Top 13 of 2013

This is a list of what I think are the best cards printed in 2013 the sets are
Gatecrash
Dragon's Maze
Magic 2014
Theros
Please remember that I like cards most people do not and that I like cards people would call junk rares. With that in mind I hope you enjoy the Top 13 of 2013
13. Fleecemane Lion

A 4/4 Cat with Hexproof and Indestructible for 4 mana is amazing and that is what Fleecemane Lion will became if you cast it on turn two and use it's Monstrosity ability on turn five. Plus it will be able to attack on turn five because it entered the battlefield on turn two and so is not affected by summoning sickness. This new card from Theros is the thirteenth best in 2013.
12. Savageborn HydraOnce this hydra is on the battlefield your opponent will  only have one choice. To destroy it. As you can pay 2 mana during your turn at any time and Savageborn Hydra will get a +1/+1 counter it will become huge quickly. Definitely worthy of the number 12 spot.
11. AetherlingThis -1/10 unblockable creature that can easily protect it's self is great. You can make it a powerful attacker or an unbeatable blocker. Plus I you have an additional blue mana you can make him unblockable and swing for a maximum of 8 damage per turn.
10.A 4/4 for five mana with Flying, Haste, and protection from White is already great. But, if you have seven extra mana lying around you can make it a 7/7 and deal a bunch of damage to your opponent. Unfortunately you cannot remove monstrosity and give him more counters.
9. Biomass MutationBiomass Mutation may be a surprise to many of you. It is a perfect card for Simic elf-merfolk decks. You play all your one and two mana creatures while gaining mana. Then you attack with all of them. Normally you would only deal a tiny bit of damage. However once you Biomass you will be dealing a large amount of damage to your opponent and will be able to kill a couple of unsuspecting creatures while you are at it.
8. Domri RadeHere is the first and only Planeswalker on our list. He can put creature cards into your hand that can be cheated onto the battlefield later. Or if you have large enough creatures, kill an opponents creature. But the best part of all is that you can get an emblem that gives your creatures Double Strike, Trample. Hexproof, and Haste. Remember that emblems cannot be destroyed so it’s there to stay.
7. Purphoros, God of the ForgeThe only God on the list is Purphoros. He works perfectly in Krenko build decks. As he deals two damage to a player every time a creature enters the battlefield you will be dealing a bunch of damage when you cast three small goblins per turn. Pretty soon your devotion to red will be high enough that you can attack with a 6/5 God.
6. Obzedat, Ghost CouncilObzedat has an unusual casting cost and name. But if you can get him out on turn 5 he will be all the better. When he neters you gain 2 life and an opponent looses 2 life. Most creatures like him will be targeted with Instants and Sorceries but if you exile him he will not be killed so easily. Then at the beginning of your upkeep you bring him back dealing 2 damage and gaining 2 life. Plus he gains Haste so you can attack with him.
5. Aurelia, the WarleaderEver since I saw this card I knew it was destined to be on the top 13 list. For 6 mana you get a 3/4 flier with Vigilence and Haste. But that is not even the best part. That is that she gives you an extra attack step and untaps your creatures if it is the first time she attacks that turn. Combine this will all the other Boros creatures (like Tajic) and you will surely win. tack with him.
4. Nykthos, Shrine to NyxThis may also be surprising to see so high on the list but I think that it is great. If you can get your devotion to a color up than Nykthos can produce vast amounts of mana each turn. I especially like it because it combos with X mana so well.If you play it with Biomass Mutation your creatures could get unbelievably large.
3. Kalonian HydraKalonian Hydra is just like Vorel except that he doubles the counters on every creature not just one. This makes him unbelievably powerful. Just think. If you had a 1/1 creature in only five turns it would be a 32/32 creature. If it was a 4/4 in 5 turnes it would be a 128/128 creature. What if you paired it with Aurelia. Well in 5 turns a 1/1 creature would be a 1024/1024. Of course your opponent wouldn’t last 2 turns let alone 5.
2. Voice of ResurgenceJust like last year a Selesnya card made the number 2 slot. Voice of Resurgence is such a great card because it stops so many deck types. If every time you cast a spell during an opponents turn they got a huge creature would cast a bunch of spells. Plus the tokens get bigger for each one you get. And when it dies you get one anyway. Also it is only 2 mana so it stops decks right from the beginning.
1. Archangel of ThuneFinally the best card of 2013. I had a tough time deciding between Archangel of Thune and Voice of Resurgence but picked The Archangel because it can combo with many things. First is the Archangel of Thune and Spike Feeder combo which gives you an infinite amount of mana and an infinitely large creature. Then There is the Archangel of Thune, Horizon Chimera, Fathom Mage combo which does the same thing except it draws your library for you. Archangel of Thune is definitely worth the Number one spot for the best cards of the year 2013.

