{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 Sulfurous Springs, 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.}
Last week, I got a thought-provoking e-mail from reader John Rodenbiker. He wrote:
With 10th now in Standard, I was wondering if you’d update your list of staple rares budget players should be collecting. Your last list was just after Guildpact. Kamigawa-block cards were added under pressure. That means Dissension, Coldsnap, all of Time Spiral block, and the 10th Edition updates could be addressed in an update.
Thanks,
John
I liked this idea for a few reasons. First and foremost, I got a column out of it. Second, I didn’t have to play MTGO to do it, something that those of you following my “vertigo” melodrama know hasn’t been too easy lately. That meant that I could spread out the testing for next week’s deck and get an actual week’s worth of testing, even if it took two weeks. Third, I think an update is overdue. It’s so overdue, in fact, that I won’t be looking at Dissension. Ravnica Block is rotating out of Standard in just a few weeks. While ten or twelve weeks may seem like a lot of playing time, if you’re committed to local tourneys, you may be in an area that’s still running Time Spiral Block Constructed tourneys. That really means you’d get about a month and a half of use from the cards in the Standard environment. For budget players who don’t already have the cards, that’s not a good place to spend money.
I am going to look at the others, though. Remember, Coldsnap will be legal until Time Spiral Block rotates out of Standard in October of 2008. So, Coldsnap, Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, and Future Sight all have over a year left in Standard. Tenth Edition, of course, has almost two years.
The Ground Rules
When I look at the rares that I think people simply must have from a given set, I’m only looking at rares. Simple enough, I know, but you wouldn’t believe the number of people (three!) who suggested that I should have put Remand in my February 2006 list because it was so expensive, completely disregarding the fact that it was an uncommon. The presumption in this column is that the budget players have budgeted their money so that they can order a set of four of each common and uncommon as they come out. (No, StarCityGames.com doesn’t sell those… yet. As far as I’ve heard, they used to, but the demand was not great enough to justify the labor and storage costs. However, if the e-mails that I get asking about the availability of such four-of sets are indicative of what the people want, well, let’s just say that Pete is a good businessman. Let him know that you’d buy such “deck builder’s sets” if StarCityGames.com sold them, and we‘ll see if we can get him to start carrying them.) Therefore, I don’t mention commons and uncommons that budget players should try to get because they should have them already. Whether or not this is what you do, it is the presumption of this column whether I’m writing about something like staple rares or a deck. (I may, in the future, look at uncommons for those who don‘t get four-of sets, but don’t hold your breath. If it happens, it won’t be soon.) So, I’m looking only at rares, not commons or uncommons.
Most important, these are staples only if you plan on playing them. I know that’s also simplistic, but it bears mentioning. For example, I consider Wrath of God to be a staple rare. Of course, I like to play White. If you never plan on playing White, don’t buy Wrath of God. If you’ll never play the color of the staple rare, well, obviously, you shouldn’t buy those cards because they aren’t going to be staples for you. The question you really have to ask yourself is: am I sure that I’ll never play this color?
Coldsnap’s Staple Rares
Coldsnap was and is a rather slippery fish. It was designed to be the “final” set of Ice Age Block, a group of cards that hasn’t been Standard legal for something like eight or nine years. Yet Coldsnap is legal in the current Standard environment. Moreover, it will rotate along with Time Spiral, meaning that it will be Standard legal for longer than any other set has ever been. Its major theme, though, doesn’t translate well into the wider Standard environment. Most cards are dependant on having Snow mana or Snow permanents around. Normally, that kind of thing would doom a “mechanic.” However, with Snow-Covered basic lands being considered, well, basic lands, any deck can run twenty or twenty-five Snow permanents… if it doesn’t have any better manabase to run, that is. Add to that the fact that the “common” Snow-Covered basic lands actually sell at a pretty big premium over most other commons, and you can see why Snow themes haven’t made a huge impact in Standard outside of a couple of cards. With that in mind, here’s the list of what I think budget players should get from Coldsnap.
White
Adarkar Valkyrie – Possibly the best Coldsnap rare that doesn’t require anything Snow, everything about this lovely lady is great. For six mana, you get a 4/5 flier with Vigilance. Yeah, Blue gets Mahamoti Djinn, a 5/6 flier, for the same mana. The Valkyrie can steal dying creatures, though, and that is more than worth the loss of a single point of power and toughness.
