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By: Godot, Ryan Spain
Oct 07 2009 12:36am
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WaitingForGodotSmallest Last week I began looking at Zendikar from the limited eye, with some initial impressions from the pre-release and a card-by-card look at most of the common and uncommon landfall and ally cards in the set. This week I'll keep that going with a look at a couple of monocolored aggro strategies emerging in Zendikar drafting.

Before I jump in, though, an update on my play experience with Zendikar. I participated in a nine-player booster draft this past weekend, where I went 4-0 after ending up in GUb Allies. Last week I was unsure of the true strength of the Ally deck, and while I went 4-0 with allies, I’m still not gonzo about it. I was definitely the only Ally drafter, which was key, but my matches were still extremely close for the most part. I was explosive when my opponents were removal light and all my allies stuck, but I was hanging on by a thread or blown out when my opponents had some removal to neuter my early efforts at ally buildup.

I’ll be going over this draft in more detail for this Thursday’s Limited Resources, a new podcast I’m doing with my friend and Marshall over at www.mtgcast.com. You can find our pilot episode here, and you can look for new episodes every Thursday, because, you know, you can never have too much of me going on about Limited Magic, right? With that, let me get back to doing just that.

Mono/Heavy White

So long Kithkin, welcome back, Kor. Most limited formats have a white weenie deck to draft, and they are typically tribal in nature with a lot of members of the solider class. Zendikar's version of the white creature rush is based around the Kor tribe.

A common problem with aggressive limited archetypes is the lack of a second wave, reach (the strategy concept, not the keyword ability), or a high end to close the deal. Aggressive decks can be outclassed before they've done the job, putting the aggro player in the position of having to draw well and curve out to win consistently. Accordingly, they also need to be mulliganed aggressively to ensure early pressure, but the good news is they tend to mulligan well. I once mulled to 4 on the draw in Lorwyn limited and won by hitting a turn-two Wizened Cenn, kithkin of some kind on turns three and four, and a Cloudgoat Ranger on turn five, emptying my hand and earning a concession in the process.

Can mono/heavy white weenie hang with the pack in the land where everything's coming up aggro, though? Let's take a look at some of the common and uncommon ingredients.

image Cliff Threader: Unimpressive without facing red, impressive when it is. No matter what, it comes down on turn two, hits for two, and can wear equipment, so you could do worse when not facing any Mountains. You should generally be wheeling these guys and picking them up then.

Kor Aeronaut: This is a fantastic card for a dedicated white deck, strictly better (barring tribal considerations) than the already-good Leonin Skyhunter. The best kicker spells are the ones that are very good when not kicked, and a 2/2 flyer for two certainly qualifies as very good. The kicker ability is going to provide some additional reach to help finish the job. It is so flexible to have this guy in your opening hand and be able to use him on turn 2 or 4, whichever best maximizes your curve.

Kor Cartographer: An odd card that seems bad for aggro white, an archetype that wants to dump efficient attackers, not accelerate into five- or six-drops. I can see the scout making the cut in decks that can do sick things with double landfall on turn four, or controlling decks that want to get to 7+ mana and break kicker, but even then you have to be hoping to pick these up late for those decks.

Kor Duelist: Kor Duelist was a card in a turn-three kill witnessed by Sam Black at the prerelease he attended: Turn one duelist, turn two play and equip Adventuring Gear, turn three Harrow, Vines of Vastwood, swing with 11/11 double strike. Best-case scenarios are always fun to think about, but the worst-case scenario is what you need to look at when assessing a card for limited. In this case, the worst case is that you don't find equipment for him, and you've played a 1/1 for 1. I don't think it would be correct to play as much equipment as it would need to make this guy a happy addition to a limited deck, although it is awfully powerful with Adventuring Gear.

image Kor Hookmaster: I have faced this guy several times now, and it has always been extremely annoying. Like Sleep, it's much better on offense than on defense (a recurring theme in Zendikar). In the race to beat control players before they set up, though, the rules text “Tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step” frequently means, “That creature doesn't untap for the rest of the game.”

Kor Outfitter: The presence of Adventuring Gear and Explorer's Scope and at common and the excellent Trusty Machete at uncommon make this a much better card than it would normally be, although the cheap equip costs mean you aren't saving much. If you are dedicated white, its worst-case scenario is as a Silvercoat Lion, so it's even marginally playable without equipment, but to really shine, it wants to cheat machetes onto evasive creatures without summoning sickness.

