Despite my best intentions, the amount of time it takes to write bad poetry for each of these cards – as well as the continually increasing size of the Hall and my very real attempts to come at old cards in new ways – has reduced me to a pace of one color per week. We can deal with white, the color of law and order, this week. Still to go: Blue, artifacts, lands…and black. I’ll try to double up (especially with lands) and see if we can’t wrap this up by two weeks from now.
In the meantime, the animal elements are, again: Rattlesnakes warn and deflect attention, gorillas impact the board situation, spiders surprise for card advantage, pigeons feed off of more people, and plankton feed everybody. Note that here in white,”rattlesnakes” tend to rattle less and chuckle more at the futility of attacking the controller (e.g., Ivory Mask).
For this week’s poetry format, we will mirror white’s traditional, boring take on Magic with the most traditional and boring format in English poetry: Couplets, or two lines of iambic pentameter. (I really hate to recur nightmares for those of us who thought they had put such high school and/or college courses behind them, but”iambic pentameter” means each line has ten syllables, with stresses on the even syllables. See: Shakespeare.)
White
There are three ways in which white exerts influence over a multiplayer game. First, white can bid to become the longest-lasting player by boring everyone to death. This involves my least favorite mechanic (except perhaps coin flips) – lifegain for the sake of lifegain. (Contrast with black life drain like Drain Life, or creature-based life gain like Bottle Gnomes, which give you actual paths to victory.)
Second, white serves as a supply of control defense, from efficient walls and vigilant blockers to board-sweeping classics. There’s a time and a place for that, to be sure. And honestly, the top cards in the white Hall are virtually all this type.
Third, white can put some torque on its spells and punish those players it deems too chaotic or aggressive. For me, this is white at its best – removing attacking creatures from the game, redirecting damage, and so on. The most interesting cards on this list come from this school of white.
30. TRANSCENDENCE
3WWW Enchantment. You don’t lose the game for having 0 or less life. When you have 20 or more life, you lose the game. Whenever you lose life, you gain 2 life for each 1 life you lost.
Rattlesnake: Medium-high
Gorilla: Low
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Low
One thing I found, while putting this list together, is how very few white cards from Odyssey block were able to crack very high onto the list. Most of the action in this color is concentrated down here, at the lower numbers.
Transcendence has a lot of potential for setting up a bit of a permanent”life-shield” with some creative tricks, ranging from Hoodwink to Replenish. It doesn’t seem as offensive as many other life-based cards – partly because it offers a new way to lose, and partly because it simply has enough going on that everybody kinda has to pay attention to what’s going on.
It takes three reads before you comprehend
The way this card will help your game transcend.
29. ORIM’S THUNDER
2W Instant. Kicker R. Destroy target artifact or enchantment. If you paid the kicker cost, Orim’s Thunder deals that permanent’s converted casting cost to target creature.
Rattlesnake: Very low
Gorilla: Medium-low
Spider: Medium
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Low
It needs a splash of red, but the chance to convert game-changing artifacts like Lifeline into creature kill is rather tempting.
A Coat of Arms, raised high on battlefield,
Comes crashing down, and puny elves revealed.
28. CELESTIAL CONVERGENCE
2WW Enchantment. When this comes into play, put seven Omen counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove an Omen counter from this. If there are no Omen counters on this, the play with the highest life total wins the game. If two or more players are tied for the highest life total, the game is a draw.
Rattlesnake: Low
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Negative
Plankton: Medium
Lifegain becomes an actual path to victory! Unfortunately, this loses power rapidly with more players, so it’s impossible to rank it highly.
As seven turns pass, so draws closer fate
We see it coming clearly: Congregate.
27. EQUAL TREATMENT
1W Instant. If any source would deal 1 or more damage to a creature or player this turn, it deals 2 damage to that creature or player instead. Draw a card.
Rattlesnake: Very low
Gorilla: Medium-low
Spider: Medium
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Medium
Equal Treatment is on this list not for what it does, but for what it stops: Overrun, Furnace of Rath, Dark Triumph, and a whole host of other aggressive cards that can end the game too quickly. It only lasts a turn, so it will never tear up the Hall; but like Tangle in green (did I forget Tangle in green?!?), it disrupts a killing stroke and leaves the aggressor overextended for little or no gain at all.
This card does not work against toughness drain (like Enfeeblement or Flowstone Slide), or life loss like Syphon Soul.
