MTG Halloween

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Halloween is quickly approaching, and is this very weekend.  In preparation, we've got our three kids employed in installing the appropriate decorations and have some nicely-carved pumpkins at the front door.  Other time-honoured customs are also being addressed ahead of the 31st, like watching a bunch of thriller / horror movies, etc.  The kids are not easily scared by this - but - what does scare the dickens out of them are vegetables when they appear on the dinner table.  Imagine then if one were to anthropomorphize said vegetable - you would take the scare to another level.  But wait!  That's already been done by Wizards of the Coast.  The follow-up set to Unglued, which was to feature a number of frightful vegetable never got made, but we still have some remnants to enjoy - 

Gangrene Pepper | illustrated by Edward Beard Jr.
Mad Beatdown | illustrated by Mike Raabe
Swarm of Pickles | illustrated by Ron Spencer

Rutabaga of the Night | illustrated by Heather Hudson

Signing off for now to work out costumes.  Speaking of signing off, another tradition up here is the unfortunate, but witty vandalism of the 'welcome to Angus' sign (not far removed from here in Barrie, Ontario), on 'Devil's Night', where a strategic letter is removed.
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MTG Halloween

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

Whether you are observing Samhain or hitting up a Halloween party, we wish you the best.  Anywhoos - as it is Halloween, we should probablly have a looky-loo at an appropriately themed Magic: the Gathering build to take to tomorrow's Friday Night Magic event or to play this evening.

Carved MTG pumpkins from Kevin / Abigail submitted to WotC Monty.

The obvious place to start is a creepy trio of Magic 2014 core set cards which is a top-down designed combo.  Festering Newt (Common), Bubbling Cauldron (Uncommon) and Bogbrew Witch (Rare) will never likely see play in a copetitive deck on a pro circuit but delivers big on fun.

Should you have four Festering Newts and a Bubbling Cauldron, you could potentially deal 16 damage while gaining 16 life.  Not too shabby.  One cold possibly find the Witch with a Diabolic Tutor then the Witch's ability to find some Newts and a Cauldron to have all the ingredients complete the combo.  Even by itself, the Newt is a decent value - for one black mana, you get a 1/1 which can block and kill creatures with 2 toughness.  

Here's an excerpt from the mothersite - Bruce Richard's Double, Double Toil and Trouble which was published on 2nd July this year.

Bogbrew Witch: You have a 1/3 blocker for four mana. You might want to consider activating her ability and giving the Witch a Cauldron in which to stir her brew.

Bubbling Cauldron: You can sacrifice a creature to gain 4 life. If you don't have a spare creature, then I expect your Cauldron will be safe from any artifact destruction since it doesn't threaten anyone.

Festering Newt: You have a 1/1 with a minor ability that your opponents will be happy to see you use before a Bogbrew Witch shows up to make him truly nasty.

Bogbrew Witch and Bubbling Cauldron: You can block some creatures and sacrifice a creature to get 4 life. Perhaps a Festering Newt would improve your lot?

Bogbrew Witch and Festering Newt: Ahh, you have a pretty solid defense and you are likely threatening to do a lot more. Perhaps one of your opponents will decide that killing your Newt now is better than waiting for the Cauldron to appear and cost him or her life as well.

Bubbling Cauldron and Festering Newt: You are a minor threat to creatures, since the Newt will give one of them -1/-1, but really, everyone is waiting for you to throw your Newt into the Bubbling Cauldron as part of the bigger life gain and loss.

Bogbrew Witch, Festering Newt, and Bubbling Cauldron: The trifecta! If you give a Witch a Newt to throw in her Cauldron, your opponents lose 4 life each, you gain all that life, and one of their creatures is taking a serious hit!
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MTG Halloween

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Happy Halloween MTG peeps,

Perhaps not so happy for all the folks in the U.S. in shelters after Frakenstorm ripped up the east coast - here's wishing a fast 'n' speedy recovery to normalcy as soon as possible.  Elsewhere in North America and here in Ontario, Canada, most kids will be heading out in the wind, rain, and cold (and stepping over some wind debris) to go door to door all guised up and trick-or-treating.  Oddly, not many people realise the origin that veiled threat.  A 'trick' is really a warning that the little monster at your front door will perform mischief on your property should then not get a 'treat' - most homeowner go for the candy option.

Anywhoos - let's have a looky-loo at some of the amazing halloween pumpkins carved which will likely end up smashed on your roadway by miscreants . . .

We suggest the perfect evening may be spent with all the lights off with a few halloween-themed games of Magic: the Gathering -

Here's a few apropos MTG wallpapers you may want to adorn your desktop screen for the next few days.
All Hallow's Eve, Legends by Christopher Rush

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Nightmare Lash, Mirrodin by Puddnhead

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Urborg Skeleton, Invasion, by Alan Pollack
 
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Childhood Horror, Odyssey, by Larry Elmore
 
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~Gravestorm, Odyssey, by Alex Horley-Orlandelli
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Grave Pact, Ninth Edition by Puddnhead
 
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Halloween MTG

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Planetary alignment, mysterious omens, pagan calendars, and Wizards / DCI scheduling have all resulted in Zendikar Game Day landing on October 31st . . . yes - Halloween. Of course you are going to get out to the game store, have a blast and pick up the Game Day promos (Nissa's Chosen and possibly Emeria Angel) - but 'How' are going to do it ? In style of course.

We suggest you get a jump on Halloween and head out to the gamery store in your costume ready for that Halloween party you are going to latter that evening. This year, we will highly recommend that you forget about your traditional costumes and jump into a Snuggie - not only are they very scary / creepy but also a dump-truck load of fun.


We've been seeing a helluva lot of pub-crawls with sloshed college students comfortably attired in Snuggies - We think that should you get your paws on one now, you would be able to dye it your fav Magic the Gathering colour in time for the Zendikar Game Day / Halloween party.

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Still on our Halloween theme, here is a quick summary of most excellent Magic the Gathering decktop wallpapers you may consider for freshing up you stale workstation . . .




Linkys from Wizards for these : here, here, and here.

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