I finally found a way to write a normal post, so here’s part 4, Jund

The first combo will do the same thing Maelstrom Pulse does, with the bonus of giving you a 3/2 creature. (And destroying a land, if you want. But only one permanent no matter what.)

There are, of course, other advantages to this combo. With this, you can play a blue or white card in a deck with no blue or white sources. (You would probably be better off using nonbasics for that, but you can do it.) You can return anything to your hand with Master Transmuter, although you can still only take back an artifact. (While cards are in yor hand, they aren’t artifacts, they’re omly colorless) You can return a land and bring down a Darksteel collosus. (I just realised, this combo would be better off in Esper, and in Conflux. But it’s here because of  Vithian Renegades, and Conflux is over, and Esper is over for Alara Reborn.)

The second combo applies to Jund, which it should. It will give you a victory very quickly if your creature survives the attck, and if not, you can try again with another creature.

With both equiptments attached to the same creature, and no tapped mana, you give a creature +4/+2 and trample, than use the rest of your mana to pay the X cost on Deamonspine Whip. If you have 3 mana, and attach this to a creature with power 0, it’s already 10 damage. But you’re obviously going to attach it to something bigger. (Unless you have a lust to attack with a Stuffy Doll…) If you attach it to a 5-power or greater creature, it’s an attack for the win. (And that’s assuming 3 mana…) If you also use Spellbreaker Behemoth, your opponent better have some countermagic or Path to Exile.

The next combo will punish your opponent for using nonbasic lands. You do not want to be on the receiving end of this if you have a large amount of nonbasics. (If you know you’re playing against a deck without nonbasics, don’t use a deck with this combo. That or put this combo on a sideboard, but it’s more of a casual combo, where there are no sideboards.)

If your opponent is running a lot of nonbasics, then that combo can just be mean. If you put it into a deck that usually has lots of little creatures it can be devastating. If you have the mana to play Wound reflection after you’ve played Mercadia’s Downfall, you could easily sneak in extra damage.

I’ll post part 5, Naya, hopefully on Thursday. (I’m busy tomorrow.) If not, I will write it by the end of Saturday.

Part 1 – Bant

Part 2 – Esper

Today, I have part 3 (Grixis) for you.

Yes, this combo does use white, and I do know that. But I don’t want my part 6 to steal all of the combos from the other shards. What this does is give you lots of 2/2 zombies with lifelink, then gives you the ability to use those to… Well, I’ll just show you:

This combo can kill your opponent in 2 turns, if used the right way. In fact, if you use it with the combo from part 2, it most likely will kill in 2 turns. If you’re against a deck that gains life, it will take longer, but it will still win through milling.

The second combo will give lots of mill. In fact, there aren’t many combos in Grixis, so mill might be the best way to go with a Grixis combo deck. In fact, one of the cards was used in the last combo.

This doesn’t produce any effect other than milling, but it will probably get rid of at least 20 cards. If you can repeat a few times, you will win. Anyway, you’ll want to play Mind Funeral, use the second effect of Lich Lord of Unx, and then attack with Nemesis of Reason.

Grixis hasn’t had many fun combos. I know that neither of those are very good. Jund and Naya will be much better, and the cross shard combos will be the best.

Part 1 -Bant

Combo #1: 3 turns in a row without your opponent

This combo involves Sen Triplets and Mindslaver:

If you play those side by side, and sacrifice Mindslaver, you can play the cards your opponent would play on your turn, control his/her whole turn on his/her turn, then repeat on your turn. If you want to be sure of Sen Triplets getting out and staying out, you can use Mindslaver to see if your opponent has any removal or burn, and if s/he does play it on one of their creatures, then play Sen Triplets with a good chance of it staying out. What if you want to get Mindslaver out before turn 6?

What if you want to use Mindslaver again?

Use Master Transmuter to return this to your hand and put it into play, then return Mindslaver to your hand. Next turn, it can come back out.

