Building Blocks

We've threatened it long enough, but it's finally time to talk about one of the first creature combo decks - Project X.  This shell exists because of the interaction between Saffi Erikstodder and Crypt Champion, but how to tie it all together?  A certain green instant with Convoke might be able to help with that.

Decklist mentioned at the end: https://old.starcitygames.com/decks/21932

There are some cards that take a while to make their presence known.  Boros Reckoner is not one of them.  At the Pro Tour where it debuted, Magic coverage named it as the breakout card of the tournament.  When twelve copies show up on the final day, including both finals decks, it's a fair accolade.  This episode, we're taking a look at the journey of the lightning cow through Restoration Angel/Thragtusk Standard and beyond!

What does the term "parasitic mechanic" actually mean?  Well, as with most things in this game, it's a double edged sword.  On one side, there's Energy - a mechanic that was so parasitic it got a Lay of the Land reprint banned.  On the other, Snow.  The jury's still out on it, but we doubt that Snow-Covered Forest is getting the axe any time soon.  This episode, Coleman and Jason take a look at how parasitic mechanics have fared throughout Standard history!

Welcome to 2021!  This episode we're talking about some smaller topics - Pyre of Heroes as compared to Birthing Pod, when to play three copies of a card as opposed to four, and 2020 in a nutshell.  In addition, we're answering questions about our Magic backgrounds, favorite cards, and proudest deck accomplishments!

Happy holidays everyone!  We're finishing up our Modern detour by looking at one of the most diverse Modern tournaments in recent history - GP Lille 2016. Eight individual archetypes in the knockout rounds, a top 64 of absolutely wild decklists, Merfolk being a real contender - this has everything that made the format incredible.  Enjoy!

Velocity is an important concept for deckbuilding.  The bare bones of it is "how often do you see a specific card in one game?"  This episode, we're talking about a deck that wants to cast a particular spell every game.  In fact, the deck doesn't really work without it.  Problem is, it doesn't have a mana cost.  How do you get around it?

From its start as the most hated Standard deck of all time all the way until the fall of the traditional version just two years ago, Arcbound Ravager and friends have been the poster child for the Modern format.  Simultaneously a combo deck and an aggro deck, Affinity does it all.  While the Cranial Plating version of the deck has fallen out of favor, the deck is alive and well in a new form.

We're stepping into a different format this episode as we talk about a combo deck from the early days of Modern - Hive Mind!  It started as a hyper focused strategy containing a number of cards that are now banned, but ended as a backup win condition for Amulet Bloom.  Both iterations, however, are built around playing Pacts.  One was significantly better than the other.  We'll leave the answer to that for you to decide.

We'd like to apologize.  It has taken more than a year for us to talk about Elves in a dedicated capacity.  This oversight will not stand, and that's the topic this week.  Specifically, M10 to SOM Elf decks containing either the best or second best Elf lord of all time, Elvish Archdruid!

When players who were around during this deck's peak talk about it, the tone tends to be very nostalgic.  Understandably so, as it might be the perfect specimen of what you would expect a non-blue control deck to be.  Powered by Cabal Coffers and Mutilate, Mono Black rose to the top of a pretty diverse format and stayed there for quite a while.