Lelouch32
09-27-2010, 07:10 PM
Scars of Mirrodin: The Pre-Infection
By: Corlando
Hello and welcome friends old and new, to this week’s edition of Cards n’Flux. My name is Corlando and I will be your guide as we look at the first bit of fun from Scars of Mirrodin. Yes ladies and gentlemen its time to talk about how Scars plays and don’t worry Infect is just as broken as it seems. Let’s take a look.
Well this Saturday I went to Auburn, New York for a prerelease party for Scars of Mirrodin and after playing with some of the cards I have to say that, honestly, Scars seems a little too standalone. What I mean is that, Scars really only seems to play well with itself. Whether it’s the Infect cards or Metalcraft, you only end up with a handful of cards that could completely work well with other sets. For example, let’s look at Indomitable Angel. This flying 4/4 for :mana2::manaw::manaw:, yes that’s a 4/4 for 4 with evasion, is one of the few cards from Scars that can do well outside of Scars. However, it still doesn’t reach its full potential because unless you run an artifact heavy deck, Indomitable Angel’s metalcraft ability which gives all your artifacts shroud if you control three or more artifacts, is not reachable. I still might play this flying beatstick just for its strength, but it would still be great to see it used to 100% of its potential.
As for the many Infect cards, I can definitely see them making a nice heavy effect on the metagame. Now, many players might be trying to prevent 10 damage from going through while trying to get their opponents down from 20. Out of the infect cards I managed to get my hands on, the one that I personally really like was Necropede. This is probably the weakest creature I have ever talked about on this little blog. What is so great about a 1/1 for :mana2:? First off it has infect meaning that it will always weaken whatever it attacks or blocks. However, the second ability is where the power really lies. “When Necropede goes to the graveyard from the battlefield, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.” In limited, this ability can wreak someone. Say you are playing someone with a lot of myr and you attack to inflict poison. They decide to block with some Mana Myr, killing Necropede. Now you get to put that counter onto some other creature… perhaps, just maybe one of there other 1/1 Myrs? Two for one. Plus you can even damage flying creatures. During the prerelease, I faced a guy with a Screeching Silcaw, a 1/2 flyer with the ability to mill 4 cards if Metalcraft is active. Necropede died and I put the -1/-1 counter on Screeching Silcaw, preventing him from slowly milling all my good stuff to the graveyard.
One more Infect card I found really useful during my prerelease fun was Tainted Strike. This :manab: instant gives target creature +1/+0 and gains infect until the end of the turn. This card is so useful. First off the obvious use of this spell is to increase the poison potential of a creature. Let me just give you this idea… an 8/7 trampling Pelakka Wurm with Infect. Scary huh? Now, some may have already seen this, but just in case you haven’t here is another use for this card. Lets say your battle is going pretty poorly. You’re down to 6 life, you’ve got one tapped creature, and your opponent summoned a Terra Stomper last turn. You’re dead if you don’t do something. Your opponent attacks with their Stomper and deals no damage to you allowing you to recoup next turn and kill. But how? Simple. Your opponent wasn’t working with poison so you had no poison counters. Using Tainted Strike, your opponent’s 8/8 Terra Stomper became a 9/8 with Infect meaning it dealt 9 damage in the form of poison counters instead of life damage. See how useful this card can be?
Wow I seem to be talking about a lot of cards today… odd. Anyway, another card I definitely want to point out is the Trigon of Rage. Trigon of Rage is a :mana2: artifact that when you remove a charge counter and tap it you can have target creature gain +3/+0. This card is great in any deck but especially in an infect deck. Here’s the scene. My opponent has zero poison counters, I have just summoned a Leaden Myr, and I attack with my Contagious Nim. He doesn’t block thinking he’ll only get two, but I pump with Trigon of Rage to give him 5. He goes, summoning a Myr and passing the turn. My turn and I attack with both the Myr and Nim. He blocks the Contagious Nim, but then I play Tainted Strike on my Myr, pump it with Trigon of Rage, and infect for 5 more meaning end game. It was a quick round but it really showed me exactly how deadly an infect deck can be. However, that was the last match I won during the prerelease due to bad land draw or something else, and thinking back I honestly wish I had played red. First off is I had a pretty strong removal spell, Return to Slag, I had a Flameborn Hellion, a Kuldotha Phoenix, and I would have been able to put charge counters back onto Trigon of Rage. Oh well, you live and you learn.
