Blightsteel Colossus – Mirrodin Besieged MTG Throwback Thursday (2011)

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

It’s funny how much difference one little word makes. Of course, that depends on whether you count “infect” as a “little” word in the context of Magic! In all seriousness, Blightsteel Colossus might be the most dangerous creature in terms of attacking power in all of Magic – killing an opponent in one hit, without the need for any enhancements, is unheard of. That’s why he’s become the primary Tinker payoff in formats that allow it, and in certain ways that’s only the tip of the iceberg: if there’s a rogue deck out there involving Tooth and Nail or Sneak Attack, he’s right up there with the best possible options for it.

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 4/5

Blightsteel Colossus may not be the biggest creature ever printed, but it’s certainly one of the scariest! An indestructible trampling behemoth that’s able to kill someone in one hit is a massive problem that needs to be answered swiftly; it can’t be reanimated back to the battlefield, but it can be cheated out in other ways (like Tinker, Oath of Druids, Through the Breach, and other fun tricks). It’s not invincible, succumbing to sacrifice, bounce, and exile effects, but you need them to have a chance at stopping the noxious behemoth, and staring down a creature literally able to strike for lethal in a single hit unassisted means you’re on thin ice dealing with it. It sees some play in the most powerful format of them all (Vintage), a format that tends to run fewer answers and has all the toys a noxious Phyrexian monstrosity could ask for, but any “trick” deck in Modern and Legacy might be able to use Blightsteel as a different sort of game-ending threat.

Constructed: 3.5 (12 mana makes it hard to play normally, so decks will want to cheat it into play, and those can use this to great effect)
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.75 (the game is over if you get to 12 mana)
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander: 4.25 (remember: poison still kills at 10 counters in Commander, so one swing is still lethal)

Phat
Pack
Magic
YouTube

Hello everyone and welcome back to Pojo’s Card of the Day! Today we’re looking at one of the most feared non-companion creatures that can hit the board!

Way way way back in the old days there was the fabled Tinker into Darksteel Colossus that could win the game in two turns, it was a feared deck in Legacy and Vintage and victims of it would recount their amazement at Middle School tables like campfire horror stories.

Well the Legend was real and when Blightsteel Colossus came on to the scene with it’s jagged and mutated form it quickly advanced the Tinker Clock from 2 turns to 1. You had one draw step, one opening hand, to deal with this guy before he poisoned you to death with a mighty swing of his restructured and infected blade arm. So where does this guy really work?

Unfortunately not in a lot of areas. Since Tinker is banned in Commander and Legacy this card only really sees play in Vintage Deck who can use all that fast mana to pump out a big bloated Blightsteel. It’s fun to go Island Mana Crypt, Tinker into Blightsteel and say “Your Turn” with a fatty beast. Just make sure to hold up Force of Will with your god hand!

There is one exceptionally amazing place for this card and it’s my favorite place for it. Vintage Cube, why settle for simply Tinkering this guy out when you can do Channel, Sneak Attack, and Through the Breach? Just remember not to build this guy into your reanimator deck because you can’t Shallow Grave him! In Cube this guy is one of the most feared win cons but beware of that sneaky Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares! It’ll be one heck of a reverse blowout!

Constructed 5/5 – One of the Vintage Win Conditions
Cube 5/5 – It’s not as consistent as in regular Constructed Vintage but the feelgoods when you win with this thing is off the charts! Ka-swish!

Phat Pack Magic is a channel dedicated to Magic: the Gathering and creating awesome coverage of local events for formats like Cube, rare pack drafts, and now FNM Pioneer videos! Check it out at https://YouTube.com/PhatPackMagic