| Illusionary Might Decklist |
Creatures: Aether Adept  Aether Adept X4 Grand Architect  Grand Architect X2 Lord of the Unreal Lord of the Unreal X1 Phantasmal Bear  Phantasmal Bear X4 Phantasmal Dragon  Phantasmal Dragon X3 Phantasmal Image  Phantasmal Image X1 Porcelain Legionnaire  Porcelain Legionnaire X4 Precursor Golem  Precursor Golem X1 Spined Thopter  Spined Thopter X4 Steel Hellkite  Steel Hellkite X1 Sorceries Preordain  Preordain X4 Instants Mana Leak  Mana Leak X4 Enchantments Mind Control  Mind Control X3 Lands Glacial Fortress  Glacial Fortress X1 Glimmerpost Glimmerpost X4Island  Island X19 Sideboard Flashfreeze  Flashfreeze X2 Frost Breath  Frost Breath X2 Master Thief  Master Thief X3 Mind Control Mind Control X1 Negate  Negate X2 Neurok Commando  Neurok Commando X4 Stoic Rebuttal  Stoic Rebuttal X1 |
Category: Blog
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Illusionary Might Decklist!
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Vampire Onslaught Decklist!
Vampire Onslaught Decklist Creatures: 
Bloodghast
Bloodghast X2
Bloodthrone Vampire
Bloodthrone Vampire X4
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Gatekeeper of Malakir X4
Kalastria Highborn
Kalastria Highborn X1
Pawn of Ulamog
Pawn of Ulamog X4
Vampire Hexmage
Vampire Hexmage X1
Vampire Lacerator
Vampire Lacerator X4
Vampire Nighthawk
Vampire Nighthawk X2
Vampire Outcasts
Vampire Outcasts X3
Viscera Seer
Viscera Seer X4
Instants
Dismember
Dismember X4
Artifacts
Blade of the Bloodchief
Blade of the Bloodchief X2
Mimic Vat
Mimic Vat X1
Lands
Verdant Catacombs
Verdant Catacombs X1
Swamp
Swamp X23
Sideboard
Distress
Distress X4
Go for the Throat
Go for the Throat X2
Skinrender
Skinrender X4
Vampire Hexmage
Vampire Hexmage X3
Vampire Nighthawk
Vampire Nighthawk X2 -
Casual Friday–The End of Time
The 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.
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?
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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! -
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 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.
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. -
Killer Combos – “A Zombie in the Hand”
…isn’t nearly as good as one in the graveyard. But what is the quickest way to get him there?
This week we’ll be looking at a couple of fun combos to try while M11 and M12 are both in Standard. When the rotation occurs with the arrival of Innistrad (check out spoilers here), these fun combos will be gone as well.
First, please keep in mind that all of our combos are meant for casual play, not made to be tournament winners. They are fun little mechanics to build a casual deck around, and while they may not stand up to Caw-Blade at FNM, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be a kitchen-table hit.
This combo in particular is one that will please players who like to win big. There aren’t many good reasons (other than some psychological troubles that we’re not going to get into) to hit yourself hard enough to induce memory loss, but that’s exactly what we’re asking you to do in this combo.
The procedure here is simple, use Traumatize to dump (hopefully) two or three Vengeful Pharoahs into your graveyard. Then, sit back and just see if your opponents are willing to attack.
Once half your library is in your graveyard, Visions of Beyond becomes Ancestral Vision
Ancestral Vision allowing you to draw (and discard) more Pharaohs, hit your land drops and draw into Sorin’s Vengeance
Sorin’s Vengeance, or to refill your hand with Mana Leaks
Mana Leak.Reassembling Skeleton
Reassembling Skeleton would love to find his way into the dustheap this way as well.Throw in a few Tormented Souls
Tormented Soul and you’ll have your opponent on a clock. Or, to ensure that you’ll be bringing your Pharoahs back from the dead, play R/U instead of U/B and let Rage Nimbus force your opponent’s creatures to attack.Untap, Swing, Fling, repeat.
All this combo brainstorming makes me want to brew this thing up myself… Any thoughts about what else to include? Leave us a comment.
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Looking Forward – AvNB, Innistrad, and Graveborn
The dust is just beginning to settle on M12. The visual spoiler is complete, the pre-release and release have come and gone, and our Guide to M12 is currently on sale.
Note: For those of you anticipating the release of M12 on MtGO, I highly recommend picking up our guide.
It’s time to look to the future of Magic. We have seen that future, and the future is awesome:
Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas
First up, chronologically, is AvNB, the latest in the Duel Decks series.
What we Know: This product will consist of two 60-card decks, based around the two eponymous planeswalkers. The basis of this battle royale is the storyline from the novel Alara Unbroken which chronicles the fierce leonin’s pursuit of vengeance against the terrible, legendary dragon.
Presumably both decks will contain a more or less equal distribution of the component colors of their respective planeswalkers – that’s R/W for Ajani and U/B/R for Bolas. If the deck strategies are based on the abilities of the planeswalkers, then Ajani’s will likely be an aggressive burn/weenie deck, while Bolas is likelier to have a drawn-out, control-based strategy.
While the abilities used by Nicol Bolas are much more powerful than Ajani’s, it will be a serious chore just to get him into play without any mana acceleration.
