[Flash!]: 3 Reasons why Expedition Envoy is underrated

Okay, I admit. When this card first came out, I was really disappointed. This is no Hada Freeblade... This is just... an Elite Vanguard.. The was the problem as a player who wants to break Ally into the Modern Format. Ally tribe, though versatile, is deemed to be its best when implementing an aggro strategy. (I'll discuss more of this in the coming articles.) Hence, having another set of 1-drop that is actually playable, makes a lot of difference in the first 3 turns of damage calculation.

Complicated Love Triangle. Expedition Envoy was Elite Vanguard, retired, and slapping an Ally subtype to fight the Eldrazis. By no means Hada Freeblade, but hey, they may meet each other somehow I guess?

So being disappointed as I was, I overlooked this card for several months. It was only during a deck editing session, and seeing this decklist taking down top 8, that I rediscovered this card. Though I was skeptical and hesitant, I went ahead and tried a playset in the deck. The results were shocking. Here's what I discovered, summarised to 3 reasons, regarding the power of Expedition Envoy.

1. The only Ally that can trump Hada Freeblade in terms of damage out-put in the first 2 turns. Look, I get you. She is no Hada Freeblade, and she will always dies to EVERYTHING. That lousy excuse aside, having her down in turn 1 and getting ready to attack in turn 2 onwards, it just shows her power level as an aggressive cards. I had an old article talking about the difference of a 1/3, 2/2 and 3/1 body in limited and that they all have their uses depending on the deck. Here in an aggressive strategy, having a 2/1 body would be better than a 1/2 body. Likewise, a 2/1 will always trump a 1/1 body.
   
   
   Make sense?
   
   
   Now to shorten all the possible maths involved, we just have to compare the damage output on the next turn both Expedition Envoy and Hada Freeblade; Expedition Envoy leads by a single point of damage if Hada Freeblade missed an ETB trigger that turn (Hada ETBs as a 1/2). It is only two turns that Hada Freeblade takes the lead in both damage and survivability. Sure I will agree that in later games, Hada Freeblade will take the cake as the stronger one-drop.
   
   
2. Elite Vanguard has seen his share of competitive play in white weenie decks, which are essentially aggro decks. This is a relative comparison to the power level in competitive scene. An essential 2/1 vanilla creature at one drop is deemed powerful enough to see play in aggro decks. My point here is that having an exact duplicate of Elite Vanguard, with an "Ally" subtype sticked to it, it is really a no-brainer and no excuse for aggro strategy Ally decks not use it.
   
   
3. Ally is all about ETB triggers. It's all about the trigger. Ticking up the Aether Vial, or saving the mana to cast more Allys to Rally the tribe is really crucial to trigger off the tribe's synergy and combat tricks. Having her at one mana really makes a difference in spending and conserving mana. Especially in the midgames where it does make a difference in having one or two triggers in that turn to finish the game. 

3 Cards to look out for prior Battle for Zendikar Release! [Flash!]

I'm just going straight to the point here. Three cards to keep a lookout over the next 2-3 weeks. The price spikes for these cards are happening or may have happened, but they may continue to grow if my punts are right.

	See the Unwritten - Ferocious Seeing how the new Eldrazis are rolling out, See the unwritten is a very attractive card to have in a deck with so many targets and critters to choose, This will definitely be a new archetype or upgrading the current decks running this card if it is already prominent in Standard Constructed.  Plus, having Ferocious mechanic on it just made it sweeter for the BFZ block. Speculated Price: $15-$20 at its peak
	Animist's Awakening - Landfall With Landfall returning, I would expect this card to actually make it into its own deck in Standard Constructed. At the moment now, it seems clunky and weird playing this that if you have that much mana to make an impact using this card, you would probably be better off play See the Unwritten or Genesis Wave.However, if this set has great landfall abilities, then this card will be an all-star. At the moment now, I'll say this is not something to delve in too deep as a spec, but keep an very close eye on it. Speculated Price: $3-5.
	KTK + ZEN Fetchlands - Search for... / Landfall With the new duals released, that's one more target these fetches can target into. The usability of these fetches has just gone up! Expect demands to be growing once BFZ rolls in. Also, with the Zendikar Fetches now spiked to unbelievable prices, they are the best replacements or inclusions to decks with budget or just need a fetchland to grab that particular colour. Speculated Price: $25-$35 at its peak, Depending on Fetchland

Honorable Mentions:

• Harabaz Druid - Ally
  
  
  
  As mentioned in my previous article, this card is an extremely powerful mana dork if left unchecked and it can potentially summon Eldrazi easily. Yes, it is not in Standard, and it may be a hype over the BFZ expansion. Still, it has already spiked $4.00. It may still grow if the Ally deck breaks out in the Modern format. But, nevertheless, if you have managed to acquire some of this card and are not using, why not sell? Though it has room to grow, $4 for this card is really pushing it and having acquiring them before the spike at $0.50, that's a $3.50 or a 700% profit margin right there! In short, Look to sell this card if you don't need it!

