SpartanNerd…Catching Up…

July 4, 2022 by spartannerd

Has it really been three years since I posted anything?

This means that throughout Corona…throughout the last several MTG releases…Throughout the ending of MOTUC and the new Masters of the Universe lines that have come out. I have written zilch.

Well, it isn’t because I stopped being nerdy. Believe it or not, online teaching and also attending classes took all of my energy out for this project.

So here’s a few new things that have happened.

Masters of the Universe.– As the Classics line ended, I began to realize I just didn’t have enough space anymore. MOTUC items are pretty large. And I got lots of joy especially from my He-Man and Battlecat and also Skeletor and Panthor. But also the Griffin was one of my favorites. Vikor. But some of the others…I decided I could part with them. And then I decided when I saw the price I could fetch to go ahead and sell my core items. All I have left is Vikor and my custom Battleground Teela. I sold it all in May 2020. For $600. I use that money to re-invest in MOTU Mega Construx. I have the Castle Grayskull and basically every item they have released in that line. A downsize in square footage, it is easier to get these just by walking into a store. There are other advantages.

*Sorry about the backdrop-less pic. This is a very large item. Kitchen table will have to do.*

I decided early on that the MOTU Origins figures look too crappy…I don’t like the colors. And the Masterverse figures on first reveal, I thought “That He-Man looks “gutsy.” Meaning, the way the belt is that pale color yellow, it blends in too well with He-Man’s skin color on his belly. It looks like he has a gut. The other figures, the one that came out with the new CGI Anime line, do not appeal to me at all. I hear fans (Scott Neitlich) accepting what is going on apologetically, that this line is meant to appeal to the kids. But kids just don’t watch the cartoons anymore. Trust me. I know. Middle school teacher. So they are messing around with beloved source material and creating something “corrupt.”

I have picked up some of the MOTU Minis, and the Hot Wheels.

Magic the Gathering- For something that took up so much of my life and my children’s time, this has become a much rarer treat. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns, there haven’t been as many tournaments. We pretty much decided that SpellTable pretty much stinks. Arena isn’t a strong alternative. Now some tournaments have returned, but we have to drive a long way to get to them. Mostly these are Commander League events. And we haven’t really paid into the leagues on account we can’t reliably attend. Just the same, we have played EDH some. But the thrill of the old Modern tournaments is gone. I have done a few drafts and sealed. But it is doubtful that we will go and draft Double Masters II this weekend. That is $50 or more. To play maybe three rounds. Which I will have to drive a distance to get to … meaning I can’t stay out late in my old age driving home sleepy.

Oh yes…Secret Lair. At first I bought it all. I bought the super bundle…the one with the cats and the goblins. The Walking Dead. After awhile, I realized that this isn’t sustainable for me. They have churned out so many Secret Lairs, each with an enticing value usually, but then if you start adding all that up, you better be rich if you are a completist. I figure the Wizards/Hasbro weren’t achieving their bread and butter anymore on packs because people stopped playing. And Commander is so popular, but you can play virtually any cards you can find competitively even, that they had to capitalize on that crowd the best they could by dangling lots of shiny, pretty, artsy, and seemingly charitable carrots in front of them. So I certainly had to start pacing myself on this one. The last one I got was the Dracula one. I got my kid the pixel art lands. These things…they take forever to arrive. All the shipping delays and production delays that have plagued the past couple of years…Which brings me to the next big one.

Playstation 5. I got the money together for this…in fact some of the money from my MOTUC collection, plus some gifts, etc. I had the funds in hand right before Christmas 2020. And went to buy it, only to find…THERE WERE NONE. ANYWHERE. When did I finally get mine? OCTOBER 2021. Used! I am grateful…it has performed like a champ! You wouldn’t know. It didn’t come with a proper stand, so I had to get a third party one, which was supposed to charge the controllers and add extra fan-power. But none of that seems to be working. Still, it stands very well. The best two games for me have been Horizon: Zero Dawn, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Gran Tourismo. But I have lots more games. Spider-Man, Terraria, Mortal Kombat. I paid for the streaming services, but haven’t hardly used them…which brings me to

DISNEY+. Since this launched, I bundled with HULU (Which I already watched) and this has been what I have watched on TV. I have hung on to NetFlix for Stranger Things and Masters of the Universe: Revelation. (More on that on a different day.). The Mandalorian has been a terrific show! Obi Wan was pretty good. The Book of Boba Fett might as well have been season 3 of the Mandalorian. I haven’t watched anything else much on the service, though.

Comics- I have moved back into collecting these. I picked up IDW’s “Best of” TMNT books. I am looking to get a frame to display them in.

I have been collecting all of the IDW Transformers books…this was actually how I got back into collecting comics. IDW decided to reboot the franchise, and I felt it was a good “jumping in” place. Highlights of this have been “Shattered Glass” and “King Grimlock.” The main story kind of meandered a little bit. I was introduced to a bunch of characters I didn’t know or had forgotten. I also got into “Beast Wars”… which was admittedly NOT MY CARTOON. Unfortunately, IDW passed on the license, and all of these stories have come to a wrap up, which has seemed very rushed. But my love of getting the covers and important/valuable books has become rooted again. I collected up all of the “Batman/Catwoman” story, got back into Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. But I have dropped DC for the most part. In fact, almost everything they have been publishing in any form is tripe that panders to anyone except the classic fan. I thought “The Batman” was a much slower slog than it needed to be. My next problem is the amount of room this hobby is taking up…

Gundam- I built my first Master Grade…EW EPYON. I am still applying decals. But this has been a terrific project! I eill post pictures when I finish.

It is good to be coming back to the blogosphere…an I hope to have a review tomorrow!

