Magic 2011 Sales Solicitation

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We have for your consideration today the Magic 2011 Sales Solicitation released to retailers on 18th May. These documents are of use to the community as well as retailers who use this for reference (product code, upc code, size, weight and manufacturer's suggested retail price are vital information) - but anywhoos - the reason the MTG gaming community would be interested in this sort of thing is for it's little tid-bits of information to whet one's imagination as to what to expect in new card goodness . . . some bullets -

• The Magic 2011 Core Set follows the same blueprint laid by the Magic 2010 Core Set, one of the best-selling Magic core sets of all time.

• Like the Magic 2010 Core Set, approximately half of the Magic 2011 Core Set will be brand new cards. The rest of the set will be returning favorites from throughout Magic’s 17-year history

• The biggest difference between M10 and M11 will be in the Intro Packs. Starting with the Magic 2011 Core Set, Intro Packs will contain 60-card decks instead of 41-card decks. They will still contain a 15-card booster and rules inserts, all for $12.99 MSRP.

• Intro Packs are an ideal introduction to both Magic: The Gathering and the new core set. These new 60-card Intro Pack decks are now constructed tournament legal.

• The Magic 2011 Core Set will have a Prerelease, a Launch Party, and a Game Day. It will also be used in high-level organized play events in 2010.

• Standard now rotates only once each year, with the release of the October large set. Magic 2011 will enter Standard on its release without knocking anything out, then Magic 2010 and Shards of Alara® block will leave Standard with the release of Scars of Mirrodin™

Organized Play
• Magic 2011 Prerelease Tournaments: July 10 – 11, 2010
• Magic 2011 Launch Parties: July 16 - 18, 2010
• Magic 2011 Game Day: August 14, 2010


M11 Solicitation

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M2011 Ultra-Pro products

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If you have been watching the forums, you may have picked up on some of the images of the new Magic 2011 Ultra-Pro products to make your game mo' awesome. Since every Magic Player (yeah . . . myself included), I know loves to speculate on creatures and themes of each new set, lets have a look and the images leaked.

M11 card sleeves - A skeleton dude fishing with one of those lures you get at the 'as seen on TV' stores.


M11 card sleeves - Merfolk gal with a Yu-Gi-Oh haircut.



M11 top loading deck boxes with tabs - very smart.


M11 side-loading deck boxes


M11 portfolio - for your trades or showing off.


Another M11 portfolio (some one as above but now showing the back)

Stay tuned tomorrow as we really start speculating about the Magic 2011 intro-pack images.

MTG 2011 Core Set

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G'Day MTG peeps, we suggest you mouse on over to WoTC's Magic Arcana (HERE) when you have a chance to catch the latest announcement regarding the next core set, not surprisinly named 'Magic 2011'.

Check it out - followed by a bit of us ranting about standard rotation . . .

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A set everyone can sink their teeth into.

Walk amongst the elite – The ultimate strategic duelists. The few who can control deadly creatures and wield terrifying sorceries. Battle on countless worlds beyond this one in a quest for supremacy, and know what it means to say, "Here I Rule."

Set Name : Magic 2011
Three-Letter Abbreviation : M11
Number of Cards : 248
Release Date : July 15, 2010

Design Team : Aaron Forsythe (lead), Doug Beyer, Mark Globus, Tom LaPille, Gregory Marques

Development Team : Erik Lauer (lead), Dave Guskin, Tom LaPille, Kenneth Nagle

(did you see this epic art ? - shake 'n' bake Dragon baby ! reason enough to pick up a box of M11 for us)

Standard now rotates only once each year, with the release of the October large set. So Magic 2011 will enter Standard on its release without knocking anything out, then Magic 2010 and Shards of Alara block will leave Standard with the release of "Lights." The Standard format between Magic 2011 and "Lights" will consist of Shards of Alara block, Zendikar block, Magic 2010, and Magic 2011. After the release of "Lights," it will consist of Zendikar Block, Magic 2011, and "Lights."

Extended rotates at the same time, but there's no core set that will rotate out this year. (Eighth Edition went with Onslaught; Ninth Edition will go with Kamigawa block on the release of "Shake.")

