Green's Comeback

Zendikar: Where the bears are Eldrazi, and they can pump to become 3/4's.

Battle for Zendikar, as a draft format, was known for one nefarious fact: Green was an unplayable color. Good rares, like Oran-Reif Hydra, got passed often, and were not happy first picks. It was said that Unnatural Aggression was the worst of the green "fight" cards, and that even the green Eldrazi were expensive and not very impactful. Over the course of the format, that estimation did not change very heavily, and one of the questions for Oath of the Gatewatch was, simply, "Will Green Make a Comeback?"

Now we find that, indeed, it has. Several green cards have come down that have shifted the landscape back towards relative balance. While we still await the official statistics from Magic Online, we can see the effects of Green's resurgence.

Green has gone from having next to no removal to having a very effective removal spell in Nissa's Judgement. Using the support ability and dealing 5-9 damage to a creature can end up being a 2-for-1 in your favor. This isn't a "fight" card, its a "gang attack" card. Even Unnatural Aggression itself, previously unplayable, can receive new consideration in a deck with support abilities.

White has great removal and also has support cards, making White and Green a natural match in this format. With this pairing, a deck with green can have access to some of the best removal available, such as Isolation Zone and Stasis Snare, as well as Gideon's Reproach come pack three. This association inherently raises the value of Green in general, and, as it happens, Green/White IS one of the top tier draft archetypes, second only to Black/White (which often has two or three drafters at the table). Green also pairs well with Black and Red, where the other good removal is.

The mascot of the Green Machine this time around is Saddleback Lagac, the supporting four-drop that makes your smaller creatures into medium sized creatures. A "Lagac Attack" forces your opponent to use removal early, make less fortunate trades, or take damage you otherwise would not have been able to squeeze through.

Having access to these cards in the first couple packs means the big green bombs you always seem to open in pack three, such as Undergrowth Champion or Greenwarden of Murasa, they will find a much happier home and be allowed to earn the bomb status they were designed for.

Suffice to say, Green is no longer the least desirable drafting color. It presents power and punch, just like Green should.

Instant Deck Tech: Inverter Mayhem!

Here we have a fun Standard deck that your opponents will never see coming!

Inverter of Truth becomes Inverter of Mayhem with this deck! Inverter of Truth exiles your whole library and gives you a 6/6 body in the air, leaving you with cards from your graveyard, flipped over and turned into your library. Don't be afraid to play this close to the chest. Try this inexpensive deck out to really mess with the heads of your opponents!

You'll spend turn two and three playing Corpse Churn and Gather The Pack, filling your graveyard with cards, so that once you play Inverter of Truth on turn four, you will have 5-8 turns to bash with Inverter of Truth, which should only take 3 or 4 turns to finish your opponent off.

Blinding Drones and Vampire Envoys will keep your opponent at bay and draw removal while Baloth Pup adds the additional power you will need to steal the win before the inverted hourglass runs out.

Opponent have a two-drop flyer?  No problem!  Attach a Chitinous Cloak to Inverter of Truth and smash for 8 in the air! 

We run Prophet of Distortion to make sure you are never far away from a Gather The Pack, which will hopefully help you find Inverter of Truth (and if it doesn't, that's just more cards in your graveyard!)

This deck runs three copies of Corrupted Crossroads, as a great fix-all, as well as two of Yavimaya Coast and two Hissing Quagmires (substitute Llanowar Wastes at will).

Another Twist!

WotC has had fun announcing this summer's supplemental Conspiracy set.

First, we thought it was The Reign of Brago.  Then, a day later, photos were released showing the spirit king being murdered via a stabbing of the neck. The set was then announced as The Empty Throne.

Now, it appears the throne has been taken up -- there's even a 221st card again. There's still hope for each player to attain the throne, though. With that idea in mind, Wizards of the Coast announced...

Wizards says there's no joke this time, and although we might have to wait until August to find out who exactly is sitting on the throne, we can be certain the set will present those who love multiplayer formats with no end of intrigue, mayhem, and general delight. The set is designed for eight-player drafts followed by free-for-all games of three to five players each. Each draft will be different, and new Conspiracy cards will make sure each player must work with unique tactics to take the crown. 

