Locations
The Prerelease
I had a good time at my local prerelease this weekend, but I'm not sure how much of that is due to the new format. In fact, it seems like meeting awesome people and playing Yamodo with friends made up for a strange, semi-broken format I'm glad will never be played again.
As you probably know by now, players had to choose a side before receiving their three faction-specific booster packs. I went back and forth all week. I hate playing poison, but I'm sick of playing Red/White in every sealed tournament. I really want to open Inkmoth Nexus, but Thrun would be a nice one to crack too. Since Monday, I've been reading articles on which side was more powerful, and did my own research on how many cards at each rarity I would want to play. In the end, though, I went with my heart: I'm a Mirran through and through (at least the first time around).
The Hero of Bladehold might have swayed me a little, too.
As a marketing decision, making me pick a side was brilliant. It made me emotionally invested in this fictional war. As far as gameplay goes, though… well, not many people seemed to be having a lot of fun.
Playing Phyrexia was a gambit. Can you open enough poison in your Scars packs to build a great infect deck? There was virtually no way to play any colors but Black/Green – and not one of the Phyrexians I encountered through two flights strayed from that norm. That means a lot of people had to leave bomb rares or pet cards on the sidelines. Not a good feeling.
I played Phyrexia in the second flight, had enough poison guys all along the curve, but didn't have any good removal or bombs. Still, I didn't have enough playables in the other colors, so I was stuck with my mediocre Black/Green deck. Went 2-1, beating even worse infect decks and losing to a solid red/white deck.
Playing as a Mirran felt an awful lot like playing in the last pre-release, Scars. Not everyone played Red/White, but everyone with winning records was. There wasn't a lot of room for innovation or interesting deck building decisions. Playing against the same cards over and over was a drag.
Plus, because we essentially were working with half a small set, it was pretty common to open two or three of the same cards. Sweet for me, with double Divine Offering. Not sweet if you hit a bad print run. Another problem I encountered: having a ton of artifact removal meant I crushed other Mirrans, and could barely interact with Phyrexians. I still went 4-0, but the two games I played against Phyrexia in which they weren't mana screwed, I didn't stand a chance.
The thing that really grinds my gears: It's a prerelease. I want to play with the new cards - all of them! I want a chance to open any rare, mix Phyrexian and Mirran cards, try out wacky combos. I wouldn't want the next set to come out with 78 cards, so why do I have to play with such a set today? Sure, this rant may be completely irrelevant now that the weekend is over, but I want to get my feelings out there to dissuade Wizards from trying this again. Cool concept, bad execution.
Here are some quick observations from the day before I get to the real strategy talk:
- Battle cry is better than I thought. It's pretty easy to assemble a few stray mana Myr or tokens, and Battle cry makes them into legitimate threats on the alpha strike.
- Master's Call was awesome. There are a lot of X/1s to ambush, and it works great with Battle cry.
- Piston Sledge is my new favorite card. Dropping it after any turn two creature (especially with infect) is such a huge tempo swing. I didn't have to move it around too often, and when I did, I always had some stray artifact.
- Concussive Bolt only hits players. Maybe this isn't news to you, but I had to go back and change its entry in this article after the prerelease (the second half was actually written earlier in the week).
- Nobody opened a Tezzeret in about 100 packs. Lame!
- Don't forget the germ! More than a few germs gave their lives for no reason when players cast a Living Weapon and immediately equipped to a new creature. I'm as guilty as anyone.
- Mortarpod is incredible in Infect. You get a Fume Spitter early and a three or four point Fireball late, plus any number of uses in between. Don't sleep on this one.
- Sphere of the Suns comes into play tapped. Obvious now, but I missed it at first, and so did most of my opponents.
***
The Commons of Besieged
Succeeding in limited is all about being ahead of the curve. Draft formats evolve just as constructed ones do, and knowing which archetypes are undervalued at a given time translates into victory. Early in triple Zendikar, for example, green was underdrafted, and a savvy drafter could run the table by picking up late Nissa's Chosens and Timbermaw Larvae. A few weeks later, people were sick of losing to that guy with the green deck, and started taking Grazing Gladeharts earlier. If you hopped on the green bandwagon too late, you were probably stuck with some terrible green/blue landfall control deck, losing round one to Black/Red (been there, friend).
