Welcome readers, to Part Four of the Zendikar Decks series. Today, we tackle Warp World.
Here's the decklist I chose:
Lands: (23)
4 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures: (29)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Greenweaver Druid
2 Keeper of Progenitus
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
4 Siege-Gang Commander
Spells (8)
4 Trace of Abundance
4 Warp World
I hopped on MWS to do battle.
Match 1 vs. U/B Mill
Game 1 he gets manascrewed while I get a Turn 4 Siege-Gang Commander and a Turn 6 Hellkite. His only plays are Hedron Crab and Jace.
Game 2 he plays a Turn 1 Hedron Crab. I play a Savage Lands. He plays a fetch, then Archive Traps me when I sacrifice my own fetch. I play Lotus Cobra.
I get to Warp World mana, and he mills me down to 12 cards in library. In my last turn before I die, I play Warp World and float 2 mana. He goes from 8 permanents to 4, and I get two Lotus Cobras and five lands so I can play another Warp World. This one gets him to one permanent, and I flip over Ob Nixilis. The landfall triggers kill him.
1-0
Match 2 vs. White Control
I get some early ramps, and lay out my hand. He casts Day of Judgement. He plays a Seraph and a Baneslayer, and I don't reach Warp World mana in time.
Game 2 I get a Turn 4 Ob Nixilis, and he uses Lapse of Certainty. He plays Guardian Seraph, I play Ob Nixilis, then play and sac a fetchland. He O-Rings it. I go for a Warp World, and he Lapses it. I play Warp World with one in hand. He gets Iona, Shield of Emeria and names red. He kills me with the giant flier next turn.
1-1
Match 3 vs. Naya
I play Lotus Cobra and Elvish Visionary: he plays Bloodbraid Elf into Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner Behemoth and a Garruk, then another Cliffrunner. When he uses his ultimate, I can't keep up with the raw power.
Game 2 We both play Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner. I play Keeper of Progenitus. He uses Bituminous Blast to cascade into another one, then finishes it with two Lightning Bolts to the dome.
1-2
Match 4 vs. Four-Color Midrange
He plays Noble Hierarch, I play Lotus Cobra. He Paths it, and plays Knight of the Reliquary. I get Ob Nixilis plus a fetch to out-do the 6/6 Knight. He passes. I swing, he goes to 2, and I Hellkite him to win.
Game 2 I curve out massively into a Turn 4 Warp World. Unfortunately, his 3 lands flip up 3 lands. I play Hellkite, he plays Rhox War Monk and Harrow. I get him to 4 life but he plays Baneslayer, then Realm Razer next turn. I chump with Birds and eventually Hellkite, but am never able to draw an answer.
Game 3 I get a Warp World, but he's lucky enough to Warp into Baneslayer while I fail to Warp into my finishers, and he bashes me to death.
1-3
Salivanth's Rating:
3.5/5
Matches x2:
2/5
Total Score: 5.5
I think the main reason Warp World failed was both my lack of knowledge of when to Warp, and the luck and raw power of some of my opponents' decks. When the metagame shifts to accommodate control, Warp World should become a lot better.
Next time: New Jund!
Showing posts with label landfall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label landfall. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Zendikar Spoilers
More Zendikar spoilers! Some of them are quite intriguing too. Let's jump right in! I don't even know why I bother with an intro anymore!
Seriously. I'm writing this paragraph in an attempt to make it seem like I actually have anything meaningful to say beyond 'Here are some shiny new Zendikar cards that you've seen before! Now I get to say the incredibly obvious stuff about them!'. And yet you guys like them. I'm going to make an effort to do a lot better in Worldwake, however. This is a learning experience.
Of course, I can't be doing too badly, with the traffic I'm getting, but I could always be doing better. Anyway, on to the cards!
