Category Archives: New Cards

Is Alpine Houndmaster the Best Card in M21?

Alpine Houndmaster marries Grizzly Bears and Ancestral Recall

What Makes Alpine Houndmaster Worth Talking About?

Alpine Houndmaster would certainly be an odd “best card in the set” if in fact it ended up the best card in the set. But this one is kind of like an Ancestral Recall.

You play the Alpine Houndmaster and get one 2/2 for two mana (1); but in addition you get to search up Alpine Watchdog (2) and Igneous Cur (3)… So three-for-one!

While potentially powerful, the Houndmaster demands a steep deck building cost. In addition to playing [presumably] four copies of Alpine Houndmaster, you have to play some copies of both of the other two to get maximum value. On the high end you might spend twelve slots in your deck for four copies of each of the three two drops; but at a minimum, you need to play at least one Alpine Watchdog and at least one Igneous Cur in order to get paid off by even the first Houndmaster.

Therefore the question can only be answered if we know if we want to actually pay the deck building cost. Or, would you want to play any of the other two at all?

Houndmaster’s Best Friend: Alpine Watchdog

Alpine Watchdog

Mike points out that twenty years ago, back when he was a kind of White Weenie player, he had to pay a full WW for a 2/2 creature with vigilance. For 1W he only got a white Grizzly Bears.

Not that he actually paid for either thanks to Ramosian Sergeant or anything:

Alpine Watchdog is an update to the same. You probably wouldn’t be stuffing either Fresh Volunteers or Steadfast Guard into your sixty without Rebel support; but Patrick points out that people weren’t really into 1/1 flyers for two mana either… Except Squadron Hawk proved everybody wrong.

Good doggy.

Houndmaster’s (other) Best Friend: Igneous Cur

Igneous Cur

Igneous Cur is probably better than Alpine Watchdog all other things held equal.

If you’re stuck casting it on turn two… It’s still a better body — tapped out — than a Runaway Steam-Kin. It will trade for the Stomp half of Bonecrusher Giant or Shock like any other x/2 early.

Later in the game, it’s a legitimate threat. Igneous Cur and a ton of untapped mana is like a Fireball waiting to splatter the opponent; or at the very least, trade up with a more expensive creature. Not bad at all, being on the bonus.

The Best of the Rest

Is Alpine Houndmaster going to prove to be the best card of Core Set 2021? We’ll have to wait and see… But both hosts are cheering for it.

Potential payoffs include Rin and Seri, Inseparable; while Feline Sovereign can be a rival or teammate (probably with Rin and Seri, Inseparable).

Mike’s old school favorite Faith’s Fetters might be better than ever; while the even more ancient evil, spiteful Kaervek finally makes his way to a cardboard depiction.

All that and more in this week’s (slightly belated) podcast!

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Terror of the Peaks – Fair… and Not!

Who’s Afraid of Terror of the Peaks?

Terror of the Peaks

… Maybe you should be!

Let’s break it down…

Terror of the Peaks is a 5/4 flying Dragon for five mana. It’s comparable to many other Constructed-playable Dragons.

But unlike many of them, it has a built-in defensive capability. They might get your Terror of the Peaks, but you give them a Lava Spike back.

If they don’t deal with it, though? Terror of the Peaks can be a true terror for the opponent! Not only will it not take long to kill the opponent “naturally” with five power and evasion, other considerations can close the kill super fast… Or even in just one turn.

For the “fair” take on Terror of the Peaks, look for this card to show up in Gruul as a straight swap to start.

What if You Weirdly Had this Spider?

Sporeweb Weaver

“I didn’t like Gruul Spellbreaker anyway.”

-Mike

Sporeweb Weaver is a pretty good creature on the merits. It’s a tenacious defender for its cost; and can put the big hurt on both Mono-Blue and Mono-Red Aggro.

So… Pretty good card; devastating in some matchups.

But how does this card go with Terror of the Peaks?

Putting it All Together

No one read that text box, please!

