The Planeswalk Tribune

It's been a while since I first started my blog huh? Yeah I guess I've really changed since then. All my posts have always been about magic but they have still changed a lot.

image courtesy of galleryhip

When I first started my blog, I was blogging about the 5 different khans of Khans of Tarkir. That was back around in late September. In general, those post were really boring and not enjoyable. I mean reviews aren't meant to be super fun to read. I was also reviewing one card at a time, and to be honest you can't go on and on about one card because at that point your just saying useless information. So I had a bit of a slow start, but things got better.

I started to review multiple cards at once, which gave me a lot more to talk about on each post. I also started to do a lot more reviews on spoilers of new sets. Since I was doing spoilers, I stopped doing reviews on different cycles in sets which is kind of a shame because I thought doing reviews on a cycle and then picking the best card from the cycle was cool. Well, maybe that's just me. It's probably just me. So I only did reviews on spoilers, so I couldn't post consistently because spoiler seasons are so short and far away from each other.

I obviously needed to do some more posts on different things. I decided to make a "Review the Pulls" series where I open a pack and then see how good the uncommons and rares are in limited. I also decided to do some deck techs on standard and limited decks and even made a "Current Deck" tab where I would post my most recent deck. After all this I really started to expand what I was doing on my blog. I didn't have to just do posts on reviewing cards, I could talk about other things like actually playing magic.

Throughout my blog I think that I have been better about making the reviews my own by adding my own voice and differentiating it from other reviews. I have voice right? I'm entertaining right? I'm totally hilarious right? No? Yeah guess not (see right there, that was voice, that takes skill). But in all seriousness I think I have developed a lot throughout my blogging career. Sure I may not have the most voice in the world, but I have definitely gotten better since my first couple of posts. I think I've even developed better rapport with my readers. Again not the best rapport, but I've gotten better since the beginning.

So that's all the different ways I have developed since the beginning. I'm definitely not a great blogger but I think I did pretty well. Unfortunately I'm going to end my blog here and not do anymore posts. Make sure to check out Mythic Spoiler for all the cards in Magic: The Gathering (this is where I got most of my pictures for cards). I really hope you all enjoyed my blog and thank you so much for reading!

Dragons of Tarkir Draft!

So it's official, black blue is the best color pair in Dragons draft. Seriously it destroys people. If you get the right cards is by far the best deck.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

I decided to go down to FNM (Friday Night Magic) with my friends and draft. I watched some videos and I knew that black blue, mainly black, were the best colors. For my first pack, my rare was Haven of the Spirit Dragon, which is a horrible card for draft. The pack in general was not that good, so I took the best card which was an Aven Surveyor. From there I just went straight blue black picking up some sweet cards like Cloudform, Ukud Cobra, Silumgar Sorcerer, Youthfoul sScholar, Gurmaag Angler, and a Ruthless Deathfang. I even got passed a Silumgar, the Drifting Death and a Sage-Eye Avengers in the last pack! The deck was super solid and had a really good curve. The only problem is that I didn't have any removal, but who needs that when you have a Silumgar?

All of my matches were pretty easy. My first match up was against a green white deck and it was really close. He had an Ojutai Exemplars which was super scary. That card is really hard to beat because if they have any non-creature spells, it isn't going no where and it is going to run you over. I eventually got him by flying over him with all of my flyers. Oh and let me tell you about value. I had a youthful scholar out (a 2/2 creature that draws you two cards when it dies) and then exploited it with my Aven Surveyor (a 2/3 flying creature that draws you two cards if you exploit a creature). Lets just say drawing four cards just wins you the game. I beat my opponent 2-1

In my second match, I was against a green red deck that had a bunch of removal and big guys. I pulled silumgar every single game against him so you know, silumgar. It was actully really funny when I played Cloudform and manifested my silumgar, so when I flipped it up, it had hexproof, flying, hexproof, and flying. That's a thing right? Double Hexproof? But I just ran him over with my flyers because he has absolutely no protection against it. I endend up beating him 2-0

In my last match, I was paired up against one of my friends and I destroyed him (his blog here). He was playing a blue white tempo deck. The first game I was able to kill him in the skies before he could stabilize, and in the second game he got mana screwed so I beat him again. It always sucks if your opponent is mana screwed. You might win the match but it's just not a fun game.

