Category Archives: MtG

Gods, Mines, and Magic!

Deck tech, Game day, game night, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Friday evening I got to play games with Diego and Jonathan.

This doesn’t happen nearly as often as I’d like. I’ll keep saying this over and over, but they are two of my favourite people to play games with (there are a handful of others on that short list, and I’m sure you can guess who they are).

Our first game of the evening was Coal Baron. Another game that Jonathan and I hadn’t played in a longtime. It was way before I started recording games using the BG Stats app. So I did a little digging on this hear ol’ blog of mine.

My searching did dig up this post. So if you go and look at the date of the post, we are going back to September 2015 when I last played this game. Even more interesting is that it was at my first Fenland Gamers meet up. Wow!

Incredibly it was the same outcome as all those years back now. I was last, with a 4 point difference! It pains me to admit Jonathan won this by a point.

Games played: Coal Baron, Santorini

Our final game of the evening was the classic “just one more game” Santorini but as 3 players.

We ended up playing 3 games of this, with Diego taking the honours in all of them.

But a fantastic evening of gaming. Great company.

Saturday was going to be an endurance test and a first for me playing MtG.

The days plan was to do Standard Showdown and then take part in the Planeswalker Weekend event straight after.

Before Standard Showdown started I managed to get a couple of casual games in with Paul. I haven’t used the mono red deck much. So I used these games as an excuse to do so. Pail was playing his dinosaur deck.

The first game was as expected and the mono red burn just flew. Our second game was a different beast altogether. For a long time I was mana screwed on 2 mountains. Luckily I was able to hold in there to start getting land. That’s when things took off for me. I’d been sitting with 3 Goblin Chainwhirlers and a Rekindling Phoenix since the start of the game. Once I was able to start playing them it was game over.


For Standard Showdown I went with the Simic deck.

Casual Game (using mono red burn)

Paul: Win 2-0

Standard Showdown Stats

Participants: 9

Rounds: 4

Round 1: Dean (dino aggro) Win 2-1

Round 2: Robert (burn/aggro) Loss 0-2

Round 3: John (Simic merfolk) Win 2-1

Round 4: Michael (Rakdos) Loss 2-0

Record: 2-2

Final Position: 5th

Prizes: 1 participation pack.

Basically the Planeswalker Weekend draft event that I was taking place in was like the old Game Day or Store Championship. On the line was the following War of the Spark play mat. Which looked better in real life.


This was my first draft event. It was fun. But you are drafting for value to start with. Which for me on pack 1 worked out as a good card to build around also. I skipped the Planeswalker and took the rare card that was a 2CMC rakdos creature card. So I let that set my colours for the draft. I don’t think anyone else was really going for those colours. So I was picking up lots of cheap creatures and spells in those colours. I think it helped having decided from pack 1, card 1, what colours I was going for and the style of play.

The “hook” for this draft and Planeswalker Weekend was that Planeswalkers could be cast with any colour mana. So when it came to grabbing the Planeswalker from your packs it was irrelevant as to the colours needed to cast.

Planeswalker Weekend Stats

Participants: 14

Rounds: 4

Round 1: Young Lad Win 2-0

Round 2: Alex Loss 0-2

Round 3: Joshua Win 2-0

Round 4: Sam Win 2-0

Record: 3-1

Final Position: 5th

Prizes: 1 participation pack, 2 foil promo cards, 1 booster

There was a free for all for the sticker packs. But I wasn’t a fan of the art style. So I didn’t join in the feeding frenzy for one of them. I think this is some of the worst MtG art I’ve seen.


As you will see I didn’t stick to the 40 card deck minimum, and went 44 cards!

There is some synergy between cards here using the Amass mechanic. Whether it triggered when a creature entered the battlefield, or when it died.

The Planeswalkers worked really well. They gave an element of control that distrupted the opponent’s game.

The mana curve for the deck is exactly what I wanted for a deck that was going aggro.


