Although the Magic world has gotten a bit stale in the constructed arena as of late, I’m never short of topics to write about when it comes to the real world- you know, the one that takes place outside of Magic. This month alone, more news has been made than I care to take in. In just two weeks, I’ve lost two heroes in Tim Russert and George Carlin; and that has left a gaping hole in my soul. Iowa and Missouri are underwater, and China is recovering from a devastating earthquake that left many families without their only child. Fuel prices are spiraling out of control, and the US Dollar is now worth less than the Canadian Dollar. Both Italy and the Netherlands have been eliminated from Euro Cup, and a Spain-Germany final is imminent. Among all of that, Wizards says Magic will now have mythic Rares and that Pre-releases can now be held anywhere within a 1 mile radius of McDonald’s. Some would argue that Mythic Rares in Magic are to blame for tearing a hole in the universe and causing all of these other tragedies, but I beg to differ. Quite contrary, the latter two pieces of “news” hardly seem important in the grand scheme of things.
For those of you that don’t know who Tim Russert was, he is considered to be one of the most influential news reporters in history. Up until two weeks ago, Tim Russert hosted television’s longest-running news show: Meet the Press, and was also the host with the longest tenure of any person to ever host the show in its lengthy history. Tim Russert was a legend in his trade because of his interviewing skills, his outgoing and likable personality, and his passion and ability to dig up the real truth. Being interviewed by Tim Russert was an honor and a privilege according to everyone who has ever had to endure his cross examination; and the respect he has earned and shown to his friends and competition rings clear from all across the world. His standing and presence in the world of news and politics, along with hard work and dedication to his passion for the truth also helped him earn the position of CNN Washington Bureau Chief.
Not only dedicated to the news and his career, Russert was also a family man who has managed to help many fathers and sons connect in ways they have never before been capable of. His relationship with his father lead him to write and publish the book Big Russ and Me, which was a bestseller around Father’s day in 2007. His untimely death just 2 days before Father’s Day this year caused his book to once again soar to the top of the list in sales for Father’s Day weekend. Russert will be missed greatly. For those of you looking to do a tribute to Tim Russert at a local tournament this week and don’t mind the possibility of losing; try a discard-based list that runs cards like The Rack, Hypnotic Specter, Thoughtseize, and Nath of the Gilt-Leaf. Use discard effects to simulate his interrogation techniques, and in his own words: “Go Get ‘Em.” Rest well, Tim- a gentleman and a powerhouse.
Just as I was beginning to get past Russert’s death, I get wind that one of my favorite comedians, George Carlin, died of heart failure at the age of 71 on Sunday. Carlin is regarded by many to be one of the few comedic legends that were able to endure the test of time. With over 50 years of experience as a stand-up comedian, Carlin still performed in front of sold-out crowds straight up until the night before he died, and had more shows booked in these coming months. A genius and a pioneer, Carlin constantly challenged authority, the norms, and any established values as long as it was good for a laugh. His infamous seven words segment is what truly catapulted his career to the heights it has reached today. George Carlin forces people to rethink their beliefs and to think about things in ways we never would have otherwise. Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways? Carlin was always the first to stand up and call B.S. on people and situations when they warranted it, and even sometimes when they didn’t. Carlin deserves credit for pushing the envelope all of those years and for helping Americans get through some rough times with a good laugh and an alternative viewpoint on so many major issues.
George, I pray to Joe Peschi on your behalf that you were right the entire time about religion, and that you can now find peace in your final rest. One thing though, that you may not have accounted for was your soul living on (maybe not spiritually) but in the hearts of everyone who has ever seen your shows or heard any of your sketches. We will miss you and your insights more than we care to think about.
If you’re in the George Carlin spirit this weekend at your local tournament, take something like a deck based on Thrumming Stone and Relentless Rats or any other deck you can think of that bends or breaks the traditional rules of Magic. If you are trying to actually win, do something like playing 61 cards instead of the normal 60. If drafting, try to build a deck with 41 cards. It’s simple to tribute Mr. Carlin this week, and I wish all of you the best with bending the rules, raging against the establishment, or pushing the envelope against the norms.
