Guilds of Ravnica Double Double

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

The full Guilds of Ravnica set has now been dropped and uploaded by Wizards of the Coast's Card Image Gallery, linked right here for your perusal. Instead of penning a review of our opinions here at MTG Realm as to the merits of some choice cards in various play formats, we want to write to you today about one singular cycle of cards.  We want to call this the Canadian Cycle or better yet, the 'Double Double'.  Here's why -

“Peace, order and good government” are the words used in section 91 of the British North America Act of 1867 (now Constitution Act, 1867) to define the Canadian Parliament's lawmaking authority in relation to provincial authority.  If there is anything else on God's good green earth that Canadians love more than the above over-arching expression may be "Double - Double".  

This is a truly unique Canadian term, most often associated with Tim Horton's (once a National pride and joy).  Simply put, should you order this, the server will allocate to you a beverage with two portions of sugars and two portions of cream.  Canadians so love the double-double, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce even offers the CIBC Tim Hortons Double Double Visa credit card, which when used, will generate bonus points which may be used to purchase further coffee 'n' doughnuts from Tims.

As Canadian Magic: the Gathering players, our interpretation of double-double is somewhat tinted by the game we love.  To many at a local gaming store table, a double double is meant to indicate a spell with a mana cost of two of one colour and two of another - like two white mana and two blue mana, for a total of four.  Some perculiar geographic locutions may have this expressed as a 2-by-4 in lumber country, or a 2-4 in beer town.

In the newest Magic: the Gathering set, Guilds of Ravnica, to be released on October 4, there is a very Canadian Cycle of cards featuring the beloved double-double.  Specifically, these are Five powerful uncommon multicolored creatures, for a total converted mana cost of 4 which has two of each of the respective Guilds colour.  Here they are now -

• Selesnya - Conclave Cavalier (G/W) - you get a 4/4 vigilant creature for 4 - AND - it produces two 2/2's when it hits the yard.  We reckon that 8-power for 4 mana is a good deal, no mater which way you slice it.

• Boros -Truefire Captain (R/W) - another mentor critter, but the rub here is that this may well become the new Boros Reckoner in standard.

• Golgari - Golgari Findbroker (B/G) - 4/3 for four but that inescapable 'enter the battlefield' recursion ability is one sweet graveyard shenanigan enabler.

• Izzet - Crackling Drake (U/R) - not quite the the crisp, fatty skin of roast drake we had first thought of.  Apologies, we're quite hungry at the time of writing this.  Anywhoos, we suspect that this is the best thing since 'prowess' was a mechanic, and quite perfectly aligned in Izzet.


• Dimir - Nightveil Predator (U/B) - Flying, deathtouch and hexproof - no further comment is even warranted at how lovely this is.
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Rivals of Ixalan Commanders

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Today we will address the Dinosaur in the Room and see what the newest Magic: the Gathering set, 'Rivals of Ixalan' delivers for potential Commanders.  This is quite obviously a rather important decision to make.  Although your Commander may very well be the most important card in your deck, we would suggest that if you are building your very first list (we built our first when the format was still called Elder Dragon Highlander), that you may be well served in deciding on your individual playstyle and choose your colour(s) first.  After this, you can then decide upon your Commander to support your strategies.  This is a suggestion however, and there is no reason for you to choose your Commander first, especially one that strongly suggests to build around it.  Perhaps you already have a solid deck-list and are entertaining the idea to replace and existing Commander which has not been performing to expection. 

Before we get into our opinions on the potential of our pool of Rivals of Ixalan Commander choices, it may be of use to see how well the previous Ixalan set had done.  In our own (perhaps limited) opinion, there were only two clear winners from Ixalan which went on to become popular Commanders.  Here is the list -

# 1 : Gishath, Sun's Avatar - NAYA.  Designed for Dinosaur tribal and good at dropping dinos onto the battlefield.

# 2 : Admiral Beckett Brass - GRIXIS.  Designed for Pirate tribal. Pirate lord which steals your heart.

# 3 : Tishana, Voice of Thunder - SIMIC.  Seeing some tribal Merfolk builds, but quite a few simply being inserted as support into existing Simic lists like Ezuri and Kruphix.

