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By: spg, spg
May 26 2009 10:15am
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Explorations #27 - Mayael's Song

I have a weird relationship with Magic during the summertime.  I love the game, and love thinking about the game, but just can't bring myself to play in a many-hour tournament while the sun is shining, birds are singing, and the air is fresh and clear.  I wanted to try out a new pet deck in the Classic daily event yesterday, but I ended up going kayaking instead.  Today's it's raining, so I'd totally be up for a Classic tournament - but there isn't one so I've decided to hit the casual room instead.

Last time, in this article, I talked about some of the ideas that spoke to me in the new Alara Reborn set.  I mentioned that every card that had a really fun effect seemed to cost six or seven mana.  I think I overlooked (at least) one purely casual gem:

Let's see, what does Mayael's Aria have going for it?  Well for starters it costs three mana, it's a HUGE investment card that does absolutely nothing on its own, it provides an alternate win condition (read: the casual player's dream), and has some absolutely beautiful art.  Sounds like a casual card I can get behind!  Let's take a quick look at the three separate abilities of Mayael's Aria and go over some idea on how to exploit each one.

"Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control if you control a creature with power 5 or greater."

This ability plays directly off of the Naya theme of "5 power matters".  If you control a big creature, then you get to make your army a little bit bigger.  This isn't super-exciting, but a decent ability.

"Gain 10 life if you control a creature with power 10 or greater."

Gaining life in Magic is a weird thing, and isn't really a dedicated strategy that gets a lot of credit.  So what can we do with ten life?  The first idea that jumps into my head is Cradle of Vitality - another invested card that lets us turn this ten life into +10/+10.  Ten +1/+1 counters accelerates us pretty quickly into the final and most exciting ability of Mayael's Aria:

"Win the game if you control a creature with power 20 or greater."

Now we're talking.  All we need to do is produce a creature with twenty power and it's an instant win?  This is the ability that I want to focus on.  So how do we pull this one off?  Here are a few different ideas to think about:

Cradle of Vitality + Ten Power

As discussed above, if we manage to get this loop going then we'll have a creature with twenty power in no time flat.

Mossbridge Troll

This giant troll's ability gives us a bit of a break on the twenty power requirement.  It allows us to turn fifteen power spread out across all of our creatures into a twenty-five power troll that triggers the win condition of Mayael's Aria.  Another card that plays well with this strategy?  Mosswort Bridge.  I've been looking for an excuse to Mosswort Bridge a Mossbridge Troll into play since Shadowmoor.

Kavu Predator + Wall of Shards

This combo saw some play during Ravnica -> Time Spiral Standard.  Wall of Shards provides an iron defense while growing Kavu Predator to huge proportions.  One option here is to just attack with the Predator, but why attack when you can alternate win?  Unfortunately we'd have to head into Extended territory to play this one.

Quillspike + Devoted Druid

A while back this combo was, briefly, hot stuff.  This simple two-card combo allows us to create a creature with potentially infinite power and toughness at instant speed.  That's just what the doctor ordered while trying to hit that twenty-power barrier.

Bloom Tender + Umbral Mantle

A while ago I wrote an article that used this combo to generate infinite mana in order to win via another alternate win condition: Helix Pinnacle.  You can read about it here.  Not only can this combo generate infinite mana, but it can also generate a creature of infinite size.  This is actually easier, since you only need three colors of permanent in play instead of four.

Ageless Entity + lifegain

This is another one that requires us to dip into Extended, but provides quite a bit of potential synergy with the 'gain life' ability of Mayael's Aria.  The abilities are evaluated in order on this card, so if you have a 9/9 Ageless Entity heading into your upkeep, then all three abilities of Mayael's Aria will fire.  Ageless Entity will get +1/+1 becoming a 10/10, you'll gain ten life which gives the Ageless Entity +10/+10, and then the Ageless Entity will be 20/20 so you'll win the game.

Might of Oaks Stonewood Invocation Berserk

Might of Oaks / Stonewood Invocation / Giant Growth / Berserk

Another tactic to use if we want to generate a 20/20 creature is to start with a big creature and simply make it bigger.  This strategy does not seem ideal.

Wall of Blood

If you have twenty life to spare, then you can pump Wall of Blood all the way up to be 20/22.

Dark Depths + 30 Mana

Can you think of anything better to do with thirty mana?

