In Contention #52 – Top 10 Modern Cards

This week, Sam, Kranny and Reuben discuss the top 10 most influential cards for the current Modern format.

Follow us on twitter at @inconention

Sam at @samstod
Kranny at @kstube
Reuben at @badcorehardass

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In Contention #51

Kranny and Sam discuss the update to the Modern format, and what it will look like.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In Contention ‘Bonus’ Gencon episode

We recorded an episode about Gen Con, FTV: Legends, and Modern mere hours before the PT: Philly and the banned/restricted announcement game out, making most of the modern talk obsolete. Still, there was some good discussion, so we posted it as is.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Cube Draft Walkthrough with Kyle Engleson

Hello! My name is Kyle Engleson, a compulsive cube drafter and enthusiast, and earlier this week on Twitter I asked if there would be any interest in a cube draft walkthrough. Thankfully, the interest was there and Kranny offered to host the article.

The cube used in this draft is 540 cards, built to support 12 players, but regularly hosting 6-8. I like the additional flexibility the larger cube size has over a 360 card cube. Today we did a team draft, with teams chosen at random after the draft. For this draft we tried something new. We implemented the “1 Planeswalker per drafter” rule, meaning we separated all of the Planeswalkers, made 44 card stacks, and then shuffled one Planeswalker into each. That way, players won’t automatically know where their Planeswalker is, and everyone is guaranteed to open at least one. I’m not sure if we’ll keep the method, but we wanted to try it out. My cube list can be found here.

Pack 1 – Pick 1

Aeon Chronicler Student of Warfare Soltari Priest Chandra Nalaar Decree of Pain Orzhov Basilica Contested War Zone Tectonic Edge Lotus Cobra Profane Command Hypnotic Specter Grave Titan Daze Kagemaro, First to Suffer Mystifying Maze

In Contention Deck Tech: Post and Nail for Modern

In Contention Deck Tech: Post and Nail for Modern

By: Kranny

The Magic community is abuzz with discussion on the up-and-coming Modern format. Without so much as a single tournament to draw results on and a vastly different card pool than Legacy and Extended, the format is just about as wide open as it could possibly be. In our last couple blog posts, Sam and Reuben explored Gifts Control and Exarch Combo, but I’m more interested in resolving 7 mana spells. The two decks I have my eye on are Ideal and Tooth and Nail. In this post I’m going to go over a few different builds of Tooth and Nail that I’ll be throwing against the gauntlet and my thoughts on how it might fare in the new format.

When building around a card that has already seen tournament play, it’s a good idea to benchmark against previous decks. In this case, however, I don’t believe previous tournament results are going to be very useful. The tournament data is nearly 8 years old – from a time when Affinity was the deck to beat – our card pool is about five times as large, and our kill conditions and acceleration will look completely different. The only real similarity is the fact we’re looking to resolve a big spell as early as we possibly can. On the other hand, I think it’s important to look at the lists to understand the number of Tooth targets, accelerants, and Wrath/removal effects. That being said, let’s look at the core components of our Ideal Tooth list.

Post and Nail Deck Components

4 Tooth and Nail

Seems reasonable enough. We don’t have access to any good tutor effects, so running any less than four of our deck’s namesake is just cutting corners.

The Creatures

When Tooth was still in Standard and Extended, it ran a number of kill conditions:

Triskelion + Mephidross Vampire

Sundering Titan + Darksteel Colossus

Yosei, the Morning Star + Yosei, the Morning Star

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Anything

There were a few other configurations, but this should give you a good idea of what the deck has had access to in the past. In most cases, 5-6 good Tooth targets were ideal. So what has changed?

The first thing we need to remember is that we want to win as soon as we resolve our Tooth and Nail. This means cute stuff like Trike + Vampire or double Yoseis probably isn’t going to be good enough. I believe Sundering Titan and Kiki-Jiki still have a place in the deck, but I think we’re looking at an entirely new school of win conditions this time around.

Iona, Shield of Emeria + Painter’s Servant

Blightsteel Colossus + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Pestermite/Sky Hussar + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn + Mountain Goat (does it really matter?)

Our new plan is to either completely lock our opponent out of casting spells the rest of the game, poison them with a giant Colossus, or attack for a billion damage with Hussar/Pestermite tokens. It’s pretty safe to say that if we resolve our Tooth, our opponent isn’t going to have much of a shot of winning the game. The number and type of kill conditions we play should not be affected by the colors our decks play, but it’s always nice to be able to hard cast them should we get our Tooths Extirpated or Thoughtseized away.

The Mana Engine

There used to be two schools of thought on the best way to power out Tooth. You were either on Team Urzatron or Team Cloudpost. Lucky for us, we have 4 more Loci in the format which makes our decision pretty easy. I believe the 12-post shell is the best way to go for this deck. Not only do we have a way to consistently power out early Tooths, but we can randomly cast our Blightsteels and Emrakuls with relative ease. The ideal manabase should start with:

4 Cloudpost

4 Glimmerpost

4 Vesuva

Depending on the build, we can fill in the blanks with the necessary number of fixing to power out the rest of our spells. Many lists used to run Kodama’s Reach, Sakura Tribe Elder, Reap and Sow, and Sylvan Scrying. Nowadays we have a few more tools added to our arsenal like Tolaria West, Expedition Map and the ever powerful Primeval Titan which make finding our posts much easier. I believe we should use some number of fixers and land tutors to ensure we hit the necessary post pieces and fixing for our utility spells.

Stayin’ Alive

The modern format has a TON of Wrath effects and other various ways to stay alive. Here’s a short list of some possibilities:

All is Dust

Wrath of God / Day of Judgement / Damnation

Engineered Explosives

Oblivion Stone

Firespout / Pyroclasm

Gideon Jura

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Pollen Lullaby / Fog Effects

Here’s where not having a format to build for is going to hurt us. If the format is packed full of aggro decks, then we might want to build to be able to run Firespout, Explosives, or a 4cc Wrath. If the format is a Planeswalker-fest, then All is Dust / O-Stone might be better. At this point we can really only theorize on what decks will be good, so I don’t believe there is a right configuration just yet, but it’s good to know we have options.

Protecting the Combo / Forcing the Combo

Traditionally Tooth has done a pretty poor job of forcing the combo through. Occasionally you might see list sporting an off Counterspell or discard, but Tooth is a pretty big tapout deck and doesn’t usually have mana available when it’s going for the kill. Here are some options:

Boseiju, Who Shelters All

Thoughtseize / Inquisition / Duress

Silence

Remand / Spell Snare / Condescend

Land Destruction

The list is pretty weak, isn’t it? Boseiju is pretty good, but when you’re trying to resolve a 9-mana spell, there just isn’t room for spells on the turn you’re going off. With this deck you should only have to resolve 1-2 of your big spells in order for you to win. With so few hard counters in the format, true control decks will have a tought time doing this. That being said, I think we’ll have some good SB options for decks which might give us trouble in resolving our spells.

