Old School EDH: Can it (and should it) be done

A few years back, I met a group of people that played M:tG, that would come play at my place regularly, and with that I met a woman, who we will call H.

Well, H loved a certain shop, and loved EDH. This shop did a weekly EDH tournament every Thursday, and while I was familar with the format, I rarely played it at the time, and thus only possessed one EDH deck.

Well we eventually got into a relationship, and with it, Thursday night became something of a date night for us, with as lame as it sounds, we'd go grab a bite to eat, then play EDH. So with this regularity, I needed multiple EDH decks, so I dismantled all my casual 60 cards, and went to the brew cards. Now, naturally since I'm designing this simple humble blog, you know I love old cards, not something that is by any means recent. So I decided to build a EDH deck utilizing only 'old cards'. This would include in my opinion all the cards of the 'classical' era. I decided to make it Alpha-Alliances, and who better then my first favorite MTG legend, Dakkon Blackblade.

The first thing Should it be done? Well in the context of Old School as a format, no. The game wasn't designed with EDH in mind, and EDH didn't exist, and in fact, I almost don't consider EDH the same game as MtG. EDH is to MTG, with Poker is to Old Maid. Sure they use the same pieces, but they aren't the same game. Now, build old school edh decks, but don't make this some odd ball restrictive format for the sake of being elitests, shunning the 'new cards', because playing EDH exclusively with old cards for the sake of old cards is well, stupid.

Now, on with the article.

Deck Construction:

As I switched between decks, I realized that certain staples would always stay, no matter what. I use to jokenly call these cards 'eternals'. The likes of Strip Mine, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Feldon's Cane (always good), Disc, and Fellwar Stone always got included, no matter what. Also, certain cards would be amazing in certain decks, and terrible in others, and were designed accordingly (as you will see below).

It should be noted these weren't against the decks of similar building restrictions, but instead against anything anyone showed up with. While I love jank, I felt there wasn't much room (there wasn't typically) for deliberately bad cards for the sake of nostalgia. Instead, these were utilized for as much efficency as possible my budget could afford. Anyone who knows me, knows the most powerful cards of the format allude me, but alas, I always make it work. 

This sadly meant though I needed to follow shop ban lists, as well as the universal ban list (no Fastbond for me).

Including Ice Age allowed for more variety of fixing, including the pain/depletion lands, but also the Homelands tri-lands (because while not amazing, sometimes you need a fix). 

Better then ever credited

 

Dakkon Blackblade (WUB)

"My power is as vast as the plains; my strength is that of mountains. Each wave that crashes upon the shore thunders like blood in my veins"--Dakkon 'Motherloving' Blackblade

 Utilizing my childhood favorite, Dakkon Blackblade was naturally my first choice. In three well balanced and powerful colors, and utilizing some of the best beaters of the era, it was something that sounds strange to type in this day and age of a strangled color pie, but an esper beater deck. This was enchanced with the likes of Flight, Invisibility, Fear, and Sewers of Estark.

The creatures that it included was naturally the clone effects, Such legendary beaters as Chromium, Mahamoti Djinn (and his Sibilant brother), Serendib Effreet, Clockwork Beast, and so forth. To protect these amazing creatures, I had cards like FoW, Counterspell, Memory Lapse, Power Sink.

Other control cards were more that, utilizing the likes of Merieke Ri Berit (remember her), mass land destruction (which is ironic considering my general, and I ran Equinox), Sea Singer, Ritual of the Machine, Control Magic, Steal Artifact, ect.

The deck was also chock full of removal, including some of the best removal in the game, including as mentioned disc, but also included WoG, Ashes to Ashes, Terror, Dark Banishing, Swords to Plowshares, Essence Vortex, Oubliette, Icy Prison, and well you get the idea. The deck also had Disenchant (and maybe divine offering) as well as Dust to Dust, and copious hand removal. 

Card advantage was also surprisingly well off, thanks to the use of Ice Age, included none other then Necropotence, but also had both Tomes, Oath of Lim-Dul, Brainstorm, Braingeyser, tutors like Demonic Consultation (sometimes resulted in instant loss), Demonic Tutor, and merchant scroll. 

