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Ah, tribal decks. I have thoughts of Wellwishers and Goblin Piledrivers dancing about and Patron Wizards making me vomit with mana denial enemas. The mighty Soulless One dancing through unabated thanks to the Zombie Trailblazer.
However, as I did not collect cards between Invasion and Onslaught, many of these are beyond me. However, Kamigawa gives us spirits - those synergistic little beasties with a greater history than one block. Scattered throughout the history of Magic one can find spirits as far back as Nether Shadow from Alpha. Today I shall provide two decks, one built to the online Extended format, and one from the beginning, both adhering to the "one-third of the deck is creatures of a chosen tribe" rule without using the banned cards of Engineered Plague, Tsabo's Decree, Endemic Plague, Circle of Solace, Peer Pressure, and Unnatural Selection.
In Online Extended, we get to go as far back as Invasion. A quick gatherer search turns up only a handful of spirits outside Kamigawa Block - but those are doozies. We have the Muses from Legions and the Phantoms from Judgement. Sadly the mighty Spiritmonger is a beast, not a spirit. (Apparently he just mongs them - The Ferrett) Knowing we'll have to deal with goblins and elves, a good spirit foundation is the Windborn Muse. With the white declaration, we are best to pair this with green for easy mana access as well as the Phantoms. Filling in with Kamigawa, here's G/W tribal spirits.
| Spirit Tribal Featured by Edd Black on 2005-06-05 | ||
Creatures 4 Dripping-Tongue Zubera 4 Ghost-Lit Redeemer 4 Phantom Nantuko 1 Phantom Nishoba 4 Phantom Nomad 4 Silent-Chant Zubera 4 Windborn Muse Enchantments 4 Ghostly Prison |
Legendary Creatures 3 Celestial Kirin Sorceries 4 Kodama's Reach Basic Lands 7 Forest 9 Plains Lands 4 Brushland 4 Windswept Heath | Stats: Average mana: 1.65 Average creature mana cost: 2.68 Average creature power: 1.04 Average creature toughness: 1.46 Deck Composition: Lands: 13.33% Basic Lands: 26.67% Enchantments: 6.67% Creatures: 41.67% Sorceries: 6.67% Legendary Creatures: 5.00% |
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| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
The premise is to prison your opponents to give you time to beat them down in the air. The Celestial Kirin, in combination with the Zuberas, gives you a way to remove Wellwishers and Goblin Piledrivers. The Ghost-Lit Redeemer clears all the nasty little one drops. The Phantom Nishoba is the home run.
That's official Tribal. Playing locally and socially, however, we get to use some of the more fun spirits and tricks.
The first that caught my eye was Harbinger of Night. Look him up. Yes, his Oracle text reads, "During your upkeep, give goblin, wizard, and elf decks a good rectal exam, up to the back of the opposing player's teeth." He forces other players to hold back cards until he kills himself... but if we have Ashen-Skin Zuberas in play, you're durned either way.
Add Nether Shadow, who will keep coming back no matter what they do, and Harbinger of Night starts to form the foundation of a solid spirit deck. This time we'll splash blue for card drawing and a modicum of control, and it may look like this.
| Spirit Tribal Featured by Edd Black on 2005-06-05 | ||
Creatures 4 Ashen-Skin Zubera 4 Floating-Dream Zubera 4 Harbinger of Night 4 Nether Shadow Instants 4 Aether Burst 4 Echoing Decay 4 Rend Flesh 2 Sickening Shoal Legendary Creatures 1 Keiga, the Tide Star 2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner 1 Spirit of the Night |
Sorceries 2 Eradicate Basic Lands 4 Island 10 Swamp Lands 4 Polluted Delta 4 Underground Sea Legendary Lands 2 Volrath's Stronghold | Stats: Average mana: 1.68 Average creature mana cost: 3.05 Average creature power: 1.75 Average creature toughness: 2.30 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 23.33% Instants: 23.33% Legendary Creatures: 6.67% Creatures: 26.67% Lands: 13.33% Legendary Lands: 3.33% Sorceries: 3.33% |
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| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
We see how the creatures interact: The Volrath's Strongholds are the worst nightmare in combination with Harbinger of Night. Eradicates vanquish the oft mentioned rectal pains Goblin Piledriver/Sharpshooter and Wellwisher. They can be pitched to Sickening Shoals against Zombies. The Aether Burst builds up and, unlike Echoing Truth, send different creatures home. The Rend Fleshes should be useful everywhere (and in the mirror, they feed the Shoals).
Tune in next Friday, when I come in second yet again.
-Edd
Kanoot delivers his 2005 Regionals Preview, complete with the usual snarky commentary, cheesecake, and predicted metagame percentages. As if that weren't enough,... 
