Avatars… where do I begin? Actually, let’s not begin. I think I’d like to not talk about what an Avatar is this article. If you’re into that sort of thing, keep looking for another article coming up this week co-authored by yours-truly.

So… what to do, what to do? Anyone out there read any good books lately? No? Hmm.

Coldsnap! That’s a good topic if I ever had one.

Coldsnap is finally out, and suffice to say, triple Coldsnap drafting is pretty ridiculous. When there isn’t a card limit to mess with, you can do some pretty ridiculous things. (In draft formats, you can play any card you pick from the 45 cards you drafted. That means if you picked 8 Rimebound Dead, you could play all 8 of them.)

Now, for all of you out there that are a little slower on the upkeep, or anyone who hasn’t seen this little gem, take a look at Surging Sentinels. Ridiculous, right? Absolutely ridiculous. You can seriously play through your whole deck with this card. Hit a good ripple and you can play 2-4 first striking 2/1s for free. That, as some Magic players say, is some good.

But the ridiculousity (is that a word?) of Ripple cards isn’t the only ridiculousness in town. No no no. Not in triple Coldsnap draft. Aurochs are pretty crazy too! Aurochs Herd strike a bell for anyone? That’s crazy, especially if you can keep on fetching Aurochs Herd. And Rimebound Aurochs? It’s even more ridiculous. I’ll take a Master Warcraft every turn, that’d be great, thank you so much!

And what about Krovikan Mist? At 1U for a 1/1 flyer, it’s not terrible, but get two, and suddenly you just got two 2/2 flyers for 2 mana apiece. Not bad! One more, and it’s three 3/3s! See where I’m going with this? With just three on the table, you’re coming across the red-zone for 9 flying damage, all for a measily 6 mana. Add another, and it’s 16 damage for 8 mana! Totally ridiculous!

And the most ridiculous thing of all in Coldsnap? No, it’s not Adarkar Valkyrie. No, it’s not Rimescale Dragon, or Rimefeather Owl. It’s definitely not Phyrexian Etchings, and certainly not Haakon, Stromgald Scourge. The most ridiculous thing in all of Coldsnap?

What, don’t believe me? Seriously, you don’t believe me? Well then, check this deck out.

The basic idea of the deck is to drop out your Snow Creatures, and beat face. While you’re doing that, you’re going to be trying to get the mana to Aether Snap a 20/20 flying indestructible Marit Lage out of its Dark Depths prison. Rimebound Dead is an amazing blocker and an early beater, and Ohran Viper scares the meanie opposing creatures away. Finally, Boreal Centaur is a contribution to the deck from the Better Bear Bureau, who want to remind you that there is no good reason to ever play Grizzly Bears.

Into the North serves many purposes; finding a Dark Depths when you have an Aether Snap, finding a land when you’re in need of a different kind of mana, and finding Scrying Sheets when you’re looking for that extra bit of card advantage. All in all, it’s the MVP of the deck, so make sure you use it right.

Putrefy finishes out the list as some spot removal for pesky critters and artifacts alike. Take out opposing win conditions and crazy combos with this, and you’ll be doing fine.

Things to Remember

1) Dark Depths cannot produce mana. A lot of players forget that when dealing with this land, you can’t use it to produce mana. That means that if you play it, you have to consider it to be a spell instead of a land.

2) The Marit Lage token is vulnerable. The giant 20/20 flyer might be indestructible, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not easy to get rid of. Cards like Chainer’s Edict and Innocent Blood take care of it pretty easily. Cards like Final Judgment and Devouring Light are also quality vs. your win condition. Finally, any type of bounce, such as Echoing Truth, Chain of Vapor, or just plain old Boomerang will make the token disappear for good.

3) You don’t need the Aether Snap/Dark Depths combo to win. With cards like Chilling Shade, Ohran Viper and Boreal Centaur in the deck, there’s no reason you can’t just outright win the game by turning your creatures sideways. If you think you’ve got it, take it, and don’t wait around.

Card Suggestions (Adding the $)

Mouth of Ronom is another great land in that it offers some great removal power. Everyone likes uncounterable creature kill, right?

Adding blue to this deck gives you some great options in the form of Heidar, Rimewind Master, and all of his Rimewind flunkies. Rimewind Taskmage comes to mind. With all snow lands, playing their abilities won’t be a problem. This switch to blue definitely adds a large control element to the deck. (Just don’t forget to use Snow – Covered Islands.)

Looking to take counters off of your Dark Depths quickly? Try Chisei, Heart of Oceans. A 4/4 flyer for 2UU that helps you get a 20/20 indestructible flyer? Sign me up. Power Conduit can also make good use of those ice counters. And, if you’re looking to make counters a bigger theme of this deck, I might suggest cards like Bloodletter Quill, Quicksilver Fountain, and Triskelion.

Another cool idea to use is the Perilous Research and Hatching Plans combo. Perilous Research makes you sacrifice a permanent. Why not sacrifice a card that, when it goes to the graveyard, draws you 3 cards? 5 cards for 2UU is pretty nice, and it’ll let you dig through your deck to find those Aether Snaps and Dark Depths you’ll need.