Let's Make a Deck

I'm going to focus on a Standard version of this deck.  Here's my starting point:

 

This deck is mostly green and white, splashing red for Mayael's Aria and Banefire.  It runs both the Bloom Tender + Umbral Mantle combo along with the Quillspike + Devoted Druid combo for an instant win.  Ajani Goldmane gives this deck a way to gain life and trigger Cradle of Vitality as well as a way to pump up some of the small creatures in this deck.  Banefire is included in this list also as an alternate win condition.

To be honest, this deck is kind of going in a whole bunch of different directions.  I'm going to head into a few test games and check out which parts work and which ones don't, which should give me an idea of which direction to take the deck.

Game 1 vs Mono Black

My opponent starts out with Festering Goblin and I play Bloom Tender.  Ravenous Rats hits the table and I discard a second Bloom Tender.  I get down Mayael's Aria, but double Mind Rot over the next two turns force me to discard Ajani Goldmane, Noble Hierarch, Quillspike, and Banefire.  I do manage to get an Ajani into play during this mass discard though.

I cast Quillspike and my opponent forces me to Cruel Edict it away.  I have to keep the Bloom Tender since I'm stuck on only two lands.  My opponent plays down another Ravenous Rats and starts to attack Ajani.  I hit my third land drop, put Bloom Tender in front of Festering Goblin to force him to take out one of his Ravenous Rats, and then play out Woolly Thoctar and Kitchen Finks.  These monsters are pumped up by both Mayael's Aria and Ajani Goldmane, which ends the game quickly - even through double Infest.

Analysis:  This one was kind of frustrating.  I had about half of each of my combos, which doesn't really get you very far.  Thankfully the raw power of the creatures in this list is often enough for the beatdown plan to work, which is what I had to go for in this game.

Game 2 vs Bant

My opponent starts off with Rampant Growth and then Mosswort Bridge.  I get out Bloom Tender, Bloom Tender, and then Woolly Thoctar.  My opponent plays Noble Hierarch, Rhys the Redeemed, and then starts making some tokens.

I get Ajani Goldmane and start getting through for some decent damage.  I draw Umbral Mantle and send two 20/20 Bloom Tenders (sweet!).  He chump blocks, removes one of my Bloom Tenders with Path to Exile, and then chump blocks for a surprisingly long time before I'm able to get through for the win.

Analysis:  I landed one of the combos in the deck this time, so that's better than 1/2 a combo.  My opponent played Mosswort Bridge in this game, which is one that I totally overlooked for this deck, so I'm going to add in a few copies.

Out:  1x Vivid Grove, 1x Vivid Creek, 1x Vivid Crag, 1x Forest
In:  3x Mosswort Bridge, 1x Battlefield Forge


Back to testing with a utility land and an updated manabase...

Game 3 vs Green Ramp Something

I start off by putting Ajani Goldmane under Mosswort Bridge, and my opponent also starts off with Mosswort Bridge.  I play Bloom Tender on turn two, and he plays Rampant Growth.  On turn three my opponent plays Kitchen Finks and then I drop Mayael's Aria and use my three Bloom Tender mana to play Umbral Mantle.  This lets me win the game via the Aria at the beginning of my fourth upkeep.

Analysis:  This is pretty much the ideal draw for this deck when it comes to winning via the Aria's alternate win condition.  Winning on the upkeep of your fourth turn is pretty sweet!

Game 4 vs Merfolk Mill

My opponent gets out Mothdust Changeling, Amoeboid Changeling, Merrow Commerce, and then Drowner of Secrets - which lets him really start to go to town millstoning away my deck.  I get the Devoted Druid/Quillspike draw, and start attacking with a gigantic Quillspike on my fourth turn.

Unfortunately my opponent has plenty of little Merfolk to throw in the way of my non-trampling gigantic monster...  but fortunately I also have Mayael's Aria in my hand and win via the alternate win condition.

Analysis:  Two in a row alternate wins with two different gigantic creature generators...  pretty cool!

Intermission

The main knock against a deck like this is that something like Mayael's Aria is a win-more card.  This means that if you're in a position where Mayael's Aria is going to help you, then you've essentially already won the game.  I mean, who needs additional tech when you're running a 20/20 creature into the red zone?

The funny thing is that in the last two games I just finished playing, I was able to create an infinitely large creature with no ability to get through the red zone.  In game two I had TWO infinitely large creatures and it took me forever to finish off my opponent.  One more Path to Exile and I would have blown my entire advantage.  In games three and four I had Aria, which ended up making the win a whole lot easier.  If I was planning on taking this list to a tournament, I'd probably give a lot more serious consideration to the 'win more' issue - but as a casual deck I'm happy to have this sweet alternate win option.