So you’ve got a Terror of the Peaks on the battlefield.

You play Sporeweb Spider. Ting for one!

Now you play a Selfless Savior. Trigger your Dragon, targeting Sporeweb Spider. In response, sacrifice Selfless Savior to give Sporeweb Spider indestructible.

Now when you finish resolving the ting on Sporeweb Spider, you can make a 1/1 and get other triggers. The new creature also gives you a Terror of the Peaks trigger. Target your 1/4 again; rinse and repeat.

Since your Spider is indestructible, you can do this as much as you want, gain essentially infinite life, make infinite power, and finish off with a point on the opponent.

In sum: Terror of the Peaks is great fair… And might be something else entirely when infinite or unfair.

The Best of the Rest…

  • All of the M21 Planeswalkers
  • Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
  • and more!

Check it out:

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Llanowar Visionary is a Titan

Baneslayer Angels.

Mulldrifters.

Titans.

Discuss.

Michael and Patrick discuss this quite a bit, mostly around large creatures (often Baneslayers) from the upcoming Core Set 2021. But you know what is, and unambiguously, a Titan?

Llanowar Visionary

Llanowar Visionary is a Titan

Mike has already drawn a line in the M21 sand: Llanowar Visionary is his favorite card; and he is unlikely to be moved from this point.

Drawing a card is approximately as powerful as searching your library for a basic land. Any longtime readers or listeners of Mike know his adoration for cards like Borderland Ranger. Borderland Ranger was a 2/2 creature for three mana that searched up a basic. No one wanted to trade with it.

Llanowar Visionary is largely an upgraded Borderland Ranger. In the early game drawing a card will often be worse than searching up a basic land (but will usually be better late game). The difference? The body on Llanowar Visionary actually matters!

That’s the difference between a Mulldrifter like Borderland Ranger and a Titan. Both cards generate value immediately; pointing a Doom Blade at either is going to put you at least a little behind. But while Borderland Ranger is a boring 2/2 after its 187, Llanowar Visionary is an awesome mana Elf and the opponent will often be overjoyed to Doom Blade one.

Basri’s Lieutenant or Baneslayer Angel?

Which is better?

We’ll actually get to find out, given that Baneslayer Angel — the original best large creature of all time — is back in Standard! This will allow for direct comparison to Basri’s Lieutenant:

Basri’s Lieutenant

Protection from multicolored might be a big game. Stonecoil Serpent certainly helped carve its niche on the back of that ability in Pioneer.

While it says 3/4 in the bottom-right, Basri’s Lieutenant is a de facto 4/5.

But maybe most of all, Basri’s Lieutenant can produce 2/2 Knight creature tokens when certain of your creatures die. It can defy removal and set up any number of profitable trades, therefore.

But will it be better than Baneslayer?

Stay tuned…

How to Play with Peer into the Abyss

Peer into the Abyss

This is a tough one to assess.

Do you target yourself?

When exactly do you target the opponent?

Some pretty good thoughts and one mondo combo one click away:

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Zirda, the Dawnwaker is Banned in Legacy!

Zirda, the Dawnwaker is one of two Companions to be banned before Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is even legal on paper

“I don’t think they banned too many Companions.”

-Patrick

We knew from the outset that Lurrus of the Dream-Den was going to be really good with Black Lotus. All you had to do was draw your Black Lotus and you could deploy your Lurrus of the Dream-Den on the first turn and re-play the Lotus! The ban in Vintage was thus eminently predictable.

Interestingly, Vintage usually tries to deal with overpowered cards via restriction (rather than banning). But restriction under the current rules doesn’t stop Lurrus from being played as a Companion… So ban it is!

Joining Lurrus on the Legacy banned list is fellow Companion Zirda, the Dawnwaker. Zirda is abusively powerful with mana artifacts with “untap” abilities like Grim Monolith and Basalt Monolith.

