Griselbrand's Vengeance: Modern Decklists

I don't normally like posting decklists out of context, as they tend to look very strange by themselves.  However, I'm making an exception in this case because of just how much fun it is to have Griselbrand in play on turn 2.  I will be following up with a few brief primers.


BRand:

4 Griselbrand

3 Kagemaro

4 Greater Gargadon

4 Demigod of Revenge

4 Simian Spirit Guide

19 Creatures

4 Goryo's Vengeance

4 Faithless Looting

4 Thoughtseize

1 Footsteps of the Goryo

1 Through the Breach

4 Sickening Shoal

18 Spells

4 Blood Crypt

1 Scalding Tarn

3 Verdant Catacombs

1 Dakmor Salvage

3 Graven Cairns

1 Lavaclaw Reaches

6 Swamp

4 Mountain

23 Land

Mono-Black Griselbrand's Vengeance

4 Griselbrand

4 Kagemaro, First to Suffer

4 Avatar of Discord

1 Hidden Horror

4 Demigod of Revenge

17 Creatures

4 Goryo's Vengeance

4 Thoughtseize

1 Inquisition of Kosilek

1 Footsteps of the Goryo

4 Sickening Shoal

2 Killing Wave

4 Liliana of the Veil

1 Darkblast

21 Spells

2 Dakmor Salvage

2 Tectonic Edge

3 Ghost Quarter

15 Swamp

Poem of the Day #4: Also, #5 and #6

A trip away from the pleasant glow of computer screens, accompanied only by an sadly wireless-less iPad and a growing sense of ennui left me unable to update for entirely too many hours.  Fortunately, no one seems to read these poems.  Still, 30 poems were promised, and 30 poems will be delivered.


#4

Whatever is begotten, born, and dies

Exists as a pleasant yet spiteful lie—

A smear on a window—

Fog on the sea—

Unchanged but always changing

Like a lie

Evolves in telling—

Always rearranging—

Until the truth at last resides—

Only in the

Honesty

Of fading, at last, to die.

#5

I take no sordid story with—

No tales of woe shall pass these lips—

When any ask who did I kiss

I shall speak only of fleeting bliss—

And tell them that I did love thee true

For that is all that I could do—

Though thou didst injure me

I would cause thee no injury.

Nor would I slander thy lovely name

Or spill ash over thy lonely grave—

When they ask who, I shall say 

That she is the beautiful Annabel Lee—

So, from now till the last break of day

Men and women whose hearts will fall

Can know the truth: love conquers all.

#6

Into the night we fly

On strong whispering wing

My memory touching yours

But never here—

We are always some other where—

Where they cannot come

We are together, you and I,

In the russet-clad evening sky,

The morning coming but the night young,

Making music with the moment

You grab and hold it

I struggle not to let go

But I cannot hold because though 

We fly so high above everything

We fly with thick, heavy, lead-filled wings

Burdened by the brevity of the past and the longevity of the future—

We cannot be together while we are held apart

By the force of ten thousand parting words

So we fall back down to Earth—

Two soaring, yet Icarian birds.

Poem of the Day #3: "Butterflies"

The heart of poetry is in the universality of its imagery.  We understand, now, that a globalized world means that culture will eventually become homogenized.  (If you don't believe this, get lost in 9GAG or reddit for a few hours)  Because of this, the only truly successful poetry will be written by those who are willing to dig deeper into the core of their conceits.  

A fox ran through a

Meadow—his coat

And face aglow—

Chasing riches I could not see—

Perhaps could never know—

Yet well do I recognize

The joy in his toothy smile—

A feeling like seeing you again

When it has been awhile—

Poem of the Day #2: "Endlessly Rocking"

Poetry is powerful emotion recollected in tranquility, certainly.  As the world continues its inexorable evolution, and poetry dies for the millionth time since humanity first scribbled words on clay, the shifting definitions must allow that Wordsworth's is entirely true.  The all-inclusive descriptions of "what makes a poem" are fantastic for their democratic nature, but useless in defining an art form.  I recognize the authenticity of the attempt, but I reject the utility of it.  For me, poetry is like pornography, you know it when you see it, and the vast majority of what we now see would have been better left rotting in the corner of its author's mind.

I saw a face deep in the crowd—

A face without a name

A face that—time ignoring—

Might—in my mind—not change—

And though oft I swear I can forget

It is true I never do—

Though that moment has long since passed—

I swear that face was you.

Double-Faced Spells: Random MtG Designs

While my Photoshop skills hover between none at all and occasional clone-stamping, I've still decided to attempt sharing some of my Magic: the Gathering, card designs, including some that I submitted back in the "You Make the Card" days (this really needs to come back, for the record).

The format is Card Name//Casting Cost//Type//Text Box//P/T or Loyalty, if applicable.


Vessel of Drought//3//Artifact//Non-colorless mana cannot be used to pay the colorless costs of spells or abilities.


Carragon, the Wandering Sage//XG//Planeswalker-Carragon//~this~ enters the battlefield with X loyalty. -1: Search your library for a land and put it on the battlefield tapped. -3: Search your library for a creature, reveal it, then put it onto the battlefield tapped. -5: Exile the top half of your library rounded up. All permanents exiled this way enter the battlefield tapped.

Feral Devourer//B//Creature-Horror//If ~this~ would be put into your graveyard from anywhere, it enters the battlefield instead.  When ~this~ enters the battlefield, if you did not play it from your hand, you lose the game.//7/7

Double-faced spells are formatted the same, the "night" side of the card follows //////


Fizzle//UU//Instant//When you play ~this~, if it is the first spell you've played this turn, transform it.  Counter target spell.//////
Frazzle//~//Instant//Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 2.

Burn//R//Instant//When you play ~this~, if it is the first spell you've played this turn, transform it.  ~this~ deals 4 damage to target creature or player.//////
Blister//~//Instant//~this~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

Banish//BB//Instant//When you play ~this~, if it is the first spell you've played this turn, transform it.  Exile target planeswalker, creature, or land.//////
Bury//~//Instant//Destroy target non-black creature.

Restore//2G//Instant//When you play ~this~, if it is the first spell you've played this turn, transform it. Return target card from your graveyard to your hand. Exile ~this~.//////
Renew//~//Instant//Untap all permanents you control. Exile ~this~.

Pacify//W//Instant//When you play ~this~, if it is the first spell you've played this turn, transform it.  Target creature cannot attack or block. (The creature remains pacified until it leaves the battlefield or the game ends)./////
Pardon//Instant//Untap target attacking creature and remove it from combat.

And some unrealistic designs that seem mildly entertaining.

 Impenetrable Battlements//3WW//Creature-Wall//Defender. 0: ~this~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn. Miracle: WW.//0/4

Fissure Behemoth//4RR//Creature-Beast//Haste. Trample. When ~this~ enters the battlefield, destroy target land. Miracle: RRR//5/1

Slumbering Wurm//5GG//Creature-Wurm//Trample.  3GG: Regenerate ~this~. ~this~ gets +6/+6 until end of turn. Miracle: GGGGG.//8/8

Banworthy Sprite//2U//Creature--Fairie//Flash. Flying. Miracle: U.//3/2

Gravetender Revenant//1BB//Creature--Spirit//Flying. When ~this~ enters the battlefield, if it was played with it's Miracle cost, target player sacrifices a creature and you may return a creature from your graveyard to the battlefield.  Miracle: 4BB.//3/2