From the Vault: Transform…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

November 26, 2017 by spartannerd

I’ve been playing Magic, the Gathering for some years now, but this is the first time I’ve purchased a From the Fault product. I DID purchase the dated “Graveborn” Premium Deck, which was an all-foil set. I was highly tempted to get From the Vault: Angels last year, but never saw it anywhere for retail price. (I had most of the angels anyway.)

This being my first one, I thought I would really take a look at the packaging. This roduct feels like something a collector might like to keep MIB. I don’t see the fun in that, but it is what some people do. After spending time with this package, I’ve decided I am going to keep it to store the cards that I am not currently using. It looks very nice. The front is glossy and colorful with blue and orange graphics. The back show off an image of one of the sides of each of the cards in the set. There is a contents list on the bottom, and a message about the nature of the transforming cards.

It opens up nicely, revealing the frontside of Huntmaster of the Fells, the backside of Liliana, Heretical Healer, and the frontside of Delver of Secrets. You totally could stop here and just prop this product up on display somewhere.

The box feels like a display box, and upon further exploration, I discovered the correct way to open it.

There is a magnetic flap! So you don’t even have to destroy the package. NICE!

Here’s what’s inside.

The cards come in three cigarette wrappers. There is a spindown life counter with a special From the Vault Transform symbol, and a nice informational poster. Let’s look at that.

Nice art, with a description of each card and the story that goes along with it. That is a nice picture of the new Delver of Secrets art, and yet another picture of Gideon on the other side. (Gideon is very often depicted in promotional media like this.)

Now let’s look at and discuss the cards.

First of all, upon opening each pack, I discovered that they were stuck together. I mean. STUCK. TO. GETHER.

These cards have a special foil treatment, on both sides. I have owned a couple of FTV printings, one of VESUVA and another of AKROMA, ANGEL OF WRATH, and those cards have the same foil treatment, but only on one side. These cards being double sided…I guess what I’m saying is the foil treatment being on both sides is what made them glue each other together. And it was pretty stout. I mean, Bruna, the Fading Light was stuck to Elbrus the Binding Blade and Chandra was stuck to the Ixalan card while I began photographing. I hadn’t even noticed! Now separating them wasn’t scary, and there didn’t seem to be any accidents…no scratches or anything. I just want to point out that this happened to the SpartanNerd the first time he opened a sealed From the Vault.

So here are the cards with some commentary.

Garruk Relentless//Garruk, the Veil Cursed.

The first double sided planeswalker, and notable at that…he flips when he has a loyalty for two or less. He is a token generator, and essentially a planeswalker with five abilities not counting the transform mechanic. Having said all this, this is the least played of all of the cards in this set. It is nice that they paid some attention to Garruk, however. He hasn’t been seen since M14, when he was killing other planeswalkers all over the place. The Wizards have decided to feature Nissa mainly as the green planeswalker mascot.

Chandra, Fire of Kaledesh//Chandra, Roaring Flame

This set features all five of the Magic Origins planeswalkers. These each have a creature card on one side, that transforms into a planeswalker. Chandra is the mascot for red burn strategies. This card is a slow shock effect, and frankly a little hard to get transformed into the planeswalker form. IF you do ever get her to level up to Chandra, Roaring Flame, you still don’t have that great of a planeswalker for all of your effort. I supposed if you made Chandra a Commander, you might be able to do something with her. I am placing her in my Archangel Avacyn commander deck. (I played a match that heavily featured Chandra. In Commander, she isn’t so bad when you have a board presence and every little bit of damage you can deal counts.)

Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer

I have been slowly building an entire foil mono-black Liliana tribal deck. I have the stamped foil of this card, and thought that would be the prettiest version. I was wrong. The From the Vault printing with the extra awesome foil on both sides wins. So I guess I am going to upgrade!

As far as all of these cards go, Liliana is the most popular commander. She saw some fringe Standard play in her day, and still sees some Modern play sometimes in rack and zombie decks. It is pretty easy in black to get her to flip, and then Liliana Defiant Necromancer is pretty close to Liliana of the Veil, clearly the best and most useful of Modern-legal planeswalkers.

Speaking of my Liliana tribal commander deck, the rules change that came with the release of Ixalan now lets me have multiple Lilianas out at a time. And since I have each printing….

Huntmaster of the fells//Ravager of the Fells

A card that beat me a ton when I first began playing MTG. I began playing in tournaments during Dark Ascension. The Huntmaster is the definitive werewolf.

I haven’t seen this card played in Modern in awhile. Modern wants to be a three-turn win format (It remains a four turn, teetering on three turn.), and because this card is a four drop that doesn’t have haste, it’s a little slow. But if you can get it going, then it can win games all on its own. Remember Kalitas? Kalitas himself is just good enough. And the Huntmaster of the Fells is also.

Arguel’s Blood Fast//Temple of Alcazotz

When I saw this, I said, “What??? Whoever heard of that card?” Turns out that it is a new card from Ixalan. This one transforms from enchantment to land. I think this will be a nice addition to my Liliana tribal commander deck, as Necropotence is one of the things. (Pay life for cards is a sub theme.) The backside of the card is a powerful sac outlet.

Is this card a thing in Standard right now? I’m not sure. I have been out of the Standard scene for awhile. I do have a Tezzeret deck, but have only played in two Ixalan standard tournaments. This card has definitely not been on my radar.

Is there a precedent for this? A Standard card in a From the Vault set? I think they used to actually put preview cards in From the Vault sets. So that would be pre-standard…

Arlinn Kord//Arlinn, Embraced By the Moon

Here’s one that I saw played in Standard back before the last rotation every now and then. The “Shadows Over Inistraad” block didn’t feature as strong of a werewolf mechanic as did the original Inistraad. Here we have a werewolf planeswalker. She is also a planeswalker with five abilites, like Garruk, and she also makes wolves. (Like Garruk.) For werewolf tribal purposes, Arlinn is a must have.