Other Interesting Cards

This deck has access to a LOT of mana very early one which means we can play cards which we wouldn’t dream of trying to hard cast in other decks.

Duplicant

Karn, Liberated

Mindslaver

Platinum Angel

Phyrexian Metamorph

Platinum Emperion

Terastodon

We will definitely want some number of these between the maindeck and sideboard, but we can tweak the numbers based on what kind of meta we can expect.

The Decks

Almost Mono Green Post and Nail

Creatures 4 Primeval Titan 1 Terastodon 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria 1 Painters Servant 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 4 Wall of Roots 4 Overgrown Battlement Spells 4 Tooth and Nail 1 Karn, Liberated 2 Garruk Wildspeaker 4 Reap and Sow 2 Expedition Map 3 Harmonize 3 All is Dust Land 4 Glimmerpost 4 Cloudpost 4 Vesuva 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 6 Forest 1 Eye of Ugin 4 Horizon Canopy Sideboard 1 Platinum Emperion 1 Duplicant 1 Sundering Titan 1 All is Dust 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All 3 Dismember 3 Krosan Grip 4 Chalice of the Void

This is a pretty straightforward mono green list. It’s built to power out Titans early and then follow it up with the Iona + Painter lock or simply just hardcasting Emrakul. This list should be able to beat most aggro and mid-range decks, but combo is going to be an uphill battle. Until we see which decks are at the top of the heap, we can only theorize on sideboard slots.

U/G Post and Nail

Creatures 3 Trinket Mage 2 Primeval Titan 1 Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker 1 Blightsteel Colossus 2 Pestermite Spells 4 Tooth and Nail 4 Preordain 2 Ponder 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 3 Expedition Map 2 Engineered Explosives 4 Simic Signet 1 Chalice of the Void 2 Oblivion Stone 1 All is Dust Land 4 Cloudpost 4 Glimmerpost 4 Vesuva 4 Breeding Pool 3 Misty Rainforest 3 Forest 2 Island 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All Sideboard 3 Echoing Truth 4 Mental Misstep 3 Chalice of the Void 1 Duplicant 2 Krosan Grip 1 Academy Ruins 1 Platinum Emperion

This list is a little slower but with a few more tricks if it can’t stick the combo. The sideboard is much better suited to fight combo decks, though it loses some of the tools to stave off aggro beatings, namely the Walls.

I will be testing this list with the rest of the In Contention team over the next few weeks as we gear up for some more video features and other articles on the modern format. After it’s been tuned, I will provide more commentary on how the list performs, sideboarding strategies, and other various builds. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section, and thanks for reading!

-Kranny

@kstube on Twitter

Modern Times #1 – Twin and Win

Modern Times #1 – Twin and Win

By Reuben Bresler

In my early attempts to discover what the future of Modern will look like, I first wanted to look at the possibilities of combo. There hasn’t been a combo deck in Standard since Alan Comer’s Distant Melody Elves, and combo in Legacy is a completely different animal with free counterspells like Force of Will and Daze lurking around every Island. The only free counterspells in Modern (that I can think of) are Disrupting Shoal, Mental Misstep and Mindbreak Trap. I believe this will make combo a much more attractive option.

Of all of the combo decks I have played in large events, I have had the most success with two-card combo such as Painter’s Grindstone. Luckily, there are more than a few options in that category.

There’s no shortage of two-card combos in Modern. First there’s Vampire Hexmage and… oh, Dark Depths is banned? No matter, there’s still Thopter Foundry and… oh, Sword of the Meek is banned too? Huh. That’s a problem.

In addition, there are no really good tutors in Modern. The only serviceable ones are Infernal Tutor, cards with Transmute and… that’s about it. The fact that the only good tutors in Modern are really clunky 2- and 3-mana sorceries makes them very unattractive to me. Cards like Ponder and Preordain are a lot better cards in a vacuum, but just because you have them doesn’t mean they’re going to get you there every time. This means that a lot of redundancy is going to be needed to reliably get to any combo.

Which brings us to our deck, which doesn’t just have redundancy.

It has redundant redundancy.

Double Twin

SPELLS 4 Deceiver Exarch 4 Pestermite 4 Spellskite 3 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 2 Reveillark 4 Splinter Twin 4 Ponder 4 Preordain 4 Condescend 3 Mental Misstep 3 Thirst for Knowledge LAND 4 Cascade Bluffs 4 Scalding Tarn 3 Misty Rainforest 3 Island 3 Mountain 3 Steam Vents 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Sacred Foundry

Look at all that delicious redundancy!

What we have here is Deceiver Exarch/Splinter Twin, a combo from the current Zendikar and Scars of Mirrodin block Standard environment, and Pestermite/Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, an Extended combo from a deck affectionately know as ‘Pestermite Get There.’ The beautiful thing is that both pieces are interchangeable, doubling the odds of drawing either half of the combo.

Obviously, this deck runs Ponder and Preordain. Not as obvious is Thirst for Knowledge and Remand, which perform different tasks as well as dig into the combo pieces. Remand gives us an early Counterspell that replaces itself (it’s possibly that Condescend would work here as well, digging deeper into our deck but not replacing itself). Thirst for Knowledge is not only to draw deep into our deck at instant speed, it allows us to put and of the creatures into the graveyard… for our 2-of, Reveillark. If the game goes long and our opponents have a lot of answers, Reveillark is a great late game parity breaker that can also win the game right then and there.

Sideboard options are varied. It is likely that Spell Snares go in to fight scary 2-drops like Stoneforge Mystic,  Bitterblossom, Gaddock Teeg and Dark Confidant (and opposing Spellskites). Gigadrowse or Reality Ripple are good ways to tap down mana that could stop the combo as well as holding off aggressive creatures. Depeding on the type of aggro decks, Pyroclasm, Slagstorm, Firespout or Volcanic Fallout are all options, as well as targeted elimination like Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile. Mindbreak Trap will be very good for dealing with Storm decks and Elves, which are likely to pop up.

Chalice of the Void is a very interesting option as well, since it would shut off many troublesome spells like Thoughtseize, Surgical Extraction, Path to Exile, Inquisition of Kozilek, Despise, Pithing Needle and most importantly the Split Second spell Extirpate. In fact, many of the worst cards for us cost 1 mana. Even things like Nature’s Claim or Lightning Bolt would throw us off course. This, of course, makes our Ponders and Preordains really bad, but it’s worth thinking about.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this first foray into Modern. Tune in for the next ‘Modern Times,’ when I discuss another combo possibility: Dragonstorm.

