Holiday Update

Hi everyone! I hope you've had a good December holiday! Updating the blog is somewhat difficult with all the food gobble down and the relatives to catch up with, but I'll try to make up for it now!

On the anime side of things, a number of the shows we've been following for the Fall 2012 season are drawing to a close. You'll soon be seeing my reviews for the shows as a whole, what I liked, and what I didn't like about them. 

On the M:AA side, I signed up for Marvel XP to get more rewards for the Facebook game. I mean, Das Boot is cute and all, it's a debuff attack and its attack animation is an actual kick to the target's nads, but I wanted more. It saddens me that there wasn't a December 25 gift for all players. I mean, an upgrade to both Valkyrie and Tigra is great news, but call me greedy because I wanted more toys for my Agent.

A real kick in the pants

On the M:TG side of things, a side that I have woefully neglected all this time, I must confess that I haven't building decks much lately. I even missed the Return To Ravnica pre-release tournament. I hope to change that, and start it off perhaps by posting the most recent deck I put together. It's one I put together for my girlfriend, essentially a gutted, heavily modified Angelic Might deck from Avacyn Restored.

Man, this is one short update, isn't it? I'll try to come up with a more substantial post soon, so this will be all for now!

Dark Ascension Pre-Release Battle Report

Or

"I Can't Believe This Mishmash Actually Worked!"

Saturday, January 28, 2012.

Begin report: 

I went into the deck building phase, mentally reciting how I remembered the BREAD mantra: Bombs/Rares, Elimination/Evasion, Attackers/Advantage, Defense/Dudes. Opening three packs of Innistrad made me think I should be creating a white-green deck, loaded with white humans and green monsters, going all-out creature offense. Never mind evasion - I'll just power my way through with green monsters and werewolves if the white weenies get sandbagged.

That's what I was thinking, until I opened the Dark Ascension packs. One pack gave me Stormkirk Captain. The second gave me Falkenrath Aristocrat. I suddenly had a flashback (pun intended, to those who get it) to my Magic 2012 pre-release, where I let myself go with my instincts and built my deck around a mythic rare. I went 3-1 in that event, which was spectacular in my book. I decided to see if my instincts would serve me well in this tournament as well.

Here's what I used, going into four matches of Sealed Deck. I'll list the spells first, then the creatures, in alphabetical order. As always, there will be commentary, but no links or images - I'll save that when I'm writing for www.magicthegathering.com's Crazy Deck Experiments column, which doesn't exist.

Enough of my wildest dreams. Without further ado, the cards:

SPELLS

Ancient Grudge - In a pre-release Sealed Deck match, there's always the chance that your opponent will be packing an artifact, whether it be a mana producer or some equipment for his creatures to better kick your ass with, and in rare cases an honest-to-goodness artifact creature. Ancient Grudge is an instant answer to said problems, and in this deck's case, is not a dead card in hand even when the opponent is not packing artifacts. See the other spells for why.

Corpse Lunge - Take any elimination spells you can get, in the colors you've decided. So says the BREAD.

Dead Weight - See above. It might not do much against huge creatures, but it does take care of pesky things like those vigilance+first strike+protection from monsters inquisitor dudes that will be problematic for your army to handle.

Faithless Looting - A red card-drawing spell?! Madness!!! Why, this might actually enable Corpse Lunge! Or, turn Ancient Grudge into something useful against a no-artifact opponent! It even comes with flashback! Beware, excess lands, for you are safe no more! Bwahahahaha!

I actually used it for those purposes I mentioned. True story, bro.

Fling - I had a Fling in this tournament. That is not to say I had a very brief affair with an attractive member of the opposite sex, but that I had a spell that allowed you to throw one of your creatures at a target for damage. The dream was to Fling one of your creatures at a target to enable a follow-up Corpse Lunge. Sadly, the one time I got to use Fling in the entire tournament was to chuck an undying vampire stalker (sparkles not included) at an opponent to finish him off, which when I think about it isn't really sad after all.

Fires of Undeath - I'll break my no-links/images rules this once. Click here. Now, raise your hand if, like me, you noticed the white-haired female figure, her white veil, her black gothic lolita outfit, and lastly the eerie green flames in her hand, in that order. It's alright, lads, it's okay to appreciate gothic lolita dresses on pale-skinned female vampires that want to incinerate you for staring too much.

Ahem. Back to the card analysis commentary. Rule of BREAD states that this card is worth gold, because with a single card and enough mana you can get rid of two creatures, or deal four damage to the opponent with just the same card. That's Elimination and Advantage right here.

Shattered Perceptions - Let's face it, we've all had those games where we wished we could just get rid of our current cards in hand and draw a new set. Heck, we'd even settle for drawing one less, just as long as we could draw something potentially useful right? We've all had days when we had six lands on the board, with the only thing keeping the opponent's dude army (Magic slang for 2/2 creatures and smaller) from rushing into the red zone (Magic slang for your face AKA your life total) for massive damage was three slightly bigger creatures, six untapped mana, and couple of cards in hand - which your opponent didn't know was just a couple of basic lands.

