Ghostway is an interesting Magic card from Guildpact. It's a rare that probably not many people know exist, but it's been far from being a bulk rare for quite some time. Its price has been steadily climbing from about $1.50 USD in 2010 - with a spike to about $6 around the release of Born of the Gods for some reason – back down to around $3 and back up to around $5 in late 2014. Another spike in early 2015 to over $10 a copy with the emergence of a rogue Modern archetype called Eternal Ghostway.

So what is Eternal Ghostway? It has to do with using cards with powerful enter the battlefield effects, such as Eternal Witness, with the "blinking" power of Ghostway. For 2W, Ghostway is an instant spell that allows you to remove all creatures you control from the game and return them back to the battlefield at the end of the turn. This can be helpful for dodging removal, of course, but it also allows you to recycle enter the battlefield effects, as well as some other things that you will see when we take a look at a couple of Eternal Ghostway lists.

Here's one such list from late January 2015 that went 3-1 in a Modern Daily.

DECK LIST

Creatures (27)

4 Birds of Paradise
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Eternal Witness
4 Restoration Angel
4 Wall of Omens
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Loxodon Hierarch
1 Magus of the Disk
1 Reveillark

Non-Creature Spells (10)

4 Path to Exile
3 Chord of Calling
3 Ghostway

Lands (23)

4 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Forest
3 Tectonic Edge
2 Plains
2 Stomping Ground
1 Mountain

Sideboard (15)

3 Fulminator Mage
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Firespout
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Nature's Claim
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite

The other ultra rare in the pack is  Dark Hole. Not much needs to be said about this card. It destroys all monsters on the field. It’s one of the best staples in the entire game, and having yet another ultra rare printing is pretty useful for players who love to foil out their decks.

The other common cards are as follows:

Des Volstgalph
Kuraz the Light Monarch
D.D. Warrior Lady
Sacred Crane
Amazoness Sage
Injection Fairy Lily
The A. Forces
Reinforcement of the Army
Swords of Revealing Light
Mirror Force
Call of the Haunted
Magic Cylinder
Divine Wrath

The majority of these cards have all been printed at common rarity before. Mirror Force, Call of the Haunted, and  Reinforcement of the Army are staples that we’re happy to see again. Magic Cylinder  is also a highly useful card, along with Divine Wrath, a card that may begin to see more play again with the rise of so many powerful effect monsters.

Of these 13 common cards, only 2 had never before been printed at the lowest rarity: Des Volstgalph and Kuraz the Light Monarch. Des Volstgalph‘s claim to fame was that he was once a Shonen Jump Championship Series Prize Card, and later reprinted in two different Gold Series.  Kuraz  is probably the most interesting card here, only before printed as a Light of Destruction special edition card and a Duelist League participation promo.

We’ve gone over  Stargazer Magician  and  Timegazer Magician  already in our Pendulum Summoning article. When we take a look at the next few cards, you’ll see why Pendulum Summoning might become a big deal. We’ll start with the Empowered monsters, of which there are 5, one of each Attribute, except Dark.

The last new card in the deck,  Supply Squad, is a cool Continuous Spell Card. Once per turn, if a monster or monsters you control are destroyed by battle or a card effect, you can draw a card. Card draw is always good, especially when it comes from something that often happens in a game.

To round out the spell cards we have: Lightning Vortex,  Mystical Space Typhoon,  Ego Boost,  Axe of Despair,  Lucky Iron Axe,  Monster Reincarnation,  Dark Factory of Mass Production, and  Poison of the Old Man. You can click on each card’s name to find out more about it on Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia.

For the Trap Cards:  Trap Hole,  Sakuretsu Armor,  Raigeki Break,  Dust Tornado,  Shadow Spell,  A Hero Emerges,  Soul Resurrection, Jar of Greed,  Magic Jammer, and  Seven Tools of the Bandit. Again, click the card name’s for more info.

Overall, the reprints I’m most excited to see among the Spell/Trap cards are  Mystical Space Typhoon  (which you can never have enough of),  Monster Reincarnation  (which is a good card for many decks) and  Seven Tools of the Bandit, which is a Trap card that has really been coming back into style with the banning of  Heavy Storm.

Taking a look at the deck as a whole, it introduces a bunch of new cards into the game, especially with the Summoner and Empowered monsters, plus obviously the two Pendulum monsters and the two Spell cards. The deck has some interesting synergies within it, and while the deck is not itself highly competitive, it’s a great starting place for players new to the game or returning after a long while to discover that there’s this Pendulum Summoning thing going on (like myself!)

But wait, the deck list might be finished, but there’s more! The reason they call this a Super Starter Deck is that it comes with two packs of five cards, as well! What’s in this pack? We'll review what you can get from those packs soon!

The  Space-Time Showdown Super Starter Deck introduced a new type of Summon into the game of Yu-Gi-Oh. Before we had Normal Summons, Special Summons, and Fusion Summons. Then we had Contact Fusion Summons. Next we had Synchro Summons. After that, we had Xyz Summons. Now we have Pendulum Summons, and oh boy, are they complex!

This starter deck comes with two monsters of a brand new type known as Pendulum Monsters. You play them in your deck like regular monsters, and can summon them like any other normal Effect Monster. However, in addition to the traditional monster zones, two new “pendulum” zones have been created between the extra deck and field card zone on the left and between the deck and graveyard over on the right. In these zones, they are treated as Spells and not Monsters, and have a different effect while in those zones.

There are a few other things you should know about Pendulum Monsters. First of all, when they are sent from the field from the graveyard, by combat or a card effect, even if they are face-down, they are sent to the Extra Deck face-up. Yes, the Extra Deck. It will make more sense later.

