“Wrath of God!!”

“Uh, wait! Hold up…” taps two Islands and two Plains and plays Broken Ambitions. “I counter unless you pay 3.”

Looks at board. “Okay,” puts Wrath of God in graveyard.

“Okay, now we clash.”

“Now we what?”

“Clash, reveal the top card of your library and…”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, whatever.” Looks at top card of library. “Now what?

“Reveal it, what’s the converted mana cost?”

Reveals Knight of Meadowgrain. “Two.”

“Okay, I got a land.” Puts land to bottom of library.

“Now what?”

“Now nothing. You won.”

“Oh and…”

“You can put that on the top or bottom of your library.”

“Okay. Whatever.”

If your casual playgroup is anything like mine, then the above conversation may have taken place in the last few months. Clash seems to be a lesser known, and even lesser used, mechanic to come out of the Lorwyn block. For some, clash has never really fit the game of Magic. Even the name, “clash”, seems a bit juvenile compared to names like “storm” and “dredge”. Its divergence from the more complicated math of MTG seems as though it would be more at home in a game like Pokemon. But alas, what’s done is done. After its release, those of us brave enough to actually read the entire reminder text out loud to our opponents every time we cast a “clash” spell, have done our best to incorporate this clunky mechanic into our everyday lives. Today we’re going to cover the bases with:

Now, in my example above, you see that I used Broken Ambitions. It's probably the best known card with clash. In fact, what makes it playable is the fact that it's one of the few cards (if not the only card) which could completely lose its clash ability and still be an awesome card. Seriously, who wouldn’t want an adjustable Mana Leak? Broken Ambitions isn't the only card with clash that made an impact in Standard, but one of the few that seems to be sticking around. It was a natural fit for the popular Faerie builds at the time of its release and has shown its versatility by hanging in with some big winners of late. Check out this deck, which took first place in a recent National Qualifier in Finland:

Though it's definitely faded in popularity with the onset of Shards, Broken Ambitions will most likely remain a top choice for budget counter spells for those of us still playing Blue. I recently brought a playset to Friday Night Magic at my local game store and found it extremely effective. Had it not been for the accursed Banefire, my Blue-White control deck may very well have cleaned up. One of the benefits I had not realized existed with the clash mechanic, until said FNM, was the ability to actually Scry one. As mechanics go, I am a big fan of Scry, and though clashing allows your opponent to do the same, it seems a small price to pay if your deck is built to win.

I think out of about seven or eight times of casting Broken Ambitions, I won the clash once. Not too shabby, but every time I cast it, I got the opportunity to affect my next draw, and since I was playing it mainly on my opponents turn, I was gaining a much bigger advantage than my opponent. Since that experience, Broken Ambitions has been my choice when looking for a counter spell, I often find myself replacing my old school Counterspells with it. As with its X mana cost, I find that it is effectively utilized more often than not, and much more versatile due to its one Blue mana cost. But enough about the one good cards with clash. Lets talk about the trash with clash.

Please, sound off in the forums about these cards. Even if you win the clash, you are just barely getting what you should for the mana cost. Though in a Limited format they might be helpful soldiers, they would definitely not be on my list for first picks. Of the creatures with clash, I found only one that wasn’t complete garbage, and much like Broken Ambitions, this card doesn’t even need its clash ability to be good.

Nath’s Elite makes the cut in any budget warrior deck supporting Green. Personally, I run him with an Obsidian Battle-Axe and find that, clash or no clash, he can effectively end someone’s day. A hasted, beefy warrior with a built in Lure? I’ll take it, even though, as you can tell by now, I am not the hugest fan of the clash mechanic. I do have hope for the future, and as we know, the future is extremely relevant in the game of magic. We can always hope for a Counterbalance for our Sensei’s Divining Top or a Bridge from Below for our Dread Return, no?

Check out our recent "Deck of the Day" here on MDV. Its a delightful little number built around the mechanic.

That said, I’d like to move on to our last featured card and get to the contest. Oh, did I mention the contest? Good. The great burn spell that never was (or shortly was): Titan’s Revenge.  This should have been everything that Banefire now is. This should have been the burn spell you used again and again to stomp through your opponents forces and ultimately across their face. Though it's been relegated to the dollar bin at most shops and pennies on the dollar at our favorite online haunts, Titan’s Revenge is still a card I’d draft in color.

I’m not sure what R&D was thinking, but it seems like they may have been sitting around wondering what the one rare card with clash should do, ran out of time, and said, “Uh, well, we could, like, make it a burn spell and call it something like ‘Colossal Explosion’, or ‘Titan’s Revenge’? Well, yeah, cause we have giants, right?”

So yeah, Titan’s Revenge isn’t a horrible spell by any stretch, and it's found a home, tucked quite comfortably into a number of one hundred card singleton decks.

But I digress. I want to see what you think. I want to find out who among you wants to tackle what i think is one of the worst mechanics in recent years.

I’d like 60 card decks, Standard or Extended (please specify when you PM me the deck). I will award two winners, one for each category.

The stipulation: At least 18 cards actively using the clash mechanic (i.e. Sylvan Echoes counts).

The prize: winner chooses a foily Broken Ambitions or Titan’s Revenge. Second place gets the throwback.

Why?

Because its better than nothing. Get to work deck monkeys! Feel free to PM me any questions or just ask in the forums. Looks like its back to the fridge for this lunch meat!

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.
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Articles Spotlights from 2009:
Magus of the Bazaar – Merchant Magic
Parasitism: The Devolution of Magic Players. - by Kozy
Mechanic Week: Kicking a Bad Habit - by Streetz
MTG Theory: Card Design 101 . - by Cashew
Potatobrain's Guide to Token Decks. - by Potatobrain
The Magic of Friday Night. - by hamsandwich
Memories of an Old Magic Player: Recrossing the River Jordan. - by Chris Newton
Mechanic Week: Offering Up Mechanic Week. - by Dan Wright (Drathro)