Hello and welcome to the first installment of my new weekly column. If your immediate response is, “But you already write weekly articles,” then maybe you need to go back and read Monday's announcement. I am now the new owner of a bright, shiny, virginal column of joy.

It's like a freshly fallen field of snow, and I get to make the first footprint.

There's a lot to do, and not enough time to do it. Therefore, we need to get cracking. My charge for this column, from good Ted of the Knutsons before his departure, was:

“Casual Players Love Abe (Work through fun casual decks/multiplayer/whatever.  Do not be afraid to revisit old, cool combos because the vast majority of our readers were not reading you back in the day.)”

This is a direct cut and paste from the e-mail.

That's my charge. The problem is knowing what to do with it. Soon I'll be writing my regular Five Color review of Guildpact cards, so that will slide in nicely. After that, it's probably time for the next iteration of the Underused Hall of Fame, and that will slot right in.

That's all I have planned out right now. I am going to need your help to make this column not just survive, but thrive. “How can I help?” you might ask. Simple. I need column ideas, and I need them now. After you read this article, point your mouse and click your way into the forums, and respond. Share your ideas, people.

I still have a few issues to work out. I've not yet named my column. Should I do so now? “Casual Players Love Abe” seems a bit pretentious to me.

There are several ways to name Magic columns:

1). The Card Name: This is an old school column name. It was cool, back in the day, and you had columns like “Mages' Contest #54: Fear the Burn.” I really like the whole Mage theme. I think that Wandering Mage has been taken. Maybe Oath of Mages is available. Mage's Guile is neat. You could also try Wizard's School or Wizard Mentor. I'm sure that there are plenty of other options, and not all even need to reflect mages or wizards.

2). The Pun, or Double Entendre: Personally, this just isn't my cup of tea. I'm not really a punishing kind of guy. An example in use, over at MagicTheGathering.com, is Limited Information. My favorite Internet writer, Anthony Alongi, used to title his column Casual Friday, which serves as another example. This just really isn't my style, so I'm going to skip the rest.

3). The Explanation: This column title tells you everything the column is about. For example, Jay's column over at MagicTheGathering.com is entitled, “Building on a Budget.” That's a pretty obvious title. The problem with this is that my column is about, well... anything casual. Multiplayer, card reviews, odd deck challenges, alternate formats, and more. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and that's pretty hard to express in a simple column title.

4). The Cool Name. A pox on Jason Chapman for already taking the column title “Through the Portal.” That's a great column title. My second favorite column title, and the name of many things in my life, is “The Dragon's Den.” Unfortunately, DeQuan Watson has already nabbed that one. The only good title I can think of is:

“Abe's Asteroid Techno Palace.”

I don't think that StarCityGames.com will go for that, though.

Therefore, I'm stuck. In addition to pitching in and suggesting article ideas, I would love to hear some thoughts on the whole column title issue.

Now, let's actually have an article. Fair enough?

The Official Article

I never write about cards that have previewed. Not once in my writing history have I decided to write about a card from an expansion set that was previewed prior to release. Never. Ever.

This seems as good a time as any to break that rule.

Recently, Wizards previewed a Guildpact card that, quite frankly, floats my ubiquitous boat to new heights. (Or, in B Boone County, WV, when the rest of you say “floats my boat,” we say “blows up your skirt.” Therefore, the previous statement reads, “blows up my ubiquitous skirt to new heights.” That certainly gives the statement more drama, I think.)

I am writing this before the official spoiler is released, so I am in the dark. When you read this, there'll be all sorts of great cards from Guildpact released and I doubt that the Djinn will get the attention that it deserves.

For those of you still confused, allow me to express the magnificence that is the Djinn Illuminatus.

Let's go over all the great points about the Djinn.

1). It's a creature. Unlike, say, Mirari, the Djinn actually has an immediate effect on the game state. As a 3/5 flying creature, it can help the team in a variety of ways. It's big enough to block those annoying four power (or less) creatures, survives Flametongue Kavu damage, blocks flyers, swings for a respectable three damage, and it also looks intimidating. If you play something great, like Mirari, you'll have to wait a turn while everybody piles on the attacks in an attempt to kill you before you do something too broken. The Djinn Illuminatus, on the other hand, helps to keep you alive until you untap. This does make it vulnerable to creature kill, but in this case, that's more than an acceptable trade-off for a 3/5 flying body.

