"Skullclamp should be banned."
"Arcbound Ravager should be banned."
"Disciple of the Vault should be banned."
"Ravager and Disciple should be banned."

Blah, blah, blah,"most broken environment ever." Blah, blah, blah,"most dominant deck of the past five years." Blah, blah, blah,"Ban!"

It's like some creepy mob scene, where one person starts up and more start echoing the cry. Folks are really startin' to get on my nerves with it, too. Have y'all been looking, I mean really looking, at the environment here?

Yes, Skullclamp draws two cards when the creature it's equipped to goes to the graveyard. This is determined to be too powerful? Let's take a moment to examine the vulnerabilities real quick.

1) It has to equip a creature.
2) That creature has to die.
3) It's an artifact.
4) It equips as a Sorcery.

Now let's take a look at just the block solutions, okay?
Unforge
Oxidize
Viridian Shaman
Shatter
Echoing Ruin
Oblivion Stone
Viridian Zealot
Altar's Light

Okay, that's just the stuff off the top of my head, but we're talking about nine solutions to the card once it's in play. That's artifact kill alone, and doesn't even address dealing with the creatures that are about to be equipped (Terror/Purge, Electrostatic Bolt, etc).

Ted also made the point that Skullclamp appeared in over 75% of the decks at Regionals (more or less) either in the main deck or in the sideboard. So it's a popular card. Every aggro or creature based deck out there wants to draw cards. It goes back to {shudder} Card Advantage... which, summarized, is that drawing cards is good and helps you win.

So not only does this fail to surprise anyone, it also explains the presence of the 'Clamp in so many decks. But here's where the logic of the argument against Skullclamp breaks down: If Skullclamp is the problem, why does Ravager Affinity win without it?

Tell you what, we'll come back to that question in a minute. Let's try a different approach: Would banning Skullclamp stop Ravager Affinity?

Nope. Knut found that solution himself. Thoughtcast and even Thirst for Knowledge would replace it. So Ravager continues... ravaging... and people piss and moan some more.

More bannings!

I come to bury Arcbound Ravager, not to praise him.
The evil that Arcbounds do lives after them;
The good is often interred with their scrap;
So let it be with Arcbound Ravager. The noble Knut
Hath told you Ravager was dangerous;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously will he answer for it.

Or, if you prefer animated things (yes, that was intentional. Apologies)

Here he comes
Here comes Speed Ravager
He's a demon on wheels
Go, Speed Ravager, go!

Or not. The Arcbound mechanic is frustrating, but easily dealt with. In fact, not once has that particular element alone won a match. Note that I said"alone." Surely sacrificing a Ravager to itself to move the counters to an unblocked creature is the height of scheming from those tricksy hobbitses... *cough-Gollum-cough*... but it's not like we didn't see it coming, right?

So we Shock/Bolt/Purge (the Bulimic Samba?) the target of those counters and life is good.

Alas and alack, Ravager's true power is demonstrated when he's out drinking with that stupid cleric, yon Disciple of the Vault. These two get to partying, and you might as well start breaking out the bail money. Sacrifice and loss, sacrifice and loss... it starts to sound like a lot like the Samurai: Musashi Miyamoto movies. Sacrificing artifacts to cause you life loss hurts, and the more clerics there are, the worse it feels. Still, Disciple has no loyalty, people. If we break up this dynamic duo, he'll just team up with Atog, or Krark-Clan Grunt, or possibly even Spawning Pit (in a pinch) and get right back into his old shenanigans, or what I call"Nag's Dilemma."

**Short digression, skip it if you don't care about old animated movies - Nag, the evil snake has a hostage, and says to everyone"If you move, I will strike the boy. If you do not move, I will strike the boy."

Kill the artifact attacking you, and lose life. Don't kill it, and take damage. Nag's Dilemma. I'm so cute we could just puke. Let's move on.

**End digression.

So banning the little dark guy is enough, right? Or maybe we could take out the Disciple and the Ravager, that way the combo and counters aren't an issue anymore?

Yeah... because the Arcbound mechanic is the real issue here, right? I mean, those Arcbound Bruiser and Arcbound Overlord are just killing the environment, aren't they? How many people got knocked out of Regionals by those cards, huh? Show of hands? Anyone?

Anyone?

Beuller?

