Type II’s Power Nine

Dave Marshall

Everyone knows about the Power Nine in Type I – the most famous and expensive cards in the game of Magic. (For those that don’t know, they are: Black Lotus, the 5 Moxen, Timetwister, Time Walk, and Ancestral Recall.) Saying that nothing exists on that level in Type II would be a waste of typing, so let’s not do that, shall we? That’s not to say, if you examine the environment of the format, that Type II doesn’t have its share of powerful cards.

I am careful not to say “best” when describing these nine selections, because that’s a very selective term, and it’s hard to judge a card’s “goodness” over its potential impact on the game. After all, many of the Power Nine of Type I aren’t near the best cards in the game, though all are extremely good.

The cards were evaluated on their efficiency – that is, what they do for their cost (both mana cost and otherwise.) They were also evaluated on the potential advantage they can generate, both card number wise and board position wise. Finally, taken into account was the card’s impact on the metagame as a whole. So, with those provisions, below are my choices for the nine most powerful cards in Type II.

9. Urza’s Rage

The two grand archetypes of decks are Control and Aggression. Urza’s Rage, while not the most efficient damage dealer at 2R for 3 damage, has its perks, and those perks are the reason it just cracked this list. The most salient feature of the Rage is that it can’t be countered – eat that, Counterspell wielders! And perhaps the less useful but flashier perk is that, for a mere 12 mana, it deals 10 damage to the target of your choice, and there is nothing in the game of magic that can do anything about it. A more assertive and stylish way to end the game there is not.

Why it’s #9: While the kicker is cool, it’s unlikely, and if you aren’t playing against control, 2R for 3 damage just isn’t that great.

8. Upheaval

Upheaval is one of those rare cards that can turn a losing situation into a win one turn later. Reset buttons are always a good thing, and not only is Upheaval a decent bargain at 4UU, it also manages to clear the board of one card type that most reset buttons do not – Enchantments. Goodbye Moat, hello Psychatog that will beat you down for 20 points next turn. Upheaval is a core card in several decks in Type II at the moment, and almost single handedly wins games. Anyone who’s played against an Upheaval deck can tell you why it’s on this list.

Why it’s #8: It’s the other cards in your deck that make Upheaval good, pure and simple. Plus, it’s not the most thrilling card to draw in your opening hand.

7. Mystic Enforcer

Now this is a bad@ss. A 6/6 protection from black flier at threshold, for only four mana, is one of the most efficiently costed creatures Wizards has ever printed. You’d think that would have some kind of drawback, but you’d be wrong. Dead wrong. Even without threshold, a 3/3 with protection from black, arguably the best color in Type II right now, is still not a horrible deal. A thresholded Enforcer can, and does, win games.

Why it’s #7: You need seven cards in your graveyard to make him truly fearsome. You need to play white, which is easily the worst color at the moment. Plus, a quick look at my #4 pick is the best explanation for why this beast doesn’t rate higher.

6. Pernicious Deed

This is, without a doubt, the best reset button currently in Type II, and the case could be made for it to be the best reset button ever printed. It costs 3 mana, making it much faster than Upheaval if you need it to be. It leaves your land in play, giving you a gigantic advantage over an opponent who’s over-extended himself. It nukes at instant speed, so it trashes those threats you just have to eliminate before your turn. Its best feature (as if those previous ones weren’t good enough already) is that it nukes selectively. You choose what it destroys, which puts it right on the verge of being broken.

Why it’s #6: One word: Bind. Not to mention, it’s an enchantment, leaving it prone to destruction before you’re ready to set it off yourself.

5. Counterspell

So here you are, tapping all your lands, feeling elated. You’re about to play the card that will clinch the game. Bam! You lay it down and wait for the look of defeat on your opponents face. Only…they tap two islands and make like your spell was never cast. Anyone who’s played against a good control opponent can tell you it’s like playing a game of Mother, May I. If they don’t want it cast, it won’t be cast. Counterspell is probably the most utilitarian spell, in existence, and if you casually forget a certain uncommon from Legends, probably the best counter. Sure, Absorb and Undermine are great, but that third colored mana can mean the difference between you stopping a threat and losing. A control deck likes to see a Counterspell no matter what the stage of the game is – just as much as the opponent hates to see it.

Why it’s #5: Counterspell does nothing to actively win the game. Counter all you want, but you still have to win somehow.