However, if they are sent from the hand, Main Deck, or Extra Deck, or have their summon or effects as a Spell Card negated they go to the graveyard like normal. Also, placing monsters in Pendulum Zones is not considered a Normal or Special Summon. You cannot discard a Pendulum monster already in a Pendulum Zone in order to play another one (like you would a Field spell card) but you can play them as often as you like as long as you have open Pendulum Zones in which to play them.

So why the heck are there are a blue zone and a red zone? As soon as you see the first of the two new Pendulum Summon cards, you’ll see why.

The cover card of the Space Time Showdown deck is  Timegazer Magician. It’s a Level 3 monster with 1200 ATK and 600 DEF. You’ll then notice that the card has two jewels: a blue side and a red side. You can choose to summon it as a regular monster, in which case, it will get its monster effect. But if you summon it into one of the two Pendulum zones you put it into, it instead becomes a spell card with a different effect. The color of the Zone decides which number is considered in what is called its “Pendulum Scale.” We’ll cover this later, but for purposes of at least the early Pendulum Monsters, these numbers are currently identical.

The Pendulum ability on this card is rather wordy. Let’s break it down.

“You must control no monsters to activate this card. If a Pendulum Monster you control attacks or is attacked, your opponent cannot activate Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. Unless you have a “Magician” card or “Odd-Eyes” card in your other Pendulum Zone, this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes 4.”

The first part of that effect is pretty self-explanatory. It means that this card essentially becomes a continuous spell card with an ability that can only be activated when you control no monsters – that is, no monsters except for a Pendulum Monster in the opposite zone.

The effect is fairly basic: whenever a Pendulum Monster you control attacks or is attacked, your opponent can’t activate any of his/her Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. That seems pretty helpful, especially if you control no monsters.

So this last part probably has a lot of people confused, because it certainly blew my mind. Unless you control a Pendulum monster with “Magician” or “Odd-Eyes” in its name in the opposite Pendulum Zone, this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes 4? What the heck does that mean? Well, you see the numbers under the blue and red symbols? That is the card’s Pendulum Scale.

We’ll get to exactly what that means in a minute. But let’s look at its Monster effect:

“Each turn, the first card(s) in your Pendulum Zone that would be destroyed by an opponent’s card effect are not destroyed.”

That’s a pretty handy ability. It can protect your other Pendulum cards, as they now become like Spell cards that can be removed by  Dust Tornado,  Mystical Space Typhoon, and the like.

Let’s take a look at the other Pendulum Summon card in the deck.

Stargazer Magician  is the other Pendulum Summon monster in the deck. It has a Pendulum Scale of only 1. That’s interesting. It’s also a level 5 monster, which means to Normal Summon it, you must Tribute one of your monsters, just as you would any other regular Level 5 monster. Again, you can play it as a regular monster or in a Pendulum zone. As this one has 2400 DEF, though, you may want to keep it in Defense Mode.

Let’s take a look at his Pendulum Zone spell effect:

“If a Pendulum Monster you control attacks or is attacked, your opponent cannot activate Spell Cards until the end of the Damage Step. Unless you have a “Magician” card or “Odd-Eyes” card in your other Pendulum Zone, this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes 4.”

Wait, that looks awfully familiar. It is almost identical to the other Magician except for the fact that it stops Spell cards from being activated – which most likely would be Quick-Play spells such as the Forbidden Cycle (Chalice, Dress, Lance, etc.)

So what is its Monster effect then, since we mostly likely have to Tribute Summon for it?

“Once per turn, when exactly 1 other Pendulum Monster you control (and no other cards) is returned to your hand by an opponent’s card effect (except during the Damage Step): You can Special Summon 1 monster from your hand with the same name as that returned to the hand.”

Notice that it says Special Summon and not Pendulum Summon. That’s still a pretty cool effect, though, if not a little niche.

Now that we’ve seen what these guys do, what do they do together?

Let’s say we get both of these out on the board at the same time in opposite Pendulum Zones. One has a scale of 8, but it becomes 4 unless the other card in the Pendulum Zone has “Magician” or “Odd-Eyes” in its name. Fortunately for the other Magician in the deck, there is also another Magician. This means that you have a 1 on one side and an 8 on the other. So what the heck does that mean?

Having both of your Pendulum Zones occupied allows what is called Pendulum Summoning. At the beginning of each card you may Pendulum Summon as many creatures as you like from your hand that are between the levels of the two Scales on the cards occupying the Pendulum Zones. This means you can summon any monster between levels 2-7 directly to the field. This sounds pretty nuts, doesn’t it? Well, believe me, it’s a lot easier said that done!

Also, there’s another very interesting thing about Pendulum Monsters that must be mentioned here. When they are destroyed, they sometimes end up in the Extra Deck face-up. The only way to get them back from there is to summon them with a Pendulum Summon again later. Don’t worry about the number of cards in your Extra Deck – as they don’t count towards your 15 card limit.

The Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia has a good breakdown of the mechanics of Pendulum Monsters, as well as  a summary of the mechanics of Pendulum Summons.

These two cards are pretty fascinating and add quite a complex new mechanic to the game of Yu-Gi-Oh. In the near future, we’ll take a look at the rest of the Super Starter Deck and see how its two Pendulum Monsters help the deck.

Today we’ll take a look a card specifically printed for Commander,  Surveyor’s Scope. The Commander 2013 decks introduced several cards that are really only playable in a multi-player Commander setting, and the Scope is certainly one of those cards. For two mana, you get to play an artifact that can tap as soon as it’s played. You exile it and search your library for up to X basic land cards, where X is the number of players who control at least two more lands than you. You get to put those lands directly onto the battlefield.

For decks that don’t have other ways to ramp up their mana, such as Cultivate  or Kodama’s Reach  or creatures that can grab lands like  Yavimaya Elder  or  Sakura-Tribe Elder, it’s not a terrible option. But it’s a bit too situational, in my opinion, to be reliable mana ramp. If you have two or three players at your table with two more lands than you – for example, in cases where you’re really getting mana screwed – then it’s a very good card. Having to exile it kind of stinks, but it’s understandable considering the very good value you can get out of this card.

