Card Corner: Sunscorch Regent

Happy Day of Thor, Zoners!

We're ankles deep into spoilers, and I hope you're feeling wondrously overwhelmed by the influx of the biggest, baddest tribal in the Multiverse.

Today on Card Corner, we're gonna take a look at the CommanderCast preview card I got to check out a few weeks ahead of time, which was a pretty awesome experience.

So after sitting on my thoughts for a week and a half, I get to do some analyzing and postulating, and I hope you'll join me as we talk about the White Dragon Regent!

THE FLAVOR

Although there are Dragons scattered across every color in Magic History, the most compelling part about this block's theme was the sort of "future flavor," if you will, in design. While Red, Black, and even Blue have that innate "enemy" color persona, Green and White have never really been able to reproduce the same kind of reverence when it comes to making a Dragon feel like a Dragon.

The sneak peek in Fate Reforged did little-to-nothing for me in terms of mapping out how they were going to demonstrate this, and I have to admit I felt a little cheated. For starters, Dromoka didn't feel complete as a Dragon (or a Legendary Creature, in my opinion), and the two cards we did get (Wardscale Dragon and Destructor Dragon) barely seemed to communicate a precedent for this design space.

In all fairness, these colors pose a challenge. With Green, Flying is a static ability left almost exclusively to small bugs and bees, while White has the opposite problem- too many creatures with Flying, and not enough space to separate their feel from Angels or Birds.

Relating to Sunscorch Regent, it's pretty clear that the Tarkir flavor REALLY overpowers the essence of this card as a Dragon, which is fine, but it's not aligned with my personal impressions and expectations as a marketed product. While I won't say it was a let down, because I understand what Design and Development had to do to make this work, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. I'm still not sure what a White Dragon looks like, and even though it's a foolish human impulse to use one card to demonstrate the whole, it was clear that Sunscorch Regent wasn't going to be that card, and we were still in the hunt.

THE MECHANICS

Mechanically, I think this card is pretty nice. This is probably attributed to the fact that they really went what they call "Bottoms Up," designing cards with rules and stats before giving it a name and all that.

As it relates to Tarkir, and what we understand of Dragons, and the underlying motivations of the Dragon Broods, it does this well. A reactionary, opponent contingent trigger provides balance while maintaining the power of that old green Forgotten Ancient made by the Magic Community a long time ago. Infused with the afterthought of incremental life gain, we're reminded that this is in fact a card we're gonna pay Plains mana to play, while also giving us additional value driven incentive.

Here in Commander, this card is playable, simply because a 5-Cost creature with evasion and a reason to remove it provides enough incentive for our opponent(s) to think about it. There is going to be a drastic difference between its value in multiplayer versus 1v1, but I think it will be fine for either.

THE ART

The last thing I want to talk about is the artwork, so I've posted it at again. I find it both cool and strange. The colors and scaliness of the dragon itself are typical of what we understand to be the differentiation between the kinds of Dragons on the plane- almost a regional phenotype. Much like desert lizards, these dragons are dry, scaly things that are easily distinguishable.

What I don't like is the color palette. It's just too beige to distinguish the dragon from the background. It's almost like camouflage, which could be an arguable flavor point, but I'm not sure that's really Dromoka brood thing.

Which leads us to the part I both like and dislike- the beam of light coming from Sunscorch Regent's mouth. This is where our eyes are drawn, and I like this eerie, glowing quality. Immediately, I thought Sunscorch Regent was abducting two small people, and I found this notion to be fairly charming, for no real reason.

The thing I dislike is that the more I've been thinking about this, the more I realize that it doesn't make sense when you think about what the card ACTUALLY does. We don't know whether or not Sunscorch Regent is helping or hurting these people. Regardless, how does that relate to the flavor? If he is using it to "sunscorch," that doesn't sound like a good thing. And his reactive, triggered ability suggests that this is a creature more incentivized by hitting back than hitting first. This art doesn't convey these things clearly, based on what I know about the story of Tarkir and the innate-ness of the card.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I think this card is pretty average for us. I like the weirdness, and am really happy, regardless of whether or not it slides into any deck I make, that I had the privilege of getting to see it before everyone else.

