn about $75, and Verdant Catacombs around $60. The supply of these was getting low due to pretty much every Magic player wanting at least four copies of each. They’re playable, and very good, in every format outside of Standard. Fetch lands not only fix mana quickly at the cost of only a single point of life, but shorten the number of lands that you draw, as well.

Still, we should not overlook that the five Shards of Alara tri lands are also included in the set. These are Arcane Sanctum, Crumbling Necropolis, Jungle Shrine, Savage Lands, and Seaside Citadel. While they don’t see much in the way of Constructed play anymore, they do see considerable play in Commander. The tri lands are also quite popular among casual players for mana fixing, as we’ve seen with the Khans of Tarkir tri lands. They do come into play tapped, but having access to three different colors of mana is worth the drawback. Even though these lands were reprinted in both the Commander 2013 and Commander 2016 product, there’s still a lot of demand for these.

The Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash Guildgates aren’t exciting, but they too see some play in the various Maze’s End decks that still roam at the fringes of Modern. They are also very popular among budget casual players and do indeed see play in Commander. While they come into play tapped, they are so easily obtainable that many players will use them as filler lands until they acquire more efficient mana sources.

These are some great lands to open not only for drafting and sealed deck purposes. These lands will be good to open for collection purposes and deck building, as well. The fetch lands themselves sell sets.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) - BUDGET Modern U/R Delver Deck Tech

12/14/2016

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Previously, I looked at a Blue/Red (U/R) Delver deck that was making waves in Modern. At the time, it was relatively budget, about $250 in paper with the majority of that price being Snapcaster Mages. As the prices of Snapcaster and Serum Visions were rocketing out of control, however, that list was no longer budget whatsoever. In mid-2019, that list would cost much more at $350.

The good news is that there is a Modern U/R Delver deck that emerged on Magic Online that is about $165 in paper (as of 4/2019) that went 4-0 in a Modern Daily back in July 2015. It's still a solid list to consider now. Plus, the price is still about the same as it was in 2016!

Here is the list as piloted by Nielsen333 on Magic Online.

CREATURES

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Young Pyromancer

NON-CREATURES

4 Sleight of Hand
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
4 Vapor Snag
3 Peek
2 Forked Bolt
2 Lava Spike
2 Mana Leak
2 Mutagenic Growth
1 Dispel
1 Repeal
1 Spell Snare
1 Spell Pierce

LANDS

5 Island
3 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Shivan Reef

Young Pyromancer has been a perfect combination with Delver of Secrets since the Delver deck archetype actually began in Legacy. While Modern's non-creature spells aren't quite of the power level of Legacy, making an army of 1/1 Elemental creature tokens every time you cast an instant or sorcery is extremely powerful. With the Delver deck being mostly about tempo in Modern, having a constant army of chump-blockers and pingers is going to be the foundation of this deck's success.

In place of Snapcaster Mage is a much more aggressive creature from Khans of Tarkir, Monastery Swiftspear. The Swiftspear has already seen plenty of play in Standard, Modern, and Legacy. With her Prowess ability, though, she can become quite a formidable presence on both offense and defense. With spells properly timed, the Swiftspear can deal powerful blows that would put stalwart red creatures like Goblin Guide to shame. With Delver flipping into the flying 3/2 Insectile Aberration, Delver now has more of an aggressive flair than its many tempo components would lead you to believe.

At the time, this list eschewed the typical (more expensive) inclusions of Gitaxian Probe and Serum Visions. This build used more affordable draw options Sleight of Hand and Peek. While the Scry ability of Serum Visions is somewhat superior to Sleight of Hand, this was a more budget way to get basically the same thing done. But, with the reprint in Conspiracy 2, Serum Visions are now about the same price as Sleight of Hand, making them a good substitute for the Peeks if you can get them. Gitaxian Probe has since been banned, as well.

Lightning Bolt and Vapor Snag are the burn and tempo all-stars, respectively. Remand and Mana Leak are the primary counterspells. The rest of the non-creature spells are interchangeable with those in the sideboard. In the board there are: 3 Molten Rain, 3 Rending Volley, 2 Dispel, 2 Electrickery, 2 Negate, 2 Roast, and 1 Forked Bolt. This assortment allows the deck to adjust to many different kinds of matchups.

Also, like previous incarnations of Delver in Modern, the deck doesn't need fetchlands. Steam Vents and Sulfur Falls aren't exactly inexpensive nowadays, but they are certainly less than a playset of Scalding Tarns.

If you're looking for a budget Modern deck, this version of Blue/Red (U/R) Delver should be a great place to start.

Read more Magic the Gathering Modern articles here.

Magic the Gathering - U/W Tallowisp Spirits & Auras Deck Tech (Modern / Casual)

11/2/2016

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

At one time in late 2016, Tallowisp from Betrayers of Kamigawa was getting a lot of attention. At first glance, this Spirit's effect seems cool. As we dig deeper, we'll see it's actually a pretty cool card. With Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon introducing some powerful Spirits to Magic: the Gathering, this card is definitely worth a look.

