We're continuing our Halloween theme. Last week, we explored a haunted-house full of new Jumpstart packs. And before that I wrote about the most October tribe of all, Scarecrows, along with Ninjas. Not only are the sneaky Blue creatures a frequent choice for Halloween costumes but they also can terrify your foes with uncertainty. You never know what sort of ninja will leap out of the shadows, if a creature isn't blocked. This week I've designed two packs full of instants to spook our opponents, but first let's start with the color most known for Terror.

If we're going to talk about Halloween packs, let's not ignore the big sorcery itself from Legends. This card well represents a child's anticipation of the scary holiday. Soon all the dead will rise. Soon our plastic jack-o'-lanterns will be brimming with candy corn and chocolate. Oh, we just can't wait to remove the last scream counter. Yes, we're crying out, but in excitement.

If you own this rare card, feel free to play it in the following pack, but as it is scarce, I'll assume you'll want an alternative. Living End builds suspense in a similar way, taking only one turn longer, while also killing all creatures to make way for the joyous dead. This and all most other cards from the Time Spiral block reference older cards. All Hallow's Eve was one of them, along with Living Death.

Living Death well represents the delightful inversion of norms seen on Halloween. The boring becomes exciting, the staid becomes sexy, and the dead walk the streets. So put on your costume, and join the fun by adding this pack to your box of Jumpstart.

Trick or Terror Black | Jumpstart | AE Marling

• Creatures (11)
• 1 Banewhip Punisher
• 1 Blade Juggler
• 1 Carrion Imp
• 1 Crow of Dark Tidings
• 1 Grimdancer
• 1 Keening Banshee
• 1 Lampad of Death's Vigil
• 1 Miasmic Mummy
• 1 Mire Triton
• 1 Ruin Rat
• 1 Spark Reaper

• Sorceries (1)
• 1 Living Death

• Lands (8)
• 7 Swamp
• 1 Thriving Moor

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Though Living Death affects both players equally, it doesn't take much to win with this bomb. By planning for it, you can make bad blocks. You can easily allow yourself to fall into a losing position, with an opponent with better battlefield presence. Then you can sweep all their advantage away and begin celebrating Halloween.

Playing cards that synergize with Living Death isn't necessary, but it's wicked fun. Lampad of Death's Vigil and Spark Reaper will help you eat your creatures like candy, preparing you for the big night. Ruin Rat and Carrion Imp will exile your opponent's scariest dead. And Crow of Dark Tidings and Mire Triton will give you a deeper graveyard.

Now it is true those spells can mill Living Death itself into the bin. Each card you flip into your graveyard will be an exquisite agony. It's only right to be frightened. And it's only fair. Living Death is strong enough that we need to balance it with variance. Halloween would be tedious if it came every week. Likewise, I didn't include any card like Noxious Revival to rebuy it from the graveyard. Our first goal is to have a memorable time, rather than building the most powerful packs we can.

And this week our other agenda is to be spooky. That's why I chose the Spark Reaper zombie over Bushmeat Poacher. Though the human is a great card, it's more humorous than horrendous. In this next pack, I chose the scariest Blue spells I could find. All the creatures have flash, so your opponent will remain fearful at all times.

Jump-Scare Blue | Jumpstart | AE Marling

• Creatures (8)
• 1 Crookclaw Transmuter
• 1 Darksteel Sentinel
• 1 Drownyard Behemoth
• 1 Illusory Ambusher
• 1 Living Tempest
• 1 Nephalia Seakite
• 1 Riptide Turtle
• 1 Voracious Greatshark

• Instants (4)
• 1 Censor
• 1 Chemister's Insight
• 1 Erratic Mutation
• 1 Spell Snuff

• Lands (8)
• 7 Island
• 1 Thriving Isle

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Magic players know that while Black cards contain more creepy crawlers and undead, there's nothing that fills you with more dread than your opponent's untapped islands. What do they have? A counterspell? Bounce? Or in this case, flash creatures? It's hard to play around everything. We begin to sweat, worrying we're going to make a mistake. Is the coast clear to cast or spell? Or will wading into the waters lead to disaster?

The downside to counterspells in Limited is if we're behind, or the opponent refuses to play into them, we may waste our turn. That won't be the case here, since this pack is full of other instants in the form of flash creatures. Some of them are truly scary. If you catch a medium-sized attacker with Illusory Ambusher, the game might as well be over. And should your opponent try to kill one of your blockers, have an eldrazi burst out of its body, revealing a Drownyard Behemoth.

For this next pack, we're continuing the theme of startling our opponent with instants. Our goal here is to turn them Green with fright, as they try to line up blocks against all our combat tricks.

Frightening Green | Jumpstart | AE Marling

• Creatures (6)
• 1 Anthousa, Setessan Hero
• 1 Gnarlback Rhino
• 1 Golden Hind
• 1 Leafcrown Dryad
• 1 Noble Quarry
• 1 Pheres-Band Thunderhoof

• Instants (7)
• 1 Band Together
• 1 Giant Growth
• 1 Hunter's Insight
• 1 Ram Through
• 1 Ranger's Guile
• 1 Vastwood Fortification
• 1 Wildsize

• Lands (7)
• 6 Forest
• 1 Thriving Grove

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Just like playing against untapped Blue mana can terrify our foe, they won't know what to do against our combat tricks. Well, they might hope to kill our creature in response, but if you keep them on the back foot they may not be able to leave mana untapped. Or blow them out with a second combat trick like Ranger's Guile or the original Giant Growth.

We're playing three heroic creatures. Not only do our bestow cards and combat tricks trigger the bonuses, but so do our removal spells. I've selected some strong ones in Band Together and Ram Through. These will make blocker math horrendous, and if our opponent loses their nerve and takes the damage, cackle and cast Hunter's Insight.

You may notice we're playing one fewer land than most Jumpstart packs. Instead we have a mana elk in Golden Hind and a double-faced land in Vastwood Fortification. When building a pack that requires a critical mass of specific ingredients, in this case spells targeting our own creatures, you have to go all out because the second pack will bring you closer to average. That's the reason we're only playing three heroic creatures rather than say, six.

After all the scares of Halloween (and from 2020 in general), let's indulge in something simple and sweet. Break off a piece of that Gingerbrute and join me beside the warmth of the Witch's Oven.

Green Treats | Jumpstart | AE Marling

• Creatures (8)
• 1 Bloodbriar
• 1 Feasting Troll King
• 1 Gilded Goose
• 1 Gingerbrute
• 1 Maraleaf Rider
• 1 Sorcerer's Broom
• 2 Fierce Witchstalker

• Instants (1)
• 1 Insatiable Appetite

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Trail of Crumbs

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Golden Egg
• 1 Witch's Oven

• Lands (8)
• 7 Forest
• 1 Thriving Grove

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When building a pack full of food I was faced with only a few choices. First, what color. I chose Green to start, though we may complete the menu next week with Black, (but don't worry, there won't be any cat-oven shenanigans). The second choice was our rare. Wicked Wolf is mostly unbeatable. Gilded Goose is rather plain, and Feasting Troll King is hard to cast.

I decided to roll with the troll, including Gilded Goose as a second rare to color fix it along with Golden Egg. If you prefer the big bad wolf, cut the rares and add it along with Curious Pair. This will mean your deck has one fewer uncommon / rare than the norm, but that's only fair.

What Halloween themes would you like to see next week?