Guess it's not so much the Arcbound mechanic that's really crushing people around here.

Ban Disciple!
Ban Ravager!
Ban Skullclamp!

No, no, no.

I don't feel banning anything is necessary or wise. Skullclamp has revitalized aggro decks, and introduced a whole dynamic to the field. It makes people think before they Wrath of God, and thinking is a good thing. It forces people to consider blocks beyond the simply thought of"Can I kill his creature?" and takes us into the realm of"Should I kill his creature?" I think that's a glorious thing, and it should be treasured. If nothing else, I want to see how people go about using it in the future.

Disciple punishes Akroma's Vengeance. Um.... Good? I'm glad. Board sweepers need to have something anathematic to them, something that slaps them on the nose with the newspaper of goodness and says"Bad dog! Bad dog!"

Ravager makes artifacts ammunition. I'm pretty much fine with that. Personally, I think he would have made a better Legend than merely"Artifact Creature," but we take what we get. He's not broken and he doesn't unduly swing a game's tempo in his own right. What he typically does, all he usually does, is make it possible to get through for one big Alpha Strike... Of course, he charges you all of your artifacts, and he doesn't cope well with surprises.

So how good is Ravager, really?

It's pretty good. Rares are supposed to be, I hear.

Of all the proposed cards to suffer banishment from our Magical kingdom, not once have I seen someone target the proper cards. Remember that question I said I'd come back to? If Skullclamp is the problem, why does Ravager Affinity win without it?

I've got two cards for ya:
Myr Enforcer
Frogmite

What? Am I cracking smoke? Wait and see, good citizen, and trust in the Bandit King. Affinity is a very cool concept, and I enjoy playing with it. Counting artifacts is easier than counting mana, and it makes for quick-playing hand. That being said, Affinity is as broken a mechanic as I've ever seen, and I was around for Tolarian Academy.

Affinity breaks the mana rule, allowing people to cast multiple creatures without tapping a single land, and the presence of those creatures helps cast other creatures.

Ugh. That's nastier than my breath after tequila.

It is also the key to Speed Ravager's success, since the Ravager player can pull a couple of creatures off a 'Clamp draw, drop them into play and spend not a single mana doing it.

That is synergy, lemme tell ya.

Can Ravager win without these two non-stars? Yes. Can it win anywhere near as quickly? Nuh-uh. One killer opening play for Ravager is:

Artifact Land, Ornithopter, Welding Jar, Tooth/Scale of Chiss-Goria, Frogmite, Frogmite and go. Turn 2, drop another land, Arcbound Ravager and swing away for five, potentially eleven points of damage if they commit right then. Turn 3, drop a Disciple of the Vault, go all in and win.

Sure, if you take out Ravager, the targeted removal will become more effective, but that's not going to stop people from dropping a bunch of beaters using Affinity. Those +1/+1 counters won't be jumping around, and it makes for an easier day, but is the kind of speed assault that's driving people crazy still possible without the Frogmite and Myr Enforcers?

Nope. Not even close, buddy. Try building an Affinity deck without these two beasties. It slows down dramastically, (dramatically; drastically; I combined 'em. New word. Yes, I'm allowed to do this. I have a signed note from Webster's somewhere) and that is what banning is supposed accomplish: to retard the winning process of a specific deck and slow the game so that other decks can compete.

I personally see this kind of field-leveling effect as a good thing, and I laugh (out loud, but I refuse to abbreviate that in an article) when people complain that it's too fast. I've played against the deck, and I hate losing to it. I've lost when I thought I would win, and that was a bitter feeling too. I've been so mad I could spit fire, but you know what?

Sometimes we lose at Magic.

I built around it. Wrath of God, Renewed Faith, Pulse of the Fields, you name it, I've tried it. Oxidize, Pyroclasm, Shock, whatever I thought would slow down the deck and allow me to establish some kind of game. Sometimes it worked, too. The rest of the time, they'd just win.

"Who said life was fair? Where is that written?" -Peter Falk, The Princess Bride

Ravager Affinity is The Dominant deck right now. That happens, and I think it's a good thing. Still, if banishment is the only answer, I'm going to suggest cutting the speed of the deck without removing the heart.

Dodging Frogs and Enforcers,
Kaltros, Bandit King
Kaltros AT yahoo DOT com