Lorwyn is coming down the pipes soon, and I’m pumped. I haven’t been this excited about a set since, well, since Ravnica. I loved the Tribal themes back when I first started playing in tournaments, and I’ve been waiting for a British Isles flavor since Mirrodin – looks like Wizards of the Coast finally delivered!

Lorwyn has some amazing cards. The creatures of Lorwyn are especially doing some pretty neat stuff. Doran, the Siege Tower? What a beater!

This week, I’m trying something a little different – instead of building decks around cards that we’ve already got our hands on, I’m going to do some deckbuilding with a card that you’ll have to go to your friendly neighborhood Prerelease to get a hold of. Smell what I’m cooking?

For everyone out there who doesn’t understand a word of what I’m talking about, Magicthegathering.com previews cards from the upcoming set two weeks before the prerelease of that set – in this case, they’re giving the players a view into the new world of Lorwyn. The Prerelease events are September 29th and 30th, and the format for this Prerelease (and all other Prereleases), is Lorwyn Sealed deck. If you aren’t sure how Sealed deck works or even what it is, you can check out this article for more details.

If you are headed to the Prerelease this weekend, give us a shoutout at the boards – you might meet some people from MDV that are going to the same location.

But enough about Prereleases; it’s time to get down to the real thing – the card I’m building a deck around today.

On September 18, The Ferrett previewed the card Hamletback Goliath.

First of all - What a beater! Giants, the Red/White tribe of Lorwyn, are looking very interesting for Limited play. I’ll be interested to see the entire set when it’s officially released in October, but for now, we’re just going to have to take the hints and little spoilers that Wizards of the Coast is going to give us to figure out what’s coming down the pipe.

Back to Hamletback Goliath - this thing is huge. He’s a giant (literally) and he’s great, provided, of course, that you can play the sucker. He costs a hefty 7 mana, and that’s nothing to laugh about. If you’re playing 7 mana for a spell, you better be winning with it.

But what if you don’t have to pay 6R mana for Hamletback Goliath? What if, instead, you played him for 1B? Would you be down with that?

Let’s take a look at my list, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

This deck is a tiny bit unpredictable, and it can do some amazing things as early as turn three. Your game plan is to either use Zombie Infestation or Buried Alive to get creatures into the graveyard, and then either use Dread Return or Exhume to bring Hamletback Goliath or some other meaty creature back from the grave to wreck havoc on your unsuspecting opponent.

I’ve used Cruel Edict in this deck to take care of opposing player’s reanimated creatures that they’ll get from Exhume. When you return Hamletback Goliath to play with Exhume, your opponent will get a creature too – however, if your opponent does have a creature in the grave (and he or she may not), your Hamletback Goliath will get a boost.

There are a few ways to win the game with this deck. If you don’t manage to reanimate an Ashen Monstrosity or Twisted Abomination very early and win the game outright, you can reanimate your Hamletback Goliath and Bloodshot Cyclops. If your Hamletback Goliath gets big enough, you can just toss the big guy right at your opponent. It’s definitely a lot of fun to see a 20/20 giant run right into the face of an opposing player.

Things to Remember

1) Twisted Abomination fixes your mana and zombifies! Twisted Abomination loves to Swampcycle. This sets up your mana (in case you have some Tainted Peaks and no Swamps) and it gets a fat creature into the graveyard for an early Exhume. Don’t doubt how powerful this early play is – even if your opponent has a few creatures, they’ll struggle to keep up with your 5/3 regenerator.

2) Mulligan aggressively. This deck needs certain things to work right – most notably is a way to get creatures into the graveyard, and a way to get them back out. If you don’t have those things or enough tutors to get what you need, then ship that hand back. You’ll set yourself up for failure if you don’t.

3) Don’t forget Dread Return’s Flashback cost. If you have a Dread Return in the graveyard, don’t forget that you can sacrifice Zombie Tokens or other smaller creatures to get your Hamletback Goliath out of the graveyard. It may not be the most efficient way to use the card, but it’s not a terrible way to use it either.