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For information on what is currently in standard, click HERE. In summary, basically this -
Shards of Alara (ALA), Conflux (CON), Alara Reborn (ARB), Magic 2010 (M10), Zendikar (ZEN), Worldwake (WWK - effective February 5, 2010), Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE - effective April 23, 2010)

Generally speaking, there will be 4 sets (1 Block and 1 Core) which will rotate out at any one time and the max number of sets will always be 8. There will only be 4 large sets at any one time (ROE is an exception being a large third set in a block) with the 2 core sets sharing cards.

For detailed rules of what blocks and sets are in standard, extended, etc, click HERE.

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Nyth from the forums had this very easy table to demonstrate how each set rotates in and out together in standard . . .

* Now : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN]

* Feb. 2010 : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN, WWK]

* Apr. 2010 : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN, WWK, ROE]

* Jul. 2010 : [ALA, CON, ARB], [M10], [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11]

* Oct. 2010 : [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights]

* [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights, Camera]

* [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights, Camera, Action]

* [ZEN, WWK, ROE], [M11], [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12]

* [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12], [Shake]

* [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12], [Shake, Rattle]

* [Lights, Camera, Action], [M12], [Shake, Rattle, Roll]

* Lights, Camera, Action, M12, Shake, Rattle, Roll, M13

* etc

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In our previous post (HERE) on rotation and the cost of the average casual is still valid. We still are somewhat on the fence however - altough we LOVE what Wizards had done with new core sets (a bunch of new cards - not just reprints) we do still long for the old two year core set rotation - it was just simply easier on the wallet - Anywhoos - enuff whining - we still intend to pick up a booster box of M11.

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Grixis Vampires

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Happy Friday my peeps, the week's end is soon at hand and we thought a short post about those type 2 vampire decks may be in order before you head out tonight to a Friday Night Magic event at your local gamery club.


Personally, we have seen a surge in popularity in this casual deck - and really, why not? - it really does almost builds itself and it will not give a serious hoofing to your wallet.

The issue at hand for many of these vampire decks is that with pro-Black cards like Great Sable Stag, White Knight, Devout Lightcaster, and Valeron Outlander occupying sideboards everywhere, the casual vampire deck will hit a spot between a rock and a harder place after the first game in the match.

Due to this, we had been recently thinking about a standard Vampire build which is not completely mono-black. Here is something funky we came up with . . .

Creatures [20]
2 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Malakir Bloodwitch
2 Vampire Hexmage
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nocturnus

Other Spells [16]
2 Bituminous Blast
4 Blightning
1 Bloodchief Ascension
1 Cruel Ultimatum
2 Divination
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate

Lands [24]
1 Akoum Refuge
4 Crumbling Necropolis
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
1 Jwar Isle Refuge

Sideboard [15]
1 Bloodchief Ascension
2 Bloodghast
4 Duress
2 Quest for Ancient Secrets
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Terminate
2 Vampire Hexmage

Certainly not proven at the casual game table but we hope to try it out. All critters here are vampires and we have splashed red (and blue) for removal with the likes of Cruel Ultimatum, Blightning, and Bituminous Blast. The blue streak in here also provides some card draw in the form of Divination, our substitue for Sign in Blood.

Finally, for our beat down, we have provided a full deckset of the pro-whhite Malakir Bloodwitch which has the potential with Vampire Nocturnus to be a 6/5 beat-stick. It also goes without saying that the Bloodwitch also provides a solid answer angainst Baneslayer Angel. Speaking of protection, we also love that we are affored some comfort against Planeswalkers with Vampire Hexmage which will knock any of them dead.

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And now for something completely different . . .

You do not know (but) strongly suspect, that we, like many other MTG players, revel in our geekery. Specifically, not only do we love Magic the Gathering, but also are ardent fans of that fabled BBC Sci-Fi series Doctor Who and of any course spin-offs such as Torchwood.

As Christmas is rapidly approaching, BBC has been running this Station Identification. Luv'n it ! That TARDIS certainly gets around.

