CASUAL FRIDAYS #141: The Gold Hall Of Fame

Author’s note: I include split cards as gold cards, since they typically get put and played in decks like gold cards, and not like mono-color cards that have something strange hanging off the side. Also, it would be silly to have a separate Hall for split cards, at least until they make about seven dozen more. But for the sake of rules knowledge, please know that a split card is NOT considered a gold card, and nuanced rules exist for split card interactions with cards that look at mana cost, such as Void.

Gold cards are unique. Virtually no one”plays mono-gold” – even a five-color deck will try to base itself in a root color like green. Cards with the golden border encompass all known strengths and weaknesses – because they’re based on the five colors that have those strengths and weaknesses.

The reason Wizards was so successful with Invasion block was due, in part, to the fact that gold cards speak to veteran players and remind them of an age of Legends and big, thumping things. They’re also interesting to newer players as well. And when it came time to revisit the theme, R&D did gold cards right – they powered the cards much more efficiently to compensate for the color requirements.

All that said, if we were to set gold aside as a”sixth color” and compare it to the five base colors, we would find it a bit wanting in the Hall. Simple math dictates that because there are far fewer gold cards than in any one color, it is less deep than its mono-brethren. Look at the lower tiers of this list (which still contain decent multiplayer cards) and see if you agree:

Gold-Plated Spiders

While gold’s averages rank below just about any single color in any category, there is one exception – spider. Invasion block supplied various two-color strategies with some excellent instants, many of which prowl the lesser half of this list. Mystic Snake and Spinal Embrace are both candidates for ultimate”8″ ratings, but in the end I gave the nod to the spell that tends to deny an attack, remove two creatures, and pump your life.

Spontaneous Combustion is an easy card to overlook – Tempest block has many good multiplayer cards, you have to sack a creature, and (see previous parts of the Hall) you have to play black-red in at least a portion of your deck. But it’s a great setup for something like Avatar of Woe, and it still stands tall as one of the few mass removal cards black or red has at instant speed.

Captain’s Maneuver is a good example of a card I overrated in a past edition of the Hall. While still a solid choice for any red-white group deck, its impact is likely to be too fleeting – and it’s very hard to time. In some decks, Reflect Damage is a better choice (especially if your group enjoys universal damage spells like Hurricane, Fault Line, or Thrashing Wumpus). And decks running the right colors and themes may want to consider more”rattlesnake”-oriented cards like Mirrorwood Treefolk or Glarecaster for the reflect mechanic.

Judgment’s Additions

Because of gold’s lack of depth, all four gold Judgment cards had no trouble sliding onto the list of 35. Phantom Nishoba is listed as the most impressive of the quartet, but there’s nothing wrong with the other three. Green/white may be second only to black/red on the two-color stink-o-meter for multiplayer (with the exact opposite problems, especially if you don’t have any Swords to Plowshares), but it got a nice shot in the arm this past year. Add pure green or white cards like Glory and Genesis, and there are definitely things green/white can do now that it could never do before.

There are a million and one ways to boost your Phantom Nishoba, and Judgment came out long enough ago that many of us have explored most of them. For those of you who haven’t gotten to it yet, here are some considerations, looking only at white and green:

• Ley Line


• Mirari’s Wake


• Shared Triumph (set to spirits, right?)


• Kaysa


• Temper (which gives you a new supply of +1/+1 counters to remove)


• Scars of the Veteran or Sacred Boon (which gives you a supply of +0/+1 counters that stay put)


• Momentum (a”growth counter” is not a”+1/+1 counter”)


• Predatory Hunger (which does give +1/+1 counters, like Temper)


• Ferocity or Elephant Guide (either of which are just plain nifty)


• Afiya Grove, if you have a way to bounce enchantments (like Harmonic Convergence)


• Hunting Moa (particularly with Aluren or Hunting Grounds in play)


• Spike Weaver (or any spike creature)


• Serra Aviary (yes, you have to give it flying – but you wanted to do this anyway, right? See Cocoon!)


• Spidersilk Armor


• Glorious Anthem, Crusade, Angelic Voices, etc.


• Miraculous Recovery (is there a worse surprise for an attacking groundpounder?)


• Forcemage Advocate


• Sun Clasp, which is a bit better than Conviction (see also Angelic Shield, if you splash blue), and


• Strength of Isolation, which is probably the best creature enchantment for this particular creature because now black and red have a heck of a time with it – and it can happen at instant speed.

This list isn’t comprehensive, even within the two colors – and I’m not including all kinds of tricks like turning your Phantom Nishoba into a bird or squirrel and using Soulcather’s Aerie or Nut Collector. The point is, you have many options.

Deeds Done Cheap

At the top of gold’s list sit three cards that can battle with the best any color has to offer – in fact, when you see the combined Hall at the end of this series, you’ll find that no other color has three cards in the Top Ten overall. So what it lacks in depth, gold makes up for in height.

At the very top of gold – and the top of all cards – sits Pernicious Deed, with a rating of 4.88. I like that rating – it suggests that 5.0 might be a”perfect card,” and leaves a little room for Wizards to come up with something better. To do so, of course, they would have to come up with a permanent that could be played at instant speed, give others the option of blowing up the board, and/or be reusable. I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon, but you never know.

While some players or groups may complain that wiping everything can make games lag, I would suggest that Deed only punishes the overextenders – and leaves truly large permanents, regenerators, and land bases intact, which is as friendly a sweeper as you could ask for. In addition, setting the”X” at the right level can be both challenging and fun. You can even use it to send a political message, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Bottom line, the Deed represents what I love most about multiplayer Magic – and it’s probably not to far from most players’ ideal, either.

Multicolored Staples

Where gold really starts to shine is in the cheap commons and uncommons it supplies two- and three-color decks.

• Terminate, which is as efficient as modern creature removal will ever get,


• Jungle Barrier, which handles just about every other 4cc creature on the ground,


• Assault/Battery, because it’s hard not to find a use for either spell by turn four,


• Gaea’s Skyfolk or any Invasion block bear, like Goblin Legionnaire or Vodalian Zombie,


• Hull Breach, still good even with Naturalize available,


• Dromar’s Charm or the other Planeshift charms, for sheer versatility,


• Diabolic Vision, a sweet old-school search card,


• Voracious Cobra, a terrific defender (but where are the poison counters???)


• Fleetfoot Panther, built to create comes-into-play goodness, and


• (the rare) Vindicate, which like Terminate has set the efficiency boundary for modern removal.

The question I’d like to see answered when Wizards can get to it is this – do we now wait two and a half blocks for another full blast of good gold cards (which was the gap between Stronghold and Invasion), or will gold cards see a more consistent pattern of return? Gold may never be its own”color,” but those of us who remember Invasion block are no doubt hoping to see this Hall bulging with new entries by next year.

You can download the complete Hall of Fame spreadsheet right here.

Peace,

Anthony Alongi

[email protected]