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Game Daze #5: "Baldur's Gate" Final Entry

3/30/2016

 
by Joshua Packard, Fullness of Happy
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I have occasionally been playing Baldur's Gate but this time cheating using a Save Game editor called "Gatekeeper".  It allows editing of stats and other attributes of characters in your party in the game.  At first, I just edited my characters hitpoints, or life, so that I could actually get into fights without getting killed everytime.  Eventually, though, I came across some enemies who had the ability to kill with one hit, and I realized I needed to edit my Saving throw stats so that I would not die from these attacks.  I also gave my characters the best weapons they could carry.  I have now reached a point where even with all this cheating, there is still an enemy I cannot defeat, and I have apparently edited my characters such that the game crashes when I engage in a certain battle.  I have officially decided that I am quitting this game for good, and will now give some final remarks on what I think of the game in general.

This game is far too difficult to anyone who is not very skilled at strategy and computer roleplaying games.  Even with cheating I still could not defeat a fairly early boss enemy in the game.  If you are a roleplaying game fanatic, you don't need me to tell you about this game.  You probably have already beaten it.  The story is immersive, but if you can't get into fights without dying, you can't progress in the story.  I ultimately cannot recommend this game to any one who is not  a hardcore computer RPG fanatic.  It is far too difficult and frustrating, and even when I tried cheating so that I could continue in the game and progress through the plot, it still was too difficult, and then the game started crashing.  So if you can find a way to cheat and get through the game, go ahead and try it.  In the end, I cannot recommend you spend your money or your time on this game, unless you are prepared to die a lot, and get frustrated, and are hardcore in this type of game.  The only way I would play a game like this again would be if there were a simple cheat which did not allow any of your characters to die, essentially a "God mode" or invulnerability cheat.

Shadows Over Innistrad (MTG) - Cryptolith Rite - Rare Card Review

3/27/2016

 
by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist
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When I first saw Cryptolith Rite, my first thought was: is this an actual Magic the Gathering card? When I read the comments that people were leaving about it, my thought was confirmed. This seems too good.

Turning all of your creatures into Birds of Paradise seems pretty broken to me. This seems like it could make Green builds of Eldrazi extremely quick. There's a lot of talk of turn 4 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. This with Scion tokens seems pretty busted.

There's really only one problem with this card. It's extremely bad to draw multiple copies. In Commander, that's perfectly fine since you're only going to ever play one anyway. But the power of this card can't be underestimated. With enough creature tokens on board, you can have all the mana you could ever want.

Many players called Cryptolith Rite a "win more" sort of card. What I mean by that is it's a bit tricky to build around it because if you draw more than one, it can be bad. Sure, there's enough enchantment removal around that having a back-up copy in hand is fine. But the best enchantments are those that actually benefit you in multiples. So while the power level of this card is undeniable, it's hard to say just how much it will impact Standard. It's probably a bit slow for Modern, but if Eldrazi Temple and/or Eye of Ugin get banned, this may be a viable option to keep the deck in contention.

There's one other deck that loves this card: Slivers. Gemhide Sliver in Legacy and Manaweft Sliver in Modern are 2 drops that gives all your slivers the same ability as Cryptolith Rite. You probably only would need this as a one-of or two-of to make it worth playing. But you already have ways of making all 5 colors easily in Modern, in Slivers and Allies both. So it's not a must for Modern.

Back to Commander, though, this card is absolutely busted in token decks that run Green. There are plenty of them, too. A lot of five-color decks will want this, too. Cards that are best as one-ofs tend to scale up in Commander. Also, if this draws out enchantment removal, it's probably worth the two mana. Really, mana fixing is so important in Commander that you can end up losing games just by not getting enough of one color. So at the very least, Commander players all over the place will buy it.

So, where does this card fit in Standard? I definitely see Green Eldrazi decks of all stripes seeing ways to plug it in. Losing fetch lands may make it necessary. I don't think it's really necessary in Modern. The good news about this card is while it has an inherently powerful ability, there are ways to do away with it fairly easily. Also, once you draw a second copy, it's most likely just going to be discard fodder, anyway., Still, this is a sweet card and I can't wait to get a chance to play with it.

To the Slaughter - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

3/20/2016

0 Comments

 
by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist
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To the Slaughter is an interesting rare from Shadows Over Innistrad. It bears remarkable similarity to Foul-Tongue Invocation, a playable uncommon from Dragons of Tarkir. But, To the Slaughter can also force a player to sacrifice a planeswalker - an ability that was relevant with the powerful planeswalkers featured in Shadows Over Innistrad. It provided a way to deal with Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy’s flipside (Jace, Telepath Unbound), Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Chandra, Flamecaller, and other planeswalkers playable in Standard at the time.


The only advantage that Foul-Tongue Invocation has over this card is its “reveal a Dragon from your hand” clause. If you happen to reveal a Dragon from your hand when you cast it, you additionally gain 4 life. But outside of Esper Dragons, or any other deck that plays Dragonlord Ojutai, Icefall Regent, or Dragonlord Silumgar, it’s not the most relevant ability.

Overall, To the Slaughter would prove itself in a planeswalker-heavy metagame than Foul-Tongue Invocation. To the Slaughter found itself in the main decks of Esper Control, various Blue/Black and Green/Black decks, as well as many other sideboards. It always felt like a more playable card than Foul-Tongue Invocation. While gaining 4 life is a nice boost in the right context, having the additional ability to do away with a planeswalker made this card better in the long-term.

