Scars of Mirrodin: Deadspread Review (Part 1 of 2)
Doing for Proliferate what Phyrexian Poison did for Infect is our next Scars of Mirrodin deck up for review: Deadspread. The most Creature-light deck of the five, it packs in -1/-1 counters and effects to take advantage of the new mechanic.
A keyword as conditional as this one is consigned to be somewhat feast-or-famine. A Thrummingbird with no counters to spread is a 1/1 Flyer for two mana, which isn’t all that frightening. Likewise, a Steady Progress is a dead draw until you have something on the board to work with. That presents a very noticeable tension- “use it now” for limited effect versus “use it later” for potentially greater. Any strategy based around a mid-to-late game occurrence (the appearance of counters worth Proliferating) demands two things: first, an answer to the early game (ramp, removal, stalling tactics, sweepers, what have you). Secondly, a patient pilot. Let’s see what Deadspread brings to the table.
Scars of Mirrodin: Phyrexian Poison Review (Part 2 of 2)
The ever-popular mono-White Myr of Mirrodin clawed their way back into the limelight as Sam selected them as the opposition deck for todays’ feature matchup against the Infect-based Phyrexian Poison. Would the tribal Artifacts build up enough steam to overrun Phyrexia’s finest, or would they be withered down to nothing and ground beneath a toxic Green-Black heel? We sat down to find out, and here are our research notes.
Sitenotes 10/6/2010
Good morning! Three very brief notes today.
1. Zac Hill, a member of the design team for Duel Decks: Elspeth vs Tezzeret, has posted a very interesting article about the design for it on the mothership- take a look!
2. Those who like to keep up with new columns and updates on their favourite blogs will be happy to note that Ertai’s Lament now makes this functionality easier than ever! Check out the subscription box just over on the right-hand margin.
3. And finally, anniversary giveaway winner (and frequent commentator) troacctid had this to say about his recent good fortune:
Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for all the insights you offer in the comments, troacctid!
That’s all for now, we’ll be back tomorrow with the next installment of our Scars of Mirrodin deck reviews as we take Phyrexian Poison onto the battlefield!
Scars of Mirrodin: Phyrexian Poison Review (Part 1 of 2)
Last year’s Zendikar intro packs- recently reviewed here on the site- were something of a disappointment. One of the primary functions of a set’s complement of preconstructed decks is to act as a showcase for the set’s themes and mechanics. The Zendikar decks made two critical mistakes here. First, the sets mechanics were spottily employed. Allies had their deck (The Adventurers), as did Landfall (Unstable Terrain), but Traps and Quests were essentially no-shows. Kicker was rather lukewarmly presented in Pumped Up, but the other decks were essentially Tribal decks with thematic ties to the set.
Secondly, the decks heavily relied on filler from Magic 2010. Take out the basic land, and you may well be surprised to find that one card out of three (33%) of the Zendikar pre-cons was an M10 one. Tapping two mana for a Goblin Piker did very little to reinforce the notion that you were visiting the land of Zendikar, and made for some rather mediocre decks.
Let it not be said that Wizards does not learn from their mistakes, or at least looks to improve their products, for the decks released for Scars of Mirrodin suffer from neither of these drawbacks. For one, these decks feel like you’re playing in Scars, in large part to the very minor role played by M11- a mere 9%! Secondly, the new mechanics get a very strong showing, such as Infect in the Phyrexian Poison deck.
Scars of Mirrodin: Myr of Mirrodin Review (Part 2 of 2)
Welcome back to our first round of Scars of Mirrodin’s intro decks, beginning with the mono-White Myr of Mirrodin. Our initial impressions were that it was a welcome move in the direction of consistency, packing in multiples of a smaller number of cards rather than a long list of singletons, a drawback of some previous decks. Boasting a solid removal suite and combat tricks, the deck supports its Myr with a somewhat singleminded, focused approach that seeks to compensate for some of the flaws inherent in a Weenie/swarm strategy. To find out how it performs, Sam and I squared off, with Sam opting to pilot the Green/Red Relic Breaker. With her behind the most aggressively anti-Artifact deck in the set, I had my work cut out for me. Here’s how the games unfolded:
Scars of Mirrodin: Myr of Mirrodin Review (Part 1 of 2)
Welcome to Scars of Mirrodin!
The newest block is upon us, and leading the way are the five new Intro Pack decks showcasing the themes and elements of the set. Indeed, acting as a illustration to the concepts and designs of a given set are one of the things that these decks do best, and all early indications are that the Scars block has raised the bar in relation to past releases. Today we begin our block of reviews with the mono-White Myr of Mirrodin deck, which in keeping with recent convention gets to carry the banner of Scars’ Tribal deck.
Anthologies: Red/Black Deck Review (Part 2 of 2)
Delighted at putting the prospect playing Anthologies behind us, Sam and I cracked open the deck boxes for the last time and brought the decks to battle. The disappointments of the Green/White deck were not far outclassed by those in the Red/Black, but I was mollified, at least, at the prospect of playing burn. Jimi had had little luck in drawing it when she helmed the deck, and I had hopes that my luck would be the better.
Anthologies: Green/White Deck Review (Part 2 of 2)
Sad to say, Anthologies had already obtained for itself quite the reputation around the house for its- diplomatically-speaking- less than extraordinary gameplay. Still, looking to keep an open mind I was able to convince Jimi to sit down behind the Red/Black deck and play a few games with the decks. Here are our notes from the matches.
Ertai’s Trickery: Mad Machinist’s Mash-Up (Part 6 of 6)
And so it’s come to this. A week of pooling and cutting, arranging and tinkering, and all the labour to be decided on a mere three games with Sam. Those who’ve read from the beginning have experienced our colour selection, choice of removal, card advantage and Land options, Creatures, and final assembly of the deck.
When we began this project, it was to take the cards of three Artifact-focused preconstructed decks (Planechase’s Metallic Dreams, Archenemy’s Assemble the Doomsday Machine, and Duel Decks: Elspeth vs Tezzeret’s Tezzeret) and combine them into one 60-card hybrid with which to take the field against Elspeth’s deck. When we analysed and playtested Elspeth’s deck, we found it strong in the early game with a decent removal suite, so a slower Artifact theme had its work cut our for it.
At the eleventh hour, based on advice from readership I stripped out a Swamp and added a Mistvein Borderpost, which I had previously cut from consideration, to bolster the mana base of the deck.
Sam and I took them to battle, and here are our notes.
Anthologies: Black/Red Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
Once again we return to the set Wizards released to commemorate the 5-year anniversary of the game we all love, Magic: the Gathering. In our review of the Green/White offering, we found a core of strong cards at the heart of an excess of fluff and inefficiency, but overall a deck that seemed to lack overall direction. Today we turn our attention to that other deck in the Anthologies set: the Black/Red one.
Ertai's Lament 