Well it’s the dog days of Summer. Hour of Devastation has been in print for a while, Standard is getting worked out, Magic finance is a bit dull, and so forth. But you know what? There are still games being played. Still people shuffling up at local card shops and kitchen tables everywhere. And those games are leading to moments, and to re-evaluation of cards.

So what cards have been punching above their weight class for me? What cards have won games? What am I invested in right now?

All of these are cards from Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy that have played really, really well in the last few months. This is a 3500+ deck, Highlander, all five colors, designed for multiplayer. All of these games were played in a multiplayer context, and these cards did really well there.

10. Calming Licid

Back in the early era of Magic, we had a lot of complex abilities that did weird things not worth the price of admission. There were just too many hoops to jump through for the benefits. One of those was phasing from Mirage. Another is the Licid ability. But now in print, it’s strong, and I was recently reminded of how strong it can be against people unprepared for it.

The result is that leaving a mere open shuts down two attacking creatures with a Calming Licid. Now the entire Licid cycle can do the “Pull off, block, put back on” trick. Some goods ones include Dominating Licid, Tempting Licid, Nurturing Licid, and Leeching Licid. There are 12 in all. The Dominating Licid is still on some people’s radar, but the Calming Licid is very, very good, and people misplay against the Licid mechanic, even after you have shown them how to break it.

So, get your Calming Licid on!

9. Meteorite

Meteorite is one mana away from being amazing on either side. You can get cards like Manalith and Darksteel Ingot for three mana that tap for one mana of any color. Getting a Shock added would be great for four mana instead of five. For five mana, getting two mana from your mana rock would be fine. But at five mana to cast and just one on the tap end, Meteorite feels like one mana shy, on either end, of being a Commander staple. But this thing is good. After all, you only have to pay that casting cost once. You can abuse it in a deck that cares about enters-the-battlefield triggers like Brago, King Eternal or Goblin Welder. It plays hard into artifact loving themes. I just used it myself to shoot an Azami, Lady of Scrolls on arrival. It’s got a solid amount of value under the hood. And do you know what multiplayer is? A format where one mana from amazing is still really strong. For example, consider the difference between Regrowth and Recollect, you are fine with Recollect, it’ll be just as useful. As is the Meteorite!

8. Order of Whiteclay

I have found the “untap” symbol to be pretty hard to trigger for the most part. But this one is different, and I found the smaller recursive casting cost has worked well alongside other recent printings like Custodi Soulcaller, Recruiter of the Guard, Bygone Bishop, Mentor of the Meek, Return to the Ranks, and more. The good thing about the Order is its size. It’s a beefy fellow on the butt, but with a small power, so you can safely swing and untap to recur something without being overly threatening. I recurred creatures like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Alloy Myr that game successfully. It’s was a good body to have rocking the table.

7. Brutal Hordechief

The great thing about Brutal Hordechief in a multiplayer context is that you can activate it when something isn’t coming your way at all. If Sally attacks Jennifer, you can force Jennifer to block with all of her stuff, and then you choose how, so you can make it as backbreaking a block for both of them, or make sure some of Sally’s stuff gets through. It’s one of the best ways to gang up and get past a heavy pillow fort defense. That makes it something you can sell. Most people see it working with you attacking all out, and it does have that synergy, sure. Swing and force blocks and choose who and what blocks where. Good stuff. But you also can use it to push a table around. Now, after you’ve used it once, that trick becomes much less likely to go off again, but people play around it, which often helps you even more if you save the mana. So, on its activated ability alone, Brutal Hordechief is the real deal.

6. Prototype Portal

Here’s a fun pro-artifact artifact that has really shown up in my recent gaming. It’s basically an artifact version of Soul Foundry, and that card has a strong proven multiplayer cachet. I used this twice to get an artifact creature and then Sculpting Steel in another game. Three mana, tap, churn out a Sculpting Steel token is nasty. I’m just saying. This thing is good. I have found a lot of quality causal cards from Scars of Mirrodin Block have not gotten the press they should, like Engulfing Slagwurm. This is a great example.

