Magic 2012 Planeswalkers

Folks, this most recent promotional video reveals something that's been a huge point of debate for a while now, and I'm glad to see that it's officially over.  The Gideon Jura shown at the end of that Duels of the Planeswalkers ad is the very same Gideon Jura from Rise of the Eldrazi, only with the M12 set symbol.  In other words, Gideon Jura is going to be reprinted, in all of his turns-into-a-creature glory.  While the cards themselves behind Gideon were covered, their artwork was displayed at the end of the ad, leading most all to believe that all of the other walkers will be repeats of their 1.0 versions, and I personally think that's safe to assume.  I've felt ever since the fab five were first announced that this would be the case, and I'm glad to see that I should be right.

#banjace

I don't have much of an article for you today, more of an image.  I was fooling around with flash for a little today and I felt the urge to post something.  Well, here you go.

Giant Gap

Recently, WotC released this article, explaining how over time, cards had been whittled away from Magic's core sets, until M11 rolled around and only two remained in every core set since Alpha: Giant Growth and Giant Spider.  The pair have been in every standard format since before there even WAS a standard format, and now, there can be only one.  Read more to find out which of the pair won't be hitting the tables with Innustrad.

Under the Hood - Bloodfall #2

In the original article, found here, I talked about the flavor and background for a block that I plan on building myself over the next few months.  To sum things up, the first set, Bloodfall, is about a demonic ritual gone wrong, resulting in a river turning to blood and the demon sleeping somewhere underneath.  The planeswalker who performed the ritual, Kecra, seeks to find the Demon to fulfill his pact, but the natives of the plane all have their own reactions to the river of blood and have essentially used the event as an excuse for a declaration of war, fighting over control of the rivers.

In the article, I posted image files for four different cards to illustrate the feel of the set, created as I typed the article.  However, astute readers may have noticed that the four cards lacked any new (or even uncommon) keyword abilities.  In essence, they were generic.  Now that our flavor is established, the next step is to design the base mechanics for the cards that fall in line with the setting.  It's time to grab a wrench and head under the hood.

Productivity Through Boredom - Bloodfall #01

I've found that often times, surrounded by things to do, no one thing motivates me more than another, and I end up just lying prone due to my own indecisiveness.  In that period of inactivity, I'm essentially bored out of my mind, and yet I know there's plenty of things I could be doing to keep me busy.  As much as it is a flaw, a lot of things in my life have come from this quirk of mine.

For you see, in this psuedo-boredom, I often brainstorm for something that will pull me out of my rut of inactivity.  I'll search the depths of my creativity for an activity that draws me more than whatever else I may have been choosing between.  It's periods like this that resulted in the creation of this site in the first place, among a number of things that were much more productive than whatever else was on my to do list.  In this way, I gain productivity through boredom, and it suits me well.

Now, what does this have to do with Magic?  Well you see, I'm doing it again.  I already have the column, so what is it this time, you may ask?

I want to build a block.

Deck Tech - Splinter Twin

Nothing says Lorwyn block quite like a
creature combo that wins as early as T3.
Quillspike, anyone?

For those of you who don't know, this has been a combo in Extended for a long time now between Pestermite and Splinter Twin, a combo that also works with Pestermite and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.  Basically, a Pestermite enchanted with Splinter Twin taps to create a 2/1 with flying and haste.  When the token enters the battlefield, his trigger untapsthe enchanted Pestermite (or Kiki-Jiki).  In this way, you can create an infinite number of creatures and swing for lethal damage on T4, T3 with acceleration.

In standard, another Pensermite is about to be printed and the combo shall live again.  There's been a lot of talk of just what shell the deck will fit into, so I'm here today to share my views on how to get to that magical Christmas land.  And boy, is my sack full of presents for you!