{From Right Field is a column for Magic players on a budget or players who don’t want to play netdecks. The decks are designed to let the budget-conscious player be competitive in local, Saturday tournaments. They are not decks that will qualify a player for The Pro Tour. As such, the decks written about in this column are, almost by necessity, rogue decks. The author tries to limit the number of non-land rares as a way to limit the cost of the decks. When they do contain rares, those cards will either be cheap rares or staples of which new players should be trying to collect a set of four, such as Dark Confidant, Birds of Paradise, or Wrath of God. The decks are also tested by the author, who isn’t very good at playing Magic. He will never claim that a deck has an 85% winning percentage against the entire field. He will also let you know when the decks are just plain lousy. Readers should never consider these decks “set in stone” or “done.” If you think you can change some cards to make them better, well, you probably can, and the author encourages you to do so.}
Yes, a Phil Collins reference right off the bat. For those of you who aren’t old enough to remember President Nixon resigning, the beginning of Disco, or even the daily reports on the hostages at the American embassy in Tehran, there was once a time when Phil Collins was actually creating incredibly well-written, arranged, and recorded music.
That’s not the point, though. The point is that we’re again at the bi-annual time when I look back at the cards that were in the Core (nee Base) set to which hardly anyone paid any attention and with which you won’t be able to play in Standard once the new Core/Base set becomes Standard legal. In other words, the cards we missed in Ninth Edition that aren’t coming back in Tenth Edition (a.k.a. X).
Before I get into this, I do want to say that I again, as with 9E, think the gang at Wizards just did a super-colossal okey-dokey job with X here. Even cards that might have been something else, well, at least you can say, “You know, it does draw a card.” (Hey, we could have had Healing Salve again instead of Reviving Dose. At least Reviving Dose draws a card.)
Some changes, though, make me scratch my head. Why did Master Decoy have to go? It was a cheap (two-mana) creature that could control much bigger and badder creatures just by running a White mana through it and tapping it. Moreover, Master Decoy is a Soldier, playing right into the more Tribal theme Wizards seems to be pushing for X. (See, e.g., Marshall, Field.) (I’ll send an autographed card of my choice to the first person who posts in the forum why that’s so punny.) Instead, we get Loxodon Mystic, a creature who shows up much too late to do anything about controlling the board… unless you’re planning on making him the first creature you drop the turn after you cast Wrath of God. Personally, I’d at a minimum drop Serra Angel, but, hey, I’m wacky like that. In fact, I’ll bet that Loxodon Mystic becomes more famous as the card whose art gave Magic players the biggest set of collective blue balls ever, because we thought that it meant they were getting Loxodon Hierarch but… nooooooooooo we get an overpriced Master Decoy.
Speaking of losing a good two-mana creature, where’s Leonin Skyhunter? Yes, I know that we’re getting True Believer, and that’s all fine and dandy. Isn’t White, though, supposed to be the color of the good weenies now? Like, a 2/2 flier for two mana? True Believer is a great two-mana creature, but not for the type of White Weenie deck that wants to attack.
Sure, these “problems” might all be solved in Lorwyn. For all I know, we’ll be getting Skulkmeadow Knight, a 2/2 flying Frog Knight for WW while also getting Skulkmeadow Master, a 1/2 Frog Soldier that can tap another creature. I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t care. I miss the fact that these guys won’t be in X. And that’s just a few of the White cards. I could go on with Blue, Black, Red, Green, and Artifacts, but I won’t. For I come here today not to bury Ninth Edition, but to praise it. Sometimes, when I do these things, I feel that the reason certain cards were never used was simply that the Block or Core set had such overpowering cards and synergies that none of the others really had room to get a word in edgewise.