Not Necro, but a close second!

The deck also had a reanimator sub-theme combined with the clone effects. It included the likes of Animate Dead and Dance of the Dead to steal opponents creatures (and Resurrection to get back yours).

It worked surprisingly well, though it didn't win consistently, it won more then I would have initially given it credit for, and felt there was room for improvement, which is how I built my next deck.

Merieke Ri Berit (WUB)

 

"La Belle Dame sans Merci"

Merieke Ri Berit was an interesting build. Anyone familiar with the format for a long period of time is aware of how devastatingly potent the deck can be. Ironically, due to a lack of oversight, I didn't include a way to untap her in the Blackblade deck, and felt it could make for an interesting build. I wasn't wrong.

First the deck ramped up the control elements a 100%, gone were the beaters that made the old deck memorable, and instead, I made the deck all about abusing her, keeping her alive/ or disrupting the opponents. This deck included the likes of Kismet, Winter Orb, Icy Manipulator. Things like Norrit, Sorceress Queen, Nettling Imp, and Royal Assassin could keep creatures in check. Norritt also could untap my general, but it wasn't the only thing.

"This thing untaps blue creatures?"--my older brother

The deck utilizied such utility to untap as twiddle, Energy Arc, Saddlebags, and that one blue creature that could untap your stuff. Chain Stasis and the Talismens from Ice Age were odd mvp's among the deck, and ended up being more impressive then I'd ever admit. 

There, someone played with them.

Naturally with so much untap effects, I needed more creatures that tapped, so Archmage of the Unseen, Graverobbers, Demonic Hordes (despite three colors in the deck), Musician, Vodaline Mage all found homes in the deck, much to amazing effect. It even included War Barge/Merfolk Assassin (I could also sac my own War Barge to Sage of Lat-Nam to destroy a number of opponents creatures).

The deck also included the Power Artifact combo as a means to win if needed, either through Geyser, or Rocket Launcher. The deck also upped the card advantage, including Ivory Tower (which somehow didn't make it into Blackblade), and Island Sanctuary. 

All and all this was my favorite deck to play, and other players favorite deck to play against, and I received numerous compliments for it in its three month period of running it.  

I'd go a completely different route for my next deck.

Bartel Runeaxe (BRG)

Fun Fact: the first black bordered Legends Legend I ever owned.

 This was actually a bleed deck. Utilizing the likes of Underworld Dreams, Primal Order, Ankh of Mishra, Copper Tablet, Mana Barbs Cyclone, as well as burn centric sweepers like Earthquake and Inferno. It actually had a short life, due to despite my best efforts, I couldn't gain life quick enough, and even with all the removal in the world, it quickly became the 'target deck' anytime I sat down with it. 

 

Underappreciated

Still was interesting, and the fact it made such an impact that it became a target always made me proud.

Jack the Green (Jacques Le Vert)

"Yes yes, I mean oi oi"

The card I infamously don't actually own. Jacques le Vert was designed under a simple process, I wanted to make another beater deck. This time, utilizing (by rule) green creatures exclusively. This actually proved to be more potent then I'd initially think. The amount of decent sized green creatures was impressive, and with most green effects being asymmetrical (I'll write an article about that one day) I wasn't at the same disadvantage that I was at with other color.

This included such amazing creatures as Erhnam, Craw Wurm and Giant, Strider, Force of Nature, Palladia Mors, Hazezon Tamar, as well as midrangers like Gorilla Chieftain, Thicket Basilisk, Cockatrice and of coarse, Elven Bard.

Rampers included Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, Fyndhorn Elves and Elder, and so forth. Naturally it included mana rocks (like all decks), but also had Untamed Wilds and Nature's Lore for that ramp goodness.  

 Lure, Aspect of the Wolf, and combat tricks were in the deck galore, but included the much needed likes of Raging River, Crossroads, Arboria (both of which also helped destroy more powerful enchant worlds), Kaysa and Thelonite Druid (and monk, and chant), Stampede, Regeneration, and naturally Carapace. 

