One of the things I wanted to do with this Top 10 series was to explore cards I recently played that have either impressed or disappointed. What have I noticed? What’s changed or shifted? How have some cards shown up in recent games? What cards have gone from the JV squad to the starting lineup?

Last week, after playing some games, what impressed me?

10 — Tower of the Magistrate

Normally, I find the Tower is included in various decks more based on the hope of protecting a creature from artifacts than actually being found useful in gameplay. You might as well run it—you never know when it’ll actually come in useful, right? Unfortunately, I find I tend to use it about as often as Tolaria. Maybe, someday, you’ll want to remove that banding! I don’t think I’ve ever, in my entire life, tapped Tolaria during my upkeep to do so. The same is generally true of Tower of the Magistrate. But last week, I used it to protect one of my key creatures not just once, but twice. I know! Once, I used it to keep back an attacking creature on the artifact persuasion, and second, I used it to keep my beater from being targeted by a Tawnos's Coffin. Fear the Tower!

9 — Goblin Dynamo

Goblin Dynamo is a card no one respects. It’s a 4/4 beater back from the day before creatures were given fair casting costs, and it would probably cost 5 mana today. But the tribe it has works with a lot of powerful cards, and the Dynamo gives you a few options. I love pulling it out with Moggcatcher or dropping it off a Goblin Lackey. You gain a creature of size, and you can use it to destroy stuff. Goblin Dynamo can sacrifice to do a nice Blaze to kill something, and I did precisely that. I’ve belabored many times about one of my personal favorite combos for multiplayer that includes the interaction of Moggcatcher, Goblin Assassin, and Goblin Marshal . I stripped away the defenses of every creature with my trifecta of Goblin destruction, but one player has some artifact- or enchantment-based protection that kept me from bringing the heat. So I fetched up the Dynamo and then used it to burn the opponent to death.

8 — Overwhelming Intellect

Last week, I drew seven cards from this counter. It’s not uncommon to gain at least four or five cards each time you play it. At first, it appears this card is pretty weak. It just counters creatures, and that’s it. But every deck runs creature. Plus, the creature count in decks is pretty high, as people run creatures rather than spells. Folks would rather run Mystic Snake than Counterspell or Mulldrifter than Deep Analysis or Sakura-Tribe Elder than Rampant Growth. Elevated creature counts lead to a lot of great options for the Intellect and similar cards for your decks. With an increased chance of countering something with the Intellect, you can harness counters and cards from one spell. Overwhelm your foe today!

7 — Mass Mutiny

I know some people prefer cards like Insurrection, and I get that. But Mass Mutiny is cheaper and more feasible, and it doesn’t require the right situation. I’ve regularly had Insurrection in my hand, and the mana, but the board is just not set up for it. Meanwhile, we have the ability to steal multiple creatures from folks and swing with them with enough board presence to do some damage. It’s more flexible, it’s cheaper, and it tends to be just as strong as a result. Just last week, I took a sacrifice engine (Phyrexian Plaguelord) and some creatures, swung for a ton of damage, and then sacrificed them at the end for serious card advantage and creature-kill. And it’s not like the Plaguelord is this perfect storm for the card either. It’s just okay. Mass Mutiny is strong stuff.

6 — Down // Dirty

I really like Regrowth and various iterations. Regrowth basically casts the best card in your graveyard for a 2-mana tax. Even Recollect rocks a 3-mana tax, and it’s underused and equally sexy. Dirty is better. Just ignore the Down half, and play it like a Regrowth/Recollect version. Then, if you need, and if you have the mana, the Down is there to Mind Rot someone and force the player to discard while you recur something fun. I was down to no cards in hand when I top-decked this; then, I fused it to force someone else into top-deck mode and brought back Mulldrifter. Later, I played the ’Drifter to push myself out of this war while removing my foe’s options. This card is both dirty and down with finding you right stuff you need to succeed.

5 — Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang

Sometimes, I feel the Dragon’s Fang is the forgotten big Equipment option. Folks always remember stuff like Sword of Kaldra or Argentum Armor for big creature-making, but then they forget this. But Tatsumasa is a powerful card, too, to fetch out with Stonehewer Giant or Godo, Bandit Warlord. You can also use it to make a 5/5 flying beater, which is a really cool ability. Last week, I fetched it out, made one of my smaller creatures big pretty quickly, and then, when a Rout swept the board, I made a 5/5 flying beater to swing for a bit. Then, when my token was invariably killed, it turned into the Sword again and was waiting to be equipped. The Fang has a powerful board presence. Don’t sleep on it.

4 — Sigil of the New Dawn

The Sigil has always been an uneven card for me, working great sometimes and sucking others. In the last month or so, it’s been a rising star and won its way back into my heart. It’s been used to save many a creature with a fell destiny from a variety of fates. The anger of deities? Murder both foul and foreign? Blades, claws, and fangs? Lightning? Fire? Pestilence (literally)? Draw a Sigil on something and save it from this fragile cocoon of flesh.

3 — Goliath Sphinx

Creature abilities are great—vigilance, haste, trample, whatever. But you want to know something? At the end of the day, the bigger creature wins combat. A 4/4 vanilla creature like Obsidian Giant will kill and survive battle with smaller creature with some abilities like White Knight or Scryb Ranger. Beef wins. And that’s why I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Goliath Sphinx. It’s big, giant, flying beef, with no mess, no fluff, and no problems. It singlehandedly trades with most flying creatures that are played in Casual Town. Akroma, Angel of Wrath, come on down! I swung for game with a Sphinx over a ground force, so good job, Sphinx!

2 — Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

I’ve mentioned before that flexibility is a key to winning multiplayer games—you have a variety of answers. That’s why Jaya Ballard is so cool. I use her to Incinerate stuff, Inferno stuff, and occasionally hate on blue. I had a foe in a Commander game with a particularly onerous Commander with blue. He would play it and dominate the game, and then I slipped Jaya past his counter shield. I’d use the ability to pop blue stuff for a cheap discard and then repeat it over and over again until his commander tax was too high. Establish dominance with the pyromancer of your choice, particularly in an age of discarding cards and madness triggers with Shadows Over Innistrad.

1 — Skyship Weatherlight

Anyway, those ten cards brought me some strong game at the casual table recently. These are the stories that make the game worthwhile. So what has been making some serious hay in your games? What cards have been punching above their weight classes? What game state were you in? What got you that win?

It’s great stuff, whale stories and all!