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Sunday, October 7, 2012

Atog Combos

A member over at the Wizard's forums sent me this rather silly deck based on those strange atog creatures. I told him I would post it here and now I am: Monoredburn's Atog Combos:

Creatures - 16
x4 Auratog
x4 Chronatog
x4 Phantatog
x4 Thaumatog

White Spells - 12
x4 Chronomantic Escape
x4 Island Sanctuary
x4 Spirit Loop 

Green Spells - 8
x4 Rancor
x4 Aspect of Mongoose

Lands - 24
x8 Forests
x8 Islands
x8 Plains 

How it works:
Auratog, Phantatog, and Thaumatog love gobbling enchantments. luckily for you, the ones in this deck keep coming back! If your opponent wins through creatures, then use the Chronomatic Escape and the Chronatog to keep them from ever attacking you. Just skip your turn on their turn and sit back and watch them flail about until they give up and scoop. 

I've never tried it, but I hope you get a kick out of this deck.

Happy Gaming!
RagingGoblin

Friday, October 5, 2012

Top Cards from Return to Ravnica

With the new set just released in stores, I wanted to celebrate a little by posting a review of what I feel are some of the top cards from Return to Ravnica; only I'm not skipping to the rares and mythics (because for the most part they're supposed to be the best). Instead, I will be picking what I feel to be the best card from each rarity. For the most part, my decision isn't based on any specific format, but more of the ease at which you could build a deck around it.


Top Common:  Goblin Electromancer

When I first saw this card in the Izzet vs. Golgari decks, I instantly took a liking to him. He's the perfect union between goblin's speed and Talrand's love of spells. The last time Wizards made a u/r goblin, it was more an unholy spawn of a goblin and a merfolk.Without his ability, he's a "bear", putting him just on mana curve. With it, however, I can see wondrous shenanigans happening. He's a list of what his effect reduces:
Normal cmc
Flashback
Overload
Anything with "x" in the cmc
Miracle
Need I say more?



Top Uncommon: Selesnya Charm

Charms have always been a great choice for anyone wanting options, and this one is sure to be worth it no matter what you use it for. First off, there's the boost and trample, which can turn almost anything into a valuable threat or prevent a chump block. Then there's the exile of a big baddie. For two mana, this not only gets rid of the problem, but makes sure it stays gone. Third (and probably my favorite use of it) is the 2/2 knight token with vigilance. If that was a creature he would be a bit ahead of the mana curve. But he's not, it's actually an instant creating him, which basically gives him flash as well. He might end up as just a chump blocker, but he can also be that surprise creature that you need to win.



Top Rare: Abrupt Decay

This choice probably doesn't come as a shock to most of you. There's just something about an uncounterable kill spell that can target any non-land cheap permanent that just screams "use me". There's just so many artifacts, enchantments, creatures, planeswalkers that you can hit with this card; all while Mr. BluePlayer sits there with his counters and weeps. About the only thing I don't like about it is the price tag. $20 a pop means this card is essentially tournament decks only. Hopefully it drops to a more reasonable price once the hype is over, though I doubt it. Still, a girl can dream, can't she? 



 
Top Mythic: Armada Wurm

One 5/5 trample wurm for 6cmc is pretty bad, but what if you got 2 wurms for that price? Now that seems like a good deal. I'm a big fan of creatures that come with a token buddy, since it feels like you get twice the staying power from the spell. Now your opponent has to kill/unsummon both to make it feel like you just wasted that spell. Let's not forget about bouncing him yourself to get that token again, or when he finally dies slapping him onto something like a Mimic Vat and making a big fat wurm factory. His cost is a bit mana heavy, but that seems to be the theme of this set. Still, green has plenty of ways to get the mana you need to drop him and go to town. 




So there you have it! Those are my choices for the top cards from each rarity in Return to Ravnica. Overall there were many excellent candidates for this post, and it was hard to narrow it down to just these four. Please leave a comment telling me if you agree/disagree with any of my choices. Just be civil about it, okay? Also don't forget to Like, tweet, google + it, what have you.

Happy Gaming!
Raging Goblin  



Monday, October 1, 2012

Mono-Blue Aggro Deck

When you think of blue, you tend to think about control cards like Cancel and Mana Leak. Small utility creatures and stalls until you can get a big game-changing brute. This is not the case with the deck I'm about to show you. This deck is pure aggro. Allow me to present to you: Illusions.

Creatures - 22
x4 Jace's Phantasm
x4 Krovikan Mist
x4 Lord of the Unreal
x4 Illusory Angel
x4 Chronozoa
x2 Phantasmal Dragon

Blue Spells - 8
x4 Piracy Charm
x4 Unsummon

Enchantments - 4
x4 Favorable Winds

Equipment -6
x4 Trepanation Blade
x2 Swiftfoot Boots

Lands - 20
x4 Faeire Conclave
x16 Island

How it works:
The deck is pretty simple: play aggro. The deck is filled with cheap-costing illusions that (for the most part) don't have that ugly "target me and I die" effect. Lord of the Unreal helps protect and boost all your illusions, and favorable winds is a natural choice because, well, look at all those fliers! Chronozoa is just a silly card and can help you with getting the upper hand when it comes to the number of creatures you have. Also he buffs the Krovikian Mist every time it splits. The Trepanation Blades aren't the best way to mill, but it's the most aggressive way I could find to get those 10 cards needed in your opponent's graveyard to turn the Jace's Phantasms into 1-drop killing machines.

Pricier, but better:
First thing I would do is swap out those Phantasmal Dragons for something nicer like Phantasmal Image (if you don't mind the "target" drawback) or Palinchron. Also replacing the Trepanation Blades with something like Sword of Body and Mind can ensure you get those 10 cards in their graveyard, and you get a puppy from it too! Other than that, the deck feels pretty solid to me.

Hope you enjoy seeing a refreshing use for those islands, and as always...

Happy Gaming!
RagingGoblin