Flicker Golems

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

Since the Avacyn Restored spoilers 'n' previews were delivered, we here at MTG Realm have had a fascination for the new 'flicker' mechanic.  Flickering is the nickname for exiling a permanent, then returning it to the battlefield.  Of course when you do this, the permanent is treated as a new card that just entered the battlefield and comes along with any 'enter the battlefield' effects.  This mechanic appears on several Avacyn Restored white and blue cards, including an artifact.  Cards in the Avacyn Restored set which is blessed with this mechanic are Cloudshift, Conjurer's Closet, Deadeye Navigator, Ghostly Flicker, Nephalia Smuggler, and Restoration Angel.

Flicker is not a new tech at all.  We've seen it on Turn to Mist and Mistmeadow Witch from Shadowmoor and the very popular Momentary Blink from Time Spiral.  This mechanic is very useful for Magic the Gathering players as it will remove all counters (negative, positve, as well as 'charge' counters) including auras (good or bad like Unholy Strength or Dead Weight).  It will also be good when used in response to a removal spell or ability, leaving no legal target for said spell.  When used on a token however, it is just plain gone.

We are rather interested in using (abusing?) this mechanic for a standard format build to take to Friday Night Magic gaming.  At first, we were thinking about using some shenanigans using Cloudshift and Fiend Hunter.  If you've not seen this in action, then you are in for a bit of a treat.  You play your Fiend Hunter and in response to the creature exile going on the stack, you play Cloushift while this exile ability is on the stack.  The Cloudshift resolves and 'flickers' the Fiend Hunter and upon returning, that creature the Hunter exiled is now permanently exiled and the Hunter is now available to exile a new creature.  Please don't ask us to explain as we are not judges - just casual players but it has to do with objects changing game zones.

Ayywhoos - we wanted something a bit more blunt with this flicker tech.  Specifically, we were looking for any slick 'enters the battlefield' ability which produced additional creatures or enhanced threats on the gametable.  Our first attempt used a bit of mana acceleration to get those nifty Splicer Golems (Blade Splicer, Winger Spicer, etc.) out early and then flicker them for another cheap golem token.  Built into this was a pair of Stonehorn Dignitary to cancel out an opponent's combat step as well as a Shape Anew strategy to cheat out a Blightsteel Colossus.  We did take this for a spin at our local game store, OMG! Games for FNM last week and it failed pretty miserably. 

We hit the drawing board again and this time removed the Shape Anew / Blightsteel component to make room for more flicker / splicer fun.  Here's what we came up with . . .

4x Birds of Paradise
4x Abundant Growth
3x Ponder
4x Tempered Steel
4x Blade Splicer
4x Wing Splicer
4x Vital Splicer
3x Vital Splicer
4x Cloudshift
4x Ghostly Flicker

Our very limited playtesting at the kitchen table has been very encouraging and we can see ourselves taking this build to the next level and improving / tweaking it over the next few weeks.  Currently there is NO sideboard developed.  What do you think ? What should stay / what should be replaced ?
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Flicker Soulbond

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

As is is Friday, head on over to your local games store to take in the Friday Night Magic event.  Unfortunately, we can't get out tonight to our local gamery HQ, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario but plan to make up for it with several games over the course of the weekend.  Anywhoos - Today we're just doing some catch-up and looking back on some Avacyn Restored items of interest we brushed over too briefly.

In Avacyn Restored, we can flicker soulbond creatures to renew bonds or create new ones altogether. The interaction between these two set themes is going to create a lot of exciting Limited matches.  When you "flicker" a permanent, it's treated as a new card that just entered the battlefield. This can do a lot of interesting things for you.

• Any counters that it had on it, such as +1/+1 counters from undying, will go away (unless the permanent ordinarily enters the battlefield with counters on it, like Djinn of Wishes does).
   
• Any Auras enchanting the permanent will be put into their owners' graveyards, and any Equipment attached to a creature that gets flickered will "fall off." This can be useful if one of your creatures is enchanted with something nasty like Pacifism.
   
• If you're able to flicker something as an instant—like Cloudshift does—then any other spells that were targeting that permanent will be countered on resolution. If it's a creature, it will also be removed from combat. Any creatures it was blocking are still blocked, but it won't deal or receive combat damage, and it's no longer an attacking or blocking creature.
   
• Any "enters the battlefield" abilities it has, as well as any other abilities that trigger when a creature enters the battlefield, will trigger. This includes soulbond abilities—both its own and others—so you can use Cloudshift to suddenly switch up your soulbond pairings, even in the middle of combat!

The Avacyn Restored cards spoiled / previewed so far . . .

FLICKER
White : Cloudshift, Restoration Angel
Blue : Ghostly Flicker, Nephalia Smuggler
Artifact : Conjuring Cabinet

SOULBOND
White : Silverblade Paladin
Blue : Stern Mentor, Tandem Lookout, Wingcrafter
Red : Lightning Mauler, Stonewright
Green : Geistcatchers, Guardian of the Cursed Grave, Nightshade Peddler, Trailblazer Wurm, Trusty Forcemage, Wolfir Silverheart

Now - some random comments which we thought were worth noting . . .

Telastyn : Soulbound itself is best abused by instant speed bounce or flash effects. Having the paladin under a mimic vat quickly makes all combat in your favor for example.

mindequalsblown : Souldbound is an ability that relies on you having two creatures resolved and intact for a while to benefit.

Arcaia : personally I would go Boros with Lightning Mauler and Paladin. Swinging for 8 turn 3 sounds like a good idea to me.
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