Check out the official announcements HERE, and stay tuned for spoilers!

It's a Twist!

After an apparent homicide, King Brago (the spirit) reigns no longer.

Wizards actually reports one fewer cards to the Conspiracy set, now entitled....

The stakes are heightened, the stage is set, and a truly unique drafting experience is headed our way at the end of the summer.

Check out the official report, including crime scene photos, HERE.

Instant Speed Gazette #003

Columns for the Control-Oriented!

New sets!  Old Cards! CRAZY Draft Experiences!

In the past week, Magic players across the world have been blessed with back-to-back announcements of this years upcoming supplemental sets.

Eternal Masters will be a no-holds-barred royal reprint rumble. Modern Masters has enjoyed two incarnations thus far, and has resulted in modes like Commander and Modern becoming more accessible in card availability and value, while also creating a premium draft experience. We can assume these successes have led to Eternal Masters, reprinting cards from all the way back to even before the Ice Age that we here at Instant Speed began our magic career with. While the exact lists are only speculation for some, safe to say that this entire set will be worth having for any player who deviates from standard!

Conspiracy: the Reign of Brago will be coming at us in August, promising even more premium draft experiences. While EDH-heads will have less to dance in circles over, and Legacy legionnaires will need not gnash their teeth at their cube losing a couple percent of value, each of us will enjoy a set specifically designed to be drafted " with new cards that affect the draft itself and new Conspiracies that twist the rules against your foes -- Trade votes and spread your attacks to manipulate the game in your favor".

What can we expect?  Take this example from the first Conspiracy set, Cogwork Librarian.

Check out the official announcements HERE and HERE.

Competition is Fierce!  

While the Eldrazi may be crushing dreams on playmats everywhere, Pro Magic Players world-wide are getting ready to start grinding out pro points in preparation for Pro Tour: Shadows Over Innistrad.  Meanwhile, Twitch viewers will have all the competition to watch an analyze that we can handle!

For a comfortable warm up, Star City Games Philly is coming up coming up next weekend, February 27th and 28th. These are always great events spanning multiple formats, so be sure to join twitch.tv/scglive for a weekend full of Eldrazi and counter-Eldrazi debates!

GP Detroit hits March 4th, giving us another taste of Modern in the competitive circuit. GP Washington DC follows only one weekend after, bringing us exciting, pro-packed Team Sealed events. Check out the official streams at twitch.tv/magic!


Spoilers!  Shadows Over Innistrad has made its way to the hands of a very select few, and we have several spoilers to discuss!



Compelling Deterrence is a compelling reason to look forward to playing Dimir Zombies. Also, this card is easily a front-runner for "Most Comic Artwork."


Watcher in the Web will be a popular body in the drafts to come. If you are someone who depends on flyers to get damage in, start practicing other tactics!

WereWolves!  More flip-cards makes for more fun, and more interesting brews, so bring them on! 

Stay up to date with MythicSpoiler for the latest leaks, and get hyped!

This is been Instant Speed MTG, always bringing you speedy reads with the latest updates for MTG!

C-C-C-C-COMBO! #001

Instant Speed MTG brings to you a special bulletin-- 

Be on the lookout during your weekly draft for this armed, and possibly dangerous combination play. 

If sighted, approach with caution.

Processor SMASH

a.k.a. 

I thought, Therefore I SMASH

Thought-Knot Seer is a bomb, it's worth more than the packs you bought to draft with, and no one will ever not first pick it. If you have ever done this, please report yourself to the proper Judging body, and pay the appropriate fines. 

Processor Assault, to all appearances, should be a less powerful, less often played card in the Oath of the Gatewatch draft format, since Eldrazi with "Ingest" are fewer and farther between. Right?

One defining characteristic of the OGW draft format is the common stalling of boards, where two players find themselves unwilling to attack and are topdecking, hoping for a threat to arrive.  

Processor Assault is a card that will sit in your hand until you are able to play it -- until you have exiled an opponents card. It's likely to be swinging around the draft circle more often than its Common counterpart, Boulder Salvo, making it a perfect candidate for a surprise smash.