So what’s next in our morose discussion this week? It seems all of the news I listed above is bad news, and that I’ve failed to include any form of good news. Well, amidst bad news, there tends to be good sequential actions on behalf of people hoping to help those in need. For those of you that are interested in helping people in the Midwest and in China to deal with recent disasters, there are ways to get involved that don’t require donating money or volunteering time. Last month, I started a non-profit organization and built a website to help other charitable organizations with their missions. By visiting my website each day and voting in a poll, you can raise money for the organizations you most wish to support. At the end of the month, we compile all of the money we’ve earned from donations as well as advertising revenue from the website and donate it to the organizations according to the percentages of votes they receive in the poll. If you are interested, it takes only ten seconds out of your day to raise ten cents for a charity of your choice (our average based on the number of votes we get and the amount of money we receive says that each vote is worth approximately 9.7 cents). Please take the time to care, and make a difference in the world. Add us to your bookmarks, and whenever you find yourself online checking your email, facebook, myspace, or looking at Brainburst, just go over to the website and take another 10 seconds to help. Tell everyone you know how easy it is, and just by doing that, you will help us raise more money for these charities.
Click Here to Visit the Website and Make a Difference
So, those things aside, let’s talk money. You know the economy is in trouble when the Canadian Dollar catches up to and surpasses our own, with no disrespect to our neighbors to the north. With the increase in CPI that is causing a reduction in the purchasing power of the dollar these days, it’s important to think about how to make the most of your Magic money in the coming months. The best thing you can do is pretend that it’s already September or October, and start unloading all of the Time Spiral block cards you own that are still hot, and use that money to buy hot cards from Morningtide or Eventide. The reason I leave Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, and Shards of Alara out of the discussion is not because I think they don’t have any money worthy cards, but rather because money cards in larger sets hardly ever hold their value as well as chase rares from small sets. Small sets are less used in limited tournaments, which is the largest source of people buying sealed product instead of singles. I’ve always made more money in the long run on cards from small sets than cards from large ones. The only thing I can promise you is that demand will fall for your Time Spiral Block cards will fall by about 80% after August, so you might as well capitalize on the last major standard event (Nationals) before Time Spiral Block becomes irrelevant.
This is the third installment of The Big Idea Saga, and I hope you have all enjoyed the first two segments. The major theme of the first two articles in the saga was the quieter side of Morningtide and how it effects potential deck construction in standard. This theme carries over a bit today, but goes one step further. I plan on breaking out of the speculation aspect of Morningtide and focus more on the brass tacks.
Here are the facts:
- Reveillark is good, especially with Blink
- Murmuring Bosk helps Doran decks a lot
- Rogues and the prowl mechanic have the ability to reshape the format
- The times they are a changin, and the division of power has been re-allocated
The good thing about most of the changes to the standard format is the ability other decks have to adapt. My favorite part of this whole thing is the fact that older cards that fell out of light are good again, and might actually have a chance to make appearances in sideboards, and even in the core 60. All of these articles are just black letters on a white background on my computer, and that gets really boring for me, so I think I’m going to address the above points in reverse order, just to spice things up a bit.
Looking back on the standard format before Morningtide came around, particularly around the time of State Championships; we could see a domination of aggressive decks, particularly Elves, which we normally see in a young format. Moving forward, decks came and went, including a solid mono-blue control build, variations of Blink and Faeries, as well as Mannequin and Dragonstorm. Many of these decks are still around, and some have even gotten better- particularly with the addition of Reveillark, which I will discuss later. The most notable of the developments, though, are the Doran deck that ended up winning at worlds and the Rogue deck that has only come alive in the past few weeks.
Rogues have taken on two major forms as far as I can see; and one of those is more of a Black-based Faerie deck that thrives on Bitterblossom, Oona’s Blackguard, and even Bad Moon. The other is based on getting the Prowl mechanic working early through the use of Prickly Boggart or Nightshade Stinger. It’s currently one of the fastest decks in the format simply because of the combination of evasion from flying and fear and tempo from the prowl mechanic. Other aggressive decks like Elves and Kithkin can match the deck for damage, but when the time comes to make some blocks, Rogues have the upper hand. Add discard and cheap removal to the list of weapons, and the deck poses quite a threat.
