r/lrcast

This came up at FNM last night and I thought it might be worth mentioning.

When you cast an aura spell, that spell has a target. This means you can't target Photon with Frozen in Ice. However, if an aura enters the battlefield in any other way, it's not a spell. Instead, its controller simply chooses an object to enchant.

The upshot to this is that if you have Wiccan, you can enchant something else with the Frozen in Ice. Then when you cast your next noncreature spell, you flicker the Frozen in Ice and when it comes back you choose Photon to neutralize her.

Relevant Rules:

303.4f If an Aura is entering the battlefield under a player’s control by any means other than by resolving as an Aura spell, and the effect putting it onto the battlefield doesn’t specify the object or player the Aura will enchant, that player chooses what it will enchant as the Aura enters the battlefield. The player must choose a legal object or player according to the Aura’s enchant ability and any other applicable effects.

The last line regarding "legal object" might seem like it stops this, but remember that hexproof only stops you from targeting and this doesn't target. That line is referring to things like the object having "protection from blue" or the enchant ability being "enchant creature you control" preventing you from choosing an opponent's creature.

Keep in mind that Web Up works via a targeted ability on ETB, so this trick won't work for cards like that.

Edit: I took a couple screenshots with Sparky on Arena showing Wiccan moving a Frozen in Ice onto a creature I controlled with Shroud

https://preview.redd.it/uwzaohziybbh1.png?width=1137&format=png&auto=webp&s=e930956167ebe64735f4659ef577a9afa079e2f0

https://preview.redd.it/g7sv1tuhybbh1.png?width=552&format=png&auto=webp&s=65d1cb698188dc20a0ce5e52c0f47fb7f59a74c8

Better have a turn 1, 2 and 3 play ready to go or you’re toast, that’s been my experience lately anyway. I only mention this because early in the format I felt I had enough time to weather a draw with mostly turn 3 and 4 plays, but no longer!

So this isn't going to be some crazy post of how to redefine the format, but I think this can provide small value. So Red is a pretty bad color in MSH. Definitely the worst color. Often there can be value in learning how to draft the worst color because it's often open. Usually the best way to draft a bad color that is often open is to go hyper synergistic. Since you can consistently get the synergy pieces of the open color you go all in and the synergy boosts all the cards. This would indicate drafting Blue/Red or Black/Red because those decks have a lot of synergy. However, the best red deck in the data is White/Red.

I assumed this was just because white is such a powerful color that it was carrying red, and that is partially true. However, I think white and red are particularly well suited for each other in this set. We look at red's removal and it's a bunch of damage spells that are very flexible (can often even go face) as long as you only need to target creatures/artifacts and they aren't too big. Well white's removal is great at targeting big creatures and enchantments (Murdock's Crusade basically covers everything that red removal doesn't kill), but isn't ideal for small creatures or dealing damage. So they both cover each other's weaknesses. White has lots of great creatures you can play on curve, but isn't great at card advantage (I think that's why Hero in Training is so good). Well red has a shocking amount of card advantage in this set, but a lot of really wimpy creatures. Again they cover each other.

So yeah I think Red/White is a pretty good home for Red. Make sure red is open, but if it is you can mostly take red card advantage creatures and removal spells and pair that with just typical white midrange, and you have a pretty good deck.

I just faced it for the first time and there was not a single card in my deck that could deal with it. There aren't any flyers big enough to block without chumping, and I can't think of any removal outside white and blue that can get it since it's indestructible. Maybe there's a black spell that can exile it?

It really seems like an "I win" card, yet it has a terrible win rate.

[[The Sentry, Golden Guardian]]

https://preview.redd.it/df1g8ow8j8bh1.png?width=1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=02aa3e84ccbcd3745b9ac6c4b9783a7246a12f60

Deck basically built itself, other colors were unplayable.

Hey all. Saw enough UW posts in this sub that I figured the masses yearn for something with a bit more flavor. Firm opinion that in the tougher pods people aren't splashing nearly as much as they should when the mana is as good as it is.

What is Soup in this format? Why splash in a solid color pair or try for 4-5c in the first place?