A thundering roll of hooves and stamping feet;
comes full stop and smooches you so sweet.
26. FLOATING SHIELD
2W Creature Enchantment. As this comes into play, choose a color. Enchanted creature has protection from the chosen color. This effect doesn’t remove Floating Shield. Sacrifice this: Target creature gains protection from the chosen color until end of turn.
Similar cards: Mother of Runes and Devoted Caretaker, both creatures, provide a similar dynamic: Threatening to protect against removal.
Rattlesnake: High
Gorilla: Medium-low
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Low
It is a comfortable feeling, knowing that the next removal spell that gets cast probably won’t touch your own creatures. Of course, you can cast this (or remove it to benefit) any creature on the board, not just yours. Hint: Don’t choose white.
One day the shield found someplace else to float –
A double-Rancored, Howling Mountain Goat.
25. LIEUTENANT KIRTAR
1WW, 2/2 Creature (Legend). Flying. 1W, Sacrifice this: Remove target attacking creature from the game.
Rattlesnake: Medium-high
Gorilla: Medium-low
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Medium
Since the creature doesn’t have to be attacking you, Kirtar acts as a”seal of Swords” to anyone attacking anyone else. Wait until damage is on the stack, and then let Kirtar go.
Like most recent white removal, this doesn’t work very well against Prodigal Sorcerers, Mothers of Runes, Royal Assassins, or other creatures that do their damage from afar.
A bird on high, who spots a frothy foe,
Dives down with zest, demanding quid pro quo.
24. MIRROR STRIKE
3W Instant. Target unblocked creature deals combat damage to its controller instead of to you this turn.
Similar cards: Kor Chant can redirect damage instantly to any creature.
Rattlesnake: Very low
Gorilla: Low
Spider: High
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Low
Like life gain, Mirror Strike only buys you time… But it does have an excellent chance of wiping out an opponent, so it buys time sorta like a Fireball buys the red mage time. And that’s a good way to spend your time.
The Serra Avatar brings turns of events,
Opponent-sized for victory’s convenience.
23. HEAVY BALLISTA
3W, 2/3 Creature. Tap: Do 2 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
Similar cards: Aven Archer is the latest addition to this combat-enhancing family, which includes D’Avenant Archer, Crossbow Infantry, and Ballista Squad.
Rattlesnake: High
Gorilla: Low
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Medium
Tapping for an ability is tough in group, but the Heavy Ballista’s finishing moves are threatening enough that you probably won’t have to tap it at all. As with Lieutenant Kirtar, you can wait for damage to stay on the stack. Unlike Lieutenant Kirtar, you can nail blockers, too.
Each additional Ballista adds that much more rattlesnake power. This is a creature that’s tempting to overextend with. You should also consider Vitalize for untapping, and Fatal Blow to surprise a fat attacker who thinks he’s tough enough for this oversized crossbow.
As with Kirtar, creatures that hang back and don’t attack (like other Ballistae!) are a real problem…
Those creatures that won’t venture into fray
Can feel the sting of Bullwhip, any day.
22. SERRA’S BLESSING
1W Enchantment. Attacking doesn’t cause creatures you control to tap.
Rattlesnake: Medium-high
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Medium-high
Plankton: Low
The”rattlesnake” value from the Blessing is less from its own threat, than the ability that it bestows upon your entire army. The Blessing gives you the ability to push a bit harder than other players at the table, since you know that you have the edge with ready blockers.
What kinds of creatures are best in a non-tapping deck? Not Serra Angels. Instead, seek the trample of green, the first strike of red, the pump of black, or the nifty tapping abilities of blue.
An army that is ever vigilant,
Can give you more than one hundred percent.
21. WISHMONGER
[3W, 3/3 Creature. 2: Target creature gains protection from the color of its controller’s choice until end of turn. Any player may play this ability.]
Rattlesnake: Medium
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Medium-high
Plankton: High
Remember the Mongers? (And I don’t mean Spiritmonger.) This was probably my favorite, because breaking the symmetry with artifact creatures or Coalition Honor Guard can be so satisfying. (The way CHG works: When an opponent uses the Wishmonger’s ability, they control that ability. Therefore, the only creature they can target is yours. You still get to choose the color.)
I wish I were a white knight on a horse,
Protected from all messy spells, of course.
