Randomly M:TG

A Magic: The Gathering Blog

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Quick Take: White-bordered Cards

White-bordered (wb) cards play just as well as black-bordered (bb) ones. Any number of people who came to Magic after Tenth Edition (Sum 2007) may never have seen a wb card in person. For old-timers, though, white borders had pretty much always been a regular part of the game, if less sexy or cool than their black siblings. Even if you want to save up for the bb version(s) of a specific card, there’s no reason to deprive yourself of the chance to play with it in the meantime, and if you’re on a budget, it can make better sense simply to buy the wb version instead. For example, Concordant Crossroads currently averages $50.79 in bb but only $13.40 in wb — in other words, you can buy four copies of the Chronicles (Sum 1995) version for just a tad more than the cost of one bb copy from Legends (Spr 1994). Likewise, with many other older cards.

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Budget 101: Mana Drain

At MTGRandom we define Casual Constructed as any format for which players construct decks out of the cards they happen to own or can easily obtain. Our group allows every Magic card ever printed, including silver-bordered ones, but we encourage each playgroup to make its own decisions about which cards to restrict or ban. The primary goal, after all, is for everyone to have fun.

Unless they pull X or Y out of a pack, most casual players have few, if any, opportunities to acquire more powerful and/or expensive cards, and even when they do, their wallets may not allow for it. Budget 101 highlights our suggested substitutes for cards that are out of reach for one reason or another. If having fun is the point, then we need the right cards to build the best decks possible ...

  Mana Drain has been a chase card for years, and like most overpowered cards, its value has spiked even more since Wizards began actively supporting Commander in 2011. Even so, there’s no denying its efficiency; it has the same casting cost as Counterspell while yielding additional upside, something Control decks in particular will always want. It also epitomizes Blue’s penchant for producing colorless mana — see Apprentice Wizard et al. — and having that mana during your next main phase is a huge plus. Mana Drain’s current market price is $214.72.

Budget players have two options for Mana Drain-like effects. The first is Scattering Stroke, which carries a fairer mana cost (i.e. four mana, not two) for a counterspell that also offers the chance for mana production. The need to win a clash seems fairly steep at first; however, scry is now an evergreen mechanic, Ponder-type spells are frequent, if not routine, and cards like Sensei’s Divining Top make stacking your library easy enough in any event. All in all, the folks here at MTGRandom are happy to play Stroke in the right deck. Its current market price is $0.17.

The second option is Plasm Capture. For four mana, it allows you to generate mana in any combination of colors, and to do so without hoops, but it doesn't easily fit into a traditional Control deck. Moreover, it forces you to use that extra mana during only your precombat main phase, which may or may not suit your deck’s overall tempo. That said, as Green-Blue fans, we enjoy seeing this card in our hand, particularly given how easy it is to cast earlier than turn four via Green mana ramping. Plasm Capture’s current market price is $0.38.

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Keyword Spotlight: Double Strike

>> 702.4. Double Strike

>> 702.4a Double strike is a static ability that modifies the rules for the combat damage step. (See rule 510, “Combat Damage Step.”)

>> 702.4b If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike as the combat damage step begins, the only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are those with first strike or double strike. After that step, instead of proceeding to the end of combat step, the phase gets a second combat damage step. The only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are the remaining attackers and blockers that had neither first strike nor double strike as the first combat damage step began, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have double strike. After that step, the phase proceeds to the end of combat step.

>> 702.4c Removing double strike from a creature during the first combat damage step will stop it from assigning combat damage in the second combat damage step.

>> 702.4d Giving double strike to a creature with first strike after it has already dealt combat damage in the first combat damage step will allow the creature to assign combat damage in the second combat damage step.

>> 702.4e Multiple instances of double strike on the same creature are redundant.

• Prior to Legions (Wtr 2003), Magic R&D had taken multiple cracks at double strike, but it was Wayne Alward’s submission for the first “You Make the Card” contest that finally yielded an elegant solution. While it didn’t suit a Green creature like Forgotten Ancient, it was a substantial combat upgrade for White and Red.

• Legions was an all-creature set, so it seems only appropriate that the first two cards to have double strike — Ridgetop Raptor and Rockshard Elemental — appeared there. The first White creatures to feature it were Fifth Dawn’s Raksha Golden Cub and Skyhunter Skirmisher. As of Hour of Devastation (Sum 2017), double strike appears on 100 unique cards.

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Greed (LEG)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Sunday, 9 July 2017, and the winner is … Greed, a Rare card from Legends (LEG) (Spr 1994).

Greed is the first in a long line of Black enchantments that allow players to exchange life for cards (i.e. card engines). And while it may not be a household name among current players, high-profile successors like Necropotence and Yawgmoth’s Bargain most probably are. Ironically, those two cards in particular deviate further from R&D’s current baseline than Greed, which is an inexpensive substitute for casual players who don’t want to spend $5-10 for a single copy of Necro or Bargain. It's also more splashable, if less efficient, allowing for easier inclusion in two- and three-color decks. Greed has earned 4 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $0.51 [Commander 2013].

