A New Feature...

Introduing Magic the Gathering Kitten of the Week...

Today the Don'tt attack me kitten

We've all met, this little guy.... although it usually appears in the shape of the girlfriend  who 'made' you teach her how to play....You can find the original image here...

Ok so first thoughts on Innistrad....

Well it's good & I suck at it... but thankfully Our local undefeated Champion is going to write a bit of a guide later this week...

I did come up with some opinions though so here goes...

Firstly Use dark colour or more expensive sleeves unless you want to announce your transforming plans to your opponents...

I was right about the triggers, hands went up all day ....

Don't build a 3 colour combo mill recursion control deck.... (I tell myself this every Pre release and one day I'll listen...)

My recommendation for first draft pick is

Ludevic's Test Subject    This card is the nuts...

Gavony Township is insane in sealed

There is ZERO removal and you'll probably spend most of your games trading 2/2's until someone drops their bomb...

My Parents went to Mirrodin and all they got me was this lousy Colossus

 So here's a thing.... Literally within seconds of the announcement of Blightsteel Colossus there were versions of this deck under discussion... and the ones I saw were getting pricier and riskier all the time... We looked a little at Polymorph earlier in my Crirtcal Mass deck and we know how risky setting up an 'all or nothing win' can be... Firstly you need to find all the bits to make it happen AND then you need to make sure you get them on the table AND then you need to be able to 'polymorph' without interuption AND finally you need to be able to swing unhindered with your silver bullet AND somehow survive long enougnh to let all this happen... Fragile? Oh I think that's fair to say...

So how can you make it less fragile?

Well for one thing you could give the deck more than one way to win...

So how can we make it cheaper?

Well with more than 4 'polymorphs' and more than 4 targets you don't need to add 'Jace the dollar Burner' to dig and search...

So how does it work?

Well we'll show you it first...

Ladies and Gentleman this is my new deck... I call it...

'My Parents went to Mirrodin and all they got me was this lousy Colossus' ...
because you do need at least one of those expensive cards...

You will need...


3 x shape anew
3 x mass polymorph
3 x precursor golem
4 x negate
4 x Not Of this World 

4 x master's call

1 x brightsteel collosus

4 x See Beyond

4 x mana leak
3 x preordain

1 x Emrakul, the aeons torn http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193452

4 x seachrome coast
4 x inkmoth nexus
4 x celestial colonnade
4 x misty rainforest
6 x island
3 x tectonic edge

Ok the principle is very simple... It has a ton of disruption and trades few targets for many in the polymorph / shape anew stakes...

The very worst that will happen if you shape anew an inkmoth is you'll hit a Precursor golem.. and get 3 of them... of  course you could just play a precursor golem and then shape anew that... turning 3 golems (because shape anew targets each copy ) into 6 golems and a Blightsteel Colossus.

The same thing will happen with the polymorph (except you might hit an Emrakul too) so you really have 6 shape anews in the deck...

What makes this deck a bit unique is that if all else failed you can just play the threats and with double the targets and double the polymorphs you don't need a $100 mndsculptors which you would then have to defend...

So you have 8 main deck counters and some scry and some disruption.. and the best bit is the Vader tech from Control This! Not of this World. is the perfect way to keep your fatties on the table...

Something Something Dark Side...

It's pre release tomorrow and I know which team I'm batting for...

I thought we'd take a moment to look at the optons...

Well the good guys might always win in the movies, but I got a sneaking suspicion that Phyrexia are gonna sweep game day.

So what side should you play?

Well depends on a few things....

First money... If you were trying to make the most out of your buck then the Mirran prerelease card is worth pretty much half the entry price, whereas the Phyrexian one is worth a quarter...

Cards and their approx values...

Cards to look out for

Tez (£25?)

Blightsteel Colossus/ Thrun (£15?)

Massacre Worm / Sword of Feast and Famine, and Inkmoth Nexus ( £9.... although the land may go up yet...)

Of all the zeniths the green and black are worth the most....

Both the crussaders are worth a bit,  with the black slightly ahead...

Cards that I think will go up in value?

Phyrexian Revoker is a must have, I can’t believe it’s only £2... This card is Jack the Jace killer and it will see main deck play...Contested warzone looks terrible (and it does ) ...but there’s something about it that’s screaming at me... A good aggro deck could use this as another 4 bushwhackers...  

Uncommon? Well clearly go for the throat is the new doom blade and they are already pre-selling for £2 (that’s as much a s a revoker?) Unfortunately, I don’t suspect they will be much help tomorrow  and you may want to keep them in the sideboard..

So what do I recommend playing tomorrow? Just have fun that’s what I say... but on a competitive level, two words will dominate tomorrow and you can bet the winning players will be from one of these two camps... Infect or Battlecry... Personally I reckon Infect will be stronger (it’s like playing an opponent who has 10 life, rather than 20) So if you don’t get a big load of these in your pool or you just plain don’t want to play infect or battlecry, then I got two words for you... FIRST STRIKE... get as many first striking critters in your deck as you can...

Here’s some Gordon Vader tips for winning on game day...

  

      Research... If you are reading this then you already have a head-start, but maintain that lead and go to the wizards site and look at the spoilers... 

         Removal Removal Removal, don’t make it clunky and specific – the ability to destroy a flying non green non artifact creature during the declare attackers phase is pointless.. 

      Watch out for the bombs... A bomb will win you games, a 7 card combo in 3 colours won’t. 

      Never let an infect creature through if your opponent has a lot of green mana untapped. 

      Try to stick to a colour scheme you can live with... (even if it means leaving out that Mythic rare)

      Ideally you should try to play one colour, unless you have a strategy that looks consistent...

Ok some specifics...

Good cards to play... 

I’m not going to speculate on bomb cards because you’re going to get what you get... 

Commons and uncommons though... here’s my pick...

Top of my list would be...

Corrupted conscience ( I haven’t seen a lot of Enchantment hate and this would be horrible at the right moment...)

Steel sabotage could also be good..  

Virrulent wound is awesome and I think we’re going to see more of this card...

      

       Red got some great burn... Slagstorm, Concussive bolt and Burn the Impure

       will all save the day for someone tomorrow.

       Anway these are just some ideas... So go have fun and I hope you get all the

       Mythic rares you want...   

      

       What Side am i taking?

        

        Well Mirran Of Course... Someone’s got to keep these Phyrexians at bay and

        didn’t you know the good guy always gets the girl?           

        Here's the link to the entire Spoiler.. 

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