Our Modern Format: Help with Older But Legal Cards

Hey everyone!
  I got to thinking and realized even in my own deck making I forgot a lot of cards that were reprinted in new borders just because they were judge promos or released in some other fashion.

  So I'm going to provide links here to at least most cards that that had new frame reprints made. As usual, it's your responsibility to make sure the cards you decide to run are legal in Vintage and that you don't end up using something banned on our Modern-format list.

JUDGE PROMOS

FRIDAY NIGHT MAGICS, SUPER JUNIOR SERIES, AND VARIOUS OTHER PROMOS

DUEL DECKS, FROM THE VAULT, AND OTHER SPECIAL RELEASES 

PRO TOURS AND GRAND PRIXS

I'm not including stuff from set releases (Core Sets and any set from Mirrodin onward) since those cards would be legal under Wizards of the Coast's version of Modern anyway.

As a reminder, here are our rules for our Modern format tournament Saturday:

1) Any card with a release date of 2003 onward in the newer card frame (compared to anything pre-Mirrodin). The intent is that if you look through your cards and find something in the card frame used from Mirrodin onward you can use it (granted it follows rules #2 and #3).

2) Follow the official Vintage Banned/Restricted List. Most of what we'll use that's Restricted should be:
Balance (Judge Promo and a From the Vault set)
Brainstorm (Commander deck)
Burning Wish (Judge promo)
Channel (From the Vault set)
Demonic Tutor (Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic)
Fact or Fiction (Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra and Commander deck)
Lotus Petal (From the Vault set)
Memory Jar (From the Vault set)
Mind's Desire (Judge promo)
Mystical Tutor (From the Vault set)
Necropotence (From the Vault set)
Regrowth (Judge Promo)
Sol Ring (Commander deck and various other outlets)
Strip Mine (From the Vault set)
Tinker (From the Vault set)
Wheel of Fortune (Judge Promo)
Windfall (Commander deck)


3) Follow the Banned list below:

• Ancient Den
• Bloodbraid Elf
• Chrome Mox
• Dark Depths
• Golgari Grave-Troll
• Great Furnace
• Hypergenesis
• Seat of the Synod
• Sensei's Divining Top
• Skullclamp
• Sword of the Meek
• Tree of Tales
• Umezawa's Jitte
• Vault of Whispers

We'll have the tournament this upcoming Saturday, so go and run with any ideas you may have. You've got a pretty wide cardpool, made bigger by the Duel Decks, promos, etc. I hope to see some level of variety Saturday. :)

New M12 Jace Spoiled on G4TV. Mill Runs Rampant.

Welcome back, everyone!

Today we'll be looking at the newest Mythic Rare to be previewed from Magic 2012. We knew last week that Jace, Chandra, and Garruk would probably be getting new versions (thanks to some Japanese semi-spoilers of different artwork and different Japanese names compared to their Lorwyn brethren).

What we didn't now was what any of them would do...until now.

We saw with Belltower Sphinx yesterday that Milling would make its presence known in Magic 2012. But we didn't know how much until now.

Let me introduce you to Jace, Memory Adept!!!!

Courtesy MTGSalvation.com

The image may not be clear enough on what exactly this new version of Jace does, so I'll type it all out.

Jace, Memory Adept
3UU
Planeswalker - Jace
+1: Draw a card. Target player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
+0: Target player puts the top ten cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
-7: Any number of target players each draw twenty cards.
4 Starting Loyalty
Mythic Rare

O.O  Can you say "OMG"? This Jace is a miller's dream! For the same cost as Traumatize you get repeated milling of 10 cards a turn!

"But he can't protect himself! (see Garruk's "make a 3/3 creature" or Jace, the Mind Sculptor's "bounce a creature" abilities for examples)"

Well, no. This Jace definitely needs to be used in combination with some protectors. (Hmm...you know, Gideon Jura was wondering if he'd ever protect a Jace again. ;)  ).

So let's break down how useful his abilities are:

"+1": Finally, a Jace that draws you a card without going "-1" and builds itself up! AND it mills the top card of a player's library. How can you argue with that? Is it super powerful? Well, if players were doing "-1" on Jace Beleren to draw cards without giving their opponent anything, I think they'll happily "+1" to get the same thing and deny their opponent.

"+0": Mill 10? Seriously? Beleren had "-10" to mill twenty! And now we're getting "mill 10" for free? Can you say "Heck yeah"? This alone will make it a casual player's dream, and for tournaments if he can be protected and proliferated enough to keep living I can imagine Jace, Memory Adept being the centerpiece of a competitive Mill deck and winning games.

