Gatecrash Mechanics Primer

Gatecrash Previews are in full swing, and I am hopelessly addicted to refreshing the internet just after midnight to get a look at the new goodies that await us with each passing day. Those of you who know me should be aware that my loyalties lay with the Orzhov Church, and their blessings are mighty and sustain me even as they sap the strength of my foes. That aside, however, I am under the impression that some of these other Ravnican guilds have come up with a few more tricks, and I think that we should all take a close look at them, deciphering their varius strengths and weaknesses

A word of warning: I am posting this article three days into spoiler season. These opinions are based on the cards that I feel are likely going to be printed, and the strength of the mechanics themselves. These opinions are prone to changes, depending on cards that are going to be previewed between now and the prerelease.

Boros – Batallion

The first of the mechanics we'll be analyzing today belongs to the Boros Legion. Their newest trick is Batallion, a mechanic that gives you benefits for attacking with three or more creatures.

As Mark Rosewater has said on his blog regarding the entire block, it was very important to them to capture the feel of the guild, and Boros certainly fits the bill on that count. The guild revolves around the city-guard, military feeling, and a communal combat blessing feels both red and white. This mechanic is a flavor home run, and I know a couple Boros players who are very pleased with it.

From a Constructed viability standpoint, this mechanic has many of the same issues that Metalcraft had. That is, it requires a pretty significant commitment to the board. For many decks, attacking with three creatures isn't a common occurrence. Perhaps some kind of Tokens shell could enable it, or a critical-mass stlye aggro deck that presents a strong front that enables Batallion to go over the top, but as a general part of a deck, I'm less than impressed with it.

In Limited, on the other hand, Batallion gives Boros a lot of strength in the midgame, when they're hoping to push through the last few points of damage. When you're not worried about Supreme Verdict and other board wipes, it seems much less likely that you'll be punished for casting all your creatures.

When constructing a Boros deck, try to keep the relative costs down, so you can get your troops to the field of battle early and often, enabling Batallion as quickly as possible in an attempt to overwhelm your foes.

Dimir – Cipher

The Dimir mechanic is the only non-permanant mechanic of the bunch, and certainly the most mechanically complex. A close relative of auras and imprint, Cipher allows you to reuse some of your expended spells – as long as you can keep connecting with a creature. It does require some concessions in deck building to make it work, but it's definitely something that we can work with.

By playing with Cipher, you're making a commitment to at least some matter of evasive creatures, with a special bonus to creatures that are hard to deal with. A cheap, hexproof, unblockable creature comes to mind as a recent example of where the mechanic could go in Standard, and depending on the effects that we see attached to the mechanic, this could be a standard powerhouse.

On the other hand, in Limited, how good Cipher is going to be will be dictated entirely by your creature base, and what you think you can connect with. Repeating spells in Limited is an extremely powerful option for any deck, so the raw power available isn't in question. However, Cipher has many of the same issues that Auras do. The cards are budgeted with their cipher ability in mind – so if you're unable to utilize that portion of the card because your spell-carriers keep getting killed, then you're likely to feel like you're playing with subpar spells.

For the Dimir, though, getting to connect seems less of an issue than with most guilds. Blue and Black have a plethora of effects that allow you to get through to your opponent so that you can get the most out of your spells. Try to always have one creature making it through the front lines, so that your repeatable spells take control of the game.

Gruul – Bloodrush

“Does he have the trick?”

How many times have you thought that in a game of Magic? Regardless if you're slinging spells at a prerelease, or sitting in Top 8 of a Grand Prix, being able to play around combat tricks is a critical skill that we all need to learn. This mechanic – a variation on Kamigawa's Channel – provides a simple answer.

“I always have the trick.”

This mechanic is simple and effective, much like the Gruul themselves. It allows you to discard any creature with the ability for a commensurate increase to power, toughness, and even keywords. This puts combat strictly in the hands of the Gruul, allowing them to dictate the pace of the game based on their untapped mana. I expect a few cards to see Constructed play, given that they're looking fairly aggressively costed for their relative power/toughness ratios, and the addition of Domri Rade to the Red/Green arsenal is certainly going to make creatures with spell-like-effects a premium. The Gruul mechanics seem to marry this idea well, and I'd be shocked if we didn't see a breakout from this guild.