20. RESILIENT WANDERER
2WW, 2/3 Creature. First strike. Discard a card from your hand: This gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: Medium-low
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Medium-low
Plankton: Low
There is almost never a turn when this nomad can’t attack someone. In many group games where tons of semi-tough creatures just sit tight and stare at each other, the Wanderer can get in valuable mid-game damage. Of course, the Wanderer is also highly resistant to removal – even mass removal like Earthquake, Distorting Wake, or Pestilence.
The nomads roamed at will from hills to shore,
Until they met an angry Masticore.
19. BLINDING ANGEL
3WW 2/4 Creature. Flying. Whenever Blinding Angel deals combat damage to a player, that player skips his or her next combat phase.
Rattlesnake: Medium-high
Gorilla: Medium-high
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Medium-high
“Blockbuster” cards Moment of Silence and Azure Drake come together to create something of actual value in multiplayer: A recurring nightmare for attack decks that can’t stop flyers. There are more of those than you might think; and even those well-equipped to kill an angel don’t always draw the answer when they need it. The two or three turns you buy are often enough to change the game’s momentum.
The Angel herself is not a path to victory – she just stuns the opposing offense. In fact, the fact that they can’t attack will leave enemy armies untapped and ready to block. For the win, you either need to smash through with Overrun/Deluge/Chaos, or peck away with evasive creatures, or mill.
A math trick that we’d copy if we could:
A bad card and a bad card make a good.
18. SOUL WARDEN
W, 1/1 Creature. Whenever a creature comes into play, gain 1 life.
Rattlesnake: Medium
Gorilla: Medium-low
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Very high
Plankton: Low
Tumbling down from the top ten with the new grading system, the Soul Warden is still one of the best one-drops in the game, for any color.
She’s an early target – and she makes you one, too. Be ready.
The Warden came, to tend to all the souls,
But in return, they raked her ‘cross the coals.
17. OATH OF LIEGES
1W Enchantment. At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, if that player controls fewer lands than an opponent, the player may search his or her library for a basic land card and put that card into play. The player then shuffles his or her library.
Similar card: This Oath is roughly based on Land Tax, your own personal land-generation machine.
Rattlesnake: Medium-low
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: Very low
Pigeon: High
Plankton: Very high
An underplayed gem in group games, the Oath can work like many cards that seem to favor everyone at the table (like Veteran Explorer) – when, in fact, you have a surprise like Acidic Soil or Avatar of Fury waiting. Or maybe it’s just a nice thing to do for everybody, and you have no plans to take advantage of your good friends. Your call.
A mana-screwed opponent once did utter,
“That Oath of Lieges sure does work like butter.”
16. HYPOCHONDRIA
1W Enchantment. W, Discard a card from your hand: Prevent the next 3 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn. W, Sacrifice this: [same deal].
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: Medium-high
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Medium
The best in original multiplayer tech that Odyssey block has to offer so far (there are recent cards ranked higher, but they’re near-reprints of older cards), Hypochondria makes you and every creature you own virtually impenetrable to combat or burn techniques. And with its cheap cost to play and activate, you’ll be able to hang on to plenty of lands in your hand to pitch.
The last opponent you’d think to attack:
A well-defended hypochondriac.
15. IVORY MASK
2WW Enchantment. You may not be the target of spells or abilities.
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Low
This is one of those fairly recent cards (from Masques) that feels incredibly old-school. The clear denial of allowing players to target you seems simple, control-based, and absolute – just like Moat, Wrath of God, and a bunch of other cards we’ll get to further up the list.
This card does not stop combat phases, and that is probably where the rest of your deck should concentrate. Zephids, Morphlings, various green insects, and protection-based creatures like Resilient Wanderer can all help you throw up a great all-around shield.
There are certainly decks out there that try to make the Mask untargetable (say, with a Fountain Watch), and then make that device untargetable (say, with Spiritual Asylum), so that the only way you can get rid of the whole mess is untargeted global killers like Pernicious Deed.
“I’ll shoot a ball of fire at your face!”
“You can’t – I have this mask here, just in case.”
14. RADIANT, ARCHANGEL
3WW, 3/3 Creature. Flying. This counts as an angel. Attacking does not cause this to tap. This gets +1/+1 for each other creature with flying in play.
Similar cards: Serra Angel is the grandmother of all big, non-tapping flyers.
