Bad Deck Baz Presents IT'S A TRAP!

Hello and welcome to the first of three Bad Deck Baz posts. Baz, also known as ThatDamnAussie from Twitter, has happily made three decks for me to play that are all, in their own way, terrible, but are also very interesting to play. I'm happy that he's been very creative in the theme rather than 40 5-7 drops and 20 lands and calling it a 'bad' deck.

The first deck, as featured in the previous post, is U/R Trap Control, or as Baz calls it:

IT'S A TRAP!

A “Bad Deck Baz” Deck

9 Island

11 Mountain

4 Scalding Tarn

3 Goblin Artillery

3 Reckless Scholar

3 Runeflare Trap

2 Lethargy Trap

2 Mindbreak Trap

4 Lavaball Trap

2 Whiplash Trap

4 Inferno Trap

4 Trapmaker's Snare

2 Trapfinder's Trick

3 Burning Inquiry

2 Chandra Ablaze

2 Quest for Ancient Secrets

Sideboard 

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Jace Beleren

3 Font of Mythos

2 Pyromancer Ascension

1 Runeflare Trap

1 Burning Inquiry

1 Chandra Ablaze

1 Mindbreak Trap

This deck has a lot of cool interactions, and yet still manages to be outmatched. As I was quick to find out, Chandra or Runeflare Trap was my only hope of ever winning.

EVER.

Round 1: IT'S A TRAP for Boros Bushwhacker!

He curves out fast, Goblin Guide, 2 Geopedes and a Skyfisher. To match this armada, I have a Goblin Artillery, which is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot so someone else doesn't do it for you. I quickly fall to 7 life, then to 1. His creatures overwhelm me, though it's worth saying if I had another mana I could have played Lethargy Trap to live another turn.

Game 2 I Bolt his Steppe Lynx and drop an Artillery to match his Skyfisher. I kill 3 guys of his in one turn, blocking a Vanguard, shooting another, and Inferno Trapping the third (which he Paths to find a land). He drops some more guys, and I shoot them. He Paths my Artillery and starts pinging me with a Geopede. I hold on a bit longer, but he burns me out.

0-1

Round 2: IT'S A TRAP for Sigil of the Empty Throne.dec!

He drops Sunspring Expedition and Ardent Plea into Trace of Abundance. He gets a Sigil of the Empty Throne, I get Reckless Scholar. Numerous 4/4 angels beat a lone 2/1 looter. Who knew?

Game 2 he drops a Luminarch Ascension. I am literally unable to apply pressure, and am slaughtered in 4 minutes according to the time logs.

0-2

Round 3: IT'S A TRAP for Conley's Land Destruction!

Game 1 he plays a Turn 2 Lotus Cobra. I know this will not end well. He gains approximately seventeen thousand lands next turn, and kicks a Mold Shambler. Fortunately it's his third spell of the turn, so I tutor up a Mindbreak Trap to stop it. I get stuck on 3 land. He drops an Acidic Slime. I ask if he has any more LD, he reveals a second Mold Shambler, and I scoop it up.

Game 2 is a lot better.  He drops double Khalni Heart to my nothing. His Ruinblasters do very little against my all-basic-and-fetch deck. He drops Lotus Cobra. I try to bolt it, and he sacrifices his Khalni Hearts. Four hours later, my Bolt resolves to kill his Cobra after he gets about five lands. He drops an Acidic Slime, and I Mindbreak Trap an Ob Nixilis. I use Inferno Traps and trades to take out his guys, and Snare into a Mindbreak Trap to take a Rampaging Baloths.

We have a back and forth until I run out of counters and removal. He then Violent Ultimatums me to 4 lands, then again next turn to 1 land. Yeah, that'll do it.

0-3

Round 4: IT'S A TRAP for Grixis Control!

The first game went by fast. He dropped a Turn 3 Blightning, Turn 4 Blightning, and Turn 6 Sphinx of Jwar Isle, a creature to which I literally have no answer except for double Lavaball Trap. (Yeah.) I do a pathetic attempt at racing, but the Sphinx crushes me.

Game 2 he gets Sedraxis Specter and Blightning. I scoop my brains back in and start to fight back. I drop the key to this whole match: Chandra. Unlike Jund or other Pulse-endowed decks, Grixis Control has no way to kill a planeswalker outside of combat damage.  I make us both draw two, and he Bolts Chandra.