Getting one basic land out of this honestly is perfectly fine. Two mana to put a basic land directly onto the field untapped is pretty solid. It’s worth playing, but to get full value out of it in multi-player, you have to time it just right. Even to ramp up with one untapped land to catch up to an opponent is easily worth the two mana to cast the Scope. It’s a pretty solid Commander card, if not the most consistent. Keeping up with land drops is even more important in Commander than other formats.

However, Surveyor’s Scope could now find a more consistent home, thanks to  Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient.

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Abzan is perhaps my favorite clan in Khans of Tarkir, but when it comes to making an Intro Pack for new players to discover this White/Black/Green strategy for themselves, did Wizards succeed? Let's find out.

ABZAN SIEGE DECK LIST

Lands (26)
6 Forest
7 Swamp
8 Plains
1 Scoured Barrens
2 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Jungle Hollow
1 Blossoming Sands

Creatures (23)
1 Mer-ek Nightblade
1 Carnivorous Moss-beast
1 Ivorytusk Fortress
1 Armament Corps
2 Longshot Squad
2 Disowned Ancestor
3 Ainok Bond-kin
1 Sungrace Pegasus
2 Child Of Night
2 Abzan Falconer
2 Tuskguard Captain
1 Abzan Battle Priest
1 High Sentinels Of Arashin
1 Razorfoot Griffin
2 Salt Road Patrol

Other spells (11)
1 Incremental Growth
1 Flesh To Dust
1 Hunt The Weak
1 Dragonscale Boon
1 Abzan Charm
2 Kill Shot
2 Abzan Banner
1 Eternal Thirst
1 Suspension Field

Improving the Deck:

Obviously, the Carnivorous Moss-Beast is the first thing to go. Mer-ek Nightblade and Longshot Squad are outclassed by what the Abzan Falconer and Tuskguard Captains provide at lower mana costs. Flying and Trample are always more relevant than Deathtouch and Reach. Salt Road Patrols should go for more copies of Abzan Battle Priest. You definitely want more copies of High Sentinels of Arashin, too.

I think Outlast, even though it's a bit of a slow mechanic that can only be activated at sorcery speed, can work okay in Limited. It's much harder for it to work well in Constructed, as if you go to activate one of your Outlast abilities, they'll probably kill your creature before it has a chance to do much damage. Unchecked, though, Outlast creatures that give your creatures with +1/+1 counters extra abilities can win you the game, especially as they have a Prophet of Kruphix-lite to assist them.

You would definitely want to run at least a couple of copies of Abzan Ascendancy in the deck, which puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control when it enters the battlefield. Plus, when any of your nontoken creatures die, you get a 1/1 flying Spirit token. If there's anyway to make this deck better, it's that.

As far as improving the deck beyond those basic improvements that I previously mentioned, there are a couple ways to go. You can go with the general Abzan theme of the deck and acquire a couple of copies of Anafenza, the Foremost and Siege Rhino to beef up the deck. Obviously acquiring Abzan Ascendancies and a couple more Abzan Charms help your cause, as well. Beyond that, it's finding the mana fixing, with additional copies of the tap-lands and perhaps a few Windswept Heath for more mana base consistency.

If you want to start from complete scratch, and don't want to invest in the mana base, I think you're best off looking to Theros block's Heroic creatures that gain +1/+1 counters from their Heroic triggers. Cards like Lagonna Band Trailblazer, Hero of Iroas, and Fabled Hero coupled with High Sentinels of Arashin and perhaps a couple of Abzan Falconers, you're looking at a pretty solid mono-white deck. Is it top-tier? No, but that's one way you could go for not a ton of money.

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

The Blue/Red/White Intro Pack for Khans of Tarkir is Jeskai Monks. Is it one of the better of the five Intro Packs for the set? Let's take a look at the list and find out.

JESKAI MONKS DECK LIST

Lands (26)
2 Mystic Monastery
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Tranquil Cove
1 Wind-scarred Crag
8 Island
6 Mountain
7 Plains



Creatures (20)
1 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Jeskai Elder
1 Leaping Master
1 Jeskai Student
2 Seeker Of The Way
2 Jeskai Windscout
2 Bloodfire Expert
1 Bloodfire Mentor
1 Alabaster Kirin
1 Highspire Mantis
1 Whirlwind Adept
1 Tireless Missionaries
1 Serra Angel
1 Sage Of The Inward Eye
1 Warden Of The Eye
1 Riverwheel Aerialists

Other spells (14)
1 Void Snare
1 Oppressive Rays
1 Lightning Strike
2 Jeskai Banner
1 Crippling Chill
1 Divination
1 Solemn Offering
1 Winterflame
1 Jeskai Charm
1 Weave Fate
1 Smite The Monstrous
1 Lava Axe
1 Flying Crane Technique

Improving the Deck:

What this deck is missing is the best offensive creature that Jeskai has: Mantis Rider. Four copies of that is paramount to making this strategy work, a 3/3 with flying, vigilance, and haste is awesome. There are some good creatures here. Monastery Swiftspear is probably the very best card printed with Prowess, and she's become a Standard and Modern staple. You want four copies of her. Seeker of the Way is also solid, gaining Lifelink along with the +1/+1 from his ability, making him at least a 3/3 with Lifelink with only a single Prowess trigger - on a 1W 2/2 that's very good. I'd max out his copies.

Highspire Mantis while a 4-drop that's not the greatest creature in the world is a 3/3 with Flying and Trample. It's okay, and a couple more copies will help the decks cause. Riverwheel Aerialists is too high on the curve to be relevant most of the time in Constructed, Tireless Missionaries is a poor inclusion, and the Jeskai Windscouts are outclassed by Mantis Rider. I'd keep Serra Angel in just because she is a classic card that isn't hurting anyone, at least until you find a more powerful creature to replace her - there aren't many in this set.

