Wait. 5.5 creatures? Isn't that cheating? Not really — at least not once you see what made slot 5.5. To the list!

5.5: Little Girl
I know what you're thinking. "Little Girl? What? You can't be serious!" Maybe I'm not entirely serious — but a human child can be great, depending on your mindset and your goals.

Typically, a player wants to win. In multiplayer, however, there might be different goals. Some players want to eliminate their arch-rival opponent. Some want to completely dominate the game. Some want to play with splashy critters or bizarre effects. Some want to blow up the world repeatedly. Some want to lay low and strike at an opportune time.

And some play Little Girl.

Imagine this five-player chaos game, turn 1:

ElfMage: Forest, Llanowar Elves, go.

BoringControlMage: Island, go.

BurnMage: Mountain, Seal of Fire, go.

BlackMage: Swamp, Dark Ritual, Hypnotic Specter, go.

Tick: Plains, Little Girl, take a half-point mana burn, I'm at 19.5. Go.

What kind of sadistic player is going to attack a poor, defenseless Little Girl on turn 2? That's just plain mean. (And that's me — The Ferrett) She's a signal: this player will entertain, but isn't serious, so you can pick them off at your leisure. It's what you play and do on the following turns that makes or breaks the game. While the rest of the players jockey for position with each other, simply drop equipment, enchantments, and backup that makes this human child a force to be reckoned with. My take on it:

Guay as in Guay... (all creatures have a version illustrated by Rebecca Guay)

White
4 Angelic Page
1 Commander Eesha
1 Crusade
4 Devout Harpist
1 Drawn Together
2 Glorious Anthem
4 Little Girl
3 Youthful Knight

Blue
4 Phantom Monster
4 Thornwind Faeries

Gold
2 Sky Spirit

Artifact
1 Bonesplitter
3 Grafted Wargear
2 Leonin Bola
2 Loxodon Warhammer
1 My First Tome
1 Nuisance Engine
2 Vulshok Morningstar

Land
3 Cloudcrest Lake
8 Island
13 Plains

I know, I know. It's short on lands, over sixty cards, and extremely fragile. That's the point, more or less. This deck isn't here to win, but entertain. If by chance it does win... Just imagine the pain of having your last few life points battered away by a Little Girl decked out in Grafted Wargear, backed by a Glorious Anthem. Actually, just imagine a Little Girl decked out in Grafted Wargear. Glorious, indeed.

If you die to a Little Girl, the child's controller has massive bragging rights, and the more witnesses the better. Expect lots of taunting.

If your multiplayer circle doesn't believe in Silver-Bordered Land (SHAME!), the same principle holds with other cards. Hammer up a Squire. Beat down with a Camel. Graft onto a Shield Bearer. They're all still in white, and this is priceless.

Still with me after all that nonsense? Excellent. Here's the rest of the list - no silver allowed!

5: Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Akroma demonstrates the exact opposite principles of Little Girl. Akroma screams "I'm heeeee-eeeeere! Smashy-smashy!" She definitely makes an impact on the board - and an impact on the life totals of opponents.

She flies over Verdant Force and assorted Myojin. She tramples, crushing chump-blocking Bayou Dragonflies. She's a beefy 6/6, slaying dragons in a heartbeat. She's vigilant, striking at the player with the weakest air force and staying home to play D. She's immune to the most common types of removal, laughing off burn spells and Terror alike.

Akroma does it all.... including painting a giant target on your forehead.

The biggest drawback with Miss Akroma is the mana cost. Eight is an awful lot, even in multiplayer. Either you're going to need to stall (Ghostly Prison, Windborn Muse, Angelic Wall and the like), accelerate (pair with green for elves, Fertile Ground, Heartbeat of Spring, and such, or slip her into Tooth and Nail), or form an unholy alliance. Yes, at the moment I'm feeling that a Black/White Reanimator is the best bet for dropping an early Akroma.