I’m going to talk about one last card from Scars. Now before I begin to talk about this card I feel I must tell you all that I love cats, they so adorable and awesome in so many ways. When I first saw this card, my general reaction was pretty much this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfyiFY3OrKI&feature=related
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in case you haven't guessed, the card I am talking about is Kemba, Kha Regent. This legendary cat warrior knows how to take on any foe and inspire those around her to join the fight. Kemba is a :mana1::manaw::manaw: 2/4 Cat Cleric that summons to her side a 2/2 white Cat creature token for each Equipment attached to her. Essentially, the more gear I give her, the more kitty-cats I get to hug... DO NOT JUDGE ME! This card is a little tricky to use properly because she requires additional cards to make her work. However, I think this is more of the fun because you really have to plan well. If you play her too soon and start attaching big stuff to her, you might as well equip her with the Warning Sign which gives equipped creature a giant target and “Equipped creature is a must deal with threat. Kill it with fire!” However if you play her too late then she might not impact the game at all. Knowing what equipment to use is also very important. Nothing too expensive to Equip or play otherwise it just delays the time between your next equip and another cat warrior. You can see my overall plan in this week’s deck, which oddly enough, is our next section, how convenient. Let’s take a look.
Kemba’s Call
Creatures:
4x Wall of Omens
4x Sunspear Shikari
3x Kemba, Kha Regent
4x Leonin Arbiter
Spells:
3x Arrest
3x Journey to Nowhere
Equipment:
2x Livewire Lash
4x Trusty Machete
4x Darksteel Axe
4x Infiltration Lens
23x Plains
Planeswalker:
2x Ajani Goldmane
Sideboard:
4x Kemba's Skyguard
2x True Conviction
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/kembas-call/
Now this deck is still a little under construction, still trying to get the land count just right, but over all it’s a solid fun deck. The equipment is especially fun because each serves its purpose. Darksteel Axe and Trusty Machete exist to help either bolster Kemba to get Cat tokens or Sunspear Shikari to give it first strike and lifelink. Infiltration Lens, what many are claiming is the new Skullclamp, serves to make the overly pumped Kemba or Sunspear a must block meaning I get two cards. Now Livewire Lash is the most expensive equipment in the deck at :mana2: and :mana2: to equip and trust me there are cheaper cards I could use, however none that I can think of give the protection that Livewire does. Livewire Lash gives the equipped creature +2/+0 and the phrase, “When this creature becomes the target of a spell, this creature deals two damage to target creature or player.” This is an awesome ability because it means that people who want to remove Kemba will have to sit an think, “Do I really want to take the two damage.” Granted that isn’t much but late in game it will be pretty hard to say yes to. Also, note that it says “this creature” meaning that if you equip this to Sunspear, you can steal two life from your opponent, increasing the life gap between you two. This is a really fun deck and one that I’m happy to say I have started to build in real life. I can’t wait for the fun.
Now it’s time for the closing questions section:
1. What is your favorite legendary from Scars of Mirrodin and why? (Also if you choose the dragon, please talk about it, and then choose another one.)
2. Which equipment do you think is the weakest?
3. Would you agree that Infiltration Lens is a good successor to the Skullclamp throne?
Alright everyone, that’s another edition of Cards n’Flux. I hope you are enjoying the newest expansion of our lovely little game. Next week I’ll give you the results of my Release Party tournament and we’ll see how the rest of this set actually plays. And always remember, “Etherium is Limited. Innovation is not.” This is Corlando signing out.