Zirda, the Dawnwaker

There’s lots of ways that Zirda can break; here’s a simple implementation:

  • Turn two, play your second land and a Grim Monolith
  • Turn three, float 3 — and don’t even hit your land drop. Tap your original two lands, using one of the 3 Monolith mana to cast Zirda; you have 2 floating… Which, with Zirda in play, is exactly what you need to untap the Grim Monolith.
  • You can tap for 3, use 2 to untap the Monolith, and essentially make infinite colorless mana on turn three.
Zirda, the Dawnwaker enables infinite mana with Grim Monolith

Zirda wasn’t a problem yet: But the writing was on the wall.

All the Companions! All the Standard!

  • Solar Blaze is the hot new tech in 80-card Jeskai. Unlike with Shatter the Sky, your Agent of Treachery and Yorion, Sky Nomad will live through the ‘Blaze
  • Heraldic Banner helps cast Obosh, the Preypiercer in Mono-Red! Accelerating three-to-five is less exciting than decelerating three-to-one to leave up Shock mana or pop out another hasty one drop.
  • Bolas’s Citadel replaces Casualties of War in Jund Sacrifice. Now that no one is playing permanents, six mana Desert Twisters are less exciting than forcing the opponent to take ten.
  • Lurrus of the Dream-Den enables a Bogles-like White Weenie deck that violates the spirit of the law… and the opponent’s life total.
  • The four-color Neoform deck that Patrick is afraid might be busted…
  • And the critical difference between Mono-Green Ramp and Simic Mutate.

Give it a listen:

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Keruga, the Macrosage is Defining and Dominating Standard!

Don’t get us wrong… Keruga, the Macrosage is defining Standard right now

But… Have You Seen That Pioneer Yorion, Sky Nomad Deck?

Demonic Pact
Yorion, Sky Nomad + Demonic Pact…
What a combo!

Patrick and MichaelJ are pretty much in love with a Doom Foretold deck that runs Demonic Pact in Pioneer.

You can get value with the Pact, and sacrifice it to Doom Foretold before it costs you the game. Or for that matter, just Emblem up Gideon of the Trials to prevent losing on the spot.

Of course playing especially multiple copies of Demonic Pact or other exciting reset-able permanents and then slamming Yorion, Sky Nomad makes for a really exciting strategy. Of course you’re ALWAYS going to be able to play Yorion on demand (provided you’ve hit five land drops)… So the downside risk on Demonic Pact is a lot lower than it has historically been in previous formats.

People are exploring the new seven mana Ultimatum cycle from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths… But this card gives you basically a delayed blast Ultimatum for only four.

Now for our scheduled Keruga, the Macrosage admiration session…

Keruga in the Fires of Invention deck was absolutely dominant last week.

Not only did it occupy 15 of the Top 32 slots in the MTGO Super Qualifier, it took both first and second place, posted five of the Top 8, and claimed six of the seven wins in that Top 8.

Jund?

Faeries?

Even StoneBlade?

Mike could not remember so dominant a performance in Standard.

It did not take long for Patrick to remind him:

You TRY to forget…

The Best of the Rest…

  • Simic Mutate Linear
  • Jeskai Cycling… Also Linear (and how to improve it)
  • Heraldic Banner in Rakdos Sacrifice
  • And more!

Check it out now:

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We’re Bananas for Kogla, the Titan Ape

Kogla, the Titan Ape

Kogla, the Titan Ape is Our Kind of Desert Twister

Mike has been joking forever how much we like six mana Desert Twisters.

  • Ugin, the Ineffable provides a Desert Twister-like effect (at least against colored permanents) that will leave you a one loyalty Planeswalker.
  • Garruk, Cursed Huntsman does you one better… two different ways! Still for six mana, you get to destroy a permanent (as long as it’s a creature) AND draw a card AND are even left with one more loyalty than Ugin!
  • Casualties of War is like five Desert Twisters! (at least as long as your opponent cooperates by playing enough permanents) Fail state? Regular-old Desert Twister.