I had planned on tuning up this list off of a few test games, and now's the time.  I actually really like how running both the Quillspike/Devoted Druid and Bloom Tender/Umbral Mantle played out, so I'm going to keep both of these combos in the deck.  The aspect of this deck that I'm not too fond of is the lifegain sub-theme.  I'm currently running double Cradle of Vitality, triple Ajani Goldmane, and triple Kitchen Finks.  Ajani and Finks are both ridiculously powerful cards, but I have the potential here to free up a maximum of around nine slots.

For the next iteration of this list I'm going to try moving from a lifegain sub-theme to an increased focus on the 'five power matters' Naya theme.  Not only does this help out in the games where we're forced to go on the beatdown plan, but it may also help to squeeze out some additional value from Mayael's Aria.  I like the idea of using mana-generating creatures early that become larger via Mayael's Aria once a 5 power dude hits the table.  Giving two Bloom Tenders and a Noble Hierarch +1/+1 each turn (+2/+2 if Ajani is in play) is nothing to laugh at.  This strategy could also help creatures who end up without the other half of their combo get in for some damage.

Let's take a look at some available options (I'm going to focus on creatures that actually HAVE five power instead of cards that give bonuses for five power, which I'm covering with Mayael's Aria):

Blitz Hellion
This guy brings seven power into play immediately, with the drawback being that this seven power doesn't stick around long enough to trigger the Aria.  It'll be back someday!

Meglonoth
I love this card.  A huge monster that gets things done and sticks around to clean up the mess.

Deus of Calamity
Swinging the mana requirements of this guy may be tough, but he brings some amazing pressure into the red zone.  Unfortunately he also destroys lands, which is a big no-no in the casual room.

Vigor
The rest of your army becomes basically unbeatable in combat while Vigor is on the scene.  This deck can hit GGG without too much trouble.

Mosstodon
Mosstodon is the giant monster solution to the problem of chump blocked gigantic Quillspikes.  Another option for this function is Soul's Fire.

Enlisted Wurm
It may be fun to try out a cascade spell in this deck, although you definitely don't want to be hitting Banefire.

Mycoid Shepherd
It's funny that after taking out the lifegain themes that Mycoid Shepherd may be worth running. It's four mana for a 5/4, which is pretty awesome - and comes with a solid ability.  As an aside, the art on Mycoid Shepherd is breathtaking!

Spellbreaker Behemoth
Mycoid Shepherd with +0/+1 and a useful ability against control decks.  Doesn't help to protect creatures which come into play small and then grow large later (Bloom Tender, Quillspike).

Cliffrunner Behemoth
Another potential lifegain monster, but gets in there immediately most of the time and puts the pressure on.

Flameblast Dragon
I'm not sure if we want to run a Dragon in this deck, but if so then this is probably the guy - this list does ramp mana pretty effectively.  He provides another outlet for extra mana, including potentially infinite mana off of Bloom Tender and Umbral Mantle.

Out:  2x Cradle of Vitality, 1x Ajani Goldmane, 3x Kitchen Finks, 1x Plains
In:  1x Flameblast Dragon, 1x Spellbreaker Behemoth, 2x Mycoid Shepherd, 1x Mosstodon, 1x Vigor, 1x Forest
Mycoid Shepherd


So basically what I did here is remove Cradle of Vitality along with Kitchen Finks and a copy of Ajani for some huge monsters.  The two core infinite combos are still in place, but these changes   up the threat count a bit.  In addition, it seems like a lot of fun to run a varied list of these cool creatures.

It's worth noting that I just removed the awesome combo of Kitchen Finks plus Ajani Goldmane from this deck in favor of some (mostly) singleton creatures.  This is a choice that you probably don't want to make if you're going for purely a competitive deck, but I really wanted to run a bunch of cool big monsters without losing either of my infinite combos.

Game 5 vs Jund

I start off with Noble Hierarch on turn one, and then Trace of Abundance plus Bloom Tender on turn two.  My opponent plays out Dragon Fodder and then a 7/7 Thunder-Thrash Elder.  I use three lands, Trace of Abundance, Noble Hierarch, and then Bloom Tender mana to Banefire away the Thunder-Thrash Elder.

