The SpartanNerd’s collection of Liliana cards…Commentary on Amonkhet Liliana(s)

April 30, 2017 by spartannerd

(nicknames for Liliana…..

Liliana Vess- (Why would you give this a nickname?)

Duel-iana (Alternate art Liliana Vess vs Garruk)

Pricey-ana (Liliana of the Veil)

Swamp-iana (Liliana of the Dark Realms)

Flip-iana (Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer)

Hope-iana (Liliana, the Last Hope)

Zombie-ana (Liliana, Death’s Majesty)

Slow-iana (Liliana, Death Wielder)

So with the release of AMONKHET, we now have not just one, but two new Liliana cards!

Liliana has long been my favorite planeswalker, as I owned Liliana Vess way back when I opened her in a core set pack that I purchased as I started to get into the game. Liliana Vess plus Grave Titan was just AWESOME!

I continued a legacy of loving the cards as I drafted a Liliana Vess back in M15…and I remember when I began to get into standard heavily main-decking Liliana of the Dark Realms and I remember getting the emblem, and then spectacularly topdecking Rakdos Return for a win…everone in the room made a noise when I did that! (Wow! AHHH! Ugh!) Topdecking stuff like that is one reason why I love playing black.

How did I get Liliana of the Veil…such an expensive and rare card? A friend gave me a booster pack of Battle for Zendikar, and I opened a Zendikar Expedition Marsh Flats, which I traded for Liliana of the Veil. Pricey-ana is an important piece of “the rack” deck, as well as an enabler for re-animation in the “Gifts Ungiven” deck.

My pet commander deck is Liliana, Heretical Healer. And all of the Liliana cards I have had up until recently are in that deck…which brings us to the recent two versions of the cards. (Oh yes. You might be wondering if I marked on my cards…the little “ZZZ’s” are meant to remind me to get a Zombie when she flips! Don’t worry, I wrote on the inner sleeve. double sleeved)

LILIANA, DEATH’S MAJESTY

A five-drop Liliana. But this is where the similarities to Liliana Vess end. I think they costed her out at five though, because her top two abilities are absolutely use-able very relevant abilities that are worth five mana. If she gets removed next turn, your investment was not in vain! The art on this one is also some of the best art depicting the character. I really do like how snobby and in-charge she appears. Liliana is the ultimate “mean girl.” Maybe I like the art on Heretical Healer//Defiant Necromancer better? The -7 ability on this card is a sweeper. But the problem is that little word, “destroy.” There are a lot of indestructible creatures out there in standard, especially the new “god” cards. But also Gideon. Also that she only gets non-zombies can’t be ignored. There are and will be mirror decks, as well as emergent zombie decks.

I wish I had a foil!

LILIANA, DEATH WIELDER

It hurts me to say this…this is one of the JANK-IEST CARDS ever printed. (Janky-ana?)

You know those lists of bad cards that people sometimes make? Liliana of the Dark Realms makes that list occasionally. Yeah, yeah. The flavor is a little off. It takes a while to ultimate. You have to play mono black pretty much. And what’s with the hair?

But this card just bumped that Liliana off the list. Why?

OK. Seven Drop. In a mono-black deck, it’s going to be at least a full seven turns before you play this, if you aren’t doing DARK RITUAL, or some other crazy acceleration trick. Which most of the time you won’t be doing. If you wanted ramp, your color would be green….

What else? +2, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature. By turn 7, your green opponent could have any number of gigantic threats. Even White and Blue will have bigger creatures by turn seven. What about red? By turn seven, red already killed you if you were counting on this card to win you the game. So let’s say you DO get a -1/-1 counter on a creature…

-3 Destroy target creature with a -1/-1 counter on it.

Let’s math for a minute. 3>2. So. you just lost that progress you made last turn, PLUS ANOTHER LOYALTY POINT.

How about her ultimate….

-10 Return all creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield.

How is this ultimate not strictly, strictly, strictly worse than the original Liliana Vess’ ultimate ability, that takes all creatures from all graveyards and puts them on the battlefield under your control?

Now I’m quite aware why this card is the way it is.

