Monthly Archives: January 2019

RNA Card Preview: Immolation Shaman

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s card preview takes us to a closer look at another creature that is in line with those that punish players who activate card abilities. We had Harsh Mentor in Amonkhet which only saw play in its early days in Standard, but this version looks to be more useful than just pinging opponents. Check out immolation Shaman.

It has the same cc with the mentor but the 1/3 power and toughness make it less vulnerable to cheap removals like Shock. What makes this dude better is its pump ability which is pretty much useful in the late game. The +3/+3 with Menace can finish up most of the games and that makes it also a good top deck. Limited-wise, this is a good addition to your deck as it checks on Adapt creatures from Simic. It can also stall some early aggro 2/2 and 2/1s.

Standard Red-based decks might have one or two copies in the main deck unless there is a top-tier deck archetype with a lot of activations that this shaman can be benefit of.

That is a wrap. Until the next blog post.

RNA Card Preview: Spawn of Mayhem

Posted on by
Reply

It is happening, Rakdos aggro is back. With this card preview, they really have been pushing the Spectacle mechanic to be a huge advantage on its cards. On this blog postcard preview, we will feature a solid three-drop with a Spectacle enabler is just very relevant when you are going into this deck strategy.

Check out Spawn of Mayhem.

Ok so it is basically a 4/4 for four but the bonus Spectacle cost makes it into the three-drop slot. The mana cost is an advantage because it can dodge cards like Ritual of Soot and Vraska, Golgari Queen. The 4/4 body also makes it out of range to Deafening Clarion, a card that mostly destroys aggro decks in the current metagame. Its 10-life-less pump trigger may also help to finish off opponents faster and you can achieve it faster with cards like Arguel’s Blood Fast, losing life while still gaining card advantage.

Seeing the card’s potential in Modern, the Spectacle cost be achieved a lot with the frequent life loss trigger due to the fetch lands and shocklands.

I might be excited to come up with a decklist for Rakdos in Standard but for now, I will just wait until the complete Ravnical Allegiance spoilers are up. We may have more ‘tools’ to work with.




RNA Card Preview: End-Raze Forerunners

Posted on by
Reply

We had seen and experienced Green stompy decks in the past months of Standard. We had versions of Red Green Dinos and even just the straightforward Mono Green aggro with Galtha as its top curve. Today’s preview in Ravnica Allegiance spoilers opens to us another top curve option for a Green stompy deck. Presenting, End-Raze Forerunners.

There is a huge similarity with Craterhoof Behemoth with this beast except for the number of pump triggers wherein this version is fixed to +2/+2 and the additional vigilance to your other dudes. Eight mana is not that easy to acquire but with the mana dudes in the current format, you can just ramp into it on a fewer turn.

My deck choice is that it can possibly fit in a Mono Green Elves shell. I have posted a Selesnya version but I think the mono-color route can suffice. Here below is what I think it would look like.

  • 3 End-Raze Forerunners
  • 4 Llanowar Elves
  • 2 Beast Whisperer
  • 4 Thorn Lieutenant
  • 4 Pelt Collector
  • 4 Steel Leaf Champion
  • 4 Elvish Clancaller
  • 4 Marwyn, the Nurturer
  • 2 Druid of the Cowl
  • 3 Vivien Reid
  • 3 Vanquisher’s Banner
  • 23 Forest

Of course, this is still subject to updating once the complete spoiler is up and we have other options to add and replace some of the creatures in the current list.

Is the card viable for the Standard metagame? Let me know in the comments below.

Two More Board Games

Posted on by
Reply

A part of my Shopee spree last December was the impulsive purchase of board games to add to my collection. I may want to learn to play it once, then leave it on the shelves until the next gaming session with my friends or Magic playgroup. The two recent purchases were from an online store for board games in which I got Spyfall 2 and Organ Attack. The prices seem to be reasonable so I gave it a shot. It arrived just before Christmas.

I first learned the Spyfall game during a post-dinner activity with fellow MTG judges in Manila years ago. The goal was just to guess who is the spy before the spy discovered the place where the current game was. This is to be done by the clues from the questions and answers.

I haven’t tried playing the Organ Attack board game just yet but upon checking the reviews online, it is one of the highly recommended games and a friend also attested that it is very fun to play. I quickly browsed through the rule book and noticed similarities with Magic: the Gathering. I have yet to schedule a play session on this with my friends.

That is a wrap for now. I placed them on the bookshelf at the bhaus along with my first copy of Spyfall and the Cyanide and Happiness card game. I might also recommend this on our next after-tournament activity.