Bloodfire Expert, Bloodfire Mentor, and Alabaster Kirin all have their places in Limited, but they're awfully weak for Constructed. They can easily go to make the room that you'll need. Leaping Master does nothing for me and Jeskai Elder would be far better if you just drew a card without the discard attached. Jeskai Student is okay, but you're better off with 4 Monastery Swiftspears than a 1W 1/3, even with Prowess.

The other spells in the deck aren't bad. Obviously you want 4 copies of Lightning Strike, so the 2 Banners (mediocre as they are even in Limited) can go as well as something like Crippling Chill. The Chill is good in Limited but the 3 guaranteed damage is better. I don't like Winterflame much and would prefer more Jeskai Charms instead - it's far superior. Divination and Weave Fate are card draw - the latter being at instant speed, but Jeskai Ascendancy is better at helping you draw while ditching cards you don't need, while also improving upon the Prowess Mechanic. Flying Crane Technique is an awesome bomb I'd leave in just because people may not expect it. Lava Axe is a bit unnecessary if you max out on Jeskai Charms, 4 direct damage for 3 mana is a lot better than 5 for 5 mana.

I'd probably max out the Void Snares for tempo and perhaps acquire a couple of Mindswipes for a permission spell that also burns the opponent. These changes make this more of a traditional UWR deck without losing the aggressive spirit of Jeskai.

If you're really willing to spend on this deck, check out Monastery Mentor and Soulfire Grand Master. The Master makes 1/1 tokens every time you cast a non creature spell and himself has prowess. Soulfire Grand Master gives your instant and sorcery spells lifelink, meaning your burn spells also gain you life. The Grand Master can also help you reuse spells for 4 mana (2 U/R U/R).

Jeskai decks have become quite popular and there have been quite a few winning lists to check out. Namely, there are the more creature based Jeskai Wins and the more token-based Jeskai Tokens. This Intro Pack is a nice way to be introduced to the Jeskai mechanics, even if it's not the best overall value of the five Khans intro packs.

 by  ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

At first, Sultai was among the most disappointing of the Khans of Tarkir clans. However, the clan does have some good cards to show for it, and has proven to be far more competitive than many players thought at first. Many players weren't sure that Delve wasn't a good enough mechanic to build an entire strategy around. Especially after the release of Fate Reforged, Sultai decks (which can actually mean any deck using a combination of black, blue, and green cards) have become extremely competitive.

The question with this particular Intro Pack is how well it will perform with Rakshasa Vizier, the cover card of the deck, as your ace creature. Truthfully, he Vizier can become a huge house, as for every card you exile with Delve, you put that many +1/+1 counters on Rakshasa Vizier. Give the Vizier any sort of evasion and you have a win condition.

So how easy is it to do that in this Intro Pack?

SULTAI SCHEMERS INTRO PACK DECK LIST:

Lands (26)
7 Swamp
8 Forest
6 Island
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Jungle Hollow
2 Opulent Palace
1 Thornwood Falls

Creatures (20)
1 Typhoid Rats
1 Black Cat
1 Walking Corpse
2 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Wall of Mulch
1 Research Assistant
2 Necromancer’s Assistant
1 Gravedigger
1 Rotfeaster Maggot
1 Rakshasa Vizier
1 Sultai Soothsayer
2 Sultai Scavenger
2 Hooting Mandrills
2 Shambling Attendants
1 Necropolis Fiend

Other spells (14)
1 Debilitating Injury
2 Taigam’s Scheming
1 Sultai Banner
1 Rakshasa’s Secret
1 Scout the Borders
1 Sultai Charm
1 Bitter Revelation
1 Murderous Cut
1 Throttle
1 Become Immense
1 Set Adrift
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dead Drop


Let’s take a look at the other rare in the deck, Necropolis Fiend:

I've never really been a fan of this card. Not that the concept of it wasn’t good, but 9 mana for a 4/5 flyer that then relies on the graveyard for its effect is not really that good. It is playable in Limited, perhaps, and I could be underestimating it as a bomb (hence why it begins at 9 mana as a Delve creature). But in Constructed? Not when you have so many other cards drawing from the graveyard – a very Limited resource. Some people have played it in Sultai Control, but I haven't seen it in too many lists.

The creature line-up overall is pretty bad. The Satyr Wayfinders are fine for putting cards in the graveyard. Necromancer’s Assistant assists in putting more cards in there when it enters the battlefield. Hooting Mandrills is one of the Delve creatures well worth being Delved. 5G for a 4/4 with Trample and Delve – that’s plenty solid. Sultai Soothsayer is basically Satyr Wayfinder, except you can choose any card from among the four. Sultai Scavenger is a 3/3 flyer for 5B and Delve – fine for Limited, a bit weak for Constructed.

For the non-creature spells, Taigam’s Scheming is useful card filtering. Scout the Borders is yet another mill card, but you can choose a creature or land from among five cards instead of four. Bitter Relevation gives you two cards from the four, but you also lose 2 life. Murderous Cut is an extremely playable Delve card – unconditional removal for 4B sounds pricey, but it has Delve on it. Become Immense is a really good combat trick for the late game – 5G for +6/+6 with Delve is actually really good. Treasure Cruise in the late game is very strong – drawing you three cards – even if 7U looks ridiculous. There's a reason it was banned in Modern. The other non-creature spells, outside of the Sultai Charm are meh at best.

All of the Charms in Khans of Tarkir are good. Sultai Charm may not be the best of the five, but it’s really strong with all of its three modes being very relevant: destroy target mono-colored creature, destroy target artifact or enchantment, or draw two cards, then discard a card. You want more of these.

