Goblin Bidding and Ravager Affinity are similar in many ways: explosive starts, cheap, expendable creatures, and strong finishes. They are aggro in its finest form.

They are also essentially block decks. This shouldn't necessarily come as any real surprise. A block has unique mechanics and design elements that make for distinctive card interactions. The bottom line is that due to internal synergies within each deck, it is very difficult for an"outside" card to break the starting line-up.

But Aggro is Aggro, whether you play it with Onslaught or play it with Mirrodin. While there may be a lack of interaction between these blocks, the Goblin and Ravager approach and strategy are similar. The game, at least in the aggro form, plays the same.

This is not true in Limited.

The notion of the difference between Onslaught and Mirrodin came to me after the sixth or seventh week of Mirrodin drafting. I was losing. Constantly. Now I'm no expert at drafting. I read a lot and am not hesitant to ask questions after a lost match about my build and draft choices. I'll even open a spare booster pack and ask my fellow spell slingers to rank the cards by pick order. The bottom line is that through a lot of work, I became a capable drafter in Onslaught. What was the problem translating my game to Mirrodin?

The key to winning at Limited is creature combat. And the Onslaught path to victorious creature combat was combat tricks. What was missing from Mirrodin that was abundant in Onslaught? Combat Tricks!

I counted a total of thirty Combat Tricks in Mirrodin. Meanwhile Onslaught has ninety-eight avenues of Combat Trickery. That's almost a full one out of three cards capable of changing the effect of creature combat. Onslaught has more than three times the potential of Combat Trickery than Mirrodin. No wonder Limited games of the two sets are different.

The quintessential play in Onslaught was the turn 3 morph. Most likely, your opponent would respond with a morph of their own. On turn 4, you untap, drop a land, and swing. What a helpless situation for the defender. The key to Onslaught was using a tempo advantage to maintain and apply pressure.

Mirrodin, on the other hand, doesn't have a"signature" three-mana spell. Rather, Mirrodin tends to bracket itself around the three-drop. Play a turn 2 Myr/Talisman; then accelerate into power. And therein, I believe, lies the difference between limited Onslaught and limited Mirrodin: Tempo and Tricks versus Acceleration and Power.

Obviously, these concepts vary depending on the colors you play and the available card pool. Regardless, the set design of Onslaught and Mirrodin are different. The limited games play differently. And for me at least, awareness of the design differences has given me a better opportunity of advancing into later rounds.

This article will give my definition of what is and is not a Combat Trick, a breakdown of the types of Combat Tricks, and a full listing of all spells that qualify.

Before getting too far ahead of myself, how about if I lay out the definition?

Combat Trick: A non-visually apparent action taken to effect combat after an opponent has committed to an attacking or blocking plan.

Believe it or not, assembling the list of cards that qualify as a Combat Trick was pretty fun. It was kind of like a puzzle. I'd review the list and wonder,"Why do I have Fade from Memory as a Combat Trick?" (It is.) I must admit that the count has changed from time to time. I accept the fact that my list may have a mistake or two. But the point remains the same: Onslaught and Mirrodin are designed for different approaches to Limited play.

Category 1 - Basic and Conditionally Basic Combat Tricks
Suppose I attack with a Barkhide Mauler into an opponent's two Daru Cavaliers. In the absence of a Combat Trick, a double block by the soldiers will kill my beast. However either Onslaught's Vitality Charm or Mirrodin's Battlegrowth will have a growth effect on the Mauler sufficient for it to prevail in creature combat. That is, the Barkhide Mauler lives; the two Daru Cavaliers die. This is a Basic Combat Trick.

Sometimes a Combat Trick can be conditional. Using the previous combat example, suppose either the Vitality Charm or Battlegrowth was replaced with Wirewood Pride. Wirewood Pride could save the Barkhide Mauler. However, its effect is conditional on there being one or more elves in play.

Within Onslaught, there were thirty-eight basic or conditionally basic Combat Tricks. Mirrodin has a total of thirty.

Category 2 - Morph Tricks
Onslaught, defined by the Morph mechanic, has thirty-three creatures that create a Combat Trick effect by unmorphing. Usually, they simply get bigger.

Note that the Combat Trick of the Snarling Undorak occurs when you unmorph it. If you've got extra mana for an additional growth effect, fine, have at it. However, once the Snarling Undorak has been unmorphed, it cannot be classified as a Combat Trick in subsequent turns. The combat effect of a face-up Snarling Undorak is visually apparent. Any capable opponent that can count mana should know its effect before entering combat.

Category 3 - Tribal Enabler Tricks
A Tribal Enabler is a creature that, in and of itself, is not a Combat Trick. However, Tribal Enablers allow other creatures to have a Combat Trick effect. This would be clearer with an example.

Suppose I begin my turn with a Heedless One in play, while my opponent has a Goblin Grappler. I cast a morph and attack with the 1/1 elf. Opponent blocks with his 1/1 goblin. Absent any Combat Tricks, the two creatures will trade.

Basic Combat Trick: Vitality Charm
Conditional Combat Trick: Wirewood Pride
Morph Combat Trick: Patron of the Wild
Tribal Enabler Trick: Birchlore Rangers

By itself, the Birchlore Rangers is not a Combat Trick. However, it became a Combat Trick, as would any elf morph, by the growth effect it has on the Heedless One. Within Onslaught, there are ten Tribal Enabler Tricks, while there are none in Mirrodin.