I ended up going 3-0 at the draft and it was super fun. All my other friends went 2-1, so I was the best. Yup, I'm flipping amazing. Best magic player in the world. My pool was really good so that's probably why I did so well. I still had an awesome time and would recommend drafting to any Magic player. Well I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you next time!

Magic: The Noobs

It's unusual to come across someone else who plays magic. It is the most popular trading card game but it isn't known by a lot of people. When you do come across people that play magic it's pretty cool. It's always nice to see someone who plays the same game as you.

There is a group at my school, other than my group of friends, that plays magic. At first I was like, "Whoa, I finally found a group of people that like to play magic!" But then I saw them actually play... It's not like they are super bad or anything, (well they are but besides the point) it is how they play. Like it is not even close to the game Magic: The Gathering. Just think about it like this, Magic: The Gathering is one game, and what they play is totally different.

image courtesy of wired

First off, they start the game with all of their lands in play. You heard me, EVERY SINGLE LAND IN THEIR DECK. So already they just broke the game. Also, they get to choose what cards are in their hands. Alright, the managed to brake it even more. And finally, they can play cards that aren't in their deck. Yup, they seriously just take cards from wherever and play them. Doesn't that make you want to cringe? They should call it, Magic: We don't care about the actual rules so we're going to do whatever we want! I mean I get having your own house rules and stuff but come on! Whenever I watch them it hurts. I seriously just want to puke because their rules are so bad!

So other than them having insane rules, they are really really REALLY bad. I don't care if your bad at the game, we were all bad at the game at some point, but I just want to grab my best deck and destroy them. Imagine how fun it would be to own magic noobs with your best deck. I would just play out a Dragonlord Atarka and BAM, destroying magic noobs.

Oh, and don't even get me started on how they play two-headed giant. They have shared mana so they were able to play out Nicol Bolas turn three. TURN THREE NICOL BOLAS. THE HELL!!!!!!! How do you lose? You don't. Nicol Bolas wins. They have all these different game modes like "haste mode" and it's where everything has haste and they start with all their lands. It's honestly terrifying on how they play magic.

In all seriousness though, its always cool to find people who play magic, even if they are total noobs or magic pros. Not a lot of people Magic so it's special to find a group that does, even if they aren't the best or play the game differently.

Well that's it for my blog about Magic noobs, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you guys next time!

COMMANDER!

Guys I think I have a problem. Yup, it's official, I'm totally obsessed with commander. IT'S ADDICTING! But really though, commander is super fun.

If you don't know what commander is, it is a format where you play with 100 card decks. Yeah you heard me, 100 cards. You can only have one copy of each card (except for basic lands), so you are playing with 100 different cards from different sets! Also, one of these cards is called your commander. A commander has to be a Legendary Creature in order to be your commander. You can only have cards in your deck that match your commander's color identity (the colors needed to cast it). Your commander is in your command zone from the beginning of the game. You can cast your commander from the command zone whenever you want, so you pretty much have it for the entire game. If your commander dies, it goes back to the commander zone and you can cast it again if you pay an extra two colorless fore every time it has died. (It gets SUPER expensive!)

My  Commander
image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

There is a huge variety for what type of deck you can build because you can use cards from every set ever printed. When me and my friends heard about commander, we were totally hyped and we all bought one of the pre-built commander decks. Obviously those decks got boring so we all decided to build our own decks.

My deck is white blue and it is super annoying. My commander is Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. He is a 2/3 Legendary Human Advisor that casts for 2 colorless, one white, and one blue. He has, White spells you cast cost 1 less to cast, Blue spells you cast cost 1 less to cast, and spells your opponents control cost one more to cast. Lets just say that everyone in my friend group hates me for using Grand Arbiter. Seriously, I think my friends want me to burn in hell for playing this guy. If you get him out turn four it makes your opponents struggle to play out any of there spells and it makes you able to cast all of your spells super cheep! I stuffed in a bunch of blue and white tempo creatures like Peal Lake Ancient, and a bunch of different sphinxes. I put in some more blue and white rares and BAM, my commander deck destroys everyone. I mean it's not that good but it is pretty good, especially when you put in Venser, the Sojourner. That guys actually destroys everyone.

Commander is a super fun format to play and I would recommend it to anyone who plays Magic. Is is super fun to do a huge game with all of your friends. Commander is by far my favorite format and it should be EVERYONES favorite format, cause it is that good. Well, I'll see you guys next time, hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!