Sadly, this Intro Pack doesn't give you much to build on as far as improvements are concerned. The Vizier is nice, but unless you can make him go unblocked (which this deck has no way of doing as constructed) it’s just a big silly beater. Sure you could give it Aqueous Form, but would you include that just for Vizier?

If you want to play Sultai, it's best to seek out some BUG Walkers or Sultai Control deck lists. Both of these lists tend to run the powerful planeswalkers Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Kiora, the Crashing Waves. You'll also want to invest in a playset of Dig Through Time. But there’s really no way to improve this deck without starting from complete scratch outside of the Charms, Murderous Cuts, and Treasure Cruises. Sidisi Whip, which is built around Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and Whip of Erebos, is a very competitive Sultai deck, as well.

Outside of simply using this deck to test out how much you like the Delve mechanic in practice, I'd personally skip buying this Intro Pack. It doesn't really provide much overall value, and if you want the Vizier that bad, you can probably buy it or trade for it on the cheap. As an introduction to the game, it's okay, but I like to see Intro Packs as toolboxes for building better decks. Sultai Schemers doesn't really do that.

Deck List

Creatures
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Bojuka Brigand
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Hada Freeblade
3 Adaptive Automaton
1 Jwari Shapeshifter
1 Phantasmal Image

Non-Creature Spells
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile

Land
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Gemstone Mine
3 Caves of Koilos
3 City of Brass
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Plains

Sideboard
4 Ancient Grudge
4 Duress
4 Kor Firewalker
1 Dismember
1 Pyroclasm
1 Talus Paladin

The Creatures

We'll start with the one-drops: Champion of the Parish and Hada Freeblade. The Champion is self-explanatory, as each time you play any of your Humans (which all of your Allies are) it will gain a +1/+1 counter. Hada Freeblade is a one-drop 0/1 that has a similar effect to the Champion, in that it gets a +1/+1 counter each time an Ally enters your side of the field.

Next we have the two-drops: Kazandu Blademaster, Akoum Battlesinger, Bojuka Brigand, and Oran-Rief Survivalist. The Kazandu, Bojuka, and Oran-Rief fellows all have the same effect as Hada Freeblade. The Blademaster is a WW 1/1 with first strike and vigilance. The Brigand is a 1/1 that can't block. The Survivalist is just a 1/1. The Battlesinger is a bit different: it's a 1/1 with haste that when it or another Ally enters your side of the field, you may have all Allies you control gain +1/+0 until end of turn. It's a solid repeatable effect, and having haste can be significant. We also have Jwari Shapeshifter, which is a Clone for any Ally you control, and Phantasmal Image, that can copy anything.

The three drops are Adaptive Automaton, which we've already talked about in the introduction, and Kabira Evangel. Anyone who drafted Zendikar remembers the Evangel. Basically, whenever Evangel or another Ally enters the battlefield, you can give creatures you control protection from a color until end of turn. Obviously, that isn't too bad an ability, as it's basically a better version of Brave the Elements on a 2/3 for 2W. The best part of this is that this ability can stack multiple times in a turn, so you can give your creatures protection from several colors depending on how many creatures you play in a turn.

Non-Creature Spells

The deck has a decent swarm element already with its creatures alone, but how do you speed it up even further? Aether Vial! Basically, by having one or more Vials, you can play your Allies all very quickly, often times never having to actually use mana to cast them! It takes a lot of pressure off of what you will see is a quite an interesting mana-base. Since the allies in this deck are in all five colors, the Vials basically guarantee you'll be able to play a lot of creatures in a turn. This works very well already with Merfolk, so why not Human Allies?

Besides the Vials, the only other non-creature spell in the deck is a full play-set of Path to Exile. Obviously, this deck is a bunch of small creatures, so you need the removal. Pretty self-explanatory.

The Mana Base

Because this is a five-color deck, even though the mana curve is extremely low (topping out at 3!) you're going to occasionally have some color-fixing issues. The Vials make up for some of this, obviously, but for consistency reasons, there are a wide variety of color-fixers in this deck.

The first is 4 Ancient Ziggurat. This is a pretty solid card, since all but 8 cards in your deck are non-creatures or non-lands, so it's always going to give you a color you need for any given creature. Also, the only card with a double mana symbol in its cost is Kazandu Blademaster, so for the most part, a Ziggurat is going to give you what you need.

Next is Gemstone Mine, which is a card many people never even realized was legal in Modern (it's a Timeshifted card in Time Spiral!) One of the quirks of Modern is that you can use Timeshifted cards, so this is yet another way to fix for mana early in the game. The only problem is that Gemstone Mine only has three uses before you have to sacrifice it. But, it does come in untapped, so it has instant usability.

Next are the "pain lands," lands that give you a certain color of mana but will cost you 1 life each time you tap them for colored mana. The basic pain lands are Caves of Koilos (white/black) and Battlefield Forge (red/white). These lands also tap for colorless mana that does not cost you 1 life. You also have 3 City of Brass to fix for any color at the cost of 1 life.

Lastly, there are two Razorverge Thickets to fix for green and white, and a single copy of Plains.

Sideboarding

The sideboard offers some important utiltiy cards for which you can swap out some of the weaker allies like Bojuka Brigand and Oran-Rief Survivalist if need be. You have 4 Ancient Grudge for artifact destruction (with a nifty flashback ability). There are 4 Duress for hand control. Against red decks, you have 4 Kor Firewalkers to put in (which could take the place of Blademasters if need be, as they are also WW).

There are also single copies of Dismember, Pyroclasm, and Talus Paladin. The Paladin is the only 4 drop in the whole 75. It allows your Allies to gain lifelink until end of turn, while also being able to put a +1/+1 counter on the Paladin. Like most Ally effects, it triggers whenever he or another Ally enters, so it's a nifty ability if you truly need the lifelink.

