Top MTG Lords

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

We caught a recent episode of Magic TV over at Channel Fireball yesterday which got us all nostalgic for some of our older Magic the Gathering cards. In the video, Tristan Gregson and Luis Scott-Vargas went over their picks for the Top 8 Lords.

Magic the Gathering Lords are essentially creatures which grant effects to other creatures according to their creature types, colors, or other attributes and are most often used in tribal decks. Typically, only creatures which give (at least) +1/+1 to all others of its creature type without any sort of activation are considered 'Lords'. Creatures that pump entire colors or that shrink entire colors are not considered lords.

Anywhoos - here's the video :


Top 8 Magic the Gathering Lords

8 : Drogskol Captain
7 : Coralhelm Commander
6 : Imperious Perfect
5 : Scion of Oona
4 : Goblin Warchief
3 : Merrow Reejerey
2 : Elvish Archdruid
1 : Lord of Atlantis

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Since every MTG player has their own individual taste / character and game style, we invite you to provide additional honorable mentions for your favourite Lord. Some cards which we have a fondness for are :

Vampire nocturnus
Lord of the Undead
Master of Etherium
Bloodline Keeper
Adaptive Automaton / Brass Herald
Daru Warchief
Death Baron
Field Marshal

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Altough not strictly Lords according to the definition, we did want to mention our special inclination for the quasi-Lord 'Liege' cycle in the Shadowmoor mini-block. Each of the Lieges in this block has a mana cost of XHHH, where H is a hybrid mana symbol and X a colourless mana. Each liege had two seperate abilities which provided a +1/+1 bonus to a creature that matched either colour, and which stacked for those that matched both. There was also a cool ability or effect appropriate its colors.

The lieges from Shadowmoor have allied-colour costs and the Knight creature type — Thistledown Liege, Glen Elendra Liege, Ashenmoor Liege, Boartusk Liege, Wilt-Leaf Liege. The lieges from Eventide had enemy-colour costs and the Horror creature type — Deathbringer Liege, Mindwrack Liege, Murkfiend Liege, and Balefire Liege, Creakwood Liege.
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Also of note - the folks over at MTG Mint Card has cracked open a few more boxes of Innistrad and has now restocked. If you've been looking for that special hard-to-get sorcery or Planeswalker, drop by.
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Eventide Lieges

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As promised in the last post here, I will be reviewing the Lieges of the recently released set of Eventide. I was thinking of providing fresh Shards of Alara art spoilers but hey . . a promise is a promise and you will have to wait until next post for that.
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The Eventide Lieges are all Rare creature cards and have a 'Colour Matters' Theme just like the Shadowmoor Lieges. Unlike Shadowmoor, these cards have a varied cost of 1, 2 or 3 colourless mana and 3 hybrid mana (this may be paid in either of the two colours indicated.

The Eventide Liege cards have two separate abilities while they're in play that each check for a certain color. If a card matches both colours, both of those abilities will "work". Specifically, the Shadowmoor Liege cards will 'pump' creatures in play of one colour by +1/+1 and +1/+1 again for other creatures of the specified colour. Of course, if a creature is both colours (read : HYBRID), one obtains a double boost. In addition to this, the Eventide Lieges also have an additional third (or fourth !) ability specific to the individual Liege . . . let's have a look.

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Balefire Liege
2 {R/W}{R/W}{R/W}
Creature - Spirit Horror
2/4
Other red creatures you control get +1/+1. / Other white creatures you control get +1/+1. / Whenever you play a red spell, Balefire Liege deals 3 damage to target player. / Whenever you play a white spell, you gain 3 life.
This is a great timmy-like effect without a tap and some really decent life-gain for the cost of this Liege spell.

Creakwood Liege
1 {B/G}{B/G}{B/G}
Creature - Horror
2/2
Other black creatures you control get +1/+1. / Other green creatures you control get +1/+1. / At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a 1/1 black and green Worm creature token into play.
This Liege, from what I have heard is on many players 'must have' list for the Eventide set. First of all - this card has least expensive mana cost among the Eventide Lieges AND you get token which IMMEDIATELY become 3/3 critters as long as the Liege is in play . . . VERY sweet !

Deathbringer Liege
2 {W/B}{W/B}{W/B}
Creature - Horror
3/4
Other white creatures you control get +1/+1. / Other black creatures you control get +1/+1. / Whenever you play a white spell, you may tap target creature. / Whenever you play a black spell, you may destroy target creature if it's tapped.
This Liege provides an absolutely solid argument for stacking your deck with hybrid white / black spells. Although I am not very keen on the artwork, this card provides a solid one-two slam on a hybrid spell that is sure to have your opponents board clear.

Mindwrack Liege
3 {U/R}{U/R}{U/R}
Creature - Horror
4/4
Other blue creatures you control get +1/+1. / Other red creatures you control get +1/+1. / Pay {U/R}{U/R}{U/R}{U/R} You may put a blue or red creature card from your hand into play.
This card appears to be a bit overpriced in my opinion. The only way I could see myself playing this in a deck is if I had a LOT of fairly expensive creatures . . . the jury is still out on this one.

