The Casual Planeswalker

Author: DJ

  • Casual Friday–The Doctor is in

    Casual Friday–The Doctor is in

    As a bit of a Johnny, I’m always looking for cards that need to be figured out. They aren’t simple cards like Lightning Bolt
    Lightning Bolt     that can be useful in almost any deck; oftentimes these cards can be worse for you if you don’t build a deck to suit them! I’ve been looking through my pile of extra cards and found Psychic Surgery, a relatively new card appearing in New Phyrexia. It’s a nifty card that allows you to, in a sense, control your opponent’s draw whenever they shuffle their library. It can certainly be useful against decks that try to tutor for their best cards, and with some clever deck-building, it could be a fun card to build around.

    Psychic SurgeryThe coolest thing about this card is that it is so cheap. You can bring one of these out at turn two, ready to counter your opponent’s shuffling shenanigans. With Psychic Surgery on the field, a lot of tutor cards can be completely shut down. The second ability of Liliana Vess
    Liliana Vess     and the harbingers from the Llorwyn block put the chosen cards on top of the library, then Psychic Surgery activates and you can exile that top card – the one they specifically wanted – or the next card if that looks more threatening. Of course you also have the option of not removing either of those cards, if you think they wouldn’t be particularly useful to your opponent. This would naturally happen any time your opponent searches for something, whether it is from the tutors or even simple lands like Terramorphic Expanse
    Terramorphic Expanse    .

    There are plenty of opportunities to make use of this card even beyond your opponent searching for cards. They may be putting cards back into their library, there are plenty of those cards in standard right now. The Legendary Eldrazi shuffle back into their library when they’re put in the graveyard from anywhere. Perhaps you can remove the knowledge to bring those monstrosities out from your opponent’s mind. Other heavy hitters like Blightsteel Colossus
    Blightsteel Colossus     are put back into your opponent’s library as well as the cycle of Zeniths. Any way these cards are put back into the library, your opponent will have to shuffle, giving you the chance to operate on them.

    Cosi's TricksterOf course, if your deck just includes Psychic Surgery while hoping your opponent shuffles their deck a bunch of times, it isn’t going to get too far. There are plenty of cards that can get your opponent to shuffle their library with a variety of other effects that allow you to control the game. Acquire
    Acquire     or Bribery
    Bribery     allow you to use your opponent’s cards to your own advantage, taking an artifact or creature from their own library and putting it onto your side of the field. Because their library was searched, they then have to shuffle, allowing you to choose what card they draw next turn. Polymorph
    Polymorph     is another similar card that can allow you to destroy a creature that they control. While they do get another creature, they also have to shuffle their library and perhaps the tradeoff will be worth it.

    Outside of blue, black has plenty of spells that will have your opponent shuffling their library. Praetor’s Grasp
    Praetor’s Grasp     is a new card that also digs through your opponent’s deck for a card that you might like to play, then shuffles their deck. Surgical Extraction and Memoricide are only the newest of a cycle of plenty of cards that remove copies of cards from an opponent’s library to ensure that your least favorite cards are never played while still allowing you to control their draw with Psychic Surgery. Similarly, Life’s Finale
    Life’s Finale     will allow you to destroy all creatures on the field as well as a few more from your opponent’s library. For those that can pay the kicker cost, Sadistic Sacrament
    Sadistic Sacrament     can be the nail in the coffin for your opponent. With one Psychic Surgery, you get to exile 15 cards of your choice as well as one more card that they would have drawn. With cards like these in your deck, your opponent will feel like they have to shuffle their library every turn!

    Bitter OrdealWith so much shuffling going on, it would be wise to include other cards that have similar abilities to Psychic Surgery. Cosi’s Trickster, from Zendikar, is another cheap card that gets better the more you opponent shuffles. With some smart control from Psychic Surgery and other blue spells you may be able to keep her around to be a major threat. For an additional threat to their health, you can lay down a Psychogenic Probe
    Psychogenic Probe    . With all of these cheap cards out, you can start getting bigger creatures, controlling your opponent’s draw, and bringing their life down to 0 with each shuffle of their library. There are certainly some great combos waiting to be had with these cards, some mass removal like Life’s Finale
    Life’s Finale    , and Bitter Ordeal. Your opponent can be shuffling for each permanent put into the graveyard, also allowing you to pick through their deck for anything you don’t like.

