Building an Izzet Otter Typal deck for Arena S01

October 5, 2024October 5, 2024 / Jerome / Leave a comment

When Bloomburrow previews began, I got excited about building some kind of mustelid typal deck. To save you a click back to the original article, mustelids are a family of small carnivorous mammals. It includes weasels, otters, badgers. minks and the fearsome wolverines.

I realized that I have not shared any mustelid decks since then. I’ll remedy that today.

A quick search reveals that there are 22 mustelid cards in Standard. Not much has changed since my last article with these being mostly otters with a sprinkle of badgers and weasels. The entire colour wheel is represented but most cards fall in Blue and Red. So no big surprise, I built on my original idea, an Izzet Otter Prowess deck. It’s gone through a few iterations and this is what the current deck looks like:

Deck

3 Seize the Secrets (OTJ) 64
3 Bria, Riptide Rogue (BLB) 379
1 Tempest Angler (BLB) 235
4 Stormcatch Mentor (BLB) 234
2 Ral, Crackling Wit (BLB) 230
4 Coruscation Mage (BLB) 131
3 Stormchaser’s Talent (BLB) 75
2 Pearl of Wisdom (BLB) 64
3 Valley Floodcaller (BLB) 79
3 Shore Up (DMU) 64
3 Stasis Field (MOM) 79
2 Into the Flood Maw (BLB) 52
2 Long River’s Pull (BLB) 58
2 Demonic Ruckus (OTJ) 120
10 Island (THB) 251
1 Lilypad Village (BLB) 255
6 Mountain (THB) 253
1 Restless Spire (WOE) 260
2 Spirebluff Canal (OTJ) 270
3 Swiftwater Cliffs (NEO) 277

Sideboard

2 Kitsa, Otterball Elite (BLB) 54
2 Stormsplitter (BLB) 154
3 Meeting of Minds (MOM) 66
2 Freeze in Place (WOE) 50

Now, the big question: How does it play? Let’s start by saying that this is far from a Tier 1 or Tier 2 deck. As it stands today, it has only won 35% of the time with an 18-33 record. The deck can be quite explosive but can also be frustrating when you either don’t get your creatures onto the battlefield or they don’t last long enough for Prowess to kick in.

There are a couple of potential improvements:

Make the deck more aggressive by dropping the Stasis Fields in favour of Monstrous Age
Drop Bria, Riptide Rogue in favour of a couple of creatures (Elusive Otter perhaps) and a couple of spells
Cut a land more and add an additional spell

As for next steps, I’m going to play with the recommendations above and add this deck to my deck portfolio here on the site where I can easily update it as I make changes.

If you’re playing an Izzet Otter deck, drop me a note below and let me know what has worked for you.

Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Typal in Bloomburrow

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 / Jerome / Leave a comment

Who knew that cute little animals could soon become one of my favourite Magic sets? Not only does the set look like it will allow me to build a mustelids deck but it looks at first glance like a great set for Clerics as well. After the disappointment of Outlaws of Thunder Junction (at least as far as Clerics go), this latest set looks to set everything right in the Magic universe once more. Let’s take a closer look!

There are a total of 10 Clerics in Bloomburrow and 13 when you include the Commander sets. And best of all for our Orzhov deck, all of them are in the appropriate colours! Perfect timing considering that the current version of the deck will lose a few staples with set rotation kicking in.

Here is my Orzhov Cleric Typal deck, unchanged in a while. I’ve crossed out the cards that are rotating out:

~~3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107~~
2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
~~2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42~~
3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
~~2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44~~
~~4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27~~
2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
~~2 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241~~
2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
2 Sanguine Savior (MKM) 230
3 Preacher of the Schism (LCI) 113
2 Roaming Throne (LCI) 258
2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2
8 Plains (THB) 250
6 Swamp (THB) 252
~~2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274~~
~~3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264~~
~~1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278~~
~~2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268~~
2 Cavern of Souls (LCI) 269