On the other hand, Bloodrush comes with it a cost, and an extreme one at that. While you can use the leverage that your ability gives you to force through an attacker, be wary of opposing combat tricks – or removal. A quick removal spell in response to your bloodrush provides a two for one in the opposite direction, and blowouts like that hurt aggressive decks far more, without the card advantage to make up for it.

Because of this, I expect that Gruul will either be one of the best or worst preforming guilds at the prerelease, based entirely on the playskill of the pilot. The ability to minimize the risk and maximize the benefit of every bloodrush creature is going to be key to doing well with the guild. Make sure that you take into account your opponent's possible actions whenever you plan to lean on a Bloodrush. The Gruul may be portrayed as stupid and simple, but that doesn't mean that you have to be!

Orzhov – Extort

The next mechanic that we'll be looking at belongs to the Glorious, Ineffable, Wonderous Church Of Deals. While everyone paying attention realizes that the Orzhov, in their benevolent (yet fair) rule, are truly the best of the ten guilds, some may need further convincing. To those, the Orzhov offer merely this:

The Orzhov mechanic is the distilled essence of nickel and diming someone to death. With each spell, you drain a bit of their life, granting it to yourself (for an incidental cost). While this ability didn't initially excite me much, despite my loyalties, abilities like it in the past have been powerful.

There is some evidence that effectively spending your mana is the key to winning a vast number of Magic games, and Extort provides an easy mana sink for you to get the most out of every turn. In Constructed, it could (if placed on the right cards) provide a late-game win condition for a control deck. I would expect that it will see play as long as it's not valued too high in the budget – allowing competitive cards to be printed with the ability almost as an afterthought.

My main concern with the ability comes in Limited play. Gatecrash has a number of guilds and draft strategies that reward linear, aggressive play. The Boros and Gruul both seem very aggressive, while the Simic have a powerful lategame with their growing creatures. This array of early game rushes, and late game powerhouses, could overwhelm the Orzhov defenses before they're able to extract enough life to survive or threaten a kill. We'll have to see the quality of aggressive cards at common in the other guilds – or else the measure of the defenses that the Orzhov colors could muster. Either way, the mechanic is a powerful one, and certainly not one to be ignored.

You're going to want to have extra mana laying around to pay for Extort with. I'd recommend adding one land more than you might otherwise choose, to maximize the tax for each card you play.

Simic – Evolve

The final guild mechanic in my writeup is Evolve. Designed as part of the Great Designer Search (along with Batallion), it provides Green and Blue with a method to constantly grow their creatures, and provides fodder for other abilities that key off these +1/+1 counters.

Of the five mechanics, Evolve seems like the one that has the most potential for Spikes. It provides constant choice making, and complex decision trees that allow a good player to maximize the benefit that they get from their cards. Just based on the few previews that we've seen so far, the Simic will have no lack of choices for their games.

In Constructed matches, Evolve will provide you with an ever-growing force, assuming you construct your deck carefully and manage to maintain a reasonable curve of creatures. The potential issue that I see involves the cards being generally slow to work up to their full potential, and often requiring mana expenditure for their abilities. This could mean that the deck will struggle to do all that it wants to be able to, which could cost it some board presence in the early game, potentially putting it too far behind the metaphorical 8-ball by the time that it stabilizes.

In Limited, however, especially sealed, when games can be expected to go a little longer, and decks to be a little less refined, Evolve seems like a powerful tool to make your early creatures relevant through the late game, and your late game unparalleled among the guilds. I know that despite my diehard loyalty towards Orzhov colors in every format that I can play them, some of the early Simic previews have sorely tempted me towards these mad scientists.

One recommendation that my early observations would lead me to is this: Simic will never want for things to do with their mana. Your job is to make sure that you can slake that thirst. Play one land more than you otherwise might in your Simic decks.

Conclusion

While each guild has it's strengths and weaknesses, one of them is surely right for you. If you favor aggressive decks, I'd lean towards Boros or Gruul. For those of you who like controlling options, Orzhov, and Dimir have your back. For simplicity, look to Boros. While Simic seem to rule the complexity spectrum.

Each guild will give you opportunities to out maneuver, out-think, and outplay your fellow planeswalkers. Choose carefully at the end of the month, and prizes will flow to you.

And, as always, may all your spells resolve.