Field Marshall – For Soldier-based White Weenie decks, this guy is a must. With him being reprinted in Tenth Edition, he even gets to hand around an extra year.
Sunscour – As an alternate-casting-cost “Wrath of God” (in quotation marks because the creatures destroyed by Sunscour can regenerate) that is also cheap to buy, budget players should grab three or four of these. If you like playing control decks and don’t want to play Black so that you can also play four Damnations (or you don’t want to pay for them), Sunscour is a great option.
Two cards that almost made the cut were Cover of Winter and Darien, King of Kjeldor. The fact that Darien pumps out Soldiers makes him relevant, but that six-mana casting cost for a 3/3 does him in. In addition, the reason I haven’t been able to make him work is that people can either easily deal with him (Volcanic Hammer, Rift Bolt, and now Incinerate, as well as any “just die” spell) or they just play around him by waiting until they can alpha strike. If he cost less, that might not be a problem. Again, he might work well with Wrath of God, but what six-mana creature would you rather follow up with after Wrath: Darien or Adarkar Valkyrie?
Cover of Winter should actually be next on your list after the three listed above. Because of the damage prevention ability, CoW makes people overextend. Then, when you catch them with their undies down, you don’t pay the upkeep on the CoW and cast Wrath, Sunscour, or Damnation.
Blue
I honestly don’t find any of the Blue Coldsnap rares to be “must haves.” Three, though, can easily be quite good in the right situations. Commandeer does let you take control of target spell and has that Coldsnap alternate-casting-cost of removing from the game two cards that are the same color as it is (in this case, Blue). Here are the two big drawbacks with that. First, Blue doesn’t want to make that trade in most cases. Blue control decks spend their time hoarding cards so that they can stop whatever they want. So, they don’t want to use three to get one unless that one is a biggie. For example, I could see a time when a Blue player would use the ACC on Commandeer to take that big, fat Adarkar Valkyrie and end the game. That’s not gonna happen much, though. That leaves a seven-mana normal casting cost. Blue control decks would rather just use that mana to cast two counterspells. At only two bucks, though, if you like Blue, pick up a couple.
Rimefeather Owl looks expensive to cast, and it is. He can get quite big, though, presuming that you’re running Snow-Covered Islands. (Sadly, you can’t count on your opponent to run any Snow permanents.) In fact, you pretty much have to run Snow-Covered Islands to make this guy even worth dropping into your deck. Again, as with Commandeer, Blue decks will usually have better things to do with that much mana. Maybe as a finisher.
Finally, there’s Vexing Sphinx. I think Ben likes this guy. He’s very efficient in non-control Blue decks. As long as your Blue deck doesn’t mind discarding cards (think Black and Madness) and doesn’t mind tapping out on turn 3 when other Blue decks are bluffing Cancel, this is for you.
Black
Garza’s Assassin – While the Recover cost on this guy is steep, I don‘t even plan on using Recover with it. If I have to, I will. Usually, though, just the fact that I get to use a creature as a Dark Banishing, even once, makes this guy a steal.
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge – Haakon’s been up and down with deck builders, but I think he should always be up. With all of the Black discard outlets right now, there is a Black-Knight (as opposed to Black Knight) deck that could win you some packs. In fact, if you were to search here this here site here’s deck database or article database, you’ll find a couple.
Soul Spike – This is the best of the Coldsnap alternate-casting-cost cards. For one thing, this sort of Black damage-to-a-creature-or-player-plus-lifegain is usually a Sorcery like Corrupt or Consume Spirit. Instant-timed stuff like this usually only hits creatures. (See Douse in Gloom.) For another, it can be a finisher. Is your opponent at four life? End the game with this.
Red
Lightning Serpent – I don’t see how you can argue with a scalable Ball Lightning unless you’re really worried about first strike creatures taking this guy down. If so, run Brute Force.
I wanted to put Rimescale Dragon on this list because that ability to keep stuff tapped is a strong one. Thing is it only works while Rimescale Dragon is in play. That pretty much means you need to run a mono-Red or Red/x control deck. If you think you can do it, get four of these. Braid of Fire is also screaming for someone to break it. Most of the Cumulative Upkeep costs are something negative (e.g. spend some amount of mana, lost some resource), but the Braid’s actually gives you something. If only we could find a way to use that mana with Instant timing over and over. (Remember, it happens during your upkeep. You can’t carry that mana over into your main phase.)