Christmas Tip : Don't forget to get that Magic Player a giftcard to the local Gaming Store or on-line retailer. If you are thinking about getting us something small (thank-you so very much), have a quick look at our Wishlist HERE at CoolStuffInc.

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Promos RoundUp

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It has been some time since I last reviewed the latest Magic: The Gathering Promotional cards. To correct this slight to you our reader, we now present the latest Friday Night Magic promos, alternate art promos, special event promos and the like.

First off however, just a recap of what alternate art promo you may have received at the recently held Magic 2010 pre-release or release.

M10 PreRelease Card
Vampire Nocturnus : The original card art here by Raymond Swanland is beautiful. Deep, dark, and elegant.


M10 Release Card
Ant Queen : Same thing here - I think if presented with the choice, I would keep the original art by Trevor Claxton.


M10 Booster Box Promo
Honor of the Pure. Some very limited number of players may have received this card if they purchased a booster display box at a selected retailer. The original Greg Staples art is exquisite. I really, really dislike the alternate art (sorry Ralph Horsley).


Extended Art Special
Mycoid Shepherd. These puppies, along with an extended art Naya Sojourners will be available to participants on the Magic 2010 'Game Day' - event details HERE. James Wimberley does a fantastic job and a slightly new take on the orginal by Trevor Claxton.


Wizards Play Network Promo
This WPN promo card is from the recent Magic 2010 Mind Control. I do not really care for either the original or alternate art versions but do find the alternate one funnier . . . is that person (on the left) yakking up a crabby patty ?


Wizards Play Network Promo
This WPN promo card is from the recent Magic 2010 Rise from the Grave. The original one from Vance Kovacs is truly wonderful. The alternate art version shows reanimation as one would expect in a comic book.


Friday Night Magic Promo
The Friday Night Magic Promo for August (2009) is Lightning Greaves as illustrated by artist Michael Komarck. The original art by Jeremy Jarvis, altough good, just does not demonstrate the energy in action as the new alternate art by Komarck provides.


That's it for now but stick around for some new Zendikar spoiler action next time around.

M10 Booster Box

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You may recall a few short weeks ago (this POST), I promised you a dissection of a Magic 2010 Booster Box . . . Well, my buddy came through and got one from TrollandToad.com and sent it way up north to me. I have to admit that tearing into MTG blister packs and sharing the sweet cardboard with friends and family is pretty much the best fun one can have (legally of course).

Anywhoos - sit back and watch this brief video and then we'll go through what we pulled.

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Here is what I pulled ! !

WHITE
Indestructibility
Silence
Open the Vaults
Guardian Seraph
Lightwielder Paladin
Captain of the Watch

BLUE
Mind Spring
Jace Beleren
Sphinx Ambassador
Djinn of Wishes
Hive Mind

RED
Manabarbs
Magma Phoenix
Goblin chieftain
Chandra Nalaar
Shivan Dragon
Warp World
Capricious Efreet

BLACK
Nightmare
2 X Royal Assassin
Haunting Echoes
Sanguine Bond

GREEN
Might of Oaks
Great Sable Stag
Garruk Wildspeaker
Elvish Piper
Kalonian Behemoth
Birds of Paradise

ARTIFACTS
Mirror of Fate
Howling Mine
2 x Pithing Needle

LANDS
Gargoyle Castle
Dragonskull Summit
Glacial Fortress
Sunpetal Grove

Also - At the time of this post, I have over 700 cards for trade over at CCG Tradepost, so if you see something I cracked opened, make tracks over there and sign up before I trade it all away.

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Post M10 Merfolk

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Three months. There is approximately three months from now for all those Merfolk fans to execute their builds and play with this interesting Magic the Gathering tribe in the standard environment before they loose most of their beloved merrows before the fall rotation. There are only three Merfolk present in Magic 2010, and unless Zendikar provides additional fish, the merrows may very have run dry with this tribe. If you play extended, you do not have to sweat just yet.

The glory days of fish in Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks are nearly spent, there was a total absence in Shards of Alara and only three fish mustered for us in M10. Let's have a look at currently what Merfolk can do for us before we have to walk the fish over to the ceramic bowl . . .


