Before we begin, let us slap a warning label on this column. We won’t be discussing Magic 2010 in any detail. There won’t be any tournament deck ideas for the monetarily challenged or super-combos you never saw coming. This is about deck building. However, this is also about a moment unique to Magic, a moment that every player should have. No matter the experience level or skill, whether you’re a Jimmy or a Spike. So in the absence of spoilers, here instead is a banner every casual duelist can rally around.
for some cards, this is the only reaction
A few months back, around the time the internet was buzzing with the sound of an ‘all-gold’ Alara expansion we held a draft with the principal members of our play group. Some precursory explanations on our draft style. We go casual, even in sealed tournament-style games. Meaning, in this case, three booster of any set we cared to buy from our local card shop. As you can imagine, that makes for some real surprises when the packs are opened. One such surprise came from Reinhart’s side of the table as he unwrapped the group’s first ever Darksteel Colossus. As soon as I saw it I knew it had to be mine. Through means nefarious and otherwise I was able to pry the card from Reinhart’s collection and there it was. Mine.
It was only after that moment that the epiphany came. I felt like the Joker explaining how he “chases the car, even though he wouldn’t know what to do with it if he caught it.” The Colossus was mine, but I had no clue what deck I would put it in. None. At last we come to the heart of the issue. I knew I had to make a deck out of this card. Had to, even if it wasn’t going to be competitive. Some way or some how I was making this work.
This is a cornerstone of Magic. The idea that we can fall in love with more than just the concept of winning. That each individual card could hold that spark that ignites the next decklist. For some, it happened way back in the early nineties opening their first Shivan Dragon or Force of Nature. Still more had the moment finding a card like Warp World and Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in the back-end of a booster. These cards are more than simply rules text. As cheesy as it may sound, they are inspiration. The kind you can only find in a game like MTG. That inspiration is part of what keeps us playing.
our destiny awaits
In the end, the deck I created was mono-green with various ways (mana accel, Elvish Piper, even Hypergenesis) of getting my Darksteel buddy onto the battlefield as quickly as possible. You know what? The deck is still one of my favorite to play in a casual environment. The reason being maybe, just maybe I’ll get to see an 11/11 looking up at me from where I placed it on the table.
How about you my fellow casual player? What are some examples of life-altering cards you just knew you had to play? I am not talking about Cryptic Command and Mutavault here, cards that are just plain awesome. I mean cards with charisma. Maybe not a game winner every time, but something that makes you smile when its in your opening hand. Or nod with glee after a timely top-deck. My Colossus is dear to me sure, but I want to hear the stories and about your cards. After all this is our banner to rally around.
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Keep in mind, Magic 2010 spoiler season is in full-swing. New cards are announced and posted every day and it will only speed up as the release date approaches. For all the latest updates, card lists and analysis keep your browser locked in to the Gathering Magic spoilers page. If the rules changes are still stuck in your craw, feel free to relieve your frustrations on the Gathering Magic Forum, or comment on them here. Alright self, enough shameless promotion already!
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For me, it was Tombstone Stairwell from Mirage. For years I loved and hated it, because I wanted to play with it, but never managed. I once (this is like 10 years ago
) played against it, but the guy left before I could write down what he played with. Then I just kind of forgot about it. But a year ago, I browsed Gatherer and my collection and found the Stairwell again, together with…Teysa, Orzhov Scion. Now that is just plain evil and with lots of Swampcyclers I now have a kick-ass deck and am a happy man 
For me it was Sunglasses of Urza from a pack of Unlimited. I knew I HAD to make a Red/White deck (I was already in love with Serra Angel and had gotten a Shivan Dragon as well). But the Sunglasses just clinched the deal. Combined with a Conversion I thought it was the bee’s knees!
Doppleganger and Shivan Dragon. I started durring revised, and Doppleganger was the first card to make me excited about cardboard.
Haven’t looked back since.
In more modern times, I’d say Razia and Nova Chaser. Both earned “must build a deck around it” honours.
It’s interesting that some fans have complained about Shivan Dragons inclusion as a rare in M10. So many duelists got hooked on that card alone.
Yeah, its tougher to get hooked on it, Shivan Dragon now when compared to other dragons in the same block, ya know?
The original Millstone. An alternate win condition always hooks me in.
Oh man some magical cards: Lightening Bolt, hymn to Tourach, llanowar elves, soldevi simulacrum, hypnotic specter.
I’ve been a huge fan of black and green, and they both had innocent begginings: dredge skeletons and llanowar elves.
My first pack of Legions i ever bought, i pulled an Akroma. so i made a deck with all the cards that mention akroma in the card, picture, flavor text, or in the book. So i included Akroma’s Devoted, pasifism, and others (it was a cleric deck obviously)
I also pulled 4 Glimpse the Unthinkable from a boster box. Needless to say i was on my way to Dimir Deck Decimation.
for me it was phage the untouchale, i would combo this with dauthi trapper, man, those were some good times.
i also had the same experience with akromas memorial, i saw it for the first time, and my jaw dropped, that was the first time i ever made an elf deck, it was beautiful.
