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Cog Elemental has added some key rares since its initial Nuts and Bolts decklist, but the heart of the deck is still a pile of commons and uncommons. Heck, most of the variations I discussed last Friday are also fairly rare-light. One of the comments I’ve heard from several people online and in the Forums is that the deck can be built for far less than $50 total. Even still, on this penultimate day of my experiment, I want to retrace my steps and look at how to make a version of the deck that is truly”lite” (a phrase I coined on magicthegathering.com meaning”without rares”).

Okay folks, we have to be honest here. Romeo’s out of ideas. No really, there are only so many times you can write about Centaur Glade, Johnny Damon’s hair, the model for Eternal Witness, Lindsay Lohan, and playing Magic with your brother who lives in Iceland. Therefore, your job is to read Chris’s latest ramblings and then chime in with ideas for Chris’s next article. In the meantime, enjoy a variety of budget decklists Chris has been working with on Magic Online.

All Suns’ Dawn is up for Banning
Bringer of the Black Dawn is up for Banning
Eternal Witness is up for Restriction

Change the minimum color requirement to twenty cards of each color.

In his latest article on mtg.com, Paul Barclay introduced draft multiplayer rules and asked for feedback. Since I play a lot of multiplayer, I have some feedback. I’ll go through the rules as released, with the rule sections in Italics, and spout off about them. Then I’ll talk about the things these rules don’t cover, and other problems (and I’ll throw in some MD5 stats at the end).

Kirk (sarcastically):”Well now, isn’t it convenient that you drew four Swords to Plowshares by turn 4?”
Me (surveying the game):”Just about as convenient as you drawing four Hypnotic Specters by turn 4, wouldn’t you say?”
Kirk (averting my gaze):”Um oh, um, well, I guess we’re both lucky.”
Me (driving the point home):”Yeah, right Kirk. (Derisive) Lucky.”

As I expected, you all came up with lots and lots of great deck names.

Hi Ken,
I was wondering about your thoughts on Heartseeker in draft.

Literally the Oldest Trick in the Book. Kind of. Almost.

Green is one of the more powerful colors in Fifth Dawn. Its commons may not be that exciting, but its rares and uncommons are quite powerful. The artifacts, on the other hand, are much tougher to rate, since many of them use sunburst, which is alternately amazing and awful.

I open some random stuff and Detonate, Solemn Simulacrum, Blinding Beam. Which bomb do you draft?

Anthony:”You’re not playing that Millstone deck, are you?
Me:”Mayyybe. Mayyybe not.”
Anthony:”I’m not playing.”
Me:”I’m not playing it, this is a new deck.”
Anthony:”Okay, fine, I’ll play.”
Me:”Turn one, Mountain, Orcish Spy.”
Anthony:”What the hell? You said you weren’t playing that deck!”
Me:”I changed a card since yesterday.”

Today, with the end of the experiment right around the corner, I thought I would outline a few of the more interesting ideas I’ve received either in the Forums, via e-mail, or online. This won’t be an exhaustive list, obviously, and I’m not going to pursue any of these directions in my deck. Hopefully, though, walking through them will inspire you in your own mad tinkering.

If you are looking for the real scoop on Block Constructed, look no further than Block Pro Tour and Grand Prix winner Osyp Lebedowicz. In his latest masterpiece, Osyp tells you how he won Grand Prix: Orlando, explains why Affinity is still the best deck in the format and includes a complete sideboard for his deck, and shares the usual embarassing anecdotes about Brian Kibler.

Anthony:”Okay Bob, I’m going to Disenchant your Icy Manipulator.”
Bob:”Oh No You Don’t! (Bob liked to shout a lot) In response to that, I tap your Plains!”
Me:”Bob, you can’t Icy a land to stop him from casting a spell.”
Bob: (taking offense)”Who the hell says I can’t?”
Jeff:”Bob, we’ve been over this a million times. Removing the source of an effect doesn’t remove the effect itself.”
Bob:”I’m not removing anything, I’m just tapping it.”