CardShark Content - Danny Morano (8/17/2002)

Well, like everyone else I'm back from GenCon. As everyone has said, Masters of Peasant Magic II was a great deal of fun, with interesting players, clever (and varied) deck designs, and excellent hosts (great work CardShark guys). What I'd like to talk about is MOPM2, how my deck did there, and whether Peasant Magic should have restricted or banned cards (besides ante cards). I even reveal what the most broken card in Peasant Magic is! What ties these together, of course, is the metagame.

In Type 2, if you can beat Quiet Roar and Mono-Black Control then you’ll win. The Peasant Magic metagame is much, much more interesting. I went into MOPM2 figuring there would be approximately seven decks to beat; here they are with the decklists I playtested against (several where stolen from articles by Jason Chapman and Johnny Lai). I should say in advance, look up cards you don’t recognize (because I’m too lazy to explain all my Unglued references) here: http://www.crystalkeep.com/magic/rules/search.html .

Burn (straight-to-the-head creatureless burn)

20 Mountain

Mountain
	Set: Arabian Nights Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: C Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Tap to add R to your mana pool.

4 Fireblast

Fireblast
	Set: Visions Cost: 6 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Michael Danza Text: You may sacrifice two mountains instead of paying Fireblast's casting cost. Fireblast deals 4 damage to target creature or player.

4 Chain Lightning

Chain Lightning
	Set: Legends Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Artist: Sandra Everingham Text: Chain Lightning does 3 damage to one target. Each time Chain Lightning does damage, the target or target's controller may then pay RR to have Chain Lightning do 3 damage to any target of that player's choice.

4 Lightning Bolt

Lightning Bolt
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Christopher Rush Text: Lightning Bolt does 3 damage to one target.

4 Flame Jet

Flame Jet
	Set: Urza's Destiny Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 81 Artist: John Avon Text: Cycling 2Flame Jet deals 3 damage to target player.

4 Browbeat

Browbeat
	Set: Judgment Cost: 3 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 82 Artist: Mark Tedin Text: Unless a player has Browbeat deal 5 damage to him or her, target player draws three cards.

4 Incinerate

Incinerate
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: Incinerate deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Creatures damaged by Incinerate cannot regenerate this turn.

4 Volcanic Hammer

Volcanic Hammer
	Set: Portal Second Age Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Artist: Edward P. Beard, Jr. Text: Volcanic Hammer deals 3 damage to any one creature or player.

4 Firebolt

Firebolt
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 193 Artist: Ron Spencer Text: Firebolt deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Flashback 4R (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

4 Shock

Shock
	Set: Classic Sixth Edition Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 206 Artist: Randy Gallegos Text: Shock deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

4 Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Dylan Martens Text: Thunderbolt deals 3 damage to target player or 4 damage to target creature with flying.

Combo (MagmaTide stolen from Jason Chapman’s article)

1 Intervene

Intervene
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 33 Artist: Heather Hudson Text: Counter target spell that targets a creature.

4 High Tide

High Tide
	Set: Fallen Empires Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 35 Artist: Drew Tucker Text: Until end of turn, all islands produce an additional U when tapped for mana.

4 Capsize

Capsize
	Set: Tempest Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Tom Wänerstrand Text: Buyback 3 (You may pay an additional 3 when you play this spell. If you do, put it into your hand instead of your graveyard as part of the spell's effect.) Return target permanent to owner's hand.

4 Merchant Scroll

Merchant Scroll
	Set: Homelands Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Artist: Liz Danforth Text: Search your library for a blue instant or interrupt. Reveal that card to all players and put it into your hand. Reshuffle your library afterwards.

4 Accumulated Knowledge

Accumulated Knowledge
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 26 Artist: Randy Gallegos Text: Draw a card, then draw cards equal to the number of Accumulated Knowledge cards in all graveyards.

4 Impulse

Impulse
	Set: Visions Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Bryan Talbot Text: Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library. Shuffle your library afterwards.

4 Brainstorm

Brainstorm
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Christopher Rush Text: Draw three cards. Then, put any two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.

4 Careful Study

Careful Study
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 70 Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: Draw two cards, then discard two cards from your hand.

4 Aether Burst

Aether Burst
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 60 Artist: Adam Rex Text: Return up to X target creatures to their owners' hands, where X is one plus the number of Aether Burst cards in all graveyards as you play Aether Burst.

1 Magma Mine

Magma Mine
	Set: Visions Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Ron Spencer Text: 4: Put a pressure counter on Magma Mine.tap, Sacrifice Magam Mine: For each pressure counter on it, Magma Mine deals 1 damage to target creature or player.

