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Brood Butcher - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

8/31/2015

by Phoenix Desertsong, Old School Duelist

Brood Butcher from Magic the Gathering’s Battle for Zendikar set is a 3/3 Eldrazi Drone creature costing 3BG to cast. Like all of his Eldrazi Drone counterparts, the Butcher has Devoid, making him colorless despite his colored casting requirements. He comes into play along with a 1/1 Eldrazi Scion token that can sacrifice itself to give you one colorless mana. Also, for (BG) you can sacrifice a creature to give a target creature -2/-2 until end of turn.

In many ways, Brood Butcher is similar to an uncommon creature from Ravnica: City of Guilds called Drooling Groodion. The Groodion is a 4/3 creature with a 3BBG casting cost. His ability costs 2BG, but in addition to giving a creature -2/-2, you also get to give a creature +2/+2. It would seem to have been the inspiration for this card.

As it is, Brood Butcher is not a bad creature. Most players would’ve preferred something more like Groodion. Still, having a cheaper ability that can simply pick off opponents’ creatures seems okay. It's not a card bound to see much Standard play.

On the other hand, there are a few Commander decks who don't mind an additional sacrifice engine that are happy to have the Butcher around, such as Savra, Queen of the Golgari, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, and most especially Meren of Clan Nel Toth. It's not a bad card in terms of design. But, when it comes to building decks, there are just better options, even at 5 mana for Eldrazi focused builds.

Nissa's Renewal - Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Rare Card Review

8/31/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

At first glance, Nissa’s Renewal appears to be a worse version of Boundless Realms. It could also be a slightly better Nissa’s Expedition or Peregrination. Although, Nissa's Expedition had Convoke on it which could lower its casting cost. Nissa's Renewal gives you three basic lands into play, but tapped, plus 7 life. Is this worth 6 mana?

Having an Angel’s Mercy attached to a ramp spell isn’t horrible, especially in Limited, and certainly in an environment that rewards Landfall heavily. Were you able to search out any land, obviously, this would be too good. You could just go grab fetchlands. It does feel like 5G is a bit much for a ramp spell. Also, 7 life doesn’t seem like it’s something to care about outside of Limited. However, that is a sizeable amount of life, and can't really be overlooked when considering this card.

In Limited, Nissa’s Renewal is certainly fine. It's more mana ramp than you'll usually see out of one card. At this point on the mana curve, you’ll most certainly have Landfall effects already in play. Paying 6 mana to trigger 3 instances of Landfall could prove quite relevant.

While it's not probably worth casting in most competitive Constructed formats, Nissa's Renewal will see play in Commander where ramp is always relevant. In particular, Omnath, Locus of Rage will definitely want this card for triggering its potent Landfall ability of making 5/5 Elemental creature tokens. This is probably a bulk rare for years to come. But if you’re already invested into landfall in Limited, you might not want to find yourself without this card. It's also a good card to hold onto if you play Green in Commander.

Coastal Discovery - A Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Card Review

8/31/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Coastal Discovery is a Sorcery that draws you two cards for 3U. It’s basically the same cost as the old favorite creature Mulldrifter, except that you don’t get a 2/2 flying body along with it. However, it does have Awaken 4 on it, for an alternate cost of 5U. In Limited, this is fairly acceptable, as a 4/4 is nothing to sneeze at. While it probably won’t see much in the way of Constructed play, I think this is well worth drafting, as Awaken should be a fairly powerful mechanic in Limited.

Compared to Sheer Drop in White and Ruinous Fall in Black, this is pretty unexciting, but it gives Blue a creature that it may not otherwise easily have. Considering that the Awaken would likely be used on a land that would be able to attack, it’s like draw two cards and get a 4/4 with Haste. That’s really good in Blue, although 6 mana seems a bit steep for that effect; we’ll have to see it in practice to assess its true value.

Retreat to Emeria - Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Card Review

8/31/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Battle of Zendikar features a cycle of Enchantments called Retreats that not only give you a Landfall ability, but give you two options. Retreat from Kazandu, featured in Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi, gives you the options to put a +1/+1 counter on a target creature or gain 2 life.

The white card in the cycle, Retreat to Emeria, either gives you a 1/1 Kor Ally creature token, or gives your creatures +1/+1 until end of turn. At 3W, it’s more expensive than the Green Retreat, which is 2G. But, Emeria's Retreat gives you some card advantage in the form of tokens, with the alternative option to pump your creatures, as well.

One interesting trick involving this card has to do with fetchlands. You can hold onto a fetchland and not activate it until during your opponent’s turn. This way, in combat, you can sacrifice the fetchland to go get a land and trigger Landfall. It's a cool little combat trick. Still, even in formats running rampant with fetchlands, as a 4-drop Enchantment, it doesn't have enough immediate impact on the board to see competitive Constructed play.

The abilities on this card are relevant that they should see some play in some cool brews. Perhaps a deck that uses Oblivion Sower to full effect could benefit from these Landfall abilities. Or perhaps, there will be some sort of control deck that utilizes this and other Retreats. (Update: There is a deck list out there called Full Retreat Control that runs the full four copies of Retreat to Emeria.)

There's also a cool three card combo with Retreat to Emeria that involves Perilous Forays and Lotus Cobra. This combo lets you pull all of the basic lands out of your deck. While a Perilous Forays deck isn't extremely competitive, it's at least fun. Retreat to Emeria is a fun little card that is definitely worth considering.

Battle for Zendikar Premium Mythic Rare Lands - Magic the Gathering (MTG)

8/30/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

So, apparently we are getting Zendikar fetchlands! But it’s not quite in the way we expected. It turns out that they will be included as full-art premium mythics as part of a set called Zendikar Expeditions. They will be randomly inserted into Battle for Zendikar booster packs at about the same rate as mythic foils - so they will be very rare! Not only that, we will be getting full art Ravnica shocks, as well. In addition, we will also be getting the new rare cycle of lands from BFZ as full art, and they look beautiful!

Here’s the big thing. Not only are they going to be extremely rare, but they will not be standard-legal, besides the BFZ dual lands, of course. For the most part, they are purely treasure inserts. So the shocks and Zendikar fetches aren't going to be standard playable anyway. Obviously, that’s a good thing, because the supply on these will be extremely low. They’re just another way to promote the set. Apparently, they will continue Zendikar Expeditions into the second set of the block, as well.

I think it’s an awesome bonus for buying packs. It also doesn’t preclude us getting the fetchlands at any point, either, as this is just a bonus. What do you guys think of this?