Sure, your Oblivion Strike and Isolation Zone will allow you to make a powerful punch as well, but the unique abilities of the

Thought-Knot-Seer, you will create a THREE-FOR-ONE situation: Kill a spell before it's cast, kill a big creature, and drop a big creature of your own.

C-C-C-C-COMBO!

The Ringers:

Blue Devoid strategies are easy to fall into, and Thought Harvester is a low power, high impact Eldrazi enabler. Besides Processor Assaults, many blue processors become viable with one in your deck.

World Breaker is made for destroying board stalls, but with a Processor Assault in your (presumably) Red/Green deck, you will again gain the

element of surprise, and use your superior planning to grind out a concession from your opponent.

Mindmelter is a champion of Eldrazi synergy, and if you can make the colors work, would be a great addition next to any of these other options, as well as creating a noticeable threat by itself.









This has been an Instant Speed MTG Special Bulletin!  We now rejoin your regularly scheduled program....

Draft Traps #002

Draft aware!  Don't let friends fall into these draft traps!

Blue Green

With a heightened power level in Oath of the Gatewatch green cards, it may seem like this pairing would be a good route to go through. Blue, typically one of the most sought-after colors, has dropped off in power, and besides the usual spat of flyers that remain viable, has few spells that are very compelling to play. Much of the design of the set went to empowering Surge cards, and many of the most-played cards of the color will be these surge cards. The ability makes a color more efficient, but in the color blue, the power level of non-creature spells has noticeably dropped. When your best bet is Containment Membrane, which is double-pseudo removal, 

If you are going to play Blue Green, you want to be playing devoid.  If you see plenty of Stalking Drones, open a Dimensional Infiltrator, or stumble across some blinding drones, you might fall into this lane.  You want all of these cards, you will want Nissa's Judgement, one of the best removal cards in the set, and you will want lots of colorless mana. You will be looking for Eldrazi Skyspawner in pack three, but there will not be a lot of removal for you in this deck. Sweep Away and similar effects would be better off as a late Murk Strider.

Reflector Mage

Blue/White Skies has been a widely recognized draft strategy. White is a very fortified color in the current draft format. Picking White cards can allow you to end up in one of any of the the three best color pairings. Where you do NOT want to end up, however, is in Blue/White. As previously discussed, the power of blue has been shifted to the devoid side.

You may be tempted by the appearance of Reflector Mage to head towards a control deck of this ilk. We would encourage you not to do this. You may still find flyers to attack with, and you may fill your deck with counterspells that will cause you to over-strategize, leave mana unused, and allow your opponent to dictate the pace of the game. Reflector Mage is a great play in limited, but the deck has very little synergy without devoid, blue creatures. You may also be able to build a curve with white creatures, but you are still playing a polarizing deck dependent on a single tempo play to keep flyers in the sky.

Until next time, keep drafting, and keep your head up!

Draft Traps #1 Black/White Lifegain

Everyone says Black/White is the most deadly color combination in the current draft format. It's built-in lifegain abilities and 4-toughness creatures simply give it the edge in many situations, and are always hard to work around during combat.

Does that make it the best draft strategy? Should one always try to head towards Black/White if possible?

The answer is most often "No". While you may often find yourself first-picking one of the following cards, both of them are at common level, so chances are more than two players at the table will try to go into this top tier pairing for the exact same reason. This stigma inherently lowers the value of the pairing for the savvy player. This public service announcement will help you make responsible second-and-third picks in your next draft.

"I immediately regret this decision."

Portal #1 - Isolation Zone
Say you First Pick Isolation Zone.
Second pick, you have the choice of a Havoc Sower or a Seed Guardian. Take the Seed Guardian.
Third pick. Vampire Envoy or Nissa's judgement? Opt for removal.

Whatever you are sending to your left, you will see less of in pack two. You can only cut one color hard enough to get any back in pack two, yet if you cut hard white, chances are you can get lots of green cards in pack two along with your white payoffs. Big green cards in Battle for Zendikar often go around the table, so finding an Oran-Reif Hydra or even a Plated Crusher is a reliable proposition.



Portal #2 - Oblivion Strike

"I said, 'NO COLDPLAY'!"