Although I never had the experience of opening one, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind was the card for me. Followed by Skeletal Vampire, which I did open more than one! I started playing when Ravnica Block was new and as I explored cards outside of my roommates out of date card pool, I was really turned on by the power these guys brought to the table.
Hello guys, sorry for this comment, but can one of you explain me, why there is no wrath of god in the M10 edition? I think it belongs into every core set, and i wanted to buy two booster dsplays for me, and now, i can only buy them without wrath of god. this definetily a big kickback for me!!! i would love to see any answer!!
henry
For me it was the Isocron Sceptor. When I pulled my first one out of the box (I was not into magic enough at the time to read spoilers) my brain was overloaded with possibilities. I have built dozens of unique decks around that card.
It is not the end-all game winning card in most decks, with the exception of old-school blue counterspell deck with brain freeze. But I love cards that open up HUNDREDS of possibilities for use and combos.
I think the first time I was super excited about any kind of effect was when my brother (who originally got me into Magic) showed me Sands of Time. It just has RIDICULOUSNESS all over it! Pair it with Relic Bind, b/c everyone back in the day played artifacts usually, and you could have an easy win.
[...] the indestructability. In fact, we can ignore the impact this card originally had on me detailed here. The most impactful characteristic of Darksteel Colossus is the lasting relevance. This is a [...]
For me it Is, and will always be, Jareth, Leonin Titan!
The card, if you’ve never seen it before is just so amazing at what it is trying to do, which is block and kill anything it wants. plus its immune to spot removal so killing Jareth is like trying to kill the impossible. It even blocks Darksteel Collosus and lives.
1. veteran bodyguard (with castle) maze of ith and gossamer chains
2. sorceress queen + nettling imp + royal assassin
3. meekstone with little creatures
I agree with Tom. Isochron Scepter. Teh shitz. I remembering trying to pair it with time walk… Good times, until i realized i couldn’t do it in standard. Ughhhh.
Sorry about double post, but now that i think about it, can the scepter work with ancestral vision?
I don’t see why not. If you can cascade into Hypergenesis you should be able to Isochron Ancestral Vision.
However, that combo is far from Standard as well.
For me it was Helm Of Obedience, Krovikan Vampire, and Jester’s Cap. I think you can figure out the theme there LOL
I guess for me it was Pact of Negation. I went nuts when I first saw it. This was before I followed spoilers and knew every card ever printed. So it was a total surprise.
Damnation was also a quest card for me.
Dread also blew my mind the first time also, believe it or not.
Stronghold Overseer is another.
So many!!
There have been several over the years. Storm Seeker, Painbringer, Fastbond, Soulsworn Jury(I have absolutely no idea why I like this card so much), Defiant Vanguard+Valor Made Real, I just love a guy who can soak up all the damage headed your way and take all you opponent’s creatures with him… and replace himself!! It doesn’t get a lot better than that.
Desolation Angel. It was either my first or second rare and it started a total infatuation with angels. This, of course, made opening an Akroma, Angel of Wrath all the better! My angel deck, which has continually evolved since the Odyssey block, is still my favorite deck to use.
Hostility and Circu, Dimir Lobotomist.
My latest “oh, wow” card is Naked Singularity. God damn I can’t wait to get some money so I can build a deck around it.
Personally, I love cards that seem horrible but are actually good in the right ways. Also, bad cards that I can’t help but think will become broken eventuall – Norin the Wary, anyone?
for me its Garruk, i got into magic this summer with my closest friend. we put our money together and bought a M10 fat pack from wall mart. now we allready had our decks we got from a mutual friend/ i had a mono green and he had a black red. in the first booster of the fat pack i opend garruk. i was happy.
my friend, loves glitter fang. not that he’s a noob its just a rolling joke to be hit for one on the first turn.
he’ll drive m nuts when he gets 2 more.
i started playing again after alara came out, and while i was cruising around gatherer familiarizing myself with the new set, my eyes settled on a gem. Where Ancients Tread. up until that point i had been playing a “deck” made up of about 250 black commons that all dealt damage. lots of charms and soul burn, but it only won against the newer casual players. i was playing against experienced players that used playsets of darksteel colossus, and other things which i had no hope against. i went to my local store, picked up a playset, and pored through their binders for cards with power five or greater. by the end of the month, i had a sleek killing machine.
the other one, which also went into that deck was thunder thrash elder
As a kid I can honestly say that I was about as excited to see a Savanna Lions as I was to see a Sengir Vampire. Of course Serra Angel was always amazing on the playground.
I think that I was most fascinated with how to make Jokulhaups useful.
[...] the resources to pick one up at Troll and Toad for $44.99. We’ve already talked about the Magic of a Single Card, and the amount of “stickyness” and love this concept brings to the game. Imagine [...]
For me it was Mishras factory. Damn i loved that card and still do. I mean it is a factory which can become a factory worker which can support other factory workers. What is not to love about that.