We have known nowadays that most popular social media platforms are littered with troll accounts to engage in attacks. They do this via disinformation and fake news about a certain topic or personality, spreading hate through the comment section of news websites and other popular FB pages. You can see them arguing or sort of “debunking” the idea posted on the news article.
As Wiki defines it, “a troll is a person who posts inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), a newsgroup, forum, chat room, online video game, or blog), with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses, or manipulating others’ perception.”
We don’t know what is behind the proliferation of these profiles and accounts. All we can say is that there is one major machinery that is funding it and the main plan of getting into power. Maybe in the government or maybe through the top companies in the country or abroad.
Anywho, enough of this perspective, and now we go to the topic on some of the popular Trolls creatures in the current Magic: the Gathering Standard metagame.
First up is:
Old-Growth Troll – Probably the only Troll that is widely used in the format, mainly because of its efficient cost and being resilient to removals. It is still Mono-Green’s best third drop, and that ability to replace itself by “hiding” in one of your Forests defines its resiliency.
Arni Slays the Troll – This Enchantment Saga can be a potential Gruul Aggro compo, in the straightforward build. The drawback of a Sorcery-speed Fight effect gets you to put two +1/+1 counters on up to one target creature you control, making one of your small dudes a bigger threat.
Honor Troll – This troll fits in the Selesnya lifegain deck though its three-mana cost may just fit on the creature curve. Having two or more copies on the battlefield gets you +2 life gain for every trigger or effect.
Loathsome Troll – Five-mana might be a high cost for a 6/2 that can be killed by small burn effects, but the recurring effect is very relevant in the late gameplay. Still, players consider this too slow to be competitive. Maybe it can be a sideboard option against control decks.
Overall, the term “trolling” in Magic: the Gathering leans to be one of Green’s meanest creatures both in lore and gameplay. Do we expect more Troll cards in the upcoming sets? We sure do.
In relation to this, there is an interesting Standard deck build called “Literally Trolling Standard” that was posted on the MTG Goldfish website which you can check here.
Until the next blog post.