Ruinous Path - A Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Card Review

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

With Hero’s Downfall rotating out of Standard with Theros Block, Battle for Zendikar offers a replacement, albeit at Sorcery speed, in Ruinous Path. It does still hit either creatures or planeswalkers for 1BB, so it still seems playable, but not being Instant speed definitely hurts its play-ability.

This card has a second half to it, though, which, while interesting, adds quite the additional cost. The new Awaken mechanic seems a bit expensive to me when it comes to risk vs reward. Turning one of your lands into a 0/0 Elemental with 4 +1/+1 counters just seems really gimmicky to me, and at 5BB, I’m not sure I’d be making that sort of investment in Constructed. I like the flavor here, certainly, and getting the card’s effect plus 4 colorless mana for a 4/4 creature certainly is properly costed.

It’s probably true that Hero’s Downfall was perhaps a bit too good in some cases, so perhaps this card is a bit more “fair” while also having some additional flavor added to it in the process. I just don’t feel like Awakening a land is something I’d want to do while playing this card, but that’s my opinion. What do you think of this card?

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger - A Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Card Review

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Ulamog has indeed returned in Battle for Zendikar, and his effect is quite interesting. Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is a 10 drop for a 10/10 indestructible. When you cast him, you get to exile two target permanents. Note that it’s not a may ability, but that’s okay since you’re probably always going to have two targets - as you can target lands with this ability. If that wasn’t enough, when Ulamog declares an attack, the defending player has to exile twenty cards from the top of his or her library. Sheesh.

Compared to the original Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, who destroyed one target permanent (not exiled) and had Annihilator 4, this is probably on par. The Annihilator effect, which forced your opponent to sacrifice 4 permanents upon Ulamog declaring an attack, seems better when it comes to board presence, but it’s usually only going to take two swings to essentially mill out an opponent. It makes something like Oblivion Sower look even better, as you would then get to play all those lands. Just by itself, though, this Ulamog exiles a third of an opponent’s library - which could likely end a game by exiling any hope an opponent has of coming back to deal with a 10/10 indestructible beater.

The big thing about this version of Ulamog, though, is that unlike past big Eldrazi, he doesn’t get shuffled back into the deck when he dies. This means, yes, he can be reanimated. He can come into play off of See the Unwritten. He can be ramped into with the Tron lands in Modern. This is about as Constructed playable as anyone could have hoped. Suddenly, Ingest looks pretty effective as a mechanic, as this guy is essentially Ingest 20 except combat damage doesn’t even have to be done!

As his flavor text suggests, this version of Ulamog truly is a force as voracious as time itself.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

While I have to admit I’m not too big a fan of the newer Gideon art we’ve been seeing, it’s nigh impossible to not be a fan of the newest incarnation of Gideon, the fourth Gideon ever printed, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. His abilities can all be used right away, which for 4 mana (2WW) is definitely a plus. His +1 makes him a 5/5 indestructible creature, his 0 makes a 2/2 Knight Ally creature token, and his -4 makes an emblem that gives all your creatures +1/+1.

Will Allies be a thing? Well, Gideon’s token definitely helps that cause. But it being an Ally is just gravy if that actually becomes a Constructed-playable archetype. The fact he can immediately protect himself, then become a creature, then potentially pump out one or more emblems in a game makes him easily Standard playable. The original Gideon Jura from Rise of the Eldrazi was great, but this is probably the best Gideon yet.

One thing to point out is that he doesn’t interact too well with Kytheon, Hero of Akros’ flip-side, Gideon, Battle-Forged. You can’t have two Gideons on the board at the same time. It’s not impossible to see these two played together in the same deck, but timing will be very important on when to play them. This Gideon is so potentially splash-able, though, that he shouldn’t be pigeonholed the way that Kytheon probably will be - white weenie or white/X aggro decks.

Obviously, the hype train is going nuts about this guy, which will drive up his price a ton. He’s definitely going to see Standard play, but I see him being on a similar power level to Sorin, Lord of Innistrad rather than being like an Elspeth, Sun’s Champion level of dominance in the format. That’s good but not format-defining. There are so many high-toughness creatures in the format that it’s hard to know how often Gideon will actually be bashing in, but as a 5/5, he trades with Siege Rhino and Tasigur without actually trading - as he’s indestructible. Definitely a lot of potential with this Gideon, but beware the hype driving his initial price through the roof.

Titan's Presence - A Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Card Review

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Titan’s Presence is pretty cool if only because it’s a colorless instant, but this card could serve as pretty useful removal. It costs 3 colorless mana to cost, but also requires revealing a colorless creature card in your hand. However, if that creature happens to have a fairly high power, this card can take out about just about anything. Titan’s Presence exiles a creature with power equal to or less than the revealed creature’s power. This also works with Devoid creatures, as although they have colored mana costs, they technically have no colors.

While this would seem to be pretty awesome, it requires a good number of colorless creatures, or creatures with Devoid, to make this relevant on a regular basis. We have seen Draconic Roar and Foul-Tongue Invocation be playable as “Dragons matter” cards, though, so given the proper deck, this is a pretty awesome removal card. It’s instant speed, too, which makes it strictly better than Ruinous Path.

What do you think of this card? Will it be a dead card too much of the time to be Constructed viable or will it be good enough when it’s active to be worth playing in Standard?

Oran-Rief Hydra - A Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Card Review

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Oran-Rief Hydra is no Managorger Hydra, but at rare, he could be a decent Limited bomb. He’s a 5/5 for 4GG with Trample. Those are already passable stats, but he also has a Landfall ability. Each time you play a land, he gets a +1/+1 counter. If that land happens to be a Forest, you get 2 +1/+1 counters instead. This seems to be part of a rare cycle where land types matter, as we’ve already seen Guardian of Tazeem that cares about Islands.

At 6 mana, he’s probably too high on the mana curve to be relevant in Constructed. I imagine a Commander deck may be able to find room for him, but for the most part he’s just a big dumb beater. Hydras are very popular casual creatures, but there have been so many Hydras printed recently that give you tokens or additional value beyond just +1/+1 counters. Design-wise he’s sound, though, and very pickable if you’re leaning towards Aggro in draft. You just have to be either mono-Green or very heavy in Green to maximize this guy’s value, however, so he’s probably not a first pick.

Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Spoilers - Barrage Tyrant, Blight Herder and More

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Today, we have a look at some of the new Eldrazi from Battle for Zendikar. They’re quite interesting and there’s a good number of them to check out.