The art is big and splashy. A nice foil. And new players will be attracted to the looks of this card. Which is exactly the point.

Liliana, Death Wielder can only be gotten in a Planeswalker Deck, the equivalent of an intro pack, (which the Wizards don’t make any more.) I can see a kid really digging this card.

But I think I am going to keep her in the Planeswalker Pack with the rest of her deck. She’s just too bad for my special commander deck. I have played this card against the SpartanKid a couple of times, and found it to be lacking in every department except for the art and flavor departments. I have yet to try it out against the Gideon Planeswalker deck, but all accounts out there on the internet say that his deck is better, and partly because his Planeswalker card is better.

Review of the Liliana Planeswalker Pack will be coming soon!

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.)

“Breed Lethality” Commander 2016…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

April 10, 2017 by spartannerd

FOUR COLORS.

Wow. This was the selling point of Commander 2016. The Wizards of the Coast put out five brand new decks, each with a four color general And because designing four-color cards is such a difficult task, they created a new “partner” mechanic, that lets you mix and match a pair of two-color commanders, for some new EDH ideas.

If you have been reading the SpartanNerd Blog for awhile, you know I recently picked up Kaalia of the Vast, a three color “mardu” general. I did this because I really like casting Angels, Demons, and Dragons. But also…this is one of those cards serious EDH players should have. And at this point, I do consider myself a little bit serious about Commander. I think the “Breed Lethality” deck, with Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice will be the next deck along the same line as the Kaalia thing. You can’t find it anywhere! I have been looking patiently at the big box stores, knowing that they will stock it at MSRP. But all I ever see are “Open Hostility” and “Stalwart Unity.” Luckily, at the SC Comic Con I saw Atraxa’s deck…and in Japanese no less!

Because it is in Japanese, (Kanji I assume), I thought it a good idea to wait awhile and get some experience with the deck. This was a great decision. I feel like I have a thorough review for you today, chock full of experience!

This week has been Spring Break, and I spent a great bit of time playing Commander. I saw “Breed Lethality” quite a few times…almost exactly the stock version. I took my own baby out, the almost totally foiled out Liliana Tribal to a few tournaments this week. There was one time that in a five player match, two players had Atraxa! She’s good! But there is also a little bit of sadness when a deck gets so popular “everyone is playing it.”

Well anyway. Here’s my review!

IMG_9905 2.jpg

We get the same sort of box we always get. This time, though, the writing is all in Japanese.

The window shows you a real clear view of the oversized foil general, Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice. Flying. Vigilance. Deathtouch. Lifelink. At the end of your turn, Proliferate. That is…add another counter of any kind on the board…on as many different permanents as you want. This general is so good…, it’s no wonder people want to play it. It is almost like a challenge for you to figure out how to use it! Proliferate Poison Counters…Experience Counters. Abuse cards that look for +1/+1 counters. Suspense counters. Time counters. On and on.

Here’s the back. It shows off some other cards.

These three are the “Partner” generals. You can mix and match them. In fact, if you did buy the other Commander 2016 decks, you would have fifteen different cards to interchange all together!

Here’s the contents of the box. This time I am going to complain a little bit about the box.

This is the first time that I have DOUBLE SLEEVED an EDH deck. This deckbox can’t accommodate Dragon Shields double sleeved. It CAN hold Dragon Shields without the double sleeved system if you side load them into the box. But not the double sleeved. (Why did I double sleeve? To write the english text in Sharpie on the card as an aid as I tested out the deck.)

The other items in the box are…The deck. The General. The box, along with a plastic tray that can double as a swimming pool for Lego Mini-Figures, a how to play reference guide, which is probably just as unsuitable in Japanese as in English for EDH, and then the insert which contains story, art, how to play the deck, and the all-important decklist. But it’s all in Japanese, so I can’t tell you what it says!

This week while playing, I heard the Atraxa’s story. Basically, four of the Praetors, Elesh Norn, Jin Gitaxias, Sheoldred, and Vorinclex each decided to transform an angel into a Phyrexian Horror. Urabrask, the red Praetor, decided to stay out of it. This is why Atraxa is all four colors except red.