    This deck seems like it would be really fun to play, as long as your opponents don’t mind shuffling all the time. It can easily be put together with those situational rare cards that are probably overstocked at your local card shop. What do you guys think? Is there potential in a deck like this in casual play?

  • Casual Friday–The End of Time

    Casual Friday–The End of Time

    Sundial of the InfiniteThe most exciting things about new sets are always cards that do brand new things in Magic. Artifacts are a great place to find unique abilities that don’t fit into any of the 5 colors of Mana. The artifact that has people thinking up the most new ideas for it would certainly be the Sundial of the Infinite
    Sundial of the Infinite    . This card immediately ends the turn which sounds pretty great, but you can only use it on your own turn. Why would you want to end your turn? Well, it turns out that ending your turn can be pretty great too.

    First it’s important to realize just what ending the turn does. As the card says, all the usual stuff like discarding down to your maximum hand size and removing damage from creatures happens immediately. Effects that last until the end of the turn also end. By far the best ability of this card is that the end of the turn exiles all spells and abilities, removing them from the game without allowing the effects to activate effectively countering the spell or ability.

    This kind of ability can quickly put a stop to any opponent that tries to do some tricks on your turn. A Leyline of Anticipation
    Leyline of Anticipation     that belongs to your opponent becomes a little less useful when they know they can’t wait until the end of their turn to use their spells. If they try to use a spell on your turn that you don’t like, you can just end the turn and their spell fizzles. Of course you do have to give up your turn to counter a spell, but exiling the spell is one of the few ways to counter spells that state they cannot be countered. Similarly, if your attack isn’t looking good because your opponent cast a spell or did some trick you didn’t anticipate you can end the turn and all your creatures will stop their attack.Ball Lightning

    Ending the turn on command can be used for more than just countering your opponent’s tricks. You can counter your own abilities too. Specifically, this card is most useful with cards that have abilities that trigger later, such as Ball Lightning, which you normally would have to sacrifice at the end of the turn. If you can have it survive its attack for 6 damage you can end the turn when the ability to sacrifice it is on the stack. Then you get to keep it around for another turn to deal another 6 damage. However for cards like this you do have to be able to end the turn early every time if you want to keep it around. With abilities like unearth there is only one trigger to sacrifice the creature and if you exile that ability then you get to keep them around for a while longer. But they do still go to exile once they are finally destroyed again.

    These are some of the simplest ways to use the Sundial of the Infinite. It can stop your opponents tricks during your turn and stop some nasty abilities from affecting you. Nearly any trigger that has you paying an extra cost or sacrificing a creature could probably be exiled on your turn with the Sundial of the Infinite. What are your favorite combos with the Sundial?

  • Casual Friday–The Surge of the Immersturm

    Casual Friday–The Surge of the Immersturm

    Warstorm SurgeThe Planechase format brought about a new way to experience the many places of the Magic Multiverse. We had a look at planes both new and old, from Murasa
    Murasa     in Zendikar to Cliffside Market
    Cliffside Market     from the plane in which the set Mercadian Masques originates. The planechase set also gave us a look at planes that have not been used or even seen in any cards before, with the Immersturm of Valla being one such card. Now with M12’s Warstorm Surge, we can harness the power of the Immersturm for ourselves.

