Today I’m kicking a bad habit. A really bad habit that’s cost me pain, sweat, and tears. A habit that, if continued, would certainly cause me to self-destruct.

And what may that habit be? I’ll give you two hints. One: It involves spending money. Two: It involves spending countless hours perusing items online. Keep reading if you want to find out.

Also, I’ll be talking about one of my favorite mechanics: kicker. I’ll talk about kicker a little bit, and then present my own top ten list of kicker cards. Within the top ten list you’ll find a plethora of decks to peruse right in the article. Keep reading!

Before I get into this habit I’m breaking, let me talk about what the meat of today’s article is actually about: kicker. This is MDV’s Favorite Mechanic week, after all. A while back I participated in a contest on the now idle Londes.com called "Londes Idol." It was a writing contest, and there were four rounds of article submissions. In one of the rounds I wrote an article about kicker as my favorite mechanic. Below is an except from that article that fits oh so nicely in my article today:

A good mechanic needs to be fun, flexible, and expandable. In a bigger picture, the mechanic has to relate well to other cards in a set, but a really good mechanic will do that naturally. Kicker, a mechanic first presented in the Invasion block, is an optional cost you can pay when playing a spell that makes the spell more powerful than normal. I believe kicker has all of these qualities, and thus it is one the best mechanics Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has ever produced.

In terms of flexibility, kicker has it. I would define flexibility as the ability to be used on any color card and yet still do cool, in-color things. Being that kicker simply adds more power to a card for an additional cost, this mechanic was able to spread across all five colors with ease. Some excellent examples of its flexibility include cards like Kavu Titan, Urza’s Rage, Orim’s Chant, Probe, Skizzik, and Agonizing Demise.

In the case of the Kavu Titan, you can cast it without its kicker for 1G and get a 2/2. In the early game, that’s just fine. In the late game, you could play it, pay its 2G kicker cost, and get a 5/5 trampling Kavu. Just from the versatility factor, that’s amazing. Any card that is good early game and is still good late game is important, and kicker made that happen for most of the cards printed with it.

Quoting: Mark Rosewater

“One of the necessities of a block mechanic is that it has to have room to grow it over the course of the block”

Mark Rosewater is talking about what I call expandability. Did kicker have room to grow over the course of the block it was in? Let’s take a closer look at what WotC did with kicker in each set of the Invasion Block.

In Invasion, kicker was used with the same color or allied colored costs. Kicker typically added more of an effect with the same color kicker cost or a slightly different effect with different color kicker costs. For instance, Agonizing Demise is a common Black instant that could destroy nonblack creatures. If you paid its kicker cost of 1R it also dealt damage to that creature's controller equal to the creature’s power. I’ve already mentioned Kavu Titan, which is the perfect example of a Green kicker effect. Another example of an allied color kicker cost is Benalish Emissary. Normally you would just get a 1/4 for 2W. When you pay the kicker cost of 1G, upon coming into play, you get to destroy a land too.

In Planeshift WotC used alternative costs like paying life, returning something to hand, or sacrificing a land to pay for the kicker cost. Phyrexian Scuta is a perfect example of that. They also used two different kicker costs for different effects as seen on the Battlemages. Thornscape Battlemage was the White-Red-Green Battlemage that gave you 2/2 for 2G, and the kicker was W and/or R. If you paid one White mana, you could destroy target artifact. If you paid one Red mana, you could deal two damage to target creature or player. What’s not to like about the options there?

Finally, in Apocalypse, kicker was let loose and allowed enemy colored kicker costs. This made some unique, cool, and crazy cards like Desolation Angel, Desolation Giant, and the Volvers. The Volvers were like the Battlemages from Planeshift except they used enemy colors' kicker costs and had more extravagant effects. In the case of the Anavolver you would get an unkicked 3/3 for 3G. One kicker cost was 1U, which gives the creature two +1/+1 counters and flying. The other kicker was B, which nets another +1/+1 counter and the ability to regenerate. Remember the versatility of Kavu Titan? The Volvers showed this versatility to the third power, also known as cubed!

Based on the definite versatility of the mechanic, and the ways they used kicker on the cards across the block, kicker was a blast to play. That and the fact that Invasion was a multicolored block made kicker that much better.

Note that the above excerpt is from before Time Spiral, so I didn’t expand upon any of the new kicker cards that were in Time Spiral block. This isn’t such a bad thing because, honestly, none of the new cards using Kicker were all that game-shattering-good. In fact, none of the new Kicker cards show up on my top ten list, which is next!

But before I go there, here is a quick mini-visual spoiler of the new kicker cards from the Time Spiral block (not including the Time Shifted ones):

Ana Battlemage, Citanul Woodreaders, Hunting Wilds, Kavu Primarch, Molten Disaster, Pouncing Wurm, and Ravaging Riftwurm.