"-7:" Seriously?! DRAW 20? Okay, so for a mill player they basically got Jace Beleren's ultimate at 3 fewer loyalty needed and an extra loyalty already tacked on (Memory Adept starts at 4 vs. Beleren starting at 3). That and they no longer would need to worry about dumping a big Eldrazi titan and losing all that work. But what gets me is the multiplayer application. "Any number of target players"? So at worst I could help all my teammates and myself by drawing 20 cards each, and if we're smart enough to be running Reliquary Tower we'll never have to worry about discarding? While we get all the answers we probably could ever need? I'll happily pay 7 loyalty to do that. Now where did I put my Doubling Seasons so I could do this first turn out? :) :)


Where do I see Jace? If players can protect him enough and/or Proliferate him up enough, I think Mental Adept could be seen in competitive Magic. If Innistrad is a Graveyard-based block like some are expecting, you can mill yourself for advantage so he'll still see competitive play. Casually, EDH/Commander, and the like I can definitely see him getting play value. If I could pick these up for $10-$15 each, I'd do it. He'll be very popular, and we've seen that the casual market can make prices higher than cards may deserve (take Doubling Season, for example. $18 on the low end for NM copies? But it's not in competitive decks.)

What do you think? Too powerful? Not powerful enough? Are you approaching those conclusions from a competitive or casual standpoint (or both)? Let us know what you think!

M12 Previews 2! Blue Goes Hexproof, Favorite 1-Cost Red Creature Returns

Good morning, Magic nuts! Today I'll be looking at some surprises that came from the posting of the M12 Card Gallery spoiling some already-known cards and, apparently, some Duels of the Planeswalkers new cards meant for dual use in Duels of the Planeswalkers and M12.

(NOTE: All scans/pics come from the DailyMTG website's Card Gallery for M12)

First off, how would you like for a Blue creature to be untargetable instead of "When this is targeted, destroy it"? We have our answer now in a brand-new card, Aven Fleetwing!!

I don't know about you, but I'm kinda happy to finally have a Blue creature in M12 that doesn't die just because it's targeted. ha ha! Instead, this little birdy does quite the opposite: your opponents can't target him! I can see this being a casual favorite and possibly even a Commander near-staple if Hexproof has enough love, but in competitive Magic it may be a toss-up. Hexproof flying is good, but 4 mana for a 2/2? It may be too slow, and there may be better stuff to do at 3 mana (Jace, maybe? ;)  )


Next up is a surprising reprint at Uncommon. I don't know if anyone ever thought about it coming back since it was released in Ravnica, but I guess blue Mill is the flavor of the decade for WotC. Re-introducing Belltower Sphinx!!

I was so unfamiliar with this card, I thought it was new when I first looked at it. For 5 mana you get a 2/5 flier that mills whenever an opponent's source deals damage to it (similar to how Phyrexian Obliterator does for permanents in general). I'd guess mill decks wouldn't mind this for a blocker so when your opponent DOES alpha strike you he can mill a good chunk of cards on the block. Hopefully by then you'll be able to survive and mill out the rest of their deck with no problem. Again, casual ground maybe but I don't see much more than that except as a Limited format good flier.


And finally in the Rare slot we have a true surprise. He's a 1-casting-cost Red creature and iconic in a number of Legacy decks. He's making his Standard return in about little over a month. Please welcome back with open arms GRIM LAVAMANCER!!!

Yes, folks, we have Grim Lavamancer making his Core Set debut and his re-introduction into Standard and Extended since the days Torment was legal. And with Lightning Bolt, Goblin Grenade, and other cheap burn being in Standard for even the smallest of time with him, I feel confident Grim Lavamancer will be a force to be reckoned with as a finisher in Mono-Red.

Clarification to Modern Format Policy: Time Spiral Block "Shifted" Cards

Hello again! As I was looking back over the Commander deck lists, I realized something that I omitted in my "new border" policy for the Modern Format.

What happens to all the "Timeshifted", "Colorshifted", and "Futureshifted" cards, since they don't use the exact modern-framed design (again, think anything from Mirrodin through the present day)?

Here's the clarification: "Timeshifted' (Time Spiral), "Colorshifted" (Planar Chaos), and "Futureshifted" (Future Sight) cards are also legal in Modern along with any older-framed (pre-Mirrodin) versions of them.