Did not really become favourites with the Commander community, but certainly acceptable in a supporting role :
• Vona, Butcher of Magan, Orzhov
• Kopala, Warden of Waves, Blue
• Captain Lannery Storm, red
• Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle, white

Given the popularity contest winners from Ixalan, it stands to reason that dino and pirate tribal will continue to reap the benefits of further members joining its ranks in Rivals of Ixalan.  The big question however, will these two cards be eclipsed by the new hotness ?

There are a cycle of five Elder Dinosaurs presented with Rivals of Ixalan, one within the colour wheel.  These dinos are big, like really big.  Unfortunately these will unlikely be picked up by players to be a Commander.  With the exception of Zetalpa and Tetzimoc, which may have a sliver of a chance of being promoted to General, these will be best used in a supporting role.

• Zetalpa, Primal Dawn 
• Nezahal, the Primal Tide 
• Tetzimoc, Primal Death
• Etali, Primal Hunger 
• Ghalta, Primal Hunger 

Zacama, Primal Calamity - NAYA
This Elder Dinosaur does have a shot of being a Commander, but looks look further.  NAYA colours of red, green and white with a CMC of 9.  Solid 9/9 body with vigilance, reach and trample.  When this enters the battlefield, all your lands untap which is a big deal.  There are three decent activated abilities to pinging a creature, gaining life and nerfing an artifact / enchantment - again, not too shabby.  There may be some players interested in a mana ramp deck with Zacama at its head (or is it heads?), but we think it safe to have this included, along with Zetalpa, Etali, and Ghalta in a Gishath tribal build.

Azor, the Lawbringer - AZORIOUS
The competition is fierce in white / blue.  The popular Commanders are Brago, Grand Arbiter and Bruna.  So what does Azor bring to the table?  A 6/6 flying Sphinx for six mana and two abilities.  What appeals to us is the ability to shut down your opponent's instants / sorceries until your next turn.  If Azor sticks the landing, this will present a big evasive threat.  The second activated ability to gain life and draw cards will also endear Azor to Commander players.

Elenda, the Dusk Rose - Orzhov
We have been fans of black / white tokens for years now and are enthusiastic to give Elenda serious consideration.  Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts and Teysa, Orzhov Scion are the popular Commanders for B/W tokens.  Elenda could also be a consideration for more traditional gain and drain lists perhaps as well.  For now, our only hesitation is that a rather frail 1/1 body will make her an easy target for a turn or two.

Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca - SIMIC

We have two Simic Commander decks at the moment - Experiment Kraj and Momir Vig, Simic Visionary.  We really desperately want to build a Merfolk tribal list, and Kumena is the closest card we have seen to do that.  Our wishlist also includes a Bant (white, blue, green) Commander so that we could also roll in Sygg, River Guide and some of our fav supporting spells in white.  An anthem effect with Radiant Destiny and high token production with Parallel Lives would be ideal in a Bant Merfolk list.  Anywhoos, We have good feelings that there is now enough card support and interested players to propel Kumena past in popularity fo at least Edric, Spymaster of Trest to eventually rival that of Ezuri, Claw of Progress. 

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2017 Gift Pack Review

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

MTG Realm has been picking up the Holiday Gift Boxes since they had been released, and still use all the storage boxes (which can accommodate up to 2,000 cards each) for our Magic: the Gathering collection.  We even had picked up the Holiday Gift Box when Wizards of the Coast had some issues with the strength of the packaging.  We are a somewhat thrifty bunch and had found the contents to be rather decent value.  Here is the list of what we had purchased over the years - 

• Return to Ravnica, November 2012
• Theros, November 2013
• Khans of Tarkir, November 2014
• Battle for Zendikar, November 2015
• Shadows over Innistrad, May 2016
• Kaladesh, November 2016

We DID NOT purchase this year's product offering, the 2017 Gift Pack, which appears to replace the Holiday Gift Box.  Instead, we had won the Gift Pack in a random draw at our local gaming store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario.  Let's get to what one can expect to get for an MRSP of $20 USD ($25 here in Canada) - 