Trying to work your way into white is going to be harder than working your way into black. If you end up with one or two top picks in black, it could be better to look to pick up some Flayer Drones early and stake a claim in Black/Red (a.k.a. Grixis). You can be set up for an aggro build whether you find devoid or non-devoid cards in later picks. If you see Zada's Commandos, scoop them up, as it is the card most likely to convince someone of a red signal. This pairing has great cards in pack three, with Grip of Desolation, Touch of the Void, and Complete Disregard for removal. Hopefully you have plenty of 2 and 3 drops, but if not, you can probably find a Culling Drone or two late.

THE RESCUE TEAM

These are the cards that will lead you onto a better path, having first-picked either Oblivion Strike or Isolation Zone. Each of these cards will send strong signals to the left of you, so picking them will ensure your second pack will be more bountiful. Besides Saddleback Lagac, you are likely to see these cards pick 2-4, but less likely beyond that. 

Don't fall in to the Black/White Lifegain trap!

 Be aware of your alternatives! 

Draft Responsibly!

This message brought to you by INSTANT SPEED MTG!

Instant Speed Deck Tech: Eldrazi Blinkstorm!

The Eldrazi Continue To Rise!  

Hot off the giant, dominating appearance of Eldrazi decks at Pro Tour: Oath of the Gatewatch, we at INSTANT SPEED MTG bring to you a fun, interactive Eldrazi themed deck.

Who's the most flavorful creature in Oath of the Gatewatch?  Eldrazi Displacer, of course!  This deck builds an army of un-reality around your Displacer!  You'll be able to go wide AND tall on your opponent with this deck, and with some of the best renewal in the format, you already have the competitive edge!

Starting with Eldrazi Mimics and Stalking Drones will give you an aggressive edge in the early game and late game alike. On Turn Three you play Displacer, and on turn Four you start having fun! 

Eyeless watcher gives you an instant army of Scions. Sideboard in Scion Summoner against Aggro decks.

Pull a Conduit of Ruin and bring forth either one of your multiple Birthing Hulks (if you have multiple Mimics down) or your Deceiver of Form (to possibly make all your Stalking Drone's into 5/5's!).

Greenwarden of Murasa is the one Non-Eldrazi creature we have. Blink this big guy away and bring any card from your graveyard right back! 

Feel free to use Evolutionary Leap to churn up bigger, badder, and fatter creatures! With plenty of scions floating around, profitably sacrificing creatures will be a snap!

In the sideboard are several removal spells that will adjust your removal suite towards lower curved, Aggro decks. Lower Curve options for both colorless mana production and scion spawning synergy include Scion Summoner (in for Eyeless Watcher) and Warden of Geometries (in for Kozilek's Channeler). And why not include a copy of Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger? With Conduit of Ruin and only three scions, Ulamog can be a turn 7 win.

Not only is this deck fun, it is also in a comfortable sub-$100 dollar range for new players looking to jump in!

Ratings:

Power - 6-7
Synergy - 9
Speed - 5

Special Report: The Loneliest Eldrazi

The Loneliest Eldrazi
By S.P.B.


There once was a tide of horrendous hunger and consumption called the Eldrazi. The eldrazi consumed and were strengthened by each of the colors of mana -- all except white. There was only one little Eldrazi (still bigger than a house) that enjoyed the purity of white mana, and his name was Displacer.

Little Displacer had a mild temperament, and didn't crave consumption of the entire plane like the other Eldrazi. Displacer was content to travel the beautiful plane of Zendikar, see the sights, and blink any pesky creatures encountered into the space between planes (they always blink back after he leaves).

For a whole season little Displacer wandered the plane, blinking beasts and dragons away. He saw the mountain of Valekut crying molten tears into the sky. He stood before the great ocean and witnessed it's fury at the destruction of Sea Gate at the hands of the Titans. He felt the sadness he had only just discovered once he found the great forests of Zendikar transmuted to wastes. He began to be ashamed of the destruction his broodmates and their masters wrought upon this plane of planes.

Suddenly Displacer was transported to a whole different realm, a place where friendly competition between creatures was the way of life.  Here he was surrounded by creatures with incredible, kind, giving abilities. No one begrudged him the use of his powers, and he soon had made friends and was gleefully blinking away and back these willing friends.

"Where...Am I?"

