Selesnya Guild Kit…Guilds of Ravnica…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

December 5, 2018 by spartannerd

I am continuing my series of reviews on the Guilds of Ravnica Guild Kits. So far have reviewed the Dimir and Golgari Guild Kits. This week I will review the Selesnya guild kit.

The front of the box is another window box, this time featuring a foil alternate art of Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice. You can see the Selesnya pin at the bottom of the box. (This pin looks especially snazzy…The tree looks professional and eye catching.)

The back of the box has three pics that show off some of the product, and some information…and in bold…KNOW THAT YOU FIGHT WITH THE MIGHT OF LIFE UNITED!

In the story of the city-plane of Ravnica, there are ten guilds. The Selesnya Conclave (Green and White) are about working together for the greater good. These cards are known to produce tokens quickly…lots of small creatures that work together to summon larger creatures or do other effects. They also use musical terminology. Like the word “Chorus”

The box opens and a transparent tray slides out…this is useless packaging, by the way, for all the effort that went into it. Here’s what you see.

And here are the contents loosed.

You get, from left to right in a circle…the deck, a “pamphlet” with information and artwork about the guild, as well as the all important decklist, a Selesnya pin, a Selesnya symbol sticker, a deckbox, and the foil featured card.

Here is a closer look at the pamphlet.

I am especially fond of Tolsimir Wolfblood. That is a pretty painting.

The inside of the pamphlet contains a poetic and flavorful description of the guild, and also the decklist.

Here is a look at Trostani.

The important word here is POPULATE. Populate means you can copy a crature token by paying that price, one colorless, one green, and one white. Trostani would make a great commander. But she is going to get jammed into Atraxa commander decks.

So what other cards are there?

Here are some pics, with commentary about the most important cards.

First, the rares.

I am not real familiar with some of these cards. I have a few of them, but have never played them competitively or causally. But there is one standout here that I have seen across the table…Privileged Position. Other permanents you control have HEXPROOF.

So…Black doesn’t easily get rid of enchantments…I generally play black…so guess what this means? The person I was playing against that had this card whipped me bad! My kill spells were useless.

I suppose I should mention Glare of Subdual and Growing Ranks. Growing Ranks produces a copy of a token at every upkeep. 8/8 Grove of the Guardian token with Vigialance…No problem…Have two! But it is Glare of Subdual that is backbreaking. Your opponent works hard to build a big crature base, and other stuff. But you can just tap your saprolings or other creatures, and tap down their big stuff in response to moving to combat…You can really frustrate some opponents this way.

Next, the tokens. Double sided! One side Saprolings. The other…different other creatures. Centaurs are sort of iconic for Green and White.

Next the common and uncommon creatures.

Not bad. I have sided Dryad Militant in a few times when playing White Weenie.

The lands. Four Selesnya Guildgates…duals that enter tapped, Selesnya Sanctuary, Duals that enter tapped AND require you to return another land to your hand, with the upside of producing one of each color when you finally get to tap it. And last…GREEN AND White GUILD LANDS. (Awesome.)

As I said in my last two reviews. The wizards should have reprinted four copies of the shock lands here. Or at least included one copy. They wouldn’t even have broken the market. Those lands are worth about $8.00 apiece. And they are needed in Modern, and currently legal in Standard.

The last pics of the cards are of the other spells.

Everything here is functional. But not outstanding. I am a fan of the charms. Selesnya Signet and the other signets are the best “mana rocks” generally available…(I mean Sol RIng and Black Lotus are better…arguably…Lions Eye Diamond…But those are a different game than Kitchen Table “Guild Kit”)

PLAYING THE DECK

This deck’s record at the SpartanNerd house.

Dimir Guild Kit. (two wins)

Golgari Guild Kit (One Win)

Jace (V. Chandra) duel deck (Two Wins)

Face the Hydra challenge deck. (One win, One loss)

Defeat a God challenge deck. (one win)

Ajani (Vs. Nicol Bolas) Duel deck. (One win, One Loss.)