Have a great 2014 and be looking out for top 14 of 2014 coming out in one year.

Theros Block Planeswalkers True-or-False

Each block has had five Planeswalkers since Scars of Mirrodin. We already know four and so the last should be in Journey into Nyx. As you know from my post about Ajani he will probably be the fifth. In this post I will remind you of the first four Planeswalkers and show you a new spoiler True-or-False for the Journey into Nyx Ajani.

Theros


Born of the Gods


Journey into Nyx

Kiora, the Crashing Wave

Because in Theros there were 3 Planeswalkers there will only be one Planeswalker in Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx. This Planeswalker is Kiora. Her +1 stops an opponents creature from dealing damage to you. Her -1 gives you a card and an extra land. But the big finish is her +5. It gives you a 9/9 Kraken every end step. Plus if you can get her more loyalty you can get two 9/9's every turn. This is a great Christmas present to us from Wizards. 

More Temples to Worship

In Theros there we five two colored Lands. The name always started with Temple. Three more Temples have been spoiled for Born of the Gods today: Temples of Enlightenment, Malice, and Plenty. These spoilers do not have pictures so I cant really post a picture, but when they do I will most definitely show you.

Favors from Nyx vs. Manipulative Monstrosities Conclusion

I decided to make a new series to find the best Intro Deck for each release. This will help new players get the best Intro Deck for them if they want to play something like Friday Night Magic but do not know how to build a deck. What I did was put all the decks on MTG Deck Builder and then play tested them. I will play a best out of five series for each match up. In the end the deck that has the greatest percentage of victory will be the best. The first match up is Favors from Nyx and Manipulative Monstrosities.

In the conclusion I will be going over what the better deck was. We have to take into account the real wins and the wins because the opponent had no mana or to much mana. Favors from Nyx won games one and game four. In game one Favors from Nyx had some opposition and so that counts as a real win. But in game four Manipulative Monstrosities did not have any mana and so that does not count. Manipulative Monstrosities won games two, three, and five. In games two and three Manipulative Monstrosities had to work for the win and so both count as real wins. However, in game five Favors from Nyx drew only mana and so Manipulative Monstrosities picked up a fake win. Favors from Nyx had one real win and Manipulative Monstrosities had two so when these decks come head to head Manipulative Monstrosities will generally win. 

Favors from Nyx vs. Manipulative Monstrosities Game 5

I decided to make a new series to find the best Intro Deck for each release. This will help new players get the best Intro Deck for them if they want to play something like Friday Night Magic but do not know how to build a deck. What I did was put all the decks on MTG Deck Builder and then play tested them. I will play a best out of five series for each match up. In the end the deck that has the greatest percentage of victory will be the best. The first match up is Favors from Nyx and Manipulative Monstrosities.

Favors from Nyx drew an opening hand of 3 Swamp, 2 Plains, Ordeal of Heliod, and Ray of Dissolution and decided to keep it. Manipulative Monstrosities of 2 Island, 2 Mountain, Lightning Strike, Water Servant, and Coral Merfolk and kept it. Manipulative Monstrosities won the roll and decided to go first.

Turn 1:

Manipulative Monstrosities played an Island. Favors from Nyx drew a Plains and played it.

Turn 2:

Manipulative Monstrosities drew a Shock and played a Mountain to cast Coral Merfolk. Favors from Nyx drew another Plains an played it.

Turn 3:

Manipulative Monstrosities drew Magma Jet and played a Mountain. Then cast Shock and Magma Jet to deal 4 damage to Favors from Nyx and Scry 2. Manipulative Monstrosities Scryed an Island and Stoneshock Giant opting to put the Island on the bottom and the Giant on top of the library. Manipulative Monstrosities attacked with the Merfolk. Favors from Nyx drew a Plains and played it.

Turn 4:

Manipulative Monstrosities drew the Giant and played an Island. Then, cast Water Servant and attacked with Coral Merfolk. Favors from Nyx drew a Swamp and played it.

Turn 6:

Manipulative Monstrosities drew a Sealock Monster and played Lightning Strike. Then gave Water Servant +2/-2 by using 2 mana for the first ability. Manipulative Monstrosities attacked with both the creatures. Favors from Nyx drew Traveling Philosopher and conceded.

Game 5 goes to Manipulative Monstrosities

Ajani in Journey into Nyx

Most of you have already this piece of art, but I thought that I would make a post for those of you who did not.

As you can tell Ajani will almost certainly be the one Planeswalker in Journey into Nyx. The only question is what he will do. As always I have found a bunch of Ajani cards that I would like to show you. Again these are certainly fake. I just thought that you would like to see them. Be prepared for more cards and I find them.

Ajani Hammerfist.


Ajani, the Beast


Ajani, Restorer of Balance