Forging A Format: Shard Wars

Usually, on Thursdays, I write an article about the deck that I’m currently playing. I generally show off a decklist, and chat a bit about why I think it’s the best deck to be shuffling up right now. I do this primarily to prepare for a tournament that weekend. However, I won’t be attending any tournaments this weekend, and while I’ve been very happy with the way that Tokens has preformed over the weeks, I’m beginning to think that switching to some version of Naya may be beneficial. While I hammer out the particulars of my list, I figured that I would use today to discuss one of the projects that I’ve been working on recently.

Once a month, give or take, my friend Marshall invites a number of people over to play Magic. For the most part, these are people who met during our stint playing World of Warcraft, and a good time is had by all. When we started, one of the most common formats for us to play was “Color War”. The rules were fairly simple. Using preconstructed decks that Marshall provided – all monocolored – you would sit in color order around the table: WUBRG. Your goal was to kill the two people across from you, and you won when both of them were eliminated.

There were a number of other rules, clarifying who was an opponent, and who were your allies (allied colors), but the important thing was really how Marshall balanced the five decks against each other. The Color War decks are lovingly updated each time a new set comes out, but always careful not to increase their power level too much. When it was discovered that blue could go infinite on mana and Capsize-lock the board (by casting and buying back Capsize an arbitrarily large number of times) the deck was altered to weaken it. Now, the end result is that the five decks are each paragons of their color, featuring all-stars like Morphling.

A while ago, I had an idea – well, a set of ideas – all rotating around the central core of a ‘new’ color war. It wasn’t that I disliked Marshall’s decks – far from it. I think they’re spectacular. I just wanted to try my own hand at a similar, but mostly non-rotating endeavor. The conclusion I came to?

Shard Wars

For those of you who are unaware, Alara was the central location of the Shards of Alara block. In ancient times, a battle between Asha and Malfegor sundered the plane into five parts, each devoid of two types of Mana. Bant lacked Black and Red, Esper was without Green and Red, Grixis devoid of White and Green, Jund eschewed White and Blue, and Naya forsook Black and Blue. The result was five fully fleshed out worlds, each highlighting a completely different style of play. With abundant mana fixing, playing three colors wasn’t difficult at all, and the mechanical ties that bound each shard together rewarded strong synergistic play.

Exalted - get more of it.

I want to capture that feel in a constructed format, building a set of five decks that are based around the Shards. These decks would be designed to be played against each other with the idea of ‘imperfect symmetry’ at the forefront.

For those who don’t know about imperfect symmetry, you should watch Penny Arcade’s recent discussion on the topic (Here). The basic concept is that in order to have a balanced game, one does not need to create it like chess – with everyone having equal resources. You can instead make multiple completely different forces that happen to pair well against each other. Diplomacy is a good example of this, if you’ve ever played that (exceptionally good) board game. The Starcraft series is another spectacular example, and even World of Warcraft could invoke the concept – with 8 classes of varying skills and talents, the end goal is still to have each able to complete their goals in a manner individual to that class.

No one wants their format to feel like Grixis

I spoke to Marshall, and he thought that it was a great idea as long as we differentiated it from Color War significantly enough that one did not necessarily obsolete the other. Neither of us wanted to put significant work into this format only to have it be ignored for one that already exists, and neither of us wanted all of Marshall’s hard work on the Color War decks to be squandered.

This isn’t a topic that I can fully treat in a single article, so I’m just going to go over some of my initial ideas to try and show how I approach creating a format.

The Format

Kresh wouldn't mind bashing in some Grixis and Naya Skulls.

When we’re first starting off, a lot of questions existed about how the decks were to be constructed. Highlander (Where there can be only one of each card), Standard 4-of-per deck? Some mixture of these? Should they be sixty cards or 100? Should ‘allied’ shards be able to attack one another, or no?

All of that is very important, and I haven’t worked any of it out at all because I’ve been focused instead on something that I personally think is much more important to the overall endeavor.

Each deck needs a flavor.

It would be easy for me to throw all the cards affiliated with each shard into a deck and call it a day. It wouldn’t be balanced, but we could work on that and get it roughly to a balanced state. That, however, is not what I’m planning on doing. Instead, the core of the deck should be a key interaction – one thing that each deck really wants to do above all else.

In the original block, each Shard had a mechanic associated with it.

Bant: Exalted

Esper: Colored Artifacts

Grixis: Unearth

Jund: Devour

Naya: ‘Gargantuan’ (Power > 5)

Now, three of those seem like a reasonable thing to set a deck around. Exalted is a great mechanic, and pushes a player towards a very specific style of play that fits thematically with the Shard itself. We’re definitely keeping it as Bant’s Flagship mechanic. Grixis’ Unearth functions similarly. With a bunch of sacrificial and board wiping effects to keep things down, Grixis keeps coming back. Jund’s Devour mechanic seems harder to work around, but with a token generation subtheme (and some help from the new commander decks) we can probably make it work.

We get it. You're overpowered. Relax.

The two that I have an issue with are Naya and Esper. Just having colored artifacts is very flavorful and does a lot to explain the Shard of Esper from a story standpoint, but without a ton of insane artifacts, I’m balking a little bit on making their key mechanic into something that is so passive in so many cases. Instead, I’m tilting a little more towards a Grand-Architect style deck or a deck  where the goal is an ‘assemble the machine!’ style of play. Perhaps using the stations from Fifth Dawn, or something along those lines. I think that it would require a decent amount of work, but we could probably make it into a ‘mad science with artifacts’ deck that would appeal to some of my players.

Look at me! I'm pretty and have no mechanical identity!