Strategy and Thoughts on the Deck The deck is very simple: play a bunch of Allies very quickly, and swing in for lethal before your opponent can stabilize. Besides the Aether Vials, it's actually quite a budget deck. Champion of the Parish (come October rotation) will drop further in value, but from decks like this, it's clear that the Champion still has Modern viability.

I hate to say that I don't know who built this deck, as I can't find the actual deck that topped a Daily Event back on August 13th.  Here is the decklist I found categorized under the Human Allies archetype.  While I'm not sure this is a Top 8 sort of deck archetype, it's a great entry deck into Modern. In any case, having a play-set of Aether Vial will benefit you down the road. It did have the ability to go 3-1 a MTGO daily event, and I can see this perhaps having a good day here and there at some smaller Modern tournaments. There's very little risk involved, honestly, in building this deck.

If you build this deck and find it works incredibly well, or not so well, let me know. I'd love to pilot this deck myself!

Let's hope this sort of innovation continues as the Modern format grows!

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

After taking a look at the  Jace side of the Duel Decks, some may decide that the deck is already worth buying. That is easily the case. With Remand being a Modern blue staple and  Jace, Architect of Thought still has some value due to play-ability in Modern and Commander, this product is already worth the $20 MSRP.

But wait a minute, guys. There’s a whole other deck here. It's hard not to like Vraska the Unseen. She may not be the greatest card in competitive play, but she has seen some Standard play before and she’s very good in Commander. Let’s see what her Golgari friends have brought to the party.

LANDS
9 Forest
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Rogue’s Passage
11 Swamp
2 Tainted Wood

CREATURES
1 Acidic Slime
1 Corpse Traders
1 Death-Hood Cobra
1 Drooling Groodion
1 Festerhide Boar
2 Gatecreeper Vine
1 Highway Robber
1 Mold Shambler
1 Nekrataal
1 Ohran Viper
1 Oran-Rief Recluse
1 Pulse Tracker
1 Putrid Leech
1 Reaper of the Wilds
1 River Boa
1 Sadistic Augermage
1 Shadow Alley Denizen
1 Slate Street Ruffian
1 Spawnwrithe
1 Stonefare Crocodile
1 Tavern Swindler
1 Vinelasher Kudzu
1 Wight of Precinct Six

NON-CREATURE SPELLS
1 Consume Strength
1 Grisly Spectacle
1 Hypnotic Cloud
1 Last Kiss
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Night’s Whisper
1 Stab Wound
2 Tragic Slip
1 Treasured Find
1 Underworld Connections

PLANESWALKER
1 Vraska the Unseen

In the mana base, there are two copies of Tainted Wood, which is a great little dual land as long as you control a Swamp. These types of land tend to be included in duel decks, and they’re actually quite handy. This Tainted cycle was printed in Torment, however, which is why you’ll never seen them in Modern.

Creatures

The rares in this deck are actually quite decent. Four of them are creatures. Ohran Viper is the “money” card here, being worth a few dollars. Originally from Coldsnap, it only really sees play in Cube anymore, but it was a really good card in Standard at one point. You can see why. Whenever it deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature at end of combat. It’s sort of like deathtouch, but not quite. Also, whenever it deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. Having both of these abilities on one card is pretty cool. Really good creature that just doesn’t have a home in competitive formats now-a-days. Some Commander decks still use it, though.

Reaper of the Wilds is a strong creature from Theros. There were people extremely excited about this card when it was first spoiled. It’s a 4/5 Gorgon for 2BG, which is already pretty good, and you can scry 1 every time a creature dies. That’s a really nice effect, as setting up your draws is always important, especially in colors that don’t get to scry often.  But the fun doesn’t end there. She also has the ability for a single Black mana to gain deathtouch until end of turn. If that wasn’t enough, she can also become Hexproof for 1G. She can be tough to remove and gain deathtouch and let you scry. And she’s a 4/5 for 4 mana. Unfortunately for speculators, she’s in a duel deck, but I like her chances of being a really strong card down the road.

Spawnwrithe is an old Commander favorite, and actually was pretty decent at one point in Standard (at the same time as Ohran Viper, in fact.) The fact that he doubles himself when he deals combat damage to a player, and makes doubles that can then double themselves, makes him pretty vicious. He’s not worth much at all anymore, but in the days of Shadowmoor, he was a really scary little card if you couldn’t deal with him quickly enough!

The last rare creature is Vinecreeper Kudzu. It doesn’t look incredible at first, but it essentially has a landfall ability that gives it a +1/+1 counter whenever a land enters the battlefield. It also has incredibly amusing flavor text. If you can fetch up lands quickly and/or keep hitting your land-drops, this Plant can really grow to hate your opponents and swing it for some massive damage.

The other honorable mentions for creatures in the deck include Nekrataal, the 2/1 first strike Human Assassin for 2BB that destroys a non-artifact, non-black creature when it enters the battlefield. He’s a Cube card, and was good in Constructed for a long time. Putrid Leech gets awesome new art, and it was a force in Jund at one point. Having a creature that can become a 4/4 at the cost of 2 life is actually pretty worth it if you can attack in freely with it (or just to win a combat). Besides that, there are a bunch of okay commons and uncommons that work well enoguh with the deck. Sadistic Augermage is the only one I don’t particularly like, as why would you want to put a card back on top of your deck when it dies? It does make opponents do this, as well, but I don’t see the advantage.

Non-Creatures

There aren’t a ton of non-creature spells in the deck, but most of them are pretty good. I especially like Consume Strength and Marsh Casualties, both of which are solid cards. Night’s Whisper is okay, as are most of the removal spells, but Hypnotic Cloud doesn’t do much for me as a discard spell. Two copies of Tragic Slip are excellent. However, easily the best rare in this entire deck outside of the planeswalker is  Underworld Connections. Card draw at the cost of a single life point is always okay, and it’s proven itself in Mono-Black Devotion in Theros Standard. It’s a bit too slow for Modern, so its Eternal value lies in Commander, but it’s still a solid card.

