The Casual Gamer: I've Got Gas

It's almost the most exciting day of the summer, well besides Rex Manning Day, it's almost Magic's Core set release date. This Friday we kick off a new year of Magic with a power packed Core set. After a weekend of prerelease action I have found my favorite card from the set.

Hi, my name is Chris and I'm a red aggro addict. 

For Journey Into Nyx my pick was of course a red card. I love Prophetic Flamespeaker. Now I've found the card to complete my Flamespeaker deck. That card is Act On Impulse. An uncommon that not only has awesome art but one helluva an ability.

When you play Red aggro the biggest problem you face is running out of gas. Red just doesn't have draw power. You knock your opponent to 6 by turn 5 but by then they have their board set to handle your onslaught. Now you don't have the cards to replace your falling minions. That's running out of gas. You're dead on the side of the road.

This is why Act On Impulse is huge. It's red draw in a way that truly fits with red. 

One of my friends who plays at the shop, Brent Buchanan, plays a deck that uses Prophetic Flamespeaker. I really like the deck he plays and used it to build this mono-red devotion deck that I like to call...

"Devoted to Exile" (A.k.a. I've Got Gas)

Creatures: 22

4 Legion Loyalist
4 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
2 Fanatic of Mogis

Spells: 17

2 Dragon Mantle
3 Lightning Strike
3 Magma Jet
3 Wild Guess
4 Act on Impulse
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Lands: 21

17 Mountain
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

This deck is simple. Just overload your board with fast creatures. Then when you start to run low use cards like Mantle, Guess, and Impulse to replenish your stock. The Shrine is very important because it will provide the mana needed to fully take advantage of Act On Impulse.

Here is how a good first five turns goes:

Turn 1 - Mountain in Loyalist (attack)

Turn 2 - Mountain into Burning Trees (as many as you can play) then into a Freak or Zealot. (Attack)

Turn 3 - Mountain into Flamespeaker (ATTACK)

Turn 4 - Shrine into Chandra. (Loyalty counter and ... ATTACK)

Turn 5 - Activate Shrine and play Impulse to overload the board with hopefully a Fanatic (or two)

Yes this deck has holes. Every deck does. It also has a lot of fun in it. When you do drop your Act On Impulse make sure you haven't done your land drop for the turn. That way if you exile a Shrine this way you can play it and possibly even play another Act to really see the deck go off. The true awesome is when you hit Chandra's Ultimate and use it to do a triple Act On Impulse. 

The downside to this deck is pretty much the meat and potatoes are all cycling out at the end of September. Much like Red Aggro this deck probably doesn't have a long shelf life. That is unless Khans has a ton of double red two drops. Then we might really be cooking with gas.

The Casual Gamer

There is always one card during spoilers that just sparks my creative juices. That's a good and a bad thing. Especially when you discover that card just before you go to bed at night. Needless to say Eidolon of the Great Revel is now responsible for one sleepless night. 

This week has been a big spoiler week for Journey Into Nyx. The already revealed three gods and a green/white Ajani have made jaws drop around the shop. As I was relaxing in bed I decided to check the spoiler sites again just incase a new god had been revealed. The Eidolon happened to be the new reveal for the evening. 

At first most bashed this card because it has a bad synergy with red burn. I mean who is play 4+ mana burn? Nobody wants to drop a three point lightning strike only to get two back in the face from your very own private dancer. Yet to me this was the card I had been looking for to fit in with a deck mechanic that has been a favorite of mine since I started playing MTG: Land Destruction.

The thing about land destruction is that it is pricey. There really isn't a land destruction spell that costs less than 4. That kind of price tag just doesn't fit in most 1-2-3 burn decks. It also plays to what Lex Luthor from Superman the movie said about the importance of land. He was going to blow up half of California and kill Lois Lane because of land. Land is the most important card in Magic the Gathering.

People always ask when coming to the store what cards I am looking to buy or trade for. The easiest answer is land. Scry lands, Shock Lands, Fetch Lands, Dual Lands, and all the crazy lands in between. No matter how much this game changes it all comes back to one card that holds it all together, land.

So after sitting up, rocking a baby back to sleep, and sitting up some more I came up with what I call Junk Jund. This is the foundation I am using for my deck design to start the build for Eidolon. This deck is playable in standard and costs less than ten dollars to build. You should have most in your junk boxes at home.

Junk Jund

Creatures: 15

4 Elvish Mystic
4 Satyr Hedonist
4 Voyaging Satyr
3 Ember Swallower

Spells: 22

4 Lay of the Land
3 Bramblecrush
4 Demolish
3 Gild
4 Destroy the Evidence
4 Frenzied Tilling

Lands: 23

10 Forest
8 Mountain
5 Swamp

Yup, pretty basic. Yet this is how I like to deck build for future sets. I like to see how glue cards work. This deck will have it's teeth with Eidolon and a few more cards, but the true basis of the deck is here and that is fast land destruction.

For the Eidolon to truly work you want to keep your opponent below three mana production. For most that will be land. The first step is getting your land destruction out by turn three. Then begin ticking down your opponent's land count.

My MVP of this deck is Destroy the Evidence. In land destruction this card is pure money. It's five mana and it takes two lands out of your opponent's deck plus mills a few cards on the way. It also takes away your opponent's next land draw with the second land dump. That little ignored fact is huge in land destruction.

Ember Swallower is an interesting card. A 4/5 for four is nice. Make him a monster and he wipes three lands. That hurts you, but if you put your opponent at 0 lands on turn 5 with a 7/8 to deal with that is a game changer. Plus with mana rampers like Mystic, Voyager, and Hedonist dropping three of your own lands shouldn't hurt as much. 