• 5 premium basic lands by artist Mark Poole (known as the "Shooting Star Lands")

• 2 premium creature cards (Metalwork Colossus and Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

• 3 booster packs (Ixalan, Hour of Devastation, Amonkhet)

• Spindown life counter (Planeswalker symbol)

• Exclusive mini-poster (Featuring art from Hour of Devastation)

Most recently with the Kaladesh Holdiay Gift Box which had an MSRP of $25 provided the following :
• one Card storage box 
• 5 Kaladesh booster packs
• 20-card Kaladesh basic land pack
• 1 premium, foil promo card (Chief of the Foundry)
• 6 illustrated plastic dividers
• one sticker sheet for customizing dividers

Although the previous product was five clams more expensive, we felt this was great value.  In comparision, we feel that we are just breaking even with no added incentive to pull out our wallet for this year's Gift Pack.  A small modification such as alternate art for the foil Metalwork Colossus and Kari Zev, Skyship Raider - paired with her foil Ragavan monkey token, would have swayed our opinion.

This product appears to have been designed specifically to be placed on a shelf in a big box store such as Walmart or Target alongside Yu-Gi-Oh product.  There may exist a small chance that this Gift Pack may actually be mistaken for a Yu-Gi-Oh product by a parent, relative or friend resulting in a measure of disappointment during Christmas.  This is not to say that there are not Magic: the Gathering players out there who are indeed pleased with this - we have personally spoken with several who have or who intend to purchase this.

Our final concern addresses the over-packaging, and carbon footprint of this product.  We realist that there is a new president south of our border and that the protection of the environment is clearly not a priority.  The fact that the Environmental Protection Agency has been seriously de-funded indicates that environmental protection is not even a consideration.  A company such as Wizards of the Coast, using the resources of its parent company Hasbro is encouraged to stand out with environmental consideration being incorporated into the life cycle of their product and packaging, which they have to an extent, but certainly not with this product.

Should Wizards of the Coast realise some commercial success with this product, we would be delighted as we want to enjoy playing Magic: the Gathering for years to come.  

Lastly, we want to remind folks that Nighthawk Counters has a Kickstarter project.  These premium hand-finished life counters and gaming accessories are quite functional and aesthetically pleasing.  MTG Realm had provided several of these counters a prizes at a recent Friday Night Magic event at our local gaming store, OMG! Games and were very well received by the players.  Please consider supporting this over here - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/914346194/nighthawk-counters

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Shadows Over Innistrad Spoiers 3-15

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

We here at MTG Realm are still digesting the big bomb from yesterday's reveal of the red / white Kor Lithomancer Planeswalker Nahiri, the Harbinger.  There is another Planeswalker card in today's Shadows Over Innistrad previews that Magic: the Gathering fans are burning up the forums with intense discussions.  Let's get to today's previews from the mothersite and around the webz -

Arlinn Kord, 2RG
Planeswalker - Arlinn, Mythic Rare
+1: Until end of turn, up to one target creature gets +2/+2 and gains vigilance and haste.
0: Put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield. Transform Arlinn Kord
3
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Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon
+1 Creatures you control get +1+1 and gain trample until the end of turn
-1 Arlin, Embraced by the Moon deals 3 damage to target creature of player. Transform Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon
-6 You get an emblem with "Creatures you control have haste and (tap), This creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature of player.'"

ChannelFireball preview. Sunny-side up with 3 loyalty starting - +1 ability is a sweet +2/+2 pump with vigilance / haste on the side which is just about what every red / green decklist wants.  The second ability for '0' churns out a 2/2 wolf token you can protect your walker or add to the fray.  This second ability will flip Arlinn sunny-side down to offer a suite of three abilities.  First one, +1 is meh but you will want to use it to power up for the next two.  Second ability is a -1 which will have the furry Arlinn deal 3 to critter or opponent's face.  The ultimate is a -6 which buys you an very relevant emblem giving your team a tap to damage.  This is incredibly OP as each creatures power is the damage being given - which in a list with green fatties should make for a short game.
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Sage of Ancient Lore, 4G
Creature - Human Shaman Werewolf, Rare
Sage of Ancient Lore's power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in your hand.
When Sage of Ancient Lore enters the battlefield, draw a card.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if no spells were cast last turn, transform Sage of Ancient Lore.
*/*
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Werewolf of Ancient Hunger
Creature - Werewolf
Vigilance, trample
Werewolf of Ancient Hunger's power and toughness are each equal to the total number of cards in all players' hands.
At the beginning of each upkeep, if a player cast two or more spells last turn, transform Werewolf of Ancient Hunger.
*/*

