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Generational Magic: Store Spotlight—The Illuminaudi

Posted on by Anthony Willier

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Along with sharing my own Magic: the Gathering journey, I would like to share what's going on with others in the community. Not just the players, but the people that provide a place to gather. The Greater Cincinnati/Dayton area is fortunate to have a lot of options when it comes to Magic and gaming in general. Here's a glimpse into one of them.

Come On Down!

What's your name, the name of your store, and where are you located?
I'm Lannie Richardson and I'm the owner of The Illuminaudi in Hamilton, Ohio.

Lannie, Owner of The Illuminaudi

How did The Illuminaudi begin for you?
The store actually began out of a desire to refocus my life. I was heading down an unhealthy path and decided I wanted something better for myself. I was talking with one of the local game store owners and expressed an interest in running my own store. He told me he wanted to branch out into the Hamilton area and so after some back and forth, we started developing the store together.

I put everything I had and then some into it. After four years of planning, work, and the thousands of dollars I scraped together, the Hamilton branch of The Illuminaudi was ready. We opened for business July 3rd, 2014 (8-year anniversary coming up soon!). A couple of years later, that game store owner had decided to close his store. I then had the opportunity to buy the name and here we are!

When are you open?
We're open every day except for the major holidays.

The Illuminaudi

How do you connect with your customers?
Facebook is our main connection. I'm working on a Discord channel, but it's still in the early stages.

What gaming experiences and events do you offer?
Magic: the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! are our main focus, but we do provide space for any games that people want to come in and play, like Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer, etc.

What Magic experiences do you provide?
We run weekly events for Standard, Modern, and Commander. Standard has been touch and go, but our Modern events on Sundays and Wednesdays have been running well. Commander is our most popular currently. We have people playing Commander most every day, but have specific events on Sundays and Tuesdays.

Do you host any special events?
We consistently host Magic pre-releases, but I'm really looking forward to the Regional Championship Qualifiers. Details are coming soon and will be available on our Facebook page once Wizards sends us the information. We're currently scheduled for August 14th.

What are your most popular formats currently?
Our most popular competitive events are Modern. In the more casual arena, Commander is where it's at.

Modern and Commander events

How did The Illuminaudi deal with and adjust to the pandemic?
When Covid first hit, there were definitely issues. Not just for my business, but personally as well. The initial hit was rough, but I put everything into my store. I was going to do everything I could to navigate the choppy waters.

I was able to work for Harry's House of Cards during the early months when the store was closed. With his help and instruction, I was able to expand and improve my own online sales. Harry was great; the experience forced me to organize my inventory and provide a better service to my customers.

Since everyone still wanted to play, but couldn't get out, we provided what they needed for at home use. This was a godsend to keep us going. Once everyone started coming back out and with our improved online sales, 2022 has been one of our better years.

What are your hot sellers for Magic?
We sell a crazy amount of Commander product, especially the Commander pre-constructed decks. I couldn't keep it in stock. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty was huge as well. I still get requests for that set.

Helping customers

How did you get started with Magic?
I was introduced to it in the 10th grade. I mainly played other card games at lunch with friends, but wasn't really into Magic. I didn’t know too much about the game until I was gifted a bunch of cards. My buddy Ryan, who was very much into it, taught me the basic rules.

Yu-Gi-Oh! was my main interest and I still wasn't hooked, so I traded to Ryan what I had collected at that time. Soon after, our local library became the place for everyone to meet up. Of course the free internet was a huge draw as well. I was hanging with a few guys that were really into Magic, so I joined in. We were all very much kitchen table level, nothing too serious.

Eventually Chris, a recent addition to our group, showed us there were different formats and really opened our eyes to the bigger picture. Along with that, Legends, Hamilton’s first real game shop, opened. And that’s when I came into my competitive streak. Onslaught was the latest set and I loved it and the competition. Onslaught is still one of my favorite sets.

I then left the game again, between Ravinca and Innistrad. When my desire to run a store started becoming a reality, and Return to Ravnica was the new set. I finally got back into the game and haven’t stopped since.

What do you personally enjoy playing?
I like most formats, but competitively, I enjoy Legacy the most. I don't get much time for it, but when I enter a tournament I'll play either ANT (Ad Nauseam Tendrils) or my version of Bant Stoneblade.
Of course, if I'm relaxing with the players at the store, I'll try to get into a Commander game every now and then.

What's one of your favorite Magic cards?
I have a few of them. In a competitive setting, I've loved Snapcaster Mage and Liliana of the Veil. Casually, it would have to be Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. I have an almost completely foiled reanimator deck that I've been tweaking for seven years headlined by the Naga Shaman.

Sultai all the way!

To finish up, is there anything else you'd like to share?
I've worked hard get and keep this store going and try my best for people feel comfortable while they are here. I enjoy getting to know my customers not only in the store, but personally. There was one player that I became friends with through the store and he had unexpectedly died. I went into the store one day after his passing and the realization that he wouldn't be there anymore stared me in the face. My players and customers mean a lot to me.

The Illuminaudi has allowed me to stay positive and out of trouble. Even though it's not always roses, I'm very thankful for what I have. Making friends has been one of the best aspects of my role.

LGS Is Where the Heart Is

I want to thank Lannie for providing us a glimpse into The Illuminaudi's Magic life. I hope you enjoyed the visit and look forward to the next! Do you know the story behind your own LGS? Feel free to share in the comments. And if not, maybe now's a good time to get up to speed...

Meow-Mixing It Up: The ’22 Counter-Cat Reboot, Pt. 1

Posted on by Jordan Boisvert

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Way back in 2017, I tied together the loose ends of deck archetype theory I'd been working on for years into a piece called "Death’s Shadow of Doubt: Exploring Aggro-Control." The article coined the term reversibility and gave a name I've since stuck with to the decks I've always loved best: thresh.

Thresh decks are protect-the-queen strategies stocked with permission, removal, and cantrips. The name refers specifically to Threshold, a format-hoppingtournament staple that included the first stand-alone "queens" in Nimble Mongoose and Werebear (today, All Grown Up! as Delver of Secrets // Insectile Aberration and Tarmogoyf).

Just as not all fish deck creatures boast a Merfolk creature type, thresh decks don't necessarily have to use the graveyard. But they often do, as the undercosted threats Wizards prints tend to come with graveyard-reliant conditions.

Death’s Shadow of Doubt: Exploring Aggro-Control

The thresh strategy I've spent the most brewing hours on by far is Counter-Cat, a Delver of Secrets deck that doubles up on aggressive one-drops by employing Wild Nacatl. In 2022, its concept alone seems utterly laughable. We live in an era where Delver itself was powercrept out of even Legacy by Wizards' ever-stronger suite of one-drops, and when was the last time Nacatl was playable in any format?

There was an error retrieving a chart for Wild Nacatl

Natch, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I'm a firm believer in playing what you love, and owe my devotion to Modern to my conviction that this is the most rewarding format to be doing that in. In this two-part article, I'll illustrate the myriad tweaks made to Counter-Cat since Modern Horizons 2 (in fact, I rebuilt the deck from scratch close to a dozen times over the last two years) and eventually unveil a list I'm quite pleased with.

Building a Better Thresh

The best deck in Modern is also a thresh deck, so the Counter-Cat shell needs to answer a few pressing questions if it is to justify continued exploration. After all, Modern Horizons 2 nigh single-handedly solved most of the conundrums that have faced Modern thresh decks for years:

  • Murktide Regent removes the need to splash outside of UR for a big, sticky Stage 2 threat (no more Tarmogoyf, Angler, or Mandrills)
  • Unholy Heat provides a heavy-duty removal spell both in-color and on-theme; gone are the days of splashing Path or Push
  • Counterspell serves as high-quality permission that solves the it-stops-working issues facing runner-up Mana Leak
  • Archmage's Charm gives the deck its Swiss Army knife, a bag of tricks more potent than even splashed solutions like Simic Charm and Kolaghan's Command
  • Expressive Iteration really is the new Treasure Cruise, outpacing value-generating planeswalkers like Liliana, the Last Hope
  • Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dragon's Rage Channeler are the best one-drops thresh has ever seen, even ousting Delver of Secrets from Legacy builds (until Ragavan's banning) and eliminating the would-be benefits of stretching to accommodate an additional one-mana threat like Wild Nacatl
There was an error retrieving a chart for Murktide Regent

All that to say, given the power of Modern's premier thresh deck, why the heck would you splash one, let alone two colors? Counter-Cat will need rebuttals to all six of the above reasons UR Murktide owns 100% of the format's thresh economy and lays claim to being Modern's only Tier 1 thresh deck ever outside of a Cruise meta.

Ga-Ga for Gotcha!

One of my favorite things about deckbuilding in Magic has always been "getting" opponents with off-kilter tech or simply the perfect tool for a niche scenario. You can trace this love of mine across my brewing and tournament history in Modern: Disrupting Shoal and Simic Charm put me on the map as a competitive brewer, and the gotcha-tunities of cards like Peppersmoke have always been way too cute for me to steer clear of.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Disrupting Shoal

As a strategy, thresh-style tempo decks encourage gotcha-style plays more than perhaps any other—with their low curves forcing pilots into surgical interactive suites, the raw power and versatility of costlier Vindicate-type spells have long been out of reach.

Yet the cards wielded by UR Murktide are patently safe. And honestly a bit pricey. Maybe the meta did have space for Counter-Cat so long as the deck was redesigned with a view to maximizing the most heavy-hitting gotcha cards in its arsenal.

Spell Pierce and Mutagenic Growth forge the heart of Counter-Cat. Both are at their very best protecting or pushing through early aggression, which is exactly what we have to offer. We'll want to out-aggro the Murktide decks, which go bigger with more expensive spells, and run not just eight, but 12 one-drops to compliment our gotchas.

Theory-wise, I've championed Growth as a card that often functions as Mental Misstep in this particular strategy and as one of the rare playables that transcends the stages of combat (click through either of those links for the deets). With the rise of cards like Unholy Heat and Bonecrusher Giant, Growth now saves x/1s like Ragavan of unflipped Channelers from burn spells a good portion of the time.

As for Pierce, it's as on-plan as ever, hitting half as much as Counterspell but for half the price. Between Heat and the removal options afforded us in white, I'd say we have creatures covered. Sure, catch-all permission is fantastic. But you can't put a price on one mana. Indeed, Pierce even holds more of a metagame share currently than good ol' Counterspell (clocking in at #9 vs. the latter's #11), a testament to the value of its efficiency.

Setting the Stage

Up next are the Stage 1 creatures. We did say we wanted 12 of these. I won't argue—Ragavan and Channeler are the new blue chippers for early aggression out of thresh. But while Nacatl once acted as extra Delvers, I'm no longer sure the little Human Wizard that could still pulls enough weight to make the cut.

