Hello, folks! I hope that your days are filled with Magic goodness and your nights with Magic madness. The good and the mad are often closer than many realize. Anyway, yay Magic! It’s a privilege to write for you every week, and I want you to know that I will never take a single reader for granted. You are all special. And because of that, I’d like your help. My list of Magic articles has begun to ebb, and I’m looking for good ideas for articles. If there is something you’d really like to see, just let me know in the comments section!
Today’s article is a break in the 100 Combo Decks series I’m doing right now. We need a bit of a breather, right? The Top 10 Utility Lands article was another such breather. It’s halftime, and your scheduled entertainment is an article about cards I like.
Back in November, I wrote about some cards that had recently disappointed me. These were cards that I thought would have enough gas for the long run but didn’t. I had to pull them out of Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy, which was sad. However, today, I have good news. Over the last two months, some cards have impressed me more than I thought they would. Today, I want to discuss those cards that have helped me in various multiplayer games, and perhaps you can give them another look over as well.
We’ve had a real hate/hate relationship for the last few years. I would include it in a deck, and then it wouldn’t do anything but sit on the board, look good, and play poor. I have to keep mana open to use it, so people would wait to kill my stuff only after I tapped out. When I played my own Wrath of God, I didn’t often have the mana to save my team, considering I just swept the board. Since I couldn’t abuse it much proactively and it didn’t do much reactively, it was pulled from Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy some time ago.
However, recently, I was playing my Limited 5-Color Deck. (I have purchased a pack of roughly forty expansion and core sets and built an almost three-hundred-card deck from them.) It has a Sigil in it, and it was really abusing the table. Twice in the last two months, it really helped me to rally and win the game. In one case, it was working just by being there and forcing my foe to play around it. After he was unable to do so, I won. The second time, I combined it with a Blasting Station. I would sacrifice a creature for no mana, recur it for 2 mana, and replay it for another trigger. I pulled this off with several creatures that had enters-the-battlefield (ETB) triggers. On each occasion, I managed to pull off a victory on the back of a card I usually dislike. I’ve felt that Sigil is usually a card that looks better than it plays, but perhaps things are changing. Sigil, you are getting a new day in the sun!
After it was released, I thought it would be this great card-drawing opportunity for green. Instead, it was largely a chump body that would usually not do much in the card-advantage department. Then, two weeks ago, I played it after my opponent had locked down most of the creatures with a pair of Magus of the Tabernacle. I ate my extra creatures that I didn’t want to pay upkeep costs for, and I grabbed a ton of cards. That extra juice enabled me to work myself out the double-Tabernacle frustration and find removal. I also found another pair of good, solid creatures to toss out after they had bit it, and I had a 9/9 Skullmulcher to swing for game. Now, was this a one-of, or is Skullmulcher better than I thought at first? I don’t know, but I’m open to the possibility that I was wrong.
About a month ago, I tossed a foil copy into Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy just to see how it would play. It’s a bit pricey, but it has some interesting abilities. Late in the game, another Wrath effect had hit the board, and three of us remained. I had a bunch of mana sitting around doing nothing, and I topdecked Iname as One. I power slammed it and searched my library for a good Spirit. After considering the situation, I took Karmic Guide and put it right into play, targeting my Sun Ce, Young Conquerer. I bounced Iname as One back to my hand with it, and on the next turn, I replayed it and grabbed Kokusho and put it into play. A few turns of Iname as One abuse later, and I had won that game. I had never really considered Iname as One to be a good card because of the casting cost. After I decided to try it out, I was impressed. Let’s see if you can keep it up!
I used to think this was amazing in any deck with dual lands, but that idea waned as I found more and more land searching. After all, a land-searching spell that only puts the land on top of your library isn’t that useful, right? Even in a deck with a handful of good Treefolk cards to potentially search up, it’s not that great of a card. Sure, I can tutor up Rootgrapple to the top of my library or something similar, but I’m realizing more and more that the Harbinger needed a deck dedicated to Treefolk to really shine . . . Until I started with one in my opening hand about a month ago.