The hardest thing was removal. In a deck with no blue/black, removal was actually difficult. However, it included Roots, Disc, Fissure, and naturally Swords. Sweeps also were fairly prevelant in the deck as well, with Earthquake, Jokulhaups, and Wrath of God all being necessary. I actually had a good amount of recursion as well, regrowth and Forgotten Lore was naturally in the deck, but it also had reanimator spells in the form of Reincarnation, Resurrection, and  Hymn of Rebirth. 

Throw in every fog effect available, and you have a good, albiet somewhat under powered deck.  This was the last multi-colored deck I designed, before moving to a more mono-colored eccentric decks (one of each!) Since I'm tired, and the staff at Mc D's is looking at me slightly annoyed, I'll post this tomorrow (more likely the next day).

Until then, good luck top decking!

Brassclaw Orcs: Ironclaw's less famous cousin.

 Recently, I looked into a weird flavor text disparity involving Brassclaw Orcs, and while that might get discussed now (or I might save it for another article), it did create an interesting question. What happens when I reach a card with multiple art. It hadn't occurred before now, and since I am excluding basic lands, it was never an issue I had before.

I like the flavor text, implying they are still there.

However, given that Antiquities, Fallen Empires, Homelands and Alliances all have cards with multiple different printings, it was only a matter of time before one caught my eye. So I've decided I will review the Orcs here, to give an example on how this will work.


Playability: Brassclaw Orcs, are a 3/2 for 3 with the 'coward' drawback, of being unable to block a creature with a power greater then 1. However, given this is a red creature, and reds primary tactic is to move forward, that's a largely irrelevant draw back, but man sometimes I wish they'd chump block. For stats, a 3/2 for 3 isn't the best creature in the format, but is above the typical curve of a 2/2 for the same cost. Also, while Orc isn't as prolific as Goblin or Kolbold, there is some tribal interactions in the format (and more recently Magic in large).

In this regard I give the Orcs a 3/5. Sure they aren't the best head turners, but they get the role done, and fit well in their respective tribe, as well as sligh (both were present in the original sligh deck). The perfect thing to look for in your booster in 94 for sure.

Despite being the least feared, they are stronger then their cousins.

Flavor: See, usually with Flavor, I include Flavor Text. Since this card has four different texts, I'll just have to go around it. Basically, the mechanic makes them cowards, as with most orcs (it's a recurring theme in the early days of the tribe), they are quick to jeer at their power and prowess, but quick to take off at the sign of trouble. In this regard, it explains why they aren't willing to block that Juzam for you (which also makes the unusually smart as well).

The flavor is a 4/5, it is simple, but works well, and is the type of simple card design that keeps us playing this game 25 years later.


Art: Now this is the tricky part, since each piece of art is different. I'm going to evaluate each piece, and give a conclusion of the ranking for each one. Now I understand art is subjective, and your opinion will differ from mine, but please, too each it's own.


Dan Frazier Art:

"Look, it's the Thrull Rebellion"

I often call this piece 'Mongolian Orcs', this piece is actually pretty good. While the orcs themselves are wee detailed as any for this time period, it's the background that is best. It's simple, but amazing, particularly the red/yellow skyline. The desert is nice too, showing how desolate the area the Orcs are around. The Orcs certainly look mongolian though, or at least Asian. The details are simple, but effective, and certainly, due to the lack of oriental influences in early MtG are memorable. They also lost, or seeing something in the distance.

The Question remains what are they pointing at? Isn't it obvious? It's the enemy planeswalkers. Time to turn sideways.

Total: 4/5
Heather Hudson Art:

Time to party!

I love Miss Hudsons art, this piece is sloppy. Although it does show the 'least feared weapons ever known' in great detail, there is just to much going on in this piece.  Maybe it's to show the chaos of Orc based warfare, but it comes off messy. However, the dirty feet are a nice touch.

Total: 2/5. Sorry Heather.

Rob Alexander (1)

Also the reason for the Mandela like effect that I'm writing these, coming in a future article.