Until then, stay in contention.

Reubs

@BadcoreHardass on Twitter

Gifts Rock in Modern – First Draft

Gifts Ungiven is a card that has fallen out of favor in recent years. When Champions of Kamigawa came out, it was thought of as one of the best cards in the set, and had a large impact on standard, extended, and vintage. Nowadays, though, it’s a $3 rare most often seen in EDH cube. I hope Modern can change that, because this card deserves to its rightful place as one of the best engine-enablers ever printed.

The first deck I decided to experiment with was Gifts Rock. This is a deck that was quite popular about five-years ago in extended, and it used Gifts Ungiven to fill the graveyard up with powerful cards, and then use them to gain incremental card advantage turn after turn. Getting Genesis seems kind of quaint now, as the engine cards we have are even better than before. Imagine, against an aggro deck, getting this package:

Punishing Fire
Grove of the Burnwillows
Worm Harvest
Life from the Loam

It isn’t the fastest in the world, but you will be able to grind out most creatures-based strategies.

Against control decks, you can get this package:

Life from the Loam
Raven’s Crime
Worm Harvest
Tectonic Edge

Assuming you can hit your 5th land drop, you get to Raven’s Crime and Tectonic Edge them each turn, until they are out of cards or lands.

The biggest problem for the deck is combo. Assuming you are still alive, you have to go for the same package as above, and just start Raven’s Criming them until you run them out of cards.

I also knew that I wanted to play a deck with Engineered Explosives. After working on my mana base, it was also quickly clear that I would be able to support a few Shackles, which is one of the most underrated cards in the format right now. The card is amazing, and you can expect to see a lot of it when the format is finally being played en-mass.

I call this a draft version, because I know it isn’t close to finished, but I wanted to get a general idea of what the deck would look like, play it a few times and figure out what had to change. Here is what I tested on MTGO:

Gifts Rock Draft -1

Engine Spells:11

3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Raven’s Crime
4 Punishing Fire

1 Worm Harvest
2 Life from the Loam

Awesome Spells:11

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Thoughtseize
2 Vedalken Shackles

Creatures: 11

4 Sakura-Tribe Elders
3 Eternal Witness
4 Tarmogoyf

Lands:27

4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tombs
1 Watery Graves
1 Mouth of Ronom
1 Stomping Ground
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
4 Breeding Pool
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Academy Ruins
3 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Forest

Sideboard

2 Engineered Explosives
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Worm Harvest
2 Raven’s Crime
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Damnation
3 Kitchen Finks

After board, you get Grudge to deal with Stoneforge Mystic decks, extra Crimes to help out against combo (when you NEED to be able to empty their hand very quickly) and your deck is just chalk-full of ways to deal with aggro. Probably too many ways.

This is definitely a work in progress, but I like the general idea of it, and I was happy with it’s performance, though it became obvious in my games that I am going to need more black mana. Boarding into Damnation is powerful, but in many games I ended up struggling to get BB, and I also had problems Raven’s Criming more than twice a turn. It pretty much wiped the floor with aggro strategies, though Goyf and Knight of the Reliquary are hard to deal with. You can kill them, but it isn’t easy, and a lot of the Knight decks are running one Bog which can ruin your day.

I also think I am running too many colorless lands. I like the Edge, and I like the Ruins, but the Mouth is probably too much. By the time it comes online, it’s just not able to kill the creatures you need it to kill. There are plenty of ways that I feel that this deck can evolve, and I’m going to be banging them around over the next week to see which one proves to be the strongest.

Goals for the next draft of the deck:

1 – Figure out a way to better smooth out the mana base to allow for Damnation and Raven’s Crime to have a bigger impact earlier in the game
2- Improve the combo matchup
3-Figure out a way to incorporate Malestrom Pulse
4- Work to improve the creature suite.

In Contention Videocast #5 – 1v1 Winchester Cube Draft

In this videocast Reubs and Kranny explore a format that has become increasingly popular over the last few months: Winchester!

In Contention Videocast #6 – Cube Shuffling, Sorting and Pack Creation

In this video episode of In Contention, Reubs and Kranny discuss shuffling and sorting methods for cube. They also review various methods of making and distrubuting packs.

NMS 8-4 Draft Video with Chris Barna

In this video, Chris Barna, a regular drafter with the In Contention crew, takes us through an 8-man 8-4 NMS draft on MODO. Chris would like to continue doing draft videos, so comments and feedback are appreciated!

Draft

Round 1 – Game 1

Round 1 – Game 2

Round 2 – Game 1

Round 2 – Game 2

In Contention – Episode #50

In this episode of In Contention, Sam, Kranny, and Reuben discuss Standard, Legacy, and the newly announced Modern format and the future of the format. Enjoy!

http://mtgcast.com/?p=19619

Standard’s Least Wanted

The numbers don’t lie. Attendance is WAY down. I went to a PTQ this weekend that had 140 players, which seems like a lot, but we were looking at closer to 240 last year at this time, and it was by far the largest one Professional Events Services has put on this year. They were expecting closer to 80, and would’ve been happy with 100. A Roanoke PTQ earlier in the season at StarCity’s home base hit 30 people. Things are bad, you just can’t deny it anymore. Jon Corpora wrote about is on Ted Knutson’s blog here: http://mixedknuts.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/standard-is-dead-and-other-things-people-like-to-say/

It’s clear that people hate standard right now. The StarCityGames Open series has recently seen the Standard numbers get closer and closer to the Legacy numbers, which is proof that people will play a format if they find it fun and interesting enough. People want to play, but they don’t want to play Standard. It’s clear that something needs to change. The format could auto-correct itself, but I don’t know that people have it in them to really work on it. M12 could fix things, but that seems unlikely. The most likely scenario is that something gets banned in Standard for the first time since the last time we visited Mirrodin. Not that people haven’t clamored for it since, but it never happened. Umezawa’s Jitte was never banned. Bloodbraid Elf was never banned. This would be momentous, and something that Wizards is not taking likely. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the meetings they are having this week, but I would hate to be the one whose shoulders that decision is finally on. No matter what happens, it will be bad for the brand and bad for perception of card values and standard.

So, what could they ban?

Stoneforge Mystic – Public enemy #1. If anything goes, he is first on the list. He lets you do tutor (always a warning sign) and lets you cheat things into play for less than their cost (again, a huge warning sign). Jace may look like he is the backbone of Caw, but it’s really this guy. The downside of it being in an event deck is unfortunate, but they could do a similar exchange program that happened when Urza’s Block created a banned list exceeding 10 cards. Send us your Event Deck Stoneforges, we will send you something in return.