ManaSource preview. Seems decent enough but we are concerned that where this may shine in multi-player formats, this will not produce a very resilient enough creature with a standard one-on-one game. 
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Falkenrath Glutton, R
Creature - Vampire Berseker
Each Vampire creature card you own that isn't on the battlefield has madness. The madness cost is equal to its mana cost.
2/1

MTG Japan preview.  More indication here for tribal.  Vamp tribal sounds fun to us.  A 2/1 one-drop is never a bad thingy, especially with madness thrown into the mix, seems fun.
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Rattlechains, 1U
Creature - Spirit, Rare
Flash
Flying
When Rattlechains enters the battlefield, target Spirit gains hexproof until end of turn.
You may cast Spirit spells as though they had flash.
2/1

MagicCorporation preview.  We really want tribal spirits to be a thingy.

~To the Slaughter, 2B
Sorcery, Rare
Target player sacrifices a creature or planeswalker.
Delirium — If there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, instead that player sacrifices a creature and a planeswalker.

Mothersite preview.  Three clams for force a sac is decent although situational, in a bind, this can also serve as a self-sac but there are literally dozens of cards better suited for this.  Delirium is OK but we are not sold on this card.
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Odric, Lunarch Marshal, 3W
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier, Rare
At the beginning of each combat, creatures you control gain first strike until end of turn if a creature you control has first strike. The same is true for flying, deathtouch, double strike, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, skulk, trample, and vigilance.
3/3

Mothersite preview. Salivating.  Mind blown.  So very OP.  Crazy good.  We love this guy and want a deckset to build around.  With just 3 toughness, expect opponents to focus their distain.
 
Not mentioned - Macabre Waltz gets a nod for reprint.
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Commander Videos 6

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We are back again and on track with the final installment of our wildly popular video series on Commander 2015 with our good buddy Jon at CommandTower.tk.  Today we are looking at the blue / green Simic-coloured pre-constructed decklist called 'Swell the Host'.  MTG Realm playgroup member 'R-Stomp' has already sleeved up with the matching Ultra PRO sleeves and has kicked butt / taken names with this decklist.  

Righto, here are our videos to date -
(1) Commander 2015 Intro
(2) Call the Spirits (Black / White)
(3) Seize Control (Red / Blue)
(4) Plunder the Graves (Black / Green)
(5) Wade into Battle (Red / White)
(6) Swell the Host (Blue / Green)

- and here we present our video review -

Swell the Host
Ezuri, Claw of Progress once led a resistance against the Phyrexians—but now he seeks to extend their gift of “perfection” to his former allies. As more creatures join his mighty host, he infuses them with ever-greater power.

The primary theme of the deck is +1/+1 counters, and the secondary theme is Snakes on a Plane. The primary new commander is Ezuri, Claw of Progress, the secondary new commander is Kaseto, Orochi Archmage, and the reprint commander is Prime Speaker Zegana.

New cards for Commander 2015
• Arachnogenesis
• Broodbirth Viper
• Command Beacon
• Ezuri, Claw of Progress
• Ezuri's Predation
• Gigantoplasm
• Great Oak Guardian
• Illusory Ambusher
• Kaseto, Orochi Archmage
• Mirrormatch
• Scytheclaw
• Skullwinder
• Synthetic Destiny
• Thought Vessel
• Verdant Confluence

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Commander Videos 5

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Friday again is (finally upon us).  We suggest making a clean mental break from your work / school week and head on down to your local gaming store for Friday Night Magic - full of fun / adventure / prizes, and in some places, rather unusual odors.  Anywhoos, we are heading down to our fav store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario Canada-Land to fine-tune our current standard (B/R devoid Eldrazi) to get some game play in before next weekend's Game Day Tournament.