Combo 2: Invincible Creatures

As long as your creatures are artifacts, this combo will prevent all damage from being dealt to any of them.

This worke even better if you have 2 Master Transmuters. As long as you keep one mana untapped, you can tap Master Transmuter to return Ethersworn Sheildmage to your hand, then back to play. If you have 2, or have an Unbender Tine, you can do it twice, meaning your artifact creatures are safe from anything other than cards that either destroy them or remove them from the game.

Combo 3: Destroy your opponent’s creatures for WB

This combo will allow you to get rid of every single one of your opponent’s creatures, and there’s not much s/he could do about it. It only costs 2 mana, and as an extra bonus every single one of your creatures becomes a 2/2.

If you want to stay in standard, you can use Godhead of Awe:
 

This combo can quickly turn the game in your favor on turn 5, with you attacking with a bunch of 2/2s, and all of your opponent’s creatures dead. (Humility does strange things if you turn noncreature permanents into creatures. For example, if you turn a land into a creature with Humility out, the land will no longer be able to tap for mana as long as its a creature. Also, if you turn Humility itself into a creature, it makes itself lose all abilities, and I don’t even know what that will do.)

It’s Zach in the new set alot of creatures gain haste!

#5 is

Igneous Pouncer. It is great to throw one or two into the deck so when the opponent is tapped out or has no creatures just pop this guy into play and swing for 5 OR the more likly just cycle him to get yourself a despratly needed land. This guy is great for limited even though he costs a bit much…

Next for #4 is

Alot of poeple are going to be annoyed that I put this in as #4 because its a screwed up akroma angel of wrath! The this is its a 6/6 for a messed up 8 and doent have protection from the main removal color black. Dont get me wronge this is great for playing limited but if your not I’d seggest you go get an angel of wrath.

#3 in the countdown is:

Just plainly who doesnt like a 3/4 that gives evrything haste? Its a 3/4 for 4 mana=good its not monocolored=not so good But it gives your apoclyps hydra haste and all your other goody good jund cards like your dragons haste. It makes for a fun combonation!

#2 is

No matter what this card will do a great deal of damage to your opponent and lets say it gets into a decking battle this card really holds itself up to high expectations….

Now for #1————-

Most people are probobly saying wait? WHAT? but heres the thing, who doesnt like attacking with a 3/2 on turn four and getting a free extra spell. lets say this could be a collosal might? 7 damage turn 4?  is someone else smelling victory or is it just me? (yes this is a great combo for limited yes I used it and Yes I won the games I used it in)

Collossal might:

I was looking around to see what I should  post about…

I looked on the Magic the Gathering website and saw a post there about cascade and how it was developed. Click here to see

I read that and it gave me the idea to post about my cascade deck.

Just like in the post I made it so that I almost always get the card I want. I have 3 bloodbraid elfs in the deck arguably the best card in the set:

I got 3 malestrum nexesus:

And a bounch of other cascade cards. If you didn’t know you can give a card Cascade 2 or even 4! Its insane what you can do with cascade. And because all cards in the deck exept for 6 two drops (terminate and the grand Leach thing) I always get what I want. Like in the MAgic the gathering post (offical website) I love using:

Cascading into:

Cascading into:

And then Killing two of calvins creatures and blocking ther third.

Also with four:

They usually start the cascades…

I dont get to use the spinx the much it costs way to much but if I do use it i usually hallarouliously (<- spelled wrong) cascade into an enlisted wurm:

Thats all for now sorry I havnt been posting verry much I couldnt find anything to post!

This is the first post in the Alara Reborn combos series. This was originally called strategy and combos, but it’s mostly combos. Normally, I would organize the sections into 7 sections – one for each color and one for multicolored and one for artifacts. If I did it that way this time, there would be 6 very boring posts and one post that included everything. So, for Alara Reborn, I’m organizing them by shard, with one extra post for cross shard combos. (For example a combo using one card from Jund and one from Bant.) I’d usually go in WUBRG order, so this time I’ll go in Bant – Esper – Grixis – Jund – Naya order. The shards do have enough uniqueness that I can still organize it this way. Each post will have 1-3 different combos, starting today with Bant.

