Last night I cracked out my old MtG decks and brushed off
the cobwebs. It hasn't been that long since I played; I took a few decks to
Japan with me last year and we played quite a few times, but recent games have
been played with more recent decks. This time around I dug deep and went for
the special reserve black label decks. Aged in an antique wooden chest since
1999 (ish), these decks have seen and dealt a lot of punishment.
Minotaurs
This deck was created in response to friendly criticism
against my mono-red "burn-of-all-your-eyebrows" deck of the mid-90's.
It is based thematically around the Hurloon Minotaur from my very first starter
deck, but contains cards from a myriad of different sets that existed during
the 90's and early 00’s. If the card says "minotaur" on it, chances
are it is in this deck. Due to the Labyrinth Minotaur being blue, it is not a
mono-red deck anymore. To make taking islands more worthwhile, I rolled in some
Flights, Jumps and Enchantments in there that allow me to get my minotaurs in
behind enemy lines. On the red side we have Hurloons, Anaba Shamans, Spirit Callers
and Ancestors as well as some direct damage from Fireballs, Disintegrates and Lightning
bolts. I also have Firebreathing in there to increase the damage output of the
minos. Basically, I pump out weak minotaurs that get buffed very quickly and
flexibly, which are more than likely able to fly. If that doesn’t work, I disintegrate
you. Hurray!
Something Wicked…
This is a green and black deck to make the skin crawl. It is
full of instant buffs that make small things much bigger without any warning
(Giant Growth, Howl from Beyond, Pufferfish Extract), as well as a ton of
essentially unblockable creatures. It also contains a lot of green damage
avoidance cards (Fog, Regeneration) and mana generation (Llanawar Elves), as
well as black cards that kill things dead (Terror, Disembowel, Eradicate,
Engineered Plague, Vile Requiem). On top of that, there are a handful whopping
great big monsters.
Thus armed we played a couple of rounds of MtG. Within
minutes I had a flying, firebreathing minotaur out, so I was happy for the
night! I got Wade down to 2 life points before he dragged himself back with a 6
point Stream of Life. He then wiped out my minotaurs with Vile Requiem and cut
me down over the next couple of turns with a Craw Wurm enchanted with Fear.
We swapped decks over and I had another shocker, picking up
no swamps during the game with a hand full of black creatures and spells. I
managed to summon some walls (Wall of Brambles) and deal some damage with
Llanawar Elves and Giant Growth early on, but against flying firebreathing
minotaurs, I stood no chance. Still, it was great to get the old decks out
again. I think next time I will have to shuffle better!
We spent the rest of the night playing Star Wars Duels,
which saw Luke Skywalker “I will not fight you”ing, Jango Fett rocket jump-sniping,
Mace Windu purple lightsabering and Vader relentlessly force choking. Leia was
quickly throttled to death, leaving me with a hand full of useless cards. Despite
that, I got Vader down to 3 or 4 hits before Jango shot Luke to pieces from
across the board. Vader finally got his redemption (read: he got a purple lightsaber
to the face) but Jango again finished off the good guy and inherited the
universe. Seriously, who is that guy anyway? Overall, not a very lucky night
for me gaming-wise but still great fun.
See you across the table,
M4cr0
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