Nacatl applies early pressure more reliably and is better on defense, giving us additional equity vs. Murktide. It's a lot like a mini-Tarmogoyf in this deck. 3/3 is a good deal better than 3/2 in post-MH2 Modern, where Unholy Heat is a card many decks lean on to snipe Stage 1 creatures even without delirium, and so much so that they're trimming Lightning Bolt (Murktide among them). Then there's the fact that Nacatl is much harder to gun down with Wrenn and Six or Gut Shot.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Delver of Secrets

The best thing about going with Nacatl, though, is that doing so allows us to stop sweating the instant/sorcery count. Delver's a hardliner on deck construction, and if we want to remain aggressive, stocking up on threats will do us much better than loading up on air like Consider.

Stage 2... Fight!

These slots were more contentious. Back in the day, I would fill them with Goyf and Mandrills, both of which are a good deal worse than Murktide Regent. But some other newcomers have arrived of late to sweeten the pot. The number I settled on for Stage 2 threats to maximize our odds of having one on the second turn (or a pair of castable one-drops) was 7.

Early on, I tried both Kavu and Goyf. And Kavu was just so much better than Goyf. A consistent 4/4 for two that ignores grave hate, provides incidental grave hate, and sifts through the deck just applies a ton of pressure while ignoring a lot of what opponents could do to interact with it. It was often swinging for more than Goyf early and the same amount late-game.

The looting effect is also totally bonkers, as we rarely need much land beyond two or three in play. Conditional but high-impact spells like Pierce and Muta form a fantastic pairing with Kavu, who digs to them when they're good and cycles them away otherwise—indeed, Muta specifically boosts Kavu past Dismember and past the whopping 6 damage of Heat with full domain. Add something like Wrenn and Six in play to recur lands for a stream of discard fodder to build your own Dark Goyfidant, a mini-engine that overwhelms other fair decks and quickly gets us to the right interaction against combo.

Soon I was cutting Goyf entirely and supplementing 4 Kavu with 3 Wrenn. I loved it, but for one glaring weakness: Kavu straight-up dies to Dress Down (the 13th most-played spell in Modern). The solution? To split Kavu with something else. That was Goyf for awhile, even though the Lhurgoyf left much to be desired. Thankfully, another powerful Stage 2 creature was soon printed.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ledger Shredder

Ledger Shredder grew like Goyf and Kavu, outgrowing both in longer games. It attacked and blocked. It flew. It even cycled through cards. In other words, it was almost Territorial Kavu:

  • Kavu is better on offense. If it didn't die to Dress, I would still be playing 4. Shredder takes a couple turns to get going and sometimes asks us to give up business over excess lands if we want it to clock respectably.
  • Shredder is better on defense. It's a better blocker and holds down the skies. It also draws us into answers without forcing us to attack.
  • Too many Kavus has us soft to Dress. Too many Shredders can clog. 2-2 split? All roses.

Running a split does have its benefits beyond just insulating us against Dress. In a hand with both creatures, we can deploy the best one for the situation. When I find myself taking the midrange role, I sometimes board out the Kavus but keep the Shredders. Ragavan and Nacatl are also fine board-outs depending on the nuances of the matchup. Then against linear combo decks like Tron, Shredder and occasionally Channeler get the cut and I keep creatures that hit harder and faster.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Wrenn and Six

Filling out the Stage 2 threats is Wrenn and Six. I loved this guy in my last published build of Counter-Cat, where it combined with the now-banned Faithless Looting to draw us plenty of cards and help us mulligan aggressively into explosive starts. It's still great with the looting of Kavu and Shredder. And it's a great way to chase our creature getting killed, something that frequently happens against midrange decks that hate staring down such a cheap value machine.

As anyone who's tried Wrenn in an aggressive deck knows, the downticks are real, turning it into a cantripping Boros Charm against passive opponents. Finally, the ultimate does win us the game in this deck. Like with Pierce and Muta, we can use our other two-drops to cycle through extra planeswalkers or even the first if an established board advantage leads us to prefer committing aggression and slinging disruption while beating down.

Drawing the Curtain

For spatial reasons, we'll have to tie things up there for now. Can you guess the deck's composition based on the creatures outlined above? Next week, I'll unveil the final decklist, as well as unpack the deck's draw card suite, its funky removal spread, the ever-misunderstood manabase (this one among Counter-Cat's most consistent ever), and a sideboard full of goodies.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Wooded Foothills

In the meantime, I'd love to hear which close-to-your-heart strategies have benefitted the most from recent expansions. Drop me a line below or on the Insider discord!

Jordan Boisvert

Jordan is Assistant Director of Content at Quiet Speculation and a longtime contributor to Modern Nexus. Best known for his innovations in Temur Delver and Colorless Eldrazi, Jordan favors highly reversible aggro-control decks and is always striving to embrace his biases when playing or brewing.

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How to Avoid Common Commander’s Deckbuilding Traps

Posted on by Joe Mauri

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There are numerous factors when it comes to deckbuilding in Magic. Because Commander has such a massive card pool along with bigger deck size, it can easily be the most difficult. Experimentation is a valuable tool when tuning a deck but there are limits whether it be time, budget, and/or experience. Here are some stories with tips that can save players new and old time, frustration, and in some cases even hard-earned cash.

Real-World Examples

I buy and sell Magic cards, no surprise there. On the buying end it's typically entire collections from retiring players as I detail here. For sales it's most often singles or custom Commander decks. Many of my sales involve newer players. My general rule is that the customer is always right, except for when they're new. In that case, sometimes, they need a little help to make a more informed purchasing decision. The most help, however, comes during custom deck creation. Just the other day I spoke with a brand new player and they asked, "Can you build me a Dragon deck?" My response:

"I Can, But..."

Knowing that the player is new allowed me to steer the conversation in a productive direction. I needed to get an idea of current or potential play groups so that I could help build their 100. Of course, new players do not know... that which they do not know. So how do you help them help *you* to... uh... help them?

You can get an idea with questions like "Do you know if your friends are tournament players or play for fun?" or "Do you know if your friends have spent considerable money on their decks, or if they have precons?" These are questions that even a player with little game knowledge can answer rather than asking them about something more esoteric like "power level." With these bare bones questions answered, it becomes possible to make good recommendations.

When this player told me they had played tournament Yu-Gi-Oh! years ago and were looking to get back into card games on the competitive side, that told me everything I needed to know. With a budget prepared, it's time to build Tribal Dragons! We don't have to potentially consider Vintage cards like Shivan Dragon while Old Gnawbone and Ancient Copper Dragon exist. This player is fine purchasing chase cards from the start, letting him avoid spending money on budget cards that will eventually get replaced by higher end rares and mythics.

Here, we avoided a potential cost trap.

Meanwhile, in Another Build...

A newer player wanted help building their second Commander deck. They already had acquired the Spirit Squadron precon, played it many times, and even upgraded it to give it a stronger Spirit Tribal focus, removing most of the non-Spirit cards for pure bodies. Because this deck was blue and white, they wanted to try out different colors and opted for black and green.

I pitched a few different ideas like Skullbriar, The Walking Grave with a +1/+1 counters theme that could utilize scavenge and self-mill. Milling was acceptable, and they wanted to play some cards they enjoyed like Spider Spawning, but the +1/+1 counters angle was not appealing. We looked through some cards and Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar soon become a requirement.

Who Pairs With a Grey Ogre for Profit? Hill Giant, of Course!

First off, there were few options and, second, fewer great options to pair with Falthis. Eventually Anara, Wolvid Familiar struck their fancy, and the ball was in my court to figure out how to make something work. Several playtests and builds later I felt that I had a very spicy brew utilizing creature cards with mill. It used the commanders as graveyard bonus creatures and got extra synergy from undergrowth. After a few games of pumping out 39/39 haste Golgari Raiders or nuking people for over 20 with Lotleth Giant, I happily presented the deck for testing.

Surprise, They Hated It!

While almost every card in the deck had some form of graveyard synergy, the player did not enjoy the mechanics therein. In typical Beardy fashion there were a dozen different keywords, some cards from older sets with old, confusing wording, and the player was bummed out that their commanders were "useless."

Now, we had to agree to disagree there. To me, I felt that the "best" use of their commanders was as fodder for the graveyard, and in my playtest games the ability to pitch a couple of extra creatures into the 'yard early made the deck function better come late game. Also, shout out to Falthis! Turns out having a 2/2 deathtouch creature is really effective at discouraging attacks. I digress.

The player simply had different needs and expectations. Counting the graveyard for one HUGE Spider Spawning appealed to them. Constantly counting it to determine Mortivore's power/toughness or other less game-breaking effects? More of a chore. I saw interesting interaction and potential for decision making with upkeep and dredge triggers. The player, however, experienced analysis overload.

The Solution? Back to the Drawing Board!

Here I was trapped by the idea of maximizing Spawning with Falthis and Anara because these were all key requests from the player I was helping. Unfortunately, I was overly zealous, not unlike a long-time experienced brewer can be in such a situation. I felt that I had found the solution to optimizing a combination of cards and was excited to share my findings. However, I had ignored the most important factor: the player!

Here, the end result was scrapping this deck idea and completely going back to the drawing board. Wolf and Cat version 2.0 removes mill and graveyard checks while adding in more removal, because every deck needs more removal.

Limiting the scope of the deck allowed us to avoid a complexity trap.

Even Experienced Players Can Use a Second Opinion

A player that has been playing since 2000 approached me with a list for a Satoru Umezawa deck complete with a Rogue subtheme. Nice! They had a very respectable build with both powerful, synergistic cards alongside thematic choices that were deliberately suboptimal. It was a thoughtful list and really a highlight of the heart of commander.

I did ask about the potential T1 Sol Ring, T2 Umezawa, T3 Blightsteel Colossus kill when they mentioned they wanted the deck to be mostly casual. They said it was alright with their group because they played no tutor effects; an opening like that would be memorable, but exceedingly rare, and everyone was alright with that.

However, I identified what I believed to be some holes in their list, and these were clearly not budget or power level based. One example was Slither Blade which seemed like a perfect fit. Extremely inexpensive, not crazy-powerful, and on-point as an unblockable Rogue. They liked the suggestion and mentioned they missed that entire Magic block because, you know, real life happened back then!

This player had a good idea of the scope, features and power level of their deck, but was short on another key component. I don't think they had hours to spend pouring over every single choice for their deck but they did well with the time they had. By asking someone else for advice, they did not have to spend hours pouring over every card and thus avoided a time trap.

Acknowledging Limits Is Healthy

We all have limits, and Magic deckbuilding is no exception. While it would be nice to be able to playtest and refine every potential deck idea and list, it's simply not practical in terms of budget, experience, or time. But with a little bit of help from your local playgroup and other brewers, you can avoid common traps and make the most of your deckbuilding. Now get out there and brew, share, and ask for advice. Happy building!

Blue Cards to Pull from Bulk, Pt. 2

Posted on by David Schumann

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Welcome back to Cards to Pull from Bulk! Last time, we explored Commander-driven blue cards with high demand. Today, we'll cover the non-Commander-based blue bulk picks.

The intention of this series was to highlight cards one may find while digging through bulk. Each installment has focused on a different color of bulk cards. I covered gold, colorless, white, black, red, green, and part 1 of the blue cards previously. This is the final article in the series so I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have writing them.

As usual, we'll ignore cards whose value is tied to being from Magic's very early sets, i.e. anything that is from The Dark or prior.