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Kor Spiritdancer (ROE)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Wednesday, 5 July 2017, and the winner is … Kor Spiritdancer (Kdancer), a Rare card from Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE) (Spr 2010).

Since equipment debuted in Mirrodin (Fall 2003), Humans and Kor have had the closest mechanical ties to that subtype. But for long-time players, Kdancer (and its later pal Graceblade Artisan) illustrates another strong connection, one between White and aura-counting — see Kitsune Mystic, Daybreak Coronet, and Eidolon of Countless Battles for additional examples. As important, in a world of auras with totem armor, Kdancer becomes especially powerful, extra buff and immune to many of the two-for-one scenarios that plague enchanted creatures. Kor Spiritdancer has earned 4 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $7.04 [Planechase Anthology].

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Cool blog!! F O LL OW ING! :D :D

Thanks. Glad you’re enjoying it. Hope to update once or twice a week now that it’s officially summer! All the best ...

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Keyword Spotlight: Defender

>> 702.3. Defender

>> 702.3a Defender is a static ability.

>> 702.3b A creature with defender can’t attack.

>> 702.3c Multiple instances of defender on the same creature are redundant.

• In Limited Edition Alpha (Sum 1993), defender existed only as rules text embedded in the Wall creature type. It was, in fact, the defining characteristic of Wall creatures. Which is noteworthy per se, as the only other creature type to ever include rules as part of its identity was the later Legend (aka Legendary Creature).

• Champions of Kamigawa (Fall 2004) introduced defender as a proper keyword — as well as the supertype Legendary for creatures — a change that opened up considerable design space. All Walls, by definition, have defender, but the keyword can also appear on non-Wall creatures like Gargoyle Sentinel and Trestle Troll. As of Amonkhet (Spr 2017), defender appears on 127 unique non-Wall cards.

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Roc of Kher Ridges (LEA)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Sunday, 4 June 2017, and the winner is … Roc of Kher Ridges (Roc), a Rare card from Limited Edition Alpha (LEA) (Sum 1993).

Red almost never gets Birds — only seven mono-Red ones ever — and with the exception of Dragons and Phoenixes, it almost never gets a large flyer. In that light, Roc is super-efficient for a 3/3 french-vanilla creature. Because it didn’t fit Red’s evolving color pie, however, it wasn’t reprinted after Revised Edition (Spr 1994). Future Sight (Spr 2007) offered an illuminating callback to Roc in the form of Scourge of Kher Ridges — a massive Dragon with flying and two activated abilities that shows how powerful, if infrequent, modern Red’s flyers can be. Roc of Kher Ridges has earned 3-1/2 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $0.42 [Revised Edition].

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Budget 101: Fetch Lands

At MTGRandom we define Casual Constructed as any format for which players construct decks out of the cards they happen to own or can easily obtain. Our group allows every Magic card ever printed, including silver-bordered ones, but we encourage each playgroup to make its own decisions about which cards to restrict or ban. The primary goal, after all, is for everyone to have fun.

Unless they pull X or Y out of a pack, most casual players have few, if any, opportunities to acquire more powerful and/or expensive cards, and even when they do, their wallets may not allow for it. Budget 101 highlights our suggested substitutes for cards that are out of reach for one reason or another. If having fun is the point, then we need the right cards to build the best decks possible ...

         Both cycles of fetch lands have been reprinted twice; however, due both to their rarity and to the popularity of the Modern and Commander formats, they continue to garner a premium that many players can’t or wouldn’t pay. Luckily, two budget options are available for those who want to play something equivalent, if not quite as powerful.

Mirage (Fall 1996) included the allied fetches that inspired Onslaught’s cycle. They enter the battlefield tapped (rather than require a life payment), so they are one turn slower, but in most Casual formats, they are just as useful (and powerful) as their ONS cousins – even fetching nonbasic lands with basic land types. As important, they average $1.25 per copy.

Similarly, Shards of Alara's Panoramas can proxy Zendikar's enemy cycle. They cost to activate, find only basic lands, and put the fetched lands onto the battlefield tapped (rather than require a life payment), but again, the end result in most Casual formats is the same – especially since they also tap for , can be sacrificed immediately, and double as allied fetches. The Panoramas average $0.25 per copy.

          Card NameMarket PriceCard NameMarket PriceArid Mesa$28.12Naya Panorama$0.24Bloodstained Mire$23.75Rocky Tar Pit$0.45Flooded Strand$20.70Flood Plain$0.94Marsh Flats$28.78Esper Panorama$0.25Misty Rainforest$31.93Bant Panorama$0.22Polluted Delta$25.01Bad River$1.92Scalding Tarn$53.55Grixis Panorama$0.21Verdant Catacombs$47.94Jund Panorama$0.22Windswept Heath$34.22Grasslands$0.67Wooded Foothills$21.93Mountain Valley$1.79

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Consume Spirit (MRD)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Wednesday, 24 May 2017, and the winner is … Consume Spirit (ConSpirit), a Common card from Mirrodin (MRD) (Fall 2003).

