Besides the creature features that you might expect from the format (Rock, RDW, U/G), there is one control deck that seems to have scared all the other control decks away. Scepter Tog is a very powerful deck, combining the ability that Tog had to gain control of the game very quickly with a Psychatog, and the powerful Isochron Scepter engine. Some people might think that the Scepter deck might be better without the Togs, but I would argue the other way around.
Since Onslaught, we have learning something about drafting synergistic decks with the advent of tribal. This is what makes us take a bad elf over a good card. Pros have been making draft decisions based on synergies for years. The best drafters in the world go into a draft saying,”Maybe X card is the best card in the pack, but is it the best card for my deck?”
Mirrodin takes this concept to a whole new level. We have to be extra alert to synergistic cards because sometimes they are disguised as cards of another color. For instance, many people would say Wizard Replica is a fairly Blue card due to its activation cost, even thought it is an artifact. I would argue to say that Wizard Replica is better in a Red-Green deck than it is in a Blue deck! Just to have the very rare ability of flying in a Red-Green deck can have a monumental impact of how well-rounded the deck is. While you might think that Tel-Jilad Archers is the only guy in the line-up that can halt a Skyhunter Patrol, I say what about the Wizard Replica?
I figured that since my first two cards in the draft happened to be a combo, I should try drafting a combo deck in the last rounds. Most people might stick to the plan and play it safe with a top 8 on the line. Me? I do things my way. I can draft the best deck ever and I will 1-2. If I draft a pile of bad cards that I can have fun playing with, I will defeat the world.
I was hoping Affinity would stay a little more under the radar, but it has not. Why would I hope this? Well, obviously because I am playing an Affinity deck at Champs! While all the conventional builds are fast, they all lose to very popular cards in the environment. Let me illustrate:
Affinity player:”I will cast Frogmites and Myr Enforcers and Atog. YUSSS!”
Control player:”I will Akroma’s Vengeance. Would you like to scoop up all your permanents or would you like to regenerate your one land with your Welding Jar?”
Affinity player:”Derf.”
Fresh off his second-place finish this weekend, Nate discusses what’s coming up for his favorite tournament – States! And even though the decklist is old Onslaught Block hat, what other decks are emerging that might threaten Goblins?
In essence, Shared Fate reads:”Switch decks with your opponent; you have no maximum hand size and cannot lose to decking.” How does this win you the game? The key to victory is having exactly zero victory conditions in your deck. That’s right – no creatures, no spells that might accidentally kill someone, nada, nothing. Call yourself a pacifist for the day. The trick is that even though your deck has no way to win, when you switch it with your opponent, that means he has no way to win!
Now that Mirrodin has been fully released, the cat is out of the bag and we all now know what a powerhouse Mirrodin is. For the most part, the most powerful cards in the set are not rares, but uncommons – however, there will always be goodies to trade for in any new set. So let me show you what to trade for tomorrow!
You know, the other day I found out Mirrodin was The Artifact Set and I thought only one thought…
That maybe now was the time…
The day would finally come…
Manakin would be reborn!
When people in the Magic community think of me, I can only wonder what they think, but I’m sure that in between thoughts of”That guy’s terrible!” and”What was he thinking!?” they wonder why I play the most ridiculous decks every time without fail. And trust me – I have good reasons for playing a Cleric deck at Nationals!
I went undefeated. 8-0-2, all the way to Nationals. If there had been a top 8 faceoff, Elves would probably have taken the championship, considering there were four Blue/Green decks in it. The Elves reign supreme – somehow. All I can say is that many Angels suffered and many Birds got big. In the end, even Silvos had a thing or two to say. Regardless, I have single-handedly increased the value of Seeker of Skybreak in the past week.
I had just finished writing about the Elfball deck for the Magic Online site, and liked some of the interactions of the other cards in it, so I decided to make a more Standard-worthy version of the deck and try it out on Magic Online. At 9 a.m., I had lost only one game and decided to split in the finals. Somehow, my Elf deck had gone undefeated…
When I am trying to bust open a metagame, I usually look at the weaknesses of the best decks. In this case there are many decks with similar power level, but most people seem to be choosing Tog or Red/Green. I do not take this as”I will only play versus these decks” but rather,”I will probably play versus one or two of these.” This means that I would like a deck that has good game versus both of these decks, but is not so specific that I lose my games versus anything else.
God wants Nate Heiss to stay in the game – and as such, He handed Nate the luckiest tournament ever. Read about Erratic Explosions misfiring when Nate was at two! See how his G/W deck beat a blue deck with Arcanis, Quicksilver Dragon, Future Sight, and Krosan Colossus! And how did he channel the legendary”Eubroken” Eugene Harvey?
There are the Hyped-Up Cards, the cards that may or may not be good, and the cards that are solid gold but nobody knows or accepts this fact yet. A good example of a Hype card from this set would be the Mistform Ultimus – I mean sure, he’s a Squirrel Cat Beast Efreet Island Fish Dragon Townsfolk Druid Bandit Lord – but that doesn’t mean he’s good, even if he pretends to be a Necrosavant, Walking Dead, and Ball Lightning at the same time. After all when you get right down to it, the Ultimus is just a damn dirty ape.
For those of you who need a little Nate Heiss rogue spice in their life, I give you with a little Extended deck I have been working on that uses many of my favorite cards. It is a decent deck that I may run in a later PTQ, but I am always glad to share… ‘Tis the season, after all!
