Zendikar Rumors

Just wanted to post some reported rumors of the upcoming Zendikar set. Here are a few rumors I have found on the web from various sites with previews.


Rampaging Baloths - 4GG
Creature - Beast (M)
Trample
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a 4/4 Beast creature token onto the battlefield.
6/6



From what we can tell he is a Black Planeswalker and probably a Vampire.



Chandra is back and she looks to be all Red again.


Here are a few reported common rumor previews.






Stay tuned for more previews as they come up.

My So-Called Cruel Grixis Fae Life

Ever since I saw the prerelease for Lorwyn I knew that I wanted to build a Faerie deck (there is just something sexy about the Fae)...However, once the cards came out, everyone and their mother began building Faerie decks. So my goal was to build a cool, powerful Faerie deck that was different from all others out there. Here is my latest build. It is a very controlling deck (especially against creature heavy opponents).

The deck is designed to lock down your opponent until you can overrun him/her with creatures or the awesome sorcery Cruel Ultimatum. A fun card that causes your opponent to sacrifice a creature, discard 3 cards, and lose 5 life while you return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand, draw 3 cards, and gain 5 life. This awesome card tilts the game in your favor everytime it is played and typically will win the game for you.



The deck runs 12 creature cards (Sower of Temptation to steal your opponent's favorite creature, Scion of Oona to boost your Faerie creatures and give them shroud, and Spellstutter Sprite to counter spells) and the awesome token generating Bitterblossom.





The rest of the deck is designed to lockdown your opponents every move. The deck runs 8 counter spells (the versatile Cryptic Command and Broken Ambitions).



And 8 powerful burn spells to slow down your opponent's creatures (Firespout and Lightning Bolt). Typically each time I play the deck, Firespout is the card that pushes the game in my favor. It deals 3 damage to each creature without flying (totally demolishing most token and aggro decks) and gives me time to setup my lockdown. Both of these burn spells are Faerie's answers to Green's new Hero Great Sable Stag.



Also included in the deck are 2 awesome Shards of Alara cards (Grixis Charm and the sideboarded Swerve). Grixis Charm is a powerful game changing card (bounce a permament to its owners hand, kill a creature by giving it -4/-4, and overun your opponent by giving your creatures +2/+0). Swerve is a fun card that can totally surprises your opponent. Redirect one of their spells in your favor (ex. I once redirected my opponent's Oblivion Ring from targeting my Bitterblossom toward his powerful Planeswalker...he couldn't overcome this surprise).



Here is my final build:

Maindeck:
creatures:
4 Sower of Temptation
4 Scion of Oona
4 Spellsutter Sprite

spells:
3 Cruel Utlimatum
4 Bitterblossom
4 Cryptic Command
4 Broken Ambitions
3 Grixis Charm
3 Fire Spout
3 Lightning Bolt

Sideboard:
creatures:
3 Glen Elendra Archmage

spells:
3 Swerve
1 Firespout
2 Peppersmoke
3 Doomblade
3 Sleep

Hopefully this new build will inspire you to think outside of the box with your builds. Feel free to leave comments with your thoughts and ideas.

Dramatic Angels

There is a combo from the Shadowmoor block that I have always been in love with... Dramatic Entrance + Woodfall Primus. In my opinion Woodfall Primus is the biggest and baddest guy on the block from the Shadowmoor set but he's just so damn expensive. What if you could cheat him in on turn 4 or 5? Well, now that's a whole different story. All of the sudden you have a 6/6 creature with Trample and the ability to destroy any non-creature permanent when he comes into play. Think that's scary? It gets even worse because he has Persist which means if your opponent Terrors him than he comes back into play and destroys another non-creature permanent. Dramatic Entrance + Woodfall Primus is a match made in heaven.



Speaking of heaven, I think I've finally found a fun and casual way to bring that combo into the plane of Alara. I've always wanted to make an Angel deck that is different and the world of Bant definitely gives us options. Imagine Dramatic Entrance + Empyrial Archangel. She's not someone you would want to meet on a battlefield. Her Shroud ability is what really sets her apart as an almost lock to win the game for you. What's crazy is that with a little luck and a little mana acceleration you could potentially get her out on turn 4. I wouldn't want to be the other guy in that matchup. Now, let's discuss the other pieces to the puzzle.



Our early game spells are Rampant Growth and/or Courier's Capsule. Each one is very useful in setting us up to succeed in the later game.