1 Whispers of the Muse

Whispers of the Muse
	Set: Tempest Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Quinton Hoover Text: Buyback 5 (You may pay an additional 5 when you play this spell. If you do, put it into your hand instead of your graveyard as part of the spell's effect.) Draw a card.

3 Peregrine Drake

Peregrine Drake
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 5 Color: Blue Type: Creature Sub Type: Drake Rarity: U Number: 88 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 2 Toughness: 3 Text: Flying When Peregrine Drake comes into play, untap up to five lands.

22 Island

Island
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add U to your mana pool.

Stompy (Johnny Lai’s speedy weenie horde variant)

10 Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

4 Land Grant

Land Grant
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 255 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand instead of paying Land Grant's mana cost.Search your library for a forest card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

4 Fyndhorn Elves

Fyndhorn Elves
	Set: Ice Age Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elves Rarity: C Artist: Justin Hampton Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool. Play this ability as an interrupt.

4 Llanowar Elves

Llanowar Elves
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elves Rarity: C Artist: Anson Maddocks Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

4 Quirion Ranger

Quirion Ranger
	Set: Visions Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elf Rarity: C Artist: Tom Kyffin Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Return a forest you control to owner's hand: Untap target creature. Use this ability only once each turn.

2 Elvish Lyrist

Elvish Lyrist
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elf Rarity: C Number: 248 Artist: Rebecca Guay Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: G, tap, Sacrifice Elvish Lyrist: Destroy target enchantment.

4 Mtenda Lion

Mtenda Lion
	Set: Mirage Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Lion Rarity: C Artist: Stuart Griffin Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: If Mtenda Lion attacks, defending player may pay U to have it deal no combat damage this turn.

4 Pouncing Jaguar

Pouncing Jaguar
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Cat Rarity: C Number: 269 Artist: Daren Bader Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Echo (During your next upkeep after this permanent comes under your control, pay its casting cost or sacrifice it.)

4 Wild Dogs

Wild Dogs
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Hounds Rarity: C Number: 284 Artist: Terese Nielsen Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: During your upkeep, if a player has more life than any other, that player gains control of Wild Dogs.Cycling 2 (You may pay 2 and discard this card from your hand to draw a card. Play this ability as an instant.)

4 Rogue Elephant

Rogue Elephant
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elephant Rarity: C Artist: Steve White Power: 3 Toughness: 3 Text: When Rogue Elephant comes into play, sacrifice a forest or bury Rogue Elephant.

4 Giant Growth

Giant Growth
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Sandra Everingham Text: Target creature gains +3/+3 until end of turn.

4 Rancor

Rancor
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: C Number: 110 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Enchanted creature gains +2/+0 and trample.When Rancor is put into a graveyard from play, return Rancor to owner's hand.

3 Briar Shield

Briar Shield
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: C Artist: Scott Kirschner Text: Enchanted creature gets +1/+1.Sacrifice Briar Shield: Enchanted creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.

1 Bounty of the Hunt

Bounty of the Hunt
	Set: Alliances Cost: 5 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Jeff A. Menges Text: You may remove a green card in your hand from the game instead of paying Bounty of the Hunt's casting cost.Put three +1/+1 counters, distributed any way you choose, on any number of target creatures. Remove these counters at end of turn.

4 Elvish Spirit Guide

Elvish Spirit Guide
	Set: Alliances Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Spirit Rarity: U Artist: Julie Baroh Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: If Elvish Spirit Guide is in your hand, you may remove it from the game to add G to your mana pool. Play this ability as an interrupt.

Sligh (Again, Johnny’s)

4 Shock

Shock
	Set: Classic Sixth Edition Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 206 Artist: Randy Gallegos Text: Shock deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

4 Lightning Bolt

Lightning Bolt
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Christopher Rush Text: Lightning Bolt does 3 damage to one target.

4 Incinerate

Incinerate
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: Incinerate deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Creatures damaged by Incinerate cannot regenerate this turn.

3 Goblin Grenade

Goblin Grenade
	Set: Fallen Empires Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 114 Artist: Ron Spencer Text: Sacrifice a Goblin to have Goblin Grenade deal 5 damage to one target.

4 Fireblast

Fireblast
	Set: Visions Cost: 6 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Michael Danza Text: You may sacrifice two mountains instead of paying Fireblast's casting cost. Fireblast deals 4 damage to target creature or player.

4 Goblin Patrol

Goblin Patrol
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Goblins Rarity: C Number: 193 Artist: Greg Staples Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: Echo (During your next upkeep after this permanent comes under your control, pay its casting cost or sacrifice it.)

4 Mogg Fanatic

Mogg Fanatic
	Set: Tempest Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Goblin Rarity: C Artist: Brom Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Sacrifice Mogg Fanatic: Mogg Fanatic deals 1 damage to target creature or player.

