I've been getting excited about M11. I have some travel coming up, and was trying to figure out if I could arrange to see my old friend Yoshi (from Soldiering On "fame"), who now lives out in the Seattle area. He hasn't seen a Magic card since Future Sight, which, when you think about it, is a LONG time in terms of how the game has changed. Tribal stuff, and Planeswalkers, and colored artifacts, and then the lifelink and combat damage rules changes and ...

*pant*

So yeah, it's a lot.

My travel was looking like it was going to start around when the M11 launch parties were going to be held, so we talked about the possibility of me heading out that way a little early and heading to one together. I don't think he was all that thrilled, mostly because I had forgotten to tell him about the part where they started putting new cards into the base sets. And remembering that made me remember that we started seeing some of the new cards for M11 being spoiled! I’m just going to focus on the "confirmed" M11 newbies that were revealed in San Juan as part of the Archenemy packs today; there will be plenty of time to take a look at the rumored new stuff as we start closing in on that release date.

Plummet

Plummet - 1G
Instant (C)
Destroy target creature with flying.

There hasn't been this powerful a Green sideboard card since Guttural Response - and that was Red sometimes, too. Okay, maybe Great Sable Stag. But Plummet is an amazing weapon for all those mono-Green or Green-based aggro decks that would just fold whenever a Baneslayer Angel showed up. (I can attest to having played those decks.) While I don't think this is "pushing the power envelope" or "undercosted," it is still a far FAR way from how Green usually deals with flyers - either by doing a massive amount of damage to all of them (a la Hurricane or Windstorm) or by singling one out in some overcosted or prohibitive fashion. Wallop cost 1G, but only handled Blue or Black flyers, and was Sorcery speed. Slingbow Trap costs FOUR mana, and they have to be attacking. Plummet is a one-card answer to a lot of creatures that give base-Green decks fits - Baneslayer Angel, Malakir Bloodwitch, Vampire Nocturnus, Celestial Colonnade, Sphinx of Lost Truths, and really anything thrown into the air by Elspeth. Love it.

Reassembling Skeleton

Reassembling Skeleton - 1B
Creature - Skeleton Warrior (U)
1B: Return Reassembling Skeleton from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
1/1

In TT #111 (Eldrazi Rising), I proposed the idea of a Crypt of Agadeem deck that fueled giant Eldrazi monsters. In the aftermath of that article, reader Walter McManigal sent me an email suggesting that what the deck was REALLY missing was a way to ensure that you got at least one good use out of a Crypt before it turned into an Island - and he suggested Amulet of Vigor as just that answer. I haven't had a chance since then to write about the deck, but Reassembling Skeleton seems like it would be a great fit as either a perpetual blocker (who comes back into play untapped thanks to Amulet of Vigor) or, if you need to, just leave him in the graveyard where he can power up a Crypt. Here's what the deck will likely look like after M11:

4 Architects Of Will
4 Gatekeeper Of Malakir
4 Igneous Pouncer
4 Jhessian Zombies
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Viscera Dragger

2 Smother
4 Tendrils Of Corruption
3 Amulet of Vigor
4 Sign in Blood

3 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truths

4 Crypt of Agadeem
11 Swamp
1 Eye of Ugin

Rare Cost Summary:
Amulet of Vigor ($0.99 x 3 = $2.97)
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre ($9.99 x 3 = $29.97)
Kozilek, Butcher of Truths ($11.99 x 1 = $11.99)
Crypt of Agadeem ($1.49 x 4 = $5.96)
Eye of Ugin ($7.99 x 1 = $7.99)

Why the switch from Emrakul to Ulamog? Because getting up to 15 mana can be hard, even for this deck. Ulamog is still pretty resilient and can help manage a difficult board just by being cast - and 11 mana is way easier than 15. I've been playing Ulamog quite a bit recently, and really like him - and evidently the populace agrees, since he appears to be sold out currently at this here store here. I keep forgetting to say "ANNIHILATOR" in a deep robotic voice when he attacks, though.

