StarCityGames.com is introducing innovation once more… This week, we’re doing a set review of Planar Chaos from many angles, with columns by different writers. My role is to show you how a pro approaches a new set, and how he evaluates the cards for Limited and Constructed play. Instead of focusing on a single format, I’m going to spread myself over the popular tournament formats: Extended, Standard, and Booster Draft. (Obviously, as I’m one day away from my travels to Geneva in order to draft with the Dutchies, my main preparation for the upcoming Pro Tour. You can read all about it in next week’s column.)
Evaluating a New “Small Set” For Competitive Play
When a new small set is released, and new cards are available for Constructed formats, it’s more of an adaptation process rather than a rebuilding one. The card pool introduced is relatively small, and no cards rotate out. Plus, there’s already a metagame of decks established. I see three ways in which the new cards can affect the established metagame:
1: Those who are not very talented deckbuilders (like me) will look to the new set for new cards that can fit into existing deck archetypes, such as a superior burn spell or strong piece of countermagic.
2: The second approach is more difficult, and better suited for deckbuilders who will try to find cards with the potential to create new decks from ashes.
3: Finally, there are cards that are not good enough to create a new deck by themselves, but at a first look they threaten to be very harmful to some decks in the metagame, and as consequence to shake things up just by their existence – even if sometimes it’s more of a phantom menace. Easy examples are Kataki, War’s Wage from Saviours of Kamigawa against Affinity, and Planar Chaos’s own Extirpate against Life from the Loam and Firemane Angel decks.
As for Limited, it’s all about playing with the new cards. Of course, you can compare some new cards with older ones with similar roles. Good creatures and quality removal are easy to spot. When Time Spiral came out, it was easy to find out each color’s top commons: Strangling Soot; Lightning Axe; Looter il-Kor and Errant Ephemeron; Durkwood Baloth and Penumbra Spider; Temporal Isolation and Castle Raptors. But from there, the strength divisions are a little blurred, and things start getting tricky. Magic would be a lot easier if all our Limited decks were made of cards of this quality. Only after playing for a while, to get a feeling of the format (and sampling situations with many diverse cards), do realize the power of other subtle cards. Coal Stoker proved to be a real gem as a tempo card and Storm enabler, and nowadays I frequently pick Fathom Seer over Looter il-Kor. First-picking Search for Tomorrow is something I don’t mind out of some packs, and Viscerid Deepwalker went from filler card to top common after players realized the importance of turn 1 suspend.
Not only do you have to evaluate the cards by themselves, and figure out how good a card can be, but you must also judge their impact when interacting with the previous set… especially a set that will be in the mix during the draft. Some older cards will gain value, while others will become worse, and consequently their popularity during the draft picks will fluctuate. For example, if Planar Chaos were loaded with a rebel chain comparable to the offerings in Masques block, Amrou Scout would become a lot better, and therefore less likely to be seen in the later picks. This is, of course, a very basic example of how new cards affect pick orders and strategies.
Other things you should look for are new synergies, archetypes, and instant-speed tricks. Practice is once again key, especially for learning about the instant-speed tricks. To avoid being caught by surprise, I like to scour the spoiler for two things: important removal spells and instant-speed tricks by color. This will help you have more information when you have to make attacking / blocking decisions, specifically when your opponent has untapped mana.
For Planar Chaos, the removal and instant-speed tricks look like this:
White
Removal
Sunlance, Saltblast: Both these cards are Sorcery speed, and they can’t deal with White permanents. Nevertheless, they add a huge boost to White’s arsenal of removal.
Tricks
Dawn Charm, Whitemane Lion: These cards are so useful in so many situations. In fact, I don’t think I can cover them all. The Lion protects a creature from removal, or saves it after combat damage is on the stack, and even reuses a Comes Into Play effect from another creature. Dawn Charm meddles with combat. Sometimes an attack seems destined for a one-for-one card trade, but regenerating for two mana can result in a tempo advantage. It also regenerates from some removal spells, counters Mindstab, and allows you to take more risks in complex multiple blockers situations. If they have a trick to wreak you, just prevent all damage.
Blue
Removal
Shaper Parasite, Erratic Mutation; Like White, Blue also gains some unexpected removal spells, which now allow archetypes that lacked removal to have access to it: U/G and U/W spring to mind here.