Unfortunately, there is only one viable werewolf commander, Ulrich Krallenhorde, and he isn’t too great. Still, if you are into that, jam Arlinn Kord into your deck.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer//Nissa, Sage Animist

Here is an Origins planeswalker that did see play in standard. Really, anything that ramps for cheap works for green. People would cram four copies of this in their deck, and play it to get out the lands they needed, and eventually they would do this and flip one of them, and proceed to have huge advantage on the board. This is one I was glad to see rotate out!

I haven’t seen her play in Modern, however.

Kytheon, Hero of Aroas//Gideon, Battle-Forged

Nothing to see here. Move along.

(Just kidding.) Really, this card didn’t see much play in Standard, and hasn’t in Modern or Commander either. I think he is under-appreciated, and he probably would have fit better back in M13 standard.

He is basically a one-drop planeswalker. That isn’t Tibalt. So that’s something!

I think he is waiting for the right White Weenie moment to come along.

Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy//Jace, Telepath Unbound

And here is the money card in the set. Jace can be had for about $25, regular printing, and $35 in foil outside of this set. Back when he was Standard legal, he fetched $4o or more for the regular, not foil version.

Why is he so good? He is a two drop looting creature. You can play him early game or late game, and he is still good. When you do his loot ability, if you have five or more cards in the graveyard, he becomes an incredible control planeswalker, with a negative three ability that lets you reliably snapcaster an instant or sorcery from your graveyard.

Is he better than Snapcaster Mage? I don’t think so. Almost nothing can beat the flash-in flashbacker, who becomes a great surprise chump blocker and lets you get something out of your graveyard. Jace has to sit there for a turn before you can even activate his ability. But he is still useful, and if you can get him to flip and keep him on board, you get great card advantage.

I’ve heard of Jace played in almost every format, even Commander. This might be the best card in this set. Except it’s not…

Delver of Secrets//Insectile Aberation

This probably is (the best card.) Not many Magic the Gathering cards are as good as Delver. And he’s a common! So this card doesn’t cost a ton to own four copies. But this special art special foil printing is bound to be popular with people who relaly like hitting their opponents hard and fast.

Delver is great. He gets you card advantage. You don’t have to trigger his transform ability if you don’t want to. If you do want to, on turn you can begin wrecking your opponent in the air.

Check this scenerio. Turn one, shock in Breeding Pool. Play Delver of Secrets. Turn two, reveal Giant growth from the top of your library, flip your Delver Play your Forest as land for the turn. Declare attack for 3 in the air. Hit Insectile Aberation with Giant Growth twice, (Because you started with one in your opening hand.) You brought nine damage in the air on turn two. Congratulations. You are a jerk!

Delver is played in every eternal format. Because he is eternally good. That’s why!

Archangel Avacyn//Avacyn the Purifier

This is one of the funnest cards in the set. She has Flash. Flying. Vigilance. Makes things Indestructible, Sweltering Suns. All in one Legally Blonde package. Lots of flavor here, too. If you followed the story of Shadows Over Inistraad, you saw Avacyn twist into a self-righteous evil. When you Flash her in (Angel to the rescue!) everyone else on your team has indestructible until the end of turn. And incredible shock to your opponent if you played her from your hand. An incredible threat if she is your Commander. And when she flips, (because one of your non-token cratures died,) she hits everything on the board for 3, and lightning bolts your opponent (s) as well. And yes. That’s Commander Damage!

Fun! If you like a card that does stuff, look no further than this card.

Bloodline Keeper//Lord of Lineage

Here is the card that I think I will have the least use for. Maybe not. I like Vampires, and played Black Red vampires occasionally in the last Standard environment. And here is where I think I am not that interested in building a Vampire Tibal Commander deck. Vampires are OK. But how often have I had a ton of them? Not that often.

This guy is good, if you are interested in buiding such a deck. Most Vampire decks have Olivia VOldaren as their Commander. (She’s just sick!) But maybe Kalitas would be good. (No. I know he would be good. See above!)

Elbrus the Binding Blade//Withengar Unbound

I remember the first time I saw this card. I knew I had to have it! The flavor of the thing is pretty cool. This was in the very early days of playing MTG for me, and the idea of getting that giant flyer out and smashing people was just awesome. I had alot to learn…it is pretty hard to get seven mana to play an equipment. Then pay to equip that to a viable attacker. It really is pretty hard. (I was playing this in Standard, belive it or not!)

Now Elbrus remains one of my favorite cards. And to have this incredibly cool foi printing is just great. And it is something else to put into Liliana’s Commander deck!

I left the weirdest for last…

Bruna,the Fading Light//…//Gisela, the Broken Blade/////Brisela, Voice of Nightmares

Weird.

Basically, the Wizards pushed the transform mechanic as far as it could go, inventing the meld mechanic, and making six cards with the ability. Melding pieces two halves of a card on the backside of two creatures, combining them together into an eldrazi. Brisela here represents that, as she was the best example of a played meld pair in Standard.

Gisela actually made her way into decks that didn’t feature her other half. She is a good angel, with Flying, First Strike, and Lifelink.

It is Bruna that makes this a devastating thing. Say you played Gisela early on, and the opponent doom bladed her. No problem. Play your Bruna in your second main phase (turn six or seven) and at the end step, you have Brisela! An incredob;e 9/10 flying vigilance lifelink first strike hate machine!

THE SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF FROM THE VAULT TRANSFORM

Well. A couple of things. The cards sticking together is a little unnerving. I don’t know when these were printed and packaged, but I imagine the problem might be worse if they sit unopened on a store shelf for a long period of time. I immediately put “snugs” on mine. (form fitting side loading card sleeves for double sleeving.)

