Hello all, and welcome to the column dedicated to the casual player in all of us. Today I want to do something that a few other writers have already done, and I don’t care, because it seems like a cool idea. I have purchased a Deckbuilder’s Toolkit and will open the cards, tell you what they are, and then build a deck. Yay! However, in order to make this interesting, let’s build… a multiplayer deck. Dum dum!
We’ll make this simple. I have scissors and a box. I’ll cut it open, and then we’ll see what I’ve got.
My boosters are Worldwake, Zendikar, M10, and Conflux. We’ll set those aside for now. Okay, if you watched The Magic Show open up these cards like I did, then you already know what they are. No clue if they are set, or have multiple ones you can get, but I think I got the same set cards that he got, outside of the boosters, that I will open last. Here is what I opened:
20 of each basic land
Kitesail
Ulamog’s Crusher
4 Terramorphic Expanse
Green:
Naturalize
Overrun
Giant Growth
Aura Gnarlid
Leaf Arrow
Vastwood Gorger
Timbermaw Larva
Savage Silhouette
Nissa’s Chosen
Giant Spider
Oakenform
Stampeding Rhino
Rampant Growth
River Boa
2 Llanowar Elves
Red:
Goblin Artillery
Flame Slash
Ruinous Minotaur
2 Lightning Elemental
2 Lightning Bolt
Demolish
Prodigal Pyromancer
Dragon Whelp
Panic Attack
Berserkers of Blood Ridge
Lava Axe
Sparkmage Apprentice
Goblin Shortcutter
Bladetusk Boar
Heat Ray
Goblin Arsonist
Goblin Roughrider
Claws of Valakut
White:
Lone Missionary
Repel the Darkness
Makindi Griffin
Iona’s Judgment
Caravan Hurda
Shieldmate’s Blessing
Kor Sanctifiers
Kor Hookmaster
Stormfront Pegasus
Soul Warden
Palace Guard
Blinding Mage
Harm’s Way
Safe Passage
Griffin Sentinel
Divine Verdict
Fledgling Griffin
2 Serra Angel
2 Pacifism
Blue:
Jwari Scuttler
Fleeting Distraction
Sea Gate Oracle
Sky Ruin Drake
Paralyzing Grasp
Merfolk Looter
Unsummon
Snapping Drake
Horned Turtle
Divination
Sleep
Summoner’s Bane
Wall of Frost
Air Elemental
Frostwind Invoker
Mysteries of the Deep
Into the Roil
Ice Cage
Illusionary Servant
Wind Drake
Phantom Warrior
Sejiri Merfolk
Living Tsunami
2 Surrakar Banisher
2 Essence Scatter
2 Mind Control
2 Cancel
Black:
Last Kiss
Gloomhunter
Death Cultist
2 Blood Seeker
Giant Scorpion
Disfigure
Zombie Goliath
Looming Shade
Mind Sludge
Arrogant Bloodlord
Vampire Lacerator
Consume Spirit
Vampire Aristocrat
Tendrils of Corruption
Vampire Nighthawk
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Fest of Blood
Hideous End
Dead Reckoning
Rise from the Gave
Marsh Casualties
Quest for the Gravelord
2 Child of Night
Duress
Gravedigger
2 Doom Blade
2 Sign in Blood
Okay, first comments — why is this card pool so unbalanced? This is the set card pool, and it comes with 20 Red cards, 16 Green ones, 21 White ones, 31 Blue ones and 31 Black ones. Isn’t that a bit odd? Why are Green and Red screwed in number, while Blue and Black are emphasized? That’s really weird.
The Green is weird. Your power card is Overrun, and it requires triple Green, and yet you don’t really have enough cards to commit to Green. How is that supposed to work? The White is really solid. There’s removal, Serra Angels, some good protection spells — you can’t complain about the White. The Blue is very strong, which is what you would expect from having more cards. Black has a metric ton of removal. Why wouldn’t you want to play it? I count eleven cards that kill creatures. Red is a color that is supposed to be heavy on removal, and it has eight, and three of those just do one damage to something.
Alright, now we get to the part everyone has been waiting for: the booster packs! I shuffled them and…
Sylvan Bounty
Aven Squire
Pestilent Kathari
Dark Temper
Parasitic Strix
Scattershot Archer
Yoke of the Damned
Nacatl Savage
Wandering Goblins
Brackwater Elemental
View from Above
Filigree Fracture
Grixis Slavedriver
Inkwell Leviathan
Mountain
Worldwake
Arbor Elf
Searing Blaze
Quag Vampires
Vastwood Zendikon
Surrakar Banisher
Smolderin g Spires
Guardian Zendikon
Halimar Excavator
Brink of Disaster
Akoum Battlesinger
Deathforge Shaman
Slingbow Trap
Scrib Nibblers
Mordant Dragon
Mountain
M10
Berserkers of Blood Ridge
Llanowar Elves
Silvercoat Lion
Lightning Bolt
Sign in Blood
Bountiful Harvest
Tome Scour
Runeclaw Bear
Yawning Fissure
Bog Wraith
Fireball
Deathmark
Haunting Echoes
Island
Foil Alluring Siren
Zendikar
Hideous End
Grazing Gladehart
Into the Roil
Steppe Lynx
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Tempest Owl
Hedron Scrabbler
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Scythe Tiger
Mire Blight
Khalni Gem
Kazandu Blademaster
Quest for the Gemblades
Chandra Ablaze
Mountain
Here’s the problem, Wizards of the Coast. I then turn around and open very good Red. It would have been really nice if Red/Green/Blue/Black/White all had the same number of cards so that I could have an additional 10 cards or so to draw from for my deck.
