Tag Archives: Theros Beyond Death

On the Tabletop

THB Notable Multi and Colorless cards

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Introduction

Welcome, finally, to my THB notable multi and colorless cards. Before we get started, I have an admission. I’m a bad webmaster. You already know that. But, I’m nothing if not honest and willing to admit when I’m not very good at something. It’s been a couple of weeks since I started the Theros articles and I’m just now getting around to the multicolored and colorless cards. I have no excuse. Last week was vacation and the only day that I had anything planned was when my wife and I went to Boston on Wednesday. So, now that we have that all out of the way, let’s get to talking about some cards.

Multicolored (The Only Colors are Blue and Black, right?)

In what might be a first for one of these articles, I’ve played both of the cards that I’m discussing in this section. I had a fun UB control deck that I played in MTGA. I searched for some updates for the deck when Theros released and this was one of the cards in that deck. The body, as they say, dies to removal, but the Fact or Fiction effect is pretty cool and fun to play.

This card was also added to my deck. Once again, it’s not a game breaking card by itself. However, it does cause an opponent to obsess a bit over removal, opening the game up for the other UB shenanigans. Plus, that alternate art is nice.

Colorless (Wait, there’s only one notable colorless card. Let’s talk more about multicolored)

This card is dumb. I get that it’s a Titan, but still. I’ve played against it a few times. It’s not as broken as it first appeared. It is just one of those cards that when it’s played, I roll my eyes. I just know I’m going to be in for stupid shenanigans. Well, don’t you usually play stupid shenanigans, you might say? Of course, but I am all about do as I say not as I do. And I say, sir, no shenanigans for you!

When I first saw this card, I thought it might be the broken card of the set. Then, I saw the casting cost. Then I saw the creature type. And it all started to make sense. Wizards likes their 3/5 Sphinxes with ridiculous casting cost and stupid abilities. This one is UW. Which means it has a gold border. That ensures that I will pick the card in cube way too early.

The Verdict

The original Theros wasn’t know for its multicolored cards. Death changes a plane apparently. The multicolored cards in this set are fun. They might not be good, but I don’t care about all that. I just want to have fun. And make my opponent’s life miserable for the half an hour we play. Before you ask, yes that includes Chris. At least I’m not a complete sociopath. I do feel bad when I make his life miserable. Plus, we always get a good laugh from it, too. So, if you’re like me and you just like being the fun police, there’s plenty here to make that happen. Thanks for reading my THB multi and colorless notable cards article. Stay tuned over the next couple of days for an article about Battlegrounds.

On the Tabletop

Theros Beyond Death Notable Gruul Cards

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Introduction

Welcome to my Theros Beyond Death notable Gruul cards article. Last time, I went over the Esper colors. Those are my favorite colors and my favorite two and three color combinations. As a died in the wool blue mage, I absolutely hate red. I do like forcing Gx in cube drafts but, other than that, I don’t have much use for green, either. With all of that being said, there have been some green and red cards that have caught my eye in the set.

I’m not terribly proud of this next admission, but it is relevant to the topic of discussion. I spent the last hour or so swearing at Magic the Gathering Arena opponents who seem to always be able to draw and play exactly the card they need when they need it. Mind you, I’m not opening that discussion. I just wanted to say that I was playing on MTGA.

They are allowing players to play with the World Championship decks from this weekend. It’s a cool event for cheap gamers like me who would never get a chance to play a competitive deck. I chose the Jeskai Fires deck. So, I am capable of playing red. I just don’t like to. With all that being said, lets look at some Theros Beyond Death notable Gruul cards.

Red (Bolt you for lethal? I think we can do a bit better than that.)

This card is sneaky fun, in my opinion. You get a two turn Act of Treason. Then, depending on the board state, you get a turn of removal. Finally, you get almost guaranteed board sweep unless your opponent is playing low attack and high health creatures. In any case, I would play this card for the giggles alone.

I’m a big fan of Through the Breach effects. This gives you that, plus a potential big body itself if you should ever end up getting devotion. I’m pretty sure this is one of the first cards that I texted Chris about and it was all about that Through the Breach text. That card is just so much fun to play in cube. I’d like to test if it is just as much fun in a deck built around it.