I'm starting to see a landfall deck take place here. Lots of fetchlands, Knight of the Reliquary, Steppe Lynx, Plated Geopede...I mean, take the following. Turn 1, Steppe Lynx. Turn 2, Plated Geopede, swing for 2. Turn 3, Knight, swing for 5. Turn 4, fetchland into Plains. Sac the plains for a fetchland. Sac it for another land. Swing for 17.
It'll never be COMPETITIVE, but somebody will try and build it. Secret tech against it? Removal. Who'd have thought?
Too bad it takes 4 mana to play Warren Instigator with Haste. You know, unless you play Burst of Speed. Which you won't. I can't see this guy seeing too much play...except you're looking at it in the wrong way.
Would you play this card?
Sorcery Thing.
RR
Sorcery
Put a 1/1 red Goblin creature token with Haste into play. Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Answer? Probably not. Yeah, it's not that great.
YES. YES YES YES, oh GOD YES, this is what Green has NEEDED. A way to save their guys from removal for one mana. This can really screw somebody over.
"Swing with my Bloodbraid"
"Path it"
"Vines with kicker. You take 7."
"G2?"
This card is probably a lot better than you think, and I will be trying to make a place for 2-3 of these in my Jund deck.
I don't know which is more ridiculous: The power level of this card, or the fact that it won't be played. You know what we need? Try this card out:
Removalbreaker Behemoth
1GGG
Protection from converted mana cost 2 or less.
5/5
I would play this card (it's also fairly resistant to chump blocking) as it blanks most removal. It still dies to Day of Judgement, but it should.
But I've let this card show off my design rather than Wizards. If I play this in Sealed though, I almost certainly win.
Next card!
Behold the newest cycle of uncommon duals. One thing I like about these is that they now allow reliable (if slower) three-color decks to be played by the masses. You can now lay down 20 bucks on a manabase and have it routinely give you three colors. I wish they had these when I played a budget W/U/B control deck. If you wanted a Grixis deck, here's what you got:
4 Crumbling Necropolis
7 Island
7 Mountain
7 Swamp
And here's what you get now:
4 Akoum Refuge
4 Crumbling Necropolis
3 Island
4 Jwar Isle Refuge
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse
Slow, but very reliable. Gaining 1 life isn't too relevant, but may help eventually. This is also good fixing for Limited, since the fetchlands aren't exactly a dime a dozen (and will get raredrafted online anyway).
I like the design here. If tokens were still a force, this would be a good finisher. Too bad they aren't. This card will probably see play in multiplayer, casual, and EDH (which combines both) as sacrifice decks are often popular there. Competitive? I doubt it.
Very nice! Excellent for removal, and might just cut it in Standard, what with the Path to Exile drawback that it turns on Landfall. Depends on how much power Landfall has, really. I could see this being a 1-3 of to make removal spells 5-7 in certain decks though. This is a good card.
This doesn't quite make the cut for Standard, but I think it will see play in Block. Tapping out on turn 2 for 2 cards on Turn 5 may not seem like much, but people are willing to do it, and I think it's a good card for that.
It's naturally a Limited staple too, probably third to fifth pick.
This isn't really meant to impact Standard that much. It's more a Legacy thing. That being said, I like it for it's purpose. It could also see play in Extended to protect a combo or something. We'll see. I see interesting things for this little conditional Force Spike.
And that's it for today! Join me tomorrow as we finally enter Part 5 of the PTQ series, unless 8+ cards magically get spoiled in the next 24 hours.
See you tomorrow!
Seriously. I'm writing this paragraph in an attempt to make it seem like I actually have anything meaningful to say beyond 'Here are some shiny new Zendikar cards that you've seen before! Now I get to say the incredibly obvious stuff about them!'. And yet you guys like them. I'm going to make an effort to do a lot better in Worldwake, however. This is a learning experience.
Of course, I can't be doing too badly, with the traffic I'm getting, but I could always be doing better. Anyway, on to the cards!