Bant Charm is absolutely necessary in this deck. It's an extremely versatile spell that can bail you out of a lot of tough situations. Fog should buy you another turn to drop your combo. It's also great when used with Stoic Angel. Let's say your opponent attacks you with three creatures on turn 3. Drop Fog to prevent all combat damage and play Stoic Angel on turn 4 which will allow your opponent to only untap one creature. Nice!




These pretty ladies are the only other creatures in the deck but they'll definitely help hold down the fort until the big guns come out to play. Guardian Seraph can be a beast if you're playing a Weenie or Token deck with a lot of small creatures. If your opponent attacks with 5 1/1 Faeries none of them deal damage to you!

All in all I think this is a fun deck that will win some games for you in a casual setting. Here is the final Decklist...

Creature Spells
Stoic Angel x3
Empyrial Archangel x3
Jenara, Asura of War x4
Guardian Seraph x3
Woodfall Primus x3

Instant Spells
Bant Charm x4
Dramatic Entrance x4
Fog x4

Sorcery Spells
Rampant Growth x4

Artifact Spells
Courier's Capsule x4

Lands
Seaside Citadel x4
Terramorphic Expanse x2
Vivid Meadow x4
Plains x2
Forest x6
Island x6

I hope this deck has given you guys some new ideas. Drop me a line if you have any questions and don't be afraid to leave your thoughts in the comments section. Take care and good luck on your next coin flip!

P.S. I've got quite a few decks for sale at my ebay store. All of them are custom made for casual yet competitve play. Take a peek at...
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/RIGHT-PLACE-MTG

Combo and Synergy - August

Probably like most of you, I love to see how cards from the newer sets interact with some of my favorite cards from the past. This month's combo and synergy highlights some of my favorite interactions.




Ever since I saw the preview of Demigod of Revenge I wanted to build a deck around him. The first card that came to mind was Buried Alive. With one copy of each card in your hand you can search for the 3 other Demigods and put them into the graveyard to await their return. Another perfect card for this deck is Dark Ritual. With 2 Dark Rituals in hand you can play Buried Alive on turn 1 and play all of your Demigods on turn 3 and attack for 20 in the air.




I have always loved Isochron Scepter. I am currently building a deck with it comboed with Twincast. Now you can copy any instant or sorcery for 2 mana. This works great in combo decks and against counter decks (You can counter their counters by Twincasting it).




Another Isochron Scepter combo but more mean. :) Imprint Silence and keep your opponent from ever playing another spell again.




Another powerful two card combo. Play Dauntless Escort on turn 3. On turn 4 sacrifice him and play Wrath of God. This will destroy all of your opponent's creatures and all of your creatures will be indestructible for the turn. A fun way to wipe out your competition.




This is one of my favorite combos that I use in an Evoke deck. Reveillark states, "When Reveillark leaves play, return up to two target creature cards with power 2 or less from your graveyard to play." Body Double states, "As Body Double comes into play, you may choose a creature card in a graveyard. If you do, Body Double comes into play as a copy of that card." Body Double is a 0/0 creature when it is not in play. When Reveillark goes to the graveyard choose Body Double as one of the creatures to return to play. When Body Double comes into play choose the Reveillark in the graveyard. Now for the rest of the game the Body Double will be an annoyance that your opponent will be forced to deal with. When the Body Double dies it goes to the graveyard and its triggered ability goes on the stack. When the ability resolves it can choose Body Double again since it is a 0/0 in the graveyard. Return to play as Reveillark and repeat indefinitely. These 2 cards are blast to play together and a pain to play against.

Early Look at Zendikar

Below is some information on the upcoming Zendikar set that I found at www.zendikar.net.

1. Zendikar does not have a multicolor theme. This is confirmed from Mark Rosewater’s latest article, “Tweet Talk” This means that Zendikar is monocolored.
Additionally: “Lights”, the 2010 large set, also does not have a multicolor theme.

2. Zendikar is NOT themed with pirates, dinosaurs, robots, ninjas, or monkeys. There goes the hope of anything like that. Note this does not 100% discourage Imperiosaur’s “basic lands only” ability.

3. Zendikar’s theme is hinted with this following passage:
Here’s my hint. There is a space in Magic design that we’ve explored on individual cards but have never explored thematically as a block theme. We started with that theme and then crafted a world that made it make sense. Once we had the world, we then made a bunch of other mechanics that made sense in that world. The design and creative did a lot of back and forth work to integrate the mechanical themes into the world. I do feel the world we’ve create is a resonant one, but not one with pirates or dinosaurs. Or robots. Or ninjas. Or monkeys. Let me wrap this answer up by saying that I’m quite excited with how Zendikar turned out, and once I’m allowed to freely talk about it, I anticipate I’ll start getting letters to ask me to stop talking about it.

