The Cheaper Alternative - Red/(x?)

Thragtusk is the defining creature of this format.

I've talked about how we need to back this creature up with, well, more creatures (Restoration Angel, Loxodon Smiter, Selesnya Charm, etc), though this is not the prevalent attitude these days.

The prevalent attitudes seem to be to play "Bant Control" or "UW" lists with little to no actual creatures in them.  Sure, they're playing Restoration Angel (sometimes!), and sure, they're playing Thragtusk (sometimes), but they tend to get far more excited about what happens to their plan when everything goes right (10 mana in play, still alive), than what might have to happen to get them to that point if their opponent does something that they can't interact with, with countermagic or sweepers.

Now, you'll note that these spells are hardly mentioned in my previous posts, because people are playing cards like Cavern of Souls, and Thragtusk, which neither of these cards are particularly good against.  One angle to approach people playing the format like this is what I've been describing, to actually attack them for damage while playing cards like Thragtusk, but another is to actually just go under or through them, which is phenominally less expensive than a playset of everything you'd need to build my Bant midrange list.

This kind of approach is so common, that it is becoming even more common to try to go "over the top", as we could see in Brad Nelson's Craterhoof Behemoth monstrosity. (that Martin Juza won GP Bochum with), or a frites based strategy, where you get back a Gristlebrand, or the like.

The more people try to go "over the top" against the Tusks, the better of an idea it becomes to go "under" them.

This is a card that is pretty easy to get excited about.  It is phenominally aggressive, it can kill your opponent without actually getting in for damage, and it plays well with other copies of itself.  It's a good top end, but there are some problems.

The main enemies of this card are threefold:
1) It has a creature type that is "not helpful"
2) It's casting cost is not an easy one to put together. (especially given 1)
3) People are playing cards like Centaur Healer, Thragtusk, and Restoration Angel, all of which are quite strong against this little devil.

So, if we are going this way, we need to have a solid plan for our opponent playing a creature and blocking (the temerity!)

There are several approaches to this.

1) Enchantment based removal.

I'd encourage you to play cards like this if you enjoy being blown out by Restoration Angel.  I'm sure a deck with literal Thragtusk and nothing else could be stopped by this approach, and it does have its advantages.

A) The creature does not "die", so it does not trigger the beast creation clause on Thragtusk, and is not available to be reanimated via Unburial Rites.

B) The mana saved is tremendous, especially for a deck that lives or dies based on the pressure/tempo it can create.

2a) Some kind of temporary can't block (creature based).

I like this option in general.

The opponent doesn't know we have them
They aren't dead against non-creatures
They let us get through for damage
They make leaving a creature back to block untenable
They develop our board while they are doing their job
They are immune to sorcery speed removal
They work with our overall strategy whatever our opponent is doing.

It does "walk into wraths" a bit, but at least one of the above options have haste, which is a good follow-up to a wrath effect.

Also, these work not at all against Restoration Angel.  (the Angel, and the creature it blinks can block)

2b) Some kind of temporary can't block (spell based)

These are powerful spells in a word where you're trying to win the game right now, the problem is that the more of this sort of thing you play, the more games you'll lose by drawing the wrong "mix".

You can cycle Inaction Injunctions, or use Nightbird's Clutches to get in, but you have to have a board presence for that to work, and if your hand has three of this type of effect, you might not have any creatures to get in in the first place.

Also, all cards of this type are severely hurt by Restoration Angel

2c) Making your guys unblockable

Finally, we have a way to kill our opponent that has a couple advantages:
A) It is not blown out by Restoration Angel (since it is not based on "target can't block" but rather "my guy is unblockable)
B) It gives a power boost
C) it has a good cost for a finisher, or it can be single-cast on a big threat like Hellrider.

3) We can also try just using unblockable creatures.

The problem with this is that they tend to be rather low-power.  We want Haste, to avoid wraths, and unblockability, to avoid blockers, but they just don't come together.   (We also want high power, which tends to not be all that common with either of these)

Latch Seeker is a candidate here, as is Pyreheart Wolf, though both of these strategies are beated by my "more creatures" (or playing some targetted removal) approach.

Overall, the problem of beating Restoration Angel, Thragtusk, and Centaur Healer is not an easy one for aggro decks these days.  I'd much rather be on the end of the Angel/Beast, than the Devil/Vampire.

I can definately see the appeal of people trying to double-strike and trample their way to victory with Smiters and Silverblade Paladins, but for whatever reason, that approach doesn't appeal to me. (dead to sweeper, vulnerable to instant speed removal (which is rarely played, to be fair))

Flinthoof Boar might see a comeback, once Stomping Ground hits play, and I do look forward to Thunderbolting some Angels at that time, but we aren't there until Gatecrash at least.

For now, I can't advocate not playing Thragtusk, and Angel, with some other creatures to back them up, and a sideboard plan ('Hoof) to go over the top.

GWx, Principles

I've been thinking about how I've been making card decisions using particular metrics, and I thought I'd try to elaborate on what those particular metrics are, since this metagame seems to be developing rather strangely.

1) Be pro-active.

We need to be able to play threats.  We need to take advantage of our opponent stumbling, take advantage of our opponents drawing the wrong cards, or being mana screwed.  We need to interact strongly with our opponent early and late, and not just sit back and "have the answer", which is dependent on us actually having the answer, and our opponent not asking us too many questions.

1a) Play (Threatening) Creatures
Creatures can block (an aggro deck's threats, to protect planeswalkers)
Creatures can attack (your opponent's life total, your opponent's planeswalkers)
Creatures have spell-like abilities these days. (Play those)
Creatures can be cast off Cavern of Souls (making them uncounterable, fixing mana)
Creatures can be bounced with Restoration Angel (creating surprise blockers, allowing attacks, reusing ETB/LTB triggers)

It is easy to get caught up with the cool spells, and having an abundance of removal, but that just gets you to a point where you can win the game (with creatures).  We need to remember that creatures are removal spells of a sort, and can help win the game.

I mean, just look at this creature.  How can you not be excited about playing this guy, and all the possibilities it presents you?  Doesn't this guy make you want to play a few cheap creatures, to blink, and use it to kill off your opponents guys?  Why would you play a Doom Blade over this Doom Blade?

1b) Play Planeswalkers (that actively win the game.)
It is not hard to convince people to play planeswalkers, but note that I did not say "play planeswalkers".

Planeswalkers are awesome because they give you something every turn.  What I want to be sure of is that what we're getting every turn actively helps us win the game.

Garruk is useful on offense and defense, and on "special teams".  It has a powerful plus ability, that kills off Thragtusk (without losing your Garruk), kills your control opponent, and draws cards in an emergency.  Garruk is an amazingly good, pro-active planeswalker.

2) Counterspells.

People are playing them, for whatever reason, so our game plan has to work around them.

2a) Play Cavern of Souls
There really seems to be no excuse for not playing this card these days.  There are entire deck groups that are entirely dead to this card.

