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 Vintage Unboxing and Review…”Obscure Ascension” Magic the Gathering Event Deck (Dark Ascension, French)

July 4, 2015 by SpartanNerd

The SpartanNerd has been on vacation! In case any readers haven’t figured that out! I have been shopping at places not local to Spartanburg. I was looking for things I have never seen, or can’t get here. No luck in some cases. For instance, I would like a Star Wars Black Darth Maul.

At White Widow Games in Myrtle Beach, SC, I came across this gem. It is the Dark Ascension Event Deck, only entirely in FRENCH! A truly unique find. And only $20! Maybe the only one in South Carolina. SEALED! I have reviewed many Magic the Gathering Event Decks… Keep on reading to see how this one measures up! This is the oldest event deck I have ever reviewed.

“Obscure Ascension” means “Dark Ascension.” I have limited, and generally negative, experience with the French language. Just some singing in college that kicked my butt! Interesting that the word “Obscure” equals “Dark.” But that kind of makes sense, right? The French would probably only use “dark” for absence of light, rather than meaning “mysteriously evil.” One thing I picked up from the study of foreign language, is that English is just about the only language to have tons of different meanings for the same word.

The back has all of this French wording. I have no idea what it says. Probably similar to what is on the back of the other event decks I have reviewed. “The right deck for now. Jump right in…this deck is competitive.” They generally aren’t, however. This deck is actually titled “Flammes Espiegel.” “Flames of Joy,” or “Flames of Glee.” Something like that.

So it is a burn deck.

You get the exact same crummy box that the other event decks come in. As much as I am down on them, I use them! Here you can see what it looks like on the inside when you first open it.

Here are the contents. A deck with a sideboard, two pieces of paper…one a guide to playing Magic, and the other a guide to playing this deck. Both in French, so I can’t read them. Then there is the handy divider and the life counter, which has the Dark Ascension expansion symbol on the number 20.

I just threw away the guide to playing. It probably says “You are a planeswalker!” in French. I don’t have to be told that anymore!

This deck is a mono-red deck. A little odd..most of the Event decks I have reviewed are two color decks. There are 21 mountains in this deck, each with the word “Montagne” across the top, and the text “Terrain de base: montagne”. The lands are the same lands from the Innistraad block.

You get five utility lands, including…WHAT’s THAT?!!! “Nexus des enormities”…Where have I seen this…? KABAAM!

“Ink moth Nexus.” TWO COPIES! Basically one of the greatest “man-lands” ever printed. You can pay one colorless to transform it into a 1/1 flyer with infect.

These two cards make the deck TRIPLE THE VALUE of what I paid for it! So, the SpartanNerd is a happy boy!

The other three lands are “Haunted Fengraf.” You can pay three, sac the land, and return a creature to your hand.

The creatures in this deck…I will just tell you who they are and what they do.

Forge Devil, top left. When he enters the battlefield, you take a damage, as well as target creature.

Goblin Arsonist, top middle, When he dies, target player loses one life.

Top right, Flameslinger Goblin. tap him to send one damage to target player.

Goblin Gaveleer, bottom left, he gets an extra +2/+0 for each equipment attached to him. He also has trample.

Torch Fiend, bottom middle, pay a red mana, sacrifice him, and destroy target artifact.

Hellrider, bottom right. the largest creature and about the highest mana cost in the deck. He sends one damage to target player for each attacking creature. He also has haste! Not currently a valuable card. However, back close to the time Innistraad block was about to rotate out, he was fairly valuable. About a twelve dollar card.

So studying the creatures reveals to us that this deck is not only a burn deck, but almost a a Goblin Tribal deck as well. And the creatures here exist for the sole purpose of smash, destroy, and damage.

The other main-deck spells are…

Infiltration Lens, top left, whenever equipped creature becomes blocked by a creature, draw two cards. An artifact equipment.

Faithless Looting, top middle, draw two cards, then discard two cards. This one’s french name almost threw me…”Pillage sans foi.” My thought was “Pillar of Flame.” But that didn’t seem right…as the art didn’t seem to indicate it. So I looked it up. This is the card that really helped me figure out how to translate the others!