Green
Allosaurus Rider – I was on the fence with this guy. I included it because Jamie Wakefield likes it so much. Whenever you’re undecided about a Green card, just ask yourself “does Wakefield like it?” If so, you should too. You, of course, almost never want to use the alternate casting cost on turn 1. You’re just asking for some serious card disadvantage. If you can make him as a 4/4 or bigger, though, I’d go for it.
Brooding Saurian – At worst, this is a 4/4 for four mana. At best, it completely hoses those strategies that rely on taking your stuff from you. Even if you only get this guy for possible sideboard applications, you should have four.
Ohran Viper – I still don’t know why this guy has lost its coolness standing. It still kills whatever it damages in combat, and it still draws a card when it deals combat damage to a player.
The two honorable mentions here are Hibernation’s End and Shape of the Wiitigo. The Shape is a contender because the +1/+1 counters go on the creature and not the Aura. That means two good things. First, if the Aura is ever Demystified or Naturalized, the creature still keeps its “bonus.” Second, if you could find a way to keep returning the Shape to your hand over and over, you could make some pretty beefy dudes. The drawback, however, remains that this is an Aura, and anything that kills the creature takes the Aura with it. We don’t like two-for-one trades. Even mere bounce spells are one-for-one trades because the Aura dies when the creature is bounced. Moreover, the creature loses those counters when bounced. It’s a toss-up with the Shape of the Wiitigo.
Hibernation’s End is the card about which I am most disappointed in myself. Because of that, I nearly put it on the staples list. The thing that’s so wonderful about this card is that it allows you to grab whatever creature fits the cost and get that particular creature. You don’t have to just cast what you have. Since you’re not casting it, it’s uncounterable. The problem that I keep running into is the timing. Do I want to drop this on turn 4 or 5 and do nothing until my next upkeep, or do I want to cast a five-mana monster? My sentiments exactly. Remember, though, Hibernation’s End is easily splashable and doesn’t require Snow mana.
Multi-Colored
I don’t think that there’s any multi-colored rare in Coldsnap that you just must have in your potential arsenal. For one thing, they all cost three different colors of mana. That’s pretty hefty if you’re not relying on Green. Still, the only one that seems like a real clunker to me is Diamond Faerie, and that’s only because you need a lot of Snow everything to make it worth your investment. I’ve seen fun and even good decks using all of the other four. Zur the Enchanter, of course, can do all sorts of neat tricks, and, once he gets going, you can hold all of your mana to protect him. After that, he’s just a beat machine. Sudden Death can spoil the party but that’s about it if you’re running countermagic.
Garza Zol, Plague Queen, is a 5/5 flier for seven mana. Not bad. The Vampire ability isn’t typically relevant. If an opponent is blocking with something that’s gonna die and not take Garza Zol with it, you’re either winning soon or your opponent has Sacred Mesa and will stop her in her tracks each turn. The card-drawing ability, now, that’s where you win with this chyk.
Sek’Kuar, Deathkeeper, isn’t bad regardless. It is five mana for a 4/3, but it has a good ability. Sadly, it contains one word that keeps it from being great as far as I’m concerned: “another.” If this guy could trigger his own ability, allowing you to offset some of the loss from combat or a damage spell, I’d be all for it. Unfortunately, you go into your duels with the cards you have, not the cards you wish you had.
Tamanoa is one that still intrigues me. As a 2/4 for three mana, it’s definitely not bad. Of course, that three mana is RGW. Moreover, you need a lot of non-creature damage sources to make the ability any good. While its Red component is very good at that, its Green and White ones are not. I think this would best be used with a couple of non-creature artifacts that could deal damage. Speaking of which…
Artifacts
Jester’s Scepter – To be honest, I’m surprised that this hasn’t found its way into more control decks. It allows even non-Blue decks to counter some spells. If you happen to hit a chunk of five good cards, all different, you’ve essentially negated half of those cards in the opponent’s deck (the one you took plus the one you’ll counter is two out of four). If you get nothing but lands, oh well. If you get nothing but bad spells, well, you know that your opponent is playing with bad spells. More important, though, you get information. And did I mention that any color can use it?