Here is the deck I built from the cards drafted:

Creatures:18

1 Banehound
1 Dreadmalkin
1 Grim Initiate
1 Dreadhorde Arcanist
1 Dreadhorde Butcher
2 Duskmantle Operative
2 Goblin Assailant
2 Lazotep Reaver
2 Vampire Opportunist
1 Mayhem Devil
2 Shriekdiver
2 Herald of the Dreadhorde

Spells:12

3 Kaya’s Ghostform
1 Spark Harvest
2 Aid the Fallen
2 Sorin’s Thirst
1 The Elderspell
1 Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Teyo, the Shieldmage

Lands:14

5 Mountain
9 Swamp

Some Modern Horizons Spoilers I like

magic, MtG

The dust has hardly settled on War of the Spark (ok it’s been a couple of weeks since it officially came out) and we are now getting Modern Horizons spoilers.

For those that don’t know or need a reminder, Modern Horizons is a stand alone set that is targeted at Modern players with reprints and new cards. The cards in this set are not legal in Standard. But formats like Commander, the new hotness Oathbreaker, and naturally Modern they are.

I normally avoid these Modern sets. I don’t play Modern. My normal practice when these sets come out is keep an eye out for singles that I like the look of, and target buy them (if the price is one I consider reasonable).

So what you have here in this post is a handful of the cards that have caught my eye, and I’ve thought “oh wow, that is definitely going into deck …”. This isn’t a comprehensive list, it’s most definitely not authoritative or pretending I know what I’m talking about. It’s also based on only those cards that had been spoiled up to 24 hours before posting this blog post. So your mileage may vary with this post. And yes that is a long worded disclaimer for basically saying I don’t know what I’m talking about.

They have brought back snow lands in this set. And they have given them the full art treatment. As you can see below they look amazing. Full art lands are always a big hit with the players, and they do shoot up in price pretty quickly. These will be no different I can assure you. In fact that snow-covered word may make them even costlier to get. Naturally there are also some cards in this set that get abilities etc triggered or stats pumped depending on if you have these lands in play or not.

There looks to be possibly a ‘Force of …’ cycle in this set. I think Force of Negation is the buy-a-box promo. I like the look of these two so far. Can see them going into appropriate decks.

We have a new tribal commander! Morophon, the Boundless. Very useful for a five colour deck, or creating a tribal deck around a creature type that doesn’t have a legendary creature or if they do a poor one. I might try Morophon with a couple of decks. For instance I may build a version of the zombie deck that brings in some of the white zombie cards. Yes I’m feeling 2 versions of the zombie deck now. With the new one making use of cards mono black doesn’t have access to like doubling season!

I like Munitions Expert. In my mono red goblins deck that could be a lot of damage being dealt out. Sadly it’s multi coloured. So it can’t be used there. Unless I use a certain new tribal commander! But to be honest I’m reluctant to do that with the goblin deck because Krenko is so powerful. I might try it one time.

These next 2 goblin cards are going straight into my mono red goblin deck. I’m think Serra might go in my angel deck and the Trostani token spam.

Prismatic Vista (below) is going to be in every multi coloured Commander deck. A fetch land that can fetch any basic land?

Deep Forest Hermit will not be in my elf deck. But Trostani possibly. But also I like the idea of this in an Atraxa deck, with proliferate this card can be around for longer than 3 turns. Beef it up also with some +1/+1 counters.

I’ve included just one in the image below to illustrate the point but the non basic land cycle for Modern Horizons is Pain Lands. They all have the same pay 1 and sacrifice to draw a card ability also.

Ok that’s my spoiler post for Modern Horizons.

FNM and Saturday Standard Showdown

Game day, game night, magic, MtG

Friday saw me attend an FNM at my FLGS The Hobbit Hole after trying unsuccessful to recruit volunteers to help me test my Standard decks and the tweaks I’d made to them.

I think this was my first FNM that I’ve attended. I don’t usually go to them as they clash with the Fenland Gamers gaming sessions.

But we had no session last Friday and I really wanted to test a tweak or two before using one of the decks in anger at the Standard Showdown.

The meta at FNM is totally different to the Showdown. There are a lot more mono red or red based burn decks. Which for some reason my current Simic deck so far does well against.

I played the Simic deck for FNM, and tried out the other two decks in casual games between rounds or while waiting for the results.
FNM was fun. Interesting to see the difference in meta between the two groups of players and play against new people. I knew one or two of the FNM regulars. But everyone I played against was a new opponent that I’d never played against before.

