Tag: casual mtg

  • 10 Quick Deckbuilding Tricks Every Casual MTG Player Should Know

    10 Quick Deckbuilding Tricks Every Casual MTG Player Should Know

    You don’t need a $500 mana base or a pro tour pedigree to build a deck that wins. You just need to stop making the mistakes that most casual players make without realizing it.

    These 10 deckbuilding tricks are fast to learn and immediately actionable. Each one will make your next deck tighter, more consistent, and more fun to play. Whether you’re building a 60-card kitchen table brew or a Commander list, these fundamentals apply.

    Let’s get into it.

    1. Stick to 60 Cards (or 100 in Commander)

    Every card you add beyond the minimum deck size makes your best cards harder to draw. That’s not opinion — it’s math. In a 60-card deck, any single card has a 1-in-60 chance of being your next draw. Bump that to 70 cards and you’ve diluted every draw step by over 15%.

    The temptation to run 65 or 70 cards usually comes from not wanting to cut anything. But here’s the truth: if you can’t decide what to cut, that’s a sign your deck lacks focus, not that it needs more cards.

    Commander players: the same logic applies at 100 cards. Don’t run 105 because you couldn’t make the last few cuts. The singleton format is already inconsistent by design — don’t make it worse.

    The fix: After you finish building, force yourself to identify the 3 weakest cards and cut them. If you’re already at 60, great. If you’re at 63, those cuts just brought you to the minimum.

    2. Follow the Rule of 9

    This is the simplest deckbuilding framework that exists for 60-card decks: pick 9 cards you want to build around, run 4 copies of each, and add 24 lands. That’s 36 spells + 24 lands = 60 cards.

    The Rule of 9 forces consistency. Running 4 copies of a card means you’re far more likely to draw it in your opening hand or first few turns. One-ofs and two-ofs should be the exception, not the default.

    For Commander: You can’t run multiples (except basic lands), but the principle still applies. Instead of 4 copies, run 3-4 cards that fill the same role. Need card draw? Don’t run one draw spell — run Harmonize, Rishkar’s Expertise, Beast Whisperer, and Guardian Project. Functional redundancy is the Commander equivalent of running 4-ofs.

    The fix: Lay out your decklist in groups of 4. If any group has fewer than 3 copies (in 60-card) or fewer than 3 cards filling the same role (in Commander), ask yourself if that slot is earning its place.

    3. Build Your Mana Curve, Not Your Card Collection

    New players love splashy, expensive spells. But a deck full of 5-, 6-, and 7-mana bombs means you’re doing nothing for the first four turns while your opponent builds a board and attacks you.

    Your mana curve — the distribution of mana costs across your deck — should be front-loaded. For most casual 60-card decks, aim for something like this:

    • 1-mana: 4-8 cards
    • 2-mana: 8-12 cards
    • 3-mana: 6-10 cards
    • 4-mana: 4-6 cards
    • 5+ mana: 2-4 cards

    Cards like Go for the Throat at 2 mana or Lightning Strike at 2 mana let you interact early. A top-end finisher like Etali, Primal Conqueror is great — but you only need one or two of those, not eight.

    The fix: After building your deck, sort it by mana cost. If your curve doesn’t look like a hill that peaks at 2-3 mana, you have work to do.

    4. Playtest Digitally Before Buying

    This trick alone will save you hundreds of dollars over your Magic career. Before you spend real money on cards, test the deck online for free.

    The original version of this advice from 2009 recommended programs like Apprentice and Magic Workstation. The tools have gotten dramatically better since then:

    • Moxfield — Build your deck and use the “Playtest” feature to goldfish (draw sample hands and play out turns solo). It’s free and the best deckbuilding tool available.
    • MTG Arena — Free-to-play and perfect for testing Standard and Explorer decks against real opponents.
    • Cockatrice — Free, open-source client where you can test any format against other players with no card restrictions.
    • Spelltable — For Commander, play with your webcam using your physical cards (or proxies) against real people online.

    Goldfish your deck at least 10 times before buying a single card. Draw your opening hand. Play out the first 5 turns. Ask yourself: Am I doing something meaningful by turn 3? If the answer is consistently no, redesign before you spend.

    The fix: Build your next deck on Moxfield first. Playtest 10 opening hands. Only buy the cards after you’re satisfied with how the deck flows.

    5. Use Budget Alternatives

    You don’t need Sheoldred, the Apocalypse to build a good black deck. For every $30+ staple, there’s usually a $1-3 card that does 80% of the same job.