Lands
Scrying Sheets – When Coldsnap first hit, I also though that Dark Depths would make an impact. With the Urza’s Lands around, that card made for one scary control deck. Now, it’s just Scrying Sheets holding the slot. What an awesome job it does, though. Even if the only Snow permanents that you’re running are lands, this can potentially be a huge source of card advantage. You should own at least two, if not a complete set of four. Since it only produces colorless mana, the number you play in a deck will depend on how many colors the deck requires. More colors means fewer of these in your deck.
Tenth Edition
Last week’s column was short. This week is shaping up to be rather long. In an effort to stem the hemorrhaging, I am going to refer you to the column I did on Valentine’s Day 2006 that included Ninth Edition. If a card on that list has made it back into Tenth, it’s still a staple in Tenth Edition. There are a couple, however, that I think should move up from Honorable Mention status to full-fledged Staple. Clone, for example, is one that budget players should just make sure to have four of. For four mana, you can copy something more expensive both mana- and money-wise that your opponent was able to get into play. If, for example, that was a Bogardan Hellkite, you can wipe out the other Hellkites and still have your own. Clone also destroys Legends… even ones that can’t be targeted. Lord of the Undead should also be a Staple. Zombies are a great tribe. Bringing them back from the dead and making them bigger is quite juicy. Other than those two, I am only going to look at rares that were not in 9E that Wizards reprinted in X. (By the way, regarding the ones I don’t list, we’ll get into that in the forum. In other words, bring it on!)
White
Loyal Sentry – We all know that this isn’t Savannah Lions. There are plusses and minuses with each. This one, for example, is much better later in the game than the Lions. It doesn’t matter how big the thing is that it blocks, that thing will die.
Mobilization – I’ve been using this card for a long time. After it rotated out of Standard, the Soldierization deck became one of my casual multi-player favorites. (Incidentally, in case I never wrote about it, that deck actually got me second place in an Extended tourney not long after it rotated out of Standard.) Cranking out creatures in an uncounterable manner is just plain awesome. The fact that they have Vigilance is frosting on the cake.
Reya Dawnbringer – You’ll probably only want to own three of these simply because they are so mana intensive and Legendary. If you’re thinking of using her in a Reanimation deck, though, you may want a full set of four. Do I need to explain why she’s so good?
True Believer – I do indeed miss Leonin Skyhunter. White needs to be the color of good, cheap, flying weenies. However, the True Believer is simply awesome. Burn spells? Not at you. Discard? Only if it’s not targeted. I’m glad he’s back.
Voice of All – This was one of my favorite cards in Standard the first time around because it was good against everything. Best of all, it was an uncommon back then. Wanna be cool? I mean, relatively speaking, of course. Order the uncommon Planeshift versions.
Windborn Muse – Propaganda on a stick? And it’s a flying stick?!? Awesome.
Blue
Arcanis the Omnipotent – As long as he lives to untap even once, he’s mondo card advantage.
Denizen of the Deep – Argue if you want, but an 11/11 for eight mana is incredibly efficient. So what if you have to return all the other creatures you control to their owners’ hands? If you’re playing this guy, you’d better be playing a control deck, in which case, you won’t be controlling any other creatures. Or, if you do, they’ll be ones that you actually want to bring back. Like Riftwing Cloudskate.
Rootwater Matriarch – You’re probably gonna hate this one, but you can use her to steal opponent’s creatures. Just enchant the other guy’s creature with some good Aura… say, Moldervine Cloak. Then, steal the creature. If your opponent just happens to be enchanting his own creatures, well, hip hip hooray.
Scalpelexis – This guy can do simply stupid things. I have watched him hit once and take an entire library.
Sunken Hope – This is the kind of card that’s great in casual or tourney-caliber decks. It looks symmetrical, but you can easily make the “drawback” work for you. I’ve already mentioned Riftwing Cloudskate, so you have to think of something else.
Time Stop – A counterspell and Time Walk all in one. Even if you like to build rogue control decks, you’ll want this.
Twincast – As with Allosaurus Rider, I was on the fence with this one, too. I just had to include it, though, because copying spells is too much fun. Sometimes, it can even end the game. Remember, your copy will go off before the spell it’s copying. For example, if you’re both at three life and he throws Incinerate at you, Twincast will allow you to send one back at your opponent… first.