What was that I said earlier? I meant to say "Except for Lightning Bolt."

I do a killer Inquiry, discarding two lands and Whiplash Trap to his tri-land, Terminate, and Sphinx (yes!). He gets double unearth on Specters, I tutor up a Lethargy Trap and use it. I drop another Chandra to draw 3. I bolt his counterattacking Specter, and Inferno Trap when he unearths the Specter. He drops Vampire Nighthawk and I tutor for a trap to kill it with. I then drop Jace, empty my hand, draw three with Chandra, and draw with Jace.

I love planeswalkers.

He uses Blightning to take down Chandra. I start powering Jace up, noticing he only has about 25 cards in his deck by now. If I can mill him that's gg. I want to steal one game with this deck. He uses Magma Phoenix to drop Jace to 5. I'm forced to kill it, and Jace goes to 4. Sedraxis Specter drops him to 2, but all the card-draw has worked in a different way. I drop him from 16 to 9 with Runeflare Trap at EOT, then Reckless Scholar attacks, then Runeflare Trap him again for the win. Random!

Game 3 he gets Blightning, I get Reckless Scholar. The Scholar, like the Looter, actually just wins games if left unchecked: which people always do. Turn 6 he plays Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Remember him? That card I have no answer to? I changed my mind. I have one answer. RACE HIM. I declare in the chat that I will race that 5/5 flier and win.

I then drop Chandra Ablaze. Game on. 

I get her to 6 counters to drop my opponent to 16. He hits me to 11 and drops a Nighthawk. I draw a card with the Scholar and EOT Bolt it. He uses Double Negative. I Snare for an Inferno Trap and use that to kill it in my turn. And by 'use it to kill it' I mean that I pitch it to Chandra for an identical effect. (7 counters). He drops Chandra to 2 counters with the Sphinx. I drop a Jace, drawing a card which I then pitch to take him down to 12 life.

He slaughters Jace with a single blow. I then pitch another card to Chandra. I'm looting all this time, which is the only reason I keep drawing red cards. He's on 8 life. He then makes a big misplay, by knocking me down to 6 and not killing Chandra. I guess he fears a lot of burn.

I then think for a moment. The card in my hand is Lightning Bolt. There's no point looting since it's the best card in my deck to hold at that moment. So instead, I throw it at his face and then go down to 2 with Chandra to draw three. I draw a Lightning Bolt and Inferno Trap. Oh yeah.

He then swings me to 1, and then plays Nighthawk and Magma Phoenix. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're ever in the position of having lethal damage next turn regardless of whether or not you kill a planeswalker this turn, kill it. Else you might just lose to a Baz deck :p

I drop him to 2 with bolt, untap, and pitch the Inferno Trap. GOOD. GAME.

1-3.

And that's IT'S A TRAP! in all it's glory. Join me next time as we preview Blisters on Your Fingers and try to get a certain Merfolk up to godly sizes.

See you!

The Trap Of Rogue Decks

How many of you try to make decks for tournaments? Decks that try to beat the best decks, decks that are innovative, or fun, or cool...and decks that lose. I was That Guy. Now I'm not. Unless you're one of the top players in the world, you probably shouldn't be trying to innovate totally new decks. Play a Tier 1 deck. You'll win more.

And even further! Some people actually COMPLAIN about netdecks! That they're somehow stifling the originality and creativity of the game, that it's less 'skilful' to win with it. If it's not netdecks in general, it's one deck. Affinity, Faeries, Five-Color Control...

"Everyone uses that deck!"
"That manabase in cash could feed a starving child for a year."
"That deck's cheap / broken / not fun."

Well guess what? It wins. And if you want to win, you need to play the best deck or beat the best deck, and if you want to beat the best deck, generally you want another Tier 1 deck (unless you're happy to get beaten by every deck EXCEPT the Tier 1 deck. Then you can make a hate deck just fine.) if you want to win.

How many of you have been in PTQ's? Tournaments are hard enough without self-inflicting rules. Nobody other than you is going to obey your rules unless your rules are "Do whatever you legally can to win."

Note that I'm not saying 'always play the best deck'. You should play the deck you think has the best position and power in the metagame: the deck most likely to make you win. And it's almost certainly not your creation. Warp World is cute, but can it win? Vampires is new and shiny, but will it win?

If you're not doing your best with deck selection, you're not doing your best as a player. And that's the road to losing. Because if you're not doing your best and playing one of the best decks, you'll be competing against someone who is. And in the end, when the dust settles, the only thing that matters is who has won, and who has lost.