Sideboard:

~~2 Farewell (NEO) 13~~
2 Cut Down (DMU) 89
2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
~~1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44~~
~~1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20~~
2 Skrelv, Defector Mite (ONE) 33
~~2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18~~
2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97

21 cards of the main deck are rotating out! That will leave some big holes to fill. What can we do? There are a few things:

Swap out the 3 Voice of the Blessed for 3 Essence Channelers.
Swap 2 Markov Purifiers for 2 Moonrise Clerics.
The Lunarch Aspirants are a bit trickier to replace. Let’s try 4 Starscape Clerics and see how it goes.
A less than ideal swap is Go for Throat for Infernal Grasp.
Shattered Sanctum will be replaced by Concealed Courtyards with an expected loss of some deck speed.
I have a good feeling about Three Tree City. I’ll start with 3 of them and see if my gut is right on this card.
Forlorn Flats for Scoured Barrens
Losing the Takenuma and Eiganjo lands will be felt. Both were very useful lands. I’ll add a Swamp for now for Takenuma, Abandoned Mire.
There might be room for a Fabled Passage or two as well.
As for the sideboard, I will just cut the rotating cards and play a few games to see what adjustments will be required.

Here is the new deck:

3 Go for the Throat (BRO) 102
2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
2 Valorous Stance (OTC) 88
3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
2 Essence Channelers (BLB)
4 Starscape Cleric (BLB)
2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
2 Moonrise Clerics (BLB)
2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
2 Sanguine Savior (MKM) 230
3 Preacher of the Schism (LCI) 113
2 Roaming Throne (LCI) 258
2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2
8 Plains (THB) 250
7 Swamp (THB) 252
2 Forlorn Flats (OTC) 258
3 Three Tree City (BLB) 264
2 Fabled Passage (BLB) 252
2 Cavern of Souls (LCI) 269

Sideboard:

2 Cut Down (DMU) 89
2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
1 Essence Channeler (BLB)
2 Skrelv, Defector Mite (ONE) 33
2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97

Now to put the deck through its paces and see how it fares!

Value Boosters: Another Booster Type is born

July 13, 2024July 14, 2024 / Jerome / Leave a comment

Previews kicked off in earnest earlier this week for the upcoming Bloomburrow set. Better yet, the first hints of Magic’s first Mustelid typal deck came to light. But not all was good news; Wizards also introduced Value Boosters in a relatively terse announcement. Billed as “smaller, lighter booster that contain a handful of new cards any fan can enjoy,” they come with seven cards and presumably (but not confirmed yet) a lower price.

It was less than a year ago that Wizards announced that it was doing away with both Set and the venerable Draft boosters in favour of a single Play booster meant to offer the best of both worlds. Part of the reason for the decision was to eliminate the confusion between the two types of boosters. According to Mark Rosewater, offering two caused friction and upset players when they felt that they got the “wrong kind” of booster. He specifically excluded the much more expensive Collector Booster from the discussion because “players who buy Collector Boosters enjoy them.” We were left with one booster type geared more at play and another at collecting.

Not long after, Wizards decided to bring back booster confusion when it unveiled March of the Machine: Aftermath and its five card Epilogue Boosters. The set did not sell well (for a number of reasons) and the company quickly killed its latest booster type, rolling up a planned second set into Outlaws of Thunder Junction as The Big Score bonus cards. But it was not done with its experimenting. Earlier this month, it released the Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed set with new Beyond boosters. These feature seven cards, three Uncommons, one Land or Scene card, one Rare or Mythic, and a “Booster Fun” card. A pack sells for just under CA$8 at LGS around me.

And now, here come Value Boosters. So what do you get in one of these? It will contain 3 Commons, 2 Uncommons, 1 Wildcard of any rarity, and 1 card that may be a land, a traditional foil, or a Special Guests card. Seven cards and no guarantee that you will even find a rare card. Is that value? They will presumably sell for less than Beyond boosters but I’ll let you decide for yourself if they’re for you.

