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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Rakdos, Lord of Riots will always be a bit of a special MTG card to me. It was a card that inspired a friend of mine to get into Magic the Gathering. One great thing about new players is that they often notice things about certain cards that more enfranchised players don't. The power level of Rakdos, Lord of Riots always seemed obvious to me. but he was a bit awkward to build around in competitive play.
Red and Black decks, so named Rakdos after that guild's color combination, were quite strong in the days of Return to Ravnica Standard. the leader himself and the namesake of the guild Rakdos himself didn't see too much competitive play. His battle-cruiser type ability seemed best reserved for an EDH deck built specifically around him. indeed, he would become a very powerful commander as time went on for a variety of reasons. But in Standard, Rakdos, Lord of Riots could serve as a more efficient one-of creature than many people realized. First of all, a 6/6 Flyer with Trample for only 4 mana is downright ridiculous. His only real downside is that you can't cast him unless an opponent has lost life that turn. In Commander, there are about 2 million ways for that to happen. In Standard, there were obviously not so many. But it was most certainly doable given how aggressive Rakdos decks were, and still are really. on raw power alone, this guy was very playable. On top of that, Rakdos's secondary ability is extremely interesting. For each point of damage dealt to opponents that turn, Rakdos makes your creature spells that you cast cost X fewer colorless mana to cast. It's this ability which makes this card a truly good boss monster in a Rakdos deck. It would also be the key to his power as a Commander. Being able to make creature spells cost less is always a good thing. Considering how often a Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck causes damage to opponents, you're likely going to be casting a LOT of cheap monsters. In Commander, considering his ability reads OPPONENTS, this allows for even more deadly tactics. Effects that deal damage to all opponents or players become a lot more relevant in a multiplayer format like Commander. However, there were practical synergies to take advantage of in his Standard heydey. Using a simple commonly played burn spell like Searing Spear would reduce your creatures casting costs for the rest of the turn be reduced by 3 colorless mana. Then, you could find yourself dropping a Thundermaw Hellkite for merely two red mana. This is slightly absurd. Rakdos, Lord of Riots also made other big Dragons of the time like Moonveil Dragon and Balefire Dragon suddenly far less intimidating to cast. In the right situation, you could drop a lot of big scary stuff in one fell swoop. Heck, you could potentially make Griselbrand cost only 4 Black mana. I don't recall this interaction being taken advantage of in Standard, but it would have been a good one. Sadly, it doesn't work in Commander, as Griselbrand is banned in that format for many reasons. Rakdos, Lord of Riots makes a very good Commander when used alongside great cards like Olivia Voldaren (another fine Rakdos card) and other cards like Chandra of the Firebrand that can consistently ping players. On the other hand, his cheap casting cost makes playing two or three in a Constructed deck very manageable. However, no Standard decks really ever wanted that many copies and other constructed formats found him a bit too situational to brew around. While we were never going to see any top-tier lists running Rakdos, Lord of Riots, that doesn't mean he wasn't a good card at the time. He actually made some appearances at local Friday Night Magic tournaments for a bit. In the long run, he's become an excellent Commander. He's also a very useful member of other Commander decks looking to swarm the board quickly and efficiently with big bad boy monsters. Don't overlook the Lord of Riots, because a 6/6 trampling flyer alone can be enough to wreck your day. Plus, he can bring a lot of friends along with him, too!
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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  From the name alone, you may assume that the Magic the Gathering 2015 Core Set “Flames of the Dragon” intro pack was a Dragon deck. Actually, there was a forced artifact theme in Red & Blue in the 2015 Core Set. While one of the Dragons in this deck certainly plays into the artifact theme, they are secondary to the success of this particular deck. Because the Red/Blue artifact theme was well designed around during this set, "Flames of the Dragon" is of the more solid Intro Packs of Magic 2015. This Intro Pack was released in July 2014 and features two rare dragons: Hoarding Dragon and Siege Dragon. However, this is not exactly a Magic 2015 dragon deck, as we will see from the deck list. Creatures (24) 2 Ornithopter 3 Bronze Sable 2 Welkin Tern 1 Rummaging Goblin 3 Aeronaut Tinkerer 2 Krenko’s Enforcer 2 Wall of Frost 2 Juggernaut 3 Scrapyard Mongrel 1 Hoarding Dragon 2 Glacial Crasher 1 Siege Dragon Spells (11) 1 Rogue’s Gloves 1 Sacred Armory 1 Tyrant’s Machine 1 Shrapnel Blast 2 Ensoul Artifact 1 Brawler’s Plate 1 Staff of the Flame Magus 1 Staff of the Mind Magus 2 Lava Axe Lands (25) 1 Darksteel Citadel 12 Mountain 12 Island This is definitely an artifact-happy deck with the Dragons as curve-topping threats. First, we’ll take a look at the two rare Dragons.