    While the plane is very new, the ability of dealing damage when creatures enter the battlefield is not. Pandemonium
    Pandemonium     is a cheaper alternative that allows creatures to deal damage equal to their power when they enter the battlefield as well. However this card is more like the Immersturm plane than Warstorm Surge, allowing even opponent’s creatures to deal damage. Where Ancients Tread
    Where Ancients Tread     allows you to deal 5 damage whenever you play a creature with power 5 or greater, appropriate to the theme of Naya. Yet this card isn’t able to truly make use of the power of creatures like Warstorm Surge, which can deal even more damage if you can get creatures that are big enough for it. Immersturm

    The biggest drawback of Warstorm Surge over these other cards is that it costs 6 mana to play. In red that’s a lot of time that could be spent burning your opponent to death, but this is definitely a casual card to build a deck around. A Pyretic Ritual
    Pyretic Ritual     or two can help get you the enchantment out a little earlier. Otherwise the deck can be filled with creatures. Burn spells aren’t really needed since Warstorm Surge turns every creature into a burn spell. There are plenty of red creatures with tons of power that can utilize the Immersturm well. Even if they have low toughness they can now get through to deal damage. Lightning Elemental
    Lightning Elemental     can scorch your opponent or perhaps that one creature that is blocking for them. Even a wall can be a deadly opponent in the Immersturm, particularly one made of torches. The coolest card for this from M12 is definitely Furyborn Hellkite. If you dealt damage to your opponent then that means you can get 12 more damage on him from one creature entering the battlefield! So late in the game that should spell the end for your opponent. Furyborn Hellkite

    Warstorm Surge can also be very useful with help from its ally colors, black and green. Green is a clear winner for having the most big creatures to fling damage at your opponent. Garruk’s Horde
    Garruk’s Horde     is 7 damage right there and it can help you draw into even more creatures for more damage. Doubling Chant
    Doubling Chant     can get you more damage from some creatures that may have already been on the battlefield prior to the Warstorm Surge being played. In black there are some trickier ways to get damage through with Warstorm Surge. Reassembling Skeleton
    Reassembling Skeleton     can be a constant source of 1 damage if you’re willing to pay the two mana to bring it back every time. Grave Titan
    Grave Titan    , a 6/6 himself, also comes with two 2/2s that allow you to distribute damage a little bit. Sutured Ghoul
    Sutured Ghoul     also has a lot of potential late in the game. You can exile the rest of your graveyard to make him as big as you want, perhaps even beyond 20 to win the game with one attack!

    Warstorm Surge is a great card with an effect that we don’t see on a whole lot of cards. For a little more mana than Pandemonium, it keeps the damage-causing effect to your creatures only. What kind of creatures do you think would fit well with Warstorm Surge? I know I’m itching to make use of Norin the Wary
    Norin the Wary     with this card!

  • Casual Friday–Everlasting Torment

    Casual Friday–Everlasting Torment

    Black mages are always looking for more power, at any cost. When looking through black cards to use in your deck you can probably find some with very powerful effects but these also come with various drawbacks. These can be things like losing life to draw more cards, seen commonly in cards like Sign in Blood
    Sign in Blood    , to Abyssal Persecutor
    Abyssal Persecutor    ,  gaining a 6/6 flying trampler with the drawback of not allowing you to win the game. M12 gives black mages a cheap 1/1 creature that is unblockable. However, this creature is so focused on attack your opponents that it can’t block at all.

    Tormented SoulTormented Soul gives black mages a way to consistently get damage through to your opponent. If your opponent doesn’t take out the Soul then they are put on a clock, having at max 20 turns to win the game. That’s certainly plenty of time for your opponent to pull some answers, especially if all you have is a little 1/1 that can’t block. Of course, any clever planeswalker can make use of this guy to pull off some easy wins.

    His appearance in M12 goes great with Bloodthirst, giving those creatures with the ability those extra +1/+1 counters they need without needing to waste a spell or worry about the creatures being blocked. In a black deck this can power up all of your vampires, especially with the Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
    Bloodlord of Vaasgoth    . The clock will continue to wind down for your opponent and that continuous damage will only make the clock go faster with the addition of more powerful bloodthirsty creatures. Worldslayer

    Even on his own, the Tormented Soul can be pumped up to become a fearsome creature on his own. Equipment are great additions, able to be swapped to different creatures when needed. Even something as simple as the Greatsword
    Greatsword     can give a huge boost to your unblockable creature. A 1/1 is still pretty easy to beat with any spell that deals damage. Giving him shroud or hexproof with cards like the Swiftfoot Boots
    Swiftfoot Boots     and Vines of Vastwood
    Vines of Vastwood     can give your Tormented Soul the extra power needed to win the game for you. If you need lots of extra power to turn the game around Tormented Soul is also a great candidate for the Worldslayer. Sometimes you just need to destroy the world in order to earn that victory. That is certainly no problem for a planeswalker who dabbles in black magic.

