I never grow bored with Magic. It is a game of perpetual rediscovery and invention. It’s LEGOs for adults, and one’s the decks are built, it’s chess. I have over seventy decks constructed, and the oldest has been tinkered with for over ten years. No matter how similar some of my decks are (I tend to lean on recursion, for example), I strive to give each of them a soul of its own and make it impossible for someone to create a single deck, or even a series of decks, that can foil all of my creations.

Continuing with creativity, when I consider the multitude of pieces in this game, I am overjoyed to find that old favorites can be used in new ways and that cards that I always found intriguing will sometimes finally work. It is in this spirit that I am creating a series of articles about cards that I have found that interact with common strategies for playing this game. My goal is to share cards that I have discovered—or rediscovered—that affect others and change the game so that rediscovery and invention are facilitated and made necessary. The cards I will highlight will be cards listed as under $2, and most will be well under $1. This is a budgeted list.

If you are willing to heed my suggestions, these cards may help you inject more joy into your games. There is little fun in doing the same thing or fighting the same strategy over and over. If you periodically change strategies, colors, and goals, you will create a better environment. Decks jockeying for position and cards being played in reaction to others' creations is a dynamic and fun metagame. Plus, you are unlikely to hear the dreaded question, "Really, you brought that again?" Finally, the cards suggested will be cards that can be added to shake up how people play. My first articles will be for dealing with the deck-builder who likes to create a single, big beater or creature with powerful abilities fast, through reanimation, enchantments, Equipment, and fast mana.

Usually, these creatures are hard or impossible to target, indestructible, regenerators, or just so big (or have great abilities) that they run you over. I start with this list because this is a flaw of my decks. In recent years, my decks have moved away from spot removal and early answers as, in a vacuum, mass removal is just better.

I recall a three-player game in which a friend and I were stomped by my dad playing Eldrazi. Neither one of us was playing cheap spot removal (e.g. Swords to Plowshares). It was early game, and we were beaten down by one of the "little" Eldrazi. His deck preyed upon a common assumption of multiplayer: that there will be a late game. These decks put out a great threat early and make sure that powerful late-game spells are never cast because there is no late game.

We could have complained that it was unfair, but we knew better. We have been playing for years. Also, I was playing my R/W soldier deck that blows up lands with Keldon Firebombers, and my friend was playing his Garruk-haups deck (Garruk Wildspeaker ramp with Jokulhaups), so it isn't as though we were playing any fairer. One of us could have won if we had early removal to assure that we could make it to the late game.

Another time, I recall being beaten down by my dad's Skyhunter Skirmisher suited up with three copies of Taste for Mayhem. He did lose after killing three people. The Skyhunter was bounced by the last player. Who plays bounce, you may ask? Maybe you should—so you can make it to the late game.

The first five articles will focus on black, as it has an exceptional number of cards that are good against the large-threat game plan.

The first category of cards is those that ward off other players (a.k.a. rattlesnake cards, as revisited recently by Abe Sargent). What I really like about rattlesnakes is that they leave the threat on the table. The reason that this is good is that it can send that threat toward others, or at the least, it leaves the creature on the board making an opponent seem more threatening than you. Your rattler could be eliminated or made invalid as well, which provides your other opponents even more incentive to deal with the creature.

Deathtouchers are excellent rattlers. The first guy on the list is the card that started me on this path: Vampire Nighthawk. This list developed as a running way of dealing with the ’hawk because one of my friends was miffed by how it was warping his multiplayer games, as it was so powerful for its mana cost. This suggests ’hawk’s weakness: He is hated beyond all reason in many playgroups, and some players might kill him just because he is there. Well, it’s not beyond all reason. He does have great utility and is a threat at all points of the game. He should also be easier to acquire since he was just reprinted in Magic 2013!

The excellent Stinkweed Imp is next. He has built-in recursion and can pick up Equipment or Auras later to become a threat. There are two caveats, however. Your opponents will think you are up to something as you shove card after card in the grave (and you are up to something, aren't you, or you would have picked a different card, right?), and some opponents will be willing to attack you/kill it over and over just to watch you mill away your deck. "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

Seal of Doom is a classic rattler and is a great solution to something like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. The deathtouchers are viable against him, but that means you have been annihilated. Unless your opponent is playing with something such as Krosan Grip,² the Seal of Doom can kill Emrakul at any time. Obviously, the opponent can still annihilate you if you let him attack, so read the board and kill it before attacks if you think it is coming your way. If not, enjoy watching it kill your opponents for you. Emrakul players, take note. This may be a time when it is a better tactic to choose the Seal player—even if he does not seem to be right choice—and catch him off guard!

Just remember that this goes both ways, though. It may be the correct play for him to swing your way. If you will be in the way of his victory, not attacking you is akin to suicide. For those of you who would always attack into the Seal or force the use of it, consider this: Your big bad may not always be the biggest and baddest, and having the Seal person around can be to your benefit, too.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Executioner's Capsule. In a deck that can recur the capsule or that cares about artifacts, it is definitely worth a look. If you have these, give them a try. However, you have to keep the 2 mana open, and artifact destruction is more common. So while this is good, and sometimes better, if for no other reason than that your Trinket Mage can search up removal, it is not usually as good as the Seal.

Below is a deck that includes Seal of Doom as one of its main rattlesnakes.

"Awake My Soul" B/W

• Creatures (30)
• 1 Auramancer
• 1 Flesh-Eater Imp
• 4 Blood Artist
• 4 Falkenrath Noble
• 4 Hypnotic Specter
• 4 Mentor of the Meek
• 4 Soul Warden
• 4 Souls of the Faultless
• 4 Suture Priest

• Spells (21)
• 1 Murderous Spoils
• 3 Hatred
• 1 Beacon of Unrest
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 4 Reanimate
• 1 Necropotence
• 1 Soul Stair Expedition
• 2 No Rest for the Wicked
• 2 Seal of Cleansing
• 4 Seal of Doom
• 1 Skullclamp

• Lands (24)
• 3 Plains
• 9 Swamp
• 4 Cabal Pit
• 4 Orzhov Basilica
• 4 Secluded Steppe

Buy This Deck

Deck Notes

While I have six more rattlesnake cards to cover before moving on to more esoteric answers, I must bring today's article to a close. Metegaming in multiplayer can be a lot of fun. I hope you have enjoyed my suggestions, and I look forward to finishing this first category in the next article.

Black Budget Rattlesnakes

• Vampire Nighthawk
• Nirkana Cutthroat
• Onyx Mage – currently Buy 1 get 3 free
• Stinkweed Imp
• Seal of Doom
• Executioner's Capsule

¹ The Threat is the person whom everyone, or most everyone, agrees has to be stopped or the game is over.

²Note that you can retain priority after casting the Seal of Doom, sacrifice it, and kill Emrakul before an opponent has an opportunity to use his split second spell.