Declaration in Stone

Oh no! Patrick accuses Mike of keeping the true secrets of Declaration in Stone from him [last week]. How was Patrick to know that you could target token creatures???

It turns out Declaration in Stone is nuanced and has a lot of things going on for it. If you target a token — especially if there are lots of tokens of a similar type (say Goblin tokens) — Declaration in Stone is the best. You get to “Maelstrom Pulse” all those tokens and the opponent doesn’t get to draw any cards / investigate no matter how many tokens you smacked down.

Of course it is great against big tokens too!

Some kind of Marit Lage? Whatever 20/20… Declaration in Stone has you covered (and your opponent is still not going to be able to investigate).

But here’s the thing:

It’s not like the normal state of Declaration in Stone against a regular creature [card] is going to be the opponent drawing three or something…

… But that is actually awesome!

If the opponent is drawing lots of cards from a single Declaration in Stone that means that you got “a bunch of zero mana Forks” on your already awesome card that you wanted to play. That means that you are doing it.

And so begins quite a unique episode of Top Level Podcast.

Patrick and Mike go over several cards from the upcoming set Shadows Over Innistrad, from blue bounce spells to weird red Reverberate re-dos, to a variety of red aggro cards. But our hosts also go over some evergreen deck design philosophy. What were the secret best cards of Patrick’s Pro Tour Journey Into Nyx winning deck? What kinds of cards is Mike enthusiastic about? And finally — finally — Patrick cracks the code of a Mike Flores A+

Plus, it turns out that Mike doesn’t know what a werewolf is :/

All this, and an oddly musical opening sequence in “Declaration in Stone is Revolutionary”:

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“Nahiri, the Harbinger is not obviously super powerful.”
-Mike

“I think Nahiri, the Harbinger is obviously super powerful.”
-Patrick

Well then.

What’s going on with this new Shadows Over Innistrad Planeswalker?

[+2]: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.

Nahiri’s [+2] is great because it helps her reach her [-8] so quickly. Note: You don’t even have to discard a card! You can “just” give Nahiri two additional loyalty if you want to.

That said, Nahiri is actively great with cards like Fiery Temper. Nahiri is “actively great” with Madness!

Patrick notes that if you want to play a gigantic (if hard-to-cast) monster for Nahiri’s [-8] ability you might accidentally draw it. Luckily Nahiri’s [+2] ability lets you discard the aforementioned uncastable monster, cashing it in for an action card.

[-2]: Exile target enchantment, tapped artifact, or tapped creature.

Nahiri’s middle ability is actually her bread and butter. The obvious thing here is that Nahiri can act basically as two Utter Ends for the cost of one. Nahiri gives players the ability to deal with enchantments and artifacts without having to dedicate specific slots.

Of course, you can just play Nahiri, use her [-2] the first time, and be left with a powerful Planeswalker!

[-8]: Search your library for an artifact or creature card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library. It gains haste. Return it to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.

Nahiri’s “ultimate” is not the kind of ability that automatically wins the game. However there is a lot of play here. Nahiri can level up very quickly due to her [+2] ability. This can let you cash in your four mana planeswalker for a much more powerful finisher… While saving mana.

Nahiri’s most obvious playmate at this point might be Dragonlord Atarka. She drops Atarka the first time (letting you get that trigger), lets you slam in for 8 (i.e. “infinity” on its side) and then even bounces Atarka back to your hand so you can re-play it for additional 187 action!

Powerful, certainly… But obviously super powerful, or not obviously super powerful?

Check out where Patrick and Michael land on this Planeswalker (and several new Shadows Over Innistrad cards) on “Nahiri, the Harbinger Bonus Episode!”

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“It isn’t the way you draw seven cards most of the time, but for six mana, Epiphany at the Drownyard draws the same number of cards as Sphinx’s Revelation.”
-Patrick

Epiphany at the Drownyard is our exclusive Shadows Over Innistrad preview card!

Epiphany at the Drownyard is a powerful and flexible new way to draw cards come Shadows Over Innistrad. It has great flexibility because you can burn it for two (or even just one) mana… Or tap tons of lands into it for a tremendous long game impact.

… But how much mana should you pour into your Epiphany at the Drownyard?

• x=0 : You’re not going to be doing this very often, but when x=0 Epiphany at the Drownyard costs exactly U. This off-label tactic might be exactly how you use your last mana to flip over your Thing in the Ice on the cheap. This is not “card disadvantage” when Awoken Horror sends a ton of token creatures home, and the tactical advantage might be worth more than a card anyway, depending on board position.
• x=1 : You’re basically cycling the card for two mana. When x=1 you can put one card into each of the two piles; so you’re basically trading Epiphany at the Drownyard for one of the next two cards in your deck (it replaces itself) but you are also putting two cards into the graveyard, which can be helpful with Jace, delve cards, etc.
• x=2 : When x=2 you are flipping over three total cards. All other things being held equal you will put one card in one pile and two cards in the other. Most of the time you will be getting the same number of cards as when x=1, but you will have more control. For example, say there is a card you really want… If you put it against two cards the opponent will have to evaluate whether one good card is worth two other cards.
• x=3 : When x=3 Epiphany at the Drownyard costs the same as Inpsiration, Fact or Fiction, and of course Steam Augury. It is very comparable to Steam Augury at this point… You will end up with two cards for four mana in most cases; the difference here is that you will be putting only two additional cards into the graveyard instead of three.
• x=4 : This iteration of Epiphany at the Drownyard will be a relatively weak step up from when x=3. You will probably only get two cards (still); and Epiphany at the Drownyard will be exactly a Steam Augury but for one more mana.
• x=5 : As Patrick said, at six mana you will get the same number of cards as when the mighty Sphinx’s Revelation cost six. That’s kind of a big deal! At any point after this Epiphany at the Drownyard will look increasingly potent.

Remember: You can always do weird things like putting all the cards in one pile. The opponent will have to choose between giving you a ton of cards in hand… Or a ton of cards in graveyard (which might be what you want).

Epiphany at the Drownyard is actually a pretty cool Dragon tutor. Try putting Dragonloard Silumgar in one pile and Haven of the Spirit Dragon in the other. End result: You get your Dragonlord 😉

Lots and lots more from Michael and Patrick on this new card (and other topics) in “Epiphany at the Drownyard”!

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Want to hear more from Top Level Podcast?

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

• Next Level Deckbuilding at Star City Games
• Next Level Magic at Star City Games

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

• The Official Miser’s Guide (OMG) at Star City Games
• Deckade at Amazon.com