Persist Combo

Since the first night the official Shadowmoor spoiler was released, I have been trying to think of a good way to abuse the persist ability that no one else would think of doing. I wanted to focus on using persist as a part to an engine of some kind. So I looked at all the persist cards and the other cards in the block and found an interesting interaction between two cards. those cards are Bramblewood Paragon and Scuzzback Marauders.



The way the combo works is when the Maraduers
(You could also use the other lords with their respected persist cards of that type but wanted to make a deck with an infinite engine in it.) I know at first glance of the persist cards, scuzzback marauders wouldn't be at the top of the list of cards to abuse but of all the lords that give +1/+1 counters, Bramblewood Paragon is the easiest to cast and of all the sacrifice cards I found in standard and extended, green and red had the best cards. Well with these two cards in play I have a creature that will come back to play every time it dies, now I just need a way to abuse it and I have four good ways to do so. The first of these cards is...



Greater Gargadon is the first card I thought of when I was thinking about this deck. If you have the combo in play, each time you draw a Gargadon, you can basically play and swing with it. Second is...



Thermopod is incredibly good in this deck because even if you tap out to play him(her?) you still have infinite mana to work with. Throw in a few Disintegrates and Demonfires and you have a win. The third is...



With Greater Good in play, combined with the combo, you can draw your entire deck out. Im sure you can think a few things to do with most of your deck in your hand. If you add a Seismic Assault you might be able to ping your opponent to death or just get rid of those last few blockers standing in your way of your Gargadon army. And finaly we have the best way to win in this deck...



This is by far the easiest card to win with in the deck. usually just because you only need to sac your creature four times to deal 20 to your opponent.

My Deck List

Creatures:
x4 Bramblewood Paragon
x4 Scuzzback Marauders
x4 Thermopod
x4 Greater Gargadon
x4 Llanowar Elves
x4 Boreal Druid

Other:
x3 Springleaf Drum
x4 Demonfire
x3 Greater Good
x3 Pandemonium

Lands:
x4 Karplusan Forest
x8 Mountains
x11 Forests

The deck is pretty straight forward. You just have to get your combo pieces in place and win either by way of Disintegrate/Demonfire or by beating them down with your Gargadons. The deck seems kind of slow so I have the Elves and Springleaf Drum in here to help speed up the mana. I don't see this deck rocking the top 8 tables anytime soon but It might surprise some people at a FNM or one of your friends in a casual game.

Till next time. later

My Top Eight Draft Cards in Shadowmoor

Since Shadowmoor is fairly new and no one has made a top ten list as far as I can see I figure I will give it the old collage try but first, a little about me (well the me that plays magic anyway). I have been playing magic since my sophomore year of high school and have been drafting for about three years now. By no means do I consider myself any kind of expert on the subject of magic. When a set first comes out I'm usually dead last in the drafts for a few weeks. For new set, it usually takes me about a month or two (or three) of reading the spoilers and scouring the internet for every bit of information on the new set that I can to trully get a grasp on how the set works and what is good and what sucks ass.

Enough about the me and lets get to the list. This list is in no way the gospel. I can't even think of what I would do if I had three or four of these cards in the same pack and had to make a choice. All I know is I would take Oversoul of Dusk over all others (Except a foil Oona or Demigod, but thats just common knowledge)

1) Oversoul of Dusk - Most of the removal in Shadowmoor are black, red, or blue cards. If you draft this guy, draft at least one card that can handle enchantments because white has two cards that can deal with if for more then one turn Runed Halo or Prison Term.. Wither is another problem for this card but most of the wither cards are black and/or red so you only have to worry about mono Green which has three cards with wither; Juvenile Gloomwidow, Tower Above, Wildslayer Elves. You probably only need worry about the two creatures because they are common and the instant is uncommon.

2) Oona, Queen of the Fae - This card is pretty good. I would put it at number one if Oona wasn't easyer to get rid of then Oversoul of Dusk. Also I do have a bad experience with this card. I played it in a draft and in each game that she hit the table (which was all three rounds two the first, two the second, and once the third) I was able to get one mill off, and in all the times I milled I got one creature combined.

3) Burn Trail - A rule I try to follow in draft is "Always take the good removal over the good creatures". Burn Trail is probably the best burn spell in the set (Maybe in the block). It can two for one most of all the common/uncommon creatures in Shadowmoor or get your opponents last little bit of life.

4) Flame Javelin - This card is pretty narly. It would beat out Burn Trail because of its flexibility but the fact it can't hit more then one creature and/or player in a set with a lot of creatures puts it at number 3 on my list. Just the fact that it can be played for mono color mana is cool enough but the fact that there are so many hybrid cards means the odds of you actually playing this thing for its full mono cost is slim (Unless this is a single color splash).

5) Murderous Redcap - I Love This Card! Its actually my favorite card in the set. He can easily two for one most creatures and in some cases three for one. (Kills a creature when he comes into play. If he dies in combat along with the other creature he blocks/is blocked by he comes back and kills something else.

6) Shield of the Oversoul - I never liked picking Auras in draft before. I felt like crap when I drew it with no creature in play or in hand, but in this set with the abundance of creatures and the ease at which you can play them, drafting this card is a can't miss. This card helps green with one of its problems as is it doesn't have much in the way of evasion. I know the creature has to be white too but with most of the best cards in Shadowmoor being hybrid it won't be too much of a stretch to play it. Oh yeah forgot. Just so you know, it also makes your creature Indestructible. Just in case you skipped over that part of the card:)

7) Steel of the Godhead - This is actually my favorite Aura in the set but is second to the shield just because that most the blue part makes it unblockable even thought blue usually has flying so the unblockable part doesn't really matter unless you are playing against blue which is very possible so if you are playing against blue you have the leg up on that bastard. The lifelink part is even bigger when attached to one the the green/white guys. I drafted one of this card the day of the release and it single handedly pulled my ass out of a 8 to 20 hole and got me the win (granted it was enchanting an Augury Adept but I was drawing land from the adept so was only getting life from the steel of the godhead).

8) Boggart Ram-Gang - This guy is one notch below bomb for me. He has haste. So he is always doing something the turn you play him. Weather it be getting you life advantage or creature advantage, or card advantage (Them playing a spell to deal with it) It can trade with a lot of the common/uncommon creatures in the set or render them almost harmless with three -1/-1 counters.

Its late/early. I would do ten but I'm pretty tired. If I'm not working to tomorrow then Ill finish this list in sometime in the afternoon. Until then, night.