Chandra's Outrage

Chandra's Outrage - 2RR
Instant (C)
Chandra's Outrage deals 4 damage to target creature and 2 damage to that creature's controller.

The problem I've always had with Red-based aggro decks is that your creatures quickly get outclassed as the game goes longer, and it forces you into a position of having to pick and choose where your burn spells are pointed. Do you squeeze as much damage in as possible to your opponent? Or do you point the burn at their creatures in the hopes of your slightly-outdated creatures finishing the job? Chandra's Outrage solves that problem for you. At four mana, it's at the steep end of the mana curve for a weenie-style rush deck, but you're getting a total of six damage, and it's not conditional like Searing Blaze is. In addition, four damage to a creature is enough to reliably take out problematic creatures like Wall of Omens, Overgrown Battlement, and Putrid Leech without having to sacrifice one of your precious creatures (or damage to your opponent in general) to take it down. Chandra's Outrage also looks like it will do a fine job of bringing Planeswalkers down into a more manageable state, taking out their blocker and pulling them down to where you have a chance to kill them.

I've tried in the past to build a Chandra Ablaze deck, and I think we're getting to a "critical mass" of decent burn spells that she'd be happy to fling at your opponent.

4 Chandra Ablaze

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chandra's Outrage
4 Staggershock
4 Burst Lightning
4 Searing Blaze
3 Quenchable Fire
3 Punishing Fire

4 Ogre Sentry
4 Vent Sentinel

4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
18 Mountain

Rare Cost Summary:
Chandra Ablaze ($2.99 x 4 = $11.96)
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle ($0.99 x 4 = $3.96)

I'll be honest, I'm on a Valakut high right now. I've been fiddling with it in a ton of stuff. It fits perfectly in this type of deck where you want to be able to have a continuous source of damage to your opponent. Four Chandras may look a little extreme, but you'll be able to get value out of any multiples that clog up your hand by chucking it to Chandra's +1 ability. And... that's more burn than you could find by lighting a match near the Gulf of Mexico. Witty, AND topical! People will read this in two years and have no clue what that means.

Sorcerer's Strongbox

Sorcerer's Strongbox - 4
Artifact (U)
2, tap: Flip a coin. If you win the flip, sacrifice Sorcerer's Strongbox and draw three cards.

It's always good to see wacky coin-flip cards. I was a big fan of Chance Encounter - much as I am a fan of ALL alternate-win condition cards - and had a deck built with that and Krark's Thumb at one point. Ooh! We're heading back to Mirrodin in the fall, maybe Krark's Thumb will see a reprint! In any event, I'm glad that Wizards is pushing cards with big upsides and random results like last year's Burning Inquiry and Capricious Efreet, and I'm looking forward to seeing what other sorts of random results we'll be seeing.

As for the Strongbox itself, well... it's card-drawing in any color, but we already have that in Seer's Sundial. (Coming soon to a Tribal Thriftiness column near you!) Sure, if you can figure out how to activate the Strongbox and then untap it with its ability on the stack, you can activate it a second time and possibly get six cards out of it. (Fatestitcher? Cycle Esper Sojourners? Might this make Unbender Tine see play?) But I'm afraid the Strongbox might just be "too wacky for Standard" and turn up only in Limited. That being said, I'd play it in Limited, most likely.

Next Week

I have a PTQ coming up the weekend immediately following next week's column; if I have any amazing breakthroughs that warp the Standard format, you can be sure you'll see it here. Otherwise we'll keep on pushing through to M11, as rumors and spoilers seem to be popping up with much more frequency than they did in Rise of the Eldrazi. Make your plans now to head to a Pre-Release in your area! I'll be heading up to Denver, where they've managed to get LSV to come and gunsling. I'm probably better off trying to win packs off Conley Woods. How about getting someone in to gunsling that doesn't know how to play the game well? Scarlett Johansson or someone?

Until next week...

Dave

dave dot massive at gmail and davemassive at twitter and facebook