By: Corlando
Hello and welcome friends old and new, to this week’s edition of Cards n’Flux. My name is Corlando and I will be your guide as we look at the first bit of fun from Scars of Mirrodin. Yes ladies and gentlemen its time to talk about how Scars plays and don’t worry Infect is just as broken as it seems. Let’s take a look.
Well this Saturday I went to Auburn, New York for a prerelease party for Scars of Mirrodin and after playing with some of the cards I have to say that, honestly, Scars seems a little too standalone. What I mean is that, Scars really only seems to play well with itself. Whether it’s the Infect cards or Metalcraft, you only end up with a handful of cards that could completely work well with other sets. For example, let’s look at Indomitable Angel. This flying 4/4 for :mana2::manaw::manaw:, yes that’s a 4/4 for 4 with evasion, is one of the few cards from Scars that can do well outside of Scars. However, it still doesn’t reach its full potential because unless you run an artifact heavy deck, Indomitable Angel’s metalcraft ability which gives all your artifacts shroud if you control three or more artifacts, is not reachable. I still might play this flying beatstick just for its strength, but it would still be great to see it used to 100% of its potential.
As for the many Infect cards, I can definitely see them making a nice heavy effect on the metagame. Now, many players might be trying to prevent 10 damage from going through while trying to get their opponents down from 20. Out of the infect cards I managed to get my hands on, the one that I personally really like was Necropede. This is probably the weakest creature I have ever talked about on this little blog. What is so great about a 1/1 for :mana2:? First off it has infect meaning that it will always weaken whatever it attacks or blocks. However, the second ability is where the power really lies. “When Necropede goes to the graveyard from the battlefield, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.” In limited, this ability can wreak someone. Say you are playing someone with a lot of myr and you attack to inflict poison. They decide to block with some Mana Myr, killing Necropede. Now you get to put that counter onto some other creature… perhaps, just maybe one of there other 1/1 Myrs? Two for one. Plus you can even damage flying creatures. During the prerelease, I faced a guy with a Screeching Silcaw, a 1/2 flyer with the ability to mill 4 cards if Metalcraft is active. Necropede died and I put the -1/-1 counter on Screeching Silcaw, preventing him from slowly milling all my good stuff to the graveyard.
One more Infect card I found really useful during my prerelease fun was Tainted Strike. This :manab: instant gives target creature +1/+0 and gains infect until the end of the turn. This card is so useful. First off the obvious use of this spell is to increase the poison potential of a creature. Let me just give you this idea… an 8/7 trampling Pelakka Wurm with Infect. Scary huh? Now, some may have already seen this, but just in case you haven’t here is another use for this card. Lets say your battle is going pretty poorly. You’re down to 6 life, you’ve got one tapped creature, and your opponent summoned a Terra Stomper last turn. You’re dead if you don’t do something. Your opponent attacks with their Stomper and deals no damage to you allowing you to recoup next turn and kill. But how? Simple. Your opponent wasn’t working with poison so you had no poison counters. Using Tainted Strike, your opponent’s 8/8 Terra Stomper became a 9/8 with Infect meaning it dealt 9 damage in the form of poison counters instead of life damage. See how useful this card can be?
Wow I seem to be talking about a lot of cards today… odd. Anyway, another card I definitely want to point out is the Trigon of Rage. Trigon of Rage is a :mana2: artifact that when you remove a charge counter and tap it you can have target creature gain +3/+0. This card is great in any deck but especially in an infect deck. Here’s the scene. My opponent has zero poison counters, I have just summoned a Leaden Myr, and I attack with my Contagious Nim. He doesn’t block thinking he’ll only get two, but I pump with Trigon of Rage to give him 5. He goes, summoning a Myr and passing the turn. My turn and I attack with both the Myr and Nim. He blocks the Contagious Nim, but then I play Tainted Strike on my Myr, pump it with Trigon of Rage, and infect for 5 more meaning end game. It was a quick round but it really showed me exactly how deadly an infect deck can be. However, that was the last match I won during the prerelease due to bad land draw or something else, and thinking back I honestly wish I had played red. First off is I had a pretty strong removal spell, Return to Slag, I had a Flameborn Hellion, a Kuldotha Phoenix, and I would have been able to put charge counters back onto Trigon of Rage. Oh well, you live and you learn.