I cast out Mycoid Shepherd and Mayael's Aria, which lets me start adding +1/+1 counters to my Hierarch and Bloom Tender each turn.  My opponent plays out Kathari Comber and Giant Ambush Beetle, but I attack a few times with my growing army, and add Vigor to the mix for the win.

Analysis:  This is a pretty successful version of the beatdown plan.  It's a shame that I couldn't point a giant Banefire to my opponent's face, but a turn three 7/7 is something that needs to be dealt with.

Figure of Destiny Knight of Meadowgrain Windbrisk Heights Wizened Cenn

Game 6 vs Kithkin

My opponent starts off with Figure of Destiny, Knight of Meadowgrain, Windbrisk Heights, and Wizened Cenn.  I play out Noble Hierarch, Trace of Abundance and then Mycoid Shepherd, which I'm hoping will slow down the Kithkin assault.  Unfortunately my opponent has different ideas and uses Oblivion Ring to remove my 5/4 without triggering the lifegain ability.  I cast Woolly Thoctar, but am swarmed by many tiny Kithkin monsters.

Analysis:  My deck doesn't have any tools specifically setup to combat the weenie rush.  My hope is to use early acceleration to bring a big monster into play that's capable of slowing down the attack.  Unfortunately (as was the case in this game) targeted removal can quickly open up the gates for a whole bunch of damage.

If matchups like these prove to be a pain, then it may be worth exploring the addition of more removal to the deck.  Naya Charm, Path to Exile, and Oblivion Ring are all capable of taking out key attackers in the early game.  It's a shame that this deck can't run something like Firespout, but Bloom Tender, Quillspike, Noble Hierarch, and Devoted Druid would all burn alongside your opponent's creatures.

Stone Rain Demolish Creeping Mold
Casual players do NOT like these cards.

Game 7 vs GR Land Destruction

I start off with Noble Hierarch into Trace of Abundance and Bloom Tender.  My opponent plays Llanowar Elf into two copies of Demolish over the next couple of turns.  This would normally be a problem, but I've got plenty of mana thanks to the Bloom Tender.  I cast Woolly Thoctar and start attacking for five.  My opponent uses Creeping Mold to take out Trace of Abundance, but he's way too far behind.  Woolly Thoctar goes the whole way.

Analysis:  Ah, the hated land destruction deck.  Having your lands blown up isn't so bad with Trace of Abundance and Bloom Tender going.  Sometimes all you need is one decent monster to win the game, and Woolly Thoctar definitely qualifies.

Game 8 vs BW

On the play, after a mulligan, I start off with Devoted Druid (and Quillspike in my hand).  My opponent plays Plains, Safewright Quest, Fetid Heath, and then Tidehollow Sculler - unfortunately he's smart enough to strip away the Quillspike.  Fortunately I'm lucky enough to topdeck another one.  He plays Kitchen Finks to chump block, I play Mayael's Aria and win.

Analysis:  Pretty much exactly the way this deck wants to win.  Again, it can be frustrating how difficult it is to push through that lethal blow, even with an infinitely sized creature on your side - especially with strong persist creatures like Kitchen Finks running around.  I was worried that my opponent had Path to Exile or Unmake for my Quillspike, but I managed to dodge that bullet.

Conclusion + Extended + Budget Time

Alright, I think I've played enough games to get a basic idea of how this one plays out.  It's definitely not a PT-level deck, but it's a lot of fun in a casually competitive setting.  If you love infinite combos and alternate win conditions, and this deck looks like fun - then go ahead and put it together.  Maybe you can come up with a few ideas on how to make it better!

Before I wrap this one up, I'm going to go over a few different versions.  The first thing I want to do is turn this Standard list down to something that players on a budget will be able to put together.

Here's the list of cards that will need to go if we want to turn this deck into something for budget players:

4 Bloom Tender
2 Noble Hierarch
2 Ajani Goldmane
2 Banefire
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Wooded Bastion
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Battlefield Forge

There are three main issues here that we need to fix:  the manabase, the Bloom Tender combo, and then a few miscellaneous cards that have reasonable budget replacements.

Bloom Tenders go for around $5.50 each, for a total playset cost of $22.00.  I'm looking for the full cost of the deck to be under this, so the whole Bloom Tender/Umbral Mantle combo has got to go.  This leaves us with a single infinite creature size engine (Quillspike + Devoted Druid).  With the removal of some mana production, I'm going to add in a couple of lands.