(images from MagicCards.info)

Time Spiral's "Timeshifted" Example

Planar Chaos' "Colorshifted" Example

Future Sight's "Futureshifted" Example

For those who may have joined the game after Time Spiral block, a bit of a Magic history lesson:

When WotC put together Time Sprial block, they wanted a mix of nostalgia (Time Spiral), shake-ups (Planar Chaos), and future "sneak peaks" (Future Sight). They came up with 3 ways to help identify their special cards:

Time Spiral: Along with the purple-looking expansion symbol on each card, all these cards are direct reprints of pre-Mirrodin classic cards. The card frames are done in the pre-Mirrodin style, thus making it easier to identify them as reprints when you pulled them from packs of Time Spiral.

Planar Chaos: To mix things up a bit compared to how they normally design cards color-wise, they moved some effects into different colors just for Planar Chaos (for example, even though Wrath of God was the normal white mass removal card, to mix things up they gave black a "Wrath" effect in Damnation). These cards had normal rarity denotations (Gold = Rare, Silver = Uncommon, Black = Common) but moved some pre-Mirrodin cards into different colors and changed nothing else but the name and casting cost (example: Pestilence, a black card, was changed to Pyrohemia, a red card that does the exact same thing but is Red instead of Black). The card frame is a bit different from normal post-Mirrodin borders but it's the same basic frame design.

Future Sight: The final set kept the running theme of "cards from different pieces of Magic's history" by introducing cards and mechanics and card types that could be used in future sets. However, some were gags (see Steamflogger Boss). All cards that were like this used a brand-new card frame that may or may not see future use. The card frame has the mana symbols on the left side of the illustration along with a symbol on the top-left corner denoting what kind of card it is (a claw means "Creature", for example). Some examples of cards and/or mechanics that have seen actual use since Future Sight are Phosphorescent Feast (printed 1 year later), Bloodshot Trainee (printed in Scars of Mirrodin), Planeswalkers (previewed on Tarmogoyf and printed in the very next set, Lorwyn), and Shadowmoor/Eventide's cycle of "filter lands" similar to Graven Cairns.

I hope you found this as a moment of clarity for Modern and as an interesting historical piece if you are fairly new to the game. Let me know what you think below. Thanks for reading, and enjoy building for Modern! :)

Modified Modern Format Tournament July 2nd!

Hey everyone!

  How about for some good format news, eh?

  On July 2nd we're going to try a modified version of the proposed "Modern format".

  Modern format basically says anything released in a set from Mirrodin through the present day is legal along with cards from any Core Set from 8th Edition through the present.

  But while Wizards of the Coast's version doesn't take into account the various pre-constructed decks and promos that have been released in modern frames (think 8th Edition and Mirrodin, thus how they came at that cut-off), mine will.

So here's how we'll determine card legality: 

MODERN FORMAT CARD LEGALITY: GENERAL GUIDELINES
1) Any tournament-legal card with a copyright of 2003 starting with the Mirrodin set and 8th Edition Core Set is legal to play in our version of Modern.


2) Old versions of tournament-legal cards reprinted since 2003 in the newer frames (compared to pre-2003) are allowed as long as you can prove it has a release in the post-2003 card frames.


  "BUT," I hear, "what about stuff like Sol Ring, Demonic Tutor, etc. that are Vintage legal but are otherwise illegal in practically all other formats?"

  That's where we get to our Banned/Restricted List for our version of Modern format.

MODERN FORMAT CARD LEGALITY: BANNED/RESTRICTED LISTS

1) BANNED
In addition to any "ante" or "subgame" cards, the following will be banned in our Modern:

• Ancient Den
• Bloodbraid Elf
• Chrome Mox
• Hypergenesis
• Seat of the Synod
• Vault of Whispers
• Great Furnace
• Tree of Tales
• Dark Depths
• Sensei's Divining Top
• Skullclamp
• Sword of the Meek
• Umezawa's Jitte
• Golgari Grave-Troll

2) RESTRICTED: Follow the Vintage restricted list here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Resources.aspx?x=judge/resources/sfrvintage

I've gone through the Restricted list and I think I've pulled out all the cards that were not reprinted in sets from 2003 onward (in other words, they were only in decks or released as Promos). Those cards are:

Balance (Judge Promo and a From the Vault set)
Brainstorm (Commander deck)
Burning Wish (Judge promo)
Channel (From the Vault set)
Demonic Tutor (Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic)
Fact or Fiction (Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra and Commander deck)
Lotus Petal (From the Vault set)
Memory Jar (From the Vault set)
Mind's Desire (Judge promo)
Mystical Tutor (From the Vault set)
Necropotence (From the Vault set)
Regrowth (Judge Promo)
Sol Ring (Commander deck and various other outlets)
Strip Mine (From the Vault set)
Tinker (From the Vault set)
Wheel of Fortune (Judge Promo)
Windfall (Commander deck)

However, you are responsible for making sure your cards do fit the Vintage restricted list, regardless of what I post here. Our official Restricted list for this tournament is based on the WotC list; my mini-list above is a help guide and is not authoritative (as in, you can't come to me and say "But you didn't post [insert card name here]. I'll just say "Did you check the Vintage Restricted list?")


