Magic Game Night

Recently, we took a nice trip to the Black Forest. In the evenings, the kids and I cracked open Game Night, a Magic product featuring five mono-colored preconstructed decks (and packaged in a fun-yet-annoying pentagonal box, pictured above). This is an 'out of the box' experience, meaning it's immediately playable (and in this case, geared towards newer players).  How was it?

In a word, fun. You can see the complete decklists here, but at a high level, I'd classify the decks as:

• White soldiers
• Blue artifacts
• Black zombies
• Red goblins
• Green 'stompy' (large creatures)

The box also included a nice rulebook, counters, tokens, spin-down life counters for all, and little cardboard 'coasters' on which to place them.

There's not a lot of power in these- this isn't something the experienced player buys to bolster their collection- but we liked trying each deck. It's slow, which those used to powerful decks and quick wins will not enjoy. But my children liked the slower, 'grinding' experience of getting to see lots of creatures enter the battlefield and duke it out. And I did, too. In fact, I liked it so much I'm dreaming up my own version of this . . . but more on that another time.

Zendikar Rising Sealed

 

With Zendikar Rising's release, Arena is running a Sealed event. Fun! As my favorite limited format, I participated three times.

Sealed 1
Record: 6-3
This red-green aggressive deck worked quite well. I really liked Relic Robber- getting him to swing once or twice was a great way to create tokens that damaged the opponent every turn thereafter. And Spitfire Lagac was a good way to ping away at the life total, too.

1 Spikefield Hazard (ZNR) 166
8 Mountain (ANB) 114
1 Fissure Wizard (ZNR) 140
1 Inordinate Rage (ZNR) 144
1 Teeterpeak Ambusher (ZNR) 169
1 Thundering Rebuke (ZNR) 170
1 Tormenting Voice (ZNR) 172
1 Relic Robber (ZNR) 153
1 Skyclave Geopede (ZNR) 163
1 Scorch Rider (ZNR) 158
1 Spitfire Lagac (ZNR) 167
1 Shatterskull Minotaur (ZNR) 160
1 Tajuru Blightblade (ZNR) 208
8 Forest (ANB) 112
1 Dauntless Survivor (ZNR) 184
1 Inscription of Abundance (ZNR) 186
1 Rabid Bite (ZNR) 199
1 Murasa Brute (ZNR) 195
2 Scale the Heights (ZNR) 202
1 Taunting Arbormage (ZNR) 212
1 Territorial Scythecat (ZNR) 213
1 Joraga Visionary (ZNR) 188
1 Ashaya, Soul of the Wild (ZNR) 179
1 Iridescent Hornbeetle (ZNR) 187
1 Spare Supplies (ZNR) 254

Sealed 2
Record: 5-3

A white-black deck that also worked pretty well. This one focused on this set's 'party' creature types (Rogue, Cleric, Warrior, Wizard), with a mild life-gain theme (Marauding Blight-Priest was potent) and a nice finisher in Emeria's Call.

1 Orah, Skyclave Hierophant (ZNR) 233

7 Plains (ANB) 115

7 Swamp (ANB) 116

1 Stonework Packbeast (ZNR) 255

1 Sea Gate Colossus (ZNR) 251

2 Marauding Blight-Priest (ZNR) 112

1 Deadly Alliance (ZNR) 96

1 Sejiri Shelter (ZNR) 37

1 Mind Drain (ZNR) 114

1 Acquisitions Expert (ZNR) 89

1 Base Camp (ZNR) 257

1 Feed the Swarm (ZNR) 102

1 Expedition Skulker (ZNR) 101

1 Emeria's Call (ZNR) 12

1 Shepherd of Heroes (ZNR) 38

1 Smite the Monstrous (ZNR) 42

1 Journey to Oblivion (ZNR) 17

1 Angelheart Protector (ZNR) 3

1 Kor Celebrant (ZNR) 22

1 Farsight Adept (ZNR) 14

3 Expedition Healer (ZNR) 13

1 Nahiri's Binding (ZNR) 29

2 Practiced Tactics (ZNR) 32

1 Malakir Rebirth (ZNR) 111

Sealed 3
Record: 1-3
I crashed hard here. Another red-green deck, the Phylath-Iridescent Hornbeetle combo had potential- and the game I won, it blew up. But establishing it was difficult, and I was often dead before that could happen.

1 Skyclave Relic (ZNR) 252

1 Relic Golem (ZNR) 249

7 Mountain (ANB) 114

1 Canopy Baloth (ZNR) 182

2 Joraga Visionary (ZNR) 188

1 Iridescent Hornbeetle (ZNR) 187

1 Kazandu Stomper (ZNR) 191

1 Phylath, World Sculptor (ZNR) 234

8 Forest (ANB) 112

1 Spikefield Hazard (ZNR) 166

1 Inordinate Rage (ZNR) 144

1 Magmatic Channeler (ZNR) 148

1 Roiling Vortex (ZNR) 156

1 Sizzling Barrage (ZNR) 162

1 Teeterpeak Ambusher (ZNR) 169

1 Tormenting Voice (ZNR) 172

1 Leyline Tyrant (ZNR) 147

2 Spitfire Lagac (ZNR) 167

1 Pyroclastic Hellion (ZNR) 152

1 Song-Mad Treachery (ZNR) 165

1 Reclaim the Wastes (ZNR) 200

1 Gnarlid Colony (ZNR) 185

1 Broken Wings (ZNR) 181

1 Roiling Regrowth (ZNR) 201

2 Scale the Heights (ZNR) 202

Sealed is a great way to explore a new set; I look forward to future events.