4 Fireslinger

Fireslinger
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Wizard Rarity: C Artist: Jeff Reitz Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Fireslinger deals 1 damage to target creature or player and 1 damage to you.

4 Mogg Flunkies

Mogg Flunkies
	Set: Stronghold Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Goblins Rarity: C Number: 92 Artist: Brom Power: 3 Toughness: 3 Text: Mogg Flunkies cannot attack or block during a turn in which no other creature you control attacks or blocks.

18 Mountain

Mountain
	Set: Arabian Nights Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: C Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Tap to add R to your mana pool.

1 Viashino Sandstalker

Viashino Sandstalker
	Set: Visions Cost: 3 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Viashino Rarity: U Artist: Andrew Robinson Power: 4 Toughness: 2 Text: Viashino Sandstalker is unaffected by summoning sickness.At the end of any turn, return Viashino Sandstalker to owner's hand.

4 Jackal Pup

Jackal Pup
	Set: Tempest Cost: 1 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Hound Rarity: U Artist: Susan Van Camp Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: For each 1 damage dealt to Jackal Pup, it deals 1 damage to you.

2 Goblin Raider

Goblin Raider
	Set: Portal Second Age Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Goblin Rarity: C Artist: Matt Stawicki Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Goblin Raider can't block.

White Weenie (Again, Jason’s)

1 Prismatic Strands

Prismatic Strands
	Set: Judgment Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 18 Artist: Eric Peterson Text: Prevent all damage that a source of the color of your choice would deal this turn. Flashback: Tap an untapped white creature you control.

1 Congregate

Congregate
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 4 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 8 Artist: Mark Zug Text: Target player gains 2 life for each creature in play.

2 Cho-Manno's Blessing

Blessing
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: R Artist: Julie Baroh Text: W: +1/+1

4 Empyrial Armor

Empyrial Armor
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: C Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: Enchanted creature gets +X/+X, where X is equal to the number of cards in your hand.

2 Soltari Visionary

Soltari Visionary
	Set: Exodus Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Number: 20 Artist: Adam Rex Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Shadow (This creature can block or be blocked by only creatures with shadow.) If Soltari Visionary damages any player, destroy target enchantment that player controls.

4 Steadfast Guard

Steadfast Guard
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Rebel Rarity: C Number: 50 Artist: Adam Rex Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Attacking doesn't cause Steadfast Guard to tap.

2 Crimson Acolyte

Crimson Acolyte
	Set: Invasion Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Number: 11 Artist: Orizio Daniele Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Protection from redW: Target creature gains protection from red until end of turn.

2 Obsidian Acolyte

Obsidian Acolyte
	Set: Invasion Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Number: 22 Artist: Matthew D. Wilson Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Protection from blackW: Target creature gains protection from black until end of turn.

4 Standard Bearer

Standard Bearer
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Flagbearer Rarity: C Number: 18 Artist: Ron Spencer Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: If an opponent plays a spell or ability that could target a Flagbearer in play, that player chooses at least one Flagbearer as a target.

4 Skyshroud Falcon

Skyshroud Falcon
	Set: Stronghold Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Bird Rarity: C Number: 116 Artist: Mike Raabe Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Flying Attacking does not cause Skyshroud Falcon to tap.

4 Soltari Foot Soldier

Soltari Foot Soldier
	Set: Tempest Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Soldier Rarity: C Artist: Janet Aulisio Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Shadow (This creature can block or be blocked by only creatures with shadow.)

4 Soul Warden

Soul Warden
	Set: Exodus Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Number: 21 Artist: Randy Gallegos Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Whenever any other creature comes into play, gain 1 life.

2 Mother of Runes

Mother of Runes
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: U Number: 14 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Target creature you control gains protection from a color of your choice until end of turn.

3 Swords to Plowshares

Swords to Plowshares
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Jeff A. Menges Text: Target creature is removed from game entirely. Creature's controller gains life points equal to creature's power.

4 Desert

Desert
	Set: Arabian Nights Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: C Artist: Jesper Myrfors Text: Tap to add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool or do 1 damage to an attacking creature after it deals its damage.

17 Plains

Plains
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add W to your mana pool.

Black (my estimation of an intermediate speed, creature-control build)

1 Demonic Tutor

Demonic Tutor
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Search your library for one card and take it into your hand. Reshuffle your library afterwards.

3 Unearth

Unearth
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 72 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Choose target creature card in your graveyard with total casting cost 3 or less and put that creature into play.Cycling 2 (You may pay 2 and discard this card from your hand to draw a card. Play this ability as an instant.)

