Over the last couple of weeks we have seen Bloodcrazed Neonates name in our search terms more than once. The question normally situated with the terms is something like “what does attack each turn if able mean?” or “Does Bloodcrazed neonate force the attack step?”. The first question is fairly obvious. The second is not quite as simple, but it has a fairly easy answer.
Moving on in our discussion about how Innistrad effects the standard environment we come to RUG. I know I said we would go somewhere else first. but we made a wrong turn. What is RUG anyway? For those of you that don’t know it is an acronym for Red/Blue?Green. Most of the RUG decks are control driven, but they are not your traditional type of control. At least I don’t believe so.
RUG doesn’t have the named history like some of the other archetypes do. Take Fish for example it was an archetype before it was named. That doesn’t mean the roots of Rug do not run deep. I remember building Blue/Green decks when Prodigal Sorcerer still thrived, and Gaea’s Liege deprived your opponent of everything except Islands. It wasn’t long before you saw Channel, Fireball, and Mana Drain enter the deck. Yeah, that was a while ago. Somewhere around the time of Conflux (I believe) RUG got its official name. Why, I don’t know. But the name has lasted ever since.
Hey again, welcome to Revising Standard. In this set of articles we will always discuss the impact of the most recent set. The goal is to make this a living document that changes as the format matures. I will attempt to update each article by using the comments section of the blog.
The first installment of Revising Standard will discuss some of the impact Innistrad has on Magic the Gatherings standard or T2 format. More specifically we will start discussing how white is being influenced or becoming an influence.
White has long since been known for its one and two drop creatures. It also has a history of having one or two good reset buttons at any given time. White is often splashed or used as a support color. In fact blue and white have become a tradition among the deck archetypes of our day.
It is day four of my set review. For those of you who have not read these daily reports yet, here is what I am doing. I am reviewing each color and sharing with you my top picks. I am not a pro player by any means, I am just a judge who enjoys writing and playing Magic the Gathering along with many other games.
On to the cards
Bloodcrazed Neonate 1r
Creature – Vampire Common
Bloodcrazed Neonate attacks each turn if able.
Whenever Bloodcrazed Neonate deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
While elder vampires select their meals with care, the newly sired frenzy at the first whiff.
Illus. Cynthia Sheppard 2/1
This guy is not super, but he gets an honorable mention because he grows and he is common.
Curse of Stalked Prey
1r
Enchantment – Aura Curse Rare
Enchant player
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to enchanted player, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
“Innocent thorns can fill the air with your bloodscent. Don’t stray from the path.”
–Elmut, crossway watcher
Illus. Christopher Moeller #136/264
Will this card make it into constructed – yes. It will Goblins or red deck wins a boost in their speed. Oh and combine this with Bloodcrazed Neonate and you have a Vampiric nightmare.
Brimstone Volley 2r
Instant Common
Brimstone Volley deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Morbid – Brimstone Volley deals 5 damage to that creature or player instead if a creature died this turn.
Illus. Eytan Zana #132/264
I like Brimstone volley because it will be fairly easy to deal 5 damage. Why because creatures die in Magic the Gathering.
Pitchburn Devil 4r
Creature – Devil Common
When Pitchburn Devils dies, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Illus. Johann Bodin #156/264 3/3
Our friend here is nothing special for a 3/3. But when he dies he becomes a lightning bolt. So he has potential. He might see play in constructed. I believe you will most certainly see him in limited. I expect him to be picked as early a the third pick in a draft. Really tough to say when a card will be pick but this guy brings some serious card quality to the limited format.
That is all for now. tomorrow we move on to White and everything it has in store for us.
With Magic the Gathering’s Innistrad right around the corner, I have decided to do something I have never done. I am am going to review a hand full cards from each color. This will most likely take me 5 days and I will make mistakes. The only thing left for me to do is select which color is first. I think I will go Black, Blue, Green, Red, White and anything else.
In black I do see some potential for card quality. My favorite cards in Black are, Blood Gift Demon, Liliana of the Veil, Endless Ranks, Morkhurt Banshee, and Skirsdag Piest.
Bloodgift Demon 3bb
Creature – Demon Rare
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, target player draws a card and loses 1 life.
He relishes the devotion of his Skirsdag puppets and their belief that it will earn them immortality.
Illus. Peter Mohrbacher #89/264 5/4
All I have to say is a 5/4 flyer for 5 is good. In the current environment he is not that good, but keep in mind we will be changing things very soon. But I doubt he will replace any of the current staples in Standard.
So the next Magic the Gathering expansion is on the horizon. It will bring with it 5 mechanics. Some of these mechanics are making a return, like Flashback and Fight (which is a new keyword). While others are just knew. But before you go any further I suggest you read Wizards of The Coast article on Innitsrad mechanics here. Because this article is going to talk about rules in significant detail.
Transform
Of the the mechanics being introduced in Innistrad this has to be the most complicated one.
What does all of that mean for a player and for the judge?
Judge Perspective
While double faced cards are going to bring to the game a potential for new levels of card quality it is going to be a messy mechanic at first. I suspect that early on players are going to miss the transform triggers left and right. I can just see it know some random player draft 10 double faced cards and put 7 in his deck. Can you imagine having 4 of them in play at the same time? You might have different faces face up. In other words the players might have four different triggers to remember on top of normal game play. The good news is that this is most likely to happen at the casual level of play for some time – practice. In the end I think it will force both players and judges to improve their game.
Player Perspective
As a player I am looking forward to the card quality that thes might bring us. And I do believe there will be enough good double faced cards that a handful of them will see play. Otherwise, WotC is waisting their time with this mechanic.
Morbid
Judge Perspective
There is not a thing that is so unique about this mechanic that we have anything to worry about.
Player Perspective
The trigger is going to be easy enough to pull off that you will definitely see it played. I kind of like Skirsdag High Priest. I used this spoiler for information. I kind of like putting 5/5 flying demons in play.
I just learned that Wizards of the Coast is sponsoring Magic the Gathering Mini Masters events at select stores (Magic Celebration) this Saturday September 10th. Here are the locations. What is cool about, I mean what makes it different from other mini masters? It is free, while supplies last. That is right free Wizards of the Coast is giving back to their customers.
So what is a mini master AKA pack wars? It is one of the most inexpensive limited formats you can play. Each player receives one pack (M12 on Saturday) and three of each basic land then they get shuffled together. That is right you play blind, you don’t look at your cards. Each event is three or four rounds. Each round you win earns you another free M12 booster to enhance your deck with. On top of that WotC is supplying retailers with T-shirts and a code card for Duels of the Planeswalker 2012. I am not sure how the code is going to be distributed, but it is for the platform of the player’s choice.
I will be at Freedom Games in North Canton Ohio on Saturday playing. If you want to duel me come on down.
