5 Best Fences

Yes folks, that's the Berlin Wall. And here we go with our list of the top five cards that keep your opponents at bay!

#5 - Wall of Fog (4th Edition, 371/500)    

Attacks on your realms are bad in Spellfire. They lead to realms being razed, and spoils being awarded to players other than you. It's even worse in a format like TAV, which promotes fast play and tons of instant-kill cards. A good strategy, then, is to avoid being attacked at all, especially in critical situations (like when you are within spitting distance of a sixth unrazed realm). Fences are cards that prevent attacks, therefore they are your friends. This one is a wizard spell, which means it has a drawback - it's easy to counter. It also stops you from attacking other players, which can be a problem if getting a spoils is a priority for you. Still, it's a decent card to play if you're close to winning and would rather not have to engage in combat.

#4 - Solid Fog (4th Edition, 133/500)                     

Solid Fog has got one big advantage over Wall of Fog - it's an event. As such, it's more difficult for your opponent to counter. And if he or she does stop it, that's one less precious counterspell in their hand, so it's a win-win situation. Also, since you will most likely only be using Solid Fog near the end of a game, the threat of a counter is less of a deterrent - go for the win, baby! Note that, as with Wall of Fog, using Solid Fog means you can't launch attacks of your own...unless you slap down a Calm, that is!

#3 - Mutiny (3rd edition, 168/400)

Mutiny resembles Solid Fog, except you can end a battle which has already started. Use it when you make a mistake and realize you are about to lose, or thin out your opponent's hand by making him waste cards in combat before you slap down the Mutiny. As with Solid Fog and Wall of Fog, you can't attack either, until your next turn. Our final two cards solve this little problem, which is why they are rated ahead of Mutiny.

#2 - Forbiddance (Artifacts chase, 11/20)

Our next card is Forbiddance. It stops attacks all right - on you. Enemies are free to attack each other to their heart's content. The only possible problem this might create is allowing another player who is also close to winning the game to try for a spoils. But if you're playing this card, you've most likely got the inside track to victory, so that shouldn't be a major drawback. Oh, and if you need to raze a realm yourself, go ahead. Forbiddance is an excellent fence.

#1 - Bronze Dragons (Dragonlance, 97/100)

Our #1 card is Bronze Dragons, which combines the "everyone can be attacked but you" goodness of Forbiddance with the difficult-to-counter nature of an event. The only problem is squeezing this card into one of your 10 event slots. But, in a deck dedicated to defense, Bronze Dragons is the Great Wall of fences!

Next time: The 5 best Avatars.

P.S. Any of you Magic: The Gathering players out there check out the new Innistrad set? Or, as I like to call it, RAVENLOFT. The plundering of Spellfire concepts by Wizards of the Coast continues...

                

You'll Flip for Mithas!

This might be a short blog entry, because Mithas (Dragonlance, 1/100) is so obviously great. One of the most primo realms in Spellfire, no matter what format you play.

Why? Well, if it is razed, Mithas rebuilds automatically at the start of your next turn. You get it back free, and can still play another land that turn, or discard three cards and flip another razed realm that turn.

When combined with cards like Menzoberranzzan, Caer Allison, Korgunard the Avangion, Spirit of the Land, and Arms of the Shield Lands, Mithas can be part of a strategy that allows you to win games by playing or rebuilding 4, 5, or possibly all 6 reams in one turn!

In TAV, where its easier to raze realms when attacking, Mithas can be a great front land. Let's say Gib Lhadsemlo is heading to your formation. You could waste cards trying to beat him (unlikely), but with Mithas up front you can just let it go. It gets razed, and your opponent gets a spoils, but at least no lasting damage is done. At the beginning of your next turn Mithas unflips and (provided no other opponent has razed another of your lands) you are back where you started. Play a realm and you're even ahead of where you were last turn, even though you had one of your realms razed.

The flaw with this realm is that Mithas allows opponents to attack it after it has been razed. Not much of a problem in a two-player duel, but in multi-player you might find your front land under seige.

The only other downside to Mithas is that just about everyone runs it in their deck. This becomes even more of a problem in a multi-player game. Once it's down somewhere on the table, Mithas will need to be removed using a valuable land-destruction spell like Disintegrate or Dissolution, or attacked once each by a combination of two players.

But if you're the one who gets Mithas down first, your opponents might just flip you off! :)

Next Time: My tournament deck.