I was in such a situation in one of the pre-release games, where my opponent was making a 2/2 zombie every other turn, while I was drawing nothing but land for the next three turns. When he decided to attack he had something like 11 power worth of creatures, and I only had three blockers and was sitting at 8 life, after the attack I was down to three. That was his turn, after I had cast Shattered Perceptions from the graveyard and discarded five basic lands.

I proceeded to turn the game around the next turn with the four creatures and one Mountain I drew from Shattered Perceptions, and I actually won that match 2-0.

The kicker? I actually discarded Shattered Perceptions and a Mountain earlier in the match to a Faithless Looting. Funny how they came back later and paved the way to victory.

Warden of the Wall - Following rule of BREAD, this guy falls squarely in the D category - Defense. Looking at the card previews, people actually put this guy in category D for Dregs, and it's easy to see why - 2/3 power/toughness, can't attack, produces colorless mana, can't be sacrificed for your nefarious plans on your turn. In the right deck though, such as mine, a card which pulls double duty as an expendable meat shield against a big attacker with no trample, and as a mana acceleration item, is very valuable.

My deck only gets rolling on turn 3, which is slower than most decks I create in Sealed Deck pre-releases. You can't even properly call it a control deck, because my goal is not to deny the opponent any useful moves. It's a haphazard slow deck that wants to survive until it can comfortably pull off a winning trick or two - I guess I'd call it a half-assed combo deck. Perhaps an 'engine' deck would be a better term, as the deck won by exploiting and supporting certain creatures as they came up during the course of play.

The Warden performed admirably when he came out, scaring small attackers away and providing one more point of mana when I needed to bring an overcosted blocker out, and finally ending his service by blocking something like a 4/4 wolf.

TL;DR? Slow decks need meat shields to take the bullet at a crucial point, and mana acceleration to pull out a defensive stop at the right time. Warden does both. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

CREATURES

Abbatoir Ghoul - This zombie butcher saved my hide more times than I could count. The combination of first strike, 3 power, and not-quite-lifelink was enough to stop land battles then and there, allowing me precious time to develop my plans. This zombie was part of the three-strong defensive team I had in the Shattered Perceptions story above.

Charmbreaker Devils - Bomb and Rare. These devils allowed me to recycle Corpse Lunge and Fires of Undeath, netted me a lot of cards with the repeated use of Faithless Looting - needless to say, when they hit the table, they provoked a reaction from my opponent. Typical reaction was to pick the card up, read it, put the card down and wince as I eagerly showed them the Fires of Undeath (as well as my other instants and sorceries) I had played earlier. This card and Pyreheart Wolf below gave me a memorable victory.

Chosen of Markov - Gee, a human, a young female if we're to believe the card art, that can transform with the aid of a vampire. I wonder what she'll transform into? Alright, I might as well chuck my no links & images rule for now. Click here to find the answer.

Crossway Vampire - In all pre-releases I've joined, there are always some creatures that never see the light of day, or hit the battlefield and mix it up with the enemies. Miss Corset here happens to be this tournament's Benchwarmer Award winner.

Erdwal Ripper - Mr. Ripper here narrowly avoided sharing the Benchwarmer Award with Miss Corset, by dint of participating in the Battle of Shattered Perceptions. He might have also been part of an attack squad in an earlier game, but I'm really not too sure of it.

Falkenrath Aristocrat - Personally, I'd like to change her flavor text to using a quote from a recent anime I've seen, Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon (translated as Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere) and my own words as well:

"Your first mistake was to go up against a magnificent woman like me. Luckily for you, it shall also be your last."

Classy, no? In my mind she'd certainly be worthy of the quote, as whenever I was able to cast her, she won me that game.

For the curious, the quote from the anime (the first part of my proposed flavor text) was uttered by a character named Kimi, who seemed at first nothing more than a fanservice girl who had no characterization other than being the protagonist's hot, older sister with big hair and an impressive rack. She utters the line after defeating a battle maiden wielding a legendary spear that can cut space-time, using the power of a Shinto festival song remixed into a techno-rhythm tune and the power of dance.

Yes, it's as awesome as it sounds.

Highborn Ghoul - The cheapest creature in the entire deck. He's a good little beater, but I mainly put him in thinking of him as werewolf transformation deterrent. I remember forcing a bunch of werewolves to resume human form by casting this guy and Faithless Looting.

Nearheath Stalker - My girlfriend and I nicknamed this guy "Heath Creep." He's a creep alright, with the potential to kill off two enemy creatures. At the very least, he's a stop sign for a creature that the opponent thinks is semi-valuable. After all, whatever kills this guy just makes him stronger.

Pitchburn Devils - Speaking of stop signs, here's another one with the same converted mana cost too! It can kill a 4+ toughness creature that it blocks, or kill a smaller attacker and burn out an unlucky creature that wasn't even fighting it directly.

