Ertai’s Trickery: The Mad Machinist’s Mash-Up (Part 1 of 6)
Today we’re excited to introduce a new occasional series to the website: Ertai’s Trickery! Whereas the Meddling series follows very specific rules with an eye to refining an existing deck within its own framework, Ertai’s Trickery throws such stodgy methodolgy to the wind. No, what you’ll find here is the offbeat, the oddball and the extraordinary, and we’ll be beginning today with the start of a mash-up deck.
The genesis for this feature came from one of our readers, Jars, who had this to say:
One suggestion that you might want to try in the near future: since you already have all these Wizards-made decks (Intro Packs, Duel Decks, etc), what say you to doing a mash-up of sorts? I mean, use cards from another precon to tweak and improve this deck. For example, use the “Assemble the Doomsday Machine” Archenemy deck or “Metallic Dreams” Planechase deck to give the Tezzeret deck a boost. I know that you have specified your procedure of editing decklists (e.g., no adding rares) but this might be a good thing to try.
The more we thought about it, the more fun the idea sounded. But then we thought, “hey, why limit ourselves to just two? Since we have all three of those solidly Artifact-based decks in our library, let’s see if we can’t come up with something truly wicked. So Planechase’s Metallic Dreams, Archenemy’s Assemble the Doomsday Machine, and Duel Decks: Elspeth vs Tezzeret’s Tezzeret deck came down off the shelf and were dumped into one large pile.
Zendikar: Unstable Terrain Review (Part 1 of 2)
Zendikar’s unique mana and its own fierce ecology combine to cause violent and erratic changes in the terrain. The land shudders and writhes, causing tectonic chaos, extreme weather, and sudden destruction. This volatility is known as “The Roil.” Large boulders and shards of rock erupt from the earth, and then subside when The Roil shifts away. Winds generated by the The Roil turn debris and vegetation into a devastating funnel clouds. Over water, The Roil creates whirlpools that can suck a boat to the bottom of the ocean or waves that crash into high cliffs and flood the forests beyond. (Exploring Zendikar)
Welcome back to the Zendikar set Intro Pack review. Today we’ll be looking at the aptly-named Unstable Terrain, which draws as its inspiration a key feature about Zendikar’s ever-shifting landscape: its turbulence! As explained above, the Roil is the name given to this unstable phenomenon, and as we all know Zendikar is the set where “Land matters.”
With each of the five preconstructed decks drawing inspiration from a different facet of the set, Unstable Terrain explores the Landfall mechanic in a Blue-Green beatdown setting. Indeed, there’s very little here in the way of noncreature threat, so let’s begin with the deck’s main win condition: its creatures.
Ertai’s Meddling: Power of Prophecy (m11)
Welcome back to another edition of Ertai’s Meddling, a semi-regular feature which sees us take a preconstructed deck and use it as the basis for deckbuilding a new, enhanced version. For those unfamiliar with the series, the rules of Ertai’s Meddling are simple:
For many, the ‘Intro Packs’ are the first exposure they have to a deck of their own, and the next step is to modify and improve that deck. The designers of each precon deck are well aware of this, and kindly leave us lots of opportunities to tweak them.
Zendikar: Pumped Up Review (Part 2 of 2)
It was with a certain amount of dread that I squared off against Sam to test the Pumped Up deck, having seen her drag the box for The Adventurers over to her side of the table. In general, Wizards does a very good job of balancing the preconstructed decks within a release, but The Adventurers has had a certain reputation at our table for being the brute of the litter. Although underwhelmed by Pumped Up in our initial review, I was also keen to see how it fared against so worthy an adversary. Here are the notes from this epic engagement.
Zendikar: Pumped Up Review (Part 1 of 2)
Here’s a kicker- for your opponent. Pay some extra mana when you cast a spell and gain an added effect. Then send out some red Goblins, Elementals, and Minotaurs for a fast and furious assault. Top it off using the haste of the Hellkite Charger, which lets you attack twice!
