Me at PAX East

I am currently in Boston and have gone to PAX for my first day and I am preparing to go on my second day. Many words can be used to describe PAX, and I assure you that they are all positive words. At Pax I walked around all the different booths and exhibits in the show room, and then I sat down to participate in a booster draft in the table top game center. It was single elimination and I was eliminated in the first round, but I was not focused on winning, I made a 3 color deck just because I felt like it. On a brighter side in my first pack I drafted a Huntsmaster of the Fells, which is a good werewolf to have in a Red/Green werewolf deck. 

After the booster draft, I met up with a few guys and we played casual Magic. Thw two were nice guys and I hope to see them again on Saturday PAX. My agenda for Pax today would most likely be simple, when I get there I will roam the exhibition hall, try out some demos and other games I've never heard of, and possibly head to the console gaming rooms and play some games there. Then I'm off to table top gaming to enter into a booster draft and possibly a standard tournament.

PAX is truly an awesome place to go and to do many cool things. It doesn;t matter what type of gamer you are, board gamer, card gamer, console gamer, computer gamer, or you are a fan of retro arcade games, PAX East is truly a memorable experience.

New Avacyn Restored Box Art and Pack art

The art for the new Avacyn Restored boxes and booster packs are out. Also released are the 5 intro decks for Avacyn Restored and 2 of the event decks.

Here's the Avacyn restored fatpack and all of its hellvault glory!!!

I am also looking forward to the different intro decks and event decks that Avacyn Restored has in store for us.

Here is the cover two event decks in Avacyn Restored.

Here are the 5 booster pack designs for Avacyn Restored. The first two on the left are Avacyn the Angel and Grisleband the Demon. Now there are rumors of new planeswalkers in Avacyn restored, maybe these three other designs could be the new planeswalker?

Vampires of the Innistrad Block

Some of the Innistrad Block vampires have one thing in common, when they deal combat damage to a player, they gain a +1/+1 counter. If you utilize the right vampires and right supporting cards, you can make a very lethal vampire deck. If you are running a vampire deck based around gaining +1/+1 counters and slowly beefing up your army, you should also incorporate cards with "proliferate" such as spread the sickness or other cards like that. I'm gonna post some recommended vampires for a vampire deck from the Innistrad Block.

The first vampire I want to discuss is Markov Blademaster. Markov blademaster costs 3 to play and is a 1/1 with double strike and whenever it deals combat damage to a player it gets a +1/+1 counter. Now the double strike part really calls my attention, double strike is a real nifty ability to have for creatures.

Erdwal ripper is another vampire of choice. It costs 3 mana to play and is a 2/1 with haste, and much like Markov Blademaster, it gains a +1/+1 counter when it deals combat damage to a player. This compliments well with other counter gaining vampires. The haste helps with early game strikes against your opponent, and  a decent 2/1 creature for defending.

 Another vampire worthwhile is Stromkirk noble. Stromkirk noble is a 1/1 that gains +1/+1 counters as it deals combat damage to a player and can not be blocked by humans! Stromkirk noble only costs 1 red mana to play and is really effective early game and if it can get beefed up and survive, it can be a game changer late game.

Falkenrath Marauders is a 2/2 flying with haste for 5 mana and when it deals combat damage to a player, you put 2 +1/+1 counters on it, so it functions as an effective sucker punch and gets beefed up x2 compared to its other counter gaining vampire relatives.

An awesome addition to a vampire deck with counters is Rakish heirs. It is a 2/2 that costs 3 mana to play. It is a good addition because it adds an additional +1/+1 counter when any vampire you control deals combat damage to a player, including adding a +1/+1 counter on itself.

Bloodline keeper/Lord of Lineage is a black vampire that is a 3/3 that transforms into a 5/5. As Bloodline keeper, you may tap it and put a 2/2 flying vampire on the field and you may pay one swamp to transform Bloodline keeper into Lord of Lineage. As Lord of Lineage, it gives other vampires you control +2/+2 and you may tap it and put a 2/2 black vampire with flying onto the field.

Just as the Zombies have Diregaf captain, the vampires have their own captain, Stromkirk captain. Stromkirk captain costs 3 mana to play, 1 must be a mountain and another a swamp. It gives all other of your vampires +1/+1 and first strike. Having 4 of these on the field would devastate the enemy and provide strong creatures for your defense.

I personally think that the whole "attack each turn if able" mechanic is a little risky, but if you like the combination of attacking each turn and gaining counters, Bloodcrazed Neonate is a vampire worth having. Bloodcrazed neonate costs 2 mana to play and must attack each turn if able. It also gains a +1/+1 counter when it deals combat damage to a player.

