CardShark

Hello, all, and welcome to the month of September. This is Mike, coming back from a weekend full of forgetting I agreed to write the show notes for this episode. Because this was our first episode of the month, we get things started with a rundown of the new Cardshark Member Promotions for September. Raffles! Free cards! Great deals! That guy who keeps trying to give away his excess Dissension uncommons (in addition to the other free cards he sends, of course)!

A semi-stealthy update to the Shards of Alara minisite means we're also officially starting Shards of Alara previews. There's a new Planeswalker, some funky artifact shenanigans, the best name ever, and NOT Bitterblossom. I wish I could remember more, but yeah... I forgot to write the show notes until just a little while ago. Have fun with the episode, and enjoy the links to the Cardshark Member Promotions and the Visual Spoiler for Shards of Alara.

Cardshark Member Promotions:
http://www.cardshark.com/member_promotions.asp

Shards of Alara Visual Spoiler:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/articl ... ra/spoiler

Download this episode here: http://themanapool.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=376103
Email us at themanapool@cardshark.com
Send me an article at submissions@cardshark.com
Cardshark located at http://www.cardshark.com
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themanapool

Mike, I also thought originally of the common auras from Shadowmoow-Eventide. Apparently that makes me a jerk too. I think it was Brian who mentioned Lair lands as an answer for the annoyingness of tri-color commons, I thought that something like that would be pretty good. Two words to go with Blightning/Megrim...Pain Magnification.

With the three color themes in this set, I think I just heard my stock of Manamorphose rising in the shards centered around red and green. Other stocks on the rise include Shadowmoor scarecrows, whose flexible casting cost and easy access to multiple corresponding colors let them add consistency to this wacky mana base, and of course Gilder Bairn, whose ability to double planeswalker counters now leads to multiple dragons, land destruction, and artifact stuff. Other investment opportunities include Smash to Smithereens from Shadowmoor, which now has a greater chance of having artifacts to hit, and of course Austere Command, who was already awesome and can now destroy all of the Espers in play along with whatever else it wants.

As for my homework, Rhino Monk + Steel of the Godhead = unblockable 5/6 who nets you 10 life a turn starting on turn 4. Goes down smooth with no chump block aftertaste!

Imagine the Rhox War Monk with Steel of the Godhead and Shield of the Oversoul. oooooohhhh....

Anyway, I also like that they're bringing back the Battlemages. Not much else that I noticed commenting on in this episode other than I enjoyed the analyses of each card. Kiss of the Amesha is definitely the crappiest one previewed so far, ugh.

You didn't like the Kiss? Why is everyone all down on it? It's not like it's supposed to be a super powerhouse card, it's just useful.

I think they're downing it because for 5+ mana we've become accustomed to game-ending demigods and the like after Shadowmoor. If I were running the colors in limited I'd totally run this card if only because I'd pay almost any amount for hand and life tempo in sealed or draft. It's just not constructed playable as both colors individually could throw out something crazy for that much mana.

Its applications in Two Headed Giant, on the other hand, are grand and wonderful.