Goblin Grenade. Top right. A sorcery, and one of your main game plans. Sac a goblin, send five damage to your opponent. The beautiful thing to do is attack first with Goblin Arsonist, who they generally avoid blocking, then in second main phase sacrifice him to Goblin Grenade. BAM. Seven damage.

Curse of the Stalked Prey. Bottom left. Aura Curse. You enchant your opponent, and then any creatures that hit them get a +1/+1 counter.

Brimstone Volley, bottom center. Your other “main plan.” An instant with a “morbid” trigger. Three damage to target creature or player. But if something had already died this turn, then the spell does five damage instead!

Artillerize, bottom right Sacrifice an artifact or creature as an additional cost, and then Artilleries deals five damage to target creature or player!

Playing the Deck

Playing this deck means using the goblins, and maximizing value with them by sacrificing them in many cases.

I like how solidly focused on that goal the deck is! You have four copies of most creatures! And four copies of other things you need, like Artillerize and Brimstone Volley!

This deck could be a little stronger if it used “Lightning Bolt.” But I’m thinking that wasn’t allowed in Standard at the time. Maybe a way to appease burn players who had recently lost their Lightning Bolts.

In its day, it probably was a great Standard deck!

There is a sideboard…

Gut Shot, top left, a card with pharexian mana as the cost. At instant speed, you get one damage to target creature or player.

Torpor orb, top center, this prevents “enters the battlefield” triggers from happening. Important!

Act of Treason, top right, gain control of the opponents creature, untap it, and give it haste. Then use it as your attacker for this turn! Or even sacrifice it!

Arc Trail, bottom left, deals two damage to target creature or player, and one damage to another target creature or player. Another card with four copies!

Dismember, bottom middle, the only black card in this deck, uses pherexian mana, and is handy to get an indestructible creature. (Target creature gets -5/-5 until the end of turn.) This card is currently a popular choice; it was re-printed in Modern Masters 2015!

Into the Core, exile two target artifacts.

Thinking back to what I know, this sideboard addresses affinity decks, cards with indisctructible, and land destruction., giving you something to do using Pharexian mana. At the time of Innistrad/Scars of Mirrodin, this would have been really sound. Scars was really before my time of playing Magic. But I am somewhat aware of “Caw Blade.”

SpartanNerd Thoughts on “Dark Ascension Event Deck.”

I don’t play burn. And I don’t play infect. (Infect isn’t the main plan of this deck. The Inkmoth Nexus is here so you can be assured to have a creature to sac..)

The SpartanTeen used to play burn, and Goblins when he used to play MTG. If he ever comes back, he can use this deck!

I’ll admit, though, it is a fun deck to play. I was tempted to take it to the Modern Tournament, just for its fun, and to test it some more for this review. But I really wanted to win Path to Exile, (and I did! With Esper Reanimator Control.)

This deck stands up against most of the pre-constructed decks I own.

It has beaten Elves (From the Duel Deck Anthology) as well as the Angel deck. It has beaten the Monsters deck from Heroes vs. Monsters. Not that it hasn’t lost some to these decks as well. But it is competitive against them. Oh yes. It beat Chandra from Jace vs. Chandra as well! That’s burn vs. burn!

Changing the deck

How could we update or change it for Modern? First of all, I believe switching the strategy from Artillerize to Lightning bolt will be important. Then maybe switching out Infiltration lens to faithless looting for card draw. Then updating the creature bombs some.I would avoid any Planeswalkers. I can’t think of any that would help with the goal of send as much damage as possible. Maybe add some scry via Magma Jet or something.

SpartanNerd’s rating of “Obscure Ascension” Magic the Gathering Event Deck (Dark Ascension, French)

I can’t take off any points. For any reason. And the fact that it is worth three times what I paid for it, and in French, makes this a SOLID 5/5! It is by far the best event deck I have ever purchased, with four copies of each important card. None of the other event decks I have purchased or reviewed even approach this deck. Most of them have three copies or two copies of two cards. Most of them feel like souped up starter decks. This one, definitely competitive.

