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.
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.
Zendikar: Kor Armory Review (Part 2 of 2)
As luck had it, the last deck Sam hadn’t played yet in opposition to the deck I was featuring was Rise of the Vampires, which was the exact deck I played when Sam selected Kor Armory. And so it came to pass that we would be having ourselves a rematch of sorts, mono-White against mono-Black, with each shoe firmly on the other foot. We shuffled, played a friendly to establish play order, and laid into it. Here are our notes.
Zendikar: Unstable Terrain Review (Part 2 of 2)
Welcome back! When last we left Zendikar, we were picking apart the Blue/Green Unstable Terrain, which used an army of Landfall-enabled beaters to dominate the red zone. With Sam challenging behind the Red/Blue Pumped Up, we put Terrain to the test, and here’s how it did!
Zendikar: Kor Armory Review (Part 1 of 2)
In one of the earliest articles on Ertai’s Lament, we took a look at a classic gem- 1998’s Call of the Kor from the Stronghold set, and traced the development of the Kor through to their recasting as the embattled, travel-hardened nomadic inhabitants of the plane of Zendikar.
Kor Armory was a mono-coloured deck in a set that featured two of them, standing in stark contrast to the mono-Black Rise of the Vampires. Like Vampires, it has the expected Weenie/swarm approach, and is noteworthy for being almost completely tribal (a mere one Creature card out of place).
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.
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.
Zendikar: Rise of the Vampires Review (Part 2 of 2)
Well here’s a novel idea, we thought: for Rise of the Vampires’ playtest, why not put it up in a “mirror-match” of sorts against Zendikar’s mono-White equivalent, Kor Armory. As we’d hoped, this yielded a very spirited contest for Sam and I, and changed our thinking on one of the deck’s power cards- not for the better.
Zendikar: Rise of the Vampires Review (Part 1 of 2)
As previously discussed on our feature on Vampires in Magic, the eclipse of the Zombie tribe by the Vampires entered full swing with the Zendikar set. Although a last-minute addition in design, they went on to stake a claim to a very flavourful part of Zendikar lore. Rise of the Vampires, as a mono-Black deck, seeks to showcase this aspect of the set, and does a respectable job of giving them their proper showing. The model was successful enough that Wizards would go on to recur it in Worldwake, which featured an updated version of the concept.
In previous incarnations, Vampires tended to be bigger and at the higher rarities. Magic’s “Vampire 2.0” slotted nicely in the design space once occupied by their less comely Undead bretheren- namely, the Zombies- which was comprised of Weenie creatures with frequent ‘twist’ abilities or gimmicks. In our analysis of the deck, there is no better place to begin.
Ertai's Lament 