BeardWitch Brews

An M:TG blog for all things jank & Vorthos. Come in and stay a while, stranger- The Gathering’s good.

[beardwitchbrews]

Hello!

My name’s Nick (aka BeardWitch). I’ve been playing Magic since I was in 5th grade, when, during a Boy Scout camping trip, an older guy brought some Onslaught block decks on the bus. When I saw Dragon Tyrant for the first time, I was hooked for life.

I’m the kind of player who straddles the Vorthos & Spike ways of thinking. My joy in the game comes from brewing Commander decks around jank cards, reading the story, & grinding out limited formats. I love looking at cards from a design level- not just gameplay, but how the whole sings together. A beautiful card is a beautiful thing.

I write a bit, too, so this blog is a place for me share deck techs, art critique, & my thoughts on limited. Hope you enjoy what you find here. I’ve never started something like this before, so, here goes!❤️

[beardwitchbrews]

First 🏆 of the new format! Of course it’s in “the weakest color pair” lmao

The deck really packed some punch, especially with the Zoetic Glyphs. Animating a Careening Minecart is looking to be one of my favorite things in the format already 🛒💨

Other highlights:

- Subterranean Schooner is such a fantastic card, especially if you can back it up with Cogwork Wrestler.

- On the topic of Cogwork Wrestler- card seems like a incredible glue card. Helps you blow out opponents (at least early on in the format, I imagine people will start respecting untapped islands a bit more down the line), crew vehicles, is fantastic craft material.

- People are not taking Lodestone Needle high enough. In a removal light format, you have to find SOME ways of interacting with the other side of the table. It locks down a threat and then becomes a huge value engine down the line, making YOUR threats harder to deal with. Huge fan.

- Inverted Iceberg won me a bunch of games. People have said it’s a virtual two mana draw three, and while it wasn’t THAT good in this deck, it is really nice that your cantrip becomes your bomb in the late game.

- I didn’t actually see my gold cards all that much, but they put in a lot of work when they did show up. Deepfathom Echo getting free explores and turning into a flier won me a game, and I had an opponent scoop when I got three explores off (thanks map tokens, Schooner) with Nincanzil on the field.

- Finally, Malamet Veteran. Look, for the most part these guys are just keyword Large, but I’ve found they hit the curve just right, and trample has overperformed on packed board states. I only was able to get two counters out of them at most, but that was often because I’d won at that point.

The format so far seems sick. I’m worried about the state of removal, though- if you get on the wrong side of a bomb or a value snowball (looking at you, Captain Storm!), it can be an absolute beating. Keep your eyes open in the draft, folks. And as always, happy brewing!

[beardwitchbrews]

Wasn’t able to attend the LCI prerelease (friend had car trouble) but still swung by my shop to pick up my kit. Was a super fun building process, and I’m stoked I opened Thunderhulk. Feel like I could have gone the distance with this thing, but ah well, next time!

Highlights in the list: I think that UW is going to end up being a menace in the format, particularly any deck that gets there on Tinker’s Tote. Card seems like an absolute house, and as a subscriber to Rectangle Theory… well, I mean, it’s three rectangles! I’m curious but optimistic on the “Tap X artifacts or creatures” mechanics- Warden of the Inner Sky needing THREE is pushing it, but between Brackish Blunder making maps, the Tote, and other cheap two-for-one bodies, I think it gets there. And, obviously, Threefold Thunderhulk is not a real Magic card.

List seems light on interaction- would have loved a Dusk Heart Reliquary- but I think that’s also indicative of the format as a whole. Removal is in lesser supply than normal, so things like Quicksand Whirlpool are gonna pull more weight than normal.

Bummed I didn’t get any games in (second prerelease I’ve missed in a row 😭), but may try and make it to a FNM to do an in-person draft to make up for the miss.

(Bonus deck #2: I opened the Mycotyrant and I tried so hard to make it work. Ah, well!)

[beardwitchbrews]

So Finality Counters are a new space that R&D is introducing in Lost Caverns of Ixalan to give us more readily available & cheap reanimation. If you haven't seen them yet, here's an example:

(god this card is so goddam cool. Uncommon? That name?? THAT ART???)