4) Cement your strategy with Zombie Infestation. The one thing to remember overall with Zombie Infestation is that you can discard other cards besides creatures with its ability. If a few early zombies would be what it takes to get things done, then discard some extra cards. Especially in the later game, when you need to reanimate some dead critter – Dread Return is worth a second play with a few Zombie Tokens.

Card Suggestions

First and most importantly, there are a lot of ways to make your mana base a little better. If you have the cash, check out Bloodstained Mire – the Onslaught fetch lands are retailing at about 10-12 dollars apiece, but they’re an investment you’ll be glad you made. They thin your deck out, and they make it more likely for you to draw your business spells.

Tainted Peak is also an interesting choice – there are other uncommon dual lands out there that can be better (and worse, depending on the situation) – Lantern-Lit Graveyard and Urborg Volcano both fit the bill. Of course, you can also use cards like Rakdos Carnarium and Blood Crypt – your mileage may vary.

Tutors are especially important in this deck, and unfortunately, Diabolic Tutor isn’t that great. If you’ve got a change, check out Infernal Tutor – you can grab an extra Exhume (never a bad idea), or you can discard your entire hand to Zombie Infestation and tutor up a reanimating spell.

Speaking of reanimation, Dread Return is a good card, but there are others out there that do the job too – Doomed Necromancer, Vigor Mortis, and Zombifiy do the same thing, but each has its own unique advantage or disadvantage. Other cards like Life // Death and Phyrexian Delver do reanimation, but at a steep life points cost. If you’re going to use these cards, use them with caution.

If you’re not that satisfied with Good Ol’ Chuck (Bloodshot Cyclops), you can use his one-time effect card Fling to do the same thing. Fling doesn’t have to be revived from the grave, and it costs a measly 1R, and in a deck that wants to win as quickly as possible, Fling is something to keep in mind.

If you’re interested in more Lorwyn cards, then check out any of the Elemental creatures with Evoke. Frank Karsten previewed Cloudthresher, a creature that can be Evoked for 2GG. If Evoke is one of the key mechanics of the set (and I’m sure it will be), check out the black and red Evoke creatures. Evokers pump your Hamletback Goliath (since the creature is actually played), and they can be reanimated along with your other dead creatures. They’re two of the three things you need to pull off the combo in one card – talk about a good choice!

Well, that’s it for me this week. The Writer’s Guild here at Magic Deck Vortex has some pretty amazing things in store for you in the next few weeks, and with a brand new addition to MDV, things are going to get quite interesting around here within the next few months. Check out Tynion’s announcement tomorrow for more details.

Until next time – raid those dollar bins. They’re where the real fun’s at.

~Death_By_Beebles~

Alex Hoffman has been parading around with the pseudonym of Death_By_Beebles for three years now. He’s a writer for Magic Deck Vortex, and can often be found tinkering with his latest decks while working on biochemistry homework. He is the author of Raiding the Dollar Bins and Going Blind series at MDV, and the recent startup series Pauper Chronicles. Alex likes kittens, reading, and generally enjoying life. He doesn’t like Brussels sprouts. You can send him deck ideas, combos and suggestions at deathbybeebles@yahoo.com.

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Articles Spotlights from 2007:
Lorwyn Theme Week Intro & Schedule of Events
Blink And Bounce: Timing is Key
Going Blind: XCB Metagaming - A Prolonged Conclusion.
The Science of Magic: Genetic Engineering, Part Two.
Shifting Lineaments: Casual Metagaming (Pt. 2).
The Dungeon Of Malefict: Pure Evil!
Land Week Introduction & Schedule.
Combofusion: Legends Timeshifted.
One Card to Rule Them All: Coastal Piracy
Irrational Love: Chimeras. The Lego's of Magic.