Monthly Magic from The Herald Hello interested players and random walk-ins! With a little luck (and more work then I'm comfortable with) this should be a regular spot. Each month I'll parade around a famous card, put up either a deck list or a deck template (sometimes more then one, like this month), wheel out a combo to drool over, Ask The Herald so people can shout at me,  and as a unique novelty because you can find all of this everywhere else I'll be doing Magic: The Horoscope! Here's the list for this month. Famous Cards: Black Lotus The most famous card in Magic, on display for the OGC: Edge Hill newbies. Deck List: Devouring Zuberas A simple, cheap and best of all lethal little deck. Aside: What the hell's a Deck Template? Just so you know. Deck Template: Dredgetroller The simplest way within Ravnica Block to enjoy Dredge without decking yourself. Combo: One Card Win (just add spirits) Not much of a combo, but noteworthy because of this months deck list. Ask The Herald Not much going on in a first week, I'll take something off OGChat for filler and a glossary of terms that appear this month. Magic: The Horoscope What the stars say about your cards this November. A massive thanks to www.adze.com for having the clearest horoscopes on the web to reinterpret into Magic! Famous Cards: Black Lotus What is it? An artefact so stupidly powerful that it can only be played in one format, Vintage, where it is restricted to one card per deck. What does it do? Here's a direct translation into modern day Magic: 'tap, Sacrifice Black Lotus: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool.' It gives you three mana for free! That's four mana on turn one, which is psychotically good with practically no drawback. How much does one cost? Casual: Not. A. Chance. In. HELL. Specialist: Somewhere around $1000. I managed to track down an Unlimited copy (the third set of Magic, the last it appeared in) for $1029.27 at www.brainburst.com. So, around £750 then? Best get saving now so your grandchildren can have one. Any good combos? It doesn't really do anything on it's own, it just let's you do absolutely anything else! The best way to break it is to extend its shelf life. It does have the draw back of detonating itself (although the advantage you gain should swing the game clear into your favour). Try a Ritual of Restoration. Mono-white, we’re talking a turn one Yosei! A 5/5 flying on turn one is NOT something you walk away from. Deck List: Devouring Zuberas This deck is how to utterly annihilate almost any opponent on a shoestring budget. While there are plenty of decks that can beat it, and plenty of players who can beat it with any deck, it will blunder into situations where it wins in one fell swoop with no warning. Well, maybe one warning. The deck is a bomb. It grows to a critical mass then blows up in the opponents face. Once it gets big enough the other player is doomed. Here it is at its simplest and cheapest. 20 Lands Forest 6 Island 4 Plains 3 Mountain 3 Swamp 4 20 Creature Spells 4 Ashen Skin Zubera 4 Dripping Tongue Zubera 4 Ember Fist Zubera 4 Floating Dream Zubera 4 Silent Chant Zubera 16 Other Spells 2 Honden of Cleansing Flame 2 Honden of Infinite Rage 2 Honden of Life’s Web 2 Honden of Nights Reach 2 Honden of Seeing Winds 3 Devouring Greed 2 Devouring Rage 1 Death Denied 4 Optional Pick any four of these to personal preference; Eldar Pine of Jukai (good if adding non-basic land) Kodama’s Reach (best for basic land) Sakura Tribe Eldar (extra blockers against aggressive decks) Cost Casual: £5.50 Shops like the Travelling Man that open a box of boosters to sell individually, commons at 10p each, uncommons at 25p, and rares at around £2 depending on the quality. They don’t buy to sell cards and often don’t follow the trends. Specialist:  £8.05 Magic specialists who buy and sell cards, matching each and every price to each and every card. Online stockists especially. I checked www.cardsuneed.com. It’s worth noting that if you use ebay you’ll probably end up somewhere between these two, getting deals on specifically valued cards. Using the deck It’s simple. The deck sits there and grows. Its effects grow off the Hondens. Its Zubera army grows, and as Zuberas WANT to die there isn’t much anyone can do about them. It grows, and it grows, and it GROWS until there is a horde of spirits sat there. Then it plays Devouring Greed and wins instantly. The only answer is to try and keep the deck pruned until you can get around it, but you can’t use anything like Pyroclasm or Wrath of God because the Zubera effects add up and cripple you anyway! The lone