Entry fee will be $2, with packs of Scars of Mirrodin and/or New Phyrexia to split for prizes.

If you have any questions, feel free to E-mail me or post a comment here. We hope to see you for Modern on July 2nd! :)

The Banning Explanation

So you've seen by now that Stoneforge Mystic and Jace, the Mind Sculptor have been banned in Standard. (If you haven't, I suggest reading the post below this one, and pay very careful attention to the 1 circumstance where Stoneforge Mystic is legal to play).

What you may not have read is why they banned these two, along with why the War of Attrition Event Deck decklist was allowed to stay Standard legal (the one exception to Stoneforge Mystic's ban).

Stoneforge Mystic
Stoneforge Mystic was no mistake..at least, not initially. In Worldwake and Zendikar block in general, Equipment played a very small part of the set that Stoneforge Mystic was just a nice Equipment tutor. And, they figured, it'd help the Equipment subtheme in Scars of Mirrodin block.

The problems started in Mirrodin Beseiged. The design and FFL (Future Future League testing) teams didn't realize the impact of Sword of Feast and Famine to be as strong as it ended up being. However, Wizards of the Coast decided to let it go for now and see how people would react to the power level in Standard. Then New Phyrexia came and screwed things up majorly.

The design teams for Scars of Mirrodin block knew they wanted Living Weapon to play an integral part in the Equipments of the block starting in Mirrodin Beseiged. They tried to make stuff like Lashwrithe or Bonehoard that were great to search for but weren't necessarily at their best when cheated into play early from Stoneforge Mystic's second ability.

Unfortunately, they printed Batterskull after a chance in direction from the guys who made the cards. Instead of its last effect being as printed (3: Bounce Batterskull, essentially), they had it as "8: Put a 0/0 Germ token onto the battlefield with Batterskull attached." The bounce effect, while being powerful, has proven too powerful: For 5 total mana, you can block a creature, let damage go through, lose your Germ, then pay 3 to bounce it back to your hand and 2 to replay it thanks to Stoneforge Mystic's second ability.

As the format got more and more Stoneforge Mystic-based, WotC decided that, even with a few months left in Standard, damage was already being done (drops in attendance, general player hate for Mystic-based decks) and a ban was warranted.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Jace ended up being a design and development AND R&D AND testing mistake all the way around the table. As they were getting Zendikar off the ground, they realized its Planeswalkers may be too weak in a general sense (and really, aside from Nissa in Elf decks have you seen the Zendikar set's 'walkers anywhere in competitive Magic?).

WotC decided to take a big swing at how Planeswalkers were designed and they needed a big draw for Worldwake, so the basic ideas of Jace, the Mind Sculptor (4-ability Planeswalker, new, super powerful) were born.

At the same time, WotC was trying to give Blue some of its power back. Back in Lorwyn block, Faeries was the dominant deck in the metagame. Most of those Faeries were Blue, leading to a lot of U/x decks (Decks primarily with Blue and some other color). It didn't help that Cryptic command was in the same set as those Faeries, giving Blue a lot of god weapons for a Faerie-based deck.

WotC intentionally cut Blue's power level in Shards of Alara block and Magic 2010. Blue had fallen off, so with Zendikar block they wanted to give Blue some of its power back.

They were going to make its abilities these instead (and I'm shorthanding the abilities):
+2: Mill the top 2 cards of target player's library.
+0: Brainstorm
-1: Unsommon
-8: (the final ability that ended up on the printed card)

Thought to be too powerful, the ultimate ability was raised to -12.
UNFORTUNATELY, they also felt milling 2 cards was too powerful for a +2 ability, so they changed it to "+2: Scry 1 or Fateseal 1" (again, not the exact templating but a shorthand using known mechanics that do the same thing). They didn't realize how powerful it was to keep players off their most needed cards on a regular basis. (Fateseal on a spell is one thing; Fateseal repeatable from a permanent is dangerous)

Wizards of the Coast tried to print answers. Phyrexian Revoker, Despise, Hex Parasite. Unfortunately, the answers were too low on power and didn't matter. Jace, the Mind Sculptor was still Planeswalker #1, and its play amount in Legacy and Vintage has helped cement its popularity and power level.