Black
Ascendant Evincar – I was also on the fence about this one. He’s here so that you can decide for yourself, based on what you think you’ll play against. His base stats stink. A 3/3 Legend for six mana is not good. However, while he’s pumping up your Black horde, he can potentially wipe out a host of opposing weenies. I’m looking at you, Goblin, Soldier, and Saproling token. If you think you’ll play against a lot of X/1 creatures (or even X/2s), get him. If not, keep on looking down the list.
Beacon of Unrest – Bribery was always a fun card for me. Back when Bribery was first printed, I couldn’t afford the best creatures. So, I had to fight them. One of the most fun ways to do that is to take them from your opponent. Admittedly, your opponent has to have somehow lost through discard or death a good creature for the Black Beacon to work kinda like Bribery, but it can. Moreover, it can also reanimate a great creature in your graveyard.
Doomed Necromancer – Returning creatures from your graveyard directly into play is fun and profitable.
Graveborn Muse – As anyone who used her when she was Standard legal the first time, this lovely lady can be the best card in your deck. It doesn’t even need to be a Zombie deck. In fact, think of her more like Plague Sliver. Even if she’s the only one of her kind on board, she is (the sadly departed) Phyrexian Arena with a 3/3 body for only one more mana.
Lord of the Pit – When I saw that this guy had won a vote, or his art was being voted on, or however I found out a year ago that he would be in Tenth Edition, I picked up four right away. A 7/7 flier for seven mana is great. Trample makes him fantastic since he can‘t be completely stopped by Flying Men. All you have to do is either find a way to turn his drawback into an advantage (Grave Pact, maybe?) or to just make sure you have other creatures around to sacrifice.
Midnight Ritual – Black is good at dumping critters into its ‘yard. This turns them into more creatures. Obviously, you wouldn’t use this with a Reanimation strategy, so decide which you like best. If you’re like me and like them both, just make sure you’re not designing your deck to do both at the same time. It’s tough enough fighting the other guy without also having to fight yourself.
Red
Beacon of Destruction – Five damage for five mana at Instant timing to a creature or player is simply a great, efficient spell. The fact that you might get it back later makes this over-the-top good.
Dragon Roost – After this card was in Standard for almost two years, right before it was about to rotate out of Standard, I figured out how to use it. I could have sworn I wrote about the deck, but I can’t fine a link to that article. Anyway, uncounterable, 5/5, flying creatures are pretty dang good. Make sure you have four Dragon Roosts if you like Red.
Lavaborn Muse – Unlike the Graveborn Muse, this hot (heh!) lady can’t really do what needs to be done on her own. In other words, Graveborn Muse draws you a card just because she’s sitting there. Lavaborn Muse needs to team up with something, whether it’s Black discard or an opponent who’s playing out his or her hand too quickly. If you like Red and Black decks and use discard, get four of this card.
Seismic Assault – There is often a problem of what to do with those “extra” lands you draw. This problem was once solved by Wild Mongrel and Seismic Assault. Wild Mongrel was never reprinted. Seismic Assault has been out of the Core set since Eighth Edition. Now that it’s back, you should make sure that you have four of them.
Shivan Hellkite – Regardless of what you think of the Dragon vote for X, you have to admit that this is a pretty solid one. The fact that it can deal damage to a creature or player is just nuts.
Shunt – I probably like changing the targets of my opponents’ spells too much. If so, I like Shunt too much.
Siege-Gang Commander – I shan’t be extolling this guy’s virtues for you. If you remember him from the first time around, I don’t need to. If you don’t, better strategists than me will be telling you (and showing you) all about him in the coming months and years. I will just say that if you like Red and beat down or Goblins, spend the sixteen bucks and get four of this guy ASAP.
Squee, Goblin Nabob – Expensive? You bet. Worth it? You bet. I remember when my friends and I first saw Squee back when my brother opened him up in a Mercadian Masques pack. I made the comment that “Who woulda thunk it? Squee’s a stud!” There are countless tricks you can pull with this guy. One is even on one of the X Tips & Tricks cards. If you pitch Squee to a discard effect, you can bring him back. If it’s one that you can use over and over like Merfolk Looter, you can use Squee to continually offset that drawback. Save up for this guy. Even though he’s a Legend, you’ll want four.