Let me know what you think about my thoughts here in the comments below, or on Twitter, where you can now FOLLOW ME @UncleLanddrops! I'm anxious to hear your thoughts!

Pass.
-UL

Card Corner: Mark of Fury

Happy Day o' Thor, Zoners! Welcome back to another edition of Card Corner, the place where ya boi Landdrops spotlights some of his strangest experiments in technology.

Today's card is one I've had stashed away for a long time now- Mark of Fury.

This card was originally in Heartless Hidetsugu's first 99 when I built the deck a couple years ago. I found Mark of Fury somewhere on the Internet, looking through other mono-Red lists that were adjacent to what I was looking to accomplish with HH, and I needed Haste so I could blast the table and accomplish my goals.

However, because it's an enchantment, and a pretty decent one that can be recycled for something that resembles card advantage, the incentive to remove HH went up.

Additionally, I realized that this card was doing something else that I didn't necessarily want to do, which was blast the table on my own turn. What I've found as I've played Hidetsugu is that taking damage before I start slugging the table is optimal, and in order to give myself a chance to win, I needed to keep that time-value option open as long as possible.

Although this is a great time to talk about Mark of Fury, considering that Heroic and Dash are in Standard right now, meaning that us Commander players are testing it out, I'm not sure we'll ever get another card printed like this. From flavor and color pie perspectives, I'm just not thinking that another enchantment like this will get printed, much less in red. Urza block is home to a lot of broken, weird things that Wizards Lead Designer Mark Rosewater has said they will never do again. While it's not Treachery, the value of this card has scaled well because of the power given to creatures, so much that I believe this would no longer be a Common, if they were to ever reprint this.

However, it doesn't mean we can't enjoy and abuse what we've got. There are a lot of times, I've found, in playing red decks where I said, "Damn, I wish I had Haste!" Well, in case you didn't know, we always did!

After finding this card, the problem diminished quickly. Whether's it's been in HH, its new home in my Common/Uncommon Uril, the Miststalker deck, or even designs I've been less proud of, like Herioc Anax & Cymede, Mark of Fury has been a solid play for support. Because Haste is a time sensitive mechanic, value is massive. Coupled with a cheap additional cost of one red per creature to cast it, and our opponents have a serious problem on their hands.

From a design perspective, this may not be in Red's wheelhouse, but the spirit and sentiment do produce something. The pressure and tempo this Mark of Fury creates for typically not-fast Inferno Titans or Utvara Hellkites is exactly the flavor of red, and the fact that they've continued to design cards that produce this effect with more attention to the color's restriction (Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Feldon of the Third Path, Flamerush Rider, Splinter Twin, Heat Shimmer), demonstrate cleaner precedent moving forward. Even Archwing Dragon and Dash are much sleeker implements of the card advantage going on here.

Anyway, this card has been really good for me, and I hope it will be for you too. It's another cheap spell that's got a market value of around a dime in US, and I can't imagine this being hard to find either, seeing as how it's a common and all. So pick a copy up and check it out.

Also, this week CMDR Decks did a spotlight on my Heartless Hidetsugu deck. Here's the link if you want to check out what it looks like today.

Heartless Hidetsugu CMDR Decks

Pass.

-UL

Card Corner: Narset, Enlightened Master

Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme- What's that sound?

It's Card Corner time!

Happy New Year's Zoners. I know I reserved this column to talk about niche, questionable, or sometimes downright awful EDH technology, but today we're going to talk about Narset, who is, in my opinion, the best Commander of 2014.

Yeah, as impossible as it may seem, the American wedge finally has a "bobsled team." And it's led by a 6-cost, 3/2 with hexproof.

