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So you want to be a soldier, do ya?

Today I wanted a more casual, laid back sort of deck. I decided to build a humble theme deck, but like any theme deck, there is your typical Abe-twist. We’re going to harness the tribal theme to play with a rather interesting creature type. Today I am working on a modern day Shapeshifter deck. Although it is meant to be fun, there are several powerful wining conditions here. Let’s take a look at the deck:

What I’m going to say today needs saying if for no other reason than it may save some innocent victims a few hard-earned dollars and run-ins with some unsavory leeches that are sucking this game dry. I will be exposing a couple of back room practices that occur in many gaming establishments and even in tournament settings – and even accepted as the “norm” in some cases – but designed to separate the uninformed (or the “unconnected”) from their cards and their money.

This past week, as I was getting ready to participate in one of the Magic Online release leagues for Betrayers of Kamigawa, I received a private message from CPAlliance member the Orgg. He requested that I join him in a MODO game of 2/2/all Emperor – also known as “Standard” Emperor. But there were some serious issues involved in the game which made it a tough experience to enjoy.

As many readers will already know, I began the bad rare challenge as the last article in my first run of A Deck a Day. The bad rare challenge is simple. I pull a bad rare out of my “low value rare” box in order to build a deck. I cannot refuse any rare. The idea of bad rare deck building appealed to me so much that today I’m writing a follow-up article for it.

The problem with the Casual Challenge is that sometimes, you face tough choices. For this week’s Type Four: Limited Infinity challenge, we had several articles, each good in their own way. Andrew Farias brought up some troubling issues with Type 4 rules, whereas David Kleppinger wrote an excellent introduction to Type 4. However, in the end I’m going to have to give it to Andrew Lubich’s Ten Cards You’re Not Playing With In Your Type 4 Stack (But You Should Be) for sheer creativity — it wasn’t the most strategic of articles, but the cards he chose were consistently geared to create a more interesting game. Thus, Andrew takes the prize in the tightest squeaker yet!

Since we were discussing a format with infinite mana this week, next week’s challenge will feature infinite cards — or at least 250 of them. Next week’s Casual Challenge?

5-Color Magic.

That’s right — win $20 for your best writing on the all-color format! We’ve had a dry spell on good 5-color articles, so send them in to Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2 and win the prize!

Ah, good old cards, how I love thee. I was perusing my deck stock binder, trying to find an idea for today’s article, when I espied Homarid Spawning Bed. This gem from the past allows you to sacrifice Blue creatures for 1/1 tokens equal to the casting cost.
I immediately thought about good ol’ Scornful Egotist, the eight-mana 1/1. I’ve never actually built a deck with Scornful Egotist, but this feels like as good a time as any.

When Champions of Kamigawa was introduced, my typical slew of articles on sealed deck construction was noticeably absent. I could offer a myriad of excuses for my lack of literary offerings, from being too busy at work to insisting that I still wasn’t quite moved in and had plenty house organization left to do. The reality was that I just didn’t understand Kamigawa sealed. It wasn’t until the Betrayers Team Sealed tournament at the Prerelease that the answer dawned on me. The key word that you need to understand in order to succeed at Champions Sealed deck is synergy.

I always wanted to remake the classic Prison deck in the wake of Mirrodin block. Now is my opportunity to do so with several crucial card being reprinted. The Prison deck is one of the first deck archetypes, and it was known for it’s ability to lock down the game with relative ease. It used Icy Manipulators, Winter Orbs, Armageddon, Relic Barriers, Howling Mines and are to lock you down, then played a Song of Titania and swung with a bunch of artifacts for game. This time around we’ll vary the parts a bit with some newer cards and see how effective this old archetype can still be.

Before I begin today’s deck, I want to mention that the idea for this deck came from my friend Aaron. Aaron witnessed me playing a Symbol Status for 12 creatures and declared it to be broken. Of course, I agree. I’ve always thought that Symbol Status was one of the best cards in Unhinged.