This is a pretty cool story. I don’t really know that much about the Praetors. I do have Elesh Norn for my Gifts Ungiven deck in Modern. And I have a foil Sheoldred coming in the mail to add to Liliana’s deck. But really, neither would be all that great added to this deck…that’s not really how this deck wants to play out.

So…On with a review of the cards!

First of all, here are the generals.

Atraxa, Who I already explained. You get this smaller card to shuffle and be discreet with in your hand, in case someone out there was wondering.

Inkra Shidiqi, the Usurper…this person lets you gain life equal to the toughness of your creatures when they deal combat damage to a player. I find this an odd ability in the colors Green and Black. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to play or play against this card yet.

Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker. He flies, and lets you put counters on him whenever your opponents play a spell. (And since this game is titled MAGIC….)

Reyhan, the Last of the Abzan. This character gains the +1/+1 counters of other creatures when they are put in the graveyard.

I have partnered Ishai and Reyhan….they are an incredible combination! I was able to 132 +1/+1 counters on Reyhan!

Here are the tokens…next in the deck. How cool is it to have a Japanese “Germ” token!

Now for the main deck. As before…I will really only comment on cards that I find to be really significant through my experiences. But this time the deck is terrific, so…

Thrummingbird. A 2/2 flyer that lets you proliferate. This is getting you there! Abzan Falconer. Do you like fliers? I thought you did! Tuskguard Captain…everyone gets trample if they have a +1/+1 counter on them! Juniper Order Ranger. Everyone deserves a counter! Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, they get a +1/+1 counter, and so does the Juniper Order Ranger!

The Signets. And Darksteel Ingot. One thing about this deck…if you are playing Atraxa, and you can’t get all of your colors, you might just be behind everyone else. The Wizards wisely reprinted the signets and Darksteel Ingot to help you fix your mana. (Commander’s Sphere is practically the same thing as Darksteel Ingot. It isn’t indestructable, however.)

Mortify and Putrefy. This deck doesn’t have that much targeted removal. These two do nicely, if not as well as Fatal Push, Path to Exile, or Vendetta.

Crystalline Crawler, Deepglow Skate, and Duelists Heritage…these are all new cards. They all work really well. You get to load counters on the Crystalline Crawler, who is colorless herself. So you can play that without all of that fixing. Deepglow Skate lets you double the counters on a permanent, and then Duelists Heritage helps you play politics, as you can choose an attacking creature to give double strike too! Forgotten Ancient…He gets a counter whenever anyone casts a spell…even you!

Kalonia Hydra…double counters every turn! Ghave, Guru of Spores. I remember the first time I ever saw this guy as a general…wow. He can make a ton of Saprolings. Scavenging Ooze. Need I say more about that card!

Of the cards on the bottom…Fathom Mage lets you draw a TON of cards. Merciless Eviction and Spitting Image. Merciless Eviction is almost the only sweeper in the deck. Spitting Image…It is frustrating to see this card across the table. Not pictured…Treasure Cruise…

There are plenty of basic lands, but here are the fixers. You need the power of ALL OF THESE!

Command Tower AND Opal Palace. Bounce lands. Tri-Lands. And Evolving Wilds.

As I have played against this deck this week, I have noticed one of the most striking modifications is to add Fetch Lands and Shock Lands to help with the fixing. This is something I have rarely seen in Commander…but it makes sense for these four color decks.

Playing the Deck

All week I have played this deck, and played against it. In different places. So I have a varied look at it.

The deck is great as is. And I have seen it played like that some. When I have played it, I like Forgotten Ancient/ Ishai Ojutai Dragonspeaker combo. The Mana Fixing has to be right…But I haven’t had any trouble myself. I have seen other people have trouble assembling the necessary mana base, however.

You want to be sure to get some creatures on the battlefield, and then to have some counters on those creatures. Besides not assembling the colors you need, the other way to lose is to have “counter screw.” This actually has happened to me, and it’s frustrating. But it was all about the luck of the draw that time.

You want to get cards like Corpsejack Menace, which doubles the counters. You have to be careful about the order of the triggers in order to maximize your value, however.

