Tag Archives: magic: the gathering

Favorite Magic Cards, part 1: Creatures

May 16, 2013 Robin 1 Comment

Ever since I started playing Magic back in 2005, I’ve had a growing list of creatures that are just plain favorites to use in decks. Maybe it’s because I like using the creature type, or maybe it’s because they’re just plain GOOD for how much mana you invest in them. Whatever the reason, the following creatures are and probably always will be standouts for me:

Akroma, Angel of Wrath: An old favorite for her slew of abilities.	Avatar of Hope: I love the big toughness and “able to block any number of creatures” ability.
Beacon of Destiny: Redirect all damage to this creature, no matter its source? Why not?	Beloved Chaplain: Protection from creatures for two mana. Not bad!
Courier Hawk: The 2 toughness and vigilance is more help than it seems!	Dawn Elemental: Flying 3/3 that can’t be killed by damage…WIN.
Dawnstrider: A creature which can Fog when you Spellshape. What an unexpected bonus!	Empyrial Archangel: A defensive instead of aggressive Angel. Me likey.
Elvish Piper: Makes playing the huge-mana-cost creatures actually worthwhile!	Essence Warden: Because Green needed quick, creature-based life-gain, too. LOL
Exalted Angel: One of the first Angels with lifelink, and even more fun with the Morph ability.	Grizzled Leotau: A Green/White creature with a huge toughness…which costs only two mana!
Indomitable Ancients: Because a 10 toughness for 4 mana is just hilarious.	Jenara, Asura of War: A multi-colored Angel for only 3 mana (gasp!), with the ability to get more P/T over time.
Jhessian Infiltrator: I love the low-mana-cost Unblockable damage, especially in Green.	Krosan Cloudscraper: Admit it, swinging for 13 with one creature is pretty hilarious.
Pride of the Clouds: Love the artwork; plus, this is one cat that likes fighting alongside the birds!	Skyhunter Skirmisher: White so rarely gets double strike, and this is flying double strike at that!
Timber Protector: I’ve built a Treefolk deck. ‘Nuff said. 🙂	Wall of Hope: This is hilarious to play on your first turn, because of the defense/life-gain combo.
Yavimaya Dryad: Absolutely need a Forest? She’s got you covered. Need to give the other player a Forest so that your creatures can Forestwalk? She’s got that, too.	Yavimaya Enchantress: Funny with Blanchwood Armor, Gaea’s Anthem, and the like. 😀

Image Credits

All card images came from Gatherer.

Thursday in the Zone

How to Tell How Old Your M:TG Cards Are

May 2, 2013 Robin 3 Comments

Most of us Magic: the Gathering players began our collections with a fairly random assortment of cards, a mix of the most current booster packs plus some donated cards from other players’ collections. Because of this, sometimes it can be hard to know exactly what value your cards have, or even what set the cards are from in some cases.

So I compiled this handy little guide, with the help of my awesome boyfriend (who’s been playing Magic since Revised came out), to help all of us know what sets some of those unidentifiable “old cards” come from. Who knows, you might be sitting on a small fortune and not know it!

For these illustrations, I used the card “Healing Salve,” which was printed from Alpha all the way through 8th edition–it shows how the early sets changed and varied.

	Alpha Heavily-rounded corners (compare to modern card and see the difference) Black borders Big rules text No copyright date No set symbol
	Beta Normal rounded corners (same as modern-day cards) Black borders Big rules text No copyright date No set symbol
	Unlimited White borders Normal corners Big rules text No copyright date No set symbol
	Revised Card colors look lighter overall–light print run Smaller rules text White borders No copyright date No set symbol
	4th Edition Copyright 1995 on the bottom of the card White borders No set symbol
	5th Edition Copyright 1997 on the bottom of the card White borders No set symbol (except for the Chinese release which had a Roman numeral V)
	6th Edition (aka “Classic 6th Edition) Set symbol: VI (but see note about early set symbols and card rarity, below) White borders

Chronicles Reprints

The set called Chronicles, which was released in July of 1995, was a set made up entirely of reprints from older sets–a mega Core Set, if you will. However, for each reprinted card, Chronicles used the card’s original set symbol instead of the Chronicles official set symbol.

The only difference between an original printing and a Chronicles reprint? The border color. The original sets all used black borders; Chronicles used white. See the example below:

Original Legends printing

Chronicles reprint

The Chronicles reprints are worth less, usually, than their original-print counterparts. Be wary if someone claims to be selling original prints of these cards–check the border color before you buy it at top price!

