Lord of War

~
Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Today at MTG Realm, we would like to yatter a bit about some of the cool new cards in the re-started Core Set, Core Set 2019.  Quite specifically, the five rare tribal lords.  A "lord" is an informal term that refers to any creature or other permanent that confers boons to other members of the same creature type, typically without conferring such bonus to themselves.  In Core Set 2019, there is one Lord in each colour :

• Valiant Knight (W knights) — Grants other Knights +1/+1, activated ability (3WW) to grant Knights double strike

• Supreme Phantom (U spirits) — Grants other spirits+1/+1.

• Death Baron (B zombies) — Grants skeletons and zombies +1/+1 and deathtouch

• Goblin Trashmaster (R goblins) — Grants goblins +1/+1, activate ability to destroy an artifact when you sacifice a goblin.

• Elvish Clancaller (G elves) — Grants other Eleves +1/+1, activated ability (4GG, Tap) to tutor another copy of itself onto the battlefield.

When Core 2019 releases on July 13, 2018, and before the large Fall set on October 5, 2018, there is a metric ton of cards in Standard format, but are we able to double down on the above Tribal Lords ?  Ixalan / Rivals of Ixalan was a block that did have a tribal theme, but restricted to Pirates, Dinosaurs, Merfolk and Vampires. 

There does exist however, some cards which may assist in a tribal theme should you want to move forward with the aforementioned Core Set 2019 Lords -

Arcane Adaptation (2U) - forcing all your creatures to creature type
Metallic Mimic (2) - +1/+1 counters on named creature type when they enter the battlefield
Radiant Destiny (2W) - conditional (City's Blessing) named creature type you control gets +1/+1 and vigilance
Vanquisher's Banner (5) - named creature type you control gets +1/+1, card draw upon casting that type

The most apparent choice may be Zombies.  There was a time, not that long ago, where Zombie tribal did climb to the top tier before the wheels fell off when some choice cards from Magic Origins / Shadows Over Innistrad block rotated out.  There are two Lords, or more specifically, a tribal enchantment and a Lord, in Amonkhet which may be shoed in to build a Zombie Tribal decklist -

• Liliana's Mastery (Amonkhet) - Zombies you control get +1/+1.
• Lord of the Accursed (Amonkhet) - Grants other zombies +1/+1, activated ability (1B, Tap) zombies gain menace

There is also a handful of other useful cards to support this theme as well which we will not go into, but do want to make a point that Embalm and Eternalize are two existing mechanics which also may be of use here.

Happy Brewing !
~

Eldritch Moon Previews 6-29

~
Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Day three of official Magic: the Gathering Eldritch Moon previews are out and we have a lot to talk about.  What we won't talk about just yet is the new Eldritch Moon story installment, 'Innistrad's Last Hope', penned by Doug Beyer.  What we will say is that you should find time today to catch up on the storyline - expect a great short story of how Liliana and sibling necromancers Gisa and Geralf react to the threat of Emrakul.

Awesome Liliana necro art from Joseph Meehan

Anywhoos, let's get on to today's Eldritch Moon spoilers and previews ! 

Soul Separator - huge flavour here and 10 points to Gryffindor for the design.  

Tree of Perdition

Stitchers Graft

Reader

Bloodhall Priest

Gisa and Geralf

Haunted Dead

Ingenious Skaab

Soul Separator
Elder Deep-Fiend
Curious Homunculus // Voracious 
Voldaran Pariah // Abolisher of Bloodlines 


Werewolf Horror -->  Eldrazi Werewolf cycle !

Smoldering Werewolf // Erupting Dreadwolf
Vildin-Pack Outcast // Dronepack Kindred
Kessig Prowler // Sinuous Predator

German language translations (unofficial)

Haunted Dead, 3B
Creature - Zombie, Uncommon
When Haunted Dead enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying into play.
1B, discard two cards: Return Haunted Dead from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
2/2

Ingenious Skaab, 2U
Creature - Zombie Horror, Common
Prowess U: Ingenious Skaab gets +1/-1 until end of turn.

2/3

Also of note is the very soon to be released Eldritch Moon Facebook previews.  We do finally know the names of the cards - Extricator of Sin and Voldaran Pariah.  We will update as soon as these two cards go live.

PREVIEWED ! Vote for the vamp !

~

Standard Orzhov

~
Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

We want to wish everyone a happy and safe New Year's eve and the very best for the new year.  Oddly on the very last day of 2013 all three of us here at MTG Realm finally have found our Magic: the Gathering groove for standard and have decided on a standard constructed deck.  RStomp is going with a Kibler Golgari variation, RTech is polishing up her Simic-Grow / Flash and yours truly CopySix is packing a take on Ryo Nakada's Orzhov Aggro (minus the Mutavaults as they are $30-$35 each and we don't have the money for those right now).  We have recent acquisitions in hand now from MTG Mint Card and are ready for our next Friday Night Magic event at OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario.