Merfolk Lords
Lord of Atlantis had been the first Lord I recall playing and most likely the best liked of the Lords to many out there in MTG land. He pumped your fish and gave them all islandwalk. Unfortunately, he is now retired and we have to look elsewhere. Lowrwyn gave us the quasi-lord, Streambed Aquitects as well as Merrow Reejery. The new M10 hotness for this tribe is Merfolk Sovereign. Unfortunately Magic 2010 has given no other support for Merfolk other than 3 cards (Sovereign, Looter, and Coral).

Favourite Fish Builds

Mill / Discard

I used to run a (not-so-successful) milling deck back in the day which was rather fun. The best card for this build was Drowner of Secrets, which milled one card for one tapped merfolk. We accelerated the mill by adding in Stonybrook Schoolmaster to create more 1/1 Merfolk tokens to tap as well as Judge of Currents, which provided life gain for each tapping Merfolk. Hollowsage, when tapped releives your opponent's hand of cards. When the turn was ended, we used Merrow Commerce to untap everything at the end of turn to be able to do the same damn thing during our opponent's turn.

Island Walkers

Perhaps one of my first and favourite Merfolk builds. There are quite a few decent Merrow Islandwalkers out there and all one had to do is ensure that if your opponent did not have an island, you made one for them. Aquitect's Will, Streambed Aquitects, Tideshaper Mystic or the new M10 Convincing Mirage can be used to either flood an opponent's land or landscape it appropriately to make way for your islandwalkers to swim right through their defences. Once this has been accomplished, a variety of merfolk such as Stonybrook Banneret, Deeptread Merrow, Sygg (River Guide), Cold-Eyed Selkie, Merrow Harbinger or Inkfathom Divers can deliver islandwalk pain.

Angry Fish

Merfolk Aggro was a little more tough to crack as there are not very many fish fatties to play. By using some of the many card tap effects which Merfolk provided, one could use Wake Thrasher which became rather huge and menancing. With all the tapping going on, Veteran of the Depths could also grow to a respectible size as well. Harpoon sniper could also remove board threats from a distance. I personally found Silvergill Douser also provided some level of protection in this build by reducing the power level of a threat on the board. Cards such as the unblockable Inkfathom Infiltrator could be pumped by Infathom Witch to essentially double Infiltrator's pain.

Explore your pond

Look for card advantage in merfolk or other blue cards by using such critters as Sygg, River Cutthroat which will give you a free card draw if your opponent lost three or more life that turn - this being rather simpe with all those unblockable or islandwalking fish in your mitt. Whatever the theme or build, one has quite a few other cards to evaluate for inclusion - anything from defense to offense or control - use your best judgement for the metagame local to you and get the fish out in play before the fall rotation.

Post M10 Soldiers

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If one were to simply peruse new Magic 2010 white cards, it would become rather apparent that Wizards is pushing tribal soldier builds with this core set. The soldier creature subtype is anything but new. Just as recently as Lorwyn block, solidiers had been given design attention. In upcomming tournaments, we should expect to see a return to popularity of white weenie builds featuring new M10 cards. To this end, this post is my postulations regarding a standard format soldier build.


There are cards too numerous to include in this post as to what may or should be considered for inclusion in a soldier build so we will try to stick to what we think may constitute safe or wise choices. To follow up on this post, we also hope to (in the very near future) report back to you playtesting notes and evaluations of the soldier build.

Personally, one of the easiest ways for me to start designing a deck is to start with a theme - we have it already with soldiers. As most of these good cards are typically white, we already know that the build will be mostly white potentially splashing one or two other colours.

The second step I typically take is building from the top down - the late or end game 'bomb' and then track a path chronologically backwards to determine how best to get to the punchline. The card I will consider for the bomb is 'Martial Coup'. Why ? No solid reason other than that I already have a deckset ready to include and this board sweeper incorporates our theme of soldiers. Getting 5 or more 1/1 soldier tokens WHILE destroying all other creatures currently on board is just plain good.