With the release of Mirrodin Besieged, now is the time to start thinking strategy. Theory can only take us so far, it's true. But luckily, we're not looking at the first set in a block, where relative values are difficult to gauge and baseline strategy hasn't been developed. No, we still have two packs of Scars to work with, so it should be pretty easy to tell where the new cards fit in.
This week, I'm going to take a look at the commons in Mirrodin Besieged with an eye towards what we're losing from Scars and what new possibilities open up. I'll cover the higher rarities soon.
***
White
Losing 1/3 of your opportunities to grab key commons can sometimes be more important than the new toys you get to play with. Here are the commons that white loses in the first pack:
That's two removal spells, four mediocre combat tricks/prevention spells, two so-so metalcraft guys, two flyers (including Glint Hawk, who is important), a big-butt defender, and two creatures that support fringe strategies (Sunspear Shikari for equipment-based aggro, and Salvage Scout for Furnace Celebration).
On the way in:
Ardent Recruit: Fills the Auriok Sunchaser slot, and seems like a downgrade. Flying is much more important than the extra colorless mana, especially since metalcraft is pretty difficult to assemble in the first couple of turns. I'm calling him unplayable.
Banishment Decree: Not a great answer to bombs, but has real blow-out potential. Imagine your opponent attacks with his team, expecting Tempered Steel, True Conviction, or a key piece of equipment will carry him to victory. You make all the right blocks and slam Banishment Decree . Of course, that won't happen too often, as keeping five open is almost as obvious as leaving Darksteel Sentinel mana open. Still, curving out and putting your opponent on the back foot, then using Banishment Decree on his best blocker is perfectly acceptable. This card isn't always going to be amazing, but it will always be good, and should be in most white decks. Oh, and you can also play in on a creature getting pumped by Untamed Might, making it way better than Soul Parry.
Divine Offering: Shatter is great, and this card is better. Whether or not it's better than Revoke Existence is up in the air (Instant speed vs. killing enchantment, Exile), but regardless, you'll take Offering around the same time as its predecessor (first pick in a weak pack, no qualms taking it second).
Frantic Salvage: An interesting Footbottom Feast variant. Like that card, I wouldn't mind playing exactly one, but only if I have the artifact creatures to support it. I could also see myself siding it in against decks with a ton of removal that seek to out-Attrition me.
Leonin Skyhunter: A nice upgrade to Kemba's Skyguard. I don't think this guy will go super early, because there aren't too many decks that can afford the WW on turn two, and some of those decks are more interested in artifacts anyways. It looks like a more traditional (read: non-metalcraft) base-white aggressive deck could be viable (skies? W/r?), and this guy is a staple for that potential strategy.
Loxodon Partisan: One of those filler cards you don't really mind playing, the only problem with the Partisan is that he doesn't help any existing strategy. He's big enough to take down infect guys, but not cheap enough to save you from the fast starts. His ability is fine for aggressive decks, but again, he's a little too expensive. Snidds are always on the border between pretty good and just bad, and this guy is on the high end.
Master's Call: Could be the lynchpin of metalcraft strategies in the new world. The ability to turn on your Rusted Relic at will, or set up a lethal brigade of Auriok Sunchasers is a magical thing. I wouldn't take it early – figure around 5th pick – but I'll be happy to have a couple in any deck with Chrome Steeds.
Priests of Norn: I love this card, because it fills the Loxodon Wayfarer slot perfectly. The loss of toughness isn't going to be relevant too often, and Infect is critical for taking out Ichorclaw Myrs and Blight Mambas. Not a maindeck card if I can help it, but I'm going to board this in a lot in the future.
Tine Shrike: This card feels like a trap. You won't have any chances to take white infect cards after pack one, so you're banking on getting plenty of guys in your second color. If I'm base green with a couple of these after Besieged, I imagine I'd be tempted to swap white for black midway through pack two. When it comes together, Tine Shrike is an excellent infect creature; I just don't want to Gamble on seeing enough Cystbearers to make it work.