  • Casual Friday- Win with Dignity

    Casual Friday- Win with Dignity

    Stonehorn DignitaryBlinding Angel
    Blinding Angel     was a popular card that can frequently cause opponents to skip combat phases. For those without answers to a simple 2/4 flyer, they may never have the chance to attack again! With the release of M12 today there is now a new creature that causes opponents to skip combat just when it arrives on the battlefield.

    When Stonehorn Dignitary shows up at your opponent’s doorstep they must attend to him instead of going to war for a turn. On its own he can save you from a threat that is looming over the horizon, perhaps from a spell you know is going to be played on the rebound like a Distortion Strike
    Distortion Strike     that would get the last few points of damage through with no chance to block. This guy is one part of a new, defense-focused strategy that protects you along with cards like Grand Abolisher
    Grand Abolisher     and Personal Sanctuary
    Personal Sanctuary    .

    Splinter TwinThis guy has a great ability, but it only happens once: when he enters play. To really make use of his ability you should have ways of playing him multiple times. Venser
    Venser,The Sojourner     is, naturally, the best choice in standard to keep the dignitaries coming around each turn. This will have your opponent skipping combat just as many times as Blinding Angel would do attacking each turn. It isn’t just Venser that can keep this guy coming back though. Mimic Vat
    Mimic Vat     and Splinter Twin
    Splinter Twin     are both available in standard to create copies of the dignitary at least once a turn.

    If you can get this guy out multiple times in a turn then the effect just keeps getting better. This ability is cumulative so if you play two Stonehorn Dignitaries, they have to skip their next combat, then skip their next combat again. It doesn’t matter if it takes multiple turns, they will be skipping however many combat phases as you play this rhino! If you can put this guy into play every turn, they will need to give themselves extra combat phases just to have a chance to attack!

    I’m certainly seeing this guy as a nice addition against decks that rely on beating face with creatures. At common he is sure to be easy to use in any number of decks. Do you have any decks that would be able to take advantage of Stonehorn Dignitary?

  • Casual Friday–The Grand Illusion

    Casual Friday–The Grand Illusion

    EN MTGM12 Cards FINAL.inddM12 is set for release next week with the usual pre-release tournaments coming up this Saturday and Sunday. I am already thinking of how to use the latest new cards in the set and many of them are very exciting from classic cards being reprinted to new twists on old cards to some brand new cards with totally new abilities. This week I would like to look at one of my new favorite blue cards that give us a new form of the classic card Clone.

    Clone has come in a variety of shapes and sizes over its many years in Magic. Even in the latest block, Scars of Mirrodin, there are a wide variety of creatures with the clone ability. From Scars of Mirrodin we have Quicksilver Gargantuan
    Quicksilver Gargantuan     making huge 7/7 forms of creatures that can turn little utility creatures like a Royal Assassin
    Royal Assassin     into a killing machine. Mirrodin Besieged gave us Cryptoplasm
    Cool Card     which can copy a new creature each turn, adapting to the changing flow of battle. With New Phyrexia, the Phyrexian Metamorph
    Phyrexian Metamorph     was a very exciting card, able to copy a creature or an artifact. With a cost of Phyrexian mana it was also usable by decks of any color for the payment of a little life.

    With M12 we will have yet another Clone card to work with and this one is yet again different from those that came before it. This Clone fits in with the Illusion tribal theme that is featured in blue along with Phantasmal Bear and Phantasmal Dragon. With this card you get a Clone at half-off, only 2 mana instead of 4, but the creature is also an Illusion and has the typical Illusion ability of being sacrificed once it is a target of something. This tribe looks to be really cool and Phantasmal Image is definitely a favorite.