I played it and smoothed my mana base by grabbing a land, and my foe dropped Stigma Lasher. He attacked on his third turn, and I blocked with my Harbinger and dropped it to a 0/1 wall. We played that game again, but by the time I lost my Harbinger, I had found my answer. I used the Sever Soul that began in my hand against the Lasher and gained 2 life while also taking out the threat before it could hit me. The Harbinger not only grabbed me the Bayou that helped me play the Sever Soul, but it also gave me two turns to survive until I generated the mana to drop it. Later in the game, after taking some damage, I was able to gain life and reestablish myself as the dominant player. I won the game with cards I wasn’t to draw until much later, but it was Treefolk Harbinger’s ability to prevent the Stigma Lasher from hitting me that enabled me to win.
We all know that the cards you own online are often much different than the ones you have in real life. I was playing a U/B/R Commander deck with the classic Sol'kanar the Swamp King as my Commander. I have played Prince of Thralls regularly, but I’ve never been able to quite make him work. Still, I tossed him in largely on hope and a prayer. I followed it with a Counterspell on someone’s turn who tried to kill it, and then with a Plague Wind on my turn. As it was later in the game, not everyone could afford 3 life per creature. Roughly half of the creatures killed joined my team, and the other half blasted life totals here and there. I promptly swung with my 7/7 Prince at someone’s face and began to dominate the table. Just a few turns later, I had wiped out two players and easily was able to win the duel against the last. The Prince was a key part of that victory, and I have to acknowledge that.
Woebringer Demon has always been a bit of a feast-or-famine card. It’s a mini version of The Abyss that immediately stops when someone is out of creatures and is forced to sacrifice something. Then, your clever Demon goes away, and the board is able to reset. The problem is that usually someone at the table has no creatures in play when I want to drop this. Or maybe that person has a mighty one that sucks. And then the guy whose creatures I actually want to take out has three or four dudes in play and is able to protect the team for a couple of rounds of Sacrifice that Creature®. Once in a while, I’d use it as an awkward Edict. I’d play it, and the next player sacrifices some dork I don’t care about, then the next player sacrifices something good, and the next player has no creatures, and thus ends the life of my Demon. However, this time, each of my foes had out a major enemy due to a fun Show and Tell someone played. I was facing three mega threats, and I was unable to drop anything big. Then, I untapped, drew the Woebringer Demon, and played it. One by one, my foes all had to sacrifice something good to the Demon. Meanwhile, I had a couple of chances to swing with it. Eventually, it died after taking out roughly seven opposing creatures and two of my own that I didn’t care about. I took 5 damage from people attacking me because I was killing their stuff, and I dealt another 8 with the Demon. Result? A powerful board change due exclusively to my Woebringer Demon.
Everybody loves creatures that have ETB triggers. There are entire casual formats dominated by them. The combination of card advantage and creatures is a lot of fun. From the earliest cards like Uktabi Orangutan and Nekrataal through modern-day cards like Dungeon Geists and Tower Geist, we have a ton of options for your ETB cards. One of my favorites is to run the ETB creatures that kill other creatures. Your creature kill is often enhanced when it’s also a creature. Ever since Nekrataal, we’ve had several great creatures that kill a dude when they come into play. I usually just want to kill the target—not shrink it. Cards like Shriekmaw are played a metric ton more than Skinrender. After Nekrataal and Shriekmaw, what are the best choices for these guys? Bone Shredder is cheap but has a tiny body and echo. Dark Hatchling gives you a 3/3 flyer, which is decent enough, but at the cost of 6 mana. Dakmor Lancer has the same cost, but the creature can regenerate, and it doesn’t fly. Heartstabber Mosquito costs 7 mana with the kicker for a 2/2 flyer and can’t be abused as other ETB creatures can. Then, we have the often overlooked Serpent Assassin. For 5 mana, you can kill any nonblack critter. Sure, it’s clearly second string to the top two choices—Nekrataal and Shriekmaw—but beggars can’t be choosers.
