The Casual Planeswalker

Category: Killer Combos

  • Killer Combos – “So Fresh, So Clean”

    Killer Combos – “So Fresh, So Clean”

    Melira, Sylvok Outcastplus signEtched Monstrosity

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Glistening Oil
     got you down? Another day ruined by an inconvenient breakout of phyresis? Well, fret no more! We’ve got your ultimate stain-remover, ready to redeem even the most seemingly hopeless situations.

    Well, Melira, Sylvok Outcast isn’t exactly a stain-remover, but she is a fantastic shield against the creeping crud of New Phyrexia. She’s also one of the most interesting cards in the Scars block. She’s one of the last Mirrans standing after the oil of Phyrexia ravages the plane, and she has the potential to turn the tide of many games dominated by cards from SOM, MBS, and NPH.

    While Melira is fantastic at stopping an opponent, she can also allow you to get the most out of your own deck. Etched Monstrosity is a fine card, but it’s difficult to produce five colors of mana in a Block or Standard deck. If Melira is in play, however, he’s a 10/10 for five colorless.

    Keep in mind you won’t be able to draw cards based on Etched Monstrosity’s ability because Melira doesn’t remove counters, she prevents them. However a 10/10 for five is hard to argue with.

    Something else about Melira that may not immediately occur to you is the fact that each of her abilities contains phrasing that allows ONLY YOU to benefit from her hatred of Infect. Simply put Melira in any Infect deck and you can be sure that if you come up against the mirror (an opponent playing a variation of your deck), you will have a sizable advantage.

    As we said earlier, Phyrexian Unlife + Melira = Invulnerability. In Legacy, she’ll make your Persist creatures keep on coming back. Found any other interesting uses for Melira? Leave us a comment.

  • Killer Combos – “Life and Death”

    Killer Combos – “Life and Death”

    Phyrexian Unlifeplus signDeath's Shadow

    When the Casual Planeswalker Crew went to the New Phyrexia Pre-Release, some of the cards we were most looking forward to snatching up were those employing the new Phyrexian mana symbols. Cards like Porcelain Legionnaire
    Porcelain Legionnaire     and T-t-t-Thundering Tanadon
    Thundering Tanadon     (inside joke, but I hope everyone else feels as silly as I do saying this card’s name – goofiest name since Wooly Whatsit, I mean, Woolly Thoctar) are still wreaking havoc in our playgroup as we experiment with decks restricted to the Scars block.

    In the sealed event I played in at the Pre-Release, my rare from NPH was Phyrexian Unlife, a card that isn’t great in a Limited setting, but has proved to be a lot of fun in Constructed. I first threw the enchantment into my “Life for Death” pre-con, then made some alterations, picked up a full playset of Unlifes and have been tearing things up with a Red/White Phyrexian suicide deck.

    So far I’ve had a lot of fun with Phyrexian Unlife, and I haven’t even started making decks with the broader range of cards. My first thought about Unlife in Standard is to combine it with Death’s Shadow.

    As early as the third turn (with a Dark Ritual
    Dark Ritual    ) you can play your Unlife, attack with Immolating Souleater
    Immolating Souleater    , pump him to reduce your life total to nothing (or next to it), and even if he doesn’t connect your opponent will waste a spell or blocker dealing with him.

    Nine times out of ten your opponent is going to Doomblade
    Doomblade    /Lightning Bolt
    Lightning Bolt    /Glissa’s Scorn
    Glissa’s Scorn     your Souleater, which will make them even less prepared for the 11/11 Death’s Shadow you play in your second main phase.

    There’s a lot of fun to be had with Phyrexian Unlife. Please comment and let us know how you plan to exploit this card, or add to this combo. Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Near-Death Experience, Fling…

  • Killer Combos – Das Ubermyr

    Killer Combos – Das Ubermyr

    Myr Superion Semblance Anvil

    When I first looked at Myr Superion, I thought: “OMG! It’s Juzam Djinn!” (Did anyone else think for the longest time that Juzam Djinn was awesome and legendary because he cost BB and not 2BB? The “2” is so faded that I looked at my Magic: The Gathering Encyclopedia for years thinking it was an impossibly good creature.  I hope I’m not the only n00b that thought so…)

    Anyway, Myr Superion is a big, bad vanilla for two mana, and it appeared to me initially that I’d need a Priest of Urabrask/Gix or an elf-deck to play him (the idea of having two smaller Myr in play beforehand doesn’t seem all that viable to me).

    Juzám Djinn
    Fear no more! Throw that bad-boy in an artifact-creature deck with a Semblance Anvil and go to town! I was already experimenting quite a bit with the Semblance Anvil I pulled at the NPH Pre-Release and found that there very few non-artifact situations in which it was helpful. However, if I’ve got Myr Superion and any way at all to go looking for him or keep filling my hand, I can play my 5/6’s for FREE!

    H/T:

    http://twitter.com/#!/mtgrulestips