Rise of the Eldrazi: Eldrazi Arisen Review (Part 1 of 2)
Rise of the Eldrazi followed something of a symmetrical model for its preconstructed decks. There were two decks for the Level Up mechanic (Leveler’s Glory, Leveler’s Scorn), two for the Eldrazi and their Spawn (Invading Spawn, Eldrazi Arisen), and the odd one out was devoted to the Totem Armor theme (Totem Power). This model would be somewhat replicated the very next block, when Scars of Mirrodin assigned two decks to the Phyrexians, two to the Mirrans’ mechanics, and a tribal theme deck. It’s a model that seems to work, giving a nice variety to the representative mechanics and themes, while at the same time providing something of a contrast within a flavour.
Wizards Releases Fire & Lightning Deck List
Today on the mothership, Monty Ashley has offered us up a teaser for the forthcoming second product in the Premium Deck Series line: Fire & Lightning. It releases on 19 November… have a look!
Rise of the Eldrazi: Invading Spawn Review (Part 2 of 2)
After the poor experience with Leveler’s Glory, I was eager to see if perhaps Wizards did a better job representing Rise of the Eldrazi’s theme of Eldrazi Spawn. The deck upon analysis seemed strong but flawed, vulnerable to an early assault. It also seemed to lack the tools stall effectively, although its removal package was very solid. Still, there is no substitute for playtesting to grasp how a deck plays out, and with that in mind I challenged Sam to the customary three matches for a write-up. Sam grabbed the White-Green Totem Power, and prepared to do battle.
Rise of the Eldrazi: Invading Spawn Review (Part 1 of 2)
The second deck in our Rise of the Eldrazi preconstructed reviews is Invading Spawn, a Red/Black deck that uses Eldrazi Spawn tokens to power itself up. The designers at Wizards have referred to Rise as “Battlecruiser Magic,” a reference to its Godzilla-like theme of generating mana then spending it on massive creatures to hurl at your opponent. One of the ways this was thematically represented was in the Eldrazi Spawn, 0/1 token creatures that can be sacrificed at any time in return for one colourless mana.
The idea behind this deck, then, is to generate large amounts of mana in part by using Spawn to store up mana, then unleashing it in some way that will prove fatal to your opponent. Typically we tend to review decks starting with the creatures, then assessing noncreature support. With Eldrazi Spawn, however, we’ll be using a more integrated approach due to the design of the deck. First we’ll look at the ways in which Spawn are generated, then we’ll review the options the deck has for using them. Finally, supporting cards which don’t fit into this dynamic will be discussed, as well as the mana curves for the deck itself.
Rise of the Eldrazi: Leveler’s Glory Review (Part 2 of 2)
“Oh,” said Sam, picking out a deck, “I forgot that these were the 41-card ones.” I can understand her dismay- I never much cared for the 41-card model either, much preferring the 60 cards + booster pack we’ve currently settled back on. That wasn’t going to stop us, though, as we laid out the playmats and took our respective decks to battle. I had little hope- the Leveler’s Glory concoction was a study in form over function. Ostensibly selected to showcase the Level Up mechanic, as we saw in the deck analysis the efficacy of the deck is compromised by its inability to settle on a focused path to victory. Instead, what we have is a hodgepodge smattering of different win conditions, which means that it will be doing a whole lot less winning.
For this match, Sam selected the Red/Green Eldrazi Arisen deck. Here are our notes from the matchup.
Product Review: Archenemy Deck Box
Back in August, Ertai’s Lament broke an exclusive that Ultra Pro was releasing a line of deck obxes in conjunction with Magic’s Archenemy, designed to hold two decks and the over-size Scheme cards that came with the set. Ultra Pro had a similar release for last year’s Planechase, and we were excited to have a better way to organise these decks. We’ve been big fans of what Ultra Pro has done with the Duel Decks containers in the past, and of their sleeves in general, so we had high hopes that these would be a great addition to the precon library.
Unfortunately, they proved to be quite the disappointment. It seems that perhaps to cut down on production costs, rather than create a new box model to accomodate the needs of the decks, they instead used their standard size box and ‘make it work’ through jamming a removable folded plastic fitting from inside of it.
It’s hard to imagine that a company would issue a product that actually dissuades you from using their other products, but perhaps the most disappointing aspect of these boxes is that they will only fit the Archenemy decks if you don’t have them sleeved. If you’re as meticulous about the condition of your decks as we are and sleeve everything, you’ll have to be content with buying four of these boxes- two for the decks, and two for the Schemes. Unsurprisingly, any two top-loading Ultra Pro deck boxes will fit snugly inside the Archenemy box (as they do with the Duel Decks deck boxes).
