The past couple of columns I took a look at Magic 2010 in broad strokes; now that the set is released and I’ve had a chance to hold some of the cards in my hand and play with them, I figured I’d do an overview of the specific cards that have my attention, and touch on the Magic 2010 prerelease in Richmond. Let’s jump right in!
Acidic Slime
I’m just as excited as everyone else about this card, and likely even more so than most. Creatures with comes-into-play abilities are the best, because they get their advantage right off the bat and don’t care how they came into play to give it to you — as opposed to, say, Bloodbraid Elf, which won’t give you a Cascade effect if it’s reanimated. I’ve spent some time playing B/G Elves over the past year and a half, and I know just how amazing Wren’s Run Vanquisher’s Deathtouch ability is, so I’m thrilled to see it pop up on another great creature. The one issue I have with the Slime is its casting cost, which bumps up against Lord of Extinction for five mana in a deck that can produce Green and Black. Lord is big and scary, but the Slime is solid incremental card advantage. Building green and black decks from here on out are gonna be a bit more difficult – but hey, I’d much rather have an embarrassment of riches, you know?
Ant Queen
It’s a testament to just how amazing creatures have become over the years that this card has produced a collective yawn from the Spikes of the world. She’s an incredibly efficient card however – if her ability were on an enchantment, it would surely cost at least 3 mana to cast, so you’re basically getting a 5/5 beater for an extra 2 mana. I would not rule her out though as a fantastic mana sink for big mana strategies of the future, and will be looking to pick up a couple copies while they’re cheap. She’s totally worth grabbing a copy for your Elder Dragon Highlander card pool, especially for your Rofellos deck!
Awakener Druid
I’m pretty sure this fellow goes no further than Limited, but he certainly impressed me as what I was calling a “Green Lava Axe” in my Sealed deck, basically giving you a 4/5 with haste for four mana when your opponent least expects it. If you had a way to sacrifice a creature at instant speed you could make sure to save the animated forest from removal spells, he might be of interest maybe in some sort of B/G Vampire Aristocrat deck.
Ball Lightning
I was pretty sure this card (alongside Lightning Bolt) would be a no-brainer for any deck with a fairly heavy Red component. Then this week I read Adrian Sullivan take on new M10-Standard the Red deck and there was no Ball Lightning, and Pat Chapin’s red deck didn’t run them either… Both of these guys are much better deck builders than I am, so now I’m second-guessing just how good this card is right now. Perhaps the presence of Kithkin’s first-strikers trumps it? Between Bloodbraid Elf Cascading into Ball Lightning, and Flamekin Harbinger tutoring it up (Ball Lightning is an elemental) it just seems like a great time for this feared quasi-burn spell despite the little white men.
Baneslayer Angel
When this was first spoiled, Evan Erwin was convinced the casting cost wasn’t spoiled correctly. Even at six mana, the card would be considered “pushed” for Standard. When we knew it indeed only cost five mana to cast, I joked with Evan “this card wasn’t just pushed for Standard, it was shoved! In a way, it almost feels like this card was juiced up in a very old-fashioned way – I mean seriously old-school style, where Garfield figured rare cards would be actually rare enough so that you’d only own one to put in your deck, so might as well make that rare one mana Blue instant draw you three cards. It’s like since Baneslayer Angel is a mythic rare, might as well make it magnitudes more powerful than the exactly same costed uncommon Serra Angel. Right now the singles price for this gal is going through the roof, which makes me sad I have not yet opened a copy of her. I imagine her value to come back down to reality at some point, since for all her abilities she still easily dies to any non-damaging removal spell out there. $10 mythic? Sure. Pushing $20? Seems a little crazy to me.
Burning Inquiry
I can’t help but think this card would fit nicely into a Kederekt Parasite deck; some friends who’ve worked on such a deck are skeptical. If you have a fair number of Unearth guys — and there are plenty of good ones in Black and Red — I fail to see why this just isn’t incredibly awesome. I imagine its random nature can “randomly” steal games by wrecking your opponent’s sculpted hand, especially when backed by some pinpoint disruption like Duress or Thoughtseize.
Captain of the Watch
Okay, enough already. It’s bad enough White got a Deranged Hermit with Cloudgoat Ranger in Lorwyn. Now White gets another one, a bit more expensive but arguably better if you surround him with soldier cards. Why don’t we give Green a Deranged Hermit again… please?