5. Soul Sculptor

This is a great card, and I have regularly extolled the virtues of Soul Sculptor. But I was just recently reminded of how good it is. Here, let’s take a look at some common uses I get from this card:

It’s the sort of awesome and great card that we may never see anything like it again, given how odd the ability is, and it’s on the Reserve List. I used it with Return to Dust just recently, and turned two creatures into enchantments and then exiled both. It’s just such a flexible card!

4. Thousand Winds

This has to be one of my favorite morph or megamorph creatures from the Tarkir Block that was printed. Yes, it’s an expensive flip. But when you do? It’s going to be a major mess on the battlefield. It’s the size of a Mahamoti Djinn, and has the same casting cost, so you can swing and beat with impunity. And then you can morph and flip, and when you time it right, it’s nasty. I was attacked, and I morphed this, bounced most of the creatures that attacked, and blocked and killed a creature with vigilance that was untapped and it was a dominating play. Why not dominate a table with it too?

3. Vorapede

I like creatures that have a bit of a stick-to-it quality that allows them to give me some good, long-game options, especially in a mass removal heavy environment like Commander or other multiplayer environments. Pretend Vorapede doesn’t have undying for a moment. What are you getting for 5 mana? A 5/4 vigilance trampler. It attacks and yet keeps back for blocking, and we know that vigilance is better in multiplayer than in duels because it can encourage multiple players to attack elsewhere while you still bring the heat. Trample is good on it too. Swing. Smash. Keep your shields raised. Good stuff. And then, the first time it dies it comes back as a 6/5 trampling vigilance smasher. Seems pretty good, right? I smashed with this, and then dropped Living Death and it came back and led my assault on a few board positions that had some defenses left with the Death recurred and really won that game with the smashery of this card putting people’s life total on notice.

2. Baloth Null

Again, I am “Card Advantage Boy” at the multiplayer table. That’s my super hero power. I have always extolled the virtues of Gravedigger and friends, and here is a double Gravedigger for two more mana and +2/+3 size! It’s a great card for the grinding game, has obvious synergy with ETB effects and blinks and such, and looks just good out there. Its size really contributes a lot to the battlefield. What’s not to love? I ran it myself to great advantage just a few weeks ago and really got two great creatures back with it.

1. Kaya, Ghost Assassin

I don’t know if my Love Affair with Kaya is ever going to end. She just gets better and better each time I use her. I think today, right now, I’d rate her as one of the top ten planeswalkers for multiplayer, and she’s one of my personal top three, although I doubt I’d rate her that highly objectively. But she’s awesome. Why do I still love her so?

1). You can use all three abilities immediately. Her ultimate, with just a -2, is a variant of one of the best Black cards ever printed for multiplayer:

Now, Syphon Mind is one of the best spells ever printed for multiplayer, and you can see why. Each opponent discards a card, and you draw one for each one sent to the bin. At a four person game, it’s often a 6-for-1 card trade, and when one player is down to no hand, still a 4-for-1. Good math. Here with Kaya you get one card drawn, and then you force a discard, so it’s a 4-for-0 or 3-for-0 (your permanent is still in play after using it). Pure card advantage at the top shelf.

2). Her second -1 ability is also a variant of a powerful sorcery for multiplayer:

Now it’s identical, except your life gain is set at 2. But that’s still rocking! And it’s just a -1 ability on a ‘walker that started with 5 loyalty, so you can immediately begin to knock out folks’ life while upping your own, and she has clear value in a number of shells, as well as generically for multiplayer.

3). She can, for no loyalty, blink stuff like this:

Note, that this is a slower blink, that she can also blink out opposing creatures, or herself, and you lose two life, which you’ll get back from her -1 ability. The free blink is awesome, as you can use it to reset her loyalty, or to use and reuse various enters-the-battlefield triggers of your creatures or to send out a mean blocker for a while to swing.

The combination of three powerful abilities is just so strong. She’ll draw cards, bleed life, and Flicker stuff as needed. All of that sounds good to me!

And those are ten cards that I have been playing with recently, and reminded me of how awesome they are in the Summer of ’17. So take advantage of some of these great cards right now! After all, why aren’t you playing Prototype Portal? Brutal Hordechief? Baloth Null? Soul Sculptor? Calming Licid? These are all great cards that have a lot of value at the multiplayer table!