Jace, the Mindsculptor – I’m not sure in what universe Wizards thought this card would be fair. I think he is CLOSE to fair, and if he had started with 2 counters, had a +1 with an ultimate of -8, or -1 Brainstormed, he would have been perfectly fine. As is, he is just too good on every level.  I’m not sure that banning him is correct, as most of the problem is Stoneforge, but it would make Standard far more affordable. The downside is the psychological impact of banning a $70 card, and possibly hurting the faith in the secondary market to the point that people are less willing to invest money in the game, and both Local Games Stores and pack sales hurt as a result.

Splinter Twin – Not a huge problem by itself right now (though, I do believe the TwinBlade decks are the most powerful decks in the format right now), but if Mystic goes, then pretty much every deck will go forward and start abusing it. Over the weekend, I saw UWR TwinBlade, UR Twin, Grixis Twin, RUG Twin and GRwu Birthing Pod/Twin. The combo is powerful enough that it can be justified putting in most any deck.

Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle – Nobody wants to trade a Caw-dominated metagame for a Valakut-dominated, but I think that we have come far enough that the aggro decks will be able to deal with Valakut. The addition of Dismember means that anyone can kill the turn 2 Overgrown Battlement or Lotus Cobra without sacrificing a whole turn, and may make Valakut play honestly. Surgical Extraction + Tectonic Edge may be enough to do the same. It seems fairly reactionary, but I don’t think people would cry about it too much.

Batterskull – The curveball. Batterskull by itself, isn’t a problem. The problem is Mystic cheating him in. Still, without Batterskull, the aggro decks should have a good enough game against Caw that Stoneforge might be able to live out his days ‘only’ getting Feast and Famines, Mortarpods and War and Peaces. It wouldn’t make the Balde decks unplayable, but it would certainly take them down a notch. Again, though, you end up with the unfortunate position of banning a card in standard that is only about a month old. It creates a bad precedent that only ends up hurting the secondary market, and makes people fear picking up the hot new card in a set, since Wizards could just ban it willy-nilly.

In my opinion, there are two correct ban scenarios:

1)      Nothing. While this may seem counter-intuitive, I think that the format is actually quite a bit better now than it was a few months ago. I think in MBS Standard, Stoneforge was 100% ban-worthy, and it would have solved most of the problems we are having with attendance right now. New Phyrexia has, however, brought us a lot of new decks. Plenty of people are having fun trying to break Birthing Bod, Vampires and Mono-Red are both preying on -Blade decks, and we have just enough cards to at least keep the format interesting, even if it isn’t fair. Plus, Wizards may know something about m12 that we don’t, something that will keep -Blade decks from making the summer unfun too.

2)      Stoneforge Mystic and Splinter Twin. Mystic is clearly too good for standard, and is probably too good for Extended too. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him on the final Modern ban list, and we may even see him on a Legacy banned list within a few years. The better equipment gets over time, the more powerful he will become, until something better than Batterskull comes to the party, and then he will be a vintage-only card. Wizards mentioned recently that they missed the Deciever Exarch/Spinter Twin combo in their own FFL. Oops. It’s possible that the Exarch got a last second wording change that made the combo work, or they were just more focused on Caw to worry about a second Jace deck. Who knows, but the combo is incredibly powerful. I think that if Stoneforge alone leaves, then the Twin decks would be able to focus much harder on sideboards, and play cards like Mutagenic Growth to make it even harder for other decks to hate them out, and dealing with problematic cards like Combust.  Replace decks that win on turn 9 with decks than win on turn 4. Doesn’t seem good for the format.

In my opinion, everything else is either too conservative or too far reaching. Banning upwards of four cards would be tantamount to just early-rotating Zendikar block. Jace decks can be held in check by aggro. RUG had a small resurgence near the end of MBS standard just because there were no aggro decks to be found. Once the format has removed the consistent threat of turn 3 Batterskulls, we should be back in an area where a turn 4 Jace is not only easy to answer, but a less scary play for many decks than a turn 4 Day of Judgment.

Everyone seems to be biding their time right now until June 20^th. I’m willing to be that the number of refreshes Dailymtg.com gets on late Sunday night will dwarf anything they’ve seen outside of a preview week in recent memory.  People are waiting for a response from Wizards. Whatever happens, I hope they don’t wait until Friday the 24^th to explain their rationale. People need to know the reasoning behind it right away, not days later. No matter what, Wizard’s is going to lose face with the decision, and the sooner they address it, the better received the decision will be.

Samstod on twitter

Samstoddard at gmail. com

In Contention #48 – in Contention at the SCG Invitational

In this episode, Sam recounts his run at the SCG invitational, then Sam and Kranny discuss the state of Legacy a month after Misstep, as well as Commander and M12 spoilers.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In Contention #47 – Misstepping Legacy

Sam and Kranny put their rant hats on, and talk about the proliferation of blue-control strategies in Legacy, the impact Misstep is having at GP Providence, and the exciting new format Modern.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In Contention #46 – Preparing for the Louisville Open (Ft. Mark Sun)

In this episode of In Contention, Sam, Kranny and special guest, Mark Sun discuss their Standard and Legacy decks they’re bringing to the latest SCG Open tournament in Louisville, Kentucky! Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In Contention Videocast #4 – Winston Draft #3

In Contention Videocast #3 – Winston Cube Draft #2

American Railbird Association Badge Template

We all have those bad beat days where we drive 3 hours just to 0-2 drop. Rather than sulk about, why not ‘chirp’ your teammates to victory? In Contention is pleased to announce that the American Railbird Association is accepting new members! All you need to be a member is to print the ARA badge and write your name in the white space next to the logo.

May your bad beats be few and your chirping lead your teammates to victory.

In Contention #44 – Top 5 Standard and Legacy Picks from New Phyrexia

In this episode of In Contention, Sam and Kranny discuss the implications of having the full set spoiled as early as New Phyrexia was as well as their top 5 New Phyrexia picks for Standard and Legacy. Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The New Phyrexia Cube Review

A full two weeks before the release of New Phyrexia, I’m sitting here looking at the full spoiler. Frankly, I’m not sure how to feel about it. On one hand, I’m very excited to see the new set, but on the other a little disappointed we don’t get to build more excitement. It also really hurts websites that receive cards to preview and deprives them of the attention and traffic they would have likely received by spoiling a card I gotta say I’d be pretty miffed if we got a card to preview and it was spoiled by the…spoiler. Hopefully this is the last set we see something like this happen as it’s not very good for the Magic community.

In any case, what happened is done and over, so we may as well make the best of it. So wipe those tears, fellow Magic players, and let’s talk about what NPH means for cubing!