I honestly don’t think I need to elaborate on any of them but I will.

The best of this bunch includes Molten Disaster and Kavu Primarch. The Kavu is good simply because of its versatility with Convoke and because the kicker gives you a one to one ratio of extra mana to +1/+1 counters. And it’s a Kavu. The Molten Disaster, while an expensive Earthquake variant, is only decent because it has the potential to be Split Second. Citanul Woodreaders is useful for its card draw, but nothing spectacular in my opinion.

Remember that you are reading a top ten list from a casual player's perspective, so you may not see all of the cards that were a tournament hit back in their day.

While I’m personally not a fan of the "Un" sets of Magic: the Gathering, this card is quite some fun. Not only does it include a kicker cost, but it also has several other exciting mechanics on it, making the card itself extremely versatile and efficient.

Wow! A Volver made the list!  I'm as surprised as you are!

Given that lifelink and gaining life has become more and more popular (and game altering) in the last few years, it’s only natural that this lifelink capable Volver was a favorite of mine. While it’s in an awkward color combination (WBG), the trample and lifelink on a 5/5 kicked creature is nice. Some of the multicolor helpers from Shards will make this guy even easier to play fully kicked.

Wow again! Another Volver made the list.

While the Volvers may not be as efficient as some of the multicolor fatties from the Shards of Alara block, this guy brings it on in the form of flying and lifelink. It's like a Red Exalted Angel minus the vigilance. Still good in my book for 3WUR, if all of the kickers are paid.

Here’s a deck that accommodates not only Rakavolver, but all the kicker-loving Volvers. This deck is by Abe Sargent and was found on Star City Games:

Given some of the efficient and powerful multi-colored cards and their enablers from the last few sets, this deck can easily be tweaked to perform better.  I encourage you to give this or any of the decks in this article a swing!

This card is a fantastic and versatile Green fatty. Mind you, it's a trampling fatty if kicked. Combine that with the fact that it's a Kavu (subject to all of the other Kavu boosting cards), and it's a winner. Note that Green is one of my favorite colors (next to Blue) so it's only natural I chose this guy over the others.

Below is a deck using the Kavu Titan in a fun yet efficient tribal Kavu deck that also plays well in a multiplayer game.

Fires of Yavimaya plus a kicked Kavu Titan equal good times!

Any card that can take a card from your library, whether specific or random, and put it into play without paying its mana cost is a good card in my book. And its kicker only costs 1G. Here’s a fun deck using Thicket Elemental. It isn’t maximizing the Elemental's ability, but it certainly is using it.
 

	[back to top]
	Wumpus-Rift. COMBO: Aether Rift / Dual nature / Call of the Wild
	Lands: 4 Shivan Oasis 4 Hickory Woodlot 4 Sandstone Needle 8 Forest Creatures: 4 Thicket Elemental 4 Hunted Wumpus 4 Vine Trellis 4 Thresher Beast 4 Blastoderm 4 Cinder Elemental	Other Spells: 2 Bifurcate 2 Call of the Wild 2 Dual Nature 4 AEther Rift 4 Chimeric Idol
	by Derrick Yung

AEther Rift works very well with many of the creatures in this deck, especially with Call of the Wild and Dual Nature in play.  Still, this deck doesn't really capitalize on the Thicket Elemental. 

If you want to focus more on the Thicket Elemental and less on the combo cards, add something that can search through and rearrange cards on top of your library.  By doing so you will better set up the Elemental to put a big nasty into versus one of the smaller cards in your deck's mana curve.

 

Which would you prefer: an Armageddon on an Angel?

I like Angels. Of course, I like playing a well-planned Armageddon too. Combine the two, and you get number five on my top ten list for Kicker!

Here is yet another deck from the Magic Deck Vortex deck database for your review and consideration.  It is a White-Black control deck utilizing lots of creature control and a little Angel known as Desolation Angel to shake up everyone's mana base. 

To complement the destruction of the Angel, you'll find a full playset of Wrath of God and three Rout cards! Phew!  This is one nasty deck!

By the way, what ever happened to Cabal City?  All of a sudden, the site disappeared.  I do miss that site.  If you know anything about it, post about it in the forum.

Even though I'm not a red aficionado, I've always liked Ball Lightning and its many variations. This is no exception. While this card is great at the casual table, it too was popular to tournament players during its Standard rotation.  Skizzik is fast (Haste), efficient (5/3 for 3R) and excellent at laying down the red-beats (Trample).

Below is a popular deck archetype from the Invasion block era that featured Skizzik. Creature aggro combined with recurring zombies, burn spells and creature removal is what made this deck tick.