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Shadows Over Innistrad (MTG) - First Impressions of Sorin, Grim Nemesis 

3/17/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Sorin, Grim Nemesis is a 6-mana planeswalker. Usually, that’s not a good thing when it comes to seeing play in Standard. But as Elspeth, Sun’s Champion taught us all, as long as he or she is powerful enough, 6 mana doesn’t stop you from casting a good planeswalker. The abilities of this Sorin are definitely good enough. First of all, he starts with 6 loyalty, which even at 6 mana, is a lot. His +1 is excellent: draws you a card and then hits each opponent for an amount of life equal to that card’s converted mana cost. Draw Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, deal 10. Ow. For the card advantage alone, he’s worth playing. His -X is also very good. Not only does he let you deal damage to creatures or planeswalkers, he also gains you X life at the same time. These two abilities alone make him playable in control decks. I’m already sold.

His ultimate is hilarious. For -9 loyalty, you get a number of 1/1 black Vampire Knight tokens with lifelink equal to the highest life total among players. I can’t say this will be good in every game. But if you ever needed a finisher, this can definitely be one. And if for some reason that many tokens doesn’t win you the game, you can gain a lot of life.

The general consensus is that this is going to be a casual hit and a Commander all-star. That opinion seems well-founded. In Commander, he’ll be making plenty of tokens with that ultimate. Nevermind that his +1 hits all opponents, and Commander plays plenty of cards with high mana costs. You’d be silly not to play this if he’s in your colors. In casual play, he can be a big finisher and Vampire decks are super popular. So yeah, he’s going to be worth something no matter what.

But it remains to be seen if Standard can support another 6-mana planeswalker. The big draw of Elspeth Sun’s Champion is that she could make 3 tokens at will and her emblem was bonkers. Sorin, Grim Nemesis is powerful, as long as the deck is there to support him. Whatever the case, this is an awesome planeswalker.

Magic the Gathering - Picking the Bulk - Oath of the Gatewatch Edition

3/17/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
One of my favorite things to do in the world is pick through Magic the Gathering bulk. Strangely enough, you can actually make quite a bit of money by just knowing what commons and uncommons that lie in shoeboxes or on draft tables unwanted that store buylists do want. I actually came to learn this a few years ago when my local game store in Abington, MA, Battleground Games and Hobbies, started publishing their buylist online.

The incredible thing that I learned is that stores actually pay for commons and uncommons you’d never expect, not just ones in top decks. Being local, I could just place a sell order and bring it into the store rather than ship it. They are a great buylist and they pay a penny for a lot of cards most lists won’t even bother to include. Are they the best out there? It all depends on the day, but they pay well for what they actually need. I’m also not local anymore, but I definitely still recommend them as they can beat the prices of some major buylists.


When I’m picking the bulk, I love it when I can fill out my orders with a few extra dollars from cards I’d be packing into $5/per thousand bulk boxes otherwise. Half a cent vs a penny does actually add up if the store actually needs it. The reason I bring up Battleground is because this is how I know what cards I should be looking at. Tools like MTGPrice that give you the best buylist price for certain cards are useful, too. But using a local buylist that you don’t actually have to ship to can give you the actual cash value of the cardboard you have in your possession. An easy to use local buylist is the best. If you don’t have one, this is the one I would use to see what’s worth picking out.

There’s another method that I like to use, watching PucaTrade. It’s totally worth signing up for a free account for this info even if you never send a card! Seeing how many copies are traded per day tell you how “liquid” a card is, meaning somebody will want it at some point soon. Liquid cards are the best because someone actually wants to play them or have an easy way to trade them.

Without further ado, these are the cards I’m picking from my bulk to sort out for buylisting or PucaTrade orders.

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Allied Reinforcements (Uncommon)

Token generators are definitely popular cards, and Allies are a very popular casual archetype. Making two 2/2 Ally tokens is pretty good for 4 mana. But it’s at sorcery speed, so a lot of people who only play competitive Standard, Modern, or the like will overlook this card after they have drafted it at Friday Night Magic. But this is wanted by casual Ally players because it sets off Rally triggers and other Ally triggers twice. That’s good value for 4 mana, even if a bit slow for Standard. This also trades once or twice a day on PucaTrade, another factor I use in knowing what cards people are looking for.

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Baloth Null (Uncommon)

While EDHREC doesn’t reflect this, I feel like there are a lot of Commander players that want this Zombie Beast. Yeah, he’s 6 mana to cast, but Black and Green are the right colors to abuse this guy’s ability. He has a 4 / 5 body and he can put two creatures back into your hand. Commanders like Meren of Clan Nel Toth (greatest C15 Commander by the way) can bring this guy back for free. There are some other Commander decks that have ways to consistent abuse this ability, too. There is a real demand for this card. In the right build, I would play it, too. Like Allied Reinforcements this trades at least once a day on PucaTrade.


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Baloth Pup (Uncommon)

I’m definitely a fan of Baloth Pup. He’s a 3/1 for 1G, so he’s already an aggressive creature. If he happens to have a +1/+1 counter on him, he gains trample. Magic has plenty of cards to enable this being a 4/2 with Trample for 2 mana as soon as you cast him. I don’t see him being a competitive sleeper or anything but there are plenty of casual players out there that obviously see the potential like I do.

On PucaTrade, only about 6 copies are traded per week, but that’s still almost 1 / day.


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Birthing Hulk (Uncommon)

I’m not excited about this 7-mana Eldrazi, but apparently casual players like him. I see this guy on a lot of buylists, oddly enough. He does bring two Scion tokens with his 5/4 body. You can also regenerate him for 1C (1 and 1 true colorless mana). He’s good in Limited, definitely. But a bit underwhelming to me. They’re also only traded about 5 copies per week on PucaTrade.


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Bonds of Mortality (Uncommon)

A lot of people compare this enchantment to a worse version of Glaring Spotlight without the ability to sacrifice it and make all your creatures unblockable until end of turn. But honestly, paying a single Green mana to make creatures lose hexproof and indestructible really is worth it. Not to mention, you essentially pay 1G to draw a card. And if you happen to “blink” it somehow, make it re-enter the battlefield, you draw another card. It’s a bit odd to do in Green, but it’s possible. Still, this enchantment is better than some people think and I can see why some casual players want it around. Indestructible is a BIG DEAL in casual play. Kudos to those who play this, kill their opponent’s indestructible behemoth, and top-deck for the win.