Basically, whenever you play a Spirit (or Arcane) spell, Tallowisp allows you search your deck for an Aura card and add it to your hand. So, does Tallowisp trigger itself? Sadly, the wording of its ability doesn't allow it to count itself when it enters the battlefield. This is because it already has to be on the board for its ability to take effect. However, Tallowisp has a 1/3 body, which is solid for 2 mana. The 3 toughness is relevant in Modern, which is a format with plenty of 2 power creatures.

Tallowisp is already a decent card on its own, and it calls for decks to be built around it. With U/W Spirits already a decent deck in Modern, it seems fair to see how a Modern Spirits deck built around Tallowisp and efficient Auras would work out.

There have been some successful deck brews in the past built around Tallowisp. One that caught lots attention was a Modern Bant Tallowisp Shoal deck that utilizes Shining Shoal and Unflinching Courage. As cool as it sounded, it wasn't really the flavor I was going for with our deck.

We wanted to keep the deck in two colors and make it purely tribal. At first, a deck which featured Geist of Saint Traft as the main creature. But as we look over the newer Spirit creatures, we'll see that we can take this U/W Spirits deck in a much different direction.

U/W Tallowisp Spirits & Auras (Modern & Casual)

Creatures (18)
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
3 Rattlechains
3 Selfless Spirit
3 Tallowisp
2 Spell Queller
3 Drogskol Captain

Non-Creature Spells (28)
2 Ethereal Armor
4 Path to Exile
3 Hyena Umbra
3 Remand
3 Azorius Charm
2 Steel of the Godhead
1 Angelic Destiny

Lands (24)
4 Flooded Strand
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Prairie Stream
6 Island
6 Plains

Some Quick Thoughts on the Deck

While Geist of Saint Traft is great, running four copies in the deck makes it feel too one-dimensional. Yes, the Geist is hexproof, making him easy to load up with Auras. Also, the 4/4 Angel that you get when the Geist swings is nice. But building around him makes the deck very dependent on him, and therefore somewhat inconsistent. So, let's spread the Spirit love around!

Mausoleum Wanderer is really, really good. It's good against Burn and Control, especially when it grows to 2/2 or 3/3. As a consistent one-drop it can mess up quite a few decks. Heck, against Tron it can stop Ancient Stirrings! It's so versatile in the Modern format, and while people who have already played Spirits in the format know this, it's not really well-known JUST how good this guy is!

Rattlechains is sweet. Not only does he make you able to cast Spirits at instant speed (oh hi, instant speed Wanderer!) but when he comes into play, you can make a target Spirit hexproof. This is super important against all of the removal in the format.

Everyone knows how good Selfless Spirit is. Making your dudes indestructible is just really, really good.

Notice how all these Spirits so far have flying? That's awesome, because even though 1 or 2 points of damage doesn't seem relevant, it all adds up!

Tallowisp is the card that inspired this deck list in the first place. There were four copies in the list initially, but 3 turned out to be fine. The 4th copy was often redundant during playtesting. The tutor ability is extremely relevant and it was activated in every game in which I played this deck. Also, being a 1/3 means it walls 2 power creatures all day! Also, it's actually pretty good to suit up with the Auras, as I found.

Spell Queller was just too good to not include. Not only is he a quasi-counterspell, but a 2/3 flyer is awesome. I only needed two copies at first, but I may adjust this number later.

One inclusion that you probably wouldn't expect is Drogskol Captain. The cool thing about him is he pumps your other Spirits by +1/+1 and gives them hexproof. He doesn't give this to himself, but if you get two Captains on board, this deck becomes EXTREMELY hard to deal with. With everyone in this deck except Tallowisp able to fly, it's pretty awesome.

So what do we seek out with Tallowisp? There are two copies of Ethereal Armor and three of Hyena Umbra. The first strike is important in many cases and Ethereal Armor just gets better and better with each Enchantment you cast. The Umbra has totem armor, which gives your guys an extra protection against removal.

Steel of the Godhead is a two-of and it's the second-best equipment in the deck. While white creatures only get the lifelink, blue creatures are unable to be blocked. White and blue creatures get both abilities and an additional +1/+1 for each color. It's pretty awesome.

The last Aura is Angelic Destiny. While this is not a card you'd typically expect to see in Modern, it is relevant. Getting +4/+4 and flying is good enough, but you get first strike, too!

To protect our gameplan, we have Path to Exile to deal with problem creatures. There are 3 copies of Remand to keep up our tempo, too. I like these better than Mana Leak in this deck, as the extra card really helps. There are also 3 copies of Azorius Charm. I chose the Charm because of its versatility. It can draw you a card, give your creatures lifelink, or bounce a creature to the top of an opponent's deck. The lifelink really does matter, too, especially against burn and aggro.

The mana base is extremely simple. Prairie Stream is extremely good, believe it or not. You can even fetch it with Flooded Strand and the deck plays enough basic lands that it comes in untapped. I may adjust the mana base later on, but it seems pretty solid as symmetrical as it already is. Mystic Gate, the white/blue filter land, actually would probably be a good inclusion, but who wants to spend money on those?

