Magic Musings

A Blog talking about Magic the Gathering

[korokmtg]

As much as we stan Niko, Niko is arguably one of the weakest planeswalkers ever printed, and the foremost reason in this mages opinion? Dies to Bolt* before getting priority. *Insert any removal spell relevant to Walkers at instant speed here. His enter the battlefield trigger goes on the stack and you dear player can respond and defeat Niko before it can do anything else. Have fun playing with this card especially if it's good for your strategy! I love using this in conjunction with Constelation triggers! Have fun slinging spells and happy brewing!

[lachlanthesane]

Tumblr needs to be made aware of the best Magic the Gathering cards ever printed

So Magic: The Gathering is doing a Secret Lair drop, basically a series of card reprints with new special art.

The cool part about this Secret Lair drop is that it is themed around LGBTQ+ pride.

You can legitimately play a card which features a gay wedding:

Image ID: A Magic the Gathering card called “Savour the Moment”, which features two men kissing each other at their wedding, while a crowd behind them cheers and white doves fly overhead. The card’s flavour text reads “I do”.

You can play cards which feature some of MTG’s canonical gay characters:

Image ID: A Magic the Gathering card called “Heartbeat of Spring”, which features a woman in armour embracing a woman in a robe from behind in a jungle setting. The woman in front is holding a fox, and a raptor-like dinosaur stands behind them. The card’s flavour text reads, ‘“You were right, Ixilan is a paradise”, said Saheeli. “Mostly because you’re here”.’

But the best card in the secret lair, possibly the best MTG card ever printed, is the Bearscape.

Image ID: A Magic the Gathering card called “Bearscape”, which features a number of bears (large, hairy human men) sitting in and around a hot spring. Two of the men in the spring are embracing and appear to be about to kiss, and one man is relaxing in the spring by himself. In the background, outside the hot spring, a man is lying across another man’s lap. In the far background, a brown bear (the animal) is sitting on a rock. The card’s flavour text reads, “They built a refuge with their bear hands.”

(Bonus fun fact: the bearded ginger bear in the front left has top surgery scars!)

[korokmtg]

Timeless Dragon, an unassuming creature to most mages, with potential to lead you to victory.

With a Timeless Dragon in your legacy deck, you bring some forms of utility to the battlefield that might be beneficial to your game plan.

Consider the following:

A W/x deck can use the Plains Cycling ability to get one of the two color pips you need for your deck to function making your hands slightly better when you only have one color (example 2 islands). Of note this lets you get the mana to cast a Swords to Plowshares which can keep you alive against the Depths lists. Or a Tundra, opening up plays that include Swords, Daze, Stifle, Etc. We love flexibility!

Due to the nature of Cycling, you are also able to launch this play at any time. Missing a land drop? No longer, play on the opponents end step and nothing has changed, this even pairs well with a Brainstorm! Plains Cycling makes you search and shuffle, get rid of those bad cards you no longer need, thin the deck slightly and draw fresh.

So far: We have a creature that replaces itself with a card you will need to play the game such as Tundra, or a basic Plains, so you can't be Wasteland-ed, while thinning the deck to increase your odds of drawing fuel, and shuffles your deck after the search which pairs well with Brainstorm.

Now that you have Plains Cycled, you have set yourself up for the Eternalize ability. You now have a 4/4 Black Zombie Flapper for 2WW lined up to strike fear into your opponent. Although this is a sorcery speed ability, its just that, an ability which means that your opponent can only interact with this play with a Stifle effect making their Force of Will, Counterspell, etc. mean nothing to you or your dragon.

In the end, this card is not a powerhouse; it's not a card that says "I win the game". Rather this card allows for interesting deck design, it increases the number of lines that your deck will be capable of executing; presents a threat while making sure you have correct mana, and pairs well with the iconic Brainstorm.

If you think your deck can benefit from this I encourage you to test it, see what works, I believe 1 to 2 are correct for a deck that would want this. But test away, make your next magic deck something you are proud of an happy with.

Until next time,

Magic Musings