Set Symbols and Rarity

Unlike modern sets, many older sets either did not have set symbols at all, or only had a black set symbol for all cards, no matter what their rarity. In June 1998, Wizards of the Coast released the set called Exodus, which introduced the color-coded rarity system: black for common, silver for uncommon, and gold for rare, as seen below:

Be sure to look up the real value of older cards with no color-coded set symbols–what everyone else thinks is a “common” card (because of its black symbol) may in fact be a rare!

Useful Resources/Credits for Card Information

Gatherer (card images)
EssentialMagic.com’s Card Sets List (some set information)
CrystalKeep.com’s Symbols List (Exodus symbols)

Thursday in the Zone

Never Ask “What’s That M:TG Set Symbol?” Again!

April 18, 2013 Robin Leave a comment

Over the last few years, Magic: the Gathering has released many official sets–but those are not their only products. In fact, there have also been quite a few special collections, such as the Duel Decks, the From The Vault collections, and the Premium Deck series. Plus, there have been new formats introduced, such as Commander and Archenemy.

All of these mentioned products have their own set symbols, and that leads to quite a bit of confusion for both M:TG newbies and veterans. I’ve heard quite a few M:TG players trying to figure out these rarer symbols, and I’ve been a little bewildered by it all as well. Finally I decided to compile a reference article about it, to help us all learn these special symbols. (I’ve covered only the last three years in Magic, to cover as many “new cards” and “new sets” as possible in a short article.)

Special Collections for New Formats

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Archenemy	June 2010
	Commander	June 2011
	Commander’s Arsenal	November 2012

Duel Decks

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Phyrexia vs. The Coalition	March 2010
	Elspeth vs. Tezzeret	September 2010
	Knights vs. Dragons	April 2011
	Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas	September 2011
	Venser vs. Koth	March 2012
	Izzet vs. Golgari	September 2012
	Sorin vs. Tibalt	March 2013
	Heroes vs. Monsters	September 2013

Premium Deck Series

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Fire & Lightning	November 2010
	Graveborn	November 2011

From the Vault Collections

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	From the Vault: Relics	August 2010
	From the Vault: Legends	August 2011
	From the Vault: Realms	August 2012
	From the Vault: Twenty	August 2013

Expansion Sets

Set Symbol	Set Name	Release Date
	Scars of Mirrodin	October 2010
	Mirrodin Besieged	February 2011
	New Phyrexia	May 2011
	Innistrad	September 2011
	Dark Ascension	February 2012
	Avacyn Restored	May 2012
	Return to Ravnica	October 2012
	Gatecrash	February 2013
	Dragon’s Maze	May 2013

(All the preceding symbols were retrieved from the MTG Salvation Wiki, an excellent resource for set symbols and tons more M:TG information.)

Thursday in the Zone

New M:TG Abilities, part 2: Gatecrash

March 21, 2013 Robin Leave a comment

The very latest Magic set (as of February 1st), Gatecrash features five more new keyword abilities, one for each of its featured dual-color guilds. As we examine these, you might just find another one you want to fit into your deck–there are some REALLY interesting ones here!

Ability Keyword	Associated Guild	Rules Text	More Info
Battalion	Boros Legion	This mechanic means slightly different things on every card, but it always activates when the battalion-bearing creature and at least two others are attacking at the same time.	Battalion @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Cipher	House Dimir	702.97a Cipher appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities, one that functions while the spell is on the stack and one that functions while the card with cipher is in the exile zone. “Cipher” means “If this spell is represented by a card, you may exile this card encoded on a creature you control” and “As long as this card is encoded on that creature, that creature has ‘Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may copy this card and you may cast the copy without paying its mana cost.'” 702.97b The term “encoded” describes the relationship between the card with cipher while in the exile zone and the creature chosen when the spell represented by that card resolves. 702.97c The card with cipher remains encoded on the chosen creature as long as the card with cipher remains exiled and the creature remains on the battlefield. The card remains encoded on that object even if it changes controller or stops being a creature, as long as it remains on the battlefield.	Cipher @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Bloodrush	Gruul Clans	Allows players to discard creature cards in order to give an attacking creature a temporary power/toughness boost equal to the power and toughness of the discarded creature card.	Bloodrush @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Extort	Orzhov Syndicate	702.99a Extort is a triggered ability. “Extort” means “Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay 1 black or white mana. If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain life equal to the total life lost this way.” 702.99b If a permanent has multiple instances of extort, each triggers separately.	Extort @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Evolve	Simic Combine	702.98a Evolve is a triggered ability. “Evolve” means “Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, if that creature’s power is greater than this creature’s power and/or that creature’s toughness is greater than this creature’s toughness, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.” 702.99b If a creature has multiple instances of evolve, each triggers separately.	Evolve @ MTGSalvation Wiki

Which Ability is Right for You?