Pyreheart Wolf - A surprising contender for MVP in the deck, Pyreheart Wolf makes for some really awkward blocks from the opponent. Coupled with Charmbreaker Devils and Fires of Undeath in one game, I was running circles around my opponent's Mausoleum Guard who somehow couldn't keep a partner long enough to actually do some guarding. The only reason the game didn't end in three swings was because A) the opponent had 25 life thanks to a Chalice of Life, and B) I opted to play conservative, not hitting the opponent with Fires because I wanted to off a potential blocker instead.

Skirsdag Cultist - Another creature who avoided the dreaded Benchwarmer Award, I never actually got to sacrifice a creature for her to turn into direct damage. I must confess to putting her in the deck just so that Falkenrath Aristocrat could have something to eat and gain a +1/+1 counter from.

Stromkirk Captain - A vampire anti-hero if there ever was one. The Captain has been ordered to save their humans from zombie attacks, and he's making sure every bloodsucker on his watch is going to do a damn awesome job of it.

Stromkirk Patrol - The captain above needs more bodies to boss around to get the job done. These guys are here to fit the bill, and are able to handle your run of the mill zombie on their own. With the captain on the battlefield these guys just become wrecking balls.

Tormented Pariah - Every town has one, and it seems even Stromkirk is no exception. Of course, not all village outcasts can transform into monsters capable of great destruction. This guy's claim to fame was going claw to claw with a Howlpack of Estwald. To put this in perspective, a single werewolf went up against an invading village of werewolves, single-handedly killed them all, then succumbed to blood loss himself. For added drama, I'd like to think he was next on some noble's menu, and decided it was better to go down fighting, never mind if that meant incidentally protecting those who wanted his blood as a main course.

Wakedancer - Here again is another human I put in the deck to feed to the Falkenrath Aristocrat, but really, I needed all the black and red creatures I could get my hands on. Rule of thumb in pre-releases is to bring at least 16 creatures, support them with around 7 spells, and play 17 lands in your 40-card deck. I've gotten to use her Morbid ability once in the entire tournament, though I must admit gaining two bodies on your board after you traded one creature for one or more of your opponent's is quite satisfying. As a back-up, in case the Aristocrat wasn't in play, she and her possible zombie pet could become ammunition for the Skirsdag Cultist.

And there you have it! I rounded all of them up, threw in 9 Mountains and 8 Swamps, and went 3-1 on the first day of the pre-release. Not bad for a guy who had been awake since 8 pm Friday and headed sleepless to the tournament after 10 hours at work.

You'll probably hear from me next when I build a pure Innistrad & Dark Ascension vampire deck. Until then, keep waiting for Avacyn's Return!

“Budget” Werewolves

I wanted a werewolf deck. I read the Daily MTG article about it (Building on a Budget) and my first thought about it was:

“This deck is just full of awesome! I usually don’t build decks from scratch, preferring to modify intro decks, but I’ll make an exception this time around. I want to drop pop culture references like ‘It’s morphin’ time!’ and ‘Transform and roll out!’ while playing a match.

I want to have as much fun as I did, back in the day, when I played Scorching Missile and I shouted the card’s name like a typical animé character in the middle a heated battle. I didn’t care if I was winning or losing at that point, I was having a blast and that’s what mattered!”

So there I was, thinking, this couldn’t be any easier. After all:

1. I had a guide, a list of cards to obtain;
2. I had some of the cards to begin with, courtesy of my stockpile and my recent Innistrad purchases; and
3. I knew of a couple of stores within an hour’s ride from my apartment to get the rest of the deck.

I set out to acquire the missing lycanthropes and support cards, thinking I won’t be spending more than what I did purchasing the Carnival of Blood into deck, which was PhP 1,000, tax included. (That’s roughly $22.75 given the exchange rate of US dollars to Philippine pesos at the time of purchase.) I could afford a thousand bucks local, and I won’t splurge like this until the next expansion comes out, so I figured I’d go for it!

What awaited me at the card shop was a cold bucketful of reality, or at least, reality of deck building in the Philippine scene.

Behold this table:

Card Name	Quantity	Cost per card	Total Cost
Daybreak Ranger	4	120	480
Gatstaf Shepherd	4	10	40
Instigator Gang	4	75	300
Kruin Outlaw	3	75	225
Mayor of Avabruck	4	200	800
Reckless Waif	4	50	200
Brimstone Volley	2	20	40
Full Moon's Rise	4	10	40
Incinerate	4	20*	80*
Moonmist	4	1	4
*denotes approximate cost		Grand Total	PhP 2,209

The Daybreak Rangers cost close to half the budget I had in my head. The Mayors of Avabruck will eat up 80% of the budget if I take the full set. This is not including non-basic lands that the deck list online prescribed. Is this the end of my werewolf plans, destined to remain a lunatic dream?