The Selesnya Deck is selling at some online stores for 50+ dollars. And the secret is Priveledged Position. Some people are buying this deck just for that card. It was a much needed re-print, and was around $25…(That value has tanked because of the reprint about 50%) . And why? You resolve that card…all those tokens you have get hexproof. No fun for your opponents except for when they force you to sacrifice, or when they can match you in battle. The Hydra challenge deck thing…that is what it is…it starts off with creatures before the game even begins. But the combo of quality, efficient cratures, plus token generators, plus populate, plus convoke, plus Priveledged Position…the odds are against other casual decks winning.

But it is th las match that is of the most interest…Ajani’s deck is mostly the same colors with a splash of red. We found this to be a terrific match-up!

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF THE SELESNYA GUILD KIT.

This deck is amazing as a preconstructed product. BUT…it doesn’t seem to be balanced well against the other decks in the Guild Kit series…at least the other two I own. Which takes the fun out of that Battle Box idea, doesn’t it.

The deckbox is the same as the Dimir and Golgari boxes. Basic card-board with a top loader design. Nothing great, but it can hold sleeved cards plus the tokens.

I rate this one a 4/5 only because of its seeming unbalance. It is great to get a great pre-constructed deck, though.

Do you agree or disagree with me, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

(Remember, the SpartanNerd is gauging whether or not to let SpartanNerd.Com go dark, or not. You feedback is valuable! So far, I think I am hanging on.)

Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver Planeswalker Pack…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

July 10, 2017 by spartannerd

Here it is. A week early! (I bought it at the pre-release, and the SpartanKid also won a copy!) So we now have two…

For this unboxing and review…in the interest of saving what little WordPress space I have left, I will just get down to it.

You get the new foil card “Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver.” As Bolas cards go, this one is the worst. To be clear, we now have three Bolas planeswalker cards. The classic version remains the most iconic and powerful. There is a new Nicol Bolas, the God Pharoah, and then there’s this. His mana cost is more or less the same. He has three relevant abilities. He might be the worst of the three, but he is still quite significant. With ~~Intro Packs~~ Planeswalker Packs, the Wizards said they want to give people splashy cards to learn to play with. If this isn’t splashy, I don’t know what is.

I assure you…if you’ve read my other reviews of Planeswalker Packs, then you know what unboxing this is like. It is exactly the same! There is a plastic bubble and a little black tray. All of the other contents are in a deck box. Here is the deck box, posing alongside my FUNKO POP! version of Bolas.

Inside you get two booster packs, two pieces of paper, and the deck sealed in cellophane.

I will go ahead and tell you that I didn’t get any important cards in my two packs.

The two pieces of paper are a guide to playing Magic, and a poster that has strategy for playing this deck. There is also a handy decklist.

Now for the cards!

Here are the rares that came with the intro deck. This makes my fourth copy of the Throne. Visage of Bolas is new, and I’m certain can only be gotten by purchasing this deck.

This deck is surprisingly creature-heavy. Normally, Bolas wants a control deck. But here are the creatures. The Wasp of the Bitter End is a card that you can only get in this deck as well, but it notably says “a Nicol Bolas” planeswalker, meaning that it is a card that can work with the other two versions of Bolas.

These creatures represent something else…apparently the story is that Bolas used the plane of Amonkhet to harvest the strongest warriors and make them into “eternals.”

We get a bunch of basics, and importantly eight fixers. Cinder Barrens is one of those intro-deck-only cards. Crypt of the Eternals is a clever new Grixis tri-land.

Which means we have instant and sorcery cards remaining.

Not a whole lot. Magma Spray is the most competitive here. Open Fire is a really bad lightning Bolt. Final Reward. A five drop removal spell. BOOO. (AT LEAST it stops players who might be trying to Eternalize or Embalm.)

Playing the deck.

Normally, you would cancel and destroy everything until you could draw and cast Bolas, pretty much for the win. In a normal constructed deck.