4 Hypnotic Specter

Hypnotic Specter
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Specter Rarity: U Artist: Douglas Shuler Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Flying An opponent damaged by Specter must discard a card at random from his or her hand. Ignore this effect if opponent has no cards left in hand.

4 Skittering Skirge

Skittering Skirge
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Imp Rarity: C Number: 158 Artist: Ron Spencer Power: 3 Toughness: 2 Text: Flying When you successfully cast a creature spell, sacrifice Skittering Skirge.

4 Dauthi Slayer

Dauthi Slayer
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Soldier Rarity: C Artist: Dermot Power Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Shadow (This creature can block or be blocked by only creatures with shadow.) Each turn, Dauthi Slayer attacks if able.

4 Diabolic Edict

Diabolic Edict
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Ron Spencer Text: Target player sacrifices a creature.

2 Stench of Decay

Stench of Decay
	Set: Alliances Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Heather Hudson Text: All non-artifact creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn.

2 Skittering Horror

Skittering Horror
	Set: Urza's Destiny Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Horror Rarity: C Number: 70 Artist: Mark Zug Power: 4 Toughness: 3 Text: When you play a creature spell, sacrifice Skittering Horror.

4 Duress

Duress
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 132 Artist: Lawrence Snelly Text: Look at target opponent's hand and choose a noncreature, nonland card there. That player discards that card.

4 Vicious Hunger

Vicious Hunger
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 74 Artist: Massimilano Frezzato Text: Vicious Hunger deals 2 damage to target creature. You gain 2 life.

4 Hymn to Tourach

Hymn to Tourach
	Set: Fallen Empires Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 12 Artist: Susan Van Camp Text: Target player discards two cards at random from his or her hand. If target player does not have enough cards, his or her entire hand is discarded.

4 Dark Ritual

Dark Ritual
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Sandra Everingham Text: Add BBB to your mana pool.

20 Swamp

Swamp
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add B to your mana pool.

Tight White Life 2 (my rough draft of Joe Anderson’s WW/lifegain deck)

4 Mishra

Mishra
	Set: Vanguard Sub Type: Character Rarity: X Number: 3 Artist: Anson Maddocks Power: +0 Toughness: -3 Text: Double all damage dealt by creatures you control.

J3MgRmFjdG9yeQ==
18 Plains

Plains
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add W to your mana pool.

2 Congregate

Congregate
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 4 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 8 Artist: Mark Zug Text: Target player gains 2 life for each creature in play.

4 Prismatic Strands

Prismatic Strands
	Set: Judgment Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 18 Artist: Eric Peterson Text: Prevent all damage that a source of the color of your choice would deal this turn. Flashback: Tap an untapped white creature you control.

4 Army of Allah

Army of Allah
	Set: Arabian Nights Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Brian Snoddy Text: All attacking creatures gain +2/+0 until end of turn.

4 Soltari Visionary

Soltari Visionary
	Set: Exodus Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Number: 20 Artist: Adam Rex Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Shadow (This creature can block or be blocked by only creatures with shadow.) If Soltari Visionary damages any player, destroy target enchantment that player controls.

4 Knight of the Hokey Pokey

Knight of the Hokey Pokey
	Set: Unglued Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Knight Rarity: C Number: 6 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: First strike1W, Do the Hokey Pokey (Stand up, wiggle your butt, raise your hands above your head, and shake them wildly as you rotate 360 degrees) : Prevent all damage to Knight of the Hokey Pokey from any one source.

4 Mesa Chicken

Mesa Chicken
	Set: Unglued Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Chicken Rarity: C Number: 9 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Stand up, Flap your arms, Cluck like a chicken: Mesa Chicken gains flying until end of turn.

4 Standard Bearer

Standard Bearer
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Flagbearer Rarity: C Number: 18 Artist: Ron Spencer Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: If an opponent plays a spell or ability that could target a Flagbearer in play, that player chooses at least one Flagbearer as a target.

4 Temple Acolyte

Temple Acolyte
	Set: Portal Second Age Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Artist: Lubov Power: 1 Toughness: 3 Text: When Temple Acolyte comes into play from your hand, you gain 3 life.

4 Mother of Runes

Mother of Runes
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: U Number: 14 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Target creature you control gains protection from a color of your choice until end of turn.

4 Soul Warden

Soul Warden
	Set: Exodus Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Number: 21 Artist: Randy Gallegos Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Whenever any other creature comes into play, gain 1 life.