Pricing Standards

With a view to keeping our list manageable, I'm restricting it to some of the best sub-$5 finds in each color according to TCGPlayer mid price. While one may get lucky and find valuable cards in bulk, I have found that sub $5 cards are where I tend to have the most luck; I did once find a Copy Artifact in bulk, but I find that to be the exception rather than the rule.

Throughout my 6+ years picking bulk, I have found that understanding the reason for a card's value is extremely beneficial in evaluating other cards and their potential, and have included a bit about each card. This can allow one to pull future "bulk picks" out of bulk even if the card currently isn't worth a whole lot. I was extremely successful picking out cards like Mystic Remora which until halfway through 2017 was under $0.5.

Note that I may include cards that are very near to $5, even though there is potential that they breach $5 in the near future.

Blue Bulk to Pick: Non-Commander

Modern Demand

1. Counterspell

Just a few years ago, this one would have likely been on either the Legacy or Commander lists, but thanks to its inclusion in Modern Horizons 2 it has taken Modern by storm. Logically, a clean solution to almost any problem for the low cost of 2 blue mana is extremely potent in any format.

What is especially interesting about Counterspell is that it maintains its value despite 31 printings, which doesn't count alternate art variants in the same set printing.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Counterspell

2. Spreading Seas

Spreading Seas was once blue's best answer to Modern Tron decks as it served to slow them down as well as draw into a potential threat or answer. Nowadays, we have cards like Damping Sphere which serve as both Tron and Storm hate that happens to be colorless, so I was honestly surprised to see Spreading Seas was still valuable enough to make this list.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Spreading Seas

3.Merrow Reejerey

Merfolk has been a viable deck for much of Modern's history, and while it has rarely been Tier 1, it does have a strong following and is a deck that good players can pilot to decent results. Interestingly, Merfolk Reejerey has been cut from many lists at this point, but it does have a unique and powerful ability.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Merrow Reejerey

4. Remand

While not a permanent Counterspell, Remand's ability to draw a card and the easier mana requirement still make it a valuable tempo play in Modern. It also has fringe uses where one might counter their own spell in order to net a draw and recast it again, giving the blue instant pseudo-cycling.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Remand

Pioneer Demand

5. Mystical Dispute

Mystical Dispute has become the defacto counterspell to a counterspell in Pioneer, thus it often is used to push through one's own spells and is the best option available to do so. It is also quite popular in Modern, where it can hit Omnath and other haymakers.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Mystical Dispute

6. Narset, Parter of Veils

Narset, Parter of Veils is a great answer to any deck that looks to do a lot of card drawing and also happens to be able to often replace herself with her ability. She often finds a home as a support card in blue/x control decks as a 1 or 2 of. She also occasionally gets used in decks looking to wheel as she turns cards like Days Undoing into a three-mana draw 7.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Narset, Parter of Veils

7. Curious Obsession

This card mostly finds a home in u/x tempo style decks. More often than not, it replaces itself the turn it is cast, and then provides card advantage from every turn onward.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Curious Obsession

Legacy/Vintage Demand

8. Gitaxian Probe

Wizards admitted that Phyrexian mana was a mistake and placed it high on the Storm Scale. Probe has been used to enable any deck that cares about spell count and has been banned in Pauper, Modern, and Legacy, and restricted in Vintage. The card is a 4-of in numerous Penny Dreadful decks, but given that format is almost exclusively on MTGO, one wouldn't expect it to affect paper prices much.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Gitaxian Probe

9. Ponder

One-mana blue cantrips are often the glue that holds most combo decks together, and Ponder is one of the best. It is currently banned in Modern but is heavily played in Legacy.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ponder

10. Careful Study

The original Faithless Looting, Careful Study was a key enabler in legacy Dredge decks as a way to both trigger dredge and fill one's graveyard with dredgers.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Careful Study

11. Soothsaying

Soothsaying shot up in popularity after the banning of Sensei's Divining Top as a method of Legacy Miracles players to keep the deck alive. It's definitely a "worse" version, and my beloved Miracles deck has fallen down a peg.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Soothsaying

Pauper Demand

12. Snap

Mono Blue Tempo is a very strong Pauper deck. It uses a lot of Faeries with useful abilities and tempos out opponents. The beauty of Snap is that it can be a tempo spell to bounce an opponents threat or it can be used to bounce one's own creature to re-use an ETB ability, with the best target being the next card on our list.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Snap

13. Spellstutter Sprite

Spellstutter Sprite has been a powerful blue common throughout its history. A 1/1 flash flyer for 2 mana is already only slightly below curve and tack on the ability to counter a spell and it's an extremely powerful card. It's arguably the best creature to return with ninjitsu for Ninja of the Deep Hours, and is pretty much always a 4-of in any Pauper Faeries deck, whether they be Mono Blue, UB, or UR.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Spellstutter Sprite

Blue Them Away

This concludes my "Bulk Picks" article series. I hope that you have found it helpful and informative. I enjoyed researching the cards on these lists and I can honestly say I discovered a few that I was unaware of when picking previously, and I have been bulk picking for over 6 years! Did I miss any? Drop a comment below or reach out to me on our QS Discord server.

Magical Creatures: Magic’s Unique Living Beings

Posted on by Francesco Spagnol

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Creatures, together with lands, are probably the type of cards every new player learns to use first. They are the most reliable and common way to deal damage, and thus to bring your opponent's life to 0 and win the game. But that's not all: creatures are a great concept even when you don't take into account the gameplay. In fact, most players have a soft spot for creatures. How come?

Creature Uniqueness

While being technically just one of several card types (along with lands, artifacts, instants etc.), creatures offer special value from a lore perspective. They are spells, just as any other type besides lands. And they are permanents, just as any other type besides instants and sorceries. But above all, they are the only cards that represent living beings. (Perhaps excepting Zombies, Vampires and other undead, but you get the point.)

Famous creatures from the game's Golden Age

As living beings, they are more interesting than any other card type. They have power and toughness, can battle each other during the combat phase, and can die and go to the graveyard. So many interactions, and so many ways to use creatures, both in terms of flavor and gameplay.

That's why I find them so special. And I'm a huge fan of Solidarity decks, so I'm not biased at all! Anyway, after ending the series on "Real-World Flavor" (you can read the last piece here), I have decided to begin exploring other aspects of Magic IP flavor. This new series deals with magical creatures.

Races, Classes, and Other Types

Since creatures represent humans, animals, beasts, and a huge number of combinations in between, they also offer unmatched potential for lore development. Magic combines gameplay and lore using the creature type. In fact, every creature that was ever printed has at least one creature type (and often more). In the course of Magic's history, over 250 different creature types have been used.

Not all of them are on the same level. Certain creature types (such as Human, Elf, or Goblin) are called "races." Others (such as Warrior, Cleric, or Archer) are "classes." Both categories apply mostly just to humanoid creatures, whereas other types of creatures (monsters, animals, and the like) tend to skirt them.

The Evolution of Creature Types

The waters can therefore get murkier than with simple instants and sorceries. For this reason, over the course of time, several changes and updates have been necessary. Many things have changed since Limited Edition Alpha. Back then, creature' types were mostly used for reasons related to flavor, and only seldom did they impact the game. Some of the earliest examples are long-winded typelines such as Lord of Atlantis, Zombie Master, and Goblin King, but it wasn't common.

Magic's first "lords"

Over time, Magic R&D realized that creature types held much more potential than they thought, and began to put it to good use. Fifteen years ago, in 2007, they ushered in the "Grand Creature Type Update." Some minor changes had happened before, of course, and of varying notability. For instance, with Mirrodin (in 2003), the Human subtype was introduced, and with Champions of Kamigawa (in 2004), the creature type Legend became the supertype legendary.

None of them, however, were nearly as pervasive as the big Lorwyn update. No less than 146 obsolete creature types were purged, and a few were added. Since 2007, almost every new set introduced new creature types, but there have been no changes of such magnitude since.

Magic IP and Borrowed Types

With the astonishing number of 264 different creature types, it goes without saying that many of them were not created just for Magic. In fact, many creature types are simply names of real animals: think Bears, Lizards, Serpents, and so on. Other types are fantastic animals that, while absent from the real world, are common in the fantasy literature: Dragons, Merfolk, and Zombies. More interesting still is that quite a large number of creature types are actually unique to the Magic: The Gathering franchise.

Some creatures unique to MtG franchise

There are 45 different creature types that were conceived specifically for us Magic players. Some of them are rather famous (Atog, Eldrazi, Myr, Sliver), while others only appear on few cards (Bringer, Homarid, Zubera). Still, even these unique creature types need to take inspiration somewhere... at least in the majority of cases.

A Magical Birth

And that's what we'll explore throughout this new series! For some of Magic's unique creaures, we'll be able to dive in for some close analysis. Other times, when the number of examples is too large, we'll only touch on the most famous and memorable cards. Do you have a favorite Magic-specific creature type? Let me know in the comments and on Twitter!

Copy That! RG Jaxis Twin | Adam Plays Magic

Posted on by Adam Cohen

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This week on Adam Plays Magic, we're jamming some unadulterated nonsense of the highest caliber: Jaxis Twin. The objective of the deck is to make hasty token copies of Combat Celebrant with Jaxis, the Troublemaker or Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki for multiple (if not infinite) extra combat steps.

The combo requires Combat Celebrant and one of the above creatures as well as one mana dork such as Llanowar Elves. With Reflections of Kiki-Jiki, the combo is a straightforward loop. The sequence with Jaxis on the other hand is limited by both the number of cards in your hand as well as your access to red mana.

Werewolf Pack Leader's Pack Tactics attack trigger takes care of the cards in hand limitation. However, Gilded Goose is the only one-mana mana dork that can produce red, but that is gated by your access to food tokens.

Even if the combo only nets a few free combats, it's likely enough to close the game.

What I Like

As I mentioned last week, I'm a big fan of combo decks that don't require the combo to win. If the individual components are strong enough to stand on their own, the deck is less clunky with fewer dead draws. Fortunately, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is exactly that type of card. It creates multiple bodies, fixes draws and threatens to snowball card advantage or outright win for a mere three mana. There is no clean answer to a resolved Fable, and that's exactly what to look for in your combo pieces.

The rest of the deck is comprised of efficient and aggressive creatures. Werewolf Pack Leader, Reckless Stormseeker, and Bonecrusher Giant are extremely potent threats that put opponents on the back foot immediately. Topping off the curve with Esika's Chariot just adds to the "no clean answers club."

One of my favorite things to do with the deck is to exploit the synergy of Jaxis/Fable and Chariot by making a hasty self-sacrificing token of a creature like Bonecrusher Giant, then copying the token with Chariot. The end result is an additional token copy that won't sacrifice itself at the next end step. That token is free to be copied by Chariot for as long as it's in play.

This value engine can lead to some very wild board states, going even wider than RB Anvil, the primary go-wide deck of the format.

Exhibit A: A massive board state "popping off"

What I Don't Like

Outside of Bonecrusher Giant, there isn't any way to interact with the opponent in the main deck. This poses an issue, as Greasefang Combo represents the largest share of the metagame.