We need 4 copies between main and side. (This is a great sideboard card, and doesn't hurt to main)

2b) Don't over rely on counterspells as a way to deal with creatures.
We don't want to have to have mana up.
We don't want to be dead to cavern of souls.
We want to deal with the board as it exists. (pro-active)
We want good top-decks late in the game.

Counterspells work well when you're ahead or even, they don't catch you up very well.  We don't need cards that help us win when we're already winning, we need cards that are independant threats.

This doesn't apply to cards like Negate or Dispel, since they by definition don't counter creatures anyway.  These are relatively good ways to deal with an opponent's "come back" play, like Sphynx's Revelation, Unburial Rites, and so on.  We just can't have too much of this kind of effect either, for the reasons above.  Negate is just as bad a draw as Essense Scatter late game, where a Thragtusk, Angel, or somesuch will help us claw our way back into the game.  (And there are plenty of spells that can't be countered, like Supreme Verdict)

3) Have ways to interact with your opponent's plan directly.

If your opponent plays a Sublime Archangel, Silverblade Paladin, or Falkenrath Aristocrat, you could easily be killed from almost any life total that turn, or the following turn.  The same can be said about planeswalkers, or other permanents.  Our opponent can make plays that trump our game plan, or threaten to kill us on the spot, we need to be able to interact with that, and not just hope playing more dudes will get us there.

3a) Have removal for permanents.
Our opponent will play permanents (planeswalkers, creatures, enchantments, artifacts, lands), we need to be able to interact at least the most common of these, creatures and planeswalkers.

There are quite a few ways to approach this problem, and none of them cover all the angles here.  Discard doesn't protect you from the top of their deck.  Counterspells are unreliable against creatures.  Creature removal tends to not hit planeswalkers or other non-creature permanents .  And a lot of this is sorcery speed.

The two best answers are probably Dreadbore, and Detention Sphere, but you probably won't see these out of the same deck (at least pre-gatecrash!)

As Bant, we'll need to lean a bit on Detention Sphere, and I am very likely to advocate this as a 4-of, since it is what we are counting on for interaction of this type.

3b) Be able to interact at instant speed.
If our opponent plays Silverblade Paladin and Rancor on turn 4, we may not live to untap and cast a Detention Sphere or Dreadbore on our turn 4.  We need to be able to interact with that threat at that time, or we may just be dead.

We need some instants that give us play in these situations.  I wonder what we could use here...  There are actually a fair number of options, despite us being in three of the worst removal colors.

We can't go overboard on this (which makes Rift and S. Charm particularly good), or we fall into the "not enough creatures" trap)

4) Have great mana. (Be able to cast your spells)

It may go without saying that we have to be able to cast our spells if they are going to be useful, but so often I see decks playing spells they can't cast, so clearly we need to spend at least a little time thinking about it.

4a) Play spells that are powerful, but easy to cast.
Thragtusk, and Restoration Angel are prime candidates here.

Creatures in general will be easier to cast, because cavern fixes for them.  Since we have Beasts and Angels, Beast and Angel creatures with triple casting costs (Angel of Serenity, Craterhoof Behemoth) will be easier to cast than they might normally be.

Non-creatures will be a bit harder to cast than "normal", so compensating for that in your mana base will be important.  Garruk, Primal Hunter, Sphinx's Revelation, and Dissipate are hard to cast, so we'll need to minimize the impact of not being able to cast them, or increase our ability to cast these spells, if we want to count on them to solve our problems.

4b) Have a solid mana base to begin with.
Farseek, Shocklands, M10/Inn duals, work well to give you lands that come into play untapped, and give you the colors you need.  We've talked about this a lot, so I won't belabor the point.

5) Have a solid end-game.

The cards in our deck are designed to kill our opponent if they do nothing, and drag the game out if they do something.  We need to be able to finish them off once we get to the late game, if it lasts that long.

We need to be able to play our haymaker, and win the game in the next two turns, whatever that is.  There's no one right answer to this, but Craterhoof, Collective Blessing, and Angel of Serenity are good starting points.  We can draw alot of cards, but so can our opponent, and we don't want to be too reliant on spells our opponents can counter.

Why I'm skeptical of Azorius Charm

This is probably the "Charm" seeing the most play these days, but I think it is probably the most over-rated charm at this point.

It has three modes, but the problem with this charm is that the modes are modes that basically put you in the same place you were at the beginning of the previous turn.

Mode 1: Team Lifelink

This spell puts you at your life total the previous turn, or you life total had you chosen not to race, or your life total if you decided to put Thragtusk in your deck.

This is really only used as a late-game, racing mode, that is pulled out only as a last resort, and in this mode, it is typically gaining around 6-9 life.

It's not that I don't like "one more turn", but rather than I think Thragtusk does this job profoundly better than Azorius Charm, and if you have Thragtusk and/or Centaur Healer, and/or Restoration Angel, this mode of Azorious Charm is the one you use the least.

Also, as far as gaining life, think about how much better Cloudshift is than this, since in all the modes of Cloudshift, you just get real or virtual life, as well as a removal spell, a token, or utility on your angel or against removal spells.

Mode 2: Draw a card

This is probably the most common mode of this Charm, which is fairly depressing.

The problem with this mode is not that I don't like drawing a card, because drawing a card is cool.  The problem is that that is all this card does.  It is a Gitaxian Probe that always costs UW, and you don't get to look at your opponent's hand.  (It costs 2 instead of 0, and does nothing)

The net effect after using this mode is the same situation you were in before you drew a card for this turn, and you get to hope to draw the card you probably should have put in your deck instead of Azorious Charm, and you get to pay 2 color-specific mana for the right to do it.

This is the mode people seem to be leaning on most of the time, saying "it's never dead!".

The problem with that for this card in specific, is that you might as well be playing a card like Think Twice, or Elvish Visionary, which give you the "Value" of cycling for two, but also give you additional value WHILE THEY ARE DOING THIS JOB.  You can mill the Think Twice, and flash them back, or just use it twice, or blink the Visionary with your Restoration Angel, or block while gaining life, or trade with a Gravecrawler and tie up mana, attack for a point, or any number of other pro-active things, while drawing your card.

These other options are also easier to cast than Azorius Charm, which is not insignificant, since most of these decks are also trying to draw into cards like Supreme Verdict (1UWW) or Tamiyo (3UU), or Sphinx's Revelation (UUWX), which are not the most mana-friendly cards if you're trying to do them in the same turn as a Charm.

Since most cycle-events happen late in the game, a card like Sphinx's Revelation seems like it gives you a lot more value (two modes of the Charm at once, greatly amplified) when used in these late game "Need to draw something" situations.

This is almost the definition of a do-nothing card in this situation, where playing a card like Centaur Healer, Thragtusk, Revelation, Visionary, or even "Grizzly Bears" accomplishes what this card does, in so many better ways.  Grizzly Bears draws you a zero-mana 2/2, and puts it directly into play!

Mode 3: Griptide (not quite)

This is the mode most often quoted as being "good against aggro".  Or being a greatly discounted effect over an existing (unplayable) card: Griptide.

