After a one expansion hiatus Three Up and Three Down makes a triumphant return with Magic 2010. The basic premise, in case you missed previous posts, is not only predicting cards duelists will play but also giving a good idea as to which cards they will replace. Pulling Path to Exile from a booster is only half the challenge. Including the spot remover in a deck always means something else must go. Each new card represents a new dilemma. Some of these choices are harder than others. The list below contains three cards we will want to play and the former residents of their deck slots.
Before we begin the list in earnest, the following were omitted as they are just a bit too obvious. Lightning Bolt and Honor of the Pure give equal value for less mana than Incinerate and Glorious Anthem respectively. In some cases, Doom Blade over Terror and Baneslayer Angel over Serra Angel, new cards cost exactly the same and do more. A quick glance would reveal a sizable gap in effectiveness any novice would notice. For the sake of your time we will consider these cards ‘auto-upgrades’. By contrast the following are decisions of a more discerning nature:
another classic returns
1. Time Warp over Time Stop - It may seem strange to begin with a replacement card that has been in Magic since 1997. Originally a Tempest card Time Warp has not seen re-print in 12 years. Like another card on this list WotC decided it was about time for the return of a legend. And we should be glad it is back. Time Stop has not seen an abundance of competitive play, but has a cult following in casual formats. Why? Because until now it was the cheapest way to take an extra turn. Sure Time Stop was also played as a Counterspell, but the real purpose was taking two turns without the nuisance of your opponent getting one. Well that process has been made simpler, and more importantly cheaper. Turns five and six are arguably the most important in MTG. Here is a convenient way to take them together. If you feel turn four is more important than turn six Noble Hierarch is there to assist you with an extra blue mana.
do the math: six > three
2. Ball Lightning over Boggart Ram-Gang - The Ram-Gang is a staple in almost any deck looking to beat down the opposition as quickly as possible. Three mana nets you a 3/3 plus an ability that makes it very unsavory to block. Red-green aggro decks have been using Llanowar Elves mana acceleration and Bloodbraid Elf cascading to land the Gang as quickly and easily as possible. Admittedly the turn two Ball Lightning isn’t happening yet, but the six damage makes up for this drawback. Especially when played for free off cascade abilities. Turn one Noble Hierarch, turn two Woolly Thoctar, turn three Bloodbraid Elf into Ball Lightning and attack for 14. That leaves six damage left to be dealt on turn four. A serendipitous number considering Ball Lightning’s six power. As long as the mana fixing in Standard remains so dynamic, any Jund or Naya aggro build deserves a Ball Lightning upgrade.
blue spirit within a white body?
3. Silence over Cryptic Command - The most abstract selection of an upgrade and what is replaces. There is a method to the madness. In theory Cryptic Command is everything a blue wizard could want: counter, bounce and card-draw. In practice CC is used to clear a path on offense or hold the line on defense. Those uses are precisely why Silence was created. The card itself is a bit of a paradox, a proactive reactionary spell. It doesn’t counter or bounce anything that is already in play like its blue predecessor, but Silence allows the same piece-of-mind when held in hand. The security of knowing that this turn will not surprise you, or that turn will go exactly as planned. Silence is the perfect offensive spell masquerading as a defensive one. The same charade Cryptic Command has played since Lorwyn’s release in 2007. How is Silence an upgrade? The answer is as simple as mana cost. Where CC gives more dynamic results, the tiny mana commitment of Silence allows you to play everything offensively you would normally. Defensively, Silencing your foe on turn four and/or turn five allows a board advantage the blue command cannot match.
down but not out
Not all cards in Magic 2010 better their contemporaries. Many, while useful, struggle to find a deck slot. There are some examples of solid cards that just aren’t good enough to replace peers include. Duress is a solid discard option that allows a stunning level of control for one mana, however a Thoughtseize it is not. Taking two damage is well worth the opportunity to snag a Great Sable Stag or Broodmate Dragon early. Siege Gang Commander is another example. With the M10 rules changes and the closing window of a Reveillark combo SGC has seen better days. That doesn’t mean it will be usurped by Captain of the Watch just yet. SGC still offers unbeatable creature production for the price, and along with Goblin Chieftain produces nine points of combat damage the turn it is played. CotW is a great token producer, but at six mana is a little cost-heavy and lacks the second combo piece to be truly effective in competition. Perhaps Zendikar will offer something that allows CotW to be abused, but until then SGC stays in our decks. Until then, don’t be afraid to toss out an old favorite when attempting to find that perfect build. Something better may have just arrived.