Kogla, the Titan Ape fights a creature when it enters the battlefield. As long as that creature has toughness of seven — seven! — or less, Kogla will destroy it. Even if Kogla doesn’t survive, that’s six mana to destroy a key permanent.

Desert.

Twister.

… But it’s so much more! Like, whenever the opponent’s creature isn’t big enough to win, you get to keep a sweet 7/6.

THAT ALSO HAS OTHER ABILITIES!

Don’t be surprised to see Kogla, the Titan Ape in powered formats.

Because it destroys an artifact or enchantment every time it swings, Kogla might see play in formats where people play powerful artifacts and enchantments.

Might that be surprising to see? Maybe a little bit. But don’t sleep on how useful this Legendary Ape might be. Not only does it provide potential card advantage, a 7/6 is a pretty fast way to win.

They even gave it an activated ability for Zirda, the Dawnwalker

Kogla even has an activated ability!

If a huge body… and a sick fight ability… and a persistent nuisance for expensive permanents weren’t good enough…

You can even play Kogla with Zirda!

But that’s not all!

  • Since you will often be playing Kogla with Nissa, Who Shakes the World already in play, you’ll often have 1G open to defend it.
  • Besides which… There is no shortage of humans you might want to return to your hand. Examples include everything from Charming Prince (which works coming or going) to Agent of Treachery

Lots and lots of other cards, brewing ideas, and good fun from Ikoria: Lair of the Behemoths, of course. Give Kogla, the Titan Ape a little love now:

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Lurrus of the Dream-Den Sure is Good with Black Lotus

Lurrus of the Dream-Den
is one exciting Companion!

Go with us here… Lurrus of the Dream-Den in Vintage

Imagine for a moment you look at your opening hand and see a Black Lotus.

You know… Basically the best ever

So the way Companion works is that if you can cast the Lurrus… You can cast the Lurrus. You don’t have to draw it; it’s just there waiting for you.

Thus, if you have a Black Lotus in your opening hand, you can simply play it, sacrifice it for BBB (or WWW if you please) and make yourself a Cat Nightmare.

Is a 3/2 Lifelink that impressive on the first turn in Vintage? It’s certainly not “bad” per se… I mean it’s probably better than the odd Slash Panther… But that’s not the point.

Why? Because of this clause:

During each of your turns, you may cast one permanent spell with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard.

What’s in your graveyard? A Black Lotus! So you can immediately re-play the iconic artifact. And not just that, starting on turn two, presuming you make your land drop, you will have access to at least eight mana.

  • Land #1 (1)
  • Land #2 (2)
  • Sacrifice Black Lotus (5)
  • Re-play and Black Lotus with your Legendary Cat Nightmare; sacrifice it (8)

Boom!

Also you can get in for the 23-17 advantage. hash tag lifelink

Lurrus of the Dream-Den in Modern

Now obviously this is not a card most players think about for Vintage, first.

Not surprisingly, Mike’s mind went straight to his favorite: The Modern Red Deck. Though he has recently switched allegiance to Mono-Red, Mike was the innovator of not playing Wild Nacatl, the early advancer of Inspiring Vantage, and even dipped his toe in the Bump in the Night waters. Lurrus can obviously work in the sideboard of either a Boros or a Rakdos Red Deck.

What makes this card so compelling is that it requires very little compromise in terms of main deck design. Not “no” compromise, maybe… But little. Look at Mike’s most recent build of Mono-Red:

This deck has three mana cards like Light Up the Stage, Skewer the Critics, and Rift Bolt… But not only are they all essentially one mana spells… They are all non-permanent spells! Besides a lone Bonecrusher Giant main deck, all the other permanents are one mana. Even when Mike would bring in Eidolon of the Great Revel, that card would happily fit the Companion cost of Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

But Lurrus [in Modern, that is…We saw how different it would be in Vintage] is more than a virtual eighth card in a Red Deck’s opener, that might save it from mana flood, or buy some life points in a fiery mirror. There is that “each of your turns” line. What do you think about this?