Cemetery Reaper
I did the sneak preview of this card for Star City a couple weeks back. I still love him just as much – I wasn’t just trying to hype the card to shill for Wizards. I think people are underestimating how good he can be.
Deadly Recluse
What I said about Deathtouch regarding Acidic Slime has me keeping an eye on this little spider, obviously designed with Limited in mind. I have a hunch he could make the jump to the big leagues depending on the contours of the metagame.
Divination
Just to spark a thread, I was wondering whether having a cycle of simple “draw 2 cards” spells for all five colors would be entirely crazy. Drawing cards is such a vital part of the game, and yet it’s been nearly monopolized by Blue since the beginning of Magic. Of course, Black’s gotten the draw for life payment, and green got Harmonize without the world ending. Would it make the game better or worse if you had a cycle of Divination and just made it a little harder to cast outside of blue? Say 1GG, 1BB, 2RR, 2WW for sorcery, draw 2 cards?
Djinn of Wishes
A very cool and flavorful card that certainly has the potential to break out if there’s a way to cheaply and easily manipulate — or least view — the top of your library. I don’t think there are enough good vampires available yet to want to pair the Djinn with Vampire Nocturnus, but if his ability crops up on other cards down the road…
Elvish Archdruid
Yeah, ditto what everyone else says. I’m angling to acquire 4 copies as soon as possible. With mana burn gone there’s just no reason to not try and break this fellow off.
Gargoyle Land
When I found one of these in my packs I was sad to discover it was a rare – I totally expected the new generic manland to be an uncommon. I’m a little freaked out the singles price has stayed so low, since I can’t imagine any mono- or two-color deck not running at a minimum 3 copies of this card. Helps make sure you make your early land drops, then later on when you’re flush with land cash it in for a 3/4 flier? Sign me up!
Goblin Artillery
Here’s another card I was a little surprised didn’t pique Adrian’s interest now that Goblins are running the hardware. The last time I ran Lightning Bolts I had Orcish Artillery that worked with Bolts to take down 5 toughness Ihsan’s Shade… You could even do some sort of Behemoth Sledge silliness across the Naya shard. Recurring direct damage seems worth checking out during weenie horde summer.
Gorgon Flair
Here I am beating the Deathtouch drum again; in this case, I wouldn’t be surprised if weenie decks stuck a few of these in the sideboard to combat mid-range decks that try and out-muscle them with larger monsters.
Great Sable Stag
Finally, Green got a hoser card worthy of the name! Any Blue, Black or (god forbid) Blue and Black deck has got to consider this card when finalizing its list. Green’s got far too many fantastic creatures at this mana cost for me to buy the Stag as a maindeck option, but he totally warrants at least a few sideboard slots.
Guardian Seraph
While I’m sad that Windborn Muse is gone, this is certainly a worthy replacement to fight weenie hordes, especially once you’re not so worried about Windbrisk Heights activations (which the Muse was incredibly good at stopping). It’s nice she can’t be brought down with Lightning Bolt or Agony Warp.
Harm’s Way
So long as the vast majority of players try to win the game by reducing their opponent’s to zero life through damage, I see a use for this in Constructed. Not a competitor for Path to Exile so much as a supplement.
Hive Mind
I can already see a significant number of EDH fans drooling at the prospects of playing this card. God help us all…
Honor of the Pure
Yep, Glorious Anthem saw so little play, so in order to make White Weenie decks viable we really needed this, right?
Kalonian Behemoth
For seven mana, Green can do sooooo much better than this. Makes me wonder if there’s actually a process in place where someone says “Hey, R&D – we need a crap rare the Green precon deck!” And out pops this atrocious thing.
Lightwielder Paladin
While I don’t think this fellow will make the cut in competitive Constructed, I would like to point out white does have Scepter of Dominance handy…
Lurking Predators
What I said about Hive Mind? Yeah, this is EDH gold too… god help us all, and yeah, I’ve already thrown one in my deck!
Master of the Wild Hunt
By the numbers, this guy is a bit sketchy – he’s just a 3/3 for four mana, he’s Bolt-bait, heck – he dies to everything. Yet, it’s important to remember that he’s creature control in Green, and he’s reusable. We’ve got some solid wolf-making cards about to rotate (along with Changeling wolves) so the Master’s fate likely rests in any decent wolf cards or wolf-making cards in Zendikar to supplement his own slow wolf summoning ability.
