The First Shall be Last

Fblthp, the Lost card art

This week, I came across this article. The headline (below) is hilarious and the entire article may be satire:

Powerful, Strategic Deck Decimated by Opponent’s ‘Have a Lot of Monsters’ Strategy

But it points out a fun truth worthy of reflection: an unskilled beginner can, at times, produce a deck that consistently takes down carefully designed decks.

I have previously blogged on the meta and why it matters. In short, the meta describes the types of decks that are seeing success in the current environment (and thus get played a lot). Seasoned and dedicated Magic players can spend dozens of hours painstakingly playtesting a deck, reviewing the value of every card in it, and continually refining their decks until it is optimal and powerful. These players are successful for a reason: they put in the work and understand the game. And yet . . . those decks are designed assuming that they will face other players taking the same approach. Sometimes, they make decks that are too 'cute' for their own good, and can get beaten by a basic deck.

I shared a basic approach to deckbuilding here. There are times where the absolute basics—get the land/spell ratio correct, follow the mana curve, and (in this case) fill your deck with creatures—can take down a well-planned approach. It is a good lesson, in Magic and in life. There is a place for beginners and veterans alike, and each brings something to the table.  Literally and figuratively.

Battle

When Phryexia: All Will Be One was released in February, one card (shown above) had an ability that mentioned card types. Magic veterans immediately noticed the listed types included one that nobody had ever seen before: battle. No battle cards showed up in this set, so it was foreshadowing the following release, March of the Machines, due out next week. That set has 36 battle cards, and this post looks at this new card type. But before we do, some quick history.

It's highly unusual for Magic to get a new card type. The initial release (1993) featured seven: Artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, interrupt, land, and sorcery. In 1999, instants and interrupts were combined into the former, leaving six, where things remained for a long time. In 2007, in Lorwyn, they added planeswalkers to the game, bringing the total back to seven. (I still remember pulling a planeswalker in a pack. Being unaware of the new type, it was the only time opening a Magic pack confused me.) Now, in 2023, they added battle.

Battle cards are double-sided. They have a subtype (in this release, the only subtype is 'siege'). Here is a sample:

The text on the front is pretty intuitive, but explaining it:

- when you cast it, you put it under another player's protection, with the number of defense counters on it equal to the value in the lower right

- it has some enter the battlefield effect that benefits you (note: you remain the controller even though it is protected by another)

- when you attack that player, you and other players can choose to attack the battle (instead of a planeswalker or the person)

- when you do [x] damage to a battle, remove [x] defense counters

- when the last defense counter is removed, the card transforms to the other side for free. The transformed side is generally a permanent (artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker), though two of them transform into a sorcery.

Section 310 of the official rules explains the concept in more detail. Here are a few other examples:

Looking at this new card type, it is effectively a twist on planeswalkers. Planeswalkers enter the battlefield with a number of counters and can be attacked by your opponents. They give you some benefit each turn (by adding or removing counters) until all counters are removed (which defeats them). So you have to choose to protect them to keep gaining from the benefit(s). Battles effectively flip the script: now, you have to choose to protect something that will benefit your opponent if it dies. 

The concept seems fine to me, though I worry they will have the same effect planeswalkers do, namely making games last longer. It is easy to see how: if I have played a battle under my opponent's protection, and they have a planeswalker out, I now have three targets to choose from when I attack: 

- the opponent

- the planeswalker

- the battle

Do I attack the first (trying to win the game by getting him to zero life), the second (trying to take out a card that is benefitting him), or the third (trying to take out a card that, when it dies, will benefit me)?

Though battles (unlike planeswalkers) do not have an ability that can add counters/be triggered each turn, mechanics that add counters (like proliferate) affect battles, too, making them harder to defeat. Games could get long indeed.

As a final note, any new card type (or mechanic) will have a ripple effect on the game, even on cards produced years ago. Here, any card that benefits from 'card types' could get boosted by battles now being in the game. A scryfall search for cards that have the text 'card types' or 'for each card type' yields about 70 cards in this category. (Notably, the delirium mechanic is based on card types in the graveyard, so any cards with that could benefit.) Two examples:

Mirror Golem's text lists only six card types, since it was produced in 2003, but all cards are 'updated' with the newest rules, so now it would support all eight. And Tarmogoyf can now be an 8/9 creature . . . wow.

Modern Jodah

Earlier this month, to celebrate my fondness for legendary creatures, I presented a Jodah, the Unifier deck I was enjoying in standard. I then spent three posts (here, here, and here) looking at options to improve the deck for modern/casual play. Today, I bring that all together and look at a modern Jodah deck.

For reference, here is that original standard Jodah deck (I omitted 26 lands):

1 Dennick, Pious Apprentice (MID) 217
1 King Darien XLVIII (DMU) 204
1 Shanna, Purifying Blade (DMU) 218
2 Brutal Cathar (MID) 7
1 Lagrella, the Magpie (SNC) 196
1 Tovolar, Dire Overlord (MID) 246
1 Halana and Alena, Partners (VOW) 239
1 Katilda, Dawnhart Prime (MID) 230
4 Jodah, the Unifier (DMU) 203
4 Reclusive Taxidermist (VOW) 214
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (DKA) 24
2 Leyline Binding (DMU) 24
1 Kyodai, Soul of Kamigawa (NEO) 23
1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
1 Loran of the Third Path (BRO) 12
1 Feldon, Ronom Excavator (BRO) 135
1 Baird, Argivian Recruiter (DMU) 195
1 Soul of Windgrace (DMU) 220
1 Ertai Resurrected (DMU) 199
1 Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard (BRO) 211
1 Nemata, Primeval Warden (DMU) 209
1 Radha, Coalition Warlord (DMU) 211
1 Torens, Fist of the Angels (VOW) 249
1 Raffine, Scheming Seer (SNC) 213
1 Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder (SNC) 204
1 Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer (SNC) 218

