Homebrew Pick of the Week: M10 Dual Lands

Once the new Zendikar fetch lands were spoiled at PAX it became abundantly clear why the dual lands in M10 were dependent on having basic lands in play to be efficient. Once you can fetch the land of your choice and then play one of these puppies on T2 untapped you will be in hog heaven. The mana bases post Zendikar will be unlike anything we have seen in type II for quite some time. I just got excited and had to feature the M10 duals in preparation for Zendikar release posts.

Strengths:
- Allied color dual land

- Has the capacity to come into play untapped

- More beginner-friendly drawback when compared to the previous core-set pain lands

Weaknesses:

- Does not jive particularly well with the current standard decks that are heavy in the non-basic land department

- Can come into play tapped and slow your tempo way down if you are stuck without a basic

- There is currently no strong enemy color dual lands that have good synergy with these M10 duals ( even though we all know fetch lands are coming back in Zendikar!!!!!)

Abusability:

- Not abusable compared to the vivid lands but still have immense strength. They were strong enough to alter type II by having more decks play an increased number of basic lands.

- Once Zendikar is released the true power of these lands will be quickly realized and they will become even more useful in type II and beyond


Please comment, email (homebrew.magic@gmail.com) or tweet (@homebrew_magic) any constructive criticism you have pertaining to this or any of my posts. Your input is both needed and appreciated. Keep on brewing!

Homebrew Pick of the Week: Nulltread Gargantuan!

I realized after reading though my posts that my picks are much more mainstream than I originally intended. The next few posts will deal with cards that are a little bit outside the mainstream. After messing around with my Merfolk deck now that M10 is live I was thinking about the viability of a green / blue deck in current type two play environment. There are some funny / effective cards in standard that fall under these two colors including Winged Coatl and Nulltread Gargantuan, the latter of which is this weeks Pick of the Week! Or possibly a green / blue / red deck! It would suck to try and make a mana base for that but still! Hmmm… anyway back to the Nulltread Gargantuan!




Strengths:

- 5 / 6 for three mana.. one of which is colorless!

- Colors are perfect for some sort of blue-green or bant aggro-ish ramp-ish deck.. Works well in a slower type aggro where you aren’t doing much creature-wise before turn three

Weaknesses:

- Drawback: works against most ramp-style decks because you have to bounce your accelerator..

Abusability:

- Birds of Paradise or Noble Hierarch on turn one and then play your Gargantuan on turn two! Then you can drop the Noble Hierarch again on turn three to boost your Gargantuan's attack to six!

- Play your Bloodbraid Elf and then the next turn play your Gargantuan and put your elf back on top to get it ready for another two-for-one on your next turn. You can get two Bloodbraid effects by turn five with just the elf, your Gargantuan and an accelerator.

- Use your Gargantuan to get any unwanted counters / auras off of a creature you control.

-Play Kitchen Finks and block a fatty. You gain the life twice then you bounce it with your Gargantuan and then play it again the next turn!

I’ve slept since the ARB release so I cant remember whether or not there was much hype / hate towards this card but it has been completely under my radar. I didn’t even remember it existed until I took another look at the sortable card list for ARB! I think it does have potential if you use it right. I’ve read it like a hundred times trying to figure out any reason why I shouldn’t be playing this card. It has tons of synergy with other cards that are extremely relevant in today's standard and it works well at any point during your match. Early, middle, late game? It doesn't matter! I will be back tomorrow (because I’m so behind!) with a Homebrew Decklist built around this lovable lil fela’. THAT IS ALL.

Please comment, email (homebrew.magic@gmail.com) or tweet (@homebrew_magic) any constructive criticism you have pertaining to this or any of my posts. Your input is both needed and appreciated. Keep on Brewing!

(Links and Pictures provided by Wizards of the Coast Inc)

Homebrew Pick of the Week: Meddling Mage

This week I decided to highlight one of the more notorious cards released in the Alara Reborn set: Meddling Mage. MM is a very interesting card and is pretty powerful in its own right but when combined with other certain other spells it makes for an even more explosive play environment.



