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We are a few hours away from Innistrad: Scarlet Engagement (Crimson Vow) land on Magic Arena and a few days after being able to get hold of the cards in physical format. Vampires and the undead prepare for an event of Magic in which the blood will flow in the form of cards, and I am looking forward to seeing to what extent the way I play will change.
This is going to be the first time that I have faced a big change in the goal of Magic: The Gathering with a deck already created and modified by me, so you can imagine the anticipation with the arrival of new and powerful cards. Today we make a stop in our Magic Chronicles to try to get ahead of this Innistrad: Scarlet Engagement.
The Mechanics of Scarlet Engagement
The first of all before knowing how the expansion is going to affect us or what cards we can take advantage of for our deck – what the hell, these dogs and cats are already as mine as yours – is to know what main mechanics will arrive with Scarlet Compromise.
In addition to the return of the cycles of Day and night, and the mechanics of disturb, These are the mechanics that we can find in the new expansion. And it is not exactly fair of ideas.
First we have the mechanics of Training. On the cardboard it dictates that “Whenever a creature attacks with another creature with greater power, put a + 1 / + 1 counter on this creature”. Having an aggro deck in which we easily team up with various creatures of quite a bit of power, the idea of embracing this mechanic sounds appealing, but let’s move on with the rest before we pass judgment.
The following mechanics included invites us to Trim part of the text of the letters. We have the best example in Desentierro, a letter that allows us to cut part of its text if we pay the appropriate cost.
We would go from a “search your library for a letter [de tierra básica, muéstrala], put it in your hand and then shuffle“To a more palatable”Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, and then shuffleFor four more mana. We could do well if it weren’t for the fact that the trim cost also includes two swamps and our deck is completely green. Then we see what else we can scratch from this mechanic.
The following is probably the most significant of this expansion. Is named Blood And, as you may have guessed from the vampire party, it is going to be one of the great assets of the race. On paper it is a simple artifact that we will generate based on playing tokens or attacking, always depending on the creature.
With a cost of any mana, discarding a card and sacrificing the artifact, we can draw a card. A perfect mechanic for when you are wanting to renew your hand and that you can also combine with other options such as, for example, gain life every time you sacrifice a Blood token.
Finally we have the return of an old Magic mechanic that returns with renewed strength. To take advantage of It will allow us to activate an ability whenever we sacrifice another creature voluntarily. And of course, it goes without saying that we are interested in having a lot of minions waiting to be slaughtered in order to get the most out of it.
Best Scarlet Engagement Cards
With the mechanics already controlled, it is time to put the new cards that will arrive in the game under a magnifying glass. Here I am sure that all of you can give me a cable to anticipate future problems for our deck, but from the outset these are the cards that scare me the most -And also the ones I’m looking forward to trying.
Halana and Alena, partners
Sonia and Selena are making me consider changing the deck from mono green to one combined with red. We have a creature that for four mana drops us by 2/3 that damages first, has range, and also at each start of turn puts X + 1 / + 1 counters on another target creature you control, with X being the power of Halana and Alena. I really want to see if I can do some trick to put it together with Unnatural growth.
Judge prisoner of faith
Probably one of the most important cards in the expansion. For four mana, you have a double-sided card that first drops a 4/4 defender with flight and vigilance. Three turns later adding counters, he stops being a defender. The key, however, is in its mechanics of disturb.
Let’s say the Judge prisoner of faith it dies and you pay its cost of seven mana to activate the action. For it becomes an enchantment that affects the chosen player and, if he does not get rid of it within three turns, he loses the game. Go preparing cards to counter it.
Sorin, the Lifeless
A promising Planeswalker that enters the field with four points, the same number as its mana cost, and that will allow us to snort it while we check which card is at the top of our deck. Ideal to anticipate possible problems, especially if you can afford to keep that card by paying an amount of life equal to its value.
Losing two counters you have a 2/3 vampire with flight and vital bond, and if you manage to take it up to seven counters you can take 13 life points from the opponent and gain another 13. The typical bait with which the opponent can easily lower his guard .
Fear-eating demon
Be careful that this one also brings them to you and it will give us infinite headaches. Seven mana for a 6/6 that flies and that, if you sacrifice another non-demon creature at the beginning of your final step, a copy of the Fear-eating demon. Two 6/6 with table flight. Or three. Telita.
Grumpy Hermit
Insane defensive card that deals as much damage as it takes. It starts out as 3/3 but can jump to 4/4 if it’s dark. Additionally, damage taken to any other permanent you control is affected in this way. Come on, one more reason to shape that red and green mallet.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Beware of the damage that this card can do in one of the white aggro decks that we are seeing lately. A 2/1 that, in addition to first strike, forces you to pay one more for each noncreature spell, which will inevitably put decks that pull control in the first turns in a tight spot. By the time they want to realize it, it will be too late.
Deliver to the sea
One of the great cards with mechanics of Trim. A priori it is a way to counteract any spell that was not cast from the hand for one mana, but paying the slash cost that applies to any spell. I can’t imagine a blue deck without this card starting tomorrow.
The cards that yes or yes I will try to include in my deck
Then I leave you with the cards that I want to try in our deck. Suggestions are accepted to see what we load to be able to make room for them, but in any case I will tell you in future Magic Chronicles to what extent it works for us.
Ulvenwald rarity
A double-sided card with four costs that plants a 4/4 with a roll and haste. Seriously thinking of changing it for him Forest Troll old or some other similar letter. One more mana cost, yes, but if I keep it on the table then I can raise it to 8/8 that adds up to + 1 / + 1, trample and haste the rest of the creatures.
Avabruck caretaker
Butt with the buffs to my creatures before reaching the Unnatural growthYou know, so the idea of being able to use a hexproof with which to place two counters on another creature, or on all of them in the case of its night version, I really want. Fear of cost, mainly, but we’ll see if we can make room for it.
Statue of bad feeling
This falls yes or yes. A three-mana artifact that adds one mana of any color and sets an omen counter each time you tap it. With three counters it becomes the Abandoned thresher, a 5/5 that at the beginning of your main phase adds one mana of any color.
They do not look bad as support, but we will see if they serve us or if other letters that may be more useful come to light. For now I’m going to keep messing around for a few more hours hoping to take advantage of those wild cards I’ve been saving for the arrival of Scarlet Compromise.
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