Infinite Mana - Infinite Epic

Hello everyone! Just as I started writing this post yesterday, the computer out of no where started making a loud whistling noise for about 2 seconds then suddenly with a loud popping sound it turned off. Everything was plugged in fine, but no buttons were responding, so I think it's safe to say that the computer just exploded and died... So due to that unfortunate mishap, I am now writing this from my mother's computer.

Last week I had my last day of competetive magic for a few months at the weekly Legacy event where I went 2-2 with Dredge. I don't remember rounds 2 (I lost) and 4 (I won), but I do remember losing 0-2 to ADB who was playing Faeries round 1 (he went 4-0) and beating Joe 2-1 who was playing Junk I think.... But now I have no competetive Magic to play until late August, so it's time to have a paradigm shift on Magic as a whole!

What is casual magic? Is it playing decks that intentionally suck? That's no fun... Is it just playing with the cards you have? That's frustrating, because the only cards I don't have are usually essential commons and uncommons I know I can get for 25-50 cents a piece. It it playing rediculous combos? I do that with decks like ANT and Painter's Servant. For me, to be able to play casually I have to do something epic that I normally wouldnt be able to get away with in a game where I'm actually under pressure.

So now I present a format to you that you have probably already heard of... Type 4 Stack! Type 4 stack completely breaks the rules of normal magic. To recognize a game of Stack going on nearby, just listen to the sound of a group of people sitting in a circle around a table laughing their heads off. No, they're not passing around the "peace pipe" (well maybe they are... but that's not the point), they're just all sharing a 300+ card deck together having weird stuff happen. Type 4 stack is a large multi-player format where everyone shares the same singleton deck. By having no doubles, the games are always completely random, like Commander. However, in Type 4 stack everyone gets infinite mana, and every spell is meant to be epic or at least really cool.

Why is Black Lotus good?
Why is Ancestral Recall better than Jace's Ingenuity?
Why is Time Walk better than Time Warp or Walk the Aeons?
Why is Force of Will better than Counterspell?

Once Mana no longer matters to you, everything changes. Mana was designed to be the force that keeps games balanced, and once you remove that, things get nutty fast! But to replace mana as the controller for the pace of the game, instead only one spell can be cast each turn by each player. This means that counterspells are awesome, because unless someone else wants to force somebody else's spell through, a counterspell is the be all-end all to each turn. So because we have infinite mana, we shouldn't have to use boring counterspells like Cancel, we can use funky counterspells that never saw play in their day! I'm talking:

So now even normal cards like counterspells have a turn to do really cool things!

I highly recomend you go out and try making a type 4 stack, it's really fun! All you need is several packs of dragonshields, and a huge pile of really epic creatures with lots of overpriced, extra funky control magic mixed in! Every game is different, and when I play at toys we will play dozens of games straight through and just pull all cards previously used aside after each game. People can join and leave whenever they feel like it, and all rules of don't be a douche apply =D Remember, if you start getting too aggro on someone too fast, you will feel it back when they Hideos End your turn 1 Goliath Sphinx and proceed to smash your face in with their new sexy Krosan Cloudscraper! Hilarity will ensue, and overall a good time for everybody!

That is all from me today, but until next time, stay classy!

-Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com