All of these weird things I'm saying are cinematic allusions from the 90's oddball masterpiece Cool Runnings, where John Candy plays a coach who seeks Winter Olympic redemption by bringing an unlikely group of Jamaicans into the bobsledding scene. And it works!

I think that's the theme for Narset here. Despite being in a difficult color combination, despite being undersized for her converted mana cost, I find that the sum of her qualities work to create a pretty powerful dose of combat-infused value akin to some of Commander's biggest and baddest.

Where most people see these weaknesses, there is actually strength, leading to a strong relational design. What I mean is that the abilities feel pre-meditated, planned, and developed well in testing so that she yields high potential energy without being innately overpowered.

Anyone who's been playing on Cockatrice or MTGO has probably seen this deck accomplishing what Jeleva was attempting to do last year- cast every Time Warp and Relentless Assault- spell imaginable. And chances are, they're going "21 and done" at a strangely consistent rate.

This is because Narset, as I mentioned, is more balanced than Zur and Jeleva. What she lacks in evasion she makes up for in power, toughness, and static abilities. Her 3 power gives her a meaty first strike and an amount of damage that could be left unblocked on a first swing. Hexproof nerfs targeted removal, ensuring opportunity for attack and forcing your opponents to play more Wraths, Edicts, and/or Arcane Laboratory if they want to have answers to the Jeskai Khan.

Perhaps the biggest pitfall is her converted mana cost. It's a lot sure, but it's actually my favorite part. Costing six, combined with an alternate set of static abilities makes her a prime target for all three Scourge Dragon enchantments- Dragon Scales, Dragon Breath, and Dragon Wings.

Not only are these cards cheap to cast, but they have the potential to always be free, attaching to Narset every time she comes in, granting her any combination of Haste and Firebreathing, +1/+2 and Vigilance, or Flying and Cycling. Unlike some of the other enchantress deck options, the power is always at its maximum, thanks to Hexproof and CMC. Short of a Torpor Orb or Hushwing Gryff, these are always going to be relevant enablers in conjunction with ye olde Swords of X and Y, and all the other free non-creature spells you're going to flip and cast.

Overall, I believe this makes Narset the "Most Voltron" Voltron General ever printed, as well as a deck that can enable successful creatureless builds.

Again, enjoy January 1, Zoners. Feel free to share your thoughts with Narset or any of the new Fate Reforged spoilz in the comments below. Have a good one, and always remember- Friends Don't Let Friends Play The Mimeoplasm.

Pass.
-UL

Card Corner: Let's Make A Deal...Broker

Zoners, I'm sure it happens more often than not that I miss cards that represent pure, unadulterated value. Sometimes, it is just miscalculation, sometimes I'm just looking at the card in the wrong light.

Whatever the case, today's Card Corner segment is an attempt to redeem myself on perhaps the best tech to come out in Conspiracy.

Ladies and Gentlezoners, I missed a colorless Merfolk Looter, and while I'm sure you can see all the massive block of text which could made me ignore it, there is no excuse, and that's why we're here- it's all about redemption.

The truth is, Deal Broker breaks, in my mind, the concept of a bargain. It's a utility dude a la Looter that slots into every artifact deck in the format, and every deck that wants the benefit of an extra card or a Reanimator package. If you're thinking, "Hey, that's like... 70 different decks," well, you're right. It's about as useable as Solemn Simulacrum.

Now, we've got to talk about the drawback. Obviously, there's a couple points I need to make to counterbalance the Nic Cage "high praise" I've heaped on this card.

First and foremost, three-cost looters don't bode well against the control deck curve. What makes Merfolk Looter innately powerful as utility is that your opening hand can survive 2 lands, nonsense and a Looter because most decks aren't going to want to waste a counter early on, or you're on the play and they don't have double Island yet.

At 3 CMC, it's going to be slower than you might want. Let me remind you though, that most of the decks going to play this are going to be ones that both want draw power, and have access to artifact-synergy.