What’s here is good. But I think there is a glaring ommision or two. How about Westvale Abbey//Ormandahl, Profane Prince? I could have taken this over the Vampire, or over the Arguel’s Blood Fast. Thing in the Ice…Hello!

The Wizards also ignored Morph and Champions of Kamigawa Flip cards. Maybe it was economically better for the Wizards to print the double sided cards instead, but if they wanted us to get maximum power out of similar mechanics, when we could have done with Nazumi Graverobber or Willbender.

But I am happy enough. The new printings of Liliana, Jace, Withengar, the three angels, and Garruk make me pretty happy. I don’t play much red-green, but I am glad the Wizards printed Huntmaster of the Fells, which is about a $12 card.

The value I got for $39.99 (retail) at the Tangled Web in Spartanburg was very nice. You already can’t find this product cheaper than $65 on TCGplayer.com. And if the story of From the Vault Angels happens to From the Vault Transform, then it will eventually make its way above $80.

So I am happy to rate this product at 4/5, marking off because the cards sticking together worries me a little bit. It is a great selection of cards, that came in a nice, displayable package.

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

Planechase Anthology…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

November 26, 2016 by spartannerd

From now on, I am going to title what product I am reviewing before the ever prevalent “SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review”. I fear people can’t see what I am unboxing on the index page…One more thing…this is my 300th post! (I have deleted 13 posts in the past. Making #287 actually #300!)

I have heaped praises on the “Duel Decks Anthology.” Rightly so. Of all of the decks I own, I get more use out of having those decks just ready made, ready to play, and having them handy in that box. It plays like its own board game. It was a reprint of valuable cards, Demonic Tutor and Ancestral Vision, AND Akroma Angel of Wrath, among many others. I also just enjoy Duel Decks, and have collected many of them apart from what is in the Anthology.

The Planechase Anthology aims to do the same things, but bring Planechase back into the front of the public again. Planechase is a CASUAL FORMAT. Like Commander and Duel Decks. I have owned one Planechase deck already, “Primordial Hunger,” featuring Thromok the Insatiable. That deck was the cheapest at an MTG store way out of town somewhere, that had alot of old sealed product. (You can read my review here. Sadly, I have removed the pictures.) And so I have limited exposure to Planechase. The Planechase Anthology is going to bring all kinds of MTG goodness to the SpartanNerd kitchen table.

Let me say right now, the old decks cost around $50 after market, give or take sealed. The $149.99 price tag on the Planechase Anthology is automatically a good deal. Besides that, each plane card individually costs about $5 on TCGplayer. But the six promotional cards included cost more…BUT I do have a complaint. This set only comes with Planechase 2012 theme decks. The original decks should be included…they could have been included. (The original decks are worth way more money. One of them is an affinity deck, pushing it up to around $150 after market value. THe zOmbie Empire deck is about $100 to piece together!)

OK, more information about the format. Planechase is a special Magic the Gathering variant where oversized “planes” cards are added to the game creating an additional layer of complexity. You roll the cubic planar dice, and change which plane you are on. (Planes are analogous to stadium cards in Pokemon TCG). Originally, the Wizards envisioned each person brings their own planes to the game…making it possible to play against another players constructed planar deck. (No one plays this way anymore.) What really happened was people found it more fun to put all the planes in a single deck, and then just see the craziness that resulted. Planechse is super fun when paired with Commander…

What’s this? The SpartanCat really enjoyed the new shipping box before I removed the product! For my unboxing and review today, you will be seeing some of my kitchen table. Apologies. But Planechase IS a kitchen table format…(Really, the box is very large.)

Here the box is, in all its cellophane sealed glory. I love the shiny foil treatment the Wizards gave it. This time it is purple and gold…a color that is difficult for me to describe…It isn’t brown at all. it is … shiny purplish purple-and-gold.

The back of the box displays a poster, which might find its way on my office wall at work…

The bottom picture shows you that the box is exactly the same size as the Duel Decks Anthology.

This box is important because it helps give this set the feeling of a premium board game. Want to quickly set up a game of Magic with some friends…just break out the Planechase Anthology. It also will make for nifty storage.

Now for the opening…(cue the angelic choir!)

Notable, five spots for the dice, ordered in the same way as the decks…and what was that?

The Planar die is twice the size of the conventional Planar die! (pictured on the right is a comparison shot.)

These dice are life-counters. I wiI will keep these in the box and not take them out to tournaments. I am partial to the green one and the orange one because I can see them more easily. (I was partial to one of the dice in the Duel Decks Anthology for the same reason.)

Lets open some cards!

Not quite yet. It looks like there is some propaganda hiding under the planar deck.

The poster features some of the planes…why these? They chose these because they are the planes that are best seated in the minds of players. Really new players are probably aware of the “Origins” stories. Zendikar and Innistrad are currently in Standard. Bolas’s Meditation Chamber is important because he IS the villain in MTG. But I think also the Wizards wanted to include something that is going to be important in upcoming sets. Amonkhet is the next big set, and is going to be all about Bolas according to the Wizards’ press releases.

The back of that insert tells you how to play. And remember what I told you about the way the Wizards originally intended players would play? This rules insert doesn’t mention that at all, which I suppose means that style is just about officially dead. There are some suggestions for playing in a variety of ways. Drafting the planes as a cube…that is an idea I hadn’t considered!

CARDS! CARDS! CARDS! CARDS!

“Slide Deck Box” eluded me…you have to experience it to get it. Turns out that it is exactly what it says it is. Notice the slanted top of the inner box. This is reminiscent of the “Bundle Box” design that is replacing “fat packs.” This makes it easier in THAT product to open the box. In this case, it makes it easier to grip the cards in order to remove them.