Siege Dragon is a very powerful card, especially in Limited. It costs 5RR to cast for a 5/5 flyer. When it enters the battlefield, it destroys all Walls your opponents control. Then, whenever it attacks, if the defending player controls no Walls, it deals 2 damage to each creature that player controls that doesn’t have flying. While this sounds awfully powerful, he doesn’t have Haste – at least not on his own. As far as Intro Pack rares go, however, he’s not bad. He’s not really a Constructed playable card, though. He does show up in more than his fair share of Commander decks, though, due to his ability to wipe out a lot of creatures at once. Hoarding Dragon is a reprint from the Magic 2011 Core Set. It would later be reprinted as an Uncommon in Iconic Masters. When he enters the battlefield, you may search your library for an artifact card, exile it, then shuffle your library. When he dies, you may put that exiled artifact into its owner’s hand. This sounds like a nifty tutoring effect, and a 4/4 flying dragon for 3RR sounds decent enough on top of that. The trick is to make sure that the Hoarding Dragon actually dies. If he’s removed from the field in any other way, whether he’s returned to the hand, returned to the deck or exiled, that artifact you searched out is gone forever. You have to ensure that he dies. If you manage to get that exile artifact to your hand, then Hoarding Dragon’s good. Otherwise, he’s just a 4/4 flyer that just cost you an artifact from your deck. Still, like Siege Dragon, he has a good enough effect that he sees a good deal of casual play, especially in the Commander format. The rest of the creatures are a mix of artifact creatures and some creatures that are helped by the presence of other artifacts. Ornithopter, which we haven’t seen in quite awhile, is a 0-drop 0/2 flyer. Free-to-play creatures are awesome, especially when it’s combined with another card in this deck, but we’ll get to that in the non-creature spells. There are also 3 copies of Bronze Sable in the deck, a 2/1 artifact creature that costs two colorless mana to cast. While they seem rather vanilla, they are cost effective and give you artifacts that help with the overall theme of the deck. The next two-drop in the deck is Welkin Tern, which is a 2/1 flyer for 1U that can only block creatures with flying. It’s a fairly standard Core Set common creature. Not much more to say about it other than it’s an early evasive creature. There are two of those in the deck. Next we have a Rummaging Goblin. He costs 2R to cast for a 1/1 Goblin Rogue, but he has a useful tap ability. It’s what’s often called the “looter” effect, draw a card, then discard a card. There’s a blue card in the set, Research Assistant, that does something similar, but at the cost of 3U per “loot.” Rummaging Goblin is strictly better in that sense, but on a much more fragile body, where the Assistant is a 1/3 for 1U. Aeronaut Tinkerer is a Magic 2015 card. He costs 2U to cast for a 2/3 that gains flying as long as you control an artifact. Considering that controlling an artifact will not be hard in this deck, he’s a very good card at common. There are 3 copies of him in the deck. Next, we have two copies of Krenko’s Enforcer. He costs 1RR to cast for a 2/2 with Intimidate, meaning he can only be blocked by red creatures or artifact creatures. While he’s not really on theme, he’s aggressive. Already, we have a ton of evasive creatures, some with flying, others than can gain flying, and a couple with Intimidate. This is looking like a very solid creature line-up so far! So who will hold the ground? To help with that, the deck has 2 copies of Wall of Frost. It’s a 0/7 (!) Defender for 1UU and whenever it blocks a creature, that creature can’t untap during its controller’s next untap step. It’s one of the better walls out there. We then have two copies of a classic artifact creature: Juggernaut, a 5/3 for 4 that must attack every turn. It does have the nifty ability to be able to not be blocked by Walls, which is definitely a “thing” in this Core Set. He has been a great card in the past and even sees play in Vintage, so he’s not to be underestimated! We then have three copies of Scrapyard Mongrel, another new common card from Magic 2015. He’s a 3/3 for 3R which is sort of mediocre, but as long as you control any artifact, he gains +2/+0 and gains trample. Suddenly, he’s a very aggressive creature. We round out the creature line-up with 2 copies of Glacial Crasher. It’s a 5/5 Elemental with Trample for 4UU. However, it can’t attack unless there is a Mountain on the battlefield. That should never be a problem with this list, though, since it is a red/blue list, and that Mountain can be on the opponent’s side of the battlefield, as well. It’s not the most exciting big beater in the world, but it’s only a common, so you can only ask so much. The creature line-up in this Intro Pack is actually fairly strong compared to its counterparts. It only gets better when you see how they synergize with the non-creature spells. The first non-creature spell is actually an equipment: Rogue’s Gloves, new for Magic 2015. It costs only 2 to cast and 2 to equip. Whenever the creature it’s equipped to deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. Considering how many flyers there are in this deck and all of the trample that’s in this deck, having this card equipped to one of them could give you some nifty card advantage. I’m a big fan of this uncommon Equipment. Plus, it’s an artifact. Next, we have another artifact, Sacred Armory, also new to Magic 2015. It costs 2 to cast and gives a target creature “firebreathing” (+1/+0 until end of turn) for the cost of 2 colorless mana per activation. It’s especially good in a Limited context, but in Constructed it’s just a nice way to pump extra mana into dealing a bit more damage. But the fact that it’s an artifact gives it other reasons to be included, too. Yet another artifact, Tyrant’s Machine costs 2 to cast, and provides a way to tap down opposing creatures for the cost of 4 colorless mana. While it’s not the most cost-effective card, again, it’s an artifact to provide fuel for the theme. The onslaught of new artifacts continues with the Equipment, Brawler’s Plate. It costs 3 to cast, but 4 to equip. It gives the equipped creature +2/+2 and trample. That seems pretty nifty, even if 4 is a bit pricey for an equip cost. Whatever, it’s an artifact. To round out the artifacts we have the Staves for red and blue: Staff of the Flame Magus and Staff of the Mind Magus, respectively. These cards allow you to gain 1 life each time a Red or Blue spell is cast, or a Mountain or Island enters play under your control. It’s nice for tempo reasons, but again, they are also artifacts. The last three cards in the deck are your big finishers: one copy of Shrapnel Blast and two copies of Ensoul Artifact.