This card is actually fairly popular on PucaTrade: almost a playset traded per day!


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Devour in Flames (Uncommon)

To a lot of Magic Players, this is a worse version of Roast. But 2R to deal 5 damage to a creature or planeswalker is actually not that bad. Oh, but you have to return a land to your hand, right? Well, Landfall is yet another popular casual mechanic, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s good in Limited and being able to hit a planeswalker is actually not that bad. That can kill most planeswalkers out right. And planeswalkers rule casual play. On PucaTrade, 2 copies change hands per day.


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Immolating Glare (Uncommon)

If this looks a lot like Kill Shot from Khans of Tarkir for one less mana, you’d be correct. Celestial Flare is usually more playable in Standard, since it forces a player to sacrifice and doesn’t actually target a creature. But this lets you target something big and do away with it. It is, actually, borderline Standard playable. So why not have these around? It’s also the Oath of the Gatewatch full art Uncommon promo, so people are definitely aware of this card. At least 5 copies are traded on average per day on PucaTrade. So I want to collect these in playsets!


Cards I’m Holding Onto

Reckless Bushwhacker and Reflector Mage are obvious pulls. Bushwhacker is playable in Modern and Reflector Mage could easily become a Standard staple also playable in Modern. So I’m not buylisting these, just holding onto them for awhile. Same with the common Slip Through Space, which is played in Modern Infect.

I also pull Expedite and Grasp of Darkness because I know people always want copies of these cards. They’re competitively playable, so I don’t mind just having them on hand. I’m also rather fond of Wall of Resurgence. Getting a 3/3 creature land with haste and a 0/6 defender for 2W seems awfully valuable to me.

While there may be individual buylists that pay more for certain cards, I use Battleground as a benchmark for what I’m going to keep from the bulk I acquire. I suggest you do this exercise with your favorite buylist or lists. I’d also find out what your local store always needs when it comes to commons or uncommons. You’d be surprised how quickly extra pennies add up. Your local store may not buy the cards I listed above, but they are very likely looking for others. It’s a fun exercise, and those pennies of store credit can turn into the last card or two you need for a deck very quickly.


Shadows Over Innistrad - Epiphany at the Drownyard: A New Fact or Fiction?

3/16/2016

 
by RGFoxx, Gaming Successfully Contributor
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At one time, Fact or Fiction was one of the most powerful cards in Magic. For 4 mana, at instant speed, you got to draw 5 cards from your deck. The trick is that your opponent gets to separate them into two piles, and you only get to keep one. The other cards go to the graveyard. But when this card was legal in Standard, you could easily play around what ended up in the graveyard. Sometimes, you actually wanted cards in the graveyard. It was just a really good card.

Wizards attempted to create a “fairer” version of Fact or Fiction with Steam Augury in Theros. It cost 4 mana, too, but required a Red mana in addition to a Blue. Functionally, it was about the same card. But it only saw fringe Standard play, and shows up occasionally in some Grixis (red/blue/black) control decks in Modern.

Today, Fact or Fiction still sees play in some Legacy decks. Some Miracles, Omni-Tell, and Esper Mentor decks have played a copy, sometimes in the sideboard. But mostly, both it and Steam Augury have become Commander only cards. Well, Wizards decided to print another Fact or Fiction variant, more in the vein of Steam Augury. But this time, it scales to how much mana you pump into it.

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Epiphany at the Drownyard is very similar to Steam Augury, in that your opponent chooses the pile you get, instead of how to separate the piles. With the original Fact or Fiction, it was the other way around. It was much more skill-testing for your opponent to choose the piles correctly. It's a lot easier to identify which pile is probably worse.

So in many people’s view,
Epiphany at the Drownyard, then, will often give you “bad” cards. In some graveyard based decks, this isn’t really a problem, though. Also, if you get certain combinations of cards, the pile chosen may not matter

Beyond this, the only difference is that it costs X. Interestingly, it allows you to pick up the top X + 1 cards instead of the 5 that both Fact or Fiction and Steam Augury gave you. This means you’d have to make X equal 4 to get the same value. In a graveyard-based environment, though, paying 3 for X and 4 cards may be fine. What makes this card special is that you can put as much as you want into it. The more you get to choose, the more dangerous it becomes.


On the surface, this seems strictly worse. But the tradeoff comes in how much you choose to put into it. You could pay only 2 mana for this (1 and a Blue) and reveal only 2 cards. You could put 10 mana into it and reveal 11. Decks that want to put cards in the graveyard have to love this card. If decks built around Delirium ever take off, you’re probably going to want this. It’s tricky to get 4 different card types into the graveyard, but not if you have this around.

I really like this card in a midrange control deck where you can afford to lose some cards in order to gain some. What made Fact or Fiction so good, though, is that you could count on 5 cards every time. The variance of this card could either make it super good or super bad. An opponent could just choose to make you lose every card you reveal - a pile can be zero cards, by the way. So you have to be careful. Also, you don’t actually discard the cards that go to the graveyard, so it doesn’t trigger Madness.

If this had been printed during the original Innistrad when Flashback was around, this would’ve been ridiculously good. There’s a chance it will still be good, though. I can even see a Modern deck or two wanting to include this. If you really don’t care what ends up in your graveyard, it’s perfectly fine. I could see a Dredgevine deck wanting to use this. Getting another way to consistently get to more copies of Bloodghast, Gravecrawler and Vengevine seems good to me - although I think that deck already has the tools it needs. But I can see people toying with it in that case.

