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By: Lord Erman, Nafiz Erman
Oct 04 2011 12:37am
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ROGUE PLAY
My 'Innistrad'
Part II
by Nafiz Erman

Hello dear readers and welcome back to Rogue Play. As you know, last week I started looking at the new cards in this article and went from forty to twenty one in my countdown. And this week I will first finish my countdown, talk about the cards in the list in great detail and then show you my podiums.

So... shall we start?

 

NUMBER #20
Victim of Night

This card could have been a lot higher in my list if only it wasn't so flawed flavorwise. So a Black spell that kills "victims of the night" can't kill Zombies and Vampires. Okay, I get it, so far so good. But what's the deal with the Werewolves? Why can't a Black spell kill a Green creature?! And how can a Black spell kill a mighty Demon or Horror or Devil, while it can't even touch a Green Werewolf? How is this possible?! Does it make sense to you?

You know what? If Victim of Night was chosen as a name for a Black removal spell, then it should have had the same game text as Doom Blade. Meaning it should have been "destroy target nonblack creature". Then Victim of Night would have made sense flavorwise. So basically it should have had exactly the same gametext of Doom Blade. But just because it would cost , it would have been a weaker version of Doom Blade because it would have been harder to cast it.

Or WotC should have came up with a different name for the same effect. Or they could have made it a  spell (just like Terminate). Because the card, as it is, doesn't make any sense to me. I still don't get how a Black spell called Victim of Night can't kill a Green or Red Werewolf whereas it works fine on a Devil or Demon.

Or in other words, a Demon or a Specter or a Horror can all be victims of the night whereas a Green creature simply can't, and I just can't get it. I am still trying to accept the fact that now I can kill Lord of the Pit with a spell called Victim of Night.

Lord of the Pit
Doesn't look like he's going to be a victim of the night!

Oh and apart from this flavor issue, this is solid removal of course. Not in ISD Block but it will be great anywhere else.

 

NUMBER #19
Angelic Overseer

You know what; I like this one! Angelic Overseer is a tuned down Baneslayer Angel and we all know Baneslayer Angel was a bit too good in the first place. "Power creepis was an issue we were seeing very frequently in the recent Magic sets, and Baneslayer Angel was a result of this. Now it is said that Innistrad is bringing balance to Magic and I (want to) see Angelic Overseer as a proof of that. Even though Angelic Overseer is clearly very powerful considering you're using her in the right deck, she is absolutely not Baneslayer Angel, which is perfectly acceptable.

ISD Block will obviously the one and only competitive format where we will see this lady, as in Standard we have better options for that five mana slot (Gideon agrees). But I bet she will be a real beating in Block. Invisible Stalker, Fiend Hunter and Slayer of the Wicked are the first companions I can think of for her and she will act as a very good finisher in that Humans deck.

And even though it's a bit early to talk about Control deck possibilities in ISD Block, I can also see this one and Bloodgift Demon fighting for that one precious "finisher" spot in Control decks of ISD Block. One cannot be destroyed or be targeted (if you have Humans around that is) and the other gives you cards. Hmm... It will be a tough decision.

And finally I want to say that this is the best Timmy/Spike card of the set. Big, flashy but also wins games; perfect!

 

NUMBER #18
Reprints

Standard welcomes some returning cards such as Think Twice, Ancient Grudge, Mulch and Ghost Quarter. There are surely more, but these four are the ones that will be played the most in the next two years. It's also good to have Curiosity back!

 

NUMBER #17
Bloodline Keeper

He isn't Vampire Nocturnus but still as another four mana Vampire lord he does his job perfectly; which is spawning new Vampires of course! Assuming you play him in a dedicated Vampires deck, transforming him will not be an issue and then he will start giving you a 4/4 flyer every turn. All those things are nice of course but my problem with him is the fact that he is a bit slow for the new version of Vampires deck.

The new vamps.dec is a fast Aggro deck which is also using Red as its main color. This new version wants to deal as much damage as possible during early turns and wants to pump its creatures as fast as possible using their Slith abilities. This isn't the Black Vampires deck we used to know from Zendikar. Cards like Gatekeeper of Malakir have no place in this one. This deck is fast and furious, which means that if it makes space for a four mana creature, it has to be a good beater. And Bloodline Keeper is not a good beater.