This isn't a final version. It doesn't even have a sideboard! But it's already worked extremely well in playtesting. It would be worth tossing in copy or two of Threads of Disloyalty, which can steal creatures with converted mana cost 2 or less, into a sideboard. It's a nice target for Tallowisp to fetch. It probably also doesn't hurt to throw in a copy or two of Geist of Saint Traft. An Aura-based deck doesn't feel complete without him, although it seems to function well despite that.

While I'm not sure how it will hold up against the top 8 decks, it has a chance to win some games. For now, I'd say it's a purely casual deck. But it has the pieces to be a very, very strong Spirit deck. If you decide to play "real" U/W Spirits in Modern, this is a great starting point.

Story of a Price Spike - Allosaurus Rider and the First Turn Kill Modern Combo Deck

6/30/2016

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Allosaurus Rider was the victim of one of the strangest buyouts seen in Magic the Gathering for some time. Pretty much every copy of the Elf Warrior, including the Coldsnap Prerelease and Duel Deck: Elves vs Goblins printings, disappeared from the internet. While this is a card that’s been popular among casual players for years, it seems extremely odd for a 7-mana Elf to suddenly be bought out. How could this possibly happen?

Allosaurus Rider isn’t a bad card. Yes, it costs 7 mana to cast. But, it can have pretty high power and toughness, due to the fact they are based on how many lands you control. That’s OK. But you can also put the Rider into play by exiling 2 cards from your hand instead of paying its mana cost. That’s all well and good. It’s pretty awesome in a casual game, right?

Well, not only would it be bought out once, but in fact, it would become bought out a second time, as well. The reasoning behind the second price spike would be clearer than the first. We will first look at the reasons for why Allosaurus Rider became a $15 card suddenly overnight the first time.

Eldritch Moon and Allosaurus Rider

Eldritch Moon spoilers held a couple of answers to the first price spike. The first is a mythic rare from the set with a mechanic new to the set.

Decimator of the Provinces (10)
Creature - Boar
Emerge 6GGG
When you cast Decimator of Provinces, creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain trample until end of turn.
Trample, haste
7/7

Basically, this was a “fixed” Craterhoof Behemoth. In some ways, though, this card is better. It’s all about Emerge. What Emerge essentially does is let you sacrifice a creature and reduce the Decimator’s casting cost by the converted mana cost of the sacrificed creature.

By “casting” Allosaurus Rider with removing two 2 Green cards from your hand, you then only have to pay 3 Green Mana to Emerge a Decimator of Provinces. That’s pretty nasty.

But there was an even better one, and it's yet another Eldritch Moon card.

There’s an awesome Modern combo with Eldritch Evolution. Essentially, you to play a land on turn one and cast a Birds of Paradise or another one-drop mana dork. You can then easily cast an Allosaurus Rider as long as you have two other Green cards to exile. Then on the next turn, you play another land, cast Eldritch Evolution, sacrificing Allosaurus Rider.

Because you can search out a creature with converted mana cost X or less, you can get any creature of converted mana cost 9 or less and put it straight onto the battlefield. And in Modern, what better choice is there to get than…

GRISELBRAND!

That’s right. A turn two Griselbrand.

Now how consistent is this combo? I have no clue. But that is, well, pretty good. Obviously, there are other things you can do with Eldritch Evolution. Still, you can't imagine too many people beating a turn 2 Griselbrand.

If an entire deck around this strategy emerged and became relevant, it would be pretty awesome. Grishoalbrand, a Modern deck built around Goryo’s Vengeance, Nourishing Shoal, and the Through the Breach, has been a fairly consistent winner in Modern. But Eldritch Evolution gives a whole new engine to build around. Allosaurus Rider seems like a silly target, and you probably won’t always have a copy in hand at the beginning of the game, or by turn two. As with any combo deck, there’s going to be variance. But this is the beginning of what could be a new archetype.

Of course, Allosaurus Rider didn't remain a $15 card. Decimator of the Provinces ended up being a pretty fringe card, sadly. Other Emerge cards did fare better, though. On the other hand, Eldritch Evolution has proven to be pretty useful in Modern. But despite the obvious combo with Allosaurus Rider and Eldritch Evolution, the seven-mana Elf just proved to be too inconsistent to be worth running in the deck. After a reprinting in the Duel Decks Anthology and falling from grace as soon as people realized he just didn't belong in Modern competition, Allosaurus Rider fell back to being a $2 casual card once again. However, things would not stay that way.

Allosaurus Rider and Neoform

The second price spike of Allosaurus Rider came much later in May 2019. This time, the spike went as high as $20! While it would settle fairly quickly, to a TCGPlayer market price around $7, the card that caused the Allosaurus Rider to become a buyout target was much, much better. A sorcery spell called Neoform from War of the Spark would prove so good that it spawned an entire competitive Modern deck called Neobrand!

Neoform is a two-mana sorcery (1 Blue, 1 Green) that has an additional cost of sacrificing a creature. But, when you sacrifice that creature, you search your library for a creature with a converted mana cost of one higher than the creature you sacrificed. This means if you put an Allosaurus Rider into play, then cast this on it, you can go search your library for Griselbrand. It’s actually just like Eldritch Evolution, but a bit more restrictive in what it can search. The trade-off is that creature gets an additional +1/+1 counter placed onto it when it hits the battlefield.

