"Sorin Vs. Tibalt Dual Decks...A First Look..."

"Sorin Vs. Tibalt Dual Decks...A First Look..."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     I woke up late that day (5pm) and was in a semi-conscious state when I read about the impending release of this new Duel Deck...I was excited but hesitant to make a purchase at first because I was currently developing a Red/Green Radha deck that would allow me to blow up lands...So I went to the office and took a peek at the deck list and I was really woken up with the possibilities the cards would bring to the table..

     Granted that at the back of my mind Wizards of the Coast was merely trying to cash in on the popularity of the cards before they rotate out of standard. This former thought was being whispered to me by the devil sitting on my left shoulder (He looked a little like Tibalt too). On the other hand the Angel sitting on my right shoulder said that all cards are valuable nowadays because prices don't necessarily go down because of the Modern and EDH formats currently in place. I wasn't so bitter anymore since my angel told me that (She was also threatening me with a pitchfork to the ear if I didn't listen). I like how Wizards could  put in new art and reintroduce new cards to people , its like reintroducing someone awesome that you just forgot. Needless to say the new art lends more coolness to the cards as it also follows the flavor of the set. Brow beat for example gets the oversized face of Tibalt and the new art on Mortify is cooler and reflects the effect of Sorin on his enemies. Really just cool. 

     The obvious draw of the set is the Lord of Innistrad himself , Sorin Markov , whose price actually comprises 3/4th's of the duel decks value. I wont be going into the details of his ability. I wrote about him when he first came out in Dark Ascension. At first glance the black/white aspect of the deck will really reinforce strategies in the colors of the Orzhov but then again you could always just get pieces here for mono black decks or mono white decks. There are handy token makers as well as spot removal in this deck that could both fit in for both colors. In the EDH theme of things if you have not played with Ghost Council , Teysa or Obzedat yet then this might be the right time to do so. Teysa seems the most logical choice because her abilities give you an advantage of tokens and removals. The whole theme revolves around tokens and creature control which is always important in any game. (except of course for creatureless decks which makes them all dead cards but makes your hand look deadly as you can still bluff your way into a win).

    The other half of this deck has the pain mage Tibalt at the helm , considered as one of the worst planeswalkers (it reflects on his value and playability...which is hard) Tibalt has been given a wonderful theme. Since he cannot control what he will be discarding in the graveyard they made a theme deck that consisted of Unearth and Flashback cards. A cool idea but something that leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to game play. At least it still allows you access to spells that you might have otherwise not been able to use. There is one card in particular that got me excited and The Hellrider is only just part of it because I have never owned one until now. However the card that got me going was Torrent of Souls. A card that allowed you to Zombify a creature when you use black mana on it and then your creatures get +2/0 and haste if Red Mana is used. This would come in handy in my BR Dragon Reanimator deck that I have been developing as of late. Imagine dropping a Bladewing the Risen , Dragon Tyrant and Bladewings Thrull via the Torrent of Souls. Everyone swings in for a total of 23 (Double striking Dragon Tyrant) Damage! In the Modern format that would be the end...In EDH  ,  you are actually halfway finishing off one opponent...Its an evil card. I cant wait to add it to my deck.

     One of the things that I would like to comment on is the card Ancient Craving. Draw 3 cards , pay 3 life at sorcery speed at the cost of 1 Black and 3 Generic Mana at the Rare Slot. There is a copy of this exact card at the Uncommon Rarity and that card is Ambitions cost. It even has the same flavor text for crying out loud! So why would magic produce a card like this which is an exact copy of another card? Redundancy. Yup , it actually benefits players because these two have different names , they can play a copy of each in their EDh decks. And since these cards do not have Double black mana costs it is actually easy to splash in any color combination. Who doesn't want to draw 3 cards...twice.

     I was so happy when my friend actually gave me my box and when I was opening it in my office cubicle the people who saw me said that I looked like a little child opening a Christmas gift. Well it was a great gift...to myself. I was so excited at getting at the cards. For now there is some serious tinkering to be done...