    The key is learning how to search for alternatives. Scryfall is your best friend here. Use its advanced search syntax to find cards with similar effects:

    The original Quick Tricks guide compared Birds of Paradise to Gemhide Sliver. Today, Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, and Fyndhorn Elves are all under $1 and serve the same purpose.

    The fix: Before buying any card over $5, search Scryfall for a cheaper version of that effect. You’ll be surprised how often you find one.

    6. Read Your Metagame

    Your deck doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists in your playgroup. If your friend always plays a creature-heavy green stompy deck, you need removal. If someone runs heavy counterspells, you need cards that are hard to counter or that bait out responses.

    The “metagame” is just a fancy word for “what everyone at your table is playing.” Pay attention to it.

    Ask yourself three questions:
    1. Who plays what decks? Know the threats before you sit down.
    2. What cards consistently beat me? Build answers into your deck.
    3. What strategies am I weakest against? Shore up those gaps.

    If your group loves graveyard strategies, slot in Rest in Peace or Bojuka Bog. If artifacts are everywhere, Vandalblast or Bane of Progress can swing entire games.

    The fix: After your next game night, write down the 3 cards or strategies that beat you most. Next time you update your deck, add answers for at least one of them.

    7. Every Card Needs a Job

    Pick up any card in your deck. Can you explain why it’s there in one sentence? If you can’t, cut it.

    Every slot in your deck is precious real estate. Cards earn their spot by doing one of these jobs:

    • Advancing your game plan (threats, combo pieces, engines)
    • Protecting your game plan (counterspells, hexproof, indestructible)
    • Disrupting your opponent’s game plan (removal, discard, hate cards)
    • Enabling consistency (card draw, tutors, mana fixing)

    A card like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben does two jobs at once: she’s a 2/1 attacker AND she slows down spell-heavy opponents. That’s an efficient card slot. Meanwhile, a random 4/4 vanilla creature with no abilities? It’s just taking up space something better could fill.

    The fix: Go through your deck card by card. For each one, state its job in one sentence. Any card you hesitate on is a cut candidate.

    8. Include Interaction

    This is the biggest mistake casual deckbuilders make: building a deck that only does “its thing” and ignores the opponent entirely. If your deck is a creature deck with zero removal, you’ll fold the first time someone plays a single threat you can’t attack through.

    Every deck needs some amount of interaction. How much depends on your format and strategy, but here’s a starting point for 60-card decks:

    • 4-6 removal spells (creature removal, enchantment/artifact removal)
    • 2-4 protection pieces (counterspells, indestructible effects, or hexproof)

    Good, cheap interaction that fits almost any deck:

    Color Removal Protection
    White Swords to Plowshares, Generous Gift Flawless Maneuver
    Blue Counterspell, Reality Shift Negate
    Black Go for the Throat, Feed the Swarm Malakir Rebirth
    Red Lightning Bolt, Chaos Warp Tibalt’s Trickery
    Green Beast Within, Ram Through Heroic Intervention

    The fix: Count the number of cards in your deck that can interact with an opponent’s board or stack. If it’s fewer than 6 in a 60-card deck (or 10-12 in Commander), add more.

    9. Manage Your Mana Base

    Getting the right number of lands is only half the equation. Getting the right colors at the right time is the other half.

    For a two-color 60-card deck, roughly 24 lands is standard. But if all 24 are basics split evenly, you’ll get color-screwed regularly. Dual lands fix this:

    A common mistake is running too few lands. If your deck has a lot of 3- and 4-mana spells, 24 lands is the floor, not the ceiling. If you’re hitting land drops late, go to 25 or 26.

    Conversely, aggressive decks with a low mana curve (mostly 1- and 2-drops) can trim to 20-22 lands and use those extra slots for more threats.

    The fix: Use the Karsten mana base calculator or the Moxfield mana analysis tool to check if your color distribution matches your mana requirements.

    10. Iterate and Improve

    Your first draft of a deck is never the final version. The best decks evolve through dozens of small tweaks over many games. The trick is tracking those tweaks so you learn from them.

    After every game, ask yourself:

    • What cards sat dead in my hand? If a card consistently does nothing, cut it.
    • What did I sideboard in every game? If you always bring it in, it belongs in the main deck.
    • What did I wish I had drawn? That’s a signal to add more copies or similar effects.
    • Did I have too many/few lands? Adjust accordingly.

    Keep a simple log — even just a note on your phone. Over 5-10 games, patterns become obvious. Maybe that flashy 6-mana spell never resolves. Maybe you always need more card draw on turn 4. The data tells you what to change.

