Since the world of MTGO has flamed out into a big ball of poo this week, I've decided to write just a bit about the most broken limited common enchantment in Magic since Rancor.
Shield of the Oversoul.
| Enchantment - Aura | ||
| Enchant creature As long as enchanted creature is green, it gets +1/+1 and is indestructible. (Lethal damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy it. If its toughness is 0 or less, it's still put into its owner's graveyard.) As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+1 and has flying. | ||
This is a card that will see a lot of play in MTGO. If you can't afford to buy an Armadillo Cloak for your PDC deck -- this card will do just fine, thank you very much. And at three mana, it's perfect in the curve of the deck it needs to be good in -- a small to mid-range creature agro deck.
Even on the expensive constructed side of the world of MTGO, this card can be flat annoying. Put this enchantment on a Safehold Elite, and you've got a 4/4 flyer that just shrugs off that annoying Wrath of God or Damnation. I like Steel of the Godhead (Gives a B/W creature Unblockability and Lifelink) almost as much -- but that creature is only a Terror away from being two cards in the graveyard.
Of course, for real fun -- all the new Shadowmoor color counts enchantments tend to work real swell on our old friend Transguild Courier. Sure the Courier is an uncommon, and extended-legal instead of standard ... but he's all colors all the time! Of course, if your a standard purist, you could play Scrapbasket and/or Scuttlemutt for a similar effect for a limited time.
So, here's a little cheap block/standard ditty for having some real fun with the Shield and it's friend Steel.
Lands: (22)
12 Forest
6 Plains
4 Islands
Creatures: (22)
4 Safehold Elite
4 Raven's Run Dragoon
4 Farhaven Elf
2 Medicine Bearer
2 Silkbind Faerie
2 Elvish Hexhunter
2 Barrington Cragtreads
1 Scrapbasket
1 Scuttlemutt
Spells: (16)
4 Shield of the Oversoul
4 Steel of the Godhead
3 Gleeful Sabotage
2 Æthertow
2 Consign to Dream
1 Mine Excavation
Hey, this deck won't win you a PTQ, but it should have some entertainment value. Of course, I sincerely hope the MTGO servers will let us all play long enough to get some good entertainment value as a whole -- no matter what deck you're playing at the moment.
As always, check out this week's poll. I fully expect the results to be lopsided based on this week's column -- but hey, you all out there have surprised me a few times already.
Take care out there, and may all your pixels be perfect in game!
Later,
Don!
5 comments:
IMO Shield is a distant 3rd. I voted for Ruins due to it being insane. I think Steel is number two. I voted for Ruins for two reasons, #1 its the best in sealed (things are less clear in draft) and #2 its really easy to swing for 10 with it, and more is not out of the question.
Tim,
Having been on the receiving end of a Ruins-fueled beatdown -- I can definitely see your point.
For me, it's more of a Timmy thing I guess, seeing all that Flying and Indestructible-ness just makes me all happy inside.
However, for actually trying to win a game -- gasp -- Ruin's double strike and trample is likely a better choice. Seeing as it's the highest costed of the 'color counts' enchantments -- the R&D folks likely agreed with you as well. And in limited, 5 is not that much to pay for such a bomb.
Later,
Don!
A play that made me feel all dirty inside: casting Ruins of the Deus on a Deus. My opponent scooped before I could deal 16 to him.
Shield has been very good in PDC block, but has seen little play outside of it. There isn't that much support for G/W creatures (Safehold Elite is great, after that it starts getting a little iffy), and of course playing a positive creature enchantment is tricky in the best conditions. I keep expecting it in monogreen or g/x midrange, but...well, that deck doesn't exist.
So when are you coming back out to a PDC tournament? We have them every night, you know.
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