Yawgmoth is Red with Fury

Hello everybody! I haven't done any spoiler articles for a little bit now, because there haven't been very many cards that have inspired me. However, there have been tons of cards pouring in from various sources onto MTG Salvation, and there's some incredibly interesting cards in there as well, including one that will revolutionize Storm decks from the moment it's printed! So let's not waste time and get right into it!

This card was spoiled on Blackborder.com, and man is it awesome! Even without flashback, this card would be incredible, and giving it flashback is just gravy. Instant speed copy? Think about this: your opponent could be playing Pod and have a Frost Titan out. As he enters combat, you instant speed make another Frost Titan, pay 2, and tap down his Titan. Then on your turn, you can untap and attack to lock down something essential, say his Birthing Pod! Another cool thing about the card is that it's like the catch-all doom blade against Legendary Creatures. Opponent has a Sheolred that's ruining your day? Just pay 1UU and destroy it! Opponent has a Grave Titan? Just play this card, make some trades, and just keep on pecking! This card is even useful on the offensive as I can see it being very useful with a card like Solemn Simulcrum. In fact, this card is just another great addition to all the choices you have with a Birthing Pod deck! Oh by the way.... it has flashback too! So now if the game just goes on forever, you have some important gas in the yard.

Oh cool... a common.... For some reason, the good red burn cards can never get out of the common rarity. Lightning Bolt, Searing Blaze, Staggershock, they're all commons. But the rarity doesn't matter, 5 damage for 2R matters! Grim Lavamancer is obviously a very potent card for Red Decks, and thanks to Brimstone Volley, he can really shine! He can always pick off a weak little dude on the other side of the table to enable Morbid, but he can even shoot himself to get your morbid trigger online! This is absolutely a card that I can see being heavily played in all red decks for the next 2 years!

So when I first saw this card spoiled on Daily MTG, I thought, "cool, it's flavorful, might see random play in an aggro deck of sorts..." But apparently people think this card is insane as proven by it's $15 preorder price tag! I don't get it.... It's a 2/2 land creature for 1WU! What if your opponent has Grizzly Runeclaw Bear in play? You just have a guy who just site there trying to look good... It's a mythic, so it's importnat to know about him, but he isn't too special in my opinion in a control deck... In aggro, he is fantastic though! Although I don't know the last time I saw UW as being an aggro deck (fish aside)

He's cool... he's unique.... but wait until you see his partner in crime!

For those of you who don't know, Skaab Ruinator is one of my favorite cards to be released in Innistrad. I have been thinking a lot as to how best enable it. One idea that I was toying with was to enchant yourself with Curse of the Bloody Tomb to mill enough cards into your yard to make casting the Zombie Horror easier. Now this is a cery strict upgrade to the Curse! A Goyf trampler? Sign me up! I would talk more about it, but JVL's preview article was simply fantastic! The only things you could change about his deck was Dual Lands and Skaab Ruinator. Also, Visions of Beyond isn't a bad idea either. Aside from that, his deck looks fantastic!

There is one more card that hasn't been officially released, but we somehow have the card's text. MTG Salvation is usually very good at only having legitimate cards come through, so I can start to get excited. I present to you Yawgmoth's Will (but red):

Past in Flames
Sorcery
3R
Each Instand and Sorcery card in your graveyard gains Flashback until end of turn. The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost.
Flashback 4R

WOW! THAT IS INSANE! Yesterday I wrote a ton about Storm and possible different versions of the deck and colors and a transformational sideboard option. Well, if this card is legitimate, which MTG Salvation tends to be, then Grixis is the colors to be! Imagine storming like this:

1 - Lotus Petal
2 - LED
3 - Dark Ritual
4 - Rite of Flame
5 - Infernal Tutor
6 - Past in Flames
7 - FB Dark Ritual
8 - FB Rite of Flame
9 - FB Infernal Tutor
10 - Tendrils of Agony

Or how about this one?
1 - Dark Ritual
2 - Rite of Flame
3 - Past in Flames
4 - FB Dark Ritual
5 - FB Rite of Flame
6 - Tendrils of Agony
7 - FB Tendrils of Agony

If you're tracking mana at home, I know the numbers don't exactly work, but the point is you could storm your opponent out by doubling up on all your mana ramp (a total of 6 cards were used in example 1) or you could just flashback Tendrils itself at storm 5 and 6 or more (a total of 4 cards were used in example 2). Basically, I think Past in Flames will immediatly replace Il-Gotten Gains in Storm decks, and thus will be FAR more resiliant to counterspell decks. Usually you would cast Ad Nauseum bcause you don't want your opponent getting counterspells and Brainstorms back, but now that's not even a worry. I would dare say you may even cut Ad Nauseum from your ANT deck, renaming it to just "Storm". There are many deckbuilding possibilities, including cutting black from the deck and going for a UR version, maybe running Pyromancer's Swath and Grapeshot like in Modern. You would obviously lose Duress effects, but you would be able to add FoW and other disruption cards! This card is terribly exciting, and I really hope it comes out as advertised!

That's all I have for today! I am absolutely loving Innistrad and all it has to offer for eager deckbuilders such as myself! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack