Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Yawgmoth's Agenda - YMTC: Once You Go Black...
Greetings to my Phyrexian brethren! In my last opinionated Yawgmoth's Agenda, I discussed reasons why we should vote for Enchantment in the You Make A Card contest.
Now that we have coerced you into enchantment, let me make a case for it to be Black.
Few players now remember the Summer of 96, aka Black Summer, when Necropotence was dominating Standard. It even had a second run in another powerful deck, the Extended Trix deck that eventually got the card banned.This enchantment trades life for other resources, in this case cards. This is a theme that we will see again in Black. Even today, this card is still one of the most iconic Black cards ever printed.
Oath of Ghouls wasn't as powerful as another card in the cycle (Oath of Druids) but it still saw both Standard and Extended tournament play from since its printing in May 1998.The ability to 'Raise Dead' a creature for free didn't seem all that powerful but the deck also used another enchantment 'Survival of the Fittest' to get creatures of your choice out of your deck and into your hand. This assembled a recursion engine that could lock a player out of a game before winning the game.
A similar enchantment was printed in Onslaught but required you to have four or more creatures in the graveyard to trigger its ability.
Yawgmoth's Bargain, twice the converted mana cost as Necropotence, had a more profound effect on the game than R&D had originally thought it would.It is today considered the most broken Black enchantment ever printed as it is banned in every format it is legal in.
The card Phyrexian Arena, for which this blog is named after, was printed in Apocalypse and has seen regular tournament play in every format for it was legal in for many years.It is the more balanced attempt at Necro or Yawgmoth's Bargain that actually got the power level right.
Bitterblossom was the cog in the Faeries engine that dominated the Standard environment and the Extended environment that it was eventually banned in the Modern format.Here again is another use of life for resources effect.
Grave Pact has been played in environments from Standard to Extended to Commander since its printing in Stronghold expansion in 1998.
With a card like Lingering Souls, the value this card grows. I'm surprised that no one has found a way to abuse this in the now slower Modern environment.
Diabolic Servitude and other such enchantments which recur creatures from the graveyard (like Animated Dead, Recurring Nightmare, Strands of Night, Necromancy, and Dance of the Dead) have all seen tournament play in multiple formats as players love to put a fattie into play from the graveyard for less mana.I've reanimated everything from Spirit of the Night, Sliver Queen, and Verdant Force to Elesh Norn, Iona, and Griselbrand. The idea of reanimation touches our inner Timmy and our Spike.
Last year players were playing in a Standard format that used X/1 creatures and token producers with cards like Lingering Souls and Moorland Haunt. Curse of Death's Hold acts as a one sided Engineered Plague against all of your opponents creatures.
Dredge would not be the full powerhouse that it is without this card. Dread Return and Bridge from Below combined for a one-two punch that allows you to kill your opponent from super high life totals. That is why if you don't pack enough hate cards in Legacy to deal with Dredge, you will end up losing to the deck.This enchantment has a unique effect, one that creatures a 2/2 Zombie for each copy of Bridge from Below is in your graveyard when one of your creatures dies.
There is a reason Dread Return is banned in Modern but surprisingly Bridge from Below is not. I have a feeling that you will see more of this card at some point in Modern.
Some players might not think of Zombie Infestation as a power black enchantment, but I can assure you that at one time (2002) it was among the most powerful effects in Standard. Pay 8 mana (5UUB), cast Upheavel (4UU), resolve it, cast Zombie Infestation (1B), make a bunch of 2/2 zombies and your dead in two swings.
Pun intended.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote Black on April 2nd.
Bradley Reeves
@YawgmothsWill
Infecting Magic One Grinder At A Time
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