Another deck that's risen in popularity is Bant Collected Company Angels, which hosts a slew of x/4 creatures like Bishop of Wings and Righteous Valkyrie. These are not only hard to profitably attack into, but they gain an exorbitant amount of life. Outside of an infinite combat sequence, which requires 3 non-summoning sick creatures and significant set-up time, it's nearly impossible to break through their defenses.

The sideboard hosts a few answers to these decks like Fry, Unlicensed Hearse, and Roiling Vortex, but your RG beatdown deck is still going to struggle without the perfect series of draws.

Perhaps future iterations of the deck use the Pathway lands to splash for either black removal or blue counterspells to supplement the primary beatdown game plan?

The Deck

RG Jaxis

Creatures

4 Llanowar Elves
4 Gilded Goose
2 Prosperous Innkeeper
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Combat Celebrant
3 Reckless Stormseeker
1 Klothys, God of Destiny
3 Jaxis, the Troublemaker

Artifacts

4 Esika's Chariot

Enchantments

4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker

Lands

1 Boseiju, Who Endures
4 Cragcrown Pathway
4 Rootbound Crag
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
4 Stomping Ground
7 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Rockfall Vale
3 Strangle
1 Unlicensed Hearse
2 Garruk's Harbinger
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
2 Abrade
2 Fry
1 Ranger Class
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Roiling Vortex

End Step

Another one down! We didn't quite assemble the full-fledged combo on stream, but RG Jaxis still performed very well, taking down quite a few top-tier decks. I'm impressed with the resilience it showed against heavy removal and its ability to grind, although the combo matchups leave a bit to be desired. I definitely think there's something here and I'm interested to see how the archetype continues to develop.

As always, you can find me on Twitter at @AdamECohen. Feel free to ask questions or make suggestions for next week's deck tech! Don't forget to leave a comment and like the video so we can keep making content like this. See you all next time.

Spin the Wheel: MTGO Summer Testing #1

Posted on by David Ernenwein

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It is the nature of Magic content creation to focus on the top-tier decks. That's what readers tend to be interested in according to the metrics. Additionally, and arguably more importantly there's a lot more to talk about with a known good deck than a new brew. I can gush about My Shiny New Thing as much as I want, but with UR Murktide I can discuss trends in the data, specific matchup dynamics, and broader trends related to that deck. Thus, the fringe tends to be ignored except by niche streamers. This month, I'm going to do something to (slightly) correct the imbalance.

A Unique Opportunity

What I am going to do is go scouring the data I'm collecting for interesting, offbeat decks to highlight. It doesn't matter if I think they're good or bad, I'm looking for fringy decks. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments. Having selected a deck, I'll then take it for a whirl on MTGO until I get a good feel for what it does, how well it does it, and where it fits into Modern's ecosystem. Every week in June I'll be reporting on the deck I tried out starting this week.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Champion of the Parish

Normally, this wouldn't be possible, but this is a unique opportunity. June is MTGO's 20th birthday and Wizards is celebrating with a lot of special events. More importantly, the Mythic Event tokens are available for $25 and are good until June 29. In other words, for this whole month, you can play anything in any format and the price doesn't matter. You have every card. This is an incredible value that I doubt we'll see again soon. If you've ever considered trying MTGO, now is the time!

Sidenote: I expect this lack of financial burden to have an effect on the MTGO data for June. What kind of effect I have no idea. But when there's no financial barrier, anything is possible.

Seizing the Moment

Magic is an expensive enough hobby as it is and buying digital cards that will disappear if the servers shut down is not the slightest bit appealing to me. And even with rental services, you do need to invest in key staples to actually play any deck that you want. I'm not willing to do that and so I wouldn't normally be able to switch between decks to make this happen. However, MTGO's birthday is a unique opportunity to do just that, so I'm going to seize it fully. Bring on the decks that I'd never be willing to put money into!

Everything is Connected

To be perfectly honest, this idea didn't come to me out of thin air. At my LGS' Tuesday night Modern tournament, another longtime player was gushing about some deck he'd put together online. The way he was going on about it piqued my interest, so I basically made him back up the conversation to where he mentioned what deck he was actually talking about. And was really disappointed when I learned that said deck was a hybrid of Tribal Elementals and Glimpse of Tomorrow. Because that sounded like a... well, what passes for normal with Glimpse combo deck.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Glimpse of Tomorrow

However, he was insistent that the addition of Risen Reef and Endurance to Glimpse staples (that's a load-bearing word for the archetype) Fury and Omnath, Locus of Creation solves a lot of the deck's problems. Chiefly, there's something to do when not Glimpsing. Instead, you can be a slow version of 4-Color Blink that doesn't play Solitude. And when you are comboing, Endurance lets you reuse Glimpses while Reef keeps the fuel flowing.

A Twist of Fate

It sounded like he was a bit overenthusiastic to me. Taking out the essential interaction and mana fixing of Blink and replacing it with bad cards and chaos sounds terrible. I blew the whole conversation off and forgot about it... for about two hours. Then I got home from the tournament and did the weekend MTGO data entry. And wouldn't you know it, the deck he was talking about had actually made Top 8 of a Challenge. I must have missed that part of the conversation, but it was enough to give him benefit of the doubt. Especially when I learned about the MTGO event on Wednesday.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Risen Reef

Therefore, on Thursday I made sure to get more details from my deck whisperer during the weekly Pioneer tournament. I learned that he'd made some changes, namely playing Seasoned Pyromancer over Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. Why? It makes two elementals that provide two Reef triggers, that's why. Given the opportunity to see if he was right, why not grab the event token and try it out? I'm not picky about where my article ideas come from.

The Deck

I tried out both the original deck and my associate's version. It was a literal carbon copy of the deck I linked above, so I won't replicate it here. As for the other version, there were a few tweaks based on what he told me. I didn't actually ask for his list because I didn't think to do so.

Glimpse Elementals. test deck

Creatures

4 Endurance
4 Risen Reef
4 Shardless Agent
4 Seasoned Pyromancer
4 Omnath, Locus of Creation
4 Fury
3 Wavesifter
1 Yarok, the Desecrated

Sorceries

3 Glimpse of Tomorrow

Instants

4 Violent Outburst

Lands

4 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Khalni Garden
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard

4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Foundation Breaker
4 Mystical Dispute
3 Subtlety

He mentioned Yarok, but not how many to play. I didn't want to cut any good cards for it, so I cut a Wavesifter. The land base and sideboard were taken from the Challenge deck because I didn't know what else to do.

Initial Impression

As a Glimpse of Tomorrow deck, this looked like a half-measure. The elementals package is a vastly superior Plan B than the older, pure combo versions, and the fact that those decks didn't catch on is a vote in favor of this new version. That Plan B is heavily balanced against there being no clean Plan A kill via Glimpse. Rather than present giant spaghetti monsters and/or Progenitus for a win, it's relying on turning garbage into an overwhelming board and overwhelming card advantage. This might be good, but it's putting enormous weight on hitting Omnath and getting many triggers from him.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Which wouldn't be a problem according to the sales pitch. My associate was describing decking himself from all the Reef and Pyromancer triggers, killing with only Omnath triggers, and filling the screen with triggers until it nearly crashed MTGO. The phrase "self-sustaining combo with 12 permanents in play" was thrown around a lot. Even taking all that with a massive grain of salt (no, bigger than that) it did sound like it was achievable to win despite having fairly anemic creatures. And at worst I could go elemental beatdown.

Experimental Procedure

To actually test this deck, I "proxied" it up on MTGO and then hit the Tournament Practice room. I'm not spending precious tickets or Play Points on this by entering a League, and more importantly, grinding games in the Practice room gives a wider range of decks to play against and I can play more matches quickly. The whole point of this is testing decks, and that's what the room is for, after all.

My Experience

After playing both the suggested deck and the Challenge deck this weekend, I must conclude that either I'm fairly unlucky or the players running this deck are unnaturally lucky. Between the two versions, I played 19 matches and won 9. 3 of those wins were with the suggested deck and the rest were with the Challenge version. That's not a great win/loss record by itself, but the context of those wins makes it worse. I only beat 1 Tiered deck when that deck was actually doing its thing. That deck was Tron and I had to overcome Karn Liberated multiple times by evoking Fury and then casting Violent Outburst. All the other wins were the result of my opponents playing bad decks, playing badly, or having bad variance.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Fury

For all that salesmanship about massive board presence and a self-sustaining combo, I only had that happen once. Mostly, I just sat around and watched my permanents get eaten. Sometimes my opponent gave me the time to gradually build into something, but I always felt behind if my opponent was doing anything. When you go for the combo, there's no way to know what will happen. Sometimes you randomly improve your board but ending up with the same or a worse board is equally possible. There's no consistency.

What Happened?

There was a lot that went wrong with this deck while I was trying it. To get a sense, I strongly recommend watching this video (which was posted the same day I'm writing this) from Gabriel Nassif playing the Challenge deck. He ends up with a better record than I did, but his experiences and complaints are similar to mine.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Yarok, the Desecrated

Is everyone on the same page now? Alright, the problem is that for all the new technology, this is still the same Glimpse deck we've all already seen. It has the same big-win potential and fundamental weaknesses. Turning a board of junk into something game-winning with the roll of the dice is an amazing feeling. The deck is fully capable of coming from massively behind with a good Glimpse and that is quite appealing.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Khalni Garden

However, Glimpse is a deck that requires a large board presence to do its thing. It can't play accelerants or most cheap token producers, so it leans heavily on Khalni Garden and Wavesifter to have something going on by turn 3. The best-case scenario is three lands, a plant, two clues, and an evoked elemental followed by Outburst on that turn. Getting seven new permanents isn't terrible, but the odds of a good result aren't great either. Really, this combo deck needs to wait as long as possible before trying to combo and the opponent may not give you the time to make it happen.

Deck Observations

My notes are a lengthy list of gripes about how slow this deck is, punctuated by some additional observations. In no particular order:

  1. The mana is very bad. Needing to play Khalni Garden and Cavern of Souls greatly restricts what other lands can be played and in a deck with heavy color requirements, it can get very awkward. This was highlighted during several matches against Blink and their more stable mana backed up with fixing and Wrenn and Six was decisive.
  2. Pyromancer was very bad. Due to the above-mentioned mana issues, it was very hard to cast. Perhaps my friend changed his mana up to make it happen. I didn't and I suffered. Fable was also generally better because it's always two permanents.
  3. The lack of Solitude was also crippling. The only removal is Fury and sideboard Stomp. Against decks that presented big threats, I had to go very, very wide and that wasn't something I could guarantee even when I was just being medium-Elemental beatdown.
  4. The one time I Glimpsed into Yarok the only trigger was from Endurance. That felt more insulting than missing completely. Yarok did nothing otherwise.
  5. The elemental package was generally good, however without more support still felt anemic.
  6. Despite playing 25 lands, this deck misses its third land drop a lot. That is crippling because everything that adds power to the board costs three or more. It was a problem for earlier versions too, so there doesn't seem to be a way to smooth out draws that gels with the strategy.