If you love playing creature-heavy decks (especially with lots of weenie creatures) and attacking all out every turn, Battalion is your new favorite ability.
If you like to put extra abilities on creatures, but hate how easily Enchant Creature cards are destroyed in-game, you will DEFINITELY want to try Cipher.
If you always end up with one creature out on the field and three or four in your hand unable to be played (due to mana problems, etc.), Bloodrush will work wonders for you.
If you already have a Black/White deck, or if you’ve always been intrigued by the color combo, you’ll want to start gathering Extort cards–it’s pretty much exactly how Black/White has always worked, with a little more punch. (And it’s HILARIOUS in group games!)
If you don’t like ending up late-game with a bunch of 1/1s sitting helplessly alongside your beefy attacker, having a few creatures with the Evolve ability will help your deck ramp up in strength as turns go by.

Thursday in the Zone

New M:TG Abilities, part 1: Return to Ravnica

March 14, 2013 Robin Leave a comment

Return to Ravnica, one of the more recent Magic: the Gathering sets, includes five new keyword abilities printed on the cards, one for each of the five dual-color guilds featured in the set. Let’s take a moment and look at each of these abilities–you might find one you want to incorporate into a deck build of your own!

Ability Keyword	Associated Guild	Rules Text	More Info
Detain	Azorius Senate	701.26a Certain spells and abilities can detain a permanent. Until the next turn of the controller of that spell or ability, that permanent can’t attack or block and its activated abilities can’t be activated.	Detain @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Scavenge	Golgari Swarm	702.95a Scavenge is an activated ability that functions only while the card with scavenge is in a graveyard. “Scavenge [cost]” means “[Cost], Exile this card from your graveyard: Put a number of +1/+1 counter equal to the power of the card you exiled on target creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”	Scavenge @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Overload	Izzet League	702.94a Overload is a keyword that represents two static abilities: one that functions from any zone in which the spell with overload can be cast and another that functions while the card is on the stack. Overload [cost] means “You may choose to pay [cost] rather than pay this spell’s mana cost” and “If you chose to pay this spell’s overload cost, change its text by replacing all instances of the word ‘target’ with the word ‘each.'” Using the overload ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2e–g. 702.94b If a player chooses to pay the overload cost of a spell, that spell won’t require any targets. It may affect objects that couldn’t be chosen as legal targets if the spell were cast without its overload cost being paid. 702.94c Overload’s second ability creates a text-changing effect. See rule 612, “Text-Changing Effects.”	Overload @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Unleash	Cult of Rakdos	702.96a Unleash is a keyword that represents two static abilities. “Unleash” means “You may have this permanent enter the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it” and “This permanent can’t block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.”	Unleash @ MTGSalvation Wiki
Populate	Selesnya Conclave	701.27a To populate means to choose a creature token you control and put a token onto the battlefield that’s a copy of that creature token. 701.27b If you control no creature tokens when instructed to populate, you won’t put a token onto the battlefield.	Populate @ MTGSalvation Wiki

Which Keywords Are Right for You?

If you like to play control, Detain was tailor-made for you. Period. 😀
If you like to swing with big creatures, both Unleash and Scavenge are great mechanics for pumping up creatures’ power and toughness, albeit through very different means.
If you like to amass lots of little creatures very quickly, Populate will serve you well–just make sure you have one token to start off, and then let the Populating mechanic go wild!
If you like to play combos, or if you like big splashy game effects, Overload in all its various forms will give you great options for both early-game and late-game.

Thursday in the Zone

Storing My Magic Decks: A New Idea

February 21, 2013 Robin 1 Comment

Since my huge closet reorganization this past fall, I’ve been able to store most of my gaming collection in the closet, up out of the way of foot traffic and mishaps. But, for some odd reason, my Magic decks hadn’t made it onto the “gaming shelf” in my closet yet, and they were still rather vulnerable to being lost or damaged (more from me tripping over the briefcase than anything, lol).