It’s also good with one of my favorite Commanders from Khans of Tarkir, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. Fact or Fiction is a good card in that deck, because it triggers Sidisi’s ability to create a Zombie whenever a creature hits the graveyard from the library. You only get one token no matter how many creatures hit at once, though. But it still works in the deck, plus gives you the chance to fill the graveyard at a much greater clip. I like it there. Actually, there are quite a few Commander decks that may play this over Fact or Fiction, since you can have a billion mana over the course of a game to throw into it.

There are other Zombie decks that could take advantage of Epiphany, too. Grimgrin, Corpse-Born doesn't mind dumping a whole bunch of its deck. Certain builds of Thraximundar Zombie decks don’t mind, either, and those decks tend to have more combo elements that you can dig for. Stitcher Geralf is the Legendary Creature that I hear thrown around a lot in reference to this card, and I see ways it could work.

I’ve always been fond of X spells. Part of their appeal is just how much you can do with them given the proper mana. It’s why cards like Banefire and Epic Experiment have always been so fun to play with - they only get better the more you have to pump into them. Granted Epic Experiment was never the consistent tournament winner that Banefire was, but ask a Commander player what Epic Experiment does with the amazing mana base of Commander. It makes EDH players sad. I don’t see Epiphany at the Drownyard being that level of epic, of course, cause it doesn’t actually win you the game outright. But we live in a world where Laboratory Maniac is a win condition in Modern (yes, really, as an alternate win-con in Ad Nauseum Combo). So running out of cards can actually be a good thing.

This could be a pretty decent card in Standard and I actually see people brewing with it in Modern, and even Legacy. Is it less efficient than Fact or Fiction? Most certainly. But I do like it better than Steam Augury, since this requires only one color of mana. And for Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and the many other graveyard-based EDH decks out there, I’d definitely play it.

Shadows Over Innistrad (MTG) - First Impressions of Nahiri, the Harbinger

3/14/2016

 
by Phoenix Desertsong, Gaming Successfully Contributor.
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When the Commander 2014 decks were first released, I was ecstatic about Nahiri, the Lithomancer. She’s become my favorite planeswalker in the game, and discovering that she was going to be in the return to Innistrad made me quite happy. So now, here we have Nahiri, the Harbinger in Shadows Over Innistrad. Is Nahiri 2.0 all we could have hoped for?

Her +2 is fine with me. Sure, you have to discard a card to draw a card, but with Madness making a return in Shadows, this is fine. She’s a fine enabler for that. Her -2 is a decent way to deal with problems, albeit they have to be tapped if you’re exiling an artifact or creature. But she can also exile an enchantment with this ability, too. Alone, those are two decent ability for a 4-mana planeswalker, and she starts with 4 loyalty. Not bad so far.

Her ultimate ability is pretty sweet. For 8 loyalty, she can search out any artifact or creature from your deck and put it right into play. It gains haste, but has to return to your hand at end of turn. If you have a card that can just win the game in your deck, this is pretty sweet. Having to return to your hand isn’t really that big a downside if you pick the right card.

For most people, this ability means Blightsteel Colossus in Modern or Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger in Standard. But really, her ultimate ability is based on whatever the current game state is. If your opponent is vulnerable and you need a linchpin, this is how to get it. She also would work fine alongside Chandra, Flamecaller from Oath of the Gatewatch. So I can’t see her not doing some work in Standard, even if you only ever use her first two abilities in a game. 4 mana to exile two problem things is fine, especially when one or both of those things are tapped Eldrazi.

I think she’ll really shine in EDH, personally. Sadly, she can’t be a badass Commander the way Nahiri, the Lithomancer is. But Nahiri #1 could only really work in a deck based completely around equipment, which actually has turned out to be pretty good in EDH. The Harbinger can fit into a lot of decks. I can’t think of a Boros (Red/White) deck that wouldn’t want to have her.

In Modern, Ajani Vengeant does a lot for only 4 mana, so she’s competing with him for playability in that format. And Vengeant doesn’t really see a lot of play in Modern anymore - which is sad. That being said, she could be an answer for Eldrazi in Modern, but at that point, much of the damage is already done as whatever you target has to already be tapped. I think she’s best suited for Standard.

While I prefer Nahiri the Lithomancer flavor-wise, I think that the Harbinger could be quite a playable planeswalker. She fits really well into the themes of the new Innistrad block, too. I’m excited to be able to play with her.

Shadows Over Innistrad (MTG) - First Impressions of Startled Awake / Persistent Nightmare

3/14/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Don’t get me wrong. I love the flavor of Startled Awake and the Sorcery’s flip-side Persistent Nightmare. 4 mana to dump 13 of your opponent’s cards into the grave from the deck seems okay when we’ve had Archive Trap at 5 mana in the original Zendikar that did the same thing. However, Archive Trap could be cast at instant speed, and could cost 0 if your opponent searched his or her library that turn. Startled Awake has an interesting distinction of being the first Sorcery, that I can think of, that can come back as a creature from the graveyard for 5 mana (3UU).

Persistent Nightmare is really underwhelming, though. Sure, it has Skulk, meaning that any creature with more power than it can’t block it. If it gets to deal combat damage to a player, it returns to your hand. So cool, you get to cast Startled Awake all over again! Sure, but how good is that really? Mill is an extremely popular archetype among casual players, and heck, it occasionally wins a tournament or two. It’s pretty fun with Sphinx’s Tutelage from Magic Origins, even without ever using its flipside. It’s like Persistent Nightmare exists for the sole purpose of being annoying. It could be potentially useful, too, but that’s quite an investment - 4 to initially cast, 5 to reanimate, and then having to deal damage? You could also discard this card, or mill this card, at some point, bring it back for 5, deal the damage, then get it back to your hand.