    The fix: After your next 5 games, make at least 2 card swaps based on what you observed. Then play 5 more. Repeat. This is how good decks become great decks.

    Bonus Trick: The 8-by-8 Method for Commander

    Since Commander is the most popular casual format, here’s a bonus trick specifically for 100-card decks. The 8-by-8 method is the Commander version of the Rule of 9:

    Pick 8 categories your deck needs (such as ramp, card draw, removal, board wipes, threats, protection, recursion, and utility). Fill each category with 8 cards. That gives you 64 nonland cards + 36 lands = 100 cards.

    This ensures you have a balanced deck with enough of everything. Too many Commander decks have 20 creatures, 3 removal spells, and no card draw. The 8-by-8 method prevents that imbalance before it starts.

    Adjust the numbers based on your commander and strategy — an aggro deck might have 12 threats and 4 board wipes, while a control deck reverses those numbers — but 8-by-8 is the starting point.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How many lands should I run in my MTG deck?

    For a standard 60-card deck, 24 lands is the default starting point. Aggressive decks with low mana curves (average mana value under 2.5) can go as low as 20-22. Control decks or decks with expensive spells may want 25-26. For Commander, 36-38 lands is typical, though decks with heavy ramp packages can sometimes get away with 33-35. Always adjust based on your playtesting — if you’re frequently mana-screwed, add lands; if you’re frequently flooded, cut one or two.

    What is the best free tool for building MTG decks online?

    Moxfield is the gold standard for online deckbuilding in 2026. It offers free deck creation, a built-in playtest/goldfish feature, mana curve visualization, price tracking, and community deck sharing. For actual gameplay testing, MTG Arena is free-to-play for Standard and Explorer formats, while Cockatrice lets you test any format with any card for free against real opponents.

    How do I know which cards to cut from my deck?

    Apply the “one sentence” test: if you can’t explain a card’s role in one sentence, it’s a cut candidate. Beyond that, track your games. Cards that consistently sit in your hand without being cast, cards that never impact the board when you play them, and cards that you always sideboard out are all signals. Replace them with cards that address weaknesses you’ve identified through playtesting. When in doubt, cut the most expensive (highest mana cost) card, as it likely contributes to curve problems.

    Keep Improving Your Deckbuilding

    These 10 tricks are the foundation, but deckbuilding is a skill you develop over hundreds of games and dozens of builds. If you want to go deeper, check out our Complete Guide to Deckbuilding in MTG — it covers advanced topics like card advantage theory, sideboard construction, and archetype-specific building strategies.

    Building a budget deck that punches above its weight? We have a guide for that too.

    Now go cut those extra 5 cards from your deck. You know which ones they are.

    Originally adapted from The Casual Planeswalker’s Quick Tricks guide (2009), fully modernized for today’s tools, formats, and card pool.

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  • 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!

  • 5 Reasons to be Excited for Mirrodin Besieged

    5 Reasons to be Excited for Mirrodin Besieged

    So this weekend saw the release of the newest Magic set: Mirrodin Besieged. Full scale war has broken out between Mirrodin and the invading Phyrexians. A new set always brings new cards and a small set like Mirrodin Besieged is able to create new decks and expand upon any decks that already exist, especially for those that use a lot of themes and abilities from Scars of Mirrodin. Here are a few of the coolest things that you will see in the new set.

    1. More awesome artifacts to play. I think it is really cool to have another set that is in Mirrodin because a visit to this plane always comes with some brand new artifacts. Artifacts are my favorite types of cards because they are permanent; they stay on the battlefield and have all sorts of really cool abilities that will stick around, sometimes changing the way the game is played. My favorite artifact in this set has to be Knowledge Pool which totally changes the game by exiling each spell a player casts and forcing them to choose from one of at least 6 other spells instead. Shimmer Myr can allow you to play artifacts whenever you want, leaving your opponents guessing when you can leave a lot of mana open on your turn. For those that simply prefer crushing their opponent, Blightsteel Colossus is happy to oblige by being an 11/11 that is indestructible with Trample and Infect. This guy can completely poison an opponent in one turn, even if you aren’t playing an Infect deck!

     

     

    2. The Phyrexians are advancing, and evolving. With the release of Mirrodin Besieged, it’s all out war between the Mirrans and Phyrexia. In Scars of Mirrodin the balance of these two forces was heavily in favor of the Mirrans, a majority of the cards having their watermark. The Phyrexians have spread across the plane, even into other colors bringing the abilities of Infect into white and Proliferate into green and black. This is great for any player that enjoys Infect and Proliferate as it makes them a lot more versatile. You can also find plenty of new cards to provide a nice power boost to any of your decks made from Scars of Mirrodin.