Kor Sanctifiers: Another Kor that is going to be more impressive in control than aggro, this is still going to be a maindeck choice for either. A quick search shows 28 common and uncommon targets for the kicker, so it ought to find a use as a Disenchant that leaves a body behind, and if not, you have the body at least. Given the plethora of two-power creatures and removal that takes out two-toughness creatures, this seems like a good set to have three toughness.

image Kor Skyfisher: A classic, "It's not really a drawback in this format" common, Kor Skyfisher's most obvious purpose is to guarantee one more turn of landfall by bouncing your own land, but it can also save a creature trapped under a Pacifism effect, re-deploy a Journey to Nowhere on a more significant threat, or re-use an enters-the-battlefield effect (of which white has many), including having an ally re-enter the battlefield. Also, if you play the Kor Skyfisher on a turn where you don’t have a land drop, it effectively costs 1, as you can bounce and replay a land you used to cast it. That’s a pretty great suite of options for a 2/3 flyer for with a "drawback."

Kazandu Blademaster: I covered this guy last week under allies, but he is a fine play as the only ally in your deck and also deserves mention here. Turn-two blademaster, turn three, play and equip Trusty Machete? Yeah, I like that a lot.

Shepherd of the Lost: I'd still take Serra any draft of the week, but the Shepherd of the Lost is a fine top end for an aggro white deck, and like the blademaster (and any creature with vigilance and first strike), she loves wielding a Trusty Machete. Quite splashable, too, which is a but unfortunate for the heavy white player, for whom a mana cost would have been preferable.

Steppe Lynx: Also covered last week, and a week later, I'm still not sure where to put this card. The uselessness when the lands dry up just really concerns me, but certainly applies some pressure when cast on turn one and starts swinging like a Kird Ape every turn. It’s better in multiples to help ensure a turn-one appearance, and it can still carry equipment when you’ve run out of lands. For most white decks though, I think I'd rather be casting the equipment turn one. Jury is still out.

So those are the creatures we're looking at in aggro white, what non-creature spells are there for support?

Bold Defense: Warrior's Honor was never really playable at three mana, Glorious Charge slightly more playable at , and giving Warrior's Honor the option to double the pump for seven-mana doesn't make me happy to play Bold Defense. There are better ways to alpha with your weenies.

imageBrave the Elements: Like, for example, this. What a great, cheap little toolbox this is. One mana to render half or more of your opponent's creatures unblockable or to counter removal is solidly playable. Obviously at its best in monowhite, this is still a decent trick to have up your sleeve in a Wx deck if the majority of your creatures are white. The cost is the key: the difference between leaving 1 mana up vs. 2 or 3 is huge when you are trying to dump your cheap creatures on to the table.

Journey to Nowhere: The best white common by a long shot, it fits in any archetype involving at least one Plains. You were nailing creatures with Oblivion Ring the huge majority of the time anyway, and shaving a mana off is a big deal, making it a fantastic play on turn four or five alongside some additional white beats. If you get a nice aggressive start, this plus Kor Hookmaster on turn five is going to put some games away.

Windborn Charge: Another alpha enabler that is far superior to Bold Defense. Consider what will probably be a typical spot for an aggressive white deck in Zendikar limited: you have a few non-evasive, two-power creatures down, but your opponent has clogged up the ground to slow your assault. If they don’t have flying defense, Windborn Charge produces 8 points of damage for four mana. I wouldn't want to overdo it, but running one of these in aggro white seems like a great way to add some much-needed reach.

Splashing

Pure monowhite appears quite viable, but I can also see splashing for red or black for cheap removal (Burst Lightning, Magma Rift, and Disfigure) to clear the way for weenies, or additional reach (Bladetusk Boar, Goblin Shortcutter, and Surrakar Marauder).

There also seems to be an excellent white-blue aggro deck, similar to UW flyers in M10, where additional efficient, evasive beaters—namely Welkin Tern, Umara Raptor, Windrider Eel and Æther Figment—and tempo cards like Into the Roil and Whiplash Trap combine with white’s strengths for a continuous assault that will be tough for all but the most removal-heavy builds to deal with.