Out:  4x Bloom Tender, 3x Umbral Mantle
In:  2x Land

Banefire is a fantastic card, but it costs around $4.  There are some cheaper options, including Blaze and Titan's Revenge.  I've been wanting to try out Titan's Revenge for a while, so let's try that one out.  It's also a twelve cent rare...

Out:  2x Banefire
In:  2x Titan's Revenge

Ajani Goldmane is really tough to replace.  For now I'm going to just remove the planeswalkers.

Out:  2x Ajani Goldmane

Noble Hierarch clocks in at about $10, and has to go.  Birds of Paradise is about 50% off, but Druid of the Anima is a nice cheap common.

Out:  2x Noble Hierarch
In:  4x Druid of the Anima

I'm also going to take out Mycoid Shepherd and Spellbreaker Behemoth in order to bring the cost down.

Out:  1x Spellbreaker Behemoth, 2x Mycoid Shepherd

This opens up a total of eight slots.  I'm going to fill out the list with a playset of Naya Charm for some utility, and then fill out the list with some more big creatures to accelerate into.

In:  4x Naya Charm, 1x Vigor, 1x Flameblast Dragon, 2x Cliffrunner Behemoth

So here's the budget list, not too bad:

Budget Mayael's Song
Standard Legal
Creatures
4 Druid of the Anima
4 Quillspike
4 Devoted Druid
4 Woolly Thoctar
2 Flameblast Dragon
2 Cliffrunner Behemoth
1 Mosstodon
2 Vigor
23 cards

Other Spells
4 Naya Charm
4 Trace of Abundance
3 Mayael's Aria
2 Titan's Revenge
13 cards
Lands
4 Jungle Shrine
10 Forest
5 Mountain
3 Plains
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Grove
24 cards
 
Vigor


If I were going to try out this deck in Extended, then I would probably start off with something like this...

 
I wanted to make the Extended version of this deck to try out both the Kavu Predator/Wall of Shards/Fiery Justice synergy along with Ageless Entity.  I've also added in a few copies of Banefire for another potential win with the Bloom Tender/Umbral Mantle infinite mana combo.  The main worry that I have is that Mayael's Aria is the only real way to trigger lifegain for the Ageless Entity.  I'd have to do some testing to see if this is going to work out or not, you'd probably want a few more ways to activate that ability.

That about wraps this one up.  Hope you enjoyed it!

Steve Gargolinski
spgmtgo@gmail.com
youtube.com/mtgexplorations
twitter.com/sgargolinski

14 Comments

Ageless entity + Aria by Effovex at Tue, 05/26/2009 - 14:51
Effovex's picture

Ageless Entity's triggered ability goes on the stack for the lifegain after the Aria has finished resolving. So a 9/9 Ageless Entity will become a 20/20 too late for you to win this turn. I think DeCordova made the same mistake in his column on the card.

Aria's alternate win is just as bad as Epic Struggle - if you can alternate win with your enchantment, you can most likely win through combat damage anyway. In fact, why haven't you won already?

Primal Rage by Effovex at Tue, 05/26/2009 - 15:07
Effovex's picture

I realize you mentionned that Aria is a win-more card, but you also said it got you the win in a couple games. In most cases, however, Primal Rage is just as good - and you don't see too many decks built around Primal Rage.

The biggest benefit you get from the Aria is that it's a 3-mana 3-color card in your bloom tender deck.

Another thing I've noticed is that in all your games, only a single player had any removal, and that's the game you lost.

Yep you're definitely right by spg at Tue, 05/26/2009 - 16:40
spg's picture

Yep you're definitely right that in a lot of the situations where Mayael's Aria won me the game, Primal Rage would have also - but to me the alternate win condition is a whole lot more fun in a casual deck like this. If you're not into Johnny-style alternate win conditions, then this is probably not the deck for you - sorry, maybe the next one I come up with will be more to your liking.

Loved the decks and the by HamsterZ4sale (not verified) at Tue, 05/26/2009 - 15:19
HamsterZ4sale's picture

Loved the decks and the evolutions. Thought you did a great job explaining that these were for the casual room and obviously aren't going to win any serious tournaments.

You seemed well aware of the weakenesses this deck had against more spike-ish decks and I thought you did a great job of writing to your audience, namely players like me. I also enjoyed and greatly appreciated the budget considerations you took at the end of the article. Great job man!

Thanks for the feedback man, by spg at Tue, 05/26/2009 - 16:40
spg's picture

Thanks for the feedback man, I appreciate it.