My Verdict

If Glimpse of Tomorrow was going to become a metagame-shaking force, it would have done so already. The problems I had with this particular expression of the deck are nothing new. The fact that solutions haven't been found already indicates that they might not exist. Thus, this deck isn't going to substantially impact the metagame.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Solitude

However, it is quite fun to spin the wheel and see what happens. If you can focus on the big wins and the thrill of the unknown, this deck has both in spades. I wouldn't pick up this deck for serious play. But as something to bring out to have a laugh with and get some shouts of excitement and surprise at FNM, this is a solid choice. However, if you want to win consistently, just drop the Glimpse package and run white cards. They're good now, and Blink is a good deck.

The Wheel of Fate

Magic is a game filled with randomness. It's a large part of the appeal. For those who embrace the madness, there is a lot of fun to be had. That doesn't necessarily translate into wins, but it is fun. And for some players, that's all that matters.

The Landscape Has Changed: Analyzing the Decline of Removal in Limited

Posted on by Robert Genuario

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The first lesson on Limited everyone learns from the denizens of their LGS is the value of BREAD. There are different interpretations regarding the tail-end of the acronym, but it always starts with bombs and removal. The advice says that we should first prioritize cards with game-warping power. This should surprise no one. The next best option is interaction. Removal has always been valuable in Limited for numerous reasons. It's always nice to have a flexible answer for whatever your opponent is throwing at you. Being less vulnerable to bombs, a fast start, evasive threats or even auras is always going to help you win. But in recent sets another popular phrase has emerged against BREAD: "removal is overrated."

In general, Magic: the Gathering has experienced a major design shift. Initially powerful instants defined the game. But in modern sets, creatures have usurped that throne. This paradigm shift might theoretically improve the standing of removal, considering that killing those creatures is more of a requirement. The problem, however, isn't just what those creatures do on the battlefield.

Too Much Value

More Than Just a Creature

At its core, a removal spell is a one-for-one answer that trades with the card it's hitting. When a creature draws a card when it enters the battlefield, or adds some other incremental value, the transaction leaves the creature's owner up the exchange. If the card provides value from the graveyard, destroying it feels horrible.

The problem with removal in the modern Limited environment is that so many creatures provide value the moment they enter the battlefield. The classic Doom Blade is a great answer to a card like Thorn Elemental. But now, the power and toughness a creature adds to the battlefield is only a fraction of the value these cards present. In a world of Inspiring Overseer, Lunarch Veteran, and Organ Hoarder removal spells only really deal with half of the card. New removal spells like Sleep with the Fishes and Banishing Slash are attempts to match the value of these creatures, but these options are few and far between.

All Threats Are Threats, Not All Answers Are Answers

Right Tool, Wrong Job?

All five of the keywords from Streets of New Capenna (SNC) punish removal. Connive and Alliance both provide value simply by the creature entering the battlefield. Blitz ensures the creature's death will net a card regardless of how it occurs. Casualty at instant speed can blow out any removal spell, but even at sorcery speed, it makes cards like Hold for Ransom and Sleep with the Fishes head to the sideboard. Shield counters make destroy and damage effects like Murder and Grisly Sigil awkward at best.

There was a time when a Pacifism was a high pick. It solved nearly any problem most creatures could cause. Now, it's a late pick at best, often residing in sideboards of most formats' best decks.

Shock or Lash of Malice are exactly what we want when dealing with aggressive threats, but later in the game, these cards feel useless as more powerful creatures hit the board. This tension has only increased with the printing of more and more pushed creatures at lower costs.

Proactive Game Pieces Define Limited

Be. Aggressive. B.E. Aggressive

In recent sets, though not as much in SNC, one-drops have become more playable. Two-drops, as I wrote about last week, are critical game pieces in Limited. Because so many low-cost creatures are seeing play, a hand full of removal spells faces two major problems:

  1. It can be too slow to deal with an onslaught of early creatures
  2. When playing from behind, you're forced to use removal spells before you even see the larger threats your opponent might have.

We want our removal to be cheap and versatile, but those options are hard to come by. Murder is still fine, and the more efficient burn spells certainly get the job done, but the trend seems to be heading towards cards like Grisly Sigil and Make Disappear. These types of cards aren't the point-and-click removal of yesteryear, however. They require set-up and deck-building costs but are pretty effective options.

So... Removal is Bad?

No.

That is also wrong.

Like all cards, removal shouldn't be prioritized without deeper analysis. It should be a piece contributing towards the vision of the deck. If we're playing an aggressive deck, we need to ensure that we don't get stonewalled and if we're playing a slower deck we need to interact with aggressive plays. When I'm building Maestros control decks I want Strangle and Light 'em Up. If I'm applying pressure in UW, I want to have a couple copies of Run out of Town to finish the job. As a rule of thumb, slower more controlling decks need to have cheaper answers. Tempo decks can use more expensive cards to seal the victory.

But there are definitely other options as well. If an opponent jams up the ground and makes it hard to finish them off, I don't need to remove their blockers. Majestic Metamorphosis, the token half of Expendable Lackey, or Rooftop Nuisance can help me push lethal. Similarly, Backstreet Bruiser and Make Disappear can buy my slower decks the time they need.

Removal isn't the only way to interact with an opponent. And if you think about removal through the lens of "one form of interaction", you'll be evaluating it in a way that is more likely to help your deck. Yes, removal is still solid. But it's not just about the BREAD. It's about the roll.

Newer Options for Shopping Damaged Cards

Posted on by Sigmund Ausfresser

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It’s tremendously risky purchasing cards on TCGplayer listed as “damaged” if the listing doesn’t include any pictures. You can receive anything ranging from a minor bend to a full-blown hole through the card. The description on TCGplayer’s site is especially wide:

The last sentence before the parenthetical note is especially vague. “…other damage that impacts the structural integrity of the card” could literally mean anything. Well, anything besides the card being covered in a foreign substance I guess.

This poses a conundrum to players who want inexpensive (or less expensive) copies for a deck—do they purchase a TCGplayer damaged copy and roll the dice? Do they pay a bit more for a heavily played copy and risk receiving one that’s on the “damaged” spectrum anyway? What are the alternatives?

Damaged Cards from Star City Games

While no other site may offer the same selection of damaged stock as TCGplayer, I have come across a few worthwhile alternatives over the past few years that are worth consideration.

First, Star City Games recently started listing heavily played, damaged, and signed cards as auctions on eBay. This is preferable to “buy it now” listings because they’re guaranteed to sell to the highest bidder, whatever that price ends up being. In other words, there may be the occasional card selling below market value!

Here’s a recent example: consider this damaged Unlimited Fork, which looks like it should be one of the cheapest copies of this card you can find online.

The card may be too damaged for some players, but other players may be looking for the cheapest copy they can find that doesn’t have inking, tears, etc. In fact, you’d be surprised at how many Old School players would actually prefer to pick up a copy just like this one. I’m speaking from firsthand experience—someone international messaged me through the Old School Discord asking me to bid on the card for them (eBay’s international shipping options are very expensive). I’m hoping we win but I’m not confident because the card already has seven unique bidders!

Here's another fun one Star City Games has listed at auction:

This Beta Helm of Chatzuk is in pretty rough shape, containing a nasty dent starting in the middle of the card and proliferating outward. Let’s face it, this may be a rare but it doesn’t see a whole lot of play. Perhaps there’s a niche home for the card in Old School or AB40 (where banding is actually quite good). Either way, this is likely to be an affordable way to pick up a copy of this card. Or, if you’re looking to acquire a Beta rare for the cheapest price possible, you have this as an option.

In total Star City Games has 64 active listings as “damaged”, most of them from sets released before 2000. They also have 58 signed cards and 39 heavily played cards. They don’t list all their HP/damaged cards at once, either. I have a saved search for Star City Games’ auctions and I see them list interesting things weekly. In addition to the price, I love how their auctions include numerous pictures painstakingly illustrating why the card is graded the way it is. There should be no surprises with what you’ll receive when purchasing cards this way.

Damaged Cards from ABUGames

Another major online retailer that sells heavily played and damaged cards on eBay is ABUGames. They have numerous buy-it-now listings, but I like to follow their auctions for the same reason that I follow Star City Games’ auctions—the opportunity to nab a card at a great price.

That said, ABUGames does things a little differently. Instead of starting all their listings at $0.99 and allowing the market to dictate the final price, ABUGames will start their listings at their desired sale price. If after five days the auction ends without bids, ABUGames will re-list the card with a slightly lower starting bid — usually, this is about 10% less than the previous price.

Despite this Swiss auction style of posting cards, the takeaway is the same: this is another way of picking up heavily played or damaged cards at a discount. As a bonus, you again see pictures to know what you’re getting in advance!

Here’s an example that caught my eye:

Yikes, that Candelabra of Tawnos has seen better days! But if you were restricting your shopping to TCGplayer alone, the cheapest listing is a damaged $725 copy without pictures. What does that copy look like? You would be paying $200 more than ABUGames’ copy, would it be worth it? It’s impossible to predict with the information available.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Candelabra of Tawnos

Notice how this particular listing still has no bids and ends about seven hours from the time this article was written. If it doesn’t receive a bid, ABUGames will wait a day or two and then relist the card with a lower starting bid. In fact, they’ve done this twice already! Here are the previous two listings for this card, which ended without a bid:

Based on the numbers above, I’d suspect this card will be relisted at around $485 if it doesn’t sell this time around.

ABUGames is always listing new HP and damaged cards at auction on eBay like this. Currently, they have 68 active listings, and new ones seem to be posted weekly if not more frequently. If you don’t want to wait for an auction, you can also shop at their site for damaged cards. Prices won’t be nearly as attractive, but if you have cards to trade in for store credit, it may be worth your while. If you’re looking for cheap copies and are unparticular about their condition, this is another attractive option.

Other Miscellaneous Options

The first two options I mentioned are my personal favorites—I have bought from Star City Games and ABUGames multiple times through their auctions. Every once in a while you get lucky, and if you exhibit some patience you can nab a sweet deal now and again.

But these are not the only options outside TCGplayer to shop for heavily played and damaged cards.

I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Card Kingdom. Once upon a time, they used to list damaged cards on eBay as “below good” with extremely attractive price points. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any such listings in a long time. An eBay search for “MTG Below Good” only brings up a few listings for good condition Contract from Belows.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Contract from Below

This means the only option to obtain heavily played cards from Card Kingdom is through their website. Fortunately, some of their heavily-played Old School cards are priced reasonably well. These cards can be found on their site with the condition listed as "good." This is especially true on Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited cards, where their price reduction for “good” is the largest. In many cases, buying a “good” card from Card Kingdom is cheaper than buying a comparable heavily played copy from TCGplayer. For example, Card Kingdom’s “good” price for Beta Counterspell is $400 whereas the cheapest on TCGplayer is a damaged copy listed for $500, a full 25% higher!

There was an error retrieving a chart for Counterspell

Whenever I receive store credit from Card Kingdom, I do my best to spend it on “good” condition cards like these to maximize value. The only challenge is that Card Kingdom is often sold out of cards in this condition. That's because players scoop up these copies as soon as they get posted!