Much like Secrets of Strixhaven, the mana fixing is surprisingly good. You have playable gainlands, landcyclers with time to use them and a good green mana dork. Throw in the format has a clear best 2c deck and no Manalith to snipe, you often don't have to fight people over it. Today I wanted to primarily talk about the UG base, but you can be any color combo and you probably aren't looking hard enough at getting good splashes in the draft.

Speaking of the landcyclers, all of them are playable in this shell, though obviously AIM Scientists stand out and so does Borough Backup if you're in Bant. This is a deck that really doesn't mind landcycling on turn 2 or 3 at all as long as it means you get your power plays setup. I actually think non-green 4c is still doable simply by jamming some duals and 3-4 landcyclers.

Usually for UGx your deck will have 1-3x Undercover Skrull, 3-5 non-basics*, a few landcyclers and some reasonable draw. Meaning you will usually be able to cast your splashes on-time or a turn off curve in the majority of games.

*3 duals and a utility land typically

There are a lot of strong bombs in this format and many of them are multicolored, so having the opportunity to just grab whatever you see is a real advantage. You can really see this Pack 2/3 with the best cards from underdrafted colors and any multi-pip bombs that people can't splash. These can be as strong as The Super Hero Civil War or Dr. Doom, but more frequently assert themselves as 4th-6th pick Cloak and Dagger, Entwined, The Coming of Galactus and The Ruinous Wrecking Crew (who I've probably seen the most of for single playable rares). You also rarely ever run short of removal as black is deep in that department and green players often don't take Go Nuts! or Killmonger highly. Throw in the times where you end up with enough red to justify Photon Blast Barrage and it's even easier.

Here are some sample decks I've done well with recently-

https://www.17lands.com/deck/826c344fb4b6402496d33ba673913191?view=deck

https://www.17lands.com/deck/c3bb5e3b5e5e409cbe06a6d85cc5f75b?view=deck

https://www.17lands.com/deck/db44ac5f574a46b39a8d4375198f5f42?view=deck

https://www.17lands.com/deck/3495c6b24ffc4aa2b9de4727a463c528?view=deck (this is really just Golgari, but I applied a lot of the same principles I'm about to talk about)

You can also see my non-phone events here- https://limitedlevelups.com/leaderboard/player/jsilv

How do I end up in Soup?

Get tired of drafting WU. In all seriousness, that’s how I personally started, but after I kept winning with my ‘piles’, I was starting to see the vision. So many of the decks in this format focus on small ball synergies and value to get one over on the opponent. This type of deck has a higher gear with more Powerup cards, draw and big spells; where you just start to run away with the game in a way many decks aren’t configured well to fight. Go through the Trophy decks on 17lands and count how many have curves that cut off at 4 and this angle of attack becomes a lot more noticeable.

I’ve also been noticing far less completely free WU Drafts in my last 5 or so. Hoping that means Arena pods are correcting for the color imbalance, but let’s be real, you should always go WU if it looks open and you’re trying to win. The colors are deep enough to support 3 Drafters at the table and everyone will still come out with a playable deck. The best reason to get into this deck is because you drafted a bomb in multiple colors in your first 4 picks or so and then saw an Undercover Skrull in Pack 1.

What am I trying to do in UGx?

From there, the things you want to prioritize below bombs and removal are things that give you general card velocity, mana and 2-for-1's. Funnily enough, you can also boil the format largely down to 2-for-1’s/draw 2’s and jamming powerful cards. That’s the core of this deck instead of futzing around with all the random mini-synergies or the struggling red and black decks or hitting a critical mass of relevant creatures in White/X.

This is why the UG commons I care about the most are frequently Undercover Skrull, H.E.R.B.I.E. Scout Unit, Rapid Rescue, Bold Biochemist and Futurist Forge. I would happily run 2 copies of any of these and 3 copies of Skrull.

Skull and HERBIE should be self-explanatory, but serve an important glue for the deck. Don't underestimate the Herbster, it is often trading with an Deployment Drone or small flier and you love hitting 6-7 mana. Remember that a big reason this deck works is because even wtihout bombs, you make up for your middling mid-game by casting stuff like Abomination and immediately powering up to kill something and following that up with Atlantis Attacks! Making multiple trades and using Decoy Plan to rebuy yourself into the game or deploying Forge. And so on.