This time, your strategy is a little different. You are going to play creatures, (I will mention that Aerial Guide is probably the best card for this deck, since it flies and draws you cards.) You hope to get the Visage of Bolas, which will then get him in your hand pretty much guaranteed, and then you will pretty much guaranteed be able to cast him if you do all of this at the appropriate time.

Now this plan depends on who you are playing against. Against other intro decks, great!

But in a serious environment, when you fetch up your Bolas, they will know you have him, and either cancel him, hold their kill spell, or do some kind of Thoughtsieze (Liliana) effect and make you discard him. Visage of Bolas is a four drop, meaning you are probably never going to be able to play him on the same turn that you cast it. (If that were the case with this deck, we would be talking about turn 12 at least! Competitive Magic decks want a turn four or five kill.

I think this is a great product to get people interested in playing MTG. But it is wrong to call it a Standard deck. It IS. But it isn’t competitive. You could just as easily discourage people from playing if they bought this, and then played it in a tournament and find themselves wrecked every game.

I’m not saying it is impossible for you to win a match or two. But aren’t competitive players going to have a sideboard? There are now at LEAST three different cheap removal spells for Bolas (the Defeat cycle.)

The packaging is nice. The box can hold sleeved cards, but has no solution for dice or tokens. It’s still better than the old intro pack boxes. I’m still asserting that if they want people to feel like they should play these decks in a tournament, then they should include sleeves. I played against a newcomer during the sealed tournament this weekend…and how did I know he was a newcomer? First impression…no sleeves. Then they way he played reflected that.

I have played four matches using this deck, even a few “mirror matches,” and I just can’t get excited about it. I do like the new Bolas card, but Nicol Bolas, God Pharaoh is better for Standard. Maybe there is a good way to exploit the specific cards in this deck that only come with this product…like Visage of Bolas. But you better be able to produce a ton of mana early. The wasp thing is cool, but I think it better for a Bolas Tribal commander deck. It’s just going to net you some extra value for playing Bolas.

So I am going to rate this deck at 2/5. It’s kind of flat.

Now the SpartanKid thinks otherwise. He believes I am being too harsh, and he likes the idea of an “Eternals” tribal deck. I will keep you posted about what happens…He might even make a standard deck that riffs on the intro deck.

So the SpartanNerd rates Nicol Bolas, The Deceiver Planeswalker Pack 2/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Archenemy: Nicol Bolas. SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

June 17, 2017 by spartannerd

Long time no blog. Sorry, Hub City Geeks.

But I’m back with a treat! As you can see, for Father’s Day I got the Archenemy Nicol Bolas set! And I am unboxing it for you today!

The top image is the front of the box. Nice artwork. And you know you are getting something nice! Mine was actually slightly cheaper, as the Tangled Web in Spartanburg is holding a sale…everything 15% off!

The back has some inspiring words, and a picture of some of the content.

Opening the box, you are greeted with this. I was a little puzzled at first.

Also, note that upon removing the cellophane and the price tag along with it, you can see some information. Ages 13+, 2-4 players, and 30+ minutes.

What I’m telling you and showing you is that this is the first really successfully executed MTG all-in-one board game style set! While there is Arena of the Planeswalkers, which is “Heroscape” with Magic characters, Archemeny: Nicol Bolas retains the gameplay of Magic the Gathering. And just like any dedicated board game, there is some setup.

I was confused by the big white thing. What that is is an envelope, and it contained the four deckboxes, which you will have to assemble.

Adding to the board game feel of the set, you also get a special life counter, which can go up to 100. This is the “Commander’s Arsenal” style of counter, that hasn’t been released in a long time. (Incidentally, if you get the Commander’s Anthology,” you get four of these. I won’t be getting that product and reviewing it, however.)

The first pack of cards I opened were the scheme cards, of course! These cards are the same size as the Planes from Planechase. I am showing you the front and the back…I really like the design. And the back is almost like, “What if Magic the Gathering came out this year?” This might be what the card backs would look like. The front features more of that Egyptian style art, and a device resembling the “Talon Gates.” (Apparently, Nicol Bolas was one of the first planeswalkers, and the gates are a trophy remaining from the first planeswalker duel on Dominaria.)