In their defense, it was only the 14th different Planeswalker to exist and the 2nd to be the headline Planeswalker of a set.


But now they'll be judged based on their admitted mistakes. They no longer have an excuse to make a super-powerful Planeswalker. And now they have no excuse for making Tinker-like effects on cheap creatures.

Why Is Stoneforge Mystic Banned Except for 1 VERY SPECIFIC Deck?
This is fairly easy. Wizards of the Coast had Stoneforge Mystic penned for the War of Attrition deck while it was still a relatively meaningless $6 card. They had no idea at the time how powerful it'd be. Seeing as the Event Decks are meant to be FNM-legal, the best way to satiate both concerns (it's too powerful, but it's in a product intended for use at FNM), they allowed the exact War of Attrition decklist to be legal so players can play War of Attrition straight out of the box.


Hopefully that goes a ways to explaining the reasons for banning. What are your opinions? Did WotC need to do anything? Could they have done anything differently?

It's Official: Stoneforge Mystic AND Jace, the Mind Sculptor BANNED IN STANDARD!!!

Say goodbye to your Jace, the Mind Sculptors and Stoneforge Mystics (well...mostly on Stoneforge Mystic) in Standard.

Wizards of the Coast announced today the next set of Banned/Restricted List changes.

No formats had changes, as was expected...except Standard.

EFFECTIVE JULY 1st, THE FOLLOWING BANNINGS TAKE PLACE IN STANDARD:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Stoneforge Mystic*

*The problem with banning Stoneforge Mystic is that there's an otherwise-Standard legal preconstructed deck with her in it, War of Attrition (scroll down a little bit on that link to see the decklist). To keep her FNM legal (because the Event Decks are meant to be bought at FNM and played straight out of the box), Stoneforge Mystic is allowed as long as the contents match exactly to the War of Attrition event deck decklist. ANY deviation (even as minor as adding an additional Puresteel Paladin or replacing Sword of Vengeance with Sword of War and Peace or changing out the Side Deck) will force you to take out both Stoneforge Mystics.


I'll post WotC's explanations later, but for now you're on notice that 11 days from now you can no longer use Jace, the Mind Sculptor and can very rarely use Stoneforge Mystic in Standard.

M12 Previews! New Lightning Greaves. New Old Planeswalkers? More!

Hello and welcome again for spoiler season! It's a quick turnaround this time, going quickly from Commander to Magic 2012. Thankfully, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 has helped us a little bit in what we know about the set. So with a video game and some sample decks to help us out, let's get rolling!

When Duels of the Planeswalkers came out for XBox 360 a couple years ago, WotC put out small 30-card "sample decks" for new players to run and get to feel out the game quickly. They've done the same for the relase of Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. Each deck has cards mostly from M12. A majority of cards are reprints, but a few took people by surprise. Like, oh, I don't know, Goblin Grenade!?!?!?

Image from MTGSalvation.com

You'll have to look on the very bottom row to the left, but it's there. We lost Lightning Bolt, but we gained Goblin Grenade. I'd say in the fast burn department, that's a decent tradeoff. And with some pretty decent Goblins still in Standard, it may not be a bad time to trade out those Lightning Bolts for Goblin Grenades to get a few extra points through.


Hmm...still not amazed? Alright...how about a Lightning Greaves remake? I'm pleased to announce SWIFTFOOT BOOTS!

Image from MTGSalvation.com

Yes, folks, we have a Lightning Greaves upgrade. It's still 2 mana to cast, it still gives haste, but it has 2 important distinctions. For one, it has an actual equip cost now of 1. That may be bad...or it may be good. Look at the next difference. Notice the new keyword Hexproof? That's right! No longer do you need to leave your creature exposed to targeted removal when you're trying to do something to your otherwise Lightning Graved creature! Just leave the boots on and target away with your own stuff while being protected from your opponent.

I have a feeling that as long as this is in Standard it'll be the equivalent of Lightning Greaves is in casual: VERY fast, VERY efficient, and VERY worth the mana.


And finally, we have confirmation that both Sorin Markov and Gideon Jura are being reprinted. (Gideon's confirmation came from a WotC preview session during Pro Tour - Nagoya this past weekend.) So we assumed the other original Planeswalker characters would also be getting reprinted: Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, and Garruk Wildspeaker.

HOWEVER, a video in Japan apparently talking about Gideon's story has revealed something interesting about the 3 Lorwyn 'walker characters still around: Their names in Japanese writing don't match up to their Lorwyn equivalents. (For example, Garruk has no symbols above his name in the Lorwyn version, but for M12 it seems it does).