Yes Rob Alexander did two pieces for Brassclaw Orcs in FE, I call them the Sentry, and the Wolverine. This one is the sentry, because that is what it looks like. Why is a Orc in a sentry position, I'm not sure, perhaps he is simply preparing for battle, but it doesn't look like that. His orcs, well look satrange compared to most orcs, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, as with most Alexander art, it's the details that are note worthy. The simple wears in the stone next to him, the details in the clouds, the universal light cource. It's all amazing, and given it's easily visible on the small card window just adds to that. I still don't understand why he looks like a sentry though, so given that, the art gets a 4/5, because it's a creature you'd hardly ever block with (for the record, it'd be a 5/5 if on a different piece).


Rob Alexander (2):

"I'm the best at what I do bub"

 The 'wolverine art' shows a similar looking Orc to the top one, but more grotesque, and in what I always imagined to be overalls. This orc looks less like a fierce some warrior, and more like a farmhand with some interesting tools. This being said, it's certainly the most memorable piece, with him almost coming out of the card to say 'a whole skin is worth a thousand victories'. The claw, is also a bit strange, considering the other one looked like an actual claw, but not to say this one isn't bad. Most intriguing is both have similar tattoo's on their arms.

Art gets a solid 4/5.

Note: I'm going to be a bit slow the next few months with articles due to some personal issues. I hope you don't mind

--Shimlarian.

The Seven unforgiveable sins of WotC

Wizards of the Coast, as many of you have seen before, went from being a minor start up, to a successful independent, to finally a multi-billion dollar company. Naturally, this took a good business sense, some luck, and some unforgivable sins.While this could be looked at from the game as a whole (I can write a book on the consequences of moving from the OGL 3.5 to 4.0, and the fall out that followed), this series will pertain largely to M:tG.

It will be a series of articles on issues like Fetchlands, Planeswalkers, Mythic Rares, NWO, and so forth. Each article will contain sources, the reason for these decisions, quotes, and even images.

Naturally, due to the amount of research that these articles will require, don't expect them to come out all at once, and no, I'm not moving away from my more popular 'card theme'd' articles.

I feel instead these issues need to be written down, to be addressed, for better or worse, and to be known. I understand my blog is a small blip on the radar, but perhaps someone more known then me will take it to themselves to write these things better then I could, and to get these issues (both past and present known).

Hilarity in Absurdity: Riven Turnbull

 

"Political violence is a perfectly legitimate answer to the persecution handed down by dignitaries of the state."--Riven Turnbull

I personally believe that one of the most endearing thing about M:tG is just how funny it can be. It's a game where a zombie, some goblins, and an avatar of self can join forces in a bands, where a snake can carry a lance, and you can invite up to four Uncles over for a jamboree.

It's also funny on some head scratchers of cards. Old school is a treasure trove of cards that make you scratch your head, say 'why?' and either laugh or be angry. Sorrow's Path is probably one of the most classical versions of this, and easily the most referenced, but numerous other cards have odd abilities, strange stats, or weird art, last week I talked about the outliner Uncle Istvan, and his popularity due to it being so strange, but today I'd like to mention another outliner who's a long standing personal favorite of mine, Riven Turnbull.

Yet not the strangest card in Legends by any stretch.

Riven Turnbull, like all Legends legends, did get a pre-revisionist description of him which basically called him a political fire starter, and that is all the lore (which is clearly on the Flavor Text) written about him. So without any lore, we need to look at the card itself, complete in a vacuum.

Art: Drawn in a style unlike most of RKF's art, it shows this man burning what appears to be a legal document. In his other hand, he is holding a short sword, and a skull rests between them both. The only other visible item is simply a window with night behind it. This shows the man operates largely in the cover of darkness, like many anarchists, since one must be hidden. The best part of this art, is the runic scripture on the parcel (which you can't really make out on the card itself), and the smoke, both are good details. The window in the back is also a nice touch, which given the age of the art, it could easily been left black and it would have been fine, but instead, it gives the art some color and depth.I sort of which RKF did a few more pieces in this art style, instead of his AWESOME trademark, but that might ruin this one.

Totally not a fire hazard.