Barrage Tyrant is 4R for a 5/3, but it has Devoid. Like all of the Eldrazi with colors in their casting cost so far, Devoid makes it so that they actually count as colorless creatures. In this case, we get to see why Devoid may be a big deal, as it seems that colorless creatures will matter in this set a lot. For 2R, you can sacrifice a colorless creature and deal damage equal to that sacrificed creature’s power to a target creature or player.

This Fling effect is well worth that mana cost considering the high power that these Eldrazi we’ve seen already have. If we see even more incredibly massive Eldrazi printed in this set, this effect becomes all the more relevant. It’s on the top end of the curve for Constructed, but that effect could easily be a game finisher. With a creature like Hangarback Walker hanging around, there’s some value to be had here. Scuttling Doom Engine would have been a bomb with this card, but it’s no longer going to be in Standard when this is released.

I could definitely see this Tyrant ending games in Commander. It’s similar to Bosh, Iron Golem’s effect, but he deals damage equal to converted mana cost, whereas this deals with power. Unfortunately, swinging a Blightsteel Colossus at someone’s face doesn’t KO a player immediately since it’s the Tyrant doing the damage, not the sacrificed creature itself. Then again, you could use the equipment Grafted Exoskeleton to give the Tyrant +2/+2 and infect. Anyway, this is a major contender for being a finisher in Red artifact decks especially with all of the colorless creatures you’ll have. It’s also a great thing to do with tokens of artifact creatures created by Feldon of the Third Path, as they’ll just be exiled at end of turn anyway. This is definitely one of my favorite Eldrazi so far.

Blight Herder uses cards from exile in a way we’ve never seen before. If you take two cards removed from exile that your opponents own in their owners’ graveyards. If you decide to do this, you get to put out 3 1/1 Eldrazi Scion creature tokens into play. Similar to the 0/1 Eldrazi spawn from Rise of the Eldrazi, they can be sacrificed to add one colorless mana to your mana pool. The Herder is a colorless 5 drop with decent 4 / 5 stats, so it may be playable, especially since it can help you ramp into bigger spells. But the requirement of two cards already having to be exiled adds a good variance to this card that may make it a bit too unreliable in Constructed. It does have good synergy with the Ingest mechanic, which exiles cards from opponent’s libraries when that creature deals combat damage, so if Ingest is a Constructed-worthy mechanic then it’s possible this could see play. If not, then this is probably just a Limited-worthy card.

There are also 4 colorless Eldrazi that we have to look at.

Incubator Drone is 3U for a 2 / 3 with Devoid. Those stats sound a bit low, but it comes with a 1/1 Eldrazi Scion token attached to it, so it’s not really bad at all. It’s probably a Limited only creature, but it’s a decent one. Mist Intruder is a bit more efficient as a 1/2 flyer with Ingest for 1U It’s not exciting, but it’s a good Ingest engine for Limited. It’s also, as some players have already pointed out, a functionally better Storm Crow.

Eldrazi Devastator is an 8/9 with Trample for 8 colorless mana. It’s a bit boring, but a huge beater in Limited. It also is something really good to sacrifice to Barrage Tyrant. Kozilek’s Channeler is a mana dork, a 4/4 for 5 colorless mana with tap to add 2 colorless mana. At common, this is definitely a good Limited card, as it can fit in any deck.

Overall, I like these Eldrazi, and they should be pretty fun to play with in Limited. The Barrage Tyrant is my favorite to actually do something in Constructed, but I like it best in Commander.

Now, we have a bonus card, Gideon’s Reproach! It’s 1W for an Instant that deals 4 damage to a target attacking or blocking creature. It’s a functionally better version of a card called Arrows of Justice from Gatecrash, which cost 2 and hybrid White/Red mana. There’s already Sandblast from Fate Reforged in Standard that deals 5 damage instead for 2W. It’s probably playable out of the sideboard in Standard, but definitely a very playable removal spell in Limited.

Which of these cards are you most excited about? They’re all pretty solid cards, in my opinion.

Pre-order your Battle for Zendikar sealed product and singles today!

Battle for Zendikar (MTG) - New Fetchable Rare Land Cycle

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

That’s right, folks. Battle for Zendikar has new fetchable dual lands, complete with basic land types. So far, it would appear that we only have the allied colors: Prairie Stream (blue/white), Sunken Hollow (blue/black), Smoldering Marsh (red/black), Cinder Glade (red/green) and Canopy Vista (green/white). Were they worth us not getting the Zendikar fetch-lands? Perhaps not, but they are very useful lands nonetheless.

The downside to these dual lands is that they enter play tapped unless you control two or more basic lands. This seems bad, but it’s essentially the opposite of the “fast lands” from Scars of Mirrodin. Those lands entered play tapped once you controlled more than three lands. On turn three, you’re very likely playing these untapped anyway, making them akin to the original Alpha/Beta/Unlimited dual lands. They never “shock” you to come into play untapped, either, like the dual lands from the Ravnica sets. Does this actually make them better than the shock-lands?

Coming into play tapped on turns one or two can be an issue for some decks. Still, people played with the Temple scry lands from the Theros sets for quite a bit in Standard, and they always come into play tapped. The fact you can fetch these lands out may not be better than the Scry ability, but they’re usually going to be better than the pain-lands such as Battlefield Forge.

These won't be a budget alternative to shock-lands in Modern - not that shock-lands are all that expensive right now. They may be a bit too slow for the format. However, in decks that don’t mind them coming into play tapped for the first couple of land-drops, these are, in fact, a bit better. These are in fact quite good and will see play all over Standard. Commander players will be quite happy to have these, as well.

What do you all think of these lands?

Radiant Flames - A Battle for Zendikar (MTG) Card Review

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Radiant Flames appears, at first glance, to be a slightly worse version of Anger of the Gods. It introduces a new mechanic called Converge, which cares about how many colors of mana you use to cast this spell. Being 2R, you can max out at 3 colors total, and therefore 3 damage, with Radiant Flames. The fact that you can intentionally scale the damage can actually prove to be useful. Then again, because you need the three colors for it to be fully effective, it isn't all that exciting outside of decks that can produce 3 or more colors.

Converge is similar to an old mechanic called Sunburst. However, that mechanic only cared about adding counters. With Converge it’s possible we’ll see some cards that actually will benefit from you putting all 5 colors into them. There seems to be a great deal of design space for this mechanic. With the Eldrazi already being seen in Red, Blue, and Black (Grixis colors), this mechanic (so far) would seem to be tailored towards them. But it certainly is playable in other three-color (or more) combos, as well.

