Welcome to the Jungle

Next up in the 0/1 token series:

PLANT!

I sleeved some up:


... but then I had to equip my Trusty Rusty Exacto and go all papercraft on it:




I'm hoping for a strong goat presence in Scars of Mirodin.

Here's a high-resolution PDF file of the plant tokens. Print and enjoy!

Didn't see that coming

Seismic Assault

I've always been partial to Seismic Assault (along with its ancestor) and am hoping it has a brief surge of relevance in the newly-announced Extended format. Oh, that was quite an announcement, huh? We, the Magic community, gliding along, la-di-da, Archenemy, yay, M11 spoilers, feelin' groovy, tra-la-la BAM! LAVA FIST! And then 24 hours of speculators chain-chugging foul energy drinks while trying to lock up every underpriced Mistbind Clique they could lay hand or mouse on.

Having never really had bandwidth for Extended, I like the change. Previously, if an Extended GP happened in my backyard I would not play in the main event. With the more digestible card pool, I might.

See Greg Staples' original card art here.

TT and the Grunts

"Have you seen them live? Halfway through the gig the lead guitarist disappears and comes back as some kinda freaky stone golem thing! Yes way, man!"

Yeah, I made some custom goblin tokens. Now that's a Siege-Gang that knows how to party!

UPDATE - Here's a high-resolution PDF to download if you want to print and use these tokens:
3 goblins token PDF
Print 'em up on some nice paper, cut 'em out and game!

Piles of lettuce

Vengevine

I didn't want to let all the mythic rage pass unmentioned. Without getting into whether mythic rarity is good or bad, it's clear that people aspiring to compete in Standard now must be a lot more aware of their own personal collections of little, green rectangles.

See Raymond Swanland's original card art here.

Don't be an Arrogant Bloodlord

See the original Arrogant Bloodlord with art by Mike Bierek here.

Arrogant Bloodlord's flavor has amused me, in that "equip Reinforced Bulwark with Warmonger's Chariot" sort of way. So, it's a 4/4 badass knight that dies to a plant token, with the silly flavor text: "I would rather take my own head than be thwarted by a presumptuous wretch with a shield and a dream." He rides around on a big ant. Is "arrogant" the right word for this? Maybe it should be Ludicrous Bloodlord? It's vexing.

Yet ... this odd mish-mash of flavor did remind me of someone. Who, who, who ... and then it hit me: this same guy rage-quitted on me last night in MTGO! So, bravo, Wizards! You've perfectly captured the demented persona of the card-slinging crybaby who believes himself to be superior to all yet constantly loses to perceived bad beats. I love this card.

Heartbreaker of Bala Ged

Beastbreaker of Bala Ged

"Helloooo, ladies. Uh huh. Yeah, that's right, these aren't gym muscles. Maybe you've noticed all the broken beasts around here, in Bala Ged? I did that. But I can also be oh-so-gentle."

See Karl Kopinski's original card art here.

Oops, you fizzled.

Counterspell. See Mark Poole's original art here.

The original Counterspell art always cracks me up. Not only is this wizard failing to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but he is an absolute fashion emergency. Between the mullet, triple-prong goatee, garish Marvel comics ensemble and egregious over-accesorizing, the statement this art makes is cautionary: "Don't be this schmuck mage who gets his crap countered!"

And I thought of Counterspell because I've been playing a bit of my favorite eternal format, pauper. Here's the list:

4 Mulldrifter
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Calcite Snapper
4 Counterspell
3 Mystical Teachings
2 Soul Manipulation
2 Force Spike
2 Doom Blade
2 Agony Warp
2 Remove Soul
1 Wail of the Nim
1 Into the Roil
1 Grim Harvest
1 Echoing Decay
1 Disfigure
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Capsize
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Bojuka Bog
2 Esper Panorama
1 Dimir Aqueduct
10 Island
4 Swamp
1 Plains
SIDEBOARD:
3 Duress
3 Vedalken Outlander
2 Benevolent Unicorn
2 Prismatic Strands
2 Echoing Decay
1 Coffin Purge
1 Serrated Arrows
1 Negate

It works well but I'm thinking about an aggro alternative for when I'm not in the mood for an hour-long match.