Flying is one of if not the most standard ability in Magic the Gathering. It allows you to basically ignore the defenses of your opponents creatures that do not have flying and go right over the top to inflict damage to that player. The Magic Wikipedia defines flying in this official way

“A creature with flying can only be blocked by creatures with flying or reach. It may still block non-flying creatures normally. Flying is the most common of all abilities, and many creatures of all colors have it, though it is most common in white and blue.

I, like just about any other player I have ever known uses creatures with flying in their decks and probably have used them since day one of their playing. They are an integral part of a lot of deck builds. Several months ago I had a great idea, why not give that ability to my opponents creatures who didn’t have flying? I know what you’re thinking. Are you insane? Maybe, but that’s another story for another time. One card I happen to have a play-set of but never really used gave me this idea. The card is Femeref Archers. This card is a 2/2 green creature that takes 1 forest and 2 colorless to bring onto the battlefield. It’s special ability is that Archers can tap to do 4 damage to a target attacking creature with flying. Just by itself this card is nice. It makes the opposing player think twice about attacking with their flyers. However it does nothing against non-flyers except block. That is where the cool part comes in. What if you could make your opponents creatures have flying and what’s more do it after they have attacked. Two cards allow me to do just that, Leap and Jump. They are both instants that cost 1 island to play and give a target creature flying until the end of turn. Leap even lets you draw a card.

These are very fun cards to play. I run a deck with these cards that I might share somewhere on down the line. A fun game I remember is when I had an Archer in play and my opponent attacked with a Hungry Spriggan and I was able to play Jump on his creature and tap the Archer to deal 4 lethal damage to his creature. There are a couple of other cards I run in my deck that’s also work well. They are Seeker of Skybreak, Alluring Siren and Hurricane.

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Another new feature added to The Planar Portal. Now we have a forum full of Magic the Gathering topics you care about. So what are you waiting for? Click on the link in this post or at the top of the page next to the Home link. You know you have an opinion about something so let’s hear it! (Within reason please) In the very near future we will be looking for forum mods I’m sure so keep that in mind.

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Ok it’s been a little over a week since my last article. I know, I know, but what can you do. Today I want to do my first installment of which I hope there are many more of sharing the decks I personally use when playing Casual Magic the Gathering.

My goal is to present the contents of the deck and then get your feedback on whether you think the cards work well together or need improvement in any area. Not so long ago I wrote a piece on three old cards you could never forget. Below I will show you the deck I currently run them in.

Lure Deck-60 cards

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Creatures (14) 4 Sengir Vampire 4 Thicket Basilisk 4 Llanowar Elves 2 Murk Dwellers Spells (26) 4 Lure 4 Contaminated Bond 2 Animate Dead 2 Regeneration 4 Giant Growth 4 Dark Ritual 2 Ferocious Charge 2 Reclaim 1 Molder 1 Desert Twister Lands (20) 4 Golgari Rot Farm 8 Forests 8 Swamps

To restate the main purpose of the deck is to get either Sengir Vampire or Thicket Basilisk on the battlefield and then enchant one of them with Lure. Enchant Sengir if your opponent is playing mostly flying creatures and enchant Thicket if they are playing mostly non-flying creatures. Let’s look at some of the other cards.

Llanawar Elves is one of the most used cards ever because it is cheap and allows you to have a 1/1 chump blocking creature as well as a mana producer. If you can also cast a Murk Dwellers into play and Lure your opponents creatures away you can attack for 4 damage a turn with just that one creature.

Contaminated Bond is a fantastic card because if you can successfully enchant one of your opponents creatures with it they will more then likely never attack or block you because if they do they lose three life! Also, Giant Growth is an obvious choice because I am running a green and black deck and that increases my creature removal ability through pumping up my own creatures power and toughness.

Lastly, Dark Ritual is a great card because it costs one swamp to put three swamps in your mana pool. You could conceivably have a Sengir Vampire on the battlefield in just a few turns.

I would love to hear your feedback about this deck as well as anything else you see on The Planar Portal.

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