There is one thing that stops the Rogue deck dead in its tracks, and the problem is this: it’s a card that you could potentially put in any deck you want. I mentioned it in the last article, and promised to eventually divulge more about it, so here we go.
Ornithopter!
Tech?! This thing blocks prickly and stinger and lives to tell about it. What’s better? It stops the turn 2 prowl, and sometimes the turn 3 prowl also. As if that weren’t enough, it’s an artifact, so there’s no color requirement… actually that’s almost irrelevant because it’s also FREE, so even in a 5 color deck that gets no land in the opener, you could stop the prowl. I’m probably beating a dead horse by now, but seriously- imagine being a rogue player and seeing a killer opening hand with boggart, thoughtseize, noggin whack, and stinkdrinker bandit. You open with land, boggart, planning a big second and third turn; but your opponent says land, Ornithopter, go. The whole game falls apart right there. Just a thought…
The other cards that pick rogues apart are Mogg Fanatic and Desert, but that’s no secret. Ornithopter will earn you some Tech points and also give you a way to avoid auto-scooping to Rogues if you’re playing control. While it’s true that Ornithopter is vulnerable to Nameless Inversion and other removal, it still forces your opponent to skip prowl for the turn they use to play the removal spell, which is a major damper on Rogues’ main weapon: tempo. Desert doesn’t stop prowl either, so keep that in mind. That’s all I have to say about that.
Murmuring Bosk is a good card; That’s next on the list. If you think about it from a financial standpoint, you get a forest and a Caves of Koilos for the cost of a Volcanic Island. The truth is, price doesn’t always indicate quality. I know this has been a completely dead-end diversion and you can’t really tell what point I’m trying to make, but really, it’s fun to talk about things like that to give the mind a break every so often.
Doran deck wins was a good deck before Morningtide came out, good enough in fact to have won a world championship. Let’s just help it out a bit by giving it a land that makes all of the colors it needs. Killing a turn 1 bird no longer helps people cope with the deck’s downhill style quite as much, and to top it all off, Ornithopter is now even better because it’s a 2/2 flier for free in this deck when Doran is around, and a useful piece of the pie against the Rogue match up.
Taking the Doran deck apart is going to require things like Remove Soul, Deathmark, Magus of the Moon, and, uhh, I don’t know, Wooly Razorback or Kher Keep? Maybe Magus of the Tabernacle or Cockatrice will hit the sleeves.
If I were working toward a decklist with this article, my list of MVPs so far would be the following:
Ornithopter, Deathmark, Doran
The next part of this article focuses on the menace that is one of the cheapest game wreckers that has come out yet. For $20 on eBay, you could be the proud owner of a full playset of Reveillarks. I hated Momentary Blink before Reveillark came out, but now, I truly detest it. Blink made Red aggro impossible really, simply because of its interaction with Aven Riftwatcher. To think that deck has gotten better truly makes me sick as a player who likes to use Red aggro. In order to take apart a Reveillark Deck, you need to be playing either Black, White, Green, Blue or Red; but to do it effectively, you need to be playing Black.
Cards that destroy Reveillark and Momentary Blink deck:
-As mentioned in my last article, Withered Wretch (which goes nicely in Mono-Black)
-Extirpate (also goes nicely in a Black Deck)
-Stonecloaker engine (bounce itself)
-Tormod’s Crypt (only if you are desperate, the reveillark combo goes off at instant speed, which makes the crypt pretty much useless) same goes for Feldon’s Cane
-Condemn (who is stupid enough to attack?)
-Crib Swap (see the note about instant-speed)
-Sudden Death or Sudden Shock could potentially break the loop
-Faerie Trickery
Extended: Samurai of the Pale Curtain, Leyline of the Void
I don’t really have more to say about Reveillark. You’ve heard it all, and the card makes me sick. I’ll move on.
The rest of the format is just as it was, Elves are looming strong, but not indestructible because of Deathmark and Shriekmaw. Combo decks are moving toward Reveillark, but some still use Dragonstorm. Tribes are becoming more well-defined; Rogues and Faeries are truly making a name for themselves. Building a deck with answers for all of these decks will likely be a daunting task, but it’s going to start with Black. Here is what I recommend:
Check out the next piece of the Big Idea Saga.