All-In Red

Pretty much every non-multicolored set offers up an agro red draft deck—the problem is, it’s not always good. In Shadowmoor/Eventide drafting, monored was one of—if not the—dominant archetypes in the format. In M10, though, monored is a second-class citizen that can’t effectively supply more than one drafter with a solid heavy-red deck. In Zendikar, monored finds itself racing other mono-aggro strategies more often than it has in other sets. Is that good or bad for the archetype? Let’s look at some of the common and uncommon red spells and consider how they fit into this archetype, starting with the creatures.

image Bladetusk Boar: Better than a Snapping Drake for aggro red, this is one of the real enablers of this archetype. If monored proves to be a strong player in limited Zendikar, the boar will be a big contributing factor. It’s low color requirement means it fits easily into two-color decks as well, so don’t count on them late.

Geyser Glider: Covered with landfall last week, but I’ll reiterate: part-time dragons with a worst-case scenario of being a 4/4 for five are great for red.

Goblin Bushwhacker: I hate the body he leaves behind, but seems like a decent role player in the monored archetype. Played on turn four after a Goblin Shortcutter with a Plated Geopede and a Ruinous Minotaur in play, and you are swinging for 15 with one blocker nullified. That’s strong.

Goblin Ruinblaster: Fairly unimpressive when facing only basics, it should fortunately have a target for the kicker a great deal of the time with playable cycles of common and uncommon lands in Zendikar. The tough part will be deciding when to accept it as a 2/1 haste if your opponent hasn’t shown you a non-basic. I don’t want to use an early pick on him, but he’ll make the final 22 most of the time.

Goblin Shortcutter: As in the scenario described above, the shortcutter really has the potential to help monored get there. Effects like Panic Attack look much better to me attached to creatures.

image Hellfire Mongrel: The body isn't impressive and the ability seems quite play-aroundable, but if your early aggression forces your opponent to dump cards to the table in response, this doggie from hell can put your opponent between a rock and a hard place, making them choose between a psuedo-Mindstab and a one-sided Sulfuric Vortex. Still, they have a choice, which I dislike giving my opponents if I can help it. It would be broken as 3/1, but I’m lukewarm about it as a 2/2. I could be underrating it, though, and it's one of those cards where even when I don’t have it in my red deck, I will be asking myself, "Would drawing a Hellfire Mongrel be good, here?"

 

Molten Ravager: This is only playable in monored, where it can at least make use of all leftover mana, and even then it is mediocre. It simply requires too much mana to do anything useful for an aggressive red deck. If you are in the unfortunate position of being on defense in a monored deck, the ravager can hold the ground against a lot of cheap, relevant threats from other aggressive decks, so that’s something. Still, I will be disappointed if I ever find myself running it.

Plated Geopede: Symbolic of the set as a whole, Plated Geopede really cares about land, and is much better on offense than on defense. It has the potential to force through a disgusting amount of damage for two mana, and with no pingers in the set, it demands full-strength removal to answer—no Sparkmage Apprentices, Prodigal Pyromancers or Rod of Ruins to punish you for playing one-toughness threats (although beware of Seismic Shudder, particularly in games two and three). Plated Geopede is one of the reasons I think Kraken Hatchling is entirely playable in Zendikar limited.

image Ruinous Minotaur: Is there a more-red card in the set? One way to use the extra land Zendikar wants you to play in your limited decks is to ramp up to big spells or crazy kickers. Another is to use it as a resource to enable red's classic “short-sighted” cards in a deck with a low curve. If you don’t need to ramp up past four or five, Ruinous Minotaur’s drawback should be a tolerable trade for 25% of your opponent’s starting life total. If not, don't forget that he can block, and that three mana to trade with most opposing ground creatures is perfectly playable in limited, so you can think of the ability to attack as gravy. A great candidate for Adventuring Gear or Explorer's Scope to make him tough to trade with or to have him feed his own trigger, respectively.

Shatterskull Giant: A red Order of the Sacred Bell with a tougher casting cost is so utterly boring, yet so utterly playable, particularly in a color with notoriously weak creatures. Pick it late, then run it happily.

Torch Slinger: A common Outrage Shaman that is capped at 2, but has the ability to be a vanilla 2/2 for . Options are all well and good, but you will have to be pretty desperate to cast this guy unkicked. Meanwhile four mana seems like a lot to give legs to a sorcery-speed shock, but card advantage is card advantage. If you’ve managed to curve out with aggressive creatures on turns 2-4 and your opponent has a two-toughness creature on defense, Torch Slinger is going to be a blowout.

Now for the non-creature spells, where red frequently shines.

image Burst Lightning: Wow, is this some good removal. There are quite a few creatures that die to an unkicked Burst Lightning, and quite a few players that die to a kicked one. Happily splashable, you won’t see these late in packs, so pick them early and often.