Griptide/AEthertow is very close to a "Time Walk", but the problem with "Time Walk" is that you have to be doing something in that extra turn, or it didn't actually do anything at all for you.

The reason this Charm is not Griptide, but rather Aethertow, is that the creature targetted has to be either attacking or blocking at the time, which is, in a word: Terrible.

Your opponent can not attack, they can have a card like "Hellrider" where the value comes from the attack itself, or the opponent's creature can block, saving them damage before you Aethertow it.

I saw a game of Bant Control against RB aggro in this weekend's SCG open that exemplified this problem.  The RB aggro guy was stuck on 1 mana the entire game.  They cast a Cackler, then the next turn cast a Cackler, then the next turn cast a Cackler, got a Cackler Charmed, and this turn played itself out at least two turn, and the Bant Control player died.

The problem with this situation is that the Bant Control player was not ahead.  They traded two mana and a card, which is basically their entire turn, for the draw step, and one mana of their opponent, which was exactly their entire turn.  But their opponent was DOING SOMETHING during that time, and the Bant Control player was busy casting Charms.

This is arguably the best-case scenario for Azorious Charm.  Your opponent is stuck on one land, you ensure they do not draw a land, and instead draw a stupid one-mana creature.  And the Bant Control player was quite easily killed.

If this is the best case scenario for Azorious Charm, and it was cast two to four times, and the player easily lost the game, what the heck is this card in the deck for?

On top of this, we are playing with cards in this format that give incredible value when being cast, such as Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, and up to the absurd levels of Craterhoof Behemoth and Angel of Serenity.  On top of this, Hexproof guys give this Charm trouble (Sigarda, Geist), where they are in the wheelhouse of Selesnya Charm, at the same CMC.

Conclusion

Azorious Charm is really best summarized by "It puts you in the same position you were before "X"".  Where "X" was "last turn", or "your opponent attacked you", or the previous turn.

If you are ahead, this is one of the better things you can do, but this charm in no way helps get you into the situation where you are ahead.  It just does it's best to keep you there.

If you are behind, be it to a swarm of aggro guys, or a late game board stall, this card does actual nothing.

This card has options, but in my opinion they are mostly false options, because they all do the same thing.  The charm doesn't bring you back from behind, it gains you some life while you chump-block, or allow you to swing and try to draw the card that you really need next turn.

It is not a pro-active card.  If you want it to be good, you need to be playing a tempo deck, not a control deck, because the rest of your deck has to put you in a position where you are ahead on board, not clawing to get back from behind.

It is a very powerful in this type of deck, but once you go outside that, its use trails off dramatically.  (Though even there, it looks pretty good when they are ahead)

Learning to play Magic - Official Videos

I have been thinking about writing a series on how to play Magic, since it is rather daunting how complicated this game is.  However, since I am lazy, it's quite a bit easier to just point you to the official videos from Wizards of the Coast.

They are a bit dorky, but they get the point across, in the best medium (video).

The first video in the series can be found here

The rest are linked as the top video related to this one in the top left of youtube, but I've provided the hard-links here in case that is easier for some readers:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

This will get you started on the basic concepts in Magic, along with a lot of the game terminology.

Good luck!

Izzet Charm - BOO!

So, we recently talked about how we were playing Selesnya Charm, as a effect that was actively worth at least two mana in each of it's modes, and each of it's modes are useful in multiple scenarios.

Then, we have Izzet Charm.

Mode 1: Spell Pierce

So, my first reaction to this is that Spell Pierce costs 1.

That really seems like about all that needs to be said about this mode for Izzet Charm.  Spell Pierce is easy to leave up, hard to play around, useful in multiples.  It saves you mana over your opponent if they pay, and is likely to net you 2-4 mana when it works out.

Basically, Spell Pierce is a tempo play, in that you trade 1:1, but net a bunch of mana, and didn't have to impact your own game plan.  Make spell pierce cost U1, and it becomes more of an "even" trade, and we should not be in the buisiness of making even trades.

Mode 2: (Half of) Electrostatic Bolt

The simple fact of the "2 damage to a creature" mode of Izzet charm is that they don't make spells this bad.  Electrostatic Bolt was good because it was killing Myr Enforcers, something Izzet Charm doesn't exactly do.  Flame Slash, Searing Spear, Pillar of Flame, Thunderbolt, Devil's Play, and I'm sure several other cards seem directly superior to this mode even in standard Magic, much less historical precedents for spells that can only deal damage to creatures. 

2 creature damage is just not worth UR these days.  It is barely worth R.  We are paying quite a bit for this to be an instant, compared to Flame Slash(no longer in standard), Pillar of Flame, and co.

Mode 3: Careful Study

Or alternatively, it's standard strictly-better, Faithless Looting.  Faithless Looting is an incredible card.

What do we get out of Izzet charm?  The ability to spend twice as much mana, of two colors, and not be able to flash it back (the thing that makes Faithless Looting worth playing).

We get instant speed out of the deal, but at the two-mana level, Wild Guess is strictly better... (2 for 2, vs 2 for 3, single color, etc)

Conclusion:

The problem with all the modes of Izzet Charm is that the effects they provide are (incredibly) narrow, and typically worth around one or less mana.

Charm-spell-pierce is inferior to "Negate", and doesn't hold it's power late game, or allow us to progress our plan while denying your opponent.

Charm-ESB doesn't kill anything that costs more than it, doesn't threaten planeswalkers in any way, doesn't deal with the plethora of 3-toughness, or, undying creatures, or the like that plague this standard format.

Charm-Loot is just worse than Faithless Looting.

Put together, you have an effect that would probably be too good at 1 mana, but very bad at 2.  1x Faithless Looting, 1x Pillar of Flame, 1x Negate seems way better than playing 3x Izzet Charm.  The spells you'd be playing instead of Izzet Charm in this list are arguably more versatile and powerful than Izzet Charm itself.

That's a bad sign for us UR mages...

Bant - The fight at the casting-cost: 3-4

The Bant (UWG) list starts off strong with:
4x Farseek
4x Selesnya Charm
(1x something, Cyclonic Rift)

And finishes well with:
4x Restoration Angel
4x Thragtusk
2x Garruk, Tamiyo
2x Angel of Serenity
0-2x Some other big guy (Craterhoof Behemoth, Sphinx's Revelation, Entreat the Angels)

What we need to worry about at this point is what to do in "the middle".  We have 10-13 deck slots to fill, depending on our land count, big guy count, etc, and most of them will be in the 3-4 casting cost range.

If we combine the lists for the Green, and Azorious 3 and 4 casting cost slots, we have quite a few cards competing for not very many slots.

Potential 4-ofs:
3cc:
Centaur Healer
Loxodon Smiter
I love both of these guys.  Both get more relevant with Township, rather than Cavern.  We probably can't have more than 5 of these guys total, a mix is probably appropriate.  These will be our front-line of interaction with Restoration Angel.  Both are good on the blink-blocks, and Healer provides additional value the second time around.

Detention Sphere
All purpose removal spell?  Sign me up.  You have to be able to interact with planeswalkers, creatures, and tokens, this does all of those.  I really want 4, but we might not have the slots.

