Card Talk 20

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Galadhrim Guide—a common creature from Tales of Middle Earth.

Tales of Middle Earth, released in 2023, is a Universes Beyond set, crossing Magic's gameplay with other Intellectual Properties (here, the Lord of the Rings universe). I've previously posted on the pros and cons of this concept. It seems Wizards is increasingly heading in this direction, with Final Fantasy being the latest offering. We'll see how this affects the health of the game in the long run.

Galadhrim Guide's enter the battlefield ability is scrying. This is a deck sculpting ability that increases your chances of drawing a needed card at the right time. It is a powerful mechanic.

The card frame is called scroll showcase; the entire regular set was printed with this variant frame in addition to the regular one. I think these were available only on collector booster packs. It looks cool, and is part of the ever-expanding frame variants Wizards has been doing over the years. In this set alone, it is one of six frame types: regular, ring showcase, borderless art, extended art, scene cards, and scroll showcase. This overwhelms me (and is a nightmare for 'completist' collectors). I wish they would stick with one variant frame per release.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 19

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Haunted Dead—an uncommon creature from Innistrad Remastered.

This version of Haunted Dead (HD) has a retro card frame. This hearkens back to the original look Magic cards had for the first ten years (1993-2003). They shifted to a modern card frame in 2003, then made more tweaks in 2014 (see here for more information). Though the original frames had some problems (readability among them), they are popular enough to have featured a revival of sorts; many recent releases offer retro frame variants of a subset of cards.

HD originally appeared in Eldritch Moon, the 2016 release that was a return to the Innistrad plane that proved so popular in its initial block (2011-12). Eldritch Moon mixed the Innistrad gothic horror trope with Lovecraftian-inspired beasts known as Eldrazi (featured in 2010's Rise of the Eldrazi set). Since Innistrad Remastered included cards from across all Innistrad-themed sets, HD got a reprint.

HD is an interesting card. Upon entering, you get two creatures: a black 2/2 zombie and white 1/1 spirit with flying. And death is not the end . . . for its card text shows it can come back into play from the graveyard if you pay two mana and discard two cards. This sort of ability can work nicely in 'sacrifice' decks, where you get powerful effects if you're willing to kill your own creatures. It can also pair well with the 'madness' mechanic, where you want to discard cards so you can cast them cheaply.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 18

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .
Thrashing Brontodon—a common creature from Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

Thrashing Brontodon (TB) originally appeared in Rivals of Ixalan, the 2018 release and second in the Ixalan block—a fun plane that featured dinosaurs, vampires, merfolk, and pirates in a land influenced by Aztec/Mayan culture. It was a cool time to be playing; I enjoyed standard during that era.

TB is a good card. A 3/4 creature for three mana is fine, but it shines in its ability—pay one mana and sacrifice it to destroy target artifact or enchantment. This 'creature/targeted removal' combo is handy to have for the flexibility it provides. That is probably why it has since been reprinted in several sets:

- Core Set 2020

- Core Set 2021

- Lost Cavarns of Ixalan

- Foundations

- plus other special releases

Pay attention to reprints—cards released frequently often indicate utility/value. 

Final comment: art. The original release, and most reprints to date, feature the below artwork:

I prefer this variant, as it is more playful. Magic used to have a whimsical feel to it, even when portraying supposedly scary creatures. In recent years, that has given way to more serious representations. I miss how it used to be.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 17

Cactuar card art

Today is the seventeenth post in my Card Talk series.

Reminder how Card Talk works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .
Darien, King of Kjeldor—a rare legendary creature from Murders at Karlov Manor Commander.

Darien originally appeared in Coldsnap, the 2006 release that was supposedly a 'lost set' of the Ice Age block—the first two being Ice Age (1995) and Alliances (1996)—found in Wizards archives or something. This was the original print:

Note the differences:

- the card frame (both the legendary 'flare' at the top and the machine-readable text at the bottom)

- the creature type (Human Lord became Human Soldier)

- the card text ('put __ tokens into play' became 'create __ tokens')

- the accent line between game text and flavor text

As I've stated previously, the official card database has the latest official text; you may play an earlier version understanding that you must defer to the current in terms of rules.