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Struggling to find the perfect replacement for cards like Kitchen Finks that won’t be standard legal come October? Or looking for the best way to use a cool find like Awakener Druid? As always the Gathering Magic forums are here to help. Simply post your quandry here and let the MTG think-tank do its thing.
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While I do agree with a lot of the replacements in this article, I can’t help but disagree in the Silence over Cryptic Command. While it does a lot for so little Cryptic command was a defensive as well as offensive weapon. Well worth the cost, the amount of threat removal that cryptic can provide I believe is more then the henderence of the silence.
Another reason I say that, is Spellstudder Sprite. I mean, hello? Counter that?
Now one thing I was hoping you’d be able to cover was a decent replacement for Mindstone. That was a very valuable card in Standard that’s going to be hard to replace. I guess the turn 3 10/10 master of the etherium wasn’t meant to last huh?
Mana acceleration took a big hit in M10. Cards like Mind Stone and Overgrowth are out without replacements in Alara or M10.
Garruk + Overgrowth was so much fun!
@bluebaron:
I too felt the pain of losing Mind Stone. However, despite the sadness, I think it was good to cut it; when Green, the mana color, sets a benchmark of two mana to ramp by one, and all the other colors can match it AND cash it in for a card later, Green loses some of its identity. Despite the grins it brought, it was unhealthy to be able to do (part of) Green’s thing without Green. Personally saddening, but good to lose.
@The poll about cards that are leaving:
The poll reminded me of something I was thinking about recently regarding the loss of Wrath of God. That loss is a big part of an intriguing web of interactions that change the value of some cards in subtle ways. For instance, the loss of Wrath and Terror (and even Incinerate) make regeneration effects more valid, because now the only “can’t be regenerated” clause in Standard is on Terminate. This, of course, is (at least one reason) why Troll Ascetic couldn’t be reprinted; it would be too strong in a Wrath-less world. So, what creature-only sweepers do we have left? There’s Hallowed Burial, but it (and other Lorwyn block sweepers) are going to be gone soon as well. Most of what we have available are damage-based sweepers, like Fallout, Earthquake, Windstorm, Pyroclasm, and Jund Charm. At the same time that these get boosted in value by the loss of Wrath, we simultaneously get Harm’s Way, which can dramatically alter the net result of an opposing (or even your own!) sweeper, saving a creature while finishing off another (or even burning your opponent’s face). There is also Safe Passage, which turns a damage-based sweeper into a one-way blowout. Unless you play Infest. It’s the only sweeper that’s not tweaked by Harm’s Way/Safe Passage, not stopped by regeneration, and still legal four months from now.
So that’s my two cents (er, sorry, more like a buck fifty) on card rotations/replacements.
What? Ghitu Encampment? Please.
Try Treetop Village.
I like how cloudthresher gets -1%. Timmy is dead long live Spike.
Silence isn’t better than Cryptic Command. Cryptic Command can win games outright late in the game (tap all creatures your opponents control). Silence is good, but it won’t give you the win by itself.
well tapping all your opponents creatures wont necessarily win you the game either. There are still a lot of spells your opponent can play to stop a creature rush.
Most of the time, tapping all your opponent’s creatures will swing the game clearly in your favor if it doesn’t win you the game outright. I realize there are spells to stop creature rushes, but there are spells to stop just about anything. I think more often than not you would get more out of CC than silence.
[...] more difficult with each additional player. Silence is the ultimate control card. As discussed here, you need to play this card pro-actively for maximum effectiveness. Hopefully wasting your [...]