{Author’s Note on the Phrase “Never Used”: By the way, when Magic writers talk about a card that is “never used,” it’s hyperbole. I know that someone, somewhere uses, for example, Moonlace. He probably even has a deck that just can’t be beat when that card resolves. What we writers mean is that the card is not used by a significant portion of the tournament-going public. Moreover, it’s probably not shown up in any Top 32 PTQ, Pro Tour, States, or Regionals decks. We don’t literally mean that the card has not once in the history of the game been cast. I’ve said it a billion times; saying a card‘s “never used” is just hyperbole.}
For example, I remember combing through a box of commons before a tourney a few years ago and coming across an Urza’s Saga creature called Treetop Rangers. These guys were a 2/2 for 2G. Not that good. However, they were Elves, and they couldn’t be blocked except by fliers. He was essentially unblockable. A turn 2 Treetop Rangers followed by Blanchwood Armor was a beating worse than Silhana Ledgewalker gives. Given all of the additional nasty pump spells that had been around at the time, a friend looking over my shoulder said at the same time as I did “Why didn’t anyone play this guy?” Half a heartbeat later, we answered in unison: “Oh. Right. Urza’s Block.”
Other times, though, I think the cards are overlooked simply because there are so many good cards from which to choose that we just don’t have the time to look into all of them. Think about this. When Ninth Edition hit the shelves in the Summer of 2005, Champions Block was still Standard legal. Umezawa’s Jitte. Kokusho, the Evening Star. Yosei, the Morning Star. Meloku, the Card that Should Have Been Green. What did Ninth Edition have to overshadow that? A couple of months later, Ravnica was on the scene, bringing with it multi-colored goodness that completely outshone most of the cards in 9E. (In fact, I think we’ve still only scratched the surface of Ravnica Block, too. But that’s a subject for another piece.)
Sure, there were some cards that in Ninth Edition that made a splash. Mostly, though, those were cards like Kird Ape and Llanowar Elves, cards that had already proven themselves in tournament play. What I want to look at today are four cards that didn’t really make a lot of noise the first time around and then (probably because of that) didn’t get widely used in Ninth Edition. You have a week and a half to have fun with these.
The Little Angel That Could
What can you say about Blinding Angel except “You fools!” Of course, by “you fools” I mean “all of us fools.” In an environment that has (thankfully) come back around to being about creatures swinging for twenty damage, Blinding Angel says “prevent me from dealing combat damage to you, lose.” It’s that simple. If she hits, your opponent skips their next combat step. Here, though, is the truly glorious part. If you have two active Blinding Angels and they both connect, your opponent skips his next two combat phases. That has a way of getting out of hand. Look at this scenario:
Turn 6: Swing with your Blinding Angel. Opponent will skip his turn 7 combat. Drop a second B.A.
Turn 7: Swing with both B.A.s. Opponent will skip combat on turns 8 and 9.
Turn 8: Swing with both B.A.s again. Opponent will skip combat on turns 10 and 11.
Even if the opponent casts Damnation or Wrath or some other spell to stop those two, you have his combat step locked up until turn 12. That’s four more turns. In order to get you started on some final 9E fun, I give you:
Creatures (28)
- 4 Blinding Angel
- 2 Seasoned Marshal
- 4 Master Decoy
- 4 Pegasus Charger
- 3 Blinking Spirit
- 4 Weathered Wayfarer
- 4 Leonin Skyhunter
- 3 Veteran Cavalier
Lands (24)
Spells (8)
This deck is “tested” in the most rudimentary sense. I played a few games with it. I either won or people conceded when they couldn’t stop the Angel. One guy even told me “Really, then, I won. Noobish way to win, guy.” Another thing I did with this deck was to use as many 9E cards that won’t be in X as I felt comfortable doing. For example, there’s Master Decoy to control the early game. Veteran Cavalier does a fine job of taking some heat on the ground while swinging, too, and Leonin Skyhunter just swings. Weathered Wayfarer can grab some lands when needed and die when land isn’t an issue. Pegasus Charger is great on aerial defense since it has first strike. Seasoned Marshall is my favorite cute addition, and I should probably go up to three copies. If your opponent does get a flying blocker and you don’t have Temporal Isolation, swing with the Marshall, too. She’ll tap down that blocker, and the Angel will hit again.