Logic dictated that there were two ways to get a werewolf deck, despite this unexpected development. Option one: increase the budget to accommodate the increased cost. Option two: purchase from collectors and players who hopefully won’t sell them at such exorbitant rates. The problem is, I’m willing to consider increasing my budget to PhP 1,500 (the cost of a Commander boxed set), but the cards still clocked in bigger than that, so I nixed that option. Option two was a no-go either, since I don’t have any reliable card-collecting contacts.

Fortunately, a third option presented itself – deviate from the recipe. The werewolves in the recipe weren’t the only werewolves in the set, and looking at a checklist card I saw that other werewolves existed at the same converted mana cost as the prescribed ones. This was it! I’d get one or two of the pricier werewolves, and substitute cheaper (money-wise) equivalents (mana-wise) for the open slots. I was fired up at this point – I’m going to try and buy cards for my werewolf deck that cost less than PhP 1,000!

Here’s what I actually ended up with:

Card Name	Quantity	Cost per card	What it cost me
Daybreak Ranger	1	120	120
Gatstaf Shepherd	3	10	10
Hanweir Watchkeep	2	7	14
Instigator Gang	1	75	75
Kruin Outlaw	1	75	75
Mayor of Avabruck	2	200	400
Reckless Waif	4	50	200
Tormented Pariah	3	1	3
Village Ironsmith	3	1	3
Villagers of Estwald	3	1	3
Brimstone Volley	2	20	40
Full Moon's Rise	4	10	40
Incinerate	4	20	0
Moonmist	4	1	3
		TOTAL	PhP 986

A few explanations are in order: 

• I already had 2 Gatstaf Shepherds. I bought 2 more to complete the set, but when I worked out the numbers with the help of the other decks I had on hand I decided I only needed 3 in the deck. I can side in the fourth one in place of a Village Ironsmith if I’m not fighting green.

• Speaking of Village Ironsmiths, they’re really placeholders until I can get my other 2 Mayors of Avabruck. Similarly, the Hanweir Watchkeeps, Tormented Pariahs, and Villagers of Estwald are holding spots for more Kruin Outlaws, Instigator Gangs, and Daybreak Rangers.

• Incinerates were free because I had a playset (Magic jargon for a set of 4 cards) courtesy of M12 and 10^th Edition. I feel no shame in admitting I still had my Incinerates from 2007. It pays not to throw old things away sometimes.

• I already had a single Moonmist, courtesy of an Innistrad booster that I purchased. Thus I only needed to purchase 3 more copies.

I did it!

Never mind that the mana base consisted of 9 Forests, a Jungle Shrine, 9 Mountains, and 4 Terramorphic Expanses. Who cares if it’s not Standard legal? I made a werewolf deck within the budget I set for myself, using my hard-earned cash, and I’m having a great time with it!

I had fun finding substitutes for the raw materials, putting the deck together, and playing games with it, whether I won or lost. It’s not over yet, though – I still plan to get more of the rare and uncommon werewolves, and if I can find them, add mana-producing non-basic lands to round out my mana base.

This deck, I feel, will be a keeper. I would so love to play with an initiate to the game and watch his reaction as I pick up my Reckless Waif, pull her out of her sleeve and flip the card to reveal the monster on the other side. “You were wondering where the werewolf is in the card, eh? Well, here it is!”

“Wait, creature cards can do that?”

“Mine can, kid, and yours don’t, unless they’re werewolves too. I tell you, I love this deck, because there’s more than meets the eye.”

Come to think of it, that’s why I love this game.

Howl at the moon!

In Love With Inferno Titan

I apologize for lack of images - I'm posting this from an 'Net rental shop because my new home doesn't have Internet or a phone line yet.

I participated in the Magic 2012 Pre-Release tournament held at Eton Cyberpod last Saturday, July 10, 2011, and got a 3-1 record! Would you believe it, with these cards?

Deck List  (24 spells, 16 lands)
14 Commons, 8 Uncommons, 1 Rare, 1 Mythic Rare

Mythic Rare-

Inferno Titan - To answer the above question, yes, 3-1 with this monster is believable. In all 3 matches I won, it was because of this guy. From killing Royal Assassins and Grim Lavamancers, assisting in taking down a literal 6/6 flying demonic tutor, to doing a suicide run in order to bring my opponent within Lava Axe range, this Titan was the MVP. Too bad he didn't show up the first game, though.

Rare-

Sorin's Vengeance - This 7-mana sorcery saved my hide from losing when my opponent was at 28 life and I was at 10. My opponent was just being practical and hitting me with his Sorin Markov for 2 and gaining 2 every turn, and I was trying my best to kill the planeswalker with my attacks when I drew my third swamp, which also happened to be my seventh land. Rather than wait for my opponent to hit me with a "Mindslaver ver. Black" I hit Sorin with his own draining spell. Irony!

Uncommon:

Circle of Flame - While normally this spell would be passed over in Standard constructed and relegated to the sideboard, this little red enchantment saved me countless of times in the mirror match, keeping various X/1 attackers at bay, buying me time to set up my big hitters.

