Author: carteblanchehobbies

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Gatecrash Preview: Debtor’s Pulpit

debtorspulpit

Master Decoy is hiding in the background somewhere

Wait, what’s a pulpit? Let’s broaden our vocabulary:

noun

1.

a platform or raised structure in a church, from which the sermon is delivered or the service is conducted.
Ah! interesting. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s examine the card itself. It’s an enchant land which means your opponent can 2 for 1 you, but the land destruction is, well … limited. It might be a good card if an enchantress style deck comes into light. Combined with Sphere of Safety, you can really bog down your opponent.
sphere of safety
Always keep the safety on
In limited, it’s a really safe tapper that will keep one of your mana tied down but control their biggest threat every turn. You can also just use it to tap down a big blocker to get your other guys through.
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Gatecrash Preview: Deathpact Angel

deathpactangel

 

Two removal spells will be required for this one

And let’s not forget the cute little token it produces:

cleric token

Pretty hard to crack this in a pack

Pretty cute card overall. You can do fancy things like combine it with Illusionist’s Bracers to get another Angel in play if there are more than one in your graveyard. It’s still a 5/5 flying for six mana and doesn’t ‘die’ to cards like Ultimate Price . It can be negated by other cute tricks like Lazav, Dimir Mastermind but it remains pretty efficient overall.

It’s nice to see they didn’t print another ‘enters the battlefield’ angel as they were becoming a tad numerous. Either way, none of them could be ‘blinked’ with Restoration Angel. The scythe is a pretty nice touch to the card’s artwork. I can see this being played in an Esper control deck for those that would rather play it over Obzedat, Ghost Council. Plus, it’s non-legendary and you can afford to spam them out. Unless of course, your opponent is playing Wrath effects and Snapcaster Mages.In which case, you probably want to just rop one at a time.

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Gatecrash Preview: Deathcult Rogue

deathcultrogue

 

Other rogues? Cant be much of those

Don’t be mistaken, this is not that unblockable. Almost, but not quite…

Let’s see the other Gatecrash Rogues:

Bane Alley Broker

Deathcult Rogue

Keymaster Rogue

Ogre Slumlord

Shadow Alley Denizen

Syndicate Enforcer

Undercity Informer

Of course they are mostly/totally blue or black creatures. Dimir is the lowest ranked limited guild, but this guy is one of its better cards. If you do end up in Blue/Black, don’t hesitate to shove as many of these guys in your deck so you can Cipher spells onto them.

In a low budget Dimir casual deck, be sure to try it out with a few of your spare commons. You can make a quick little deck and teach new players a few things here and there.

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Gatecrash Preview: Death’s Approach

deathsapproach (1)

 

Oh noes! Mill Death

At the cost of 1 mana, this might see play in the more casual mill decks. It is still reliant on the fact that your opponents will play creatures. In limited, it is definitely a decent spot removal.

That’s about it, they can’t all be novels.

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Gatecrash Preview: Daring Skyjek

daringskyjekAggressively costed? You think?

If, like myself, you were around Time Spiral block then you remember the following creature:

blade of the sixth pride

Me- Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! 

This vanilla 3/1 for 2 mana might not seem like much but it was a first. It’s almost like now where they are making 3/3’s for 3 mana with bonuses all over the place. It’s become a very aggressive place, this Magic: the Gathering universe!

So now we have a similar card with better creature types and a decent upside. Nice! is it going to make the cut in weenie decks? Perhaps… I would consider it for sure. In a random Boros deck example you can curve out with it.

Turn 1 

boros elite

Turn 2

daringskyjek

Turn 3

skyknight

Huzzaaaaah!!!

You’re attacking for 8 damage here (with potentially 1 damage on your turn 2). It’s nothing to sneeze at. From a limited standpoint, it’s the nuts! Constructed-wise your opponent ‘can’ come back from that, it’s just not a certainty. If you follow up with a Boros Charm (either for the 4 burn or double strike a flier), you have dealt 20 damage!

keanu-reeves-whoa

That’s right Keanu!

So don’t just pass this card off as a random aggro dork, he can and will surprise you. (I meant the Skyjek, not Keanu)

 

 

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Gatecrash Preview: Crowned Ceratok

crownedceratokTrample your Evolve guys, Rhino Style!

A great beefy creature in both limited and low budget constructed, the Ceratok can provide a nice late game push to your team of beefy trampleless creatures. The quote is a bit funny too.

It can combo well with older casual Ally decks from Zendikar block or Spikes from Tempest block if you just need a low cost finisher for those kinds of decks. In limited I would for sure put him in any of the green-based decks as his stats and random benefit + built-in trample make him playable.

 

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Gatecrash Preview: Crocanura

crocanura

Giant Spider is back! with a growing vengeance!

It’s quite apparent this will be mostly relegated to Limited play. It’s a more aggressively costed Giant Spider(aka. the Core Set sole -Surviror)

 

giant spider survivor

 

He sadly never saw M13

It turns into a Giant Spider if you drop a 2-power or greater creature and just has the potential do block bigger and better creatures with flying after that.

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Gatecrash Preview: Crackling Perimeter

cracklingperimeterGuildgates Assemble!

I don’t care to analyse the Standard possibilities for this card, just that it must be a blast to play with in a Casual deck. Play it with green for Gatecreeper Vine and maybe Urban Evolution for lots of laughs. Pinging your opponent has never been so ‘odd’.

gatecreeper vince

“Yay! I found a home!”

I suppose if you really want to stretch it in Standard it can ping away a few planeswalkers, eventually. But don’t hold your breath.

 

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Gatecrash Preview: Corpse Blockade

corpseblockadeZombies blocking your way? Sucks to be you!

The quote is kinda funny. Another sacrifice outlet, but more for limited. A great way to hinder Boros decks and force them to play a removal on this wall or waste one of their guys on it. It can also allow you to make use of a creature that is already on its way to the graveyard by giving this deathtouch and daring your opponent to expend a creature.