4
Skirk Prospector
4 Slith Firewalker
4 War Elemental
2 Blaze
4 Chain of Plasma
2 Chrome Mox
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
4 Seething Song
2 Seismic Assault
4 Shock
3 Sulfuric Vortex
2 Volcanic Hammer
21 Mountain |
 War
-- What is it good for?
Description of deck by its author (quoted):
On to Elemental #2, War Elemental. I have to admit that I like the
fanciful notion of naming Elementals out of intangible qualities. And
the mechanic of the card captures the flavor very well. But it also
makes it hard to use effectively. First you have to zotz your opponent,
then bring out Warren (better nickname than Warry, no?), then zotz your
opponent some more to prevent your War Elemental from being an easily
picked-on 1/1 weakling. You want a World War II Elemental, not a Grenada
Elemental. (See, Grenada is a small Caribbean island nation that was
allied with Cuba when the US invaded it in late 1983 as one of the
skirmishes of the Cold War . . . wait, what am I, a history lesson? Look
it up yourself.)
War Elemental has a neat little loophole. Play it without having done
anything else that turn and its "sacrifice me!" ability triggers. While
that's on the stack, do some instant-speed damage to your opponent. The
damage will satisfy the first ability so it sticks around, and it will
trigger the second ability so it gets some +1/+1 counters. It's even
better if that damage costs no mana that turn, so you can get Warren
out—and beef it up—on turn 3. That's why War Elemental's best friend in
the whole world is Seal of Fire. Mogg Fanatic is good too.
In the current Standard environment, we don't have anything like the
Seal that costs less than 3 mana. But we have something else that
interacts just as well: crazy red mana acceleration! Turn 1, Mountain,
Chrome Mox or Skirk Prospector. Turn 2, Mountain, get a red mana out of
the Mox or Goblin, play Seething Song, use to drop War Elemental, let
its ability trigger, then use the remaining to toss Chain of Plasma at
your opponent's head. It's turn 2, you've dealt 3 damage to your
opponent, and you have a 4/4 creature in play. Thanks to timing
intricacies, Chain of Plasma can't ricochet over to the Elemental before
it gets its three +1/+1 counters from the initial Chain blast. If War
Elemental hits your opponent the following turn, it doubles in size to
an 8/8 creature on turn 3. Look out, because War escalates quickly.
How often will you get an insane draw like that? How often will your
opponent not have a Terror at the ready? Does the deck roll over without
an early War Elemental? Yes, five, and the Toronto Blue Jays. This deck
is about potential. Potential for pain. Sulfuric Vortex—hey, sulfur! an
element!—stings even more than normal with a War Elemental out. Slith
Firewalker pumps both itself and Warren when it hits. Seismic Assault
provides a nice outlet for Mountains #4, 5, and 6. War is hell.
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