To be honest it seems to me that Bloodline Keeper belongs to that old Zendikar-era Vampires deck. I can imagine this one in that deck together with Vampire Nighthawk, Gatekeeper of Malakir and Kalastria Highborn. But in this new version he seems a bit slow to me. Of course testing will tell and I would be more than happy if it turns out that I'm actually wrong and that Bloodline Keeper is actually a good and playable card. But as of now, I cannot see how a 3/3 for four will find itself a place in an Aggro deck.

 

NUMBER #16
Past in Flames

So yeah, Past in Flames. At number sixteen. Surprise, surprise.

For which formats am I writing my set reviews dear readers? Standard? Then this won't see play at all. Block? Nope, won't see play. Modern? Sadly this arrived a couple of months late.  Extended? Who plays Extended anyways?! Which leaves me with Legacy only. And even there this will belong to just one deck and that is obviously Storm. So the reason why Past in Flames is so low in my list is the fact that it only belongs to a single archetype in one eternal format (I don't want to talk about Classic because I have no knowledge about it).

The only thing I have to say about Past in Flames is that we once again see WotC not learning from their past mistakes. Yawgmoth's Will is Yawgmoth's Will even it costs one more to cast and works only with instants and sorceries. Especially considering that all the mana ramp spells are nowadays Red.

WotC should really get this one thing straight: Watching someone replay all those twenty cards in his graveyard will be boooooooring! It will be unfun. I hope I never have to play someone playing this one when I join a Legacy game. Watching a Storm player going off is already extremely boring, and I really can't imagine how boring it will be now with Past in Flames in the mix. 

And if you still have doubts about this card, then please do think like this: This card is being compared to Yawgmoth's Will basically by everyone. Not every card gets that privilege. If some card is being compared to one of the most broken cards in Magic's history, then there must be something going on, right?  So there's some real (broken) potential here waiting to be tapped. 

Oh and I mean, come on, and this also has Flashback!! I seriously believe that this card is a mistake and really don't want to talk about it anymore.

 

NUMBER #15,5
Infernal Plunge

Just before I advance to number sixteen, I have something in the middle which I think is another mistake. I mean, why-o-why WotC tries to fix old broken cards when they do know that they are beyond repair? Dark Ritual can't be fixed. The "sacrifice a creature" part is meaningless; there are way too many zero cost creatures around these days to make it meaningless. There are also other ways to cheat that part. Koth of the Hammer can turn one Mountain into a creature and that Mountain can even tap itself to cast this new Dark Ritual (sac'ing itself in the meantime as well).

This whole fast mana issue is really getting out of control. I mean, we all are aware that we can now cast Koth of the Hammer on turn two, right? Koth on turn two wins games, that simple. It's just nuts! 

And this is enough reason for me to believe that is card is another mistake. As I said, Dark Ritual is beyond repair. That "sac' a creature" part isn't going to fix it. You'll see. You'll regret this WotC.

 You'll see.

 

NUMBER #15
Laboratory Maniac

Any card that says "you win the game" is worth a second look. Any card that says that and costs three mana is worth even a third look. So let's look at this new "you win the card" card and see what we can do with it. Obviously Leveler is one option to pair this maniac with. Or Thought Lash. I would even consider a slow win condition such as Arc-Slogger.

To be honest I'm going to try breaking this one in Modern together with Leveler. But first I will get my Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir out just to be safe. I mean, I'm not maniac(!) enough to play this without some sort of protection and Teferi does the job perfectly. Then with a little help from the Red rituals available in Modern, I will cast both Leveler and Laboratory Maniac. Then even a simple Gitaxian Probe will win me the game. Or a previously played Jace Beleren.

I have no idea how competitive that deck will be, but I am most certainly going to try it.

 

NUMBER #14
Reckless Waif

Any creature that can come down on turn one and can hit for three on turn two is worth taking into consideration. This may not be Wild Nacatl but it's as close as we can get. I already lost more than a couple of matches because of this Werewolf so far in my ISD Block tests, so I do know what I'm talking about. This is a very dangerous creature. If you face one, kill it as soon as you can!

 

NUMBER #13
Curse of Death's Hold

Everyone knows that this is an upgraded Night of Souls' Betrayal. Everyone who follows pro writers also do know that this card is being considered in a deck together with the new Academy Rector called Bitterheart Witch. Even Mark Flores mentioned it in his latest article. And I personally had the privilege of being the victim of this combo while testing some ISD Block decks and yes, it works. And yes, it hurts. Two Curse of Death's Holds are even as close as "gg".

