In this recurring column, I will be posting the decks I’m working on for my favorite card game – Magic. I started playing Magic shortly after they first traveled to Jamuraa back in 1996 and have been playing steadily for last twenty-six years. Me and many of my close friends cite the game as a primary factor of our initial disasters in higher education. I digress.
One of the things I’m going to include in this column are my deck lists, starting with my old favorite: white weenie. I’ve always been drawn to aggressive playstyles, so this was the first deck I ever built. My creatures filled the board faster than my opponents’ and by the time they were playing their bigger creatures, I was pumping mine with cards like {REDACTED} and Glorious Anthem. The original narrative of the deck was a janky band of underdogs attempting to overthrow the powerful mages that were chucking spells around. These were the common people rising up against the supernatural and bizarre. Once Mirrodin introduced Human as a creature type, the deck was a de facto tribal deck, albeit with no tribal support until much later. So without further ado, here’s the list:
Now there are a couple of odd things I do when designing a deck; some self-imposed rules to force myself to think creatively and not just cram my deck full of the most powerful rares I can find. The first rule is my limit on rarity. In a mono-colored deck, I run exactly four copies of a card if it is Common, three copies if it is Uncommon, two copies if it is Rare, and one copy if it is Mythic, Legendary (regardless of rarity), or Restricted. The card’s rarity for this rule is based on its lowest rarity printing.
The second rule is that my mono-colored decks must include five copies of one “near-basic” card. To qualify as a near-basic card, the card or a functionally equivalent card of the same mana cost must have been printed at Common and there must be at least one functional reprint of the card. For this deck, the near-basic is Elite Vanguard; printed at Common as of Eternal Masters, with the functional reprint of Expedition Envoy. This deck doesn’t care about the Soldier creature type, but if it did, I could justify its inclusion by citing a card like Soldier of the Pantheon, a functionally superior Human Soldier with the same stats at the same cost.
The third rule that I follow is that each card name is unique in my arsenal, meaning that if I run a card in one deck, I don’t run it in any others.
Homebrew Cycles
Creatures are the card type for white. Clerics are mages that heal the sick and improve morale, while black and red excel at creature removal.
As a one-drop in White, I think it’s far overdo in the face of cards like Soldier of the Pantheon and Icehide Golem. As a two-drop in any color, I think it’s playable. A Grizzly Bear for every color is fine in a pinch, especially in limited.
Artifacts are the card type for blue. Artificers are mages that work with artifacts, while red and green excel at artifact removal.
The colorless version of this card already exists as Spare Supplies, which is solidly average. The cost is comparable to Divination and Counsel of the Soratami with a slower payoff, making this card a potential workhorse for blue Draw-Go styles or artifact-matters decks.
Enchantments are the card type for black. Hear me out on this! Black gets exceptional creature removal, card draw, mana denial, and reanimation through enchantments, as well as Warlocks and some of the best Curses in the game. And who excels at destroying enchantments: green and white.
Mill has become a staple of blue and black, but originated with Mill Stone way back in Antiquities. While not as versatile as the original, this card feels good as a rudimentary Curse.
Sorceries and Instants are the card types for red. Red already supports these types as well as Wizards, which also includes sorcerers. Furthere, white and blue are the obvious opponents, with abilities like hexproof, protection, and counter-spells.
For red, this is a functional reprint of Shock, which is a solid burn spell against which all others should be fairly compared. For every other color, it gives them a new toy that red has been hogging all this time.
Lands are the card type for green. A Druid is explicitly a mage of the land, and both black and blue have strong land removal in their history with cards like Evil Presence, Sea’s Claim, Psychic Venom, and Sinkhole.
I think this card is good for any color. It’s clearly worse than Mishra’s Workshop and Sol Ring, but definitely worth the wait to use it. Green can best exploit this card with cards like Treefolk Harbinger, Land Grant, and Nature’s Lore.