Card Corner: Rings, Resonators, and Bracers

It's another Thursday, so why not finish the day off with some Artifact love?

Today I have a main course full of ideas and synergy with a side of obvious dream Scenarios for our two most recent additions to the combo game- Strionic Resonator and Illusionist's Bracers.

Strionic Resonator 
Right away I saw potential in this card and like a true "Johnny" (heh heh) I started brainstorming all the triggers I'd want to copy. Reminder text also helps.

For Generals
Kaalia of the Vast could use this card to maximize value on her creature cheat.

Kresh The Bloodbraided would love to double his counters. I mean, who wouldn't want 24 counters off of one Phyrexian Dreadnought?

A Tool for the Trade; Looking at the rest of the potential targets we move away from the Leaders and look at the 'followers'.

Every deck makes use of these triggered effects from common to Mythic rare and the resonator only makes them better, but what are some that can really stand out? In my opinion cards like these...

1. Plus/Sylvan Primordial - This powerhouse is already appearing in every green deck that he can, and the thought of him doubled? So nasty. 
2. Plus/Grave pact - Lost an important creature to a kill spell? or perhaps you have an attacker you want to get through with? SR and Grave pact will make blocking or destroying that much more of an issue.
3. Plus/"Cascade" - Maelstrom Wanderer and Co. are already favorable spells. Two or Three for one is great. Getting a copy of Cascade is sure to make a devastating impact

Triggered abilities are so common we don't really think about it and since this card has just been released its potential is only just beginning. I can't tell you specifically the deck that would make the best out of this but i know that for awhile it will be tried everywhere. My only wish was that it didn't tap but I think Wizards learned from our next Artifact.

Rings of Brighthearth
Whether you're thinking of going Infinite with Basalt Monolith or playing Planeswalker abilities twice, these rings will get you there.

As with triggered abilities, Activated abilities are equally favored among EDH players for their creature and General choices.

Proven to be ultimate in ability copy flexebility these are here as a reference for our newest revision of them, The Illusionist's Bracers.

Illusionist's Bracers
This is in the same boat as the Rings in that it copies abilities.

The major difference now that these bracers are out is that these help prioritize the choices for what is needed to multiply your effect best. They do this by being exclusive to Creatures they are equipped to. I agree that most people like the flexibility to copy whatever ability they see fit with the rings, But I submit that what you can copy for free is better.

"Don't fix it if it isn't broken" comes to mind here. from one perspective the rings were broken (infinite colorless mana w/Basalt Monolith) and to others they were great as is. When you compare how some activated abilites cost more than just a tap these can save you mana.

Memnarch, Kiki-Jiki, Mayael, and Krenko, Mob Boss already like rings, but equip this bad boy to them and you wouldn't need to worry about an extra two mana. Not to mention Aphetto Alchemist in an Artifact deck for the big Untap-A-Thon.

For those looking to make Pentavus Infinite... This gift is for you.

Illusionist's Bracers + Pentavus + Ashnod's Altar

Lots of +1/+1 counters and creatures entering and leaving the battlefield is sure to make lot's of use to you.

Getting more out of our spells is one of many elements that EDH players like us look for. Taking that extra time to find functional reprints of creatures and spells so that we have greater probability to draw into what we accomplish to do with our decks. When those don't exist yet it's up to us to copy our triggers, activated abilities, and more with artifacts like these.

Till next time Zoners, {T}: Enjoy, Enjoy

- Johnny C

UL's Card Corner: The Flops

As I've said before, not all cards are created equal.

Today, I'd like to talk about some of those cards.The ones I didn't like, or probably more accurate, I couldn't pilot properly.

If you've been following the Animar deck series over the past few weeks, you know this guy was in there as a way to get haste.

Before that though, Sarkhan was originally part of my bad Intet deck, my slightly more successful Kresh deck, and a few build-and-immediately broken Naya decks.

Believe me when I say I've been trying to make this guy relevant. He's a table favorite, though everyone knows what five 4/4 dragons can do to a table.

Unfortunately, ol' Sarky's never been a game-changer. I've maybe won 1 or 2 games in all the decks he's been in, and I've never wanted to tutor him, or even be happy to draw him.

So after years of testing, I think it's time for him to fly.



Yeah. I'm probably gonna get some funny looks for this one. I know all the combos and all the fun-time people in my playgroup and the internet has to break this card.

So I thought I'd try my own luck, using this card to leverage value in relevant-but-not-so-broken ways. After being in Hidetsugu and a short-lived Rasputin Dreamweaver deck, this card was a hugely disappointing draw. Every time. No joke.

It basically became fodder for Trading Post in HH. It was slow, and really irrelevant unless you had stuff already on the board.

After hearing Grandpa Growth and some of the CommanderCast folks talk highly of this card, I decided to give it a spin, and found it to not be so good.

Sure, Undying makes it good- but the truth is, triggering on attack makes it bad. Without haste, this wolf, to me, at least, like you're gonna get owned.

Drawing it made me feel like I was down a card at any point, and since then, I've increasingly grown to dislike the art for this card. It likes a t-shirt I had when I was 6.






That's it for today. If any of you guys have had success with these and would like to share, always remember there's comment space below.

Remember, when it comes to tech, you're your own pilot.

Only the penitent cards shall pass.

And me. Cause I'm saying Pass.

-UL