In Standard you can of course use Bitterheart Witch in a Birthing Pod deck. And even though not the best possibility, you can also use it with Heartless Summoning. The good part is that your Bitterheart Witch will cost a mere to cast which is very reasonable but then it will be a 0/1 creature (due to your Heartless Summoning). Which then will make the Deathtouch part on it meaningless.

But no matter how you intent to use it, with or without Bitterheart Witch, Curse of Death's Hold is a fine card; especially as a sideboard card.

 

NUMBER #12
Olivia Voldaren

First of all let me say that Olivia Voldaren is an excellent general for Commander and even that fact alone gives me right to put her as high as number twelve in my list. Not all cards are made for Standard, and this new general will be awesome in Commander; of that I'm 100% sure.

And then let's get one other thing straight: Constructed-wise, Lady Voldaren isn't your "curve topper" in your new Aggro vamps.dec. She doesn't even belong to that deck; at least not to the main deck. At number seventeen I talked about Bloodline Keeper and said that a 3/3 for four isn't exactly what you should be playing in an Aggro deck. The same is true for Olivia Voldaren as well.  

But what makes Olivia a better card than Bloodline Keeper is something else. Bloodline Keeper is neither an Aggro creature nor a Control one. He simply doesn't fit into both styles. Olivia on the other hand fits in Control perfectly. You do know that her first ability doesn't say "she gets +1/+1 until end of turn", right? Right? So for  you simply pump her permanently. Nice, no? Oh and she also Mind Controls. I don't know how often you will use that ability of hers, but it will also be nice to steal that Consecrated Sphinx once in a while.

And finally I have to say that this is an excellent top down Vampire design. She bites you and now you belong to her. Perfect! So please let me repeat: She isn't at number twelve because I believe that she will shake Standard and/or define the format. She's at number twelve only because I like the design here and only because she will be a perfect general in Commander.

 

NUMBER #11
Garruk Relentless

I will be honest with you dear readers: This new Garruk v.3 disappointed me a bit. I was incredibly excited when I heard that he was going to be a double faced planeswalker with five abilities, but the outcome is... I don't know how I should say; weak? Uninteresting? Unoriginal? It's most probably all of those.

The original Garruk was a perfect planeswalker; he saw tournament play, he saw casual play and everybody liked him. His second version wasn't mind blowing but it was still powerful. His ultimate was very unoriginal and uninteresting, and I felt that WotC somehow rushed this planeswalker and missed the opportunity to make a truly great Garruk. His first and second abilities were perfect and if only he had a more interesting ultimate ability, then maybe he could have been a real powerhouse.

And now we have this. This one also makes tokens. So nothing new. Actually this one makes weaker tokens to be exact. Then you get into all the trouble and flip him and what happens? You make tokens! Deathtouch is nice but it's not enough. As I said above many times, it's unoriginal. His ultimate is a joke and his middle ability is only a "meh" one. I mean, sure we would like to tutor a nice creature to change the course of the game (and be thankful to Garruk for that), but I ask you dear readers; is it really worth it? Play Garruk, keep him alive, flip him, +1 him, and then use that middle ability.

Is it really worth it?

The only thing I like about him is the fact that he can be cast without too much effort (color-wise). A splash to Green is always useful nowadays because of many important reasons, and while we're already there, we can also try this new Garruk as well if we have some empty slots in our deck. Surely his "deal three damage" is also nice, but all in all this Garruk v.3 is still a big disappointment; at least for me. I was expecting more -a lot more- from the first and most probably the last double faced planeswalker of Magic.

 

NUMBER #10
Invisible Stalker

How nice, now my Angelic Destinys in my binder have a purpose. And all those swords have another nice carrier. He will even be great with something as simple as Butcher's Cleaver in ISD Block (where there are no mighty swords around). And finally he will be a great new companion to Edric, Spymaster of Trest in Commander. What more can I say; he's simply very nice.

 

NUMBER #9
Skaab Ruinator

It's really not possible to tell new and interesting things about a card which is mentioned by everyone. So let's recap all those things people already said about it and move on. 