I would never do something like that to you guys. I actually don’t think I could ever get away with it either. Moving on…
As mentioned, perhaps the only color that can get away with going at it alone against the current format is Black. It simply has all of the answers we need at the moment, but for now, I think it’s best to at least try a two color deck for the sake of easing my way into a Mono-Black discussion.
Combining a few of the elements from all three of these articles, I have come up with the following list, and I have a bit of a breakdown following the decklists to explain the basic concept.
Maindeck:
4 Ornithopter
3 Deathmark
3 Extirpate
4 Thoughtseize
4 Sudden Death
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Damnation
2 Shriekmaw
2 Profane Command
3 Stonehewer Giant
2 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Tombstalker
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Plains
1 Molten Slagheap
2 Murmuring Bosk
2 Mutavault
5 Swamp
Sideboard:
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Augur of Skulls
4 Loyal Sentry
2 Shriekmaw
1 Extirpate
Here is a list of the things I need not explain, either because it has been a topic of discussion in previous paragraphs, or because there is nothing I can tell you that you don’t know already:
Ornithopter, Thoughtseize, Damnation, Shriekmaw, the mana base, Extirpate, Augur of Skulls
Here are the questions you have:
You: Why is Extirpate in the Maindeck?
Me: Reveillark is good, and it’s popular. The same situation applies to Chameleon Colossus. If you consider the fact that green decks play Colossus, and Reveillark decks play Reveillark, one of those two cards are in 80% of the best decks right now. Thoughtseize Bogardan Hellkite or Dragonstorm and then Extirpate it… it’s a combo and an auto-loss for that deck for only two black mana. It could happen as early as turn 2.
You: Why Sudden Death instead of Nameless Inversion?
Me: Split-second.
You: Hypnotic Specter? Wouldn’t pretty much anything fit better in this spot?
Me: Not really, you don’t seem to know much about the value of cheap creatures that can block Black creatures and creatures with Flying. You also forget that hippie is a must-kill or must-counter when a control deck is in the equation.
You: Who is Stonehewer Giant? Why are you using that guy?
Me: Read The first article in this series. He’s a pretty solid win condition in slower-moving decks.
Oblivion Ring: in a Black deck, it’s hard to kill artifacts, enchantments, planeswalkers, and Chameleon Colossi.
Loyal Sentry: This card means there are 4 open spots in the sideboard that you can use for whichever card has made regular appearances in your sideboard throughout the years. You could also use him to take out Colossus if you want.
Augur of Skulls: this guy hates control decks. That’s pretty much the long and short of it.
I really think that if I go too much further, I’ll be stomping on the turf of a future article in this series. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have in the forums. Good luck with the current Metagame, and if you learned nothing else today…
Ornithopter!
The first article in the Big Idea Saga was ill-timed for the type of article, so the second and third parts have been relegated to blog space. I would like to apologize to those of you that were disappointed by the content of the first article, but if you are reading this, it is likely because you want to, and I thank you for that.
Last time I rambled on about all of my favorite new cards from Morningtide, so naturally this time around I think the logical subsequent course of action is to discuss some of the older cards that need to be dusted off. The fact is that every time a new set hits the game, it has effects on the playability of some cards that may not have been popular before. You might remember that Time Spiral brought back some of our old favorites with the Timeshifted cards; and a few of those actually made it into some standard decks. Quite honestly, I’m incredibly surprised that Akroma didn’t see as much play as she did the first time around, especially with cards like Dread Return in the format. This article isn’t about Akroma, but I wouldn’t feel right talking about Timeshifted cards without at least mentioning her.