4cc:
Jace, Architect of Thought
I started out pretty strong with this guy, but he does stress the mana, and really feels like he's an "in between" play, rather than a "win the game" play.  His advantage doesn't build as much over the turns against midrange/control like Garruk or Tamiyo would, since he has to minus to get "value".  I'd rather have a 5-cc planeswalker than him, and I keep finding myself having to cut him, to fit in 3's, or 2's.

Potential 1-ofs:
3cc:
Borderland Ranger
Oblivion Ring
I don't really like either of these.  We may only have two basics in the deck, and O-Ringing a Detention Sphere just seems like a worse way of just destroying the Detention Sphere itself.  I'd prefer a card like Acidic Slime in this spot, since it's a creature, it can solve the utility land problem, can be blinked to reuse it, and we have Ray out of the sideboard for Spheres anyway.

4cc:
Ranger's Path
This will be much better once we have Breeding Pool.  Still might warrant one, with only 4x Temple Garden and 1x Forest to find.  Moreso the more Gavony Townships or 'Hoofs we play.
Yeva, Nature's Herald
1x is the limit here.  This gives a good amount of planeswalker pressure without overextending.  She has two (terrible) creature types, so she might be hard to cast.  Sounds like a sideboard card against sweepers.
Supreme Verdict
I like having a "catch up" card, and this is a pretty live draw.  It is immune to counters, though the restrictive casting cost may be a problem.  Being able to Farseek into this, into creatures/planeswalkers gives a good out against aggro.  Kind of awkward with all the creatures in the deck...

At this point, I feel like:
3x Healer
3x Smiter
4x Detention Sphere
Might be what we want from the above lists in the 3-4 range (aka in the 3-range).

This gets the interaction started early, frees up our mana a bit without stressing too much at the 4-level, and frees up slots for some other stuff early and late.
1-2x Cloudshift, as a "4 drop" along side all the 3's.
This also gives us a bit more ability to go 3-drop, Tapland on turn 3 after Farseeking T2, or being able to pay for Syncopate for 1 on the play.

We can even bump up the 5-drop planeswalker count by one this way.  If you think about it, we don't really want to race to drop a PW, and just get it killed.  We want to cast our blocker, then drop a planeswalker, and use it to win the game.  Jace isn't really winning any games, compared to Tamiyo or Garruk.  And, the more big guys we play, the better Garruk looks, as additional (or original) Sphinx's Revelations.

Garruk and Tamiyo/Sphinx (GGG, UU) definately stretch the mana base without Breeding Pool, and both can't use Cavern to help out.  A Garruk deck might have no double-blue spells, and just splash Sphere, Rift, and the like without maxing out on the blue/white lands, whereas a Tamiyo/Sphinx deck should probably lean a bit more away form the double, much less single, greens.

I Heart Selesnya Charm

This card is amazing!  Of all the charms, it is the most pro-active, the most versatile, the least dead.  It has a use in all of the match-ups, and deals with many of the problems of the format.

Mode 1: Sylvan Might

This mode has three applications:  Save my guy from damage based removal, save my guy from combat damage, and get through some damage.

Save my guy from damage based removal:
To figure out whether this is good or not, we need to line up our guys, against whatever toughness-based removal there is.
1) Pillar of Flame - Our guys are already immune.
1a) Double Pillar of Flame - This saves every guy we have from this.
2) Searing Spear - Kills a few of our guys (Thragtusk, Beast Token, Centaur Healer) - Saves all of these guys from this.
2a) Pillar + Spear - Saves 4 or higher toughness (Angel, Smiter).  Does not save 3-toughness, but against three-toughness, they're likely spearing in combat, where this is a blowout.
2b) Double Spear - Saves... Sigarda! =P
3) Mizzum Mortars - Kills pretty much everything (but Sigarda).  With Charm, it kills none of our guys.
3a) Mizzium + something - Yeah right.
4) Tragic Slip - Kills none of our guys without morbid, kills all of our guys with morbid.
5) Bonfire of the Damned: X spells are hard to figure out.  It is very likely that we can beat this hard-cast at any point with Charm.  We can also beat this late game miracled if they want to do something else, or mid-game miracled even if they don't.

So, we are either looking okay against these (don't need to use it, give opponent dead cards) or Charm works marvelously.

Save my guy from combat damage:
To figure out how good this is, we need to consider what kind of blockers opponents will have, and whether charm saves our guys from those.
1) Thragtusk - Thragtusk blocks Smiter, Thragtusk, and Beast Token.  It doesn't block our fliers.
--Charm saves Smiter from Thragtusk (and gets in 3 damage), and Smiter is naturally immune to beast token.
--Charm does nothing for Tusk v. Tusk.  It saves Tusk v. the beast token.
--Charm does nothing for Beast token v. Tusk, but does save our beast token.

2) Centaur Healer, Beast token: Trades with 'Tusk or beast token.
--Charm works in both of these situations as effectively casting another Thragtusk or Beast Token (one of the modes of charm already, so this is like giving the token haste + making it a 3/3)

3) Loxodon Smiter - Trades with Tusk, Smiter, eats Beast token
--Charm turns all of these from a trade (or a chump-attack) into a removal spell + damage.

4) Restoration Angel - Trades with Tusk, eats beast token, bounces Restoration Angel.
--Charm turns these from a trade into a removal spell + damage.

5) Rakdos Keyrune - Eats Tusk, Healer, Beast token.
--Charm turns all of these from a chump-attack, into a removal spell + 4 damage.
--Rakdos Keyrune is one of the spells the format is leaning on to contain 'Tusk...

6) Angel of Serenity - Eats everything.  Bounces our angels.
--Charm lets Smiter eat Angel
--Charm lets Thrag trade with Angel
--Charm lets Restoration Angel bounce.
--Charm lets our Serenity eat theirs.

6) Auger of Bolas, Snapcaster Mage - Anything that costs less than three - Can't block our guys anyway.

Double blocks:
Having even a potential combat trick, with two viable combat-math-messing-up modes makes double blocking problematic.  As far as some actual likely double blocks, Charm isn't amazing in the pump mode.  Smiter vs Thrag + 3/3, or 2x 3/3's is just a 2-for-2.  Angel of Serenity vs double Restoration Angel is just a removal spell (though you keep your Angel).  Thragtusk vs double-Angel is not even good for Charm.

Get through some damage:
We can bring some damage, between Smiter, Healer, Thragtusk, Angel, and Angel 2.0.  Chump blockers in the form of spirit tokens, or a race situation (as foolhardy as that might be against the Tusk/Healer combo) can be dramatically changed by some +2 power and/or Trample damage.

Moorland Haunt and/or Lingering Souls should not be saving our UW opponent at low life.  We just have to watch out for cards like Azorius Charm or Unsummon, so only use this if it is a last resort, or they are threatening a kill in another way.  Or, just always target a high-value ETB card, like Thrag or Angel, rather than a card like Beast Token.

Mode 2: Reprisal

And you thought I was going to say Smite the Monstrous!

