Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Strategy”
Future Sight produced a lot of one-off mechanics, but you never know when one could crop up in Magic again. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the enchantment-based mechanic aura swap! What is Aura Swap? At time of writing, aura swap has appeared exclusively on the card Arcanum Wings. On its face, it’s a pretty standard enchantment: for two …
Welcome back to Combo Crash Course, our semi-regular exploration of Magic’s greatest combo decks. In the first few installments of this series, we’ve shown off a variety of different approaches to combo, and today we’re adding another one: what I call a “non-deterministic” combo game plan. We say a player has “a deterministic kill” when their deck has passed the …
Future Sight produced a lot of one-off mechanics, but you never know when one could crop up in Magic again. Join us today as we take a look at absorb, a mechanic that protects creatures from damage! What is Absorb? At time of writing, absorb has only appeared on one card: Lymph Sliver. Absorb, written as “absorb N,” prevents N …
This week, we’re taking a look at a recursive mechanic from Coldsnap that will help you get more out of your graveyard. Learn how to use recover! What is Recover? Recover is an ability that triggers when a creature with the ability dies and goes to that graveyard. When that happens, you have a choice: if you pay the recover …
This week, we’re taking another look back at the original Ravnica block and the signature mechanic of the Simic Combine: Graft! What is Graft? Graft appears on creature cards…and one land from Future Sight. It is always written as “Graft N,” and it represents two abilities. The first is that a creature will enter the battlefield with a number of …
The title of this series may be Combo Crash Course, but not all famous card combinations lead to the gameplay we would expect out of a “combo deck”. Combo decks are typically defined by their focus on building toward one explosive turn, often winning on the spot once their combo conditions are reached. That’s certainly the case for Splinter Twin …
This time around, we’re taking a look back to original Ravnica block and a mechanic that allows you to look ahead. Get ready to learn all about forecast! What is Forecast? Forecast is a bit of an odd mechanic, for a couple of reasons. First of all, it only functions when the card with forecast is in your hand. Second, …
Sometimes, you need a spell to go off more than once. That’s where replicate comes in! I’ll explain as we figure out… What is Replicate? Replicate appears on instants and sorceries, and it allows you to copy those spells as many times as you want. As an additional cost to cast the spell, you may pay the replicate cost any …
Innistrad: Crimson Vow is out now, and we’re here to break down some of the set’s new mechanics. Sometimes you learn best from a good example, and training is a mechanic that captures that flavor quite well. What is Training? Whenever a creature with training attacks, if there is another attacking creature that has greater power than it, the creature …
Innistrad: Crimson Vow is out now, and we’re here to break down the set’s new mechanics. This new keyword may seem complex, but once you get it down, you’ll appreciate the flexibility. What is Cleave? All cleave cards have an amount of rules text that appears in square brackets. If you pay the normal mana cost for the spell, you …
