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The Magic Chest 5: Splintering Wind
I've had a heck of a time trying to make this card work, but now I think I've found it. In previous attempts, I've relied too much on the Splintering Wind as creature control and I spent too much effort trying to deal with the drawbacks of the card. First, let's take a closer look at Splintering Wind. Notice that it's a green, reusable way to damage creatures. That in itself is pretty rare in green and makes this card worth investigating further. But for 2G, you don't just get 1 damage to a creature of your choice, you also get a 1/1 creature with flying. That makes it a bit like Sacred Mesa, except that those splinter tokens are a time bomb. As soon as you can't pay the upkeep on one of them anymore, they all go boom. And if you're not careful, so do you. Not to mention the rest of your creatures. One aspect that's easy to overlook, though, is that it's twice as effective on most attacking creatures, because 2G gets you 1 damage on the attacking creature, as well as a 1/1 blocker. The things we need to keep in mind when making this deck are: Spidersilk Armor: By boosting your creature's toughness, they can survive a splinter token exploding. That means that one blowing up doesn't have to mean the rest does too anymore. Still, in practice I found this didn't really work as well as it should, not even if I included Parapets as well. The solution is not to play with any creatures you mind losing. Albino Troll: A cheap creature with a high toughness and regeneration should be able to survive tokens blowing up. This deck is going to be slow, so a good early blocker is mandatory. Wall of Blossom: Four toughness should be able to survive for quite a while. Plus it's a cantrip. Gaea's Cradle: You won't have enough creatures to use with this. Hickory Woodlot: You need permanent mana boosts, not temporary ones. Saber Ants: These can turn the damage from the splinter tokens into new tokens, but they'll just be 1/1 and very fragile. Yavimaya Elder: Although the one toughness makes it look like a horrible card for this deck, the two lands are just what the doctor ordered. Meanwhile, in the early game it becomes a very nice chump blocker. Skyshroud Claim: Don't underestimate this card. For 4 mana, you get two Forests in play, untapped. That makes the net mana cost only 2. Add to that speed advantage and card advantage and you're sitting pretty. Urza's Armor: You have enough mana acceleration to get to 6 mana and this stops your own tokens from killing you. Multiple copies are useful, so I'd go with 4. Creeping Mold: A way to deal with enchantments, artifacts and lands is mandatory. Desert Twister: This deck has enough mana to be able to cast them, but after the Molds, I'd put these in the sideboard. Tranquility: Too dangerous, you'd blow up your own enchantments. Overgrowth: A mere Wild Growth wouldn't be worth it, but any card you can get 2 extra mana out of each turn is useful. Thran Dynamo: Perhaps this is more mana acceleration than the deck needs, but I'd put a few in just to be sure. Blastoderm: A good card for the sideboard if you need to side out Splintering Wind against a creatureless deck. Child of Gaea: Another card to bring in against passive decks. Child of Gaea fits pretty well, but any green fat will do if you don't have these. Pendelhaven: It can make one of your tokens bigger at the right moment. I wouldn't play more than 1 though, because it's legendary. Plow Under: For the sideboard, in case you want to bring in some disruption. Alternatively, Fallow Earth will work as well, though not as well.
Splinter in your Eye |
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