    3. Equipment can now act on its own with Living Weapon. While the old Phyrexian abilities of Infect and Proliferate have spread to new colors, they also have a brand new ability unique to equipment artifacts. Phyrexian equipment comes into play with a 0/0 germ token and attaches itself to that token. These weapons are real great because you no longer have to choose between playing a creature to defend yourself and playing some equipment that will just be sitting around until your next turn. Living weapons make good blockers because they are just 0/0 creatures that came free with your equipment.

    4. The Races of Mirrodin have united to combat the Phyrexian horde. With Mirrodin Besieged, the Phyrexian threat to the plane has been realized by its denizens. The Mirrans are no longer fighting against each other and have become a unified force. The new Battle Cry ability demonstrates this very well. When creatures with Battle Cry attack, each other attacking creature gets +1 power until the end of the turn. This ability really encourages decks that can make huge armies and will surely be very useful for anyone’s token deck. Battle Cry appears mostly in red and white, colors that can really appreciate having tons of creatures out at once, but there are also colorless creatures with Battle Cry that allow you to create any color deck you please while still making use of this cool new ability.

    5. Fight for the fate of the plane of Mirrodin. Many of you have probably taken a look at the cards in this set and Scars of Mirrodin and noticed the watermark in the text box of nearly every card. Now that the conflict between Mirrodin and Phyrexia has escalated, it is time to make use of those watermarks and pick a side to fight for the fate of the plane. At the prerelease each player had to choose a side and received special Mirrodin Besieged booster packs that only had cards from their chosen side. Friday Night Magic events will encourage players to take part in the war with a poster that keeps a tally of each victory for Mirrodin or Phyrexia themed decks against an opponent’s themed deck. The war will be decided in the next set, but two different sets have been announced. The next set will be Mirrodin Pure if Mirrodin wins or it will be New Phyrexia if Phyrexia is the victor. Who will decide the outcome of the war? I’m hoping that the players will have some influence on the future of Mirrodin.

    These are just a few of the reasons to check out the latest Magic set. There is also a brand new planeswalker but I’m not sure what to think of him yet. I am certainly looking forward to using all the awesome new cards. This set brings a lot of new stuff to the game, did I miss your favorite card of the set? There are awesome new artifacts and the war between the armies of Mirrodin and the Infect decks of Phyrexia makes for two totally different ways to play Magic. I hope that you are also excited to pick a side and fight the war for Mirrodin!

  • The Power of Proliferate

    The Power of Proliferate

    Counters are pretty nifty little things in Magic: The Gathering. There are counters that have special effects, like those from Liege of the Tangle that turn lands into huge 8/8 creatures. There are simple +1/+1 counters that can give a useful boost to any creature. With Phyrexia invading Mirrodin once again, -1/-1 counters and poison counters are sure to be in abundance. As a Phyrexian ability Proliferate is a really cool ability that can add counters to any permanent or player, which also allows for a lot of neat tricks, going quite well with Infect as well as other artifacts in the set and beyond.

    When Proliferate is activated that player chooses any number of permanents/players, adding one counter for one type of counter already on it. If a permanent has multiples types of counters on it, like some charge counters as well as +1/+1 counters, you don’t add a counter of both those types. Only one counter can be placed on each permanent when you use Proliferate. This is an important rule to keep in mind if you start getting all sorts of crazy counters on your cards.

    It’s also important to know how +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters work. A permanent will never have both of those counters on them at the same time. If both of these counters are on a permanent at the same time, you remove one of each until one type of counter is gone. Since these types of counters cancel each other out, don’t be targeting the wrong kind of creatures or you might end up helping your opponent get some huge creatures!

    So with some of the finer aspects of the rules out of the way, what are the coolest ways to use Proliferate? Even looking at just Scars of Mirrodin there are tons of ways to use this ability. Infect, the other Phyrexian ability, is probably the most obvious way to use Proliferate. This ability adds a bunch of poison counters and -1/-1 counters, why not use Proliferate to multiply those effects while still keeping your creatures safe from harm? Proliferate can finish off your opponents’ creatures hit by Infect by piling on some more -1/-1 counters until they reach 0 toughness and are thrown into the graveyard.