What makes Neoform better than Eldritch Evolution is actually two-fold. First, Eldritch Evolution is three mana and Neoform is only two. So, Neoform can be played much easier and more quickly. Also, the +1/+1 counter is actually quite relevant when it comes to Griselbrand. Because Griselbrand has the Pay 7 life ability to draw seven cards, you can actually swing for 8 damage with lifelink, gaining back that 7 life plus one. The actual key to winning with this deck is to keep your life total up with Samut’s Sprint and Nourishing Shoal to keep up your life total. This way you can draw out your deck, which is why Laboratory Maniac is in the deck. But, you can also starting beating down with Griselbrand as early as turn one, which is what makes this deck so scary. It also helps that the deck plays a copy of Lightning Storm, which can finish off your opponent. Technically, the deck can win on turn one, which is what makes it so scary.

The Neobrand deck can be surprisingly consistent thanks to a few tricky mana producers. The deck plays 4 Chancellor of the Tangle in the deck to try to consistently start your first turn with at least one green mana in your mana pool. It also has 4 Simian Spirit Guide to get you free red mana. Manamorphose helps you mana fix - and draw a card - and one Wild Cantor gives you a way to get that one color of mana you need in a pinch.

The Neobrand deck is actually good enough that it became a 5-0 deck on Magic Online and even made second place at a Star City Games Modern Invitational Qualifier. Will this combo deck last in the Modern format? It’s hard to say if one or more pieces - such as Simian Spirit Guide - will eventually be banned, but as of this writing, Neobrand a viable combo deck in Modern. Allosaurus Rider is a key part of the deck’s combo, too, so it will maintain some value as long as the deck is viable.

What we can learn from price spikes like this is that you just never know when a card will be printed that will make some obscure card sell out across the internet. Basically, if a card has any way that it can be abused, like with the alternate casting cost of Allosaurus Rider, it will eventually get its day in the sun. Sometimes, the spike is short lived, but other times, there is a viable interaction that permanently lifts the card’s value. In the case of Allosaurus Rider, Neoform suddenly made the card Modern-relevant, and for that, this Elf Warrior will not be soon forgotten.

Is Twisted Image Good in Modern Infect Decks? - Magic the Gathering

6/30/2016

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Twisted Image has been floating around Modern for quite some time. It’s been in the sideboards of Infect to deal with opposing Spellskites (making them 4/0’s and instantly killing them by having 0 toughness) or Noble Hierarchs (which become 1/0 and also die). It was also a way to deal with Deceiver Exarch in Splinter Twin combo decks - making them 4/1 and leaving them susceptible to Lightning Bolt and other removal. With Splinter Twin no longer in the format, though, Twisted Image is actually seeing more play. Several Top 8 Infect lists have run 1 to 2 copies in the mainboard. Why is this exactly?

One point of interest in Twisted Image is that not only does it switch the power and toughness of a creature, but it also draws you a card. For one mana, that’s a pretty good deal. Even if you’re casting it just to draw the extra card, it’s worth it. In infect, it also puts another card in the graveyard to help you delve for Become Immense or draw you yet another pump spell. Also, with the Enchantment Wild Defiance on the board, you turn Twisted Image into yet another pump spell. Wild Defiance gives any creature targeted by an instant or sorcery spell +3/+3 until end of turn.

Another interaction that’s come into play since the release of Oath of the Gatewatch is Twisted Image’s interaction with Stormchaser Mage. The Prowess creature begins life as a 1 / 3. Not only does Twisted Image activate Prowess and draw you a card, but essentially gives your Stormchaser Mage +2/-2. Whether Prowess aggro decks, either red/blue (Izzet) or red/blue/green (Temur) actually become a strong force in the format will go a long way in determining the future value of this instant.

With Slip Through Space already breaking into the Modern Infect deck as a one-mana cantrip that makes a creature unblockable, it remains to be seen if the one or two copies of Twisted Image in the mainboard is worth it.

Magic the Gathering - Sphinx's Tutelage: Not Quite Grindstone - Esper Mill in Modern

7/19/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Sphinx's Tutelage Magic the Gathering

For fans of mill decks in Magic the Gathering, it's hard to not like Sphinx's Tutelage. While it isn't quite as nuts as Grindstone, the card that made mill decks a strong strategy in Legacy in the first place, it does have its similarities.

The major difference between Sphinx's Tutelage and Grindstone is that with the stone, it didn't care if they were non-land cards, only if they shared a color. What makes Grindstone so powerful in Legacy is its combination with a card from Shadowmoor called Painter's Servant.

Painter's Servant is a two-drop artifact creature that makes you choose a color when it comes into play. Any cards that aren't in play, spells, and permanents all become that color in addition to their other colors. When it comes to Grindstone, barring a shuffle effect from a card like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, it would put all of your opponent's library into the graveyard.

