Casual Encounters- Top 10 Casual Cards from Modern Masters 2017
Well, Wizards has fully spoiled Modern Masters 2017 and in the process have driven players wild with just loads of amazing reprints. They must have looked at the reprint policy and then just shredded the thing in the recycling bin because this set looks NUTS. Honestly, who’s idea was it to reprint all this awesome stuff? On top of the set being full of many valuable reprints, Wizards has done an admirable job of balancing cards intended for competitive play and those destined to see play in Casual formats. Today I’m going to go through my top 10 cards for Casual play from Modern Masters 2017. If you feel like I missed something on my list, leave a comment down below.
- Cyclonic Rift: This makes the list because it is totally and utterly ridiculous in any multiplayer game. It is also just about as ubiquitous as you can get in a deck playing blue in edh. There is no messing around around with this card and it always does good work. The rift may not be a flashy start but it is a highly sought after card and something EDH players are happy to see reprinted as the price continues to steadily climb.
- Coiling Oracle: The color requirements kind of hamper this card but it is a super sweet card to play if you can handle blue and green. The card advantage stapled to this creature is super fun and is just asking to be abused. It plays one part ramp, one part card draw spell and all for 2 mana and even comes with a body. There may not be tons of Simic coloured commanders in EDH but they all love this little guy. I was happy to see this get reprinted.
- Ghostly Flicker: this card is ⅓ of a combo in Pauper that had to be banned. Flicker + Archaeomancer +Peregrine Drake essentially ruined Pauper by giving it an infinite mana combo that took over the game. I don’t expect the same level of dominance in Casual circles, but with the format already being heavily weighed towards getting lots of value from your ETB triggers this seems like a pretty potent way to land a bunch of new triggers. I can think of plenty degenerate things to do with this and am happy to grab a few more copies on the cheap off the draft table. The existence of an infinite combo helps to some degree too.
- Craterhoof Behemoth: Ah. Yes. ‘Hoof. Well this guy is just hilarious and any deck that’s a) playing green and b) has tokens is just going to love this guy as a way to win out of nowhere . Think of all the Commanders that could make good use of this big fella: Prossh, Ghave, Trostani, just to name a few. He’s bonkers and the fact that the price is about to get crushed will be good news for Casual players. Sure, Elves players are seriously stoked about the inclusion of their #1 finisher, but Casual players like the beef this guy offers.
- Temporal Mastery: I think every time I see a card that says ‘Take and Extra Turn” I slap it on this list. This feels super flashy and powerful and is exactly the sort of thing casual players like me want to do when we play. The fact that this can be cost for its Miracle cost makes it extra appealing because I love the thought of top decking it and going ham. Yes, I know that the statistical probability of me top decking this is slim to nil, but the thought of doing it is just too appealing. I’m happy to see the price on this get dropped quite a bit so I can get a couple more copies and see if I can’t live the dream. #6 seems generous for a card that I’ll likely never cast for its Miracle cost, but I’ll let it ride with my eternal optimism.
5. Shard coloured tri–lands: I wasn’t playing during Shards of Alara block, but I was exposed to Tri-Lands in Khans Block and I was a big fan. To have them reprinted in Commander 2016 gave me a bit of a taste for the mana-fixing these offer, but now to have them in wider circulation as part of this set is super exciting. These will be readily available to afford colour-fixing for casual players for years and that’s good news for the rest of us.
- Signet Cycle: While the tri-lands are nice, these are far more sought after and represent very good value in this set. You can feel better knowing that if you don’t open Lili or Goyf in your pack that you might at least open something of use in the form of a signet. While these aren’t flashy, they do offer yet another way to offer mana fixing and ramp quite easily and can fit in virtually every Commander decks.
- Zur the Enchanter: Commander players were pretty happy to see this reprint, although he is a little unexpected. I have read a few places describing some of the broken shenanigans that this enables and it seems pretty excessive. The fact that this guy was last seen in Coldsnap back in 2006 means that it was about time for this guy to get a reprint and to make him a little more widely known. The only thing I might have asked is new cooler artwork, but that’s a little thing.
- Restoration Angel – I feel kind of silly putting this on the list but Restoration Angel is just too good to pass up. This is just a massive value engine that is totally under costed. A ¾ flier with flash AND blanks a removal spell is just a huge value swing that can’t be missed. The blink on the angel is probably the most valuable attribute on a card that is an A in almost every regard. Add in the fact that this enables infinite combos with Kiki Jiki and you have something that shouldn’t be trifled with. Yes competitive players want this too, but competitive and casual players can both like doing powerful, efficient things and this card is where they overlap.
- Deadeye Navigator: This one makes the list because it is skating on thin ice. Every player that I know who plays EDH either loves or hates Deadeye Navigator because it is so difficult to deal with once it is resolved and soulbonded. If the player controlling Deadeye has mana open this becomes a nightmare to deal with and every time you blink something with it you generate even further value. The consensus from players I know is that it is just a matter of time before this gets banned because of the gross and abusive things that it can do.
If you feel like I missed something, please leave a comment down below or find me on twitter because I’d love to hear what other people have got in mind. As always, thanks for stopping by and be sure to come again for another Casual Encounter.
Bruce Gray
@bgray8791