Radiant Flames is certainly Standard-playable. It does require three-color builds to be highly effective, which limits its scope. But cards that spread out a lot of damage for a minimal mana investment like this are going to be played. As we've seen with cards in the past such as Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods, this is definitely a useful card.

Pokemon TCG - Ampharos EX & Mega Ampharos EX from Ancient Origins Card Reviews

8/29/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Ampharos has been among my favorite Pokemon since it was first released in Gold and Silver way back “in the day.” The Ancient Origins set gave we Ampharos lovers both Ampharos EX and Mega Ampharos EX. They’re both really strong cards, too. Let’s take a look.

Ampharos EX is pretty good. The first attack, Thunder Rod, doesn’t do any damage, but lets you look at the top 4 cards of your deck and attach any Lightning Energy you see there onto Ampharos EX. If you happen to just find 2, that’s well worth it, as the second attack costs 2 Lightning Energy and 2 colorless. Sparkling Tail deals 100, but it ignores Weakness, Resistance, or any other effects on the Defending Pokemon. Considering that this hits so hard quickly, if I were still playing the TCG, this would be one of my main heavy-hitters.

It only gets better with Mega Ampharos EX. The upgrade from 170 HP to 220 HP is nice, but it’s the attack that is really cool. Exavolt has the same cost as Sparkling Tail, but it deals 120 base damage. Exavolt also gives you the option to deal 50 more damage and Paralyze your opponent, but Ampharos deals 30 damage to itself. This seems a fair trade-off, though, as that’s going to be enough to knock out a lot of EX Pokemon. This is an absolute powerhouse.

While I don’t play the Pokemon TCG anymore, I’d consider having these cards around in my collection. If you do play the game, I’d highly recommend finding some way to make these work. They seem too powerful not to play.

Hero of Goma Fada - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

8/28/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Hero of Goma Fada is a Human Knight Ally that costs 4W to cast for a 4/3. This guy is on the top end of the mana curve for an Aggro deck, but his ability may make him worth playing. He's the first card we've seen with the Rally mechanic, and presumably it's one built around Allies. His effect reads:

Rally – Whenever Hero of Goma Fada or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.

It's interesting that they're essentially keywording this mechanic for Allies, leading me to believe that it will appear on other creature types, as well, rewarding you for playing tribal decks. Making all of your creatures indestructible is pretty awesome simply because it allows you to attack indiscriminately. Being a 5-drop, though, it will mean that Allies will have to be pretty good for this to see play. It may just be a bit too slow.

Defiant Bloodlord - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

8/28/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Hurray, Sanguine Bond on a stick! That is essentially what Defiant Bloodlord is. Yeah, he's 7 mana, but a 4/5 flyer with an effect that has been a 5-mana enchantment is certainly pretty sweet in EDH/ Commander. Yeah, the Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond infinite combo is pretty dirty, so why not have a second Sanguine Bond in your deck? For those unfamiliar with the combo, Exquisite Blood is the exact opposite of Sanguine Bond, making it so whenever an opponent loses life, you gain life - making for an infinite loop.

The issue with the Bloodlord, though, is that it's 5BB on a creature that's a lot easier to remove than an enchantment. That being said, mono-Black is extremely popular in Commander, and redundancy of useful abilities is perfectly fine in that format. This guy will probably be a bulk rare, but foils will probably be of some decent value simply because this is one-half of a win condition - even if this is the more fragile alternative. It's not really a bomb in Limited, though, but a 4/5 flyer in Limited is something - just not close to first pick-able.

MTG: Battle for Zendikar - Rolling Thunder Reprint

8/28/2015

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Rolling Thunder returns in Battle for Zendikar! Yes, this card is a reprint. Originally from Tempest, it was first printed as a common. It's been bumped up to uncommon for this set, because understandably this card is pretty awesome in Limited. (It was reprinted in a Planechase deck at one point as well.)

This is a really good burn spell. For X and double Red, it deals X damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players. This makes it better than old Fireball because you don't have to pay additional mana for each additional target. It's sorcery speed, but it can help Red players find those last few points of damage.

People are super excited about this being in Modern, but I would like to point out that it's not quite as good as the under-appreciated mythic rare Aurelia's Fury from Gatecrash. That card is an instant and costs XRW, and can tap creatures and stop a player from casting noncreature spells... why doesn't it see play in Modern. but forget they have a superior option already in Fury. But I digress.

Despite being outclassed in Modern, I'm sure plenty of Standard players will be casting it as the format is losing Stoke the Flames and Lightning Strike (barring reprints). So it's time to dig up some old beat up Tempest copies of Rolling Thunder and finish off some opponents!

Hedron Archive - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

8/28/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

To some older Magic players, Hedron Archive may look rather familiar. That's because it's a functionally similar card to an old EDH favorite, Dreamstone Hedron, which was first printed in Rise of the Eldrazi. This is essentially two-thirds of that card. It costs 4, and taps for 2 colorless mana. You can also pay 2 colorless mana, tap, and sacrifice it to draw 2 cards. The Dreamstone Hedron cost 6, but tapped for 3 mana, and could tap and be sacrificed for 3 mana to draw 3 cards. This is simply a version that's lower on the mana curve, but serves pretty much the same purpose.

I can see a lot of EDH (Commander) players wanting this card in much the same way they want the older Hedron. It's a pretty decent mana rock that replaces itself and gives you a plus-one when you need it. Is it Constructed playable? The older Hedron never really did at 6 mana, but this one being much lower on the curve potentially could. Personally, I think it's just going to see Limited and Commander play, but the latter means that foils could be in the realm of $2-3 given time. Definitely a card that I like.

Omnath, Locus of Rage - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

8/28/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Omnath is really ticked off! Yeah, he costs 7 mana, but his payoff is completely worth it! Omnath 2.0, the Locus of Rage, has a really sweet Landfall mechanic: Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, put a 5/5 red and green Elemental creature token onto the battlefield. Plus: Whenever Omnath, Locus of Rage or another Elemental you control dies, Omnath deals 3 damage to target creature or player.

Elementals are a pretty sweet tribe in Commander, so it’s no surprise that people are already brewing around this guy. The original Omnath made all of your green mana float, and this guy builds an army and when they die they blow up in your opponent’s face - or in their creatures’ faces for that matter. Rampaging Baloths was a pretty good card that made 4/4 beast tokens on each landfall. That guy cost 4GG (6 mana), and this is strictly better.

