Casual Friday–The Surge of the Immersturm

The 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.

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.

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!