Review the Pulls, Ep. 2

Hey everyone, It's time to do another episode of Review the Pulls. Today I will open a pack of Fate Reforged Lets see what we get...

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Hmm... Oh... I literally have a million of this one rare. Supplant Form is an instant that casts for four colorless and two blue. It has, "Return target creature to its owner's hand. You put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that creature." Don't get me wrong this card is really good, It's just a little bit bland. Blue rares and mythics are supposed to do crazy and absurd stuff whereas this card isn't too exiting. Other than the fact of it being a bit boring, this card can turn some games very quickly. If you bounce their bomb, you put them back a turn and develop your board with a huge bomb. Super good card in both Commander and Limited.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

hahahahaha... this card... Pilgrim of Fires is a 6/4 Artifact Golem with First Strike and Trample that casts for seven colorless. There isn't a lot to say about this card. It does have on of the best key word combinations with first strike and trample, but it isn't that good. Seven mana is a lot of mana and your not getting much out of it. Sure it might be a big creature that can get through almost all combat, its just that there is a lot of better late game drops. Ok filler if you don't have any late game.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Mardu Shadowspear is a 1/1 Human Warrior that casts for one black and has dash for one colorless and one black. She has, "Whenever Mardu Shadowspear attacks, each opponent loses 1 life." This card is a little bit weak. Any one drop has to carry its weight in your deck. It either has to affect the early game a lot or has to be relevant in both the early and late game. Typhoid Rats is a great example of a one drop that carries it's weight. Mardu Shadowspear on the other hand doesn't do much. A 1/1 that deals one damage to your opponent is terrible, especially in a format that has a bunch of 2/2s. Mardu Shadowspear is a card you shouldn't run unless you made the best warrior tribal deck.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

This card is a card you should always run if your playing blue. Rite of Undoing is a instant with delve and casts for four colorless and one blue. It has, "Return target nonland permanent you contol and target nonland permanent you don't control to their owner's hands." This card makes the plays! making the card instant speed can totally mess with your opponent's tempo. You go to combat, they block your dude, you bounce your dude saving your dude, and then bounce any NONLAND permanent they control to put them back a turn. This card is really good in any blue deck that is trying to screw up your opponent's plays.

Well, there is the second episode of Review the Pulls. Some pretty good pulls, but defiantly not the best. Thanks for reading everyone!

Tiny Leaders!

Do you like Commander? Well wizards made a new format called Tiny Leaders, which is a lot like Commander buy there is a difference. Every card in the deck (including your commander) has to have a converted mana cost of 3 or less and the deck has to have 50 cards... SUPER WEIRD.

image courtesy of Battle Grounds Gaming

When I first heard of the format I thought that it was a dumb idea and that it was going to suck. I mean the whole point of commander is to just build a deck of absurdly high costing cards right?

Well I was wrong. Tiny Leaders is a super fun format that can be both casual or competitive. Just like Commander, the format was made to have a good time with cool and different decks. The one thing that makes it different from Commander is that the games aren't super long. I don't know how many times I sit down to play Commander and the games take an hour a piece! Sure the games are usually really fun but sometimes you just want to play a fun and SHORT game of magic. That's where Tiny Leaders comes in. Tiny Leaders is like a smaller version of Commander. A lot of the rules are still the same but everything is just smaller. It is a casual format that is a lot of fun to play with your friends.

I made a Tiny Leaders deck with my Commander (or Tiny Leader) as Yasova Dragonclaw. Yasova Dragonclaw is a 4/2 Human Warrior with trample that casts for two colorless and one green. She has, "At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may pay one colorless and two hybrid blue red mana. If you do, gain control of target creature an opponent controls with power less than Yasova Dragonclaw's power until end of turn, untap that creature, and it gains haste until end of turn. The basics of the deck is to make one creature super huge and then take all of their creatures to hit them for lethal. It has a bunch of different cards that protect my creatures and cards to buff up my creatures. It is a super fun deck that combos off really hard.

Tiny Leaders is definitely one of the more unique formats that Wizards have created. I would recommend anyone to build and play Tiny Leaders because it is a super fun time. Thanks for reading and I'll be back next time with some more Magic: The Gathering.

Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease

image courtesy of Wizards
Dragons of Tarkir set symbol

Last weekend I went to the Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease and it was super fun! If you don't already know, a prerelease is a sealed magic event where you get to play with cards from the set that is about to come out. It is a super awesome experience and I would recommend anyone player of magic, new or old, to go to one of these events.

At the Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease, you get to choose one of the five different dragon clans. The dragon clans are Dromoka (green and white), Atarka (green and red), Ojutai (white and blue), Silumgar (black and blue), and Kolaghan (red and black). You get a seeded booster pack and a promo card for the chosen clan. You then get 4 Dragons of Tarkir booster packs and 1 Fate Reforged booster pack. You then build a 40 card deck and play against different opponents.

I chose the Dromoka clan and my promo was Sunscorch Regent (review on it here). I never actually got to play it until the last game and I was already dead, so I didn't really get to see how good it was. I made a pretty good green white aggro deck with a bunch of low drop creatures. I knew it was going to be a pretty decent deck, but the only problem I had was that I didn't have any removal. In sealed (prereleases) almost everyone has huge bombs so it is very important to include some good removal in your deck. This is definitely how I lost most of my games. They play out their bomb and I sit there and cry. I usually could overrun my opponent before they could get out their bombs so I did pretty well.

The cards in my deck were the basic Dromoka bundle of putting a million +1/+1 counters on all of your creatures. I has some good synergies in the deck such as Lightwalker, which is a 2/1 for two mana that gets flying if it has a +1/+1 counter on it, and Inspiring Call, which gives all of my creatures with a +1/+1 counter on it indestructible. Other than that I had some pump and fight spells to overcome their big creatures. I also had some late game cards if I got into a big board stall. One of those cards was Shieldhide Dragon, which is a 3/3 flying lifelink dragon for 6 mana and has megamorph for 7. This card won me a couple games just because of its lifelink.

SO MANY PACKS!!!!!!
(packs my friends and I won)

I ended up going 3-1 so I did pretty well. My friends also did well and we won a bunch of prize packs! It was a super fun time and I would do it again any day. I hope you guys had fun at your Dragons of Tarkir prerelease. Thanks for Reading!

Deck List
Spells (23)
2 Shieldhide Dragon
1 Stampeding Elk Herd
1 Inspiring Call
1 Champion of Arashin
1 Epic Confrontation
1 Scaleguard Sentinels
1 Tread Upon
1 Press the Advantage
1 Sandcrafter Mage
2 Misthoof Kirin
1 Shape the Sands
1 Dromoka Captain
1 Elite Scaleguard
1 Abzan Skycaptain
1 Guardian Shield-Bearer
1 Colossodon Yearling
1 Hunt the Weak
1 Lightwalker
1 Sandsteppe Outcast
1 Sunscorch Regent
1 Arashin Foremost
Lands (17)
9 Plains
8 Forests

Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers: Part 4

It's time to finish up the Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers with some more awesome rares!

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Illusory Gains is a an enchantment aura that casts for three colorless and two blue. It has, "You control enchanted creature," and, "Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponents 's control, attach Illusory Gains to that creature." HAH! This card is hilarious. Taking over any creature they play out is just rude. It's like, "I'll pay 7 mana and play out this Atarka... oh wait... he's yours..." There is a lot of ways to play around this card though. If you play out your bomb and then a small creature, the enchantment gets the smaller creature. Not necessarily a good card, but funny nonetheless.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Avatar of the Resolute is a 3/2 Avatar with reach and trample that cast for two green. It has, "Avatar of the Resolute enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it." Although this card is fairly simple, it is really good. Playing it on turn two is good. The important part is that it is still very relative later in the game. If you draw this thing and your in a huge board stall where all of your creatures have counters, it could swing the game towards your favor. Any creature that is relevant throughout the whole game is very valuable and very good.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Risen Executioner is 4/3 Zombie Warrior that can't block and casts for two colorless and two black. It has, "Other zombie creatures you control get +1/+1," and, "You may cast Risen Executioner from your graveyard if you pay one more to cast it for each other creature card in your graveyard." Eh... I don't have much to say about this card. It not being able to block really puts it's power level down. Sure it buffs all of your other zombies but it just isn't that impressive. Even though you can bring it back from the graveyard to the battlefield, that cost could get pretty high as the game goes on. Not a great mythic.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Clone Legion is a Sorcery that casts for seven colorless and two blue. It has, "For each creature target player controls, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that creature." This card is SUPER expensive, so its really only playable in commander. In commander, it could be a huge blowout. If you get to the point in a game where everybody's boards are huge, you can double your board or just get all of your opponents creatures. Super fun card in commander and every Magic: The Gathering set has to have an overly priced blue mythic.