What’s good for multiplayer? Well, let me tell you some cards that really jump out at me. Fireball, Serra Angels, Mind Controls, and Mordant Dragon. There’s an Arbor Elf and three Llanowar Elves, and that could be the start of something. Blue has a ton of flyers, White is well-round, Red really played catch up with the booster packs, and Black has a ton of removal. I think you could totally rock a three-color deck if you wanted. Green doesn’t have too much to offer us as multiplayer aficionados beyond some flying removal and Naturalize/Filigree Fracture. There’s not much to accelerate into. Black has a weak creature base, with a lot of small creatures, but nothing of size that makes me want to play it. Red has better creatures in this pool than either Green or Black. White and Blue have good creatures. So I want to play two of White, Blue and Red. You know what? Let’s build one actual deck, and another possible deck.
DBTK Counter Burn
2 Cancel
2 Essence Scatter
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Fireball
1 Heat Ray
2 Mind Control
1 Dragon Whelp
1 Air Elemental
1 Mordant Dragon
1 Deathforge Shaman
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Flame Slash
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
1 Chandra Ablaze
1 Wind Drake
1 Wall of Frost
1 Summoner’s Bane
1 Divination
1 Snapping Drake
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Parasitic Strix
1 Goblin Artillery
1 Sparkmage Apprentice
1 Bladetusk Boar
1 Phantom Warrior
1 Mysteries of the Deep
1 Sleep
4 Terramorphic Expanse
11 Island
11 Mountain
Okay, there’s one deck, let’s do another!
DBTK White Black Attack
2 Hideous End
2 Doom Blade
2 Disfigure
3 Sign in Blood
1 Bog Wraith
1 Aven Squire
2 Serra Angel
1 Divine Verdict
1 Harm’s Way
1 Blinding Mage
2 Pacifism
1 Soul Warden
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 Kor Hookmaster
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Iona’s Judgment
1 Makindi Griffin
1 Repel the Darkness
1 Lone Missionary
1 Rise from the Grave
1 Gravedigger
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Dread Reckoning
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Vampire Aristocrat
1 Giant Scorpion
1 Last Kiss
1 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Terramorphic Expanse
10 Swamp
10 Plains
Okay, so it looks like we’ve done a couple of decks. Here is what I would consider if I were just to rock these cards for casual play, using my favorite color combination for Limited:
DBTK Red/Black Rar!
1 Duress
1 Consume Spirit
1 Last Kiss
1 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Doom Blade
2 Hideous End
1 Disfigure
3 Sign in Blood
1 Vampire Aristocrat
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Bog Wraith
1 Dead Reckoning
1 Pestilent Kathari
1 Gloomhunter
1 Vampire Lacerator
2 Child of Night
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Gravedigger
1 Dragon Whelp
1 Mordant Dragon
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
1 Sparkmage Apprentice
1 Goblin Artillery
1 Goblin Arsonist
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Heat Ray
1 Dark Temper
1 Flame Slash
1 Fireball
4 Terramorphic Expanse
10 Mountain
10 Swamps
That’s a very removal-heavy deck with just 16 creatures. It’s not a very multiplayer friendly deck.
The final possibility is as mentioned above. Take the multiplayer friendly colors (White, Blue, Red) and combine.
DBTK We Control the Vertical and the Horizontal
2 Essence Scatter
2 Cancel
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Fireball
1 Heat Ray
1 Flame Slash
2 Mind Control
1 Dragon Whelp
1 Air Elemental
1 Mordant Dragon
2 Serra Angel
1 Wall of Frost
1 Snapping Drake
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Makindi Griffin
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
1 Blinding Mage
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Divine Verdict
1 Harm’s Way
2 Pacifism
1 Iona’s Judgment
1 Summoner’s Bane
1 Mysteries of the Deep
4 Terramorphic Expanse
7 Mountain
8 Island
7 Plains
My final cut to get to 60 was Soul Warden, Chandra Ablaze, and Wind Drake. This gives you the five counters, all of the big creatures opened, a nice selection of flyers, some good utility creatures, the ability to destroy artifacts and enchantment, the ability to steal creatures, lots of burn, and removal in other ways like Pacifism, Divine Verdict, Iona’s Judgment, and Essence Scatter. I think this is the best you can do with the cards given. Although you and I might differ on what the last few cards in this deck should be, I think this card pool is saying to play these cards for the best multiplayer deck. Yeah, I miss having Doom Blade et all, but I don’t think you miss creature removal in here, plus you play all of the good big creatures, like Serra Angels, Air Elemental, Dragon Whelp, Inkwell Leviathan and Mordant Dragon.
I hope you enjoyed today’s article and the four decklists that came with. I really enjoyed this, and I am going to actually build this final deck for multiplayer purposes. We’ll see how it actually plays. I’m not upset at cracking another Chandra Ablaze either, as I needed another anyway!
Until later…