Farewell, Core Set 2020

 This is the fourth and final post in my 'farewell' series, looking at sets as they rotate out of standard (see previous three posts). Today, we look at Core Set 2020 (M20).

I love core sets; they're more basic than Magic expansions. They still have some theme, but this is Magic at its core. Hence the name.

Favorites

Here are cards that I played (or enjoyed) the most.

The theme here is elementals. This set featured them, and I really enjoyed playing that tribe.  In black, Dread Presence, Vampire of the Dire Moon, and Knight of the Ebon Legion were powerful cards. Tribal fans like me really liked Icon of Ancestry, too. One final theme worth mentioning: "flying matters," usually running white/blue. Cards like Winged Words and Empyrean Eagle made those decks fun.

Good Riddance

I'm not sad to see these cards go.

Agent of Treachery was super-annoying and eventually banned. Bloodthirsty Aerialist could have gone on my "favorite" list, but she ended here because I frequently had no answer for her hitting the battlefield for an opponent. Rotting Regisaur was more powerful than I realized, Chandra was annoying, and Nightpack Ambusher always wreaked havoc.

Overall

Of the four sets leaving Standard in a few days, I'll miss Core Set 2020 the most.

Farewell, War of the Spark

This is part 3 of my 'farewell' series, looking at sets as they rotate out of standard (see previous two posts if interested). Today, we look at War of the Spark (WAR).

Released in May 2019, WAR was technically a stand-alone set, but related to the prior two Ravnica releases.  Here, war breaks out as all planeswalkers converge in an epic showdown involving Nicol Bolas.

I hate planeswalkers (I almost named this post "Good Riddance, War of the Spark"). Introduced in 2007, when I wasn't tracking the game as closely, I still remember opening a Lorwyn pack, getting Liliana Vess, and thinking "what is going on?" Once I learned, I wasn't thrilled. I need to rant.

<rant>

Planeswalkers are [thematically] like players on your side (in Magic, each player is a planeswalker). They have a starting loyalty value and generally three abilities, one of which can be used per turn, that increases or decreases their loyalty. Most of the time, their last ability is a 'bomb'- a big and expensive effect that produces an insurmountable advantage. But they can't use that ability right away- it takes more loyalty than they start with- so they have to build up over a few turns by choosing another ability that increases loyalty. In effect, it puts a ticking time bomb on the field. 

When you attack, if your opponent has one or more planeswalkers in play, you must declare the target for each creature- whether they are attacking the player or planeswalker [x]. Because of that bomb effect, you generally want to target planeswalkers. This draws games out and slows them down. It's extremly annoying. In my opinion; my children *love* them because of their power. My son once made a deck with only planeswalkers (no lands or anything else; it was unsuccessful). 

</rant>

WAR had 39 planeswalkers. Some were effectively enchantments with only negative loyalty abilities. Still annoying. Okay, on to the cards.

Favorites
Here are the cards I played (or enjoyed the most):

Ajani's Pridemate was another staple in life-gain decks.

I didn't play much blue, but Callous Dismissal removed anything and gave you a chump blocker if nothing else.

Massacre Girl was a great removal card, especially when facing armies.

I loved Krenko for his goblin-generating abilities.

Arboreal Grazer saw lots of play in ramp decks. Note that his ability says "land"- not basic land- meaning you could get a powerful mana advantage on turn one.

Multicolored has some nice offerings. Casualties of War was an expensive- but devastating- removal spell. Cruel Celebrant and Mayhem Devil helped eat away at an opponent's life total. Elite Guardmage had a nice ETB (Enter the Battlefield) effect. Feather + Legionnaire was a potent combo.

Good Riddance

I could put every planeswalker on here, but the following were especially annoying:

Yuck, just yuck.

Overall

One great thing about Magic is that you don't have to play every set- you can ignore expansions and still enjoy the game. I largely ignored WAR, buying select cards for specific decks but otherwise staying away. I haven't regretted that, and I'm glad we're waving goodbye to so many planeswalkers.

Farewell, Ravnica Allegiance

Today is part 2 of my 'farewell' series, looking at sets as they rotate out of standard.  Last time was Guilds of Ravnica (GRN); today is Ravnica Allegiance (RNA).

Released in January 2019, RNA was the sister set to GRN and covered the remaining five guilds: Azorius (W/U), Orzhov (W/B), Simic (U/G), Rakdos (B/R), and Gruul (R/G). As with GRN, I tried to make guild-themed decks for each; my favorites were Orzhov and Rakdos.

Favorites

Here are the cards I played (or enjoyed the most):

For white, Unbreakable Formation was a great card, often tilting the game in my favor for good. Impassioned Orator was a must in any life-gain deck.

No blue cards from this set made their way into my favorites.

For black, Priest of Forgotten Gods was a mainstay in any sacrifice-themed deck.

Red had a lot to offer. Cavalcade of Calamity, Light Up the Stage, and Skewer the Critics featured heavily in burn decks.

For green, I enjoyed the thematic Gatebreaker Ram, a potent force in gate decks.

Multicolored had so many options. Four of them (the W/B offerings above) were in my Orzhov deck; the other two were fantastic additions to any U/G ramp decks. Growth Spiral would end up being banned due to its potency.

Good Riddance

I won't miss these cards . . .

Wilderness Reclamation was *so* annoying. Quench was a powerful counterspell in the early game, and frequently disgusted me.

Overall

Like GRN, I felt RNA was a solid, not spectacular, set. The two sets together make a pleasing guild-based experience. I will miss a few cards, but the set's departure from standard doesn't affect me greatly.