This is how I had been storing my Magic deck boxes–I used to carry them to my local gaming shop in this giant silvery-metal briefcase, and they just kinda stayed in there when I wasn’t actively playing with them. The problem? This case was WAY too heavy to put on a closet shelf without bending or breaking it.

So, after a little thinking outside the box (literally), I remembered I had a three-drawer plastic organizer I bought a couple of years ago, which was as of the moment unused due to purging the items that had been stored within. (Walmart carries them.)

I eyeballed its overall measurements (it’s about 13 inches wide and about 10 inches high) and the depth of the drawers (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep). It seemed like it would work for holding my Magic decks. And this way, I could organize them by type as well, putting my tribal creature decks in one drawer, my combo decks in another, etc.

Hauling my MTG briefcase into the room, I began to organize. A few minutes later, this was the result:

The top drawer ended up being my tribal- and creature-based decks, the middle drawer became my combo deck drawer, and the bottom drawer held some overspill from the creature deck drawer. (LOL, I have a “few” creature decks…)

The two deck boxes sitting on top of the organizer were too big for the drawers–one is a larger-than-normal UltraPro MTG box, and the other is one of those deck boxes with a belt clip on the back (plus, it’s a huge box to begin with). All the other normal-MTG-size UltraPro boxes fit into the drawers just fine, lying on their broad sides.

With that finished, all that remained to do was to put the little drawer system into the closet, beside the rest of my gaming stuff, like so:

Now I can access my Magic decks very easily, picking out which one I want to play by the organizing drawer system, and there’s room on the top of the organizer for storing my too-big-to-fit Magic decks, as well as any other Magic gaming supplies. All in all, I’m very happy with it!

So, if you’re looking for a way to both organize and protect your Magic decks, an organizer like this might just be the solution. I certainly won’t be tripping over my old Magic briefcase anymore!

Thursday in the Zone

Return to Ravnica: New Awesomeness in a Familiar Setting

November 22, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

Ravnica’s back with a new attitude in Magic: the Gathering’s newest block; this first set, called Return to Ravnica, features new mechanics (such as Overload), awesome creatures (like a one-drop Lifelink Cat and a creature-bouncing Bird), and plenty of spells to breathe new life into old decks.

This is only a small cross-section of what RtR has to offer, and all of these are cards I’d actually play–my personal focus is primarily on life-gain, creatures, and the colors of White and Green in general. But as with our first trip to Ravnica back in 2005, there’s something for everyone in this grand cityscape, and definitely something to please all MTG players!

Mono-Color Goodies

White

A one-drop Lifelink creature? AND it’s a Cat? AWESOME!	Two-drop double-striker…in white?! Can I have, like, 16 of these?
OK, now THIS is going in my White Enchantments deck.	Where have you been all my (gaming) life?!

Blue

The effect for 1 blue early-game is great–and the Overload cost gives you a late-game option, too!

This would be a hilarious card to Overload on late-game against a bunch of pumped-up tokens… xD

Black

For 4 mana, a great little creature that keeps you from decking out as well as keeping your life points safe while it’s on the field.

A cute little rat that can make a player ditch if you so choose–great for a Rat deck, or any Black deck that needs a little hand control.

Red

Imagine paying two mana to get rid of an army of 1/1 tokens…mwahaha.

Pay 1 mana to Oxidize, or pay 5 to get rid of my boyfriend’s entire Jinxed Choker deck. Sure, why not? (And the flavor text is LOL, too.)

Green

Fog the attack, AND have something to block with next turn, all for 2 mana. OKAY!	Good to play even for 2 mana early-game, when you just NEED mana that bad. Mid- to late-game, however…shenanigans. 😀
Awww yeah. Great for any deck that needs mana sources on other people’s turns…or if you just want to be free to Fog an attack.

