Special: The Weird Cards I Use

Okay, since my "official" 250th post was... kind of lame, I thought I'd do a second post today on the strangest cards I use. These are the cards that make people say "why the hell are you running that?!" when I play them, but I have a legitimate reason to run each one (herein explained).

Now the reason people look at me weird for this is because I run this in my Talrand, Sky Summoner EDH. Most people say "Well, it's like running Mana Leak in EDH; everyone will have the mana to counter it". I don't see it that way. Often, some decks biggest spells require tapping out and they won't leave any mana open (save for maybe Path to Exile mana). Beacon of Tomorrows, Cruel Ultimatum, Din of the Fireherd, Time Stretch, and Twist Allegiance are just some good targets for this that can greatly shift an opponent's plans.

This is the best tutor in my Lyzolda, the Blood Witch EDH by far. Why? Lyzolda like sacrificing tokens (particularly by throwing them at people's faces) and each sacrificed token means two more counters on this card. While this can only tutor a limited number of cards from the top of my library, my deck is so redundant that the chances are that I'll hit what I need in the top 14 or so cards.

This one is fairly straightforward in my 8-Land Smash sideboard, but people are sometimes very confused by this. It's fairly simple: this goes in against Affinity decks. Why? It makes my opponent think about giving me a 5/3 for playing that Ornithopter without anything to back it up immediately. Besides, a one-mana 5/3 is pretty good right?

This is another "obvious" one, but it also confuses some people when they see it. It's a cheaper, more repeatable Acorn Harvest, especially since this is in my Seshiro the Annointed EDH. In the last game I played with this, it ended up netting me 12 snakes, which I think is pretty good for one card.

"It's just black Journey to Nowhere for one more! It's terrible!" That's what I always hear when I cast this for the first time. Why just the first time? Because I usually play this just before I activate my Oblivion Stone (or to prevent someone else from activating theirs) in my Maga, Traitor to Mortals EDH. You see, the important difference between this and Journey to Nowhere is that the exiled creature keeps its counters. That means that my 13/13 Maga will come back as a 13/13 and hurt someone badly when the Oblivion Stone goes off. 

This is another odd card from my Maga EDH. Late in the game, if I have a big Maga (let's say 20/20) but can't attack for some reason, this card comes in really handy. For 3 mana, I'll have a 21/21 and the ability to cast a slightly smaller Maga (in this case 18/18). It's a pretty awesome utility card in my deck!

Those are probably the weirdest cards I have in my decks. Feel free to post any of your oddest cards in the comments below. Here's to another 250 posts in the next year or so!

Phytohydra

Blasphemous Act's best friend and Malignus' worst enemy. This card also makes Double Strike and First Strike on your opponents' creatures a bad idea. For them at least. Now, it looks like this card is only a 1/1 for 5, but I like to think of it like this: it's either going to be a damage sponge and powerhouse or it's a 5-mana mini-Extortion (where you pick either a kill spell or a counter spell). And, it's honestly not that bad for either option. Not great, but not that bad.

Pros: Damage sponge, late-game powerhouse

Cons: 1/1 for 5

Rating: 3.5/5

Also: Happy 250th post everyone :)

Urzatorn

Well, the first three cards in this set are commonly known at least. Maybe not the last one, but I believe that it's part of the set. I mean, the other three cards produce exactly 7 mana so why shouldn't it be considered part of the set? Anyway, on to the actual set. The first three parts are really good, but the last one isn't that great. Albeit that the Factory can be used in the late game (or if you have the other three parts). Still, I like the set as a whole. It produces a huge amount of mana for very little. Now, only if there were a card that altered a nonbasic land type...

Pros: Large amount of mana for very little investment, entire set can make tokens in colourless

Cons: Requires set for huge mana output, only produces colourless

Rating: 4.5/5

Special: The Cards I Use

People often ask me what cards I post here I actually use. Well, here's 3 of them with a description of the deck that they are in.

I run this card in my Seshiro the Anointed EDH because it's really great. The deck is obviously a heavy-aggro snake tribal deck. It's a decent size with a frosting effect and can regenerate cheaply. Also, with my general, it's a 5/4 for 4, which is really good.

This card is a superstar in my Lyzolda, the Blood Witch EDH. The deck is heavy on the tokens and heavy on the chaos. First, I swing with this card, then I fling it. Suddenly, Lyzolda is a dragon as are the rest of my tokens. It's just a great card in that deck.

This may not look like much, but in my Maga, Traitor to Mortals EDH, this card basically becomes a second general. The other day, I had played Maga for 20, almost killing my last opponent. However, he had a Reassembling Skeleton, so I could not get through to him. My next top deck was this card, so I played it, sending my general to the command zone and replaying him for 15, winning the game. Even if I didn't win right there and then, I went from having a 20/20 to having a 21/21 and a 15/15, which is really good for a mono-black deck.

Wickerbough Elder

Damn this thing is good! It's a 4/4 for 4 with a single Naturalize on a stick for one. All of those things are awesome. However, this card is not without fault. It comes in as a 3/3 for starters. A 3/3 for 4 is pretty bad m'kay? Also, this card has no evasion, so don't expect it to do too much damage on its own as an attacker. Still, it's a really good card despite its couple faults.

Pros: Naturalize on a stick

Cons: No evasion

Rating: 4/5

Numai Outcast

You all knew this was coming. I knew from the first day I started this that I would have to cover the worst cards in Magic at some point. I've already covered Razor Boomerang and nothing has a lower community rating than that (as of writing at least), so at least I don't have to look at something that bad again. However, that's like saying "my house isn't on fire as much as before since it gutted my kitchen". I'm trying to think of something positive to say about this card, but I can't. The regeneration cost is way too high and that fact that it's a 1/1 for 4 doesn't help either. I guess the Bushido 2 is ok, but it's really not worth it here. If it cost 3 and only 2 life to regenerate it, then it would be a slightly better Chub Toad (better in the sense that you could regenerate it if you felt so inclined). Really though, this card is terrible and definitely not worth the uncommon slot.

Pros: Bushido 2, doesn't die to Doom Blade

Cons: 1/1 for 4, costs 5 life to regenerate

Rating: 0/5

Flowstone Surge

This card is... okay I guess. Nothing windmill-slam-worthy. but okay. There are no other +! power enchantments for 2 or less that don't have some sort of condition or requirement payment (see the better Gerrard's Battle Cry), so I guess it can get points there, however that doesn't make it good per se. In decks that run a lot of low toughness creatures (namely red decks), this is a bane rather than a boon. Still, it can be useful in the right deck. It's just that that deck type is very rare.

Pros: Universal buff for 2

Cons: Universal debuff for 2

Rating: 1.5/5

Colfenor's Plans

This card looks cool, but needs a lot of help to be as cool as it looks. Getting 7 cards for 4 mana is awesome, but the fact that you can only cast one spell per turn alongside the fact that, if this card gets destroyed, you will lose everything associated with it makes it a little too vulnerable. You also need a way to remove this card once you're done with it, something which mono-black may have difficulty with. In a black/green or black/white deck, this card fares a little better, but not much.

Pros: 7 extra cards for 4 mana

Cons: Cards are vulnerable, one spell per turn, can't draw

Rating: 1.5/5