Welcome back, fellow gamers! As we enjoy the changing foliage of the new season and await the next set release just a few days away I've decided to pull a card out of the current Standard pool and take it for a whirl. Its cheap and its an enchantment, and if you like destroying critters it can be your best friend.

Originally hailed with an A+ by Tynion in his First Impressions, Porphyry Nodes was quickly shuffled out of many tournament level decks, occassionally being let back into sideboards as a silver bullet to the feared Bitterblossom. How could this happen, you ask? Destroying a creature at the beginning of each of your upkeeps seems to cry out "immense power", and back in the day, when it was Green and called Drop of Honey it was all the rage for board wiping. Unfortunately, most deck builders found the White version too needy to build around, and the drawback of its own destruction led many to shelve it in favor of more powerful cards. Personally, I collected four as soon as I found one and vowed to use it, as its shear potential just wouldn't stop clawing at the back of my brain. Paired with the right cards it can be a monster, so join me on this deckbuilding adventure with:

One thing that jumps out at me about this card is its casting cost. Powerful one-drops are hard to come by, and against the right deck, your one mana investment can act as virtual time walk. "Oh, shoot! I was going to lay my awesome creature this turn, but its just going to die. Well, I guess if I do nothing that enchantment will go away. Oh well." Thank you for doing nothing. It can act as more of a stall than a removal card in this sense, but if you decide to let a creature or two hit the board before you play it, then you're putting your opponent on the clock, especially if his creatures all have the same power. Unfortunately, Porphyry Nodes is a "global" enchantment meaning its going to kill your stuff too. This is what paints most of us into a corner and leads to its removal from the main deck. So how are we going to get around this peky drawback? Simple. Our first deck is going recursion, and isn't going to mind if our own creatures get put into the graveyard.

Lets start with the mana base. Flagstones of Trokair is a must for deck thinning and its synergy with Smallpox. You could add in another copy if you'd like, but I left it at one so I could have an additional plans to work with Endless Horizons. Horizons can be a late game deck thinner to help you get to the cards you are going to need. The deck is designed to run on having only one Plains in play, as your Wrath of Gods should be attainable with your dual lands. Even still, by the time you play Endless Horizons(or unless it is destroyed before you can get your second Plains) you should be able to land two Plains on the board without any trouble. I like the new mana fixing lands as they don't coat you the two life that Ravnica's duals required, though, if you own them they would not be a bad inclusion. This is a paper deck I own and so any of the land counts can be altered to fit your collection. Mutavault can be animated to sacrifice to either the pox or the nodes in a pinch. In one playtest i was able to keep Akroma on the board one turn longer because of it. Noone was expecting it, so while everyone was busy keeping their creatures in their hands, I planned to sac it the moment it hit the table. Springjack pasture is another good one that gives you the option of adding a token to the board to protect your larger creatures from Porphyry Nodes ultimate drawback. Net yourself a powerless token in your opponents end phase to avoid losing your enchantment, or your giant beater. Forbidden Orchard is another good land for just that, but thats for the next deck.

You will notice that there are no small creatures. The idea with this deck is to use the Nodes to stall until you can set up your recursion. Between Smallpox and Buried alive you shouldn't have trouble ditching a fattie to the yard by turn five or six, right after you mop up the board with a Wrath of God. That's when the fun begins. The only creature you want to be sure not to ditch is the Cairn Wanderer. A 4/4 Akroma is nothing to take lightly. Obviously, the Wanderer, Akroma, and Spirit of the Night are your beaters. If you're becoming overwhelmed by weenies and Nodes can't keep up then bring in the Archon. Likewise, if someone is damaging you straight from the ether, drop your Platinum Angel. Angel of Despair can take care of Planeswalkers and other nasty non-creature problems(Worship, anyone?). You'll want to get a feel for your opponents decks before you decide who to bury or discard.