Tricks
Two common morphs, Aquamorph Entity and Shaper Parasite: In Time Spiral, when a Blue morph was attacking you on turn 4, the only one that could unmorph and survive was Fathom Seer. Even then, sometimes blocking was the correct choice, if that set back your opponent to just two land drops (in case he hadn’t played anything that turn). In Planar Chaos these common morphs can unmorph and survive combat with another 2/2 on the turn following the one they come into play.
Black
Removal
Cradle to Grave, Midnight Charm, Melancholy; Compared to the variety and quality of removal Black had at its disposal in Time Spiral, these are below par. All are very situational. You’re holding two Cradle to Graves, and your opponent plays Teferi… bad times. Midnight Charm has a little extra versatility, which should justify its inclusion maindeck. That, allied with the lack of good madness Black cards, makes Looter il-Kor lose some of his value.
Tricks
Midnight Charm, for first strike. Not much to see here.
Red
Removal
Rough / Tumble is the only one I consider worthy of mentioning, and you should be aware of its existence to avoid losing your entire army. The other removal spells are along Red’s guidelines. The “Dead” half of Dead / Gone is pretty much a Shock.
Tricks
Two pump spells: +1/+1 from Fury Charm, and +3/+3 from Brute Force. Two bounce spells: Stingscourger, and the Gone half of Dead / Gone. I learned the strength of Red bounce the hard way, as I had Griffin Guide in both my prereleases.
Green
Removal
Utopia Vow: a late-game Pacifism.
Tricks
Healing Leaves. (I’ve already comboed it with Kavu Predator, attacking on turn 3.)
Cards That I Find Exciting
Every competitive player is, first and foremost, a Magic player who enjoys playing the game. When a new set is released, I’m not only looking for cards to shake things up in Constructed, or carefully analyzing the tricks and removal. That would make looking at a new expansion feel like homework. I try to enjoy the experience of looking at new cards, and find some that catch my attention and some I hope will become tournament staples. For a small set like Planar Chaos, these are the cards that shined in front of my eyes:
January 1st 2007 was the official preview of Damnation, and it was the best move ever to hype a set. Wrath of God has been a favourite card of many players, and it’s one of the classic cards of Magic as well as one of the most powerful ones in modern age. How can you not be excited by this?
Even without Fires of Yavimaya, Blastoderm saw play in Standard and even Extended. After Lin Sivvi was banned in Masques block, Blastoderm and Saproling Burst were the reason that players were choosing Green. There were W/G Rebels playing Blastoderms and Saproling Burst, as well as R/G beats and B/G rock style decks. I expect Calciderm to have a huge impact in Block, especially if there’s an aggressive White deck. It all depends on the metagame and other decks – for example, a card like Sakura-Tribe Elder would weaken Calciderm a lot, and a single Mogg War Marshall absorbs all the fifteen points of damage.
I think this will be a sideboard card, as Blue doesn’t focus itself on the discard theme. But in a control-versus-control matchup, this card on turn 2 can be a game-winner. A few swings, at it leaves your opponent to play from the top of your deck. Even if the opponent deals with it, consider the job done if he’s forced the discard of one or two cards. Remember, your opponent is also forced to leave anti-creature cards after boarding, simply to deal with this bad boy.
Boom / Bust
Finally, a card that’s not Planeshifted! It’s easier to be excited by the Planeshifted cards, as you can compare them to their previous versions. Boom / Bust is a split card made from Raze and Armageddon, but overpriced compared to the original cards. Raze was a useful tool in land destruction decks, or Red aggressive ones for tempo purposes, and it threatens to make the bouncelands a lot worse. Armageddon comes back with a fixed (and maybe overpriced) mana cost.
I am very excited about this card. It can tap to draw a card, or if that’s not possible, you can tap him for mana in a color that relies on mana acceleration. However, I think this is going to be another of those amazing cards that never finds a deck or a metagame in which they’d flourish. More on this card ahead.
