Yet another Magic: The Gathering Question

January 1, 2009 6:35 PM

SO... what good cards have been released for Magic: the Gathering since ~Ravnica Block? Have not really played in a while, nor kept track of the cards, need a sort of briefing on the state of magic.

Basically looking for simple, cost effective cards that can spruce up any non-competitive casual deck (not at all restricted to Type 1-2, Extended, etc.) or some good decklists.

In particular, I have a liking for Red decks, white weenie, and Mirrodin Block Style affinity (avoid Ravager, I currently use Broodstar for better or worse). If there has been some really good stuff to come out in support of those, that is what I am looking for. I am however open to other deck types as well.

This may be either a copy or branch off of this post. I searched online last night for some good tips, and found a few. I have been to the pauper magic site, which was a REALLY good source.

Thanks!

posted by JoeXIII007 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

Best answer: For red deck, the best creatures to come out recently have been rares in the form of Figure of Destiny and Demigod of Revenge, but they're expensive. Cheap but good creatures include Ashenmoor Gouger and Boggart Ram-Gang. The only good, recent burn spells I can think of that beat older stuff are Skred and Flame Javelin.

White Weenie is all about the Kithkin tribe that came out of Lorwyn and Morningtide, leaning on the "lord" ability of Wizened Cenn. Mirrorweave is the stylish finisher for that deck (making every creature a lord, so your attackers are all 5/5 or greater!).

Affinity was largely self-contained in the Mirrodin block, but with the latest set, Shards of Alara, the Esper shard is all artifacts. Etherium Sculptor and Master of Etherium will be the most exciting additions to your deck, but "serious" competitive decks don't use them as Ravager's faster than the Master, and at 2 mana, the sculptor is "more expensive" than the essentially free Affinity creatures.

For other casual, fun decks, there have been additional cards dedicated to the mill strategy (Google "Twinsanity" or "Sanity Grinding") and Shards of Alara has some amazingly fun flavor in the Exalted theme in the Bant shard (example: Akrasan Squire).

I know you said "non-competitive," and it's probably better that way. Competitive Magic is kind of expensive these days, as some of the best decks include nearly completely-non-basic mana bases that costs you over $150 just for the lands before you even get into other expensive core cards like Bitterblossom or Cryptic Command.

I've been doing a bunch of booster drafting, Shards of Alara is probably the most entertaining draft environment since Ravnica. Though, if you're looking for budget, drafting can add up pretty fast.

If you have more questions, feel free to MeMail me.
posted by explosion at 8:09 PM on January 1, 2009

Response by poster: Been doing some more searching... I could use some confirmation on whether casual soldier decks and goblin decks have also gotten a boost from the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block....?
posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:42 PM on January 1, 2009

Oh, right, fun tribal interactions. Goblins went Red/Black for a while, picking up some decent stuff from Lorwyn/Morningtide. Shadowmoor had some decent goblins, but they won't work as well in the context of a traditional "goblin" deck.

I completely forgot about the "Elfball" architype that exploded recently. On the back of Heritage Druid and Nettle Sentinel you can pump out absurd amounts of green mana and elves. Elvish Promenade does the dirty work.

Soldiers are certainly around, and between the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor blocks, and the new Shards of Alara, you'll find plenty of them.
posted by explosion at 9:34 PM on January 1, 2009

Don't forget the Time Spiral block: Damnation (black Wrath of God) is an A++ card for Monoblack control, Dragonstorm and the Hellkite for awesomely explosive Red decks, and so on.

Martyr of Sands (from Coldsnap) is great for white weenie. Sac it to pump your life by the number of white cards you have in hand. Great for stretching out the endgame which white weenie tends to struggle with.

Since these sets have fallen out of standard, their cards should be a bit cheaper now.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:00 AM on January 2, 2009