So what is there to play alongside this guy? Plenty. Along with mana ramp, there are plenty of great Red and Green Elementals, including the always popular Avenger of Zendikar, who works pretty nicely alongside this new Omnath I might add. Bane of Progress is a great Elemental, too, and keeps your opponents from having nice things - a.k.a. enchantments and artifacts. Brighthearth Banneret makes all of your Elementals (Omnath included) cost 1 less to cast.

I could go on and on here about all the Elementals that work with him, but that’s for another article - especially as we don’t know what other new Elemental friends he’ll be getting yet! For now, here’s a complete list of red and green Elementals on Tappedout.

Besides playing a whole bunch of Elementals, you’ll be playing all of the mana ramp you could ever hope to want. Who better to help the cause than the original Omnath himself, the Locus of Mana! By letting you float all the green mana you could ever want, no mana will ever be wasted again! Yes, this can help opponents playing Green, but Omnath makes up for this by gaining +1/+1 for each Green mana in your mana pool.

For win conditions, outside of just bashing your opponent with lots of big fatties, you also want to have Enchantments like Warstorm Surge and Where Ancients Tread, which deal damage to players and creatures each time a creature enters the battlefield (granted the latter only triggers when it’s a creature power 5 or greater). Then of course you can have massive burn spells like Banefire, Devil’s Play, or Rolling Thunder to just finish the game with all the extra mana you’ll have floating around.

(There’s another particularly nasty combo with Omnath and Realm Razer. However, the Razer is three colors, so you would have to play it with Omnath as one of the 99. When the Razer enters the battlefield, he exiles all lands in play. When he then leaves play, all lands return to play tapped, triggering a ton of Landfall abilities. There is one issue with this, though - if he’s removed from the field before his first ability resolves - i.e. killed by a Doom Blade or other removal while his first ability is on the stack, the second ability fizzles as the lands haven’t been removed yet. Then all lands are simply gone. So you need to be careful how you use this ability, though depending on your board position, you may be okay.)

Will this see play in Constructed? With Dragonlord Atarka around, it’s possible he may not. But we have to see what else Battle for Zendikar will bring. It’s just that Omnath, Locus of Rage screams “build around me” so we’ll see what goes down as more Landfall synergies are revealed. To be sure, this isn’t just a new friend for Horde of Notions Elemental Tribal EDH decks. This guy is a leader of Elementals, an absolute boss that should prove to have a dominant presence in the Commander format for years to come. And if the meta is right, he could well have a good shot at having a heydey in Standard.

Daghatar the Adamant EDH Deck Tech - Magic the Gathering (MTG) Commander

8/27/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Here's my deck tech of my Daghatar the Adamant Commander deck on MTGO. It only costs about 18 bucks online but I have some stuff that's super expensive in paper. You could live without the Scrubland, Vampiric Tutor, and Doubling Season for example. In the video, I mentioned not having Abzan Falconer and the other outlast guy who gives trample (Tuskguard Captain). They are now in the deck. I'm shocked I didn't have them in here to begin with.

Deck list on Tappedout: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/daghatar-is-quite-adamant-edh/

(Unfortunately, video is no longer available.)

MTG Commander - Nebuchadnezzar from Legends - EDH Primer

8/25/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Legends is full of legendary creatures. In fact, it's the set that introduced them into Magic in the first place. Most of them aren't very good, some were pretty good at one point, some are still decent Commanders, and a few are actually quite good. Nebuchadnezzar falls into the decent category as a blue/black Commander happy to get into your head and leave you with no options.

The Assyrian king himself is an okay creature on his own. He’s a 3/3 Human Wizard for 3UB and the Oracle text for his tap ability reads thusly:

X, Tap, Name a card. Target opponent reveals X cards at random from his or her hand. Then that player discards all cards with that name revealed this way. Activate this ability only during your turn.

The upside to this ability is that even though it can only be used on your turn, it doesn’t have to be used at sorcery speed. Also, unlike many discard abilities, Nebuchadnezzar’s ability can hit lands, as well. In Commander, this means you can hit multiple copies of basic lands.

To make our Commander good, we obviously need to know what our opponent has in hand. Enchantments like Telepathy and Seer’s Vision let us see our opponents’ hands at all times. Wandering Eye is an Illusion from Nemesis that makes it so that all hands are revealed - not my personal preference, but another option to consider. With the sheer amount of other discard cards that are run alongside Nebuchadnezzar, though, we’ll pretty much always have knowledge of our opponents’ hands anyway.

Enchantments like Megrim and Liliana’s Caress shock our opponents (deal 2 damage) for each card that they discard. Bloodchief Ascension takes a little bit to get going, but lets you gain 2 life on top of the shock. In addition, Waste Not is an Enchantment from Magic 2015 that lets us benefit from each card that is discarded - based on the type of card that is sent to the yard.

Many of our creatures also let us discard cards, such as Blizzard Specter, Guul Draz Specter, and the classic Hypnotic Specter. Then we have creatures like Chainer, Dementia Master, Coffin Queen, and Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni that let us take control of the creatures that end up discarded. We also have a couple of creatures that benefit from lots of cards in the yards, such as Avatar of Will (which can be cast for 2 Blue if an opponent has no cards in hand) and Wrexial, the Risen Deep (who can steal instants or sorceries when he deals combat damage.)

Here’s a skeleton list to get you started:

The 99:

Creature (20)

Avatar of Will

Blizzard Specter
Bog Witch
Chainer, Dementia Master
Coffin Queen
Dimir Cutpurse
Dimir Doppelganger
Doomsday Specter
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Guul Draz Specter
Hypnotic Specter
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Liliana's Reaver
Nyxathid
Rag Man
Ravenous Rats
Scion of Darkness
Scythe Specter
Siren of the Silent Song

Wrexial, the Risen Deep

Artifact (9)

Anvil of Bogardan
Bargaining Table
Geth's Grimoire
Glasses of Urza
Lashwrithe
Sol Ring
The Rack
Wand of Ith

Worn Powerstone

Enchantment (16)

Animate Dead
Bloodchief Ascension
Breathstealer's Crypt
Dire Undercurrents
Helm of the Ghastlord
Larceny
Liliana's Caress
Megrim
Necromancy
Painful Quandary
Seer's Vision
Shrieking Affliction
Telepathy
Waste Not
Words of Waste
Words of Wind

Sorcery (9)

Beacon of Unrest
Brainbite
Despise
Duress
Rise from the Grave
Syphon Mind
Tasigur's Cruelty
Urza's Guilt
Whispering Madness

Land (39)

Bojuka Bog
Dimir Aqueduct
Dimir Guildgate
Duskmantle, House of Shadow
Everglades
13x Island
Jwar Isle Refuge
Minamo, School at Water's Edge
Nephalia Drownyard
16x Swamp
Terramorphic Expanse
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Instant (4)

Dimir Charm
Peek
Treacherous Urge
Visions of Beyond

Planeswalker (2)

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Liliana Vess

(One note: Wand of Ith is not available on Magic Online. It can be replaced with Wandering Eye, the creature mentioned earlier.)