Outside large online vendors, you can also explore social media for your HP/Damaged fix. With social media purchases, make sure you always ask for references when working with someone new, and trust your gut (if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is), and you should be fine. I do some buying and selling in the Old School Discord—this isn’t geared specifically to damaged cards, but you’ll see them posted for sale now and again. There are also Facebook groups dedicated to this space, such as this one:

If you have access to Card Market out of Europe, it’s another option for finding heavily played and damaged cards at a discount. Some of those listings have pictures, while others do not, so it’s similar to TCGplayer in this regard. I’m sure there are even more options that I haven’t explored myself, but this should give new shoppers ample products to browse.

Mitigating Risk

Buying damaged cards can be stressful, especially if you’re purchasing from a site that doesn’t include pictures in the listing! You could end up with a card that ran through the washing machine, or you could end up with a card that has a tiny pen mark but is otherwise lightly played. The range is huge, making it a gamble to buy such listings. With some vendors, a quick email to customer service can get you a couple of photos if you are patient, but you also run the risk of missing out on deals by waiting.

Wrapping It Up

Fortunately, TCGplayer isn’t the only place where you can purchase damaged cards these days. Both ABUGames and Star City Games list auctions for damaged cards on eBay. While their methods differ, there's ample opportunity for deals from both vendors. Outside eBay, you can browse vendors like Card Kingdom, and social media is always an option if you are OK with the risk of buying from someone unknown. Even with purchasing through a vendor, there's an element of risk involved in buying damaged cards. It's called the Damaged Lottery for a reason, but there are plenty of opportunities to do well if you are savvy.

At the end of the day, many heavily played and damaged cards came to be that way through decades of play (especially the Old School cards). If you’re looking for budget copies and don’t mind the wear, shopping around sites like these are an excellent way to scrounge up those hidden gems to improve your decks!

Generational Magic: Five Tips On How to Share Magic: the Gathering with a New Player

Posted on by Anthony Willier

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"No Man is an Island" is a paraphrased statement from English author John Donne. The statement comes from his work Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, written after recovering from a serious illness. The general understanding is that we're all dependent and connected to one another even though at times we feel that we aren't. We want to be an individual and stand out, but at the same time, we all want to belong and feel welcome. Through Magic: the Gathering we can do both in a positive way.

This is true not only for those we play Magic with regularly but for other people in our lives that haven't played the game. If you're enjoying something you almost always want to share it with others. Whether it's a friend, a relative, or someone you just happened to run into, we intrinsically want to have them join us.

In a previous article, I told the story of sharing the game with my boys throughout their youth and into adulthood. You would think, that being a game, sharing the fun of Magic is easy and enjoyable. For the most part, it is, but there are always good and bad ways to involve and instruct. Today I hope to impart some of the lessons I've learned to assist you and anyone you might bring into the game.

1. Make It Fun!

Pretty simple and obvious, right? Definitely yes, but possibly no. If you've ever taken a personality test or tried to see what Streets of New Capenna family you're part of, you know that each of us enjoys things differently and processes information in different ways. Taking your new player to an unfamiliar setting, like a large tournament, might be overwhelming for them or just make them uncomfortable enough to not enjoy the experience. Starting them at an appropriate level is important.

If they've only been playing at home, are they ready to tackle a local tournament or an upcoming pre-release event? Pre-releases are great events for newer players. They're generally very casual and everyone starts on a similar footing. It's still important to make sure a new player is ready for it. Are they comfortable playing against people they might not know?

Try taking a visit to where you'll be going ahead of time and get them familiar with the setting and the people likely to attend. If the place has some familiar faces, make introductions and enlist them in welcoming your new player. Helping to ease anxieties beforehand increases the opportunity for fun.

On the other side of the coin, be attentive when your new player isn't having fun. My oldest, Chase, had a moment when things were going fine—until they weren’t. We were playing in the Conflux pre-release and he drafted a deck where he was able to cast this big boy:

I believe it was the second game in the third round where he was finally able to live the dream! He had ten lands, two Kaleidostones, and the massive hydra in hand. He was so excited, not even to win the game, but just to be able to level up. He tapped everything, cast Progenitus, and in response, his opponent played a most devastating card:

Chase blinked a few times and just about cried (mind you, he was 11 at the time). He didn’t want me to console him, so I had to let him work through it. Fortunately, a few of the other guys reassured him that he did everything right and shouldn't feel bad. A couple of them even sat with him for a little bit to help him get through the frustration of the moment. Situations like that can make or break having a good time.

2. Find Out What They Enjoy

As I mentioned, what your new player enjoys may not be what you enjoy. Drafting is what I enjoy the most within Magic, but it wasn’t for either of my boys. Adjustments needed to be made. Allow your new player to get a feel for different aspects of the game. Do they like easygoing games at home or are they ready to jump into competitive play? Maybe they simply just have fun opening packs? Get their input and don’t force them into anything. You may be surprised by what they’ll latch onto.

As you play, try to figure out what’s important to them. Here are some questions to have in your mind to help figure out what your new player enjoys:

  • What themes or formats do they gravitate towards?
  • Do they enjoy tribal decks, like dinosaurs, angels, or bears?
  • What color combinations do they like?
  • Do they want to win with the best deck or just have a good time with a pet deck?
  • What level of complexity are they comfortable with?
  • What playstyle do they resonate with? Are they an aggro, mid-range, control, or combo player?

During the Innistrad/Return to Ravnica standard format, Jarod had an Izzet Dragons deck he wanted to make work. He played it for a month and it just wouldn’t win. Every week it was an 0-4 or 1-3. Finally, he decided he wanted to start winning instead of playing his pet deck, so we developed an Esper Spirits build to good effect.

This became a turning point for him. He started to pay more attention to the trade-off between what he wanted to play and what was actually good to play. Sometimes a card can be both, like Goldspan Dragon these days. Other times, it can be Hypersonic Dragon (not very good). It can take time to figure out what actually works, but the joy is in the journey.

3. Information Overload

One of the wonderful aspects of Magic: the Gathering is that there are so many ways to play the game. There's Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Commander, Old School, Canadian Highlander, Limited, Pauper, and that’s just scratching the surface.

There are close to 24,000 individual Magic cards. The comprehensive game rules are 265 pages long along with another 55 pages of tournament rules. Add in the immense amount of online information available, including articles like this one, and it's not hard for a new player to become overwhelmed.

You can help mitigate this in a few different ways. First, is the choice of formats you steer them towards, and then the cards you share. If the new player is beginning with Limited or Standard and they’re happy with it, think before you thrust them into a format like Legacy with a card pool nine times the size of Standard. If they’re thirsty for more, go for it, but remember that Magic is a complex game. Pushing them into trying to absorb this many cards and interactions could turn your new player away.

4. The Art of Teaching

This one isn’t all-encompassing but is still something to be aware of. Pay attention to your audience. Realize that along with being a fellow player, you’re also teaching. They are looking to you for guidance on how to learn and enjoy this game. Are you helping more than one person? Are you sharing the game appropriately for each player?

One line of thought on how people learn involves the four general ways people process information. This is called VARK, or, Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic (hands-on). How does your new player learn the best? Is it easier to show them or do they need to practice to really grasp what you’re sharing?

Enfranchised players that have been in the game for quite a while can rattle off a simple explanation of Magic: two players, two decks, 20 points each, whoever hits zero first or can’t draw a card, loses. When you get into more detailed items like timing, triggers, state-based effects, replacement effects, etc., it can be important to understand how each new player best learns and processes information, and provide them with what they need for maximum understanding.

Fortunately, we can all learn through repetition, so if it takes some time, that’s ok. Help your new player to not get discouraged. If they get it wrong the first five, ten, or forty-two times, it’s ok, they’ll get it eventually. Again, help them find joy in the journey.

5. Event Preparation

When going to events outside of the home, prepare for your events ahead of time and take note of what you need to bring. Depending on where you're headed, the list can change. Are you local or driving a good distance from home? Is it a large or small event? If your focus is on your new player, minimize what you bring. Consider leaving that trade binder at home.

Depending on their age, be careful with younger players holding onto the cards they play with. Limit their access and time carrying them. It can be an initial irritation, but it's better if you keep your cards than for your new player to leave behind the deck box in a restroom. As they get used to what needs to be done you can both be more comfortable with them carrying their own items.

Plan ahead for food, drink, and any necessary medications. I finished the Planeshift pre-release back in 2001 with a major headache, so I always remembered to bring some aspirin for myself. Once my youngest started traveling with me, I made sure we had enough for both of us. It wasn't always needed, but when it was we were glad we had it.

Event prep also includes teaching new players how to react to in-game situations, especially when things get messed up or confusing. Help them understand what they should do in certain game situations, and when they need to get a judge involved. It can be intimidating to some people to have to raise a hand and yell, “JUDGE!” I know long-time players that don't like to call a judge for that reason.

Judges are there though to ensure fair play and make sure everyone is following the rules. Familiarize new players with calling for a judge, and let them know that judges are there as a resource for the benefit of all players. If it makes them more comfortable, feel free to either introduce them to one of the judges or at least point them out so they know who to talk to if they have a problem and can't reach you.

In non-game situations, make sure they know what to do and where to go in an emergency, where you'll be at, and as always, where that restroom is.

More To Come

There's still more to discuss regarding getting new players into Magic. We'll revisit this topic in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I hope these tips give you some food for thought and help your new player to have a great time gaming. What's one piece of advice you have for helping new players get into Magic? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

Izzet Too Good?: May ’22 Metagame Analysis

Posted on by David Ernenwein

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Welcome to the third installment of my Insider Modern metagame analysis series. Which will likely be the last time I number these articles. The first few are needed to establish a pattern; after the third, expectations should be fully in place, so that the next article is anticipated. Barring a banning in the next month, the June article will feature the trend graphs I mentioned in the very first article. With only three data points, the graphs don't really look like anything. Hopefully with four there'll be something to see.

Modern is in a very strange place. On the one hand, the plain statistics make it look like Modern's in a very bad place. On the other, players find the gameplay fun and engaging. More importantly, there isn't a deck that is winning events more than any other. Thus, the metagame appears to be quite healthy. Which is really hard to get my head around.

It Won't Go Away

Why are you like this, UR Murktide? I keep saying that there's no reason for you to remain an outlier, and then you have to go and become more of an outlier. It's happened twice now, when will you start making sense?

There was an error retrieving a chart for Murktide Regent

In all seriousness, UR Murktide's continued position as The Deck in Modern really doesn't make much sense to me. I know that the data I present makes it look like Murktide's running away with Modern. It's not. By a long shot. What you can only see by going through all the decklists as I do is that Murktide is omnipresent, but not omnipotent. In fact, its actual performance is pretty mediocre overall.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

I see a ton of Murktide in Challenge and large paper event results. However, Murktide winning an event is becoming increasingly rare, and even its putting a pilot into Top 4 is unusual. I typically see a few in the 5-8th place, then most of the entries will be in 8-16, with a few more scattered through 16-32. Which aren't bad results by any metric.

However, when Murktide regularly is the top deck in starting population at these same events, it's in line with expectations. Wizards has unexpectedly confirmed this appraisal, as their far more complete data shows Murktide has an overall win rate of 50%. Which, again, is good but not phenomenal.