Green
Abundance – I have always loved that this card gives you these options. Whadya need this turn? There it is. Okay, maybe not the exact card you need, but at least you can get through those lousy lands.
Birds of Paradise – Okay, this is kind of a fudge. It wasn’t in 9E, but it was in Ravnica. That meant that it was out of Standard for, what, three months two Summers ago. Still, it wasn’t in 9E, and it is in X. Every player should have four of these.
Gaea’s Herald – If you think you’ll be playing against a lot of permission (i.e. counterspell-based control) decks, you should have these. That means that, if you play in tournaments, you should have four of these.
Hurricane – Like Earthquake, this card wipes out creatures and can kill your opponent. Unlike Earthquake, it deals with creatures that have an ability that this color doesn’t do well against (flying). Yes, I’m one of the folks who voted for this over Earthquake. Red will always have some sort of mass damage removal spell. Right now, it has several. Green needs to be able to wipe out fliers. Earthquake didn’t do that, but it didn’t need to. Red had other ways to deal with fliers. Like killing them directly. Or stealing them and then sacrificing them to a Suspended Greater Gargadon.
Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer – The way that Green grabs lands from its decks with spells like Search for Tomorrow and Rampant Growth, this guy can get ridiculously big very quickly. Moreover, those spells mean that he can come out to play quickly, too. That’s some nice synergy.
Quirion Dryad – I’ve already got a deck ready for this guy. Lemme just say “Locket of Yesterday” and be done with it.
Rhox – Is this guy’s ability better than Trample? I think so, since it’s not leftover damage that gets through but all of it. Plus, he can Regenerate.
Root Maze – Control players will hate being a turn behind all of the time… if they let this hit.
Troll Ascetic – He was nearly impossible to deal with the first time around since he couldn’t be targeted by the opponent and he Regenerated. Will having Wrath of God, Damnation, and Sunscour be enough to hold him in check? I doubt it. That’s why I want four of these. Let my opponent deal with him. I’ll cast another.
Artifacts
Chimeric Staff – The fact that this is only a creature until the end of the turn means that it can usually dodge the Sorcery timed removal like Wrath of God or Damnation. (This isn’t always the case, as most writers make it seem, since you might have to activate it on an opponent’s turn to block. In that case, they just cast Wrath during their second main phase.) That sort of ability, along with the fact that it can become as big as you can afford to make it, makes this guy a must-have.
Citanul Flute – This was one of the most fun cards to come out of Urza’s Saga. I was fortunate enough to have gotten a couple when I first started playing. It’s a blast to use casually. I think it could make a mark on the tourney scene, too.
Crucible of Worlds – This is another card about which much betters players will say much smarter things. I will say “save your money to get four.”
Legacy Weapon – I hated facing this card during Invasion Block tourneys. That must mean it’s a very good card. (This is where Craig will probably say something like “And it is. – Craig”) [Not quite… – Craig.]
Pithing Needle – This card is expensive because it’s worth it. To be honest, I still hadn’t completed my four-of set of this when Kamigawa Block rotated out of Standard. Fortunately, I kept the two I had. Now, I only need two more. In decks built for the kitchen table, this card can stop those annoying combo pieces or anything that your “clever” brother or friend thinks he’s “discovered.” “So sorry. Can’t put the Loxodon Warhammer on that Pornithopter… or anything else, for that matter.” In a tournament setting, it can stop cards in all sorts of decks that you might not normally be able to stop. Having a sweeping answer to multiple problems is wonderful. It’s also why this is still so expensive.
Razormane Masticore – Remember what I said about Squee? Plus, Madness is back. This guy will even get to play around with Dredge for a couple of months. Oh, yeah, he’s also a 5/5 first striker for five mana. That’s pretty durn efficient.
…
Well, I hope this makes up for last week’s shorter piece. No way was I going to make this any longer, so Time Spiral Block is next week. I’ll follow that with what will probably be my last budget Time Spiral Block deck. I am, after all, itching to get into the new Standard, now with X!
As usual, you’ve been a great audience. I can’t thank you enough for all of the good wishes and birthday greetings. Now, please, send money.
Chris Romeo
FromRightField-at-Comcast-dot-net