The SpartanNerd rates the French printing of the Dark Ascension Event Deck a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd and SpartanKid Unboxing and Review…Sengoku Astray Gundam (SD)

June 28, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Once again…a SD model of a Gundam the SpartanNerd has no investment in. The title clearly says it is from “Build Fighters.” I watched about one half of an episode of “Gundam Build Fighters Try” on Netflix. The Japanese (no offense intended,) plus the presentation of the characters, and just the show in general didn’t agree with me. I get it. It’s just not my thing. The SpartanChildren, however, eat it up.

SpartanTeen tells me that the correct pronunciation for this model is “Astree”. Don’t know if that is true. When I see the word “astray,” I think, “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

Here are the parts before assembly. It took SpartanKid about two hours to make this. He is nine years old, so…

I helped a little. You have to really clear the “nubs” off of the pieces after you break them from this blister. Also, the pieces are meant to fit together tightly.

The instructions were easy to read, but in Japanese.

You also get an apparent advertisement for the Gundam markers and pens, and a Manga comic, just like the others in this line I have reviewed.

The assembled model looks like this. The two swords are very nice. But it is the headpiece that gets your attention!

He is really busy, and so doesn’t seem as posable as some of the others in this line. He also tends to want to fall apart.

The SpartanKid assembled both of these…so here are some statements from him.

“Astray looks really awesome and is pretty solid, except for the arm, which keeps giving me problems…it wants to come off and come apart.”

“I like the coloration, and the parts are unpainted, so you can choose how you want to paint it. I am going to paint it in a few weeks. I don’t know what colors yet.”

“I forgot to put the stickers on it for the most part.” (Plans to use the stickers later.)

The SpartanNerd rates Sengoku Astray Gundam 3/5. The markdown comes from the limited articulation and the fact that the pieces want to come loose, especially the arm.

Otherwise, the Astray is pretty cool with the huge headress and the two swords.

“

SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen Review…Knight Gundam (SD)

June 23, 2015 by SpartanNerd

The second SD Gundam model review ever. The Knight Gundam. Does the SpartanNerd think this is worth picking up? Keep reading!

The Knight Gundam is another of those Gundams that I have zero association with. I never heard of it. SpartanTeen saw it on “Gundam Build Fighters”, at least I gather. The price was $13.99.

The instructions were in Japanese. But the Knight Gunam came with a Manga. No idea what is going on here. It is a cute little comic strip, though.

Here is the model assembled. Highly detailed! I like the color scheme…mostly gray with blue and red details. A splash of yellow for the cross on the shield and the headpiece. It has that oversized head of course. Tis time there is a barrel inside that allows you to give him two different looks for the eyes.

This Gundam has an AMAZING amount of accessories. I removed them all so you can see just how incredible it really is.

Without the accessories, he feels like a knight without armor should feel. I applaud the detail that went into this.

But this isn’t all!

It can TRANSFORM!

That’s right…Knight Gundam transforms into a Centaur!

I can’t say enough good things about this toy! Wow!

The SpartanTeen had a few things to say about it:

“The mask part is shiny. The rest of it is not, and it should be.”

“The sword is hidden in the shield.”

“Knight Gundam and Unicorn Knight Gundam combine, to for a unicorn. Alone, he is a Centaur”

“This Gundam has relatively few problems compared to other models in this series.”

“It was nothing hard…it took me about ten minutes to build.”

Here is a comparison shot with the Build Burning Gundam SD.

So what does the SpartanNerd rate Knight Gundam (SD)?

I can’t say anything negative about it. The SpartanTeen is a little bothered that the mask is vac-metal while the rest of the armor isn’t. I think it makes the mask pop, though. Then he informed me that it isn’t just a transformer, but a Combiner as well.

This thing gets a 5/5. Only $13.99 for basically hours of entertainment. The amount of things to do here reminds me of playing with “Modulok” from Masters of the Universe Classics. It is fairly sturdy, and has no stupid problems.

The SpartanNerd rates Knight Gundam (SD) a solid 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd Review…SD Build Burning Gundam

June 18, 2015 by SpartanNerd

The SpartanNerd’s interest in Gundams is really very narrow. I really only like what I have seen on Gundam Wing. I realize that this is VERY narrow. But Gundam Wing…the cartoon…as well it’s “Endless Waltz” movie, have tremendous sentimental value for me, as I was very interested in that at a transitional time of life.

I became aware of other Gundam properties by seeing models at Toys R Us for “Gundam Seed.” Later, I would get “Gundam Battle Assault 2” for Playstation. This game exposed me to several more gundams. And soon after, I saw “SD” figures on the shelves at different stores. SD stood for “Super Deformed,” and it was a big-headed fad about ten years ago. I suppose that gave away to the “vinyl” toy craze today.

The SpartanKids are once again really interested in Gundams, and I have been encouraged to review them. So without further ado, here is my review of “SD Build Burning Gundam.”

The instructions were entirely in Japanese. It is a good thing that the diagrams are very good, otherwise my nine year old might not have been able to assemble it!

The back of the instructions contains a manga. Again, not quite sure what is happening here.

SpartanKid’s build of SD Build Burning Gundam stands just fine. It is posable in all ways expected for a Gundam. It doesn’t have a flight stand or other stand, however.

The model comes with these accessories. I know from “Gundam Battle Assault 2” that Burning Gundam’s main weapon is fire coming from his hands or fingers. (He frequently yells, “Burning Finger!”)

Here he is with both fingers ablaze. I don’t really care for this accessory. It reminds me of some kind of dishrag attached to his hand.

This “fiery chain” is better, as a weapon. We also figured out that these pieces can attach to the “dishcloth” pieces.

Here is a comparison shot to another Gundam in the series. The “Knight Gundam” has more going for it.

So what are my thoughts on this model?

It was fairly inexpensive. But it has some problems that come with that “cheapness.” One big thing is that the head doesn’t stay on. Another, the accessories are kind of … whimsical. It comes with no guns. It doesn’t transform. It just “is”.

I know nothing of the characters, and have no attachment. I speak as an outsider. To me, this Gundam is kind of a generic Wing Gundam. Accept he doesn’t have wings.

But that price point has to figure in. This model was only $8.00. This kept the SpartanKid occupied for two days building it. He has plans to “decorate” it even more.

SpartanKid has a few things to say about this item.

“I really like the model. It was well worth my $8.00.”

“The model is pretty colorful. The attachments go on easily.”

“Despite how the head tends to fall off, you can just set it on top of the body.”

“I would give this product a 5/5.”

The SpartanNerd’s rating of “SD Build Burning Gundam” is 3/5. On the lower end of three. I am only judging the merits of the product, not the SpartanKid’s build of it. DO you agree or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review…Magic the Gathering Premium Deck Series “Graveborn”

May 31, 2015 by SpartanNerd

It’s almost Father’s Day…and I was told to order some cards…

Not these kind! Magic Cards…Did I have you fooled? (I’m sure such cards will be coming my way, though.)

Because it is pretty hard for non Magic players to know what to get Magic players, I was told I could just order what I wanted. So I ordered “Graveborn,” a Legacy MTG deck from 2010 or 2011. It looked pretty sweet on the internet, and the allure of all foil swamps hypnotized me into making the purchase. Have I found it to be worth the $83.00 paid through TCGplayer? Keep reading to find out more!

The “Graveborn” deck is from what was called (is called?) the “Premium Deck Series.” There are two other decks out there, one a red burn deck and the other a Slivers deck. But the Zombies and the color black are my thing. So I’m just offering that as background information. The Premium Deck Series gives you a deck in all foil, with some alternate art. The foil is special, though. I would call it “Super Foil.”

The package looked like this.

A transluscent tube of plastic that let you see the of the most important cards in the deck. Featured as spokeswoman is Avatar or Woe…a card that could be Legendary, but isn’t.

On the back, you can see the deck box, which is also notably foil, with the Reanimate art prominently featured on the packaging. You also get some inspiring messages and a contents list. The deck was wisely cellophane…This tube of a package would be no trouble for a dishonest person to hack.

But I’m just throwing away the packaging, right!

Opening the box, you see this. The spin down life counter is visible.

Removing the product from package lets you see all of this. Have a look at the foil detail!

The box has nice foil…as mentioned.

This card really shows off the foil. This foil is a little better than what we usually see. It might be equivalent to what they put on Planeswalkers in the Dual Decks.

I wanted to mention that the spin down counter feels a little chalky. It is also a little bit lighter than the kind we had before Dragons of Tarkir. But it doesn’t feel like the dice that came in those pre-release boxes. It doesn’t feel like the dice that came in the Dual Deck Anthology either.

I am going to go over each card featured in the packaging.

This is a handy card. This deck needs ways to discard things from your hand. In this case you are rewarded with 2/2 Zombie Tokens. You will probably just use them to block on the ground or as things to sac.

The Avatar of Woe is good as a beater…but better as reliable removal.

Animate Dead is an odd card with a contentious history. Evidently an aura can’t attach to things in the graveyard…

Cabal Therapy. I had this card before, but not with this art. I have only played it in Commander…it is a fun card with a lot of utility. You can use it as a Thoughtsieze effect, or you can target yourself and get one of the bombs out of your hand into the graveyard. It’s just fun! Someone recently asked if the wizards would be reprinting this for Standard. I wonder why they wouldn’t?

Of all the cards in this deck, this is the most “money card” of them all. Priced at $30 or roundabout. You can get whatever creature you NEED and put in your graveyard for re-animation. And at instant speed too…so you wait until they are tapped out, then drop this bomb.

Reanimate is banned in Modern for a reason…One mana to get back whatever bomb you have. OK…Turn one, Entomb. Turn Two Reanimate. GG.

At sorcery speed, and for three mana, you get entomb times three. SICK!

A card from my early days of playing. I always thought it was bad. But it is great in this deck, where you need to discard things!

As mentioned, this deck is a MONO BLACK deck. So you can’t cast this card from your hand…Crosis will have to be reanimated. But he is great! He is also the only legendary in this deck, surprisingly.

I had this card from Commander. I always thought it good in esper colors. Pro Red and Green makes it great to entomb out at instant speed when needed.

Onto what is in the deck box.

The cards in cellophane and inserts in cellophane.

I just threw away the insert which is a general guide to playing Magic. I am keeping this insert. The historical information here is pretty nice to know…I wasn’t aware of who was successful with reanimator decks before.

The decklist is on the other side. Good for future reference when I piece out the deck for different purposes.

I am going to go over the cards a little at a time.

Starting with the bombs.

These four cards are just sick. Think how absurd it is to have any one of them out on turn two…

Blazing Archon is probably the most annoying!

Casting Terastadon late enough in the game means you probably have Terastadon plus three elephant friends!

Inkwell Leviathon. Great against blue players.

Verdant Force is here not only as a bomb, but also for historical significance, if you pay attention to what they told you in the insert.

There are also black creatures you CAN hard cast.

I don’t care much for Putrid Imp. I would rather Stinkweed Imp be here…

Faceless Butcher is a black Banisher Priest.

And Twisted Abomination rides the line between bomb and chump for this deck. He is better for swampcycling. You might find him to be the only “bomb” you can reanimate on a bad occasion.

The other spells…

All spells are singularly focused on discarding or getting bombs out of the library and into the graveyard. There is no cancel or burn. No ramp. No pump. Just all re-animator business. I am highly impressed with the foil on Duress. I mentioned before that Duress is one of my favorite spells! It is funny when you play Exhume on turn two against someone who hasn’t played any creatures. Diabolic Servitude and Animate Dead are about the same thing.

Then there are the lands…

21 foil swamps. Just about enough said! The other three lands are utility lands that let you do colorless mana or sac for ramp. There is also a cycling land. Dakmor Salvage would be good here.