Good Ol' Rock

Which doesn't help explain why Murktide continues to be a statistical outlier. It really just leaves me stuck with "it's really popular and successful because lots of players like it." That is technically true, but deeply unsatisfying.

But what if we take a second and abstract this situation? What if Murktide is rock? Not rock the midrange value strategy (though as a fellow aggro-control deck it does have some similarities), nor The Rock being that classic GB version of the rock archetype, but rock. As in rock, paper, scissors (RPS). If this is the case, then it all starts to make more sense.

Murktide is a default "good" deck with no real strengths or weaknesses. And it being extremely popular fits into the classic dichotomy for the Magic metagame. Rock is the most popular deck, and so players are throwing paper to beat rock. This accounts for the disparity between Murktide's win percentage and metagame presence.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Stoneforge Mystic

It also has implications for future developments. Even in an RPS metagame, which deck is likely to win depends on the size of the tournament. When rock is the most played deck, paper is favored to win a short tournament; that's scissors in medium length tournaments, and rock in the long ones. Right now, most larger tournaments are of medium length. There aren't Grand Prix yet and SCG won't have a Modern Open until July; events that a rock deck like Murktide would be favored to win.

Stay the Course

What that means for the immediate future is that nothing is likely to change. Murktide's place in Modern is being determined by non-metagame considerations. It doesn't make players more likely to win by playing it, they play it in large numbers because they like it. Thus, Murktide will not lose metagame position on the basis of its winrate. It's all down to player preferences, which I can't hope to predict. We just have to live with Murktide's presence in Modern.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Solitude

In the longer run, things are far less clear. Allowing Murktide to sit at 10%+ of the metagame for a long time is unlikely to sit well with Wizards. It was a major contributor to Splinter Twin getting banned, after all. Also, if I'm right about Murktide's place, once bigger events come back, it should dominate. June is looking like a safe month for Murktide players. After that, no guarantee.

The Other Outliers

As for all the other outlier decks, things are more normal. There isn't anything particularly special about 4-Color Blink this month. Statistically, it's fairly borderline about being an outlier in the first place, meaning it was close to the line but definitely over it.

And that largely came down to how I classify these decks. If I lumped Blink in with the Control variant, 4-Color Omnath pile would be an outlier every month. If I got more granular and separated the Risen Reef version from the rest, they'd be low Tier 1/high Tier 2. It's not that a particular deck is doing abnormally well, but that many versions are, and it's not so worthwhile to separate them all.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Risen Reef

As for Cascade Crashers in paper, I'm not totally sure. Crashers fell back to the bottom of Tier 1 as I predicted it would on MTGO, literally just above the cutoff. In paper, it's a very different story. Unlike Murktide, Crashers is a deck that wins events and consistently places highly. I suspect that many players were simply biding their time to spring Crashers on an unprepared field. It would explain the spreads I was seeing over the month.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Crashing Footfalls

Will it continue? I'm skeptical. Everything I said about Crashers last month still holds and played into the fall on MTGO. Paper tends to move slower than online so I would expect Crashers to stay in upper Tier 1 in June but lose its outlier status. Over time, it should fall down into the general scrum.

The Other Contender

Meanwhile, Hammer Time lost its outlier status. Instead, it's now the best performing non-outlier deck. Which continues to make sense. It gets free wins quickly, what else needs to be said? Rhetorical question; that isn't strictly accurate anymore.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Colossus Hammer

Over the past month, I've noticed Hammer Time rearranging itself. When it had Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Hammer Time was a stripped-down drag racer with Lurrus acting as the pit crew. There were efforts to adjust to a slower style with Nettlecyst, but those never panned out. These days, Hammer continues to maintain the swift-kill style that brought initial success. However, it's pushed itself to be more of a fish deck with defensive interaction.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Blacksmith's Skill

This new direction is not as inherently powerful as the old version. However, it rewards smart play and experience far more. The old decks didn't have much to do other than place their cards on the table in the right order and hope that was good enough to win. Now, sequencing and predicting opposing plays actually matters. This means that there will be more grinding than desirable, but sideboarding into Kaldra Compleat can flip the tables.

The Wider View

Taking a look at Modern overall, what I see is a metagame which is settling. There are certain decks that have consistently performed well over the past few months, and nothing has managed to shake them from their seat. There continues to be considerable churn underneath all that, but the top tier decks have made themselves known and look to be pulling ahead. Thus, the opportunity to turn a speculative profit on them has likely passed. There's certainly money to be made in moving the top cards from top decks, it will just require harder work than before.

An Old Friend Returns

So instead look for decks outside the normal Tier 1 crowd to speculate on. And I have a solid recommendation on that front. Grixis Shadow is back, and that's an opportunity for arbitrage. I was never clear why it disappeared so completely after Lurrus was banned, but that's exactly what happened. I think MTGO players just weren't willing to put the time in because it continued to do fine in paper. Not exceptional, but fine. That turned around this month as Shadow made it into Tier 1 in paper. And squeaked into the online population ranking.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Death's Shadow

Some might point to Ledger Shredder as the key to the resurgence. Which kannister, who won a Challenge with Shredder-powered Shadow, might agree with. However, that's not the case. It will certainly lead to more players picking up the deck online, but the paper lists aren't Shredder lists. Shredder frequently isn't played at all and when it is, it's there in low numbers. I think that players simply gave up on the deck, assumed it was bad, and that became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The illusion is broken, and now they're streaming back. Be prepared to move some black cards.

Going Out on a Limb

The other area I'm seeing opportunity is on the fringe. There were a lot of offbeat decks making their way onto my online and paper tiers. I don't think that the Calibrated Blast, Wish Scapeshift, Glimpse of Tomorrow, or Academy Manufactor decks are actually good. However, they're fun and quirky enough to attract a following. While being off-the-wall and unexpected enough to nab some wins against unprepared and inexperienced opponents.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Academy Manufactor

Which is why if you're looking for speculative opportunities, I'd looks towards the aforementioned and similar cards. Players get burned out playing their old faithfuls. They like branching out into the weird. Even if they don't tend to stay very long, vacations are lucrative. Given that the metagame is stabilizing and players will be hitting a lot of decks they've already seen over and over, there will almost certainly be a push to find something new. And that's where investors can make money. Plan accordingly.

The Winds of Change... Stalled?

It looks like Modern has finally started to fully process all the power that was dumped in with Modern Horizons 2. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on perspective. I have doubts that there will be major shakeups in the coming months. Double Masters 2022 will make some cards more accessible, but won't have metagame impacts. There's potential in Dominaria United as with any Standard set, but no way to tell. This may simply be how things are in Modern now.

Must “Budget” Mean “Bad?” In Defense of Cheap Alternatives

Posted on by Joe Mauri

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"Strictly Better"

After mana burn was removed from the rules of the game in 2009, no Magic player in their right mind would elect to cast Counterspell instead of Mana Drain. Considering only card quality, (and ignoring price), Mana Drain is clearly better than Counterspell in every possible way, right? Not when your opponent is raiding your deck, stealing your cards, or copying them. In this case, it's often better to play a less-powerful card, such as the simple and unassuming Counterspell, rather than go for the "most powerful" card in Mana Drain.

Surely You Can't Be Serious?

Oh, I am most certainly serious, I even wrote about it a bit here. There is, of course, another factor I mention and that is budget. When you steal you are playing with your opponent's budget and not your own. The theoretical Xanathar, Guild Kingpin with only Basic Lands versus a Xanathar full of expensive cards would be more of a challenge for the non-budget player.

"Theoretically" Budget Can Be Better

But *only* in theory, and only against stealing-based decks, right? Yes and no. Consider the following cards.

In one way or another, all of these cards generate Treasure, but three of these cards are $0.50 or less. If you were to compare the amount of Treasure made per USD spent you would find that the budget cards are killing it from a Treasure per dollar perspective. To put a finer point on it Goldvein Pick turns any creature into a Treasure generator for very little mana and virtually no dollars. Magda, Brazen Outlaw turns all your Dwarves into Treasure creators and they merely have to tap to do so whereas Old Gnawbone makes all your creatures potential miners. However, the Dragon is $40. I had better win every game Gnawbone hits the table, or I am going to regret that purchase.

The Notable Difference

In this example, Magda does not require combat but Gnawbone does. Not only is Magda less mana and fewer dollars but it is also easier to activate. Both creatures can impact the board immediately if you have Dwarves or creatures already in play. On top of that, Magda has an *additional* ability that is extremely powerful while Old Gnawbone has...Flying. The five mana and $40 price differential are enough for me to declare that Magda is a powerful budget option.

Fine, Now Sell Me On The Ogre

Hoarding Ogre is priced at a literal penny (with .99 shipping). This card is not good. I will make no such claims to the contrary in this case. However, I do want to say that I have played more than one SpellTable game with the Ogre on the table and I was surprised at how *decent* it was. Keep in mind that 50% of the time it is generating two or more Treasures and it activates on attack, not on damage. Compared directly to Goldspan Dragon it's obvious the Ogre is not as good but the Dragon costs you one more mana and $20 more dollars and one in 20 times the Ogre makes three Treasure to the Dragon's "effectively" two.

Pilfering Is Worth It

Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer tends to get killed immediately when it hits the table. It's also very easy to block. Granted, in the normal multi-player nature of Commander, there's almost always one player that does not have a blocker and Ragavan does have dash potential. However, once it's a known factor the shields never come down. So the real question here is are you willing to pay $60 or more for the potential of a couple of Treasure? Here it's obvious that Ragavan is a good card and if the monetary cost was lower you would see it in far more Commander decks. Of course, this is primarily a Modern card but hey it's Commander legal. Speaking of $60 or more...

This Isn't The Extortion We Need

Dockside Extortionist is plain busted. It's best in any kind of combo deck, where it's usually a game-ender. I feel like Extortionist is a kind of virtual "cheat code" in Commander. I have seen it fail only once. Every other time it's been close to a spell that for only two mana says "add eight mana to your mana pool," and occasionally also says "copy this spell as much as you want," and "you win the game." Many budget cards are not that much less powerful than their expensive counterparts. This card though is just on another power level and you are paying for it monetarily speaking.

If It's True For Treasure...

Sensei's Divining Top is a really good card. It's super-low mana, has the ability to draw a card, is hard to remove, and has a great additional ability for just another mana. As an Artifact, it can go in pretty much any deck. The only downside? $50. I purchased *three* Commander decks for $50. It's not merely about power but also the opportunity cost involved. The vast majority of Magic players spend $50 on cards but it's a lot less common to spend that much on any single card. For me, it's a tough sell to conclude that I am going to get more fun, more playability, more interaction, and more memories out of one card than three entire decks. Also, the numbers say that the three decks were *technically* more valuable from a monetary angle as well.

But The Combos, The COMBOS!

Yes, Sensei's goes really well with The Reality Chip and helm of awakening to draw your entire deck and likely win. But outside of that? While Top is highly efficient many of the budget options can be superior in the right situations. If you add infinite mana both Mystic Speculation and Soothsaying let you cycle through your entire deck, not too shabby! But you do not need *infinite* mana to dig deeper than Top; four to six is all that's required. Yes, every single mana is super important and valuable, especially in the early turns and most especially in cEDH. But if the game isn't over on turn five or six, it's very likely you will have enough open mana to appreciate your budget "Toptions." Furthermore, these other cards scry which the Top does not do. Getting "Top locked" happens occasionally.