Casual Games

William: Loss 1-2

Michael: Draw 1-1

FNM Stats

Participants: 10

Rounds: 3

Round 1: William (white/black life gain) Loss 0-2

Round 2: Jamie (mono red burn) Win 2-0

Round 3: Michael (red/? aggro/burn) Win 2-1

Record: 2-1

Final Position: 4th

Prizes: 1 participation pack

Saturday was Standard Showdown once more. This time I went with the Simic deck considering how well it did the night before.

The 2 games I lost were due more to being mana screwed and speed than anything else. That was especially true in the game with John. The number of times I was having to mulligan to get any land or more than 1 land was shocking. In one game my opening hand plus the next 6 cards that I drew for the mulligan I didn’t get a single land.

The game with Ryan was a bit unfair. He’s a new player, a youngster as well using an upgraded United Assault. Except he was playing with a 75 card deck! Plus a 15 card sideboard!!!! After our game I called over Andy (who had a buy that round) to help Ryan get back down to a 60 card deck.

John got another one over me. But I think in the long run the win/loss ratio against John is still in my favour. God I hate the sleep card he plays. Almost makes me wish I was back to the Simic control version of the deck. Sleep was enough to give John game one, basically taking my creatures out for 2 turns, and free mega swings for John. Game 2 was when my land decided to hide. If I’d hit the land drops maybe the result would have been different. It couldn’t have been any worse!

The final round against Jade started off badly, although I was close to triggering Simic Ascendancy (just needed to survive Jade’s turn, which sadly I couldn’t). But the second game, with both versions of Vivien out and being allowed to ultimate Vivien Reid with about 10 creatures on the board that were getting bigger and bigger thanks to proliferate. The result was an inevitable crushing. I think that’s the first time I’ve had both out. And the filtering for cards is amazing, you are looking at 7 cards a turn. A creature or land to hand, and a creature in exile that can be cast anytime. The deciding game, also went my way. Once again getting enough creatures out and pumping them up big enough to protect me and then swing in for the kill.

Standard Showdown Stats

Participants: 9

Rounds: 4

Round 1: Nathan Hall (red/black aggro) Loss 0-2

Round 2: Ryan (upgraded! United Assault) Win 2-0

Round 3: John (Simic merfolk) Loss 0-2

Round 4: Jade (upgraded United Assault) Win 2-1

Record: 2-2

Final Position: 7th

Prizes: 1 participation pack.

Sadly there were no casual games at Standard Showdown this week. I arrived nearer the start time, and after 4 rounds I had to shoot off.

Thinking aloud about some superfriends

Deck tech, magic, MtG

Listening to the latest Level Up podcast yesterday while in a semi-conscious state as I was trying to grab a few more minutes in bed and sleep. They were discussing a modern deck (surprise surprise it’s a podcast about the modern format in MtG) that was doing particularly well in that format that used superfriends (lots of Planeswalkers basically).

I know in the podcast they talked about some of the cards in the deck, but I wasn’t really focussing on those, and I haven’t seen a deck list. They were not really relevant to me, and what part of me that was conscious was focussing more on the tactics of the superfriends.

I’m not sure how many copies of the “big” Planeswalkers were used in the deck. I was drifting in and out of consciousness at the time. But for me the only one relevant is Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Hey I play Standard, Commander and sealed occasionally. So Jace isn’t a card I can play (unless it’s Commander and he’s too costly for that).

I do have a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria I think if I was to use him I’d need a second. And that’s a cost at the moment I’m not prepared to pay. The card rotates out in the Autumn. Plus at the moment I don’t play white/blue or Azorius. So it’s not a card I could play anyway.

Now I did remember the quantities of the 3 Planeswalkers from War of the Spark that were being used. In this modern deck they were using 2 copies of each of the following 3 Planeswalkers.

The nice thing is that when I checked I have 2 copies of each. Which means I wouldn’t need any more.

Although I like Teferi, Time Raveler, just like his bigger brother I currently can’t play him. However with Ashiok and Saheeli being hybrid mana as long as I have one of those colours in my deck I can play them.

