Huh, That’s Funny
I have a bear problem. I have bears in my
collection, but until the Hanna-Barberra set comes out (scheduled for 2015
under the code names "Scooby," "Dooby," &
"Doo"), there just aren't enough picnic baskets to really do much for
them.
Before I continue, I have to lay out a few pieces
of terminology:
Vanilla Creatures – These creatures only have a
power and toughness. For most purposes, they are tokens creatures printed on a
card (with a cost, name, etc.). Unless they're big, and maybe not even then,
their game play value is very limited.
French Vanilla Creatures – These creatures are
like vanilla creatures except that they have one or more keyword abilities,
like flying, trample, haste, lifelink, deathtouch, etc.. They're often more
useful, and can often turn a game around, but don't always see a lot of play
either (Hey Flensermite. Don't worry; you're a staple in Kris tournaments.)
I've got a lot of vanilla and french vanilla
creatures crowding up my collection. I hate to see cards languish, but counter
to my initial impressions, most vanilla creatures don't get too much of a power
boost for not having any abilities (oh, hello Watch Wolf).
I'd like to have a format that utilizes vanilla
(and possibly french vanilla) creatures. I'd like to have bumbling armies
roaring across a battlefield in a game based around swinging in and letting the
combat phase sort it out. For the next few weeks, I'm going to spend my
"It's the Magic" time focusing on the hurdles this type of format has
and how to overcome them.
Instead of taking the current Magic mileu and
pruning away the cards and rules that don't fit, I'm going to build the vanilla
format with almost nothing and add items as I hit snags. For starters, cards
legal in the format are creatures with no abilities and basic lands.
Snags:
Green – Green just beats the curve for vanilla
creatures and it also has the widest variety of them. A vanilla creatures
format would lean very heavily towards Green, limiting deck building options.
Strategy – Do you have a creature? Play it. The
only time when that might change is when you need to play something on your
second main phase to affect your opponent's blocking decisions during combat.
Strategy II – A 2/2 versus a 2/2. If you've got
another creature, you might as well swing in. 3/3 vs 2/2? Swing in. One 2/2 vs
two 2/2s? Don't swing. Everything is in the board state, save the
reinforcements that are coming down the line in each player's hand.
Strategy III – Without trample, 1/1s and 2/2s can
chump block a 7/7 until their player can draw a creature large enough to take
out the 7/7, at which point the trade is either the only to progress the game
or a non-factor for the player in the better position. That's all without even
considering the viability of tapping down your best blocker to get chump
blocked each turn.
Drawing Out – Players will eventually draw out,
slowing down the game and putting one player at the mercy of their topdeck.
Imagine if each deck has a half-dozen 5/5s. About halfway through the game,
there are three in each player's graveyard, both players are top decking, and
only one player has a 5/5 on the board. The other player will probably lose
before they draw their answer. The alternative is blocking collectively and
losing two or three creatures to take out one.
Ultimately, a lot of these issues are the result
of big creatures being card advantage engines which have to be answered, which
is actually reminiscent of regular magic, just with different cards eating up
different cards. So, I have two ways to approach these problems; adding more
cards and making something up. I'll go into them next week.
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