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Mirrodin Besieged Battle Cries Intro Pack

Magic: The Gathering's Mirrodin Besieged Battle Cries Intro Pack is essentially an exposition of the Mirran battle cry mechanic, filled with a red/white hodgepodge of miscellaneous odds and ends designed to swarm for lethal damage with a mighty roar. 

Battle Cries is a good base to explore the new mechanic, but it can definitely stand to improve and embrace cards that enhance the central theme.

Mirrodin Besieged Intro Packs are 60 cards and are fully playable out of the box, and come with an additional 15 card booster pack ideal for tweaking or trading.

Let's take a look at the Battle Cries Intro Pack decklist:

2x Memnite

2x Signal Pest

2x Ardent Recruit

1x Gold Myr

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2x Iron Myr

2x Accorder Paladin

1x Myrsmith

1x Silvercoat Lion

1x Leonin Relic-Warder

1x Leonin Skyhunter

2x Peace Strider

1x Siege Mastodon

3x Kuldotha Ringleader

1x Razorfield Rhino

1x Victory's Herald

2x Origin Spellbomb

2x Galvanic Blast

1x Viridian Claw

1x White Sun's Zenith

1x Whispersilk Cloak

2x Arrest

3x Master's Call

1x Concussive Bolt

8 Mountain

16 Plains

The Battle Cries Intro Pack comes with a decent framework, but there's a lot of things here that just don't fit. When you're going for an aggressive swarm strategy, the last thing you want clogging up your hand is something like Siege Mastodon or Peace Strider. 

While the other small creatures are not necessarily bad, they could be a lot better without being rares - Goblin Wardriver is surprisingly absent from this deck.

We like that there's a decent removal package offered, but attempting a halfhearted metalcraft undertone to the deck doesn't do much but dilute it. 

Battle Cries can get off the ground running fast and hard, but you better hope your opponent lacks any sort of defense or does anything to disrupt your plans because your whole deck just lays down to a Choking Fumes.

Take out the Siege Mastodon, the Peace Striders, the Razorfield Rhino (If Razorfield Rhino/Whispersilk Cloak is your endgame plan you really need to reevaluate your strategy) and maybe the Memnites and Ardents - Replace them with some Goblin Wardrivers and if you can afford it, Hero of Bladehold/Hero of Oxid Ridge

If you're on budget, try Kudoltha Rebirth and some Panic Spellbombs or Ichor Wellsprings.  Possibly even go all the way and just pack some Knight Exemplars in here with some more knights.

The Battle Cries Intro Pack works on a basic level by introducing the swarm-style blitzkrieg afforded with the battle cry mechanic, but chooses some questionable outliers to get the job done. 

Replace the oddballs with cards from your booster pack and trading, and you'll be ready to experience a more robust assault the way it was meant to be.

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, Magic the Gathering Examiner

Daniel Tack has been playing Magic since the early days of Revised, when a Craw Wurm was just as magical as a Dual Land. Nowadays, Dan focuses on Limited style magic strategies, focusing on drafting and sealed deck play as well as the popular multiplayer format, Elder Dragon Highlander. You can...

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