An issue we see immediately by using Martial Coup is that perhaps we may want to keep some of the creatures we already have in play. To this end, we can consider using Dauntless Escort to provide indestructibility when the hammer comes down. We may also contemplate other cards which are able to deliver similar safety from the sweeper such as Elspeth's third ability, Shield of the Oversoul, or even the new M10 card Indestructibility. Both auras may not be the best fit (Indestructibility being almost unplayable), so we will use Elspeth, Knight Errant. I am biased to this choice as well because I have a few already available to be inserted into the build. Elspeth also supports our theme by churning out soldier tokens.

While we are yattering about soldier tokens, let's have a look at possible generators for our theme's cause. I have very fond memories of Lorwyn's Militia's Pride - specifically dumping extra white mana to fill the battlefield with a swarm of hasty 1/1s. Also up for consideration is Knight-Captain of Eos which brings along 3 soldier tokens. Knight-Captain may also deliver a 'fog' effect for damage prevention should your games go south of cheese.


Having a supply of ready and available soldier tokens steers us now to consider using this resource to pick up and sharpen into a respectable board threat. This may be accomplished by using Sigil Captain which dumps two additional +1/+1 counters on each soldier token growing them immediately into 3/3s. The new M10 hotness, Captain of the Watch also gives your soldiers (and soldier tokens) +1/+1 and vigilance. (Edit: Phillip has a valid point regarding when the tokens 'comes into play' - Sigil Captain can only pump if they are coming in as simple 1/1s, so this works against you if Captain of the Watch is already on board.)

Some other cards for consideration;

Preeminent Captain - to cheat other soldiers out into play.
Cloudgoat Ranger - brings along 3 tokens and provides some defense against flyers.
Ballyrush Banneret - accelerating tempo by giving you cheaper soldiers (and Kithkin).
Cenn's Tactician - nice one-drop with two solid abilities.
Rhox Pikemaster - giving all your soldiers first strike ability.
Veteran Armorsmith - nice two-drop and giving one additional toughness to soldiers.
Veteran Swordsmith - giving soldiers one additional power.
Veteran's Armaments - standard issue soldier equipment.


There are also exists numerous cards which we can consider for inclusion to our sideboard. I really must leave this up to you to decide as only you know what your local metagames like. Personally, I will consider protection from burn (Mark of Asylum), defense against flyers (Wall of Reverence), and spot removals such as Path to Exile or Oblivion Ring.

Hope this sheds some light on the potential soldier builds.
Please drop a comment and tell us what you think might include.

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M10 Review - Colourless

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This is MTG Realm's review of Magic 2010. As I really hope to employ brevity in this exercise, please do not expect lengthy and scholarly

evaluations but rather rapid points as to the card's merit for deck inclusion in the standard environment.

For our review of White cards, click HERE.
For our review of Blue cards, click HERE.
For our review of Black cards, click HERE.
For our review of Red cards, click HERE.
For our review of Green cards, click HERE.
For our review of Colourless / Lands cards, click HERE.

~ REVIEW OF COLOURLESS ~

Angel's Feather - Almost as annoying as those commercials wanting to sell you insurance. Insurance is nice and repeatable and lifegain on the board is OK. I'm sure there are better ways to get lifegain.

Coat of Arms - I rather like this card for what it can do for your tribal-based decks. Consider the potential benefits of this card carefully before you include. I think I rather prefer Morningtide's Door of Destinies over this.

Darksteel Colossus - This is a huge threat on the board that can win you games. The issue - the price tag. You either have to have huge mana accelerants to hit 11 or be able to cheat it into play via Master Transmuter.

Demon's Horn - Similar comments to Angel's Feather. Black is more limited with respect to lifegain so one may consider this for their mono-black decks.

Dragon's Claw - You may want a set sideboard against those pesky burn decks.

Gorgon Flail - Unless you equip this to a pinger such as Prodigal Pyromancer to fling a point of deathtouch at your opponent's critters, this really is rather useless.

Howling Mine - This really will not see popular play except in mill decks such featuring Sanity Grinding and the ilk.

Kraken's Eye - Situationally acceptable in a limited number of mono-blue builds perhaps.

Magebane Armor - Making one of your dudes bigger and harder to kill is decent. Try to get this on an unblockable creature to maximize the pain you deliver. Cost to cast and equip OK for effect. May be very good against red burn decks.