That's the end of our Dragons of Tarkir spoilers. I hope you guys enjoy this new set just as much as me. Thanks for reading!

Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers: Part 3

Here with some more Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers. So many awesome cards!

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is a 2/2 Spirit Soldier that casts for two white. She has whenever another nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, bolster 1. The new anafenza is super good. Getting counters on creatures whenever a creature enters the battlefield is pure value. This card is really good in decks that flood the board with a bunch of small creatures. Her flavor text is also super cool. Martyred for worshiping her ancestors , she now walks among them. I guess that's what you get for not obeying your dragon lords.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Sarkhan Unbroken is a 4 loyalty planeswalker that casts two colorless, one green, one blue, and one red. His +1 is, "Draw a card, then add one mana of any color to your mana pool." His -2 is, "Put a 4/4 red dragon creature token with flying onto the battlefield." His -8 is, "Search your library for any number of Dragon creature cards and put them onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. This card is definitely good, but it is just a little boring. All of his abilities are super good. A draw card as a +1 is already good, the extra mana is just nice. A 4/4 flyer for a -2 is really good. Sorin's -2 only makes a 2/2 flyer. His ult just wins you the game if he is in the right deck. Sarkhan is super good, just wish he had some more interesting abilities.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Assault Formation is an enchantment that casts for one colorless and one green. It has, "Each creature you control assigns combat damage equal to its toughness rather than its power," "One green: Target creature with defender can attack this turn as though it didn't have defender," and, "Two coloress and one Green: Creatures you control get +0/+1 until end of turn." This card is really cool. The most important ability on this card is to give your whole team +1/+1 (since your creatures deal damage equal to their toughness). I have a deck that I have been play testing with that revolves around creatures with high toughness. This card could make that deck into a decent standard deck. Super cool card that might create some unique standard decks.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Icefall Regent is a 4/3 Dragon with flying that casts for three colorless and two blue. It has, "When Icefall Regent enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controllers untap step for as long as you control Icefall Regent," and, "Spells your opponents cast that target Icefall Regent cost two more to cast." Being able to lock down a creature and get a creature with good stats for only five mana is amazing. Play this thing out, lock down their biggest creature, and then have a huge flyer bash in for 4 every turn. The last ability just makes it harder for your opponent to kill it. An awesome blue tempo dragon.

What do you guys think about Dragons of Tarkir? I think that it is going to be a super awesome draft format. I'll publish another Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers post and a post on the Dragons of Tarkir prerealese. Thanks for reading everyone!

Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers: Part 2

It's time to look at some more awesome cards from Dragons of Tarkir. This set it looking to be a blast!

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Dragon Whisper is a 2/2 Human Shaman that casts for two red. He has "One red: Dragon whisper gains flying until end of turn," "One colorless and one red: Dragon whisper gets +1/+0 until end of turn," and a formidable ability that gives you a 4/4 red dragon creature token with flying if you pay four colorless and two red (you can only use a formidable ability if the total power among creatures you control is at least 8). This card is a really good card. It is definitely a little bit clunky but it can be pretty awesome. If making a bunch of dragons isn't enough, you can get in with a bunch of damage late game if you have the mana for it. Dragon whisper is a very interesting card but probably won't see that much constructed play.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Deathmist Raptor is a 3/3 Lizard Beast (ITS A DINOSAUR!) with deathtouch that casts for one colorless and two green. It has "whenever a permanent you control is turned face up, you may return Deathmist Raptor from the graveyard to the battlefield face up or face down" and megamorph for four colorless and one green. This card is super good! A 3/3 for three mana with a totally relevant keyword is good already. Its other abilities just make it never able to really die (unless it is exiled). Definitely an amazing card in limited and standard if a morph/manifest deck ever shows up.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Arashin Foremost is a 2/2 Human Warrior with doublestrike that casts for one colorless and two white. She (I think) has "Whenever Arashin Foremost enters the battlefield or attacks, another target warrior gains doublestrike until end of turn." This card is so gross. If you don't already know about the insane warrior tribal deck, this card would fit in perfectly. My friend (his blog here) has a standard warrior deck and this would fit in perfectly. Warriors always have huge power, so giving one doublestrike can make a devastating blow. This card will be played in every warrior tribal deck for forever.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Sidisi undead vis... wait a minute... SHE'S BACK!?!?!? NO! I  HATED YOU SIDISI GO BACK TO KHANS OF TARKIR NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE.