Summary: Losing a pack of Glint Hawks and Arrests is pretty bad for white. An Excommunicate on Four Loko and Shatter + Life doesn't quite make up for it. Leonin Skyhunter is a good man, and so are you guys. Stay clean. Stay focused. Stay strong. Frankenstein, have fun with your friends.
***
Blue
On the way out:
Sky-Eel School is the only real loss. The Drake is just okay. Vedalken Certarch is only good on occasion (when you draft 18 playable artifacts), and even then he's vulnerable. We also have an efficient unblockable creature, a bounce spell, a Counterspell, a pseudo-removal spell, a big-butt defender, a super-expensive finisher, and some junk. Steady Progress is noteworthy as a role player in Proliferate decks.
Incoming:
Fuel for the Cause: Stoic Rebuttal plus Steady Progress, huh? If you have enough charge counters to interact with it, this card is probably better than the Rebuttal, but that isn't saying a whole lot. I like boarding in counterspells when my opponent has a lot of cards that cost more than them, and this is no exception. 23rd card material, unless you've got the Thrummingbird deck.
Mirran Spy: His ability is not impressive at all, and neither are his stats. Board it in against Plague Stingers and 2/2 flyers, try not to play with it otherwise.
Oculus: An odd little speedbump. Seems like a lot of work just to cycle. I don't see myself playing this guy unless my opponent has a lot of X/1s that attack – that way, the body is relevant, and I have the chance at a 2-for-1.
Quicksilver Geyser: Should be better than Whiplash Trap, and that card was quite good. The trap cost rarely came up, and the combination of an ultra-fast set and blue being relatively weak made Whiplash Trap about as bad as a double-bounce spell can be. Mirrodin block is considerably slower, and we get to bounce ANY permanent. Geyser sets up alpha strikes, causes blowouts by bouncing equipment or shutting off metalcraft, and combos with your own "Enters the Battlefield" abilities. I'll be looking for this card around picks 4-6, and suspect it will come even later.
Serum Raker: A fine Sky-Eel School replacement! 4 mana, 3 power flyers are always great. One of the few common reasons to be in blue.
Spire Serpent: 3/5 is huge, and a 5/7 is normally going to require a triple-block to take down. I'd rather have this than Scrap Diver Serpent most of the time. You'll know when the time is right to play this guy (hint: you have a lot of artifacts, need blockers on the ground, and are playing for the late game).
Steel Sabotage: This card is great, in the role-player sort of way. I'm going to take this late and run exactly one in my blue decks, with the potential to side in more if my opponent isn't infect. It's pretty unassuming to leave one blue up, and many, many opponents will run Myr Battlespheres into this.
Turn the Tide: This one comes from a long line of "fine, but getting cut" Constricting Tendrils variants. The situations where this kind of effect is good don't come up too often, and most of the time you'd rather have a counter spell or a solid creature instead. Try not to play it.
Vivisection: Killer combo with Oculus! Seriously, though, I've drafted many blue decks with an Abundance of Mana Myr and not enough to do with that mana; Vivisection is perfect in those decks and unplayable in decks without 3+ Myr.
Summary: Blue gets shafted in the common department once again. Serum Raker is sweet, but barely makes up for losing Sky Eel School. Quicksilver Geyser is the next best card, and will win more games than you might expect. Spire Serpent is next, and I'll be happy to play one or two in defensive Metalcraft decks (he's similar to Ghalma's Gate Warden in that way). Everything else is mediocre at best.
***
Black
Old:
That's one great infect guy, two okay infect guys, one good removal spell, two decent removal spells, four creatures you're never excited about playing (except Bleak Coven Vampires in the right deck), two cards you never play period, and Tainted Strike.
New:
Caustic Hound: I can't imagine wanting to play this card. Even if I'm not infect, and need a large finisher… this guy isn't actually that large for his cost, and the life loss isn't what you're looking for when you're dropping a fatty to stabilize.
Flensermite: This card is so much worse than Plague Stinger it's not even worth comparing the two. Instead, this card is like Vesper Asp: only play it if you're really hard up for infecters or need to block Ichorclaw Myr.
Horrifying Revelation: Bad.