Shrapnel Blast is a very strong card. It was powerful back in the days of Mirrodin with its first printing, and saw Standard play during Magic 2015 Standard, too. With so many potential artifacts to sacrifice in this deck, it may be the best spell you have at your disposal. Five damage to a target creature or player is a lot, and well worth the sacrifice in most cases. The sad part is that there is only one copy of this in the Intro Pack. Four copies of this in a better tuned version of this deck would make this archetype quite deadly.
The other card is one of my personal favorite cards in the entire Core Set: Ensoul Artifact. Making an artifact into a creature with base power and toughness 5/5 in addition to everything else that it does is pretty ridiculous. Making a 0/2 Ornithopter into a 5/5 that can still fly for only two mana is pretty ridiculous. It even allows you to make your Equipments and utility artifacts into creatures. It’s another card that I wish there were a full playset of in the deck. This card has a lot of potential to do a lot of silly things. The other card that Ensoul Artifact happens to be very good with is Darksteel Citadel. It’s been reprinted in a duel deck since its first inclusion in Darksteel (as a common, no less!) but it is now being bumped up to uncommon. (Interestingly enough, the Citadel was reprinted again at common in Modern Masters 2015 soon afterwards!) Darksteel Citadel is an indestructible artifact land. This is relevant because it’s yet another target for your Ensoul Artifact. It may be the best target outside of Ornithopter. There’s only one in the deck, so if you want to take this deck to the next level, there should definitely be a full four copies. The list is rounded out by 24 basic lands: 12 Mountains and 12 Islands. As far as Intro Packs go, “Flames of the Dragon” definitely provided one of the better shells around which to build a Standard deck around the time of Magic 2015. The forced red/blue artifact theme in the set is especially interesting. If you were to cut some of the weaker cards in the deck and add in a couple more Ornithopters, max out the Shrapnel Blasts, Ensoul Artifacts, and Darksteel Citadels, you have the start of a fairly decent deck. As constructed, I’d have to give this deck a B as an intro product. Compared to its other Intro Pack counterparts, it’s a very aggressive list with plenty of evasive creatures and a very strong theme. The only issue is that you have to be extremely picky when to use the best two cards in the deck. Of course, the point is to provide a shell, and there’s a pretty strong one here. It’s definitely in contention for the best of the Magic 2015 Core Set Intro Packs. Just a couple years later, this would be one of the more expensive Intro Packs to still buy sealed. Why anyone would pay $25 or more for this deck and 2 Magic 2015 booster packs is beyond me. Yes, Ensoul Artifact is a decent uncommon, but that’s really the only money card in the deck! Actually, it was a $1+ uncommon for a time because of how popular this deck was in Standard. Magic 2015 was a set full of good cards, so two lottery tickets in the form of M15 booster packs was a nice bonus. All in all, I wouldn’t buy this deck sealed. But if you want to build a deck like it, I would definitely recommend the Red/Blue Artifact archetype as a way to go. As for building a Magic 2015 era dragon deck, this is not the place to start. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Let's take a look back at the Magic the Gathering Born of the Gods Event Deck, Underworld Herald! This deck was released in February of 2014. is a mono-black deck, which isn’t a surprise considering how powerful mono-Black devotion decks were at that time in Standard. While there is only one card with Devotion in the event deck for Born of the Gods, it's full of Bestow creatures. Many creatures in this deck saw Standard play at the time. When the entirety of this deck was legal in Standard, it had some real value rares within it! Let’s take a look at the Underworld Herald deck list: LANDS 24 Swamp CREATURES (26) 1 Agent of the Fates 1 Blood Scrivener 1 Crypt Ghast 1 Desecration Demon 1 Erebos’s Emissary 1 Herald of Torment 3 Mogis’s Marauder 1 Pack Rat 4 Rakdos Cackler 4 Rakdos Shred-Freak 3 Spiteful Returned 3 Tormented Hero 2 Xathrid Necromancer NON-CREATURE SPELLS (10) 2 Bile Blight 3 Doom Blade 1 Fated Return 1 Gift of Orzhova 1 Hero’s Downfall 2 Ultimate Price SIDEBOARD 3 Cremate 2 Dark Betrayal 4 Duress 2 Gift of Orzhova 2 Pharika’s Cure 2 Staff of the Death Magus  Considering the time that this deck is from, there are some pretty darn good rares in this deck. Agent of the Fates is a solid little Black Heroic card that has some ways to activate it in this deck. While it never really became popular in Standard, it probably was underused relative to its power level. Blood Scrivener helps you get a couple of cards if your hand is empty at a minimal cost of 1 life. While it’s not the most exciting card, it’s a creature with upside. Those are usually pretty good, and this one still sees some play in EDH. Crypt Ghast doubles the production of your black mana. It also has the Extort mechanic on it. This Gatecrash mechanic allows you to pay either a white or black mana any time you cast a spell. If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life. It’s become a staple in many Commander decks and was quite good in its Standard heydey. Crypt Ghast is probably the most valuable rare in the deck today. Desecration Demon was the best rare in the deck, by far, when this deck was released. It is a monster that proved to be the primary beater in mono-Black Devotion decks. When “Underworld Herald” first released, this card alone took up a good chunk of the deck’s value. While its drawback is significant, forcing your opponent to sacrifice a creature to stop it from attacking is also quite meaningful. Also, each time your opponent stops it from attacking, it gets bigger, too. As if a 6/6 flyer wasn’t enough, this