The decks that will take the best advantage of Deal Broker's game-breaking card advantage will be blue and red decks, as they already have access to similar cards or redundancies and artifact color support.

Glissa the Traitor is in a unique position to get immense value from Deal Broker, with abundant tutelage, Beacon of Unrest, and Glissa engine triggers.

Aside from being supported well in the Glissa T's Murder Machine, I can't see it being supported well in Green and Black, which might be a problem if you're trying to create something more consistent.

White is going to present less options, which will make this great addition, but a volatile one. The cool thing is that it has some synergy with Equipment decks that like to grab artifacts out of the bin, and is conveniently a 3-cost permanent, which makes it fair game for Sun Titan.

Price-wise, this is a $.25-.50 card, making it prime for high investment. I suggest you buy-low. Cause if anything, my massive purchases of this card will only artificially inflate it.

Eat Your Wheaties, Play Your Solemns, and Go Forth Unto The World and Break The Game With Deal Broker.

Pass.
-UL

Card Corner: Scourge of the Throne

Heya Zoners!

I'm back on this glorious Thor's Day to bring you a card from Conspiracy I feel is worthy of the Mjolnir-wielder himself- the beat-me-over-the-head mythic dragon, Scourge of the Throne, or as I like to call it, "Scourge of Dethrone."

While it's probably no surprise that this card represents a colossal amount of damage, I find there's sometimes a huge discrepancy between the card's rules text and in-game practical application.

This was something I thought could very well be the case with Magic's latest Dragon. It's a strange phenomenon, but with so many variables, including design and playgroup, and perception of threat, you never know how something is going to perceived. In my head I refer to this as the "Odric Glasses," a strange set of lenses that seem to force us to want to spend removal on cards that feel more than dangerous.

Surely, this is something to spend removal on, no holds barred, especially if your opponent is winning on the bottom line, in terms of life total. The combination of Dethrone, evasion, and an extra attack phase is the proverbial "Spicy Meatball" symbol of quality, and in the two games in which I've played it, Scourge of Dethrone has been the MVP of these matches, keeping me in games when I'm 10-20 life points behind, and in this small not-even sample size, even turning games around.

Now, I haven't had a chance to put him out in multiplayer, where the removal will be plenty, but 1v1 matchups have really given him the extra turn necessary to attempt an attack. Still, with protection, haste, or a combination of the two, Scourge of Dethrone could make a case for being one of the better aggressive Dragons in the format.

I know I'm still not telling you guys what you don't know, but if there was any doubt, or apprehension about its $4 price tag, consider this the endorsement you need to get yourself a copy and Aggro your opponents into submission.

I know my opinion isn't the only one, so share your thoughts if you've gotten a chance to see Scourge in action.

Pass.
-UL

Card Corner: Skeletal Scrying

Welcome back to another edition of Card Corner!

Today's card is Skeletal Scrying, an odd little card I picked up a couple years ago for a Toshiro Umezawa deck.

After travelling a while from various places, SS has found a nice home in my dopey Dromar deck, the home of Instant-speed silliness and supreme durdling.

Back in Toshiro, Skeletal Scrying had a big problem- finding the balance between how many cards wanted to be exiled from the graveyard. For a black card to do this, it is rather counterintuitive, but still understandable from a flavor perspective. To dig for more resources, we must give up the color's favorite resource, and an equal amount of life.

Consistently, it was drawing me 1-2, maybe four cards if I was lucky. So I cut it, and eventually took that deck apart because it was mechanically tough to play anyway.

What's great about it in Dromar is that all of these problems are basically moot. Playing control, I don't have a lot of creatures, I don't mind taking damage and paying life to get more stuff, and with a bunch of older cards, I have nothing to recur. At Instant speed, the value is also tough to beat. Holding up counterspell mana looks the same as holding it up for Skeletal Scrying, and I don't have the silly end step requirement of a card like Necrologia, or the limits of other cards with similar functions (Promise of Power, Moonlight Bargain).

Overall, the results have been great. Being able to keep the X cost variable is what makes this useful too. I've used it for anywhere between 3-7 cards, and found that it's a decent budget card for multi-colored decks dedicated to control and mostly uninterested in having a graveyard. It can even protect your Graveyard, if you have a metagame where that's troublesome too.

Skeletal Scrying- Full of flavor, decent artwork, and a cheap flexible role player, if you like getting a chunk of cards. Try it out, and share your comments below.

Pass.
-UL

Card Corner: Sapphire Charm

Today's Card Corner is somewhat inspired by one of the decks featured on CMDR decks this week.

Fellow Zoner and member of my playgroup Matt AKA "Matt" is showing off his Taniwha (pronounced Tah-Ni-Fah, apparently, because it's Maori, and some very angry people are upset that we were phonetic) EDH deck on the YouTube Channel CMDR Decks.

So here on TGZ, I thought we'd spend just a few minutes talking about one of my favorite little pieces of theme-y tech from Matt's Dollar General Taniwha Gyarados design- the Sapphire Charm.

This is truly Grandpa Growth tech, as he is the first person I ever saw play Sapphire Charm, and that might be surprising to some of you- Cause he doesn't normally like goofy things.

Still, he's pretty notorious for playing any card that says, "Draw a card," and that's probably why it found its way into random mono-blue decks he was playing a few years ago, and in an Isochron Scepter package for this insane Vorosh BUG Control Deck that proved tough to beat in 1v1.

What I like about SC is actually its second mode though. Tempo is the one-word answer I'd give if I was trying to describe my approach to the game, because it is the generation of momentum and general quickness that can get you out of almost every situation. Playing tempo-focused games, whether it's controlling it, or just finding the right window in which to generate it, is often the best way to win games.

Phasing is the theme of Matt's Taniwha deck, which is why this card is in there. For those who've never had to care about this bygone mechanic, Phasing is an ability that triggers simultaneously with the untap step, moving permanents back into the visible spectrum of the battlefield if they were not in before, and out if they were in play at the time of the untap step.

Essentially, this turns Sapphire Charm into a weird Fog on your opponent's biggest creature, which can be important when getting damage through. Again, tempo. Optimal timing and precision with this take skill, as does having the patience to wait until you really need the card draw.

Although these are the primary functions of SC as I've seen it, getting this card on an Isochron Scepter has allowed me to abuse all of its functions. Giving a creature flying might not be that great, but evasion is real, as is knowing the card's entire potential. I know I've had many moments with modal cards where I've forgotten all the things they do. However, if you can keep it all square in your head, or do a quick run-through when you draw the card without arousing too much suspicion, Sapphire Charm is a great little instant to throw into your deck.

For those interested in more Phasing, and seeing me and Matt share his Taniwha list, check out the video below.


Pass Turn.
-UL

Card Corner: Opal Palace

Happy Tuesday once again Zoners.

Today we take a special look inside one of the newest Commander-specific additions to the mana Multiverse in Opal Palace.

Normally, I talk on Card Corner about how super-awesome-extraordinary a card is or can be when put in the right deck.

Surely, this is not the case for Opal Palace. I've tried it out now in a few decks, and I've got some good scouting efforts. So let's get to them.

In the Commander 2013 Review, GG talked about how he felt Command Tower was grossly overpowered. I think he's pretty right. Our expectations of getting something equally as powerful or even more were definitely dashed when they spoiled this thing, which looks more like the rejected concept art for the Wizard of Oz, or a rainbow forcefield on the secret command center for the Power Rangers.

Still, I don't think Opal Palace is terrible- but it really does have to be in the right deck. And if you played any of the preconstructed versions of the deck for any length of time, you may know that the only one that this belonged in was the Marath deck.

Marath meets most of the conditions that allow this deck to thrive, and with a few key changes to its design, Opal Palace could actually be OP.

The first of those conditions is that Marath is a general centric deck, probably focused on 21 general damage and/or setting up combos to get infinite mana, infinite dudes, or infinite +1/+1 counters. You want to cast him early and often, and as long as he doesn't get tucked, you're not worried about your opponents killing him, or Marath being a victim of your own board sweeps. Naturally, all these things are inhibited by an easy-to-meet original CMC.

Many other Commanders share these qualities too. Vorel, Daxos, Ulasht, Animar, Exava, Glissa T's, Isamaru, Omnath- all of these cards would like to have this card out because of the things that they can do with it.

However, the Opal Palace comes with some consistency issues. I had trouble justifying it in Animar without ways to go get it. Furthermore, there really wasn't any reason to want to go get it. Most of the decks I mentioned all have green or great ways to ramp and/or tutor lands, whether it's Weathered Wayfarer, Sylvan Scrying, or just straight up Diabolic Tutor.

Again, though- is Opal Palace going to be a first choice land? No way. In most games I've played with Daxos, having Opal Palace was nice, but it wasn't something that made me want to go out of my way to get. At best, it's a third, fourth, or fifth target for Wayfarer, and a late-late game addition for a deck like Omnath, should it get that far.

That doesn't mean Opal Palace is terrible. After all, it still taps for something. It's just more cut-able than other parts of the mana base.

Have you guys had experience with or against Opal Palace yet?

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Until next time, ____________________________________ (fill in the blank)!

-UL

Card Corner: Noxious Revival

Heya Zoners! Landdrops here with a throwback retro edition of Card Corner.

Today's card is one of my favorites from New Phyrexia, Noxious Revival.

In three words, this card is Versatile Card Advantage. We'll start in the top right corner. The lone Phyrexian mana symbol represents a big part of this. My love of "free spells" knows no bounds. I am willing to pay 2 life in a tight spot for most things within the context of Magic, especially when it's in my favorite card type.

Again, versatility. Timing is always the game, and Noxious Revival has the best in town, and unless you're at 1 or 2 life, it's castable, no matter what.

So what are we doing with it? Well, it isn't going to get us the game right away without other cards. However, there are a few great tricks that can be played with this card. Aside from getting something back in your graveyard pre-draw step, one of the best ways to play this is defensively. Preventing an opponent from a reanimator target not only stops their plan this turn, but forces them to draw next turn and have to hard cast whatever it was they were trying to cheat into play, which also puts them a card down from the normal drawing pace of the game. White and Red decks that are skinny on draw power won't have reanimate targets, but probably wouldn't like to draw their most useless card from their graveyard again. Using it on your opponent after they've used a 6th Edition tutor like Worldly, Enlightened, Mirage, or Vampiric is also pretty rough.

On the offensive side, I tend to use it to grab more card advantage. Because it doesn't cost mana like Reclaim or Regrowth, chances are whatever you get can be cast in the same turn, if you cast it pre-draw step. Tutors, Solemn Simulacrum, Fetchlands, your best threat- all of these things are pretty good targets.

Overall, Noxious Revival completely outclasses these green graveyard-getter ancestors, acting in most cases as a poor man's Eternal Witness, or sometimes, better. There are a lot of moves that can be made with it. So give it a shot. It's dirt cheap. To play, and to purchase.

Until next time, drink Brawndo, the Thirst Mutilator. It's got electrolytes. Also, use it on your plants. It's got what they want too.

-UL

UL's Card Corner: Teferi's Puzzle Box

Happy Thor's Day Zoners!

Sorry for the late post today. Keepin' pretty busy, so I gotta make this one short.

We're also a little shorthanded at TGZ. JC's off planeswalking in the real for a little while, so I'm gonna go back to my roots and resume Card Corner duties for at least today with a new fave.

Back in the days when I built terrible decks, I hated Teferi's Puzzle Box. The first time I played against it, the thing wrecked the table and extended our game about 5 turns as we had little cards to draw and not a whole lot of answers for it.