I like Ashiok for his -1 ability. Especially in a mono red match up with their Rekindling Phoenix. It’s a very annoying card. But with Ashiok and that -1 get it to the graveyard and bam problem solved. Depending on the deck it’s going into you either mill yourself first to put more fuel in the graveyard or you mill your opponent. So it fits well into a mill deck (will have to revisit mine).

However another annoying set of cards were introduced in War of the Spark. I play some of them myself. I’m talking about the God cycle with the likes of Ilharg, Oketra and their fellow deities.

It’s the final paragraph on these God cards that makes them so annoying. Which I quote here (and just replace with the relevant God Name for the others).

“When Ilharg, the Raze-Boar dies or is put into exile from the battlefield, you may put it into its owner’s library third from the top.”

So Ashiok and that -1 ability allows us to send that just removed deity to the graveyard and then exile it. That annoying deity isn’t coming back anytime soon. Unless they have another in hand, or draw into one quickly.

And as I’m writing this I’m liking Ashiok more and more. Sideboard here it comes. Although main deck it? Strongly considering it.

Saheeli is nice in that she gives you a 1/1 body every time you cast a noncreature spell. Which is cool. But to then be able to make that 1/1 a copy of a big creature for a turn is pretty cool. I like this in my mono red burn/aggro deck. It might be enough in the mirror match up to give the edge. So definitely a sideboard card.

Naturally I need to decide which deck I’m playing today for Standard Showdown, and adjust it accordingly to use one or two of these superfriends. And that is a hard decision to make, 3 decks, all ones I’d like to play. But sadly only one can be. Decisions, decisions.

Upgrading Deadly Discovery 2019 Challenger Deck

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

This will be the last of my posts looking at this years crop of Challenger decks (I don’t have the Arcane Tempo one, I may get it at some point, but currently finances don’t allow, along with the lack of desire to play the deck archetype).

Readers who follow these MtG posts hopefully will remember that I was curious about this deck and it’s approach to Golgari, and as a cheap source of the check/shock lands.

I was going to link to my final deck list for my Golgari Stompy deck, but couldn’t find it on the blog, and then realised I don’t think I’ve shared it with the world! Oops. I’m not going to make this post longer than it needs to be. So I’ll put the deck list in another post if there is enough interest.

So let’s look at the deck list for Deadly Discovery.

Deadly Discovery is the deck I think out of the new crop that come rotation will be gutted the most. If my understanding of the current standard rotation rules is correct in the Autumn when the next set/block starts we lose all the Ixalan cards, Dominaria and Core 2019.

I think I did mention in a previous post that before even playing this deck that I did in fact upgrade it. The upgrade I did was replace the 4 Guildgates with my copies of the shock and check lands that I already owned. I do think that is the most obvious upgrade to make. It speeds the deck up, you are not having to wait a turn before using that mana.

In the official WotC article they mention possibly going all in on one of these 3 Planeswalkers.

Which is fine. But they ain’t cheap, especially Vivien (I think Vraska Golgari Queen is the cheaper of the 3). I added a second Relic Seeker which I had. At the time of writing slightly more expensive than Golgari Queen but lots cheaper than the other two. It’s also probably the cheapest option because you only need 1 copy, not 2.

I think what needs to be remembered when upgrading the decks is that as I’ve pointed out these decks have a limited life. Not only that we are playing in a FNM or Standard Showdown. The prizes on the line here are participation packs, promos and Standard Showdown packs. If we take out of the equation cards pulled as we can never account for that value until the pack is opened. If you win 3 packs that’s a tenner. There is not mega prize money on the line here. It’s pretty nominal really. So spending say £100 for a playset of Vivien Reid just to win a tenner prize isn’t justified.

If you have the cards already fine use them. Or if like me you can use the cards later in another format then maybe get them. But sometimes it’s better to wait for them to drop out of Standard and get them then when they are cheaper for the other format.

Back to upgrading this deck if you have them Carnage Tyrant is a good addition, but once again it is not cheap card. Neither is Nullhide Ferox, but I think I’d lean towards this at the moment over Carnage if I was buying due to the longer lifetime it could have in the deck.

