While I’m a Gruul at heart (and an Azorious on the outside), I’ve always been intrigued by the Simic guild. I wasn’t very satisfied with Simic during their first appearance during Ravnica block, but there’s quiteb a few interesting cards in Simic this time around. One that intrigues me the most is . What does […]
Flickering Aurelia for Fun and Profit
As mentioned last week, the guild of Boros has this really great leader in . I mean, she has all the abilities one looks for when attacking: flying, to soar over the heads of her opponents; haste, so she can attack as soon as possible; and vigilance, to be there to defend the fort as […]
Tournament Tuesday: Beginning the Game
So it’s your first FNM. You’re all ready to go, with your Dimir milling deck. Pairings are posted, and you sit down at your table. But now what do you do, before you start your first game? The first thing you want to do is pull out your deck and start shuffling. This can also […]
Cipher and Extort
Two of the new guild keyword abilities in Gatecrash work really well together . No, I’m not talking about battalion and bloodrush, I’m referring to the keywords of two of Esper’s favorite guilds, cipher and extort. Extort triggers off of any spell you cast, not just spells cast from your hand. And once you’ve encoded […]
Nightveil Specter lets you play the exiled card(s), but not for free.
Unlike an explosive card such as , which exiles a bunch of cards then lets you cast them right away for free, Nightveil Specter prefers to play a slower, more gradual game. When you exile a card with the Specter, you can play it… but only at a time you could normally play it from […]
Aurelia’s Fury vs. miracles (and suspend cards!).
Every good army needs a good leader, and luckily, the Boros Legion has Aurelia, whose Fury certainly lives up to the tradition of red Mythic Rares with X in their cost being a huge blowout for the opponent. In addition to nuking creatures, has a unique effect if it deals damage to an opponent; that […]
Master Biomancer and Evolve.
Welcome to the lab, initiates. I am Gulistan, , and today we will learn about replacement effects. Observe as I invoke the summoning spell for a basic . How many counters does it enter the battlefield with? If you were paying attention last week, this should be a no-brainer. Cloudfin Raptor normally enters with zero […]
How to fill out a match slip.
A Match Result Slip is that piece of paper with names and lines on it, which some judge or other tournament personnel will drop on your table (usually within the first 5 minutes of the round). At very small events, they may not be used at all. But if you ever go to a Competitive […]
Protection from creatures prevents targeting with Bloodrush.
To quickly remind yourself of what protection does, just think of the Orzhov guild’s favorite word: DEBT. D stands for dealing damage; E stands for enchanting/equipping; B stands for blocking; and T stands for targeting. While you might be most familiar with protection from a color, protection can also encompass a wide variety of other […]