Goblin War Paint: I'd rather just have Adventuring Gear going, but it’s not outright unplayable in a monored draft deck. If you do run it, to be good it has to be played on a fresh creature that gets in for damage a turn early. If your opponent is racing and you can play this on a turn-five Ruinous Minotaur and connect for seven damage, then you are getting some good mana-to-damage results from the card even if the minotaur doesn’t live to see your next upkeep. Throwing it on a 2/2 that you’ve had in play for several turns and still can’t get through anyway is just a waste.

Inferno Trap: Another fantastic, splashable red removal spell. Red is certainly loaded with the tools to clear the path in Zendikar. If I happen to shave three mana off the cost by springing this trap, great, but I’m happy to pay full price for the effect.

Magma Rift: The non-creature counterpart to the Ruinous Minotaur, Magma Rift is also best in decks without an expensive high end but with lots of landfall. Five damage is a lot, taking out most creatures in the format, and it is also splashable, so I wouldn't expect too many of them late despite the drawback.

Mark of Mutiny: You pretty much only want to resolve this as the last spell of the game, but with aggro red, that’s certainly a conceivable occurrence. I don’t think I want this in my deck at all, but if you should find it in yours, don’t forget that you can target your creatures if an expensive +1/+1 counter and haste for your own man is what you need most out of it.

image Punishing Fire: Perfectly serviceable as 2 damage at instant speed for , the potential to recur this is a nice bonus. With the cycle of solid uncommon lifegain lands and the vampire tribe draining a lot of life, there should be opportunities for Punishing Fire to be cast multiple times in a game, and will be particularly brutal for the vampire player to see in the opposing graveyard. Once in your yard, it is easy to play around, so don't let its potential for recursion lead to incorrect plays. The recursion is a bonus you’d like to hit, but not something to warp your board development around when tapping out is called for.

Quest for Pure Flame: I don’t see this as playable. It has the topdeck problem of all quests, and it’s fairly “win more” anyway. If you are getting through for damage, you should be winning most of the time without it, and when you aren’t getting through for damage, it does nothing to help turn the ship around.

Seismic Shudder: A potential sideboard card, but nothing I would play main. It does a number on Plated Geopedes, but can’t touch flyers, which is really where red could use some help on D.

Slaughter Cry: Kindled Fury is acceptable filler in M10 red, but costing three times as much for three times the effect is most certainly not three times better. Not entirely unplayable, I would still hope to start Slaughter Cry in the board and bring it in against the giant green creatures that red has difficulty dealing with.

image Spire Barrage: Another in the line of Mountain-counting burn spells, Spire Barrage answers the question, “How much more would it cost for Spitting Earth to have the option to go to the dome? , apparently. This is a great finisher for monored, and the good news is nobody outside of heavy red will be interested in it, and you may get some quite late. Generally you want your removal to cost less than the creature it is removing, but Spire Barrage earns a pass for its ability to end stalled-out games for the monored player.

Unstable Footing: Zendikar’s Lava Axe, in monored you’d much rather just have Spire Barrage or Burst Lightning, but reach is reach, and if you desperately need a way to get those final few damage through, this will do the trick. Instant speed is more relevant than it may seem, allowing you to sit on instant-speed removal with Unstable Footing as the backup plan if your opponent doesn’t summon a good target.

Zektar Shrine Expedition: Not the ideal turn-two play for aggro red (that honor goes to Plated Geopede), but not a bad one, particularly on the play with a Ruinous Minotaur waiting for turn three. A Zektar Shrine Expedition with two counters in an aggressive deck will put fear and paranoia into your opponents as they brace for the third land drop, whether you have it or not. If they leave mana up in that spot and you do have the land drop, consider waiting on the activation and play around removal, especially if you have a solid, profitable attack to make without it. Don’t forget your 7/1 can also play defense, unlike most Ball Lightning variants.

I had hoped to get to the monoblack Vampire archetype today, but once again, I had more to say than I thought, and it took longer to say it than I expected. I may continue my review of Zendikar for limited next week, but if I can find a way to play in the upcoming PTQ, I’ll cover that instead.