The theme is the upgrades aren’t cheap. Walk the Plank is a cheap removal but also no good against merfolk. But on a budget worth looking at. However my preference is these two. Which have the advantage of being able to take out these pesky Planeswalkers we will be facing a lot of at the mo.

I do like the look of these two new cards from War of the Spark. They also can be part of a ramp tactic as well.

I also like the look of these cards as possible upgrades as well. The new Vivien allowing you to have flash on your creatures is cool.

But the ramp, big creatures or undergrowth deck suggestions by WotC are basically the tactics John and myself have already tried. I’d explore those options if you wanted to try a different tactic. They are tactics that will last longer than the explore mechanic this current deck relies on.

Myself I’m planning to play this deck using the explore mechanic until the Autumn and then look at changing it into the one of the other tactics, or whatever one of the new mechanics inspires at the time.

I hope this has been of use, and given some ideas.

Upgrading United Assault with War of the Spark Cards

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

It was nice to see one or two of the 2019 Challenger decks being played at the Standard Showdown last Saturday.

I’ve already mentioned in a previous post that there was a couple of upgraded mono red aggro decks being played. And that I nearly went that route myself.

However there was a young lad there taking part playing with an unmodified United Assault, the mono white Challenger deck.

The young lad came last. I think the only win he got was the bye in the final round. The other games were losses I believe. Which gave them last place (and the Standard Showdown pack that goes with being last).

I think they are pretty new to MtG, so they don’t have the experience, card pool etc of the majority of players taking part.

I like the United Assault deck. It shares a few common cards as far as I remember with the mono white deck that Michael was playing in the previous Standard Showdown season.

Below is the deck list from WotC for the United Assault deck.

But how would you upgrade it?

WotC make the suggestion of splashing red or blue. But let’s stick with keeping it mono white. For staying with that restriction WotC recommend the following cards.

Now what follows is my thinking allowed about cards I’d consider from War of the Spark (legal in Standard longer) , and the look of our local meta based on the opening weekend.

Speaking of the local meta, we did have some new players taking part in this opening weekend. My friend being one of them. It just so happens that the 2 red aggro decks were from those new players. So we have to see if they turn up regularly. I know my friend can’t make every week. Although finishing second and getting a Standard Showdown pack may provide the inspiration needed to get along on a regular basis.

For the sideboard and a way to nerf, slowdown the aggro decks I’d consider sideboarding one or two copies of these 2 new Planeswalkers.

Having said I’m looking at War of the Spark cards, the following 3 are worth considering despite a shorter Standard legal life.

I’m not a Gideon fan! But you have to consider them. I don’t think Blackblade fits in with the game plan. However the more costly to play (and buy I’m sure) Oathsworn does. Mainly his ongoing ability that can make Pridemate even bigger, or any creature really as long as we meet that triggering condition.

I like proliferate as a mechanic. So once you start pumping up the likes of Pridemate additional ways to make them bigger is always handy. I like all these 2 CMC flyers. War Screecher would be the least likely to be selected out of the 3.

Apart from a lovely touching back story to the cat in Charmed Stray, I like this card a lot. Love the art and it’s etb. Martyr and Populace (below) help give us a nice value loop from our creatures dying. I like that additional synergy/combo.

That’s my thinking of cards I’d consider to upgrade this Challenger deck from War of the Spark. I’ve not mentioned the new Oketra. If budget allowed I’d definitely add a couple of her.

What cards would you use from War of the Spark? Are there any you would use from the two Ravnica sets?

Some recent gaming

Fenland Gamers, Game day, game night, magic, MtG

It’s been a busy week for gaming. Wednesday was the monthly meet up for Fenland Gamers. Friday was the regular fortnightly gaming session. Then Saturday was the start of the final season of Standard Showdown.

The monthly meet up was well attended. But bit of a disaster on the planning games wise.

Earlier in the day Jonathan had posted on the club Facebook page a reminder for members to let who over had set up the event that they were going. It makes planning what games to take along easier.

Sadly after that did Jonathan and I take any games? Not really I took some small games, like Love Letter, No Thanks!. Jonathan had none. Our excuse? Others had said they were bringing stuff.

