Happy Thursday MTG peeps,
To those Magic: the Gathering players planning on attending one or more Gatecrash PreRelease events this weekend, this post to the MTG Realm blog is for you. For the Gatecrash Prerelease, you will be able to choose from five Guild Prerelease Packs. The options (while supplies last) are Orzhov, Dimir, Gruul, Boros, and Simic. Each Guild Prerelease Pack contains five Gatecrash booster packs, a guild-specific booster pack, a special alternate-art prerelease card unique to each guild (which you will be able to use in your deck), an achievement card, a Spindown life counter, a guild symbol sticker, and a letter from the guild's leader.
Well, that was the easy part. The next step is to select from your pool, cards which will support your strategy and hopefully win you games. One aspect which had been important in limited deckbuilding is not only including spells which will create threats game table threats to your opponent but also including a number of cards which may remove your opponent's threats or provide you with possible combat stage tricks to move damage past a potential blocker onto your opponent. Reddit user toolofthedevil provided a pretty comprehensive list of removal and combat tricks which should be reviewed to ensure you get the most value out of your pool.
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Removal
C Angelic Edict 4W Sorcery; Exile target creature or enchantment.
C Smite W Instant; Destroy target blocked creature.
Combat Tricks
C Aerial Maneuver 1W Instant; Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains flying and first strike until end of turn.
C Shielded Passage W Instant; Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn.
Blue
Removal
U Agoraphobia 1U Aura; Enchanted creature gets -5/-0. 2U: Return Agoraphobia to its owner’s hand.
U Rapid Hybridization U Instant; Destroy target creature. It can’t be regenerated. That creature’s controller puts a 3/3 green Frog Lizard creature token onto the battlefield.
Combat Tricks
U Ætherize 3U Instant; Return all attacking creatures to their owners’ hands.
U Gridlock XU Instant; Tap X target nonland permanents.
C Totally Lost 4U Instant; Put target nonland permanent on top of its owner’s library.
BlackRemoval
C Death’s Approach B Aura; Enchanted Creature gets -X/-X, where X is the number of creature cards in it’s controller’s graveyard.
C Devour Flesh 1B Instant; Target player sacrifices a creature, then gains life equal to that creature’s toughness.
C Grisly Spectacle 2BB Instant; Destroy target nonartifact creature. Its controller puts a number of cards equal to that creature’s power from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
U Killing Glare XB Instant; Destroy target creature with power X or less.
Combat Tricks
None
Red
Removal
U Homing Lightning 2RR Instant; Homing Lightning deals 4 damage to target creature and to each other creature with the same name as that creature.
C Massive Raid 1RR Instant; Massive Raid deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of creatures you control.
C Mugging R Sorcery; Mugging deals 2 damage to target creature. That creature can’t block this turn.
Combat Tricks
C Furious Resistance R Instant; Target blocking creature gets +3/+0 and gains first strike until end a turn.
C Scorchwalker – Bloodrush 1RR +5/+1
C Skinbrand Goblin – Bloodrush R +2/+1
U Viashino Shanktail – Bloodrush 2R +3/+1 and First Strike.
R Wrecking Ogre – Bloodrush 3RR +3/+3 and Double Strike
GreenRemoval
None
Combat Tricks
C Burst of Strength G Instant; Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and untap it.
U Hindervines 2G Instant; Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by creatures with no +1/+1 counters.
C Scab-Clan Charger – Bloodrush 1G +2/+4
R Skarrg Goliath – Bloodrush 5GG +9/+9 and Trample
C Slaughterhorn – Bloodrush G +3/+2
U Tower Defense 1G Instant; Creatures you control get +0/+5 and gain reach until end of turn.
U Wasteland Viper – Bloodrush G +1/+2 and Deathtouch
Orzhov
Removal
C Executioner’s Swing WB Instant; Target creature that dealt damage this turn gets -5/-5 until end of turn.
R Merciless Eviction 4WB Sorcery; Choose one – Exile all artifacts; or exile all creatures; or exile all enchantments; or exile all planeswalkers.
U One Thousand Lashes 2WB Aura; Enchanted creature can’t attack or block, and its activated abilities can’t be activated. At the beginning of the upkeep of enchanted creature’s controller, that player loses 1 life.
U Orzhov Charm WB Instant; Choose one — Return target creature you control and all Auras you control attached to it to their owners’ hands; or destroy target creature and you lose life equal to that creature’s toughness; or return target creature card with converted mana cost 1 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Combat Tricks
None
DimirRemoval
U Dimir Charm UB Instant; Choose one — Counter target sorcery spell; or destroy target creature with power 2 or less; or look at the top three cards of target player’s library, then put one back and the rest into that player’s graveyard.
R Soul Ransom 2UB Aura; You control enchanted creature. Discard two cards: Soul Ransom’s controller sacrifices it, then draws two cards. Only an opponent may activate this ability.
Combat Tricks
None
Simic
Removal
None
Combat Tricks
C Hydroform GU Instant; Target land becomes a 3/3 Elemental creature with flying until end of turn. It’s still a land.
U Simic Charm GU Instant ; Choose one — Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn; permanents you control gain hexproof until end of turn; or return target creature to its owner’s hand.
R Biomass Mutation X(G/U)(G/U) Instant; Creatures you control become X/X until end of turn.
C Bioshift(G/U) Instant; Move any number of +1/+1 counters from target creature onto another target creature with the same controller.
GruulRemoval
R Clan Defiance XRG Sorcery; Choose one or more – Clan Defiance deals X damage to target creature with flying; Clan Defiance deals X damage to target creature without flying; and/or Clan Defiance deals X damage to target player.
U Ground Assault RG Sorcery; Ground Assault deals damage to target creature equal to the number of lands you control.
C Pit Fight 1(R/G) Instant; Target creature you control fights another target creature.
Combat Tricks
U Ghor-Clan Rampager – Bloodrush RG +4/+4 and Trample
U Gruul Charm RG Instant; Choose one — Creatures without flying can’t block this turn; or gain control of all permanents you own; or Gruul Charm deals 3 damage to each creature with flying.
P/R Rubblehulk – Bloodrush 1RG +X/+X, where X is the number of lands you control.
C Zhur-Taa Swine – Bloodrush 1RG +5/+4
Boros
Removal
M Aurelia’s Fury XRW Instant; Aurelia’s Fury deals X damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players. Tap each creature dealt damage this way. Players dealt damage this way can’t cast noncreature spells this turn.
U Arrows of Justice 2(R/W) Instant; Arrows of Justice deals 4 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
Combat Tricks
U Boros Charm RW Instant; Choose one — Boros Charm deals 4 damage to target player; or permanents you control are indestructible this turn; or target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
C Martial Glory RW Instant; Target creature gets +3/+0 until end of turn. Target creature gets +0/+3 until end of turn.
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