Rapid Rescue quickly rose up the ranks when most of my decks only had 4-5 non-permanents and how valuable it was getting to use a 'bonus mana' on a turn. You don't mind hitting lands and even besides the bombs, hitting a Futurist Forge or Powerup card feels real good in the late-game. Futurist Forge is a card that I didn't have high expectations for and just threw in initially for some raw card advantage. As it turns out, the format is much slower when everyone doesn't have the optimal UW or GW deck. You also happen to frequently get into situations where you have 7-8 mana and need things to do. Having a card you can deploy on turn 2 and then sac on later turns to jump ahead is very nice to have. Bold Biochemist is an early road block that walls off a surprisingly decent amount of the format and is never dead late. People don't want to use removal on it either, so even if it becomes a bad blocker by turn 4, there's a fair number of games you'll just power it up on turn 6.

For filling out the deck, usually you end up with a subtheme of Heroes or Villains depending on if you end up GW or GB splashing instead. For GW, you already know how strong the white cards are and I won’t bother with a refresher. For GB the main thing you want to aim for is cards that are strong on their own and loose Villain synergies. Yes, Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord is a good card. No, most of his pals aren’t worth playing even if you have one. I just trophied with a GB deck with the lightest possible blue splash and the only reason I had 10 Villains was because I ended up running 2 Visions of Villainy as my 2-for-1 spell.

In the GU deck specifically, I will shout out Ant-Man’s Army as an unexciting roleplayer you can always find a copy or two of. Ideally you run none, but I have no problem jamming it on turn 3 and sometimes the Treasure color-fixing will get you out of a jam. Atlantis Attacks! Is also a far stronger finisher in this deck than WU where there have been games where my opponents have had issues even getting 4 Teamwork together for it.

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Gameplay Tips-

General gameplay is going to be sequencing your mana to cast your most important spells the first turn you'll be able to. This is harder than it sounds if you're leaning more heavily on a Skrull living, since you can’t often play to mitigate a completely lost turn. The good news is that, unless they put a Lightning Strike or Widow’s Bite in their deck, you’ve got decent odds to play a 4-drop on turn 3. Or play a tapland + 3-drop.

Be realistic about what your hand actually does starting from turn 3 forward. Really think about this when you’re about to click Keep, because it is embarrassing to have different basics in play and be unable to cast anything worthwhile. Having Swamp, Plains, Island, casting one removal spell and then clicking the Concede button a few turns later… The psychic damage isn’t worth it. With that said, the format is slow enough that keeping a hand where your play is turn 2 landcycle is completely fine, even on the draw. Remember that unless you KNOW you’ll be casting an off-color bomb on turn 4 or 5, fetching a 2nd of the same basic land to enable a double-pip or double spell can often be more important.

Being slower with less/weaker 2’s is also going to involve playing from behind a lot, which means knowing when you can and can't afford to play around instant speed removal/pump. Thankfully in the WU match, very little of what they have is instant speed unless you go into blocks. You are going to be on the backfoot on the board against WU for most of the game, but there’s only a certain subset of draws that’s truly scary to play against. Remember a good hand for them can be a Doombot or S.H.I.E.L.D. Spy Kit, Brave Brawler into a 3-drop or Quench. Other times their hand will be nothing on turn 1, Raft Security Officer and Hero in Training. The latter is far less of a problem for this deck than the former. If you can reach turn 5 while being above 12-13 life, your options tend to stay open. If not, you’re typically locked into a single line that loses to removal or a bomb. Biochemist shines here because it blocks Brave Brawler and Hero cleanly.

If given removal or block options, you want to hedge against fliers because getting overwhelmed by them is a very real problem. You’ll often take any random trade offered up with Herbie and if you happen to net a trick out of it so they keep their Flying Ant or Deployment Drone around, that’s OK. On the removal-front, the trick I look for most frequently is Take Up the Shield since there are times where most of your relevant removal will be destroy, punch or fight effects. It means given the opportunity to choose between removal, saving Cruel Alliance or Dark Deed for threats you absolutely need to remove becomes imperative.

