Welcome to my 300th! It’s been EIGHT years in the making since my first submissions article was published waaaaay back on Oct. 8, 2001. Have a party hat and a seat!
For today’s anniversary special, I considered three articles. The first would be to do a remake and renovation to Equinaut, one of my iconic decks, and one of my favorites of all time. Another idea would be to celebrate the new Five Color format which now has 300 cards with a deck or two, each at 300 cards.
And then there was this. The last time I published an entry in the Underused Hall of Fame was way back in October 15, 2005. That’s almost four years ago. In the almost 200 articles since then, people have asked and asked for the next update to the series. They’ve asked in e-mails and forum posts, in personal conversations and PMs. The result is that this series, and this article you are reading, is the most requested article in this column’s history. Period.
That seems appropriate as the 300th article. This is your article.
As a reminder, back on April 1, 2006, I published the next entry as a fake for my 4th consecutive April 1st article for the site. I did a lot of my normal April 1 tricks. I included some real cards that felt underused, I included a few power cards to trick people (like Sol Ring and Mind Twist), and then I included a few cards that just sucked (Seafarer’s Quay). I also included Serendib Efreet on both the Green and Blue lists for fun, and as a really subtle joke, I inducted a card I had already inducted once before, and copied and pasted the text from its previous article (Arboria). I don’t think anybody got that, though.
I am not going to make the mistake of assuming that you know anything about what I am talking about right now, so allow me to tell you what this series is.
I love the Rootwater Alligators, Scarwood Bandits, and Living Airships of Magic. I love these passable cards that are not so bad they demand time from Johnnies, and no so good that anyone will play them in any deck outside of Limited. Have you ever, even once, played with Rootwater Alligator outside of a Limited deck? We all may have played with these cards when our card pool consisted of two starters and ten boosters. However, we were weaned off them long ago. They don’t suck, they don’t rock… instead, they just languish in obscurity. These are cards that just are. They sit between good and great on one side, and bad and ugly on the other. These are the great unwashed mass of Magic.
However, in any group of cards like this, there is treasure to be found. That’s where this series began. I began to “retire” cards I thought were criminally underused into an Underused Hall of Fame. Each article added 30 cards to the Hall, 5 in each color, and 5 for the Other category.
The cards that have been added have some real power behind them. In here you won’t find the Congregates, Unnerves, Syphon Minds, and Verdant Forces of multiplayer. This is not the refuge of the overpowerful, merely the harbor of the really good. These are cards that have significant value, but in many cases have virtually disappeared into the lost cracks and ravines of time.
I’m going to pull out 30 of them for your demonstration. In the Appendix, you can find the entire Underused Hall of Fame in all of its glory, alphabetized by section and category.
Sound like fun? It’s going to be!
I will randomly pick a color, and then we are going around the color wheel, and end with Other.
I rolled… Blue!
Blue
Blue was the second easiest color for which to find entries. I got a lot of great cards for today and future articles.
5. Ixidron (Rare, Time Spiral) — I like to sometimes refer to this as Wrath of Ixidron. There are a few things you need to know about this awesome card. First of all, in a land of Grey Ogres, Ixidron is king. It turns everything into vanilla 2/2s, but it can be rather large, which means you will likely win combat math. It also takes care of any card that was giving you trouble. Akroma? It’s been 2/2’ed. Darksteel Colossus? 2/2’ed. Deep-Sea Kraken? 2/2’ed. Simic Sky Swallower? 2/2’ed. It also can be used to pump your army. You can rock a bunch of 1/1s and make them better by playing Ixidron. You can also use this to reload your morph trigger creatures like Willbender or Chromshell Crab or Mischievous Quanar. You can also flip back your beaters like Quicksilver Dragon, leaving you multiple beaters while your opponent has just a bunch of 2/2s. It can also set up a Pyroclasm or an Infest for the Wrath. As a result, Ixidron has a ton of uses and a lot of style. Best thing ever? Ixidron Wars! Someone Clones your Ixidron for hilarity!
4. Meishin, the Mind Cage (Rare, Saviors of Kamigawa) — The stink of Saviors is well known and well documented. Out of it came a few hits, like Twincast, Pithing Needle, and previous Underused Hall of Fame entry Homura, Human Ascendant. Let me ask you a question — What do many control players like to do? Keep a lot of cards in the grip, of course. What else do they like to do? Shut down creatures. What enchantment shuts down creatures while also feeding off cards in hand? Meishin! Now I know that some get hung up on its casting cost, but it is a great, non-combative, way of ending creature threats. It feels less threatening than The Abyss or even Moat, and yet it shuts down most or all creatures. You can play around it if you desire with a variety of effects.