Mirror of Fate - Combo phreaks have painted a huge target on this and will be going to work shortly - most likely after anything useful in the next set (Zendikar) is released.

Ornithopter - Having a zero-drop artifact is great especially with use in a deck with Master Transmuter (bounce out, play stupid-huge fatty, replay Ornithopter. Might even see use pumping up a Glaze Fiend.

Pithing Needle - Acceptable against black regenerators or perhaps someone running Planeswalkers. Most likely to be limited to sideboard play.

Platinum Angel - Good to keep your opponent's attention elsewhere while you try to recover but will probably not see much popular play. There are more than a dozen artifact killing cards out there so be warned.

Rod of Ruin - Just terrible - paying 7 mana to ping one pain (albeit repeatable) is waaaay too expensive.

Spellbook - At least you can get this effect AND mana from Reliquary Tower. Play the Tower instead.

Whispersilk Cloak - We like it and would love to be able to play it - just hopefully a turn (or two earlier).

Wurm's Tooth - meh. Much better ways for green to gain life.

Dragonskull Summit / Drowned Catacomb / Glacial Fortress / Rootbound Crag / Sunpetal Grove - Solid dual land choice to include for your two colour decks. Not the best choice for those Shards of Alara multicolour (3+) decks. Just wish that Wizards could have designed these to be dropped and used on turn one instead.

Gargoyle Castle - Any land which can morph into a threat is decent in our opinion. Another wish - this would have been much better if you did not have to sac the castle to get your critter.

Terramorphic Expanse - A very decent mana-fixer which will see some play.

M10 Review - Green

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This is MTG Realm's review of Magic 2010. As I really hope to employ brevity in this exercise, please do not expect lengthy and scholarly evaluations but rather rapid points as to the card's merit for deck inclusion in the standard environment.

For our review of White cards, click HERE.
For our review of Blue cards, click HERE.
For our review of Black cards, click HERE.
For our review of Red cards, click HERE.
For our review of Green cards, click HERE.
For our review of Colourless / Lands cards, click HERE.

~ REVIEW OF GREEN ~

Acidic Slime - Fairly good green removal. You destroy an artifact, enchantment, or land with the CIP ability AND then you get a 2/2 deathtouch. This is priced reasonably.

Ant Queen - A 5/5 for five is good but having the ability to dump extra mana into token generation (without the creature having to tap is great). Make sure your deck has mana generators to maximize the ants here.

Awakener Druid - Having the ability to turn a forest into a 4/5 treefolk with haste for three is decent and a 1/1 to boot adds up to 5 power for three - what are you waiting for.

Birds of Paradise - If you haven't heard, bird is the word. This really is the best mana producer like evar. You need this for mana acceleration to pump out your fatties sooner in the race with your opponent.

Borderland Ranger - This could have been a good card were it an elf.

Bountiful Harvest - There are much better cards out there if you need to include a life card card. This card is really quite terrible.

Bramble Creeper - Deals no damage when blocking and is killed fairly easily with its anemic toughness. Not good at all.

Centaur Courser - This is not too bad. The recent power creep may have marginalised this creature.

Craw Wurm - Green fatties in this set are very few. Some players may consider this but for the most part, Craw Wurm is not what it used to be - thanks again power creep.

Cudgel Troll - A green regenerative critter like this is likely to see some play because it is decent - just wished it had a bit more cowbell.

Deadly Recluse - This is a solid choice for inclusion for green if you are up against any flyers. Deathtouch here is the cowbell and we like it.

Elvish Archdruid - While Lorwyn and Shadowmoor is still standard legal, this card will rock your casual game - especially now that manaburn is gone. This card is awesome and yes, I am thinking about an Elf build thanks to the Archdruid.

Elvish Piper - Dust off your big stupid-fat multicolour beaters like Progenitus and use this card to cheat them onto the battlefield. This card can be very good.

Elvish Visionary - Elf type is good and card advantage is good. You should give this card some serious thoughts for inclusion.

Emerald Oryx - meh. Put this in your sideboard against other green builds.