N.B: I do not condone cheating. That's not a legal way to win. Anyone who points to this article as justification for cheating is a fool. Play Magic to the best of your ability. A game of Magic where you cheat is not a game of Magic. So play legally: but play the very best you can within the legal limits.

See you next time, when I bring you Time Sieve.

Zendikar Spoilers! 25 / 229

Hello bloggers! Today I'll be writing about the Zendikar spoilers again, since FNM was very boring. As there's now 33 non-basics to analyse, I'll be analysing more Zendikar cards tomorrow. Let's get right to it!

Warren Instigator
Creature - Goblin Berserker
Double Strike Whenever Warren Instigator deals damage to an opponent, you may put a Goblin creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.

This isn't as broken as some people may think it is. Standard is well equipped to handle it, with Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, Doom Blade, Terminate and any Zendikar removal 2 mana or less able to come down before the Instigator can swing. Yes, it's powerful, but this is more of a Legacy card than a Standard card.

Still, it might be enough to put Goblins to the top. Keep an eye on this little tribe. And in Extended, maybe Lorwyn's goblins (with up to 12 lords) might find a home...

Lullmage Mentor
Creature - Merfolk Wizard
Whenever a spell or ability you control counters a spell, you may put a 1/1 blue Merfolk creature token onto the battlefield. Tap seven untapped Merfolk you control: Counter target spell.
"Many voices are needed to quiet this land.

A decent card to try to build around, but seven Merfolk would have to be prodigious, and countering spells really isn't worth it. I don't think this will see play.

Kazuul Warlord
Creature - Minotaur Warrior Ally
Whenever Kazuul Warlord or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on each Ally creature you control.
On expeditions, minotaurs are worth their weight in gold. Fortunately for the paymasters, most minotaurs don't know how much they weigh.
Illus. Kev Walker	3/3

This will be a great Limited card, I think. Since it enters as a 4/4 for 4 and only gets bigger and bigger, it'll probably be a bomb. I don't see it seeing play in Constructed, however. I'll keep my eye on this for Limited though.

Soul Stair Expedition
Enchantment
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a quest counter on Soul Stair Expedition. Remove three quest counters from Soul Stair Expedition and sacrifice it: Return up to two target creature cards from your graveyard to your hand.

 I really like the Quest mechanic. I like 'subgames' in Magic where you're going for another aim. This mechanic REWARDS YOU FOR PLAYING MAGIC, and that's always powerful. Hi, Tarmogoyf!

This probably won't see too much play since it's so reactive, but it's a cool sealed and Draft card. Tomb Lord's Quest on the other hand...

Electropotence
Enchantment
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may pay . If you do, that creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
Illus. Christopher Moeller

Electropotence is probably not going to be a great card outside of EDH, unfortunately. I like the card, but it takes 6 mana to do anything, and that's not a good sign.

Goblin Ruinblaster
Creature - Goblin Shaman
Haste Kicker -  When Goblin Ruinblaster enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, destroy target nonbasic land.
	2/1

Cool! This is a pretty decent card, and might see play in Constructed, as it's card advantage (and Fulminator Mage saw occasional play). I think this could work. Tempo = good.

Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Legendary Creature - Vampire Warrior
, : Destroy target creature. If that creature is put into a graveyard this way, put a black Vampire creature token onto the battlefield. Its power is equal to that creature's power and its toughness is equal to that creature's toughness.
Illus. Todd Lockwood #99/249	5/5

Another Limited bomb. This could see play as a 1 or 2-of in MBC, or even an EDH general for Mono-Black. I see it's play being sporadic, however.

Mindbreak Trap
Instant - Trap
If an opponent cast three or more spells this turn, you may pay  rather than pay Mindbreak Trap's mana cost. Exile any number of target spells.
"Life is a maze. This is one of its dead ends." - Noyan Dar, Tazeem lullmage

At first it seems terrible, but this is actually an Extended / Legacy / Vintage card, made to counter Storm decks. Combined with Pact of Negation to protect it, this could hurt Storm a fair bit (though Storm will probably side in Guttural Response to fight it). This isn't a Standard card. No sir.

Vampire Nighthawk
Creature - Vampire Shaman
Flying Deathtouch Lifelink
	2/3

Nice. Even nicer with Vampire Nocturnus. Wizards is pushing Vampire Aggro as a deck, that's for sure. It might just work, too. I look forward to seeing how this develops.