Blue doesn’t have to mean control. Blue, in Coldsnap, definitely has some beatdown elements. Don’t believe me? Check out Rimefeather Owl. This beastie can fly in for tons of damage, and make itself even bigger. Since every land you play is going to be a snow land, you’ll have at the very least an 8/8 flyer when you drop it. What’s not to like?

Another cheap flyer that you might consider is Vexing Sphinx. Sure, you have to discard cards, but he can get a few quick attacks in, and then draw you some cards. Don’t forget that you can add the age counter to the creature and then decide you don’t want to pay the cost, so you can get 8 damage and 3 cards for 4 cards total spent (3 discarded and one dead sphinx). Not bad, if you ask me.

Snowy critters like Frost Raptor are also available. Blue/Black also gives you access to lovely Dimir cards, as well as the new Blizzard Specter. He’s cute.

The double pitch cards give you pretty things for free, and as we all know, everyone likes free. Allosaurus Rider can be a pretty big boy late game, and Soul Spike is a wonderful bit of removal.

Now, normally I don’t do this but we’re going to have to step away from the dollar bins. We’ve got a fun deck coming up, and it’s time for another Avatar, but this time, it’s from the Ravnica block. He’s a big friend of Ball Lightning and Blistering Firecat, ladies and gentlemen, it’s Stalking Vengeance!

The reason this deck is so expensive? Sneak Attack. No, you don’t need to have it, but it makes this deck pretty brutal. Playing Sneak Attack one turn, and then playing a bunch of your Stalking Vengeances, Ball Lightnings, and Blistering Firecats on the cheap, and then letting them all die to deal even more damage is how this deck wins the game.

Incinerate can deal that last bit of damage if you’re in need, or can possibly take care of a pesky creature such as Meddling Mage or Dimir Cutpurse. Seething Song can accelerate your Sneak Attack drop, or help you play out Stalking Vengeance on turn 5.

Stalking Vengeance’s ability is pretty key, but Pandemonium mirrors it pretty decently, so don’t be afraid to keep a Ball Lightning or Blistering Firecat hand if you don’t have Vengeance, but do have the Pandemonium.

Things to Remember

1) All creatures deal damage with Pandemonium. Even your opponent gets to hit you with Pandemonium, so it’s a double-edged sword. Make sure that you’re going to get the best use of it the turn or two after you play it so that you don’t rack up too much damage from your opponent using your win condition.

2) Dragon Whelp is a nice finisher with Stalking Vengeance. While normally it’s firebreathing death would seem like a bad thing, in this deck, you can pump a huge amount of red mana into this guy and he’ll deal at least that much damage, and even more if he can get an attack in along with it.

3) Browbeat is early turn damage, and late game cards. In the early game, a player without answers to Browbeat will normally take the damage instead of letting you have the cards, and will probably let you take the cards if his life total is lower than around 10. Use this to your advantage, especially if you’re about to set up your Sneak Attack engine, or if you need a few more cards in the late game.

Card Suggestions (Adding more $)

A great addition to this deck is the new Coldsnap rare Lightning Serpent. It acts like a creature fireball, and it works great with excess Mountains. Stay away from Sneak Attack with this bad boy, as you want to hard cast this card in order to get the +1/+0 counters he comes into play with.

If you can’t get your hands on Dragon Whelp, try replacing it with Furnace Whelp, Flame Spirit, or Fledgling Dragon.

Another Avatar which might go well in this deck is Avatar of Fury.

If you want to break into other colors, check out black for Hell’s Caretaker. He’s got some amazing synergy with Stalking Vengeance. Desecration Elemental works great with Vengeance and Pandemonium as well.

If Incinerate is too much for you to handle (you can’t get a playset), check out Fiery Conclusion. Sure it makes you sacrifice a creature, but since when has that been a bad thing in this deck?

Homura, Human Ascendant is also a great choice for this deck. Play him with Sneak Attack, and then use him to boost your creatures’ power before they hit the grave. What’s not to like?

That’s it this time around. Hope you’re enjoying the Avatar Feature Week at Magic Deck Vortex, and as always, remember: good casual fun is only a dollar bin away.

Death_By_Beebles

Death_By_Beebles is really a nice guy, no matter what people say. He lives on a farm sometimes, and goes to school the rest of the time. He enjoys playing casual magic online, so if you see him on MTGO or MWS (addy DeathByBeebles), give him a shout. He thinks kittens are cute. If you have a supposed junk or dollar rare that you would like Death_By_Beebles to cover in Raiding the Dollar Bins, contact him at : deathbybeebles@yahoo.com

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The Games People Play - Tactical Magic.
If I worked at R&D
The Beginner’s Guide to Rogue
Druid Week Primer
Opting In: Ravnica
MDV Idol: Finale!
Avatar Week Primer
Delusions of Mediocrity: Getting Stuffy in Here.
Raiding Ravnica: Guildmages and You!
Lands-More than Mana: Part One