Gib, Gib Trouble!

Yes, my choice of the best Gib is Gib Irod (Night Stalkers chase, 21/25). She just edges out Gib Lhadsemlo, who is also primo.

Both Lhadsemlo and Irod have a laundry list of immunities. But what puts Irod over the top is her card-drawing ability. When in combat, her controller can discard up to three cards and draw replacements. With TAV being a fast format filled with instant-kill cheese, the odds of drawing said cheese are quite good. Given that you have three chances, the odds get even better.

Irod is also immune to the powers of allies (such as the Loup-Garou) and harmful events (Trapped, Takhisis' Mirror, Wine of Eternity, etc). As well, the Wish spell does nothing to her. Did I mention that she casts both wizard and cleric spells? And she's level 13? Primo.

Why anyone wouldn't run a Gib Irod in their deck is one of life's great mysteries. This card rocks, in both Standard and TAV.

Next time: 5 overrated cards (for TAV).

That's No Lady, That's My Avatar!

Who are the other two people in the picture?

Lady of Fate, Avatar of Istus (Powers, 42/100) is one of the most powerful attacking champions in Spellfire. She's easy to bring into play - just discard any old cleric. And once she's in play - look out.

As a defender, you'd better hope your front realm has some sort of movement restriction. "Can only be attacked by flyers or swimmers" is good. "Cannot be attacked by clerics" is better! Because if Istus can get to your formation, you're in a heap of trouble.

Before combat, Istus allows her owner to grab two cards from your hand - and it's not at random. No, the opponent gets to take a good long look first, then pick your two best cards and send them to the discard pile.

In Standard, this is a brutally effective power. In TAV it's just unfair. There goes your two best instant-kills. Or both your counterspells. Or whatever Istus's owner wants you to be without.

Of course, you could avoid losing cards by letting the realm be raised without combat. Then you get to deal with the same problem next turn. Maybe you've got a Pit Trap? :)

It should be mentioned that Istus can also be used on defense, although that's not as much fun (and no sane Spellfire player is going to attack her anyway, unless they have a way around losing their two best cards).

Even if you've got a fat enough hand to beat Istus, the damage has been done.

Probably the most dangerous Avatar ever printed, this Lady is a beast no matter what version of Spellfire you're playing.   

Next time: make a Wish!                          

No Head? No Problem!

Choosing to automatically win is such a primo power.

The Headless Horseman (Ravenloft, 88/100) is another awesome card that has become a staple of Spellfire decks in general and TAV decks in particular. He rivals Erellika as the best attacking champion, but she edges him out for the crown because the Horseman frequently has to die to win.

In Standard play, he can win one round of combat automatically, erasing one of the defender's champions. Good, but not great. In the Antigonish Variant, however, he can automatically raze a realm! That's right, when the Headless Horseman swings, and the defender has no way to prevent the attack, one of three things is happening. I'll list them in order of "goodness" for the defender, from best to worst.

1 - You block the Horseman, combat begins, the Horseman is losing and his owner decides to sacrifice him to make you raze the realm he was attacking. The attacker gets a spoils. Yes, this really is the BEST possible outcome!  

2 - You block the Horseman, combat begins, and you can't beat him. Either with an instant-kill card, or through level-up, the Horseman comes out on top. Damn. Now you raze your realm, your opponent gets a spoils, AND they get to keep the Headless Horseman, meaning he will plague you again next turn. Pretty bad, right? Wait, it gets even worse.

3 - Your opponent has picked the right time to attack you. Having no chance to defeat the Horseman, or no defending champion at all, he waltzes in and razes the realm unopposed. Your opponent didn't even have to use a card, and keeps his fat, fat hand for use against you next turn. Oh, and they get a spoils to make it even fatter. And they get to keep the Horseman. Yup, it's time to concede (maybe).

What makes the Horseman even more evil is that he's a flyer. He can grab back realms, front realms, basically any land he wants except for a few that specificaly exclude flyers or monsters. With a Silver Hands or Coming of the Phoenix, the Horseman becomes a double or triple threat, making multiple appearances to bedevil you.

I've used Wish on this guy, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! Once up against the Horseman in TAV play, you'll feel like Ichabod Crane for sure.

Next time: Menzo, my Menzo.       

The Best TAV Champion?

Erellika is small but mighty.

What's the best champion in the Antigonish Variant of Spellfire? That question has been asked many times since 2000, and there's no clear answer yet. I would argue, however, that the best attacking champion is probably Erellika (3rd Edition, 262/400). Surprised? Don't be.

In TAV, the attacker wants things to be over quick. Since there is usually only one round of combat, you want to get in, win the round, raze the realm, and get out again fast. Erellika has the attributes to do so, usually with frightening speed. Here's the rundown on this card.

