Innistrad Block Swaps

Over a year is a new record for lack of updating. Magic is no longer my primary hobby, as I spend nearly every tournament working the front counter at the card shop or judging the event. I've since found other ways to entertain myself - I play a lot of Warhammer 40k, board games, comics, and spend time with my fiancé. 

But that makes it sound so much sadder than it is! I still love Magic even though I don't play very much, and I think there are a lot more people out there like that. I still play in every prerelease and I get in Commander games when I can, but without the weekly 5-round to play in, it's hard to obsess. Still, Oros is always close to my heart, and even in the break I've made some more tweaks. Gatecrash has gotten me very excited with some awesome new cards for Boros and Orzhov, and we are going to see the largest card swap in the deck in years! So here I am again, giving you an update on the deck. Hope you enjoy the read and pick up a bit of my own experience in the format - I'm by no means an expert, but I do think everyone's got something to add to your own worldview, no matter their experience level. So enough philosophy - let's find out what's shaking up Oros these days!

Increasing Ambition replaces Demonic Collusion

Dark Ascension brought us a card which performs similarly to Demonic Collusion, but is, on average, more efficient. Five mana for the first tutor (and even less color intensive) is on par, but getting two more tutors for 2 less mana and FOUR fewer cards is quite a bit more effective. You lose the flexibility of just getting a single extra tutor for 3BB, but gain the ability to cast the card still if it gets milled or discarded.

Magic 2013's Diabolic Revelation is another card I picked up which is going to sit in my new "sideline" binder in case something ever causes me to want to play it over Increasing Ambition. It can be a very powerful tutor in long-game formats like Commander, but costs more upfront and cannot be casted over multiple turns like the others. That said, being able to topdeck this in the super-late game and give yourself a 7 card godhand seems pretty nice.

Slayers' Stronghold replaces Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep

Lands can be very hard to switch around in a tightly developed deck like this, and I was not excited to break up my Kamigawa legendary land cycle. But Red is (unfortunately!) the least represented color in the deck, so having the mana isn't as important as it is for black or white, and Shinka is, frankly, weak. Shizo's swampwalk can go a long way to helping you finish a game against a lot of decks, and Eiganjo Castle's damage prevention can save your legendaries when they are threatened by damage sweepers or act as a toughness boost in combat. Shinka, on the other hand, merely gives you a combat trick that may deter blockers, but still gives your opponent the choice to block or not, in which case they will always choose what is least harmful to them.

To its detraction, Slayers' Stronghold doesn't provide any colors. However, it makes up for it by not being legendary and doing a LOT for its mana investment. +2/+0 changes the Commander -damage clock in this deck from 4 turns to 3. Haste is a powerful ability in a format full of players and, consequently, sweepers and removal, in which a creature often doesn't last until your next turn. And Vigilance is also quite strong in multiplayer formats, letting you play both offense and defense and keep the game going. Slayers' Stronghold is a perfect card for a deck like this which relies on early game control and late game beaters, making each of the relatively few creatures in the deck that much faster and stronger.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight replaces Felidar Sovereign

Felidar, I do love you. You are fun . You gain me life. ONE TIME, you won me the game. I appreciated that. However, as I always tell people, constantly trying to tweak a deck means every game is an audition - each card in your deck has a chance to take the spotlight and prove to you why it deserves a slot in the tight 100 cards. Unfortunately for you, Felidar Soveriegn, you are slow, threatening, don't have any triggers for entering, leaving, or dying, and do nothing to protect yourself. Most of your auditions have been duds. I will always remember that one game you helped me win, but for now you will sit in the sidelines.

Taking Felidar's place is a very powerful Angel. She protects everything you control and doubles all of your clocks. She's nearly impossible to block successfully, dishing out 10 damage in the first strike step and requiring at least 10 power to kill. She halves the Commander-damage clock as soon as you cast her. With a Slayer's Stronghold, a Sunforger, and Gisela, Oros can do what he's never done before and one-shot players in combat.  That's a perfect situation, but Gisela still shines as your only creature. Masses of 1/1 tokens can't touch you anymore. Blightsteel Colossus can no longer ace you in a single hit. She makes you a huge target - but actually protects you at the same time. She needs some more audition time, but I have high hopes for this gal.

Terminus replaces Radiate

Speaking of auditions, aside from that one time I Radiated and Oblation (not sure anyone had fun after that, but at least it's a good story?), Radiate has simply sat around in my hand and made me play poorly by keeping mana open instead of doing things on my turn. Radiate has everything going for it in its defense - it's a red card, it's an old frame foil, and it's a fun card to cast - but it simply plays too poorly 90% of the time.

There's not too much that needs to be said for Terminus. I would have put it in the deck if it didn't have Miracle. Fortunately, it does, so its card frame is awesome and there are games where the topdeck is just mean. It's a board sweeper and a tuck effect that looks cool and can be a blowout - pretty much an auto-include in this deck!

In the near future, I'll talk about what cards were close to the cut and why they aren't in, and after that we'll see an interesting M13 addition, a Dragon who was recently released from his prison of Azka-Ban, and an iconic red spell that should have been in long ago. Finally, in a couple weeks we'll see what goodies await in Gatecrash! Stay tuned, guys and gals!