Steppe Lynx |  |
| Creature - Cat |  |
| Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn. | |
| 0/1 | |
I'm starting to see a landfall deck take place here. Lots of fetchlands, Knight of the Reliquary, Steppe Lynx, Plated Geopede...I mean, take the following. Turn 1, Steppe Lynx. Turn 2, Plated Geopede, swing for 2. Turn 3, Knight, swing for 5. Turn 4, fetchland into Plains. Sac the plains for a fetchland. Sac it for another land. Swing for 17.
It'll never be COMPETITIVE, but somebody will try and build it. Secret tech against it? Removal. Who'd have thought?
Goblin Bushwhacker |  | |
| Creature - Goblin Warrior | | |
| Kicker - (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) When Goblin Bushwhacker enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain haste until end of turn. | ||
| "I'm gonna let you finish, but Goblin Guide is one of the best Goblins of all time. OF ALL TIME." | ||
| 1/1 | ||
Too bad it takes 4 mana to play Warren Instigator with Haste. You know, unless you play Burst of Speed. Which you won't. I can't see this guy seeing too much play...except you're looking at it in the wrong way.
Would you play this card?
Sorcery Thing.
RR
Sorcery
Put a 1/1 red Goblin creature token with Haste into play. Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Answer? Probably not. Yeah, it's not that great.
Vines of Vastwood |  |
| Instant | |
| Kicker - (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell) Target creature can't be the target of spells of abilities your opponents control until end of turn. If Vines of Vastwood was kicked, that creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn. | |
YES. YES YES YES, oh GOD YES, this is what Green has NEEDED. A way to save their guys from removal for one mana. This can really screw somebody over.
"Swing with my Bloodbraid"
"Path it"
"Vines with kicker. You take 7."
"G2?"
This card is probably a lot better than you think, and I will be trying to make a place for 2-3 of these in my Jund deck.
Terra Stomper |  | |
| Creature - Beast |  | |
| Terra Stomper can't be countered. Trample | ||
| Sometimes violent earthquakes, hurtling boulders, and unseasonable dust storms are wrongly attributed to the Roil. | ||
| Illus. Goran Josic #187/249 | 8/8 | |
I don't know which is more ridiculous: The power level of this card, or the fact that it won't be played. You know what we need? Try this card out:
Removalbreaker Behemoth
1GGG
Protection from converted mana cost 2 or less.
5/5
I would play this card (it's also fairly resistant to chump blocking) as it blanks most removal. It still dies to Day of Judgement, but it should.
But I've let this card show off my design rather than Wizards. If I play this in Sealed though, I almost certainly win.
Next card!
Blue/White Refuge~ | |
| Land |  |
| Blue/White Refuge enters the battlefield tapped. When Blue/White Refuge enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.  : Add or  to your mana pool. | |
Jwar Isle Refuge | |
| Land | |
| Jwar Isle Refuge enters the battlefield tapped. When Jwar Isle Refuge enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life. : Add or  to your mana pool. | |
Akoum Refuge | |
| Land | |
| Akoum Refuge enters the battlefield tapped. When Akoum Refuge enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life. : Add or to your mana pool. | |
Kazandu Refuge | |
| Land | |
| Kazandu Refuge enters the battlefield tapped. When Kazandu Refuge enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life. : Add or to your mana pool. | |
Green/White Refuge~ | |
| Land | |
| Green/White Refuge enters the battlefield tapped. When Green/White Refuge enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life. : Add or to your mana pool. | |
Behold the newest cycle of uncommon duals. One thing I like about these is that they now allow reliable (if slower) three-color decks to be played by the masses. You can now lay down 20 bucks on a manabase and have it routinely give you three colors. I wish they had these when I played a budget W/U/B control deck. If you wanted a Grixis deck, here's what you got:
4 Crumbling Necropolis
7 Island
7 Mountain
7 Swamp
And here's what you get now:
4 Akoum Refuge
4 Crumbling Necropolis
3 Island
4 Jwar Isle Refuge
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse
Slow, but very reliable. Gaining 1 life isn't too relevant, but may help eventually. This is also good fixing for Limited, since the fetchlands aren't exactly a dime a dozen (and will get raredrafted online anyway).