4. Chainer’s Edict

Potentially the sleeper of the list, Chainer’s Edict is a card of which this writer believes we have only seen the proverbial tip of the iceberg. It’s untargeted removal for a cheap 1B, and you can flash it back. Chainer’s Edict has single handedly altered the metagame of Type II – either you play a lot of creatures, or you play none. It is an auto inclusion in any deck with swamps, and many non-black decks will splash for it, and any deck not using it has to take into account its existence. Meddling Mages are suddenly relegated to the sideboard of blue/white control. After all, what use is it to name Chainer’s Edict just so you can keep him in play? May as well have had an Island in your hand. Decks with one creature as a win condition just aren’t feasible anymore, even if that creature is Iridescent Angel. The impact on the metagame this unassuming uncommon from Torment has had is huge, and torment has been Type II legal for a grand total of…two weeks.

Why it’s #4: You’re staring down a Shivan Wurm. You cast Chainer’s Edict…just to have them off one of their Birds of Paradise. One of its biggest strengths (the fact that it’s untargeted) is also its biggest, though only, weakness.

3. Flametongue Kavu

This is pure card advantage octane, folks. With this Planeshift uncommon, you can have your cake and eat it too. Not only can you off 95% of the creatures in the format, you get a 4/2 body out of it, and all for a mere 3R. From Alpha to Torment, you rarely see much better efficiency in a creature, and it only costs one colored mana, making it extremely splashable. Decks that are otherwise mono color splash red just for good ol’ FTK. The more of these you draw, the better your chances of winning, and I’ll put my money on that one.

Why it’s #3: There are times your opponent has no creatures. Those are the times you really don’t want to draw Mr. Flametongue.

2. Call of the Herd

For 2G, what can you get in today’s Type II? Sadly, not a whole hell of a lot. Well, except for a 3/3 Elephant, which is a pretty good deal by most standards, though nothing to write home about. However, when you use the same card the next turn to put another 3/3 in play, the card just starts to get sick. You can counter the Call, but it just comes back. You can burn off one of the elephants, but you’re using one card to kill ½ of an opponent’s card. You can use it late game when you’re stalling out to give you that extra 3/3 kick. Four of this hard-to-come-by Odyssey rare nets you eight 3/3 tokens – and if you do the math, that’s more than enough to kill someone.

Why it’s #2: Well, it would be the best card in Type II, if not for…

1. Fact or Fiction

It is this writer’s opinion that this card is the Mayor of a quaint little suburb known as Brokenville. This card does absolutely everything, and then it kicks your opponent in the face and does some more. It thins your deck out. It draws cards – and lots of them. It gives you the best card(s) in your next five draws, at instant speed. It makes your opponent angry and exclaim how much they hate Fact or Fiction and how it should be banned. And it does this all for 3U. Yeah, that’s right, it’s cheap and only takes one colorless mana, which makes it splashable. The fact that it was recently restricted in Type I should give you some indication of its power. There is absolutely nothing bad about this card.

Why it’s #1: Sorry, weren’t you reading what I just said?

Honorable mentions…

These are the cards that, to borrow a bad line from A Knight’s Tale, were weighed, measured, and found wanting…if only just.

Psychatog: This little guy came very close to making the list, but in the end came up just short. If this article had been written two months ago, he would have definitely been on there, but Chainer’s Edict takes away a few of this grinning psycho’s many teeth.

Grim Lavamancer: While an excellent card, it’s not feasible that you can feed him every turn, and the fact that he’s a 1/1 makes him about as hard to get rid of as a mosquito.

Ichorid: There are a lot of decks that can’t deal with a recurring 3/1, unfortunately, there are a lot that can.

Haunting Echoes: Few cards have as much impact on the game than this one does, but the problem is its an expensive 5 mana that generates you purely virtual advantage – if you’re being beat down by a swarm of creatures, the Echoes is just about the last card you want to draw. It also doesn’t warrant inclusion in any deck that isn’t built especially for it.

Plagiarize: Much like I wrote about the Edict, we haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg of this card, and already it’s making some waves. I fully expect it to ripen like a fine wine.

Spiritmonger: Definitely one of the better creatures in the format, indeed, one of the better creatures in Magic, I’d rather have a Mystic Enforcer in play. A Squirrel’s Nest can keep him at bay indefinitely.

Yawgmoth’s Agenda: I don’t think this card, much like Plagiarize, has yet seen it’s full potential. Personally I think it’s a card just waiting to be broken in half.

So that’s that. I hope you’ve enjoyed my article, and I invite all comments, criticisms and (however unlikely) praise to dave@22xband.com.