The rares in here would cost you thirty-three dollars, and that includes the two Deserts, which are almost a third of that cost. Hey, at least you get to play with the Deserts for another year.
Of all of the cards with “untapped” potential leaving between 9E and X, I truly am most disappointed with Blinding Angel. With the control elements that White had (e.g. Wrath, Master Decoy, Faith’s Fetters, Temporal Isolation, Mana Tithe, Bathe in Light), there was no reason that someone couldn’t have won major bucks with a Blinding Angel deck.
If I Were King of the Forest
Cowardice. Not a characteristic that we usually associate with quality. Cowards tend to leave their teammates hanging, often in dangerous situations, in order to save their own skins. Cowardice the Enchantment, however, well, that’s actually a very good thing.
You’ve probably never looked at it. If you have, you’ve probably never really looked at it. I mean, have you truly let it sink in what this thing does? If you haven‘t noticed, Cowardice turns seemingly innocuous spells and abilities into removal. Oh, sure, you’re gonna say “Bounce isn’t removal.” It is if it’s continual, though. That brings me to:
Creatures (8)
Lands (25)
Spells (27)
No, there’s no countermagic in here. As usual, since most of the “testing” of this deck was done in the Casual Decks room on MTGO, I left it out. I didn’t want to scare people off, thus, depriving myself of a chance to see if this even worked a little bit.
It does work. A lot.
It works because Cowardice isn’t absolutely required to win with this deck. Master Decoy – yes, again – and Minister of Impediments can control the creatures. Once Cowardice shows up, of course, those two guys actually get rid of creatures. Desert, too. Ditto Icy Manipulator, Rod of Ruin, and Aladdin’s Ring. By the way, why are you dropping Aladdin’s Ring, Wizards?
When Cowardice is in play, though… man oh man, is this fun. And by fun, I mean really long games ensue. Mostly because your opponents really can’t do anything about what’s annoying them. If they try to kill one of the tapping creatures, for example, Cowardice bounces it back to your hand. In fact, Cowardice even trumps Split Second. That’s just so sweet.
Sometimes, though, Cowardice dies. “Awwwww…” That’s part of the reason for Temporal Isolation. You can stop a nasty creature – say, Spectral Force – early on, while waiting for Cowardice or a tapper. It also serves to neutralize a creature after Cowardice gets blown up.
How do you win? Well, if your opponent will hang around, Aladdin’s Ring and Rod of Ruin do most of the work. In a pinch, the Master and the Minister can swing. In fact, once I had Cowardice out and, say, a Rod and an Icy Manipulator active, I’d often use the M & M boys for dealing combat damage while using the Rod and Icy to remove potential blockers.
It turns out, then, Cowardice really is something you should have wanted. Next!
So, Yawgmoth Walks into This Bargain…
The most fun I had working on an overlooked gem was Yawgmoth’s Demon. Obviously, the biggest problem with using this guy was the need to have a lot of artifacts to sacrifice during your upkeep. I initially tried to use Sliversmith to make a continuous stream of artifact creatures. Not very good. Then, after about six versions, running from Mono-Black to Blue/Black to three color, I hit on the idea of an artifact that could come back every turn: Sword of the Meek. Ladies and Germs, meet:
Creatures (12)
Lands (24)
Spells (24)
Unless you get in a position where you just need to dig deeper into your deck, save the Terrarions and the Chromatic Stars for sacrificing to Yawgmoth Demon. Since they replace themselves, you can often run into another artifact.
Sometimes, though, there’s no artifact to be found. That’s part of the reason for Nantuko Husk. You might need to get rid of the Demon. You might also need to get rid of the Demon for another reason like it’s about to be hit with Pillory of the Sleepless or Faith’s Fetters.
Once you can get Sprout Swarm going with a Sword of the Meek either on board or in the graveyard, you’re golden as far as the Demon’s concerned. You simply sacrifice the Sword to the Demon during your upkeep. Then make a Sprout token, which brings the Sword back to play so that you can repeat the entire thing.