This deck can be built for roughly $125 USD in paper and 40 tickets on Magic Online (MTGO). The only expensive card in this deck is Minamo, School at Water’s Edge at $20, which is really nice to have to untap our legendary permanents (especially Nebuchadnezzar). You could live without it, though. Every other card is under $10, and most are $0.50-$2. So if you want to build a blue/black discard/control list on the cheap with potential for a nasty endgame, this is a really good place to start.

Pride of the Clouds from Dissension - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

8/25/2015

by Phoenix Desertsong, Old School Duelist

Are you a fan of flyers in Magic? Then, Pride of the Clouds is a card for you to strongly consider. A steady gainer financially for the past couple of years, this casual hit is a two-drop that gets +1/+1 for each creature you control that has flying. For two mana, in a flyer-heavy deck, it can get pretty big!

The Elemental Cat also has an ability called Forecast. This was a mechanic featured on the Azorius Guild cards in Guildpact. You get to reveal the card from your hand during your upkeep. By paying some additional cost, you get an effect once per turn. The Pride's Forecast ability costs 2UW and lets you put a 1/1 white and blue flying Bird token into play. The fact that you can do this every turn, even for 4 mana, provides pretty good value.

Believe it or not, Pride of the Clouds has made a fairly high-profile appearance in a Blue-White Fliers deck in Modern. It was back in 2014 at Grand Prix Kobe. This deck was profiled and play by Frank Lepore for TCGPlayer's Modern Monday series. While this deck hasn't really done much on the competitive scene again, it shows that this card actually can do something in competitive play. Apparently, it was pretty good back when it was in Standard, too.

In Commander, Pride of the Clouds mostly sees play in Kangee, Aerie Mystic Bird Tribal and Isperia the Inscrutable Fliers Commander decks. The Elemental Cat also sees play in some Derevi, Empyrial Tactician and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV decks. The former is a Bird Wizard that can benefit from some of the Bird support out there, and Augustin appreciates the fliers. Also, being that the Pride is blue and white and its tokens are also blue and white, they can benefit from power boosters like Thistledown Liege (+2/+2 boost!) The Pride itself can also benefit from a card like Steel of the Godhead, an Aura that can make it unblockable and give it lifelink, making it quite a formidable creature for a two-drop, as all of your other flyers pump it, as well.

Some great cards to play alongside Pride of the Clouds:

Aven Mimeomancer - A card that I loved playing with when I first started playing Magic, this Bird Wizard from Alara Reborn lets you put a feather counter on a target creature during each of your upkeeps. That feather counter makes that creature a 3/1 with flying. If you use this on one of your bird tokens, it’s essentially a +2/+0 boost. Use it on the Pride and also gain a +2/+0 boost. But it also lets you put feather counters on opponent’s creatures. Big fatty in your way? Here’s how to deal with it. Such a fun card.

Airborne Aid - 3U to draw a card for each Bird you control is pretty sweet. This common sorcery from Onslaught only gets better with the Pride fueling the draws.

Keeper of the Nine Gales - This rare Bird Wizard from Legions lets you tap two untapped Birds you control to Boomerang a permanent.

Seaside Haven - This uncommon land from Onslaught lets you tap it and pay UW (White/Blue) to sacrifice a bird and draw a card - a great combo with the next card, Soulcatchers’ Aerie.

Soulcatchers’ Aerie - This Enchantment from Judgment gets a feather counter each time one of your Birds is put into the graveyard. Since this includes your Bird tokens dying as well, this can get a lot of counters quickly. Then for each feather counter on this card, all Birds gain +1/+1. Suddenly, those 1/1 tokens get a lot bigger and a lot scarier.

Because Forecast is a mechanic unlikely to see a reprint any time soon, Pride of the Clouds should be a safe investment for those wanting to go and secure their copies now. It’s a solid complimentary piece for any fliers deck.

MTG FAQ August 2015: Part Two

8/19/2015

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Lots of great Magic questions coming in this month. We’ve already done a part one of the month’s FAQ. . Here are a few more questions that definitely need to be answered.

Can Pristine Skywise attack again after being untapped by casting a noncreature spell?

No, not unless you can get another battle phase. But it isn’t a bad idea to get Skywise untapped.

Can Jace, Vryn's Prodigy be good in Modern?

The new Jace from Magic Origins has already proven somewhat useful in Legacy Reanimator, although in Modern I think that Lightning Bolt is just a bit too common for him to last long on the board. As a planeswalker, he could probably supplement a Flash archetype, but Snapcaster Mage is just far superior for that job. I don’t see him being a major player in Modern, personally.

Could Liliana, Heretical Healer be good in a Mono-Black Modern deck?

The Magic Origins incarnation of Liliana is good in Modern inside Abzan Collected Company, but in Mono-Black, the original Liliana Vess and especially Liliana of the Veil are just better. But it’s possible you could build a pretty decent mono-Black deck including her; I just don’t know how competitive it would be.

Could Sphinx’s Tutelage be good in Legacy?

The Grindstone/Painter’s Servant combo is just much more efficient in Legacy. Tutelage is good, but requires to be built around in a way that doesn’t work quickly enough for that format.

Does Mindswipe combo with Pyromancer’s Goggles?

Yes, you can copy the counter-burn spell targeting the same spell that you intend to counter on the stack, and deal twice the damage.

What are some of the best Landfall cards in Modern?

Bloodghast is easily the best Landfall creature in Modern and is part of several graveyard based strategies. Groundswell is a very good pump spell, giving you +4/+4 with Landfall, and is seen often in Infect decks. Hedron Crab has good board presence and assists Mill decks in Modern. Searing Blaze is a pretty good card in Burn that can burn a creature for 3 and the controlling player for 3 if you drop a land that turn - made easier as Burn plays Arid Mesa for the White mana needed for Boros Charm.