The original metagame for Peasant Magic features Sligh as the classic first thought for a commons format deck, with White Weenie as the classic answer. Stompy is expected to make an appearance with its creature base more-or-less intact, as should black with its vast array of cheap, common, and powerful removal and discard cards complimented by undercosted flying and shadow creatures. To some, more threatening than Sligh with its stoppable creature base is burn-to-the-head with consistent turn 5-ish wins that ignore your permanents in play. On a similar note, a high tide combo deck could conceivably go off reliably on turn 4 or 5, winning without any board position at all besides basic lands. Accordingly, an improved red-hate deck like Tight White Life 2 could almost win the metagame by rapidly achieving a solid board position and gaining life, stopping the prevalent highly-aggressive decks, while winning with hard-to-remove evasion creatures. With Standard Bearer

Standard Bearer
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Flagbearer Rarity: C Number: 18 Artist: Ron Spencer Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: If an opponent plays a spell or ability that could target a Flagbearer in play, that player chooses at least one Flagbearer as a target.

/ Mother of Runes

Mother of Runes
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: U Number: 14 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Target creature you control gains protection from a color of your choice until end of turn.

it could even shut down the MagmaTide combo build, long enough to win with Army of Allah

Army of Allah
	Set: Arabian Nights Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Brian Snoddy Text: All attacking creatures gain +2/+0 until end of turn.

. I was convinced this sort of deck could win MOPM2, and my friend Joe played something similar.

Beatdown man that I am, I found myself powerfully drawn to a deck laden with green critters. My early builds focused around breaking the card Arboria

Arboria
	Set: Legends Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Enchant World Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: If a player does not cast a spell or put a card into play on his or her turn, no creatures may attack that player until after his or her next turn.

, a Legends uncommon Enchant World for 2GG that reads (with errata), “Creatures can't attack a player who didn't play a spell and didn't put a card into play during his or her last turn.” The deck I settled on at first was deceptively named “Stompy Extreme” and looked like the following:

4 Magnify

Magnify
	Set: Urza's Destiny Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 111 Artist: Michael Sutfin Text: All creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn.

4 Rancor

Rancor
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: C Number: 110 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Enchanted creature gains +2/+0 and trample.When Rancor is put into a graveyard from play, return Rancor to owner's hand.

4 Llanowar Elves

Llanowar Elves
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elves Rarity: C Artist: Anson Maddocks Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

4 Fyndhorn Elves

Fyndhorn Elves
	Set: Ice Age Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elves Rarity: C Artist: Justin Hampton Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool. Play this ability as an interrupt.

4 Quirion Ranger

Quirion Ranger
	Set: Visions Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elf Rarity: C Artist: Tom Kyffin Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Return a forest you control to owner's hand: Untap target creature. Use this ability only once each turn.

4 Rogue Elephant

Rogue Elephant
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elephant Rarity: C Artist: Steve White Power: 3 Toughness: 3 Text: When Rogue Elephant comes into play, sacrifice a forest or bury Rogue Elephant.

4 Skyshroud Ridgeback

Skyshroud Ridgeback
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 120 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 2 Toughness: 3 Text: Fading 2 (This creature comes into play with two fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.)

(As a 2-drop, this guy lasted plenty long to win, I thought)
4 Ghazban Ogress (Yeah, the Unglued one – a 2/2 for G with no real drawback in most tournaments)
4 Wild Mongrel

Wild Mongrel
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Hound Rarity: C Number: 283 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Discard a card from your hand: Wild Mongrel gets +1/+1 and becomes the color of your choice until end of turn.

4 Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

4 Lotus Petal

Lotus Petal
	Set: Tempest Cost: 0 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: April Lee Text: tap, Sacrifice Lotus Petal: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Play this ability as a mana source.

4 Land Grant

Land Grant
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 255 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand instead of paying Land Grant's mana cost.Search your library for a forest card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

12 Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

Sideboard:
4 Arboria

Arboria
	Set: Legends Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Enchant World Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: If a player does not cast a spell or put a card into play on his or her turn, no creatures may attack that player until after his or her next turn.

4 Moment’s Peace
4 Double Play

Double Play
	Set: Unglued Cost: 5 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 55 Artist: Phil Foglio Text: Choose another player. Search your library for a basic land and put that land into play. At the beginning of the next game with that player, search your library for an additional basic land and put that land into play. In both cases, shuffle your library afterwards.

(Unglued sorcery for 3GG – search your library for a basic land and put it in play, and do the same at the start of your next game with the current opponent)
2 Feldon’s Cane
1 Harmony of Nature

Harmony of Nature
	Set: Portal Second Age Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Kaja Foglio Text: Tap any number of your creatures. You gain 4 life for each creature tapped this way. (Tapped creatures can't block.)