Like many cards in Shadows Over Innistrad, this card is extremely well-designed from a flavor perspective, but is rather conservatively costed. Really, this is a mythic so that it doesn’t break Limited. At rare, this would be an auto-include in any blue deck, as milling 13 cards out of a 40-card Limited deck really hurts an opponent. Being able to come back in anyway is pretty devastating in that case. Cast this on turn 4, bring it back on turn 5, swing with it on turn 6, get it back and recast it for probably the rest of your opponent’s deck. That’s why it’s a mythic. That way, it doesn’t show up in every draft deck ever.

This seems like a big time casual hit to me. Heck, I’d probably play it in a Circu, Dimir Lobomist, Mirko Vosk, or Phenax, God of Deception EDH deck for funsies. It’s not a card that should see much competitive play outside of big time Limited tournaments - where it will be good. The fact that it can keep coming back seems to make it EDH playable. Some opinions so far seem to think it’s not even good there, but Commander is a format where people play what they want and I would play this. So I’m on this card’s side. As I said, it’s a way to speed up all of those Sphinx’s Tutelage decks people like to play. I’m not sure how good that card is without Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged around, losing Treasure Cruise, and Outpost Siege or Monastery Siege. Chandra, Flamecaller is around, though, and people are brewing with her in Tutelage decks. So Startled Awake could sneak into a deck like that.

Startled Awake is a big flavor win, and while I wouldn’t ever buy a copy at pre-order prices, it’s one I’d play in Commander in the right deck, for sure.

Pious Evangel / Wayward Disciple - Shadows Over Innistrad Card Review (MTG)

3/11/2016

 
by Phoenix Desertsong, Gaming Successfully Contributor
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"My faith guides my hand..." says the Pious Evangel.

Whenever our Human Cleric friend or another of our creatures enter the battlefield under our control, we gain 1 life. We have no choice in the matter. It is not a may effect. Just gain the one life. There's nothing wrong with this ability. Of course, when you compare it to the famous "Soul Sisters" Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant (or even Auriok Champion if she's more your fancy), it's pretty underwhelming. The Soul Sisters give you one life whether it's your creature or an opponent's.  And those gals cost only a single mana to cast. This dude costs 3 - 2 and a White.

However, for a cost of 2 mana and sacrificing another permanent of yours, you can transform him...

"...and I will prove my devotion." the Wayward Disciple says.

How exactly does the Wayward Disciple prove his devotion? By becoming a 2/4 clone of Zulaport Cutthroat. Seriously, he does exactly the same thing. Does this make him bad, having to essentially pay 3 more mana plus the sacrificing of one of your permanents to get what the Cutthroat can give you for just 1 and a Black? Many players seem to think so.

While he may not be in the realm of "Constructed playable" land, I do think that this flavorful dude can do some work in Drafts and sealed deck tournaments. You know, there are plenty of cards designed for just that environment. This is one of them. Also, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim has become a fairly popular Commander who loves having more Clerics around. Being both White and Black, it's no problem for Pious Evangel and his flipside to be jammed in there. I mean, in Commander, Blood Artist is better. But maybe you don't want to pay $4 a copy for one (yeah, seriously $4). This is a cheap alternative, albeit one that makes you do a lot for it. And Blood Artist is actually better, since his ability activates when anyone dies.

Still, I love the flavor of Shadows Over Innistrad, and this guy is a win from a flavor perspective. But yeah, I'll stick with Zulaport Cutthroat, Blood Artist and the Soul Sisters in my Commander decks. Nice try my Evangel friend, but your devotion will not sway my faith.

Thing in the Ice / Awoken Horror - Shadows Over Innistrad Card Review

3/8/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Thing in the Ice is a superb rare creature from Shadows Over Innistrad. On the surface, a 0/4 with Defender definitely doesn’t look exciting. But Thing in the Ice enters with 4 ice counters on it. Each time you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you remove an ice counter. Once all four counters are removed, it transforms into Awoken Horror. He’s a 7 / 8 Kraken Horror that returns all other non-Horror creatures to their owners’ hands. For an initial investment of 2 mana, that’s pretty incredible.

Already, Thing in the Ice and his enormous flipside is being called a control finisher. It’s not hard to see how. Not much can deal with a 7 / 8, especially one that evacuates all other non-Horror creatures from the board. The non-Horror clause is a big deal since you can have multiple copies of Thing in the Ice on the board at once. It’s hard to say what other playable Horrors will be in Standard along with it. The only notable one outside of the new Innistrad sets is Despoiler of Souls from Magic Origins. But a 3/1 that can’t block isn’t really a big deal if it’s on the other side of the board; but it feels good to have them on your side of the board in this case.

Awoken Horror may prove to be good in Modern, also. Spellskite is a popular Horror played in the format. To a lesser extent, Phyrexian Revoker and Phyrexian Obliterator look pretty good alongside it. Some players think it may creep into Legacy and even Vintage. It’s only 2 mana (1U) and those formats have cheaper and powerful instants and sorceries than you’ll find in Standard.

The Horror theme is alive and well in Shadows Over Innistrad. Not only does this card have great flavor, but this may be one of the best cards in the entire set.

Soul Swallower - A Magic the Gathering (MTG)  Card Review

3/7/2016

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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist
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Soul Swallower is definitely one of the more interesting creatures with Delirium from Magic the Gathering's Shadows Over Innistrad set. Delirium abilities only activate once you have four or more different card types in your graveyard (e.g. Artifact, Creature, Instant, Sorcery, Land, etc.) What’s especially interesting about Soul Swallower is that he essentially “swallows souls” without actually removing any cards from your graveyard.

On his own, Soul Swallower is a 3/3 Wurm with Trample for 2GG. But once you have Delirium active, at the beginning of each upkeep, you get to put 3 +1/+1 counters on him. Very quickly, he can become very big. Having Trample means your opponent can’t simply chump-block, either. His effect is a bit slow for Constructed, though. Soul Swallower is pretty good in Limited, though, as seen in this winning Shadows Over Innistrad Sealed pool.