Mirror of Fate
This is an artifact that only taps to activate… Immortal Coil is an artifact that taps and removes cards to Exile to activate… I’m not seeing clearly through yet, but there seems to be some critical mass of funky combo-licious artifacts building, doesn’t there?
Mold Adder
Now this is much more in the tradition of Green’s typical “hoser” cards!
Nature’s Spiral
Use the last counter of Garruk to make a 3/3 beast, play Spiral to get back Garruk and play it again? Seems pretty good to me! I think they did a really good job here of fixing Regrowth to prevent whatever instant/sorcery recursion shenanigans they might be afraid of.
Protean Hydra
An intriguing card to consider for mana-ramp style of deck. If you equipped him with a Behemoth Sledge, he couldn’t be killed with damage, right?
Sleep
I totally expect this card to crush dreams in Standard. Man, what a beating! Bant creature decks have gotten an incredibly good weapon here, especially those looking to punch through with a non-evasive creature under Finest Hour!
Vampire Nocturnus
A heavy investment for a fairly small creature whose ability is inconsistent. Not worth the effort outside of casual Vampire decks, but worth keeping an eye on in case upcoming sets raise the possibility of more playable vampires. Also keep this in mind for cards where you want to know what’s on top of your deck (i.e. the Djinn of Wishes above).
Wall of Bone
Again, most likely strictly a Limited card, but it might pay to keep in mind this is a skeleton wall, and would gain Deathtouch with a Death Baron in play… (yes, I know I’m just reviewing the new cards and this is a reprint, but I didn’t realize it had gotten a new creature type since the last time I played it many, many, many years ago…)
Windstorm
This is no Cloudthresher, but it’s an instant speed kill for fliers and I won’t complain about anything that’s Green, useful, and instant speed.
Xathrid Demon
Another seriously awesome EDH card I can see pairing up with Lord of Extinction to nuke the table.
Overall, I think Wizards did a mighty fine job on this base set, and the new cards really do break through that problem with established players not bothering to buy it outside of singles. I did run into the issue of opening rares I already had a playset of from previous expansions, so I won’t be buying this on the level of expansion sets, but I will certainly be glad that the marketplace will have more copies of expensive staples like Pithing Needle floating around, hopefully driving the price down for those of us who’ve long wanted a few more copies but haven’t been willing to dish out nearly $20 each for what is usually just a sideboard card.
The Prerelease
As usual, I helped staff the Admin table for the morning, signing people up for flights. It was nice to see the usual prerelease suspects, but I was also extremely pleased to bump into two old Magic friends I hadn’t seen in years – Alex Tyler* and Ryan Ligon. I played a lot of Magic with these two guys back in the day, so I was happy to see them interested in checking out the new core set.
It looked like the 4th Flight might be the last flight as people started migrating to drafts and Two-Headed Giant (though they actually ran at least one more flight), so they cut me loose from my work duties and I jumped in a flight to see if I could crack open something as sick as the sealed deck from when I was gunslinging the Alara Reborn prerelease.
Unfortunately, it was nowhere close:
My Sealed Pool:
Green: Giant Growth, Mold Adder, 2x Naturalize, 2x Elvish Visionary, Deadly Recluse, Regenerate, Awakener Druid, Entangling Vines, Prized Unicorn, Emerald Onyx, Acidic Slime, Craw Wurm
Red: 2x Lightning Bolt, Burning Inquiry, Pyroclasm, Sparkmage Apprentice, Goblin Piker, Trumpet Blast, Dragon Whelp, 2x Canyon Minotaur, 2x Berserkers of Blood Ridge, 2x Lava Axe, Inferno Elemental
Black: Duress, 2x Disentomb, Weakness, Deathmark, 2x Child of Night, Drudge Skeletons, Black Knight, Assassinate, Kelinore Bat, Warpath Ghoul, 2x Looming Shade, Wall of Bone, Megrim, Vampire Nocturnus, Zombie Goliath, Haunting Echoes
Blue: Telepathy, Unsummon, Zephyr Sprite, Coral Merfolk, 2x Sage Owl, 2x Ice Cage, Negate, 2x Illusionary Servant, Fabricate, Wind Drake, Snapping Drake, Mind Control, Hive Mind
White: Silence, Lifelink, Holy Strength, Pacifism, Stormfront Pegasus, Blinding Mage, Glorious Charge, Griffin Sentinel, Undead Slayer, Palace Guard, Razorfoot Griffin, 2x Wall of Faith, Siege Mastodon
Artifacts: Ornithopter, Demon’s Horn, Dragon’s Claw
Land: Glacial Fortress, Rootbound Crag, Terramorphic Expanse
I opened the Expanse and Rootbound Crag early, so I was kinda hoping I could go something like Blue/Black with a splash of Red/Green for a good bomb or two, but turned out that I didn’t really have any bombs worth splashing for; I just didn’t think Lava Axes qualified. Each of the colors felt somewhere between average to slightly above average, but I focused on Red/Green and Blue/White due to the slight mana fixing I had available. Blue and White had a metric truckload of fliers… but I decided to go with Red and Green because of the large beats available mixed with some early creature presence might let me get my opponent low enough so that a Lava Axe or two, or maybe a Bolt to the dome might let me steal a few victories.