(amazing lifegain card from Portal)

The maindeck is a remarkably consistent, blazingly fast critter-machine that unhindered scores regular turn 4 kills. It runs out of steam quickly, though. The highlight of the deck is the secret sideboard tech: against a creature matchup game 1 (not sligh or burn or combo or drain lifes or tims), the entire sideboard goes in for rogue elephants, skyshroud ridgebacks, and the like, and painfully slowly decks my opponent, who thoughtfully sideboarded out all of their enchantment destruction (or at least enough that I can hold them off with chump blockers and moment’s peace). With enough time to cast double plays, a stompy victory game 3 with a 2-or-more land bonus to start with seemed entirely plausible. Unfortunately, playtesting revealed the deck to be quite fragile – small creature beatdown was mediocre against sligh and white weenie, and even when my secret-sideboard-tech-scheme would work, I’d have to draw the accursed Arboria

Arboria
	Set: Legends Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Enchant World Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: If a player does not cast a spell or put a card into play on his or her turn, no creatures may attack that player until after his or her next turn.

with no card draw at all, and then win by decking my opponent the slow way. This seemed suboptimal at best.

After toying with a U/G Capsize

Capsize
	Set: Tempest Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Tom Wänerstrand Text: Buyback 3 (You may pay an additional 3 when you play this spell. If you do, put it into your hand instead of your graveyard as part of the spell's effect.) Return target permanent to owner's hand.

-lock variant, I gave up on Arboria

Arboria
	Set: Legends Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Enchant World Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: If a player does not cast a spell or put a card into play on his or her turn, no creatures may attack that player until after his or her next turn.

in favor of an uncommon that I’m convinced is THE MOST BROKEN CARD IN PEASANT MAGIC. What makes a card broken? Let’s consider everyone’s favorite cantrip: Ancestral Recall

Ancestral Recall
	Set: Alpha Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: R Artist: Mark Poole Text: Draw 3 cards or force opponent to draw 3 cards.

. It reads, U – Draw two cards, then draw a card. It’s ridiculously broken. It’s not the instant speed or the option to target either player that make this card better than other good cards that see little or no constructed play, like Concentrate

Concentrate
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 78 Artist: Glen Angus & Arnie Swekel Text: Draw three cards.

. It’s the price. One mana for 3 cards is insane, while for 4 it’s merely reasonable. Let’s consider another card at a comparable power level to Concentrate

Concentrate
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 78 Artist: Glen Angus & Arnie Swekel Text: Draw three cards.

. For only 2G and the loss of a land, Harrow

Harrow
	Set: Tempest Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Eric David Anderson Text: Sacrifice a land: Search your library for up to two basic land cards and put them into play. Shuffle your library afterwards.

offers significant mana acceleration in addition to the usual land drop for your turn. It comes with two lands built in, ready for immediate use, and at three mana and a tremble that only hits you, it’s a fair deal. Now suppose you didn’t have to sacrifice a land for Harrow

Harrow
	Set: Tempest Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Eric David Anderson Text: Sacrifice a land: Search your library for up to two basic land cards and put them into play. Shuffle your library afterwards.

; that makes it unbalanced, with outright card advantage in addition to delayed-a-turn mana acceleration. In Invasion block, where they brought back dual lands with only a one-turn delay, Harrow

Harrow
	Set: Tempest Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Eric David Anderson Text: Sacrifice a land: Search your library for up to two basic land cards and put them into play. Shuffle your library afterwards.

without sacrificing a land would just be way too good. Now imagine that this unbalanced, too-good Harrow

Harrow
	Set: Tempest Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Eric David Anderson Text: Sacrifice a land: Search your library for up to two basic land cards and put them into play. Shuffle your library afterwards.

only cost 1, a single colorless mana. Suddenly, we’ve got outright, Dark-Ritual-esque mana advantage on turn 1 that’s still around for 2 additional mana every turn of the game, splashable into any deck. Meet Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

, the most broken card in Peasant Magic, the only member of the Power Ten to be reprinted in Revised, and the basis for my new-and-improved Stompy deck. Sure, it doesn’t thin your library or make colored mana, but who cares? By any reasonable measure it’s at least 2-for-1 card advantage plus mana acceleration, and that’s always worth 1 colorless mana in my book. Here’s my deck:

“Look Ma, No Putrid Imp

Putrid Imp
	Set: Torment Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Zombie Imp Rarity: C Number: 77 Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Discard a card from your hand: Putrid Imp gains flying until end of turn. Threshold - Putrid Imp gets +1/+1 and can't block.

!” (after a string of putrid imp-based decks at local events)

14 Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

4 Land Grant

Land Grant
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 255 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand instead of paying Land Grant's mana cost.Search your library for a forest card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

4 Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

(Uncommon)
4 Llanowar Elves

Llanowar Elves
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elves Rarity: C Artist: Anson Maddocks Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

4 Fyndhorn Elves

Fyndhorn Elves
	Set: Ice Age Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elves Rarity: C Artist: Justin Hampton Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool. Play this ability as an interrupt.