Demon was often going to be swinging for 8 damage or more in most games. The Demon never really panned out in Modern, because there are enough flyers in the format that can easily chump block it. Somewhat ironically, Desecration Demon was reprinted in Modern Masters 2017, despite seeing almost zero play in the format. Herald of Torment proved to be a decent Bestow card in Black. It’s a 3/3 flyer on its own and as an Aura, the Herald gives +3/+3 and flying. While you lose 1 life during each of your upkeeps, it’s a small price to pay for that amount of power in the air. While it was never a money card, it was a useful role player in Standard, for sure. Pack Rat is a very playable card that can pump out copies of itself by ditching an extra card in hand and paying 2B. Also, the Pack Rats get bigger the more that you have in play. It’s a deceptively simple card with a flavorful concept that proved to be extremely good in Standard. Heck, it’s still played in casual Rat decks everywhere! Pack Rat also continues to see occasional play in the Modern format. The last rare creatures in the deck are two copies of Xathrid Necromancer. It’s super useful for when your Human creatures die by replacing each of them with 2/2 Zombie tokens. The Necromancer even replaces himself! Really, the only drawback is that the tokens come into play tapped. It’s a shame that this guy hasn’t found a good home in any other format, because he’s really a superb card. In the non-creature spells, you have Fated Return and Hero’s Downfall as rare cards. Fated Return is a pricey reanimation spell, but it makes the creature coming back indestructible. Still, it’s not so great as a Standard card, but it works well in Commander. On the other hand, Hero’s Downfall is simply excellent removal that you would definitely want more than one of in a deck.  Where's Gray Merchant of Asphodel in the Born of the Gods Event Deck? The most obvious exclusion in this deck is everyone’s favorite mono-Black Devotion staple, Gray Merchant of Asphodel. That choice actually is not a mistake. The reason for this is that Wizards decided to include a different Devotion-based card in Mogis’s Marauder. Whereas “Gary,” as he’s often called, makes you gain X life and an opponent lose X life where X is your Devotion to Black, the Marauders give X creatures intimidate and haste until end of turn where X is that same number. To anyone who has witnessed the power of Gray Merchant of Asphodel, it’s understandable why people are confused about that omission. But there’s a good reason for it. Wizards went out of their way to try a new take on a mono-Black deck that didn't involve Devotion. It's an aggressive build, built around Xathrid Necromancer and a bunch of Human creatures. Tormented Hero, Mogis’ Marauder, and Rakdos Shred-Freak are all Humans. Therefore, this makes the Necromancers extremely good and allows you to be extremely aggressive. Spiteful Returned, a Bestow creature from Born of the Gods, is actually decent enough as a creature, as whenever it declares an attack, the defending player loses 2 life. This is a super aggressive deck. There’s also a pretty good removal package in this event deck with 2 Bile Blight, 3 Doom Blade, 2 Ultimate Price, and 1 Hero’s Downfall. The sideboard includes more removal, plus 4 copies of Duress for control purposes. The 2 extra copies of Gift of Orzhova to complement the one in the deck could prove useful if you’re playing this deck as is. Cremate is nice for messing up Graveyard-based strategies, but little else (although it draws you a card, as well). The Staff of the Death Magus is kind of a cute addition, as well, rewarding you by playing Swamps and black spells and giving you 1 life for each. Improving the Born of the Gods Event Deck, In Context
The first obvious thing about this deck is that it’s combining two distinct strategies: an aggressive approach with the Human/Xathrid Necromancer combination, and Bestow. For Devotion purposes, Bestow is extremely useful as a mechanic. Honestly, this deck can work as-is, but it’s not quite strong enough in a serious competitive setting. First of all, Agent of the Fates is a really nice card, a 3/2 creature with Deathtouch, and there are ways to make it work pretty well with the Bestow abilities in this deck. It’s also a Human, which works with the Necromancer. Blood Scrivener is a bit too situational, and would probably be our first cut. Crypt Ghast is super cool, in that it can double mana, but one copy in an aggressive deck probably doesn’t cut it here. Desecration Demon is an auto-keep, and a second copy could easily replace the Ghast. Erebos’ Emissary is an interesting little Bestow card, but a third Desecration Demon replaces it easily on the curve. If you’d rather not build around the Demons, two more Necromancers would slot in nicely! The reason for more Necromancers should be obvious: the more Necromancers, the more tokens you acquire! Herald of Torment is OK, but it’s another slot better occupied by a Necromancer or a Demon. The Marauders might be okay, especially if you’re maxing out the Human potential with Necromancers. Pack Rat is nice, and good in mono-Black devotion in general, but not in this particular build. It’s still super solid if you go a different direction, though. Cacklers are fine one-drops, as are Tormented Heroes, even if the Heroic ability is never relevant. Rakdos Shred-Freak is a bit sub-par on average, but super good with the Necromancer. For non-creatures, the removal count is fine except for there only being one Hero’s Downfall. Fated Return is too pricey and situational to be worth main-boarding, so that’s an easy swap. Gift of Orzhova isn’t bad, and helps devotion, but another Hero’s Downfall or perhaps a Herald of Torment (which gives you more value) is probably better here instead. Of course, you could go the more traditional route of mono-black Devotion decks, cutting Shred-Freak for more Pack Rats, cutting the Marauders for Gray Merchant of Asphodels, and cutting the Necromancers