If applicable, I will provide some insight on whether a card might make the cut in Pauper/Common/Variant lists, but I’ll try to keep the review in the context of normal powered/unpowered lists like my list here. If I don’t believe a card has any application in cube, or at least provides an interesting effect, I won’t be reviewing it. If there is some card you think deserves consideration, please post in the comments!

Artifact

Batterskull – I decided to start with the most difficult card to evaluate in the entire set. At first, I immediately dismissed this, but the more I got to thinking about it, the more I started liking it. For 5 mana, you get a 4/4 with 2 great abilities OR you can suit up a guy on your team to insane proportions. If you get some bad beats and find yourself out of steam, it bounces to start the fun again! I think in larger lists, this guy is an obvious upgrade to cards like Su-Chi, Kozilek, Karn or Mindslaver. I will definitely be giving this card the testing it deserves.

Caged Sun – Mirari’s Wake has long been one of my favorite cube cards. Although it’s taken some hits in the last few years which has pulled it out of my good graces, the effect is undeniably powerful and not one which should be ignored. When I saw Caged Sun I got really excited, but then realized that even with the ability to get extra mana from non-basics it’s probably no better than Gauntlet of Power. If your cube is on the slow side, give this guy a go, but I say pass.

Darksteel Relic – A cube staple. Seriously, get one of these for all your cubes and your friends’ cubes. Ugh, why does Wizards do this to us?

Etched Monstrosity – I thought about ditching Etched Oracle for this guy, but unfortunately, 10 mana for a 10/10 and 3 cards just doesn’t make the cut these days.

Hex Parasite – now this card is a cube card! As Wizards continues to print more and more planeswalkers, we need bigger and badder answers, and this guy is a house! Outside of his ability to nab planeswalkers it can shut off cards like Smokestack, provide you with an endless stream of Kitchen Finks and has an awesome interaction with Fading and Cumulative Upkeep. Cards that get to wear many hats like this usually get the nod from me to be tested, and the fact this guy is costed so competitively makes me think he’ll be a staple.

Lashwrithe – I want very badly for this card to be good, but unfortunately, it just doesn’t pack enough punch for me. I push mono black as an archetype, but I have historically had bad luck with Swamps matters cards. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one should I decide to push the mono black deck a little heavier.

Sword of War and Peace – it’s probably no surprise that I think this card will be an immediate staple if not just for the pump and protection abilities alone. I think people are really underestimating both triggered abilities and will find very quickly that this is one of the most aggressive equipments in the cube.

Green

Beast Within – I hope this is as good as I think it is. It’s at least going to be easy to cut Call of the Herd from my list to make room. My only fear is that you can’t consistently build decks to mitigate the disadvantage of giving your opponent a 3/3. After all, when’s the last time you saw Pongify in a list? I am cautiously optimistic, but I mean, how can I not be of an instant speed Vindicate?

Birthing Pod – what the hell am I even looking at here? At first glance it looks like a crumby Natural Order, but I think there’s more than meets the eye. Imagine recycling your Aether Adepts into Flametongues or Blastoderms or cheating dragons out after getting the effect off a Indrik Stomphowler or Acidic Slime. I don’t know if the cost of life will be too steep to run outside of green decks, but I like having the option. In a day where most of our removal spells are on a stick, this card seems incredibly versatile. I am definitely testing this, but I have a feeling this one is going to turn some heads.

Brutalizer Exarch – this is a late addition (thanks @azcz!). Wow, green has some really great LD on a stick these days. This card would be a staple if the tutored creature went to your hand, but I think that’s a little greedy. I like the flexibility and splashability of this guy and his ability to nab Planeswalkers and equipment.  He’ll be taking the place of Deadwood Treefolk in my list on release day.

Fresh Meat – I think I probably prefer Caller of the Claw, but I’ll be damned if this card doesn’t pack a mean punch after getting Wrath’ed. Definitely an effect you should be including in your cube, so either way, I give it a solid thumbs up.

Mutagenic Growth – free cards immediately get a second look from me especially if they aren’t color-specific. Mutagenic Growth is the first Giant Growth effect to come around since Vines of Vastwood that has me seeing if I have room for the effect. For now, I’m going to pass, but this card is definitely good enough for Pauper and larger lists.

Noxious Revival – another interesting free card. Giving non-green colors access to a Regrowth effect might be good enough to give this card a chance. I imagine playing this in a U/B control deck and getting pick of the litter for my late game spells, or playing it in a heavy red deck and snagging back a Strip Mine or burn spell in my upkeep. I won’t be testing this day one, but it will be going straight into the on-deck binder.

Thundering Tanadon – probably not good enough for normal cube lists just because the life loss is so huge in non-green decks, but the fact it has trample means this is definitely good enough for consideration in Pauper lists. It’ll be right at home in my My Artifact Cube.

Voinclex, Voice of Hunger – wow, what an insane card! For 8 mana we get Mana Reflection on a 7/6 trampler AND we get a Winter Orb / Stasis like effect on the opponent? It doesn’t pass the Terminate test and sadly is probably 1 mana too expensive to make the cut over cards like Woodfall Primus or Terastodon.

Red

Act of Aggression – red gets a Ray of Command like card with an alternate cost that can be played in any color. It’s certainly interesting, but probably not good enough for most cube lists.

Artillerize – instant speed 5 damage to a creature or player at the cost of a Signet or useless beater? Seems pretty good. Probably just slightly below the curve for most cubes, but worth pointing out that hitting players at instant speed for 4 mana is an effect we haven’t really seen. This one is going in my on deck binder.

Bludgeon Brawl – I think I had to read this card about 5 times before I finally got what this does. Yeah, this card is as terrible as you think it is.

Gut Shot – even for free I don’t like this card. I just want to take this time to thank Wizards for not printing a free Shock.

Invader Parasite – at 5 mana, Stone Rain on a stick isn’t too impressive, but when said stick gets to double as a pseudo Ankh of Mishra, it pushes it over the edge. I am always on the look out for something to replace the long cut and outclassed Arc Slogger. I’ll be giving this guy a shot on release day.

Moltensteel Dragon – We’ve come a long way since Covetous Dragon. Is it bad that this guy probably isn’t good enough? I just don’t know what deck is willing to pay that much life for a 4/4 flyer with a fragile artifact body. Probably going in the artifact cube, but not in consideration for my main list.

Slash Panther – 4-mana, hasty, 4-power creatures are usually good enough. I really like that non-red decks can play this. Absolutely good enough for pauper, and might edge out something like Blistering Firecat depending on how crazy I decide to be with testing for this set. Also, the art on this card is just awesome.