Enormous Baloth - With mana acceleration, this is the green fatty that will see popular play. Hilarility soaks it's flavour text and I would play it just because of that.

Entangling Vines - Green is limited in this core for neutralising threats so this may find it's way on the board. Still honks though.

Fog - Casual players may consider this but many advanced players have no use for it. Perhaps a sideboard card for me.

Garruk Wildspeaker - This Planewalker is the most suitable for green and Garruk was built for green decks like the one you are thinking about. Mana, token beaters, and trample for your swarm are solid qualities.

Giant Growth - Using this strategically will heap the pain on your opponent. Until I play a lot more games, not sure how dampened this is by new combat rules.

Giant Spider - If there are flyers across the table, you are going to need this. I have preference to its little evil brother Deadly Recluse.

Great Sable Stag - Very good card. Excellent against blue / black of course. I wish this either had flying or a drop in rarity. There are less than a handfull of counterspells in this set so the additional ability (can't be countered), may be as useless as chocolate fireman.

Howl of the Night Pack - If one ever wanted an excuse to play mono green, here it is. A potential for 14 power for just seven is nuts. If your opponent has a Pyroclasm waiting in the wings, this play will be the most epic fail you ever felt. Use with caution against red burn.

Kalonian Behemoth - Great card. [edit] - I wish that I could couple this with trample (like Behemoth Sledge) to make this card totally epic but shroud here makes it impossible. Thanks for the correction guys - I should really do a better job at reading the card fully.

Llanowar Elves - Decent. This is budget Birds or Noble Hierarch and will see inclusion for green's requirement for mana acceleration. Consider this is Elf builds while LOR / SHA is still standard legal.

Lurking Predators - Could be good in mostly creature decks with mana acceleration.

Master of the Wild Hunt - This card is just as awesome as the Three Wolf Moon T-shirt. Make sure you wear the 'T when playing this. Best token generator and critter removal in green.

Might of Oaks - This is potentially 7 pain for just four which is good. Really need to fit this onto a dude with trample to make your opponent cry.

Mist Leopard - meh. The toughness on this is skinny and will not really see any real play.

Mold Adder - Very solid card to sideboard against blue / black. Not sure it will win any games but perhaps your opponent will be distracted enough by this threat it could be beneficial.

Naturalize - Yet another card for side board consideration. Nothing special here.

Nature's Spiral - I love this as it can get spells and Planeswalkers back. Great recursion for green which really needs something like this.

Oakenform - I wish Wizards would have tossed this card and choose Blanchwood Armor instead. Oakenform is really not that good.

Overrun - Good finisher for green. If you can afford it, just use Garruk instead.

Prized Unicorn - Possibly a good combat trick or great if you can get extra power and deathtouch on it, otherwise just don't use it.

Protean Hydra - A really good card. Dump as much mana into this as possible to avoid premature removal. This is the chia-pet version of Feral Hydra and you may even want to ping it yourself to watch it grow. Terrible art.

Rampant Growth - Good in a mana bind or to get out a colour minor but this does not promise to see much play in standard.

Regenerate - Not very good and will not see popular play.

Runeclaw Bears - The new Grizzly Bears. Total green vanilla and good for insomniacs.

Stampeding Rhino - Not great. Just good. Very good if you can get that Might of Oaks on this.

Windstorm - A great sideboard card which could save your game.

M10 Review - Red

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This is MTG Realm's review of Magic 2010. As I really hope to employ brevity in this exercise, please do not expect lengthy and scholarly evaluations but rather rapid points as to the card's merit for deck inclusion in the standard environment.

For our review of White cards, click HERE.
For our review of Blue cards, click HERE.
For our review of Black cards, click HERE.
For our review of Red cards, click HERE.
For our review of Green cards, click HERE.
For our review of Colourless / Lands cards, click HERE.

~ REVIEW OF RED ~

Act of Treason - Nice solid uncommon which should see play. Stealing your opponent's threat and beating them with it is just plain fun. Being able to sacrifice said creature at the end of your turn (via Bone Splinters) is just plain evil (and fun too).