Morbid Plunder: I've been playing a lot of ZZW lately, and a card I've been falling in love with all over again is Soul Stair Expedition. Morbid Plunder is very similar, but has the added element of surprise. You just make trades that seem bad to your opponent and then Plunder your way back into the game. Alright, you can block all my Cystbearers with Vulshock Replicas. BAM! Back for more. If you have a couple of bombs or Skinrender, the card gets better, but even without a game-breaker to bring back, I wouldn't mind playing one of these. Don't play too many more than that; it's completely dead in the early game.
Phyresis: And here is a bad Tainted Strike. Losing the element of surprise is key here, but I could see playing this in an emergency (meaning I didn't get enough infect creatures and have multiple Molder Beasts).
Phyrexian Rager: Some decks play Moriok Replica even though they don't need the artifact. Those decks would probably prefer Phyrexian Rager. This card is a lot like Necrogen Scudder, in that they are both quite good, but get passed around because there isn't really a deck for them. On the other hand, I've drafted my fair share of Blue/Black control, and the Rager fits in there just as well as the 3/3 Flyer.
Scourge Servant: Is there a Snidd cycle in the set? I guess we'll see. I think all but the most aggressive of infect decks will want this card. Cystbearer taught us that three toughness is a powerful thing, and while this card is nowhere near the power lever of the 2/3, I still find him quite playable (particularly in a removal-heavy build).
Spread the Sickness: Good removal is good removal, even at five mana. Infect decks want it a tiny bit more, but I suspect everybody wants to play with this splashable, kill-anything creature elim.
Virulent Wound: Interesting variation of Fume Spitter. Obviously only better than the 1/1 in poison, but that deck wants this card more. Remember that the gameplan of a non-infect deck is to trade with you all day until their more powerful cards come online. This card acts like a Withstand Death plus Shock in those situations.
Summary: Spread the Sickness is the best of the lot, and is much worse than Grasp of Darkness. There are four other cards I'd be happy to play: Phyrexian Rager, Virulent Wound, Scourge Savant, and Morbid Plunder. Everything else is terrible.
***
Red
Out:
Vulshok Heartstoker
Red isn't very deep in Scars. The three removal spells are the big losses. Then we have a bunch of dudes ranging from decent (Blade-Tribe Berserkers) to terrible (Scoria Elemental). Ferrovore and Oxidda Daredevil compliment Furnace Celebration strategies. Assault Strobe and Melt Terrain are basically unplayable, and Kuldotha Rebirth can be sideboarded in against quick infect decks when necessary.
In:
Blisterstick Shaman: A fine card, the Shaman will often take out an infect creature or a Myr and stick around to beat for two. I'll be looking to take this around 3rd-4th pick.
Burn the Impure: Here's the Galvanic Blast of the set. I'm only picking bombs over this excellent removal spell.
Concussive Bolt: I originally thought this was a bad Turn to Slag – turns out it's just a good Lava Axe. There is certainly an aggressive red deck possible in the new world, probably paired with white, and I could see playing one or two of these to close out games. Problem is, that deck needs a ton of guys, then you need removal, then you want good equipment… there isn't much room for a Lava Axe.
Crush: Smacks of a sideboard card to me. Taking out a Trigon of Corruption or Mimic Vat is obviously great, but most of the time Crush will sit your hand wishing it was a Shatter. I'll board this in if I see a ton of equipment or some non-creature bombs I can't deal with.
Gnathosaur: A mediocre dinosaur if you're low on Molder Beasts in G/R. I look forward to cutting this as often as I cut Flameborn Hellion.
Koth's Courier: Similar to Blistergrub. You can side these in against green if you can afford the fact that they aren't artifacts. Equipment makes that plan a little better.
Kuldotha Ringleader: More expensive filler, ala Gnathosaur, although this one is more playable. As a Berserkers of Blood Ridge with a bonus, it's a fair deal – but it isn't an artifact or a metalcraft guy. The bar for non-artifacts may be too high to play this guy often.
Ogre Resister: What a difference a mana can make! I like the Ogre much more than the Ringleader. The extra toughness isn't too important (most of the cards that can kill a Resister can kill a Ringleader too, with the notable exception of Burn the Impure), and I'm not sold on Battle cry yet - at least not on expensive guys. The 4/3 for four isn't as exciting as he would be in a core set, as he does nothing to help your metalcraft or infect or Furnace Celebration strategies, but in a deck like G/R Dinos, this guy fits right in. Look, Chrome Steed is a fine card. People go to great lengths to Acquire Metalcraft to make him a 4/4 for four. You get to laugh at those people as you trade your 8th pick natural 4/3 with their tin horse!