Sphinx's Tutelage. has a bit of a drawback in that it will stop at lands. But it's still pretty powerful, and it activates each time that you draw a card. Two cards doesn't sound like much, but it adds up, especially if you're playing a dedicated mill deck that plays cards like Visions of Beyond (which will often draw you 3 cards and mill your opponent a minimum of 6 cards). The ability for 5U to draw a card and discard a card is probably rarely going to be used. But it is there if you need it

As Painter's Servant is legal in Modern, it may be an interesting idea to build a Servant/Tutelage combo around what is already an effective Esper Mill shell in Modern. Esper Mill has won a number of Modern Daily events on Magic Online. This Esper Mill list went 4-0. It's just a matter of figuring out what comes out for the Servants and Tutelages.

The main issue with this combo, while it's pretty sweet and can mill a whole bunch of cards, you can end up with dead copies of Painter's Servant in your hand. The good news is having multiple copies of Sphinx's Tutelage in play is absolutely fine, as it just offers you additional triggers. Therefore, the Servant should only be in there as a back-up plan. Unlike in Legacy, the combo is not necessarily game-winning, but it doesn't need to be.

What would probably happen is that you would cut the 3 Crypt Incursion and 2 Lingering Souls from the winning Esper Mill list mentioned earlier and replace them with 3 Sphinx's Tutelage and 2 Painter's Servant.

The list would look something like this:

CREATURES (10)

4 Hedron Crab
4 Jace's Phantasm
2 Painter's Servant

NON-CREATURE SPELLS (28)

4 Glimpse the Unthinkable
4 Archive Trap
4 Path to Exile
4 Visions of Beyond
4 Mesmeric Orb
3 Mind Funeral
3 Sphinx's Tutelage
2 Trapmaker's Snare

LANDS (22)

4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Island
3 Shelldock Isle
2 Marsh Flats
2 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain

SIDEBOARD (15)

4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Leave No Trace
3 Ravenous Trap
2 Extirpate

While Esper Mill isn't a particularly cheap deck, it's become a consistent performer in the Modern format. Glimpse the Unthinkable is the most expensive card in the deck, and can be replaced with Mind Sculpt. The latter card mills 7 whereas the former mills 10, but it will save you quite a few bucks.

The rest of the cards, outside of the mana fixing, pretty much need to be there for the deck to work. It's not a given that the Servant/Tutelage combo actually makes the deck better. Crypt Incursion was the most removable card in the deck, and that card can gain you life that you could need later

Mesmeric Orb is probably the other card that could be dropped in favor of the combo, as it mills you as well as your opponent, but it quickens the clock and should usually hurt your opponent far more than it ever hurts you. Lingering Souls is a tough drop, as it can be cast from the graveyard. But if Sphinx's Tutelage and Painter's Servant works as well together as they seem to on paper, you won't need the extra creatures, as the Servant gives you a 1/3 blocker as it is.

Does a Modern Esper Mill deck armed with this combo seem like something you would like to try?

Magic the Gathering - Modern U/R Delver Deck Tech and Review

2/15/2015

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

For those that played Magic: the Gathering during Innistrad Standard, you may remember a certain common Transform card known as Delver of Secrets. It was a pretty nifty card. So nifty, in fact, that the Delver tempo deck dominated Standard for some time. In fact, Delver is such a good card that Delver-based decks are actually a major archetype in Legacy, also running Green in order to play the mighty Tarmogoyf. Well, it was only a matter of time before Delver made its way into Modern, and even without Ponder and Preordain, the deck has some life.

Today, we're taking a look at a U/R Delver list that went 4-0 in a Modern daily on MTGO. Best of all, this is a fairly budget deck (around $250 in early 2015) and contains zero fetch-lands.

Here’s the list that MTGO user Darkrouge piloted to a perfect record and some M15 packs:

CREATURES

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Grim Lavamancer

NON-CREATURES

4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Mana Leak
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Vapor Snag
3 Spell Snare
2 Spell Pierce
2 Izzet Charm
2 Electrolyze
1 Dispel

LANDS

5 Island
5 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
1 Temple of Epiphany

(NOTE: Because Gitaxian Probe was banned after this list was played, we will replace the 4 copies of Probe for four copies of Opt.)

Young Pyromancer is a really awesome card. Its combination with Delver it actually has made some serious noise in Legacy before. While the non-creature spells in Modern aren’t nearly of the same power level as in Legacy (you still have Ponder and Preordain legal in that format) there’s a pretty good package here. Making a 1/1 Elemental creature token every time you can an instant or sorcery is extremely cool in this burn/tempo build. You’re slowing down your opponent’s early plays enough to make those 1/1’s potentially become lethal threats after only a handful of turns.

Next, we have a fairly staple Modern card in Snapcaster Mage. Obviously, he was a major part of the Innistrad Standard Delver deck, and he continues to do a lot of work here, helping you flashback your previously used spells in order to gain even more tokens and more tempo advantage. He’s definitely the priciest card in the deck, but well worth the investment. Getting those second uses out of your spells is important in keeping the game's tempo in your favor.