Crimson Mage - Turn 1 Goblin Fireslinger, Turn 2 shoot/swing with Goblin, triggering Stormblood Berserker's bloodthirst 2, Turn 3 Crimson Mage, give itself haste, swing for 6. Or, Turn 1 Goblin Fireslinger, Turn 2 Crimson Mage, ping for 1, Turn 3 Child of Night + haste = 7-point life swing! In reality though, Crimson Mage was relegated to the role of 2-mana beater, which it does well.

Crown of Empires - The other reason I was able to hold out against enemy creatures. Volcanic Dragon heading your way and no Doom Blade in hand? No problem, just stare it down with the crown - and three mana, of course. Black flying 6/6 demon? Piece of cake. Have 3, will live.

Onyx Mage - You have got to love a 2-mana beater who essentially makes blocking even your smallest attackers a losing proposition if regeneration isn't available. Its ability to grant deathtouch is also a powerful defensive tool. You're not going to attack with your 5/7 giant spider legend into certain death, are you?

Sengir Vampire - Classic black threat from the sky. 'Nuff said. For those new to Magic, in a sealed deck constructed environment, paying 5 mana for a 4/4 flyer is fine already, and extra abilities are icing on the cake. The ability to get a +1/+1 counter for each kill certainly is a great bonus.

Stormblood Berserker x2 - I didn't know how to use these guys in the first match, and I feel that I must apologize to these dudes. They're excellent harassers even as 1/1 creatures, can force weird blocks or be let through just to avoid having a fragile support creature die, and late in the game a 3/3 that requires 2 creatures to block it can be a cause for consideration.

Volcanic Dragon - Here's a bit of history: Volcanic Dragon was originally a rare when it came out in the Mirage set, and people would feel bad if they drew one from a pack. It's not much of a bomb, especially for a rare. Now, a 4/4 uncommon flyer with haste for 6 mana is just about right, in a color not known for flying, efficient or big creatures.

Common:

Bloodrage Vampire - In the right conditions or deck, this guy is actually a 4/2 for three mana. Most of the time though, he'll be a magnet for blockers, or a threat against X/4 would-be attackers.

Bonebreaker Giant - 100% better than Blood Ridge Berserkers, which has the same 4/4 body and converted mana cost of 5, because it can actually block for more than 1 turn. You can actually tell it to stay put and not suicidally charge into the enemy ranks.

Chandra's Outrage - My favorite 4-mana burn spell, because when you need to kill an opposing Serra Angel, Sengir Vampire, Volcanic Dragon, or Djinn of Wishes, three damage will not do. 4 damage to any targetable creature is nice, and 2 damage on your opponent (or a planeswalker he controls) is a nice side effect.

Child of Night x2 - Yet another vampire foot soldier. No flying here, just 2 damage for 2 mana, and a life bonus with each hit thanks to its lifelink ability. It also plays nice with multi-color decks thanks to requiring just one black mana plus one of any color.

Doom Blade - This spell destroys any creature that isn't black, whatever size it is. During my matches Doom Blade took down enemy Volcanic Dragons, 6/6 wurms with trample and bloodthirst, 5/7 giant spiders, and other creatures that would have spoiled my plans.

Goblin Fireslinger - It's not in the size of the body or the size of the burning pebble it hits you in the face with from long range. It's the ability to trigger bloodthirst in his buddies that convinced me to let this little guy stay in my deck, and I have no regrets.

Gorehorn Minotaurs - If Inferno Titan was my MVP, this guy was my waterboy and bench-warmer rolled into one. He didn't show up in the battlefield in any of the matches at all. I only drew him in test draws or non-scoring games, which shows just how weird my luck is, I guess.

Gravedigger - Crucial. Absolutely crucial, especially when you have plans of a suicidal charge to take down one or some of your opponent's creatures, or if a surprise spell kills your current attacker. You get a free 2/2 zombie as a bonus, and who doesn't like free zombies?

Incinerate - They should rename this spell "Trollbuster". Whenever I fought a green deck in my matches, they would always bring out a Cudgel Troll or enchant their creatures with Trollhide, and this burn spell would always answer the call. I even remember ending one game with Goblin Fireslinger and Incinerate for the last few points of damage.

Lava Axe - 5 damage to the face for five mana. It doesn't get simpler than this. See the Inferno Titan comment above for a memorable instance of sternum-crushing axe to the face action. For those confused with the anatomical references, go and take a look at, or better yet, get a copy of the M12 version of this card.

Manalith - Q: You're playing a two-color deck, should you still run mana-fixing? A: If it's anything that will help you summon your Giant, Vampire, Dragon, or Titan earlier, then by all means do so. I remember casting an Inferno Titan on Turn 5 after getting nothing but Swamps, a Sengir Vampire and a Child of Night for the first 4 turns. A Mountain on Turn 5 followed with a Titan - that won the game then and there.