This one is strictly for Limited purposes, but I have to mention it. River Kaijin is by far the card I own the most copies of in my single account of Magic Online. I use this method a lot – counting the copies of each common in my account – to figure my trends in draft. As a curiosity, I have only one copy of Thallid Germinator (and it was probably from a Sealed Deck), while I have over 70 River Kaijin. Just imagine this scenario: your opponent plays a Grizzly Bear, and you answer with Citanul Woodreaders on turn 3. The Bears are nullified, and the tempo and damage they would normally gain is offset. Later, they play a Hill Giant. It’s still nullified by the 1/4, but now they have the 2/2 back online… only it’s much later in the game, and you’re still at twenty life. They can now force two damage through if they attack with both. But if you play a second Citanul Woodreaders, their attack will cause them to lose the 2/2, leaving them with a 3/3 facing your two 1/4s. They have to mount another offensive again. Combine them with a single evasion creature, like a two-power flyer, and you have the best board position of the table…but now the 1/4 body comes with a bonus kicker to draw two cards when you have six mana! I am very excited about this card for Limited purposes. Keep in mind that the formats are different, and River Kaijin was very good at blocking all those 2/2 bushido creatures. Time Spiral and Planar Chaos don’t need a 1/4 on turn 3 like Kamigawa, and Green doesn’t have as many fliers as Blue, but the kicker and the two extra cards should make this card playable.
All the 6/6 Dragons
Invasion and Champions of Kamigawa showed us that a huge flier – we’re talking about a 5/5 or 6/6 for six mana, with an extra ability – were very playable, especially if there’s a deck in those colors that needs a good finisher. Rith, Crosis, and Dromar saw some play in Standard and Block, as well as Kokusho, Yosei, Keiga, and Ryusei. Treva was trumped by Questing Phelddagrif. I expect the new crop of dragons to see play in Time Spiral block, and who knows? Maybe even Standard. If I’m not mistaken, there’s already a very good U/R/W control deck, perfect for the colors of Numot. I’ll cover that deck later.
If I’m playing White in draft, especially the White deck that makes the most of Ivory Giant, then this is the card I want to open in Planar Chaos. Even if your creatures are evenly spread among White and your second color, the chances are Crovax’s ability is going to favor you more than your opponent. He’s also a 4/4 that’s very hard to kill. In Constructed he can act as a Crusade for your White deck, or he can be used to cripple decks based on small non-White creatures. Back then, Pattern of Rebirth decks were playing Black Crovax to kill decks based on Saprolings.
I’m not from the time when Pestilence ruled Urza’s Saga draft, but I already got a small taste of it with Pyrohemia at Planar Chaos prereleases. Some of my opponents had it, and it’s a complete bomb. I had the luck of having it at the 2HG prerelease, and it might just be the best card in the set for 2HG (but I’m not very experienced in the format yet, having played only nine matches).
I have never been a huge fan of the Sliver deck in Extended, whose core was Muscle Sliver plus Crystalline Sliver plus Winged Sliver. Despite all the attempts to bring back Slivers, we haven’t seen a competitive Sliver deck lately. Sinew Sliver is one of the best attempts at making the ultimate tribe viable yet, and I’m looking forward to see his impact without Crystalline. Maybe Opaline can be a substitute?
Overrated Cards
For a card to be overrated, we’re assuming a lot of hype as been generated around it, and in the future the card will not have the impact expected. Most times, there’s no deck that the hyped cards can support, or it’s not as useful as originally thought. From my experience, looking to the past and analyzing the future, here are some very good cards that I think won’t find a room in the Constructed formats… or they won’t have as huge an impact as we currently believe:
Many polls on Portuguese websites pointed this card as the #2 card from Planar Chaos. Usually, Lobotomy effects are overhyped – cards like Extract, Haunting Echoes, and Cranial Extraction. Despite being played, they’re not so devastating as they seemed. I dare to say that Extirpate won’t shake anything in Standard. In Extended it’s another adversity for Life from the Loam and graveyard based decks, just like Tormod’s Crypt. Extirpate happens to be exclusively for Black mages. It may shut down those decks at the beginning, but they will come back, making for a fun game of cat and mouse between Extirpate and graveyard decks. As a side note, I still have a good laugh when a friend of mine declared that the Oath archetype was dead forever when he saw Extract printed in Odyssey.
