(This podcast originally aired November 21 at MTGCast)

Intro

Storm in my Heart by Scarred IV Life.

A look at the comprehensive rules and some items of interest for echo.

Echo in Time

Echo cards appearing in Time Spiral:

Avalanche Riders
Basalt Gargoyle (akin to Granite Gargoyle)
Firemaw Kavu (brother to Flametongue Kavu)
Flamecore Elemental (like Fire Elemental)
Hunting Moa
Mogg War Marshal (a smaller Goblin Marshal)
Subterranean Shambler (similar to Subterranean Spirit)
Tectonic Fiend
Thick-Skinned Goblin

History of Echo

Echo was most likely influenced by other upkeep variants before it, and may have helped to shape Fading and Morph.

Echoes of the Past

Most echo cards can be divided into two categories:

Improved - Larger creatures for the mana cost

Albino Troll
Citanul Centaurs
Cradle Guard
Pouncing Jaguar
Ring of Gix

Specialist - Average size for cost, but includes a “comes into play” ability

Deranged Hermit
Ghitu Slinger
Keldon Champion
Keldon Vandals
Yavimaya Granger
Goblin Marshal

Using Echo Effectively

Ignore echo with Thick-Skinned Goblin or Eon Hub.
Swap your echo creatures for your opponent’s and watch them try to pay echo with Chromeshell Crab, Confusion in the Ranks, Cultural Exchange, Gauntlets of Chaos, and Spawnbroker (among others).
In some decks, cards like Cloudstone Curio, Equilibrium, or Blood Clock could allow you to use the specialist creatures then bounce them back before having to pay the echo cost.
How a few echo cards (Avalanche Riders and Crater Hellion) made it into the top decks of 1999-2001.

Stopping Echo

Improved echo cards can usually be stopped with bounce or flicker variants. Against specialists, the opposite is true - try instead to stop the opponent from replaying their specialists.

Favorite Card and Decklist

Lightning Dragon (it was tied with about five others, so I went with my favorite artist amongst them!)

The deck is a mono-red aggro using both echo and suspend cards in an attempt to make up for the wonky tempo that echo can sometimes cause. The deck is chock-full of fast, red creatures and pumps them as well as your mana through the roof with Seething Song and Gauntlet of Power. Rift Bolt and Wheel of Fate are low on mana cost, allowing you to deal damage and refill your hand even when having to pay echo.

Thanks for reading / listening to this show. Be sure and let me know what you thought of this podcast in the MDV Forums! - Jesse

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.

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