Strengths:

- Efficient cost to power ratio: 2/2 for 2 mana with an amazing ability
- Combines well with numerous existing cards that let you look at an opponent’s hand
(Thoughtseize, Tidehollow Sculler, Telepathy, Vendilion Clique)

- Takes entire decks out of the game (i.e.-Swans)

- Its 2 power makes it a great Lark Target

- Can play it early to take out opponent’s early drops

Weaknesses:

- Dies to mass DD cards like Volcanic Fallout (of course you could just name Volcanic Fallout when you play your mage ;))

- Dies to every popular removal card (this isn’t really a negative because most cards do, but it is an inherent weakness in small, non-black and non artifact creatures)

- Is a creature doing an enchantment’s job and most of the time creatures are more “fragile” permanents.

Abusability:

- Play in a deck designed to take an opponent’s hand out of the game with cards like Scullers, Thoughtseizes and other various discard-type cards

- Take a Peek at your opponents hand and then chose the most strategic target using that information

- You have Telepathy out. Use your Path (or other removal) on your Lark after an opponent draws a bomb to return meddling mage to play naming that spell which forces them to drop it on the spot (if it’s an instant) or not be able to play it at all. Plus if you used Path, you get land advantage as well.

- Same as above except with Makeshift Mannequin instead of your Lark retrieving your MM from the Graveyard.


I probably haven’t even come close to showcasing the power of this card but it is something to think about as you are building control decks designed to keep your opponent from playing their win conditions. I will speak more about the synergies of the card along with the other cards I’ve mentioned throughout this post when I put the Homebrew Decklist up for this week. It should be a fun four color (W,B,U,R) “Hand Destruction” with some great discard/removal cards to go along with the powerful control of Meddling Mage.

Please comment, email (homebrew.magic@gmail.com) or tweet (@homebrew_magic) any constructive criticism you have pertaining to this or any of my posts. Your input is both needed and appreciated. Happy Brewing!

Homebrew Pick of the Week: Bloodbraid Elf

This week I decided to pick a card that has caused quite a stir in constructed deck building since its release 2 months ago as part of the Alara Reborn expansion set...

Bloodbraid Elf is filled to the brim with potential and that potential has not gone unnoticed by the Magic community. A new deck called "Five Color Blood" has been surfacing at the most recent Grand Prix, Regionals and Pro Tour events and has been doing extremely well. It has great matchups against other popular decks that are currently being piloted by tournament goers. The "Cascade" ability along with its potential to hit for 3 hasty points of damage as soon as it enters the battlefield are what makes this card extremely potent and explosive. With a converted mana cost of 4 it has the ability to dig into your bag of tricks and pull out some of the best spells and play them for free. That being said, on to the bullet points!!

Strengths

• Haste- It can hit hard and fast for 3 as soon as it enters the battlefield.


• Cascade- Can go in and grab your other powerful spells with a converted mana cost of 3 or less and go to town!


• Red/Green Coloration- Some of the best cards in Standard are red and green (and black) and Bloodbraid Elf plays nicely with all of them. It fits perfectly in R/G , R/B (with splash green), Jund and Four color builds in addition to the popular Five color builds.

Weaknesses

• Deck Building- One must remain cautious while building decks around cascade cards because you never know what you are going to get while flipping cards off the top of your deck. For this reason the Five Color Blood decks that are surfacing have very specific 3,2 and 1 drops aimed at complimenting the cascade ability. This is not really a weakness of the card but you really have to think about your deckbuilding strategy to get the most out of it.

Abusability

• Three for One's: Cascade from a card like Bituminous Blast into Bloodbraid Elf for a three-for-one combo. I especially like the cascading into a Kitchen Finks :)


• Cascade into Removal: Cascade into a Maelstrom Pulse or other cheap removal cards to decimate their defences before attacking with your hasty Green/Red Creatures


• Hasty Creatures: Cascade into other hasty creatures such as Boggart Ram-Gang or Jund Hackblade for blisteringly fast aggro bum rushes!


• Direct Damage and Control: Cascade into powerful direct damage and/or control spells like Blightning or Incinerate to get some extra damage in for free.