Of course, if you are not playing blue you have fewer options but just how unplayable is Crystal Ball? Turns out it's extremely playable and is a perfect budget option. Maybe you have a lot of Commander decks and you own one Top but not seven. For fractions of a dollar, you can outfit multiple decks.

Are These Good Budget Cards?

Lands are essential to every deck and are usually costly. However, there have *always* been budget lands available. Thing is, those Lands were usually extremely bad...but only when compared to the absolute best. The vast majority of modern-day budget Lands simply enter the battlefield tapped and then are as good *or better* than even the best lands ever made. Don't believe me? Just look at Prismari Campus and Skybridge Towers. Once they have untapped they are now better than many other Land cycles because they have activated abilities. Does Volcanic Island scry? I think not. Are "The" fetch Lands strictly better than Naya Panorama? They cannot tap for colorless mana and they cost you one point of life. A lot better? Yes. Almost always better? Probably. Strictly better? No. While the price of the fetches has come down and is much more reasonable than ever, they are still fairly pricey when compared to budget options that are $0.25 or less.

Meandering River, Cloudcrest Lake, and Land Cap used to be some of the prototypical budget Lands that showed off the disparity in strength between better and more expensive options. Today, however, there are considerably better budget alternatives that have added utility. Just look at dual land cycles like the Gates, snow duals, and the Strixhaven campuses. Depending on your deck, you can honestly say that being a Gate matters, being Snow potentially matters, and having more inexpensive utility lands actually makes a deck both more powerful and more consistent, so, even budget options are good! Speaking of power and consistency...

We Haven't Even Talked About Power Level!

What really defines the power level of a deck? It's simply speed and consistency. Speed, of course, is a somewhat ambiguous quality. It's not solely about what turn you are doing something or exactly what that something is. More so it's about how close you are to ending the game on any given turn. Decks that are really powerful and consistent will get to a win condition that rapidly closes out the game very quickly and very often. Overall, these decks are required to use certain cards to achieve their goals. Thus those tend to be the most powerful and most expensive cards. Essentially in nine out of ten games these cards will stand out and have a high impact. Budget cards? Well, they tend to be good in maybe six or seven out of ten scenarios, comparatively worse than other cards in two and potentially superior only in one of ten situations. Who wants to use cards that are only good half of the time?

Answer: Casual Players And Deckbuilders

Racing to the win is not the only thing that matters for many commander players. They are looking for a gameplay experience and a potential story is more valuable than just a win. Many players, particularly new players, look at decklists online, fill decks with the absolute most powerful cards and then wonder why their games are not lasting very long or turn out to be no fun. Taking just a few steps like using tapped Lands can fix the pacing of a game and at the same time save you money. While your deck may "go off" one turn later it will still have the right amount of mana of each color and sometimes even give you extra benefits that another "better" deck might miss out on due to their narrowmindedness.

Variety

The final point for budget options is variety. If you start every deck build with the same ten "staple" cards and then mix in color-specific staples you are going to end up with many different decks...with many of the same cards. With many of the same cards in every Commander deck, you're going to get the same gameplay experience over and over again. I can't imagine buying expensive cards to *reduce* replayability. I have made a special effort to be mindful of using the same few cards in every deck and to really make sure that a deck is about an entirely different experience. Budget cards work wonders here!

Wrapping It Up

"Budget" should never be a dirty word. I feel like there is too much emphasis on only playing the absolute best cards which crowd out a lot of other options that are nearly as good and can be superior in the right circumstances. I agree that if you have a tournament mindset the evaluation of a card needs to be fairly strict and based on the win percentage of said card. However, for nearly everyone else it's a lot more important to evaluate a card on how often it will lead to a fun, interactive, and unique experience. On that scale no budget card is bad.

What's your favorite budget card that is just about as good as its more expensive counterpart? Let me know in the comments.

Blue Cards to Pull from Bulk, Pt. 1

Posted on by David Schumann

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Welcome back to Cards to Pull from Bulk! In this series, we highlight juicy cards one may find while digging through bulk. Each installment focuses on a different color of bulk cards. So far we've covered gold, colorless, white, black, red, and green cards.

We'll ignore cards whose value is tied to being from Magic's very early sets, i.e. anything that is from The Dark or earlier. I have saved blue for last because thanks to its initial abilities of countering spells and card drawing cards, it is undeniably the most powerful of the colors, and therefore has the most cards that tend to be worth picking from bulk.

The list for blue is big enough that I have to split it into two parts. Today, we will go over the Commander cards to look for, and next time we'll look into other formats.

Pricing Standards

To keep our list manageable, I'm restricting it to some of the best sub-$5 finds in each color according to TCGPlayer-mid price. I have found that understanding the reason for a card's value is extremely beneficial in evaluating other cards and their potential, and have included a bit about each card. Note that I may include cards that are very near to $5, even though there is potential that they breach $5 in the near future.

Blue Bulk to Pick: Commander Demand

1.Propaganda

Taxing opponents in Commander has shifted to be more of a white ability, but the original card behind the idea is good ol' Propaganda. Commander is a format where many decks go wide and people want to play big spells, so "charging" them 2 mana per creature to attack you is a great way to dissuade being attacked.

Impressively, while this card has 9 printings, it still regularly resells for $4+ and it always recovers after every reprint (so far, at least). I bring this up because it is included in the new Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate set and is currently going for under $2, which is unlikely to remain that low forever.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Propaganda

2. Psychic Corrosion

"Mill" decks have a cult following in Magic. While they typically are not powerful enough to be Tier 1 in any format, the players who enjoy trying do so with gusto. Many mill cards target a specific player; Psychic Corrosion is a break from this mold. Given that it triggers off of drawing a card, something you already want to do in Commander as much as possible, it is possible to turn Corrosion into a win condition that can hit all players in one shot.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Psychic Corrosion

3. Freed from the Real

Freed from the Real originally spiked in price thanks to Zaxara, the Exemplary. However, Wizards keeps printing creatures that generate multiple mana that can go infinite with this card, so it will likely continue to be worth something until it gets reprinted into oblivion.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Freed from the Real

4. Pongify

Mono blue decks don't have a lot of choices when it comes to permanent creature removal, so the few instances that do exist tend to be highly desirable. The other option is Rapid Hybridization, which also makes the list.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Pongify

5. Windfall

Windfall has been abusable since it was first printed in Urza's Saga. It pretty much always allows the caster to gain card advantage over their opponents and encourages players to empty their hands quickly. Thanks to Commander decks often drawing a lot of cards, it can easily be more powerful than Wheel of Fortune.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Windfall

6. Split Decision

Split Decision is a new card to the $1.49+ club, its arrival likely tied to the return of the "Will of the Council" mechanic on Tivit, Seller of Secrets. The abilities themselves are both good, but I don't see this card remaining at this price in the foreseeable future, so I would list any copies I had now.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Split Decision

7. Peregrine Drake

The Urza block creatures that untapped the same number of lands as their CMC have been abused since the days of Rec/Sur. Any land that taps for more than 1 mana lets these creatures potentially go infinite. Peregrine Drake happens to be one of the cheapest options in the cycle.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Peregrine Drake

8. Reality Spasm

This card has been bulk for quite some time, but if it seems familiar to you, it may be because I called it out in my Hinata, Dawn-Crowned article a few months back. Since it doesn't fit into a lot of other decks, this is one I would list as quickly as possible while demand is still somewhat high.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Reality Spasm

9. Diffusion Sliver

As we have seen in my other articles, the Sliver creature type often makes these lists because the tribe is unique and beloved throughout Magic's history. With few exceptions, the unique uncommon ones with useful abilities will eventually break the $1.49 price point every time.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Diffusion Sliver

10. Muddle the Mixture

Muddle the Mixture used to fall into the Modern demand group. Now, it seems to have fallen out of favor in Modern, but remains a useful counterspell/tutor for Commander.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Muddle the Mixture

11. Long-Term Plans

Commander is a format that loves its tutor effects, so even ones with noticeable drawbacks can still find a home and when you factor in the rampant card draw of the format it's not difficult for this to be an instant-speed Demonic Tutor.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Long-Term Plans

12. Arcane Denial

Arcane Denial is a card that has waffled on this list over the years. It is a powerful Counterspell that draws the caster a card and provides a little solace to the person who had their spell countered. I have found a lot of copies in bulk throughout the years as people tend to ignore it thanks to its far more powerful big brother Force of Will from the same set.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Arcane Denial

13. Ophidian Eye

This card has been a Commander staple ever since the days of the original Niv Mizzet, the Firemind[card] decks of old. Card draw is one of the most desirable mechanics in Commander and the fact that [card]Ophidian Eye triggers on any damage to an opponent, not just combat damage, means it is one of the more abusable ways to draw lots of cards repeatedly.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ophidian Eye

14. Rapid Hybridization

As mentioned, this newer version of Pongify also makes the list and for the exact same reasons.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Rapid Hybridization

15. Guildpact Informant

While many might see this as simply a worse Thrummingbird, its value is mostly based on the fact that it was not in regular packs of War of the Spark; it was only found in the Jace, Arcane Strategist planeswalker deck, thus far fewer copies are floating about.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Guildpact Informant

16. Honden of Seeing Winds

We have seen Hondens of all colors on these lists thanks to Go-Shintai of Life's Origin. Sadly, the prices have pulled back considerably since the Go-Shintai was originally spoiled, so I suggest selling any copies you have while there is still demand. We saw similar price spikes back when Sanctum of All was first spoiled and it seems like most of those who are truly devoted to building a Honden deck likely have their copies so demand is waning.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Honden of Seeing Winds

17. Laboratory Maniac

Thanks to Thassa's Oracle we have seen a lot of more competitive Commander decks utilizing cards that win the game when no library remains. While Laboratory Maniac used to be a mostly casual win condition, there are enough ways to exile one's own library now that it has become a viable win condition for any deck.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Laboratory Maniac

18. Coastal Piracy

Repeated card draw on an enchantment is almost always going to find a home, especially when said enchantment is blue. While blue isn't often known for creating swarms of creatures, one doesn't need a huge army to take advantage of this enchantment.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Coastal Piracy

19. Merrow Commerce

Merfolk are a beloved tribe and often straddle the line between casual and competitive. This fact that over the years we've gotten multiple Merfolk that have tap abilities simply makes Commerce get better with each new Merfolk.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Merrow Commerce

20. Aphetto Alchemist

This is another one of those cards that has flown below the radar for quite some time, yet its value has been above our $1.49 threshold for 5 years now. Blue doesn't have a lot of "mana ramp" and very few creatures that can untap artifacts, which often tap for multiple mana; Aphetto Alchemist is often even more than a 2+ mana ramp creature in blue.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Aphetto Alchemist

Blue to the Bone

We've saved blue for last, and it's certainly not disappointing us so far. Join me next time for our foray into the blue cards to pick from bulk who have their demand come from non-Commander formats. Until then, happy picking!

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