4 Wild Mongrel

Wild Mongrel
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Hound Rarity: C Number: 283 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Discard a card from your hand: Wild Mongrel gets +1/+1 and becomes the color of your choice until end of turn.

4 Phyrexian War Beast

Phyrexian War Beast
	Set: Alliances Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: C Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz Power: 3 Toughness: 4 Text: If Phyrexian War Beast leaves play, sacrifice a land, and Phyrexian War Beast deals 1 damage to you.

4 Simian Grunts

Simian Grunts
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Apes Rarity: C Number: 113 Artist: Pete Venters Power: 3 Toughness: 4 Text: Echo (During your next upkeep after this permanent comes under your control, pay its casting cost or sacrifice it.) You may play Simian Grunts any time you could play an instant.

4 Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

4 Uktabi Efreet

Uktabi Efreet
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Efreet Rarity: C Artist: Alan Rabinowitz Power: 5 Toughness: 4 Text: Cumulative upkeep G

1 Stampeding Wildebeests

Stampeding Wildebeests
	Set: Visions Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Wildebeests Rarity: U Artist: Randy Gallegos Power: 5 Toughness: 4 Text: Trample During your upkeep, return a green creature you control to owner's hand.

(Uncommon)
4 Symbiosis

Symbiosis
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 275 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Two target creatures each get +2/+2 until end of turn.

3 Serrated Arrows

Serrated Arrows
	Set: Homelands Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: David A. Cherry Text: When Serrated Arrows comes into play, put three arrowhead counters on it.During your upkeep, bury Serrated Arrows if there are no arrowhead counters on it.T: Remove an arrowhead counter from Serrated Arrows to put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

2 Maze of Ith

Maze of Ith
	Set: The Dark Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: C Artist: Anson Maddocks Text: T: Target attacking creature becomes untapped. This creature neither deals nor receives damage as a result of combat.

Sideboard:

2 Maze of Ith

Maze of Ith
	Set: The Dark Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: C Artist: Anson Maddocks Text: T: Target attacking creature becomes untapped. This creature neither deals nor receives damage as a result of combat.

1 Serrated Arrows

Serrated Arrows
	Set: Homelands Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: David A. Cherry Text: When Serrated Arrows comes into play, put three arrowhead counters on it.During your upkeep, bury Serrated Arrows if there are no arrowhead counters on it.T: Remove an arrowhead counter from Serrated Arrows to put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

2 Seal of Strength

Seal of Strength
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Enchantment Rarity: C Number: 115 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Sacrifice Seal of Strength: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.

2 Rejuvenate

Rejuvenate
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 271 Artist: Greg Simanson Text: Gain 6 life.Cycling 2 (You may pay 2 and discard this card from your hand to draw a card. Play this ability as an instant.)

2 Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

3 Tranquil Path

Tranquil Path
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 5 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 89 Artist: John Avon Text: Destroy all enchantments. Draw a card.

3 Moment’s Peace

The deck was motivated by two notions – that card advantage wins games, and that whoever spends the most mana wins games. Rather than a super-fast horde deck I tried to pick cards that would net me board advantage and creatures that were hard to kill. In particular, the majority of draws with Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

see a turn two 5/5 or 5/4 – that’s right, 21% of hands when I go first and 28% when they do, not figuring in the deck-thinning effects of Land Grant

Land Grant
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 255 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand instead of paying Land Grant's mana cost.Search your library for a forest card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

. 8 mana elves guarantees that Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

-less draws at least have acceleration, and 21 fat, undercosted creatures ensure that I’ll see something beefy on the board on turn 2 or 3 with any decent draw. Here’s a card-by-card analysis:

Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

– Makes the deck go.

Land Grant

Land Grant
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 255 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand instead of paying Land Grant's mana cost.Search your library for a forest card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

– Usually outright better than forest, especially with relatively few counterspells in most Peasant Magic decks.

Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

– Amazing, absolutely amazing.

Llanowar

Llanowar
	Set: Planechase Cost: 0 Color: Colorless Type: Plane Sub Type: Dominaria Rarity: C Number: 22 Artist: Kev Walker Text: All creatures have "{T}: Add {G}{G} to your mana pool." Whenever you roll {C}, untap all creatures you control.

/Fyndhorn Elves

Fyndhorn Elves
	Set: Ice Age Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elves Rarity: C Artist: Justin Hampton Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool. Play this ability as an interrupt.

– Early mana, targets for Symbiosis

Symbiosis
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 275 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Two target creatures each get +2/+2 until end of turn.