At first, Groundbreaker seems a welcome and easy addition to Mono-Green Aggro decks, to counterbalance the existence of a White and a Black Wrath of God. They tap out to clear the board, and are punished with six damage. The problem is, between Groundbreaker, Giant Solifuge, and Timbermare, Green has more than enough high-power haste creatures to follow a Wrath of God. I think Solifuge is a better play after a Wrath… but on the other hand, Groundbreaker is better before. It puts them on a lower life total, and forces them to Wrath with fewer creatures on the table. However, I might not be the right person to pick one without testing, as I never played a Ball Lightning.
I know I said a while ago that I was very excited about this card. I do have a side of me that looks at cards and exclaims, “awesome, I would love to play with this!” And I do have a more rational side that analyzes things concerning competitive play. Magus of the Library is a very good card, with one powerful ability (and a second one so that the card is not situational). But as I see it, the card is not efficient. I don’t see a deck in Standard or Extended that wants to run this. Having seven cards in hand with the Magus on the table without summoning sickness is very unlikely to happen. Mulligans matter a lot. And even if it does happens, with the help of bounce lands or Harmonize, while you’re drawing an extra card, you’re not playing more cards to keep your hand full. Seems too risky and greedy. Maybe in Time Spiral block. I would love to play with this card in Constructed, but I’m not seeing any possibilities in the near future to draw a card from Magus of the Library. I hope some deckbuilder proves me wrong.
I’m sorry, Torchling. You’re a very good card, but you’re being compared to a creature that was, at some point, considered to be the best creature in Magic. The problem comes from his color. Red is usually better with small efficient men, and a late game finisher is supposed to have a bigger impact, like a Dragon with evasion, or Arc-Slogger. Torchling is better suited for control decks playing only a couple of creatures for the win. Even in that scenario, the original Morphling was better, as he had evasion and provided a better clock. Anyway, I’m not even sure if Torchling is overrated, as no one considers him to be very useful right now, and Morphling himself is facing some rough times.
Damnation is the first word from everyone’s lips when talking about Planar Chaos. No matter how big of an impact this card makes, it can never correspond to the amount of hype around both the cards and the set. It’s very unlikely that we’ll see a deck playing with four Wraths and four Damnations. Blue/Black control decks, like Dralnu do Louvre and Psychatog, now have access to mass removal as well as targeted removal, and Mono-Black Control got back one of the cards it needed (Mutilate). With Solifuges and Groundbreakers running loose, it almost seems risky to tap out for Damnation. Don’t get me wrong… it’s still amazing, but talk about overrated cards, no card got more hype than this one.
Updating My Worlds Decklists After Planar Chaos
I can’t possibly cover all decks in Standard and Extended, and share any upgrades suggested in Planar Chaos. As an example of the process, I’m going to stick with my deck choices for Worlds and try to figure if anything from the new set can be added. Both were good choices back then, and I still believe they are today.
For Extended I played Boros, a build splashing Green for a faster clock, with Kird Apes and sideboarded Armadillo Cloaks.
Creatures (22)
Lands (20)
Spells (18)
Sideboard
Boros is an efficient and straightforward aggressive deck. It plays the more aggressive early drops and more efficient burn spells in order to maximize the amount of damage as fast as possible. It’s very difficult for a new set to bring a better creature or spell for a deck like Boros. After examining the Planar Chaos spoiler, it’s possible that Mana Tithe can be a sideboard card. It’s unexpected, and by countering a key spell it’s possible to gain a full extra turn and deal the remaining damage. However, the only key spell I see at the moment worth of being countered to justify Mana Tithe in the sideboard is Wrath of God. The only two decks running it are U/W Tron and Scepter-Chant. Pyrostatic Pillar and Ancient Grudge are better sideboard cards against Chant, and more versatile. In case the Damnations make a huge appearance in Extended, I would leave the Mana Tithes as possibility to consider.
For Standard, I chose Angelfire, a B/W/R control deck
Creatures (10)
Lands (19)
Spells (31)
- 1 Sacred Mesa
- 4 Wrath of God
- 1 Plains
- 3 Island
- 3 Boros Signet
- 4 Compulsive Research
- 4 Lightning Helix
- 4 Remand
- 3 Azorius Signet
- 4 Demonfire
Sideboard
This deck plays the best cards available in its colors. The card that immediately stands out from Planar Chaos is Numot, just because he shares his three colors with this deck. But can we find something to cut? His stats are impressive for his mana cost, and with six Signets chances are he’s entering play before turn 6. If you activate Numot’s ability against a control deck, things are looking very good for you, but the control decks are those that will have more tools to deal with the dragon in the first place.