I was excited for, and then disappointed by, Coldsnap. I enjoyed the theme of the original Ice Age set—which was released around the time I got into Magic—and that sentiment endears it to me, even if it wasn't an overly great release. Coldsnap is the same (only 13 cards are worth $5.00 or more today). Nevertheless, it is still nice to see fun cards, like Darien, come out of it.

Is Darien a viable Commander? EDHRec shows cards that synergize well. Combining him with Ajani's Welcome and Mentor of the Meek is a particularly exciting situation; you could gain all the life back with Ajani and (if you had mana) draw a ton of cards with Mentor.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Budget Commander Staples: Blue

Concluding this month's theme (see this post for an introduction), today I look at budget Commander staples in blue, focusing on four categories: ramp, card draw, targeted removal, and board wipe.

Ramp (blue)

Ramp is about accelerating land deployment and/or mana access. Blue isn't great at this, though there are a few options. Apprentice Wizard grants 3 colorless mana for the cost of 1 blue. Lapis Orb and Midnight Clock are mana rocks with a bonus ability. Guidelight Optimizer, Volshe Tideturner, and Vodalian Arcanist are 'conditional' mana rocks, granting access to mana but only for certain spell types.

Card draw (blue)

Blue excels at card draw. There are many options here . . . below is just a smattering. Many options (Mind Spring, Concentrate, Divination) are simple card draw spells; others (like Merfolk Looter) grant a card at a cost of a discard. Still others (Deduce, Consider, Opt) offer card draw with a bonus ability of investigate, surveil, or scry. Spectral Sailor is a great option, paying dividends especially in later stages of a game (when you could potentially activate his card draw ability several times). 

Targeted removal (blue)

There are two ways blue does removal: counterspells and returning a permanent to its owners hand. For counterspells: the original (and still best) is Counterspell. That was deemed too powerful at only two mana, so subsequent iterations either kept the cost and added conditions (Mana Leak, Essence Scatter, Negate, Disdainful Stroke), added a colorless mana to the cost (Refute—note the card draw bonus, Cancel), or added two colorless mana (Rewind) but you get the lands back to use again that turn.

For returning permanents, Boomerang and Disperse are classic options. Fading Hope is a nice conditional variant, Blink of an Eye has a nice kicker bonus, Run Away Together can synergize well in "ETB" decks, and Aethersnipe can grant you a creature, too. 

Board wipe (blue)

Similar to targeted removal, blue does board wipes by returning permanents to their respective owners' hands. Wash Out is great against mono-colored decks, Aetherize goes well against aggro offerings, Whelming Wave if you're playing sea creatures, and Upheaval if you just want to reset the board.

Conclusion

Of the 32 cards presented above, ~24 of them go well in almost any mono-blue Commander deck.

Budget Commander Staples: Red

Continuing this month's theme (see this post for an introduction), today I look at budget Commander staples in red, focusing on four categories: ramp, card draw, targeted removal, and board wipe.

Ramp (red)

Ramp is about accelerating land deployment and/or mana access. In red, that happens in three ways: sacrificing creatures to add mana (Reckless Barbarian, Skirk Prospector), discarding cards to draw cards and get treasure tokens (Pirate's Pillage, Big Score), or exiling cards from your deck to play that turn (Light Up the Stage, Act on Impulse, Atsushi). There are a few mana-producing creatures, too (Alena, Sunset Strikemaster).

Card draw (red)

Card draw in red almost always comes at a cost of discarding, though Browbeat is a fun way to force an opponent to pick their poison.

Targeted removal (red)

Red excels at destroying artifacts, lands, and creatures (by doing damage).

Board wipe (red)

Board wipes in red are about destroying all artifacts (Shatterstorm) or doing damage to every creature (Star of Extinction, Burn Down the House, Blasphemous Act). Note: Blasphemous Act is ~$3, above by $1 limit, but close enough to count.

Conclusion

Of the 32 cards above, you could choose ~20 for almost any mono-red Commander deck based on your  strategy.