When playing against other people who play this deck, I have seen one standout strategy for a custom deck: infect. In EDH, you still are dead with ten poison counters. Not twenty as you would hope. I saw one guy kill everyone at his table in one turn. I was holding an excellent mono-black hand, and that guy ruined my game!

SpartanNerd’s Rating of “Breed Lethality” Magic the Gathering Commander 2016

I’m going to give this product a 5/5. It’s goodness all around. The Wizards were able to give us a functioning deck with cool new game play. They didn’t have to reprint fetches and shocks, (which would have wrecked the product availability and after-market price even more.) The four color commander Atraxa is great, and promises a future of creative deckbuilds.

I’m not sure how the “infect” problem should be handled, though. Atraxa is well loved, and so a ban probably isn’t going to happen. But getting killed off frequently by infect isn’t fun. So there’s a problem for the EDH rules committee.

THE SPARTANNERD RATES “BREED LETHALITY” 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Modern Masters 2017…SpartanNerd Experience

March 19, 2017 by spartannerd

I pre-ordered my box of Modern Masters 2017 for a steep discount…(information respectfully withheld. Thanks! You know who you are!) Put it this way, I got a serious good deal.

Like the other “Masters” sets, this box only came with 24 packs. But every pack contains a foil. AND this time the set was loaded up with re-prints people have been asking for!

How did I fare?

This time I only have one picture, which will tell most of the story.

I already put my rares away…sorry guys. These are the commons and uncommons. The story is “Return to Ravnica/Innistraad” srandard. You could even draft deck archetypes with this set.

Maybe you can’t tell from the picture, but the stack of “gold” cards is about 1/3 taller than the traditional cards. This is a set that wants you to build multi-color decks.

So what rares did I pull?

The notable ones were.

Marsh Flats

Gifts Ungiven

Linvala, Keeper of Silence

Griselbrand

Cavern of Souls

Goblin Guide

Abrupt Decay

Zur the Enchanter

Notably, I didn’t pull Snapcaster Mage, Liliana of the Veil, or Damnation. I didn’t pull a Serum Visions or a Path to Exile either. But two awesome lands, Griselbrand, and the angel were all great pulls.

I decided to build a “cube commander” deck for Zur the Enchanter. Basically a singleton deck with Esper colors. I haven’t played it yet, but I know it will be janky when I do because there are only two valid enchantments! (Seal of Doom and Gift of Orzova)

So did I draft? Both me and the SpartanKid did so at the Tangled Web…$35 per entry fee…that’s steep! But at $10 a pack, that’s why.

I think we both drafted traditional draft style decks. Mine was based on “bloodrush” Which was incredible Green Red strategy back in RtR block. The SpartanKid drafted mono-white. Probably not a great choice…but he crafted a successfully annoying Soul Sisters deck. In fact, mine was annoying too if you were lucky! Giantbaiting + Dragon Fodder+ Revive = YOU WIN. But most of the time the opponent just had an early flier that I could only hold off for so long before I was ran over.

I did manage to draft Terminus, Obzedat, Goblin Guide, and Misty Rainforest. But since I was in red green only the latter two made the cut…This set is so good that Misty Rainforest was actually passed to me! I don’t know what they pulled….???

I wound up trading for a foil Damnation, and so I am all around happy with my investment. If you read my blog, you know I have been burned a few times buying MTG boxes. I felt confident that it would work out, and it did reasonably.

However, I did see “Rudy,” some You-Tube guy open a totally wack box, and follow that up with a box that contained all five fetch lands, Liliana, and Blood Moon. So the potential for this to have gone either way in the other direction was there.

I was encouraged as one of my regular opponents sat beside me while I opened the packs from my box. I was unaware of some of what I had. I have a foil Grafdiggers Cage now. Somehow that is a card that hasn’t been on my radar. But I see incredible play value there now. That guy also proclaimed jealousy when I opened Goblin Guide, and then drafted him as well!

I don’t know that I will get to draft this set anymore. Opportunity dries up as the supply will. If you read my previous post, you know I was looking forward to drafting Gifts Ungiven, or possibly pulling a foil Liliana of the Veil. But I also realistically knew those were long shots.