Anywhoos, we are back again with another installment of our wildly popular video series on Commander 2015 with our good buddy Jon at CommandTower.tk.  Today we are looking at the red / white Boros-coloured pre-constructed decklist called 'Wade into Battle.  Can't wait to sleeve up this bad boy with the matching Ultra PRO sleeves / box / playmat and get down to gaming.  Here are our videos to date -
(1) Commander 2015 Intro
(2) Call the Spirits (Black / White)
(3) Seize Control (Red / Blue)
(4) Plunder the Graves (Black / Green)
(5) Wade into Battle (Red / White)
(6) Swell the Host (Blue / Green)

Wade into Battle
Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas is a giant who’s right at home on the front ranks of a fight. Her power increases as more large creatures answer her call, so her lightning-fast sword swings grow deadlier as the battle wages on.

The primary theme of the deck is giants, and the secondary theme is big creatures. The primary new commander is Kalemne, Disciple of Ioras, the secondary new commander is Anya, Merciless Angel, and the reprint commander is Gisela, Blade of Goldnight.

New cards for Commander 2015
• Anya, Merciless Angel
• Blade of Selves
• Dawnbreak Reclaimer
• Dream Pillager
• Fiery Confluence
• Herald of the Host
• Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas
• Kalemne's Captain
• Magus of the Wheel
• Meteor Blast
• Oreskos Explorer
• Rite of the Raging Storm
• Sandstone Oracle
• Thought Vessel
• Warchief Giant

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Commander Videos 4

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Last weekend, our Bro-Chacho Jon, of CommandTower.tk, dropped by and we went through all five Commander 2015 decks.  These were a very lovely gift from our awesome Bro Eric at Christmas.  

These posts (to be updated) will link off to all the videos we had worked on - 
(1) Commander 2015 Intro
(2) Call the Spirits (Black / White)
(3) Seize Control (Red / Blue)
(4) Plunder the Graves (Black / Green)
(5) Wade into Battle (Red / White)
(6) Swell the Host (Blue / Green)

In today's post, we have a video where we will discuss the black and green 'Golgari' Commander product named 'Plunder the Graves'.

If you love using your graveyard as a resources to filter and power-out threats to the battlefield, you will likely find this Commander 2015 to fit your style.  I would even go so far as to suggest that Necromongers (of the Riddick science fiction franchise) would likely pick up this decklist to do battle as well.  Anywhoos, here's the 411 for you -

Plunder the Graves 
Meren of Clan Nel Toth draws on the corpses of mighty creatures to serve as her minions. The more creatures die, the faster the fallen return to fight on her behalf, so she freely sacrifices the living to make room for the dead. 

The primary theme of the deck is graveyard recursion, and the secondary themes are sacrificing permanents and +1/+1 counters. The primary new commander is Meren of Clan Nel Toth, the secondary new commander is Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, and the reprint commander is Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. 

New cards for Commander 2015 
• Banshee of the Dread Choir 
• Bloodspore Thrinax 
• Caller of the Pack 
• Centaur Vinecrasher 
• Corpse Augur 
• Dread Summons 
• Great Oak Gurdian 
• Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest 
• Meren of Clan Nel Toth 
• Pathbreaker Ibex 
• Scourge of Nel Toth 
• Skullwinder 
• Thief of Blood 
• Thought Vessel 
• Wretched Confluence

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Commander 2015 Review 3

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

MTG Realm is back yet again with another Commander 2015 review.  We have already provided a brief review of the Magic: the Gathering pre-constructed Commander 2015 products for the Black / White 'Call the spirits' deck lead by Daxos the Returned, as well as the 'Wade into Battle' deck lead by Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas.

The Black & Green coloured 'Plunder the Graves' deck has Merren of Clan Nel Toth as the Commander with choices of Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest or the previously printed Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord as your 'back-up' Commander.  This decklist showcases what what Black and Green ('Golgari' colours) do best - graveyard shenanigans and uses just about every vector available to fill up the graveyard.  One can sacrifice creatures to your benefit, whether is is part of a paid cost to an activated ability such as Viridian Zealot or as a by-product of a spell such as Mulch or one of our favourite common card-draw spells, Altar's Reap.