Rattlesnake: Medium
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Very high
Plankton: Low
Radiant comes in as the second-most impressive white creature for multiplayer. Most of this is because of the”pigeon” factor – more players means more flyers – but a good deal of it is also because of the non-tapping and the sheer efficiency of the card. Five mana for what will almost always be a 5/5 or 6/6 vigilant F-14 is fairly good. (By the way, that’s my vote for the one-word rules text for”attacking does not cause this to tap” – vigilance. Like”haste,” it would save us a lot of time, and give Wizards the text box room to give vigilant creatures more abilities.)
Radiant had a most unpleasant morning;
She should have heard her friends’ Hurricane warning.
13. STORY CIRCLE
1WW Enchantment. When this comes into play, choose a color. W: The next time a source of your choice of the chosen color would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.
Similar cards: Every color has an assigned Circle of Protection, Rune of Protection, and Sphere (from Odyssey). There’s also Greater Realm of Preservation, Hidden Retreat, and Penance, which all tend to hose black and red.
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Low
While it doesn’t give you any way to win, it is very good at giving you a nearly ultimate answer to anything that might hurt you – creature, instant, or sorcery. (Even damage-dealing enchantments are rendered moot.) In a small game, the color you pick can be decisive for you. In a larger game, you still enjoy the flexibility Story Circle gives you, and appreciate the fact that there are more opponents who might serve as easier combat targets once this thing’s out there.
The color manipulation from Invasion block may be worth exploration… And Story Circle can’t keep up with a good four- or five-color deck. Story Circle also gives your opponents another reason to play artifact creatures like Masticore, as well as Distorting Lens.
Once gathered in a circle, telling tales,
They found they better fought off beasts with scales.
12. ARMAGEDDON
[3W Sorcery. Destroy all lands.]
Similar cards: Global Ruin is the 5-color-friendly Armageddon.
Rattlesnake: Very low
Gorilla: Very high
Spider: Medium-high
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Negative
It’s time for me to start ranking cards that drastically slow down games a bit lower than I have in the past. Armageddon still is a mighty card, and it would be totally stupid of me to leave it out of the Hall… But it’s usually not the kind of card that makes a multiplayer game”great.” It violates one of the basic courtesies of casual play: Give people the mana they need to let their strategies play out, win or lose. I’d never begrudge anyone the chance to play this classic, but I won’t stick out my neck to protect them from the inevitable backlash, either.
The well-worn combinations include green fat (e.g., Argothian Wurm), Zuran Orb, Land Tax, and artifact mana.
Armageddon stopped us in our tracks;
But we were saved by tides from Parallax.
11. HUMILITY
2WW Enchantment. All creatures lose all abilities and are 1/1.
Similar cards: Humble is an instant that lets you shrink target creature to 0/1 with no abilities. Not very efficient, but very funny.
Rattlesnake: High
Gorilla: Very high
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Low
Plankton: Medium
For 2WW mana, why would you play this instead of Wrath of God? Well, there’s Serra Avatar, which stays in the graveyard if killed when a Humility is in play; comes-into-play creatures whose abilities never trigger since they come into play as lowly 1/1s; Breeding Pit, which now gives you attack-ready creatures instead of mere 0/1s; and the ability to shut down mana production totally with a Nature’s Revolt.
The card rulings on Humility are vast, and not easily understood or explained. The only part of my Level I test that I’m truly proud of – I passed, but not with flying colors – is my perfect record on Humility questions. (Add Opalescence, though, and I’m totally screwed.) As for effects that pump creatures, timestamps count for a great deal…
When you want to start a grand Crusade,
Make sure you start it AFTER this card’s played!
10. NULL CHAMBER
3W Enchant World. As this comes into play, you and an opponent each name a card that isn’t a basic land. The named cards cannot be played.
Rattlesnake: Conditional
Gorilla: Conditional
Spider: Low
Pigeon: Medium-high
Plankton: Very high
As we enter the Top Ten, we get to see a really interesting card. The strategies behind choosing which opponent, and what card you’ll pick yourself, are almost worth an entire article themselves.
The more opponents you have, the greater the chances that you’ll both pick cards that neither of you mind hearing named.
To own the game’s developmental stage
Precede Null Chamber with Meddling Mage.
9. MOAT
2WW Enchantment. Creatures without flying can’t attack.
Similar cards: Island Sanctuary restricts attacking to flyers and islandwalkers (at the cost of a draw step each time). Just outside of mono-white, there’s Teferi’s Moat, which specifies a certain color… And you as the happy defender.
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: Very high
Spider: Medium-low
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Medium-low
Very few cards shout”old-school!” louder than this classic control card. Use flyers. Honestly, there’s not much else to say.