Multi-Colored Awesomeness

All three options on this card are great for 2 mana. It’s like a Swiss Army knife for your deck.	Definitely getting this for my Green/White deck.
There’s a subtle option here–either place one counter each on two different creatures, or load one creature up with both counters. Nice!	While this is a little expensive, you do get a huge bonus for it–+3/+3 instead of the +1/+1 that Glorious Anthem and other such enchantments give.
So I get to bounce a creature back to my hand, saving it from lethal damage, AND I gain 2 life, all for 2 mana? WOOT!	7 life for 1 green and 1 white mana. I’ll take it. 😀
I like the first option best for 2 mana–a great way to pump up a little creature so it can punch through some defenses.	Creature control in the form of a 3/3 Bird, all for 4 mana. Not bad! Might need to add this to my Bird Soldier deck!
For 4 mana, a life-gain source AND a token source. AND it’s a Dryad. WANT. Want want want for my Green/White. 😀	This is absolutely hilarious. Just 3 mana gets you this stompy thing, and the populate ability is just thrown in there? AWESOME.
Great for building up token-heavy decks, or even just for generating creatures to block with if you have a token to start it off.	Combine Naturalize/Disenchant and a little populate action for the same cost, and it’s playable for White AND Green. A win-win!

Favorite New Basic-Land Art

Love the sunset-lit cityscape.	I like the hints of a misty rainbow on this Island.
Dank and dark, but with a few slivers and points of light scattered about.	Lots of emphasis on the skylines and steep mountainside cityscape.
Like a well-maintained tree garden, and yet…just a little wilder than that.

To view all the cards in this set, visit the Wizards.com RtR visual spoiler, where all these card images originally came from. Happy playing! 😀

Thursday in the Zone

It’s Almost 900! (A Tale of Epic Life-Gain)

July 5, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

It all started with me, my boyfriend, and two Magic decks we had never played against each other–his Zombie Clerics (known as “Priests of Pain and Drain”) against my Sanguine Bond & Boon Reflection (affectionately nicknamed “Sanguine Boon”) deck.

Priests of Pain and Drain decklist @ EssentialMagic.com

Sanguine Boon decklist @ EssentialMagic.com

The Opposing Strategies

My boyfriend’s Zombie Cleric deck’s strategy is actually pretty simple, revolving around a four-card combo: Cabal Archon, Rotlung Reanimator, Conspiracy, and any random Cleric to begin the fun. Use Cabal Archon to sacrifice Clerics to gain 2 life and make the opponent lose 2 life (this is called a “life swap”). Now, thanks to the Reanimator, the Clerics you sack through the Archon give you Zombie tokens, which then become Clerics themselves with the use of Conspiracy set to Clerics. Repeat cycle as long as you have mana to do it.

My Sanguine Boon deck is also pretty simple: gain enough life to be able to stall till I get Sanguine Bond (and, if I’m lucky, Boon Reflection). Then, play more super-cheap life-gain spells/abilities, causing major life loss through Sanguine Bond and the ability to draw more life-gain spells using Well of Lost Dreams. (I’ve spoken about this strategy before, but not in this larger context.)

How These Strategies Faced Off

My boyfriend’s strategy would have probably succeeded against mine in the early stages of the game, if I had not played an Isochron Scepter with Rest for the Weary imprinted on it. Ever after, every time I played a land, I would be gaining 8 life instead of just 4, and I could gain at least 4 life every turn. But, because I don’t play much offense in my deck, he was able to amass his combo fairly soon after I had played the Scepter-Rest combo, and so he was able to start draining me of my newly-gained life points.

Stalling Like Mad vs. Life Drain Like Mad

Fast-forward to about turn 25 or 30, and both of our decks were running at near-top capacity. I now had two Boon Reflections out, gaining 16 a turn off Rest for the Weary if I hadn’t played a land and 32 a turn if I had played a land. But my boyfriend was able to drain at least 16-20 life off me per turn with the Cabal Archon “sack-a-Cleric” combo. With all the early-game life gain I had done, he was not able to defeat me entirely, but was able to make my life total yo-yo all over the place. We were both fighting for purchase; he was trying to keep my life total under control, and I was trying to survive until I could get that darned Sanguine Bond, which still hadn’t shown up yet.

Game-Changer: Well of Lost Dreams for 7 Cards

The almost literal stalemate continued for the next few turns. At last, I pulled Well of Lost Dreams; I played it, used Ghost-Lit Redeemer’s ability to gain 8 life, and paid 7 mana to draw 7 cards, since I had been top-decking for most of the game. The long-awaited Sanguine Bond was the first card I drew, and Demonic Tutor was the last, promising a second Sanguine Bond in hand if I could last that long. My life total was now up around 400-500, with my boyfriend’s life total just a little higher. I thought I could make it. 😉

Sanguine Bond (x2) for the Win!