Urabask the Hidden – how many 5-mana red creatures are we going to get? Well, this guy is a biggun’. Global haste is a pretty great ability, but at 5-mana it might be too little too late. I would have preferred a 1/1 for 2R. Other people in my group seem to think this guy will be good, but I’m not convinced he’s in the right color or at the right cost to make him good enough for inclusion.

Volt Charge – this probably won’t beat out Puncture Blast in my list, but it’s close. If you’re looking for an interesting burn spell at the 3-slot, this is definitely good enough to run.

Whipflare – when this was originally spoiled someone said it was instant. Obviously, that would have been an auto-include. As it is, do you think your cube needs more Pyroclasm effects? If so, add the crap out of this, otherwise it’s a pass.

Black

Dismember – at 1BB it’s a reasonable removal spell but not cubable. At 1B and 2 life, it’s a solid removal spell, but not cubable. At 1 and 4 life it’s just slightly worse than Snuff Out and pretty darn close to cubable. The ability to play it at any of those costs makes it more than cubable. It’s flexible, splashable, and powerful. Everything I want in a removal card!

Geth’s Verdict – if you’re still running Cruel Edict, this seems like an upgrade. I’d really like to be able to run this, but the BB means it can’t edge out Chainer’s Edict, but I certainly wouldn’t fault someone for running it in addition to the other Edict effects as it is an excellent card!

Phyrexian Obliterator – I mentioned the mono-black archetype earlier when talking about Nightmare Lash. There’s a big difference between encouraging mono black and including swamp matters cards. This guy is a friggin’ beast. I think he’s probably good enough even at his cost. In a heavier black deck, you’re looking at turn 5-6 to drop Obliterator, and I think it’s more than worth it. I’m not so crazy that I think this guy needs to get in there day 1, but if you’re wondering if he’s good enough, he is.

Postmortem Lunge – when I first saw this card I thought it was probably not good enough. After reading it a second time I realized it isn’t color specific. This one is a toughie. I don’t think Corpse Dance is near good enough for most lists these days, but this guy is not color specific and doesn’t worry about GY order. I’m going to go with no on this, but will be putting this in my on-deck binder in case I’m feeling charitable and really need another reanimation spell.

Praetor’s Grasp – Sam thinks this card is the next coming of Grim Tutor. I think it’s about as good, which is to say I don’t think it’s good enough. It could potentially be a little bit better if you’re running a powered list as the quality of cards goes up. For me I’ll pass on putting it in my main list, but It’ll be going in the combo cube.

Sheoldred, Whispering One – Debtor’s Knell meets one-sided The Abyss on a 6/6 for 7. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve found our Praetor. Most of the cube community doesn’t seem too excited about this guy, but I am nuts for him. I think people forget just how difficult it is to kill a black 6/6. Unlike Voinclex, this guy can be realistically dropped on turn 5-7 without much fuss. That one mana makes all the difference, IMO.

Vault Skirge – not good enough for most lists, but I think I’ll be keeping an eye on this guy. There are a few colors which are really short on 1-drops and he might fill the void nicely.

Blue

Impaler Shrike – if you’ve got a Pauper cube, this guy should be right at home and an auto-include. For 4 mana you get a 3-power flyer that can bin himself for 3 cards. It’s really close to being good enough in my main list, but the competition is probably too fierce at that mana cost for him to get any testing time any time soon.

Jin-Gitaxias, Core Auger – holy crap what a creature! Unfortunately this guy is way too expensive for my tates, and by the time you cast him, you probably only have 2 turns to kill your opponent before you get decked by his ability! A big pass from me, but I thought he was at least interesting.

Mental Misstep – going to change the face of Legacy, but won’t so much as hit my radar in cube. Pass.

Phyrexian Ingester – Sam’s initial response to reading the +X/+Y, “Really?” I’m with him. Not sure why they would use this format. It’s nice that blue gets a Duplicant effect, but I don’t want it on a 7-drop. I’d also much prefer this guy have some form of evasion. If you’re dying for an extra Duplicant, give him a go, but he’s a pass from me.

Phyrexian Metamorph – card of the set, IMO. Not since we got Vesuvan Shapeshifter have we had such a good clone effect. This guy has essentially 4 modes you can cast him at. A Clone at two costs and a Sculpting Steel at two costs. I LOVE that my red decks can be cloning guys like Kokusho or Grave Titan, and the Blink/Reveillark decks just got an awesome new toy. This should make it into pretty much every cube list out there.

Spined Thopter – at first glance this guy doesn’t look like much, but as far as 2-power flyers go, this is costed very aggressively. I can’t imagine a red deck or WW/x deck that wouldn’t want this guy. I will be adding him, but I haven’t decided what section to put him in. I’ll probably extend my artifact section by a couple until I figure out where the new Phybrid cards are used most, then I’ll add them to those sections. So if this guy is getting played mostly in white decks, I’ll remove a white card later.

Tezzeret’s Gambit – card draw that’s not color-specific? Nice! I think this is an auto-include for Pauper lists, but probably just slightly under the curve for my list.

Vapor Snag – a strictly better Unsummon. If you have Unsummon in your list, swap this guy in and start Snagging!

Viral Drake – At this point we have enough infect creatures that you could very easily include an infect theme in smaller, less powerful cubes. Viral Drake is almost good enough on his own if he just had another point of power, but sadly he won’t see the light of day in most cubes.

White

Apostle’s Blessing – a nice combat trick, but probably not any better than other options out there. I like that any color can play it, but having any mana cost at all means I don’t want this effect unless it provides a power boost.

Blade Splicer – the first Splicer worth mentioning. For 3 mana you get 4 power worth of creature. With an Anthem or Ajani out these guys get pretty scary. I especially like that the golem is still good long after the Splicer is dead. I give this one the nod and will be adding it on release day.

Cathedral Membrane – was this created to kill Titans? In cube it’s probably not going to do any more than kill a 2/x, so it gets a big pass from me, but it sure is an interesting wall.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite – really cool creature, but ever so slightly too expensive for my tastes. I don’t doubt the abilities are powerful, I just don’t know that the -2/-2 is enough if you’re casting her late game. I think if she had flying she’d probably at least get some testing time. If you’re running Sunblast Angel, you might test Elesh Norn in that spot if you’re feeling like trying something new.

Forced Worship – seems excellent in most cubes. I think I’ll stick to white’s current removal suite, but I wouldn’t fault anyone for running this.

Inquisitor Exarch – I really, really wish this had another ability on it. First strike, flying, trample, anything puts this over the edge even a colorless mana in place of a W. Unfortunately he’s way too vanilla to make the cut in my list.

Marrow Shards – a very interesting combat trick you can play for free. My heart says this is good enough especially in Common/Uncommon lists, but it just doesn’t pack enough punch.