The actual effect on the Charm is power 5 or greater, and it Exiles.  The power difference between 4 and 5 (Smiter, Unpaired Silverheart?) isn't that relevant, but the exile instead of destroy-no-regen is quite relevant.  People are playing Unburial Rites and Angel of Serenity, ignoring the corner cases of Rancor-On-Some-Zombie-that-comes-back (which handily, tends to bring them to 5 or more power).

So lets look at what we get to exile with this...
1) Thragtusk.
Thrag is not amazing to exile, but it's better to exile the beast, than kill it, in this environment.  It is commonly played, so we won't lack targets in any green matchup.
2) Wolfyr Silverheart.
Exiling this guy, or who he's paired to, is going to be quite good for us.  It allows "trading" the Silverheart for a 3/3 (on a double block), a Smiter, a Thragtusk, or it enables eating whatever the Silverheart was paired with.
For Silverheart especially, being an instant is quite important, since it gives the creature it's paired with a kind of hasty power.
3) Angel of Serenity.
This is pure blowout.  If they target their own guys (Thragtusks), you respond to the trigger by exiling the Angel (which is super-relevant), so their targets are perminantly exiled, even if they try to respond to the charm.
If they target our guys, we wait for the trigger to resolve, then exile their stabilization play.  Our guys tend to give value on the way in, so we can't get too blown out by having to recast our Thragtusk or Restoration Angel.
4) Olivia Voldaren.
Our guys have >2 power, so if Olivia wants to kill one of them, she'll have to move into Exile-range (which gets us any stolen creatures back).  If Olivia pings + steals, and pings anything else to try to steal that, she is in exile range.
Olivia isn't ultra-vulnerable to Charm, because she can steal with just one ping, but no one actually does that.
5) Craterhoof + really small guys.
Exile the 'Hoof in response to the trigger, your 5 elves get +1/+1.
6) Other:  Gatherer search for >4 Power:
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&format=|[%22Standard%22]&power=+%3E[4]
Armada Wurm, Bloodgift Demon, Deadbridge Golliath, Griselbrand, Deadeye Navigator, Desecration Demon, Gizela, Isperia, Lord of Lineage, Niv Mizzet, Rakdos, Thundermaw Hellkite, Predator Ooze (eventually)

These are all some very big threats, which Charm handles in pretty much the best possible way.  At instant speed, and forever, for two mana.

Mode 3: Ashcoat Bear

Now with vigilance!

This card has several modes to it as well:

Mode 1: Flash blocker
This is our main sub-mode against aggressive decks.  They attack with a 2-toughness creature, we flash in a blocker, their pressure is alleviated.  The only targets this doesn't really work that well against that cost less than three are:
--Stromkirk Noble (it's a human token)
--Call the Conclave (3/3)
--Ash Zealot (First Strike)
--Frostburn Wierd (1/4) (limited all-star)
--Mogg Flunkies (take out their buddie instead)
--Elite Inquisitor (zombies on the decline, and we have no targets in our deck)
--Thalia (on multiple levels)
--Precinct Captain

All of these targets die or are otherwise neutralized by anything costing more than 2 (Centaur Healer, Beast Token, Restoration Angel, Thragtusk)

Mode 2: Shock to the face
Against an opponent at 2 life, there is not much better of a spell.

Mode 3: Shock to (a planeswalker's) face.
Kills a Jace into -2 from an empty board.
Pressures Tamiyo, and/or kills it depending on what is happening.
Kills/pressures a Liliana
Kills/Pressures a Sorin

A lot of the removal out of these planeswalker decks is sorcery speed, so on an empty board, having some EOYT interaction that can poke a planeswalker can make cards like Jace 4.0 look pretty terrible.

Conclusion:

So, we have our first mode, that is great in any sort of mirror, or midrange creature matchup, and can finish opponents who are at low life (aka are not playing green) and trying to chump block/race us, and can save our blockers from our opponents removal.

We have our second mode, which can perminantly deal with the most problematic creatures in the format out of the control or midrange decks, or save us from an aggro deck's "finisher".  Against pretty much every deck, it saves us from whatever they are planning to kill us with once the board stalls out.

And then we have a third mode, which also has applications against aggro, and control.  It helps us get to the mid game against aggro, and it helps us from getting overwhelmed by planeswalkers against control, or just kill a control opponent post-wrath. (Thragtusk tokens, 2/2 knights, it all adds up)

I really have a hard time not maxing out on this card, as my compliment to Farseek in the two-slot.  It really is a super-versitile card, that you just keep finding more uses for as you think about it.

Jund, starting Decklist

This decklist has 37 non-land, and 26 land, which means it has three cards to cut.

The spells in this list are incredible, and the best creatures are very good.

The problem is that we have a grand total of 13 creatures, 16 if you count the keyrunes, which I'm not sure I would advise.  The Keyrune is very good on defense, assassinating Thragtusks left and right, and it's okay as an attacker once you run out of gas (and better with instant speed removal, which this deck doesn't have any of....).  The problem is if you want to cast your spells, Keyrune doesn't block very well, because either it's tapped for mana, or you tapped your other lands, and don't have enough to activate it.

There also aren't more than 4 of the same creature type in the deck, meaning your caverns won't be super-high power.

This deck needs creatures, that's for sure.

Multicolor Green - The Rakdos (RB)

So, now that we've talked about the one major supported three color setup for Green (GWU, "Bant"), we should cover the other well-supported three color setup for Green, Red-Black-Green, or "Jund".

Casting Cost:1

This card on it's own is almost a good enough reason to play Red.

It removes almost any card that costs one or two, and some of the big three-drop threats (Geralf's Messenger)  It is a true 1:1 most of the time, and it goes to the face with a Tamiyo ultimate, or against a control deck.  (It can kill a -2'ed Jace, or try to interact with a planeswalker, so that's something Black removal tends to not do)

Unfortunately, it does not match up very well against Thragtusk, Lingering Souls, Olivia Voldaren, Beast Tokens, Restoration Angel, or really anything happening after turn three or so.  It also doesn't work against cards like Falkenrath Aristocrat (he saves vs exile, etc)

It costs 1, which is huge.  It fills in on any turn, and is your stopgap against aggro in a "Jund" list.

A problem however is that Red is actually your "Splash" color when the current shock lands are considered.  Between Dragonskull Summit, Copperline Gorge, Blood Crypt, and a singleton Mountain perhaps, only five of those 13 sources come into play untapped on turn 1, and four of those at the cost of two life, which is a rough cost to pay when you are facing a deck you need to interact with on turn 1.

This is a very powerful card, for the match-up it is good in, and very weak against any kind of Midrange, Control, Ramp, or Combo strategy.  I heard someone suggesting sideboarding this card against Aggro, and that makes a lot of sense to me.  "Double Pillar your Thragtusk" is not a winning proposition for any deck.

I have an unreasonable affection for this card.  It is almost a perfect one-to-two-of in almost any sort of deck that will have extra lands (aka virtually any deck) at some point.