Here in 2013 though, life's good with Teferi's ol' Rubik's Cube. It's become a card that's been getting some play in my Lin Sivvi deck and a few other decks in my metagame.

One of the Box's best qualities is the ability to add pressure to decks that have to hold spells. I'm not sure most Control Decks like this card. Mono Blue has a hard time interacting with it once it hits play, and although they get to draw cards, it could also mean tucking relevant spells away to get something less optimal, making this obviously not good.

Decks with Toolbox power like Lin Sivvi, Zur, Niv-Mizzet (either), and Captain Sisay really don't mind tucking irrelevant cards now for extra draw power. Seeing cards is more important for these decks to get online. The Firemind Niv Combo decks get a lot of value out of the draw because it combos with damage, which is great too.

Having more card draw access does make the Box stronger. Land Tax or Endless Horizons with Puzzle Box are pretty gross together. Filtering out land to get more spells really helps too.

Anyway, that's all I got. Be sure to tune into Saturday's episode of The Stack as we begin to dissect Theros.

Until then, eat your Wheaties, play Instants, and don't forget to bring a Towel.

-UL

UL's Card Corner: Gemstone Caverns

Zoners, I take what I can get in EDH- which usually isn't much.

I even lose a majority of dice rolls. Yeah, I'm a bit of a scrub, I guess. Call me what you will.

However, when such is the case, and I mean losing dice rolls, one must learn to adapt- and though I haven't really adapted that much, Gemstone Caverns is a start.

There's a lot of text here, which is perhaps one of the reasons I don't see this card get played in EDH.

But it's not that hard. Go slow, take your time, or whatever. Cause it's worth the time and worth a slot in your deck.

For me, this card is good and scales at getting better. For non-green decks, this is a pretty great way to get out ahead of the curve. In multiplayer, this card is bananas because the odds of you playing first decrease, and it doesn't have much blowback other than sending a card away that you're gonna draw on your turn anyway.

I had a copy of this card a long time ago. Recently, I stumbled on it again, looking for Hidetsugu Stuff, but I decided that the extra card was way more necessary than having a land in play, so it isn't for every deck. By that, I guess I just mean red decks. Cause they can't draw cards or benefit the way other colors can.

Currently though, The Cave is in my Animar Deck, and a future Captain Sisay brew that is happening when I retire Chorus of the Conclave soon. Cause there just isn't room in town for two 40+ Dude Decks. More spoils on Animar soon.

The Caverns is definitely the best in decks where you want to pump something out quick. A Phyrexian Arena, Turn 1 Rampant Growth, Sol Ring into whatever you want.


The key to the Caverns though is secrecy. Remember- the more your opponents know about it, the more likely they are to put it in their decks and use theirs as removal or spite.

It is Legendary, after all.

But to me, the luck counters are worth it.

Well that's all I got for today.

Tomorrow, Grandpa Growth's S^3 article will mark TGZ's 100th article since I began this little journey last August. I've been really fortunate to have Venser's Journalist and Grandpa and a place for you readers to enjoy our little corner of the Internet, and I'm grateful for that.

Thanks for reading, and here's to 100 more.

Four More Years!

-UL

UL's Card Corner: Glacial Chasm

Whaddup Zoners.

I know it might seem unoriginal to see Uncle Landdrops talking about secret tech land, but I am, and it's the first Card Corner of the year cause I wanted to get it out before the ice melts.

So today's card is Glacial Chasm, and I know you've probably seen this card.

Apparently though, like me, most people were probably not giving this card the credit it deserved when FTV: Realms dropped its spoiler.

I guess that's why I was able to get a couple copies of the better, newer art for a buck or two, and you should too.

This card, believe it or not, can be a complete all-star in the right environment.

Specifically, the Chasm makes slow decks relevant by distorting tempo. In this way, Glacial Chasm plays more like a spell.