The most popular Timeshifted cards ended up being:
Desert: a great way for control decks to handle early-game creatures until Wren’s Run Vanquisher happened
The Rack: became a secondary and in some cases primary win condition in some solid decks like Tarmorack
Wall of Roots: Aggro-stomper and accelerator, perhaps the best tool in midrange decks like G/B Planeswalker control
Stupor: better than coercion and Mind Rot, but I really wish they had reprinted Hymn to Tourach instead
Call of the Herd: just as good as it was before, but right now tribes are king and elephants are useless except for being Wrath resilient
Shadowmage Infiltrator: good card, but not as good in this context as it was at first- saw some use in control builds, but flying about average right now
Fiery Justice: cornerstone in a deck that was fun for about 10 minutes, then faded out
Mystic Enforcer: just as solid as before, especially when dredge was in the format
Mystic Snake: this card is just plain stupid (in a good way)
And of course, who could forget…
Dragonstorm: no comment necessary.
There was one card from Time Spiral’s Timeshifted that I hoped to get a chance to use again, but it never quite got the attention it once demanded. I looked at the development of Lorwyn Block and realized that there was no better time to make use of Pandemonium. Granted, there is no Saproling Burst in the format right now, but look at the suite of cheap creatures with high power. I finally got up the courage to break out my old set and give them a spin. I packed a few good cards from Lorwyn and Morningtide as well as one or two others into some sleeves and started playtests.
I originally tried Pandemonium with some of the Evoke creatures in order to grab the benefit of their CIP abilities and steal some damage along with it. I soon realized that if my opponent decides to play creatures, I was pretty much sunk because I wasn’t doing damage quickly enough just by evoking Shriekmaws, Mulldrifters, and the like.
Morningtide is what really sold me on the idea of Pandemonium simply because of two cards I mentioned in my last article: Bannerets and Bramblewood Paragon. I decided to design the deck as an aggro build with Pandemonium as a solid second win condition. I think the introduction has run long enough, so here’s the big idea:
Get in there
Maindeck:
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Boreal Druid
4 Flamekin Harbinger
4 Brighthearth Banneret
4 Bramblewood Paragon
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
4 Chameleon Colossus
4 Changeling Berserker
1 Nova Chaser
3 Pandemonium
3 Changeling Titan
4 Karplusan Forest
8 Mountain
11 Forest
Sideboard:
4 Ornithopter
4 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Taurean Mauler
3 Elvish Champion
The core of this deck is aggressive in nature, and the Pandemonium is really just the kicker. It adds a dimension to the deck that makes it stand more steadfast against control decks, and also provides a combo opportunity against decks that attempt to outlast aggro decks by gaining incredible amounts of life.
Another thing to note about this deck is the amount of synergy. Much like the elf decks that were so popular at States, as well as the world champion Doran deck, each card builds off of the others. I wouldn’t mention this if it weren’t important or impressive, because most aggro decks don’t necessarily have much synergy. Because there are so many changelings in the deck, Bramblewood Paragon becomes a steady force. Wren’s run Vanquisher as well as Bramblewood Paragon are also both warriors, which means that their costs are reduced by Brighthearth Banneret.
Brighthearth Banneret’s role in this deck is magnanimous, and was a major part of the decision to actually give the deck a chance. Aggro decks thrive on tempo, and the Banneret makes fat mid-range creatures solid options to hit the board on turns 3 and 4, even sometimes with only two lands in play. As mentioned, their ability to reduce the costs of warriors helps the elf side of the deck. Another subtlety about the card is its Reinforce ability. This is pretty much a bonus, but in the case that Bramblewood Paragon hits play after Chameleon Colossus or Changeling Titan, Banneret gives you a way to throw some Trample on that … at instant speed.
The tempo of this deck pretty much makes it midrange. The size of the creatures and their relatively low cost is how the deck manages to win games when it does. The deck goldfishes turn 5, and only turn 5; I’ve never won before 5, and it’s never taken more than 5 turns either.
The next card on the list of Timeshifted cards that I’ve been wanting to use gives a peek at next time’s topic, which is about beating the current standard metagame. I think Withered Wretch is just about the single most underused creature in the format right now, considering the fact that he’s a bear in normal matches, and he’s a game wrecking bear in other matches like Mannequin and Reveillark.
He was almost a necessity when he was in standard during Onslaught block, but there was a much stronger presence of Black and also a much larger need for graveyard manipulation because of the Odyssey block.
Next on the big idea agenda: taking apart the standard format by foiling the major decks. (also in blog section)
Tags: Article Morningtide Timeshift Pandemonium Deck