In the end there were 6 of us. Sadly the games bough were max head counts of 4. We could have split into 2 groups and played. But we didn’t. After a period of chatting and indecision Jonathan nipped back to his car and got Saboteur. One of a small handful of games he still had in his car. He used to have a lot more games stored there.

So the evening was spent playing a few small games that played 6 people.

Games played: Saboteur, No Thanks!, Perudo

Friday was a gaming session Jonathan and myself had been waiting for. We were both looking forward to playing Root that another member was bringing along.

While we were waiting for that person to arrive, we played a quick game of the Archer themed Love Letter. It’d been a while since I’d played this version, and it’s still one of my favourites. I like the mechanic it uses where the card that is removed at the start is used in the game.

Root. What can I say? Did it live up to the expectations and the hype? Kinda, I’m not sure!

This was a learning game for everyone. I do like that there is a manual and sheet that is designed for new players, and takes you through your first couple of turns. I do like this trend that has emerged over the last couple of years or so, that for the more “complicated” games you get a beginners guide and reference guide.

I like the truly asymmetrical factions. It does make teaching and learning I would imagine a nightmare. I think I got lucky in getting the vagabonds. They were an easy faction to get to grasp. I liked the political element of the faction. But despite winning, I didn’t really use the faction to it’s fullest.

Root is one of those games like Cry Havoc, that I think is going to reward you for playing the game multiple times with the same faction, so you truly master the tactics and learn the cards.

I love the meeples used (photo below) they have a cute factor. As does all the art used as well. Which is an interesting design choice. The art style would be attractive to a younger age group. But it’s not a game you’d play with a younger age group.

One thing I did not like about the game was the amount of down time between turns. It’s long. I’m hoping this is explained away by the fact this was a learning game. But I can see this still being an issue once a player knows the game better.

Root is an interesting game. I didn’t dislike it. But I didn’t leave the game raving about it either, or thinking I must play another game straight away. It needs more plays for sure.

Games played: Archer: Once You Go Blackmail, Root

Saturday was the first Standard Showdown in the final season of Standard Showdown.

I managed to get some casual games in before the Showdown started, and tinker with the Simic deck. But I was undecided on which deck to play. The choice was between mono red aggro (the upgraded 2019 Challenger deck) and my Orzhov deck.

I decided to go with the Orzhov deck after seeing that a friend was going mono red aggro (with an upgraded 2019 Challenger deck). I wanted to avoid if we did end up playing against each other a mirror match up.

It was bound to happen sometime that I would face off against Andy Hall in a first round. His Selesnya token deck just walked all over mine. My deck just didn’t get set up quick enough. More annoyingly, Andy threw that deck together quickly before leaving the house to come to the Showdown.

Round 2 saw me playing John and his Simic merfolk Simic Ascendancy deck. This was a good match up for me. And it was a by the numbers game. I got Liliana out in the first game, that gave me the edge to get the win. While in game two Sorin gave me the advantage. Being able to bring back the creatures I had in my graveyard, and the lifelink very powerful.

Round 3 against Kar-Fai was draining. I took our first game. But it could have gone either way. The second game was a real back and forth. The first half of the game I had the upper hand, but ran out of juice just as Kar-Fai started to get answers. Then it was me holding on looking for answers. It was such a long game. Which saw Kar-Fai claw his way to victory just as the time buzzer went off. This was a true draw. Our decks very evenly matched.

The final round saw me up against another mono red aggro deck (another upgraded 2019 Challenger deck). So I knew what was coming. The first game was close, but the second game with Tibalt out screwed me over. As predicted it shutdown my life gain shenanigans. I destroyed one, only for it to be replaced with a second the following turn.

My casual games afterwards with my friend saw me testing the Simic deck against the dreaded mono red aggro. I was happy how it handled itself. Sadly in our third game I never drew into my solutions for the Rekindling Phoenix, and with 2 of them out I stood no chance.

Casual Games

Paul: Win 3-0

Bob: Win 2-1

Standard Showdown Stats

Participants: 13

Rounds: 4

Round 1: Andy Hall Loss 0-2

Round 2: John Win 2-0

Round 3: Kar-Fai Draw 1-1

Round 4: Simon Loss 0-2

Record: 1-1-2

Final Position: 10th

Prizes: 1 participation pack plus a Standard Showdown pack.