Ball Lightning - 6 points of pain for only three mana is good. Just make sure there are no first-strike creatures on the other side of the table. Would be nice to be able to return this from your graveyard (via Charnelhoard or other) to rinse 'n' repeat.

Berserkers of Blood Ridge - meh. You could really limit your option with this card.

Bogardan Hellkite - again - potentially 10 points of damage for eight is good. Make sure your opponent has no Baneslayer Angels waiting in the wings.

Burning Inquiry - Might be good with pre-M10 unearth tech, other wise, this card disadvantage is doing you no favours.

Burst of Speed - Some player (other than me) will see a decent use for this in a deck somewhere.

Canyon Minotaur - Red has vanillia too. Play something else.

Capricious Efreet - Way too random for my taste. If you have habitual bad luck, stay away from this - this Red Emo will certainly cut you.

Chandra Nalaar - I have yet to hear someone who claims to have resolved Chandra's third ability - she typically takes a dirt nap long before that happens.

Dragon Whelp - not many fliers for red so this uncommon is OK. (just OK).

Earthquake - I'm sure some will disagree, but this thing is as dangerous as an Elmer Fudd shotgun. We think only poor board position warrants use of this red mass removal.

Fiery Hellhound - Only a Hellhound's hair width separates this from being bad. Most likely will not see much play.

Fireball - A decent uncommon. This can win in late game provided you have enough mana. Perhaps use as a token sweeper (?).

Firebreathing - This is a terrible aura. Stop eating raw jalapenos.

Goblin Artillery - Not that bad for red removal - use with caution.

Goblin Chieftain - I like this card a lot but unfortunately, goblins are not very well supported in Shards or this core set. Should have been printed in Lorwyn / Shadowmoor.

Goblin Piker - Love the flavour text ! - Goblins really are as smart as a bag of rocks. Anywho - this card should be passed along to your younger sibling.

Ignite Disorder - Decent enough sideboard against blue and white. This card is hungry for use against core White's soldiers.

Inferno Elemental - OK card which has the potential to throw a wrench onto the battlefield and make your opponent think twice.

Jackal Familiar - This could be good - just make sure it has a chaperone while it is out.

Kindled Fury - Better card art than Morningtide. An OK combat surprise.

Lava Axe - No great advantage using this card - a straight conversion of mana into pain.

Lightning Bolt - This is good burn - 3 pain for one mana is a heck of a lot better than Lava Axe.

Lightning Elemental - One toughness on this will severely limit popular play.

Magma Phoenix - A bit expensive. Not really a fan - there are better ways to get the hits across the table without hurting yourself in the process.

Manabarbs - This is a really bad rare - should have been a common.

Panic Attack - We think this is an OK card. Being able to bypass blockers at the right time has strategic advantage.

Prodigal Pyromancer - There are about 27 cards in M10 who are scared of this card. You should consider this for inclusion.

Pyroclasm - This card kind of sucks when compared to Volcanic Fallout - play Volcanic instead for mass removal.

Raging Goblin - I'm sure you can think of better one-drops out there. Perhaps someone may consider with Goblin Chieftain for casual.

Seismic Strike - Not too bad - would have been better if it could also target your opponent but perhaps I'm too greedy.

Shatter - As I can only see this being sideboarded against Coat of Arms or Platinum Angel in M10, I do not expect this to see play. Perhaps red can be use it against an Esper Deck.

Shivan Dragon - Solid rare - again, watch out for Baneslayer.

Siege-Gang Commander - A perennial favourite for inclusion in token decks. Not much support in Shards / M10 for Goblins - use it before LOR / SHA rotate out.

Sparkmage Apprentice - Nice art. OK common.

Stone Giant - Not a bad idea to sideboard against fliers.

Trumpet Blast - Good be good if you need a flash mob in late game.

Viashino Spearhunter - Either a bit overcosted or a bit underpowered but still viable if you are thinking about having a first-striker on your side.

Wall of Fire - This wall is just OK in my books - would have liked to see it stop fliers to make this really good.

Warp World - Could be really bad. Situationally good.

Yawning Fissure - Bad card. Should have been allowing to target your opponent's land instead for the mana you are paying for the spell.