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    The best part about this guy is certainly his cost. At a cost of only 2 mana you have a lot left over for counters or other control spells popular in blue. The drawback of sacrificing it when it is merely targeted is a huge drawback that you need to work around but it is not always so bad. Against black, red, and white decks many of their cards that opponents want to use on Phantasmal Image are most likely kill spells anyway so either way it is probably gone. Against blue and green the Phantasmal Image may run into a little bit of trouble but hopefully they are forced to waste a Titanic Growth
    Titanic Growth     or Turn to Frog
    Cool Card     on it. The greatest threats to this guy will most likely be creatures with cheap, repeatable effects. Luckily none of the mage cycle will be able to target your creatures, but something like Gideon’s Lawkeeper
    Cool Card     can really ruin the day of any illusion deck.

    EN MTGM12 Cards FINAL.inddM12 does include a great Illusion lord that will turn all your illusions into formidable creatures that are untouchable by your opponents. Lord of the Unreal will give all your illusions +1/+1 as well as hexproof. With Phantasmal Image, Lord of the Unreal becomes even better. If you copy him than he also becomes an Illusion, pumping himself and gaining hexproof! A deck can easily be run with 4 of all the illusion-based creatures of this set and it would probably be pretty fun to play.

    There are a few tricky rules things that can be used if you play an Illusion or are going up against one. The first thing to know is that like Clone, Phantasmal Image does not target anything. As long as the creature is out there you can copy it. You can copy a nasty Thrun
    Thrun, the Last Troll     that is giving you trouble on the other side of the board to destroy him with the Legend rule. If you wanted more Phantasmal Dragons you could copy them and you wouldn’t have to sacrifice anything!

    What if you’re going up against Phantasmal Image and Lord of the Unreal? Hexproof is pretty tough to get around, but there is one new card that may help you: Redirect
    Redirect    . If your opponent is running any spells that target creatures, perhaps by trying to Unsummon
    Unsummon     your creatures, you can redirect that spell and target their creatures because they are still the controller of the spell even though you are changing the targets! This is a great tip for anyone playing an Illusion deck as well. A deck like this can be a lot of fun but you don’t want your cards to be used against you!

    What do you think of the new Illusion tribe? I think they’re going to be really cool and their challenge with becoming targets are really great to work around. Are there any other cool tricks you can do with Illusions?

  • In Command–More New Commanders

    In Command–More New Commanders

    The New Commander decks have given us 51 new cards spread across five different Commander decks with 3 different 3-color commanders. These decks also had one new 2-color legendary creature each with some cool new abilities. These creatures can make great commanders if you take the time to make a deck that only includes their two colors. Here are some suggestions on how to create a fun deck using some of these new commanders.

    BasandraBasandra, Battle Seraph – White and red, order and chaos, always make some really neat combos. Basandra is the latest card to show just how cool these colors can be when you put them together. As soon as you play Basandra she starts to lay down the law. There won’t be any tricks in battle to worry about as long as you have Basandra out, and as a commander, you can rely on having that ability as well as her ability that forces creatures to attack. If you can make creatures attack then a proper Basandra deck should punish those creatures that are attacking.

    A great card that has the potential to wipe the board of your opponent’s creatures is Lightmine Field or even Powerstone Minefield.. They won’t want to attack with a lot of creatures but with Basandra and a bit of mana they won’t have a choice! I’ve used this card myself with Gideon Jura forcing all of the opponent’s creatures to attack at once. As an added bonus you can add Mark of Asylum, making it safe for your creatures to attack.

    This deck can be all about punishing opponents that attack, with cards like Wing Shards and Soul Parry which, as an enchantment, can be used during combat with Basandra out. Some cards that seem like good ideas would be cards like Norn’s Annex, that add costs to opponents that attack you. This, however, would very often defeat the purpose of the deck. Basandra forces creatures only if they are able to do so. With Norn’s Annex out your opponent now have to choose whether to pay the costs for their creatures to attack. If they do not pay then the creatures are unable to attack and forcing them to do so would have been wasted. Soul Snare