None of the Sorceries or Instants can be cut from this deck, so to make room for Numot we might cut the single random Sacred Mesa. The questions I found were. Is Numot better than Bogardan Hellkite? Are they compatible? I would try to run Numots in this deck, just to try them out, and then find the answers to those questions in order to decide how many Hellkites and Numot belong in this deck (if any).
In the sideboard, I would try to make room for Riptide Pilferer. At first glance, it seems better than Giant Solifuge and Sacred Mesa against control decks, so bringing three Pilferers to the sideboard could help a lot the matchups against control. If they prove to be useful, I would make room to the fourth. Can you imagine, if during my quarterfinals match at Worlds against Martyr-Tron, I had access to Numot and Riptide Pilferer instead of Bogardan Hellkite and Giant Solifuge? This doesn’t mean they’re auto-inclusions, but they are definitely worth the time to try them out.
Angelfire is a decent choice for Standard. It’s incredibly good against creature decks, while it has a bad time against control and combo. But it’s so good against creatures that it justifies the unfavourable matchups against control. The really weak points are combo and land destruction decks. Right now, and according to the latest Magic Online metagame analysis, the Top 4 decks are Dralnu du Louvre, Mono-Green Aggro, Dragonstorm, and Scryb and Force. Dragonstorm is obviously a bad matchup. Dralnu du Louvre is tough but winnable, but on the other hand, I never lost a single duel against Mono-Green or Scryb and Force on Magic Online. The next decks on the list – U/W Tron and Boros – are also matchups I don’t mind facing, though they’re not as easy as Mono-Green. In fact, Angelfire has been resurrecting in popularity online, and only Dralnu du Louvre keeps it under control. Perhaps it is now the time to try those Riptide Pilferers.
Top 10 Planar Chaos That Will Have The Most Impact In Geneva
I still haven’t drafted the format for Pro Tour Geneva (Time Spiral — Time Spiral — Planar Chaos) that much. My main preparation will be from Tuesday 6th to Thursday 8th, drafting in Geneva with the Dutchies. This means that, right now, I still don’t have a good idea about strategies and archetypes. Instead of presenting you the archetypes that I feel will be successful in Geneva, I’m going to list the common cards which will have the biggest impact in TTP draft and in the games played. In no particular order:
Shaper Parasite
It’s considered by many the top common from Planar Chaos, sometimes capable of netting a three for one card advantage. As a result, we might predict Blue to be a little over-drafted. Not only it has some of the best commons in both sets (Errant Ephemeron, Looter il-Kor, Fathom Seer, Shaper Parasite), but it also has an unusual depth in the commons of both expansions. Shaper Parasite being a morph can make for some interesting bluffs. Your opponent plays a morph before attacking. Shaper Parasite or bluff?
Mire Boa
A 2/1 for two mana with a regeneration ability would be good enough on its own. Having Swampwalk means it’s a problem for Black decks. It’s also very good at holding back Durkwood Baloths or any monster lacking evasion. Removal cards that can handle the Boa should rise up in popularity… cards like Feebleness and Erratic Mutation.
Whitemane Lion
Saves a creature from dying in combat or when targeted by a spell, and allows the re-use of Comes Into Play effects. It can also be a sneaky 2/2 body to take down a 1/1 in combat. You don’t want too many of those in your draft deck, as they can make for some slow draws, but since everyone rates him highly it’s unlikely you’ll see many. Arguably the best White common in the set, and you should be aware of it when your opponent has 1W open and you’re trying to kill one of his creatures.