There is an Enchantment called Hardened Scales, which gives a creature an extra +1/+1 counter whenever they would gain one. Unfortunately, it was no longer in Standard when Soul Swallower arrived. It's  not like such a deck has very good synergy with Delirium anyway. Still, Soul Swallower was a bomb in Limited once you hit Delirium.

Soul Swallower does see some EDH / Commander play in graveyard-based decks like those led by The Gitrog Monster, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, and
Ishkanah, Grafwidow (who has Delirium herself).  Soul Swallower is another well-designed creature from the Shadows Over Innistrad set.

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Hinterland Logger / Timber Shredder - Shadows Over Innistrad Card Review

3/7/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Hinterland Logger may seem to be just a simple Human creature for 2 mana on the surface. But this 2/1 gal can transform if you’ve cast no spells in a turn, becoming a 4/2 Werewolf with Trample! At common, this is a potent creature, especially in Draft. Granted, like most werewolves, she has to transform back if a player casts two or more spells in a turn. But Timber Shredder is about as solid as they come for a flip-side at common - unless you’re Delver of Secrets.

Will Hinterland Logger be good enough for Standard? It all depends. In the old Innistrad block, there was a Werewolf lord called Immerwolf. Not only did he pump your Werewolves by +1/+1, but once your Human Werewolves transformed, they couldn’t transform back. It’s doubtful we’ll be seeing a reprint of Immerwolf, though. Still, if you’re building a casual Werewolf deck, this would definitely be a cheap common creature to consider that can do some serious damage early in the game.

First Impressions of Archangel Avacyn from Shadows Over Innistrad

3/6/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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We all knew that Avacyn was returning in Shadows Over Innistrad. Not only has she returned, but she comes with a flip-side! A red-white Avacyn was speculated by some people when the set was first announced. Those that did so are quite correct. Archangel Avacyn is a 4/4 for 3WW with Flash, Flying, and Vigilance. When she enters the battlefield, creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn. This is a pretty good effect and would make her a playable creature just with that.

But it's the flip-side that really makes this new Avacyn interesting. Whenever a non-Angel creature you control dies, you transform Avacyn at the beginning of the next upkeep. This means that you could Flash her in during an opponent's turn after one of your creatures die. She'll then transform as your turn begins. Avacyn becomes the Purifier, who deals 3 damage to each other creature and each opponent as she transforms.

The effect seems counter-intuitive since your creatures will no longer have indestructible at that point. There is Make a Stand from Oath of the Gatewatch, an 2W Instant that makes creatures you control gain +1/+0 and indestructible until end of turn. Also, Avacyn becomes a 6/5, although loses vigilance.

This new Avacyn is like a super-charged Serra Angel. She seems playable in a Red/White/X mid-range deck, although you don't actually need to play Red to play her in Constructed. Red/White/X Commander decks will really have fun with this new Avacyn, though, especially Kaalia of the Vast. She could prove to be a fairly good Commander herself, especially with Flash. Timing her ability is very important, but she can be pretty devastating.

In most cases, Avacyn the Purifier will wipe the board, deal 3 to your opponent, then swing for 6 more. Those 9 points of damage will likely be enough to win the game most times. Some players have noted that it doesn't seem fair that she doesn't deal the 3 damage to you - flavor wise. But this was probably done for play-ability reasons. She strikes me as a land stand sort of card that can turn things around when you're behind. Saving you from a board wipe seems worth it. You just have to be careful how and when she transforms. It's possible she'll be a format-defining card. Heck, she may even be playable in Modern. Only time will tell.

MTG Casual Hits - Infernal Darkness from Ice Age

3/6/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Infernal Darkness is an interesting Black Enchantment from Ice Age. What’s particularly interesting about it is that it saw three separate price jumps in 2015. Where does it see play? In Commander, it's become a "budget" alternative to an Urza’s Saga Enchantment called Contamination. It does a similar thing, but the latter card replaces the cumulative upkeep. Instead, it requires you to sacrifice a creature during each upkeep or sacrifice itself.

According to EDHREC, a great resource for seeing how much a card is played in the EDH / Commander format, Contamination is played four times as often as Infernal Darkness - about 400 to 100 out of a similar ratio of decks. Therefore, the Urza’s Saga Enchantment is pushing $9 (and rising) while Infernal Darkness languished well under $1 for a long time.

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From June to late August 2015, interest in the card slowly brought its price up to just over a dollar. Then, suddenly, there was a TCGPlayer buyout and consequently it hit an all-time high of $2.69.  There was then a steady selloff that brought it back down to $1.28 by early October. In late October, there was a second buyout bringing it back up to its all-time high once again. It trickled back down to $2 as people listed some old copies. But once again, in December, it jumped to an all-time high of $3..34. While it then settled around $2.25 by 2016, it's continued to see sales well into 2016.

Is Infernal Darkness more popular than EDHREC considers it to be?  It’s certainly never going to be a bulk rare again, simply from the price benefiting from very old set’s supply drying up. Don't rush into buying this card if you don't need it, though. But if you have any around, I’d definitely look to hold them long-term. Contamination is strictly better, as the cumulative upkeep of Infernal Darkness can add up rather quickly. But in the only formats that Infernal Darkness would ever see play in, which are Commander and "kitchen table" casual Magic, having another mana denial card in a Mono-Black control deck’s arsenal never hurts. It can be a useful redundancy and complement to what could become an extremely rare card.

While not on the Reserved List, it's doubtful that Infernal Darkness will be reprinted due to the Cumulative Upkeep requirement. Contamination is more likely to see reprint. But like Infernal Darkness, forcing all lands to tap for nothing but Black mana doesn't seem like something Wizards of the Coast really wants to bring back. This is a long-term investment that could hit or even pass $5 eventually if it's not reprinted. Just be careful that it's not reprinted, or its value will become bulk almost immediately.