for Demons. But I think the mono-Black Humans route is much more interesting, and it’s possible to run 4 Necromancer and 4 Demon in the deck. Also, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is simply too good not to run in a mono-colored deck. Three copies should do the trick. Here’s the revised Underworld Herald deck list with these upgrades. LANDS 21 Swamp 3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx CREATURES (27) 4 Desecration Demon 2 Herald of Torment 3 Mogis’s Marauder 3 Rakdos Cackler 4 Rakdos Shred-Freak 3 Spiteful Returned 4 Tormented Hero 4 Xathrid Necromancer NON-CREATURE SPELLS (9) 2 Bile Blight 3 Doom Blade 2 Hero’s Downfall 2 Ultimate Price In the end, this is the list I would have gone with at the time. It keeps the Human factor alive, with the Marauders still in, cutting the more fragile and situational creatures with more heavy hitters. The Agent was nice, but it was 1 Human, replaced by two more. I also flip-flopped the count of Tormented Hero and Cackler. There’s still enough Bestow in the deck to make the Tormented Heroes sort of relevant. Of course, if you’re looking to go super-Human and not wanting to spend on the Demons, replace the 4 Demons with 4 Agents of the Fates. As for the sideboard, I’d cut the Gifts of Orzhova for two more Herald of Torment, if you’re going to keep going to Bestow route. The Staffs are silly, and Pithing Needle could take their place to shut down activated abilities. Cremate is also pretty sub-par and Thoughtseize is strictly better than Duress if you can afford them. Sideboards really depend on your meta, however, so go with whatever works against your meta. Heck, Gild might even have had a place in here. Overall Value of the Born of the Gods Event Deck In the context of when this deck was released, the Underworld Herald event deck looks really good on the value side of things. At the time buying multiple copies of this deck was not a bad investment, if you planned to flip the cards immediately. Desecration Demon and Hero’s Downfall looked to be Modern-playable, but only Hero’s Downfall has really ever seen any play at all in the format. As good as Xathrid Necromancer was at the time, he’s pretty worthless now, mostly due to there being an extremely common promo version of him available. When this deck was first released, I gave the Underworld Herald Event Deck a B for play-ability, but an A for value. I really liked the different take on mono-Black, without automatically resorting to Black Devotion. However, what’s killed this deck in the long term is that shortly after this deck’s release, in October 2014, there was a major Standard rotation that gutted the deck. The big value cards from the Return to Ravnica block and Magic 2014 (Desecration Demon and Xathrid Necromancer, plus the Rakdos creatures) were no longer legal in Standard. In late 2016, you could still find sealed Underworld Herald Event Decks available for a price around $20. Unfortunately,there were only three rares, Crypt Ghast, Hero’s Downfall, and Pack Rat, that continued to hold $2-3 price tags. From a strictly “bang for your buck” perspective, this isn’t a good deck to buy as sealed product today. This deck is not going to make back your $20, although Crypt Ghast and Pack Rat will likely continue to gain in value as time passes. A Commander reprint of Crypt Ghast has slowed its growth, but Pack Rat remains un-reprinted. In any case, the Born of the Gods Underworld Herald Event Deck is a fun deck to play. As the upgrades above show, there are several different ways to build from this shell. My recommendation would be to build the deck from scratch, however, since it would be cheaper to do so that way. by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully  Pyramids is not exactly one of the most powerful Artifact cards ever printed, but it can potentially save a land of yours from being destroyed (any land in play, in fact.) Also, it can remove a pesky enchantment from any land. But it's 6 just to play, and 2 to use its ability (although that 2 mana paid could be well worth it depending on the target). Still, while it's kind of a nice idea, it's just too expensive to cast to really be relevant at all.
You'd think something called Pyramids would be a lot cooler... I think Richard Garfield whiffed on this one. Still, at the time, there were a lot of enchantments that targeted land even then, so you can see why people might consider playing these. Today, it's just a $10 card that sits in collector's binders. by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff  While it's a pretty cool concept for a card, it's fairly obvious why City in a Bottle was never reprinted. Not only is it relatively useless now, but it was ridiculously powerful at the time. It discards every card from the Arabian Nights expansion that is currently in play, and as long as City in a Bottle is on the board, no other cards from Arabian Nights can be played.
One interesting aspect of this card, though, is that it does not affect reprints of cards from the Arabian Nights expansion. City in a Bottle will forever remain on the Reserve List as an interesting curiosity and a chase card for serious Magic: the Gathering collectors. Side Note: Since there is no Reserve List on Magic Online, City in a Bottle was in fact reprinted in Vintage Masters, as a mythic rare no less! What a strange way to introduce it into Magic Online! I guess they thought people would use it to blow up Bazaar of Baghdad strategies? I don't know...  Unlike a lot of Antiquities cards, Energy Flux is not on the Reserved List, and was in fact reprinted in Mercadian Masques, as well as Revised, 4th Edition, and 5th Edition. It’s actually a fairly usable card, hating out artifacts by giving them all an upkeep cost of 2. In Commander, this card can be pretty mean. That's why even though original Antiquities copies sell for about $8, Mercadian Masques foil versions can list for $7-8 and buylist for a decent amount. The other printings are generally worthless.