Without question, this deck box can’t hold sleeved planar cards. It’s a good thing I didn’t purchase sleeves for them in anticipation. (I really did mull it over, but decided to wait. Wise decision, SpartanNerd!)

After breaking the cellophane seal, you can see that the “phenomenon” cards are on top. These function as powerful effects that change the game. Chaotic Aether can really shake up the game if people are willing to pay the tax to roll the Planar die (to roll the die at any time, a player must pay a land at first, then two lands for a second roll, then three for a third, etc.) Morphic Tide can be devastating! And it can totally turn the tables in a game of Magic.

After the Phenomenon cards come the planes.

Onnake Catacomb…this is the place where Liliana got the Chain Veil!

Llanowar is funny…it makes all of your creatures into “better-than” Llanowar Elves. (Lannowar Elves taps to add one green mana to your mana pool.)

There are over 70 different planes! I haven’t heard of most of them.

The thing about this set…it is all about FLAVOR. A person might not know anything about MTG. Having them sit down and play the game this way will immerse them in the basic lore and the basic “What is this game Magic the Gathering all about?” The game becomes more than just fun decks to play with cool art. It becomes a story. And that is very good because the flavor or MTG is really awesome.

A little rant. It has been said that Mortal Kombat (and its associated video games) isn’t that great as far as fighting games go. But it is so cool in flavor that it remains appealing, even though it is trumped by the mechanics of other games in its genre. MTG has the opposite problem sometimes. The game is so cool and fun, but people don’t have to be aware of the story surrounding it for the game to work. How many times have I seen new players ask about the flavor text of a card, and what purpose does it serve? It serves no mechanical purpose…it is only there for extra fun. Extra flavor. Extra points in the coolness department. At one time I didn’t care about the story. Over the years, I have picked up on some of it, and even read through some of it, like the Battle for Zendikar story and the way Nissa and Chandra drew up a “Channel-Fireball” combo to kill the titans. I still have a lot to learn about the story. The Planechase Anthology is without a doubt going to inspire me to look up information about the different planes and locations in MTG.

Onto the rest of the decks. Each one comes with its own “slide deck box.” The colored “Planeswalker Symbol” is the only indication of which deck is inside besides the label on the flat side of the inside box. Notice the one of the far left…the “orange” symbol. That box has extra items inside.

One of those items is the basic guide to playing Magic (quick reference card). Which is not a guide to playing Planechase. So I’m not sure if including it was a good idea. (I just threw it away, as usual.)

The other item is the tokens. Double Sided.

I am showing you one side, then flipping them. Notice a ton of Goblin tokens, and Saproling tokens. If you have ever played decks that produce these kinds of token creatures, then you know you might just need this many. Saproling token decks can get out of control!

NOW FOR THE INDIVIDUAL DECKS.

Each deck is called a “theme deck.” What this means is, each deck showcases a mechanic, and has cards that support that mechanic.

I will be showing you the eight rares (YES!) from each deck first. And then I will show you notable things about the decks as well.

PRIMORDIAL HUNGER

This is the only deck I already have spent time with playing, and you saw what I had to say if you clicked the link in the top paragraphs. Since I wrote that review, I have played this deck on numerous occasions. The Dragonlair Spider is ALWAYS a winner. Lots of times, people underestimate him. Hellion Eruption is also an amazing win-con. The Devour mechanic, showcased in this deck, requires a little work. You have to sacrifice things…you are giving up board presence in order to make a big creature. This is risky, and sometimes doesn’t pay off. I think it better to “go wide,” load up the board, and then either over run the opponent, or do the Hellion Eruption.

Of the Devour creatures, this one is the most playable. On turn three or four, you can have a fatty that can’t be ignored.

Most of the pre-con decks the Wizards put out contain mana-fixers. This deck has “bounce lands,” and a few other things. Skaarg the Rage Pit can be a really good mana-sink.

These other spells can’t be ignored! Overrun, Fires of Yavimya, and Fling are excellent finishers. Fires of Yavimaya is like a trap…people tend to forget that you can sacrifice it to give all of your creatures +2/+2!

One more incidental thing…Will the deck fit in the “slide deck box” when properly sleeved? (Drum roll)

YES!!!

NIGHT OF THE NINJA

This is the deck the SpartanKid is most excited about. I looked at purchasing this about a year ago for him…he is very interested in Ninjas. After-market, the deck gets about $7o. It came down to either Night of the Ninja or some Mega-Man thing. He went with the Mega-Man…

But now, I own a copy, and he can play it all he wants!

The theme of this deck is Evasion. Virtually every creature in this deck has some form. Flying, Intimidate, Fear, Shroud, Deathtouch, Hexproof, and the feature mechanic, Ninjutsu. With Ninjutsu, you can swap out an attacking creature that doesn’t have a blocker with the creature with Ninjutsu from your hand. Surprise! Throw on a “when this deals combat damage” effect, and you get some cool advantages.

Notable here, is Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni. This guy is the general for a rat-tribal commander deck!

Baleful Strix. One of the best Two-Drop creatures in all of MTG. Flying, Deathtouch, AND card draw. Sick.

Here are the lands. Nothing noteworthy here. (Why didn’t we get Rogue’s Passage? I think it’s because every creature here already can’t be blocked at least without consequences.)

The other spells. Farsight Mask…that’s hilarious! Why would it be tapped unless an opponent tapped it?

CHAOS REIGNS

A little story…The original picture of the eight rares was very blurry, so at 3:00 AM I retook the picture. And this is when I noticed that the “slide deck boxes” all have outline artwork for their featured rare card. So this is why these cards are sleeved, and why I included the inner box.