    Aside from manipulating the counters of creatures, there are a whole bunch of cards in this set and others that use charge counters. Maybe you want to give some of your Infect creatures a big power boost? Normally black doesn’t allow something like this but with a Trigon of Rage handy you can add +3 power to these guys at any time! Normally you would want some red mana so you could recharge the Trigon, but it is here that you really see the power of Proliferate. With something like a Contagion Clasp you can pay 4 mana to Proliferate every turn, adding poison counters to your opponent, -1/-1 counters on their creatures, and charge counters to the Trigon all at the same time!

    Looking beyond the set there are all sorts of cool counters that are real nice when you can add them up at an accelerated rate. Planeswalkers are nice targets for Proliferate, being able to give them more loyalty counters, allowing them to perform their ultimate abilities much faster. There are also quest counters from Zendikar. The rare ascension enchantments like Archmage Ascension have really cool effects but they can take a long time before you can make use of them. Proliferate can help you, for example, draw any card you want in only a few turns.

    My last tip comes from the Rise of the Eldrazi set with its level up creatures. Those guys can cost a whole lot of mana if you want them to reach the top levels, especially if you have a deck made up of mostly those creatures. Now with Proliferate you potentially only have to pay to level up each creature once. You can then use Proliferate to add level counters to these creatures, even using it to level up multiple creatures at the same time!

    These are just a few of the many uses of Proliferate. Any counter at all can be multiplied through the power of Proliferate. Counters that change power and toughness are pretty common in a lot of sets and those can be manipulated with this ability. Charge counters and loyalty counters are usually a great opportunity to use Proliferate and those appear in multiple artifacts and all planeswalkers respectively. Even if you just play Scars of Mirrodin an Infect deck is a great place to add some Proliferate cards to quickly have your opponents succumb to a poisonous defeat!

  • Heavy Metal(craft)

    Heavy Metal(craft)

    Metalcraft is a new ability used by the Mirrans in order to unite against Phyrexia. It gives extra abilities or other bonuses if you control three or more artifacts which can include power and toughness increases, new abilities, or extra effects from spells. The nice thing about Metalcraft is that it always requires 3 artifacts so it is easy to take a quick look at the field and see if they are activated or not. The bonuses are also pretty nice, always being something that you would have to otherwise pay a bit more to use.

    Probably the coolest use of Metalcraft is to surprise your opponents with powerful spells when you don’t have a lot of mana open. While counterspells usually cost 3 mana these days you can be ready for anything your opponent casts for 2 mana if you have three artifacts on the field and Stoic Rebuttal. I really like galvanic blast, which can deal an extra damage for the price of a lightning bolt. A lot of creatures are built around the 3 damage that lightning bolt can deal and an extra point can make a difference of life or death.

    There are a few powerful spells with Metalcraft and their upgraded effects can really change the game but there are ways around it. Spells and triggered abilities with Metalcraft only occur if that player has three artifacts as they resolve. If you are facing someone that uses one of these abilities, try to melt away some of their artifacts. If you can get them down to two or less, you may have saved yourself and wasted some of your opponent’s cards!

    If you are using an artifact deck with Metalcraft then you certainly don’t want this to happen to you. Once you’re at three artifacts it’s important to keep playing more, ensuring that Metalcraft triggers aren’t in jeopardy. This is important in decks with creatures like carapace forger that can become real threats around a lot of artifacts. Some good artifacts for this are those made of darksteel that are always indestructible. Other artifacts with Metalcraft are good additions to a deck, counting themselves when looking for artifacts. If you only have 2 artifacts on the field then a cool trick is to cast darksteel sentinel or another artifact with flash to activate Metalcraft and give a big boost to your creatures that will quickly give you the upper hand in many situations.

    The Mirrans with Metalcraft, although it is their only ability in this set, are more than a match for any opponent. With the help of only 3 artifacts, many cheap creatures and spells become much more potent. But having just 3 artifacts will just leave your position vulnerable to the shatters and naturalizes of an opponent. Continue building a strong force of both artifacts and Metalcraft abilities to make a powerful united force that can stand up to anything!

    

  • Fighting Infection

    Fighting Infection

    So Scars of Mirrodin has been released for quite a while now and you’ve probably been trying out all the new cards. Like any new set Scars of Mirrodin introduces a few new abilities to the mix and this time some of them are quite nasty. Metalcraft gives yours cards bonuses for having other artifacts on the field and Proliferate adds more counters to things, but this week I’d like to talk about the most terrifying new ability in this set: Infect.

