Second of my old-style mono-colored decks is mono-blue control. This deck started as your basic, run-of-the-mill permission deck, keeping my opponent out of the game with delightful cards like Force of Will and Counterspell. Using the old playstyle as a namesake, I give you…
I always hated Morphling, but ran it anyway because that and Mishra’s Factory were how you won with counterspells back at the turn of the century. All that began to change when they printed Hedron Alignment. From the moment I saw this card, I knew I wanted to make it work. The only question was how.
I tinkered with a a number of iterations: blue-black self-mill, blue-red card draw, blue-green fog, blue-white enchantments, and could never make it work reliably. In my frustration, I quipped to Fairfield that the only way to make this deck win was to hide it behind a wall of counterspells.
Why not? I never liked the win condition in my blue counterspell deck and blue had the tools I needed to get my four copies where they were needed. Furthermore, I always envisioned and portrayed Dr. Awgo, the eponymous wizard of my blue control deck, as a gentleman occultist from Victorian gothic horror.
Then I played The Room. Then its sequel. Then all of its other sequels. In one weekend. If you haven’t played those games yet, I recommend that you do, but needless to say they gave me the narrative of my deck and turned it from a mechanical control deck to a story about a paranormal researcher that seeks to align runes to gain unimaginable power.
This deck feels like what a blue combo deck always should have been: a reclusive caster performing arcane experiments in the hopes of unlocking a multiverse-shattering secret. I’m not trying to unravel my opponent’s mind or beat them senseless with automatons and shapeshifters. Such efforts are beneath me. I just want to be left alone to complete my valuable work, albeit work that will inadvertently result in the demise of my enemies.
Homebrew Mega-Cycle: Realms of Magic
I remember the first time it happened. I was hanging out in the lounge at Parkland College, skipping class to play Magic. Another player asked if I’d seen the preview for Onslaught yet.
“Why are they previewing a reprint?” I asked.
“What? No, the next set is going to be called Onslaught.”
“Well, if they don’t print Onslaught in Onslaught, I’ll riot.”
They didn’t. And I didn’t riot. But I always thought it was fun when they printed a card with the same name as a set or vice versa. I believe Conflux was the first time I actually got my wish and they printed the card in the set.
Over the years, I’ve kicked around ideas for cards named after sets, and figured this would be a good place to post them, since I own the place. We’ll start with the first block I ever played:
Picture our intrepid hero, crawling through the blistering desert, searching for an oasis. They see one, but nope, it’s just a mirage. While not the best mana fixer, this card gives you the flicker of being exactly what you need when it hits the board, but ultimately, it’s just more sand.
This card would play fairly good in a desert deck, though Painted Bluffs gives it stiff competition. Still, it’s better than Crumbling Vestige, if only slightly.
Shortly after my boast to riot, someone around the table asked if I rioted when they didn’t print Visions in Visions. The fact is, I had completely forgotten about that card.
The original had a great name for a cool effect, but wasn’t very good. The card I’ve designed to take its place falls somewhere between Portent and Ponder, but the lack of card draw means it probably wouldn’t get restricted in Vintage.
I’ve always been a grognard, and ever since I learned that term back in college, I’ve been a proud, card-carrying grognard. However, I have to give credit where its due: WOTC nailed the card Weatherlight when they printed it Dominaria.
This card pays homage to the original Skyship Weatherlight, but brings it flawlessly to a modern audience as an awesome Vehicle. We didn’t have those back in my day.