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Have you ever wondered where those great 'new' decks come from? Or those 'killer' cards or combos? They can't just pop out of thin air, right? Well, here's where they come from: strict analysis and testing of certain cards. Many cards are killer on their own. For many of them, their uses are obvious, and even the basest player can pick up on them. Cards like Demonic Tutor, Black Vice, and Regrowth fall into this category.
But there is another category of great cards, those that aren't apparently obviousas amazingly powerful cards. They have to be tried and retried until they are discovered, and include such cards as Juzam Djinn, arguable the most powerful creature in the game, who was scorned when first released because of the upkeep of losing one life, as well as Necropotence, which for months was labelled one of the worst cards in Ice Age because, again, of loss of life only to turn into a pivotal card in a deck that would dominate Type II tournaments until Ice Age was rotated out. So you're asking, what's my point? Well, someone had to figure out that these cards were good. Very good. And that person had an edge that not everyone has. I'm going to tell you how to get some of that edge.
Basically, you need to know three things: Why do I want to do this, How do I spot these cards, and How do I use them. So, why should you care, why do you want to use these overlooked cards? You say you're happy using the same old cards you've always used, and the same old decks. Well, then be happy and play. But for those who say that tournaments are boring, that they are dominated by a few decks that all look the same, well this could be your cure. You can find a card that has been overlooked by many and make your own, new, creative, and possibly winning deck around it. For myself, that's what this game is all about. For others, they would prefer to play, at least in serious competition, with tried and true cards.
Now on to the most important, how do you spot the overlooked and powerful cards? Well, there are a few signs to look for:
- It breaks the rules: something that allows you do something that the rule book does not allow is very often a powerful card. The rule books are there for a reason, and breaking them is aspecial privilege. Fastbond was a card that was ripe for abuse, but the real spark didn't come along until Storm Cauldron was released (which, in and of itself, minority breaks rules).
- It has a unique ability: Often if a card has a one-of-a-kind ability,that means the ability is useful. As well as sometimes being powerful, these are often the most fun cards to use. The Soldevi Digger has the ability to repeatedly replace cards from your graveyard to your library. While it's hard to use effectively, when it is used effectively it works wonders. Stormbind, as well, had a relatively unique ability, and turned into one of the most powerful cards in Ice Age.
- The card has a nasty drawback: this is often the best indicator of a powerful card. After all, those drawbacks are put there for a reason, right? Some more common drawbacks are upkeeps, sacrifices of lands or creatures (Keeper of Tresserhorn, Polar Kraken, Zuran Orb), loss of life (Necropotence, Juzam Djinn), or aiding your opponent with cards, permanents, or life (Phelldagriff, Soldevi Sentry, Sibilant Spirit, Varchild's War-Riders). The fact that you have to hurt yourself to bring a card out usually means long-term value, especially if the way you hurt yourself is short term.
- The card is generally undercosted: this goes along with the previously mentioned because drawbacks equate to lower casting costs, and is easiest to spot in creatures. Just compare the card to others of similar ability, for example the Erhnam Djinn. As a 4/5 for G3 mana with a mediocre drawback, it's comparable to Durkwood Boars, G4 for a 4/4 with no drawback, Ironroot Treefolk, GG3 for 3/5 with no drawback, and Jungle Wurm, GG3 for 5/5 with a minor drawback. Obviously, we can see that at 4 mana, no matter what color, this card is undercosted. Going along with this is sometimes multiple colors in the casting cost. Many spells use 2 or 3 colors and make the casting cost lower for the reason that it's harder to use those specific colors in your deck and get them out at the right time.
- Most people don't use it: One of the worst arguments I've heard against using certain cards is that they aren't popular. This is just silly; while many times the pack mentality is useful, if someone can't give you a better reason that they dislike a card or that the card 'sucks', you might want to take a look at it.
So, you've got your great undercosted card with a huge drawback. Now, how to use it. Generally, what you have to do is look at the advantages and disadvantages of the card. These are what you base the deck around. Use cards that make up for the disadvantage; if it's loss of life, put in some life gainers (for Necropotence, which paid life to draw cards, Ivory Tower was perfect, as it gave life for excess cards), if the disadvantage is a sacrifice of creatures, make the deck rely more heavily on smaller, lower casting cost creatures. Watch out, though, if you are devoting too much deck space to supporting your card, you will probably find it counter productive.
Now, look at the advantages and capitalize on them. If it's a big creature you've got, make it bigger or find ways to get it through to your opponent. If you've got library manipulation, try to remove select cards from the library that either you don't want your opponent to have (in the case of manipulating your opponent's library) or that you don't need (in the case of manipulating your own library). This is where your deck needs to shine; you're putting the card in because it has a great ability, now capitalize on it.
So, now you have your deck with your new killer card. Test it out. As with any deck, this is most important. What does the card do? Do the support cards you put in work? (I remember hearing many people using Library of Leng with Necropotence... since you draw the cards into your hand at the end of the turn, the RV forward Libraries basically meant you couldn't ever draw again...) If something is wrong, go through the editing stages of the deck, but always watch your key power card and see how it works. You might have it pegged wrong, or perfectly right, maybe it just doesn't work the way you thought, or has an unexpected twist that lets you win all the time. But, sometimes, it just won't work no matter what, and you have to know when to give up :).
So, go grab your commons box, and look over those worthless cards again. Maybe you'll see something like Spatial Binding that breaks the rules. Or maybe you'll find Balduvian Hordes which depletes your resources. Or perhaps Force Spike which is undercosted compared to other counters. Whatever it is, try it out, and you just might find it's not that worthless after all.
Bennett V Campbell
apparatus@JUNO.COM
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