The idea which you will readily appreciate is to fill up that yard rapidly, even with seemingly un-beneficial chump blocks in order to set up the punch line.  Recycle and reuse the fallen with the likes of Wretched Confluence, Rise from the Grave or Meren of Clan Nel Toth herself.  A number of creature cards in this decklist also have rather nice 'enters the battlefield' effects such as Satyr Wayfinder which means it is definitely encouraged to double dip and have it cycle as many times as possible.

The new card, Merren of Clan Nel Toth collects those new experience counters for each time one of your critters bites the dust.  The pay-out here is the ability to be able to retreive a creature in your graveyard equal to or less than the number of experience counters at your end step.  

The second legendary creature, Mazirek will garner +1/+1 counters on each creature you control every time a player sacrifices.  Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest is also decent in this list but we would personally consider this a secondary character and not optimal in the current list as its Commander without some modifications first in the theme.  There are almost 20 or so cards with a sacrifice clause in the mix and we would likely want to pump that number up a bit more.

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord is your third legendary in the list and great support card as well.  Again, we would want to modify the list a titch should we want to have Jarad act as Commander here.  When Jarad was in standand format, we had a definite liking to what this card could do - first and foremost - sacrificing huge critters to kock life off each opponent.  We also liked the power / toughness pump with each critter in your graveyard but often found that we wished Jarad had evasion and would be chump-blocked till the cows came home unless we had a combat trick or spot removal.


All in all, a solid list - our compliments to Wizards of the Coast staffers (Ben Hayes, Dan Emmons, et al.) - love the theme, and the fun factor while playing.

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Commander 2015 Review 2

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Happy Sunday MTG peeps,

As promised, we hope to get to a brief Magic: the Gathering review of each one of the five new Command 2015 pre-constructed products.  We don't play as much Commander as we would like to but still hope that you may find something of interest here in our observations.  Today's post covers the Red & White decklist.

Wade Into Battle - Red / White
Expect to pay around $40 here in Canada and around $30 in the States.

Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas is a giant who’s right at home on the front ranks of a fight. Her power increases as more large creatures answer her call, so her lightning-fast sword swings grow deadlier as the battle wages on.
 

Like each of the previous Commander pre-constructed products, each one contains several Commander options that you can use.  Specifically, there are two new and one reprinted Boros coloured (red / white) legendary creatures which you may choose to lead your team to victory -

Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas - Agressively costed 4-cmc with a 3/3 body, but with double strike and vigilance, this can swing to land six damage and be ready for attackers.  This giantess gains you experience counters when you cast those huge spells of 5 cmc or greater - which should not be a problem given all the hefty Angels, Giants, and Dragons in this list.  Kalemne is pumped +1/+1 for each experience counter you have.

Anya, Merciless Angel - Flying 4/4 Boros Angel for 5 mana.  Given the aggressive profile of this list, it should not be difficult in reducing an opponent's life to half than the starting value which allows Anya to get a pump for +3/+3 as well as indestructible.  Suggested pairing with Heartless Hidetsugu  which allows Anya to go nuclear quicker.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight - Solid 5/5 flying, first strike Boros Angel for 7 cmc.  Gisela has two very sweet abilities which can pose a serious threat / problem to your opponents.  The first ability doubles damage delivered to an opponent while the second ability prevents half the damage hitting you.

