If you're planning to battle cry and motivate your Mirran troops with metal, then you'll be taking up the flag for the good guys this weekend at the Mirrodin Besieged prerelease. Now is a good time to brush up on what commons and uncommons you should be on the lookout for if you plan to stem the inexorable tide of inevitable doom.
The 80%-20% Mirran split in Scars of Mirrodin works to your advantage here, as you'll find plenty of tools to support your metalcraft methodology and a plentiful supply of excellent removal options in your "natural" colors.
Most of the stuff that was good in Scars of Mirrodin is still great here, and you'll have an excellent shot being able to use a lot of it in addition to the cards you'll collect in your Mirrodin Besieged packs.
Accorder Paladin, Goblin Wardriver, Kuldotha Ringleader, and the rest of the battle cry gang all work great with Scars of Mirrodin staples like Myrsmith and Origin Spellbomb.
The mechanic also works shockingly well with some of the new cards like Master's Call - allowing you to both trigger metalcraft and prepare to attack for a disturbing amount of damage at the end of an opponent's turn. These kind of surprises make up for Mirran troops not being able to score poison points.
Equipment remains important for Mirran forces despite not having access to living weapons. Training Drone provides a huge attacker with anything you've got lying around, and Viridian Claw is among the best options for new equipment - Most Phyrexian forces simply can't compete with first strike at all, and the claw is amazingly well prices for the benefits it provides in a Limited environment.
Rally the Forces will give you a chance to turn Phyrexian attempts at defense into fantastic failures, and can be used to glean a huge advantage on an offensive endeavor, especially with a hearty battle cry being thrown into an assault.
Melira's Keepers will stop all kinds of infectors trying to claw, sting, and drool poison on your persona, so keep them handy if green is an option. Mirran Mettle will give you enough punch to land a killing blow out of nowhere on one of your double striking metalcrafters.
Burn the Impure, Crush, and Blisterstick Shaman are all common slot red cards that really want to see play, and if red is an option be sure to include these removal options. By the same token, don't pass up Divine Offering in white. Kuldotha Flamefiend provides an expensive but valuable removal option in the uncommon slot.
Treasure Mage and Neurok Commando are both perfectly serviceable prerelease options, though blue is less viable with many of the great cards being Phyrexian and thus out of your hands.
If your Treasure Mage is only grabbing a Razorfield Rhino so be it, but more often than not you'll have something better to grab. Your Neurok Commando can function as a Scroll Thief in a lot of situations, and works great with all the removal and combat tricks the Mirrans have access to. Spire Serpent provides one of the best serpent-style creatures for a Limited environment yet.
Go for the Throat is a wonderful removal choice but chances are black may be out of the question - your pool will have to be an anomaly for it to support the primarily Phyrexian choice here.
Game look bleak with infectious evasion poised to take you out next turn? Turn on the gas with a Concussive Bolt and come rampaging in with battle cry for a good 20 point swing. The bad guys will never know what him them!
If you're going to be a boring goody-goody and play Mirran at the prerelease, (You should really be playing Phyrexian. They just want to unite Mirrodin, after all!) you've got a good number of removal options and tricks up your sleeve, just as many as the opposing forces and their living weaponry.
Don't miss the Mirrodin Besieged prerelease on January 29-30. We will endure!
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Comments
daniel, let me ask u...
i know u are playing phyrexian, but is it because its better for sealed, or is it just because u like it?????
It's a little of both, actually. I think the sides are "somewhat" even for the prerelease event, but I do think that Phyexians have the edge with living weapon and incredibly strong infect creatures. Phyrexians just have incredible common and uncommon slot cards that I definitely see them having the raw lead going in.
thanks for replying!!!
hope u the best in this weekend tournaments ^^
Rally the Forces only works on attacking creatures, so I don't see how that can be used defensively.
I will probably play a red-white mirran on the prerelease( unless I get a couple of green bombs). What colour combinations do you think will be the most common among phyrexian decks?
Should phyrexian players play with Viridian Emissary?
I really hoped that card would be mirran.
Yes, Viridian Emissary will almost always make the cut in a Phyrexian deck using green - Blue got a lot to work with in regards to Phyrexia too, so your Phyerixan players will largely be playing some form of Blue. Green, and Black. It would take something really amazing and abnormal to stray from those colors.
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