I enjoy Gild for removal because exile works well to take care of gods. Bramblecrush is good for land removal and planeswalker removal. Demolish is the staple for land removal. You should be able to play it on turn 3 to begin land control. 

By no means will this deck go win a PTQ, but it is a good start to what I hope will end up being a strong tournament deck. Even better is the current price tag. It allows me to feel better about plugging in about 40-50 dollars in money cards down the line. 

Keep checking the blog for updates on play testing. There is going to be a ton of spoilers coming over the next few days. Fingers crossed for a big land destruction spell. Follow us on Facebook as we talk about the spoilers daily. 

Finally circle April 26th, 2014 on your smartphone as Nerdageddon hosts our first prerelease. Entry will be $25 and first place will get a booster box of Journey Into Nyx. Other prizes will be determined by the amount of players. Sign up begins at noon and deck construction starts at 1:00 PM. We'll have door prizes through out the day.

Now I'm off to throw this junk together. Enjoy spoiler week!

The Casual Gamer

The good news this week is that Nerdageddon Comics, Cards, and Collectibles officially achieved “Core Store” status with Wizards of the Coast. This means we can hold Friday Night Magic, Pre-Release Tournaments, and Game Days starting April 1^st, 2014. We also will have buy-a-box promos and from the vault cards. We’re very excited.

With all this I have been thinking a lot about my deck. As a casual gamer I find myself torn between two decks. The one I actually play with and the one I wish I played with. Most people would think that owning your own comics and cards store would mean you get to play with any card. The thing is most of my “good” cards are sitting on display in the store.

I tend to build my decks on a budget. It adds a challenge and allows me to be more creative. If you’re running on a budget then you’re probably not net decking. That means funky theme decks with a twist.

The deck I’m actually building is a mono-black deck with a shared relationship between the heroic, devotion, and bestow mechanics. It is made to use heroics for early game with enchants and bestow to grow for huge devotion drops by turn 6+. Here’s a look:

Deck: Big Black Beats

Creatures: 22
4 Tormented Hero
4 Pack Rat
3 Spiteful Returned
4 Agent of the Fates
2 Herald of Torment
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
3 Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Spells: 15
3 Deviant Glee
4 Bile Blight
3 Dark Favor
2 Doom Blade
3 Scourgemark

Lands: 23
3 Rakdos Guildgate
20 Swamp

If you’re wondering, the total cost for this deck is roughly $37.83. That is magic on a budget. The heavy cost in the deck is Erebos and the rats. Those six cards make up 75% of the cost of the deck. It’s best when building a budget deck to have some higher priced cards. My rule is to try to get 10% of my deck worth about 75-80% its total value. To make a competitive deck, even one under 40 dollars, you still need a few big cards.

I am finishing this deck currently as I hunt down the pack rats. Once it is together I will develop a sideboard with testing.

The best starting hand has a Tormented Hero and a few enchants. He can be a big force on turn two with a dark favor. A 5/2 can put pressure on early. It also will make a target for removal by your opponent. That isn’t bad as I’d rather have removal wasted here than with Agent of Fates.

Agent of Fates helps keep the board clear while also using enchants to build a monster. The bestow in the deck triggers heroics while also adding more to the devotion count or providing early game creatures if needed.

I would be looking to drop merchant by turn 6. Hopefully a tormented hero has scored a hit early as in digital testing I was able to drop a merchant for 10 on turn 6. A 5/2 hero on turn two has the ability to bring an opponent under 10 before it is dealt with.

There are holes in the deck. Yet I see why mono-black devotion is a popular deck. If you have forty dollars, and want a puncher’s chance, then big black beats is a good deck.

That is the deck I am actually playing. If money wasn’t an issue then mono-blue devotion would be the deck I would be building. I’ll let you look before I explain:

Deck: Master Bomb

Creatures: 21
4 Vortex Elemental
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Nightveil Specter
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master of Waves
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge

Spells: 16
2 Curse of the Swine
4 Cyclonic Rift
2 Disperse
4 Fated Infatuation
2 Voidwalk
2 Stolen Identity

Lands: 23
15 Island
2 Izzet Guildgate
2 Mountain
4 Steam Vents

It has similar card break down to my black deck. Both run twenty three lands and run more creature spells. The real difference is the price, as Master Bomb will run about $196.27.

The basis for this deck is Master of Waves. I love this card. I want to just overload the board with elemental tokens.

This build is meant to get out defensive creatures like the weird and vortex. Both are great early game blockers and the vortex is a fun trick during any phase of the game. The specter is a staple of blue devotion. The same goes for Thassa to help fish out your master of waves.

You want to drop the master as early as possible. Even if it drops with only 2-3 blue devotion on the board you still want it out. Once the master is on the board it opens up a creature advantage and allows for the spells like Infatuation, Voidwalk, and Stolen Identity to reach full effect.

Infatuation puts a copy of Master on the board for more tokens and helps keep the tokens alive when you phase out the master with voidwalk to create even more tokens. I personally like to toss my ciphers on Thassa then use her ability to make her unblockable to trigger ciphers for either voidwalk, stolen identity, or both.

The deck has a low mana curve and the potential for a large force of huge elementals once the master of waves and it’s copies give out bonuses.

I’d like to put this deck together, and I may try to get a piece here or piece there, but if you swing by the shop you’ll probably see me flopping cards from my black devotion deck. Maybe someday I’ll get Master Bomb sleeved and out for a test.

This week at Nerdageddon we’ll be doing a booster draft on Thursday night. On Friday is Standard Constructed FNM. Both events have sign ups at 6 and start at 7. Please try to be to the store by 6:55 to ensure you can play in the events.