    With that in mind, it is also important to be able to deal damage rather than sit behind your walls and mines laughing at your opponent’s feeble attempts to attack you. The most fun creature for a deck like this would probably be Avatar of Slaughter. He is yet another creature that forces attacks, this time for everyone, with double strike! As an 8/8 he is already pretty huge, but the addition of other classic W/R commanders such as Agrus Kos and Jor Kadeen can make him as well as all your other creatures even bigger. Figure of Destiny and Nobilis of War are some great W/R cards that can find a place in any Boros deck. With just a few of the largest dragons or angels on the field you can easily finish a battle with Master Warcraft, allowing you to control the combat for the turn. If Basandra is on the field then your opponents will be forced to use any tricks they have before you make your combat decisions.

    Vish KalVish Kal, Blood Arbiter – While Vish Kal’s commander deck can’t decide whether it wants cards in the graveyard or exiled, he knows that creatures just need to hit the field for a tasty meal, then they can just go wherever. With Vish Kal’s ability that gives him counters, he would be a great commander to beat your opponent with 21 points of commander damage. For a deck like this, you are going to want plenty of creatures that would make good sacrifices for Vish Kal.

    Cards that can Reanimate creatures would be a good choice to bring creatures back as sacrifices or simply to use against your opponent. Creatures with Unearth can be used another time for an attack then sacrificed to Vish Kal for some extra pain. With Vish Kal, Reassembling Skeleton can be used as a quick way to add some counters for only 2 mana. Bloodghast is normally a bit small for a commander deck even if it does come back every turn but Vish Kal can use it for some more counters at least once every turn if you have the land for it. To get the most out of your creatures you can use Dawn of the Dead to get a creature back every turn. As long as you sacrifice your new creature before the end of the turn they will be put back in the graveyard for you to reanimate again rather than exiledDawn of the Dead. The loss of life from this card is certainly no problem for Vish Kal with lifelink and a bunch of counters from sacrificed creatures.

    Vish Kal would also feel right at home with some vampire cards in the deck. Many of the classic vampires such as Sengir Vampire will get counters themselves for killing other creatures. Perhaps the most appropriate for this deck is Repentant Vampire which turns white once you have 7 or more cards in your graveyard and also gains a cool ability that destroys black creatures. If you have some non-vampire creatures you can add Mephidross Vampire to give all of them the benefits of being a vampire. Then these creatures can be used with Captivating Vampire to turn some of your opponent’s creatures too! He will provide bonuses to all your vampires as well as provide some nice sacrifices for Vish Kal. If Vish Kal can’t get the job done alone, an army of pumped up vampires can easily take down any opponent.

    NinNin, The Pain Artist – Nin is a pretty particular commander to build around. She trades damage for cards, which means you don’t usually want to use it against opponent’s creatures. Her colors correspond to Izzet from Ravnica, but they are focused on copying spells and while they would be cool to add, very few would work well with Nin. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind would certainly be a great addition though, being able to deal tons of damage with Nin drawing you tons of cards.

    There is one card that should be used in any deck with Nin: Stuffy Doll. It is a great indestructible creature so it is a useful blocker at the least. However the best part is that it makes a great doll for Nin to play with, drawing you cards while dealing damage to an opponent. While it isn’t as controlled as Niv-Mizzet, it is a great outlet for Nin’s ability. Really any indestructible creature would be pretty useful in a deck with Nin as the commander, and there are plenty of huge indestructible creatures you can draw to win you the game. Darksteel Colossus and Blightsteel Colossus are probably standard for many commander decks anyway. Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre can also add an eldrazi spin to your deck while also preventing you from milling yourself drawing so many cards!

    Stuffy DollCards like Darksteel Plate and Shield of Kaldra can also make any creature indestructible, and there are a few creatures with neat abilities when they are dealt damage. Mogg Maniac and Coalhauler Swine will be dealing damage to your opponents whenever they take damage and if they’re indestructible then you can just repeat that ability as much as you need. Deep-Slumber Titan is a pretty big creature for only 4 mana and with Nin out you can wake him up and draw some cards.

