7th Edition: Way Wild Review (Part 2 of 2)
We’re now officially halfway through our 7th Edition coverage as we head back through time to the advent of the Core Set precon deck. To mark the occasion, I’ll be giving Way Wild a spin- a mono-Green stompy construction with a touch of ramp to help smooth out the curve. Playing against me is Jimi, piloting (fittingly enough) Bomber, the mono-Blue counterpart. With a few fat beaters of her own (and some countermagic to back it up), we sat down to see how the decks would fare against one another. Here are our notes from the match!
Whispers of the Muse: Lawrence M’s ‘Grab for Power’ (M12)
Welcome to the next installment of our Whispers of the Muse, the occasional series where a reader asks for help tinkering with and improving upon a precon deck from the Ertai’s Lament community! Today’s request comes to us from Lawrence M., who would like to improve the Black/Blue Grab for Power deck from Magic 2012. He’s building it almost stock from the box, but says “so far I have purchased 1x Throne Of Empires and 1x Scepter Of Empires.”
“I’m fairly new to the game,” he adds, but mentions that he’d like to make the deck more competitive. As you may recall from our review, Grab for Power is a combo-style deck heavily dependent upon hitting it’s three-card combo (the artifacts of Empires) for maximum effectiveness.
Because Lawrence is a newer player, it may be more helpful to limit suggestions to cards more readily available at his local gaming store, but of course any suggestions for improving the deck’s performance are more than welcome. Here’s the stock list:
So… how would you make the deck better? Let us know in the comments below!
7th Edition: Way Wild Review (Part 1 of 2)
If the monochromatic and simplistic decks of 7th Edition are all about introducing novice players of the day to the feel and philosophies of each of the game’s five colours, any discussion of ‘best-in-show’ on this basis alone would need to consider Way Wild. To be fair, Green isn’t the most sophisticated or complicated colour at the best of times, so perhaps tipping the cap to a simple deck for a simple strategy isn’t much of a stretch, but that isn’t to say that playing Green stompy and smashing face with fat beaters isn’t fun… and at the end of the day isn’t that what the game’s all about?
And that, in a nutshell, is Way Wild. Introducing your enormous creatures to your enemy’s face, repeating over and over again until one or the other raises the white flag. Let’s take a look at the deck and see how its gets us there.
MBtB: Ever wanted to build a cube (but were afraid to get it wrong?)
Ever wanted to build a cube? Not sure where/how to begin? I’m taking a brief sidestep from precons this week on Magic Beyond the Box to delve into the fine art of cube construction! For those who haven’t experienced the format yet, it’s where you essentially build a card pool, turn them into boosters and then stage a draft.
It’s a lot of fun and there’s a great deal of information out there on cube design, but when I went to build my first one I found very little on the actual hard numbers. Of course, there’s no ‘right’ way to build one, but having a defined step-by-step framework will give aspiring cubemakers a great place to start.
Come on over to the spiffy and redesigned Quiet Speculation and check it out!
7th Edition: Decay Review (Part 2 of 2)
So far despite the actual card not appearing in the mono-Black intro deck, we’ve heard quite a bit about this Western paladin whose theme and flavour suffuses his 40-card deck. After the hype, would the deck have what it takes to overpower its opponent and clinch victory? Would its mix of disruption and aggression prove the winning formula, or would it be spreading itself too thin against a more focused opponent? To find out, Jimi snapped up the mono-White Armada and looked to put me to the test. Here are the notes from this matchup of opposites.
7th Edition: Decay Review (Part 1 of 2)
In our last review we introduced the concept of the four Paladins that infuse the 7th Edition Core Set with something not-quite-a-storyline, but not-quite, well… not, either. Call it an ‘open-ended story,’ a loose interconnection of otherwise unrelated cards. Although both ‘good’ Paladins are in White, naturally enough, their imprint was barely felt at all in Armada– they’re in the flavour text of one card (Spirit Link) and featured in another (Glorious Anthem). Perhaps its simple humility that compels them to take a back seat to their soliders and healers, but whatever it is the Western Paladin has little interest in it. Indeed, you’ll find him gracing both art and flavour text of a good deal more of the contents of the mono-Black deck, Decay.
7th Edition: Armada Review (Part 2 of 2)
With our opening review under our belt, it’s time to crack open the deck and see how it manages in the field. My opponent for today is Jimi, and naturally enough she has selected the mono-Red Infestation. Will my Soldiers and Knights have the staying power to outlast the Goblin horde? As aggressive as my deck seems to be, hers will be moreso. Can I survive the initial surge to emerge triumphant? Here are our notes from the clash.
7th Edition: Armada Review (Part 1 of 2)
Look to the North, look to the East, look to the West and South
On all horizons storm clouds loom and roll across the sky
So sang the crust punk band Amebix in 1985, but they might just as well have been singing about 2001’s Core Set release, 7th Edition. Although generally not well-regarded by today’s standards, the 7th Edition did have within it a surprising amount of innovation, some of which the like has not been seen since. Every card in the set was granted new art, the first time this had been done since the beginning of the game.
Magic 2012: Sacred Assault Review (Part 2 of 2)
Our final playtest and review for Magic 2012, and the time has just flown by. With each deck having a very distinctive theme, we’ve really enjoyed pittone one against the other. For our last game, Jimi has accepted the challenge to serve as the opposition, selecting Grab for Power as her deck. Fresh off the deck’s successes in our last review she has every reason for optimism, but I’m angling to see how well Sacred Assault will spoil her dream and claim victory. Here are our game notes.
Ertai's Lament 