About half of the 30 creatures in this list have the 'Giant' creature type (including the changeling) but there does not appear to be much in the way of support for giant tribal which is odd given the number of giants here.  The list does indeed have the following 'tribal' support for the big fellas -
• Ancient Amphitheater
• Borderland Behemoth
• Stinkdrinker Daredevil
• Sunrise Sovereign
• Thundercloud Shaman
We submit that five cards supporting this theme should be expanding upon.  We suggest that should you go down this road, consideration be given to the likes of Door of Destinies,Giant Harbinger (float a giant to top of library), any of the appropriate Giant Tribal spells (Crush Underneath, Feudkiller's Verdict, etc.), as well as any of those 'power 5 or greater spells' such as  Gustrider Exuberant (sac to make 'em fly eot), or Bloodthorn Taunter (tap to give 'em haste), would benefit this list quite greatly.   Should you exchange some angels in the list for additional Giants, give some thought to Cunning Giant, Quarry Colossus, and Sentinel of the Eternal Watch.  As there is rather little in the way to assist you to mana ramp (Knight of the White Orchid), consider beefing up with some mana-rocks like Thran Dynamo, Commander's Sphere and Chromatic Lantern.
At the very least, should you drop the focus on giants, consider using Balefire Liege to not only pump the red 'n' whites +1/+1 but also provides a very handy burn and / or gain ability.  In addition, Sunforger is a fav boros-coloured equipment which can be quite useful to pull out an instant (like Pact of the Titan).

All in all, we love the list but want to modify it as soon as we get it - which is, of course what Wizards would likely hope you would do anyways.  Happy Brewing!
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Commander 2015 Review 1

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

As promised here at MTG Realm, we are getting to a review of each of the new Commander 2015 decks.  For the first one, we are looking at the Black / White one and will likely have the next review next week, so stay tuned.

Call the Spirits

Daxos the Returned travels across Theros in a never-ending search, surrounded by spirits that are drawn to his power. As mighty enchantments enter the battlefield, the spirits he summons grow larger and larger, leaving his enemies overwhelmed.

Here are the three Black / White legendary creatures supplied with 'Call the Spirits' which may be used as your Commander -

• Daxos the Returned

• Karlov of the Ghost Council

• Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts

Daxos the Returned, 1WB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Soldier
Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, you get an experience counter.
1WB: Put a white and black Spirit enchantment creature token onto the battlefield. It has "This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of experience counters you have."
2/2

Karlov of the Ghost Council, WB
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor
Whenever you gain life, put two +1/+1 counters on Karlov of the Ghost Council.
WB, Remove six +1/+1 counters from Karlov of the Ghost Council: Exile target creature.
2/2

Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, 5WB
Legendary Creature — Human Advisor
Vigilance, protection from creatures
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, destroy that creature. Put a 1/1 white and black Spirit creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
4/4

Given the name, 'Call the Spirits' of this pre-constructed Commander list, one would imagine a Spirit theme of sots, and indeed the primary commander, Daxos the Returned, does produce spirit tokens but this really is an Enchantments matters theme.  There are approximately (by our brief revie) some 21 Enchantments as well as 7 Enchantment Creatures.  There are 5 more additional creatures, 2 sorceries, and 1 artifact with a synergy with enchantments.

Daxos is all about casting Enchantments. For each Enchantment that you cast, you get an experience counter. You then can then pay the activated ability of 1WB to generate create Spirit enchantment creature token with power and toughness equal to the number of experience counters you have. These tokens can be serious threats later in the game as they enter the battlefield in continually larger forms.  These do lack evasion like flying, which is granted to many other spirit creatures but is more than offset by the promise of the potential for rather large P/T token which could land damage with the likes of Rogue's Passage to grant it an unblockable ability.  Some suggestions for modifications include going all in with enchantments which may include consideration for the other 'Constellation' cards not in the current list (Skybind, Grim Guardian, Agent of Erebos, etc.).  Consideration should be given also to the Theran gods Heliod, Erebos, and Athreos as well.

The other new Commander available in this list is Karlov of the Ghost Council.  In short, many Magic: the Gathering players may believe that Karlov does not belong in this list, even as a supporting card.  There is only 5 cards within this decklist which may gain you life so we can expect that Karlov would not be collecting many +1/+1 counters and subsequently exiling creatures.  The consensus with the MTG Realm playgroup is that Karlov would be best suited in its own list with a strong life-gain theme.  Some suggestions off the hop would to be to include a number of cards with 'Extort' to be able to trigger that life-gain or perhaps cards one would expect in a 'Soul Sisters' type of strategy.  Essentially cards that will allow Karlove to grow rapidly, perhaps with lifelink and those with a triggered ability when you gain life like Ajani's Pridemate.  Should you find that your list is providing huge life gain (with the help of Rhox Faitmender), consider an alternate win condition like Felidar Sovereign (if you playgroup allows this).  Alternatively, you may want to push Karlov off to a supporting role in a list that focuses on a theme of +1/+1 counters like Ghave, Guru of Spores.