Lotus Cobra is one of the coolest Landfall creatures out there and had a pretty good run in Standard, but again, it’s a very fragile ramp engine. Still, it usually pays for itself and helps you color fix. Not sure it’s really strong enough in the format at this advanced point.

Plated Geopede and Steppe Lynx were very efficient creatures in the early days of Modern in Landfall Zoo builds, as Wild Nacatl was banned in the format for a time. The format has evolved too much for these decks to really be strong anymore.

What are cards that read “target player sacrifices an enhancement?”

Abzan Advantage from Fate Reforged and Dromoka’s Command from Dragons of Tarkir are the only cards that specifically read that way. Both are currently good options in Standard.

Will there be a part three? Send your MTG related questions to wintargetgame@gmail.com!

MTG Duel Decks Zendikar vs Eldrazi: New Cards from Battle for Zendikar

8/18/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Yesterday the deck lists for the Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi were revealed. Also revealed were several new cards from Battle of Zendikar, and from what we’re seeing of these few preview cards, there are some sweet new mechanics coming our way. Before we get into the Duel Decks themselves, which are jam-packed with value, we will take a look at the new cards.

Oblivion Sower we already knew about, and I’m personally a huge fan of this guy, especially for Commander. The Sower has solid stats at 5 / 8 for 6 colorless mana. Being able to exile a bunch of cards, then play any lands from exile, is really sweet. From what we can tell, apparently Eldrazi and their drones are going to get to exile a bunch of stuff from opponent’s decks. Let’s take a look at those drones now.

The first of these is Dominator Drone. While it costs 2B to cast, it has the new Devoid mechanic, meaning that despite having a colored mana cost, the card itself is colorless. This Devoid mechanic has some precedent with the card Ghostfire from Future Sight, which cost 2R but had no color. This Drone has two cool abilities. The first is a new keyworded mechanic: Ingest. Whenever a creature with Ingest deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles the top card of his or her deck. This obviously has excellent synergy with the Sower, but who knows what other crazy abilities other Eldrazi will get to play cards from exile. The other ability is another triggered one: whenever it enters the battlefield, if you control another colorless creature, each opponent loses 2 life. At common, this card is super playable, and I really like it.

The second Drone costs Red/Black to cast, but also is Devoid of color. It doesn’t have Ingest, but it does have an activated ability for 1 colorless mana to give a colorless creature (including itself) haste until end of turn. It’s also a 3/2 for only 2 mana, which is super good. If it gives itself Haste when it enters, it’s 1BR for a 3/2 with haste - perfectly good value. At uncommon, this is a great value. I could see decks easily running four copies of this and the Dominator Drone.

Next we have the return of Landfall, in this instance on a new Enchantment called Retreat to Kazandu. It gives you two options: either put a +1/+1 counter on a target creature or gain 2 life. Usually you’d want to get the counter, but if you for whatever reason have no creatures on board, you will happily take the free 2 life. At 2G it’s hard to say if it will be Constructed playable, but it would be good in a Hardened Scales deck, in which you’d be getting 2 counters instead of one. I like it a lot, and it will definitely see Commander play.

Sheer Drop is our introduction to the Awaken mechanic. Personally, I’m not crazy about Sheer Drop itself, although 2W for an Assassinate effect in white is definitely fine in Limited. But for the alternate cost of 5W, you get that effect plus you can turn one of your lands into a 0/0 that gains 3 +1/+1 counters. It is, indeed, still a land. This is one way to turn any of your lands into a man-land, which is definitely cool. We’ll be looking forward to more Constructed-playable cards with Awaken X on them.

The rare Veteran Warleader is our first glimpse into the new Allies. The Ally Tribe had potential in the original Zendikar block, but outside of some funky 5-color brews and some successes in Commander, there haven’t been enough Allies that were Constructed-playable. This one certainly is: at 1GW, its power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures you control. But this is much more than just a Crusader of Odric: you also get to tap another untapped Ally you control to give the Warleader first strike, vigilance, or trample until end of turn. I really like this guy, especially with Collected Company. It will be interesting to see how much support these Allies get, because this is a great start.

Now that we’ve taken a look at the new cards, look forward to our upcoming Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi deck reviews!

MTG Commander - General Insanity - Alhammarret, High Arbiter EDH

8/15/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Alhammarret has a pretty awesome Archive, but despite how good his Legendary Artifact might be, the High Arbiter himself is a bit underwhelming when it comes to big Blue Legendary Creatures. Therefore, it very easily can be considered General Insanity to try and build a deck with he at the helm. There are several ways we could go with this, so for flavor purposes, let’s take a look at his effect:

As Alhammarret, High Arbiter enters the battlefield, each opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose the name of a nonland card revealed this way. Your opponents can't cast spells with the chosen name (as long as this creature is on the battlefield).

On a 5/5 flyer for 7 mana, that’s not a very exciting effect. You only get to choose one card that your opponent’s can’t cast. Sure, you get to know your opponent’s hands and what you may have to play around. But it’s sort of like a worse Meddling Mage, a blue/white creature that has had its day in Constructed. How can you build around a card like that?

What sort of cards can you play alongside the massive Sphinx? Let’s take a look at the Archive to see what sort of deck we’re looking for.

If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead. If you would draw a card except the first one you draw in each of your draw steps, draw two cards instead.

On a 5 cost artifact, that’s plenty good. Heck, it’s seeing play in Constructed in Sphinx’s Tutelage decks. So let’s see, we get information about opponent’s hands, gain life, and draw lots of cards? Blue does two of those things quite well. The lifegain… not so much. Basically, get card advantage, stop your opponent’s from doing anything, and incidentally gain life somehow. Those all seem like things you’d want to do.

As the only mono-Blue Sphinx Commander, why not go for a mono-Blue Sphinx tribal list? Sharuum the Hegemon is pretty good in white, blue, and black. So can a mono-Blue list work?

Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Land (37)

1x Academy Ruins
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Faerie Conclave
1x Halimar Depths
26x Island
1x Mage-Ring Network
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Seat of the Synod
1x Temple of the False God
1x Terramorphic Expanse

Academy Ruins gets a ton of artifacts back in this deck. Faerie Conclave is a cute little man-land that can be a 2/1 flyer. Halimar Depths helps you set up draws. Mage-Ring Network is a storage land that helps you cast your Sphinxs. Nykthos is huge in this deck since you will have tons of devotion to Blue. Seat of the Synod is not 100% necessary but gives you another artifact.

