Welcome to my first attempt at an article series on Magic Deck Vortex! You would think being the webmaster of Magic Deck Vortex and all would have inspired me to do this sooner. My inspiration? Don’t know. Perhaps I saw all of these other great writers writing for MDV and I thought, “Wow! I think I can too!” But I digress… What is this article series about? Mediocre cards.

[This article series is NOT about the Urza's Destiny rare pictured to the left!]

With every set of Magic: the Gathering cards released by Wizards of the Coast there are different types of cards in it. (You’re probably thinking, ‘how can he open up with such an obvious statement?!?’) But seriously, there are. And I am not talking about the Johnny, Timmy and Spike cards either – I am just talking about quality of the cards.

There are your good cards which most tournament players and casual players love and thus seek. These are the cards that usually fetch a good price for selling or even better for storeowners to sell. Cards like Umezawa’s Jitte, the Ravnica dual lands, Eternal Witness and Lightning Helix all come to mind for this category. Powerful, dominating, well costed and extremely useful – those are words that come to mind when I think ‘good card’.

There are your average cards that are, well, average. Despite being just average, these cards usually find homes in any type of deck. Why? Because they often fulfill a purpose in the deck to help it’s play style (like control, aggro, combo) or fill a mana spot in the mana curve. They have a useful ability or a decent power/toughness for their cost but aren’t broken by any means. Cards in this category are supportive, fitting, reasonable and/or dependant. I say dependant only because some of these cards become valuable only in the right mix of cards and thus are dependant (to be good) on the other cards in the deck. Cards that jump to mind include Icy Manipulator, Greater Good, Shock, Stone Rain, Thieving Magpie, Annex and Master Healer. If you don’t agree on some of my card examples please to talk about them in the following forum thread: link.

Finally, there are also your “bad” cards. Some bad cards are “cool” and some of them are just “really bad” (like One with Nothing bad). Any card that fits into this category is also one of those cards that sits in your binder for a long time and never sees anything but the plastic it’s held in. To most tournament minded folk these cards are a waste in their collector binder space and thus become quickly traded, sold or ‘erased’ from their collection. But to a casual player like myself, "bad" cards are a challenge. Some examples of bad cards include Imaginary Pet, Animal Magnetism, Black Market, Blood Hounds, Caribou Range, Game Preserve, Mudhole, One with Nothing, Swirl the Mists and Wild Research. While these cards aren’t “BAD” per se, they aren’t exactly something that just any player is going to pick up and build a deck around. It takes quite a bit of nurturing to make these cards worth playing – and this gets to my point.

In this column, which I thought would be cool to title ‘Delusions of Mediocrity’, I plan to take a card that isn’t so popular or that is slightly at or below average and make a deck (or a few) around it. I may succeed in my attempt… of course, I could always fail in my attempt. My point is that I want you all to re-think some of the cards in your collection that would be collecting dust if they weren’t behind a plastic sleeve in your binder. Try to build a deck around them. You will find the experience more fun than anything else. I am just hoping to guide you a bit with a new card each article.

Now! With all of that boring stuff out of the way, let’s get on to the fun stuff of the article.

Familiars of Flop

I have always been a big fan of the term “familiar”. I guess you could say I’m familiar with it! (haha) … (ha) …

… (??)

… (um)

Anyway, for those of you that don’t know, a familiar is a creature (usually animal) that is mentally linked to it's owner. They are like your best friend.  Familiars could be a hawk, small dragon, lynx, owl, cat, moose, duck-billed platypus or whatever. Usually, you can only have one familiar and they go where you go, perform tasks for you or can covert for you. Familiars used to be (and may still be) a popular term in AD&D. They are cool, useful, cute and sometime lethal.

If I had a familiar in real life it would probably be a cat… mainly because cats are sneaky, playful and lazy all at the same time. Just like me!

But why am I talking about familiars? Not because I always liked the Ertai's Familiar card from Weatherlight, but because really a familiar is a pet and I am going to make some decks using a recently reprinted card from Ninth Edition: Imaginary Pet.

Imaginary Pet was originally printed in Urza’s Saga and back then it was even worse than it is now. It is interesting to note that the Imaginary Pet is really a familiar since it seems to be connected to your mental state (like the number of cards in your hand).  I wonder why Wizards didn't call it Imaginary Familiar?  Now that would be cool.

So they reprinted it in Ninth Edition.  At least now we have some cool cards that work well with the drawback of getting a 4/4 creature for two mana (I'll get more into those later). Back when the card was originally printed, there weren’t many cards aside from Grafted Skullcap that worked well with the pet. I mean, it has a huge drawback!  The drawback, in case you didn't read the image above: at the beginning of your upkeep, if you have a card in hand, return Imaginary Pet to its owner’s hand.