1 - She is level 2, and when attacking in TAV, lower is better. You're not going to be involved in a level-up war (at least, not often). Both players' hands are doubtless stacked with instant-kill "cheese" (to borrow a term from Magic: The Gathering*). The player who is able to get their cheese down first will usually win. At level 2, Erellika allows her player to throw it down first in most situations.

2 - She is versatile. As a hero able to cast both wizard and cleric spells, you have a wide range of possible options. Loup-Garou? Haymaker? Mindkiller? Wish? Everything's on the table. Erellika's ability to use both kinds of spells, plus the Hero's innate ability to use allies and unarmed combat cards makes her a primo attacker in this format.

3 - She has other powers, as obscure as they may be! Erellika negates all psionic powers when defending, an ability that might come in handy against say, an attacking Lyr of the Mists. Erellika also negates the powers of Holdings in play when she attacks, a rarely-used power, but...whatever! Might be useful some day. :)

For the reasons above, Erellika rules in TAV. She won't take up much space in your deck (I doubt you'll ever brush up against the 90-level limit by adding her), and you'll see her worth the first time you attack an opponent with a fat hand, but win because you hammer down the cheese first!

Next Time: TAV coup-de-grace king...Loup-Garou!

*"Cheese" was a term used fairly regularly in MTG around 1995-2000. It described red direct-damage cards, for the most part. I can't recall hearing the term lately, with all these danged kids playing the game. :)
                   

The Living Wall!

Not pretty. Powerful, but not pretty.

Let's focus on "instant kill" cards today. First up is The Living Wall (Powers, 58/100). A fearsome card in Standard Spellfire, the power of this monster champion is even greater in TAV. Why? Well, he's always excellent on defense, best played from the hand to gobble up an unfortunate attacker. In the Antigonish variant, however, he's also a brutally effective offensive threat.

Once your opponent seems low on cards (therefore a reduced chance of a surprise defender materializing), and has a pool dominated by level 6 or higher champions, simply play the Living Wall and attack. Unless he or she has a surprise up their sleeve, you'll get the spoil without a fight. In Standard, a defender can lose without the land being razed, since the attacker is forced to send another (non-Living Wall) champion forward once one of the defender's champions has been defeated. The Wall can't attack a second time.

So the appropriate strategy against this guy in Standard is to "chump block" (to borrow another phrase from Magic: The Gathering) with a useless defender, saving better defenders for the attacker's next swing.

In TAV, however, there is only one swing. You can't chump the Wall, not without losing the champion and razing the realm (and giving up a spoils!).

If you're serious about succeeding in TAV, you have to account for the Living Wall in your deck. He's just that dangerous. 

Next time: It's tough to bust *this* Ghost!                      

Good Ol' Gwenyth!

Just don't attack with her. Bad idea.

Gwenyth the Bard (Birthright, 100/100): Here's the first example of a card which is fairly mediocre in standard Spellfire, but becomes a powerhouse in TAV, especially in a one-on-one game of TAV.

In Standard, a player can attack with many different champions, potentially overwhelming an opponent until the defender is out of support cards. Then comes the coup-de-grace from an especially formidable attacking champion. Cards like Gwenyth here are of limited value because they can only stop one champion from attacking. 

In TAV, things are different. Because the attacker can only swing (to borrow a Magic: The Gathering term) with one champion per turn, Gwenyth can stop the best champion in the attacker's pool from coming over to bug you. Of course, she can't stop a champion played from the hand directly into combat, but once that round is over, even if it's a loss for the defender, the champion returns to its pool, where Gwenyth can step all over it next turn.

Since players can come from behind much more easily in Spellfire than in Magic (and even more so in TAV than in Standard), losing one round - and one realm - is not a backbreaking event. Gwenyth can switch champions each turn, making her valuable in a multi-player game of TAV as well.

Personally, I love having Gwenyth in my pool. Like Hettman Tsurin, The Noble Outlaw, and Lyr of the Mists, Gwenyth attracts champion-killing events and spells, weakening an opponent's hand. Conversely, if the opponent chooses to let Gwenyth sit there, she can evolve into a royal pain and a serious problem. I have seen her stop the Living Wall, Iuz the Evil, and Istus, Lady of Fate.

An opponent with one of these primo champions sitting uselessly in his or her pool is well on the way to defeat in TAV.

Gwenyth is also of low level, good for defense especially when combined with instant-kill cards like Loup-Garou or Noble Djinni (all instant-kill cards are immensely more valuable in TAV than in Standard).

I'd love to read your comments on this underrated card!