Vraska, the Unseen

I’ve always liked Vraska the Unseen, but as a 5-drop planeswalker with dual colors in her casting cost, she hasn’t really found a competitive home. She has seen play in some black/green decks, and she can destroy a non-land permanent as soon as she enters. Her +1 is interesting, in that she can protect herself by taking any creature that attacks her to the grave, but most of the time it’s the -3 to destroy a permanent that she’ll be used for.

Her ultimate is definitely not to be overlooked, however. She starts with 5 loyalty, and the ultimate costs 7. She makes three 1/1 black Assassin creature tokens that have “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player loses the game.” Obviously, I love this effect because those creatures literally say, if you’re playing one-on-one, “whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you Win Target Game.” This effect has definitely gone off in Commander on many occasions (especially with Doubling Season about) and can kill an entire table in one shot if they can be made un-blockable. However, most of the time, you’ll be lucky to destroy a permanent, tick her up one, and destroy a second permanent before she goes away. A two-for-one for 5 mana is certainly okay.

Deck Overview

While the Jace deck definitely has more money value, the Vraska deck is aggressive and has, in my opinion, a lot better creature base. It has solid removal, and while Jace’s deck has the ability to slow you down, Vraska can kill an opposing Jace (or any planeswalker or problematic creature) with her ability and the deck has enough of a removal package to deal with most of the threats Jace’s deck has.

I realize that these Duel Decks are purposely designed to face one another one-on-one. But I think the Vraska deck is better in the short game. If it goes to a long game, I see the Jace deck winning (especially with four Remand and Lord of the Unreals). But the Vraska deck could be easily upgraded, as well, with four copies of Putrid Leech, four Ohran Vipers, and four Spawnwrithe, taking out some of the filler creatures. With a few more tweaks to an already solid removal base, this is a real deck. It’s not anything incredibly competitive, but it’s a fun starter deck.

Overall, between this and the Jace deck, I think that the Vraska deck would be more fun for me to play than the Jace deck. I’d love to see how these decks actually interact, however. If you’re reading this after they’ve been released, let me know what your experiences are with the decks. In any case, definitely pick these decks up. The Remand and planeswalkers alone are worth the money.

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.)

Manamorphose was originally printed at the common rarity back in Shadowmoor. It was reprinted in Modern Masters as an uncommon, due to the power that this card has in Limited formats. Having the ability to be played with either red or green mana made it quite versatile, and the fact that it replaced itself by adding any two colors of mana to your mana pool is made even better by the fact that it draws you a card.

A can-trip that replaces itself is very valuable. Running four copies in a deck essentially means that you are running 56 cards in a 60-card deck, or 36 in a 40-card Limited deck. Having a card replace itself with something you possibly need AND having the ability to fix for mana is especially awesome.

The true power of this card has always lay in the fact that it can help you color-fix in three, four, or five-color decks. Say you were short a black source, or a white source, or any source at all Manamorphose would fix that for you and replace itself. There is nothing worse than being color-screwed and nothing worse than a bad top-deck in a situation where you need action.

Manamorphose  is almost never a bad top-deck as long as you have something to immediately play after casting it. Multiple copies of Manamorphose are never dead, either, as they can play into each other. Also, something that is sometimes overlooked is that Manamorphose is playable at instant speed, allowing you to keep open mana to bluff opponents.

Manamorphose in Modern

In 2015, Modern was still a relatively young format. At that point, Manamorphose was typically only played in Storm decks and Pyromancer Ascension decks. Both of these decks often utilize Goblin Electromancer, which makes Manamorphose only cost a single colored mana. This allows you to more easily play multiple spells and build up mana to be able to ”go off” and cast a whole bunch of spells in a row. That makes your Storm cards like  Grapeshot  and  Empty the Warrens potentially lethal. For that reason alone, Manamorphose remained very valuable.

Some Modern players tried playing Manamorphose in traditional Burn decks. While it does  essentially draw you a card for free, most Burn players found that they were better off just playing another Burn spell. Manamorphose isn't something you want to top deck into, just to draw into a Mountain. There were some versions that played Goblin Electromancer and Electrolyze that enjoyed some success here and there, but not consistently.

Manamorphose in Pauper

Manamorphose is also very good in Pauper Storm decks for a similar reason. As it was originally printed as a common, its reprinting as an uncommon doesn’t affect its Pauper status. But while Manamorphose is certainly useful in Pauper, it hasn't become a competitive staple in the all-common format.

Manamorphose in Izzet Blitz?

Izzet Blitz is one of the best decks in the Pauper format. It's built around casting a lot of cheap instants and sorceries to power up the creatures Nivix Cyclops and Kiln Fiend. Manamorphose seems like an obvious fit in that deck. But, as players tweaked Izzet Blitz into the top deck it is now, Manamorphose found itself on the outside looking in. It hasn't really found another competitive home in Pauper.

For years, Manamorphose was a somewhat under-utilized card in both the Modern and Pauper formats. It was expected to become more popular as both formats grew and matured.  Manamorphose would eventually find more than a few homes, thanks to the release of one of the most powerful sets in the Magic the Gathering history.

Why is Manamorphose So Expensive in 2018?

The price of Manamorpose exploded in 2018 with the release of Guilds of Ravnica. That's because that set released many Modern-playable cards that produced decks that called for a reliable instant speed ramp spell. Not only does Manamorphose help you color fix, but it also draws you a card. This proved invaluable in the decks we're about to look at here.