Limited Edition Alpha (Sum 1993) included the Common Black card Drain Life (DLife); after appearing in five core sets and Mirage (Fall 1996), it was summarily retired. While beloved by certain players, DLife’s rules rider was at best cumbersome — never mind how unfun it is to face a Common of that caliber. Six-and-a-half years later, the card was rejiggered, renamed, and printed in Mirrodin (Fall 2003). ConSpirit has since appeared in four core sets and three supplemental products (all at Uncommon rarity), much to the delight of Casual Constructed players everywhere, especially Black-loving griefers. Consume Spirit has earned 3 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $0.10 [Magic 2012].

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Keyword Spotlight: Deathtouch

>> 702.2. Deathtouch

>> 702.2a Deathtouch is a static ability.

>> 702.2b A creature with toughness greater than 0 that’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action. See rule 704.

>> 702.2c Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage for the purposes of determining if a proposed combat damage assignment is valid, regardless of that creature’s toughness. See rules 510.1c–d.

>> 702.2d The deathtouch rules function no matter what zone an object with deathtouch deals damage from.

>> 702.2e If an object changes zones before an effect causes it to deal damage, its last known information is used to determine whether it had deathtouch.

>> 702.2f Multiple instances of deathtouch on the same object are redundant.

• The first creatures with an ability akin to deathtouch — destruction triggered by blocking/being blocked — were Cockatrice and Thicket Basilisk, both of which debuted in Limited Edition Alpha (Sum 1993). Other examples include Infernal Medusa and Venomous Dragonfly.

• The ability was reworked — destruction triggered by damage dealt — and officially keyworded in Future Sight (Spr 2007) on the card Thornweald Archer. As of Amonkhet (Spr 2017), deathtouch appears on 145 unique cards.

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Wild Swing (SHM)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Sunday, 14 May 2017, and the winner is … Wild Swing (WSwing), an Uncommon card from Shadowmoor (SHM) (Spr 2008).

WSwing epitomizes two of Red’s defining traits: randomness and non-enchantment removal. The effect is undoubtedly more versatile than Demolish or Violent Impact, but because it’s random, there’s no telling what might happen upon resolution. Many Casual Constructed players and most Tammies will appreciate the end result because of the suspense involved, but it’s unlikely to warm the hearts of Johnnies or Spikes for that very same reason. Additionally, WSwing gave R&D a backdoor way to allow Red land destruction without seeming too much the killjoy. Wild Swing has earned 2-1/2 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $0.10 [Shadowmoor].

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Spell Blast (LEA)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Wednesday, 3 May 2017, and the winner is … Spell Blast (SBlast), a Common card from Limited Edition Alpha (LEA) (Sum 1993).

SBlast illustrates Richard Garfield’s habit of bringing his mathematics background into his designs. One of Magic’s first X (variable) spells, a tradition that now has such a long pedigree, SBlast scales to match the larger mana bases available in the mid- to late game. Less crippling than the unconditional Counterspell, SBlast has nonetheless been reprinted multiple times — as has its “twin” Power Sink, another X spell, this one of the taxing variety. Spell Blast has earned 2 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $0.04 [Magic 2014].

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Robe of Mirrors (EXO)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Wednesday, 26 April 2017, and the winner is … Robe of Mirrors (Robe), a Common card from Exodus (EXO) (Spr 1998).

Robe is a decent card in Limited or Casual Constructed, but its true strength lies in its flavor — as if, a la the proverbial House of Mirrors, the enchanted creature can't be pinned down. Shroud has since been replaced by hexproof — players didn’t like being unable to target their own permanents — but both keywords remain firmly in Blue’s part of the color pie. As important, Robe’s flavor text illustrates the humor that often popped up in earlier Magic sets. Robe of Mirrors has earned 3 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $0.13 [Tenth Edition].

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Benthic Djinn (MIR)

The Gatherer Magic Card Database has given us our random card for Sunday, 23 April 2017, and the winner is ... Benthic Djinn (BenDjinn), a Rare card from Mirage (MIR) (Fall 1996).

In 1996 BenDjinn would’ve been considered a decent Blue-Black finisher. But even as a mix-and-match gold card (Blue plus, Black minus), a 5/3 islandwalker for 2UB is below par — compare it, for example, with Wydwen, the Biting Gale, or even the mono-Black Juzám Djinn. BenDjinn’s drawback ("At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 2 life.”) is extra punishing, especially in an environment where non-creature spells were more powerful. Benthic Djinn has earned 2-1/2 Stars on Gatherer, and its market price is $0.19 [Mirage].