It was harder to win with this deck, but the games were more fun. First off, there was much less moaning about long, slow games (Cowardice) or “cheap wins” (Blinding Angel). People are more comfortable with combat, even if the guy they have to deal with is pretty hard to get rid of. Second, swinging with big 6/6 flying first strikers is just my kinda game.
Silly Husk Tricks: How’d you like to deal a stupid amount of damage one turn? Many opponent forget the first strike on the Demon. More than once, I got an opponent who was at ten life down to zero because they forgot that little fact. Here’s how you do it. Swing with the Husk and the Demon. Your opponent sees eight damage. Sometimes, they can’t do anything about it anyway. Other times, they just let it go, figuring they can get by at two life. Let the Demon’s six damage resolve. Then, sacrifice it to the Husk, bringing Nantuko Husk to 4/4 before regular combat damage is dealt. The opponent takes ten, not eight. Hooray for math!
Wave Your Hands in the Air ‘Cause You Just Don’t Care
The last card I built a deck for was Flame Wave. I’m pretty sure I know why we didn’t see this card played. Mana cost. Wildfire was cheaper and did more. You know what Wildfire didn’t do, though? It didn’t kill your opponent. Sure, Wildfire enabled you to do that. Wildfire. Huge Magnivore. Swing. I win. (By the way, for all of the jenyusses who are just sure they thought of that before anyone else when they saw those cards in 9E, I’d like to remind them that (a) people were doing that when Magnivore was legal the first time around in Odyssey Masques and (b) Wildfire and Magnivore are the two rares in the Ninth Edition Red precon deck. For crying out loud, you could buy your Pro-Tour-winning deck at the Sip-n-Go. *sheesh*) Flame Wave, though, deals damage both to an opponent’s creatures and the opponent. Plus, it doesn’t hurt your guys. If Flame Wave resolves, your opponent is typically in a world of hurt.
For my Flame Wave deck, I picked Red and Black as my colors. Why? Because I haven’t built a Red/Black deck in a while. This isn’t rocket surgery, you know. I have to warn you, though, even as rough as the other three decks were, this one’s even rougher. Why? Four decks in a week is just far too many to even begin to think you’re honing anything. However, this one was still pretty good at what it did.
Creatures (11)
Lands (25)
Spells (24)
Yes, there are three Graven Cairns. If you have Blood Crypts, use those instead. I happened to have done very well in drafts lately, so I have the Cairns. If you don’t have either, Mountains and Swamps are fine.
Believe it or not, the toughest part of this deck was finding a second two-mana creature after the Guildmage. I tried Hunted Horror, figuring that the Disintegrates and Flame Waves could take care of the tokens. *bzzzt* Wrong answer. Augur of Skulls offered a bit more control but not enough offense. I settled on Blood Knight because those two abilities are pretty good in this environment.
However, I would have liked time to look at Thick-Skinned Goblin. With the ability to give himself Protection from Red, he can do some neat tricks. For one, he can punch through Red defenses. For another, he could survive Pyroclasm, meaning that I could run a second board sweeper, probably in the Fiery Temper slot. Like I said, this one’s really rough.
Green Gets Hosed Again
Where’s the Green deck? To be honest, there’s nothing leaving Green that I think got unfairly overlooked the first time around. Verduran Enchantress will be back in the future. Besides, both Ben and I have shown people decks that could work with her. Silklash Spider was a great sideboard card, but it’s nothing to feature in a maindeck. Ditto Biorhythm, although G/W or G/B deck with Wrath/Damnation and a token producer could work. Groundskeeper suffered from not being Life from the Loam. Greater Good was used in many PTQ-winning caliber decks. Same with Early Harvest. I just didn’t see anything Green that should have been used before it got lopped out of the Core set.
As usual, you’ve been a great audience. May you get many black-bordered painlands. Stay tuned next week when I get back to Time Spiral Block decks.
Chris Romeo
FromRightField-at-Comcast-dot-net