Because Manamorphose was suddenly in massive demand, its price skyrocketed past $15, with Modern Masters uncommons shooting past $20! What made it suddenly so popular? It helped fuel three brand new competitive Modern decks: Runaway Red, Izzet Phoenix, and Hollow Phoenix, as well as revitalizing Jeskai Ascendancy Combo. With its rediscovery, some players even improved on their builds of the already solid Mardu Pyromancer deck with copies of Manamorphose to help color-fix for black and white!

Manamorphose in an Aggro Deck?

The three new Modern decks spawned by Guilds of Ravnica all share one card in common: Arclight Phoenix. Think of it as a Chandra's Phoenix on steroids. Chandra's Phoenix was a popular card in Standard for years because not only did it have flying and haste for just three mana, but any time you cast a red instant or sorcery spell that dealt damage to an opponent, you could return it from the graveyard to your hand. 

But, Arclight Phoenix is far superior to that Standard favorite creature. It's a four-mana mythic rare that can return from the graveyard to the battlefield at the beginning of combat if you've cast at least three instants or sorceries in a turn. What makes this Phoenix particularly ridiculous is that you can easily just discard it with something like Faithless Looting or Tormenting Voice and get it back the same turn for free! A free 3/2 with flying and haste is pretty ridiculous.

Runaway Red runs not only 4 copies of Arclight Phoenix and 4 copies of Manamorphose, but also 4 copies of a creature called Runaway Steam-Kin, hence the deck's name. The namesake creature is a 2 mana 1/1 with a couple of neat effects. Whenever you cast a Red spell, it the Steam-Kin has fewer than three +1/+1 counters on it, you put a +1/+1 counter on it. If that wasn't good enough, you can remove three +1/+1 counters to add three Red mana to your mana pool.

Manamorphose in an Izzet Burn Deck?

While Metamorphose has never found a permanent home in most Burn decks, there is one that it does work into.  Izzet Phoenix is actually a pretty cool Red/Blue Burn deck that not only features Arclight Phoenix, but also the powerful Thing in the Ice.

The Thing is a 0/4 Defender for two mana, but once it loses all 4 of its ice counters, it transforms into a 7/8 that returns all non-Horror creatures on the field to their owner's hands. It's important to note that the Thing costs only two mana to cast, meaning it can be cast directly off of a Manamorphose. So, Izzet Phoenix is sort of a combination between an aggro deck and burn deck, and Manamorphose is a key part of the deck's ability to remain consistent.

Hollow One Meets Manamorphose & Arclight Phoenix

Hollow Phoenix takes an already solid deck with Hollow One and adds four copies of Arclight Phoenix to provide an additional threat that you're happy to discard. Four copies of Manamorphose give you enough spells to cast in a turn to bring back the Phoenix. It also helps set up Bedlam Reveler, which is a key creature in pretty much every Modern Phoenix deck.

Manamorphose in Traverse Shadow

One popular variant of the competitive Death's Shadow decks has occasionally used Manamorphose. Traverse Shadow is a deck that uses Traverse the Ulvenward as a sort of tutor for the Shadow. While Manamorphose isn't played in most builds of Traverse Shadow, Andrew Baeckstrom did enjoy success with his 8-2 Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan Traverse Shadow deck, running three copies of Manamorphose.

Manamorphose does help with fixing the mana in the deck, as it's a red/green/black (Jund) deck. So, Andrew's choice to run three copies makes sense. However, Manamorphose isn't absolutely necessary for the deck to win and is more of a personal choice.

Cards Like Manamorphose

With the exploding price of Manamorphose, players have been looking for Manamorphose alternatives. Unfortunately outside of mana rituals like Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, and Seething Song (which is banned in Modern), there isn't anything quite like it. Drawing a card essentially for free is a pretty big deal, especially one that can help you color fix outside of Red mana.

Why Isn't Manamorphose in Every Deck?

Manamorphose does two pretty awesome things. It essentially replaces itself in both mana cost and a card draw. So, why not play it in every deck that plays red mana, green mana, or both in Modern, Pauper, and where ever else it's legal?

The answer is both simple and not simple. In many respects, Manamorphose is a "do-nothing" card. Really, it doesn't do much other than replace itself on its own. However, what makes it valuable in decks like Storm and the Phoenix decks is that it actually sets up other plays.

In Runaway Red, for example, Manamorphose not only sets up the ability to replay the Arclight Phoenix, but it also plays directly into the deck's two mana spells like Runaway Steam-Kin and Tormenting Voice. In Izzet Phoenix, it does much the same thing for Thing in the Ice. In Hollow Phoenix, it can even help cast the colorless Hollow One. Not to mention, Manamorphose can fuel Bedlam Reveler, a key creature in several Modern decks, and Enigma Drake, which sees some play in the Modern version of Izzet Blitz: Izzet Fiend.

In any case, Manamorphose is an extremely valuable card in decks that it can directly set up bigger plays. While it would seem like Manamorphose essentially turns any 60-card deck into a 56-card deck, it's not that simple. While what it does is pretty unique, Manamorphose needs the right card to set up in order to be worth playing four copies of it. Fortunately, Arclight Phoenix gave Manamorphose new life by being an important free spell to make the Phoenix decks more consistent.

How would you play Manamorphose?

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Hordeling Outburst is an excellent choice for a Friday Night promotional card, especially considering the amount of Standard play it has been getting. Decks such as RW Aggro and Jeskai Tokens have been using it in four-of's. Jeskai decks, especially, can take full advantage of the fact that it's a non-creature spell with their Prowess mechanic. Mardu (red/white/black) decks have also been known to use this card, although not to the same extent. Three mana for 3 1/1 Goblins is pretty sweet and perfect for aggressive strategies.

Since this is a card that is often seen been played in four copies in many decks, this should be a highly sought after promotional card come March. It was one of my favorite cards when it was spoiled in Khans of Tarkir, and with all the great aggressive creatures released in Fate Reforged, this card has become much more valuable.