"Unselfish Pain Sharing Creatures"

"Unselfish Pain Sharing Creatures"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon jr. 

"Rakdos Party time...The Boros Reckoner is Under cover..."

     So what do Mogg Maniac , Spite Mare , Boros Reckoner and Stuffy Doll all have in common?

These guys surely know how to receive and give damage. Or in their cases they really do love dishing out pain. They probably are the bunch of guys you would see in a Rakdos Riot Party (With the Boros Reckoner going undercover of course).  Well the others are just really content taking in and sharing the pain.

"I learned this while watching Avatar!!!"

     Let us start with the very hot Boros Reckoner whom people have been talking about non-stop because of its consistent record in standard. I have no direct experience playing with a Boros Reckoner since its price is a bit prohibitive at the moment and I have also decided that since Infect is no longer in standard I won't be playing it for awhile. But in my mind I want to see Boros Reckoners in play with a bunch of Selesnya tokens on the other side of the Battlefield and then someone casts a Blasphemous Act dealing 13 damage to each creator wherein the controllers of the Reckoners reply with a grin and 26 damage to the face of whoever cast that spell. The Reckoner could redirect damage and the unlucky recipient doesn't usually last long in a game. Ahhh and that is called living the dream.

"Watch me plant all these tools on your face..."

     What I have experienced with Mogg Maniac though would last me a life time. I was up a against a Mono Green Beast deck that was able to cheat in a 13/13 Krosan Cloudscraper. My opponent did attack with the gigantic beast only to be blocked by a Mogg Maniac. My opponent was already down to 7 during that time. And with Mogg Maniac redirecting the damage to him he scooped up his cards and started shuffling for the next game. Life is easier when the damage is so huge that you don't have to keep track anymore. In my early magic I embraced this principle with gusto. Another combination is with Goblin Lord , Skirk Fire Marshall...Imagine tapping a set of Mogg Maniacs in play and you have exactly 50 damage! 10 from the initial damage from the Fire Marshall and 40 more from the Mogg Maniacs who also took damage from the ensuing play. Red has always been full of this much fire power since the beginning.

     One of my most frustrating games has been with a single Spitemare in play. With a large 3/3 body and the ability to redirect any damage given to it to that creatures controller it certainly puts a stop to any weenie army harboring any dreams of attacking. That game also featured the emergence of 2 Balefire Lieges that continually burned me for 3 damage each when casting a red spell. It also hurt that what my opponent was casting was a Lightning bolt. These Lieges also made the single spitmare into a  7/7 Spitemare which would attack me and spit back any damage it received from my blockers right back at me! It was an insane game and one where my mass removal was something that gave damage to all creatures instead of destroying them outright. Woe to me indeed as I just had to endure and hope that in my next game I could do better. I wasn't able to do any better in the next game either.

"Emo ako eh..."

     Stuffy Doll just took this whole redirecting damage to a whole new level. It is player specific. It might be limited in EDH games but it is a lot of fun to watch your opponent squirming every time damage is dealt to him with you even not even declaring an attack or casting a spell. Stuffy doll is an Emo doll , it has a lot of pain to share to your opponents and attaching a Fatal Attraction to it just really helps matters to go much faster. This 5 mana costing artifact creature can ping himself or your could deal damage to him directly but it is the 4 damage each upkeep that Fatal Attraction brings consistently that is a winner in this strategy. As the Mangkukulams would say , stick a needle in him. He would just take the abuse because he is indestructible! Imagine having a Furnace of Rath in play as well and the battle damage doubles. Fantastic.

     If you are tired of the usual win conditions then this is something that you might want to try. It is a bit tricky to pull off in some cases and there is a level of difficulty involved which would make your game plays more satisfying once you are able to win with this condition. Till next time bring on the pain and share it with someone.