Master Splicer- another creature that provides more power than the mana you invest. Unfortunately, this is an extremely competietive slot and there’s very little chance this guy will make it into most rare cubes.

Porcelain Legionnaire – ding ding ding, and we now have the best card in the entire set for cube! Ladies and Gentlemen, what I have for you here is a lovely porcelain soldier thing that costs 2, count ‘em 2 mana for a 3-power first striker. I can play this in any deck, so my control decks get a pretty obnoxious blocker that kills any x/3 in combat, and every single aggro deck gets access to a 3/1 for 2. Sign. Me. Up.

Shattered Angel – it’s unfortunate that this guy costs what he cost and/or has the toughness that he has. At a lower cost, you’d be virtually guaranteed 3-6 life, and with a bit bigger toughness, he’s be more likely to stick around against aggro. I really like this guy as a creature, but sadly he’s just slightly not good enough.

Colorless

Karn Liberated – I figured I’d save the [second] best for last. Karn is an absolute monster. I imagine his primary mode will be double Vindicate 75% of the time, but I could also see casting him on one turn, Vindicating anything that can kill him, then Wrathing the next turn. On an empty board he’s GG, and he feels a lot like Nicol Bolas in power level. Since he’s colorless, that means he’s almost never going to make it a full rotation around the table. Pick this guy up soon and get him in the cube immediately if you haven’t already planned on doing so.

That’s it for our set review. I hope you enjoyed it. If there are any cube cards you think I missed or misevaulated, please let me know in the comments!

Thanks for Reading!

- Kranny

In Contention #43 – Jace, GPs, and New Phyrexia Spoilers

In the latest episode of In Contention, Sam and Kranny discuss:

• The state of Standard
• Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• The restructurcing of the Grand Prix Schedule
• New Phyrexia Spoilers and their impact on Standard and Legacy
• Podcast suggestions

Enjoy! As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Pozsgay Situation

If you are on Twitter, or follow Magic news at all, you probably know what Micheal Pozsgay was disqualified from the StarCity Games Legacy open for bribery a few months ago, which resulted in a six month ban from the DCI last week. Bill Stark, who runs The Starkington Post, did an interview with Pozsgay about his disqualification. You can listen to the whole interview on The Starkington Post here.

From Pozsgay’s recounting of the events, the following took place:
The match went to time, and ended up in turn 5 with no player actually winning
The two players began to discuss who should get the win
Pozsgay initiated a conversation to get his opponent’s contact information
His opponent didn’t feel right about conceding, so Pozsgay did.
At some point during this Pozsgay also mentioned that he was only really interested in the points.

After the match, Pozsgay went to smoke, and came in to find the judges looking for him, and was given his DQ.

During his interview with Bill Stark, Pozsgay made the following statement.

“Like, obviously I know how to skirt around the issue of bribery and collusion, but I always thought that you had to physically offer something to get into trouble for bribery or collusion, but in this situation, that was not the case.”

Did I mention that he is appealing with the DCI to get his ban overturned?

Scum.

It should be very clear to anyone reading this recounting that Poszgay’s initial hope of both getting contact information and mentioning that the points were all that he cared about was a code for “I will give you some of the money I win if you concede,” while at the same time setting up an expectation that he would receive money if he conceded. I don’t know how you could take his words any other way. We can argue from now until eternity on whether or not the the rules against collusion are ‘morally correct’, but they are a rule of the game, and they should be obeyed. Because yes, if you could sit down at the beginning of every match and give your opponent $50 to scoop, then the integrity of tournaments would be much lower. I’ve seen people argue against this point, but they are wrong.

Pozsgay knew the motives behind his actions were against the rules, but he felt like he could cross the line and get away with it by using the correct verbiage. Instead of bribing his opponent, he just IMPLIED a bribe. What if instead of a bribe, he’d IMPLIED physical violence if his opponent didn’t concede. Would that be better? By that same token, should you be able to get away with drawing extra cards, if you don’t get caught? Or using a fetch land to put a card you’d like to draw on top, since your opponent is supposed to shuffle anyway? I mean, there is angle-shooting, and then there is angle-shooting. Why not call the judge when you are about to lose to try and get a bad ruling? Or wait until lethal is on the stack to examine your opponent’s sleeves for any irregularities?

This is the exact kind of person we don’t need in this game. This is the kind of person who will continue to skirt the rules, be as scummy as he feels he can without being punished, and generally be successful for a period of time until he is ultimately multi-year banned for a more serious serious infraction. Until that time, though, he will continue to have some success in the game, and people will learn from his negative example, and not get the takeaway when he finally does get a long-term vacation. Instead . It’s Broken Window Theory in action.

There has been a lot of talk about whether or not the “person who gets scooped to is supposed to give the scooper something.” Well, yes, that is the common sentiment, but it is a social construct, and one that I feel is damaging to the game. You should never concede a match for the promise of something, you should concede because it is the right thing to do. If you are dead on board, you should generally scoop instead of knocking the both of you out of contention. The only time I won’t do this is if my opponent has made a mockery of the match by playing at a pace that caused the draw. In any other situation, I will pack it up. If you won’t scoop a game where your opponent casts 300 elves and an Emrakul on turn 5 of extra turns, because they didn’t do it soon enough, fine. If you WOULD do it for half of their prize, then you are scum.

The problem with this social construct of ‘the scooper always gets paid’ is that it behooves an unscrupulous player to always draw the match out as long as possible if it looks like they are going to lose. I don’t mean just playing to the bitter end, but taking FAR more time than is reasonable to try and hit the draw instead of letting the game dictate the pace. They will either A) get scooped to for a promise of remuneration, B) receive payment for their ‘generous’ concession that shouldn’t have had to happen in the first place C) get a draw, which is better than a loss in all regards. They could try this in any match, but generally the risk getting caught outweighs the loss vs. draw advantage. It doesn’t outweigh the rest of the factors when money is added to the pot.

I think there are a lot of gray areas in the game, but there is no way that this is inhabiting those. What Pozsgay did was clearly against the rules, and should be. I don’t feel there is a good way to defend him, but if you feel like you have one, please feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time,

Stod

Edit: I was told on twitter, that Pozsgay lied on the cast, and he actually LOST the match, then attempted to get his opponent to scoop. Apparently, using the phrase “I believe we can come to a arrangement that could be mutually beneficial.” If this is true, then this is even worse, and I now feel bad that he only received 6 months.

My Top 10 M12 Reprint Wishlist

The Magic world is abuzz with talk of New Phyrexia spoilers and Legacy, but my mind is on one thing, M12! I always look forward to the base set release every year (or every other year prior to the ‘M’ base sets), just because it has such a huge impact on the Standard and Extended formats. Now that we have new cards in the set it makes it even more exciting.

