Shadowclashin’ Part 3: Now That Piques My Interest

10.20.04  Maybe when I said to contact me about anything I should have included a few exceptions. There’s one question I have been asked several times to which I can’t provide the desired answer. Allow me address that question before I delve into the meat of this article:

Q. What deck are you going to play at Gen Con SoCal?
A. The deck that I’ve tested to satisfaction.

That’s the only way I can answer that question. I’m still knee deep in play testing and Shadowclash hasn’t even released yet. If I attend Gen Con SoCal, then it will be with a deck that I’ve tweaked for weeks. But, I can guarantee that Terror Pit will be in my deck. : )

For Pojo readers planning to compete in the Championship event at SoCal, here’s my advice: Stay abreast of the most effective builds in the metagame once Shadowclash releases. Pick a strategy and support it consistently with your card choices. Become familiar with the entire card pool post-Shadowclash. Memorize your deck’s contents inside and out. Discover how your deck plays against many other deck types through heavy testing. Don’t underestimate ‘wildcard’ or tier 2 decks. Try to test your deck against the best players in your area. Take note of the cards and decks they play and how they play them. Play. Test. Tweak.

And while you’re play testing, take notes—lots of notes. Write down your mistakes, your opponent’s mistakes, your key plays, your opponent’s key plays, and your deck’s strategy at each stage of its incarnation. Record anything that you think is important to remember down the line. Don’t hold onto cards that you find are ineffective through heavy play testing, even if you ‘love’ them or other players say they’re necessary. Take note of what you top deck and when that happens. Review your notes, makes changes, keep the process going. Play-test your deck until your fingers bleed. Okay, don’t take that too literally, please. It’s so important that I’ll say it again:

Play. Test. Tweak.

With that cleared up, I’m very willing to point out several cards from Shadowclash that I look forward to play testing. I’m going to discuss under the radar cards, so don’t expect to see coverage of attention-grabbers like Aquan, Astral Reef, Ballom, or Alcadeias. Those cards have been discussed incessantly in several DM communities, and if I do cover them it’ll be in another article. While you read the remainder of this article, please take the time to think about the type of cards you like to play and why you like to play them. Chances are that your favorite strategies and mechanics will see support in Shadowclash. If you can get your hands on a Shadowclash spoiler like Edo’s, then that task will be a lot more relevant toward jumpstarting your post-Shadowclash deck building endeavors. Now, onto some of the cards that grab me:

*Card text and names may change when the set is released in English. All Japanese translations come from Edo’s site.

Chains Of Sacrifice*
Spell / Darkness / 8 / Rare
- Choose up to 2 of your opponent's Creatures in the Battle Zone and put them in their owners' Graveyards.
- If you have at least 1 Creature in the Battle Zone, choose 1 of them and put it into your Graveyard.

You’re looking at me going: “This spell sucks. It makes you lose a creature and costs 8 mana!” Even so, I’m practically itching to deck this destruction spell. It costs a whopping 8 mana, but how does one usually solve surviving into the late game to cast expensive cards? Run sufficient stall, early removal, spell discounting, shield manipulation, draw/tutoring to fish it from the deck, mana gain, or some combinations of the above. To tackle Chains’ high cost perhaps one could chuck this spell into a build running mana gain that features Essence Elf. Losing one critter to rid my opponent of two very threatening creatures is a solid deal to me. Late game you’re probably setting across more than one fattie, and this spell can take care of them both. If I’m running any recursion, then I’ll have chances to recover my sacked creature. Otherwise, I’m forced to choose the least effective creature of my lot to say goodbye to forever—and that’ll most likely be the smallest hitter. In the unfortunate event that I don’t have any creatures out when I play this spell—unfortunate because I hate when my side of the battle zone is empty—then only my opponent is losing something from the field. Of course, the less you have to pay for Chains or the sooner you can play it the better off you are mana/tempo-wise.

Strengths:
--Destroys up to 2 of your opponents creatures—your choice

Weaknesses:
--Costs 8 mana
--You have to destroy one of your creatures if you have at least 1 creature in your battle zone
--If your opponent has only one creature out when you play it, then this spell is a more costly Terror Pit (8 mana + one of your creatures for 1 of his creatures)

Train Man*
Creature / Hedrian / Darkness / 4 / 1000 / Uncommon
- Shield Trigger (When this card is returned to your hand from the Shield Zone, you may use it without paying its Cost.)
- When this Creature is played to the Battle Zone, if your opponent has at least 1 card in his or her hand, choose 1 of them without looking and put it in its owners' Graveyard.