Generic Unholy Alliance #17 deck fragment:
2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
2 Reya Dawnbringer

4 Buried Alive
2 Animate Dead/Necromancy
3 Nezumi Graverobber
2 Doomed Necromancer
4 Dark Ritual
4 Terror/Dark Banishing/Rend Flesh

Add utility, critters, support, land, and salt to taste.

With the framework above, we're hoping for an early Buried Alive to dump Akroma, Reya, and threat #3 into the graveyard. Terror away an opponent's critter, activate the Nezumi Graverobber to steal and flip, if need be (another great multiplayer critter - there's almost always someone with a nearly empty graveyard ripe for the flippin'), or just animate Reya. Next turn, Akroma comes out: smash, smash, smash, win.

Now, while red and black can't stop the big A, they can still smack her controller. Expect Fireballs, Shocks, Consume Spirits, and their ilk to zero in on your head. As such, it probably wouldn't hurt to pack an Ivory Mask or two. Blue also has potential problems, especially bounce and theft. That's a little harder to work around - possibly a set of Standard Bearers (although they're better in a duel) or using blue yourself to add a Kira, Great Glass Spinner to the mix and alleviate some of that stress.

Of course, everyone knows how good Akroma is. Chances are someone else will just drop an Akroma of their own as eight-mana removal. Legend players, beware.

Viable alternatives that don't put quite as large a bullseye on your head (or as large a dent in your wallet) include Archangel, Serra Angel, and Radiant, Archangel. Vigilance is the key. Vigilance plus flying is a better key. Just remember - all three of these can get wiped out by Gale Force.

I know — who plays Gale Force? I'm just sayin'...

4: Avatar of Woe
This wouldn't be a best-of list without the Avatar of Woe. 6/5. It's non-legendary. (Sorry, Akroma...) It has Fear. It kills critters dead, assuming they aren't protected from black or untargetable. Best of all, this package often costs no more than BB. Two mana!

Okay, there's that disclaimer about "if" and "all graveyards" and "ten creatures" — but this is multiplayer. Filling up graveyards is not going to be a problem.

If you're playing black, you want The Avatar. If you're playing Reanimator, you want The Avatar. If you use board sweepers, you — that's right - want The Avatar. Everyone else should want The Avatar dead, so make the most of it while you can.

Another Reanimation deck would be dull right after Akroma's section, so for a different take on B/W that still gets AoW (I have no idea how best to pronounce that) on board quickly, try this fragment on for size:

Generic Unholy Alliance #18 deck fragment:
4 Avatar of Woe
4 Pestilence
4 Plague Spitter
4 Wrath of God
4 White Knight
4 Disciple of Grace
4 Vindicate

Add or subtract rares, fill in the holes according to your playgroup, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Sweepers will be great in any deck with AoW - pack accordingly. Massacre, Night of Souls' Betrayal, Mutilate, and a morphed Bane of the Living are other ways to pack those graveyards tight.

If you still want the Pestilence but life loss scares you, I suggest #3 from this list (skip ahead if you must, but patience is a virtue), Consume Spirit, or Spirit Link/Soul Link on a Plague Spitter. If you want more low-toughness critters along with Pestilence, Lashknife Barrier is one answer. I have a sneaking suspicion that Endless Whispers would be fun in a deck like this - go ahead, give it a whirl. The deck could easily go mono-black, but then you lose possible life gain and the name "Generic Unholy Alliance #18 deck fragment."

Also, this is probably only my experience, but when the Avatar of Woe would hit the board in my playgroup, no one seemed to notice or care.

"Tap two swamps, Avatar of Woe."

"Hey, that has some spiffy artwork."

"Yep. You know what it does, right? It wins games."

"Uh-huh."

Everyone then proceeds to stay in the snippy little squabbles with everybody except the controller of the Kill-Everything Avatar. The Avatar picks off the problems, then swings for the win. Sigh. I don't know if my playgroup was jaded or just easily distracted. (I'm gonna go with "novice" — The Ferrett)

In summary: If you're playing black and you're playing multiplayer, play Avatar of Woe. It's really, really good.

3: Wall of Hope
Yes, it's more white. Yes, it's a wall. A cheap, nifty wall that easily squeezes into any W/x deck that's low on the one-drops.

In my mind, three creatures could have gone in this slot - the three cheap white creatures that are good in multiplayer and gain you life. Wall of Hope is one, Soul Warden is another, and Auriok Champion is the third. Yet Wall of Hope is the only one that sneaks under the radar.

Try this experiment: drop a turn 1 Soul Warden. See how long it lives. Then see how long you live. Not only is Soul Warden a target in itself (watch the players line up to kill it: "I Firebolt it!" "Not before I Electrostatic Bolt it!" "Not before I tear it into shreds!"), but will likely turn some aggression from the table right into you. A turn 2 Auriok Champion isn't much better, mind you - pro-red means all the burn that was headed towards it is now going towards your face. I hope those four life points helped, and hope the Champion can stave off a critter rush.

Wall of Hope, on the other hand, looks harmless. What was that? A 0/3 wall? Please. So you gain life when it takes damage? Well... I'll forget about you for a few turns. I'll check back when I've got a three-power creature to batter that wall down. In the meantime, hello Mr. I-Played-A-Soul-Warden!

Trust me. No one wants to turn their Lightning Bolt into a Healing Salve for you, or waste a Rend Flesh on a measly wall. Wall of Hope keeps players off your back until you've got some stability, well on your way to hard-cast Akroma, Dawn Elemental, or Elder Land Wurm (kidding!).

I assume you're all intelligent readers. You don't really need a decklist - or even a deck fragment - for a W cost wall, do you? I mean, I told you in the first paragraph of this section how to use it. Go ahead, take another look. We've got time.

Okay, fine. I pack my Walls of Hope in a G/W life gain build - Bottle Gnomes, Armadillo Cloaks, Ageless Entities (for my inner Johnny), Beacon of Immortality (for my inner Timmy), and Congregate.

Yes, I play Congregate in multiplayer. Occasionally, I am a jerk.

2: Seedborn Muse
Honestly, Seedborn Muse is an enabler. She whispers to you, "I know you want to tap that. I know it's your turn — but come on, baby. Waiting for the end step of the player to your right? That's such a long time from now. C'mon, you know you want to... and that guy's tapped out! You could swing with everything and knock him out..."

But if she's not on the board and you listen to her siren call of all-out commitment, it's a loud and clear "come and get me" to everyone else at the table. So instead, you sit and wait and stew abut it and forget to act at the end step of the opponent to your right and write rambling sentences about it.

Not that it's ever happened to me...

She costs five mana - no problem for green. Her four toughness stops plenty of burn and hold off plenty of creatures. The question is: what to pair her with for maximum effectiveness?

Green is a given, but green isn't very tricksy, my precious. Tap your elves, get some mana, and get the elves back for defense. Alternatively, swing with gnashy critters, untap for defense. Bo-ring. Playing an elf deck with Wellwishers can be great with the Muse, but Miss Wish makes you a target, a la Soul Warden.

Did someone say blue? Sure thing. Tapping out to lay threats and having your mana back for counter ability is a good thing. I'll be the first to admit that my experience with Seedborn Muse is limited, but allow me to fragmentize for your perusal:

Forget-Me-Nots.fragment
4 Seedborn Muse
4 Llanowar Elves/Birds of Paradise

4 Capsize
4 Counterspell of Choice
4 Another Counterspell of Choice
2 Jushi Apprentice

That ought to get you started. For one of the counterspells, I'd recommend Condescend, but that could just be me.

I'm tickled by the thought of Capsizing with buyback during every player's turn (this just in: Buyback is awesome) or drawing someone out of the game via Tomoya the Revealer (a.k.a., "flipped Jushi Apprentice"). Much like getting killed by a Little Girl, being overloaded to death by Tomoya is something a player doesn't live down for a while. If you're drawn to that challenge, add some Spellbooks or Graceful Adepts to help you out.

There are a number of other paths that can branch off of this fragment. Want more beatdown? Try Timberwatch Elf (which is also great for messing with other people's combat), Voice of the Woods, and (if you think you can pull it off) Budoka Gardener.