3. Vodalian Illusionist (Uncommon, Weatherlight) — There are four cards on this list that, when I saw they were not previous entrants, I had to check and recheck my lists several times. How did I not add the Illusionist in four previous articles? Well, it’s time to change that! It charts behind two recent powerhouses, but it still has a ton of utility and subtle power to offer. Tapping it and phasing out a creature means you can save any creature, even it, from pinpoint or mass removal. If it’s not a Sudden Death, a target can get phased out in response. You could also phase out a creature when it is getting targeted by an opposing aura. Perhaps someone is trying to send a Pacifism your way. Make the creature go away. Perhaps they are trying to Rancor one of their own. Send it away and the Rancor will not be coming back this time. This can also be used to phase out an opposing blocker for your attacker, or an opposing attacker that was coming your way. Oh look, Akroma the Stronger just vanished! Your Sengir Vampire seems to be missing! I love this guy.
2. Magus of the Jar (Rare, Time Spiral) — Do you know how many times I’ve seen a Magus of the Disk get killed before it untapped? Countless. Do you know how many times I’ve seen a Magus of the Jar get killed before it could tap and sac the next turn? Just twice. People love the Magus of the Jar. Everybody wants new cards, and the Magus of the Jar is much less abusable than Memory Jar and Goblin Welder, or Jar plus Megrim (which is just one color compared to Megrim plus Magus of the Jar, and it can tap and go off the turn it is played). Magus of the Jar is one of the good Magi, an uber cycle with some really strong and some really suck entries side by side.
1. Draining Whelk (Rare, Time Spiral) – When I published my last entry four years ago for this series, Time Spiral Block, Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block, and Alara block had not even been published yet, and neither had sets from Ravnica, and so forth. As such, a lot of cards have been released since then, and I can see that they are not getting played. This article gives me a chance to update the list with some of the biggest hits in the last four years that you aren’t playing, and that’s why you’ll see a lot of modern cards from this set. Yeah, I know there are three Time Spiral rares here in Blue, but you’ll just have to get used to seeing some of the newer stuff here, because this is my first chance to get it in. Anyway, back to the regular entry, already in progress – Draining Whelk rocks. You can counter a spell, and then you get a beefy flyer. It has all of the flexible of a Counterspell and all of the power of a Mahomoti Djinn. Even as just a 3/3 or 4/4 flyer, it rocks, and as it gets bigger, it rocks AND kills. This is a strong, solid card.
White
White was the hardest color in which to find cards. I had to work to pick an initial six, and then I pulled one off after checking its prices to see if it was really underplayed, and it wasn’t even close. That left me with just five entries for this article, and I’d have to try to find others next time. Still, I’m happy with these five. I think part of this problem is a controversial statement I am about to make. Historically, White has been THE most powerful color of all time. It has supported the most diverse decks, from tempo to mana denial, control to combo, aggro to virtually any other sweeping type you can think of, and all in numerous versions and formats. How many aggro decks has Blue had — one, merfolk. Whoop-dee-doo. White has had numerous weenie decks from tokens to soldiers to Crusade WW and more. White’s had Armageddon decks, prison decks, The Deck, Deck Parfait, Pebbles, and more. Because of this, I think the true powerhouses of the color are well known. Everybody knows Exalted Angel and Eternal Dragon and Akroma and Pristine Angel. I have pushed cards like Commander Eesha, Lieutenant Kirtar, and Cho-Manno in this column. The color has some of the best multiplayer cards of all time in Congregate, Mother of Runes, Soul Warden, etc. White is, I think BY FAR, the most powerful color of all time.
5. Spurnmage Advocate (Uncommon, Judgment) — I don’t think it would be controversial to say that Odyssey and Onslaught block were the zenith of White perfection. Look at the uber-powerful and enduring cards in White during that era — Decree of Justice, Eternal Dragon, Akroma’s Vengeance, Akroma, Exalted Angel, Commander Eesha, Astral Slide, and if you go multicolor — Mirari’s Wake, Phantom Nishoba, Mystic Enforcer, Iridescent Angel. These are the hits of all hits. The best of the best the color has ever had. Is it any wonder that Spurnmage Advocate fell by the way side in the midst of all this amazing White-love? Spurnmage Advocate is a subtle card, and yet quite good. Suppose you play a pretty nasty creature, like Akroma, and want to attack. Here I am with Spurnmage Advocate out. Are you going to attack me? I doubt it, you’d lose your Akroma with a simple tap of the Advocate. However, there is one key difference between the Advocate in multiplayer versus a duel. In a duel, I have to return two of your cards to you, so I’d rarely use this. In multiplayer, however, it’s a much different thing. I return Dave’s cards in order to destroy Sally’s Akroma. Someone is going to have trash in their yard that I don’t mind returning. In fact, I might want to use the Advocate to make friends. Heya Dave! Take back your Terminate and Sol Ring. Then Dave Terminates Steve’s Avatar of Woe which Steve was not attacking with so it would not die to my Advocate. The Spurnmage is quite good in multiplayer.