Maelstrom Wanderer. A Three-Color creature, with “Cascade, cascade.” Yes. This isn’t a typo! Chaos Reigns is aptly named because of the Cascade mechanic. When you cast (important!) a spell with Cascade, you get to reveal cards off the top of your library until you reveal a card with a lower mana cost, and then you cast that card for free. So Maelstrom Wanderer lets you Cascade twice.

(The other use of the Cascade mechanic is to wash your dishes. HA HA HA!)

Cascade is one of the flashiest mechanics in MTG, and also the most unpredictable. It is at the heart of “Restore Balance” decks, as well as “Living Death” decks.

The other thing about the Maelstrom Wanderer. Three color creatures, especially in the combination of BLUE RED GREEN, are rather rare historically. We got a few recently in Khans block. But this guy seemed to stand alone for a long while.

The Shardless Agent…This is a ten-dollar card! In the right deck, it can almost be a Collected Company.

It seems I forgot another important picture…Bloodbraid Elf. (Banned in Modern!)

It was recently brought to my attention that this guy is banned in Pauper. I wonder why? (It’s obvious.)

Here is a notable card. Do you want to know what a vanilla creature is if it takes a mana of every color to cast? Fusion Elemental provides that standard baseline. 8/8.

This is a five color deck. Such a deck has a hard time finding the resources it needs. Shimmering Grotto and Rupture Spire help with this. Vivid Creek and Terramorphic Expanse are also always useful.

But even this wouldn’t be enough.

The five spells on the left also help you fix your mana.

Every other spell is pretty good. Our main plan, though is to smash the opponent with our creatures.

SAVAGE AURAS

This deck is based on enchantment auras, specifically Totem Armor.

The Kor Spiritdancer is important…It is a strong piece of the Hexproof deck in Modern. Maybe I can make my Bogles deck work better now that I own a copy. (I will need three more, of course. Do-able…it is a ten-dollar card.)

Krond, of the Dawn-Clad. If you can get this guy going, you have no business losing. You can exile their permanents all over the place. He is a flying, vigilant threat.

I thought these two notable…Silhana Ledgewalker has the aforementioned Hexproof. If you get a few auras on it, there is little that the opponent can do. It also is hard to block…

Dreampod Druid…remember all of those Saproling tokens?

Nothing spectacular about the lands. The City Tree is a notable inclusion.

You might have noticed that this deck is a little light on creatures. This is because it is heavy on other spells, especially auras…especially totem armor. The deck also generates tokens, helping ensure you aren’t holding unusable “dead” cards. (Totem Armor. If enchanted creature would be destroyed, destroy the aura with Totem Armor instead.)

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS AFTER UNBOXING.

This is a terrific product. Thanks to the SpartanWife for getting it for me on our anniversary. Thanks to the Tangled Web as well, who gave me a discount. A great thing too, because today I have been fighting a Kidney Stone. And the store owner, Daniel Macabee, is a super nice guy. If you ever find yourself in Spartanburg, SC, go by the Tangled Web Comic Book store. You won’t regret it.

As I have been typing into the wee hours of the night/morning, dealing with my problem, I have spent some time thinking about it. There is only one physical problem with the Planechase Anthology. There is nowhere to put the 35 double-sided tokens. I sleeved them in transparent Dragon Shields. But even if I didn’t, the slide deck boxes wouldn’t accomodate them. And besides that, which tokens go with which deck? This is a nit-picking thing, but notable.If the Wizards hadn’t put that giant Magic The Gathering logo on the plastic tray under the dice, but instead gave us another deck box for the tokens, that would have been better. True, I could remove the tray and store the tokens underneath, but that takes away from the convenience of the the thing as a dedicated board game.

The only other negative thing I could say is…we don’t have Planes cards for Tarkir, Kaladesh, or Theros. All of these planes have been introduced to us since these decks were originally printed. The Wizards could have given us some exclusive planes cards featuring those locations just for this set. And that would drive some collectors crazy…crazy enough to purchase this product even if they already owned the rest of it.

But besides those two items, I haven’t got any complaints. I really had to dig for that second one…but maybe its the pain medicine.

I give the Planechase Anthology a 5/5!

It is a terrific box set that promises hours of fun at the kitchen table in the future. It is a great collection of re-prints, including some scarce rares. It is four ready-to-play decks for anytime. It is good Magic. Plain and simple.

THE SPARTANNERD GIVES THE PLANECHASE ANTHOLOGY A 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review…Magic the Gathering Modern Event Deck

July 9, 2015 by spartannerd

Nobody panic! The SpartanNerd purchased something he originally said he had no interest in!

But there is a story…

First of all, I didn’t pay $79.99.

I am going to take a moment to talk about how wonderful the folks at the Tangled Web Comics and Games are in Spartanburg, SC. I came to their store yesterday with two cards to trade, Inkmoth Nexus from the French Event Deck I recently purchased and reviewed. I won’t divulge the details of our trade. But these decent folks made sure I had a good deal. This was the last copy of the event deck they had, and I needed five of the cards in the deck. As well as I didn’t have the sword or the Elspeth.

The Tangled Web is just good, small business. They are forever nice. And reward their loyal customers. Daniel, Anna, Danny, and Josh, this is a shout out to you. Thanks for being so nice! I have visited a ton of different similar shops and gaming places, but The Tangled Web stands a head taller than everyone else.

I have done tons of reviews of event decks since I began the SpartanNerd blog. And I purchased all of them from the Tangled Web except for the French Event Deck. Links to some of my reviews are below.

M14 Event Deck

Theros Event Deck

Born of the Gods Event Deck

Journey Into Nyx Event Deck

Dark Ascension Event Deck (French)

So, back to the review!