Sun Titan was a big teddy bear, who giggled every time he was blinked away.  Displacer never figured out why he always came back with a female human in tow. 

               

                 

Displacer enjoyed blinking Reflector Mage in and out of the cafeteria, because when the mage blinked back, another creature blinked away as well, which made Displacer laugh and spit milk from his respiration holes!

Displacer got to work with a Snapcaster mage that was too busy casting spells to ever introduce himself.  Still, it was always fun seeing what spells he would endlessly rattle off when he blinked back.

There was the Phantasmal Image, that always blinked back in a different form, as another one of their rivals, and caused much enjoyable confusion.

And also there were the giant Siege Rhinos, always traveling in packs of four and always with a couple Wingmate Roc's circling the skies above them. Both of those creatures loved being blinked, and since neither were very hygienic species, it was nearly the only bath they ever got!

Before too long Eldrazi Displacer was one of the most popular blinkers, and found himself called upon in not only several teams, most often the "Abzan" team and but also whole different leagues, such as the arcane "Modern" league, where others tried to teach lessons on death and taxes. He never quite understand, and only wanted to blink his friends away and back, and clap his tentacles when they did cool things.

Though he never discovered who it was that had kidnapped him from Zendikar, Displacer was happy to have found a home. He was happy, and was no longer the loneliest Eldrazi.

Instant Speed Gazette #002

INSTANT SPEED GAZETTE!

Your place to catch evasive updates!

Grand Prix Vancouver was this weekend!  Players descended on the city known for beautiful views and amazing hiking, and proceeded to mash cards in the Limited format all weekend!

Top Honors went to Adam Jansen, who drafted a Blue/Red deck that was slightly Aggro in build, yet took full advantage of the Surge Mechanic. In particular, Jori En, Ruin Diver game Jansen became Santa Claus in the late game for late-game dominance. Adam showed the world how to take a niche rare and build an unbeatable dream curve. The world then watched him execute that Christmasland scenario in Game One of the Finals


His opponent at the final table was Eric Severson, bringing a W/R deck heavy laden with creatures meant to out-step and out-flank the opponent, which was exactly what he did in Game 2 of the finals, using the Oath of the Gatewatch card Allied Reinforcements to great effect.

In the end, it came to a topdecking race, with none other than Valekut Invoker taking over the board, and essentially winning the game, and $10,000, for Jansen!

"[ERIC] BETTA HAVE MAH MONEY!"

Check out the entire tournament on Youtube!

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!

If anyone has ever tried to convince you that Unidentified Infinite Combo's exist, we at INSTANT SPEED MTG! are here to tell you that those whackjobs may be correct.  UIC's do exist, and we fell victim to one in a recent Commander match.

It started out innocently: a humble MTG journalist visiting his childhood store, only to become swept up in a Commander battle with a single thought: "Well, I do have this Goblin Tribal deck I've been developing..."

So there is our humble journalist, pitting his Krenko, Mob Boss and all the goblins he can bring to the board against 3 foreign armies. One opponent in particular,Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, seemed to pose no threat. Who would fear someone playing random cards from the bottom of they're deck?

Later in the game, this opponent had Ashnod's Altar and Reito Lantern, allowing him to put cards from his graveyard onto the bottom, after having been sacked for colorless mana by Ashnod's Altar. Then, Siege-gang Commander went through an ultimate time warp, and suddenly a million goblin tokens flooded the board, while a disinterested voice chortled from somewhere nearby, "I've never really been able to do this," as card after card began to hit the battlefield from the bottom of the opponents deck while the rest of us watched in abject horror. He could have, with unlimited goblin sacrifices giving him ammunition and the cost to launch it, simply declared us all dead. Instead we watched as he cycled through 70 or so cards, choosing targets for each Enter-The-Battlefield ability and picking off our lands and creatures one by one (Krenko standing alone amid the destruction, surrounded by 24 fallen goblin tokens bodies).

And then as soon as it had begun, it was over. The Unidentified Infinite Combo was gone, and the game was either over, or locked in some dimension wherein an ending simply will never arrive...

If anyone is near Time Travelers in Berkley, Michigan, perhaps visiting the green prophet, as I was, be sure to inquire about the event.