In the past I have really enjoyed Standard, but due to the small set sizes, the format gets stale very quickly (convert Standard to Extended already!). There is also so few viable decks, it makes top 8s seem wholly uninteresting. I see M12 as a way to pull players in who have enjoyed the variety the Legacy and EDH/Commander formats have provided. They can do this by printing cards players want to play, and are relevant across multiple formats. That being said, here are the top 10 cards I would like to see reprinted in M12!

10. Tradewind Rider

Aside from Faeries, we haven’t seen a good blue-based creature deck in a long time. I fondly remember playing various Tradewind Rider / Opposition decks in old 1.X and 1.5 alongside BIrds, Quirion Ranger and Wall of Blossoms. Rider appeals to the casual and competitive player, is great in limited, and I think newer players would really enjoy opening him in a pack.

9. Vampire Hexmage

It’s clear Planeswalkers are here to stay, and Wizards is going to need to keep a steady flow of hate in the format so they don’t get out of control. With the newly spoiled Phyrexian Canceler, we may see a return to mono black aggro and Hexmage might fit right in the deck as a way to trump trouble cards like Gideon, Tumble Magnet, and Jace. He’s very elegantly designed and a perfect candidate for being reprinted in the base set.

8. Wild Mongrel

With multiple Swords of X and Y in the format, Mongrel is a pretty interesting creature. He lets you get into combat with an equipped Stoneforge Mystic and win by pitching a couple cards. He also opens up the door for a couple new albeit potentially broken decks based around graveyard creatures like Vengevine. Back in his heyday he was about as efficient a creature as you can print, and these days I think he’s very fairly costed and ready for a comeback.

7. Ranger of Eos

In formats where the sweepers are plentiful and the Planeswalkers ramp to 10 loyalty on the first activation (hey, Karn!), aggro decks need a way to overextend without having to dump all their resources to do so. Ranger to the rescue! To be perfectly honest, there’s not a whole lot he can search outside of the Boros deck, but I’m sure we’ll see some better G/W or B/W cards which will help us get there.

6. Ohran Viper

I’m a little sad this guy didn’t get more play when he was in Standard. I think this is just the kind of card green needs more of. He’s obviously fantastic in limited and great for more casual formats like Cube or Commander.

5. Cabal Coffers

Sam and I have talked on previous podcasts about why Mono Black decks aren’t possible in today’s Standard. There are two reasons: 1) the mana fixing is so good that there’s no reason not to splash and 2) Planeswalkers. Rather than print more cards that deal with the cards mono black loses against or nerfing the fixing in the format, why not throw black a bone and give them Coffers? You could even throw a mono black subtheme in the set which would make drafting Coffers kind of fun. I seem to recall drafting quite a few mono black decks in M10 draft. Coffers is also a great casual card and might open up the door for some really cool decks in Extended.

4. Imperial Recruiter

This one is a little tricky. On one hand I think this is a really great effect, but it might be a little too good. Wizards is going to have to print some of the P3K cards eventually. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that a fringe uncommon fetches nearly $200. At the very least, this might be an opportunity to print a functionally similar card at the same CC. I like tutors, and I really like that this one is attached to a creature. I think this would open up the door for some really neat decks and open the door for future reprints.

3. Lightning Helix

Wizards, I think it’s about time you printed multicolor cards in the base set. Hell, if Master of the Wild Hunt or Planeswalkers aren’t too complicated for a base set, then paying two color of mana for your cards shouldn’t be. You don’t need to get crazy with it, maybe just an uncommon cycle. I think a half a dozen would be good enough as long as it meshes well with the limited themes in the set. We’ve all heard Lightning Bolt isn’t coming back, so maybe Helix can fill that void.

2. Faith’s Fetters

I’ve been wanting Wizards to reprint this card for a long time. It’s a great answer to manlands, titans, quick aggro decks, and planeswalkers, and certainly not so good that it can’t be reprinted. I think this time around they could make it an uncommon.

1. The Jugement Wishes

Players love playing with wishes. They were popular when they were in Standard, and then Extended, and now the red, blue and green wishes are still getting plenty of play in Legacy. They’re very elegant, and still pass the test of time. I truly don’t believe they’re too good to good to see print unlike most good non-creature spells printed 10 years ago. If you want older players to buy into standard, print these guys. Wizards may as well take this time to ‘break’ the cycle and not print the worse wishes.

If I see even a couple of these cards when M12 comes around, I’ll be happy. I’ll be even more happy if they print new cards which are as flavorful or powerful as the cards in this top 10 list. Thanks for reading, and happy slinging!

Photo Shoot – The Combo Cube

I received a pretty awesome package from the postman today with a ton of goodies for the combo cube. I am only 3 cards short of full pimp status, so I decided to take a picture to commemorate the occasion. Enjoy!

In Contention Videocast #2 – Live Winston Cube Draft

In the latest episode of In Contention, Sam and Kranny do a live Winston draft using Kranny’s cube. If you would like to see future cube drafts in this format, please leave us a tweet or comment. As always, your feedback is much appreciated!

Kranny’s Cube List - http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=259831

In Contention Videocast #1 – Winston & Auction Drafting Video Cast

In this video Kranny discusses the Winston and Auction draft formats.

In future video casts we will record live drafts and discuss specific picks and draft strategies. Enjoy!

In Contention Presents: The Combo Helper

Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t remember what your storm count was? Have you ever found yourself scratching your head trying to remember the amount of mana in your mana pool after chaining several rituals? Well, my friend, do we have a product for you! Introducing The Combo Helper!

 
Click here to download a 4×4 grid to make your own life pads!

Good luck, and happy storming!

Brainstorming Legacy – Hive Mind Combo

Earlier yesterday Sam messaged me with a particularly spicy Hive Mind list. We decided to run it in the Legacy daily today. After grinding a dozen or so 2-mans, and some assistance from Jarvis Yu we had the list we wanted to run:

Maindeck 3 Ponder 4 Brainstorm 3 Intuition 4 Force of Will 3 Thoughtseize 2 Lim-Duls Vault 4 Show and Tell 4 Hive Mind 1 Pact of Negation 3 Pact of the Titan 2 Intervention Pact 1 Progenitus 2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 1 Lotus Petal 2 Grim Monolith 3 Underground Sea 4 Ancient Tomb 3 Island 1 City of Traitors 4 Polluted Delta 1 Volcanic Island 4 Flooded Strand 1 Snow-Covered Swamp Sideboard 1 Duress 2 Spell Pierce 4 Leyline of Sanctity 3 Mindbreak Trap 2 Slaughter Pact 1 Blue Elemental Blast 2 Duress