I am going to refrain from rating this set based on my experience. I have opened 27 packs and played with 24 of the cards, rather unsuccessfully. I was fighting against myself as well, as I was really sick and started to get tired at around 10:00 PM. I was making bonehead mistakes, like Traitorous Instinct on Ogre Jailbreaker, when I didn’t own a gate, for instance. That really doesn’t say much for me and my skills on that day, and so I can’t rate it. I do think the draft environment really wants you to aim for three colors. At the Tangled Web, there are a few “fixer hogs.” They take all of the fixers, and then they get to pick the best stuff on the last pack. I can’t draft that way. Maybe I should try it out. But it seems I would rather know my strategy from the first twenty cards I draft.

Ajani Planeswalker Pack…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

January 26, 2017 by spartannerd

Ajani, Valiant Protector is the foil for Tezzeret, Master of Metal as far as intro decks go for Aether Revolt. I unboxed Tezzeret, and just felt I needed Ajani to complete the duel.

Ajani’s deck came in the exact same packaging as the other Planeswalker Packs have. It is a printed sleeve, which covers plastic tray with a display window.

All the contents are actually inside a deckbox, (an excellent deckbox, by the way.) The only piece that isn’t is the “splashy” planeswalker card. Environmentally concerned MTG players can feel pretty good about the minimal use of packaging with these decks.

Here is the entire contents. The special Ajani, Valiant Protector card, a guide to playing the deck, a quick reference guide, two Aether Revolt booster packs, the nice deckbox, and the deck wrapped in cellophane.

Let’s have a look at the planeswalker.

Right away I can tell you that this card isn’t as good as Tezzeret’s. Tezzeret can reach ultimate after three turns. It is going to take a lot longer for Ajani. The upside is, getting two +1/+1 counters on a creature is not shabby at all. His +1 ability lets you filter up your creatures. If you do happen to get to ultimate, you probably win.

The guide to playing the deck heavily features pictures of Ajani. You also get a decklist. And something I failed to mention about Tezzeret’s deck. This insert kind of tells players what to purchase next if they really like playing MTG.

The Planeswalker Packs are great entry level products. The only way they could really improve the experience is include sleeves…or even better. Go ahead and sleeve the cards, so a person can crack the box and play in a tournament right away! Pre-shuffle it even.

Here are the cards…

It’s pretty clear that Ajani’s deck is supposed to depend on the Revolt mechanic. Basically something canhappen if a permanent left the battlefield this turn. In other words, the deck wants you to be able to bounce, sacrifice, or give up permanents. But if you study the cards carefully, you will see tbat there aren’t that many ways to trigger revolt outside of losing permanents in combat. There are a few exceptions…but not really enough in my opinion.

But am I getting ahead of myself?

There are a few cards that you can’t get anywhere else besides buying this product. Ajani’s Aid is a big one. And enchantment that lets you tutor Ajani out of the your deck or your graveyard. (Hang onto that thought!) You can sacrifice it to prevent damage from a singular creature. Ajani’s Comrade is another, which gets a counter if you control a planeswalker called Ajani. (Opening this card up to the other versions of Ajani out there. Goldmane, Caller of the Pride, Mentor of Heroes, Steadfast, and Vengeant. Did I miss one?) Inspiring Roar is another card exclusive to this deck. AND that card is indispensible for keeping the power level up against Tezzeret. (Which is why there are four copies I’m sure.) The other card is the white and green tapland.

This deck really only has one removal spell. The classic, “Prey Upon.” Everything you do in the deck depends on combat, pretty much.

How does the deck play? It is a weak white-weenie deck. The creatures are typically slow. While Narnham Renegade could be good in Modern if you cracked a fetchland on turn one, most of them aren’t that great. They want Revolt to trigger, which usually means you have to wait until Main Phase 2 after you lost something in combat. Which is a bad deal, typically for a deck whose card advantage rests almost entirely on the battlefield.

So, nope. This deck isn’t as impressive, or effective as Tezzeret’s.

Planeswalker that isn’t as good. Strategy that isn’t as good. Let’s prove it!

Here is the showdown between the two decks, as promised.