Art: 4/5

Playability: Riven is certainly playable, if you like big creatures with the ability to cast Dark Ritual. I mean, he's an advisor, who's a 5/7, but we will get to that in flavor. He is a big legend, one of the biggest legends in legends (especially if you don't include the Elder Dragons). Only 8 Legends have a higher Power of 5 in the set, while 0 have a toughness higher then 7 (not including Dakkon Blackblade naturally). With a combined total between the two of 12, the only things with a higher p/t combination are the Elder Dragons themselves, and most creatures in the format can't reach that high either. He also has no drawback, and even a ability (even if it's extremely non-sequitur and pointless). At best he's a 5/7 vanilla with no drawback outside of being a Legend. He also, as a rule, gets a bonus point for being black, due to being immune to Hellfire, Terror, and boosted from an opponents Bad Moon. With this, he's an average 3/5. Purely stat wise, he's just an uninteresting beater, with the mentioned ability.
Playability: 3/5

Fun Fact: Another strange large legend from Legends in the same colors that taps for mana is Princess Lucrezia

Coming soon-ish

Flavor: The Bulk of our conversation. This guy must put Hercules to shame. In Legends, the idea was certain artifacts or magic can make creatures bigger, particularly humans. We see none of this in the art, of on the card. So we must assume him to be nothing more then a brute, and in this case, he's as powerful as Mahamoti, and as tough as an Elder Dragon. Me and my older brother once listed the things he could 'fight in the Arena' and survive against.
It includes:
--Urza's crowning achievement and a millenia of genetic engineering (plus Urza himself)
--Almost every dragon in the game
--Numerous other heroe's including all of the Weatherlight, Volrath, each Paragon of the Guilds (including Rakdos), Gideon.
--Numerous Villains including Baron Sengir, Kaervek, Lim-Dul, Memnarch, Volrath, 
--Almost every god currently in the game (Mogis being the one exception).
 
In Oldschool, he can kill a Hungry (and even fed) Sengir Vampire, Serra Angel, an entire Pirate Ship, Demonic Horde, a Sea Serpent, every non-dragon in Legends, a Clockwork Beast.  In other words, he's a boss. I'm convinced he generates black mana simply because other mana is afraid of him, and he's black because he is fearless (like a certain Pirate I like).

That's an impressive list of opponents for someone who's profession is advisor. It's hilarious in many ways.

His flavortext implies him to be a political activist and rebel, neither which fits much into either colors description, but he could also be a schemer, since he is an advisor, which would fit into both color's descriptions perfectly.

He's assumable a little versed in Magic, since he can add a B mana. Yet he's a 5/7, which shows he doesn't skip gym days.

So is the flavor good? Fuck if I know, it's not even cohesive, but fuck, is it memorable.

Also that flavor text ripped right out of Ayn Rand, is certainly memorable, but not all that characteristic of black (but I see how it could fit blue).

Flavor ?/5. I'm not honestly sure how to objectively rate this one, it's a mess, but it's what I love about it.

Aisling Leprechaun: Tis be magically delicious

Happy St. Patricks day!

Protip: Run Green Ward

Did you know I'm Irish, well Irish American, it's true, but like most Americans, I'm mostly a mutt. Still, enough about me, I'm here to talk about the most Irish of Magic cards (no not famine), but Aisling Leprechaun.

Pronounced 'Ashling' Leprechaun, it's miraculously not only the only Leprechaun in Old School, but the only Leprechaun in all of M:tG. Yes, in the last 25 years, of revisits, genre stealing, a digging a hole right into the barrel, not a second Leprechaun has ever been printed, which in itself if pretty amazing. Second, the word 'Aisling' is Gaelic for 'dream' or 'vision', and as the last century, has become a female given name.

So what is a Leprechaun? Well a leprechaun in Irish folklore is a small, solitary creature of mischief who's primary occupation is shoe repair, and who hordes all the gold he makes. When this gold is opened, it's so amazing it makes a rainbow (thus the gold at the end of the rainbow). Sometime in the 19th century, the leprechaun became a tongue and cheek image of Irish caricatures, which is something it's remained ever since. In fact, in old Ireland, the leprechaun wore colors depending on what part of Ireland he came from (or sometimes just red). Naturally, are little leprechaun here wears green.