I’m going to talk about one last card from Scars. Now before I begin to talk about this card I feel I must tell you all that I love cats, they so adorable and awesome in so many ways. When I first saw this card, my general reaction was pretty much this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfyiFY3OrKI&feature=related
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in case you haven't guessed, the card I am talking about is Kemba, Kha Regent. This legendary cat warrior knows how to take on any foe and inspire those around her to join the fight. Kemba is a :mana1::manaw::manaw: 2/4 Cat Cleric that summons to her side a 2/2 white Cat creature token for each Equipment attached to her. Essentially, the more gear I give her, the more kitty-cats I get to hug... DO NOT JUDGE ME! This card is a little tricky to use properly because she requires additional cards to make her work. However, I think this is more of the fun because you really have to plan well. If you play her too soon and start attaching big stuff to her, you might as well equip her with the Warning Sign which gives equipped creature a giant target and “Equipped creature is a must deal with threat. Kill it with fire!” However if you play her too late then she might not impact the game at all. Knowing what equipment to use is also very important. Nothing too expensive to Equip or play otherwise it just delays the time between your next equip and another cat warrior. You can see my overall plan in this week’s deck, which oddly enough, is our next section, how convenient. Let’s take a look.
Kemba’s Call
Creatures:
4x Wall of Omens
4x Sunspear Shikari
3x Kemba, Kha Regent
4x Leonin Arbiter
Spells:
3x Arrest
3x Journey to Nowhere
Equipment:
2x Livewire Lash
4x Trusty Machete
4x Darksteel Axe
4x Infiltration Lens
23x Plains
Planeswalker:
2x Ajani Goldmane
Sideboard:
4x Kemba's Skyguard
2x True Conviction
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/kembas-call/
Now this deck is still a little under construction, still trying to get the land count just right, but over all it’s a solid fun deck. The equipment is especially fun because each serves its purpose. Darksteel Axe and Trusty Machete exist to help either bolster Kemba to get Cat tokens or Sunspear Shikari to give it first strike and lifelink. Infiltration Lens, what many are claiming is the new Skullclamp, serves to make the overly pumped Kemba or Sunspear a must block meaning I get two cards. Now Livewire Lash is the most expensive equipment in the deck at :mana2: and :mana2: to equip and trust me there are cheaper cards I could use, however none that I can think of give the protection that Livewire does. Livewire Lash gives the equipped creature +2/+0 and the phrase, “When this creature becomes the target of a spell, this creature deals two damage to target creature or player.” This is an awesome ability because it means that people who want to remove Kemba will have to sit an think, “Do I really want to take the two damage.” Granted that isn’t much but late in game it will be pretty hard to say yes to. Also, note that it says “this creature” meaning that if you equip this to Sunspear, you can steal two life from your opponent, increasing the life gap between you two. This is a really fun deck and one that I’m happy to say I have started to build in real life. I can’t wait for the fun.
Now it’s time for the closing questions section:
1. What is your favorite legendary from Scars of Mirrodin and why? (Also if you choose the dragon, please talk about it, and then choose another one.)
2. Which equipment do you think is the weakest?
3. Would you agree that Infiltration Lens is a good successor to the Skullclamp throne?
Alright everyone, that’s another edition of Cards n’Flux. I hope you are enjoying the newest expansion of our lovely little game. Next week I’ll give you the results of my Release Party tournament and we’ll see how the rest of this set actually plays. And always remember, “Etherium is Limited. Innovation is not.” This is Corlando signing out.