There are many and I really mean many cards to lookout for. But, these are top 3 cards that I can think of as an immediate discussion. Sure, these choices are not really ground-breaking, but I still think they are good picks to voice out and just let the others know.





Edited, 2nd september 2015: Formatting corrected

3 Reasons why I believe that the new land cycle for Battle for Zendikar may not be Enemy-Colored Manlands [Flash!]

So with the apparent news, everyone went bananas. Zendikar Fetches spiked back to their "original" prices and Khans fetches are soon to follow the trend. Damn that wasted opportunity to find that one Arid Mesa... I am still in need of that as a singleton. Nevertheless, life moves on. And, so does card prices. 

Here is the thing; earlier I posted on twitter remarking that since the dual lands in BFZ expansion is confirmed not to be the enemy-cycle fetchlands, then what can else can it be? The first thought that I have and am sure many have already guessed, Enemy-colored Manland cycle. 

However, I have 3 reasons why I don't think it is

1. It is too easy... (to predict)
   
   Other than Shocklands prediction in the Return to Ravnica block, Did you actually guess correctly what lands are going to be printed or created in a new expansion? How did you know that Innistrad, a completely new block at that time, is going to contain a cycle of enemy checklands? Likewise, how did you know that Theros block will give you the incredibly controversial scrylands?
   My point here is that if it's something that was so easily predicted, the anticipation and the hype behind the set is not really worth right? Remember how the anticipation and hype for Khans was rather mediocre until the reveal of the Allied-Fetches? Yes, it's something we want, but because it was also because it wasn't expected!
2. Looking at the colour fixing, the new cycle has to be Allied color
   
   Note that the rotation of the sets will occur when BFZ is released. We're losing the scrylands from Theros. What is left are the enemy cycle of Painlands from Magic Origins, Allied Fetchlands and, if you wish to include, the gain-life tapped lands from Khans of Tarikir.
   But note that whatever the land cycle in BFZ must survive 2 rotations as the transition from a two 3-block set to a three 2-block set. Hence, they still must cater to the loss of khans fetchlands, which means, the Allied colors will require the necessary mana fixing.
   
   
3. Read in between the lines
   
   The key-phrase here is this phrase: "but they’re brand new designs..." If we define brand new designs as it is, it means these land cycles are NOT yet printed. Yes, Enemy-coloured Manlands are considered new, but read in between the lines. The highlight is brand new. Passing off the Enemy Manland cycle as a brand new is really misleading.
   
   Bonus: in the same reasons, I believe that the Enemy Fetchlands / Man-lands is possibly in the 2nd expansion of Battle for Zendikar Block.

3 cards that I think would face the Ban-hammer [Flash!]

If there is an announcement for another ban coming up soon, I would like to propose 3 cards that may face the Ban-hammer.

• Summer Bloom
• Nourishing Shoal
• Jace the MindSculptor

Summer bloom in t2 to give bloom titan players 4 additional ANY lands and untapped? That's downright wrong... While I personally think that it is not broken on its own, and the titan can still be answered, having 3-6 additional mana ramp-ed in turn 2 could be really a killer. That being said, Azusa, lost but Seeking seems to be more fair. And, that being said, Bloom titan losing this card would risk only being able to win earliest in turn 4.

Nourishing Shoal fuels the life aspect for Reanimator decks. Having that 10+ life difference makes a huge difference for Griselbrand to refuel the hand, and as well as an almost insta-win against Burn decks. Not exactly broken like Blazing Shoal, but this is almost completely unfair, having to start off at 31 life instead of the conventional 20 life. Sure counterspells work, but what doesn't?

I said facing the Ban-hammer, but I didn't say facing the ban-hammer to be banned or unbanned. I personally think that JTMS in Modern format now is not as powerful as how it broke standard back then. Sure, it's the ultimatum for some control decks, and honestly, I really think that Modern format needs a good control deck to balance out the format. With the meta going at 51-18-31% with aggro decks dominating by more than half of the meta percentage, I really think that having a good control deck will help keep these decks in check. Then again, the meta will definitely shift to a control-dominated meta if this is unbanned. Hey, restricted is an option right?