Eldrazi Monument |  | |
| Artifact |  | |
| Creatures you control get +1/+1, have flying, and are indestructible. At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature. If you can't, sacrifice Eldrazi Monument. | ||
| "Gods don't die. They merely slumber." -Ayli, Kamsa cleric | ||
| Illus. Mark Tedin #199/249 | ||
I like the design here. If tokens were still a force, this would be a good finisher. Too bad they aren't. This card will probably see play in multiplayer, casual, and EDH (which combines both) as sacrifice decks are often popular there. Competitive? I doubt it.
Journey to Nowhere |  |
| Enchantment | |
| When Journey to Nowhere enters the battlefield, exile target creature. When Journey to Nowhere leaves the battlefield, return the exiled creature to the battlefield under its owner's control. | |
Very nice! Excellent for removal, and might just cut it in Standard, what with the Path to Exile drawback that it turns on Landfall. Depends on how much power Landfall has, really. I could see this being a 1-3 of to make removal spells 5-7 in certain decks though. This is a good card.
Ior Ruin Expedition | |
| Enchantment | |
| Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a quest counter on Ior Ruin Expedition. Remove three quest counters from Ior Ruin Expedition and sacrifice it: Draw two cards. | |
This doesn't quite make the cut for Standard, but I think it will see play in Block. Tapping out on turn 2 for 2 cards on Turn 5 may not seem like much, but people are willing to do it, and I think it's a good card for that.
It's naturally a Limited staple too, probably third to fifth pick.
Spell Pierce | |
| Instant | |
Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays  . | |
This isn't really meant to impact Standard that much. It's more a Legacy thing. That being said, I like it for it's purpose. It could also see play in Extended to protect a combo or something. We'll see. I see interesting things for this little conditional Force Spike.
And that's it for today! Join me tomorrow as we finally enter Part 5 of the PTQ series, unless 8+ cards magically get spoiled in the next 24 hours.
See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Zendikar Spoilers: Article 4
Welcome back readers! We've got a bunch of new cards to analyse, so let's delve right in.
Pretty situational for Limited: pretty expensive for Constructed. I don't think this will see much play.
Limited or Sealed bomb. With all the removal in Standard, I don't think this'll be played in Constructed though.
This, I could see being played in the eternal Tier-2 black discard deck alongside Nyxathid. As for Limited: watch out for this guy. Fragile though.
At first glance, worst Planeswalker yet printed. The -7 is good, but by the time you get to it, an Elf deck's already won.
How many Limited bombs must they spoil as a group? Give us some Constructed cards, damnit. I'm starting to sound like a broken record.
EPIC Johnny card here. I could see this being played in EDH as well, as a 'why not?' card, since so much card draw is packed into them anyway. I look forward to seeing someone break it.
There it is. The card I pray to open at the Prerelease. That, or any fetchland I can trade for this with. Sal needs his playset!
I can seriously see W/B control being a viable archetype in Zendikar. Day of Judgement, Quest of the Gravelord, Luminarch's Ascension, various removal, perhaps another Wrath effect...
Combined with this to fix mana, it could be good.
Awesome card, uninteresting to talk about. NEXT!
Sweet. Either awesome for Multiplayer, or the next thing to be broken in Standard. How about Turbo-Fog with this as a win condition? Or the aforementioned B/W Control deck. I love subgames in Magic, and this one has it on both sides of the table: Quest for the Angels vs. Quest to Ping The Opponent Every Turn.
Lastly, the U/G fetchland.
Well, that's all the cards spoiled so far. Let's sneak some strategy articles in before 10 more cards show up!
See you tomorrow!