We only know two of the 120 cards to be included as of right now, and those are the planeswalkers themselves, though even that little bit of information is exciting when they come with new art.
Release Date: September 2, 2011
Innistrad – “Horror Lurks Within”
The upcoming release that the TCP crew is most excited about is the newest “large set” to be released, and the beginning of the latest 3-set block. Previously codenamed “Shake”, we can now plainly refer to Wizard’s newest offering as Innistrad, a 264 card set that will be replacing the Zendikar block in Standard.
What we Know: Actually, quite a bit. Or at least we have some good hunches.
Our Innistrad spoiler page has already been populated with the latest in speculation on the set. Check it out, and check back often in the coming weeks for updates:
https://casualplaneswalker.com/innistrad-visual-spoilers/
Based on the promotional art released with the formal announcement of Innistrad (below), we can also predict that Liliana, who was apparently slighted in M12, will be back and will likely have a new card with new abilities.
We’re also betting that the zombie/vampire theme which was supported in M12 will be continued in Innistrad, along with a strong graveyard focus, based on the spoilers we have thus far (and our deepest hopes and dreams).
Innistrad appears to be the name of an all-new plane, but only time will tell exactly where we’ll be in the next block, how Liliana got there, and who that dead guy is at her feet.
Also, Innistrad-related events will span the month of October, leading up to a Game Day over Halloween weekend. What could be spookier?
Release Date: September 30, 2011
Premium Deck Series – Graveborn
Finally, we’d like to mention the next installment of the Premium Deck Series. This one is called Graveborn and it has the potential to be our favorite one thus far.
Premium Deck Series are 60-card, all foil decks which include 8 rares, and are centered around a prominent archetype or theme (Slivers, burn, and now graveyard recursion).
In the announcement for Graveborn, we were promised (obliquely) that we’d see the standard reanimator fare: Entomb
Entomb, Exhume
Exhume, Reanimate
Reanimate. Along with an all-color suite of ginormous creatures just begging to be cheated into play.While the price tag on the Premium Decks has always been a little bothersome to us (typically in the $35 range), this particular offering will be a good way for newer players to experience the fun of graveyard-based mayhem after receiving their introduction in necromancy from M12 and Innistrad.
The probable inclusion of Entomb, Exhume, and Reanimate, also indicates that these cards will NOT appear in Innistrad, which is a bit of a disappointment to Swamp-things.
Release Date: November 18, 2011
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Casual Friday- Win with Dignity
Blinding 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.
This 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?
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Killer Combo – “Ring Around the Rosy”
If you haven’t already heard the historical interpretation of that children’s rhyme, make your day a little cloudier and read up.
We’re really excited about M12 here at The Casual Planeswalker. We’ve been preparing for the release of the Core Set for quite some time and we’ll have a big announcement pertaining to M12 later this week. Stay tuned!
Core Sets are a great way for new and inexperienced players to play with classic cards and play in a Limited environment which is easier to learn and understand than standard expansions.
White, in M12, has some great enchantment support, so a red/white enchantment build make for a really fun casual deck. Consider making this combo a fun centerpiece of that deck.
First of all, let me just say that I love the flavor text on Manabarbs. As much as I admire the sentiments of Kamahl, pit fighter, a central character from the Odyssey block, I’d rather have a way to turn that double-edged sword into a strictly offensive weapon.
Personal Sanctuary is a great way to do just that. It allows you to tap your lands without feeling the burn during your turn.
Unless your opponent is packing green/white enchantment removal, this is going to be a hard combo to break up. Add in an Aegis Angel
Aegis Angel to protect one of them and you’ll test just how tolerant your opponents really are.If you continue to build around this combo, feel free to throw in a few Auramancers
Auramancer for extra insurance, a Mesa Enchantress
Mesa Enchantress for card draw, and you’ve got a fun, casual enchantment-based deck.
We’ll keep the M12 combos coming this week, along with some addition discussion of the newest core set and what’s coming next!Look for Innistrad spoilers to start later this week!!!
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M12 Precon Decklist – Entangling Webs
Entangling Webs Decklist Creatures:
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Elves X3
Runeclaw Bear
Runeclaw Bear X1
Crimson Mage
Crimson Mage X2
Garruk’s Companion
Garruk’s Companion X1
Giant Spider
Giant Spider X3
Lightning Elemental
Lightning Elemental X1
Stampeding Rhino
Stampeding Rhino X2
Stingerfling Spider
Stingerfling Spider X2
Acidic Slime
Acidic Slime X2
Arachnus Spinner
Arachnus Spinner X1
Vastwood Gorger
Vastwood Gorger X1
Garruk’s Horde
Garruk’s Horde X1
Sorceries
Rampant Growth
Rampant Growth X2
Overrun
Overrun X1
Fireball
Fireball X1
Instants
Titanic Growth
Titanic Growth X1
Fling
Fling X1
Hunter’s Insight
Hunter’s Insight X2
Slaughter Cry
Slaughter Cry X1
Enchantments
Arachnus Web
Arachnus Web X3
Artifacts
Greatsword
Greatsword X2
Lands
Forest
Forest X18
Mountain
Mountain X7
