Magic: The Project

So it's been a really long time since my first post. Sorry, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to write about. For this post I've decided to fall back on my favorite hobby, Magic: the Gathering. I want to start off by apologizing to anyone who reads this and isn't already acquainted with the game. Magic is probably the most complex strategy game out there, so it would take several tedious posts to even get a start at teaching the basics. Instead I'm going to write about a deck I'm currently building. I'm going to explain a lot, considering my primary audience, JK and Judd, are former magic players who know the basics and some advanced play of the past, but are completely in the dark as to the current state of the game and the new mechanics.

The biggest thing in the magic world right now is the release of a new set, Shadowmoor. Shadowmor is a pretty good so far as I've seen. The set's main themes are hybrid mana costs, the untap machanic, wither, and persist. Hybrid mana is mana that can be spent with one of two types of mana. Think of a grizzly Bears, if it was hybrid, say Green-Red hybrid, it could be played for its colorless mana and either a red or a green mana (example). The untap mechanic is like the normal tap mechanic, but always has an activation cost and untaps the creature using the ability, thus cannot be played while untapped (example). Persist and wither are creature keyword mechanics, like trample. Wither is simple, this creature deals damage in the form of -1/-1 counters to other creatures (example). Persist is on the same wavelength, when this creature is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, Return it to play under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it (example). I don't think I'll end up taking about any cards with untap. Untap sucks in constructed and is great in limited, and the bulk of this article will be on constructed.

Beyond new cards and mechanics, Shadowmoor has really shaken up my favorite format in Magic, Standard. The previous set, Lorwyn, was a tribal based format, which basically means a bunch of creatures that make other creatures bigger because they have the same creature type. Elves and Faeries, and Merfolk dominated the scene. Elves seemed to be the biggest and fastest tribe so it was default for anyone who didn't like to think too much. Faeries was the pre-Shadowmoor hands down best deck. Yes, faeries! They play everything at instant speed which makes them able to play counterspells effectively, and they have the best card in the block, Bitterblossom. Bitterblossom is amazing! You get guys for life, from an enchantment. Other decks played Bitterblossom, but none had Scion of Oona to really take advantage of it (the shroud is counted on the Bitterblossom itself because its a Enchantment - Faerie). Merfolk basically breathe islandwalk with Lord of Atlantis, so they were a great metagame choice against the massive amount of faerie decks. There were other decks in the format, but you can get the point that it was a lot of beat down. There were virtually no combo decks (my favorite type of deck).

Shadowmoor changed all that. Because it is a mini-block, it was added to the Standard format without any sets being removed. Faeries is still really good, but there are two combo decks that were made possible. The first uses Swans of Bryn Argoll plus Seismic Assault plus Dakmor Salvage. You have to get the Swan and the Assult on the board, then shoot the swan with the Salvage dredging it back from the draw, you'll net one card and can start again, once you hit a second Salvage you can start throwing one at the opponent as you discard and dredge both. You run out of deck too quick so you run two Gaea's Blessing so your deck will recycle itself as you go. The second combo is Enchanted Evening plus Patrician's Scorn. This blows up the table, you destroy all permanents. Before you do that though you want to have a threat unaffected by the combo. There are a bunch of creatures that do this. Greater Gargadon can be unsuspended by sacrificing all your land and while he's still on the stack you can play the Scorn for free (assuming you've played the Enchanted evening that turn) the Scorn will resolve, destroying everything, then the 9/7 will come into play. Anything with persist also comes back from the combo, Heartmender and Kitchen Finks are the best of those. Other options are Epochrasite and Nihilith. Garruk Windspeaker can be used too, just put his second ability on the stack and then play Patrician's Scorn. Of course you could always float the mana before the combo and play a creature or Bitterblossom afterwards.

The second combo looks really fun to me. While not as powerful as the first, it seems a lot less all or nothing. Another thing is has going for it is main deck Patrician's Scorn is really good against Bitterblossom. Also the color requirements are a lot easier, and thus the deck will be a ton cheaper. I already own a lot of the more expensive cards involved with Enchanted Evening (the Gargadons and some rare lands). I've gone ahead and purchased most everything else I need to build the deck (was pretty cheap, around $30). This deck can go a ton of ways. The only requirement is either blue or white mana. With that in mind, my next post will take you through a walk-through of my building and testing and re-building process. I'm pretty sure it will end up being broken up into at least two posts. Then on the 30th I'll take to the deck to Friday-Night Magic at Let's Play in Waverly, NY (my first plug, I feel dirty). I'll make up a report of how things went, I doubt I'll find a way to do a play by play, but I'll try to remember as much as possible.

I'm extremely excited about this project. My first post... frankly sucked. I have a feeling these are going to go really well, and be a lot of fun. My cards are shipping to my house and I'm at school. So I'll get started when I'm back home on Sunday. Oh, and I'd be really appreciative if I could get any input once I start posting builds.