4. There are a total of three Planeswalkers in Zendikar. One is confirmed to be Nissa Revane, and the other two are a mystery. The second Planeswalker, however, is a character who has previously appeared. Note that this might be interpreted to be Nissa Revane, who is “appearing” in Duels of the Planeswalker (the Xbox Live Arcade game). The exact quote is:
Q: how many planeswalkers are there in Zendikar?
A: Three, one of which is a planewalker that’s appeared previously.
Also: Note that Elspeth left the plane of Alara (or at least Bant) at the end of her webcomic arc. She could very well be the Planeswalker who appears in Zendikar.
Also: Note how Rosewater says “appeared”, not “printed”. It doesn’t discourage the possibility of Dominaria-centric Planeswalkers seeing print.

All four of these bits of info can be found on “Tweet Talk“, Mark Rosewater’s latest column.

Fun with Merfolk

Merfolk are not your typical cute little fish unless you think a potential turn 4 or 5 kill is cute. For some reason this tribe has always been my favorite. Maybe it's because I've always had a thing for my two favorite colors Blue and White joining forces and taking over the world. Today I rebuilt my Merfolk deck to be more up to date with the new release of M10.



First thing I did was swap my old Merfolk staple, Lord of Atlantis, with the new boss, Merfolk Sovereign. It hurts to see the old guy retire but sometimes you just gotta move on with the new kid. Now that I'm not using the Islandwalk theme anymore its time to restructure the rest of the tribal deck.







The cards that were able to make the transition easily were Silvergill Adept, Wake Thrasher, Sygg, River Guide, Merrow Reejerey, and Cursecatcher. All of these cards from the Lorwyn block are still legal in Standard, at least until October, and they fit what I'm wanting to do with the new build. Cursecatcher is a nice play on turn 1 because it could potentially make a key instant or sorcery spell your opponent controls one mana more expensive which could mean the difference between a win and a loss. Silvergill Adept is a great 2 drop in this deck because it allows you to draw a card and put a 2/1 creature on the board for such a cheap price. The other 2 drop is Sygg, River Guide and he can give any of your Merfolk protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. The main combo engine of this deck though is Merrow Reejerey and Wake Thrasher. The synergy between the two is fantastic. Merrow Reejerey taps or untaps a permanent every time you play a Merfolk spell. Wake Thrasher gets +1/+1 until end of turn every time a permanent you control is untapped. Combine that with Merfolk Sovereign which could make Wake Thrasher unblockable and you've got a potential monster on turns 4, 5, and 6 if your opponent can last that long.





The new kids on the block are Meddling Mage, Wall of Denial, Harm's Way, and Sleep. Meddling Mage is an absolute must have for any W/U deck much less this Merfolk Deck. To not include her would be rather silly. Wall of Denial is great because it allows me to shut down my opponent's biggest threat on the board. Not much can get past an 0/8 defending flyer with Shroud. Harm's Way is in this deck as an answer to global damage spells such as Volcanic Fallout. If you've got Merfolk Sovereign on the board with two other 2/2 Merfolk creatures Volcanic Fallout would be enough to wipe them all out. But if you cast Harm's Way and redirect the 2 damage from Merfolk Sovereign to your opponent then your Sovereign lives and in turn saves your other two Merfolk creatures as well with the +1/+1 pump. The great thing about Harm's Way is that it is versatile and can be used in many different types of scenarios. Sleep is one of those cards that you play as a final lethal blow. It's a very powerful card that gives you two turns to try and make the kill without worrying about your opponent's creatures retaliating. Now that we've gone through the strategy behind the deck I'll lay out the deck list for you as constructed...

Creature Spells
Merfolk Sovereign x4
Silvergill Adept x4
Meddling Mage x4
Wake Thrasher x4
Merrow Reejerey x4
Sygg, River Guide x3
Wall of Denial x3
Cursecatcher x4

Instant Spells
Harm's Way x4

Sorcery Spells
Sleep x3

Lands
Wanderwine Hub x4
Glacial Fortress x2
Island x9
Plains x8

I hope this deck has given you guys some new ideas. Drop me a line if you have any questions and don't be afraid to leave your thoughts in the comments section. Take care and good luck on your next coin flip!

P.S. I've got quite a few decks for sale at my ebay store. All of them are custom made for casual yet competitve play. Take a peek at...
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/RIGHT-PLACE-MTG