In the Showdown pack I pulled a foil forest basic land, a foil new Jace, and a Rekindling Phoenix. So very happy with that.

I’m now in the process of trading Jace for Orzhov check or shock lands. And I’m also doing the same with the Bolas I have. I’d like to keep Bolas. But the only way to improve the Orzhov deck is to make it faster, and that needs the lands.

Saturday evening I was listening to the Top Level mtg podcast and they were talking about how good Narset was against mono red aggro. It basically shuts down Experimental Frenzy. Luckily I have 3 of these! So I may have to adjust the sideboard once again for the Simic deck. Which at the moment is looking as being a lot of counter spells. Although I may add Carnage Tyrant back in for countrol decks.

Gods and Cycles

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

In War of the Spark there are one or two card cycles. Cycles are a group of cards one in each of the five colours of MtG that have a similar name and theme.

I want to look at the Finale and God cycles in my unique uniformed way.

Let’s start with the Finale cycle.

In my opinion (which we have already established is not very well informed) these are at best ok cards in Standard. But put them in Commander and they become really good.

In Standard it’s really the first part of the ability of the card we are looking at for getting any value. Rarely in Standard will you be casting these cards with an X of 10 or greater. Which means you have 12 mana to cast it. That’s a lot. Almost unplayable if that was the only effect we were looking at. However in Commander casting the card for that mana cost is a possibility.

I like Finale of Devastation and will be adding that to my Big Green Stompy Commander deck. Fetching a card and putting it on the battlefield for free (not really because we have paid for it in the casting), and then being able to swing in with it and any other creatures, and they are all bigger for this turn also. That could be the killing blow needed.

Finale of Promise is a card I don’t like. I’m not big on this type of effect, although it might go well in my wizards deck. So this is a card that I love the art, but not what it does.

Finale of Glory. I need this in my life. At the moment I don’t have a copy. But boy do my mono white Angel Commander deck and the Trostani token spam Commander decks what a copy of this in them? I’m just imagining 10 4/4 Angels out on the field, and if timed right double that with Doubling Season.

Finale of Revelation Horrors from the Deep, and anything I have with blue in will love this. Card draw, and unlimited handsize. Do I need to say more? Just refilling your hand mid to late game is game changing. While others are top decking, you have just drawn 10 cards! You have options, solutions, and you don’t have to discard down.

Finale of Eternity. I have mixed feelings about. The removal part is ok. But I do really like returning all my creatures from the graveyard back to the battlefield. Playing that after a board wipe would be particularly sweet.

The God cycle as I call it is soooo annoying. Each of the Gods in this cycle is nigh on impossible to get rid of. Kill it, exile it, and three turns (or less) and it’s back.

In Commander that’s really powerful if you use them as a mono colour Commander. It gets around Commander tax.

So far I have only really found two of these useful for Standard. The first of those is Oketra in my Orzhov deck. Getting a 4/4 zombie for 1 mana when I cast one of the 1 drops is insane. Sadly my Scarab God Commander deck would love Oketra to join it’s ranks but it doesn’t have white.

I don’t have Bontu and it’s a card I’d like to try in my Orzhov deck. Played at the right time and board state, I’d get card draw, damage to my opponent and life gain that would pump up one or two other creatures.

Ilharg is the other card I’ve found really useful in Standard and I want to try him with my mono red aggro Commander deck. I do like the idea of using him as the Commander. Multiple attack phases and a handful of creatures he becomes insane.

Rhonas I’m undecided on. He’s in my Simic standard deck. But I’m not sure how good a fit he is. I think he is better as one of the 99 in my big green stompy Commander deck.

For me the weaker cards in this God cycle are the ones that have an ETB. The two with the repeatable on going ability are the more powerful and useful ones in my eyes. Unless you can find a way to blink out the ones with the ETB and make use of that that way. But that seems a lot of effort. I prefer having to avoid all of that, unless I’m already doing that within the deck.

That’s my look at these two cycles. It’s been through my lense and how useful they are to me and decks I play. Your mileage from these cards especially the ones I’m not keen on may differ.