4. Temple Acolyte (Common, Portal 2) — In the early turns, I like to play cheap blockers if I am a combo deck and sometimes even if I’m a control deck. I like to play a Wall of Blossoms or a Temple Acolyte. The beauty of the Taco (T.emple ACO.lyte) is the 3 life bump you get when you play it. Not only is it a nice speed bump, but it’s like Bottle Gnomes early: an early Bottle Gnomes that you do not have to sack in order to get life, so you are never forced to sac a creature, and which only costs two mana. That makes it quite, quite good.
3. Swell of Courage (Uncommon, Morningtide) — You want to know what I think is funny? They gave White a Howl from Beyond effect that cannot be countered, and no one plays it. Can you imagine that? It’s also a permanent benefit that lasts until the critter goes away. It also pumps the back end too. Instant — add X +1/+1 counters to target creature, and you aren’t playing it. Why not? This is a great surprise from your White decks. You can also just play it for the +2/+2 to all of your creatures too, although I never have. Still, the added versatility is nice.
2. Spirit of the Hearth (Rare, Eventide) — Let’s play a game. Ivory Mask, which costs FOUR mana and does just one thing, has a price tag of around $2 or $2.50. Ivory Mask even prevents yourself from targeting yourself, or your own creatures from targeting you. That’s usually bad. Now, let’s look at True Believer, which costs just WW and has a nice 2/2 body. It has the same value – $2 or $2.50 based on condition, and it similarly prevents you and yours from targeting yourself. It’s a nice card for your aggressive decks and such. Now, let’s look at Spirit of the Hearth. 59 cents. It costs six mana, and has the body of a 4/5 flyer. In addition, you can actually target yourself with card drawing or whatever, you just can’t be targeted elsewhere. Spirit of the Hearth is a winning condition and a better Ivory Mask for just two more mana than Ivory Mask, and yet it costs so much less, largely because you folks simply aren’t playing it. You should be. This is one of the hottest new cards from White in the last few years, so it is rated highly in this entry, hitting all the way to #2. What is #1 though? What beats it out for the top spot?
1. Stonehewer Giant (Rare, Morningtide) — Do you remember when Morningtide came out, and everybody talked about how powerful Stonehewer Giant was? Guess what? IT STILL IS! You can own and run a table with Stonehewer Giant. It is a great adjunct to a variety of strategies, from combo to control to aggro. Based on what creatures and equipment you choose to use, you could use this to put Umezawa’s Jitte on an aggro beater, pull Skullclamps for a combo, or grab Sword of Fire and Ice for a control deck. Here’s a nice trick. Attack with it, then before blockers are declared, use it to get a Whispersilk Cloak to be unblockable, or a Sword of Fire and Ice or Light and Shadow to be unblocked against the right deck and get a hit in for the abilities. It can own a table all by itself. Grab Tatsumasa to make a beater. This card is wonderful, amazing, and severely underplayed.
Green
Green had some problems in the past finding entries, but not this time. Green was the easiest color. I literally have 16 Green cards on a list, from which I took today’s five, and that leaves me a lot of room for future entries. This is a great set of cards for a traditionally underpowered color. Alright, here we go.
5. Primordial Sage (Rare, Ravnica) — Green needs card drawing. It’s got things like Nature’s Resurgence, Soul’s Majesty, Harmonize and a few other key cards, but it needs card drawing, and here Primordial Sage is. It fits very nicely into a creature heavy deck, it can be an element to a variety of combo decks, and don’t forget it’s 4/5 body which allows it to be pertinent in the red zone. Like Spirit of the Hearth above, it is also a spirit, so you can play it in your Ravnica block spirit goodness deck, and there it is flat out disgusting, with all of these spirits getting played and soulshifted and replayed. Draw a card indeed.
4. Masked Admirers (Rare, Lorwyn) — And that’s not the only place Green has added some card drawing recently. This little gem from Lorwyn is a fine creature with 3/2 for four mana, and it draws you a card when you play it. Let’s also not forget its ability to self recur, which is dynamite. Green decks regularly have extra mana sitting around — why not use it to recur Masked Admirers. Know what Masked Admirers would go well with? Primordial Sage.
3. Cream of the Crop (Rare, Morningtide )- Although this is, technically, card disadvantage, it gives you a way of really helping out your deck. It combines well with Sylvan Library or Sensei’s Divining Top to clear some cards off the top of your library. It also allows you to get some serious card quality whenever you play a creature. You can drop it early, and then start reaping the benefits as soon as the 3rd turn. Even a lowly 2/2 can help you out with this. You can keep the creatures coming by simply finding one and putting it on top whenever you play this. The result is a nice little enchantment that is never going to break the bank or your deck, so it will go undestroyed and allow you to get some nice card selection.