We round out the creature line-up with a card quite familiar to burn decks in Grim Lavamancer. His appearance in a more tempo-based list is interesting, but his ability does help you to deal with smaller problem creatures while saving your counter-magic and Lightning Bolts for greater threats. Having to exile two cards from your graveyard doesn’t seem to have great synergy with Snapcaster Mage, so you’ll have to decide when it’s worth it to use the Lavamancer’s effect. It also does have the option of hitting players, so it can be a way to deal the final 2 damage that you need.

Onto the non-creature spells, this deck used to run a full play-set of Gitaxian Probe. The cool thing about the Probe is that it has a Phyrexian mana cost, meaning you can pay 2 life rather than pay a single Blue mana to cast it. It draws you a card, plus shows you your opponent’s hand. The 2 life for a card draw and a Peek at your opponent’s hand are often worth it turn one.

But, since Gitaxian Probe was banned in the Modern format, we will substitute those four copies for Opt, a card that was introduced to Modern in the Ixalan set. While it doesn't provide the Peek that Probe gives you, it does allow you to Scry 1 before you draw your card. It's a solid draw spell, although you can't play it for 2 life.

We next have a play-set of Serum Visions. Since Ponder, Preordain, and Probe are banned in Modern, due to their power level in decks like Storm and – you guessed it – Delver, Serum Visions is now the premier draw card of Modern. It’s pretty much backwards Preordain. Instead of Scrying for 2, then drawing a card, you draw a card, then Scry 2. But because the card filtering comes after the draw, it’s a bit less powerful. Still, it’s a very good card that predates Preordain, which was printed in the Magic 2011 core set.

Then we have 4 copies of Mana Leak, the classic permission spell that costs 1U and counters a target spell unless its controller pays 2 colorless mana. Plus, we have 4 copies of Lightning Bolt, the classic hit a creature or player for 3 damage.

After that we get into the meat of this deck, which is the tempo package. There are three copies of Vapor Snag, which is basically Unsummon except that the creature’s controller also loses 1 life. Forcing a player to tap out to play a creature then force it back to the hand can ruin many a player’s turn, so the loss of life on top of that is fairly relevant.

There are three copies of Spell Snare, as well. It’s a highly specific counter-spell, in that it costs a single Blue mana but only counters spells with a converted mana cost of 2. That doesn’t sound all that great, but consider how many spells are played in competitive Magic that have a CMC of 2:Snapcaster Mage and Tarmogoyf are great examples. You can stop opponents from playing a great many of their early game plays. More often than not, it’s not a dead card.

For problematic non-creature spells, you have 2 copies of Spell Pierce. It’s basically Mana Leak in that it’s a permission spell that counters a spell unless its controller pays 2 extra colorless mana, but it doesn’t work against creature spells. It’s great for stopping removal and opposing counter-spells, as well as planeswalkers.

Izzet Charm is a versatile little card with three “Modes:” Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays 2 colorless mana; deal 2 damage to target creature; or draw two cards, then discard two cards. It’s basically a Spell Pierce, a Shock, and a Faithless Looting all on one card, except you get to choose which one it is. There are two of these in the deck.

Electrolyze is a fun little burn card. It deals 2 damage divided between one or two target creatures or players of your choice. That seems pricey for 3 mana (1RU) but you also draw a card off of it. It’s a can-trip Shock with some options.

Lastly, there’s a single Dispel in the main-board, which costs a single Blue mana to play and counters a target Instant spell. Typically you’ll use it to stop a Lightning Bolt, other removal, or a counter-spell.

For the mana base, you have 10 basic lands, 5 Islands and 5 Mountains. You then have 4 Steam Vents and 3 Sulfur Falls, plus 1 Temple of Epiphany. Honestly, this doesn’t seem to be the best choice for a mana base, as there are no copies of Shivan Reef, a very common land to play in U/R decks. It may be better to remove the one scry land and the 3 Sulfur Falls with the Reefs, which do ping you for 1 when you tap them for colored mana, but makes your mana-fixing a bit more consistent. However, the pilot of this deck seemed to have no problem with consistency, so it would take some actual play-testing with the deck myself to see how well the mana-base functions as it is.

Onto the sideboard:

SIDEBOARD

3 Combust
2 Smelt
2 Dispel
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Spell Snare
1 Spell Pierce
1 Counterflux
1 Magma Spray
1 Electrolyze

The three copies of Combust exist purely to destroy white or blue creatures. For only 1R, it deals 5 damage to a target white or blue creature and can’t be countered. It’s the perfect answer to cards such as Restoration Angel,Archangel of Thune, or Loxodon Smiter. Basically, anything that can’t be answered with a Lightning Bolt that’s white or blue can be taken out with this card.

Smash to Smithereens might be better than Smelt overall, as Smash deals 3 damage to an artifact’s controller upon destroying it, but Smelt gets the job done for only a single Red mana. Like Smash, Smelt is also at instant speed, but doesn’t add the Lava Spike effect on top of that. Being only one mana is relevant, too, as it’s easier to Flashback and simply easier to cast.

Anger of the Gods helps deal with aggressive decks, and while you may exile your own creatures in the process (including even a transformed Delver), most of the creatures you would have on board are probably 1/1 elemental tokens anyway. It’s sort of a card that you sit on until your opponent extends too far with their board-state and you hope they don’t see it coming..