Through our dealings with Ultra Pro customer service, we’ve been won over and continue to be huge fans of their products. But unless you’re willing to plunk down for four of these boxes, or settle for storing your decks unsleeved, you may want to give them a miss.
Hits: Very attractive presentation
Misses: This product needs a complete redesign. This product should be able to store two 60-card decks in sleeves as well as their respective sleeved Schemes. The flimsy insert design is an unusual misstep for Ultra Pro, trying to jockey off of an existing mold to avoid the expense of creating a proper one
FINAL GRADE: 2.5/5.0
UPDATE: We also ordered some Planechase deck boxes, and upon their arrival found them to contain 60 regular sleeves and 10 larger, Plane-sized ones. This indicated a flaw in our understanding of the product- they’re not designed to hold two decks, merely one each. Thus, 60 sleeved cards will fit in a box, but you have to break them into two piles.
Just to be fair, we took a 60-card sleeved deck and sleeved oversize companion cards, and put them in one of the boxes. Here’s what we found:
> The “folded insert” option is inelegant, and holds the 60 cards of the deck quite sloppily
> The room for the oversize cards is also over-spacous, so they will rattle around quite a bit in the back
This supports our initial observation that Ultra Pro seemed to take an existing box mold (for their Duel Decks products), and jury-rigged it to “feature” the Archenemy/Planechase decks. Out conclusion (and grade) stands- unless you’re an absolute purist for storage, or a collector at heart, you’ll have better options than these. Heretofore we’ve stored our oversize cards in an empty Intro Pack box, which workes perfectly well. In some ways, better actually…
Still, it would not have been fair to let our misconception stand. One deck box, one deck. We do love that Ultra Pro is trying, but there is room for improvement. The single biggest change we’d recommend? Lose that dreadful folded insert, and make them like they were designed to hold the cards.
As always, your mileage may vary…
Rise of the Eldrazi: Levelers’ Glory Review (Part 1 of 2)
In 2007, Wizards did something that they had not done in a decade’s time and tinkered with the block structure of a set (not counting the 2006 follow-up set to 1995’s Ice Age). Rather than hew to the norm- one large set followed by two smaller expansions- the Lorwyn block was laid out two halves, each with a large set and follow-up small set (Lorwyn/Morningtide and Shadowmoor/Eventide). A mere two years later, Wizards decided to do it again.
Rather than be a second “normal expansion,” Rise of the Eldrazi was designed from the ground-up as a standalone set. Certainly it retianed its thematic and story-arc links to Zendikar and Worldwake, but it was meant to be drafted alone. Additionally, it would have new machanics. No more Landfall, Traps, Allies, Quests or Kickers. Instead, a new slate of abilities were revealed: Annihilator, Rebound, Totem Armor and… Level Up.
Duel Decks- Divine vs Demonic: Demonic Review (Part 2 of 2)
After a less-than-satisfactory performance in our last playtest, the Demonic hordes would take to the field one last time in a clash against their hated foes, the Angels of Divine. Under new leadership, would they at last assume their rightful place of dominance in the multiverse, or would the heavenly host flush them like so much offal back to the hells they spawned from? We played the customary three matches to find out.
Duel Decks- Divine vs Demonic: Divine Deck Review (Part 2 of 2)
And so the earth cracked and was torn asunder as the forces of Hell boiled up from the abyss to meet the legions of Heaven descending from the sky. Alternately… Sam and I sat down at the table to pit the Divine against the Demonic for a series of three games, to see how each deck would perform. The former may sound more full of Sturm und Drang, but on a lazy Sunday afternoon the latter was just what was called for. Here are our notes from the three games.
Duel Decks- Divine vs Demonic: Demonic Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
Far from the hallowed heights of heaven, today we descend into the brimstone pits of hell to take measure of the infernal forces arrayed against the Divine deck. When it comes to the Duel Decks, the second analysis is often the more interesting one, as the grand vision of the decks’ designers comes into focus. For Divine, we had a trade-the-early-game-for-the-late-game strategy, with gobs of absurdly expensive bombs, little removal and even less ramping. The idea there was to stall out for the early and mid-game with some light creature presence, then take over the skies as early as turn 4 and beat down your opponent.
There are, naturally, a number of different responses to this strategy. Obviously, there’s always the option of the ‘mirror’- do the exact same thing, but in Black (this was the Anthologies method). Alternately, you could go the other direction entirely and show a contrast in strategy, meeting a slower opponent with a faster Black creature rush (as seen in Phyrexia vs the Coalition). In the end, however, it looks as if Demonic charts something of a maiddle path here. Faster than Divine but not blisteringly fast by any means, it comfortably moves into the ground abdicated by Divine and demands control of the mid-game.
To see how it accomplishes this, we’ll turn now to the creatures of Demonic.
Ertai's Lament 