2. Scapeshift (Rare, Morningtide) — I look at this card, and see how it is massively underplayed and I have to scratch my head and ask this question, of all casual players everywhere — “Do you understand how this card works?” Scapeshift is an uber-land fixer. However, unlike most sacrifice cards like this, the sacrifice is NOT PART OF THE COST. That’s right, no cost. You do not have to sacrifice lands until it resolves, which means, it cannot be stopped. If it’s countered, you lose no lands. Now, understand its power. Watch as you exchange three junk lands into the entire Urzatron on the 4th turn every game you have this in your opening grip. Make sure you have the right mana, no matter what. Guarantee that you get special lands like Gaea’s Cradle or Tolarian Academy. This card can kick people in the knees, and it does something else. Like Land Tax before it, it can really remove lands from your deck. Suppose you have out five lands when you play this, and you want to convert three to the Urzatron. Great! Sacrifice the other two as well for two Forests, and pull out two more lands. If you have out seven lands, and you want to get four Cloudposts and a Vesuva, that’s fine by me, sac the other two lands as well, because you won’t be needing mana any longer. This card is massively powerful.
1. Hibernation’s End (Rare, Coldsnap) — Do you know how many Coldsnap cards I play outside of dedicated snow decks? It’s not many. The set was so insular, that not many cards made a permanent impact on Magic. One of the ones that does get played is the awesome Hibernation’s End. It’s like combining peanut butter and chocolate — it combines creatures of increasing size with card advantage, which the color needs. You can sit back, draw cards, not play them unless they are lands, and build your hand while building your army one creature a turn. It is constantly escalating. What is coming out this turn? It’s an… oh my. Sure, the first couple of turns are small creatures, but by turn 3 and 4, you can be dropping beats. A Blue or Black deck is going to hate Great Sable Stag, for instance, on turn 3 of the End. It scales well, getting you to powerful from ordinary very quickly. In my multiplayer deck, the first creatures I get is either mana (Birds of Paradise) or something like Mother of Runes. My next one is usually mana too, like Sakura-Tribe Elder. Then I start getting what I need for the board positions, from defense to offense. You can build your own army in one go. It’s brilliant!
Red
Red was another color I had difficulty with. I have just six Red cards total, and four of those deal damage. Red is hard to fight for, because so many Red cards are boring and dull. Deal 5 damage. Deal 6 damage. Deal 2 damage to everything. Ho hum. Do you know what percentage of Red cards in Unlimited dealt damage? Let me go check… 46 total cards, Bolt, Fireball, Earthquake, Disintegrate, Orcish Artillery, Earthbind, Manabarbs, Power Surge. That’s 17% that dealt damage, and 13% that could be considered burn, versus M10 with 41 total cards, 16 spells that deal damage, for 39% of the set, and 34% that I’d call burn. Figure out some new mechanics, I mean seriously! Red is supposed to have LD, so give it some. Red is supposed to have temporary mana making, so give it some. You have got to make Red more than burn. This is starting to get funny because it is so ridiculous.
5. Kumano, Master Yamabushi (Rare, Champions of Kamigawa) — This guy is really strong. Repeatable burn ad nauseam, with the ability to remove offenders from the game (I mean Exile) after burning — well, that’s golden against a lot of strategies. It hurts things from Genesis to Oversold Cemetery, recursion to threshold. Note that if a creature is about to die, just ping it for one, to RFG it when it does. Use this to supplement your other burn. Lightning Bolt that Watchwolf, and while that is on the stack, hit it for one with Kumano to take it out for the long term. If someone Wraths, exile their creatures by dealing one to each in response. Note that Kumano’s ability triggers whenever he deals damage, and that includes combat damage. Kumano will Exile anything he kills or damages in combat too. You can also find some clever ways to deal more damage with him, like Arena or Rivals’ Duel.
4. Hateflayer (Rare, Eventide) — Time has shown us that Wither is pretty strong, but the untap ability isn’t that great. In order to activate Hateflayer’s awesome ability, you have to tap it, which usually means swinging. Sure, you could also tap it for something like Kyren Negotiations, Opposition, and Earthcraft, but I think attacking is the most likely way to untap it. So you attack, then you untap it. You hit something (or someone) for 5, and it withers. If it is still alive, it is much much smaller. Now it is a 5/5 wither creature attacking into a team that may have already taken five. It may have lost a creature already. Surviving is going to be tough if you block. The Hateflayer has a strong chance of surviving. Let’s not forget the ability in multiplayer to attack the one guy who can’t kill it, and then deal the untap damage elsewhere to kill a creature or hit another. Plus, the untap means this wither 5/5 is available to block, so Hateflayer is a lot better in multiplayer then you might think. It rules tables. Try it out, and you’ll not be disappointed.
