The Luck of the Draw

Today's topic is the Good Fortune trio of events, which can make you feel very lucky, indeed!

1 - Good Fortune (4th Edition, 120/500)

This event is a staple of any Spellfire deck. The only acceptable reason not to run this card in one of your 10 event slots is that you don't own one. At any time, Good fortune lets you draw five cards. Since this happens at event speed, it can be used even before spells or powers take effect. Be warned, however: Good Fortune is always the target of event-countering cards, especially in a multi-player game. But if it goes off, you'll be feeling the luck of the Irish as you peruse your fat, fat hand.

 

2 - Unusually Good Fortune (Forgotten Realms chase, 11/25)

This event is even better than Good Fortune. When played on any player's event (except your own), it grants you three free cards. Not bad...and not many opponents will waste a Limited Wish or Intercession on this card. When played on Good Fortune, however, this event becomes truly brutal. The opponent who played Good Fortune draws no cards, and you get five instead. Talk about a counterspell! Now, with such a narrow effect, Unusually Good Fortune would be relegated to a Caravan Raiders-like level of uselessness, but that three-card draw first power makes it primo instead. I run one of these babies in my tournament deck, and I've never regretted it. As I always say, card advantage is everything in Spellfire.

3 - Insanely Good Fortune (Millenium, 47/99)

This brings us to the last member of this little triumverate, Insanely Good Fortune. This card is awesome, and not just because I co-created it for the Millenium sticker set (though that's definitely part of the reason I love it). Insanely Good Fortune can be used at any time to negate an opponent's helpful event (like the original Good Fortune, for example). Not a bad counter, as Spellfire players can always use another card that stops events. The second power rarely sees play, but when it does, it's a doozy. If an opponent plays Unusually Good Fortune, and you have Insanely Good Fortune in your hand, the effect is dramatic. The UGF is cancelled, and instead both players draw six cards. So far, so good...but then your opponent has to discard down to two cards, while you get to keep all six! You now have the fattest hand imaginable, and your opponent is about ready to pack it in and concede.

I have to admit that I've never seen the second power of the IGF go off. Have you? If so, tell me about it in the comments.

Next Time: The top 3 clerics.

Ruins and...Ruins.

 

In TAV, attacks are difficult to defend against. It's a fast format, filled with instant-kill cheese. The best strategy is usually to prevent your opponents from attacking at all. That's where realms like these come in. The Ruins of Zhentil Keep (3rd Edition, 3/400) and the Ruins of Iolonia (Dungeons, 32/100) are two lands your enemies will struggle to visit.

Both have powerful movement restrictions, although both have weaknesses as well. First of all, they both attract realm-destroying cards like magnets. This goes without saying, since they are othwise tough to raze and/or discard. Secondly, they are both vulnerable to a popular category of attacking champion: Zhentil Keep allows clerics to attack, and most Avatars are clerics. Nothing like having Zhentil as your front realm when your opponent slaps down Istus. Whoops.

As for Iolonia, the undead are practically everywhere in Spellfire. They're cool and there are quite a few of them to choose from. Odds are you're going to face a few now and then.

Still, even with these vulnerabilties, I'll take these two lands over the typical "can only be attacked by flyers and swimmers" realms. In the right situation, if your opponent lacks the proper type of champion able to attack, Zhentil Keep and Iolonia can shut him or her down for turns at a time. You can concentrate on picking off the few champions that can attack, hopefully before they do their damage. With Zhentil or Iolonia up front, you get precious time to build your Formation and stock your hand. And if you are going to be hit with a land-destuction card like Cataclysm - at least you know where it's going to go. Your Avanil or Tyr is safe for now.

Sometimes hiding out in the Ruins can really pay off.

Next time: Dungeons.                      

The Menzo Dilemma

Play it first turn, just behind your front realm.

What do you do with Menzoberranzan (4th Edition, 1/500) in TAV? It's a puzzling conundrum. This realm is far too good to leave out of your deck, but once you've added it you have to carefully examine the strategy for its use.

First of all, it's the only land that you can play at any time, allowing it to be slapped down for the win if you already have 5 lands and Menzo will be your 6th. If it hits the table in this situation, it's game over. In TAV, where lands are razed a lot more easily than in standard Spellfire, this ability is even more primo.

But Menzoberranzan has a downside. Because it's so good (and so popular), everyone is running it in their deck. If you wait too long to slap it down, odds are that one of your opponents will. Once facing a Menzo on the board, your options decrease. TAV allows you to raise realms easily, but discarding them is another matter. A raised Menzo still keeps you from placing down your own (Rule of the Cosmos). So you'll need a Cataclysm, an Estate Transference, a Dissolution, or similar to rid yourself of it.

It's a catch-22: put Menzo down too soon, you'll find it destroyed or razed. Wait, and someone else will beat you to the punch.

Finding the right balance can be tricky.

It should also be noted that Menzoberranzan is one of the worst FRONT lands possible. Besides its "play at any time" goodness, it has no powers except being immune to flyers. As one of your back lands, it's passable, but the best use of this card is as a last-turn game winner - if you can play the finesse game that will allow you to slap it down!

Next time: ...the dread Lady!           

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!