Magic the Gathering (MTG) Casual Hits - Grave Betrayal from Return to Ravnica

3/6/2016

 
by  Richard Rowell,  Write W.A.V.E. Media  Staff
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Grave Betrayal has been a popular card among Commander players since it was first released in Return to Ravnica. This Enchantment has a very splashy effect, taking any creature that isn't yours that dies and putting it back onto the field under your control. Even more flavorfully, it also becomes a black Zombie in addition to whatever colors and types it already had.

With how popular Zombies are as a casual tribe, Grave Betrayal has found itself in quite a number of mono-Black and Reanimator decks. But being a 7-drop, and the fact you'll ever only want to play one copy, it's been roughly a 50-cent to dollar rare for years. Even foils, which are a favorite of Commander players, have barely passed over $1.50.

In July 2015, however, foil Grave Betrayals began being listed for at least $3 a piece on Ebay and Amazon. Non-foil copies have been in and out of the top 100 best selling Single Cards on Amazon since then, as well. So why the sudden interest? At that time, it had little to do with the supply of Return to Ravnica drying up. It had more to do with speculation around the release of a hot new creature from Magic Origins: Liliana, Heretical Healer.

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The -8 ability on Liliana, Defiant Necromancer looks familiar. It's not quite Grave Betrayal but it's close enough. The new Liliana flip-walker proved to be a key piece to a new and improved Zombie archetype in kitchen table Magic and Commander. Of course, if your end game is going to revolve around Liliana's "ultimate" ability, then why not have Grave Betrayal to give you redundancy?

With the reveal of a powerful new Zombie called Relentless Dead from Shadows Over Innistrad, many Zombie related cards started flying out of inventories everywhere. Not only are Grave Betrayal foils finally starting to show an uptick in price, but non-foil copies are seeing steady growth, as well. Between February and March 2016, Grave Betrayal saw a 30-day increase from $0.68 to $0.86 on TCGPlayer. That doesn't sound like much, but it's a 26 percent jump for a card that sees zero competitive play.

Grave Betrayal foils are now listing for about $6 on Amazon. Non-foils are now selling over $2. This time, however, eBay is showing the opposite trend. You can buy playsets - 4 copies - for around $1 a copy. If you're looking for this card, investing in either non-foils or foils isn't a bad idea at all. The sudden new demand from casual and Commander players will likely push the price much higher.

Grave Betrayal has been a casual hit for a long time and it could easily be a $5 card in non-foil before long.  It could be reprinted in the new Innistrad sets, but unlikely. But being a casual hit, these tend to show up in pre-constructed decks such as Commander and Duel Decks. If you can, try to find cheap foils if you need this card. They're always a much safer investment when it comes to these kind of cards.

Tamiyo's Journal - Shadows Over Innistrad Rare Card Review

3/5/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Tamiyo’s Journal is an interesting twist on the Investigate mechanic from Shadows Over Innistrad. Investigate allows you to put a Clue artifact into play. Its purpose: you can sacrifice it for 2 generic mana to draw a card. This Legendary Artifact lets you investigate at the beginning of each of your upkeep steps. Then, you can tap it to sacrifice three Clues and tutor up any card from your deck to your hand. This seems pretty helpful. But on a 5 mana artifact, it seems like it’s not going to be much of a deal in Constructed, unless you can build a deck around Investigate to the point where you can tutor up something as soon as you cast it.

The real power of Tamiyo’s Journal will likely be unleashed in Commander. Decks that care about artifacts, in particular, should really enjoy the free Clue every turn. Red artifact decks, such as Daretti, Scrap Savant and Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient, can especially use the free source of card draw. They’re also cheap artifacts that can be sacrificed for gain. One ability that comes to mind immediately is that of Goblin Welder. He can sacrifice the Clue token and bring back any artifact from your graveyard.

Clues are definitely a curious new addition to Magic. But Tamiyo’s Journal appears to have finally made them relevant enough to be splash-able in a ton of Commander decks. It’s also solid in Limited, where any card advantage is welcome. To have a tutor for the best card in your draft deck also can’t be underestimated. This is a really solid card. Will it be part of a greater strategy in Standard? That’s hard to say. But this could become a staple in a number of Commander decks.

Bygone Bishop - Shadows Over Innistrad Rare Card Review

3/4/2016

 
by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Bygone Bishop is an excellent example of the Investigate mechanic featured in Shadows Over Innistrad. With Investigate, you put an artifact into play called a Clue. You can sacrifice this Clue at any time for 2 generic mana to draw a card. In White, any sort of card draw is welcome. Players may remember a similar creature from the original Innistrad called Mentor of the Meek. Is the Bishop better or worse than the Human Soldier that still sees considerable Commander play, and even some play in Modern?

Mentor of the Meek allowed you to pay 1 mana to draw a card whenever a creature with power 2 or less enters the battlefield under your control. The Bishop requires that you can a creature with a converted mana cost of 3 or less to get a Clue artifact. It’s still a pretty powerful ability. Being a 2 / 3 flyer is certainly relevant, too. This is a card that only gets better as you cast multiple copies. Any sort of easily accessible card advantage, especially in a deck built around smaller creatures, is most welcome.

With the existence of Collected Company, it’s understandable why they wouldn’t want to create a functional reprint of Mentor of the Meek. This is why Investigate only triggers when you actually cast a creature, rather than just when it enters the battlefield. Collected Company decks would happily run a copy to get some Clues were that the case. Alas, the cast trigger is required. In Standard, there could well be decks that run multiple copies of the Bishop. It all depends on how good Clues really are. Outside of Standard, the other Constructed formats probably will find Investigate a bit too slow of a mechanic for competitive play.

In Commander, the Bishop is a bit more limited than Mentor of the Meek. Take for example one of the more popular Commanders from Oath of the Gatewatch, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim. While the Bishop seems perfect for a Cleric Tribal deck like Ayli’s, many creatures in Ayli’s deck are 4 mana or higher. However, many of those 4-mana creatures have power 2 or less, making them perfect companions for Mentor of the Meek. That said Bygone Bishop could still benefit from the 1-3 drops in the deck, including Ayli herself.