Pingers? Prodigal Sorcerer is a natural with the Muse. Milling? Windborn Muse wouldn't be the worst thing ever, especially with Tomoya filling hands. Whetstone could work too, especially if you're an equal-opportunity miller-killer. (Just pack some Gaea's Blessings for yourself.) Heck, splash some red for Ghitu Fire (plus Upwelling?), finally find a use for those Vedalken Orreries, or drop an Eater of Days without fear of too much retribution. Remember - it's multiplayer. It's supposed to be fun.

Which takes us to number one. Drum roll, please...

1: Hunted Wumpus
What? Hunted Wumpus? This is the payoff from someone who was touting Little Girl earlier in the article? Well, let that be a lesson to you.

Actually, let this be a lesson to you: Hunted Wumpus is all kinds of super-good fun, especially if you like your multiplayer a little more on the political side. There's an element of risk that comes when you're packing wumpi, but that's part of the allure. Multiplayer, for me, is more than slamming down a crushing victory; it's having an enjoyable time while slamming down that crushing victory.

Most times, everyone else at the table isn't going to be broken up about a 6/6 coming down on turn 3 or 4 if they also get to drop a free critter. Sometimes, all they can muster is a Mesa Pegasus. Sometimes, it's an Avatar of Woe (nice knowing you, Mr. Fuzzy-hippo-elephant-guy). Sometimes, it's nothing at all. Only one thing is certain - the more players, the better.

Picture this (it could happen to you an eight- to ten-player game. Every man/woman for themselves, attack to immediate left or right only, spells and effects go anywhere, and global means global. I accelerate into a turn 3 Wumpus, curious to see what's going to hit. The announcements proceed around the table, and nothing too exciting hits until three people down.

Thorn Elemental.

Glad I'm three seats away. Next player?

Nothing. He's running a Shared Fate deck with nothing but card draw, acceleration, and Levelers. When the other player flanking him drops a six-power creature of his own, this guy's pretty much screwed. (A Kokusho also hit the board, but we're not supposed to talk about that dragon this week...)

It was a risky proposition, but everyone in that game was happy when the Wumpus hit. Well, everyone except Mr. Shared Fate — but when you bring that deck to a chaos game, you deserve whatever beatings you get.

Wumpi might be considered sneaky, tricking people into overextending. A post-Wumpus mass removal spell can be devastating. After a few games of that trick, people might drop weaker critters or nothing at all, taking their chances with a 6/6 beater. Make them pay. Better than a board sweeper, though... how about petty theft?

Bump the Wumpus.deq

Green
3 Fertile Ground
4 Hunted Wumpus
3 Llanowar Elves (or Fyndhorn Elves, if you prefer)
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Vine Trellis

Blue
3 Blatant Thievery
3 Boomerang
3 Clone
2 Control Magic
2 Copy Artifact
1 Spelljack (no one sees it coming - "Inner Timmy")
2 Unsummon
2 Vesuvan Doppelganger

Artifact
1 Duplicant
2 Vedalken Shackles

Land
3 Yavimaya Coast
10 Forest
11 Island

Sure, it could use some tweaks - perhaps more Sakura-Tribe Elders, a better counterspell than Spelljack, more bounce... but it seems to work just fine in the current build.

Drop a Hunted Wumpus, opponents drop critters. If those critters aren't a problem, it's not a problem. If they're good, Clone 'em or steal 'em. If they're trouble, bounce 'em. All this thanks to the Hunted Wumpus. Huzzah!

If the Wumpus is too open-endedly risky for you, you could play with the higher-stakes Iwamori of the Open Fist and pray no one else has a legend in hand. If you're totally unstable, play Tempting Wurm... and good luck with that.

All in all, though, Hunted Wumpus delivers the best experience for everyone at the table. That's what I'm going for, and why Hunted Wumpus grabs my Best Multiplayer Creature crown.

That, as they say, is that. Comments, criticisms, and additional feedback welcome in the forums. Happy Wumping!

As always, I remain...
jon"tick"maske
tripthelight at earthlink dot net