Eternity Vessel
Artifact
Eternity Vessel enters the battlefield with X charge counters on it, where X is your life total. Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have your life total become equal to the number of charge counters on Eternity Vessel.

As quoted from the Mtgsalvation forums:

"This is a card that will get me physically beaten, and I love it." This is the ULTIMATE annoyance, and an excellent card for control. If you drop this at 10+ life, you almost can't lose. This'll probably only see play as a 2-of in control, but may work in Sealed.

That's our 10 for today! Join us tomorrow for more Zendikar goodness!

Zendikar Spoilers! First 15 / 229

Greetings everyone! Now that 10 (actually, 15) Zendikar cards have been spoilt, I'm going to go over them with my impressions on how they'll affect the game. I'll be doing this for every card in Zendikar in 10's as they're spoilt (so expect the next one no later than Friday as The Magic Show will be revealing six cards!)

Let's get to it, in the order spoiled.

Kor Sanctifiers
Creature - Kor Cleric
Kicker  (You may pay an additional  as you cast this spell.) When Kor Sanctifiers enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, destroy target artifact or enchantment.
"Why keep such trinkets? They only add weight to your travels."
Illus. Dan Scott	2/3

Let's go with the most obvious first: Kicker is back! Kicker is a great mechanic, with good strategy and gameplay choices in it. I'm sure it'll be used frequently.

As to this particular card, I could see it being a high, third to fifth pick in draft, and a playable in Sealed, since it's artifact/enchantment removal WHEN YOU NEED IT. This kind of removal has historically been very situational, but Kor Sanctifiers is a 2/3 for 3 even if your opponent has nothing. So it's an autoplay if you open it in Sealed and are playing White, and a very solid draft common, especially if Zendikar has a lot of good artifacts or enchantments.

Whiplash Trap
Instant - Trap
If an opponent had two or more creatures enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn, you may pay  rather than pay Whiplash Trap’s casting cost. Return two target creatures to their owner's hand.
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Whiplash Trap, like Kor Sanctifiers, is more a tease of what could come of this rather than a real staple. I don't really see Whiplash Trap being played, except possibly as a sideboard card against Elf Combo and it's ilk, and that's pretty far-fetched.

I do LOVE the Trap mechanic, since it symbolises traps so well. Do the wrong thing, and it'll spring.

I look forward to seeing more.

Hideous End
Instant
Destroy target nonblack creature. That creature’s controller loses 2 life.
"A little dark magic won't stop me. The worse the curse, the better the prize." - Radavi, Joraga relic-hunter, last words
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

This is the Terror / Doom Blade / Executioner's Capsule of the set, and a good one, though the BB prevents easy splash. I expect this to be a second to fourth pick in Zendikar draft, and an auto-play in Sealed if you're playing Black. The BB really does hurt it though, and I don't see it being played much in Constructed. People are perfectly willing to pay 2 life for a mana, but almost never the other way round (ala Thoughtseize, Sign in Blood)

Beast Hunt
Sorcery
Reveal the top three cards of your library. Put all creature cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
"Surely we could tame something besides hurdas and pillarfield oxen!" - Sheyda, Ondu gamekeeper
Illus. Kieran Yanner

Beast Hunt I can't really see being played. Let's take it mathematically. In Constructed, we can see it simply won't be played: it's not good enough. If you run a full 20 creatures in a 40-card deck, it's still unlikely you'll draw more than two (and two is barely even worth it, and you'll almost never get 20 cards) and usually you'll get one or a complete blank.

I can't see this being played even as filler.

Rampaging Baloths
Creature - Beast
Trample Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a 4/4 green Beast creature token onto the battlefield.
When the land is angry, so are they. - Nissa Revane
Illus. Eric Deschamps #176/249	6/6

WOW. I hate to be sceptical and say this won't be played in Constructed, but this is the Baneslayer Angel of Zendikar Limited. If you untap with this in play, especially with a land in hand, you are BASICALLY GOING TO WIN. This is a beast to play in Sealed or Draft and I can see it being a first-pick every single time unless it's third pack and you're not in green.


Also, it might see play in multiplayer / EDH where these big beasties shine.