Combo: Attack for 48 with one creature on turn 5

All you need for this combo are 3 cards: Finest Hour, Rafiq of the Many, and Rhox Charger:

First turn, play a mana accel creature with exalted. (Noble Hierarch – Google it if you don’t know what it is, I’m not including an image because it’s not essential, it just makes the combo one turn faster.)  On turn 2, another creature with exalted. (Any 2 or 3 drop will work, but I suggest Ardent Plea – it gives you a chance to get another exalted card and even more bonuses. Turn 3, play Rafiq of the Many, which will give your big creature double strike . Turn 4, play Rhox Charger. Turn 5, play Finest Hour and attack with Rhox Charger. Now, you’re attacking for 48 and trample, if you got out a creature with exalted through Ardent Plea. Rhox Charger is a 3/3. This is because Rhox Charger will get 6 exalted bonuses (Noble Hierarch, Ardent Plea, creature Ardent Plea gave you, Rafiq of the Many, Finest Hour, Rhox Charger) making it a 9/9.  It also gains Double Strike, meaning you are attacking for 18. Finest Hour untaps it and gives you another cobat step. Fortunately, exalted bonuses don’t wear off until the end of the turn, so it’s still a 9/9. Now, it’s attacking alone again, so the 6 exalted bonuses are applied again, making it a 15/15. Now, you’re attacking for 30. (It would be fun to have double double strike, but that’s not how it works – although a card can have double lifelink, double cascade, or double exalted (or more than double, if you can)) This damage is all dealt with trample, so unless your opponent has 29 toughness worth of creatures, you win. (Actually, it takes at least a 9/10 because of the timing of the attacks. If you’re ever facing this combo, if you have a 9/X with first strike, you’ll live through it because the first half of the double strike damage is dealt at the same time as first strike damage, with the second half being dealt with normal combat damage. You’ll have an extra combat step either way, though, because Finest Hour’s ability triggers as soon as you declare your attack.)

Today is the day after the release parties ended, so now Alara Reborn is in stores. I bought a fat pack at the release party on Saturday, Zach bought a booster box. (He managed to pull only 3 mythics out of it.) We first played in the normal sealed flight, and I opened an Elspeth, Knight Errant in the Shards of Alara booster. The problem was, there weren’t enough Bant cards, so when I made my deck, there weren’t enough good uncommons and rares. (I got good cards, but scattered throughout the colors. I didn’t have enough mana fixing for a 5 color deck, and I decided Bant was the best option.) I went 2-3 because of this, and Zach also went 2-3. After the sealed tournament, we both played in a booster draft. This was single elimination, and I made another Bant deck. It was a good deck, with a lot of flying cards and exalted, but I faced a deck that had 3 Ember Weavers, and my removal was not enough to deal with them, so I lost. Zach fought the same deck in the second round, and lost to it also.

In the fat pack, I opened two Maelstrom Nexuses and 6 good rares. I traded the nexuses to Zach so that he could make a cascade deck, which he’ll probably talk about in a post of his own. In Zach’s booster box, he opened a Maelstrom Pulse and a few other good rares. (He actually didn’t get a lot of good cards, for a booster box.)

I’ll post tomorrow with the second part of my set review, and soon after that with my Alara Reborn strategy and combos post. (Which will not be organized the same as it had been.)

This review is divided into two parts: The review of the set as a whole, and the top and bottom 10 cards in Alara Reborn. This post is shorter, but the second part will not talk about Alara Reborn, only specific cards in it. (Well, I guess it will compare 20 cards to the rest.)