So what does this Gaelic amazement do, well what do you expect him to do, he turns things green. Every creature that encounters him gets a wee bit o' the Irish and becomes permanently Green. How does this work as an advantage, well I will get to that, because of the Holiday, I will evaluate a good away to make him effective.

Art: Hoover never disappoints, and once again he doesn't on this. Sure, it's a simple drawing, but that's part of its (lucky) charm. It actually looks better in the foreign print, with it's more considerable vibrant art, just compare to the image we have at the top.

"as I was going nowhere..."

Yeah, thats a leprechain, being sneaky and small (look at the flower right behind him). For this, the art gets a 5, but it's Quinton Hoover, you shouldn't expect anything less then a 5 for most of his work.

Playability: There are better one drops in green, even in this format, and while turning things green is neat (and flavorful), its usefulness is limited, partially due to how little interact with green in this format (the first pro-green creature came out in Mirage block). However, he does combo hilariously well with Green Ward (or Sword of Feast and Famine if you are into that thing), can be used in conjunction with COP:Green, and is a 1 drop fairy for that 95 Fairy tribal deck you don't want to build. So for his strange niche, I'll give him a 3. Sure, I might be being generous, but that's what its all about today?


Flavor: Something encounters him, and is forever a little Irish. It's flavor is it's only endearing part, but man, is that some tasty flavor. It's like a blood pudding washed down with some Guinness. It's honestly the cards best quality, and for that, another 5.


Until next time, May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows your dead!

Uncle Istvan: When is popularity worth being weird?

"My guess is that the people putting together Fourth Edition included Uncle Istvan because, “Hey, he’s Uncle Istvan! Everyone loves Uncle Istvan! Oh, man, he’s awesome!” I’ll admit to liking this card when I first saw it, too, and I know people are going to tell me how much they love(d) this weirdo, but I don’t think cards like this are great for the game"--Aaron Forsythe, Random Card Comment of the Day #23 10/27/2010

 

He's going to block for you

There you have it, Aaron Forsythe (former?) head of R&D bad mouthing Uncle Istvan, and his status as an outliner. In the full comment, he ignores design philosophies of the time ('It came out after Legends but acts like it doesn't exist'), insteading choosing to shill for newer cards or 'ones that accurately represent the game'. Actually for the sake of posterity, here is the full quote:

"I included Uncle Istvan on the Time Spiral “timeshifted” sheet because he’s so off-kilter, out of the color pie, and abnormal creatively that he’s memorable--a reminder of how odd some cards were all those years ago. The people that put him in Fourth Edition, I believe, did so because they thought he was a good, representative card that should be an ongoing part of Magic. Sheesh.

Things that are wrong with this card:

1) He’s named like a unique character but isn’t legendary. That sin is forgivable in pre-Legends sets, like with Arabian Nights’ Ali Baba and King Suleiman, but not here. The Dark came after Legends, yet pretends it doesn’t exist.
2) He’s named like a unique character but isn’t rare.
3) He’s an insane dude holding a bloody axe and he’s 1/3.
4) He’s a very black creature with a very white ability. That ability kind of made sense on Wall of Shadows in Legends, but not here.

My guess is that the people putting together Fourth Edition included Uncle Istvan because, “Hey, he’s Uncle Istvan! Everyone loves Uncle Istvan! Oh, man, he’s awesome!” I’ll admit to liking this card when I first saw it, too, and I know people are going to tell me how much they love(d) this weirdo, but I don’t think cards like this are great for the game.

People latch on to outliers because they’re outliers (see: Squirrels, Beebles). I’m okay with outliers as long as they make even a bit of sense. But ideally people’s favorite cards--the ones they talk about and show their friends--are ones that accurately represent the game, stuff like Serra Angel or Sarkhan the Mad. Now that’s a crazy dude I can get behind."

Is this a fair assessment of the card? No, it is not. Sure, the Uncle isn't legendary, but The Dark came out right after Legends, I'm almost certain this issue never even crossed anyone's minds. Instead he's something that has become all to rare in this day and get, he's memorable. Plus, as more then one person has said over the years 'he's not legendary, because everyone has that crazy uncle'.