The foils are particularly popular because of the fact they are good in Commander. Serious Commander players tend to enjoy foiling out their decks, and in the right deck, Energy Flux can shut entire tables down. It’s particularly popular in Zur the Enchanter decks, because Zur’s effect can tutor it to the field from your deck. While many players consider it “jank,” Energy Flux has its purposes. If you happen to find any Antiquities copies or foil Mercadian Masques copies, they’re good to pickup for long-term value. Non-foil Masques copies sell for about a quarter, so they aren’t anything special. Revised, 4th edition, and 5th edition copies sell for pennies. If you just want to play the card, you’re best off picking those up. But the foil is pretty nice. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  One of the more valuable cards in Antiquities, Gate to Phyrexia is an interesting Black enchantment that allows you to sacrifice a creature to destroy an artifact. It has seen play in mono-Black Commander decks, such as those led by Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder, Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker, and others. They can be found from between $8-20 in price, due to the disparities in condition being a card from such an old set.
Being on the Reserved list, near-mint copies of this card are good investments. While it’s far from being a premier removal card, it does offer two Devotion, which is a big deal in Mono-Black. Also, mono-Black definitely doesn’t mind sacrificing creatures, so it’s a great way to deal with problem artifacts such as Sol Ring. If you happen to come across any copies of this uncommon, it is definitely a good pick-up due to its Reserved list status, usability in some Commander decks, and just overall being a cool flavorful card. by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist  Today we take a look at Game of Chaos, a rare card from Ice Age. It’s a red sorcery costing RRR to cast (triple Red). It was later reprinted in Fifth Edition with much more readable text. Here is the official Oracle entry for Game of Chaos: “Flip a coin. If you win the flip, you gain 1 life and target opponent loses 1 life, and you decide whether to flip again. If you lose the flip, you lose 1 life and that opponent gains 1 life, and that player decides whether to flip again. Double the life stakes with each flip.” Obviously, a card like this wouldn’t be printed anymore, but this effect is actually quite fascinating. If you can keep winning coin flips, this card can be pretty powerful, especially since the life stakes double with each subsequent flip. Risking everything on coin flips is pretty silly, though. Then again, do remember in the early days of Magic: the Gathering, there were actually more than a few cards like this. No offense to Drew Tucker, who has done plenty of great Magic art over the years (including the awesome Deathbringer Liege from Eventide), but I do prefer the art by Thomas Gianni on the Fifth Edition reprint:  That is some beautiful card. To be fair, the best card he did artwork on was Tower of the Magistrate (I personally love his artwork on Seht’s Tiger from Future Sight!)
Game of Chaos is yet another one of those cards from a very early time in Magic where crazy things could and did happen that made no logical competitive sense. I absolutely love reviewing these and enjoying some classic old-school, old-bordered Magic cards! by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff  Ancestral Recall allows you to draw 3 cards or force another player to draw 3 cards. For only one blue mana, this offers pretty ridiculous card advantage. You could even play it at instant speed.
Because of its awesome power level, Ancestral Recall is one of the Power Nine, the most powerful cards ever printed in Magic: the Gathering, along with the legendary Black Lotus, the five Moxen (Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, and Mox Sapphire), Time Walk, and Timetwister. When Richard Garfield first created the Alpha set, he had a cycle of cards called “boons.” There was a boon in each color that cost a single mana of that color which gave a player or creature three of something. The other boons were Dark Ritual in Black (get three black mana), Giant Growth in green (give target creature +3/+3), Healing Salve in White (gain 3 life or prevent 3 damage), and Lightning Bolt in Red (deal 3 damage). Even though Ancestral Recall was the only rare among these “boons” only Healing Salve was never really played. The other three were common and heavily played. All are still played in various formats today. Garfield did realize that Ancestral Recall was good, but of course he never expected Magic to grow quite as rapidly and as widely as it did. He figured that as a rare not many people would have them. But when people figured out they could go out and acquire 4 copies of this card to make their deck have a ridiculous card advantage engine, it became one of the first cards to be Limited in Constructed play by Wizards of the Coast. Eventually, its power level was deemed too powerful to even be considered a fair card for tournament play. It’s today only legal in Vintage, at only one copy per deck. In any case, it is the most under-costed draw spell in Magic. Blue is one of the most powerful colors in Vintage Magic due to the fact that it has Time Walk and Timetwister. When you consider that you now have Jace’s Ingenuity at 3BB (five mana) to draw three cards, you see just how nuts this card really is. Have you ever owned or played against an Ancestral Recall?
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
Richard Garfield deserves a ton of credit for creating this card. There is no doubt that Shahrazad is perhaps the most fascinating card in Magic the Gathering simply because of its effect. This card is banned in every format for a reason.
Seriously, this card tells you to leave your current game of Magic to go and play a separate game of Magic with the remaining cards! Then after that game is over, you come back to your original game and the loser of the sub-game loses half of his or her life, rounded up. Then you still have to finish the original game! That’s a pretty awesome concept: having a game of Magic inside of a game of Magic. Does it work out in a tournament setting? Absolutely not. But, that doesn’t mean casual players can’t proxy this card and try it out just for fun. If you actually own a copy of this card, why not stick it in a deck for chuckles? Heck, what if you ran 4 copies of this in a deck? You could potentially have a game of Magic inside a game of Magic inside a game of Magic inside a game of Magic!