It is a almost perfect late-game draw, but it's not good enough early game to warrant overcommitting to it (outside a reanimation strategy).  It gives extra value, but not in a way that causes hate cards from your opponent to be "worth" bringing in.

Nowadays, it competes a bit with Thoughtflare (draw 4 discard 4, vs draw 4 discard 2), as a late-game draw, but Faithless Looting works well with Thoughtflare, and it is certainly not dead early (one-land-Looting is not awesome, but it can open up some early draws).  It allows you to play a few other cards that are more specific, because you can cycle them into other cards.

It's not dead in aggro either, since they tend to want to stop at 4 land or so, and "draw 4" is just what they want.

This is a very solid one to two of.

 An early game removal spell that isn't dead late?  Interesting...

The main competition for this card is Pillar of Flame.  Pillar handles Undying, and goes to the (planeswalker's) face.  Tragic Slip deals with bigger stuff, at instant speed, and deals with indestructable, regeneration, etc.

This is a very real trade-off, but as Zombies gets beat (back) into the ground by cards like Thragtusk and Pillar of Flame, Slip becomes better, since the cards Pillar is good against are leaving.

Also, we have up to 9 untapped Black sources turn one, compared to 5 Red (admittedly 8 with a cost of two damage), since black is a "central" color until Gatecrash.

The morbid cost is a real cost for taking down big creatures, but if you're playing creatures in your deck, you should be able to make it work.

In a world of Flashback, this card has somewhat reduced effect, but if you are going to skimp on Cavern, in favor of other utility lands, this is a reasonble sideboard card.

It is a pretty good answer to sweepers and Sphynx's Revelation as well.

In a world of Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, and Angel of Serenity, eating their brains right out of the game is one of the better answers to them, since it gets around Cavern, Reanimation, and only costs one.

This also beats the heck out of cards like Unburial Rites, or Sever the Bloodline, which are traditionally strong against discard.

Unfortunately, there are a ton of cards this misses, like the entirety of an aggro deck, Lingering Souls, counterspells, removal, and so on.  This sounds like a sideboard card to me, so it is directly competing with Duress for this type of effect.




Not considered: Electrickery, Dead Weight, Geistflame (as being inferior to Pillar, Slip)

Casting Cost: 2

I love this card, along with Ray of Revelation.

Unfortunately, the targets in the format are somewhat lacking, with the rotation of the "artifact block"

Targets:  Keyrunes (RB, GW only pretty much), Trading Post (dead), Runechanter's Pike (Delver dead), Gilded Lotus (do-nothing control)

Wierd that I'd rather have a destroy Land-Enchantment spell now, than a traditional "Disenchant".  Unfortunate, because this is such a good card when it's good.  (I need to remember the lack of targets for consideration in Bant)

I'd play one, but probably not more than that.  (And maybe something like Manic Vandal instead)

I would say this is one of the best reasons to play "Jund" colors.

It is almost never dead, and it interacts with perminants (planeswalkers) that "control" colors tend to have a hard time with.  It gives quite a bit of value for it's casting cost, and at least the black half of the casting cost should be easy to put together.

It'll also enable quite a few two-spell turns later in the game, where the Bant equivalent (Detention Sphere) might be somewhat harder to "fit in".

It combos with Pillar of Flame to answer most anything early or late, which is a good place to be.  Neither are amazing against Thragtusks or Restoration Angels-blocks, which is the biggest problem with approaching things from a "1:1 Removal" standpoint.  Creatures, and planeswalkers, especially expensive ones, have already done something when they come into play, especially at the 3+cc level.  Dreadbore is a fine card, but you'd better be ready to go over the top with the time/mana it gives you.

4 damage to a flier is good vs. Resto angel, but bad versus literally anything else.  3 damage to a player is okay against planeswalkers.

I don't know that I can advocate this, except in some sort of crazy aggro strategy.

This feels so terrible to me.  I've cast alot of Lightning Bolts, and I didn't feel all that great with Incinerate.  Searing Spear does kill a few more things, but it feels like something an aggro deck would rely on, rather than being good for our deck.

"Can't be countered" is better on a spell, than a creature these days, since Cavern of Souls is a thing.  This is a pretty awesome "Disenchant", since it kills most artifacts or enchantments that you'd want to kill, and some early creatures as well.

This feels like a 2-of, where Dreadbore feels like a 4-of, but I think I want to be Dreadboring a Angel of Serenity, and Abrupt Decaying a Detention Sphere on my .

It's unfortunate that this fills a slot like Acidic Slime's, but doesn't deal with even all the things Slime does.  (Utility lands for the most part)

There are a surprising number of good options here, for a rather below-the-radar Charm.

Enchantments are more important than artifacts in this format, and this happens to kill one of the artifacts (Rakdos Keyrune) anyway!

It also "counters" Supreme Verdict, and does good things in creature mirrors, that even keep your tokens alive.

I like this, as a 2-3 of.

It is really terrible for GB that they have two GB instants that are very versitile...

Really the only things this has over Dreadbore is being an instant, and being slightly easier to cast.  (probably the easiest spell in the deck to cast, since Black is a "central" color until Gatecrash)

Being an instant is cool, but I can't see playing more than a couple of these, and only if my Dreadbores are already maxed.

It's good against Restoration Angel, in that it turns it into only sortof a blowout, instead of a full blowout.  That's not what I want out of a removal spell =/

This is the only creature I've listed at the 2 or less casting cost range, which is mildly depressing.

He's not terribly aggressive for this deck, despite his trample and 2/1 for 2.  We don't really want to discard our Thragtusks or Olivias to make him bigger, but he might work well in a reanimation strategy (Green-Black-White, whose mana is terrible).

He's good against Supreme Verdict, bad (horrible) vs Terminus.  He's a reason Tragic Slip is a considerable card.

As Bonfire, Mortars is at it's best when you have a board presence to back it up.  It is solid early, and late, doing a reasonable job of competing with both Bonfire of the Damned, and Dreadbore.

It does not deal with planeswalkers without a board presence, so that's important to realize if we intend to use this rather than a card like Bonfire.









Not considered: Izzet Charm (blue), Desperate Ravings (blue) Flinthoof Boar (not enough forests?), Reverberate (uncastable), Tibalt (uncastable, not good), Knight of Infamy (sideboard)

Jund has some very efficient removal available to it.  The spells are quite strong, but spells that are relatively hard to cast (no cavern to help if that's our utility land, either with color or uncounterability).  I feel like removal is the strength of the Jund colors, so hopefully we don't drop off too fast from here on up the curve...

Casting Cost: 3

If I'm not very happy about 1R-3 damage, 1RR-3 damage can't feel very good.  They're even both instants!

Red is also our "splash" color in this deck ("only" 13 sources), so you're paying a whole lot for +1 damage and instant speed over Pillar of Flame.  It does hit Thragtusk, Dreg Mangler, Beast Tokens, and do one more damage to planeswalkers or players, so that's something.

This is a rough pill to swallow, if this is our solution.  Centaur Healer feels a whole lot better in the 3-slot.

I have played with main-deck Arc Trail.