Queue permanent spell with converted mana cost 2 or less.

Seal of Fire isn’t quite Black Lotus… But it’s not a bad get from your graveyard, turn after turn after turn.

A Boros Burn deck isn’t the only way to exploit Lurrus; just the most obvious out the gate.

Tons and Tons more from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Little Lurrus isn’t even quite a “behemoth” … But it’s a pretty good illustration of Ikoria mechanic Companion.

We talk tons of Mutate, where you might want to stick your odd Brokkos, Apex of Forever, and why you don’t want to go too tall, whatever the incentives in this week’s podcast! Check it out now:

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The Masterful Design of Dream Trawler

Dream Trawler is a wonderfully designed Magic: The Gathering card

Dream Trawler… Is Mike’s favorite card from Theros Beyond Death

Now that the whole set has been revealed, Mike has a slam dunk favorite card… And it’s this big sphinx!

  • Flying, Lifelink
  • Discard a card: Dream Trawler gains hexproof until end of turn. Tap it.

A large flyer with five toughness and lifelink is reminiscent of Baneslayer Angel. This card actually costs a little more (6 instead of 5 mana). But this one offers a little something extra: It doesn’t die to Doom Blade.

“Protect the Queen”

One of the most celebrated blue strategies of all time is “protect the queen”. Rather than using your permission to stop threats like a Draw-Go deck; or to force through your combo like Trix or High Tide… Protect the Queen seeks to use permission to defend a key creature.

Usually the creature — often a large flyer — will win the game in just a few swings. You don’t need enough permission to stop everything… Just enough to keep the creature alive for as long as it takes to win. Finite and finite.

There are two advantages for protecting this sphinx.

First, you can use any card to give Dream Trawler hexproof. You don’t need to draw into particular permission.

Secondly, and subtly, you can consistently attack. Because of its draw-aligned ability (and lifelink) Dream Trawler is better on offense than defense. The trick is, if the opponent lets you attack, your Dream Trawler will already be tapped. If they use removal mid-combat, you can discard without losing the damage.

Everything to Every One

Dream Trawler has a little something from all the great and iconic control finishers from over the years. Like evrything from Serra Angel on down, it’s a large flyer… Six mana instead of five, maybe, but similar.

While it doesn’t have vigilance, Dream Trawler’s lifelink allows it to play offense and defense simultaneously. Its hexproof makes protecting it easier.

But how about those other two lines?

  • Whenever you draw a card, Dream Trawler gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
  • Whenever Dream Trawler attacks, draw a card.

It’s got some power-buffing like Psychatog.

It draws cards when attacking like Ophidian.

But even more than its nostalgia; even more than its improvement on just dying to Doom Blade; Dream Trawler is an elegantly designed card. Come listen to Patrick’s breakdown on how this creature is a masterwork:

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There’s Lots to Love with Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Meet Thassa, Deep-Dwelling from Theros Beyond Death:

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Let’s break down Thassa’s abilities…

Indestructible is great! Especially if you turn Thassa “on” with devotion to blue of five or greater, a 6/5 indestructible for four mana deserves a second look.

“3U: Tap another target creature” though…

Probably too much mana.

If you’re in for Thassa, you’re probably in for that exile ability.

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling as a “personal Howling Mine”

One of the most obvious ways to play Thassa, Deep-Dwelling is with a lot of 187 creatures. If you play any creatures with abilities that trigger when they enter the battlefield, Thassa represents an easy way to build card advantage over time.

It does what it does without any incremental mana requirements every turn.

If you just choose and play creatures that generate card advantage, this God will help you generate lots of card advantage! What about…

Thassa’s Oracle from Theros Beyond Death

Thassa’s Oracle is a perfect MichaelJ card! Highly reminiscent of his beloved Omenspeaker, Thassa’s Oracle is even more on-brand with Thassa’s devotion to blue theme. It’s a card that can help you to set up your early game and blocks effectively for its casting cost. And, of course… Sometimes it just wins the game!