Erratic Mutation
When compared with Erratic Explosion it has some ups and downs. It’s instant-speed, but can’t target a player for damage. This card will have a big impact in Geneva because it can definitely kill Mire Boa, and it provides Blue with a removal spell at instant speed, but I’m sure there will be plenty of stories around it. I only did a couple of drafts, but I already lost twice to this card, on both sides of the battle. Once I targeted a 4/2 on my fourth turn, and revealed the only Conflagrate in my deck. I lost a card, my fourth turn, and took extra four damage. In another game, I attacked with all four of my creatures, including a Weatherseed Totem. My opponent cast Erratic Mutation on it. I did some quick math on his life total, and played Strength in Numbers for four on the Totem, making it a 9/7 trampler, who was going to receive a +X/-X from the Mutation. My opponent revealed Slipstream Serpent, and won next turn by attacking with an Ephemeron. Trust me, this will be the card most players will be whining about in Geneva.
Stingscourger
Red now has access to not one, but two bounce spells. Dead / Gone and Stingscourger. They’re limited to targeting only opponent’s creatures, but they can provide some important tempo advantage, and even card advantage with opposing auras. As I mentioned, I had Griffin Guide in both prereleases. It’s still amazing, but it’s a little worse now that Red has two common bounce spells. Remember that, all of a sudden, Ravnica Limited became a format where tempo assumed a bigger role than before, when players combined the Izzet and Simic guilds to access quality creatures backed by the tempo advantage of Ogre Savant and Vedalken Dismisser.
Brute Force
Besides bounce spells, Red also gets a common pump spell. It couldn’t be any cheaper (only with convoke like Gather Courage), and at +3/+3 it’s a big bonus compared to recent Green pump spells. It can act as the final damage, provide early tempo by saving a creature in combat and playing another in the same turn, and you now have to be a little more careful when trying to play your Orcish Cannonade or Lightning Axes against Red decks. Remember about Brute Force… it might be a bad idea to wait until their attack phase to target the creature you wish to remove.
Reality Acid
By itself, Reality Acid is very slow and even a bit clunky, standing on the margins of your deck, maybe making it, maybe not. This affects the draft because you can expect to see this card a little later than the obvious first picks, and it also increase the power of some existing cards, like Tolarian Sentinel and Dream Stalker (one of Time Spiral’s hidden gems). There will be players trying to put together synergy between the cards that usually we don’t want in our decks.
Sinew Sliver
Sinew Sliver gives a new breath to the Sliver archetype in Draft. I was never a fan of the Sliver theme in triple Time Spiral, as I think it needed a specific Sliver to boost the others for it to work: something like Sedge Sliver or Might Sliver, neither of which is common. You can expect to see Sinew a little more often, so it might be viable to pick Slivers. In my Drafts, I now rate Venser’s Sliver a little higher. I might end up with some Sinew Slivers, or facing a Sliver deck, therefore it’s nice to obtain their abilities without conceding any in return.
Rathi Trapper
Planar Chaos brought us some more playable Rebels, along with another searcher to fetch them. Rathi Trapper happens to be the best of them, and that means Rebels can cease to be an aggressive strategy (as they have been thus far, searching for Amrou Seekers and Zealot il-Vec). Tappers were always very good, both on offense and defense, and since you no longer need to be aggressive while playing Rebels it might make them viable again. Black / White has been rumored as one of the top archetypes, or at least one that improved a lot with Planar Chaos (note that it was very weak in triple Time Spiral), so expect one of these tappers to be fetched by Amrou Scout or Blightspeaker.
Sunlance
Now that Blue and White have real removal spells like Sunlance, there’s not a single archetype that doesn’t have access to removal. Sunlance deals permanently with most of the creatures we’re going to encounter in a draft, unlike cards like Pacifism that don’t stop the abilities and can be destroyed. It is limited to creatures with toughness of three, but it should be good enough unless facing a heavy White-based deck. Usually a spell like this would cost around three mana (see Rift Bolt), so this is an excellent tempo card allowing us to deal with a threat and play one of our own while still killing a medium-sized creature later.
…
As I finished writing this, I’m a day ahead of leaving for Geneva. I’m going a little earlier than usual, in order to intensively draft. Hopefully the drafts will be productive, and I’ll be able to learn a lot about Time Spiral / Planar Chaos Draft for my next article. I won’t be able to respond questions or comments in the forums until next Monday, due to being in Switzerland. I need to buy a laptop to prevent these time distortions, and also because from now, it’s going to be a crazy ride, playing competitively around the World almost weekly. I hope you guys stick around!
Thank you for reading,
Tiago