To tell the truth, I didn’t have much confidence in this deck, I figured I’d get lucky to squeak out a 2-2 record (which was good for a pack) but I managed to go 3-0, and drew with my last round opponent so that each of us walked away with 7 packs. I managed to squeak a victory in three games against a dude rocking four Soul Wardens, an Air Elemental, a Serra Angel, and a Baneslayer Angel. He was working three colors, and though he had some mana fixers, in two games he had minor-to-major colored mana issues (including an assist from my Acidic Slime), so I got incredibly lucky. He was a super-nice guy and it was a true pleasure playing against him.
Here’s the deck I built:
1 Giant Growth
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyroclasm
1 Sparkmage Apprentice
2 Elvish Visionary
1 Goblin Piker
1 Deadly Recluse
1 Regenerate
1 Awakener Druid
1 Entangling Vines
1 Dragon Whelp
1 Prized Unicorn
1 Emerald Oryx
2 Canyon Minotaur
2 Berserkers of Blood Ridge
1 Acidic Slime
2 Lava Axe
1 Craw Wurm
1 Inferno Elemental
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Rootbound Crag
7 Forest
7 Mountain
What would you have built out of this pool? Was there a better deck lurking in the different colors? I’m curious what you think.
* Before I wrap things up, I wanted to touch back on my “old-school” friends who came to play a little bit of Magic after leaving the game for so long. I found Alex Tyler’s email address and he was kind enough to do an “interview” that I thought might be an interesting look at M10 from the perspective of someone who’s been away. A little free market research for Wizards, right?
Q. Hi Alex! It was great seeing you this weekend. What brought you and Ryan out to play Magic after all this time?
A. It was pretty random. A friend of mine at work asked me about the tournament Magic scene in Richmond. I hadn’t been a part of that scene for many years and asked around. Along with the other smaller events I heard about the StarCityGames.com pre-release. I figured the more casual atmosphere around a pre-release would be perfect for me right now. When I discovered that you could draft the set – and that it had Bolt in it – I was sold.
Q. When did you first start playing Magic? How did you find out about it?
A. My first pack was an Ice Age pack. I saw the cards in my local comic shop and was hooked immediately.
Q. Ice Age! What did you think the first time you saw Necropotence?
A. I started playing in local tournaments right in the middle of Necro Summer. I actually beat the first one I played against with my terrible Red Green Jokulhaups deck. I lost to the next 20.
Q. When did you stop playing Magic regularly? Why did you stop playing?
A. I stopped playing during the Psychatog era (don’t know the sets anymore.) I mainly quit because I was no longer able to devote the time to the game that I needed to compete at close to a level that would be acceptable to me. I was only able to get out and play perhaps one night a week. Just not enough time to be good enough to try and qualify for the tour or for Nationals. So I just gave it up.
Q. Where you more a serious player or casual player? Did you ever play on the Pro Tour?
A. I was a serious player – or I wanted to be. I was on the Pro Tour one time.
Q. Which Pro Tour?
A. It was in LA – Dave Price won it.
Q. Do you remember what deck you Q’d with? What deck you played at the Tour?
A. Yes. I Q’d in Extended – playing a fast Red/White/Blue Cursed Scroll deck that our playgroup came up with. At LA I played straight Red with Cursed Scroll – everyone did that Pro Tour.