How do you get across a murky moat?
An even older card: The Pirate Boat!
(Okay, it’s Pirate Ship. But close enough.)
8. CONGREGATE
3W Instant. Target player gains 2 life for each creature in play.
Rattlesnake: Low
Gorilla: Medium
Spider: High
Pigeon: Ultimate
Plankton: Medium-low
You know what, I’ve tried really hard to avoid rewriting text from past Halls, but it’s getting late and I’m still really proud of this. Given my distaste for the card, I think I’ll make this a permanent addition to the Hall…
Anti-Congregate Strategies:
- PUMMELING. Physical violence is really underrated when it comes to phenomenally annoying cards. You don’t want to do actual physical damage or cause lasting mental anguish, mind you – this isn’t hockey – but a sound, firm boxing around the ears, shoulders, and kidneys by two or more opponents ought to remind the white mage that there’s more than one reason to congregate.
- INTENSE SHRIEKING. In response to Congregate, and starting with the player to the caster’s immediate left, begin squealing at the highest pitch and volume you can muster. In a seven-player game, it’s very likely that no six opposing players will be able to manage the exact same pitch. This should give the effort a more urgent, off-harmony fire alarm effect, fantastically disorienting for the mage who played the offending card. They may just pick it back up and untap their mana. At which point you all stop at once and pretend nothing happened.
- PURGING. No, nothing so digestive. Rather, everyone tears up and throws away all of the creatures on the board at once into little tiny shards. HINT: Play with commons, or better yet tokens fashioned from Pokemon cards.
- JOINING IN. Whether you have it or not, announce”I Congregate in response to your Congregate!” At which point the next player shouts,”I Congregate in response to the Congregate you played in response to his Congregate!” At which point the next player proudly proclaims,”I Congregate in response to her Congregate which was played in response to the Congregate played in response to the first Congregate!” And so on. The fact that none of you are playing with any white cards at all is irrelevant. You keep it up until (a) the original player picks up the card or (b) plays yet another Congregate in response to all of the fictional ones, at which point you move on to one of the other three responses above. Maybe all three.
Perhaps the game’s most vile life effect,
It begs for Mr. Blue to misdirect.
7. REVERENT MANTRA
3W Instant. You may remove a white card in your hand from the game instead of paying this card’s mana cost. All creatures gain protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
Similar cards: There are very few cards that grant protection from a certain color at instant speed. Cho-Manno’s Blessing and Shelter are targeted variants.
Rattlesnake: Low
Gorilla: Medium-high
Spider: Very high
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Ultimate
As I wrote this week’s article and rated the cards against each other with the new system, this card kept creeping up and up the list. The more you look at this card, the more amazing it can be.
It’s card disadvantage in the technical sense; but since you’re saving your own creatures – and probably basking in everyone else’s profuse thanks – you do come out ahead with this card. Of course, you don’t just use it against Earthquakes; you use it in combat, as a closer, and/or as a local enchantment hoser.
The only viable response to a Reverent Mantra? Additional, instant-speed kill.
The Earthquake was a cause for common prayer;
The Fault Line after left no chanters there.
6. AURA OF SILENCE – CLEANSING MEDITATION
1WW Enchantment. Artifact and enchantment spells your opponents play cost 2 more to play. Sacrifice this: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Similar cards: Disenchant effects are legion throughout white. The most useful in group play are the original (efficient instant), Scour (remove from game), Purify (sweeps all), Devout Witness (repeat), Aven Cloudchaser (comes with creature), Seal of Cleansing (sackable enchantment), and most recently Cleansing Meditation (which can sweep the board, but leave yours untouched).
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: High
Spider: Medium
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Medium-high
I’ve reflected Oracle errata in the card text above. This hits all opponents, and therefore is almost never a bad drop on turn 3. (It’s fairly hot on turn 30, too, depending on what’s out there.)
A staple in a deck that likes its white,
It wrecks the mono-brown decks with delight.
5. FALSE PROPHET
2WW, 2/2 Creature. If this goes into any graveyard from play, remove all creatures from the game.
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: Very high
Spider: Medium-low
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Medium
Mono-white cannot put the Prophet into the graveyard reliably; you will almost always be splashing either black or red in a Prophet deck. (There are artifacts, like Skull Catapult, that may also be of service.) Your opponents have three choices, two of which stink: Bounce it perpetually, protect it at key moments, or get it out of the game.
