MTG: Gatecrash

This week is the official release of MTG (Magic the Gathering) Gatecrash set. This new set introduces cards for the remainder of the ten guilds that were not introduced in the Return to Ravnica set - Dimir, Boros, Simic, Gruul, and Orzhov.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to play in some of the pre-release tournaments and check out some of the new cards. From what I experienced, Dimir is very evil... Anyway, I got to try out several of the guilds, but I have to say, I still like playing white-black, white-red, or white-green. I also still love my angels.

One of the cards I was really excited about was Guardian of the Gateless. With the ability to block any number of creatures (and gain +1/+1 for each creature she is blocking in the process), she is a fabulous addition to my angel decks.

Another awesome card that I am excited about is the Angelic Skirmisher. Though she is quite expensive to play, she enables your creatures to gain a special ability (lifelink, vigilance, or first strike) before each combat step begins. This means before your creatures go off to battle, you can choose to gain life, not tap for attacking, or deal damage to opposing creatures before they can deal damage. Once again, a awesome addition to my army of angels.

Lastly, Aurelia is a great card too, but for this set, I think I love the previous two I mentioned a bit more. Aurelia's ability allows you to get two combat steps whenever she attacks. It's not a bad ability, but the abilities of the two above are much more useful in my opinion.

Anyway, if you're in to MTG (or you think you might like to jump in), do check out your local cards store. Though the game can get a bit complicated, it a very fun and amazing game.

MTG Return to Ravnica

One of the games I play frequently is Magic: the Gathering, a CCG like Cardfight Vanguard. It has been around for quite a long time (I remember first playing it 17 or so years ago). Though I quit somewhere in the middle because I didn't have the funds nor people to constantly play against, I picked it up again a few years ago and have been more active.

Every year or so, Wizards of the Coast (the company handling MTG) comes up with a new block consisting of three sets. This year, the block is called Return to Ravnica, a plane which was visited prior. With the Return to Ravnica block, we'll be seeing the re-introduction of the dual colored guilds. As a part of the activities for the event, players can choose one of the ten guilds to ally with. Despite there being ten guilds, the first set for the block will only showcase five of the ten, with the last five showcased in the next set.

Originally, I allied with the Boros guild due to the fact that my main decks have always run angels (the Avacyn set made me really happy since I got a whole bunch of angels to upgrade these decks). However, this time I will be going with the Golgari, a black-green guild focusing on life and death. While the new planeswalker, Vraska, was very enticing, my choice was because gorgons and grave summoning was one deck strategy I had often used prior. I usually have fun revolving my decks around the graveyard, something, which according to the story, is the modus operandi of the Golgari. In a way, I guess, my whole being utilizes the light of angels and the darker side of necromancy...

Vraska, the newest planeswalker to MTG

In any case, this looks to be a very fun set, and Wizards of the Coast has planned some fun events for the releases. Return to Ravnica releases on October 5th, but if you can't wait like me, the pre-release weekend is from the 28th (29th actually since its at 12:00 am) to the 30th. If you're looking for somewhere that sells MTG, check out the Wizards of the Coast Store Locator.