3. Wild Ricochet (Rare, Lorwyn) — Do you know why most players like Fork, but don’t always run it? Do you know why most players like Shunt but never play it? Because it sits in your hand, taking up your mana, and you don’t know if you will ever have a target. We all have experienced have one of these effects ready and waiting, only to have turn after turn pass us by and no targets of worth to speak too. Eventually we deflect something small like a Deep Analysis just to use it. But we play them still, because we love our “A Ha!” moments. We want to tap some mana and reveal… the perfect card. I Fork that! I redirect that! A Ha! This card does one better. It allows you to have both saved up for the investment of one card. Now I can Fork AND I can Shunt. Sometimes only one is useful, and sometimes only the other is useful. Someone plays Counterspell, and now you play Wild Ricochet and not only do you get a Counter, but you change the target of their counter to yours which is still on the stack (but yours will resolve first) and you have really countered their Counterspell. It’s not really necessary, as either a Fork or a Shunt would have sufficed, but it’s cool. It even works better than some Deflection effects that only work if the spell just had one target. And then you get that moment when both a Fork and a Shunt will work, and it’s even better than an “A Ha.” It’s like a “Super Ha!” I Wild Ricochet your Ancestral Vision — Super Ha! I Wild Richochet your Rain of Salt — Super Ha! Super Ha, indeed.
2. Scourge of Kher Ridges (Rare, Future Sight) — If you read my article called Finding Silklash Spiders, then you know how much I value Scourge of Kher Ridges. Its presence here should be no surprise. The Scourge has a ton of good things going for it. First of all, it costs eight mana, which is about par for the course for a 6/6, flyer, with two amazing and repeatable abilities. Secondly, it’s a dragon, and you can play a variety of synergetic cards that play well with dragons in your deck. Then, of course, there is the ability to Pyroclasm ground creatures for two mana each time. Ground creatures, especially weenies, simply do not stand a chance of survival barring something like Cho-Manno or Subterranean Spirit. The Scourge can also sweep flyers away with abandon, leaving only itself and whatever is immune to Red creature damage like Commander Eesha or Iridescent Angel. Lastly, the Scourge is both a great blocker, and a great attacker, serving for six every turn. You get a regular source of board sweeping that is modular and you can use to keep your own creatures alive, then you can serve for six. It’s a great card.
1. Knollspine Dragon (Rare, Shadowmoor) — Knollspine Dragon rocks. You get seven flying power for seven mana — that’s a great investment. How many creatures, in the history of Magic, have a power of seven or greater, fly, for a cost seven mana? Four. Lord of the Pit, which has a disadvantage; Supreme Exemplar, which also has a disadvantage; Knollspine Dragon; and Karrthus, who is legendary. Knollspine Dragon is in rare company. He serves for a lot of damage. Here’s the beautiful thing though, when he enters the battlefield, you can, if you want, discard your hand and draw some new cards. This is magical in a variety of situations. If you have a small hand, or none at all, even hitting for one or two damage with an attacker is enough to draw you some cards. If you dealt a lot of damage with an attack, you can basically Wheel of Fortune yourself. If you haven’t dealt damage, or you don’t want to lose your hand, that’s fine, don’t use the ability when you play it. And don’t make the mistake that Aaron does. He holds onto Knollspine until he can draw a bunch of cards. Just play it. As I’ve shown, a flying creature with a power this high at seven mana is rare, so just play it and swing with it.
Black
Black was the middle ground this time. I found more Blue and Green cards, and fewer White and Red cards. The cards here are strong, but a bit weaker than the other colors when taken collectively.
5. Organ Grinder (Common, Torment) — Organ Grinder was a late addition to Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy. A long time ago, I had a huge highlander deck called The JV Squad, and it’s only rule was that no card in Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy could also be in The JV Squad. Sometimes I would promote cards from The JV Squad up, and sometimes I would send cards back down. One of the winners of The JV Squad was this little guy from Torment. I know he doesn’t look like much, but he is a clockmatic. He will grind away your graveyard while grinding away your opponent’s life. You see, imagine Organ Grinder was printed as this: 2B, 3/1, unblockable. That’d be really great. It would also get killed fast. But this little guy just sits on the sidelines, grinding away. He’s less threatening, but he does the same job. You are not afraid to trade him with a better creature when needed, and he adds to your Density of Creatures. Simply put, Organ Grinder is pretty strong.
