Building Blocks

Lightning Bolt isn't really a card, it's a lifestyle.  Since Coleman and Jason aren't especially versed burn spells, guest TJ Rogers of the Ponder Podcast has come on to extoll the virtues of these very old school red lists.  Going all the way back to 1996 to talk about the original red deck and up to the first true Red Deck Wins, we've got the history of small aggressive creatures up this week!

We're going old school this week, jumping all the way back to 2002 to discuss the premier dentist of Magic history - Psychatog!  It really doesn't look like it would be incredibly oppressive - a 1/2 for 1UB with some seemingly middling abilities doesn't scream metagame breaker - but that's exactly what it did.  Turns out when you combine an efficient creature, a slower metagame, and one of the most iconic blue cards of all time, it creates a deck to be reckoned with.

There are many decks we know about.  This is not one of them.  So we called in some reinforcements to give us the low down on how well the forces of the undead fared against the Innistrad metagame.  Michael is joining the podcast this episode to help discuss Zombies!

Why do certain cards fail in Standard, but excel in eternal formats?  There are a lot of different answers to that question, but the most common tends to be a lack of resources to make the card truly great.  This episode, we're going to be focusing on a few cards that fit this description, headlined by Deathrite Shaman and Young Pyromancer!

It's been a while since we talked about Innistrad for an episode, hasn't it?  Landing back in 2012, this deck only existed for about two and a half months before an Avacyn Restored card absolutely removed it from any kind of viability.  Join us as we talk about the meteoric rise and fall of Drogskol Captain and friends with Esper Spirits!

Cycling is a powerful ability, right?  Turn your card that doesn't do anything at the moment into a different one?  If only there was a permanent that synergized with it.  Well, you're in luck!  Two of them were printed at the same time, and in a set with powerful cycling cards.  Coleman and Jason slide into 2002's standard metagame to take a look at the deck that defeated Mirrodin-era Affinity at the peak of its powers - Astral Slide!

Welcome to Pro Tour Hollywood, circa 2008!  The format on the table for competitors is Time Spiral/Lorwyn block standard, and there's a ton of different options for you to choose.  All your typical deck choices exist in the metagame; aggro, midrange, control, and even tempo are viable archetypes.  Even some weird tribal deck involving a two mana black enchantment that makes you lose life every turn.  Join Jason and Coleman for a breakdown of decklists from the tournament!

As a follow up to our last episode, we're going to take a look at a selection of legendary non creatures from Magic history.  Stretching from Legends to Innistrad, Coleman and Jason go all the way from Sword of the Chosen to Garruk Relentless while expressing some vintage hot takes!

Legendary is one of the most unique card types in any game, let alone Magic.  Weird, once you consider the fact that there are no legendary creatures in Alpha, Beta, or Arabian Nights.  Even when they came into existence, they were overcosted and underpowered.  We've come a long way since then.  From Legends to Eldraine, Coleman and Jason take a brief look at some of the most important legendary creatures throughout Magic history!

It's the most recent deck we've done so far!  Join us on a long trek back to the year 2018, as we talk about everyone's favorite seven mana artifact from Amonkhet, God-Pharaoh's Gift!  From Refurbish to Ravenous Chupacabra, Coleman and Jason take a look through three different versions of the deck along with a hot take about Ipnu Rivulet. 

Shoutout to @MelvintheMuppet for the request as well!