    Infect is one of three new abilities to premiere in Scars of Mirrodin, but it may seem familiar to longtime players of Magic: The Gathering. A creature with infect deals damage to other creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters, much like Wither from Shadowmoor. I’ve always been a little wary when fighting against someone that can put these counters on my creatures. -1/-1 counters are permanent and once a creatures hits 0 toughness, there is no way to save them. A creature with 0 toughness is put right into the graveyard. Not even indestructible or regenerating creatures can stand up to the poisonous effects of -1/-1 counters. Infect is a threat to everyone’s biggest creatures and some may choose to just take the damage rather than weaken their biggest threats.

    Taking damage from creatures with Infect is a whole new threat because the poisonous effects of these creatures can now be spread to you as a player. Poison counters were a relic of the ancient game of Magic: The Gathering last played over 10 years ago! They made a brief return in Future Sight’s time-shifted cards and their predictions are now coming to pass with Infect. While creatures with Infect deal damage to other creatures with -1/-1 counters, if they manage to deal damage to a player, they deal damage in the form of poison counters. A player with 10 poison counters loses the game, so be careful! It’s important to keep an eye on your poison counters because poison counters can never be removed.

    So Infect seems like a pretty scary ability, how do you fight against it? Well the first thing to keep in mind is that Infect replaces normal damage with -1/-1 or poison counters. So if your opponent is playing with only a couple creatures with Infect then you can probably take some poison counters for a couple turns until you find an appropriate response to get rid of them. This also means that if your opponent’s deck is made up of tons of infect creatures, there probably isn’t a whole lot in their deck that can damage your life total.

    But no matter how many creatures with Infect are in the deck, there will reach a point where you have to put your creatures up against them. The best way to get rid of Infect creatures, other than destroying them yourself, is to pit them against creatures with First Strike or Double Strike. These creatures can attack before their enemy gets a chance to get a swipe at them, allowing them to stay nice and healthy.

    There are few ways to get around Infect without causing some damage to yourself, so what are some simple strategies to keep Infect creatures from poisoning you? You are going to lose creatures: you want as few creatures with Infect on their side of the board as possible and to do that you need to block, a lot. The early game can be crucial against a player with Infect because if you let their 1/1 keep at it from the third turn those poison counters are going to add up. Realize that Infect creatures will not be as big as regular creatures, and in the late game should have something big that can deal with two or more of their little guys at a time. My last tip can apply to any situation, but you want to try to have an answer for the occasional trick your opponent will pull. There are cards that can cause a card to gain Infect at instant speed or they may just beef up an Infect creature with something as simple as Giant Growth. Against Infect kill spells can be real handy because if they don’t have creatures, they don’t have anything that can Infect you!

    With these tips in mind I hope you have a better understanding of Infect and how to deal with it. Again, don’t be afraid to block these creatures, yours are probably bigger anyway. They will eventually succumb to death by -1/-1 counters but only at great cost to your opponent. It is their noble sacrifice that will lead to victory against the Infected hordes of Phyrexia!

     

     

  • Your Journey Begins… Here

    Your Journey Begins… Here

    Welcome to the first of many posts on Magic: The Gathering with your new source for what’s hot, Josh. Together we will uncover the hot, the not-so-hot, and the downright newsworthy things happening in the Multiverse. I imagine that most people here have found this site thanks to a deep appreciation of Magic and its ability to offer hours of endless fun and enjoyment with like-minded individuals. That is, like minded assuming that you aren’t the only Timmy playing in a group of Spikes. In that case I weep for you and my soul reaches out to you. My advice? Find some new friends (just kidding… sort of).

    I have been mulling back and forth between topics to enter the blogging community (it’s no easy task deciding how to enter a new world), and I found inspiration from Mark Rosewater’s two part series, Fun-Off part 1 and part 2 from a few weeks ago. The theme of those articles reminded me of the ideals on which The Casual Planesalker was founded. Good times with good friends (and of course some caffeinated beverages and pizza). This blog will be focusing on things that we at The Casual Planeswalker find fun and interesting for not only you and your playgroup but us as well. I sincerely hope that you enjoy making the journey with us. We are growing fast so be sure to check back soon for all sorts of fun new things from your new source for casual Magic: The Gathering pleasure!

  • Check us out on MTGCast Podcast!

    Check us out on MTGCast Podcast!

    We had the distinct pleasure of being featured on MTGCast.com

    Host Tom Gustafson interviewed Nick Roelofs, the author of The Casual Planeswalker’s Ultimate Guide to Deckbuilding about the book and our company.

    Check it out over at MTGCast.com