Rally the Forces: Cute trick, too bad it's only on the offensive. Otherwise, it would make a great sideboard card against infect. I think this one stays on the bench.
Summary: Scars' three quality removal spells are replaced by two, plus two conditional ones (Blisterstick Shaman, Crush). The creatures are a little better, but still unexciting. Note that we are still lacking good red two-drops.
***
Green
Out:
Losing a pack of Cystbearers hurts infect, and those decks also have to remember to prioritize Untamed Mights a little more. Blight Mamba is only the fourth-best two drop in poison, but still important. Dinosaurs loses the easily-replaceable Alpha Tyrannax and the less-replaceable Molder Beast. Then we have a bunch of sub-par tricks, sub-par flying hate, and Carapace Forger.
In:
Blight Widow: Is it just me, or is this card incredible? He's very close in power to Cystbearer, and seeing this card pick three or four is a good signal that poison will be open. I would also run it in non-infect decks, as a huge trump card for blue and white decks.
Fangren Marauder: Another dinosaur, and this one is pretty sweet. The decks that want this typically have quite a few cheap artifacts, notably Myr and green spellbombs. You can attack with the Marauder all day and chump block here and there with your mana critters to stay ahead in the race. He isn't spectacular, but he does his job well.
Glissa's Courier: See Koth's Courier, except this one is worse because it's in an infect color.
Mirran Mettle: Awkward that the decks that need this most are the least likely to have three artifacts in play. +2/+2 is still good in infect, and I imagine decks with multiple Carapace Forgers want it too. Not a high pick, because you always take a solid creature over it, but I think you play it more often than not.
Pistus Strike: This is a huge upgrade to Wing Puncture out of the board. I played that card a lot, so I anticipate Striking many, many Pistuses.
Rot Wolf: The second card that makes me miss Cystbearer a little less. I think this is a premium Infect creature, ala Plague Stinger, and having a couple of these makes me value tricks higher (see Mettle, Mirran).
Tangle Mantis: Like Ogre Resister, the Mantis helps fill out the four-drop slot, allowing you to go turn two Myr, turn three monster, turn four bigger monster. I like the Ogre a little more for the extra power, but would happily play this in my non-infect green decks.
Unnatural Predation: Interesting. Obviously the card is supposed to help close out games in poison, but there aren't too many infect creatures with a large enough front end to take advantage of trample. There are too many cards that fill this roll, and you really don't want more than three or four tricks. I think this is just worse than Mirran Mettle most of the time.
Viridian Emissary: I really like this card. Be careful not to keep a two land hand that banks on this guy – he's not Sakura-Tribe Elder, but he's solid. He'll keep two-toughness creatures from attacking you in the early turns and find your splash late. I'm taking him late (7th-8th) and playing him.
Summary: Green did pretty well – probably the best of any color, as far as commons go. We get two excellent infect guys (meaning green is still the color to be in for that strategy). Flying decks get worse because of Pistus Strike and Blight Widow. Dinosaurs improves with solid drops at two, four, and six mana. Two pump spells round out the color, so keep in mind that your opponent could have a play when he's attacking with a green open.
***
Artifacts
Out:
Let's start with the big one: you now have 1/3 fewer opportunities to grab mana Myr, which make them even more valuable to the decks that need them. Controlling Metalcraft decks and Dinos in particular need to scoop them up early in pack two to make sure they get at least two. Then there's the spellbombs and replicas, which aren't huge losses, but they were important for Furnace Celebration (why do I keep talking about that like it's a real deck?) and metalcraft. Glint Hawk Idol is one of the best cards for white ‘craft, and everyone could use a couple Tumble Magnets. You're now less likely to see a Soliton machine gun, and (thankfully) less likely to see a Corpse Cur loop. Artifacts made up about 35% of Scars commons, and only 25% of Besieged commons. That mean you better start taking them early to hit the 16+ range successful metalcraft decks shoot for.