Once the first Sanguine Bond was played, I sacked the two Sunspring Expeditions I’d had ready and waiting on the table for most of the game, which created a 32-point life-swap thanks to the double Boon Reflections. That, plus my usual Scepter-Rest combo and a Ghost-Light Redeemer or two gaining me more life, drained him of over 150 life in one turn. Then…well, I managed to retrieve the other Sanguine Bond; though I wasn’t able to play it that turn, I knew next turn would become even stronger, as I gained quadruple life and made him lose quadruple life, twice.

A couple of turns after I played the second Sanguine Bond, it was over, 2 hours after we had started. My ending life total was 894–and that was with my boyfriend draining off 32 every turn for close to 20 turns. :O How high would it have gone if he hadn’t been keeping it down somewhat? The world may never know.

So, using my Sanguine Boon deck, I finally beat my boyfriend’s Zombie Cleric deck…and it only took 2 hours of free time. Ahh, extreme-long-game Magic at its best. 😀

Thursday in the Zone

When Life-Gain Becomes a Weapon

June 21, 2012 Robin Leave a comment

I have made much reference to my favored playstyle of life-gain in Magic: the Gathering (see my articles on life-gain as defense and life-gain as many things, including win condition). But usually, decks that are completely devoted to life-gain strategies are generally regarded as lacking in competitive strength.

This could be said most especially of my Artifact Life-Gain deck, affectionately nicknamed “Timex” because of its ability to “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin'”, as the old Timex slogan went. The decklist appears below:

My Timex decklist on EssentialMagic.com

Now, up till a few weeks ago, this deck was mainly life-gain artifacts, artifacts that made other artifacts cost less, things that retrieved artifacts from the graveyard, and a couple of high-defense creatures. These all made this deck a very efficient and fun life-gain engine, but little else. Most times, opponents either had to concede because I was gaining life too fast for them to smash me down, or I simply ran them out of cards (thanks to Elixir of Immortality’s ability to put my graveyard back into my deck). Then, I found a card that gave Timex some teeth.

Card image courtesy of Gatherer

This is a Transforming card, one of Magic’s newest mechanics. At the beginning of any game, this card is simply “Chalice of Life,” a 3-cost artifact that gains one life when you tap it. Simple, basic Artifact Life-Gain, just like the rest of my deck–seems fairly straightforward, right?

But it’s the transforming text that changes the game entirely if I tap it when I am at 30 life or more–it gains me one last life, then flips over, revealing “Chalice of Death,” which makes a target player lose 5 life every time it is tapped. From then on, the opponent has 4 turns to smash me down before I drain their starting life total completely, 5 points at a time.

How This Plays

Since I’m usually way more than 10 life up from my starting life total, because this deck has the capability to gain 10 or more life per turn, Chalice of Life is almost assured to transform at some point. When it does, the life-gain engine becomes a little meaner; the addition of the loss-of-life game mechanic takes this formerly timid deck and gives it threat and power.

From my play-testing, I’ve found that Timex is still just as resilient and flexible as ever, but with a weapon like this on the table, it can go on the offense as well. Suddenly, I’m no longer just hiding behind my high life total, but using its high number to power Chalice of Death. And with all the cards that retrieve artifacts from my graveyard (Sanctum Gargoyle, Hanna, Ship’s Navigator, and Rootwater Diver), just getting rid of the Chalice won’t save my opponent for very long.

The opponent’s challenge, then, is to find a way to take down my higher life total before Chalice of Death takes theirs down. Sure, a very aggressive deck might be able to do it…but will it be quick enough to offset a 5-point life loss every turn?

Your Opinion?

What do you think about this twist on life-gain? What types of strategies might get around this deck’s main combos, and which ones might fall most easily? Tell me in the comments!

Thursday in the Zone

Where Can Magic: the Gathering Go from Here?

April 26, 2012 Robin 1 Comment

Looking at all the various and disparate worlds and planes Magic: the Gathering has visited since 1993, from today’s Innistrad and Zendikar to yesterday’s Ulgrotha and Dominaria, it’s quite a body of work. So many different settings, so many different moods (idyllic to demonic and everything in between)…

It makes me wonder, as a longtime Magic player, where the game can travel to next. It seems like MTG has innovated so much in its fantasy worlds that coming up with a new realm/plane seems very difficult.