2). Again and again and again. You can keep the Replication up as long as you have mana. This is obviously good whenever you have lots of resources available. Blue/Red, in case you didn't know, loves having lots of mana. In fact, Blue likes having lots and lots of mana. Therefore, you can outflank an opponent's defenses quickly by Replicating your answers or your threats.

3). It uses the casting cost of the card. A Mirari can only copy once, but each activation costs three mana. You can cast something expensive — Time Stretch, for example — and then Replicate it for three. With a Djinn Illuminatus, you are not Replicating Time Stretch any time soon. In this case, we see a disadvantage over Mirari. On the other hand, if you play a nice, cheap spell, the Djinn is much better. The obvious example is Lightning Bolt. Cast the Lightning Bolt, and then Replicate it for every available Red mana. That's a lot of damage from one card. You can Replicate countermagic, card drawing, burn, land destruction, creature removal, bounce, or any number of abilities from other colors that you can splash.

4). Guild mana makes it more splashable than normal. If the Djinn just cost 5UR, then it would be splashable into any deck with either Blue or Red as a component. However, with the Djinn requiring guild mana, it's conceivable that you could splash the entire Djinn into your deck. A G/B deck, for example, might easily find space for an Izzet Djinn that requires either Red or Blue mana to play, instead of one of each.

Let's take a look at numbers two and three when combined. Let's suppose that you have a Five Color Green deck. In play, you have: Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, Mox Diamond, two forests, one swamp, and one Karplusan Forest. You played Djinn of the Broken Illuminatus last turn, and now you have untapped.

Suppose that you had something small and simple. Let's say you topdeck a Farseek — nothing special, nothing fancy. Your Djinn will turn that humble Farseek into three Farseek, expanding your mana base accordingly.

Suppose you had a Giant Growth. Attack with your Birds of Paradise, then Giant Growth five times for fifteen damage. That's pretty good, I'd say.

Suppose that you had a simple Dark Ritual. You could play one, then Replicate it twice more for a total of nine Black mana in your pool, all for just three Black mana invested. I'm sure that Johnnies of the world could find some use for a bunch of extra mana...

Suppose that you topdecked a Hull Breach. You could Hull Breach three times, killing up to three enchantments and three artifacts for massive card advantage.

Suppose that all you topdeck is a simple Vitality Charm. All you do is play it to make a 1/1 Insect. Now, Replicate that Charm five times so that you'll get six 1/1 tokens for just one card.

These are all fairly innocent cards. All of them are common, and readily available. Now, if the Djinn is good with these cards, imagine how much better it will get once you start adding Demonic Tutor, Regrowth, Tithe, Brainstorm, and more to the deck. Even a simple Opt will laugh at Braingeyser with a Djinn Illuminatus on play.

I know this is a casual article, but just sit for a minute and imagine the power of the Djinn when combined with Ancestral Recall.... don't the cards just stagger the mind? Now, imagine Time Walk....

That's the power of the Djinn.

Let's build a deck or two with the Djinn, to see if it really is all that I think it can be.

Djinn Featured by Abe Sargent on 2006-01-29 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/11207.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Djinn Illuminatus Enchantments 2 Compulsion 4 Propaganda 2 Wild Research	Instants 4 Accumulated Knowledge 4 Counterspell 2 Force Spike 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Opt Sorceries 4 Chain Lightning Basic Lands 13 Island 13 Mountain	Stats: Average mana: 1.33 Average creature mana cost: 7.00 Average creature power: 3.00 Average creature toughness: 5.00 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 43.33% Instants: 30.00% Enchantments: 13.33% Creatures: 6.67% Sorceries: 6.67%
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

This is a quick Red/Blue deck that tries to harness the power of the Djinn. You won't survive for long, so fire off burn in order to keep yourself alive until the Djinn comes down. Use your cheap card drawing to find a Propaganda or two, to slow down your opponent's creatures. Counterspell any threat that you can. Then play a Djinn, and laugh your way to a win.

The above deck was a trial run. Let's take a look at a different, far more sinister, option.