In:
Bladed Sentinel: Just your run-of-the-mill filler artifact. Probably more valuable than Ghalma's Gate Warden simply because it has a gray frame.
Copper Carapace: +2/+2 is a lot, and if you slap this on a two drop on turn three, you probably won't need to be blocking for a while anyway. Note that it activates Bloodshot Trainee, the only common equipment to do so until now. Control decks will stay away, but metalcraft aggro and infect will be looking to take this card in the middle picks (5th-6th).
Dross Ripper: Pretty close to Chrome Steed even if you can't pay for its shade ability. Four drops got a lot better with this set, but I expect to grudgingly play this maindeck in more than a few non-black decks. Auto-include if you are black and don't want to poison somebody out.
Flayer Husk: I really like the Living weapon mechanic, but this one is probably the worst of the bunch. Nobody cares about your 1/1, and it isn't worth three mana to give another creature the bonus. Unless you have triple Sunspear Shikari, don't play this.
Gust-Skimmer: Here's a good man! Solid two drop for blue decks, even if they are base-white with six-ish islands. I'm not sure if being an artifact bear is enough to justify inclusion in off-color decks, but I've played Golden Urn to get to Metalcraft before – this seems substantially better.
Hexplate Golem: I have yet to play a Razorfield Trasher, and this guy is his chubby little brother. No thanks.
Ichor Wellspring: I wanted to write this off, but it isn't all that bad. Cycling can be fine if you're short on playables or have a ridiculous bomb you want to dig for. Add to that that this card sticks around to get you metalcraft, and you have an acceptable filler card. Sprinkle in some Barrage Ogre, and the Wellspring becomes pretty good.
Myr Sire: I'm sick of adding the "enables metalcraft" proviso on every card in this list, so I'm going to assume you know by now. This card isn't playable outside of that role.
Phyrexian Digester: Plague Rats minus the Shock? Blackcleave Goblin minus the Haste? The Digester is just like them: you'll play him to get the necessary number of infect creatures, but you won't be psyched about it.
Razorfield Rhino: 6/6 is juuust big enough to get me interested. You'll almost certainly have metalcraft by turn six, so the only question is if you have anything better to do in the late game. If you didn't get your allotted dosage of rare bombs, the Rhino is fine.
Rusted Slasher: Better than he looks, I think. The Slasher trades your worst artifact for your opponent's best ground creature every time you block, and that's pretty good for four mana. On an empty board, he takes huge chunks out of your opponent. Regenerate is, of course, bad against infect – but you still want to play this to trade with Blight Widows and such. Take it late and be merry.
Shriekhorn: I'm Sorry, but with only one pack of Besieged, you aren't winning any drafts on the back of this card. Even with Screeching Silcraws. Even with Glint Hawk. Just don't play it.
Spin Engine: A nice little card for red metalcraft. On the backfoot, he trades with most problem creatures, and he closes games nicely.
Tangle Husk: Blah blah dinosaurs blah blah regerate bad against infect. You know the drill.
Training Drone: I don't like cards that make Shatter into a two-for-one (see also: Grafted Exoskeleton). This is going to be useless most of the time and just okay when you have the equipment. Is saving a mana on Chrome Steed really worth the drawback?
Summary: Interesting how Besieged artifacts seem more focused on the midgame than Scars artifacts – but I guess losing the Mana Myr will do that to a set. Really, all we have here is a bunch of decent durdles and metalcraft enablers. Infect loses Ichorclaw Myr and the 2/1 for three doesn't make up for it. All-in-all, I'm not very excited about these artifacts.
Wrapping Up
I'm disappointed in the lack of build-around commons in the set. Now that the draft order is reversed, there was an opportunity to put a couple interesting cards in the lowest rarity for the deckbuilders among us and have it develop into an actual strategy. Sure, that kind of thing usually shows up in uncommon, but it would be nice to go into a draft knowing that the card necessary for your preferred/innovative strategy is likely to show up. Shriekhorn is the closest we get, and that card needs too many things to go right in order to win games.
Thanks for reading, good luck at the launch parties!
Brad Wojceshonek
BJWOJ on Twitter
BradWoj at Gmail dot com