Magic’s Fantasy Planes Thus Far

Dominaria – Time Spiral, Weatherlight, Onslaught, Odyssey, & Ice Age blocks; Fallen Empires set

Dominaria is one of the most oft-visited planes in Magic, having been featured in many sets over the years. It’s kind of a “home base” for Magic, full of many forms of recognizable fantasy flora, fauna, and humanoids.

Ulgrotha – Homelands set

Only visited one time in all of M:TG history (thus far), the hopelessly rural and isolated Ulgrotha serves as the backdrop for one of Magic’s most player-hated sets, Homelands.

Rath – Tempest block, Nemesis set

Built as a base for Dominaria’s enemy Phyrexian armies to build up, Rath has a gritty black/red feel to it, almost like a seedy Dominarian underground.

Mirrodin – Mirrodin block, Scars of Mirrodin block

As the setting for both the idyllic “artifact industrial revolution” of the original Mirrodin block, and the apocalyptic “demonic artifact takeover” of the Scars of Mirrodin block, the plane of Mirrodin has hosted practically the whole emotional gamut of hope and despair.

Ravnica – Ravnica block

Made up of 10 guilds within a huge city, Ravnica was the setting for the tussle between various two-color alliances (and lots of inter-mana politics!). Last visited in 2006, it’s rumored to be on the menu for later this year as well.

Alara – Alara block

Broken beyond recognition, Alara first appears as a fairly low-fantasy plane shattered into five pieces, each piece missing two mana colors, thus paving the way for tri-color decks galore. The plane gets re-unified over the course of the Alara block, and all spells become multicolored as a result.

Zendikar – Zendikar block

This plane is an oddity, a techno-fantasy landscape dotted with Hedrons (basically, big ole geometrically-perfect rocks). While “normal” fantasy beings live on Zendikar, it seems like another planet, too–almost like a Mars fantasy, almost but not quite Earth-like.

Innistrad – Innistrad block

If you love horror, Innistrad certainly has it in droves, with all sorts of high-fantasy, terrifying creatures brought to life. Not only that, but a grand conflict of good vs. evil tinges the whole plane–with evil much more represented than good.

M:TG Sets Based on Real Places

Not only has Magic explored lots of fantasy planes, but they’ve also visited fantasy versions of real Earth regions, such as:

Fantasy Africa (Mirage block)
Fantasy Middle East (Arabian Nights set)
Fantasy China (Portal: Three Kingdoms set)
Fantasy British Isles (Lorwyn & Shadowmoor blocks)
Fantasy Japan (Kamigawa block)

Popular and Unpopular Realms

It seems that Dominaria is most popular among developers, and many of the players as well. The traditional “fantasy” fare of elves, goblins, wizards, vampires, angels, and the like, plus landscapes that match such epic majesty, have captivated all of the M:TG world for a number of years. But what about the lesser-known planes and universes?

Many players didn’t go for the countryside of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, and even less of the player base seemed to care for the other “Magic in real places” sets, especially Kamigawa (though that may have been less about the setting and more about the cards in the set itself). Mirrodin, though, enjoyed a good bit of popularity (at least among my local sect of gamers), as did Ravnica–the artifact-driven setting and the city-state setting seemed to resonate with players more effectively than other sets.

These days, Innistrad and Zendikar seem fairly well-tolerated, but many gamers’ focus is less on the setting and more on the card mechanics. (Are people really interested in the settings of various blocks, or is M:TG moving away from the fantasy-flavored landscapes in favor of stronger mechanics? A question for the ages.)

What Would I Like to See It Return To?

I personally liked the rural charm of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, and wouldn’t even mind a return to Ulgrotha (since I wasn’t playing during Homelands and didn’t get a real feel for the setting). But then again, I’m a country girl, with a love for forested landscapes and lovely natural settings… 🙂

Possible New Ideas

With M:TG already having visited Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, and much of Africa, perhaps now they can do a few sets/blocks featuring fantasy versions of the Americas. A South or Central American setting might be cool–maybe even an after-Ice-Age setting in northern Canada. Or heck, maybe they could get really crazy and have an Un-set take place in a real USA city or region somewhere, just for fun. (I could put in a few cards like “Walmart Overrun” and “Nobody Knows How to Drive on 74,” plus “You Can’t Fight, You’re In Front of a Church!” because we have about 1,000 churches in my town…LOL)

What Are Your Thoughts?

What are your most favorite M:TG planes and settings? Where would you like the game to “travel” to next? Leave me your thoughts in the comments–I’d like to get more player input on this.