Green (You Want Infinite Mana? Because This Might Be How You Get Infinite Mana)

Magic the Gathering has been kind to shirtless green dudes the last few years. First, Oko threw the entirety of the multiverse into chaos. He become the first card in a while to get the ban hammer in almost every format, both competitive and casual. Now, this guy shows up. I’m obviously not saying that he is as powerful as Oko, but he could cause a bit of a ruckus with the right friends.

Speaking of friends, there’s this guy. Chris texted me a picture of him when he was spoiled. I don’t remember my exact response, but it definitely contained some curse words. Again, I can’t promise that this card is any good. In fact, in most formats, it probably isn’t. However, in Commander, this guy plus that dryad up there has got to be some kind of game winning combo. I’m too lazy to find it. Maybe one of you can.

The Verdict

Thanks for reading my part two, Theros Beyond Death Notable Gruul Cards. As promised, I’m not as excited about these cards as I was about the Esper cards. Still, there are some fun red and green cards. I just will never play them unless they come to one of the MTGO cubes and get picked up by xMage. Uh, I mean, unless I invest some case into MTGO and play the cube there. Now that I’m somewhat back in the habit, join us in a couple of days for the colorless and multicolored cards.

On the Tabletop

Theros Beyond Death Notable Cards

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Introduction

Note: This is only the Esper edition of Theros Beyond Death notable cards. It is also two weeks late. Those of you who have been with us for any time at all know this is all very on brand for 2 Generations Gaming. In spite of our best efforts, we are often late and incomplete in our assessments. So be it! Enjoy anyway!

Welcome to my Theros Beyond Death notable cards article. As you know from my previous articles on the subject, these are not necessarily the best cards. They might not even be the most popular cards. They are simply cards that speak to me for some reason or another.

What’s this? Actual gaming content on our gaming web page? Yeah, it took a bit longer than anticipated, but I’m on a regular schedule again updating the page. There will be a plethora of gaming and comic content for the foreseeable future. Look forward to that! Now, let’s get on to Theros Beyond Death notable cards.

White (Stupid Combos? Isn’t that usually Green?)

When I first saw this card, I texted Chris, “This card has to be broken, right? Then again, I’m bad, so I might just be wrong.” He did some searching but didn’t find anything in Standard. I still contend that someone somewhere is gonna break this one.

Honorable Mention – Another (actual) infinite combo? What is happening with white lately? It used to be that their infinite combos were impossible to pull off. Now there is one definite broken card and possibly another if I’m right about Sentinel’s Eyes. I mean, I know I’m not, but it won’t stop me from hoping.

Blue (Forget Countering Your Spells, I’m Just Going to Exile Them)

Those who know me best know that I am a blue mage at heart. I complain often about the fun police but that is only because I want to be the fun police. If I can’t counter a creature, then I want to destroy it. If I can’t counter a spell…well, there’s rarely a time that I can’t counter a spell. This card just adds extra salt to that counter by exiling the card.

An enchantment? With flash? That exiles? Another way to look at it is that it is a permanent instant that prevents the casting of one of your opponent’s most powerful spells. Either way, those are two great tastes that taste great together. They taste like salt. You didn’t think I was going to say victory there, did you? Goodness me, no, this thing is way too slow.

Black (If I Can’t Exile It, I’ll Destroy It)

You are probably noticing a theme here. Honestly, if you’re not, I’d be worried. It’s not that tough of a pattern. This one is even less powerful than the blue enchantment at the same mana cost, which seems weird. Then again, WotC did print Oko, so mana cost clearly doesn’t mean a thing.

My main decks are generally UB. The reason for this, as mentioned above, is that I like to play the fun police. If I can’t counter your spells, then I just want to remove them. From the battlefield, from your hand, from your graveyard. Just get them the hell out of here.

The Verdict

There are some fun cards in the Esper colors in this set. I have updated my UB control list on Arena. So far, it hasn’t been as much fun to play, but that usually just means that I need to play more to figure out how things work. Join me next time for the Gruul version and then colorless and lands after that. Thanks for reading!