Oliver’s Magical Beginnings, Continued

Last week, I described my son’s first few days as a Magic player, and I thought you might enjoy an update. He remains super excited about the game, and I’ve been amazed by his ability to process it all. I overheard him explaining to my baffled wife, “I want to make a red-blue deck, because red is the color of attacking without thinking ahead, but blue is the color of wisdom and thinking ahead, so if I mix the two I’ll have a deck that likes to attack attack attack, but with wisdom and thinking ahead!”

imageLater that night, he was reading a book about weather to me for his homework, and he came across a picture of lightning that he thought was cool. I told him there was a Magic card called Lightning Bolt, and he leapt out of his seat with excitement when he heard what it did and for how much mana. “Oh man! You could just play lots and lots of Lightning Bolts and just go [lightning noises] again and again!” I can’t tell you how prowd I waz that, thirty seconds after discovering the card, my son came up with the 20 Mountains, 40 Lightning Bolts deck. A natural!

I explained the four-copy-maximum rule to him, and told him if he could figure out how much total damage four Lightning Bolts can deal, I would give him a playset for his red-blue deck. He went deep into the tank, fingers flying, lifted up his head and said, “12?” I responded, “Are you sure? You don’t sound sure.” He furrowed his brow intently and told me he wasn’t, then disappeared back into the tank. After a few moments, he reemerged and said, “Yes, I’m sure, 12.”

“Correct!” I exclaimed, and he did a fist pump before running off to tell his mother the news she would not understand.

We have played four times now, and he is happily undefeated, thanks to his willingness to think things through and to take sound advice from his opponent. Big sister Clara has jumped back in as well, which has led to the creation of a fairly ideal format for the circumstances: Dad vs. the Two-Headed Giant. In DV2HG, Clara and Oliver play 2HG-style against me playing solo. This has three major benefits:

  • Clara and Oliver both play with me at the same time, and they take turns at the same time so there is less waiting.
  • They are on the same team, united in their goal to beat me instead of being competitive with each other.
  • It is nearly impossible for me to win, even when I play to the best of my abilities.

That last one is particularly great, because elementary-school kids are not good losers, and it can be painful for all involved when they do. I've been working with my kids on how to take a loss since they were old enough to play Candyland, but that is a hard lesson, and it's far more important to play happily with young kids than it is to teach them how to lose gracefully—there is plenty of time for that as they grow older.

image In the past I would just cheat in their favor, but it has become difficult to do that lately without being caught. Despite not wanting to lose, they don't want to win because of my charity, either. Interestingly, they don't see playing a format slanted heavily in their favor in the first place as charity, so it all works out: they play cooperatively to crush me under their boot heels, and I don’t have to pull any punches in my effort to stop them. We’re having a blast; there is definitely Magic in my house right now.

Side note on Candyland: if you are ever put in the unfortunate position of playing Candyland with a preschooler, here's how to survive the experience: before the game, put all of the character cards—which when drawn move the player to that character's space—to the bottom of the deck in rough order of how close to the end that character is. Play the game with the deck in your hand, and when it is the child's turn, hold the deck out for them to take a card.

As you play, pepper in character cards, sticking yourself with character cards that send you backwards, and give the child character cards that give them a small boost forward from where they are. When your brain is about to turn to pudding from playing the flavorful coin flip that is Candyland, drop the trump card: slide Queen Frostine to the top of the deck for the child to draw. He or she will excitedly move a few turns away from victory, and you will excitedly be a few minutes away from being done playing Candyland. This technique is the only way I made it through the Candyland Years without contemplating suicide.

Present and future parents of preschoolers: you're welcome.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!

 


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13 Comments

Wondering by moerutora (not verified) at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 00:57
moerutora's picture

Why did you not compare Shatterskull Giant with its counterpart Lowland Giant? Did you forget?

OMG! OMG! OMG! HE didn't!! by Anonymous (not verified) at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 03:28
Anonymous's picture

OMG! OMG! OMG! HE didn't!! OMG! THIS ARTICLE SUCKS! ...

Anyways, *cough*, a little joke doesn't hurt anyone, but Godot as before and always lovely article and can't wait to see more :) ... Mostly can't wait to see Zendikar "hit the MTGO shelves", cause of all the decks I want to build ... /slimming

Delivered as expected by laughinman at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 03:43
laughinman's picture
5

Another outstanding article.
The limited strategy part was very well as always, but second part was even more cool.
I'm prawd of you ;)

Candyland by Youper (not verified) at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 07:53
Youper's picture

Let my 3 year old win at Candyland as if ;). Actually Candyland is much better then Chuttes and Ladders, it is harder to cheat in their favor. Great article and thanks for the update on teaching Magic to your kids.

