"A Little Twist...To Your Face..."

"A Little Twist...To Your Face..."

By:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

           In Martial arts , turning your opponents strengths against themselves is a maxim that has saved a lot of lives and effort. In magic , the same maxim can also be used. One Legendary creature seems to thrive on this particularly effective maxim.

     Return to Ravnica has shown a lot of Legends to add to the growing list of Commanders that are currently in play in EDH tables around the world. There are at least 10 and some of those are very welcome Returnees  like Rakdos. Having recently decided to quit standard (still mourning the loss of Infect) EDH has been an outlet for my creativity juices. And like all my outlets I seem to have gone overboard in this regard. 16 EDH decks that are constantly being updated seems enough of a testament to that.

     I have a current blue/black EDH deck that has Circu, Dimir Lobotomist at the helm but it seems to be lacking somewhat and I found myself scrapping it. Probably has to do with the raw aggressiveness that I found with my Skullbriar and Jarad decks...I am more Gruul than I would like to admit but over time just raw power means nothing without a little but of control or finesse. And without this driving factor most decks just turn into brawlers. There has to be more. 

     Enter the new Legend...Lazav...A shapeshifter who has a nifty ability. He has the ability to change into any creature that your opponent drops into the graveyard for what ever reason. It dies , Lazav changes into it , your opponent discards(at the end of turn or if you make him discard it with a spell or ability), Lazav changes into it. He becomes that creature and you get to use that creature to your advantage. (Place evil maniacal laugh here).

So my mind went into a control deck that would take advantage of the Dimirs new guild master. Imagine having 4 Shape shifters in one deck...Clone ,Phyrexian Metamorph , Evil twin and Lazav himself , add a dash of mass removal and spot removal to usher your opponents creatures to the graveyard and you have a deck that turns your enemies best into their worst nightmare. Being part blue allows you to draw or even fabricate a mimic vat or creature that you could copy...like a Blightsteel colossus for example. Two copies of that guy on the battlefield might be enough to finish one or two of your opponents.

Let us look at Lazavs colors. One of the strongest if not the strongest color combinations of all time in Magic.

Since he is the head of the secretive Dimir Guild Lazav is part blue and one of the aspects of being blue is the ability to say no. Countering a massive creature and having Lazav turn into that is a delicious way of annoying your opponents. You remove a threat and add a threat of your own on the board. The irony is just so tempting to do. You counter Sheoldred, The Whispering one for example , that card goes to your opponents graveyard. Lazav becomes Sheoldred and in your next upkeep you get one of your creatures into play from the grave. 

One of the plays that would a put a twist on your opponents plans is to cast a discard spell and look at a creature that would benefit you instead of them...You spot a Terrastodon? Discard that..Lazav becomes the 9/9 Behemoth without the comes into play ability course but he is now a 9/9 Hexproof monstrosity that can end a game in standard in about 3 mighty swings. 

Another color that gives so much power is Lazavs black aspect. Being black allows numerous fetches to work like Vampiric and Demonic tutor giving players access to more cards that can be part of numerous nefarious schemes.Mass removal and spot removal are always at  the disposal of black mages and has become the strong signature of that color. Killing creatures has always been fun when you are black. 

To add salt to your opponents injuries. Add a dash of Grave Betrayal to the mix. Lazav becomes a copy of the creature that just died and when that creature hits the graveyard  , the effects of Grave Betrayal kicks in , it goes back into play on your side of the battlefield. So you have Lazav as a copy of that dead creature and the original creature is zombified into service with a +1/+1 counter on it that makes it even more fearsome. This works even if you have just killed a Legendary creature like Griselbrand since they would be the same creature with different names. Talk about abuse. 2 Griselbrands with massive drawing ability . life gain or attack power. 

I have members in my play group who would salivate at a card like this. I guess it is one thing I need to be ready for this year. I already know of 2 who are reserving copies as of this writing. Im going to get me one too.  For the right price.