This event deck starts off like any other. With some inspiring information of the back. This time what is different is the cover sleeve feels like an essential part of the packaging.

Removing the sleeve reveals this SICK box. It has foil detailing. I thought it might be a bait and switch kind of situation, like you might encounter in some Magic products, where there is some kind of cardboard spacer or something. Nope. This box is a solid two piece construction. I think I will get a lot of use out of this box!

The top slides right off, and this is what your see.

Notable…this deck comes with sleeves! The life counter features the Modern Event Deck Set Symbol on the #20.

This time you only have one piece of paper. Finally, reason prevails! No general guide to playing Magic. A person doesn’t just walk into a Modern tournament without a deck, never having played Magic before, and drop $50+ on a product they don’t even know how to play!

Here is the ever-important decklist.

I am going to go through the cards, with comments. I have been hesitant to purchase this product because I had so many of the cards anyway.

I had these cards already. The Tidehollow Sculler is similar to the Brain Maggot. He has stronger power and toughness, but at white and black in the cost, he is harder to cast. I recently encountered Soul Warden when playing against a deck called “Soul Sisters.” Basically, mostly female characters that amount to little advantages, as well as some “hate bears.”

Path To Exile…One of my main reasons to purchase this. I recently won a copy. I need them for my Esper Control Deck. (I will cover that deck later.)

Inquisition of Kozilek. Another big reason for me to purchase this deck. Basically a Thoughtsieze effect, with a restriction that the discarded card has CMC of three or less. Think how much better than Gitaxian Probe this is. Of course, that is a cantrip, but still, if you put this in your Rack deck, or Waste Not deck, then you didn’t have to pay the two life for Thoughtsieze as often for the same effect. And then you might know if it is worth Thoutsiezing.

Shrine to the Loyal Legions…the first true White Weenie card in this deck. The Soul Warden and the Tidehollow Sculler are the only real creatures in this deck. Everything else is spells that generate tokens.

Lingering Souls…a wildly fun card. I already had four copies, and made that the base for my Esper deck.

Honor of the Pure…an anthem effect. You could put the Spear of Heliod here for an even better effect, and with he added bonus of removal.

Intangible Virtue…this card was insane during the Innistrad block! One of the best cards I remember from when I started playing Magic.

Raise the Alarm…another chump token generator. Again, a card I didn’t really need.

Zealous Persecution…a great way to suddenly boost your white weenie army’s power, while at the same time weakening your opponents creatures.

Spectral Procession…I only had one copy of this card before. It is just right for this deck, which is really a white-based deck.

I didn’t have either of these cards. I like how this Elspeth has a lower mana cost than the more recent one. But she isn’t as good either. She’s still pretty good. She can suddenly pump one of your guys and give him flying.

The sword is broken. It always has been! I didn’t own this card either. The Sword and the Elspeth are a good portion of the value in this deck. Both cards are around $15 dollars apiece.

The lands…I already had four copies of Caves of Koilos. This is being reprinted yet again in Origins, so I don’t see that much value. I only had two copies of City of Brass, neither of which had as good of art as featured here. So that’s good! (I like City of Brass better than Mana Confluence. Mostly for flavor reasons.) I only had one Isolated Chapel, a buddy land. I had Vault of the Archangel, but I didn’t have Windbrisk Heights. That land is a great source of on-the-battlefield card advantage in this deck. Then there are five plains, all of the same art, and three swamps. Same art.

This deck, like all of the event decks I have reviewed, comes with a sideboard. The question is, what metagame is it addressing? Here are some ideas.

Dismember can take out indestructible things.

Kataki, War’s Wage is meant to slow down Tron and Affinity decks. Burrenton Forge Tender is meant to cost a burn player two cards. (if you play both copies.)

Relic of Progenitus will shut down Lingering Souls and Unburial Rites. It is also good against a mirror match, (concievable!)

And then Durress, a general thoughtsieze effect, but it can’t get creatures. Good against Planeswalkers, burn spells, etc.

For the first time ever, I get to review how a deck plays before ever playing it! I guess I’m a little late to the unboxing party! I have faced this deck a few times in tournaments, with occasional slight modifications.

The way this deck works is, “overrun your opponent.” Get lots of chump tokens on the field. Use the Lingering Souls to block flyers. Reach critical mass, get the sword on a flyer, and GG. The Soul Warden works against burn. The Intangible Virtue doubles the effectiveness of your creatures. And then the anthem effects are very strong.

The Elspeth is dangerous. Many times I have seen players substitute the newer Elspeth, Sun’s Champion. And it’s possible to slide in a large creature, usually an angel.

I have beaten this deck a few times…probably more than I have lost to it. It is weak against a turn one Thoughtsieze. It has no response to Blue…it hopes to move faster than blue. But you can easily remand these spells, and then prepare for them. The creatures don’t have haste…so you get a second to remove them. It becomes a race against green. Sometimes it can beat green with a larger number of creatures. And green doesn’t have too many flyers…

SpartanNerd Rating of the Magic the Gathering Modern Event Deck…

My colors are white and black. This deck is mostly a “White Weenie” strategy, but it is a pretty strong take on it. I don’t have many gripes about it in that respect.

The box is excellent. It came with sleeves and an exclusive spin down counter.

If I have any complaint, it is that there are no foil cards in this deck. I love me some foil. But this really isn’t enough to take a point off.

So I am going to give it a 5/5. It is the best event deck I have seen, except maybe the French thing.

Do you agree or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments! And go by and visit the Tangled Web sometime!

SpartanNerd Review…Commander Unboxing…Evasive Maneuvers

December 7, 2013 by spartannerd

Evasive Manuevers….Commander Deck Unboxing and Review.

