The Casual Planeswalker

Tag: planeswalker

  • Kaya, Ghost Assassin – MTG Card Summary

    Kaya, Ghost Assassin – MTG Card Summary

    Kaya, Ghost Assassin

    Wizards has just released a new spoiler card from the upcoming set Conspiracy: Take The Throne which is set to be released on August 26th, 2016. The first card is a brand new planeswalker, named Kaya Ghost Assassin. If you’re interested in reading Kaya’s sordid back story, you can click here.

    According to her backstory, she has the ability to “slip through solid items and physically interact with ghosts and the spirit world.” Hmm…Is Kaya the MTG Shadowcat?!

    The same face in the artwork shows a rogueish smirk…while barely attempting to conceal a vicious dagger…and in another, she’s got a look of calculated violence as she plunges the very same dagger into the neck of her spectral assassination victim.

    Definitely an interesting choice for inclusion in multiplayer formats, especially.

    What do you think? Have you come up with any clever uses of the MTG Shadowcat yet? Feel free to leave them in the comments below, or tweet them @tcpwalker on twitter.

    She’s got an interesting dynamic in that she has no ability to gain new loyalty counters, but instead loses them. However, when she exiles, she returns to play with all loyalty counters again.

    Flavor wise, that makes sense. She’s a shifty rogue…always dodging and sneaking away to commit some silent act of assassination…then returning with that sly smirk back on her face.

    We’ll be interested to see what other great mutiplayer dynamics emerge from Conspiracy: Take The Throne.

     

    kaya ghost assassin planeswalker image

    What abilities Does Kaya Ghost Assassin have?

    Obviously when it comes down to planeswalkers, it’s all about those abilities. Kaya has 3.

    Kaya’s 3 abilities :

    [0]: Exile Kaya, Ghost Assassin or up to one target creature. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control at the beginning of your next upkeep. You lose 2 life.

    [-1]: Each opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.

    [-2]: Each opponent discards a card and you draw a card.

     

    Read The “Planeswalker Story” of Kaya Ghost Assassin…

    planeswalker-story-kaya
    planeswalker-story-kaya

    Kaya Artwork

    kaya ghost asssassin artwork 2
    Source: http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planeswalkers/kaya-ghost-assassin\

     

    Kaya Ghost Assassin Artwork 1
    Image Source: http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planeswalkers/kaya-ghost-assassin

     

    kaya ghost asssassin artwork 3
    Image Source: http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planeswalkers/kaya-ghost-assassin
  • New Phyrexia Round 2, Innistrad and More.

    New Phyrexia Round 2, Innistrad and More.

    We got more in depth with a discussion of NPH and handle some rumors about upcoming sets including when, where and why you’ll be paying attention to this lady:

     

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  • We’re Baaaaaaaaack – Episode 7

    We’re Baaaaaaaaack – Episode 7

    We’re bringing the casual Magic hotness once again, in the form of The Casual Planeswalker Podcast!

    Episode 7 kicks off with talking more about entering the plane of Mirrodin; namely, Mirrodin Besieged. We talk about our favorite fatty from the set (Blightsteel Colossus), a very intriguing new card (Knowledge Pool).

    We also have a HUGE announcement regarding the Grand Prix in Denver and lots more, so kick back and enjoy!

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  • 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!

  • 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!