    For those that want to be more aggressive and use Nin against opponent’s creatures, there are a couple options. Repercussion will turn damage to opponent’s creatures into damage for them as well. If you really just want to get rid of creatures, there are plenty of options for that too. Dominus of Fealty or any cards like Act of Treason will allow you to take their creatures. Then you can safely use Nin’s ability to take them out and you get to draw the cards! Nin will make sure you always have card advantage against your opponent giving you more options to achieve victory.

  • Casual Friday – Feel the Heat

    Casual Friday – Feel the Heat

    ChandraPlaneswalkers are some of the coolest additions to Magic and each new set comes with a few of these game-changing cards. We have come a long way since they were first introduced in Lorwyn. While those first five planeswalkers were reused in multiple sets, it seems their time is over. The release of M12 is just weeks away and none of those old cards are in it. Ajani and Liliana will be replaced with Gideon Jura and Sorin Markov from the Zendikar block. The remaining planeswalkers, however, are getting brand new cards that show off more of their abilities. The latest planeswalker revealed for the new set looks to be one of my favorites for M12: Chandra, the Firebrand. M12 won’t be released for a while yet, but I’m not wasting any time thinking of awesome ways to make use of the new Chandra.

    The mana cost of Chandra, the Firebrand is one of the most awesome things about this card. It only costs 4 mana first of all, so she can get out on the field pretty quickly. She also only costs 1 red mana, so it is pretty easy to play around with colors in a deck that is built around Chandra. In other colors and even a little in red it is very easy to get Chandra out early. With a Dark Ritual she can be ready to ping opponents as early as turn two!

    The pinging is pretty great as a first ability. It’s much improved over the earlier Chandra, allowing you to deal damage to creatures as well. Llanowar Elves and Lotus Cobras are no match for red burn, but who wants to waste a burn spell on such creatures? Chandra easily takes them out one-by-one, slowly taking down a deck with a lot of creatures for mana ramp. Also like any proper planeswalker card in the core set, this abilities works well with any of her other themed cards. It can pump up Chandra’s Spitfire and bring back Chandra’s Phoenix. SpitfireEN MTGM12 Cards FINAL.indd

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Chandra’s second ability is definitely where casual players can get the most fun. 2 counters lets you copy the next instant or sorcery you cast. This ability can double any instant or sorcery, it doesn’t even have to be red! Although even in red there are a ton of awesome ways to make use of this ability. A simple Lightning Bolt becomes 6 damage, but if it were a volt charge that’s 6 damage plus 2 counters on Chandra as well as any other things worth proliferating. For even more damage you can add a Fire Servant. With that out, something as simple as a Goblin Grenade can end the game! Geosurge copied can give you 14 mana, plenty to cast some huge creature spells, perhaps Emrakul? In terms of outright removal, the most fun card for this has to be Chaos Warp. You can take out some threats on your opponent’s side of the board or hope to polymorph one of your own permanents into some kind of game-ending dragon. Chaos Warp

    It’s possible to play around with Chandra’s second ability forever, but when it comes time to end the game, her ultimate can get the job done in any format. For 6 counters you can deal 6 damage to 6 different players/creatures. The best part about this new ultimate is that it is more useful in multiplayer games. You aren’t just picking on one person, dealing 10 damage to everything they own. It’s less damage, sure, but it can reach everywhere. You can deal some damage to opponents directly, maybe taking some out of the game, while dealing some other threats. 6 damage should be able to take out all but the biggest creatures in green, and you would still have mana open for some extra burn.

    Red burn is going to have yet another great card to show opponents why it’s called Red Deck Wins. Chandra looks like she will be great for both standard competitive decks as well as some imaginative casual decks that want cool effects and big spells. She is certainly my favorite planeswalker of the new set. What do you think of the newest version of Chandra?

  • In Command – New 2-color Commanders

    In Command – New 2-color Commanders

    The New Commander decks have given us 51 new cards spread across five different Commander decks with 3 different 3-color commanders. These decks also had one new 2-color legendary creature each with some cool new abilities. These creatures also make great commanders, if you take the time to make a deck that only includes their two colors. Here are some suggestions on how to create a fun deck using some of these new commanders.