The scheme cards are loaded with flavor. And I think there also may be some spoiler content from the upcoming “Hour of Devastation” set. Check out “A Reckoning Approaches.” Is that Razeketh on the card?

The Included Decks

Next I will unbox each deck and show you a picture of the rares. I will also point out the important commons and uncommons. All of these cards are reprints.

OK. First let me say I am disappointed that these aren’t foil planeswalkers. AT LEAST BOLAS SHOULD BE FOIL.

And while we’re at it, why didn’t they give us an oversize Nicol Bolas as well?

OK. Rant over. Let’s look at the tokens first.

They are double sided. One image shows one side. The other shows the same cards flipped.

It seems we should be making lots of horrors, zombies, and soldiers.

Now for Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker‘s deck.

Wow. This is a lot of rares! And so many things fly. Blood Tyrant…That guy’s a winner! Don’t have what you need? Prognostic Sphinx will get you there. Here is a needed reprint of Dreadbore. I almost think Harvester of Souls is a little boring at this point. How many times has that been reprinted? Icefall Regent was recently a big deal in standard. Archfiend of Depravity has been there…but never really shined. Bolas is a three color card, and it’s good that we get Dragonskull Summit, a buddy land.

Here are the commons and uncommons. Lightning Bolt. YES. Doom Blade. YES! Extract from Darkness has been fun in commander. Slave of Bolas. This is my first “upgrade.” I picked up a foil over my recent vacation.

Because Bolas is a three color character, you get some mana rocks that help you fix your colors. And you get these lands, notably Crumbling Necropolis.

Each of the Planeswalkers in this set are pretty good, but Bolas is the most satisfying. Still, he costs a ton to play. Luckily, his deck helps get him out a little earlier with certain cards.

Gideon Jura ‘s deck

These are some all-stars in white! (well, maybe not Aegis Angel and Lightwielder Paladin.) As I looked at these rares…I knew them right away. In the case of Fiendslayer Paladin, that guy was incredible in Theros/M15 standard. Sun Titan. Need we say more? Odric Master Tactician is so good he right out finishes regular matches of Magic if he hits the board with some friends.

Gideon Jura is an OK card. There are certainly better versions of Gideon out there. But this version is good and balanced for this set. -2 the Gideon to remove some of Bolas pesky fliers.

These cards are also pretty good, with excoriate exiling tapped cards. Fencing Ace was the title of my deck back in Theros/Ravnica standard. Pairing him with Fiendslayer is great. The Flickerwisp…It turns out that Bolas can steal your planeswalkers pretty easy using the scheme cards. But Flickerwisp says “return to the battlefield under its OWNERS’s control.” Which is just sick. Bolas can steal your Chandra, and you can just steal her back!

The SpartanKid made an observation…cards from Amonkhet have the Amonkhet expansion symbol. But cards from other places get a special Archenemy symbol…

(I thought of this because of the Aerial Responder, even though he has the Archenemy symbol. Somehow that triggered my memory, maybe because he is in Kaladesh?)

Chandra, Pyromaster‘s deck

Dualcaster Mage, Grim Lavamancer, and Inferno Titan. These cards are terrific! I don’t know if Dualcaster made a splash in Vintage or not, but this was one of the predictions when it was first printed in Commander 2015. This is my first copy of Grim Lavamancer…he is a staple in the Modern burn archetype.

Hammerhand and Coordinated Assault help your guys get through. Searing Spear…this is NOT LIGHTNING BOLT. Chandra now has at least three pre-constructed decks, and none of them have the best burn spell in them. That said, Searing Spear isn’t bad, it just can’t outpace Lightning Bolt. Volcanic Geyser. Why not just include Fireball? The geyser has the advantage of being an instant, but it is one red slower.

Chandra’s card is one of the best Chandras they ever printed.. Seeing that she has NINE DIFFERENT CARDS, that’s saying something. But a great many of those are not really tournament playable. This one is a contender.