Day of Judgment
Sorcery
Destroy all creatures.
"I have seen planes leveled and all life rendered to dust. It brought no pleasure, even to a heart as dark as mine." -Sorin Markov
Illus. Kev Walker #*9/249

Wow. I don't think you need ME to tell you Day of Judgement will be a staple in Standard for the next two years, nor that regeneration might finally become relevant if they print some decent cards with it, nor that this will be one of the chase rares of Zendikar. Hats off to this card. I <3 Day of Judgement.


That said, they better do something damn impressive with regeneration to warrant Wrath of God disappearing.

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Land
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle enters the battlefield tapped. Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, if you control five other Mountains, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle deals 3 damage to target creature or player. : Add  to your mana pool.

I can see this being played, certainly, as a 2-of in mono-red decks in case the game goes late to make for an uncounterable win condition to give the deck some reach. Combine it with some other Landfall cards and 25-26 lands starts to sound perfectly reasonable.


Valakut is unlikely to see play outside that narrow axis though.

Sorin Markov
Planeswalker - Sorin
+2 Sorin Markov deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain 2 life. -3 Target Opponent's life total becomes 10. -7 You control target player's next turn.
Illus. Michael Comarck#111/249

To be honest, I don't see Sorin getting too much play outside of Mono-Black Control, a historically second-string deck. It might see play in a control deck of some kind like W/B or U/B, but a 6-drop should affect the board immediately, and this doesn't. (well, only barely) A beating to open in Sealed or Draft, but doesn't cut the mustard in Standard. 

Plated Centipede
Creature - Insect
First strike Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Plated Centipede get +2/+2 until end of turn.
"The Kor-Armorers buy the scales and claws. The Elvish oracles buy the rest." - Nablus, North-Hada Trapper
	1/1

I can see this getting played in Limited as a decent card. Outside Limited, I'm not really seeing it. Maybe if it had haste, it'd be Constructed quality, but as of now it's more draft fodder.

Oran-Reef Survivalist
Creature - Human Warrior Ally
Whenever Oran-Reef Survivalist or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Oran-Reef Survivalist.
"I am strong enough to survive alone. I am smart enough to want companions by my side."

See previous entry. Obviously this hints at a small Ally theme though, and due to it's wording, this guy will always be a 2/2. A casual deck may brew, but unless some truly insane allies are out there, I don't see it in T2, and if there are, this little guy probably won't make the cut.

Blood Extractor
Creature - Vampire Spirit
Blood Abomination can't block. Blood Abomination has haste if an opponent has 10 life or less. Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may return Blood Abomination from your graveyard onto the battlefield.
	2/1

Interesting card. I could see Mono-Black Aggro making a resurgence, with Black Knight, Specter, Duress, and this. I'll reserve judgement, but this could be a decent card. It's also not bad in Limited if you're heavily in Black.

Tomb Lord's Quest
Enchantment
Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may put a quest counter on Tomb Lord's Quest. Remove three quest counters from Tomb Lord's Quest, sacrifice Tomb Lord's Quest: Put a 5/5 black Zombie Giant creature token onto the battlefield.

Interesting. I think there'll be a cycle of these. I actually think this might see Constructed play in a W/B deck with Wrath effects. Wrath the board and drop a 5/5 beastie. Not a bad plan. Not a bad plan at all.

Wavering Peaks*
Land
Wavering Peaks enters the battlefield tapped. When Wavering Peaks enters the battlefield, target creature gains +2/+0 until end of turn. : Add  to your mana pool.

+2/+0 is too situational for the card to warrant coming into play tapped and only tapping for one-color. I predict this as filler.

Lavaball Trap
Instant - Trap
If an opponent had two or more lands enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn, you may pay  rather than pay Lavaball Trap’s casting cost. Destroy two target lands. Lavaball Trap deals 4 damage to each creature.

Wait, WHAT? If an opponent had two or more lands enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn?

Either Wizards is printing a REALLY sucky trap, or there'll be multiple ways to cheat land into play in Zendikar. Even so, I don't think this card will see play, but it's implications are immense.

Predatory Urge*
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature. Enchanted creature has ": This creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power to this creature."

Another controlling green card to match Master of the Wild Hunt. I could see this as a good Sealed card and passable draft card. Constructed is unlikely, as a 4-mana enchantment should be absolutely crazy for an aura (even Armored Ascension doesn't see play) and this doesn't qualify.

Thanks for reading! In the next few days I'll be posting more as Zendikar cards get spoiled, and I'm looking forward to discussing the set!

Until next time, may your patience pay off.