Anyways...

Sunscorch Regent is a 4/3 Dragon with flying that casts for three colorless and two white. It has "Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Sucscorch Regent. This cards is super amazing in commander. Play this thing out and it will be bigger faster than your opponents can cast all of their spells. Even in a 1 vs. 1 match, it can still get big and fly over all of your opponents blockers. A good card overall.

All of the cards in Dragons of Tarkir are super good. Looks like I'm going to be drafting a ton of this. I'll be back soon with even more spoilers. Thanks for watching!

Dragons of Tarkir Spoilers: Part 1

SO MANY DRAGONS!!!!! Dragons of Tarkir spoilers are finished and there is a ton of super sweet rares and a bunch of dragons. I'm going to look at some of the cards spoiled and see how awesome they are.

image courtesy of Channel Fireball

Narset Transcendent is a six loyalty planeswalker for two colorless, one white, and one blue. Her +1 is look at the top card of your library. If it is a nonland, noncreature card, you may reveal it and put into your hand. Her -2 is the next time you cast an instant or sorcery spell, it gains rebound. Her -9 gives you an emblem that doesn't allow your opponents to cast noncreature spells. When I looked at this card, I wanted to puke. IS SO GOOD. No matter what format she is in, she is super good. Getting six loyalty for only four mana is amazing for a planeswalker. Her abilities are just gross. Even if you can't get her ult off (which is amazing) her -2 and +1 are good on their own. Giving a spell like Dig Through Time rebound will make your opponents cry and concede. This is definitely one of the better planeswalker that wizards has released.

image courtesy of Channel Fireball

Dragonlord Silumgar is a 3/5 Elder Dragon with flying and deathtouch that casts for four colorless, one blue, and one black. He has "Whenever Dragonlord Silumgar enters the battlefield, you may gain control of target creature or planeswalker card until Dragonlord Silumgar leaves the battlefield. Did I read that right? Lets see... takes over target creature or PLANESWALKER! This card is totally insane. Being able to take over any creature or planeswalker can totally turn around any game. The dream is to steal a planeswalker right before they can activate their ult. This card has a strong chance of being played in both modern and standard.

image courtesy of Magic: The Gathering

Ojutai's Command is an instant that casts for two colorless, one white, and one blue. It has choose two - Return target creature with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield - You gain 4 life - Counter target creature spell and - Draw a card. This card is definitely one of my favorite cards spoiled so far. Just like the charms from khans, the command has so much versatility. Even if you don't need to use it for the conditional options (counter target creature and return a creature with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield) drawing a card and gaining a card for 4 mana is fine by me. Some might say that the price is a little high, but I think its just right for what the card is doing.

All of the new spoilers from Dragons of Tarkir are totally amazing. These cards will bring a lot of different decks to standard (cough cough-blue white control-cough cough) and a very fun limited format. I'll have even more awesome spoilers on Dragons of Tarkir soon. Thanks for reading!

Dech Tech - Temur Ascendancy Combo

With Fate Reforged out, I wanted to see what type of cool new decks could be made. One of the most popular decks that have emerged from Fate Reforged is the Temur Ascendancy combo deck. Just like the Jeskai Ascendancy combo deck, it uses an Ascendancy to create an awesome infinite combos. This one makes infinite mana that combos with some interesting creatures. Time to see how the Temur Ascendancy Combo deck works.

Image courtesy of Magic: the Gathering

The Temur Ascendancy Combo deck needs five pieces to fire off the combo.
1. 1 Voyaging Satyr
2. 1 Temur Sabertooth
3. 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4. 1 Temur Ascendancy
5. At least 7 devotion to green

The first step of the combo is to tap your nykthos to get seven mana (or more, depending on your devotion). Then you use voyaging satyr to untap nykthos to get another seven mana. Now you have 14 mana floating. You use this mana to return the satyr to your hand with the sabertooth's ability. You then play out the voyaging satyr again and since it has haste from temur ascendency, you untap nykthos paying two and getting seven more mana. You keep repeating this process until you get millions and millions of mana!