Nissa, Worldwaker‘s deck

Gavin Verhey, who was the lead designer on this set, proclaimed in the now famous preview duel on the Mothership website, said that Nissa’s deck could do the best with a long game. And that may be because this is a two color deck, while the other two are mono colored.

She does have more resilient threats, but it takes longer for anything to get going. If Bolas sweeps the board and Thragtusk is there, you at least get a beast in his place. Forgotten Ancient can get out of hand really fast, (He was recently included in the Atraxa Commander deck.) Oran-Rief Hydra is big to start with, and just gets bigger.

Additionally, this deck can draw cards more easily, and Vision Skeins is incredible in a four player game. (Of course, Bolas gets to draw also.)

The Nissa card here is the best of the three Gatewatch planeswalkers. She pays for herself the turn she comes out. She makes lands into man-lands. And ultimateing her can be GG, if Bolas doesn’t sweep the board on the next turn.

PLAYING THIS SET.

I just got it yesterday! But there has been some playing here in the SpartanNerd Household. Last night me and the SpartanKid sleeved up Gideon and Bolas and had a traditional one-on-one. The funny thing is, that worked pretty good. It was a cute match, where each side would gain an advantage one after the other. But eventually, Bolas overpowered him.

Today, I ran the Gatewatch myself against the SpartanKid, who played Bolas as Archenemy. This match lasted about 70 minutes. It seemed everytime I would get some traction, the scheme cards would undercut my progress. That big splashy spell every turn really makes this a special set. But it is also HARD.

Eventually Bolas accumulated enough flyers to just start picking planeswalkers off one at a time. And what do you do when all you draw is pump spells while you have no creatures? The last man standing was Nissa, and two Turntimber Basilisks, and two Fertilids. Nissa had a ton of lands as well. Bolas had the abovementioned flyers, but all were tapped, making death inevitable. But I wasn’t going down without a fight. He had three walking threats. I landfalled the basilisks several times by using the Fertilid’s ability. And at least removed the threats on the ground. But it was a loss next turn. Bolas scheme card even made me lose life before the defeat! (The Mighty Will Fall)

This was a fun time, and it could only be more fun with more players. I will have to keep you posted here on SpartanNerd.com about future matchups.

SO WHAT DOES THE SPARTANNERD RATE ARCHENEMY:NICOL BOLAS?

It’s a terrific product, and the Board Game feel of it is very nice. Check it out.

Here is my Archenemy packed up and ready to play. But believe it or not, I had just put the top back on it and shook it around. The tray inside is perfect for keeping this set contained. Even the life counter has a well designed spot in the set. I haven’t sleeved the tokens or the schemes, but they fit nicely in their original spot underneath the deck box un-sleeved.

So this is a well designed package. Well designed experience.

And I COULD take for instance, the Grim Lavamancer to a tournament to play. And that is one of the rewarding things about collecting the sealed products the way I do, at least for Modern. Some of the included cards here are very nice.

I wish the Planeswalkers were foil. That is one of my complaints. You pay $59.99 for a MTG product, there better be some foils. Because these are all alternate art cards, they won’t be printed in foils unless the Wizards decide to reprint them in the future somehow. You could get foil regular printing but that shouldn’t feel necessary.

The decks included are tailored for multiplayer matches, and so that is one of the narrow focus things about the set. But you could play any decks against Bolas you wanted to, I suppose.

So I am going to rate this product a 4/5, knowing that my opinion will change the more I play the set.

Do you agree or disagree with the SpartanNerd’s rating of 4/5? Let me know in the comments!

Amonkhet Pre-Release…SpartanNerd Experience

April 22, 2017 by spartannerd

I was on the fence about playing in the pre-release this time. My nerd closet is busting out, and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with my stuff. But after previewing the goodness of the Egypt themed Amonkhet, I couldn’t hardly wait to play. So here is a review of my experience!

At midnight on April 22, the Tangled Web in Spartanburg SC had more players in it than I’ve ever seen there. Maybe. (Perhaps Theros had more?) They totally hit capacity. Pulled out every table and chair. One guy voluntarily sat in the floor to build. (He just wanted to.)