Oliver’s Magical Beginnings by doneagle (not verified) at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 08:12
doneagle's picture

Interesting article like always.
loved Oliver’s Magical Beginnings! that should be a seperate column on itself ;)

reading about your kids is by ShardFenix at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 08:22
ShardFenix's picture

reading about your kids is awesome...though depressing to me for the simple fact that they seeem to be picking it up better than my suitemates in college, who constantly ask me about the game. maybe oliver could teach them so i could get my papers done.

Magical Beginings by Luke (not verified) at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 08:49
Luke's picture

I can't say how excited I am to read about Oliver's progress! It's a little weird except I realize I am imagining my much younger son doing the same thing one day. Very fun stuff and thanks for the Candyland tip!!!

Another great article. Can't by onefinemess (not verified) at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 12:21
onefinemess's picture

Another great article.
Can't wait until my little ones are old enough to potentially not be disinterested in magic.
Also can't wait for Zen ltd on mtgo ... I'm in beta, and I'm just about sick of constructed already. Bring on the drafts! I'm excited about most of the draft decks. Hell, even allies.

Limited magic by rukcus at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 12:34
rukcus's picture
5

I've got to hand it to you Ryan, you're sucked me back into the limited fold. Your analysis sits well with me, especially on the vanilla test for limited creatures. I'm fairly sure that most of your limited strategy advice can be applied to any set, and I'd love to see more geared towards limited archetypes such as today's article.

Kudos!

Great job. by bjbrains at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 16:23
bjbrains's picture

I really enjoyed this one. I'd like to see a further exploration of other archetypes later, as people continue to explore the set.

Another potential archetype:
UG landfall - Grab the fantastic U and G landfall creatures as well as adventurer's gear, then grab harrows and the other solid U fliers/G fatties.

the blue 4/4 for 4 is amazing by ShardFenix at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 16:30
ShardFenix's picture

the blue 4/4 for 4 is amazing in u/g landfall. not to mention in 40 card land hedron crab is a decent early defender and can really hurt some decks with its landfall trigger. The only tough part in my mind is making sure you get an adequate number of eels and baloths.

Great in-depth stuff here by MConstant at Wed, 10/07/2009 - 17:17
MConstant's picture
5

Solid coverage this week of 2 possibly key archetypes in ZEN limited dude.

I (unfortunately) agree with most of your assessments. (I like arguing ;))

One that I saw and have never drafted and don't think I would, is Windborn Charge. I have yet to see one resolve, but I avoid this type of card mainly because it's sorta conditional.

Hellfire Mongrel: I really do like him in MonoR. He can really make an opponent squirm late game, and yes he can be played around, but that means them not playing cards from their hand, not bad.

Molten Ravager: I have to agree, I don't like seeing this guy on my side of the table. But in his defense, he isn't all that bad. 4 toughness is tough to kill or block profitably. You have classic "threat of activation" stuff going on as well. I mean if we drop him turn 3, and swing next turn, we should have some decent options. If he is blocked, we can decide if we should pump to take out the blocker, if he isn't, well 4 damage is a nice chunk in Red which usually has reach problems. Jury is still out on this guy in MonoR imo.

Bladetusk Boar is awesome. Man giving red relevant sometimes better than flying evasion on a 3 power body feels like it's pushing it a bit. As a result, we have one of the chase creatures for red in the set.

Burst Lightning/Punishing Fire: These feel so underwhelming during play. The threats I want to take out always seem to be 3 toughness. Namely Kor Skyfisher and Vampire Nighthawk. Obv they are still good, but the don't feel as good as Lightning Bolt and Resounding Thunder did.

Spire Barrage was massively good in monoR. Just sick good.

Unstable Footing: I wonder if the fact that it's an instant matters much.

Zektar Shrine: Nice thing about that is that you don't need to actually play it on T2 anyway. You can just drop it on 3, then drop a land and be at the same point you would have been anyway, but with a Geopede online and attacking for 3 with first strike. Seems pretty sweet.

Great stuff as always dude, looking forward to doing the next podcast!

-Marshall

New Limited Resources podcast up! by Godot at Fri, 10/09/2009 - 12:36
Godot's picture

The new Limited Resources podcast up!

http://mtgcast.com/?p=2788

Marsh and I cover our first Zendikar live drafts, with in-depth discussions of allies, vampires, and more. Check it out!