The deck has different ways to win when you have all of this mana. One way is to monstrous a polukranos you just cast (it has haste) and kill all of your opponents creatures then swing in and hit them for a million. Another way to win is to craters claws them for 1,000,000. The last way to win is to use nylea (gives them all trample and a buff on a stick) to buff all of your creatures and swing in for a ton of damage.

Although the deck is a combo deck, that is not the only way to win. It is more of a green devotion deck with a combo, rather then a combo deck with green devotion. If you don't have the combo, you can just bash in with your massive creatures. The deck runs a lot of ramp and big fatties so you can overwhelm your opponent. The deck is very consistent and it's super fun when you finally pull off your awesome combo!

Hope you guys enjoyed this deck tech. Next time I'll be looking into some Dragons of Tarkir spoilers. HYPE!

Deck List:
Creature (32)
2x Arbor Colossus
2x Boon Satyr
4x Courser of Kruphix
3x Eidolon of Blossoms
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Genesis Hydra
1x Hornet Queen
1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
2x Polukranos, World Eater
4x Temur Sabertooth
4x Voyaging Satyr
1x Whisperwood Elemental

Land (23)
4x Forest
4x Frontier Bivouac
1x Mana Confluence
1x Mountain
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Temple of Mystery
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Yavimaya Coast

Instant (1)
1x Chord of Calling

Sorcery (1)
1x Crater's Claws

Enchantment (3)
3x Temur Ascendancy

Fate Reforged Reviews Part 2

It's time for some more Fate Reforged! I'm going to review and look at some awesome new cards from Fate Reforged.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Alesha, who smiles at death is the khan for the mardu clan. Alesha is a 3/2 legnedary human warrior that casts for two colorless and one red. She has first strike and whenever Alesha attacks,  you may pay two hybrid white black. If you do, return target creature with power two or less from your graveyard onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Although Alesha is already a 3/2 for three with first strike, its that second ability that really makes her amazing. Being able to bring back creatures from the graveyard to the battlefield is already good. Making them attack on the turn that they are brought back is stupid good! Also, this ability is only two mana, so you can bring back almost all of your creatures straight to the battlefield! The obvious downside to this card it that the creature you bring back has to have two or less power. This can prevent you from bringing back a huge amount of creatures. A very good card overall.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

The next card on my list is hilarious. Ghastly Conscription is a sorcery that casts for five colorless and two black and exiles all creatures from target player's graveyard in a face-down pile. You shuffle that pile and then manifest those cards. You pretty much take all of your opponent's dead creatures ( or your dead creatures) and put them all face down as 2/2 creatures on your side of the board. This card is very silly but also good. It gives you insane board presence right away. Also, all of the creatures can be turned face up at any time, if you have the mana. You get to use all of your opponents creatures against them! A very funny and good card.

image courtesy of Mythic Spoiler

Next up we have
Shaman of the Great Hunt. Shaman of the Great Hunt is a 4/2 orc shaman that casts for three colorless and one red. He has haste, whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it, and a ferocious ability that allows you to pay two colorless and two hybrid green blue to draw a card for each creature you control with power 4 or greater. This card screams Temur. First off it has 4 power, giving you that fercious trigger. It also has a way to get your other creatures to 4 power for even more ferocious triggers. His last ability is just gravy. Green never gets card draw so this really helps you to fill up your hand. This card belongs in Temur decks.

Well, there are some cards that I love from Fate Reforged. I'll be doing some more reviews on cards when the set comes out. I'll see you guys next time and have fun at the prerelease!