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
Singing Tree may not be the most powerful card in the world, but what it does is interesting. While a 0/3 creature for 4 mana (3 Colorless & 1 Green) seems underpowered, being able to reduce an attacking creature's power to zero just by tapping certainly isn't bad. While it's hardly as good as many of its Reserve List counterparts, it's mainly there for collectors' value purposes. Otherwise, this would've been a candidate to reprint in a Core Set.
Honestly, Singing Tree is an interesting stall card. Though it is only an uncommon, copies of this card can still sell for over $50 on the open market, mostly just because it is from such an old set and supply is so limited. Those copies in decent condition can even fetch triple digits!
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate  Serendib Djinn is a 5/6 flyer for only four mana. Even in modern Magic that's pretty strong! Of course, that amount of power in the air has to have a downside. It does, and it's a big one.
At the beginning of each of your up-keeps, you must sacrifice a land. If you sacrifice an Island this way, Serendib Djinn deals 3 damage to you. Then when you control no lands, sacrifice Serendib Djinn. Honestly, if you play this guy at the right time, this Djinn can win you the game. There's really not much in Old School Magic that can touch him. So, while he has a big downside, he's not unplayable. Djinns really were the boss monsters of Old School Magic. It's fun to how much the game has really changed - mostly for the better. But, Djinns are cool. It's too bad recent ones haven't been the boss monsters they once were. This Djinn carries a high price tag, due to being on the Reserved List, and a classic Magic the Gathering card. Have you ever played Serendib Djinn? ~ Phoenix <3
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
Old Man of the Sea is an interesting creature that allows you to steal an opponent's creature. He could steal away some very interesting creatures from your opponent. He's a 2/3 for 1UU, which aren't bad stats, either. Although, if you're stealing something, you have to keep him tapped as long as you want to keep that creature under your control
Depending on what he steals from your opponent, it can go from simply being a decent early game Mind Control to putting you at a great advantage. It's an interesting card to play with and one that if printed today would certainly see some action.
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
In early Magic, there are many examples of cards that were simply just not very good. Merchant Ship was a card that was never reprinted because it’s on the Reserved List. But, it doesn’t really matter that it is, because it’s not very good.
Merchant Ship is a 0/2 that can’t attack unless your opponent controls an Island. Why would you attack with a card with 0 power at all, anyway? If you attack with it, and it isn’t blocked (little chance of that, really) you gain 2 life. Oh, wow, 2 life? Also, if you control no Islands, you must sacrifice this card. This is a little odd, since if you’re playing this card nine times out of ten you will control an Island. In any case it’s pretty weak, especially for an uncommon from Arabian Nights!
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate  There's a reason that Library of Alexandria is banned in both Commander and Legacy and limited to one copy in Vintage: it's a free draw every turn that you have 7 cards in hand. On top of that, it also can tap for a colorless mana. On the surface, it makes many people wonder, why is this banned?
Truth is, played correctly, you can basically get a free extra draw every turn. It's also not a Legendary Land, meaning you could play more than one at a time. This is why it's limited to a single copy in Vintage. It's a bit skill-intensive to play optimally, but Legacy and Vintage are already very skill-intensive formats. It's just too good for a land that comes into play untapped and can also provide you mana if you can't get the extra card draw. It's just a really great card. Best part is, it's not even a rare. Even though it's an uncommon, though, it's on Magic's Reserve List of cards that can't be reprinted. It's always going to be one of the more expensive Magic cards out there. Have you ever played Library of Alexandria? ~ Phoenix <3
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
Jihad is sort of an early version of Honor of the Pure and similar to Crusade printed in Alpha/Beta/Unlimited. This card can be a bit better than those two, though. When you play this card, choose a color. As long as your opponent has the chosen color of permanents in play, your White creatures get +2/+1.
Against mono-colored decks this can actually be a killer. White Weenie decks become a lot more powerful with this on the board. Jihad can swing a game in your favor late in the game when your board position is already set up. This will help you get that few extra power you need to deplete your opponent's life total. The drawback is that the boost is dependent on your opponent keeping a permanent of a certain color in play. So, it's not good against every deck.
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate  Ifh-Biff Efreet is one of the more interesting cards in Arabian Nights. With his ability, any player can pay a single green mana to do 1 damage to each player and each creature with flying.
Considering that you can activate his ability as many times as you have green mana to pay, this is a pretty powerful card. It's especially good if your opponent isn't playing any green mana sources. On top of that, it's a 3/3 flyer for 2GG. It's not hard to see why this is on the Reserve List, as it's actually quite powerful on paper. In practice, the Ifh-Biff Efreet doesn't really see much play anymore. He does pop up in Cubes and Commander decks, here and there. At $100 or more a pop, though, he's becoming a pricey Old School Magic card. Have you ever played Ifh-Biff Efreet? ~ Phoenix <3
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
Khabal Ghoul is an interesting Zombie card from Arabian Nights called. This creature is an uncommon, but it's on the Reserve List, like many of the best Arabian Nights cards are. For 3 mana, 2 Colorless mana and 1 Black mana, you get a 1/1 Zombie. While that's not exciting, his ability is quite good. The Ghoul gets a +1/+1 counter at each end step for every creature that died that turn and wasn't regenerated. Potentially, this guy could get pretty darn big in a hurry.
