(Today’s article is best appreciated by having Microsoft Narrator read it for you while you scan the latest Worlds coverage for Kai Budde name. It’ll feel like I’m in the room with you! I’m even creepier in person!)
Writing a daily column, even one as bad as mine, is harder than it seems. I only have 24 short, stressful hours. Starting at midnight Eastern when both the newest preview card debuts on MagicTheGathering.com and my review from the night before debuts on StarCityGames.com, they go a little something like this:
12:01 AM: Read preview card article. Say”heh, wow, that’s pretty cool” or”bah, that sucks” where appropriate. Stare at own name on SCG’s front page.
12:07 AM: Play online gaming.
5:35 AM: Sleep.
6:48 PM: Wake up from nightmare about naked Nassif.
7:02 PM: Play single player gaming.
8:57 PM: Start panicking.
9:00 PM: Watch Mary Tyler Moore marathon.
11:31 PM: Write article.
11:38 PM: Send article and apologize to editor.
11:39 PM: Play online gambling.
Bear in mind, this is just a rough sketch – I obviously skipped a few parts. A man’s got to eat his four or five square, right? And what about the ladies? Where are they hiding? I’d have expected six to eight groupies by now.
Anyway, long story short, you get two doses of me today. Yay! And it’s my birthday. Yay! And I’m spending it alone again. Yay! So let’s check out today’s card. Boo!
Man, that MaGo is funny. If you haven’t yet, read his article. Then erase your memory and read mine. They’ll be pretty much the same thing, because Mr. MaGoo stole all the best jokes. He even made a Ninja Turtles reference! Cut me some slack, MacGuyver. Actually, it looks like MarGo Polo pretty much covered all the bases. He’s got strategy, humor, decklists. But what McGillicudy doesn’t have is decklists! Aw, crap.
Memory Erasure Protocol Complete
Hello, today we will be looking at a card that has the world spinning on its axis. I am referring to Marrow-Gnawer, who is the first leader of the Rat tribe. Marrow-Gnawer is a good card when you think about it, and I will think about it now.
First, we notice that this card is a Legend. This means many things, several of which are important. This importance will be talked about at a later period of time. Second, we notice that the card is Black and requires Black mana to cast. If you were ever going to throw this into your deck without any Swamps, I can tell you right now that that would probably be a mistake. It is better to have Black mana in your deck when playing Marrow-Gnawer. If you don’t have any Swamps you can put some other lands and artifacts in your deck, but make sure they can make Black mana first.
Also, how well Marrow-Gnawer interacts with Rats is a feature. I can name at least three Rats. You should put these Rats in your deck if you are playing Marrow-Gnawer.
In Draft I would probably take Marrow-Gnawer early and then start picking up other Rats. Sometimes I might take other Rats first and then hope to get a Marrow-Gnawer. Because as I mentioned above, he is good with Rats. In Sealed Deck, the decision of whether or not I would play Marrow-Gnawer depends on if I open him up and also if I have enough other Rats. If I had enough other Rats, I would probably play Marrow-Gnawer. Then I would put some Swamps in my deck.
Due to these reasons and a lot of others, it is clear that the Standard Type Two environment will be heavily influenced by Marrow-Gnawer. Here is a deck that contains Marrow-Gnawer so you can play it against your friends.
Marrow-Gnawer Deck.dec
Mana and Land
24 Swamp
Creatures
4 Marrow-Gnawer
27 Relentless Rats
1 Other Rat
Spells and Non Creatures
4 Time Stop
When we learn more Champions of Kamigawa cards, this deck will change, but right now it is pretty good.
Thank you for reading my article. Next week I will have more articles for you to read. Until then, you should read this one again because it is so good. It has the world spinning on its axis.