Value Boosters will launch alongside the upcoming Bloomburrow set at “select retailers.” No details have yet been provided as to who these retailers will be and what the price of a pack will be.

It remains to be seen who is the audience for Value Boosters. Maybe they will end up at big box stores alongside other TCGs such as Pokemon. My guess is that this is a way to offer a lower cost alternative to other boosters as prices continue to tick up (inflation and the lack of MSRP to help regulate). One thing is for sure, I cannot see any collectors picking them up. And a second thing, I have no plans to pick any of these packs up.

Hopefully the booster experiments will come to an end soon.

Unleashing the Power of Mustelids in Bloomburrow: Card Analysis and Potential Deck Strategies

July 11, 2024 / Jerome / Leave a comment

Many, many years ago, I graduated from university with a Zoology degree. Among my favourite animals are mustelids. For those who are not familiar with this term, it is a family of small carnivorous mammals. It includes weasels, otters, badgers. minks and the fearsome wolverines. Thanks for the lesson, you say, but what does this have to do with Magic, you then ask? Good question, until Bloomburrow previews started, it meant little. But that looks to be about to change.

Previews have just started but we have already seen 11 cards that are related to mustelids. More than half are otters and they are nearly all Wizards. The other creatures are a weasel and a mean-looking badger.

Is there enough to build a deck centered around mustelids? At this point, I’m going to say no unless you ready to go straight into jank territory. Or is there?

These eight creature cards are supported by three additional cards that have good synergy. First up is a sorcery spell, Pearl of Wisdom, that will draw us some cards. Perhaps more interesting is Ral, Crackling Wit. Yes, the Planeswalker from Ravnica appears to have landed in Bloomburrow as an otter.

Finally, the new land Three Tree City, is definitely an auto-include in any typal deck. Unfortunately, its effectiveness is blunted by the fact that the creatures above are not of a single type. Why did Wizards not go as far as assign all of them the mustelid type? I expect we will never know the answer to this question. Three Tree City will still help with Otters but the fact that it’s legendary will prevent using a second to name a second creature type in the same deck.

Looking through these cards, an Izzet build might be possible. Eight cards fit into the deck and could work well enough together to put up a fun deck if nothing else. And let’s not forget that previews are not over yet.

The synergy across these cards lies with Prowess and casting noncreature spells. Ral, Crackling Wit creates counters with Prowess and gains a loyalty counter. Bria, Riptide Rogue and Stormcatch Mentor both have Prowess. And for those creatures that don’t, Bria kindly shares her ability with them. Tempest Angler and Coruscation Mage both also have abilities that trigger when a noncreature spell is cast. Alania, Divergent Storm, also fits into the deck but the random effect can give you a nice upside just as easily as give you nothing or worse give your opponent a card with nothing in return.

Pearl of Wisdom will help keep your hand full of cards, hopefully many being noncreature spells. And given that most of these are Otters, the deck will certainly have a Three Tree City or two in it as well.

Lastly, there are a couple of Otters in the Wilds of Eldraine set. Both could be worthy additions to the deck as well. For the record, there are two other older mustelid cards that will be Standard legal after the release of Bloomburrow but they are both Green. Maybe a Temur build is the way to go, especially as it also allows us to add Hugs, Grisly Guardian, a fearsome looking badger.

Other colour combinations do not appear to have the same number of supporting cards. At this point at least, it looks like the Mustelid typal deck will need to be Izzet or Temur with little other choice otherwise.

I’ll keep an eye on further previews to see how much closer we can get to a functional and hopefully half decent Mustelid deck.

Family Magic

A Canadian family playing Magic: The Gathering and other games (and not all are TCGs)

Bloomburrow

Building an Izzet Otter Typal deck for Arena S01

Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Typal in Bloomburrow

Value Boosters: Another Booster Type is born

Unleashing the Power of Mustelids in Bloomburrow: Card Analysis and Potential Deck Strategies