Commander, or EDH (whichever you prefer,) is a format for Magic: The Gathering that people seem starved for…Usually they are trying to sneak in a round in between Standard tournament matches, etc. I have been sort of puzzled by that…thinking it is fun…but is it that fun?

My experiences with Commander come from playing at home with my boys…no surprise really. The games would tend to be longer, but otherwise, besides the “commander factor” the same and just as fun, just more restricted fun. (You may only have one copy of each card in your 100 card deck, besides basic land)

BUT that was before this deck! I think the reason I have had “meh” feelings about the whole thing is that my decks didn’t really “do anything.” They were more of a collection of cards that I like…that were generally unplayable in standard for some reason.

So my first cohesive deck is one that I buy ready made, it it works great!

Evasive Maneuvers comes in this blister packaging, You can see the oversized foil Derevi, Empyrial Tactician clearly. Notice the price…I used a $10 coupon, so this cheapskate didn’t pay full price! (I hear that Oloro’s deck is fetching around $100 on the internet!)

Here’s the back. I didn’t read it. But it is supposed to sell you on buying the deck. Derevi is impressive enough for me, and I have been playing his colors in Standard for awhile. (White, Green, and Blue, also known as Bant)

When you open the box, you see this.

and here are the contents, underneath the foils.

This deck comes with not only Derevi, but also two other Commanders,
Rubinia Soulsinger, and Roon of the Hidden Realms (A Rhino!). The deck comes with a regular
card of these also, as they complete the 100 cards.

But clearly Derevi is the star!

Here is a picture of the deck list.

Here is some blurb about how to play the deck.

and a nice poster.

I wish I could have made it to a “serious” tournament before this review…unfortunately Christmas Singing obligations kept me away from the one at the Tangled Web today. There are two more planned for the future that I know of, and I may be able to attend those and play this deck.

So my first match was against my oldest son, who is currently playing a self built Excava, Blood Witch Commander deck. (See Excava here.) It is an aggressive Rakdos strategy, and he uses a lot of burn spells and haste, as well as favors goblins.

I beat him soundly! And on all fronts. Here are the cards I used to do so….There are certainly more cards to see, however.

The Mistmeadow Witch got a lot of attention from some veteran players last night
as I showed off the deck to the people at the Standard tournament at the TW.
Apparently, Kithkins were a big deal in former Magic sets. This cards activated ability was the way I ousted Excava the first time. He was never able to get her out again before I finished him off. (I mean he could have..he chose not to)

This card is kind of a more powerful Tidebinder Mage. It flys…so….He had no flyers.

This is apparently a reprinted card from the ancient past of Magic.
I used this to cast Blue Sun’s Zenith, (not shown here). But that instant put cards in my hand when I was starting to feel a lack of fun because I had no hand anymore.

I was delighted to get to play a “level-up” card. This deck has two! I had never played one before,
but have played against people that do at Modern tournaments.

This was one of my last plays. It didn’t get to do much….

I put this card onto Dungeon Geists…I never had to use it, though.

I DID use this card…Sort of a Wrath of God. And because I had the two tokens afterward,
they were part of me winning the game!

I mention this because one of the key things was that MANA WASNT A PROBLEM!
I used this spell to get Evolving wilds back out…(It was the only land card in my graveyard)

Rubinia made an appearance, giving me control of Krenko, Mob Boss. My son really didn’t appreciate this, so he just burned her. A key point to remember for the future…She’s not to hard to kill off. AND, if she’s tapped, she isn’t doing much else, is she?

Thoughts on the match…Excava is no lightweight…But I just had more access to stuff. I had out Darksteel Ingot, Basalt Monolith, and Selesnya Signet, in addition to 12 basic lands and Faerie Conclave and Bant Panorama. By the end of the game…with the mana-fixing artifacts coming out early giving me the power to do just about anything I wanted.

This caused another problem, though. My hand was empty for the mid-game. And I was powerless to do anything but block and activate abilities, of which all I had was the Mistmeadow Witch and Derevi. Derevi’s ability was great…He got sent to the command zone twice, and I was able to get him out cheap! But my source of card draw came from SpartanSmurf #1 playing Sign In Blood, which got the Blue Sun Zenith into my hand, which I played at the end of his turn in response to him trying to remove Mistmeadow Witch…( I wasn’t able to counter him)

The game ender came after all this. I got out Kirtar’s Wrath, and nuked everything. He had more stuff out than me, so it was not biggie…This gave me the upper-hand with the two spirits, then I was able to also get Derevi out of the command zone. At the END OF HIS TURN (So he was ready to attack next turn! Then I played Aethermage’s Touch, which got out the Skyward Eye Prophets, and I got to play Curse of Predation. SpartanSmurf #1 didn’t have much life left, so when I swung all-out, it was curtains for him!

Commander damage didn’t even figure into all of this…It was all regular damage!

Thoughts on what you get.…You get the three commanders…all Bant, so that’s cool. I especially like the Rhino…Rhino’s are becoming one of my favorite animals. (Maybe it is their big nose!) Some of the cards in here are apparently lusted after by long-time players. “Sol Ring,” for example. You also get a pretty nice box…But it won’t fit your cards if you sleeve them…it is a snug fit as it is.

I am keeping the deck list for reference. The Wizards are wasting paper by including the blue propaganda that comes with almost every Magic: The Gathering product.

My Rating…I give Evasive Maneuvers a 5 out of 5! I can’t wait to get more of these decks….I have been hint dropping the SpartanWife for Oloro, Ageless Ascetic’s Esper Commander deck. Basically, I see him as kind of like me…Sitting in that chair, He-Man’s sword leaned up by the side, drinking a Diet Dew, totally ripped (now I’m dreaming)

spartannerd

A blog about everything "nerdtainment!"

Category Archives: The Tangled Web