Keep in mind that there’s nothing forcing you to immediately power up a card, so stuff like playing Abomination and holding the fight in your back pocket through your attacks can be very useful.

For the GW decks, the general gameplan is far simpler than against UW since the list of good tricks is smaller and they lack the same evasion. With that being said, you can absolutely get snowballed out of the game if you don’t have turn 3 removal since the creatures hit like a truck. This is the match where given the choice between digging and deploying something with actual board impact, you may have to choose board impact.

Against black decks the gameplay typically comes down to deploying your 2-for-1’s without giving up all your board presence. This is where Futurist’s Forge shines compared to the other options since there’s very little they can do to stop the effect if you just play it on turn 2. Otherwise don’t be afraid to simply play in such a way to burn their removal. Given the choice between two threats that cost 4+ mana, I’ll almost always start with the 2nd best, whereas against other decks the chances of your best card living are higher. This goes doubly true if I have Gorilla or She-Hulk in my deck against the white decks, anyone who has had their Web Up blown up and had to watch an immediate Powerup payment made can attest to this.

The turn-to-turn gameplay in the format is quite varied so I don’t have a lot of generic advice here to give. By far I just want to express that if you don’t like the cards in your hand and you have draw / connive, don’t be afraid to fire it off unless you are completely on the backfoot. Your good cards are more than capable of making up skipping jamming a random 3-drop on turn 5 if the alternative is you found your DOOOOOOM or She-Hulk for the next turn.

In general the moment you hit 6/7 mana are when you often start flipping the game in your favor. While this is often because you’re now deploying huge threats, sometimes it’s as simple as being able to activate Avengers Tower or Baxter Building while being able to play another spell on the same turn. The utility lands are extra good here compared to the normal color pairs because of how often you’ll have extra mana (or meet the 4 toughness requirement). Again, don’t underestimate the power of simply seeing more cards than your opponent in this format.

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The Obligatory Card Rankings

This is an off-the-cuff general ranking, so take it with a grain of salt. Also I’m assuming you’ll be GU primarily, obviously if you're GW or GB as a base, shift double-pip cards accordingly.

Bombs (duh) - Captain Marvel, Leader, Civil War, Avengers: Under Siege, Coming of Galactus, Wolvie Fighter, Cloak & Dagger, Monica Rambeau, Kang the Conqueror, Captain America, Wings of Freedom, Absorbing Man

Top Picks if mana supports multiple pips of that color - Thor, God of Thunder Bruce Banner Dr. Doom M.O.D.O.K. Super-Skrull Storm, Windrider Jennifer Walters The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Elektra, Daughter of the Hand

Great to have- Jane Foster, Wrecking Crew, King T'Challa, The Vision, Daredevil, Man Without Fear, Captain America, Super-Soldier, The Wondrous Wasp, Justice, Cloak & Dagger, She-Hulk, Klaw, Vision Quest (If you have at least 2-3 relevant artifacts), Killmonger

Removal- (on par or just below the above)

(The Best)- Dark Deed, Web Up, Epic Fight, Punishing Punch, Cruel Alliance,

(Slightly Clunkier)- Red Guardian, Go Nuts!, Lockup, Trickster's Stratagem, Photon Barrage, Secret Invasion

(Run as needed)- Hour of Defeat, Murdock's Crusade, Repulsor Blast, Lightning Strike

Creatures that are good- Ares, Astonishing Ant-Man (the rare), Kingpin, Abomination, Spider-Woman, Undercover Skrull, Herbie, Thanos, Titania, Rugged Rumbler, S.H.I.E.L.D. Deployment Drone, Falcon, Winged Wonder, A.I.M. Scientists, Madame Masque, Too Many White Commons/Uncommons, Black Panther, Vanguard

Role-Players / Filler - Ant-Man’s Army, Pet Avengers, Aerial Doombot, Serpent Specialist, Spider-Man, To the Rescue, Ninja of the Hand, Red Room Recruit, Guerrilla Gorilla, Wakandan Royal Guard, any other landcycler

Hopefully this gives some of you some guidance if you're struggling with non-WU strategies!