Two copies of Dispel exist in the sideboard to deal with control match-ups. The extra Spell Snare can come in handy against certain decks, and the extra Spell Pierce exists for the same reason as Dispel. The Counterflux is in the board for Storm match-ups, as countering all spells on the stack when your opponent is trying to reach a certain Storm count is devastating. The lone Magma Spray is an interesting choice against aggro decks, as well. Plus you have another copy of Electrolyze to add to your creature removal package.

This list looks pretty solid. While there are some changes I may make to it, it’s mostly in the mana base, which could potentially work just as it is. It’s a fairly simple deck to play as long as you know what to counter and what not to. The deck won’t burn people to death but as your opponent will likely never have enough creatures to block your Elemental tokens from Pyromancer, you should have a good time getting through for a bit of damage every turn. If you like tempo decks, like myself, this is definitely a list worth taking a spin. It does require a bit of an upfront investment, but Snapcasters, Steam Vents, and Serum Visions, the most expensive cards in the deck, aren’t going anywhere, so they’re all solid cards to have. Also, if you want to play blue/red but don’t want to play Storm, this is a pretty good alternative.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) Modern Event Deck – March of the Multitudes Deck Review

11/16/2014

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

When the day came for the highly-anticipated Modern Event Deck to be revealed, it turned out that the deck list was indeed the Black/White Token deck that had been expected. While it had some nice little surprises in it, overall, people ripped it apart. But is it as bad as people thought?

Here’s the list:

LANDS (24)

4 Caves of Koilos
2 City of Brass
4 Isolated Chapel
5 Plains
4 Swamp
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Windbrisk Heights

CREATURES (5)

2 Soul Warden
3 Tidehollow Sculler

NON-CREATURE SPELLS (31)

3 Honor of the Pure
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Lingering Souls
3 Path to Exile
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
4 Spectral Procession
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Zealous Persecution
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

SIDEBOARD

2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Dismember
3 Duress
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Kataki, War’s Wage
3 Relic of Progenitus

First of all, let us consider what the spoiler from a couple of months ago told us. We were expecting Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Intangible Virtue, and Honor of the Pure. What is missing is Hero of Bladehold. This is okay, because of what it was replaced with:

Considering that this deck had an original MSRP of about $75, it’s great to see a card with a high value like Sword of Feast and Famine in a deck. It obviously fits the deck quite well. It also somewhat makes up for the lack of fetch-lands in the deck.

Speaking of fetch-lands, let’s look over the no-fetch mana base.

A full play-set of the white-black “pain” land will help you fix for your colored mana, plus two City of Brass. A full play-set of Isolated Chapel, the white/black “buddy” land will help you also fix without the need for pinging yourself for life, as long as you control a Plains or Swamp. There are 5 plains and 4 swamps to complement them. In addition, there is a Vault of the Archangel, with which you can tap for 2WB to give your creatures deathtouch and lifelink until end of turn. There is also a full play-set of Windbrisk Heights, a rather useful card with Hideaway. Whatever card gets put under it can be cast for a single white mana and a tap, providing that you have attacked with at least three creatures in a given turn.

Overall, it’s not a bad mana base, although I would replace the two City of Brass and at least one plains and one swamp for a full play-set of Godless Shrine. It is, at least, a functional mana base.

Being in a deck with only five creatures, it would make sense that Soul Warden would comprise a couple of those spots. With all of the tokens that this deck generates, Soul Warden will help you keep your life total high. Note that she also gives you life for opponents’ creatures entering the battlefield, as well. There’s a reason that Soul Sisters can be difficult to beat. Many burn decks and aggro decks hate this card, although Skullcrack and Flames of the Blood Hand do exist, as well as the Leyline of Punishment, to counteract these effects. Of course, with only two Soul Warden in the deck, in those match-ups, the Wardens can easily slip out for something in the sideboard.

An old white/black favorite, sure to see even more play in the near-future in Modern with the existence of Athreos, God of Passage, Tidehollow Sculler deprives your opponent of a non-land card until the Sculler leaves the battlefield. It’s a very solid two-drop that compliments the other hand disruption in this deck quite nicely.

Let’s move on to the meat of the deck, the non-creature spells!

The three copies of Honor of the Pure, which pumps all of your white creatures by +1/+1 are an obvious inclusion, as are the full play-set of Intangible Virtue, which gives all tokens +1/+1. Being able to stack multiple copies of this card on the board is key to this deck’s success.

As many speculated, there are also two copies of Inquisition of Kozilek in the deck. It’s yet another way to disrupt your opponents’ hands of their early plays, giving you time to build up your forces on the board while they recover. There are also 3 copies of Zealous Persecution, an instant which gives your creatures +1/+1 and your opponents’ creatures -1/-1 until end of turn, making combats a bit tricky for your opponent.

As for tokens, there is a full suite available. A full-playset of Lingering Souls, with its Flashback ability, is an absolute must. It’s joined by a full-playset of Raise the Alarm, which creates two 1/1 white soldiers for only 1W. There’s also a full play-set of Spectral Procession, which makes 3 flying tokens.

