Gathering: 11/01/2012

The first Gathering of the year, and we had 5 out of 6 of the usual players so still no empire match, but still, fun was had.

We started with an “all on all”; we started the game as a 4 player, but then Lee turned up and we let him take his first 3 goes all at once to catch up. In hindsight this might not have been the best thing to do as he became the dominating force very quickly.

I had chosen one of my favourite decks to play, but I was mana screwed and wouldn’t do anything till near the end of the match; where I would take up one of the big players on Lee’s side then power up me “Chameleon Colossus” with “Garruk Wildspeaker” using his main ability. This made my Chameleon an impressive 14/14 with trample.

What bugged me in this game though was that I had 2 “Skarrgan Skybreaker” and “Borboygmos’” in my hand for the whole game.

We then moved onto an Archenemy game, but instead of using a pre-made Archenemy themed deck, I used one of my own; “Gods Galore”, with a quickly thrown together scheme deck. We played twice, and I was defeated both times (deck list to come soon as I am considering making it a permanent Archenemy deck). 

Soon after, Lee and Kev called it a night; Mark, Bernard and I went on to play a Planechase game. This proved a bit of a challenge as Bernard hadn’t played this format before, and would forget to pay attention to the Plane card. 

Overall it was a very fun night in which I forgot to take my usual notes to aid writing a properly laid out blog; so next time normality will return with photos as well.

Grave-Born

Grave-Born is the third in the Premium Deck series. It is a Re-animator deck, meaning it plays the majority of creature cards from the graveyard, rather than from your hand. You make ask, what is the point? Well, when it comes to playing cards from your graveyard, it means using spells rather than the creatures casting cost; which may be a lot cheaper.

I have played this deck about 5 times, and it has pulled through each time so far. Upon my first time of playing the deck, I had the best starting hand I have ever hand in my years of playing Magic: The Gathering. I was unable to use it though as I was playing against my cousin who had only been playing a week or so, and at this point it would have been completely unfair. This did sadden me, but life goes on.

So what makes this deck so good?

It is such a cheap deck to play! The spells required only cost the converted max of 4 to play. Being mana screwed shouldn’t be a problem, as I find pre-made decks are already mana heavy. 

My friend Kev likes to put a lot of cards from your library into your graveyard; well thanks mate, you’ve done  half of the work for me as that’s where I want to play my creatures from.

And if all goes to plan... you can dominate a game in your second go.

You also don’t have to rely purely on your own cards, if an opponent has something you like the look of in their graveyard, you have the option to “re-animate”, to steal it with. As such, there are many ways to get what you want into your graveyard with this deck.

“Buried Alive” and “Entomb” let you choose from your library and then put them into your graveyard, ready for your re-animate spells.

“Zombie Infestation”, “Last Rites”, “Sickening Dreams” and “Cabal Therapy” let you discard cards, so if you have a creature in your hand, it isn’t too late! You can still get it into the graveyard; “Sickening Dreams” can help you clear the battlefield before getting something nasty into play. 

To get your creatures onto the battlefield from the graveyard you must:

“Animate Dead”: this does get your creature a -1/-0, but if this is your second go it isn’t a problem. Trust me.

“Exhume”: Each player gets to put a creature into play from the graveyard, but if you play it early enough then they may not have anything to play.

“Diabolic Servitude”: now as long as this enchantment doesn’t get destroyed if your creature dies, “Diabolic Servitude” goes back to your hand to be played again.

“Dread Return”:

Creatures to re-animate: 

“Blazing Archon” - If you can get this out in your second go then you are dominating. 

“Inkwell Leviathan” - Good against Blue players and heavy spell users. 

“Sphinx of the Steel Wind” - Good if played later when you’ve already had a beating. Get some life back with its Life-link ability. 

“Crosis, the Purger” - Everyone loves a Dragon. 

“Terastodon” - If you have the right cards, a 9/9 on your second go, not bad. 

“Verdant Force” - Feel the need to up your defence with a 1/1 each turn? This is your guy. 

“Avatar of Woe” - Now if there are 10 creatures in total in ALL graveyards, it only costs 2 to get out, so you may be able to play from your hand. Tap, destroy target creature... Handy if something big is in the way.

Of course there are smaller creatures to keep you going if you aren’t drawing the right cards with handy discard abilities too.

A 10/10 deck design if you ask me, and I’d recommend anyone to give it a go. 

Deck List: 

Black Creatures 

Putrid Imp x2 

Hidden Horror x2 

Faceless Butcher 

Twisted Abomination 

Avatar of Woe 

Green Creatures 

Terastodon 

Verdant Force 

Blue Creatures

 

Inkwell Leviathan 

White Creatures 

Blazing Archon 

Multi Coloured Creatures 

Crosis, the Purger 

Sphinx of the Steel Wind 

Black Other 

Cabal Therapy 

Duress x3 

Entomb 

Reanimate 

Animate Dead x3 

Exhume x3 

Sickening Dreams x2 

Zombie Infestation 

Buried Alive x2 

Last Rites x2 

Diabolic Servitude x2 

Dread Return x2 

Land: 

Crystal Vein 

Ebon Stronghold 

Polluted Mire 

Swamp x21 

Christmas catch up!

As you may have noticed I haven’t blogged for a little while, so here’s a quick catch up on what is going on!

We now have a new player in our gathering; my uncle’s son is now living with him so this meant I got on the case of training him up. As luck would have it he took to it like a duck takes to water. We have yet to have a night with all 6 of us, but as soon as we do I will be introducing the umpire format.

On another note Christmas is Magic; my wonderful girlfriend bought me 15 booster packs from Fallen Empires, The Premium Deck Series: Slivers and a book which I have lost the bid on Ebay countless times now; The Art of Magic the Gathering The Rath Cycle and she didn’t even know that!  

I will go in more depth in my coming blogs this was just to let you know I’m still alive, just work has had me busy and Christmas takes up a lot of time. 

Upcoming blogs: Review on The Art of Magic the Gathering, Review on The Premium Deck Series: Slivers, Review on The Premium Deck Series: Gravesboren and many more.

Merry Christmas!