Finality being a counter is super sweet, too, because all of a sudden cards that remove counters or move them around become so much more interesting. Here are some highlights:

To recap: I reanimate my Great Mistake, it gets a Finality Counter. I tap my Fain, The Broker, removing the counter & create a Treasure token. Seems pretty sweet!

If you blink a creature, it returns to battlefield, sans counters- another way to reset.

And, of course, we could just say you know what? No counters ever, please.

This is the kind of design work that just sings with past Magic cards. I'm a huge fan!

[beardwitchbrews]

ROCCO IS FEASTING

Okay but Rocco has easily become one of my favorite commander's so far this year. I love that: 1) they are non-binary! My partner and I have both been exploring our gender expression, so it's nice to see MtG exploring that, as well. 2) they're a group hug deck in my favorite type of way- giving everyone cards and letting them play them play more magic, while also being semi-political. "You could kill Rocco, but if you don't, I'll give you some counters...! And, hey, what about those sweet sweet cards?" 3) THEY MAKE FOOD. Food is maybe my favorite thing Magic has done in the last decade. Ton of flavor (haha), utility, and ability to keep you in the game when the aggro opponent is going off. Plus, when you add in cards like Academy Manufactor, Ghirapur Aether Grid, & Food Fight, you can really do some fun, explosive things things. 4) they play with impulsive draw and exiling cards. Their trigger is a ton of fun to build around. From Laelia to Bell Borca to Faldorn, we keep getting powerful creatures that care about the exile zone, and that scratches a very specific itch I have.

Which leads me to my main topic: WOW, these Dr. Who cards are really playing into Rocco's strengths. We're getting some fantastic food synergies and exile triggers! Especially after LTR & WOE's buffet of food cards, I am constantly updating this list. Cannot wait to add Flaming Tyrannosaurus, especially- what an absolute banger.

Generally, the whole Universes Beyond thing has been something I have been fairly mid on. When it started with the Walking Dead, I was pretty put off by the idea. Now that we've been living in the future where Street Fighter, 40k, Stranger Things, and Lord of the Rings cards have been running around our game for years now, though, I guess I've just accepted that this is Magic now, take it or leave it.

I have NO affinity for Dr. Who. I somehow completely dodged the fandom, even when I dated someone with a stuffed dalek. But the passion for these designs leap off the cards, and that passion is infectious. These designs (if a bit convoluted and wordy, just like the source material) are inspired, and there is something so nice about being like, y'know what? Here's this guy with a sandwich, hanging out in my grandpa's garage, and now he's in my commander deck, helping me with Night of the Sweet's Revenge synergy.

I've been working on a Rocco list since Aftermath, but it keeps creeping past that 100 mark... will update once we get a more solid brew! Cheers~

[beardwitchbrews]

🏆🏆🏆

Holy crap, I opened the most insane sealed pool for Day 1 of the open? Games were still super close- shout out to the player with Bitterblossom on turn 4- but managed to get there with 0 game losses.

Turns out, being aggressive and then dropping Gruff Triplets or Faunsbane Troll on curve wins games of Magic. Christ I love this format.

[beardwitchbrews]

🏆

Bad Guy by Billie Eilish starts playing

Seriously, curving out Spiteful Hexmage into Lord Skitter’s Blessing is maybe the most brutal 1-2 punch I’ve ever done in limited, goddam

[beardwitchbrews]

🏆

I’ve seen some discourse over how WOE is an aggressive format and people are upset by that. My stance is: yea, it is. You need to be on the board, or at least able to address it, by turn two.

(At least at Platinum, metas shift in the rankings in my experience.)

But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad format! These games have been sick. All of my trophies have been 7-2’s- I’ve had to play really tight to get them. There are a lot of really interesting decision points you have to make in game (where do I put my roles, should I play this as an adventure or just as the creature, should I crack my food or save it for a bargain later, etc.) Will I feel this way in a few months? Who knows. But I think, with the way the format is built for multicolor shenanigans and weird build arounds, WOE has some legs.

[beardwitchbrews]

Just 9 active paper builds, nbd