Round one. SpartanKid (Tezzeret) vs. SpartanNerd (Ajani).

(Let’s keep in mind, that Tezzeret’s deck has Fatal Push and Tezzeret the Schemer added to it, which is fair because they were pulled from the boosters that came with the deck. But this also means that his deck is 62 cards. I could have added two cards from Ajani’s boosters, but I thought they were too skunky.)

Basically, Tezzeret only drew Islands for lands, giving Ajani the opportunity to get Narnham Renegade onboard and hit them over and over with Inspiring Roar. Yes. Three copies.

Round two.

This time Ajani’s deck began with three forests and drew into a fixer. So a much slower start, made very clear as Tezzeret began to get things on the board. Ajani loses round two to dumb luck. The same way Tezzeret lost round one. I held Solemn Recruit in my opening hand, who requires two whites to play.

Round three. This is why we play the game of Magic!

Basically, Tezzeret, Master of Metal hit the board right on turn six. It was another three turns before I drew into Ajani. I played my Ajani, to a board where I had three creatures, including Solemn Recruit. I +2 Ajani, knowing that Solemn Recruit has double strike, and would get ANOTHER counter because of revolt triggering. This was my strategy to win!

Unfortunately, the SpartanKid had drawn Tezzeeret the Schemer, and went ahead to ultimate Tezzeret Master of Metal. This meant he took control of all of my artifacts and creatures. And then proceeded to swing at Ajani. Keep in mind that Solemn Recruit still had summoning sickness.

I drew the best card I could have drawn in this situation. Ajani’s aid. I had enough mana to play that card, as well as replay Ajani, who I then +1 into nothing really. (Narnham Renegade) The SpartanKid then unwisely sent all of his creatures at Ajani once again. I chump-blocked the biggest thing I could with my deathtoucher, and Ajani hit the graveyard again. But my next draw was the second copy of Ajani’s aid. Still, there was too much momentum going for the SpartanKid. I sacrificed both of the Ajani’s aid for the prevent combat damage effect on the double striker, but that wan’t enough to stave off a loss.

Just some commentary. Sure, this proves the Tezzeret deck is better. But the way that I was able to get Recurrance out of Ajani, that was fun. And that is why this is a great product for a new player. I failed to mention…Tezzeret also got one tutor back out of the graveyard as well along the course of the matches.

I am going to rate the Ajani Planeswalker Deck from Aether Revolt a 4/5. It is a fun deck to play. You get an almost perfect entry level MTG product. You get exclusive cards. I took the point off because it doesn’t seem to be that balanced against Tezzeret from Aether Revolt. If I had to choose one of these to take to a tournament, it would certainly be Tezzeret.

The SpartanNerd rates Ajani’s Planeswalker Pack 4/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Tezzeret Planeswalker Pack…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

January 24, 2017 by spartannerd

Aether Revolt snuck up on me this time. I wasn’t able to attend the pre-release, but did draft on release weekend. I went to the draft “cold turkey,” having not researched any of the cards. Believe it or not, I drafted two “Fatal Push,” probably the most important card released in the entire set. In case you didn’t know, “Fatal Push” is a one-drop instant black kill spell. A card that is bound to be useful in Modern, as the only cards that have filled that role until this point have been Path to Exile and Lightning Bolt.

I went through all that, hanging out at the Tangled Web all afternoon, and I never even saw the new Planeswalker decks. Maybe they were there…maybe they were sold out? The first time I even had a clue that such a thing had released was when I saw it at Wal-Mart. I snatched up Tezzeret, and here was my experience.

The Tezzeret Planeswalker Pack came in the same style of packaging as the Nissa and Chandra Planeswalker Packs from Kaledesh. Aether Revolt takes place on the same plane, (is actually an expansion of the set Kaledesh,) and so this deck adds more to the entire experience of the block. Tezzeret is obviously foreshadowing the upcoming “Amonkhet” set, which is going to heavily feature the great villain of Magic the Gathering, Nicol Bolas. (Tezzeret has been something of a henchman for Bolas, along with Sarkahn, at least as far as I understand.)