Death Denied sits there as a contingency plan for if anyone is pruning you, play out all the Zuberas from your graveyard THEN use the Devouring Greed. Adding a Sideboard This is within the theme, and it also ducks two of the biggest problems the deck faces 4 Manriki Gusari 3 Rushing Tide Zubera 3 Burning Eye Zubera 4 Glacial Ray 1 Cranial Extraction Cost This is where the budget waivers a bit though. While there is only one rare, it is a valuable one. Casual: £4.90 (counting Cranial Extraction as £4) Shops like the Travelling Man that open a box of booster to sell individually, commons at 10p each, uncommons at 25p, and rares at around £2 depending on the quality. They don’t buy to sell cards and often don’t follow the trends. Specialist:  £16.55     Magic specialists who buy and sell cards, matching each and every price to each and every card. Online stockists especially. I checked www.cardsuneed.com. It’s worth noting that if you use ebay you’ll probably end up somewhere between these two, getting deals on specifically valued cards. Using the sideboard The Hondens are extremely powerful, especially outside of Kamigawa Block, so expect to see them disappear as regular opponents get on to you. Here’s one to look out for (or start using if you’re playing against this deck) Whoops. All gone. It gets worse inside the block. Then rinse and repeat:  Should your Hondens bite the dust, bring out the big boys. Replace all the Enchantments with the Equipment and the 3/3 Zuberas. The reason they aren’t in the main deck is that when I was playing with them I discovered something important, they might be good creatures but they are very poor Zuberas. When the Hondens are wiped out, get your big brothers on to the people who did it! The next problem is that while the deck can win with one card, it can also be defeated with one card. Those damn Samurai of the Pale Curtain! EVIL!!! Drop four Hondens (keep the blue Honden, you need the extra cards) and add all the Glacial Rays, then drop a Devouring Greed and add the Cranial Extraction. Technically, 4 Cranial Extractions would be better to Exorcise this, this THING! ABOMINTATION!!! Sorry, as I was saying, it isn’t just a decision based on budget gaming. Cranial Extraction goes off on turn 4, this will already be sat there laughing at you in turn two where the Extraction can’t reach it. It’s also a mana concern, Glacial Ray gives you a two mana answer to a two mana threat with an option to Splice for bigger threats or card advantage. Another way of fending off this git is to add the Manriki Gusari too. Drop four Zuberas (again, keep the blue for much needed card drawing) and add the equipment. I’ve made a decent ground stall out of a lowly Zubera and two Manriki Gusari, not much can handle a 3/6 early in the game and late in the game is where this deck blows up in your opponents face. To counter Umizawa’s Jitte, do what you did for the Glacial Rays (drop all but the blue Honden) and add the Manriki Gusari to shatter the overpowered trinket. Improving the deck This is the absolute bare minimal Zubera Deck I can come up with. Multi-coloured lands smooth out the decks performance, and then there are some awe inspiring extended Zubera decks that pull all sorts of tricks off! As a simple pointer though, I’ve already mentioned Wrath of God and Pyroclasm and anything else that kills the Zuberas is good for you too. Death Pit offering is good for aggressive players, Soulblast is like a red Devouring Greed if you don’t like Devouring Rage. I personally like Shimatsu the Blood Cloaked because I can sacrifice my Honden of Seeing Winds if it looks like I’m about to deck myself and I’ve stayed in the game before now sacrificing lands to put down a 4/4 Shimatsu in a desperate time buying tactic. There are some cards you can mix like Blood Rites with Shirei, Shinzo’s Caretaker or Gleencrawler to set up reoccurring effects. Don’t be afraid to diversify your threats! Cranial Extraction is out there waiting to lobotomise your deck! Just one last piece of advice, keep as many Zuberas as possible in the deck. I tried a 3 colour deck to make it more consistent but it’s far, far better using 20 banzai lemmings then anything else! Aside: What the hell’s a Deck Template? A Deck Template is what I call a little insert, some key cards that when put together make the basic framework of the deck letting you throw whatever else in you want but you benefit from this backbone. Here’s one now! Deck Template: Dredgetroller Had the luck to play with a dedicated Dredge Deck yet? It’s fun, isn’t it? Getting whatever you want, whenever you want. Up until the point where you run straight into a brick wall and deck yourself! Simple use of these 12 cards will give you free reign to cause chaos in your gaming circle as a master of your graveyard! 