There are a few differences here though.  +1 mana cost is huge.  You can't slow down their mana-guy draws as well, or do another thing the same turn.

There were alot more 1-toughness and 2-toughness creatures at the time, and planeswalkers that didn't come into play with 4-5 loyalty.

I love me some card advantage, but this is a hard sell over Searing Spear....

The "Red Rhox Faithmender", this guy is quite a bit more aggressive than that "other" card.  This "transforms" into a 5/5 must-attack, which hits pretty hard against your control opponent, and this guy blocks very well against the aggro threats in the format.

It doesn't really deal that well with Thragtusk or Restoration Angel (preventing flips), but it is trivial to cast, and performs in a sort of Geist of Saint Traft role for the Jund colors.

I don't know that this is the way to go, but it's a passable defensive creature option for Red.

Kruin Outlaw (2/2 first strike for 1RR) transforms into this friendly gentlewoman.

I really like this card, but it has no synergy with anything but Huntmaster.  It doesn't block much well on it's normal side, but 3-power double (first) strike is pretty powerful.

It's also hard to cast, so it likely isn't raiding any villages in Standard.

This dark mirror of Centaur Healer is pretty interesting.  It gives value against removal and some counterspells, gets in there for 3 damage.  Overall quite an interesting aggressive card.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stand up too well against Restoration Angel, but at least it's not embarrassingly bad.

 Stupid Restoration Angel.

Liliana 2.0 is pretty weak against Angels, Thragtusk, Creatures, and so on, but it is still a 3 mana planeswalker, that works over control fairly well.  Black is our "central" color until Gatecrash, so the mana won't be as good as it can be for casting this.

It is good against big single threats, it gains some life, it is good with blockers, so as long as we have some creatures for 3 or less mana, this won't be a terrible play.

If our defense for Liliana is Thragtusk, we're probably better off without her.

Liliana is a defense against Geist of Saint Traft, but so is Dreg Mangler, Centaur Healer, Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, Huntmaster....

Having some instant-speed interaction is good, so we need something like Tribute, Murder, Ultimate Price, and this does give you an "out" to protection from Black, Hexproof, and the like.  Gaining some life gainst decks where you want this effect isn't terrible either.

There is quite a bit of competition for this slot, so we might want a representative from this category, but certainly we wouldn't want to overload on it.

This card is seeing a fair amount of play in Jund colors.  Having some card draw, at the cost of some (irrelevant) life, and a (relevant) land is a fair trade-off once we get into the late game.

The land is a real cost to this, but I could see playing 1-3 of these out of the sideboard, as just another thing to give an advantage in super-long games, in the mirror, or against control.

This is really an incredible creature.  It has three very relevant abilities, on a body that is not bad at all.

It doesn't block the mid-level creatures that well, but it dominates the low-level creatures in multiple ways.  It can just block and kill them, or it can prevent them from attacking, or it can just race them, and those are the kind of options we should be looking for in a creature.

The thing to remember with this is that if your opponent has a beast token and a 1/1, you can race them with just your 2/3 lifelink, and you should unless you are very behind.

It trades with Restoration Angel, Angel of Serenity.  It threatens Planeswalkers.

It doesn't "race" a Thragtusk in an overall sense, but it does trade 2-for-3 damage if you attack, which is more than most cards can claim, especially at the three-cost level.  There are quite a few 3/3's these days, and VNH does race those, but it doesn't block them well at all, so as far as options go, the meta these days does give you fewer than you'd normally have.  Searing Spear is also a commonly played removal spell out of aggro decks, which hurts this card, compared to, say, Seraph of Dawn (which is "strictly worse")

Not considered: Brimstone Volley, Crossway Vampire, Fervent Cathar, Mark of Mutiny, Rolling Tremblor, Traitorous Blood, Cower in Fear, Forbidden Alchemy, Lingering Souls, Murder.

Casting Cost: 4

This is one of the best reasons to be playing Jund in a metagame of Thragtusks clogging up boards.  Stealing your opponent's Thragtusk is probably one of the best ways you can "answer" it, and Olivia is no slouch at wiping your opponent's board, or flying over the top to kill them.

She really gives you a lot to do with your mana, once you "run out of gas" and it rewards you for having some cheap removal to back it up, because you will have your hands full (just like Olivia, in the picture =P) stealing things.

The creatures do go away when Olivia does, which is not all that unlikely, between Charms, Dreadbore, Detention Sphere, and the like, but if she is unanswered, the game should be over in short order.

This is the card that makes me excited about Jund.  The possibilities here are truly marvelous.

This gal does a pretty good job of getting in for damage.  Haste is a great ability for finishing your opponent off, and the numbers on Aristocrat are quite good for the metagame.  It is not dominated by Restoration Angel, and it can block Thragtusk without dying, with some support.

It's good, but it competes with Olivia, so for a more controlling build, Olivia seems like the clear choice for at least your first 2-3 4-casing-cost vampires.

While we're on the subject of multicolored 4-casting-cost creatures, Huntmaster has been an all-star for quite a while.

He does gain you some life, and do some damage, but the problem with Huntmaster these days is the preponderance of "2"'s on his abilities, when stacked up against the preponderance of "3"'s that this meta contains.

He's still good as gold against aggro, and probably better than Olivia on 4 (Olivia being better on 6+, or if it survives)  The 2/2's just don't stack up to Thragtusks, and Centaur Healer does a pretty good Huntmaster impression, for a mana less.

This is a pretty degenerate format, but a 4-mana sorcery that might not come down until the Thragtusk you are likely to name is in play, may not be what you're looking for.

I could see playing one or two of this out of the sideboard, but I wouldn't do anything crazy with it.  It is uncounterable, but if too many of your spells look like this, you may just be dead to a Tamiyo, Garruk, or just a beast token, before you can leverage the super-long game where this can show it's colors.

An alternative to Liliana for hexproof creatures, Barter is a pretty powerful spell.  I wouldn't advocate going too far down this line though, because the best answer to planeswalkers, which control decks tend to lose to, are creatures, and Barter makes you want to go down a dangerous line there.

This guy is HUGE.

This guy is hard to keep under control if you can stay alive for a few turns, but he can't be your only line of defense, or them sacrificing a Thragtusk after you cast this may lead to you taking lethal.

If you have any sort of board position when you cast this guy, he's going to be bringing the damage.  He's only really bad against a token-based strategy

He even flies, which is good against the Thragtusk-clogged ground.

This guy's ability is MANDITORY, but it sure can draw a lot of cards, and gain a lot of life, for a pretty reasonable cost.

We just have to make sure that when we use him, what we're getting (in cards and life) is worth more than what we are giving up (board presence).  If we're just using this guy to use him, we aren't going to be getting anywhere, even if drawing cards and gaining life is fun.

I would not play more than one of this guy, but as a one-of, he seems fine.

Liliana 3.0 is pretty good with shock-lands.  Unfortunately, we have to consider her to be primarily a land-fetcher, and secondarily a poor removal spell.  Also, since we only have 8 swamps in the deck, the removal spell is going to be pretty abysmal.