So begins our introduction to Zendikar’s Red/Blue Pumped Up preconstructed deck, the blurb coming straight off the packaging. As indicated, this particular deck looks to showcase the Kicker mechanic, which made a return in the set. Although we’ve already expressed some disappointment in the Zendikar decks for failing to fully showcase all the set has to offer (Quests and Traps being the most lacking), Pumped Up does at least a passable job with what it’s designed to do, but is lacking in a lot of areas as well.
Duel Decks- Elspeth vs Tezzeret: Tezzeret’s Deck Review (Part 2 of 2)
At last, the chance to sleeve up behind Tezzeret’s Artificer deck had arrived, and with the perfect opponent. Jimi, who particularly fancies White Weenie strategies, was excited to try and take me down with Elspeth. We played our opening customary ‘friendly’ just to get a dry run with the decks and determine play order for the first ‘real’ match, and I lost quite soundly. Eager to settle the score, we began our three with me on the play, and here are our notes.
Duel Decks- Elspeth vs Tezzeret: Elspeth’s Deck Review (Part 2 of 2)
Keen to get the decks out into the field after a thorough breakdown of each, I challenged Sam to the customary best-of-three. She took Tezzeret leaving me with Elspeth, and here are the notes from the matchups.
Ertai’s Lament’s Massive Anniversary Giveaway!
Three months ago, we began Ertai’s Lament with little more than passion and drive. Realising that the preconstructed community in Magic was sorely underrepresented in our culture, we felt that there would be a place for a site that specialised in reviewing and discussing Intro Packs, Duel Decks, and any other deck-off-the-shelf product Wizards saw fit to throw at us.
And if page views are any indicator to go by, it seems we were right! At first with a few visits every few days it was a labour of love, but flash forward three months and the site is getting hundreds of visits a day. We’re proud of this accomplishment, and enjoy giving something back to everyone who’s helped keep us going by their shared interest in precons. (We’re also quite proud that we haven’t yet missed a single deadline of one article every 48 hours… knock on wood)
Therefore, with the generous help of our friends at Moonlight Comics in Frankfort, KY we’re thrilled to announce the Ertai’s Lament Anniversary Giveaway! The rules are simple.
The Rules
1. There are a total of three Prize Packages available (contents below), and therefore three winners. The same person can only win one Prize Package
2. It will be a lottery format. Basically, you get your name in the hat for each of the following:
* If you are an existing follower of ours on Twitter, you’re automatically entered for two entries. Thanks for all the support these past three months!
* If you’re not a current follower, and you follow us on Twitter, you’re automatically entered for one entry
* For each comment you leave on one of our articles, you’ll be automatically entered for one entry. Comments can’t be simple ones like “Great post, kthnxbai” but actually have to be reasonable (we’ll be the final judge, but as it’s all in fun we’re fairly liberal on what is ‘resonable’- if your comment shows you read it, you’ll be fine)
* If you retweet one of the contest announcements on Twitter, you’re automatically entered for one entry
3. Contest ends on Sunday, 19 September (two weeks from today). Winners will be notified within a day.
4. At the end of the contest, we’ll pull three names from the hat. First person picked gets first choice, second person gets second choice, and the last name drawn gets the Prize Package remaining
Got it! Now, what can I win?
Now comes the fun part- those Prize Packages!