3 Reasons Why Kolaghan's Command Deserve the Spotlight [Flash!]

I can assume this series has gained enough popularity that I'm back with another? I'll go easy with this still, so I'm presenting another Command in the Dragons of Tarkir expansion!

Now, I'll be honest. Initially, I didn't look much at this card. Partly because B/R colours are not my thing and I didn't really paid much attention to it as it's being 3 mana. I did ask myself if that would be a real deal. Eventually I pass on this. But, to redeem myself, I'm going to give you 3 reasons why this card deserves the spotlight it is in now:

1. B/R/X Decks are on the rise. Jund is making its move back into Modern after a slight hiatus. Meanwhile, Grixis control is also giving Modern a run for its money. Both decks centralizes a B/R core with the third colour being green and blue respectively. No mardu decks yet? Ah well.. Give it time.
2. Similar to Dromoka's Command, I praise this card for its utility and cost efficiency. None of the 4 options are not relevant in the format. 
   - Returning a creature back to hand is somewhat a black/green colour ability. Goyf or Siege Rhino in the grave? No problem!
   - Discarding a card is definitely black ability. Coupled with Liliana of the Veil, Inquisitions, and Thoughtseizes, it's just icing on the cake!
   - Destroying Artifacts is kind of the go-to to any side or mainboard material. Affinity, Tezzeret control, and to an extend, TRON can really have a set-back from this ability.
   -2 damage to either the creature a player is always relevant in any format.
   Now, having being broken down in its options, its a very versatile card and is never a dead draw in most scenarios. Also, it's a 2-for-1 in most situations, so that's value for mana and deck-slot there!
   
   
3. Played in Standard, Modern and even started to show up in some decklists in Legacy. While I'm not too sure about the card in the last format being real, as in the card being a real thing there, I'm quite positive that this nifty card is being played in the former two formats. Even so much as to the card popularity is rising these couple of weeks.

Okay, so that's the 3 reasons. I'm sure there are more reasons why this card is loved, or even hated. Drop your comments below and feel free to share this post to others if you like this or any of the other content that I have written so far!

3 Reasons Why Dromoka's Command is Insanely Good in Modern [Flash!]

Quick post. I want to try something new on this blog by creating short posts like this rather than my usual long-winded ones and see which is a better response with you guys! I'm kicking off this with one card that is has picked up value and seen play across Standard and Modern Format recently!

1. The application of four modes of the command is extremely relevant in the meta. In my opinion, it may be the strongest command in the DTK cycle in Modern meta applications, alongside with Artaka's Command as a close second as the latter may require specific decks to properly utilize its all of four utilities. In my opinion, Dromoka's Command has a slightly more versatile set of utilities that is able to be played in most decks running the colour.
2. Speaking of Powerful or versatile utility, it just builds on the previous point in regards to relevance. The most used modes you would choose is the last two. Having a +1/+1 counter and fighting another creature as a pseudo-removal does wonders in many games. Especially since Modern is looking to be a creature-dominated format, the chosen modes as mention do help push the stalemate board. However, the first two do have very surprisingly flexible options as utility against certain match-ups (eg. RDW, Twin, Boggles, Prison, some control variants, etc.). You do know that this stops damaged-based boardwipes right? Similarly, this actually removes Keranos, God of the Storm in Twin Exarch decks and as well as Eidolon of the Great Revel in Burn decks.
3. Having the Command with 4-choose-2 utility choice at cmc 2 is very much value for the mana you are investing for that turn. I did mention this earlier, but it is rarely a dead card in hand. It is an extremely powerful utility in early game but still a good top-deck draw in late games to help break stalemate. In early games, having 2 utility choices gives you a tempo advantage in terms of answers. Think of it as being able to cast an additional 2 spells to help your board or game state in that turn. In late game, it's cheap enough to allow you to follow up with bigger, and flashier spells.

Note, I'm not screaming this to be the next big thing in modern (It might?). I'm merely a fan of this card in the new command cycle and I feel that the card is rather underrated still in the Modern Format. If it does not fit the bill to be a mainboard card in most decks, I think that having this as a 1-off in sideboards do help change games in post-sideboarding. 

What do you think? Did I make a sound argument in getting you interested in the card? What are your opinions regarding this card?