As usual, everyone was given a box. Here is my box right after opening.

This is one of the prettiest pre-release boxes I’ve seen. And it has a neat construction as well. Here’s what you get. A nifty “Cartouche” box. Six boosters. A “The Trial of the Five Gods” card. A stamped oil rare or mythic. (mine is Throne of the God-Pharoh.), And a deck builders guide.

To save data, I am only showing you my rares, and a picture of my picks. (The SpartanNerd Blog, like my nerd closet, is maxed out with stuff.)

I crafted an incredible deck with the six packs of Amonkhet. It has lots of flyers and just enough removal. The god card is also very good, being indestructible, big and flying, and gaining you card advantage.

I have some small zombies that count as great early game removal. And one of them, a rare, has his own recurrence. I have cards that return creatures from graveyard to hand, with Gravedigger being a classic. This is great for cycling or keeping annoying creatures out. I pulled a big mythic angel but thought it not worth splashing for. Throne of the God-Pharoah plus the curse is like insurmountable drain in this format. Bone Picker. A black delver style card is also very good too.

You’ll notice I only have one Throne…It is a legendary artifact. So I opted to only keep the one…probably the best move. No one played artifact removal against me all night!

I won the dice roll every time, but like drawing more than playing first. (I have a history of doing this in sealed. It’s a good policy in the slower format.)

I took an early win. 2-1. My loss was because of the poor choice to keep a hand without early creatures. I think it unwise to count on playing control without any board state. I didn’t see any -1/-1 counter abilities against my creatures for removal. This guy played three colors. Unwisely. He had some big manticores. But i was able to remove them.

Round 2 against J.D. a person I’ve rarely beaten. He played green red. I lost game 1, A grind-y match, where i drew a land when i only had one life, and needed removal. Game 2 though…he played a red card that is 4/2, with a requirement that he discard a card, and got to tank an embalm creature. Sick! So he won that too. I had the god in hand. But couldn’t see the way of turning him on. I felt good about my hand too. But it just wasn’t good enough against what he had. Sadness!

Game 3. Creature stall for a long time. My opponent cloned kefnet. He almost decked himself as I held him off forever. Then with two life remaining, he cycle-shocked me. He took away game 2. And i dropped

It was great fun! I left for home at 4:15 AM.

WILL I PLAY TOMORROW? (I did. My deck was white-blue, featuring the white god Oketra. Either I or my deck performed better. But it was a slow deck that took awhile to get everything working.)

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review- “Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas” Duel Deck (Vintage Review)

October 9, 2016 by spartannerd

If you can call decks this young “vintage,” that is. It has only been about five years since they were first released. That was around the time I was discovering trading card games. Bolas was THE BEAST back then, and he recieved a reprint in M13 when I began playing in tournaments, and I would see him on my opponents side of the table, and be envious. Good times!

I saw the Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas” duel deck at the Tangled Web behind the counter, and asked about it. I purchased it for $45…let’s remember this is an item you just don’t see on a shelf anymore….I was looking for stuff like this when I went to the Hickory Con, but just couldn’t find anything, at least that I could afford…

Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas comes in this foil box. We get some information about this story…clearly Ajani is outmatched…but at least you can play him on turn four. Bolas is an EIGHT DROP. Bolas destroyed a plane called Alara, and Ajani is mad. That summarizes it.

For this review, I hope to show some of the older elements that I find.

Here is what you get in the box. The deck boxes are pretty, but once again useless for sleeved cards. This time I am going to cut these up and glue them to Dragon Shields boxes…Ivory for Ajani, and Maroon for Bolas.

The artwork here … we see Bolas from a different angle in this art. We see what might be the size difference between the two characters.

Here is the deck list for each deck.

Here’s one of those old elements I was talking about…the guide to playing magic! This poster gives you a lot of information. In fact, I believe when me and the SpartanChildren began to play this game, we kept this same item on hand for reference.

Nowadays the wizards just use a tiny little card that doesn’t explain much.

OK ALREADY. LETS UNWRAP SOME CARDS!