Q. How did you end up doing at the PT?
A. Finished just in the money. If top 400 people got paid – then I finished 399 or something.
Q. Regarding Magic 2010, what did you think of the idea of brand new cards in the core set?
A. I thought it was a good idea. I never understood why there was a rule against having new cards in a core set.
Q. What was the coolest new card you saw in M10?
A. I only did the one draft – and didn’t look around much. The dual lands (which I’ve read about – but not seen) looked good to me. That 5/5 angel for 5 is crazy!
Q. What was the coolest reprint you saw in M10?
A. Just did the one draft – but the answer would be Bolt. I have a lot of fond memories of that card.
Q. How did you enjoy the draft? Was the set fun to draft? What was your strategy and how did the draft go for you?
A. I had a lot of fun during the draft. I thought the set drafted pretty well. My draft strategy was my usual. I looked for good removal, good evasive creatures first. Then I just looked for solid creatures (2 mana cost creatures with a 2 power are my favorite) to fill out the mana curve. Otherwise I just drafted cards I remember drafting way back when (Gravedigger, Fireball etc.) even if I didn’t really remember why I liked them so long ago.
Q. What was the clutch card(s) in your draft pool that helped you win the whole thing?
A. Tendrils of Corruption was key (I had 2). I also had 2 Dragon Whelps, 2 Gravediggers to get the Whelps back and 2 Fireballs. I’d say the Whelps and Fireballs and Tendrils were all MVPs. I don’t think I would have done as well without those cards.
Q. How much more or less likely are you to buy some packs of Magic now as opposed to before playing Magic 2010?
A. If given the chance to draft 2010, I would certainly buy some packs and draft it again. It was fun. I would not say that I am any more likely buying cards outside of draft to be honest.
Q. How likely is it that you might drop in on another prerelease tournament, this time maybe an expansion set?
A. Very likely. I had a good time.
Q. What do you think of the rules changes? Did they make Magic feel any less like the Magic you remember playing?
A. The rules changes didn’t bother me at all. It was still Magic – I had fun.
Q. Got any memorable tales of playing Magic with me back in the day? I promise I won’t edit anything out of your reply…
A. Honestly – what I remember of your and I playing is mainly me being a bad sport. I don’t remember specifics from games. I remember beating you with a Stompy deck and you mumbling something about it “almost” being a Green deck – but I found a way to make it “annoying” with Winter Orb.
Q. Ugh! Winter Orb definitely qualified as annoying. I can recall playing Oath of Ghouls against you and destroying you. Remember that?
A. Yes. You played me first round – I was playing burn. You played a second turn Oath of Ghouls and beat me with infinite Spike Feeders. You beat me again the next game. Second round you played against Kyle Rose. He was playing a control Blue deck – you played a second turn Oath of Ghouls — and beat him with it 2 games in a row because he couldn’t keep countering your creatures. Before I left the shop that day I had traded for 4 Oath of Ghouls. For however long it was all legal – after that day I didn’t play anything but Recurring Nightmare/Oath of Ghouls in that format. One of my all time favorite decks.
Q. I can also remember you playing some terribly mean deck where you played Jester’s Cap over and over, first taking away any cards I had to stop you, and I kept drawing land after land after land…
A. Now that I do remember. That was that terrible Green control deck I had created. It had almost no way to kill quickly – and just took forever to win. I remember I capped you twice in the first 3-4 turns and took out all your Creeping Molds. Since I only had two Caps — I remember feeling bad for you… just a little.
Q. What is your favorite Magic card of all time?
A. I hate having to pick a single favorite of anything. How about a Top 3? Thawing Glaciers, Cursed Scroll, Oath of Druids. I like card advantage – but I like it – one card at a time I guess.
Q. Most hated Magic card of all time?
A. Sneak Attack. I never won a game when that card hit the table. I could never get the card to work when I played it – and always lost to it when someone else did.
Q. I know you’re still an avid gamer; what games do you play at least semi-regularly these days?
A. Dungeons and Dragons, Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3, Poker, Settlers of Catan.
Q. If I built you an Elder Dragon Highlander deck, would you come play it with us sometime?
A. Yes – as long as I got to draw extra cards.
Thanks, Alex! Hope to see you at the prerelease this fall!
Take care everyone, and wish me luck at tonight’s FNM at Richmond Comix – I’m hoping to see at least a few cards I’ve never played against!
Bennie
starcitygeezer AT gmail DOT com