Fate Reforged Review Part 1

It's finally here. After waiting day and night its finally her. FATE REFORGED! All the cards have been spoiled and they're all awesome! I'm going to pick some cards to show you and see how good this set really is.

image courtesy of MTG Salvation

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is the only planeswalker in Fate Reforged. Ugin casts for eight colorless mana and starts out with 7 loyalty. Ugin has a +2 that can deal three damage to target creature or player. He has a -X that exiles each permanent with converted mana cost X or less that is one or more colors (No colorless permanents get exiled). Ugin's last ability is a -10 that gains you 7 life, draws you 7 cards and allows you to put seven permanents from your hand onto the battlefield. Ugin has some awesome abilities. If a lightning strike on a stick and a board wipe isn't enough, his ult is absolutely absurd. It can stabilize you from almost any position by getting your health up, getting card draw and securing your board state. Although he casts for a high eight mana, he starts our with 7 loyalty making it easier to get his ult off, and harder for your opponents to kill him. The best part is that his ult is the exact opposite of Nicol Bolas' ult.

image courtesy of MTG Salvation

This next card is my favorite card in the whole set. Warden of the First Tree is a 1/1 human that casts for one green . He has three abilities that upgrade him. His first ability costs one colorless and one hybrid white black and turns him into a 3/3 human warrior. His second ability costs two colorless and two hybrid white black. If he is a warrior he becomes a human spirit warrior and gets trample and lifelink. His third ability costs three colorless and three hybrid white black mana. If he is a spirit, you put five +1/+1 counters on him. Warden of the First Tree is a lot like Figure of Destiny, he is able to upgrade himself into a bigger creature with new abilities. One reason Warden of the First Tree is better than Figure of Destiny is that you can continue to upgrade him after he's has become a spirit. Another bonus is that he is a warrior so he can get buffs from Chief of the Scale and Chief of the Edge.

image courtesy of MTG Salvation

Last but defiantly not least is Soulfire Grand Master. Soulfire Grand Master is a 2/2 Human Monk with lifelink that casts for one colorless and one white. If you pay two colorless and two hybrid blue and red, the next spell you cast will go to your hand instead of going to the graveyard. She also has instant and sorcery spells you control have lifelink... WHAT! Okay everyone it looks like Jeskai burn is going to destroy everything. But really though, this card is insane. Even if you don't like her abilities she is a 2/2 liflink for 2! That's Insane! This card could very well see standard play.

That's our first part for Fate Reforged reviews. I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you guys next time!

Review the Pulls, Ep. 1

Happy New Years Everyone! I hope you all had a good holiday season. Today I am going to be starting a little series called Review the Pulls. I'm going to open some packs and then review random cards from the packs. Today I opened some Journey Into Nyx packs. Lets see what I got!

Eagle of the Watch is my first card. Eagle of the Watch is a 2/1 bird with flying and vigilance that casts for two colorless and one white. Eagle of the Watch in a basic flyer with some cool abilities. Any flyer that has vigilance is good in my book. You can swing from the sky but also have a blocker just in case. One problem with eagle of the watch is that he only has one toughness, so if you do end up blocking with him he will probably trade. Eagle of the Watch is good but vigilance is much more suited for creatures with a bit higher toughness.

image courtesy of  Magic The Gathering

The next card is Nyx-Fleece Ram. Nyx-Fleece Ram is a 0/5 sheep with "at the beginning of your upkeep, you gain 1 life." that casts for one colorless and one white. Nyx-Fleece ram is just a big defender. Like all defenders, Nyx-Fleece Ram just sits there and prevents a lot of early game agro. Unlike other defenders, Nyx-Fleece Ram gains you as he blocks those ealry game creatures. Another bonus is that he does not have defender, so if you buff him he has the option to attack.

Next up we have Nature's Panoply. Nature's Panoply is an instant that casts for one green and has strive for two colorless and one green. Nature's Panoply puts a +1/+1 counter on any number of target creatures. Natures Panoply is a great way to buff up all of your creatures. Even if you don't have a lot of mana for the strive cost, you can still buff up one creature for only one mana. This card also works very well with heroic and outlast.

image courtesy of  Magic The Gathering

For our fourth card we have Returned Reveler. Returned Reveler is a 1/3 zombie satyr with "When Returned Reveler dies, each player puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyards." that casts for one colorless and one black. This is card is... meh. Although a 1/3 for two is decent, its ability really brings its power level down, One upside is you could use this card to your advantage if your playing Sultai or a graveyard oriented strategy but other than that, not the best card.

And last but not least we have Triton Shorestalker. Triton Shorestalker is a 1/1 merfolk rouge that can't be blocked and casts for one blue. Triton Shorestalker is an amazing one drop, especially for blue. Any creature that can't be blocked is already amazing, especially if you can get it out early. Triton Shorestalker is one of the best one drops in Journey into Nyx by far. GO MERFOLK!

Well that was our first episode of Review the Pulls. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you guys next time!