Yes, Skaab Ruinator is a great reanimation target. Yes, long live Sun Titan shenanigans! Yes, it will also be great in Birthing Pod deck. Oh and yes, it's perfectly possible to hardcast it considering you play it in a dedicated graveyard based deck. And finally yes, Modern soft-dredge decks will also use it (this, unearth creatures, dredge creatures, Vengevine, etc.).

Did I say all there is to be said about it? Did I miss anything? No? Good. Can we now please move on? 

 

NUMBER #8
Heartless Summoning

Now this is interesting!

Watcha lookin' at?!

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (a pro Magic player in case you don't know) described this card the most interesting way I saw so far; he said that "Heartless Summoning makes you feel like you're playing with Sol Ring on table". And he's absolutely right because that's exactly what it does!

The possibilities you can do with this card are endless but they all come with a price. At first you don't think much about that -1/-1 part, but only after you cast your Spellskite for zero and watch it die to an Incinerate at the end of your turn, you realize that the price is actually a bit higher than you first thought.

And there is also one other problem: Just because you have Heartless Summoning in your deck, you simply can't play any X/1 creatures. Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, Snapcaster Mage, Mayor of Avabruck... sadly they don't work well(!) with this enchantment. But let's not be that pesimist. Heartless Summoning has its uses and let's try to focus on them.

Now with this out, we can cast our Myr Superion for zero, cast Phyrexian Rager for a mere and get a card (even though it's now a harmless 1/1), get our Grave Titan out on turn four instead of six and get our Bloodgift Demon out on turn three instead of five. Things get even funnier if we put this in our Birthing Pod deck of course.

Then we can combo it with Fecundity in Modern and play cards like Perilous Myr and Priest of Urabrask and profit, combo it with Fecundity again but put it into the Melira/Pod shell in Modern and profit, cast Moltensteel Dragon for  and profit again, combine it with Chancellor of the Tangle and get it out on turn one, combine it with Enduring Renewal and Perilous Myr and auto-win the moment we get them out, evoke Mulldrifter for just ... so many possibilities.

Fecundity
Works well with Heartless Summoning.

But the best one is none of those. It's this:

Myr Retriever Myr Retriever

Do you see it? With Heartless Summoning out, your Myr Retrievers will cost and thus will create an infinite storm count (you'll need two Retrievers though). Then? Well, Grapeshot will do just fine but you can even use Bitter Ordeal if you want a more "elegant" Storm kill.

All in all I can say that playing Heartless Summoning the "fair" way doesn't make too much sense to me. I can understand using it in Birthing Pod but that's all. All the other "fair" options are... well, they are a bit too fair in my opinion! Oh look, how nice that you played your Myr Superion for zero! Now it's within Dismember range so there is nothing to be worried about. 

But the "unfair" Combo version can be deadly. I'm sure there are more dangerous ways to abuse it than the ones I came up with, but even those options I listed above make Heartless Summoning a card to watch out. Especially in Modern.

 

NUMBER #7
Mentor of the Meek

Unlike Heartless Summoning, which was a card that needed long paragraphs to explain, this one is very simple. This is an incredible creature just because it negates the "lose of steam" factor for Aggro decks. Puresteel decks will love him, ISD Block decks will love him, token decks will love him, especially decks that can produce Eldrazi spawn tokens will love him the most, Elfball will most definitely love him, other Modern Aggro decks will love him... he's simply awesome and we will all love him!

 

NUMBER #6
Geist of Saint Traft

This is a card that most of the time will be used the wrong way by many people. Please dear readers, do not forget that this is a mere 2/2 for three that must attack to do something; and in the worst possible color combination for a creature that has those stats. So most of the time people will cast this and then start thinking what went wrong!

Geist of Saint Traft isn't a win-con dear readers, first we must get this straight. This is just a 2/2 with some sort of protection, and that's all he is. To win games with him, you really have to do lots of things; such as giving him a sword or two, clearing his path and watching out for edict spells. For the same price we still have Mirran Crusader and in my humble opinion, he is better than St. Traft. He hits harder and kills his blocker even without a sword. St. Traft on the other hand, will even die to a Grizzly Bears.

I mean, imagine him against a Tempered Steel deck. What good will he do? He will only deal four damage via his token before he dies and that will only happen if the opponent doesn't have a Vault Skirge to block the token. What good will he do against Werewolves? Or Vampires? Or other Aggro decks? Or even against Birthing Pod?