A Seal of Fire looks to do the trick,
The Prophet swings, becomes a beating stick.
4. ROUT – KIRTAR’S WRATH
3WW Sorcery. Bury all creatures. You may pay an additional 2 to cast this spell as you would an instant.
Similar cards: This is the instant-capable version of the classic Wrath of God. Kirtar’s Wrath is another variant that can leave you a couple of spirit tokens after the dust settles. Catastrophe, Mageta the Lion, and Planar Collapse also have conditional Wrath of God effects.
Rattlesnake: Low
Gorilla: Very high
Spider: Ultimate
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Medium
At instant speed, this is the white card that gains the most card advantage the quickest. (Reverent Mantra comes very close.) White comes with a small but intense complement of recursion effects – Avenging Angel, Serra Avatar, Angelic Renewal, Miraculous Recovery, Reborn Hero, and so on – that look really nice in the wake of a Rout.
You can also splash colors – black for a much wider pool of recursion, green for penumbra creatures, etc. – for good combinations.
I played the Rout, and then I had to laugh;
I had forgotten ’bout the Dingus Staff.
3. LIMITED RESOURCES
W Enchantment. When this comes into play, each player chooses five lands he or she controls and sacrifices the rest. As long as there are ten or more lands in play, players cannot play lands.
Rattlesnake: Very high
Gorilla: Very high
Spider: Medium-high
Pigeon: Very high
Plankton: Negative
Limited Resources, as a cheap enchantment that can totally wreck people looking forward to their opening hand, gets a rare medium-high rating for”spider.” It’s also the only card in the white Hall that rates very high or better on three different aspects. That’s balanced by a nasty”plankton” rating; like Armageddon, this is all about mana denial. And that probably keeps the card from ever hitting the #1 spot, in my book.
It’s a pretty big rush, though, when you play this in a five-player game and then start with the Boomerangs or Stone Rains. Limited Resources is a one-card reason for Abolish.
Note that”playing lands” is different from”putting lands into play.” That may sound silly… But you won’t mind so much when you have a Rampant Growth in your hand.
Elves and artifacts are simply sweet,
When you’re facing Resource-based defeat.
2. PARALLAX WAVE
2WW Enchantment. Fading 5. Remove a fade counter from this: Remove target creature from the game if this is in play. When this leaves play, each player returns to play all cards removed from the game with this, except this.
Similar cards: Liberate is a one-shot instant that works much the same way.
Rattlesnake: Ultimate
Gorilla: Medium-high
Spider: Medium
Pigeon: Medium
Plankton: Medium
Both Parallax Wave and False Prophet are excellent rattlesnake cards. Parallax Wave, however, can threaten to protect key creatures and bring them back into play – and so it rates higher.
The Wave gets an excellent spider rating (for an enchantment), since for no extra mana, it can clean five creatures off the board at instant speed for a while.
“For a while” is the operative phrase, of course. After the Wave leaves, you may want it back. Monk Idealist is your best bet (and you can suck it into the Wave so that it retrieves the very same Wave as it dies and releases the Monk). Like many of the white enchantments on this list, the Wave also goes well with Replenish.
The wave went sweeping ‘cross our coming host,
And plucked the captains that we loved the most.
1. CATACLYSM – BALANCING ACT
2WW Sorcery. Each player chooses from the permanents he or she controls an artifact, a creature, an enchantment, and a land, and sacrifices the rest.
Similar cards: Balancing Act is the most powerful white multiplayer card in two blocks, since like Cataclysm it was designed as a shadow of Balance. Balance is restricted, and therefore harder to design decks around than the other two cards, either of which could be sitting in the”title” spot.
Rattlesnake: Low
Gorilla: Ultimate
Spider: Medium-high
Pigeon: Very high
Plankton: Medium-high
Cataclysm joins the effectiveness of massive sweeping with the polite touch of asking opponents what they’d really like to hang on to. Yes, it hoses mana production; but it leaves enough in play that most players can get over the hump and enjoy the strategic choices that Cataclysm forces.
Balancing Act can be used more abusively – see current Odyssey constructed designs with sackable lands and Terravore – and players should use it with caution. Remember why we play the game, folks – to play it.
As light will filter through a troubled prism,
So cards disintegrate through Cataclysm.
NEXT WEEK: As I said earlier, I’m saving black for last. We’ll see if I can pep up to blue, artifacts, and lands all in one swoop.
Peace,
Anthony Alongi
[email protected]
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