So potentially, we could have new Planeswalker cards for the 3 "surviving" Planeswalkers from Lorwyn! Woo-hoo!


That's all for today. Tune in next week when I start doing preview posts for 1 card in each rarity per post. Until then, take care, and we hope to see you at the SOM block draft tomorrow!

Commander Deck Lists! And Patterns in the Decklists

Hello, hello!

With the Commander decks releasing this upcoming Friday (June 17th, MSRP of $30 each), some stores have already gotten their shipments...and unfortunately for WotC busted them open for deck lists and singles.

But thank goodness for the community they did, because they've shown what a deal these decks can be!

Before I get to the actual deck lists, though, I want to point out a few common themes among them.

COMMON THEMES IN COMMANDER THEME DECKS
1) Each deck comes with a Sol Ring and a Lightning Greaves. Yes, every single Commander theme deck comes with nearly $15 worth of cards right off the bat!


2) Each deck comes with one of the 5 Planar Chaos Legendary Dragons, each of which is from one of the "wedges". This gives you a familiar card to start using as your Commander.

3) Each deck comes with 2 new tri-color "wedge" Legendary Creatures to also potentially serve as your Commander.

4) All decks have a new 2-color "enemy pair" Legendary Creature as a Rare.

5) All but 1 of the decks have 3 of the old Ravnica Signets (2, Artifact, EFFECT: 1, TAP: Add [insert allied color pair mana symbols here] to your mana pool.). The only one to not have them? Political Puppets.

6) Each deck has only 1 new card in common between all 5 of them: Command Tower.

Yep, you read that right! A card that's only good in one format, Commander, and is inherently limited to one per deck. Hey, look on the bright side of it: A playset only consists of 1, and you'll get it in any deck you buy! :) And on another bright side, we finally have a card that's strictly better than Reflecting Pool. ha ha!

7) Every deck has 3 of the new "Vow of [something]" Enchantments. What are these "Vows"? Well, for example...

All the Vows have some common themes:
  a. They are all mono-colored Enchantments.
  b. They all cost 2C (2 plus their color).
  c. They all provide a power/toughness boost (usually +2/+2, but green love beatdown!).
  d. They all provide an on-color ability addition (green is Trample, white is Vigilance, etc.)
  e. They all have Pacifism-like abilities in that the creature can't attack you or a Planeswalker you control.

These could be good in regular casual, I think! Here are all 5 Vows for their Power/Toughness boosts and granted abilities:
  1) WHITE: +2/+2, Vigilance
  2) BLUE: +2/+2, Flying
  3) BLACK: +2/+2, Intimidate
  4) RED: +2/+2, First Strike
  5) GREEN: +3/+3, Trample

Each Commander theme deck will have the 3 Vows for their colors (so for example, Political Puppets, a RWU deck, will get the Red, White, and Blue Vows)


I've tried to hunt for more similarities, but I can't find a lot where every deck had the same theme. Feel free to point out more as you find them in the lists.



And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the actual lists!


(These lists are taken from this post on the MTGSalvation forums.)

Mirror Mastery

Commanders: 1 Riku of Two Reflections 1 Animar, Soul of Elements 1 Intet, the Dreamer Creatures: 1 Magus of the Vineyard 1 Veteran Explorer 1 Fierce Empath 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest 1 Conundrum Sphinx 1 AEthersnipe 1 Chartooth Cougar 1 Rapacious One 1 Spitebellows 1 Deadwood Treefolk 1 Elvish Aberration 1 Baloth Woodcrasher 1 Hydra Omnivore 1 Nucklavee 1 Valley Rannet 1 Faultgrinder 1 Krosan Tusker 1 Simic Sky Swallower 1 Trench Gorger 1 Avatar of Fury 1 Magmatic force 1 Artisan of Kozilek Planeswalkers: 1 Garruk Wildspeaker Artifacts: 1 Sol Ring 1 Armillary Sphere 1 Gruul Signet 1 Izzet Signet 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Prophetic Prism 1 Simic Signet Enchantments: 1 Vow of Flight 1 Vow of Lightning 1 Vow of Wildness Instants: 1 Brainstorm 1 Fire/Ice 1 Tribute to the Wild 1 Colossal Might 1 Invigorate 1 Spell Crumple 1 Electrolyze 1 Ray of Command 1 Prophetic Bolt 1 Hunting Pack