That and Terminate.  Is anyone else excited about Terminate being reprinted in Alara Reborn?  If you haven't seen it yet, check out MDV's visual spoiler of the set (found here).

While its kicker cost is HUGE, the card can be a game-winner all by itself. Ten damage is nothing to scoff at.  Especially when it's at instant speed! Combine that with the versatility that allows you to play it early game for a little or late game for a lot, and you have a Kicker All-Star!

Here's a deck that uses Urza's Rage for its flexibility. In an aggro deck like this, it's important to have that early game card, as well as that late game punch.

Note that this deck is a Legacy Deck that placed second in July 2008. If you were playing this casually, you could probably replace Trinisphere, Blood Moon, and Magus of the Moon with more burn or creatures. It's totally up to you!

I'm sure this is a big shocker for a lot of people. Saprolings have received a lot of attention since their original debut in Fallen Empires, and this guy enables them to no end. Kicking it generates as many tokens as you can afford and he gives them all +1/+1 (in addition to your other Treefolk). He has a solid body which keeps him out of burn range, and even better, he has a reasonable mana cost. Top it off with amazing artwork, and you have our number two stop on my list.

Below is a decklist I found online using Verdeloth the Ancient.

While the deck doesn’t necessarily center on Verdeloth, he does work extremely well with the Changelings and Treefolk in the deck. Even Lignify works with the Ancient, if you target one of your own creatures.

Orim's Chant is an amazing card... an amazing control card  that is.  This card didn't make the number one spot on my list because it's the most expensive Kicker card in Magic. (Even though it is).  It made my list because this card is the most powerful of all of the Kicker cards at the casual kitchen table.

Denying your opponent from playing spells and/or attacking for one turn is powerful.  There is no doubt about that.  You can fend off a potentially lethal army with Orim's Chant, keep an opponent from playing the key card he needs to complete his combo or keep a counterspell mage from wrecking your day (depending on your timing).  With or without an Isochron Scepter to repeat the effect turn after turn, this card has both flexibility and pure power.  It doesn't cost three mana or twelve mana like Urza's Rage.  It's one mana or two mana. 

Efficient, cheap and powerful.  Those three words describe a card that deserves first place!

Below is a White-Blue control deck I found on www.deckcheck.net utilizing Orim's Chant with Isochron Scepter to form a lockdown of sorts. Note that this deck took second place in a Legacy tournament in Novosibirsk.

Also note that the Scepter-Chant deck in the MDV database is from 2006.  Don't worry -- I've got a new deck database update in the works.

Well that’s all for my voyage into kicker. I hope you enjoyed my take on the best Kicker cards out there as well as the decks I presented for each one. Even more so, I hope I shocked you with a few of my ultra-casual choices. *evil grin*

Some cards that were close but not quite for my top ten list included: Blast from the Past, Illuminate, Phyrexian Scuta, Orim’s Thunder, Benalish Emissary, Dralnu’s Pet, Stormscape Battlemage, Rushing River and Desolation Giant. If you want me to expand on any of those cards and provide decklists I’ll just have to write a follow-up article.

Wait.

Oh?!

What’s the habit I’m kicking?

Thanks for reminding me!

It’s eBay.

Evil, evil… evil eBay!!! Just typing it makes me cringe.

I bought a Wizardry game on eBay three years ago and didn’t have luck with the purchase since I bought it from a seller in another country. I ended up paying like $10.00 more for the game than I thought I owed. I may be exaggerating.

In any event, feeling ripped off, I didn’t touch eBay again for a long time. And then, sometime in early 2008 I decided to check it out again for whatever reason. Perhaps it was the persuasion of Your Worst Nightmare himself!

Reasons I hate eBay include: The evil eBay buyers that outbid you two seconds before the closing of the bid, the evil people that force you into paying more for it than its actually worth, the evil rush of winning a bid and still not feeling satisfied, the small little bids you win that add up to hundreds of dollars, the sellers that disrespect you, the hassle of keeping track of multiple winnings, receiving cards in conditions that are well below what they were listed as, the savings you plow through in just a matter of days so you can complete a collection… The list goes on and on.

I despise eBay.

I did, however, re-collect all of the Garbage Pail Kids, including the original first series!!! Woot!

Although it sure was great to pick up lots of cheap Magic cards. I’m a sucker for bundles of cards for cheap, and eBay was great at delivering them. The bad side to that is the money I threw into buying the cards. $5 here, $10 here, $15 there… it adds up after a while. Adds up to a lot! In fact, I’ve blown through my savings at least once thanks to eBay.

Evil Ebay…

As of today, I’m limiting myself from buying anything on eBay anymore. It’s smarter for me to just buy the cards I actually need, as opposed to buying trade fodder. Thanks for reading!

John Streetz
www.magicdeckvortex.com

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)