Now, without any help, Glacial Chasm is probably not doing your deck any favors with Cumulative Upkeep. Especially in the late-late after you've taken a bruising.

However, with some investment, Glacial Chasm can be pretty destructive.

Currently, my copies are being used in my Chisei, Heart of Oceans EDH and my brand new Heartless Hidetsugu deck, where value is heavily leveraged via two different methods.

The Chisei method is perhaps much more brutal. With Chisei in play, I can play Chasm the following turn and have all kinds of time to stall out the board by removing upkeep counters to keep the cost at 0 life. This has been particularly effective in places where I don't draw into more draw power or land. Though I play a reasonable amount of these two things, sometimes it just doesn't happen.

Special note: Previously, I didn't get specific enough. There's a little bit of intricacy because of rules interactions. Since both Chisei and cumulative upkeep trigger at the same time, there's actually no way to avoid paying 0 life. However, you can keep it from getting out of hand by paying 2 life a turn.

In this way, Chisei's protected me from everything short of Exsanguinate-style cards.

On the other hand, Hidetsugu leverages the Chasm as tempo versus an all-out stall plan. This is because having Hidetsugu out and Glacial Chasm in play, you can actually afford to pay the upkeep cost a couple of times, if all things are constant and your opponents life totals go down to 20 then 10 while you go to 38 then 34.

Another great thing about this in the Hidetsugu deck is that you don't need to attack to get the damage through. Whereas in Chisei you're using it more as a shield, Hidetsugu can actually wield it to win the game instead of finding an answer so you don't lose.

This card's value increases exponentially in playgoups where Strip Mines are ghosts and Armageddons don't happen.

Also, I can imagine a bunch of other ways to leverage Glacial Chasm. In Green Azusa, Crucible of Worlds allows you to sacrifice it every turn while never losing board state or land count, and also provides tutor power so you can get it from your deck. Black can too, along with Vampire Hexmage or Hex Parasite to prevent life loss.

Overall, I found that this card, though in definite need of support, already has built-in coverage in quite a few of my own decks, which is why I think it's legit.

Anyway, never hurts to try it out.

Have fun annoying your opponents with the Chasm.

Pass Turn.

-UL

Card Corner: Moonlight Bargain

Moonlight Bargain is a pretty recent acquisition for me, and
I have to say I’m pretty impressed with it as an EDH card.

I discovered, or I guess re-discovered it while I was researching black instant cards for a Toshiro Umezawa EDH I just finished last week.

Some might argue that Moonlight Bargain comes at a hefty price of 5 mana and 10 life to draw five cards.

They wouldn’t be wrong, because this card does exactly that.
However, the card does a whole lot more for the state of the game than you’d expect.

The point is that Moonlight Bargain is straight card advantage. Every strategy wants to dig into their deck and get stuff. Control wants a card to get out of a jam or avoid a disaster. Aggro wants more dudes. Combo wants its pieces.

In my mind, Bargain comes at a sweet deal. You get to sift through the things you want and lose the things you don’t need. Most of the time, you won’t be paying 10 life. Even if you do, it’s less of a cost than it is in 60-card for the advantage.

Potentially, I think Bargain would find its best play in BW decks like Vish Kal where you can gain life, Teneb Reanimators where you can dump dudes and grab reanimates, and possibly some mono-B combo-control or combo-aggro decks like the Mikaeus, the Unhallowed deck. It’ll work in a U/B control, but unless you’ve got some graveyard recursion or ways to flashback spells I wouldn’t recommend it.

In my experience playing with this card, I’ve had a lot of success. For some reason, every black deck I own tends to have mana issues, so it’s been really helpful being able to play it in preparation to meet the land quota.

It’s also saved me several times, helping me to get to any one of the plethora of tutors I play in the deck, creating a consistency that allows me to get fairly quick kills for EDH.

Overall, a very underrated card that I haven’t seen on many decklists, but it should be if you’re gonna play black.

Alright. I’m passing the turn to you.

—Uncle Landdrops