Being able to master this kind of drawback is very tough. It's kind of like the drawback on Leveler from Mirrodin.  Who can master not having your library anymore?  The answer is very few.  However, it isn't impossble.  The cards available to a ‘no cards in hand’ theme deck seem limited. It is for this reason that Imaginary Pet is a flop and falls into the “bad” card pool that I suggested earlier. True, it’s a 4/4 for two mana, but can keeping your hand empty every turn be to your advantage? Perhaps. Can we tackle this card and make a playable casual deck? I think so.

Really quick, aside from the ability of the card, I have to say the artwork on the 9th edition version of the card is sooooooooooooo much better than the original version.  So much better...

It followed me home…

Let’s take a look at some of the cards that either ‘combo’ with the pet or have a great synergy with the it. Cards that let you empty your hand before your upkeep, temporarily remove them from your hand before the ability resolves or that just keep your hand empty work well with this card. Also, if you don't mind returning it to your hand every turn to so that you don't have to sacrifice card advantage, finding a card that triggers when creatures comes into play could also have a nice synergy with the Pet.

Let’s look at some of the options:

One with Nothing. Yup, if you want to keep your Pet in play the next turn, just One with Nothing yourself at the end of your opponent’s turn. It’s a good thing they made this card an instant because you wouldn’t be able to do this trick if it was a sorcery. (For the record, this is really a joke – I would never want to make a deck using two not so good rare cards… especially one with nothing. Not to say I wouldn’t make a deck using One with Nothing, because I have.  Here's a deck which I didn't create using One with Nothing! )

Grafted Skullcap. Also printed in Urza’s Saga, this card gives you card advantage at a cost. It keeps your hand clean of cards during your upkeep provided that an opponent doesn’t force you to draw any cards during their turn. It also lets you draw an extra card during your draw step. This card wouldn’t be useful in a control deck which is exactly why you didn’t see the card much in conjunction with Imaginary Pet back during the Urza Block. If you played blue – you played control. Imaginary Pet just didn’t make the cut for any blue control decks because they needed cards in hand to counter spells. Had Imaginary Pet been in a color like red it would have seen some play. Grafted Skullcap has some possibility with the pet so long as the deck doesn’t have a counter-control/permission theme.

Spawnbroker. I have the Ravnica combo pages on MDV to thank for this combo (and specifically MagicMaster55 for submitting it). Spawnbroker works VERY well with the illusion in question because when you donate it to your opponent in exchange for one of his or her creatures, you get it back at the beginning of their upkeep almost always. You can usually get this combo out towards the beginning of the game and how often are your opponents card free during their upkeeps in the first four to six turns of the game? Not too often. Point – this is a good choice to use with the Imaginary Pet no matter what kind of deck it is. Note: Spawnbroker + Imaginary Pet + Followed Footstep = a possible deck.

Possessed Portal. Eww. Well, at least you can’t draw any cards while the portal is in play and thus you could never risk filling you hand up while the pet is in play (thus keeping the pet in play). Um. However, the Portal takes a LOT to make it work in a deck.  The portal is symmetrical and thus hurts you just as much as it hurts your opponent.  Next combo idea… please?

Dark Suspicions. This card is indirectly combo-rific with Imaginary Pet. If you are going to keep your hand free of cards to keep the pet in play, this card is for you. You see, Dark Suspicions (from Planeshift) reads: “At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, that player loses 1 life for each card in his or her hand more than you have in your hand.” By having no cards in your hand you maximize the amount of damage the black enchantment can deal and thus it creates a wonderful synergy between the pet and it.

Equilibrium. I have already built a deck called Illusionary using Equilibrium with the pet – but that was a tribal-illusion deck. And it was created a long time ago.  Why does Equilibrium combo well with the pet? Equilibrium reads: “Whenever you play a creature spell, you may pay 1. If you do, return target creature to its owner’s hand.” Each turn, at the beginning of your upkeep and assuming you have cards in your hand, you have to return the Pet to your hand from play. Thus, each turn you can cast the Pet and pay 1 extra to bounce an opponent’s creature. That’s seems awful combo-control to me and thus makes for a good deck. Note: This card really makes use of the drawback of the pet in a way that makes it an asset.

Veilied Crocodile. Wow - another card from Urza’s Saga! Perhaps I was wrong about there being more cards to work with now than there was in Urza’s block. While the crocodile isn’t a ‘combo’ with the pet it has good synergy. The two cards both feed or work off of having no cards in hand. The crocodile enchantment becomes a 4/4 crocodile creature when a player has no cards in hand and that is good. This one costs three mana so it's not as good as the Pet, but it’s still an idea.

Dreamborn Muse. This is yet another card that benefits from the ‘no cards in hand’ concept of the Pet. Like Dark Suspicions, the fewer cards that are in your hand, the more it punishes your opponents (in comparison to you). If you have no cards in hand and your opponent have more than one card in hand while the Muse is in play, only they will be milling their library. You won’t.