Khabal Ghoul used to be a nice little card to put in your Zombie-based Commander deck or crazy rogue Legacy deck. He's also not bad in Old School Magic, a format where you can only play cards from 1993 or 1994. He's a fun turn one play if you cast Dark Ritual, which gives you three Black Mana.
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
Elephant Graveyard is one of the more interesting land cards ever printed. Not only can you tap it for a colorless mana, but you can also tap it to regenerate an Elephant or Mammoth. It's funny to think about a deck now being built that revolves around Elephants and Mammoths. Yet, this card actually would make that combination a really fun deck.
An Elephant/Mammoth hybrid beat-down deck wouldn't be particularly competitive, but it would be fun. I wouldn't recommend investing in Elephant Graveyards for the purpose of building a casual deck around them, though. You're looking at over $100 USD a piece for a decent condition copy. But, if you happen to stumble across a copy or two of these for a reasonably cheap price, it's not a bad idea to pick them up. After all, it's on the Reserve List, meaning it's not going to be reprinted in any future Magic release.
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate  One of the most expensive cards from Arabian Nights, Diamond Valley is one of the best cards in the set, as well. It's often found selling on the secondary market for $400 or more a copy,
By tapping Diamond Valley you can sacrifice a creature in order to gain life equal to the sacrificed creature's toughness. Not only that, but its effect is able to be used after blockers have been declared. While it's not really a card that can necessarily win you a game, it's a very fun card for EDH / Commander decks that are built around life-gain mechanics. It's pricey, but it's a fun card to play. You can use it quite a number of times in a game, so it's worth a look if you're willing to sink a few hundred bucks or more into acquiring a copy. , Understandably, this card is on the Reserve List, as not only is it powerful, but it would be very difficult to reprint this in today's Magic. Have you ever played Diamond Valley? ~ Phoenix <3 Updated 9/3/2018 by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate  Bazaar of Baghdad is not only on the Reserve List, but it's also banned in Legacy tournament play. On the surface, tapping to draw two cards, then having to discard three doesn't sound terribly impressive. However, being able to use its tap ability every turn, especially in a deck that utilizes the Graveyard as a resource, it can become a very powerful engine.
Because of how quickly you can fill your graveyard with the cards you actually want in there while drawing into your game-winning combo pieces, Wizards of the Coast decided that this card needed to be banned in most formats. It's not banned in Vintage, however, where there is a much smaller ban list. So, because of decks like Dredge that utilize the Graveyard, it's still incredibly valuable. In fact, Bazaar of Baghdad is one of the most expensive cards in all of Magic: the Gathering. If you're lucky to own a copy, congratulations! Have you ever played Bazaar of Baghdad? ~ Phoenix <3 Updated 9/3/2018
by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate 
Ali from Cairo has a pretty silly ability. It's obvious why this card has stayed on Magic the Gathering's Reserve List - one of the cards that Wizards of the Coast has promised to never reprint. Basically, you can never lose the game as long as Ali is on the board (unless you lose by poison counters, of course.) Any damage that would reduce your life to 0 will still leave you with 1 life.
One important note: Any loss of life you would take outside of damage, such as the effect of the Extort mechanic, would still reduce your life to 0. So, it's still possible to lose with Ali on the board; it's just considerably more difficult.
As the first ever expansion for Magic: the Gathering, Arabian Nights is obviously one of the most sought after sets by collectors of the game. It had some extremely powerful cards, one major oddity (only one basic land was printed in the set by accident), and possibly the craziest card ever to be printed in any trading card game: Shahrazad. Arabian Nights actually has many cards reprinted in later sets. Many cards from Arabian Nights were reprinted in Chronicles, the later compilation set. Some other notable cards were reprinted in later Core Sets and expansions. For example, Desert was reprinted in Time Spiral.  The most notable card that has been reprinted from this set is City of Brass. This is a land that allows you to tap for any color of mana, but you must pay one life to do so. It was only an uncommon in Arabian Nights, but has been reprinted as a rare in Chronicles, and the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th edition Core Sets. It would also be reprinted in Modern Masters and the Modern Event Deck. One of these later reprints can be had for about $3-4 USD a copy, but original Arabian Nights versions can sell for over $300 USD a copy! Only 28 cards from this set have never been reprinted. 22 of them are on Wizards of the Coast's Reserved List. Being on the Reserved List means that they will never be reprinted, mainly because of their power level and also to protect their collectors value. These 22 cards remain some of the rarest cards in all of Magic.  Besides these, there is a major oddity in the set: a basic Mountain! Since Arabian Nights was originally meant to be printed as a stand-alone product, it initially had basic lands as part of the set. When it was decided that it would instead be an expansion to Alpha, Beta & Unlimited, the basic lands were removed.
However, in the first print run of the set, Mountain was accidentally left in. This makes the Arabian Nights Mountains highly sought after by players & collectors alike. A single copy of this particular printing of Mountain is worth about $125 USD or more. Even in less than perfect condition, they're worth holding onto, even if only for trade stock for Red Deck Wins lovers. Stick around for more Retro Magic, where we look at some of the oldest and rarest cards in Magic: the Gathering! Some Retro Magic articles to enjoy: Ali from Cairo - Arabian Nights Card Review Ancestral Recall - Retro Magic Card Review Juzam Djinn - Arabian Nights Card Review |
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