But I am not blind dear readers; I see the potential here, so don't get me wrong. Geist of Saint Traft will be a powerhouse in Puresteel decks with all those equipments. I can also see him in sideboards of next generation Caw Blade decks. In the main deck, Mirran Crusader will be a better choice. But against Control, especially against mirror decks, Geist of Saint Traft will replace Mirran Crusader and will seal the deal all by himself.

Bottom line: St. Traft isn't a creature that will go in every deck out there. Many players will try him in their "draw-go" style  Control decks and all will fail. Main decks of Puresteel and sideboards of Caw Blade will be his only real two homes; at least for the time being.

 

NUMBER #5
Forbidden Alchemy

It has been a long time since we had a spell this simple and this powerful.

All I can say about this one is that I'm looking forward to play it because it will be a superb addition to the new version of Solar Flare for Standard. I haven't played Standard in years but now Solar Flare returns to Standard and so do I. There are so many insane plays you can do with this, so many different possibilities, and I really can't wait to explore them all.

 

NUMBER #4
Enemy dual lands

It's very weird to have these in Innistrad where we normally should have had the allied-colored ones. Even MaRo said that they don't fit into Innistrad but "the powers that be" made their decision and they put these lands into this set.

There is not much to talk about these lands, as they will be heavily sought out and played. They are clearly core set material and may or may not appear in a future core set, so just to be safe I will get my playsets now with Innistrad.

 

NUMBER #3
Mayor of Avabruck

Those of you who played this card in prerelease and release events know how powerful it is. I haven't had that chance but luckily for me, I have the privilege of playing this card online before the actual online release of the set, and all I can say is this: Wow! Just wow.

Before I tested the Mayor, I wasn't so sure about him. Just like all the other transform cards, this one also looked powerful to me only after he flipped transformed. And to be honest, I had my doubts about this whole "flip flop back and forth" thingy. Transforming them seemed hard to me. But only after I actually played the card, I saw that there was nothing to be afraid of.

I saw that those decks that were playing their spells on their turn, weren't playing much on my turn. And those other decks that were playing spells on my turn, weren't actually that active on their own turn. So this way or another, I was transforming my Mayor of Avabruck. And I was doing that always.

As I said, the real value of double faced cards lies on their backside and this Mayor is no exception. And once you transform him, you actually do nothing, sit tight, play your counterspells and bounce spells when necessary, do so over and over again with Snapcaster Mage, play some other cheap creatures (mana-wise of course) if needed such as Delver of Secrets (a one mana 3/2 flyer is too good to be true), and simply win with your Wolf tokens.

Alternatively you can pair him with Black and thus pair him with removal. Go for the Throat, Dismember, Doom Blade... the list is "thick" enough. Liliana of the Veil is also a nice companion for the Mayor and even Garruk Relentless works fine with him as he also produces Wolf tokens.

But he will shine the most in older formats in my opinion; especially in Modern. There I will test him along with cards like Spellstutter Sprite, Vendilion Clique, Snapcaster Mage and Tarmogoyf. Then I will pack lots of counterspells and will watch what happens. Bitterblossom he may be not, but he seems close enough to me. Surely killing him is easy, especially when he is the Mayor and not the Howlpack, but in a deck that is build around him, he will be well protected. Finding the right deck and balancing it will take time, but one thing is for sure: The Mayor is serious and he means business.

 

NUMBER #2
Liliana of the Veil

Oh Liliana; look how beautiful she is:

We don't get three mana planeswalkers every day, and even that fact alone makes this new version of Liliana very special. But of course, there is much more than that.

As we know, the good and playable planeswalkers are the ones that can protect themselves. Elspeth, Knight-Errant for example was good because of this. Or Sarkhan Vol wasn't good only because of this (he wasn't able to protect himself). And Liliana of the Veil is another planeswalker that can protect herself from harm; even from creatures with Hexproof such as Dungrove Elder or Thrun, the Last Troll. And that's a perfect start.

But her first ability is also very useful if used in the right deck. You clearly won't get the most out of her in your average  Control deck. Because in such a deck, even that excessive land you have in your hand is precious. Those kind of decks win with card advantage and this version of Liliana is absolutely the worst nightmare for such decks.