Manic Vandal - Q: Manic Vandal main in the main deck, when you're running 2 artifacts of your own? A: When push comes to shove, and you need an extra body, you do what you need to do. I put him in because I saw there were 3/4 golems running around, which would really mess up my attack plans, but I didn't encounter any. He got to blow up a Manalith or 2 though.

Warpath Ghoul - It's a vanilla 3/2 zombie for three mana. There's not much to say about this guy, except that he got narrowly beat out of the bench-warmer/waterboy position by the Gorehorn Minotaurs.

Last but not the least, the mana base:
9 Mountains
7 Swamps

Allies in Standard

It's rare that I post a full breakdown of my Magic: The Gathering decks, much less those that are Standard legal. I'm doing this one now on a whim, with my girlfriend on hand to, in her own words, "make the post awesome." I'd be an idiot to refuse.

I've read somewhere on a M:TG related webpage that Allies in Standard, as of the Zendikar block, wasn't feasible. With the new additions to the Ally lineup, I sought to refute that statement.

The deck I will be presenting is in its second, 4-color form, which evolved from a 3-color modification of The Adventurers Intro Pack from Zendikar. Check the link out to see what it was like in its 41-card pristine glory.

HISTORY

In a nutshell, The Adventurers wasn't all Allies to begin with. You had oddities like mana-producing elves and druids that turned your Forests into monsters. It also had support spells like Giant Growth, Overrun, Lightning Bolt and Fireball. It wasn't tightly-themed in my opinion - your creatures should all be allies, backed up with spells. And it only had 41 cards! Something clearly needed to be done.

I went to a card shop and bought some Allies piecemeal. When you have a goal in mind, it allows for more efficient purchases. The shop I went to only had a limited selection of allies, and I hadn't gotten my paycheck yet so I couldn't splurge on specialist allies - I focused my purchases on getting aggressive allies.

The first prototype I whipped up was Red-Green-black-blue. Red for the Berserkers, Lightning Bolts and Fireball, Green for the Oran-Rief Survivalists and the shiny Turntimber Ranger (which I heard were an automatic four of) Giant Growth and Overrun, and black mainly for Grim Discovery and Bojuka Brigand and a lone Agadeem Occultist and blue for a single Halimar Excavator and Seascape Aerialist each. Given the 4 colors, I added 4 Terramorphic Expanse, 3 Savage Lands and Crumbling Necropolis from Alara, and a lone Halimar Depths. I was pleased with its turnout against a "poor man's" Extended Red Deck Wins, and so I brought it to the office.

It fought against an Elf deck (as I might have mentioned in an earlier post, it was the Elves half of the Elves Versus Goblins box with some added friends from the Lorwyn block), a Goblin deck (same owner as the Elves deck, the other half of the Versus box), and a Kithkin deck.

It performed remarkably against the Elf deck by killing the 2 Wellwishers, recruiting them with the Agadeem Occultist (getting to an amazing 161 life through the course of the game), and staving off possible counter attacks by judicious use of my meager direct damage, the Occultist stealing choice elves from the graveyard with the help of Halimar Excavator (the moment a Wren's Run Vanquisher hit the graveyard, no elves could attack safely), and won ultimately by decking.

The Goblins matchup was pretty tough, as for a while my offense was stalled by Mudbutton Torchrunners on the defense. Fortunately, the guy had a "damage to the face first, worry about the cleanup later" mentality, and I was down to eight life before my allies solidified a defense, and then the Murasa Pyromancer decided to drop in. My opponent had then tapped out for a Siege-Gang Commander, and the red Ally made sure the enemy Commander never got a shot off. Next came a Seascape Aerialist, and that was the clincher. Thanks to the pair of Akoum Battlesingers in play, my souped up Brigands and Survivalists - heck the entire team had +1/+1 counters on them thanks to the Kazuul Warlord in play some turns prior - I was able to deal something like 20 damage from the sky to beat the Goblin horde.

After the match I chatted with him a bit and asked why he wasn't attacking with his pair of Torchrunners early on - if blocked, the ensuing explosion would kill my frail, tech-based allies. He admitted that he was betting on launching the explosive boggarts to my face with the Siege-Gang Commander, and honestly didn't think of the boggarts as "damned if you do, damned if you don't" attackers until I pointed it out to him.

I played against his kithkin next, and while I can't remember all the details, I recall he was stuck on a four lands, his Thoughtweft Trio just stared haplessly at my then 7/7 Survivalist and 5/5 Brigand attacking after a Highland Berserker entered the battlefield, after which I finished him off with a Fireball. I thanked him for the games and proceeded to badger another office buddy for a game.

This long-time player friend of mine was sporting an Esper "Super Robots" deck. Master of Etherium, Tower Gargoyle, Scourglass, Oblivion Ring, Tidehollow Sculler - needless to say, this was the toughest deck in the office, with the Scourglass pretty much earning a concession from me every time it came out unless he was low in life already. My deck had no answer to that, and I hated it. So what did I do? Simple.