Djinn-ier Featured by Abe Sargent on 2006-01-29 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/11207.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 4 Fire Diamond 4 Izzet Signet Creatures 4 Djinn Illuminatus 4 Drift of Phantasms 4 Orcish Settlers	Instants 4 Fire / Ice 4 Impulse 4 Lightning Bolt Sorceries 2 Chain Lightning 2 Pillage 4 Stone Rain Basic Lands 8 Island 12 Mountain	Stats: Average mana: 1.73 Average creature mana cost: 4.00 Average creature power: 1.33 Average creature toughness: 3.67 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 33.33% Artifacts: 13.33% Sorceries: 13.33% Instants: 20.00% Creatures: 20.00%
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

This is a more streamlined deck. It has early defense, late game cards, and mana acceleration. The nasty element of this deck lies with the Stone Rains and Pillages. With a Djinn in play, a twice-Replicated Stone Rain can really hinder an opponent. Do it again, and you've won the game.

In the early game, you have Drift of Phantasms and Orcish Settlers to block and stall. Use the “Sakura-Tribe Elder” trick with Settlers. Block an attack, then tap and sac to pop one or more lands. Later, you can transmute extra Drifts into a Stone Rain in order to keep you in the removal role.

In the early to middle game, don't be afraid to destroy lands with Rains and Pillages in order to slow down your opponent. The key is getting to a Djinn as fast as possible, and whenever a Stone Rain will help, toss it out there. Always use Stone Rains first, so you have a Pillage available to pop an artifact in case one gets played.

Helping you to get to Djinn mana are a full set of Izzet Signets and Fire Diamonds. With two in the first four turns, you can hit seven mana by turn 5 (assuming a land drop every turn) and drop a Djinn. By turn 7 you can cast a Stone Rain and Replicate it twice.

Feel free to zap off the Fire half of Fire/Ice, or use either of your Bolts, in order to kill early creatures while you grow. Between burn, land destruction, and the occasional blocker, I think this deck is well prepared for the early game.

Okay, so we've seen two iterations of a Djinn Illuminatus deck. How about one more?

Djinn-iest Featured by Abe Sargent on 2006-01-29 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/11207.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 4 Fellwar Stone 4 Mox Diamond 1 Scroll Rack Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Carven Caryatid 3 Djinn Illuminatus 4 Wall of Blossoms	Instants 1 Fire / Ice 1 Incinerate 1 Naturalize 1 Vitality Charm Sorceries 2 Assault / Battery 1 Browbeat 1 Demonic Tutor 2 Explosive Vegetation 2 Farseek 1 Hull Breach 1 Regrowth 2 Vindicate Basic Lands 10 Forest 2 Island 2 Mountain 3 Plains 3 Swamp	Stats: Average mana: 1.52 Average creature mana cost: 3.00 Average creature power: 1.13 Average creature toughness: 3.67 Deck Composition: Artifacts: 15.00% Basic Lands: 33.33% Creatures: 25.00% Instants: 6.67% Sorceries: 20.00%
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

This is a Five Color Green build, similar to what was discussed earlier. There's a lot going on here, so take a look.

Firstly, we have mana. Birds, Moxen and Fellwar Stones make many colors of mana. They'll help, not only to accelerate your mana, but also to cast a rainbow of spells. Also present are Farseek and Explosive Vegetation.

Next we have defense. Four copies of both Wall of Blossoms and Carven Caryatid, ensuring that attacking creatures will have to charge through the brush in order to get to us. They'll also give us extra cards to play with. We also have a couple of Assault/Battery, and a Vitality Charm, to make creatures if we have a dire need.

After that, we have quite a lot of fun cards. We can Replicate anything from Vindicate to Browbeat to Demonic Tutor. All of these cards are cheap, and can be played to help us get to the point when we cast Djinn Illuminatus. We can use Fire to pop a pair of creatures, Battery to knock off a quick creature, Incinerate to pop an irritating regenerator, and so on. Between the removal, the defensive creatures, and the mana acceleration, you should be Djinn-ing in no time flat.

I hope that you have begun to witness the power of the Djinn. There are plenty more ideas out there. Imagine a Brain Freeze deck that Replicates the Brain Freeze after you've racked up a nice storm count. Imagine a Time Warp deck that takes quite a few turns at a time.

Welcome to the wonder that it is the Djinn Illuminatus. May I take your order?

Until Later,
Abe Sargent

Head over to the forums to post article ideas, column title suggestions, and of course, thoughts on this article.