 Stromkirk patrol is a 5 mana 4/3. This is a decent card for its mana cost and it has the counter gaining ability that the other vampires have. Stromkirk Patrol is not in my deck, but i personally would put in the card if I hadn't substituted it for Markov blademaster.

And last but certainly not least is the Legendary Olivia Voldaren. Olivia Voldaren can decimate and cripple your opponents army in a few turns. Olivia Voldaren is a 3/3 with 2 abilities. The first ability costs 2 mana, one must be red, and deals 1 damage to target creature, it becomes a vampire. Its second ability costs 3 uncolored mana and 2 swamps, and it allows you to take control of target vampire. Olivia gains a +1/+1 counter when it deals damage with her ability.

The wonders of Innistrad block blue/black zombies

The Innistrad Block has given way to many creatures that were primarily one type of color are now prevalent in other colors. I'm gonna post some recommended cards for a skaab deck.

Take blue zombies, or skaabs for example. Most skaabs either make you self mill your deck or exile creatures from your grave yard. I think that that is a gamble, but could pay off if you run a decent blue/black skaab deck.But if you run a play set of cards like ghoulcallers chant or other "revival" cards, and also possibly a rooftop storm for free revived zombies, then it will most likely work out at the end.

Another good card for a zombie deck is endless ranks of the dead. But endless ranks of the dead has its drawbacks. If your opponent has a card like blood seeker or other creatures that penalize summoning creatures, then unless you get rid of the blood seeker, then you must double time your efforts before it is too late.

Diregaf captains are also a staple in most Blue/Black Skaab deck. It is a 2/2 for 3 mana with deathtouch and "other zombie creatures you control have +1/+1" and "Whenever another zombie you control dies, target player loses one life."

If you want to focus on a Zombie mill deck, Undead Alchemist is a must. Undead alchemist essentially replaces you dealing combat damage with you making the opponent "mill" cards depending on how much damage is inflicted. The other part of his ability is if a creature card is put into the graveyard from his or her library, exile that card and put a 2/2 black zombie creature token on the battle field, so if you are dishing out massive damage in one turn, then your opponent is in for quite a shock.

Another card I suggest for a zombie Skaab deck is call to kindred, which is an enchantment. If you are making a zombie deck, or a deck with predominantly one creature type, call to kindred is a good card. When you enchant the creature, at the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top 5 cards of your library and put a creature card with that shares the same creature type onto the battle field. I run this in my blue/black skaab deck and it ends up working at the end.

As mentioned earlier, endless ranks of the dead is a recommended enchantment card if you are interested in building a 2/2 zombie army! At the beginning of your upkeep, you put X 2/2/ black zombie tokens onto the battle field, where X is the number of zombies you control rounded down, so you can count on an exponential gain of zombie tokens every turn. 

Another card recommended for a zombie deck is Mikaeus Unhallowed. Although he is a high mana cost, i think he is worth it. For 6 mana you get a 5/5 with intimidate, other non human creatures get +1/+1 and undying, and you basically gain "human deathtouch!!" Which is basically whenever a human deals damage to you, destroy it.

Another card I will add is Grimgrin corpse born. Grimgrin is 5 mana for a 5/5 that enters tapped and doesn't untap during that players next untap step. His abilities include "sacrifice a creature, put a +1/+1 counter on Grimgrin and untap it." Its second ability is "whenever grimgrin attacks, destroy target creature defending player controls and put a +1/+1 counter on it." I highly recommend this zombie for a deck.

One final card, although there are many more, is Gravecrawler. Gravecrawler is a one drop that is a 2/1, can not block, and can be cast from the grave yard. If you are short on tokens to sacrifice or other creatures you can sacrifice, gravecrawler is a good combo with grimgrin, and if you have rooftop storm active, you can infinitely keep sacrificing and recasting gravecrawler for free!!!

There are many other good zombie cards that you can use aand different combinations work better with different people. Depending on your play style, you will do better with some archetypes and will find combinations of your own.

Avacyn Restored

As the Innistrad block comes to an end, people are anticipating the release of Avacyn Restored. As Avacyn has been released from the hellvault, the humans have regained their hope. One thing we can all expect is a drastic change in the creatures. So far in Innistrad and Dark Ascension, we have been exposed to many spirits, Werewolves, Zombies, Wolves, and Vampires. We can also say goodbye to transforming/double sided cards as well as flashback.

But where some aspects fall, I am sure that many more mechanics will rise, such as some angels and not to mention the Legendary Avacyn, Angel of Hope, which is an 8/8 white angel for 8 mana which makes all permanents you control indestructible. I am without a doubt looking forward to other spoilers of Avacyn restored and for its actual release!