I went out and bought more Allies using part of my paycheck that just came in.

Two sweet words: Tuktuk Scrapper.

One crazy idea: No spells, all creatures.

DECKLIST (and bonus commentary!)

2 Mana: Frontline Squad

Akoum Battlesinger x 4 - She sings for massive damage. 6 allies with +1/+0 equals an instant 6 damage if unblocked. Combine with Seascape Aerialist later in the game and watch your opponent's reaction.

Bojuka Brigand x 2 - Every army has some bad eggs. Given a choice between casting this guy and one of the Oran-Rief dudes, go Oran-Rief. They're essentially another easy trigger for the other non-growing allies, but can in some games be your early beat stick.

Halimar Excavator x 3 - She provides defense early on, and can really mess things up as the game progresses. Has a very good working relationship with Agadeem Occultist.

Highland Berserker x 3 - Essentially a Goblin Piker with a special ability. 2 mana, 2 damage, chance to first strike. What's not to like?

Oran-Rief Survivalist x 4 - Accept no substitutes. Well, if it's other 2-drop Allies I might make some exceptions. This guy is the main workhorse of the deck.

3 Mana: Frontline Support

Agadeem Occultist x 1 - Halimar Excavators put cards in an opponent's graveyards. This guy makes them work for you, if you have enough allies in play. Very useful for chump blocking early if you manage to kill a vanilla 1/1 or 2/2 early on. Needless to say this guy is a fire magnet, perhaps even moreso than the other Allies in the deck. Against another creature-heavy deck, this guy is golden as his rarity symbol.

Stonework Puma x 1 - Sometimes, you don't draw the correct land to cast your allies. Other times, you need to block an annoying 2/2 with something you don't mind losing. This stone cat-robot fits the bill nicely. I'll replace it with another Tajuru Archer, probably.

Tajuru Archer x 1 - I hate Tower Gargoyles and Windwright Mages, doubly so if they have Steel of the Godhead on them, which the Esper "Super Robot" deck was packing. This gives me a fighting chance.

Umara Raptor x 4 - A flying Oran-Rief Survivalist. These birds will spell doom for ground-bound opponents, and will likely be targeted for elimination / control spells, leaving less flak for your more important allies.

4 Mana: The Six-Pack

Joraga Bard x 2 - Sometimes you need a guy who can face down Canyon Minotaurs without blinking. That's what he's mainly there for. With Umara Raptors and other combat specialists, however, he provides a solid defense while still allowing you to strike. One of them might be replaced, perhaps, with a Graypelt Hunter. For now, they're a pair.

Nimana Sell-Sword x 2 - It's a Bojuka Brigand that actually understands the concept of fighting off attackers. It's an Oran-Rief Survivalist that starts out bigger and doesn't die to Punishing Fire upon entering the field. It's another combat-specialist ally that's not too expensive. 2 in the deck, no more.

Tuktuk Scrapper x 2 - Even the mightiest of Esper Super Robots will fall in the face this goblin. The explosion is just a bonus. I might side in a full set, but the Super Robot deck's pilot is one of my friends, and to his credit is only packing 2 Scourglasses. He's mostly useless against the other decks in the office though.

5 Mana: The Cavalry

Hagra Diabolist x 1 - Making an opponent lose life is always good. 'Nuff said.

Kazuul Warlord x 1 - So your weak-kneed specialists and technicians need to go up there in the front lines and take names? Then send for big old Horns here to pump them up. If another ally with a self-pump ability follows on this minotaur's heels (or should it be hooves?), they get 2 +1/+1 counters from the get go!

Seascape Aerialist x 1 - Take the fight to the (hopefully) open sky and watch your opponent die. At the very least, he allows your attackers to get through the opponent's ground defense. I hope you've got your own defenses set up though.

Tuktuk Grunts x 2 - 5 mana for a hasted 3/3 might be too much. I'll likely drop one of them if I need to make room for new recruits.

Turntimber Ranger x 1 - Get him out early and prepare to swarm the opposition. Late game, he's still better than Tuktuk Grunts. Anything that doubles your creature production is very good, moreso in this deck's earlier versions which then had Overrun.

6 Mana: The Nuke

Murasa Pyromancer x 1 - When you need something killed with fire, this shaman is your man. Make no mistake, he will draw enemy fire and attention, if you have a lot of other allies on the battlefield already, he'll likely take someone down before dying himself. He's the most expensive ally currently in Standard, and that makes him just a one of.

Non-Basic Land

Ancient Ziggurat x 2 - in an all-creature deck, this is pretty much mandatory. Why don't I have 4 in the deck? I've yet to buy some more, that's why!

Crumbling Necropolis x 3

Halimar Depths x 1 - this card is really good. It allows you to see your next 3 cards and fix your draws, at worst it allows you to see how badly screwed you are. I should add another, perhaps.

Savage Lands x 3

Terramorphic Expanse x 4 - If you play a deck with more than 1 color, you'll definitely find these handy.