Not pictured is the plastic case that is the main part of the packaging. It forms a nifty little tray…I just haven’t figured out how to use it yet. The contents of the box are really in this deck box, which prominently features Tezzeret, Master of Metal for its art. This is the same style of box that Nissa and Chandra came with, and it is a great little box to carry sleeved cards in. I personally think the Wizards are hitting a homerun when they make these Planeswalker Packs. New players want planewalker cards, rare cards, and new players want to feel like they fit in when they come to a tournament. Most tournament players have fancy deckboxes, etc. So this is an all around great product for the new player. The only thing lacking is actual sleeves.

Here are all of the contents. Two packs of Aether Revolt. One foil Tezzeret, Master of Metal (which can’t be acquired officially any other way than opening this product.) The deck sealed in cellophane wrap. And two pieces of paper. One is the guide to playing the deck. The other is the Magic the Gathering Quick Reference Guide. If any Wizards product should include the Quick Reference Guide, it is the Planeswalker Packs.

Let’s have a look at this splashy card.

Tezzeret is the strongest Intro Pack planeswalker I have seen. His +1 ability could be a game changer. It is so-so in this deck, but imagine a deck where there were four copies of some incredible artifact. (Here’s a list. Platinum Angel. Sword of Feast and Famine. Elbrus the Binding Blade. Black Lotus. Need I say more?) Tezzeret can plus up and get that in your hand! And all the extra cards you overturned? You just shuffle them and put them on the bottom without consequence!

To -3 Tezzeret on what is likely turn five or six won’t be that great.

But the bottom -8 ability is bonkers. And because the +1 ability, and the starting loyalty is 5, it’s not even that hard ultimate Tezzeret. And then it’s GG.

What else is here?

The guide to playing the deck is a big pretty poster, featuring Tezzeret and giving us some story. We also get the decklist, in case we modify the deck, or want to keep it together. This information is available online, in case you lose it however.

So what cards are here?

There are some cards here that are exclusinve to this set. These are Standard Legal, too, incidentally. They are Submerged Boneyard (the blue and black tap land), Pendulum of Patterns (four copies), Tezzeret’s Simulicrum (which gets a bonus if you control any Tezzeret Planeswalker), and Tezzeret’s Betrayal which lets you kill something and tutor Tezzeret Master of Metal.

I’m a fan of decks like this because the cards have lots of value built in. Many of the artifacts here have card-draw effects attached to them. Notable, when Treasure Keeper dies, you get to cascade! Because tricks like this are built in, Tezzeret doesn’t have to rely so much on cards like Reverse Engineer.

Another feature of the deck is Tezzeret’s Touch. This card is reminiscent of Ensoul Artifact from M15…a card that made the “death scissors” a fringe winning strategy during the Kahns of Tarkir period. This card has an advantage on that one, though, in that it has the ability to return the artifact to your hand if it gets destroyed.

The creatures in this deck are value-types. Tezzeret’s Simulicrum is just good stuff. And even better if you have a Tezzeret on the board. (Lightning Bolt every turn. Ouch!) Augmenting Automaton has the classic pump ability built in. I will say that I don’t get much out of Improvise as a mechanic. It is just bad Convoke. Most artifacts have “tap to activate ability.” If you tap them to pay for a ridiculous creature, then you just lost value.

How does it play out? Well, this deck really works! I have yet to test it against the other Planeswalker Pack, Ajani. And I think that will be the true test. So far the deck has taken out the SpartanKid’s Tron deck, BUT, he did have a bad draw.

I suppose this time I will let you in on what I pulled from the booster packs. Prepare to be JEALOUS.

Yep. The other Tezzeret! And ANOTHER copy of Fatal Push to go with the other two I drafted. (How is it that I drafted 2? I opened one in my first pack. First pack first pick. In second pack, the player to my left must have pulled an incredible rare, because they passed me my second one!)

It might be early to rate this deck because I haven’t played it that much. However, I suspect I will be rating it a 5/5. Like I said, this is my style of deck, with lots of tricks. And it is black and blue, two of my personal best colors.

I will update my rating after I get my hands on the Ajani deck, and have them play each other!

spartannerd

A blog about everything "nerdtainment!"

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