Sorceries: 1 Collective Voyage 1 Hull Breach 1 Cultivate 1 Kodama's Reach 1 Firespout 1 Ruination 1 Explosive Vegetation 1 Chain Reaction 1 Death by Dragons 1 Vengeful Rebirth 1 Disaster Radius 1 Call the Skybreaker 1 Savage Twister Lands: 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Fungal Reaches 1 Gruul Turf 1 Homeward Path 1 Izzet Boilerworks 1 Kazandu Refuge 1 Rupture Spire 1 Simic Growth Chamber 1 Temple of the False God 1 Vivid Crag 1 Vivid Creek 1 Vivid Grove 7 Island 8 Mountain 13 Fores

Devour for Power

Commanders: 1 The Mimeoplasm 1 Damia, Sage of Stone 1 Vorosh, the Hunter Creatures: 1 Nezumi Graverobber 1 Skullbriar, the Walking Grave 1 Riddlekeeper 1 Fleshbag Marauder 1 Eternal Witness 1 Troll Ascetic 1 Yavimaya Elder 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Brawn 1 Wonder 1 Sewer Nemesis 1 Gravedigger 1 Lhurgoyf 1 Dreamborn Muse 1 Mortivore 1 Desecrator Hag 1 Mulldrifter 1 Acidic Slime 1 Vulturous Zombie 1 Dark Hatchling 1 Extractor Demon 1 Scythe Spector 1 Wrexial, the Risen Deep 1 Triskelavus 1 Slipstream Eel 1 Butcher of Malakir 1 Patron of the Nezumi 1 Szadek, Lord of Secrets 1 Avatar of Woe 1 Artisan of Kozilek Artifacts: 1 Sol Ring 1 Dimir Signet 1 Golgari Signet 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Simic Signet 1 Oblivion Stone

Enchantments: 1 Vow of Wildness 1 Vow of Flight 1 Vow of Malice 1 Memory Erosion 1 Grave Pact Instants: 1 Tribute to the Wild 1 Spell Crumple 1 Fact or Fiction 1 Relic Crush Sorceries: 1 Minds Aglow 1 Shared Trauma 1 Sign in Blood 1 Stitch Together 1 Cultivate 1 Windfall 1 Buried Alive 1 Syphon Mind 1 Unnerve 1 Rise from the Grave 1 Syphon Flesh 1 Living Death Lands: 1 Barren Moor 1 Command Tower 1 Dimir Aqueduct 1 Dreadship Reef 1 Golgari Rot Farm 1 Jwar Isle Refuge 1 Lonely Sandbar 1 Rupture Spire 1 Simic Growth Chamber 1 Svogthos, the Restless Tomb 1 Temple of the False God 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Tranquil Thicket 8 Forest 8 Island 11 Swamp

Heavenly Inferno (Personal Note: This is the one I'm picking up.)

Commanders: 1 Kaalia of the Vast 1 Tariel, Reekoner of Souls 1 Oros, the Avenger Creatures:  1 Mother Of Runes 1 Orzhov Guildmage 1 Boros Guildmage 1 Gwyllion Hedge-Mage 1 Duergar Hedge-Mage 1 Lightkeeper of Emeria 1 Razorjaw Oni 1 Anger 1 Voice Of All 1 Dragon Whelp 1 Furnace Whelp 1 Serra Angel 1 Shattered Angel 1 Fallen Angel 1 Bassandra, Battle Seraph 1 Oni of Wild Places 1 Mana-Charged Dragon 1 Malfegor 1 Angelic Arbiter 1 Archangel of Strife 1 Angel of Despair 1 Bladewing the Risen 1 Avatar of Slaughter 1 Akroma, Angel Of Fury 1 Reiver Demon 1 Dream Cacademon Artifacts: 1 Sol Ring 1 Armillary Sphere 1 Boros Signet 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Rakdos Signet 1 Darksteel Ingot Enchantments: 1 Soul Snare 1 Vow Of Duty 1 Vow of Malice 1 Vow of Lightning 1 Stranglehold 1 Pyrohemia 1 Righteous Cause

Instants: 1 Path to Exile 1 Bathe In Light 1 Terminate 1 Orim's Thunder 1 Mortify 1 Congregate 1 Return To Dust 1 Sulfurous Blast 1 Wrecking Ball 1 Master Warcraft 1 Cleansing Beam 1 Comet Storm Sorceries: 1 Syphon Mind 1 Diabolic Tutor 1 Evincar's Justice 1 Syphon Flesh 1 Akroma's Vengeance 1 Death By Dragons 1 Earthquake Lands: 1 Akoum Refuge 1 Barren Moor 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Boros Garrison 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Forgotten Cave 1 Molten Slagheap 1 Orzhov Basilica 1 Rakdos Carnarium 1 Rupture Spire 1 Secluded Steppe 1 Vivid Meadow 1 Zoetic Cavern 8 Plains 8 Swamp 8 Mountain