Creature (18)

    1x Arbiter of the Ideal
    1x Chancellor of the Spires
    1x Clever Impersonator
    1x Consecrated Sphinx
    1x Conundrum Sphinx
    1x Guardian of Tazeem
    1x Master of Predicaments
    1x Phyrexian Metamorph
    1x Prognostic Sphinx
    1x Solemn Simulacrum
    1x Sphinx Ambassador
    1x Sphinx of Jwar Isle
    1x Sphinx of Lost Truths
    1x Sphinx of the Final Word
    1x Sphinx of Magosi
    1x Sphinx of Uthuun
    1x Thassa, God of the Sea
    1x Windreader Sphinx

The mono-Blue Sphinxes in this deck all do some pretty cool things. In particular, Arbiter of the Ideal will often get you a free Sphinx onto the battlefield with the Inspired ability. Guardian of Tazeem is especially good at keeping opponent's creatures tapped down in a mono-Blue deck. Sphinx of the Final Word makes sure your instants and sorceries go uncountered. The only non-Sphinxes in the deck are Solemn Simulacrum (EDH staple), Thassa, God the Sea (which lets you Scry every turn and can make guys unblockable) Clever Impersonator (a clone that can copy almost anything) and Phyrexian Metamorph (which usually copies your Sphinxes or utility artifacts).

Sorcery (7)

    1x Bribery
    1x Fabricate
    1x Gitaxian Probe
    1x Mind Spring
    1x Ponder
    1x Preordain
    1x Rite of Replication

There aren’t many Sorceries in this deck, but they all do a bit. Bribery steals one of your opponent’s things. Fabricate gets you an artifact from your deck (usually Alhammarret’s Archive or Venser’s Journal.) Gitaxian Probe is a can-trip that lets you see an opponent’s hand. Ponder and Preordain help set up draws. Mind Spring and Blue Suns’ Zenith (which is included among the instants) can draw you a bunch of cards, especially with the Archive on board. Rite of Replication is especially sweet for making many copies of one of your Sphinxes.

Planeswalker (4)

1x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Jace Beleren
1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1x Tezzeret the Seeker

Tezzeret is another way to seek out important artifacts. Both versions of Jace help you get valuable cards while the Architect can ultimate you into several bombs. Tamiyo gives you a lot of cards and can make all of your cards reusable.

Artifact (14)

1x Alhammarret's Archive
1x Caged Sun
1x Coat of Arms
1x Cryptic Gateway
1x Expedition Map
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mindslaver
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Pristine Talisman
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Unstable Obelisk
1x Urza's Incubator
1x Venser's Journal

The Archive has to be in here, not merely for the flavor, but to draw you lots of extra cards. Card advantage is huge in this deck as your creatures typically won’t hit the board for awhile, so when they do, you want to have a lot of options. There’s very little lifegain in the deck, but Venser’s Journal is going to gain you a ton, allowing you to often simply outlast opponents. Pristine Talisman is a mana rock, but can also gain you a life here and there just because.

Caged Sun doubles your mana and pumps up your Sphinxes a bit. Coat of Arms is an iconic tribal card that makes your already formidable Sphinxes even more so. Cryptic Gateway helps you tap down two creatures you control to cast another Sphinx for free, essentially. Mindslaver can win you the game with Academy Ruins to get it back. Oblivion Stone can blow up all of the things in case you get behind.

Urza’s Incubator isn’t a card you see all too often, but it’s a really useful tribal card. Reprinted in Commander 2015, it makes your Sphinxes (or whatever creature type you choose when you cast this artifact) cost 2 colorless mana less. to cast them This effect actually helps all players, but besides Consecrated Sphinx, you probably won’t see many other Sphinxes burn you with this card.

Instant (12)

    1x Blue Sun's Zenith
    1x Brainstorm
    1x Calculated Dismissal
    1x Clash of Wills
    1x Counterspell
    1x Cyclonic Rift
    1x Dissipate
    1x Fact or Fiction
    1x Hinder
    1x Mystical Tutor
    1x Rewind
    1x Spell Crumple

The usual control suite, but with Calculated Dismissal and Clash of Wills from Magic Origins added. You need just a bit more control with the slower speed of this kind of deck.

Enchantment (7)

1x Call to the Kindred
1x Gravitational Shift
1x Leyline of Anticipation
1x Omniscience
1x Rhystic Study
1x Soothsaying
1x Telepathy

Gravitational Shift shrinks ground guys and powers up flying guys. Leyline of Anticipation gives your things flash. Vedalken Orrery, an artifact, basically does the same thing and is a bit more affordable so you could replace it with that. Rhystic Study draws you all of the cards. Soothsaying is the budget alternative to Sensei’s Divining Top, so if you have a top it would replace this. Telepathy is a flavor addition and one that actually a lot of Sphinx decks play to begin with.

The key card here is Call to the Kindred, an often forgotten enchantment from Dark Ascension. It’s an Aura that you attach to one of your Sphinxes and at the beginning of each upkeep, you get to dig 5 deep into your deck looking for another Sphinx. If you find one, you put it straight onto the battlefield. The other cards go to the bottom of your deck. Typically you’ll see this played in Zombie tribal, Slivers, and occasionally Horde of Notions and Scion of the Ur-Dragon decks. But it’s mega good in Sphinxes.

Budget Considerations

This is not exactly a “budget” deck, and the mana curve is a bit steep. But the deck has solid synergies, a strong core, and the ability to simply have insane card advantage and potentially some serious lifegain. It also has the Academy Ruins/Mindslaver recursion combo to win forever.

However, there are some cuts you could make. Bribery is a $15+ card that steals you a creature but isn’t 100% necessary for the strategy. Oblivion Stone is a $30+ card, and you could replace it with another card of your liking, perhaps something like Evacuation to have everyone pick up their cards. Omniscience can make your life a lot easier by making all your spells cast for free, but it is $20 so you can leave it out if you wish.

Coat of Arms is only about $7 but if you play against a lot of tribal decks in your local meta, it’s probably best to leave it out and perhaps choose Obelisk of Urd instead. Overall, you can probably trim the cost of this deck to under $200, but only if you had to buy every card.

Alhammarret makes this deck possible by being the only legendary mono-Blue Sphinx, but obviously using Sharuum the Hegemon or either incarnation of Isperia gives you a lot more options. As this stands, this mono-Blue deck could prove to be pretty powerful.

What other Commanders would you like to see built around that would be considered… Generally Insane?