Murkfiend Liege
2 {G/U}{G/U}{G/U}
Creature - Horror
4/4
Other green creatures you control get +1/+1. / Other blue creatures you control get +1/+1. / Untap all green and/or blue creatures you control during each other player's untap step.
This Liege offers a fairly decent 'vigilance' effect for your green and/or blue critters. This particular Liege also does not maintain the same enemy-hybrid rigidity as some of the other Lieges demand.

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Similarly, the Eventide Auras Cycle checks the enchanted creature's colours and provides a +1/+1 boost (or MORE !) to a creature's strength and toughness for each of the two specified colour. Each enchantment is a Common and also provides a nifty ability. The mana cost to play these enchantments vary however.

Clout of the Dominus {U/R}
As long as enchanted creature is blue, it gets +1/+1 and has shroud. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.) / As long as enchanted creature is red, it gets +1/+1 and has haste.
Great mana cost for a solid +2/+2 hybrid pump and two great abilities.

Edge of the Divinity {W/B}
As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+2. / As long as enchanted creature is black, it gets +2/+1.
This aura differs from the other by giving a whopping +3/+3 hybrid pump. This is offset by not providing any further abilities.

Favor of the Overbeing 1 {G/U}
As long as enchanted creature is green, it gets +1/+1 and has vigilance. As long as enchanted creature is blue, it gets +1/+1 and has flying.
Another decent aura with the traditional abilities of vigilance for green and flying for blue.

Gift of the Deity 4 {B/G}
As long as enchanted creature is black, it gets +1/+1 and has deathtouch. (Whenever it deals damage to a creature, destroy that creature.) As long as enchanted creature is green, it gets +1/+1 and all creatures able to block it do so.
This is a really sweet aura - not only does it push lethal damage, it will also force your opponents critters to line up for it !

Scourge of the Nobilis 2 {R/W}
As long as enchanted creature is red, it gets +1/+1 and has "{R/W} : This creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn."
As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+1 and has lifelink.
This is also a decent aura and should be considered for those players with decks that go into a later game.


Again - stay tuned next post for a bunch of very cool Alara Art spoilers.

Shadowmoor Lieges

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I have taken quite a liking to both the Shadowmoor and Eventide Liege cards. Today, I will yatter about the Shadowmoor Lieges and address the Eventide Lieges within the next post.

I had touched briefly upon Lieges and their complementary cards, the Auras in this post.

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The Shadowmoor Lieges are all Rare creature cards and have a 'Colour Matters' Theme. All these cards have a cost of 1 colourless mana and 3 hybrid mana (this may be paid in either of the two colours indicated. The Shadowmoor Liege cards have two separate abilities while they're in play that each check for a certain color. If a card matches both colours, both of those abilities will "work". Specifically, the Shadowmoor Liege cards will 'pump' creatures in play of one colour by +1/+1 and +1/+1 again for other creatures of the specified colour. Of course, if a creature is both colours (read : HYBRID), one obtains a double boost.

Ashenmoor Liege
1{B/R}{B/R}{B/R}
4/1
Whenever this Liege is a target of a spell or ability that an opponent controls, that opponent gets dinged for 4 life.

Boartusk Liege
1{R/G}{R/G}{R/G}
3/4
Trample

Glen Elendra Liege
1{U/B}{U/B}{U/B}
2/3
Flying

Thistledown Liege
1{W/U}{W/U}{W/U}
1/3
Flash

Wilt-Leaf Liege
1{G/W}{G/W}{G/W}
4/4
If this card is directed to your graveyard by an opponent's spell or ability, it slides into your library instead.


Since these cards are sooo darn good, expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $12 for them at your local gaming store depending upon type, stock, etc.

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Similarily, the Shaowmoor Auras Cycle checks the enchanted creature's colours and provides a +1/+1 boost to a creature's strength and toughness for each of the two specified colour. Each enchantment is a Common and also provides a nifty ability. The mana cost to play these enchantments varry however.

Steel of the Demigod
2{W/U}
White - lifelink
Blue - unblockable

Fists of the Demigod

1{B/R}
Black - wither
Red - first strike

Helm of the Ghastlord
3{U/B}
Blue - card draw if damage dealt to opponent
Black - Opponent discards if dealt damage

Runes of the Deus 4{R/G}
Red - double strike
Green - trample

Shield of the Oversoul 2{G/W}

Green - indestructible
White - flying

These cards provide plenty of benefits to a player running a deck packed with the appropriate hybrid cards. In fact, I have been playing (and testing) a hybrid blue / black deck with 4x Glen Elendra Lieges and 4x Helm of the Ghastlord during the last few Friday Night Magic tournaments. I have met with some limited success and will most likely build a similar deck with Leiges and Auras from the newly-released Eventide set.

Until next time, Happy & Safe Gaming !