In my most recent Magic game, I had it in my hand when someone dropped red Akroma. I played it to off her, and then I bounced it with Erratic Portal and played it again to blast a Hand of Emrakul. Over the next few turns, I abused the crap out of that Assassin until nothing was out. I swung with my own dudes and won the game. Maybe it’s the fourth choice after Dark Hatchling or Bone Shredder, but it’s still got the guns for the win.
The next two cards have really had their profiles enhanced by my 100 Combo Decks project. Both of them are in a bunch of my decks, and both have really done yeoman’s work. Kiln Fiend looks like a reject Wee Dragonauts. Look, it doesn’t fly! However, it’s really a much better card after playing around with it, and I adore it now. Let me tell you why!
First, as a 2-drop, you can play it more easily than the 3-mana Wee Dragonauts. You are often starting to go off and draw all of your cool stuff on turn three, and you don’t want to waste it playing Dragonauts. Second, the Dragonauts only fit in U/R decks, whereas this red guy goes in a lot of decks. Any deck with a massive number of spells wants this. And lastly, the Dragonauts are only pumped by 2 when you play something, but the Kiln Fiend is pumped by 3. If you play three spells in a turn, the Fiend will deal an additional 3 damage. That’s a powerful amount of extra damage being doled out without having to sacrifice tempo or being forced to play a certain color combination.
I have built a lot of enchantment-heavy decks; it’s true. And we all love ETB creatures! However, I find that this little (un)common just plays so well in all of these enchantment decks. Having a 3-mana Gravedigger is massively powerful (WoTC, please never do that—Cadaver Imp is good enough!). In a deck with a dedicated number of cards that are recurred by this, it’s just downright amazing. I’ve decided it’s an essential card for all of my enchantment decks going forward. I used to just think of this as a low-key player that would help out, but not vitally so. Then, I played enchantment deck after enchantment deck with these in it. They quickly moved from the sidelines to starting roles. It doesn’t matter the role—these guys are valuable. They could be recurring an Aura that had been blasted or an enchantment that was sacrificed (such as Soul Snare or Seal of Cleansing) or just a powerful enchantment that was destroyed by a vindictive foe. These are there to make sure that your enchanting goodness continues without ailing. You play one and usually have the mana to replay your target instantly. These are also subject to all of the normal abuse of ETB creatures from Momentary Blink or Flickerwisp to Cloudstone Curio or Whitemane Lion. They have really moved up in my mind to major-player status.
If you’ve read any of my articles—ever—you know that it’s no secret that I prefer defense to offense in multiplayer. If I have to choose any mono-white creature to have in play, I’d feel more comfortable with Commander Eesha than Eternal Dragon and happier with Pristine Angel than Baneslayer Angel. You can sometimes combine protection with beats (say “hello” to Akroma), but I generally prefer to stay alive than not. Roughly a year ago, I picked up some cards for Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy that I had never owned. One of those was the classic Caverns of Despair. When I have this out, no one can attack or block with more than two creatures. During that year, I’ve only played this twice, and one of those times was about two months ago. I was playing against two foes, and I dropped it right on turn four. I played Wall of Mulch on turn two and hid behind it while others were playing various decks. One foe had a sacrifice deck built around Mortician Beetle and Grave Pact. He was able to keep us all down in the creature count, but he could never slice through our defense with anything bigger than a Blistergrub because we killed the Beetles, and he couldn’t swing with everything at us. I tutored for Living Wish to acquire and play Tajuru Preserver. Then, I added a few defensive creatures to block his attack and started swinging at the other guy. I killed him quickly because he had already taken damage in the game, and I drew and played Fact or Fiction and took the one-card pile with Woodfall Primus in it. I took out my foe’s Grave Pact and began to beat down with a 6/6 trampler. Within a few turns, I had won, and I acknowledged the strength of the Caverns. Without it, I would have been overrun before I had found the cards to win. Despite the fact that this card is rare from Legends, do you know how cheap it is? Check it out and see if you have a home for some old-school gaming this week.
Today, I presented ten cards that have recently impressed me, and I talked about stories from Magic games conveying how they played. I hope you enjoyed my look at ten cards that don’t always get a lot of press. I’m sure you can find a card or three for your decks for the next time you shuffle up!
See you next week,
Abe Sargent
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