4 Dimir House Guard 4 Golgari Thug 4 Junktroller The Dimir House Guard are only really there as the 5th-8th copies of Junktroller because it’s so important you get them into play. The Golgari Thug is the star here, it can get out either of these two for re-use! This would also make 12 out of 15 cards in a black anti-decking Sideboard. All you need now is the rest of your Golgari Deck to go with these cards. Go forth and Dredge! Combo: One Card Win (just add spirits) This is the main event in the Devouring Spirits Deck. Get 9 spirits together (between the Zuberas and Honden of Life’s Web, not exactly difficult. Then play this and win. Easy! Circle of Protection Black can’t save them either! Ask the Herald It’s 4:40 am and I need to get this article out, so I’ve decided not to do it this month. Email me with your Magic questions and criticisms of my ideas (so I can prove you wrong and humiliate you in front of everyone!) to theheraldofogc@gmail.com or talk to me at the OGC forum, go from here to OGChat, I visit on an almost daily basis. Magic: The Horoscope The moment you’ve been waiting for… It’s the only really new thing we offer! Aries Brightening influences and sudden flashes of realisations are forthcoming, you will benefit greatly from a White and Blue deck. Test the formative Azorious Senate cards in Ravnica. You will also benefit from using a monocoloured deck this month. Legendary Spirits will be your strongest creatures this month. Taurus It is a good time to break away from old, outdated patterns. Make a brand new deck, something you’ve never done before. Green will be a strong colour for you this month, especially any life gain and creature boost spells. Don’t take the first turn! See what you’re opponent is doing, and take the extra card. You will benefit more from card advantage then from speed this month. Gemini You will have great luck in team games this month, Co-operate and people will help you. Work to become simultaneously open-minded and focused, add a toolbox of different cards to your deck but look for a single plan and stick with it. Artifacts and combos, especially combined, will serve you well this month. Cancer Card drawing will be especially profitable this month. Also look towards defensive spells that improve your creatures and use Permission spells. You will need some form of removal this month, if not counter magic. Virgo You are ready to progress and take the next spiritual grade, try creating a Ravnica based Spirit deck. The results will surprise you. Make use of stalling tactics this month, hold the line until you can’t lose. Turnaround cards will benefit you greatly. Libra Use a wide range of removal spells this month, possibly a Red and Black deck. Use Ravnica for this, and get a feel for the Rakdos Guild that will come out with Dissension next year. At the start of this month you will enjoy team games the most, but as the month goes on they will lose their appeal. Scorpio All indications point towards a Dimir deck this month. Focus on the Transmute mechanic, but don’t get distracted by Black Dredge cards. Beware of permission decks! You may consider investing in some copies of Boseiju, Who Shelters All to help get around counter magic. Sagittarius You can learn how to make your own forcast this month, make use of Sensei’s Divining Top or Crown of Convergence, possibly building a deck around Scry. You will benefit greatly from practising against high level players this month. Artifacts could come in useful and November is a good month for combos. Capricorn Ghost Lit Warder will be your best card of the month, as the stars draw you towards a permission deck. You would also benefit greatly from improving your creatures and using the Channel mechanic. With a conflicting Blue and Green direction, this month may be a good time to practice for a Ravnica block Simic deck. Aquarius You will greatly enjoy team games this month, but you will soon grow bored of them. You should consider practicing for an Orhoz deck in Ravnica Block by putting together a White and Black deck, although a W/B Tribal Cleric deck would also benefit you this month. Pisces Blinking Spirit will be your most profitable card this month. Consider a spiritcraft Deck but there is another factor this month, you will benefit greatly from extravagance! Make a daring deck, something high risk-high reward. Show off with overpriced creatures and spells.