Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Incorporating Morningtide into Kraj

Okay, ya'll are probably going to say something snide, but I haven't looked at the full spoiler for Morningtide yet. I love writing about General Kraj though, so I am gonna open the full spoiler right now and take a look and see what goodies there are to upgrade my list. I've seen a couple of lords that give +1/+1 counters, so let's keep our fingers crossed. Green first

Bramblewood Paragon-1G, 2/2. Each other Warrior creature you control comes into play with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
Each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it has trample.

Here's something with potential already in the Bs. A 2-drop that gives a lot of my other creatures trample? Seems alright. I am fairly certain I don't have a ton of Warriors in Kraj, but the second ability makes up for that. Might be too small though for EDH.

Chameleon Colossus-2GG, 4/4. Protection from Black.
2GG: Chameleon Colossus gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is its power.

Well, that's just silly. Obviously has to go in somewhere.

Cream of the Crop-1G, enchantment. Whenever a creature comes into play under your control, you may look at the top X cards of your library, where X is that creature's power. If you do, put one of those cards on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.

I am fairly certain that this is BBAR*. Especially when I can stack triggers to add +1/+1 counters before resolving this ability. How nice to cast a 28/28 GGT and get a free D Tutor from the top 3rd of my deck.

Earthbrawn and Hunting Triad-Earthbrawn is an overcosted Giant Growth and Hunting Triad puts elf tokens into play. However, they both have Reinforce, which allows me to add +1/+1 tokens at instant speed.

I don't think these make it, though maybe Hunting Triad gets the call. Combat tricks are just so bad in EDH (I'll trade a card for one of yours, then the dude dies to mass removal a turn later), and while the thought of Reinforce with Doubling Season on the table makes me feel dirty, I don't really need more ways to abuse Doubling Season. Nor do I need more ways to add +1/+1 counters to things without some other effect.

Fertilid-2G, 0/0. Fertilid comes into play with two +1/+1 counters on it.
1 G, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Fertilid: Target player searches his or her library for a basic land card and puts it into play tapped. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

Or I could just play Kodama's Reach. EDH may be casual, but 7 mana for 2 lands? No.

Reach of Branches-4G, Tribal Instant-Treefolk. Put a 2/5 green Treefolk Shaman creature token into play.
Whenever a Forest comes into play under your control, you may return Reach of Branches from your graveyard to your hand.

Virtual card advantage plus chumpies and Wrath insurance? Could get there. OTOH, we are sometimes casting Meloku with that mana, and our creature tutors don't get this. OTOOH, I do dredge quite a bit, even with only 3 Dredge cards. Hmmm...

So what do we have in Blue?

Mindspring-XBB. Draw X cards.

Yeah, I don't know if this is really better than the card drawing I already have. It's nice to refill in the late game, but it is so dead and overcosted early.

Sage of Fables-2U, 2/2. Each other Wizard creature you control comes into play with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
2, Remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature you control: Draw a card.

Gee, and I was just about to complain how bad the blue Morningtide was for Kraj.

Slithermuse-2UU, 3/3. When Slithermuse leaves play, choose an opponent. If that player has more cards in hand than you, draw cards equal to the difference.
Evoke 3U

This seems a little underwhelming at first, but it is a solid body, that can be evoked for good effect in a large game, that has a little Wrath insurance. Could get there.

Oof. Two or three cards at the most. How about artifacts? Dare I hope?

No. It's all Tribal. Hrmph.

Multicolor? Nope. Okay, then. Well, looking at numbers of cards from each set in my current Kraj, it looks like Morningtide is going to be pretty darn good for a small set. Both the +1/+1 lords should get in, along with Chameleon Colossus (although we'll wait until Timmy gets his and the price goes down), Cream of the Crop and maybe some sundry. Nice job, Renton!

*Broken Beyond All Recognition, derf.

3 comments:

Defender in Exile said...

Fertilid with spikes and doubling season? He is that much better than KReach. And yes, the play a forest return spell is good. You play it.

Matt said...

Sure it's good with Doubling Season. Everything is good with Doubling Season. Except Naturalize. It has to be good without Doubling Season. And playing it without Doubling Season makes me want to punch myself in the nuts. I'd rather play Seedguide Ash.

Defender in Exile said...

2 lands, and he's a second Tribe-Elder. That makes it good. Plus, you can give him extra counters. even better.