There’s also a couple of copies of a fun card from New Phyrexia, Shrine of Loyal Legions. The cool part about this card is that so much of the deck is comprised of white spells. Each time you cast a white spell (which includes the dual-colored spells) it gains a charge counter. You can pay 3 and sacrifice the Shrine and put a 1/1 colorless Myr artifact creature token onto the field for each charge counter that had been on the Shrine. This can potentially be a lot of token generation.

The deck also contains 3 Path to Exile, which is a very pricey removal card nowadays.

Now onto one of the main win conditions of the deck, my favorite card in all of Magic: the Gathering:

Elspeth, Knight-Errant should need no introductions. Both of her +1 abilities are fantastic, and her ultimate ability, her -8, gives you an emblem that basically wins you the game. Making more tokens, then making them fly over opponent’s creatures is always fun. And making everything indestructible is pretty good, too. You also will have enough blockers to protect her, meaning that her potential of going ultimate is actually pretty high if they don’t deal with her outside of combat.

Overall, the main deck looks quite playable. Let’s look over the sideboard:

Here’s a card you don’t typically see, two copies of Burrenton Forge-Tender. Obviously, this card exists to help in match-ups against mono-red decks. I’m pretty sure by design that these are meant to replace the two copies of main-board Soul Warden in those match-ups. The cool thing about Forge-Tender is that it can prevent damage from any red source, including board-wipes like Anger of the Gods (the bane of this deck’s existence) and Blasphemous Act. Speaking of Blasphemous Act, in those Boros builds that include Boros Reckoner, that damage isn’t dealt to the Reckoners, either, saving you at least 13 points of damage from that card’s ability. Solid little sideboard option here.

Most of the remaining side-board cards are self-explanatory. Dismember deals with big threats, Duress gives you more hand-destruction, Ghost Quarter gives you some land destruction ability against greedy mana-bases and Relic of Progenitus helps stop graveyard shenanigans.

The last card in the sideboard is a very useful card called Kataki, War’s Wage. Three copies exist in this sideboard. Essentially what it does is make all artifacts have an upkeep cost of 1 mana. This obviously can be quite problematic for Affinity and Tron decks in the format. It also has a negative interaction with the Shrine of Loyal Legions, but those can come out when this card is boarded in. It’s nice to have three copies included.

Overall, this deck looks fairly solid. Black/white tokens are a deck that doesn’t necessarily need the fetch-lands to function. Of course, four Marsh Flats and the four Godless Shrine would be nice, but the pain-lands do suffice in this case. Besides, the pain from the fetch-lands and the shock-lands coming in untapped is very similar, and you’re gaining life back from Soul Warden in many cases anyhow.

I think as a gateway deck into the format, there’s nothing wrong with Wizard’s first attempt. Is it worth the $75 MSRP? I would say most likely. Since card price numbers can fluctuate over time, I won’t break it down here, but the cards did add up to well over $75 at the deck's release, if you consider median prices for these cards (double that, in fact!) Unfortunately, as the decks did not sell as well as anticipated, many hobby shops and card stores broke them down to sell the individual cards, deflating the value of many of the cards included. However, the original printings of the cards have maintained their values a bit better due to the fact that the Modern Event Deck cards have a separate set symbol, fortunately.

While I certainly am happy to see the Sword in here, Hero of Bladehold may have made more sense. It’s clear that Wizards wants to give it the “Bang for its Buck” without having speculators buying them all up, thus making them inaccessible to players trying to enter the format. For what it’s meant to be, it’s pretty good, and it’s put copies of some harder-to-get cards out there more readily available without flooding the market too much.

I can why see this didn't sell quite as well as some might have first suspected, but I think the Modern Event Deck is a worthy start to what will hopefully be a long line of event decks for the Modern Format.

Akki Lavarunner / Tok-Tok, Volcano Born - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

2/27/2013

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Today, we take a look at a Magic the Gathering card from everyone's favorite set block: Kamigawa! Here's a little rare from Champions of Kamigawa that is not only the first rare alphabetically in the set, but an interesting one as well!

While you won't be seeing this card in any top 8 decks, Akki Lavarunner is one of those crazy flip cards. The interesting thing about this one, besides costing 3R for a 1/1 Goblin with Haste, is that whenever he deals damage to an opponent, you get to flip it right away.

Tok-Tok, Volcano Born, his flipside, is an interesting Legendary Creature. He's a 2/2 with Protection from Red, and if a Red source would deal damage to a player, it deals that damage plus 1 to that player instead. It's a pretty decent effect, and in a Goblin deck, having a creature like him would certainly be welcome.

There's only one downside here. You have to have him deal damage to a player before you can get his effect. In a Goblin deck, he could be well more than a 1/1 though. And if you do get his flip side, your Goblin Grenades can become 6 to the face to a player, and suddenly a card like Hellrider makes those declare attack triggers hit twice as hard.

Yes, the damage +1 can hurt you, too, but in the right Goblin-centered deck, that sort of ability would be devastatingly good. Were this not a flip card and instead just Tok-Tok, this would actually be very playable. While Wizards was probably right to make this a flip card, it's interesting to think what might have been were Tok-Tok his own man...