4. Plague Sliver (Rare, Time Spiral) — Let’s talk about Juzam Djinn. Why do you suppose that Juzam Djinn still has a super high price tag on it? There was a time when the Juzam was worth around $100 while Moxes were $150. Since then, Moxes are $400-500 and the Juzam is at $125-175. Obviously, these cards have not done the same thing. Juzam has not increased in value, because he sucks compared to today’s creatures. There are tons of creatures more powerful than him. Now, part of his value is due to his rarity, but how much, exactly? There are U1s from Arabian Nights that have never been reprinted at or less than $20. Take a look at Ifh-Biff Efreet at 10-15, or Elephant Graveyard at 15-30, or City in a Bottle at $5 or Ydwen Efreet at 5-7. Some of these are very playable. Juzam Djinn’s value is not because of mere rarity. Perhaps some of this value is his iconic nature as one of the original banner creatures of Magic. However, I think people out there still think Juzam Djinn is really good. He’s not, and here’s how I know. Plague Sliver is BETTER than Juzam in every situation except one. The only time it is worse is when you have out two. However, you may occasionally find yourself playing against Slivers or changelings. When you do, you start dealing damage to their controller in excess of your 5/5 for four mana beatstick. Juzam can’t do that. Also, please note that if you are serving for ten a turn with two Plague Slivers, you’ll usually not care that you are taking four a turn during your upkeep instead of two a turn.
3. Nezumi Graverobber (Uncommon, Champions of Kamigawa) — Earlier during the review of Vodalian Illusionist I remarked that four cards on this list surprised me when I discovered that they had not made it previously. Well, that doesn’t seem right, so here is the second of these four. The remaining two are Other #3 and Other #1. Obviously I think very highly of the Graverobber in order to include it here. It’s a very fast aggro drop, and in fact you want to play it earlier instead holding it for later, because it will be easier to flip. You can Exile cards from graveyards at a quick clip, eliminating threats from incarnations and Ashen Ghouls to flashback cards and Masked Admirers from #4 Green. Of course, once you eliminate a whole graveyard, you move to the next level of wrong, with a 4/2 creature that Zombifies creatures from any graveyard in the game and does so as many times as you have mana. We’ve all seen the dreaded Nezumi death machine. Play it turn 2, on turn 3 pay the mana to remove the one card in your opponent’s yard, then swing with your new 4/2 best friend. It can reanimate the best creatures around, and you can stock your graveyard with goodies via mechanisms like cycling (Krosan Tusker and Twisted Abomination like this). I like it very much.
2. Predatory Nightstalker/Wei Assassins (Uncommon, Portal 2, Portal: Three Kingdoms) — In all of Magic, only these two creatures have the Edict CIP ability. They are identical in every way except creature type, so I am including them both here as one entry. Technically, the Predatory Nightstalker would be a bit better because there is one tribal card for Nightstalkers, Return of the Nightstalkers; but the Wei Assassins are soldiers, so that is out the window. That makes the Assassins much better. I always wanted to see this card reprinted or remade for the normal Magic sets, because it does make a lot of sense. Five mana, 3/2 makes the creature pertinent, and then they are Edicted. Please note that these two cards are technically not identical because the Assassins are not a may effect. The Nightstalker does not require you to use its ability. Edicts are strong, as we all know. They are not amazing or anything, and they aren’t the best mechanic for Black ever printed. However, they are strong, and this gives you a reusable and abusable creature to put it on. I’m sure you can find a few cards in Magic-dom to abuse these.
1. Night Dealings (Rare, Champions of Kamigawa) – Do you want to know what I like? I like recursive tutors. I like tutors that I can use over and over again. Cards that can reliably tutor numerous times, like Wild Research, Planar Portal or Survival of the Fittest are just fun to play and play with. One of the key things to note with Night Dealings is that it gets a number of counters equal to the damage you deal to a player. If you Lightning Bolt someone, the Dealings gets three counters for future tutor purposes. Spend four mana to search your library for a card instead of spending four mana to merely draw a card, like Treasure Trove and Jayemdae Tome. The result is a powerful and lovely mixture, and one you can really use to set up your deck, your hand, and your table. Note that you can search for responses so you can search for counters, removal, and bounce type cards.
Other
I found a metric ton of cards in this section, so no worries about it drying up anytime soon.
5. Journeyer’s Kite (Rare, Champions of Kamigawa) — Who does not like drawing cards? Raise your hand now. Yeah, I didn’t think there’d be anybody out there. Can I tell you a secret? Not always, but often, the player who draws the most lands is the winner. Now sure, anyone can get mana flooded and there are a ton of aggro decks out there that will kick your hindquarters if all you do is lay lands until turn 5. However, in casual world, these decks are less frequent. Play a few speed bumps, and then set up for the long haul. One of the best set up cards is Ye Olde Kite. The Kite is great because it can do several things. First of all, it can give you the right colors of mana. You do not have to rely on having Green in order to do it. Even if all you have is colorless mana from special lands, this will fix your mana colors. It also ensures a steady stream of lands for a long time. You don’t have to worry about missing a land drop for quite some time, if ever. Oh, and it is one of the best cards at stripping lands out of your deck, making future draws more likely to be impact cards. Plus you are drawing cards for three mana a draw, which can really give you ammo for things like Wild Mongrel or Seismic Assault. That makes this a nice little package.