As a whole, Alara Reborn is a great set. It is all multicolor, which means everything can be much more powerful. The entire Shards of Alara block was designed around this one set. Alara Reborn has only one five colored card, Maelstrom Nexus, but that only makes it better. There are powerhouses like Maelstrom Pulse, great reprints like Meddling Mage, uncommons like Behemoth Sledge that will win limited games, and commons like Quasali Pridemage, which destroys Esper and anyone using that shard. These combined with comboing cards like Glory of Warfare and Knotvine Palidin make this set the best in a long time. The borderposts are great mana fixing cards, and they are easy to get out (although they die to cards like Qusali Pridemage, which can’t kill lands). Even the worst cards in this set are good cards, which would not be true for most sets in the same way. There are some cards that will kill you if they aren’t countered or dealt with in some other way, like Sen Triplets and Slave of Bolas. So, on a scale of one to ten, Alara Reborn rates a 9. Don’t be disappointed that it’s not a 10, it does have its own flaws, but it is still a great set. Come back in the next few days to see the best and worst cards in the set.

After this post, every card will be known. I have 4 uncommons and one common. Here is the full visual ARB spoiler. Missing most card arts, unfortunatly, but it’s fine other than that. If you’ve downloaded older versions, you’re definately going to want to download this one. It fixes some major problems with the earlier versions (including mana cost problems, name problems, and even a few creatures that didn’t have a P/T!, not to mention all the cards that you will have missed on the older versions.). Finally, remember to comment on the set as a whole and individual cards. Negative feedback is not a problem, say what you really think.

Let’s get the common over with first, Ethersworn Shieldmage:

This is a good card in an Esper deck. For 3 mana, you can make all of your creatures inveunerable. It can also block a ceature out of nowhere, that your oponent thought you couldn’t block.

Next is an uncomon, Vengeful Rebirth:

This is another very good uncommon. It can kill a creature or your opponent if they don’t have enough life, and if your opponent isn’t dead, you get back your Cruel Ultimatum that you can then use to kill them again.

Next is another uncommon, Dragon Appeasement:

This is a skip your draw step card, which is one type of card that I don’t like. Even though this is a good card in the right deck, I don’t like it because it forces you to skip your draw step.

Next, another uncommon, Etherwrought Page:

At first glance, I thought this was an instant. Nope! It’s an artifact that says “At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one” This lets you reject your draw if you don’t like it, and take another card from your deck. It can also give you that last point of damage that you need to kill your opponent. It can put unearth creatures right into the graveyard, where you will unearth it and it will attack that turn. It can also get you out of a tight situation where you need the extra life.

The last card of the day, and the last unspoiled card of Alara Reborn, is this card, Sangrite Backlash:

This card is best on a big, indestructible creature. If you put it on a creature that’s too small, the creature might die. If you put it on a creature that isn’t indestructible, it could be dealt lethal damage more easily. If you don’t have an indestructible creature, on a big creature, especially one with trample, it can give you the few extra points you need to win the game.

That’s it for Alara Reborn! Remember to come back Monday for my set review, and to check back a few times a week for a while after Alara Reborn comes out for my normal non spoiler posts. (And Zach will start posting again.) (And of course I will be spoiling cards again for M10 in June-July, if you like my spoilers.) Also remember to comment about the set as a whole or individual cards. (I know if you’ve been reading the post, you know this already, it’s just a reminder.) Finally, good luck at the prerelease and the release parties.

I have 11 more cards today, all common. I don’t have time to review them, so I’m just going to post all 11. Tomorrow, expecet the last 5 cards, 4 uncommons and 1 common. (Tomorrow will be a better preview day than today, because even though there will only be half as many cards, they will be mostly uncommons.)

Also, please comment, even if you leave negative comments. I will be writing a set review either tomorrow or after the prerelease, so that might also be in tomorrow’s post. Feel free to comment on your opinions or other comments.

One more note: The reminder text for Cascade is wrong. After you look for the spell, you put the cards on the bottom in a random order, not in any order.

My favorite of these is Stormcaller’s Boon, but none of them are great cards. They are actually some of the worst in the set, but they are still good. That says something about Alara Reborn. It’s a realy good set.