Basic Land

Forest x 4

Island x 2

Mountain x 5

Swamp x 1

Total Land: 25

Total Creatures: 36

BATTLE RESULTS

Vs. Elves

A bit more difficult now that I'm no longer able to take out key elements of the opposing army, but the elves die to birds of prey the size of elephants that did not tap to attack. Jagged-Scar Archers came in too late to stop the bleeding, and Hagra Diabolist sealed the deal.

Vs. Kithkin

Even though he was stuck at 3 lands, he was able to hold me off by turning a Kinsbaile Skirmisher into a 6/6 monster over the course of three turns thanks to his Cenn's Tactician. He was royally mana-screwed as I was able to cast Murasa Pyromancer and killed his Tactician, then followed it up the next turn with a Seascape Aerialist which allowed me to outrace him in damage per turn.

Vs. Esper

First Game: Tuktuk Scrapper enters the battlefield, and backed up by assorted 2-mana allies forces a concession from the robot army, who didn't have Agony Warp or Oblivion Ring then, and was taking upwards of 3 damage per destroyed artifact.

Second Game: Tuktuk Scrapper decides to join the fray early, resulting in him tripping an Oblivion Ring. Not too much of a loss, as the robots couldn't find Swamps to save their hides and they got beaten down by a pair of battle singers and their horde of admirers.

CONCLUSION

Allies are fun.

Future projects:

• Go back to a 2-color build. This allows for more support spells, however my ally count will go down significantly. This means Stonework Pumas become suddenly important.
• Move down to 3 colors. Not so many allies lost, and I can add some spells which cover ally weaknesses. This will most likely involve green, because at the moment allies cannot destroy enchantments, something like 2 Naturalize, 3 Giant Growth, and 1 Overrun plus more Forests might be added in place of the lost color.
• Try white allies out. I've already got 4 Ondu Clerics, but the white combat specialists are darned expensive and get snapped up as quickly as possible. White also opens up Solemn Offering, which kills both enchantments and artifacts. Hmm.

So What Else Is New?

This is my first post for the year 2008, which coincides with Magic: The Gathering's Morningtide pre-release event. This is just a few days after the weekend of said event.

I had pre-registered, and with the help of a good friend, I got into Pod A of the tournament, which meant I was among the first few people in the Philippines to open, see, touch, and play with Morningtide cards in a Wizards Of The Coast-sanctioned event. Yay!

While we were seated and waiting for the cards to be passed out, a lady came up on the stage and made an important announcement: we would not be receiving 1 Lorwyn tournament pack and 3 Morningtide boosters as we expected. Instead, we were to create our 40-card minimum decks with 6 Morningtide boosters! As one can imagine, this proclamation was greeted with mixed reactions. There were scattered cheers because it meant more cards from the newest set to be had, but when realization settled in, dismayed groans could be heard. I was one of those groaning when I realized that there wouldn't be a chance to get planeswalkers from the random card pool. Sigh.

Being part of the first pod meant that there was no deck swap. This meant that if you opened your packs and got a lot of mediocre, unexciting, or downright crappy cards you were stuck with them. If you had some nifty ones, you were golden. Unfortunately, not only did I draw no powerhouses, my selection of usable spells and creatures per color was disheartening to say the least. Worse still, I drafted a colors that, shall we say got beaten black and blue literally all throughout the day. I used a Red/Green/ Warrior deck, splashing white for some creature control.

Here is the decklist. I'm not going to break things down piece by piece like I did with my previous, M:TG-themed post, because every time I see the list I cringe. Look the cards up using Gatherer, an online card database, and if you don't know where Gatherer is, Google it.

Main Deck:

3 Brighthearth Banneret
1 Bramble Paragon
1 Fertilid
2 Lys Alana Bowmaster
2 Seething Pathblazer
3 Winnower Patrol
1 Changeling Sentinel
2 Game-Trail Changeling
1 Lunk Errant
1 Shard Volley
1 Obsidian Battle-Axe
3 Weight of Conscience
1 Roar of the Crowd
1 Hunting Triad
1 Reins of the Vinesteed

12 Forests, 5 Mountains, 3 Plains

Sideboard: 1 Pyroclast Consul

The funny thing is, the day after the event I went to my girlfriend's house to show her the new cards. While there, I asked if I could borrow some basic lands from her, Islands and Swamps, and tried to make a working deck out of the black and blue cards I didn't use, after which I gave her the deck and told her to play with it. Now, neither of us is a cardshark, world-level player in terms of skill, and she has just gotten around to being sneaky with instants (she can now play combat tricks and take me by surprise), but the newly-constructed Prowl deck I gave her, made up of Morningtide-only cards was monstrous against my temperamental Warrior deck. I never won a single game with her using my poor Warriors.

Do you realize what this means? It means that during the next pre-release I attend, after I make an initial deck, I take the cards left on the bench and force a deck out of that. Life is funny that way.