But what happens if you play her in a deck that wants to discard its cards? What happens if the cards you discard are cards like Skaab Ruinator, Think Twice or Unburial Rites? Yes dear readers, in that kind of a deck she will work like a charm. And actually that kind of a deck looks like to the best deck to use her; at least at the moment.

In short and simple words: Liliana of the Veil will be incredibly useful in Solar Flare. Solar Flare will be a good deck in Standard not only because of Forbidden Alchemy but also because of Liliana of the Veil. And please do not forget dear readers that Sun Titan can get her back from the graveyard as well.

 

NUMBER #1
Snapcaster Mage

Actually Snapcaster Mage wasn't going to be my number one. For a long time I had Liliana of the Veil in my mind as my number one card of this list. But then something has happened; I actually played Snapcaster Mage. And then, only then, I fully realized his potential.

I first tried him in a Solar Flare deck. And thanks to him, it felt great to have this below card in my deck:

Day of Judgment -
Sorcery
Destroy all creatures.
Flashback

This below was another very nice spell in that deck:

Dissipate -
Instant
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into his owner's graveyard.
Flashback

And finally this below was also very interesting:

Doom Blade -
Instant
Destroy target nonblack creature.
Flashback

So yes, these and some other "new" spells with flashback made me realize the true potential of Snapcaster Mage.

I also tested him in Legacy a bit as well. I have this mono Blue deck there and just because Mental Misstep is not allowed anymore, I replaced them with Snapcaster Mage to see what happens. And I saw one thing: Surely Brainstorm is nice but Brainstorm with flashback is nicer. Spell Snare or Counterspell are both nice, but the same spells with flashback are much nicer.

As I said above, he wasn't my number one for a long time but theory is one thing and practice is another. And practice showed me why people were that hyped about him. So yes, I saw the potential of Snapcaster Mage. It's not possible to put him any other place than number one. He's simply awesome.

And now that I'm finished with the countdown, it's time for...

 

THE PODIUMS

What good is a set review without the podiums dear readers? Of course that is not possible and here are they (yes, "they", because there are more than one):

THE SPIKE PODIUM
BEST CARD OF INNISTRAD MY FAVORITE OF INNISTRAD BEST ART OF INNISTRAD BEST FLAVOR TEXT OF INNISTRAD

Last week I told you that Bloodgift Demon is my favorite card of the set. And no, I wasn't lying. I will fully enjoy him in my ISD Block decks and I'm sure he will win me lots of packs there.

THE JOHNNY PODIUM
BEST CARD OF INNISTRAD MY FAVORITE OF INNISTRAD BEST ART OF INNISTRAD BEST FLAVOR TEXT OF INNISTRAD

Any card that forces players to think outside of the box is custom tailored for Johnnies. And Mirror-Mad Phantasm is such a card. It's original, fun and open to abuse. But my favorite Johnny card is Rooftop Storm as I said last week. I will definitely try it with Conspiracy in Modern.

Finally Tree of Redemption has more than just fine art. Any card that makes you say "Whoa, what?!" when you first see it is nice, and I'm sure Johnnies will make interesting decks using this Tree with that fat a... uhm, fat toughness I mean. The new Disciple of Griselbrand would be a nice start for example!

THE TIMMY PODIUM
BEST CARD OF INNISTRAD MY FAVORITE OF INNISTRAD BEST ART OF INNISTRAD BEST FLAVOR TEXT OF INNISTRAD

Innistrad is full with goodies for Timmies and I'm sure that they are the ones who will enjoy this set the most.

And finally I have the podium for those who are just like me:

THE JOHNNY/SPIKE PODIUM
BEST CARD OF INNISTRAD MY FAVORITE OF INNISTRAD BEST ART OF INNISTRAD BEST FLAVOR TEXT OF INNISTRAD

I really will try Laboratory Maniac in Modern together with Leveler. Most probably I will once again fail miserably (as I usually do), but I like trying and I like the challenge. At the very least, I will end up with a nice and original Tier-1,5 Modern deck.

 

AND THAT WAS INNISTRAD

Yes, it was. And now that theory is finished, we can start enjoying the cards as well. The set will come to MTGO in a short time and from my testing so far, I know that it's really awesome. Which actually brings me to...

 

NEXT WEEK ON ROGUE PLAY
Horror Lurks Within Block, Part I

As I always do after my set reviews, I will be back next week with my ISD Block article. Werewolves, Vampires and Humans are obvious decks. But surely there are more options. And starting with next week, I will show you the nice possibilities for the upcoming new format called ISD Block.

