Ordeals of Theros

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

With Theros now out and many players now with these new Magic: the Gathering cards now in hand, we wanted to an informal series of posts over the next few weeks about some of the interesting cycles in the new set.  We have all our singles preorders in from MTG Mint Card and from working on some fun 'n' derpy builds, we've come to appreciate the interaction between the 'Heroic' mechanic and the five colour 'Ordeal' cycle of cards.  In less refined times, an 'ordeal' was a test of guilt or innocence by which the accused was put to severe pain, and survival taken to mean divine proof of that person's innocence.

Heroic is an ability word where a creature with a heroic gives the controlling player powerful benefits every time he casts a spell that targets that creature.  Ordeals are a cycle of uncommon Auras, all with the converted mana cost of 1X (where 'X' is that colour in that cycle).  This tech gives a +1/+1 counter for each times the enchanted creature attacks and after it sacrifices itself (the aura) when it has 3 or more +1/+1 counters you get a sweet trigger a ability.  The ordeal cycle in Theros is Ordeal of Heliod, Ordeal of Thassa, Ordeal of Erebos, Ordeal of Purphoros, and Ordeal of Nylea - and with about 18 cards in the set with the 'Heroic' ability, additional benefits are realised.  Anywhoos, lets have a looky-loo . . .

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After derping with some of the cards, we've realised that most of us here at MTG Realm are sort of evil at our core in that we just wanted to skip dinner and go straight to desert.  What we're talking about is foregoing all the work and time in acquiring +1 counters when we attack with our enchanted dude and bee-line it to the bonus without much bother to undergoing the 'ordeal'.  Kinda like this . . .

Yeah.  Dude, enchant with ordeal, next turn attack and cast something that will drop additional +1 counters on it to get the cake.  Still working out which one(s) suit our taste and our particular build, but we're certainly going to investigate this further.

Until tomorrow, happy brewing folks! 
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