Upgrading Lightning Aggro Suggestions

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Last month saw the 2019 Challenger decks hitting the shelves of the FLGS. Last year when the initial ones came out they were a massive hit. They delivered big time on the promise of providing a standard legal deck that would be competitive at a FNM.

Would this years offerings continue to deliver on that promise? IMHO from the 3 I own and have played, the answer is a big yes.

In this post I’m going to look at the Lightning Aggro Challenger deck. It’s mono red. I don’t normally play mono red aggro. So I like that this Challenger deck allows me to try that deck without having to go out and track down all the cards. And like the rest of them it makes a great place to start and make the deck your own.

The WotC article (linked above) suggests that players look at adding Risk Factor and/or Skewer the Critics. They also talk about splashing a second colour and recommend cards in the colours suggested.

However I like the idea of sticking to mono red. So my inclination is to add one or two more copies of Rekindling Phoenix. Or at least having them in the sideboard. I love the card. A 4 CMC 4/3 that is nigh impossible to get rid of. Kill it and it’s back at the start of the next turn. It can be very annoying.

When I first saw Ilharg it didn’t grab me. But then I got this deck and pulled the card. I particular think it’s attacking ability is there to be abused. Chainwhirler and Pyromancer both have etb triggers that this allows us to repeat, a red flicker/blink effect? Plus as I saw at the weekend with Oketra once this is out on the battlefield even if your opponent does get rid of it, it’s back pretty quickly. I’m leaning to having a couple of these in the deck.

Tibalt is a sideboard card. And a situational one. It’s there for when the deck goes up against a deck like my Orzhov deck or the mono white United Assault Challenger deck. Basically any deck that relies on life gain. It switches them off.

Neheb is one to also consider, and could allow you to get Ilharg back even quicker. If I had to say one card I was unsure about then this would be it.

So that’s 6 cards I would consider for upgrading the Lightning Aggro deck. What do you think of these suggestions? What cards would you upgrade in this Cahllenger deck?

Orzhov Aggro Standard

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

I’ve actually enjoyed playing this deck. Yes it’s aggro. But that doesn’t really reflect what the deck does.

It is a value deck really. It uses life gain to get value, it uses creatures dying to get value.

The main value these two things give me is pumping up creatures, or trigger my favourite mechanic in this set proliferate.

Gain life something gets bigger. Creature dies, and something gets bigger, draw a card, do direct damage and gain life, that then triggers the life gain again! That’s a nice loop to get in.

Oketra is insane. Especially in this deck, once out every time I cast one of those 1 CMC 1/1 creatures I have (which there are a few) they get joined by a 4/4 zombie warrior token! That’s insane value. Plus so hard to get rid of.

I like Liliana. Pumping out that 2/2 token is nice. Using her sacrifice ability, removal and feeds into that value loop.

I never got Sorin into play in testing, so can’t really say how good he is in this deck.

Creatures:28

4 Banehound
4 Charmed Stray
4 Healer’s Hawk
3 Ajani’s Pridemate
3 Cruel Celebrant
2 Grateful Apparition
2 Martyr for the Cause
2 Rising Populace
2 Gideon’s Company
2 God-Eternal Oketra

Spells:12

2 Aid the Fallen
1 Finale of Eternity
2 Seal Away
2 Mortify
1 Unbreakable Formation
2 Ixalan’s Binding
1 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Lands:20

4 Forsaken Sanctuary
4 Orzhov Guildgate
7 Plains
5 Swamp

Sideboard:15

3 Demon of Catastrophes
2 Massacre Girl
2 The Elderspell
1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
1 Unbreakable Formation
2 Kaya’s Wrath
4 Vraska’s Contempt

Ok you have seen the cards. Here is that boring mana curve bit.

I’d love a second Liliana in this deck. If I can trade for her, I’ll add her to the deck. Then again a second Sorin would be nice too. Kaya in the sideboard might get replaced by another Massacre Girl. I’d like a third copy of Kaya’s Wrath and Unbreakable Formation.

Like most of my decks I’m borderline too little lands. Adding a couple more wouldn’t hurt.

The faster shock and check lands would be nice. But the cost of play sets make it not worth it.

Ok let me know what you like and don’t about this deck in the comments below.