    SkullbriarSkullbriar, The Walking Grave – When I first saw this guy, I thought he would make a great commander. He is just going to keep getting stronger every time you play him because as long as you keep giving him those +1/+1 counters he is going to be crushing your opponent. He’s cheap and has haste so you can get him out on turn 2 and swing, immediately turning him into a 2/2. You’re opponent may not have any way to defend against Skullbriar for a few turns which just allows him to get bigger. Even if he does die at some point that’s no problem because he just keeps all those counters! Hopefully by the time he is destroyed then he will be worth the extra 2 mana needed to play him again.

    If you build a deck around Skullbriar, it is only natural that the goal should be to win by dealing 21 damage with him to your opponent. Within green and black, the only colors available to you, there are plenty of ways to boost his power or give him abilities to keep applying the hurt. Brawn
    Brawn    , from his original Commander pre-con comes to mind as an easy way to give him trample along with Buried Alive
    Buried Alive     to bring it straight to the graveyard. Power Matrix
    Power Matrix     looks like a pretty neat card to add here, allowing you to give any creature +1/+1, trample, flying, and first strike.

    A great card to give trample would be Cytospawn Shambler
    Cytospawn Shambler    . As a 6/6 he’s a pretty big creature and you can easily give Skullbriar trample with its ability. The coolest thing about this creature is that it has graft. If you’re ever playing Skullbriar again, you can move a counter from the shambler to him. Creatures with modular would also be a great addition to a deck with Skullbriar. You’re free to leave them as blockers or sacrifice them for other abilities then move their counters onto Skullbriar.

    With a focus on Skullbriar being the only creature attacking, there isn’t much use for any others. With something like Attrition
    Attrition    , you can sacrifice your useless creatures to get rid of some on your opponent’s side of the field. It also makes mass removal less of a problem if you only have to worry about one creature. If you equip him with something like Darksteel Plate
    Darksteel Plate    , all you have to worry about is getting him to hit your opponent’s life. An easy way to do that is to simply have artifacts like Whispersilk Cloak
    Whispersilk Cloak     that make him unblockable. With just a couple cards out you can begin racking up commander damage very quickly.

    EdricEdric, Spymaster of Trest – I’m excited to have such a political creature as a commander. As long as he is out there then there is some major incentive for your opponents to attack each other rather than yourself. Why not continue that trend and try to get everyone at each other’s throats rather than against you. Heartwood Storyteller
    Heartwood Storyteller     seems like another crazy card to use with Edric, giving your opponents more cards if they like when you play a spell and, of course, giving yourself cards when anyone else plays a spell. With so many cards being drawn by everyone, Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
    Multani, Maro-Sorcerer     can get really powerful. Cultural Exchange
    Cool Card     is also a great political card allowing you to exchange creatures between any players, or just take stuff for yourself. To add some control that would pit opponents against each other Zur’s Weirding
    Zur’s Weirding     can allow any player force another not to draw.

    If your opponents start to get the idea that you aren’t their best friend, there should be plenty of control to make sure they regret going against you. Propaganda
    Propaganda     from the Political Puppets deck will ensure that your opponents have to pay to attack you. From that deck there are also great blockers including Guard Gomazoa
    Guard Gomazoa     and Fog Bank
    Fog Bank    . There are also a number of spells like Snakeform
    Snakeform     and Pongify
    Pongify     to take care of any threats your opponents control by turning them into harmless little snakes or monkeys.

    Those creatures should be no problem for the big green guys that you should include in the deck. There are plenty of creatures in blue and green that have power and toughness equal to the number of cards in your hand and hopefully you will have plenty. Overbeing of Myth
    Overbeing of Myth     and Aeon Chronicler
    Aeon Chronicler     are also able to get you even more cards every turn! If you can get rid of your maximum hand size of 7, or perhaps use Praetor’s Counsel
    Praetor’s Counsel    , these guys can be huge.

    So here are a few suggestions for two of the little new commanders. Next week I’ll have some ideas for the other 3. What do you think of the 2-color legendary guys? Are they good enough to have a deck built around them?