Sure, he's only a 1/3, but going by the old assestments, 1 power was an unarmed human in peak physical condition, which means he's as strong as a human can hope to be, and a 3 toughness was that of an elephant, which meant he is no wimp. So the 1/3 is very fitting.

So what makes him memorable? Well first, he's a very well known American Horror Trope, basically the near unkillable psychopath, in the vein of Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, Mike Myers, and so forth. It makes sense, since The Dark features numerous horror references, it's no surprise that this one is one, and for a long time, he was the only card to hold this trope. If you wanted you ax weilding maniac, you had to go to him. This also explains his 'non-black' ability, to endure an almost super human amount of harm. Plus, him being unkillable by creature damage in itself is entertaining. He might have no idea what an Eldrazi is, why the pretty boy Gideon is getting involved, or the complexities of a Wurmcoil Engine, but he can block them all day. Plus, the color pie can, and should be bent occasionally, especially on examples like this.

Then you have his creature type. As printed (excluding the Time Spiral one) he's 'Summon Uncle'. Yes, Magic had some strange creature types through most of it's history (Imagecrafter use to be a lot more enjoyable). Uncle, is actually one of the more entertaining one, and I know I'm not the only one who said 'I'm going to make a family deck' (that included Sisters of the Flame and Brothers of Fire). Throw in Grandmother Sengir and viola, family reunion.dec (with Feast of the Unicorn being the sit around dinner).

Then you have the art. This one is a treat, showing a demented angry hobo, living in the woods, with bones hanging off his clothes. He has a crazy beard, and a bloody axe, and the dark fog of the woods. In reality, it's a great piece, one that still gets fan art drawing of it to this day, and Daniel Gelon even made another portrait of him for the anniversary artbook.

"Wanna stay over for dinner?"

His update in the art book

In fact, miraculously his popularity hasn't diminished over time, in fact, him being in Time Spiral managed to help it thanks to modern and Innistrad.

There are photo's of cosplayers and alters all over the Internet, which show this crazed rednecks popularity.

My favorite alter though.

 He even got a miniature through 'Heartbreaker Miniatures'

The most expensive mini in the set.

Sadly, there is almost no lore on the guy. He is mentioned in the Ice Age book by name once, and he appears as a curse in the pre-revisionist novel 'Dark Legacy', which was a (now) non-canon book based on the Dark.


Regardless, its easy to see why, despite lack luster stats, he's so popular. It's because he's more then a swingy creature, or a build around me EDH general. He's a card, with a story, with atmosphere, with humor. I hope Mr. Forscythe can read this, and realize, why he's a memorable card, even a decade after his last printed, and why people love him, because we could sure use more cards like him in this day and age.

Also, next time you bad mouth a classic, don't plug in some random recently printed card.

City in a Bottle: How will you rub it?

After Strip Mine, City in a Bottle is easily the most controversial card in 93/94. For most of it's life, it was actually extremely useless, since it only effects cards with the little scimitar in the middle on the mid right of the card.

However, a rule change for the card changed that, to call cards originally printed in Arabian Nights, and oh boy, did that change the field a lot. The rise of 93/94 also didn't hurt the cards sales, which currently sit around 100-120 USD. I traded the two I own when the price spike happened, and now that I'm involved in the format, sort of regret it (but I'll buy more I'm sure).

Now, it's no lie, City in a Bottle, in the context of this format, is extremely powerful, in fact, I'll go over each color it hits, and what cards it hits from it. Remember, in it's current oracle text, it only hurts permanents, not all cards, like how it is printed. I will also only be talking about cards that see major, or fringe play. So no Camels or merchant ships will be mentioned.

Red:

Major:
Ali from Cairo, Kird Ape, Mijae Djinn, Ydwen Efreet
Minor:
Rukh Egg, Magnetic Mountain

Green:

Major:
Drop of Honey, Erhnam Djinn, Ifh-Biff Efreet,
Minor:
Cyclone, Ghazban Ogre, Singing Tree, Wyluli Wolf

White:

Major:
Jihad, King Suleiman
Minor:
Moorish Calvary

Blue:
Major:
Flying Men, Old Man of the Sea, Serendib Djinn and Efreet, Unstable Mutation, Sindbad

Minor:
Dan-Dan

Black:
Coumbajj Witches, Guardian Beast, Juzam Djinn, Oubliette, Sorceress Queen

Minor:
Erg Raiders, Hasran Ogress, Khabal Ghoul, Stone-Throwing Devils.