For modern, 22 of these cards will stay because I like them so much:

4 Jodah, the Unifier (DMU) 203

2 Reclusive Taxidermist (VOW) 214

2 Leyline Binding (DMU) 24

2 Brutal Cathar (MID) 7

1 Halana and Alena, Partners (VOW) 239

1 Katilda, Dawnhart Prime (MID) 230

1 Shanna, Purifying Blade (DMU) 218

1 Baird, Argivian Recruiter (DMU) 195

1 Torens, Fist of the Angels (VOW) 249

1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198

1 Ertai Resurrected (DMU) 199

1 Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard (BRO) 211

1 Nemata, Primeval Warden (DMU) 209

1 Dennick, Pious Apprentice (MID) 217

1 King Darien XLVIII (DMU) 204

1 Lagrella, the Magpie (SNC) 196

If we go with 24 lands, that leaves 14 slots for legendary creatures or other aids. Here are my favorites from the aforementioned posts:

Kenrith, Returned King

Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

Fblthp, the Lost

Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

Wilson, Refined Grizzly

Toski, Bearer of Secrets

Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

Gretchen Titchwillow

Krydle of Baldur's Gate

General Ferrous Rokiric

Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge

Child of Alara

Chulane, Teller of Tales

That's fourteen, but I worry about the mana base. I would like to add 2 Birds of Paradise

What goes away? I think Gretchen Titchwillow and General Ferrous Rokiric. That would make the final list: 

4 Jodah, the Unifier (DMU) 203

2 Reclusive Taxidermist (VOW) 214

2 Leyline Binding (DMU) 24

2 Brutal Cathar (MID) 7

1 Halana and Alena, Partners (VOW) 239

1 Katilda, Dawnhart Prime (MID) 230

1 Shanna, Purifying Blade (DMU) 218

1 Baird, Argivian Recruiter (DMU) 195

1 Torens, Fist of the Angels (VOW) 249

1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198

1 Ertai Resurrected (DMU) 199

1 Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard (BRO) 211

1 Nemata, Primeval Warden (DMU) 209

1 Dennick, Pious Apprentice (MID) 217

1 King Darien XLVIII (DMU) 204

1 Lagrella, the Magpie (SNC) 196

2 Birds of Paradise

1 Kenrith, Returned King

1 Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

1 Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

1 Fblthp, the Lost

1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

1 Wilson, Refined Grizzly

1 Toski, Bearer of Secrets

1 Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

1 Krydle of Baldur's Gate

1 Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge

1 Child of Alara

1 Chulane, Teller of Tales

That's 36, leaving us with 24 slots for lands. Lands can be very expensive, to so make this easier on the budget, I'll focus on the common dual lands (they enter tapped) from Dominaria United. I also like Plaza of Heroes and Secluded Courtyard:

If I go with 1 Plaza of Heroes and 3 Secluded Courtyard, that leave 20 more lands. Those will all come from Dominaria United, either as the dual lands or basics. I have to look over the mana costs of the above list to determine the appropriate numbers of each.

That does it for my modern Jodah deck. I will have to assemble this and test it a few times to see if it bears up. But at first glance, it looks exciting.

Legendary Creatures (M)

Continuing this month's theme, today I look at multi-colored legendary creatures with an eye towards suitability for inclusion in a modern/casual Jodah deck.

I used scryfall for this search, with the appropriate syntax to limit the search results. Today, I delineate by mana value. You can click on the links below to see the range of cards available at each mana value.

Multi-colored (one-cost)

There is only one multi-colored single mana-cost creature in the game: Rhys the Redeemed. (He qualifies as multi-colored because of the hybrid mana symbol.) 

Multi-colored (two-cost)

Gretchen and Zimone have nice card draw/land ramp abilities. Krydle could come in handy to make creature unblockable. Emmara can create tokens, and Saffi can save a creature in time of need.

Multi-colored (three-cost)

Minsc is two legendaries for the price of one, which would pair well with Jodah. Xira and Leovold help card draw. Cadira and Ferrous can make an army. Kethis reduces cost (not sure how that would work with Jodah's ability). 

Multi-colored (four-cost)

Shanid and Queza help with card draw. Sisay with fetching legendaries of your choosing.

Multi-colored (five-cost)

Child of Alara is a nice board wipe. Arvad and Rienne beef up your creatures (though is that needed with Jodah's ability already doing so?). Drizzt is two legendaries for the price of one, and Chulane is good for card draw and some minor protection.

Conclusion

Of these choices, Gretchen, Krydle, Cadira, Ferrous, Shanid, Child of Alara, and Chulane are my most likely options.

Next time, I'll look across the last three posts to see which creatures should slot in to the original Jodah deck, and which should get dropped.

Legendary Creatures (R/G/C)

Continuing from yesterday, today I look across sets to see what legendary cards could be incorporated into a modern Jodah deck. I'll focus on the remaining two colors (red/green) and colorless creatures today.

I used scryfall for this search, with the appropriate syntax to limit the search results. You can click on the links below to see the range of cards available at each color/mana value.

Red (one-cost, two-cost, three-cost, four-cost, five-cost)
I was drawn to two goblins, a monkey, a pirate, and a warrior as options for my Jodah deck:

Green (one-cost, two-cost, three-cost, four-cost, five-cost)

A few fun options here.

Colorless (one-cost, two-cost, three-cost, four-cost, five-cost)

Not a lot to choose from, but two potential options emerge.

Conclusion

From today's options, I think Ragavan, Wilson, Toski, and Golos are the most likely choices.