Thanks for reading.

See you online
Nafiz Erman, aka Lord Erman

9 Comments

I like your assessment of this set by apaulogy at Tue, 10/04/2011 - 12:08
apaulogy's picture
5

I think you have an eye for what is ACTUALLY good. I especially like your reviews on Skaab Ruinator, Garruk 3, Forbidden Alchemy, and Snapcaster Mage.

Good work, sir.

Based on the rules I read, by Alternate at Tue, 10/04/2011 - 17:13
Alternate's picture
4

Based on the rules I read, you cannot cast Myr Superion using Heartless Summoning. It has to be cast by creatures or through Birthing Pod (In Standard at least)

I would put heartless summoning closer to the top because it leads to endless combo's especially a really fun one in standard.

You can use 2 of them in an infect deck or new Valakut deck.

If I was still allowed to write here, I would go over it, but you can make a deck where you get Rage Thrower to more than 2 toughness, 2 heartless summonings, and then Corpse Cur. It means that you will play corpse cur for free, it's ability would go on the stack, you can then bring it back to your hand, and recast it for free, which is a good way of getting around mana leak, and if they use doom blade or dismember, it would still be on the stack and you would just return it to your hand.

As you are constantly recasting it, you opponent takes 2 damage each time you play it and return it to your hand.

It also works in the new U/B infect deck where you use the same combo except you use Hand of the Preators instead. Use a card like Mask of Avacyn to make it a 4/4 with hexproof, and then cast your Corpse Cur unlimited times to do 10 poison counters.

**And yes, I have talked to someone at WofC to see if this would work, and they agreed.

You can use Blue with it to counter, or you can black to use poison. But if you play red, you can use the very valuable Infernal Plunge with cards like Memnite.
Either way, I think the Corpse Cur 2 Hearless summonings.Dek is the New Valakut and pretty badass. Oh and there is black draw with altar's reap that also helps if you don't want to play U/B and go B/R.

And you did you mention using the card that wins you the game if you can't draw,but what about using Mirror-Mad Phantasm? That's the only STD way of that working. But I would put that lower on the list and include Lantern Spirit. It's a 2/1 flyer for 3 and can be brought back to your hand for just 1. Imagine that with Equipment versus a Black Control Deck or burn deck. I just like the card. 2/1 flyer, can be a blocker for almost everything, and with the right equipment, can do some serious damage.

And sorry for the long post, but weren't you the person who said that Sundial of the Infinite would be the most broken card ever? I remember someone wrote a massive article just on that card and I have never seen it used. I was to use it just to see if it works.

Myr Superion works with by Lord Erman at Wed, 10/05/2011 - 00:55
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Myr Superion works with Heartless Summoning. I was the one who wrote that article about Sundial.

Thanks for the long post.

LE

Superion Works with Heartless by RoninX at Wed, 10/05/2011 - 01:20
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Superion Works with Heartless Summoning. You aren't spending any mana on it.

**edit. Beaten to the punch.

I guess those that can't by ShardFenix at Wed, 10/05/2011 - 02:14
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I guess those that can't do..troll? lol jk kinda

Anyways , great article LE, nice look at heartless summoning. I know I got destroyed by a UB Heartless deck on innistrad's release day he was running leaks, and then wurmcoils, ragers, sphinxs and bloodgift demons. so harsh.

So speaks the mouth of by Paul Leicht at Wed, 10/05/2011 - 02:24
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So speaks the mouth of experience :p J/k sorta :) Write more.

If I had more MTGO stuff to by ShardFenix at Wed, 10/05/2011 - 13:19
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If I had more MTGO stuff to write about I would...sadly I've transitioned back to the paper world. Found a playgroup for EDH and a pretty awesome store for FNM.

Isn't EDH that format where by Ranth at Wed, 10/05/2011 - 16:25
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Isn't EDH that format where you just make 100 custom art proxies and then everyone wonders wtf everyone else is playing :p
j/k of course But you know i hadda give ya a rough time shard you need come back and play more MTGO :D

I might sign back in this by ShardFenix at Wed, 10/05/2011 - 17:20
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I might sign back in this weekend for a bit since its fall break here and i have 4 days of free time