First, Ajani’s deck.

Kird Ape. The poster boy for red-green decks. I was surprised to see green cards…I guess Ajani held is battle on the shard of Naya. Wild Nacatl, a posterboy for Naya (red-green-white.) Wild Nacatl has a legacy of being banned in modern, but recently was taken off of the banlist.

We’ve seen the pridemate printed a few times it seems.

Qasali Pridemage has been printed a few times as well. He is good…with exalted and a control ability.

Lightning Helix…now we’re talking! a great card.

Here we have useful to rediculous cards. Naya Charm…if it’s a charm, it’s good. Titanic Ultimatum…the opposite of Cruel Ultimatun…a spell of rediculous power, that demands intense color loyalty.

Ajani goes after Bolas with lots of different land options. Notice “Evolving Wilds…” The Jungle Shrine is a Tri-Land, one that I didn’t have. Sapseep Forest…is a FOREST. You can tutor for it with a real fetch. (Not with evolving wilds.) I belive I had Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree already.

Ajani’s deck is a dedicated aggro deck with a few tricks. It yells the colors of Naya. And it does what those colors do. The green makes bigger creatures. The white gains life. The red does damage. All of Ajani’s stuff can impact the game in a big way.

Nicol Bolas’ deck

Bolas’ deck is obviously of Grixis…the shard that represents his evil alignment. From Faerie to Toads to Hounds. Bolas deck looks to be slower right away, and that is because his deck is poised to be a control deck. Each card has a fun controlling effect. The Morgue Toad is a card that scrams “GRIXIS.”

I never owned a Moroii before. Apparently an infamous flyer that hurts you each turn. He has a drawback for all the power he has to offer, similar to the demons in the duel deck with Lord of the Pit. Shriekmaw…this guy belongs in every casual black deck. Blazing Specter unsurpsingly makes someone discard a card. The specter family of cards typically do something with cards in hand.

Vapor Snag. NICE. I have a foil from Modern Masters, and I think I will make my first swap.

More control. Countersquall. Recoil. Undermine. Icy Manipulator. (The manipulator has brought me a few win!) Just more control.

And even more control. Profane Command could only be supplanted by Similagar’s command, which wouldn’t be printed for another five years. Come on guys. Why not Cryptic Command? 🙂 Turn/Burn, Pain/Suffering. Bolas has to cheat. So why not draw two different cards when he was only supposed to draw one!

And then the imfamous Cruel Ultimatum. Wow. The card that won MTG pro finals back in 2011. But like the other Ultimatum in this collection, it is color intensive. You have to have everything lined up just right to get it to work. Cruel is better than Titanic because Titanic is meant to be announced before attackers are declared. Your window of opportunity is wider with Cruel Ultimatum. Take away their life irregardless of blockers. Make them ditch cards, and get one of Bolas’ few but great creatures back from the graveyard.

Bolas doesn’t have as many special lands as Ajani. He gets two Tri-Lands. (That’s only fiar.) He gets two copiews of Terramorphic Expanse (See what they did there. The two cards have opposing flavor but are functional reprints.) And then there’s Rupture Spire, which is a City of Brass with the caveat of entering tapped and having to have a many spent on it. (You don’t have to lose life.)

So who’s better? Playing the decks

I say, Bolas’ deck has a better plan. Deal with whatever Ajani throws at him. That’s what makes this deck fun. But Ajani can “run over” Bolas before he can win. And that means these two are perfectly balanced. So far, I have played eight matches between the two, and both have four wins. GREAT WORK, WIZARDS (Five years later.) The decks are fun. Just remember, AGGRO for Ajani. CONTROL for Bolas. Have small fast creatures in your opeing hand with Ajani. Have fast removal and card draw in Bolas CONTROL deck.

DID THE SPARTANNERD GET A GOOD DEAL.

Here is what some of my readers is asking.

The Duel Deck version of Ajani and of Bolas, in premium foil, are about a $6 value.

Wild Nacatl and Kird Ape get you about $4 (together).