In a Blue/White Spirit Tribal EDH deck, such as one led by Geist of Saint Traft, Bygone Bishop can pair with another Spirit friend, Erdwal Illuminator. This 1 / 3 Spirit creature allows you to investigate an additional time each time you would investigate. Being a 3-drop itself, the Illuminator will let you investigate upon its entrance, as well. Also, most creatures that see play in a Geist of Saint Traft deck are converted mana cost 3 or less, so that’s a lot of investigating that the Bishop can do!

There are plenty of other decks that could use the Bishop, though. Really, that's any Commander deck that plays a fair amount of 3 CMC or less creatures. One Commander that comes to mind that can also benefit from the Clues themselves is Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer. While he himself costs 5 mana (3RW), his deck plays many 1-3 drops. With his Metalcraft ability, you only need to make 3 Clues before his Metalcraft ability activates. Then all of your creatures gain +3/+0. The deck also lacks consistent draw power, so having the Clues around later to draw a card is also welcome.

Overall, Bygone Bishop is a new take on the idea of Mentor of the Meek. It may not be quite as versatile, as it doesn’t trigger on tokens or other small creatures entering the battlefield. But this is a good, well-designed card that could see play in the right deck. It will also be a useful part of more than a few Commander decks in the future.


Pick the Brain - Shadows Over Innistrad Card Review (Magic the Gathering)

3/4/2016

 
by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff
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For long time Magic players, Pick the Brain from Shadows Over Innistrad looks like a much worse version of Surgical Extraction. Many players have already remarked that they’d much rather have Thoughtseize or even Duress over this.

But actually, Pick the Brain is a better version of a card from the original Innistrad, Night Terrors. It lets you exile any nonland card from your opponent’s hand for 2B. But with Delirium, you get to search your opponent’s graveyard, hand, or library for any copies of a card with that name and exile them, too. While having four different card types in your graveyard sounds difficult, it may not be with the amount of discard effects featured in Shadows Over Innistrad.


This is one of those cards that may mostly be featured in Limited. Exiling your opponent’s best card is even more important in draft or sealed deck. Is this good enough for Constructed? It all depends on how good Delirium-centric decks become. This isn’t going to do much outside of Standard, since in Modern and Legacy you already have Surgical Extraction (which can also hit non-basic lands!) But as far as power level, this is already a functionally better version of a previous Innistrad card.

Heir of Falkenrath - Shadows Over Innistrad Card Review

3/4/2016

 
by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Is Heir of Falkenrath the “fixed” Delver of Secrets for Shadows Over Innistrad? Delver of Secrets turned out to be a development “mistake” as it turned into the engine for an entire deck archetype. The Heir is a bit more fair, requiring you to discard a card to flip this 2/1 into a 3/2 flyer - the same stats as Delver of Secrets’ flip-side Insectile Aberration.

The Heir costs 1B to cast for a 2/1, which is pretty unexciting on its own. But with the return of the Madness mechanic, discarding a card isn’t quite the cost that it usually is. Cards with Madness can be cast for less than normal as they are discarded. Actually, in many ways, the Heir to the Night can make an appearance more consistently than Delver’s flip side. With Delver, you have to have an instant or sorcery card on top of your deck during your upkeep. With the Heir, you can flip it whenever you want by discarding a card.

You may wonder why it says that you can only activate its flip ability once per turn. This is so you can’t just discard every card in your hand and trigger Madness multiple times. If you have multiple copies of Heir of Falkenrath on board, you can still trigger each one once. You only need to have a couple of good Madness cards in hand to do some serious work. In some respects, this is better than Delver of Secrets in the right deck. You just have to build around this uncommon Vampire a bit differently than you would around the Delver of Secrets.

Delver of Secrets isn’t going anywhere in Modern and Legacy, and especially Pauper being that it’s only a common. But Heir of Falkenrath and her flipside Heir of the Night could turn out to be a powerful creature. She’s super good in a Madness-happy Limited environment, but she’s definitely strong enough for Constructed, too.

Relentless Dead - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Mythic Rare Card Review

3/4/2016

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by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist
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Relentless Dead from Shadows Over Innistrad may be one of the best Zombie creatures ever printed. This Mythic Rare creature  can be returned to your hand when it dies for a single Black mana. But, that’s not what makes it so good and worthy of Mythic Rare status. It’s the second ability. When Relentless Dead dies, you also have the option of paying X, where X is the converted mana cost of another Zombie in your graveyard. It also has Menace, meaning it can only be blocked by two or more creatures.

Cards that replace themselves are usually pretty good. But the best part about Relentless Dead is that you can actually get back another Relentless Dead from your graveyard with this second ability. Best of all, since both of those "when it dies" abilities trigger at the same time, you can actually use both. Returning it to your hand and getting a Zombie onto the field from the grave is extremely powerful.  This seems like an easy four-of in a competitive Zombie deck. Zombies were good during the first Innistrad block, and perhaps they will be good once again.

It’s also cool that Relentless Dead’s art references that of a very popular enchantment called Endless Ranks of the Dead. Endless Ranks is extremely popular in Zombie decks in both the casual environment and in EDH / Commander. Relentless Dead seems like an auto-include in any Zombie EDH deck, and it's popped up in plenty of Gisa and Geralf, The Scarab God, and Grimgrin, Corpse-Born decks.

Relentless Dead would shine in Standard, especially in Mono Black Zombies and Mono Black Aggro. The two-drop Zombie has also popped up in some Modern Mono Black Devotion decks alongside Bloodghast, Geralf's Messenger, and Phyrexian Oblterator. With future support, may even make Zombie Tribal in Modern a reality.


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