Political Puppets

Commanders: 1 Zedruu the Greathearted 1 Ruhan of the Fomori 1 Numot, the Devastator Creatures: 1 Goblin Cadets 1 Spurnmage Advocate 1 Jotun Grunt 1 Wall Of Omens 1 Fog Bank 1 Nin, The Pain Artist 1 Azorius Guildmage 1 Court Hussar 1 Gomazoa 1 Guard Gomazoa 1 Vedalken Plotter 1 Wall Of Denial 1 Plumeveil 1 Flametongue Kavu 1 Windborn Muse 1 False Prophet 1 Brion Stoutarm 1 Chromeshell Crab 1 Izzet Chronarch 1 Dominus of Fealty 1 Rapacious One 1 Arbiter of Knollridge Artifacts: 1 Sol Ring 1 Armillary Sphere 1 Fellwar Stone 1 Howling Mine 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Prophetic Prism 1 Champion's Helm 1 Darksteel Ingot 1 Dreamstone Hedron Enchantments: 1 Soul Snare 1 Journey to nowhere 1 Vow Of Lightning 1 Ghostly Prison 1 Vow Of Duty 1 Propaganda 1 Vow Of Flight 1 Prison Term 1 Crescendo of War 1 Martyr's Bond

Instants: 1 Brainstorm 1 Flusterstorm 1 Lash out 1 Punishing Fire 1 Pollen Lullaby 1 Perilous Research 1 Vision Skeins 1 Whirlpool Whelm 1 Chaos Warp 1 Oblation 1 Murmurs from Beyond 1 Repulse 1 Spell Crumple 1 Wild Ricochet 1 Reins Of Power 1 Scattering Stroke Sorceries: 1 Breath of Darigaaz 1 Trade Secrets 1 Death By Dragons 1 Austere Command 1 Insurrection 1 Skyscribing Lands: 1 Azorius Chancery 1 Boros Garrison 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Izzet Boilerworks 1 Terramorphic Expanse 8 Mountain 8 Plains 12 Island

Counter Punch

Commanders: 1 Teneb, the Harvester 1 Karador, Ghost Chieftain 1 Ghave, Guru of Spores Creatures: 1 Aquastrand spider 1 Deadly Recluse 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Monk Realist 1 Selesnya Evangel 1 Golgari Guildmage 1 Selesnya Guildmage 1 Nantuko Husk 1 Fertilid 1 Spawnwrithe 1 Vampire Nighthawk 1 Spike Feeder 1 Yavimaya Elder 1 Squallmonger 1 Penumbra Spider 1 Sigil Captain 1 Shriekmaw 1 Dark hatchling 1 Hornet Queen 1 Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter 1 Symbiotic Wurm 1 Celestial Force 1 Chorus of the Conclave Artifacts: 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Golgari Signet 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Selesnya Signet 1 Darksteel Ingot 1 Acorn Catapult Enchantments: 1 Soul Snare 1 Fists of Ironwood 1 Necrogenesis 1 Vow of Malice 1 Awakening Zone 1 Vow of Wildness 1 Oblivion Ring 1 Vow of Duty

Instants: 1 Attrition 1 Aura Shards 1 Doom Blade 1 Tribute to the Wild 1 Footbottom Feast 1 Afterlife 1 Mortify 1 Nemesis Trap 1 Cobra Trap Sorceries: 1 Alliance of Arms 1 Cultivate 1 Harmonize 1 Syphon Flesh 1 Bestial Menace 1 Hex 1 Hour of Reckoning 1 Death Mutation 1 Storm Herd Lands: 1 Barren Moor 1 Command Tower 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Golgari Rot Farm 1 Orzhov Basilica 1 Rupture Spire 1 Secluded Steppe 1 Selesnya Sanctuary 1 Temple of the False God 1 Tranquil Thicket 1 Vivid Grove 1 Vivid Marsh 1 Vivid Meadow 8 Swamp 10 Forest 8 Plains

Well, what do you think? Are these decks worth the $30 MSRP? Are any of them just utter crap? Remember, these decks are meant for multiplayer Commander use, so judge their inclusion in the decks accordingly. Though feel free to judge the new cards in more of a regular 60-card idea for Legacy and Vintage only.


I hope you've enjoyed the (few) previews here. This week I'll start tackling M12 for its release on July 15th (and Pre-Release the weekend before that, July 9-10). Look for more posts this week on the new Core Set! Until then, take care.