- The Duel Deck Package
The Duel Deck Package contains 1 new sealed copy of Duel Decks: Elspeth vs Tezzeret, as well as the following foil promotional cards:
Ant Queen (M10 Release)
Dimir Guildmage (Ravnica Release)
Ghost-Lit Raider (Saviors of Kamigawa Release)
Joraga Warcaller (Worldwake Release)
Knight of New Alara (Alara Reborn Release)
Kor Duelist (WPN Foil)
Rampaging Baloths (Zendikar Prerelease)
Storm Entity (Future Sight Release)
Sudden Shock x2 (Time Spiral Release)
Syphon Mind x2 (Multiplayer Foil Promo)
Woolly Thoctar (WPN Foil)
- The Euro Lands Package
A few years ago, Wizards released a promotional series of basic Lands with actual European scenery on them (the location is in small print at the bottom of the card, the top one in the pack above is Schwartzwald, Germany). Hard to find and highly sought after, the unopened pack above contains five of the rare Euro Lands, and goes for about $25 on eBay when we checked. A great find for the collector who likes to pack their EDH or play deck with all sorts of Magic’s hidden gems, the Euro Land Package also includes the following promo cards:
Comet Storm (Worldwake Prerelease)
Genju of the Spires (Arena Foil)
Gruul Guildmage (Guildpact Release)
Kor Duelist x2 (WPN Foil)
Leatherback Baloth (WPN Foil)
Malfegor (Conflux Prerelease)
Pathrazer of Ulamog (WPN Foil)
Sprouting Thrinax (WPN Foil)
Sudden Shock (Time Spiral Release)
Syphon Mind x2 (Multiplayer Foil Promo)
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (Zendikar Release)
The Playmat Package
One thing we really enjoy about the site is that we have many readers who still like to play competitively in Standard, which makes for great cross-pollination. The last package features a brand spankin’ new playmat (with the sinister and evocative Infest artwork), a new UltraPro deck box, and a selection of foil promos a bit more geared towards Type II play:
Ancient Hellkite (M11 Release)
Celestial Colonnade (Worldwake Buy-A-Box Promo)
Earwig Squad (Morningtide Release)
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (Rise of the Eldrazi Prerelease)
Guul Draz Assassin (Rise of the Eldrazi Buy-A-Box Promo)
Kor Duelist (WPN Foil)
Lord of Shatterskull Pass (Rise of the Eldrazi Release)
Obelisk of Alara (Conflux Release)
Pathrazer of Ulamog (WPN Foil)
Sudden Shock (Time Spiral Release)
Sun Titan (M11 Prerelease)
So What Are You Waiting For?
Head over to Twitter and follow @ErtaisLament, retweet the contest announcement, or start browsing the articles to leave some selected comments!
Special Thanks
Special thanks go out to Dave at Moonlight Comics in Frankfort, KY for providing so much for this giveaway. It’s our local shop and while it has no online presence, if you happen to find yourself in the neighbourhood, stop in and say hello. They have a great FNM environment as well!
Duel Decks- Elspeth vs Tezzeret: Tezzeret’s Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
The role of the Artificer has long held a rightful place in the world of Magic: the Gathering, truly beginning in 1994 when a small, 100-card set was released three months after Arabian Nights. Called Antiquities, it introduced a flood of artfacts into the game, and lent itself well to those seeking to take on the role of a mad tinkerer.
Flash forward to today, and one need not go back all that far to find the role alive and well. Archenemy’s Assemble the Doomsday Machine cast its villain in such a role, as did Planechase’s Metallic Dreams. Alara block’s Esper decks tread a similar path. But in looking over the contents of the Tezzeret deck, this may well be the very best of the lot.
That’s not necessarily the same thing as saying that it plays better than any such deck previously released. What we mean is this: if you’re looking for a deck that gives you the feeling of actually playing as an Artificer, a mage surrounded by mechanical minions- this one is the best in breed.
To see why, let’s begin with a survey of the workshop.
Duel Decks- Elspeth vs Tezzeret: Elspeth’s Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
Just in time to tease us with new contect for the forthcoming Scars of Mirrodin set, Wizards has released a new Duel Deck. This time, it features two mainstays from Alara Block, Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Tezzeret the Seeker. Certainly if for no other reason, this Duel Deck has been the subject of considerable hype due to its printing of a high-dollar card (Elspeth): a package ostensibly less- pricewise- than the sum of its parts.
With such decks, however, one has to ask what value they are getting for their money. Certainly the term ‘value’ comes in many flavours, but we’ll be looking to answer the specific, fundamental question of: how does the deck play? Over the next four columns we’ll be examining the latest Duel Deck in the Ertai’s Lament manner: a piece on the deck’s construction followed by “in the field” testing. We’ll begin today with Elspeth’s mono-White deck.
Ertai's Lament 