4. Kaervek the Merciless (Rare, Time Spiral) – Sometimes I’ll come across a card and wonder how things went wrong. Take a look at Avatar of Fury. It often comes down for two mana, but not until the 7th or 8th turn at the least. It’s cheap, and its good, and I really like it, but it’s not that good. It goes for $3-4. I love Guiltfeeder. It can end games quickly and is one of the best player killing creatures out there. Casual players like him too, and he is pricing for $2-2.50. Rorix is at $3-3.50, Silvos at $4-5, and so forth. My point is that there are a lot of creatures out there that are classics. They end the game quickly, they are powerful, and casual players show their respect with a high value. And then there is Kaervek. If you had to ask me what ten creatures ended someone’s life the quickest in multiplayer, Kaervek would be on there. Other creatures to chart — Akroma, Darksteel Colossus, Guiltfeeder, Kokusho and probably some other creatures I can’t think of, but Kaervek would be on there. He ends games now. I’ve seen someone drop Kaervek, and by the time it gets to be their turn again, if Kaervek isn’t dead, someone has already taken 20 and died. Now, to be fair, that is what holds Kaervek back. He is Public Enemy #1 if he is on the board. He’s a target more than Teferi. Even with that, however, he wins games. Slap a Lightning Greaves on him after you play him and sit back and enjoy the deaths of your friends.
3. Tawnos’s Coffin — (Uncommon1, Antiquities) — I have touted the glory of Tawnos’s Coffin before, so it should be no surprise that I am doing so now. This is the third of the cards that I was surprised had not been put in my Underused Hall of Fame before. It’s brilliant and has tons of uses, which I will go over briefly, because I’ve written about it before and recently. First, you can keep an opposing attacker off you. Second, you can take out an opposing blocker. Third, you can hide one of your creatures from removal. Fourth, you can use this to Blink an enters-the-battlefield creature. Fifth, you can use it as an expensive way to tap a creature. Finally, it has value against creatures that are normally immune to a lot of removal, such as Iridescent Angel. In summation — The Coffin Rocks. Play one or a few. It’s totally worth the $7-8 price tag it has.
2. Mirror Golem (Uncommon, Mirrodin) — Alright, I suspect this is coming a bit out of left field for some of you, so follow me on this one. What is the best Protection ability to have on a creature? Well, obviously, Progenitus’s protection from everything or Iridescent Angel’s protection from all colors is second. However, of those normal abilities, which is best. Protection from Black? Protection from Instants? Protection from Green? Protection from Lands? The best one, by far, is protection from creatures. Play this and imprint a creature. Then you have a 3/4 protection from creature guy in any color. The great thing is protection from creatures means you can block anything, all day long, and you are staying alive. This is what you can play to survive an opposing Avatar of Woe you have yet to kill. You can block it, and you can’t be targeted by it. Kumano can’t ping it. Scourge of Kher Ridges can’t sweep it. Oh, and you can attack through everything. Not a single creature ever made can block it. It can block anything, it can swing through anything, and it is immune to creature based damage and targeting. If there are no or few creatures out, you can instead imprint either Instant or Sorcery, whichever targeted removal you believe your opponent is playing. You can also sometime grab an incarnation when you play this. Let me tell you, it’s awesome to play this, and imprint someone’s Genesis. If you are lucky, there will be an artifact creature in the yard, and you can imprint it, giving you protection from two types. You can also get Tribal and Planeswalker protection, meaning this can be the only card in the game to have Protection from Planeswalker. That might be handy if you are facing down a Chandra with a lot of counters on it, or a Nicol Bolas that might want to steal it. This card is great, and I hope you can see why I’m happy for it to be the #2 card on my Other countdown.
1. Nova Pentacle (Rare, Legends) — This is the final card on today’s entry, and it is also the most underused of the Other cards, and it is the final card that surprised me when I found it was still unhonored in the Hall. Nova Pentacle changes games. This rare from Legends has a value of $3-4 right now and that is a virtual steal. No hyperbole, I honestly don’t know how these haven’t sold out. I mean, just wow. Wow. Wow. My friends and co-players have come to fear a Nova Pentacle under me. I have turned losing situations into winning ones on numerous occasions. Every time I have drawn and played the Pentacle, I have won. Let’s go over the many ways that Nova Pentacle rocks.
A) Nova Pentacle will prevent all damage a source would deal to you this turn, making it a one shot Circle of Protection for anything, until you untap.
B) Nova Pentacle prevents any damage; this includes burn. This also includes damage that would be deal to you… by you. You can Nova Pentacle away an Earthquake or an opponent’s Char aimed at your head. Any damage that would be dealt to you goes elsewhere.