This card makes for some awesome plays and can really turn a game around if you are in a pinch. The fact that the cascade ability goes off even if they decide to counter your elf (cascade triggers when you play the spell not when it resolves) forces your control-playing opponents to make difficult decisions about how to play their counter spells. I'm not surprised that so many decks are being built around this card and I'm excited to see what it can do with the new Magic: 2010 cards. Later this week for the Hombrew Decklist I will showcase a Jund Cascade list that I've been messing around with for a while. Should be pretty interesting!

Homebrew Pick of the Week: Breath of Malfegor

Since WoTC has been paying more attention to multiplayer interaction lately I thought it would be appropriate to highlight one of the more fun cards that made its debut as part of the Alara Reborn set. Without further ado I present: Breath of Malfegor



I know what you are thinking..OK maybe I don't but I know what I'm thinking..OK maybe I don't but you have to admit that this card is funny. Hitting each opponent for five damage in a multiplayer game is kinda ridiculous (and also slightly suicidal!). It's definitely not be the strongest card when you are looking for a good price-to-burn ratio in a one-on-one matchup. The ironic thing is that it's still more efficient than some older burn spells from back in the day when Magic made you pay dearly for your powerful spells. Yeah nobody really misses those days.. Anyway, there are plenty of ways to exploit this card in the standard multiplayer environment. My two-headed giant partner cracked one of these at the Alara Reborn pre-release and it evened up the field and helped us make up a lot of ground in more than a few matches!

Strengths:

- 5-5 Cost-Damage ratio

- Can hit more than one opponent in a multiplayer match

- Light coloration (only 2 out of the 5 mana in the cost are colored)

Weaknesses:

-Cost-Damage ratio is fair but not as efficient as others in standard

Ways to Abuse:

-Twincast it to deal ten damage to each opponent in a multiplayer match

- Cascade into it with Bituminous Blast for an explosive nine damage to one opponent and five to the rest.

Later this week I will post a decklist built around this card for my weekly "Hombrew Decklist". I'm thinking Grixis colors with "each player" hand destruction, some Twincasts, a few burn spells and a Malfegor or two. Should be an interesting deck and I am excited to try it out in my local multiplayer group.

(Picture and links provided by Wizards of the Coast inc.)

Homebrew Pick of the Week

So after reviewing my "Card of the Day" posts (or lack there of) I decided to just do a weekly post about a card and then do another post about building a deck around that card. This week's card is one of the most built around cards in the current standard and is probably one of the most fun cards to play in the last few sets. Without further delay I present: Reveilark!

Reveillark is an amazingly versatile card that can be useful and abusable in a hundred different situations. You can pretty much do anything you want to it or with it. Many people will be sad to see it go when the Lorwyn block rotates out of standard in October.

Strengths:

-4/3 Flyer for 5 with a strong ability

-See "Ways to Abuse" section for more

Weakness:

-Used best in decks that don't ramp (however there would be no need to ramp into it because you would have no target for its ability)

-Can only run 4 of these per deck :)

Ways to Abuse:

-Evoke- Can evoke it to instantly gain the advantage of it's ability.

-Beat for 4 until someone blocks or uses a spot removal and then get 2 creatures from the graveyard into play

-Use to Path to Exile to make use of its ability and ramp at the same time

-Use Fulminator Mage to decimate your opponents land and then get him back via lark to do it all over again ( good vs most decks in standard because they all run tons of non-basic land)

-Ranger of Eos to Flamekin Harbinger to Reveillark and equivalent strategies make decks like boat brew insanely powerful/efficient

-Use Turn to Mist to blink your Lark in and out of play to keep it on the field but also gain the advantage of its ability ( this was even better when Momentary Blink was still in standard).

-Brings back Figures of Destiny or equivalant buffable beater and then pump them for an efficient beatdown strategy

-Brings back token producers like Siege-Gang Commander

So basically there are numerous ways to abuse the power of Reveillark making it one of the most used cards in the current standard meta. I think that after Alara Reborn this card has only gotten stronger in blue white decks and possibly green white as well. It will be interesting to see how the meta changes as Alara Reborn starts to be incorporated into current type two decks with the abundance of great lark targets in every color. I'm especially interested in seeing how the meta changes in October when the new set causes the Lorwyn block to phase out. It is definitely going to change the face of standard significantly.