As for your other spells, though Sudden Spoiling and the Small pox may seem like overkill, you never know who you're going to be facing, and I'd rather my opponents be more dead than less dead. Mind you, this is built for multi-player, so for a duel the Spoilings could be replaced with something like Consume Spirit to help you stay on top. I diversified the reanimation spells to avoid issues like Persecute, and Graceful Reprieve gives you the option of extending your fattie's stay on the board for with a low casting cost instant. I avoided Makeshift Mannequin despite some suggestions in favor of it for the simple reason of it being in conflict with Porphyry Nodes. The Nodes goes off at the beginning of your upkeep, so it doesn't pay to use an end of turn instant when you're banking on the board being clear anyway. However, in a duel, the Mannequin could pay off in a big way so keep it in mind. Night's Whisper was added on suggestion by Burnbait and the Deckmechs(whom I thank for giving me such awesome feedback for this article) as a little bit of card draw to help you cycle through the deck to the cards you will need to make it happen. In duel, something like Streetwraith may be a good addtion to get things running quicker.

Alright, enough with recursion. For our next deck we're going to dip into a color you don't see from the sandwich all that often: Red. I thought to myself,"How else can I benefit from staving off creatures?', and though this deck is built with dueling in mind a bit more than multi-player, it can easily be adapted to the Free-for-all kitchen table.

The strategy here is rather simple. The mana base enables consistent token production to feed your Nodes or create an army of chump blockers. Use your Wrath's and the ever present Nodes to keep the board clear until you can drop a fattie with Sneak Attack, or hardcast one of them to start slamming face. The board should be pretty clear by the time you send in the Dragon Tyrant for twelve damage straight to the dome. I added Browbeat after a few tests to help keep your hand full, and if your opponent decides to take five then its a fair trade off.

When playing this deck I noticed a few key strategies to keep in mind. First, don't drop Porphyry Nodes in anticipation of your opponent laying a creature. This may seem like a no brainer, but if you don't have enough mana to drop a token during their EOT step they'll probably just wait it out and send your Nodes to the yard. Lightning Helix and Wrath of God should keep you ahead in the life race, and even if you fall behind a bit, this deck has the potential to swing for big damage by turn five or six. Be patient. Porphyry Nodes will serve you better after you Wrath. Also, even though you will be tempted to Lightning Bolt that pesky Llanowar Elf, that for some reason is attacking you every turn(I'm looking at you Aladdin), don't do it. Keep your damage aimed at your opponents head.

Hammy, what about those of us who don't have a playset of Wrath of Gods or Porphyry Nodes? Well, for those without enough Nodes a couple of Idyllic Tutor's may do. As for Wrath, defense is defense. Something as simple as Holy Day can extend the game and leave your opponents creatures tapped. Hail of Arrows, Blessed Reversal, and even Dawn Charm can help. Especially Dawn Charm as its basically a Holy Day with two other options for one additional colorless mana. Remember, if you have the right lands out and enough mana to activate your token production you should be able to keep your copy of Porphyry Nodes on the board without much trouble. If you're opponent is playing enchantment hate, Rebuff the Wicked may be the card to carry.

If you want to adjust this to multi-player, a copy of Endless Horizons couldn't hurt. Also, up the count of Boros Fury Shields and swap a few burn spells for more universal damage, or things like Blaze so you can do more damage late game. As far as creatures go, with Sneak Attack you don't even have to stay in color, so any color fattie can do. Personally, I like being able to hardcast anything I draw so I stayed with the Akroma's and the Tyrant. Darksteel Colossus can also be your friend here(if you have one, which I don't). In a multiplayer game, more creatures and less burn might be the way to go. Just be sure to get your token production on line and be sure that you are dropping nothing but high powered critters.

Well that's all from the fridge this month, but I'd love to continue the discussion in the forums. What do you think of Porphyry Nodes? If you have some budget solutions I hope you'll share. Without you, the casual player, the Magic Deck Vortex is nothing more than blackhole. Er, or a red hole. Hopefully you're catching my drift. This is Hamsandwich saying: I hope your next game is Nodally rad.

~hamsandwich~

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