Colorless:

Lands: Bazaar of Baghdad, City of Brass, Desert, Diamond Valley, Island of Wak-Wak, Library of Alexandria,. (Almost every land in the expansion).

Artifacts:
Major: Ring of Ma'Ruf, City in a Bottle (it becomes a dead draw).
Minor: Brass Man, Dancing Scimiat, Alladin's Lamp, Jandor's Saddlebags.

Just here, I've named over half the cards in the expansion. This doesn't include the occasional shower like Flying Carpet or Jandor's Ring.

In fact, that list has 43 cards, all of them noticeably powerful (some of them outright iconic in the format). Serendib Efreet and Juzam are considered the best. Erhnam literally has two decks named after him in Magic's sorid past (erhnam and burn em, Erhmaggedon respectively).

Unlike it's two cousins, City is probably the strongest hate card in the format, hitting beat down strategies, combo pieces, and control decks evenly. In reality, against the right deck, it can be outright impossible to overcome, and that is just one, imagine your running your mono black control deck when bam! Goodbye Juzam and Oubliette. Blue/Red Aggro? Bye Flying Men, Unstable Mutation and Serendib!

Like running a deck based on Garfields wedding party? Well too bad!

So we've established it's powerful, so I'm going to attempt to examine the good that comes from this card, and the bad.

The Good:
Deck Variety-City in a Bottle forces players to play a wide variety of cards in their decks, not just the best cards from the best expansion in the format.
Strong Hate- The card is an  amazingly strong hate card, that can stop a variety of tactics as mentioned above.
It's limited--Its useless against cards not originally printed in AN's. So not every deck in the format it hurt by it. 

The Bad:
It hurts budget players-This card is the reason I didn't build Mono-black aggro for the Winter Derby. I realized that it'd hurt the deck so strong I'd have no realistic way to play around it. Other cheap strategies get nerfed by this as well. Given the lax rules of cards in the States, it hurts even wider, including Chronicles Erhnam's, Revised Apes, ect.
Cheap-It's cheapness (in both relative price and in mana cost) means you always need to strategies against it, even if your opponent doesn't own it.


I'm not sure if the good outweights the bad, or vice versa, but it's in some ways a good thing the card exists, otherwise nothing would keep the format in check. I think it's a bigger issue in Swedish/European then in the states, simply due to the inclusion of FE.

So the question becomes, what do you do about the card:

Restrict it:

The idea of restricting it to one per deck has come up, which actually hurts it, because you lose consistency with the card. It's the equivelent of restricting Gloom for the mono-white match up. However, the strength of this is it keeps the card in the pool, and while a total of 78 cards are hurt by this one, it's inconsistency at one makes it a much more interesting pull, and keeps it from being over oppressive.

Banning it:

Personally, since Old School is already an extremely limited, but largely casual format, that no card should be banned, not even this one. I understand Ante cards (man did I love Rebirth though), I disagree, but can begrudgenly agree with Shahrazzad. However, banning a card due to 'power' is both abhorrent to the ideal of the formats, and the history of the game itself. Banning it, isn't the answer.

Shutting it off:

In 94, Artifacts turned off when tapped. While this solution isn't as good as it seems (it would untap and turn back on), it does make some interesting answers for it, including Phyrexian Gremlins. However, this is mostly a temporary solution. It won't fully solve the issue, but it's a solution.

Errata:

I hate Errata, I hate the Errata on Chaos Orb, I will hate if they errata Factory (and probably ignore it). Errata is never the solution.

I wish I had a consensus for the best solution. I know a recent survey said for it not to be banned, and a recent survey suggested it shouldn't be banned. Personally I feel a solution isn't necessary, and while extremely powerful, isn't that the most important thing of the format? I might not own power, but I wouldn't call for it's banning, and this is no different. I wouldn't call for the restricting of Factory because it can kill Kird Ape, nor Time Vault because it works with Twiddle, so why should this be any different?