As for Naya, I think that the key here is going to be tricky. The Power greater than five mechanic is interesting, but I feel like we need something that’s going to make it a little deeper than just “Play big things”. Part of me wants to have Progenitus in their deck plus some of the 5-color activation creatures from Conflux, and make it a ramp deck (using ramp effects like Abundant Growth to allow it access to all 5 colors). This admittedly breaks the color symmetry of the game, but also allows Naya its own identity that fits with the jungle nature of the plane. What do you guys think of that?

The core concepts that belong to each deck are critical, but cycles will also play a major role in establishing the flavor of the decks. Luckily, Alara has no want for cycles. (MTGSalvation Wiki) With 19 direct cycles in the first set alone, we shouldn’t have any problem finding flavorful options there.

The whole set need a lot of work, but once we get the overarching themes down, Marshall and I will be discussing what the actual format we’ll be playing is, and how we can make it a special and unique experience for all.

Do you have any suggestions for the Shard War decks? Ideas that could be incorporated? Have you seen something that I haven’t seen? There’s a good chance that you have, and I’d love to hear about it via Twitter (@ajrula), email (andrewrula AT gmail.com) or just through reddit comments!

This weekend, I’ll be in DC, visiting with some friends, so no magic. But on Tuesday, Deckbuilding 101 returns with a look at building a deck you’ll love - and why that's the best option at your next tournament.

The Sound of Wings

Innistrad is not a kind world.

Once, the Cathars, holy knights in the service of Avacyn the Archangel, roamed the countryside, giving blessings to the faithful, strengthening wards, and holding back the darkness. Now, it is all they can do to draw breath. The wards diminish, children are stolen from their beds,  and the shadows encroach upon all they held dear. Even mighty Avacyn, Archangel of Hope, and her countless winged flights of angels have fled or worse.

For those who live on Innistrad, the twilight world has gotten yet darker.

“Run, Stephen!” screamed his partner. The voice was a high frantic cry, brought of desperation. “Run!!”

Stephen was already gone, sprinting through the underbrush at breakneck speed. His heart pounded in his chest, moving as quickly as his thoughts. They had been out too far. Two villagers murdered in the last fortnight, and the previous night, a child missing. How could they have done anything else? Stephan had led the pair into the woods – searching for the young boy. His companion was a cathar in training, fresh from the Elgauld grounds. His name was Enval.

Screams pierced the dusk and Stephen checked his thoughts:  His name had been Enval. The snarls and howls of the pack left no doubt in his mind that Enval’s remains would never be recovered. So young.

Avacyn save us. He whispered the prayer as he darted between two bushes and onto a well-worn path. Avacyn save me! They had passed the border post nearly an hour earlier – into the Kessig Wilds. Neither of them had given any thought to turning back – there was a child to save! How could they have done anything else!

Enval’s screams died off, and moments later, the pack caught up to him. It was subtle at first: a flicker in the brush, visible only through the corner of his eye. Then an idle growl from his left. Stephen’s muscles burned, threatening to give way, but fear kept them moving, and a small miracle kept his footing sure as he careened through the forest.

Anything but the wolves, he prayed. Oh Avacyn, I don’t want to be killed. He remembered the descriptions of werewolf attacks that he’d learned about – how to recognize the signs of someone killed by one of the Cursed, how to know if you were dealing with Krallenhorde or Monodren.  How to tell if someone had been turned. Which parts of the body were safe to bury when the desiccated corpses were found.

Not like that. Not like this. He felt frenzied tears rushing down his face as the pack closed in around him.

Innistrad is not a kind world.

Then, he heard it. A single strong beat – like a bird’s wings but deeper, stronger. He’d heard tell of the sound before – during his training. They said that in years past, when Angels flew into battle alongside man, that the thrum of their wings provided a natural drumbeat for marching. There! There it was again, the deep, rumbling sound of enormous wings flapping against the cooling night air.

The wolves seemed to balk for an instant, and Stephen kept on the path as quickly as he could. In the woods, there was a chance that the holy being couldn’t even see him. He needed to make for the field – once he was in the open, the angel would surely see him. He might be able to go home – he might be able to live to see another day!

That kernel of hope took hold in Stephen’s chest as he ran. The wolves tightened their noose, but even as they did, he realized that they wouldn’t be able to stop him before the tree line. The wings beat louder now, closer. His savior, no doubt, flying just overhead. The wolves’ howls echoed, high-pitched, over the basso beat of the wings, an unholy symphony. The meaning was unmistakable: Follow him. Kill the man.

He burst from the trees and onto the open plains. The wolves were only half a dozen steps behind him.

“Avacyn!” he screamed with a breath he didn’t realize that he’d been holding. Every one of his limbs felt like molten steel. The wing beats grew closer and closer. He ran, and he listened, and he hoped. Eyes closed with panic, he tripped over an errant stone.

And then he felt the wind from the creature as it landed, heavy upon the ground. He heard the wolves all around him, frenzied with their kill.

And then, silence.

Stephan looked up at the source of the wing beats and felt every ounce of composure he’d cultivated over his life melt away. He felt the dread terror in his veins bleed away to icy resignation. Even the werewolves around him stared in fear, falling to their knees as they realized, as Stephan did, that Angels were not the only beings on Innistrad that flew.

The dragon’s wings unfurled majestically, dozens of feet wide. Its skin seemed to be made of some infernal metal, and its eyes burnt with shadow and flame. It opened its mouth and let out a roar that shook the whole plain. Like an earthquake made manifest, he felt the shock deep in his bones, rumbling there. Stephen closed his eyes against what he knew was his end. He felt the heat rise as the dragon called on ancient magics. Its mouth snapped open and a torrent of flame poured out, engulfing the wolves and Stephen alike.

The only mercy afforded him was that he only felt the flames for a few searing moments before his life was scorched from his flesh. The dragon roared in triumph.

Innistrad is not a kind place.