So I’m at $16…

Lightning Helix will get you about $6.00.

So I’m at $21…

Changing tactics. That was TCG player. Lets look at MTGprice.com

Basically, I got a $70 value for about about $45. Not bad!

I rate this great product 5/5. It has wonderful flavor, and I got a great deal. I will happily add this to my Duel Decks collection!

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review…Funko POP! Magic “Nicol Bolas”!

December 28, 2014 by spartannerd

The pop vinyl bug isn’t one that has ever hit me. Not that I am against it. It just hasn’t been my thing. Logically, to me, what is the appeal? Super deformed figures with very little articulation and cartoony details. Vinyl pop is kind of the opposite of something like Masters of the Universe Classics or Transformers Masterpiece figures.

I was very surprised to open this gift from the SpartanKid…Funko POP! Magic Nicol Bolas. Read on to see if I have changed my opinion!

Clearly the people who make this believe their product should be highly displayable in package. The packaging is beautiful. I’m sure the number “12” in the black circle means that Bolas is the twelfth figure in the Magic the Gathering series. (Confirmed by studying the back some more, which shows off Gideon, Tezzeret, Elspeth, and Sarkahn as well). The SpartanKid said that they didn’t have a Liliana, and thought I wouldn’t want a glow in the dark Chandra. (That would have been cool!) The word “PoP! MAGIC!” is all over the place. I almost forgot the name of the company was “Funko.” The package has a nice window where you can see Bolas inside, and you can see him from one of the sides as well. The other side has an illustration of the figure, as well as the top, which has an illustration of his eyes and above, prominently featuring his horns and the “Gem of Becoming” in between them.

You know, the SpartanNerd just tosses all of the boxes. Still, I want people to know that this is indeed some of the most beautiful toy packaging. You’d think someone from Apple Computers might be involved in their marketing or something!

The Figure

Really, I think of this as more of a statue. It has one articulation point. Its head.

So I decided I would photograph it with different colored backdrops. I will be displaying Bolas in my classroom or my office. I expect many other adults who are into Magic the Gathering will do the same. Maybe different colors might show off how he might look in different display situations.

First off, red. Bolas is quite shiny. Very gold. He is a gold Magic card, after all! (Blue, Red, and Black). His head is big. As big as the rest of his body, measuring from bottom of the goatee to the tips of his horns. His head features a cute toothy grin and black vacant eyes. But these are ALSO cute. He has a cute nose and goblin-esque ears. The other pictures show his side views off a tad more. His wings are not movable, nor his tail. His hands either.

Bolas is considered by many to be THE BAD GUY in the Magic the Gathering universe. So is it wrong to show him in white? I like how the tail curls around the outside of his right wing. Here I will note that the “vest” that he wears is of a softer plastic than the rest of him. Not sure what that is all about.

In blue, he feels extra shiny. Like some kind of brass idol or something. Indiana Jones could easily be after this baddy!

As much as I think of this as a statue, it is actually fun to chase around the Spartan-family and pets with Nicol Bolas, and saying something absurd like “Tweet Tweet!” or singing “Cruel Ultimatum…” I know my students are going to get a kick out of this thing. Even if they don’t know Magic the Gathering. And he looks good on my Nerd closet shelf beside Skeletor, the Griffin, Spikor, Modulok, Thanos, or whoever, really.

This is my first ever review of a product like this. As pop vinyl goes, I think my mind is changed by this guy. I don’t mind him being the most evil creature in fiction, transformed into something from “PowerPuff Girls.” I think it is really cute. Even cool. Maybe I even want some more of these guys.

SpartanNerd’s rating of Funko PoP! MAGIC “Nicol Bolas”

So I am going to give him a 5/5. My mind is changed. There is something light-hearted and different about it. It isn’t as “serious” as MOTUC. Maybe there is a part of me that like that reaction I am feeling. Remember my review of the Mixo He-Man? How about the stuffed Battle-Cat?

The SpartanNerd rates Funko Pop Nicol Bolas a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

spartannerd

A blog about everything "nerdtainment!"

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