Playing the deck…

This deck works as advertised. I heard someone say “It is from the Golden Age of pre-constructed decks.” Very true. There is no comparison to some of the tripe I have reviewed that they have put out…(Virtually all of the event decks I have reviewed lack important consistency. Those intro decks are lackluster. And recent dual decks, like Elspeth Vs. Kiora, feel really weak by comparison.)

Get your bomb in the graveyard early…and bring them back to life. Swing in for damage. Rinse and repeat.

Deck Matchups.

I played this against the SpartanKid, piloting various decks from the Dual Deck Anthology.

The first deck I wanted to try it against was Divine, from the Dual Decks Anthology. Because that deck is generally a winner. A good matchup. But almost without fail, GG for Graveborn by turn 5.

Chandra’s deck From the DDA was an interesting matchup. Burn is meaningless against Sphinx of the Steel Wind on Turn three. All of the progress Chandra could bring was just displaced by the giant, lifelink, vigilance, first striker.

But Jace from the DDA was a different story. If the reanimator spells get canceled, this deck does nothing. And worse, if the bombs get bounced back to your hand, you have to work to get them back to the graveyard to reanimate. Graveborn lost two matches to Jace Beleren’s deck. And it was mostly because trick creatures with morph redirected spells, or bounced things.

I am going to continue testing, and will update this post to reflect the results. (hopefully!)

Changing the Deck

Because this deck is Legacy, I will have to modify it for play. I am thinking about how to use it in Standard. But that is really probably out of the question. The Whip of Erebos is good, except the cards brought back from the graveyard to swing are exiled after they leave the battlefield. Rescue from the Underworld is a mana-intensive spell. I am going to experiment some before the Standard tournament at the Tangled Web on Friday night this week. But I suspect I will just sleeve up my foil Duress cards and foil lands and continue to play Liliana/Waste Not.

Modern has some possibilities though. I have already ordered “Gifts Ungiven,” which means introducing blue to this deck. However, I think it will improve the deck where it is weak. Adding blue means I get to use my own cancel spells. Unburial rights is also a possibility. In fact, someone recently flashed back Unburied rights and got Emrakul out on me when I was playing my Amulet/Bloom deck. This would mean introducing white. So now we are talking esper…

The other way this deck can be modified is by changing the bombs. Since 2010/2011 a lot more cards have been released. You can re-animate Iona, Shield of Emeria, and break your opponents colors. You can re-animate Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or other Eldrazi. Avacyn Angel of Hope and Akroma Angel of Wrath are good choices. Re-animate Aurelia and take extra combat steps. Reanimate Ashen Rider and remove a threat…Reanimate Medomai the Ageless and take an extra turn. Reanimate Griselbrand…Reanimate …….. any Titan…. So many broken things to do!

SpartanNerd’s Rating of Magic the Gathering Premium Deck Series Graveborn is 4/5. Here’s why.

The foil cards look incredible. The deck is fun and consistent. The Spindown Counter is unique and cool, if a little different. The special insert with historical information was cool. There is a lot of monetary value here as well, especially with “entomb”.

The deck box cannot hold the deck when sleeved with Dragon Shields. And these premium foils demand to be sleeved. I felt really paranoid I was going to scratch them by their rubbing together in the most natural way that cards do. This is a Legacy deck, and in my area, I have never seen a Legacy tournament. I have encountered players who brought decks to practice with. But I can’t just take this item to a local tournament and playtest it against a metagame. And then, the single-mindedness of this deck is also its downfall. If someone can prevent you from…Discarding cards, tutoring cards to the graveyard, or reanimating cards, all three of which are required to make this deck work like the organic machine it is, then that person will win. There is no sideboard included.

But saying all of that negative stuff doesn’t detract from the sheer coolness of the deck. It is something most people won’t see coming. I ordered it for its beauty and for what it stands for, and for a way to help me do more things with the graveyard, and this deck has delivered this.

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF “GRAVEBORN” IS 4/5. DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE. LEAVE NOTES IN THE COMMENTS, OH HUB CITY GEEKS!

spartannerd

A blog about everything "nerdtainment!"

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