Category 4 - Miscellaneous Enabler Tricks
Miscellaneous Enabler Tricks basically account for lands and effects due to cycling.

For example, Goblin Burrows is a Miscellaneous Enabler. Suppose I begin my turn with a 2/2 morph, Goblin Burrows, and lots of mana. I attack with my morph, and my opponent chooses to block with a Barkhide Mauler. I unmorph what turns out to be a Skirk Commando. Activating Goblin Burrows will increase the power of Skirk Commando to four. This allows it to trade with opponent's Barkhide Mauler.

The Combat Trick was in the action of unmorphing the Skirk Commando after my opponent made the commitment of blocking with his Barkhide Mauler. If the Commando was face-up prior to declaration of blockers, then Goblin Burrows would not have enabled a Combat Trick. In this case, the opponent would know in advance of blocking that his superior creature would probably die in combat. That's not a Combat Trick; just a choice to be made based on the game state.

Another example of a Miscellaneous Enabler Trick is Lightning Rift. Lightning Rift enables any card with cycling to be a potential Combat Trick. Forgotten Cave is not a Combat Trick in and of itself. Forgotten Cave is a Combat Trick when Lightning Rift enables it to become one. Within Onslaught there are seventeen Miscellaneous Enabler Tricks. There are none in Mirrodin.

Now for the list of Combat Tricks:

Mirrodin
White Spells
Awe Strike
Raise the Alarm
Razor Barrier
Altar's Light
Soul Nova
Tempest of Light
Roar of the Kha
Second Sunrise

Blue Spells
Disarm
Dream's Grip
Regress

Black Spells
Irradiate
Terror
Wail of the Nim
Betrayal of Flesh

Red Spells
Electrostatic Bolt
Fists of the Anvil
Incite War
Shatter
Forge Armor
Grab the Reins
Shrapnel Blast

Green Spells
Battlegrowth
Predator's Strike
Turn to Dust

Artifacts
Galvanic Key
Leonin Bladetrap
Needlebug
Scale of Chiss-Goria
Tooth of Chiss-Goria

Onslaught
White Spells
Defensive Maneuvers
Demystify
Piety Charm
Unified Strike
Akroma's Blessing
Aura Extraction
Chain of Silence
Inspirit
Sunfire Balm
Oblation
Daru Healer
Daru Lancer
Foothill Guide
Gravel Slinger
Crude Rampart
Ironfist Crusher
Exalter Angel
Aven Brigadier
Shieldmage Elder
Doubtless One
Catapult Squad
Catapult Master
Astral Slide

Blue Spells
Backslide
Trickery Charm
Chain of Vapor
Artificial Evolution
Standardize
Read the Runes
Aphetto Alchemist
Ascending Aven
Riptide Biologist
Mistform Shrieker
Nameless One
Quicksilver Dragon
Riptide Shapeshifter
Fleeting Aven

Black Spells
Cruel Revival
Misery Charm
Swat
Death Pulse
Fade from Memory
Feeding Frenzy
Shade's Breath
Smother
Fallen Cleric
Spined Basher
Boneknitter
Thrashing Mudspawn
Grinning Demon
Silent Specter
Soulless One
Withering Hex

Red Spells
Break Open
Fever Charm
Pinpoint Avalanche
Shock
Solar Blast
Chain of Plasma
Slice and Dice
Starstorm
Battering Craghorn
Charging Slateback
Goblin Taskmaster
Skittish Valesk
Snapping Thragg
Blistering Firecat
Sparksmith
Reckless One
Lightning Rift
Words of War

Green Spells
Naturalize
Vitality Charm
Wirewood Pride
Primal Boost
Run Wild
Tribal Unity
Treespring Lorian
Serpentine Basilisk
Snarling Undorak
Spitting Gourna
Towering Baloth
Venomspout Brackus
Hystrodon
Krosan Colossus
Voice in the Woods
Heedless One
Invigorating Boom
Words of Wilding
Symbiotic Elf
Symbiotic Beast
Symbiotic Wurm

Artifacts/Lands
Doom Cannon
Tribal Golem
Cryptic Gateway
Goblin Burrows
Daru Encampment
Contested Cliffs

In closing, I should tie up a few loose ends. First of all, how exactly does Fade from Memory rate as a Combat Trick? Suppose there is a Soulless One on the board and zombies in the graveyard. Fade from Memory can remove one of the zombies from the graveyard, thus reducing by one the power and toughness of Soulless One. Has this play ever been made in the history of Magic? Probably not. But a poll counts all the votes... even the ones from stupid people.

And Choking Tethers is not a Combat Trick? How exactly does that work? Well, by definition, a Combat Trick is an action taken after a commitment to attacking or blocking is made. Once attackers and blockers have been declared, you're not going to be playing Choking Tethers. Similarly, neither Wave of Indifference nor Dirge of Dread are Combat Tricks. Granted many a game has been won based on casting Choking Tethers to clear your opponent's blockers from combat. That doesn't make it a Combat Trick. [Disagree! Your definition of combat tricks should include spells that affect your opponent's ability to block, even if they occur outside of combat. Besides, if you want to get picky, both of those spells can be cast/cycled inside the attack step before blockers are declared in order to have an effect.- Knut]

If there are any other questions regarding spells that should or shouldn't have made the list, or if you want to debate Choking Tethers, please message me in the forums.

Finally, I'd like to thank Troy"The Shaman" Miller for helping develop the concept; although he won't give up on Choking Tethers as a Combat Trick.

Dan Murphy
narniabug@hotmail.com