Anywhoos - let's have a looky-loo at Ryo's list again for reference -

Ryo Nakada, Orzhov Aggro, GP Shizuoka 2013 Winning Decklist
22 lands : 4  Godless Shrine, 4  Mutavault, 2  Orzhov Guildgate, 7  Plains, 1  Swamp, 4  Temple of Silence

29 creatures : 4  Banisher Priest, 4  Boros Elite, 4  Daring Skyjek, 3  Dryad Militant, 3  Imposing Sovereign, 4  Precinct Captain, 4  Soldier of the Pantheon, 3  Xathrid Necromancer

9 other spells : 4  Brave the Elements, 3  Orzhov Charm, 2  Spear of Heliod

15 sideboard cards : 3  Dark Betrayal, 3  Doom Blade, 1  Pithing Needle, 2  Profit // Loss, 3  Sin Collector, 2  Thoughtseize, 1  Xathrid Necromancer
~

 

 

We've played Orzhov for a while now and our hear broke after Innistrad rotated out taking with many of our fav cards (Intangible Virtue, Lingering Souls, etc.).  That is all now behind us now that we've evaluated M14's Xathrid Necromancer against our local metagame.  The Necromancer demands an immediate answer from removal, and makes combat a nightmare for the opponent. It also foils any plans that revolve around Supreme Verdict. We particularly like the interaction with Cartel Aristocrat which offers a sacrifice outlet to dump a cheap one drop for protection while generating a 2/2 Zombie token.  Some considerations we are giving to the main board and side board -

Immortal Servitude to cycle back all those cheap critters we've just turfed in the 'yard to restart the shenanigans yet again.  The 'Willing' side of the fuse card 'Ready // Willing' which provides deathtouch and lifelink - why?  Because nobody expects this sort of thingy.

Some other ideas we are toying with include (but are not limited to) using Calvary Pegasus to give all our dudes (humans specifically) flying when they attack.  High Priest of Penance is a nice two drop which will blow up any non-land permanent (enchantment, Planeswalker, etc.) and gives us another Zombie token while the Necromancer is out.  Thoughtseize may also be useful against some match-ups as well.

For a finisher, we may consider Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Obzedat, Ghost Council or perhaps Bloodbaron of Vizkopa.  There are a lot of choices but one thing of concern is should our opponent have a Ratchet Bomb to blow up our fresh 'n' fetid Zombie token army.  Suggestions always welcome of course in the comment thingy below or eMail.

Happy New Year / Happy Brewing!
~

Innistrad Zombies

~
Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

We hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day here in Canada-land or Columbus Day for our cousins south of the border. Perhaps you had an opportunity to get in a few games and sling some Magic the Gathering cards. We attended the FNM event at our local store OMG! Games here in Barrie and our Tempered Steel deck did not perform as well as it usually does which means it's time to tweak it a bit to challenge the emerging decks in our meta-game.


Instead, we spent time over the long weekend getting some play testing done with some of the new options presented with the latest set release Innistrad. We hatched out some ideas for an Innistrad mono-black zombie deck. Why? There happens to be quite a lot of solid support for a Zombie build in standard at the moment. There appeared to be a good number of blue-black builds out there at the moment but we decided on a mono-black build - especially given that good synergistic cards such as Cemetery Reaper, Endless Ranks of the Dead, Ghoulcaller's Chant, Ghoulraiser, and Unbreathing Horde are available.

One challenge we did have during play testing was the limit of only Diregraf Ghoul and Walking Corpse as one or two-drop zombies. To this end, we brought in Thyphoid Rats which provided much needed breathing room to stall the opponent during the first two turns in order to construct our army of the undead. Anywhoos - let's look at what we thought was a good start . . .


Cemetery Reaper is a must have in this build to not only pump your other brain-eaters but also to produce those 2/2 zombie tokens. Unbreathing Horde may or may not be a good choice for the moment but we could always move it over to the side board. Skinrender provides decent spot removal or at the very least cripples a fatty they may have.


A double dip into your grave yard to bring back zombies is great with Ghoulcaller's Chant. Altar's Reap gives two additional cards to your hand - hopefully you can sac a zombie token - if not, the Chant can place that sacrificed card straight back into your hand again. Distress may be critical as it could remove a powerful card from your opponent's hand. Victim of Night and Distress gives some decent spot removal and Endless Ranks of the Dead may hopefully provide you with a Zombie rave party within a few turns.


Some cards to consider for a sideboard may be found with additional removal with Doom Blade, Go for the Throat, and Tribute to Hunger. A griefer for an opponent playing red or white may be our fav Mirrodin Besieged zombie card Phyrexian Crusader. Ghoulraiser may be a better choice than the mainboard Unbreathing Horde. Call to the Grave may be a smart choice in this sideboard against those pesky hexproof critters.


Some other cards we were contemplating but did not quite make the cut in the play testing we did over the weekend are above. These may still make its way into the final zombie build given futher game results at the kitchen table and Friday Night Magic.

That's it for now - What is your standard take on zombies ? Use the comment thingy to get your opinion heard.
~

Finally,

The folks over at MTG Mint Card is having another great give-away contest on their FaceBook page.

This event closes on 12th October - (that's tomorrow !) so make tracks sooner than latter.


~