C) An opponent of your choice chooses a target creature to instead get dealt the damage. Sometimes your stuff gets chosen. However, often, your stuff does not. You might not have any creatures out. Perhaps they have shroud. Maybe you’ve got Cho-Manno out.
D) This is the key. This makes the card sing. You do NOT have to choose the opponent who is the controller of the damage or anything like that. Suppose Bob plays an Earthquake. I send the six damage meant for me to a creature of Sally’s choice. If I chose Bob, he probably would just deal the 6 to one of my creatures, or one of his about to die anyway. Sally has a different agenda, however. This is a chance for her to deal six to something, and she has no grudge against me. Sure, she might aim it at my Wall of Swords or whatever, but he’s just as likely to be pissed at Bob for Earthquaking so she’ll hit his Dragon Whelp. This happens all of the time.
The reason Nova Pentacle wins games is because it protects you from the final damage that will kill you, while also killing off opposing creatures. In a duel, with no creatures out, every time your opponent damages you they have to deal with a Nova Pentacle activation that may kill off one of their creatures. The more they push, the more you punish them with creatures dying. It is a beautiful card, and I can’t imagine that a multiplayer player doesn’t have a deck for a Nova Pentacle or two. That I did not retire this sooner is a disgrace, but I make my penance now.
…
And that brings us to the conclusion of another article. I hope you can see why I don’t normally do these. Today’s article, right now, before finishing, it is at 7785 words. Normally I turn in 2500-3000 words. It normally takes me between 2.5 and 4 hours to do an article. This one took around 12. It’s fun to do, but I can’t sustain it. Perhaps I’ll do smaller entries in the future or something, but for today’s 300th, I felt doing it in a big way.
If you liked today’s article, and you want to read more, here are the previous entries:
The First Class, from July 28, 2004.
The Second Class, from Dec 2, 2004.
The Third Class, from Apr 26, 2005.
The Fourth Class, from Oct 13, 2005.
And finally, here is the April Fool’s Joke Entry V, from 2006.
Remember that at the end of the article, I will have an Appendix with all of the cards from the previous four classes, in alpha order by category.
And that brings us to the end of another article. Whew! A lot of work went into that one. I hope to see you every week for the next 300 articles!
Until later…
Appendix:
Black:
Attrition
Bane of the Living
Carrionette
Crypt Angel
Desolation Angel
Do or Die
Forsaken Wastes
Gate to Phyrexia
Ill-Gotten Gains
Infernal Tribute
Krovikan Horror
Massacre
No Mercy
Oubliette
Planar Void
Sengir Autocrat
Tainted Pact
Tombstone Stairwell
Tortured Existence
Vile Requiem
Blue:
Alexi, Zephyr Mage
Aura Thief
Coastal Piracy
Desertion
Dream Fighter
Ertai’s Familiar
Evacuation
Homarid Spawning Bed
Icy Prison
Kaho, Minamo Historian
Man o’ War
Mischievous Quanar
Pendrell Mists
Portent
Possessed Aven
Reality Ripple
Riptide Mangler
Three Wishes
Tolarian Serpent
Whirlpool Warrior
Green:
All Suns’ Dawn
Arboria
Avenging Druid
Budoka Gardener
Carpet of Flowers
Forgotten Ancient
Greater Good
Holistic Wisdom
Hystrodon
Kavu Titan
Krosan Tusker
Mulch
Nature’s Resurgence
Night Soil
Reap
Scarwood Bandits
Silklash Spider
Spike Feeder
Veteran Explorer
Viridian Zealot
Red:
Ancient Hydra
Blood Frenzy
Desolation Giant
Earthquake
Ghitu Slinger
Goblin Bombardment
Goblin Marshal
Grand Melee
Homura, Human Ascendant
Illuminate
Lightning Surge
Mages’ Contest
Mogg Infestation
Reckless Embermage
Shard Phoenix
Starke of Rath
Subterranean Spirit
Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
Wild Research
Wildfire Emissary
White:
Commander Eesha
Exile
Hand of Justice
Holy Light
Lashknife Barrier
Lieutenant Kirtar
Masako the Humorless
Nomad Mythmaker
Null Chamber
Oblation
Pariah
Patron of the Kitsune
Prismatic Strands
Pursuit of Knowledge
Retribution of the Meek
Soul Sculptor
Spectral Lynx
Sunscape Battlemage
Vengeful Dreams
Witch Hunter
Other:
Aether Mutation
Asmira, Holy Avenger
Aura Shards
Captain Sisay
Elemental Augury
Frenetic Efreet
Mindless Automaton
Mystic Compass
Order/Chaos
Phyrexian War Beast
Rasputin Dreamweaver
Recoil
Reparations
Skyship Weatherlight
Snake Basket
Spite / Malice
Stormbind
Vhati il-Dal
Void
Yavimaya Hollow