With Train Man we’re looking at a 4 mana Ghost Touch with feet. Train Man’s power leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s the creature’s effect that matters. I don’t expect creatures like Masked Horror, Shadow of Scorn and Meteosaur to stick around to hit shields. Those creatures give me their effects, which have hopefully been timed closely with similar cards like Crimson Hammer and Ghost Touch, and whatever else I squeeze out of their existence is a bonus. Mid-game Train Man can help chew away at hands, leaving your opponent with fewer options. I’d especially love popping Train Man on a Weenie Rush deck since those builds tend to see small hands late game and Lost Soul comes too late to do much damage. Plus, they often hold onto kill cards like Snake Attack. This is a creature that control builds will want to experiment with and run in conjunction with other discard. For fun I’d slap Train Man in a heavy discard deck with some mana gain, some creature destruction, some slayers, a few blockers…and just discard & kill all day. That sort of deck may not be viable, but it sure sounds fun!

Strengths:
--Makes your opponent discard a card, you don’t have to attack to run the discard
--Has shield trigger ability, so a hitter and discard could come for free

Weaknesses:
--1000 power makes it “easy as 1-2-3” to kill
--If triggered & summoned when you’re opponent is top decking then you rob nothing (but you still gain a hitter)

Mystery Bless*
Spell / Nature / 6 / Rare
- Put the top card of your deck face down as a Shield.

I played a Water-Nature-Darkness deck a Gen Con Indy largely because I’m enamored with Mana Nexus. Mana Nexus made seeing Terror Pit and Natural Snare hit the mana zone through cards like Bronze-Arm Tribe or from clogged opening hands much more bearable. Anytime you don’t have to hard cast those 6 mana spells is a good time because you gain tremendous mana advantage when they’re triggered. While Mystery Bless is a far cry from Mana Nexus, it provides another opportunity to do what I’ve come to love—create more shields. Although you cannot set a card from your hand or mana zone with Mystery Bless, because it’s picked randomly from the top of your deck, it’s still another way to slap down an extra shield. The chances are high that the card plopped down by Mystery Bless will be a trigger spell or creature if the deck is roughly half shield trigger. Costing 6 mana without shield trigger ability is a drawback, but I plan to test this spell out in—you’ve guessed it—a build with mana gain/spell discounting. There are ample ways to play with the shield zone now, just imagine the craziness when this spell joins the ranks.

Strengths:
--Produces an extra shield via thinning your deck

Weaknesses:
--You can’t choose the card that hits the mana zone like with other shield manipulation cards
--Costs 6 mana

Well, those are some of the cards that I’m looking forward to play testing in several different builds. It’s too soon to tell whether or not the cards above will be keepers for my decks, but I’m willing to give them all a shot. Even though November 11th is a little less than a month away it’s never too early to start pondering how Shadowclash will impact the metagame and your favorite decks. If you’ve been able to read a Shadowclash spoiler, what cards from this set pique your interest the most & why? Do you see yourself trying out a strategy that you aren’t accustomed to playing, like Aggro-Control if you’ve largely been a Rush player? What deck types do you think will dominate the metagame post Shadowclash? Will Diamond Cutter still rank in the top? How about my personal favorite, Water/Nature with Terror Pit splashed? With so many questions to ponder, it’s a good thing you have time to contemplate answers.

On a completely unrelated note, are we ever going to receive a pre-con deck with Water cards? How’s about an alternative foil Crystal Paladin with a little key on it? Huh? Please?

Here’s my first plug for the year:
If you live in the MO/IL area please come to the Shadowclash of Blinding Light Release Tournament on November 11, 2004 at Dizzy Dugout:
104 South Morrison Avenue
Collinsville, IL 62234
(618) 345-6453

Will I be there? Chances are good; only my car breaking down can stop me. If you come to Dizzy’s and place top 3 in the Sealed deck event, then I’ll give you a shout out here on Pojo!

I’m going to focus on deck fixes the rest of week, so stop by the Kaijudo Dojo after Thursday. If you have any questions, want to see something covered in an article, or just want to chat, then drop me a line at kaiserpso@hotmail.com Cheers!