Aria! by Katastrophe at Wed, 05/27/2009 - 01:27
Katastrophe's picture
5

I too love the card that you chose to build around. First, thank you for being honest about the deck's power level. You didn't end the article with a throwaway line like "this deck has potential..." or something. Not even after going 7-1. It looks like you're both Naya Ramp and combo in different games, which is very cool. But your combo pieces are mostly creatures, so you die to removal. A deck isn't automatically bad if it folds to one Oblivion Ring though. You're just kind of all-in. And in a couple games your redundant combos saved you. That seven-point Banefire on turn 3 to save yourself in game 5 was pretty awesome too.

I'm really surprised that the Aria isn't as win more as I thought it was. You'd imagine that if you had a 20/20 creature that you're just a fraction of a turn away from winning. But so much can stop a 20/20 creature. Like Fog. And chump blockers. Maybe even Condemn or an attack phase Snakeform or something. In that case the Aria turns from win more to win anyways. Which is fantastic except for the games when you don't get there and the card ends up blank.

Ageless Entity doesn't necessarily need life gain to form a two card win with the Aria. If all it has to do is reach 9/9 then a Giant Growth and a +1/+1 counter will do it. Or Berserk it (with whichever format legal berserks are available) after the trigger is on the stack. It should be easy. How about Captured Sunlight? You don't even need to cut all the 1 and 2 drops out of your deck. Although I'm already in love with the idea of "At the end of your turn, gain 4. I'm cascading. Oh look, Aria! My turn? Upkeep, I win."

In v3 you have the Mosswort Bridge, but no Troll? I thought you'd be able to get 10 power of random guys easily. Maybe even with cheap equipment? Then you just 'G' and out pops a Troll or Aria. The Troll is no good?

correction by Katastrophe at Wed, 05/27/2009 - 01:37
Katastrophe's picture

Wait a sec. Ageless Entity is a 4/4 base, not 5/5, and the Aria won't give it +10/+10 until after it resolves. That said, if you have two Arias, which is definitely leaning towards a cascade-4 with 100% certainty plan, then it will work with just 1 point of help:

Aria #1: 8/8 becomes 9/9. But if you had just a silly Thrill of the Hunt then he'd double up to 20/20.

Aria #2: win.

You'll probably draw one and cascade into the other if you play four. And if you play Captured Sunlight as a 'tutor' it's kind of like having 8. Loxodon Warhammer or Behemoth Sledge can buy turns and trigger the combo.

To be honest, the Troll might by spg at Wed, 05/27/2009 - 07:51
spg's picture

To be honest, the Troll might be good enough - I never tried it out. If anyone wants to try out the deck then give it a shot and let me know how it goes!

it is funny because the first by LOurs at Wed, 05/27/2009 - 05:05
LOurs's picture
5

it is funny because the first time i saw this card, i immediately wanted to build a deck to abuse of it with berserck... but i didnt for the moment, and your article is a pretty nice overview of what how to run it.
I am thinking about to run Primal Forcemage & Vial in order to run a build a comboish engine ...

i will work on it :)

Definately a casual only by Soulwind (not verified) at Wed, 05/27/2009 - 13:57
Soulwind's picture

Definately a casual only deck, but I can see where it could be fun.

What about Wall of Blood (I think that's the one..the pay 1 life to pump the wall by +1 for the turn).

Could you let Aria start resolving...pump the wall by 5 or 10 points (keeping yourself out of instant burn range), get the 10 life from Aria, pump the wall the rest of the way to 20, and win with Aria's third statement?

Or can you not take any actions between each statement?

Unfortunately you can't take by spg at Wed, 05/27/2009 - 14:03
spg's picture

Unfortunately you can't take any actions in between steps of a card's resolution.

The trick here is to cast by AJ_Impy at Fri, 05/29/2009 - 16:25
AJ_Impy's picture

The trick here is to cast Angel's Grace first, THEN pay all 20 life to the wall. Going to 0 doesn't matter, and you'll be back up to 10 anyway shortly before winning the game.

Dark Depths by Rerepete at Thu, 05/28/2009 - 19:07
Rerepete's picture
5

Another great article.

BTW, Dark Depths can be triggered with 5 mana (and a Aether Snap.....)

Hamletback Goliath or by Anonymous (not verified) at Thu, 07/23/2009 - 20:00
Anonymous's picture

Hamletback Goliath or Apocalypse Hydra would be a nice addition.