As for the reprint of Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, we think that perhaps this is best left in a supportive roll as a late-game bomb.  There are a few lists we've seen that look rather nice with Teysa but we feel that that this one is better in the mixx of 99 rather than in the Command Zone.

Here are the newly printed cards that are included in the 'Call the Spirits' Commander 2015 decklist.  In general, all solid support cards which could also find gainful employment in a variety of other Commander lists.

Banshee of the Dread Choir

Bastion Protector

Corpse Augur

Daxos the Returned  (Legendary)

Daxos's Torment 

Deadly Tempest

Grasp of Fate  

Herald of the Host

Karlov of the Ghost Council  (Legendary)

Oreskos Explorer

Righteous Confluence

Sandstone Oracle

Shielded by Faith 

Thief of Blood

Thought Vessel

Depending upon your taste, we suggest you pick the one of the two new Commanders (as we suspect WotC intended), and then provide some fine tuning (in the case of Daxox) or a complete overhaul (in the case of Karlov).
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DTK Spoilers 3-12

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

A good number of new Dragons of Tarkir spoilers and previews overnight which we will need to catch up on in this post.  Please do expect another update to this after the regular mothersite article promotions at 11 EST.  Anywhoos, there is a little something for every Magic: the Gathering player, so let's slip into gear now.
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Dromoka's Command, GW
Instant, Rare
Choose two —
• Prevent all damage target instant or sorcery spell would deal this turn.
• Target player sacrifices an enchantment.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
• Target creature you control fights target creature you don't control.

Mothersite preview.  WOW. This is very good and we definitely will include this in any green / white build.
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Clone Legion, 7UU
Sorcery, Mythic Rare
For each creature target player controls, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that creature.

Mothersite preview. Did you just hear that sound of all those Commander players screaming in joy (or pain, if they are playing blue)? Lovely.
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Myth Realized, W
Enchantment, Rare
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, put a lore counter on Myth Realized.
2W: Put a lore counter on Myth Realized.
W: Until end of turn, becomes a Monk Avatar creature in addition to its other types and gains "This creature's power and toughness are equal to the number of lore counters on it."

Mana Deprived / Eh Team preview.  Dang fine card here - animate until eot means shelter from rath 'n' removal in most cases.  We can see this getting the nod in a few formats and are definitely interested in getting this in an enchantress build.
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Commune with Lava, XRR
Instant, Rare
Exile the top X cards of your library. 
Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.

TMT preview.  Looks to be rather decent late game but we think that this is going straight into a Commander build of ours.
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Damnable Pact, XBB
Sorcery, Rare
Target player draws X cards and loses X life.

The Mana Source preview.  This Sign in Blood has leg room and will get played - especially powerful in Commander.  Pre-rotation, this might make a one or two of in a u/b control or mono-black devotion build.
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Icefall Regent, 3UU
Creature - Dragon, Rare
Flying
When Icefall Regent enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's uptanp step for as long as you control Icefall Regent.
Spells your opponents cast that target Icefall Regent cost 2 more to cast.
4/3

Magic Show preview.  Solid card and we would not be disapointed in pulling this from a pack.  Never underestimate the usefullness of sidelining an oponent's most valuable critter.
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Vial of Dragonfire, Loading Ready Run preview. Limited maybe - its a stretch.

Wandering Tombshell, Loading Ready Run preview. Zombie Turtle !! Yeah, that's about it.

Ainok Survivalist, Joy of Cubing preview. Hippy-Hound nerfs artifacts and enchantments with the megamorph's face up.

Silkwrap, Pure MTGO preview. Journey to Nowhere was a good card, this one is not.

Belltoll Dragon, Wizards MTG Twitter preview.  Sucks, but at least its got hexproof going for it, which is nice.

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