Bottled Cloister. What a strange card from Ravnica! During your opponent’s upkeep you remove your hand from the game and then at the beginning of your upkeep you return those cards to your hand and draw an extra card. The key here is that you can trigger abilities that happen at the beginning of your upkeep. Since both of these abilities happen at the same time you can stack them both so that the Pet’s ability resolves first. You’ll keep your pet in play and still get all of your cards back plus one more. Bottled Cloister is, in my opinion, the new version of Grafted Skullcap. They both cost the same and do almost the same thing, in slightly different ways.

Null Brooch. Yup. I was lying. Please disregard my comments about the pet being less playable back in the Urza Block. Null Brooch is from Exodus (before the Urza's Block) and it probably has the best combo potential with the Pet than any other card I mentioned in this article.  Why does it work so well with Imaginary Pet? Because it forces you to discard your hand to counter a spell! And when do you counter spells? Usually during an opponent’s turn. Thus the Pet will stay in play come your next upkeep assuming you counter a spell during an opponent’s turn. Note: If you add Arcane Laboratory to this mix you have a nice lockdown deck.

Thought Devourer, Nibler and Eater. This is a cycle of cards from the Odyssey block that give you a well costed creature in exchange for a few cards from your maximum hand size. If you don’t feel comfortable using cards like Grafted Skullcap or Bottled Cloister why not use cards that reduce your minimum hand size that force you to discard down to no cards in hand at the end of each of your turns. You’ll want other ways to draw cards when you need them like Chromatic Sphere or Terrarion, but these guys could probably build their own deck with the Pet.

Heightened Awareness. While this card is a one time effect of discarding your hand, it nets you card advantage (like Grafted Skullcap). When the card comes into play you are forced to discard your hand. That effect helps keep your pet in play. However, in exchange you get to draw a extra card during your draw step. This may work well with the thought ‘eaters’ above, but we’ll have to see. The extra cards you draw could be the lead to you having to bounce your pet back to your hand in following turns.

Alexi, Zephyr Mage. For the most part, all of the Spellshapers from the Mercadian Masques block have great synergy with Imaginary Pet because they are great ways for you to empty your hand. Alexi has a powerful ability of being able to return multiple creatures to their owner’s hands for XU, a tap of the mage and two cards discarded from your hand. This is a definite splash card in any deck that uses the Cap or Cloister or even Heightened Awareness.

Manabond. While I’m not too sure how to fit this card into your deck, it is a sure way to empty your hand at the end of your turns. Perhaps it’s too late in my day to be thinking so Grandeur of a deck idea. I mean, this is only Delusions of Grandeur.

Psychic Vortex. Yet another way to empty your hand at the end of each of your turns is this Cumulative Upkeep card from Weatherlight and this card is about ten times more useful than One with Nothing. Its cumulative upkeep is drawing cards!!! True, you will have to discard them all before you turn is over but at least you can quickly assemble the pieces of your deck/combo to win the game. This is an interesting card that would take quite a bit of effort to make a deck with, but that is bound to make a fun deck.

Other card concepts that work well with a ‘no cards in hand’ theme of Imaginary Pet aren’t limited to just the cards I mentioned above. The discard: effect cards and Madness cards from the Odyssey block, the Spellshapers from the Masques block, and cards that make use of creatures coming into play all have synergy with the pet. There are a lot more cards that will work well with the Pet than you think – you just have to find them.

However, I don’t want to mislead you. Kaervek’s Spike, Apocalypse, Contract from Below, Tolarian Winds, Knowledge Vault, Kyren Archive, Slate of Ancestry and Soratami Seer will not combo with the Pet. While all of the cards I just mentioned have “discard your hand” somewhere in their text, they will not work with the Pet in a beneficial way. The focus here is the Pet… not some other crazy combo or control tactic. You either want to find a way to keep the Pet in play or to combo it with a card like Equilibrium.

Well, I think that’s a good start for cards that work well with the 4/4 Illusion. Let’s move along.

Familiar minds think alike.

Before I start creating decks I think it would be cool to post a deck I found on the Internet using a lot of the cards I mentioned in the combo section. The following deck was a ‘group’ deck meaning that many people created it. Here is a link to the original deck discussion found on MTGNEWS . The deck:

I don’t know how ‘playable’ the above deck considering it has A LOT going on in one deck but it does fulfill the theme of ‘no cards in hand’ well. You’ve got Lion’s Eye Diamond, Fool’s Tome, Null Brooch, Thought Devourer, Veiled Crocodile AND Grafted Skullcap all in one deck. That’s just crazy!

Making Familiar Decks...

Uh, oh.

Um.

Uh.

It seems my time here has run out.  

My brain has officially shut down and I can write no more.  That's not a bad thing though - who wants to create a deck when you can barely keep your eyes open? 

Not me.  And not you!  I want you to see the best decks possible using Imaginary Pet.

Looks like you’ll just have to wait until my next article to see the decks I’ve made for the Imaginary Pet. Don’t worry, though. Next article I will also delve into another “bad” card that has some worth and that deserves some eye outside of your binder.

In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of the week and have fun making decks. Casual bliss is just a “bad” card away!

~Streetz~

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.

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