Arcanist’s Owl from Throne of Eldraine

How about this Bird?

Arcanist’s Owl is a good “engine” card. Meaning, once it’s already on the battlefield, Thassa can profitably exile it for more and more card advantage. Not for nothing, but the Owl also increases your devotion to blue by four (despite being an artifact). Interestingly, because it is an artifact, it can be a good target for other deck manipulation. For example, Emry, Lurker of the Loch is an early game creature you might want to play. Emry is another nice setup spell, and a worthy exile target itself.

Both these cards make nice friends with Meteor Golem!

Meteor Golem

It’s not going to be easy to lose once you start “Blinking” Meteor Golems every turn.

Best of the Rest

  • Which Elder Giant is best… And why?
  • How do you counter the un-counter-able?
  • Rating Interventions
  • All the ways you might want to UNLEASH THE KRAKEN

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All the Ways to Play (and break!) Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista deals infinite damage (and gains infinite life!)

As if we didn’t get enough out of Walking Ballista…

This combination is great because it can be played in not only Modern (and larger formats) but Pioneer!

The simple procedure:

  • Play out Heliod, Sun-Crowned on three mana
  • Play Walking Ballista for four mana (possibly the next turn) for a “2/2” Walking Ballista (two +1/+1 counters)
  • On turn five you can use Heliod’s ability to give Walking Ballista lifelink, then remove a counter from the Ballista to get the party started! Remove a +1/+1 counter to deal a point of damage; lifelink means you’ll gain a point of life… Meaning you can put another +1/+1 counter on the Ballista.

This is awesome, of course; but you’ll have to be a little careful. For example you can’t go three-into-four cleanly. A 1/1 Walking Ballista will die before it can get the next counter.

That said, there are ways to be faster otherwise; for example…

Mortal’s Ardor

Mortal’s Ardor saves you a ton of mana. For instance you can play Heliod on turn three and then a 1/1 Walking Ballista on turn four. Follow up with a Mortal’s Ardor for only one more mana and you will also make the Ballista a 2/2.

With this three-card combination you don’t have to use 1W and Heliod to turn on the Ballista. Mortal’s Ardor fulfills both size and lifelink requirements… Heliod’s job in this case is “just” to pay off infinite +1/+1 counters.

“Holy Tooth and Nail, Batman!”

-Mike

If You’re Interested in Another Color… Can we Interest You in Green?

Collected Company is a potential option because Heliod, Sun-Crowned is a creature card whether it’s a creature on the battlefield.

From the perspective of Collective Company, Heliod is priced to move. Walking Ballista, however, is not. But…

Spike Feeder

At least in Modern, Collected Company into Heliod and Spike Feeder doesn’t even require any more mana. Just remove a +1/+1 counter from Spike Feeder to gain two life, and Heliod will pay it back. You don’t kill the opponent outright, but gaining infinite life will usually win the game.

Builds including these cards can also exploit cards like Archangel of Thune for redundancy.

“Soul Sisters” Can Break Heliod, Sun-Crowned in a Variety of Formats

There are no shortage of Soul Warden effects.

In Theros Beyond Death alone, we’ve got…

Daxos, Blessed by the Sun

If you’re on the Mono-White Beatdown train, you can just play Daxos and Walking Ballista in the same turn (which will trigger Daxos, and therefore Heliod, and therefore grow Walking Ballista) to again save mana.

The advantages of this build are many. Daxos and Heliod are highly synergistic coming from the whole “Devotion to White” angle. You probably have great fundamental expectation against decks like Mono-Red or Boros Burn. And a legitimate Plan B attack strategy.

While it lacks the infinite damage (and infinite life gain) of the Walking Ballista builds in Pioneer or Modern, a Standard deck can play these two cards together… With a great likelihood of actually turning Heliod into a monstrous 5/5 for three.

And lots, lots more…

Example:

… What’s better, Birth of Meletis or Wall of Omens?

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