Blood Tribute |  |
| Sorcery | |
| Kicker - Tap an untapped Vampire you control. (You may tap a Vampire you control in addition to any other costs as you cast this spell.) Target player loses half his or her life, rounded up. If Blood Tribute was kicked, you gain life equal to the life lost this way. | |
| Illus. Alex Horley-Orlandelli | |
Pretty situational for Limited: pretty expensive for Constructed. I don't think this will see much play.
Roil Elemental | |
| Creature - Elemental | |
| Flying Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain control of target creature for as long as you control Roil Elemental. | |
| Illus. Raymond Swanland | 3/2 |
Limited or Sealed bomb. With all the removal in Standard, I don't think this'll be played in Constructed though.
Guul Draz Specter | |
| Creature - Specter | |
| Flying Gull Draz Specter gets +3/+3 as long as an opponent has no cards in hand. Whenever Gull Draz Specter deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card. | |
| Illus. Mark Tedin | 2/2 |
This, I could see being played in the eternal Tier-2 black discard deck alongside Nyxathid. As for Limited: watch out for this guy. Fragile though.
Nissa Revane | |
| Planeswalker - Nissa | |
| [+1] Search your library for a card named Nissa's Chosen and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. [+1] You gain 2 life for each Elf you control. [-7] Search your library for any number of Elf creature cards and put them onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. | |
| Illus. Jaime Jones | 2 |
At first glance, worst Planeswalker yet printed. The -7 is good, but by the time you get to it, an Elf deck's already won.
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen | |
| Legendary Creature - Demon | |
| Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have target player lose 3 life. If you do, put three +1/+1 counters on Ob Nixilis, the Fallen. | |
| 3/3 | |
How many Limited bombs must they spoil as a group? Give us some Constructed cards, damnit. I'm starting to sound like a broken record.
Archmage Ascension | |
| Enchantment | |
| At the beginning of each end step, if you drew two or more cards this turn, you may put a quest counter on Archmage Ascension. As long as Archmage Ascension has six or more quest counters on it, if you would draw a card, you may instead search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle your library. | |
| Illus. Christopher Moeller | |
EPIC Johnny card here. I could see this being played in EDH as well, as a 'why not?' card, since so much card draw is packed into them anyway. I look forward to seeing someone break it.
Verdant Marsh* | |
| Land | |
| , Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Verdant Marsh: Search your library for a Swamp or Forest card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. | |
There it is. The card I pray to open at the Prerelease. That, or any fetchland I can trade for this with. Sal needs his playset!
Obsidian Flats* | |
| Land | |
| , Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Obsidian Flats: Search your library for a Plains or Swamp card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. | |
I can seriously see W/B control being a viable archetype in Zendikar. Day of Judgement, Quest of the Gravelord, Luminarch's Ascension, various removal, perhaps another Wrath effect...
Combined with this to fix mana, it could be good.
Unstable Geyser* | |
| Land | |
| , Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Unstable Geyser: Search your library for a Island or Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. | |
Awesome card, uninteresting to talk about. NEXT!
Luminarch Ascension | |
| Enchantment | |
| At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if you didn't lose life this turn, you may put a quest counter on Luminarch Ascension. (Damage causes loss of life): Put a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying onto the battlefield. Activate this ability only if Luminarch Ascension has four or more quest counters on it. | |
| Illus. Michael Comarck #25/249 | |
Sweet. Either awesome for Multiplayer, or the next thing to be broken in Standard. How about Turbo-Fog with this as a win condition? Or the aforementioned B/W Control deck. I love subgames in Magic, and this one has it on both sides of the table: Quest for the Angels vs. Quest to Ping The Opponent Every Turn.
Misty Rainforest | |
| Land | |
| , Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Misty Rainforest: Search your library for a Forest or Island card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. | |
| Illus. Shelly Wan #220/249 | |
Lastly, the U/G fetchland.
Well, that's all the cards spoiled so far. Let's sneak some strategy articles in before 10 more cards show up!
See you tomorrow!
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