More land is good, but we probably want Liliana in more of a 18 swamp + 8 shockland manabase, than in our all-dual manabase.

I love Sever.  I think it's one of the best removal spells in the format, it gets around reanimation, it answers the most dangerous aggro starts, it gets value late game.

It's pretty splashable, for such a powerful spell (compared to Angel of Serenity, or Liliana for example).

It is a Sorcery, a 4 mana spell, and it has double effectiveness, so we'd probably want on the order of two, to compliment Dreadbore, which has more targets and is cheaper.







Not Considered: Chandra the Firebrand (bad, low impact) Essense Backlash (blue), Hellrider, Krenko, Mob Boss, Rakdos, Lord of Riots (uncastable), Bloodhunter Bat, Eviol Twin, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Mutilate (Swamps), Sorin, Lord of Innistrad (White)

Casting Cost: 5

This guy is big, he doesn't get blocked, he picks off Aristocrats, and spirit tokens.  He hits hard.

He is an interesting counterpoint to Thragtusk, in that he makes them lose 5 life, right now, and comes back for more later.

I like him, but he does compete with the 'Tusk, and our planeswalkers.

This is probably the best answer in the format to a planeswalker.

They do all the work, get marginal advantages from +1's, and you blow them out with an ultimate.

This guy seems like one of the best answers to Thragtusk in an aggressive deck, so we need to be aware of it when we get our Garruks, or Tamiyos, or whatnot up in level.

This guy is pretty trivial to cast, and might hit harder than Thundermaw, at least in the short term, especially if you have board position.

The pure insanity/swinginess on this guy is pretty hard to deal with.  I would side at least one of these against any sort of planeswalker strategy.

One of the better card drawing engine in the format, this guy can bring the damage, survive Restoration Angel, avoid Thragtusk, and make use of your extra Thragtusk life and board stall to make use of the cards he draws before the game is over.

He is very aggressive, I like him!

The one downside is that he gives no value vs removal, but alot of removal doesn't hit him, so that's something.

This card shuts down some entire strategies.  It punishes mana creatures, Lingering Souls, Snapcaster Mage.

It is like a "Free" Gavony Township activation as to what it does for you in the mirror, which is quite good.  Unfortunately, it is not free, whereas a Gavony Township is more actually free. (and pretty much the same cost)

I don't mind this card, but it's probably a sideboard plan against tokens/Souls, rather than a more generally good card.

I initially underrated Vraska, but I think most people are still gravely overestimating her.

The reason Vraska works so well for the games where it works, is that the people playing against Vraska don't actually have any creatures.

The "defender" gets their Tamiyo destroyed, then two turns later, gets their Jace destroyed.  Then three turns later, gets some other perminant destroyed.

If you are not in a equal board position, or only slightly superior, this gal's snakes don't do much hissing.  So, don't put yourself in a position where you're behind, and she's not too much trouble.


Not Considered: Thoughtflare (blue), Homicidal Seclusion (impact), Unburial Rites (white)

Casting Cost: 6

There's not much at 6, but this is pretty good for a creature-based strategy.  Triple-Black is at least your "central" color (and Zombie/Cleric aren't the absolute worst creature type to name with Cavern)

This guy works pretty well with Resto Angel =P











Not Considered: Harvester of Souls, Niv Mizzet, Dracogenius (Blue)

Casting Cost: 7+

7 is alot, but this guy definately goes over the top of Restoration Angel, Thragtusk, and the like.  Unfortunately, it only counts your opponents, but as a one-of, on a stalled board, you will most certainly be all-in-ing, and either way they're screwed.

It also doesn't count tokens, so that's another limiting factor.

This is probably not as good as I want it to be, but it certainly has potential.

Speaking of "over the top" and "way to use life from the 'Tusk", and a way to not run out of "action", this guy delivers.

Farseek fetches all the black sources, as does Ranger's Path.  There are 17 black sources in the deck, so this guy is castable on color.  I wouldn't go over a 1-of on a 8-drop, but if you're going to have an 8-drop, it's hard to go over the top of this guy.  He kills everything short of a bonded Silverheart in combat, is impossible to race, and gives value against removal.

Love him!






Not considered: Blasphemous Act (other x-spells), Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker (blue)

Casting Cost: X

Mind Twist is not a fair card.  If your opponent taps out for Thragtusk or some other threat, this is a fine return-volley.

It puts a major kink in your opponent's plans, and can be an out to burn your opponent to a crisp late game.

It may not be as bad as it seems against aggro, since it can get their top end out of their hand, as long as you can keep up with their bottom end.  You don't want too much of this sort of thing against Stromkirk Noble or Dryad Militant though...

This is a reasonable red answer to planeswalkers, and aggro, which is a fair spread of abilities for one card.

It can't go to the face, or clear out Restoration Angels or Lingering Souls, but it's probably worth considering as one of your options for Red sweepers.

Probably the best sweeper in the format now, or at least the most versitile.

It is important to remember that it is at it's best in a deck that has a board presence itself, because it does not wipe your own creatures.  It's fine to kill all their guys, but you want to swing in for 10 after they're dead, which adds to the life-pressure of Bonfire to the head.

If you can't back it up, it won't be much better than a delaying tactic against an aggro deck.  (And the Tusks come back, etc)






Not considered: Street Spasm (too expensive, doesn't hit fliers, a worse Bonfire), Devil's Play (hard to flash back, too expensive early), Diabolic Revelation (would rather Grisel)

Conclusion:

There is a fair amount of cheap spells in RB, but very few good cheap creatures.  Pillar, Dreadbore, Mortars, Bonfire, and Sever are top-shelf removal spells.  As far as the creatures go, Olivia Voldaren is a standout, but there aren't a lot of options before her to get the party started.

We have the good removal spells, but despite having cards like Dreadbore, we'll be forced to use that sort of card to keep from being overwhelmed by planeswalkers, since we don't have the board presence to keep 'walkers in check without them.

Jund has a ton of cheap spells, so as long as they can stay alive through those early turns, they'll be able to use their spells before they die.  The problem is that 1:1 removal is at a all-time low in how good it is, with Restoration Angel, Geist of Saint Traft, Thragtusk, and Lingering Souls it is hard for any "Doom Blade", even souped-up Doom Blades like Dreadbore and Sever to keep up.  You have to draw the right card at the right time, unless you have the creatures to back them up.

There is also the possibility of going four-color to try and splash some of these spells into a Bant list, but it is unfortunate that the best spells are difficult to splash in this way, because they require both Red and Black (Olivia, Dreadbore), or are double or triple color.  Zealous Conscripts, Sever the Bloodline, Golgari Charm/Abrupt Decay, and Bonfire of the Damned have the highest potential for this type of usage.

For the time being, I have an unreasonable like of casting Olivia, Gristlebrand, and the Jund "spells", but I feel like GW has a more solid base of creatures and utility spells, for killing your opponent.

I'm not super-sold on the Blue, I'd probably rather have Red or Black once Gatecrash comes out, but for the time being, I'd aim for Bant over Jund.