, chumps for Diabolic Edict

Diabolic Edict
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Ron Spencer Text: Target player sacrifices a creature.

and more.

Wild Mongrel

Wild Mongrel
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Hound Rarity: C Number: 283 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Discard a card from your hand: Wild Mongrel gets +1/+1 and becomes the color of your choice until end of turn.

– The smallest beatstick in the deck is a good finisher that doesn’t have to be green. The threat of pump is often enough to get damage through rather than risk unfavorable trades.

Phyrexian War Beast

Phyrexian War Beast
	Set: Alliances Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: C Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz Power: 3 Toughness: 4 Text: If Phyrexian War Beast leaves play, sacrifice a land, and Phyrexian War Beast deals 1 damage to you.

– For 3 mana, a 3/4 is better than even green’s creature options, and as a two drop with an elf or with a sol ring and only one forest it’s a great deal. The downside hardly matters in a deck this aggressive – and four is the toughness of choice.
Simian Grunts

Simian Grunts
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Apes Rarity: C Number: 113 Artist: Pete Venters Power: 3 Toughness: 4 Text: Echo (During your next upkeep after this permanent comes under your control, pay its casting cost or sacrifice it.) You may play Simian Grunts any time you could play an instant.

– For 6 mana over two turns, this guy’s the most expensive in the deck, but the magical four toughness and the surprise creature removal (and surprise damage threat) push it over the top. An affordable end to the game in a deck with 30 mana-centered cards.

Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

– This guy beats Juzam Djinn any day of the week. Juzam can eat Serra

Serra
	Set: Vanguard Sub Type: Character Rarity: X Number: 4 Artist: Matthew D. Wilson Power: +1 Toughness: +1 Text: All creatures you control get +0/+2.

ted Arrow counters.

Uktabi Efreet

Uktabi Efreet
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Efreet Rarity: C Artist: Alan Rabinowitz Power: 5 Toughness: 4 Text: Cumulative upkeep G

– Only theoretically more killable than Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

; in Peasant Magic not a lot of good cards handle 5/4’s for 4 very efficiently. Cumulative Upkeep is a very manageable downside with my huge mana base.

Stampeding Wildebeests

Stampeding Wildebeests
	Set: Visions Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Wildebeests Rarity: U Artist: Randy Gallegos Power: 5 Toughness: 4 Text: Trample During your upkeep, return a green creature you control to owner's hand.

– Another 5/4 for 4, this one tramples and bounces: Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

with no fading counters left (good deal), Uktabi Efreet

Uktabi Efreet
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Efreet Rarity: C Artist: Alan Rabinowitz Power: 5 Toughness: 4 Text: Cumulative upkeep G

with an unaffordable cumulative upkeep (good deal), Simian Grunts

Simian Grunts
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Apes Rarity: C Number: 113 Artist: Pete Venters Power: 3 Toughness: 4 Text: Echo (During your next upkeep after this permanent comes under your control, pay its casting cost or sacrifice it.) You may play Simian Grunts any time you could play an instant.

before echo is paid (not bad), and elves (not bad). My fifth uncommon of choice.

Symbiosis

Symbiosis
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 275 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Two target creatures each get +2/+2 until end of turn.

– Handily beating Giant Growth

Giant Growth
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Sandra Everingham Text: Target creature gains +3/+3 until end of turn.

in most matchups, Symbiosis

Symbiosis
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 275 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Two target creatures each get +2/+2 until end of turn.

offers 4 damage for 2 mana or wins two creature trades you would otherwise lose, or some combination of these. It even gets around Flagbearers.

Serrated Arrows

Serrated Arrows
	Set: Homelands Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: David A. Cherry Text: When Serrated Arrows comes into play, put three arrowhead counters on it.During your upkeep, bury Serrated Arrows if there are no arrowhead counters on it.T: Remove an arrowhead counter from Serrated Arrows to put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

– Combat trick and green removal in one, this 2-drop (if you’re in a rush) pops Mother of Runes

Mother of Runes
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: U Number: 14 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Target creature you control gains protection from a color of your choice until end of turn.

, Soul Warden

Soul Warden
	Set: Exodus Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: C Number: 21 Artist: Randy Gallegos Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Whenever any other creature comes into play, gain 1 life.

, virtually any evasion creature, Crypt Rats

Crypt Rats
	Set: Visions Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Rats Rarity: C Artist: Paul Lee Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: X: Crypt Rats deals X damage to each creature and player. Spend only black mana in this way.

, and more. This card easily swings a creature battle in your favor if cheap fatties just can’t cut it on their own.

Maze of Ith

Maze of Ith
	Set: The Dark Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: C Artist: Anson Maddocks Text: T: Target attacking creature becomes untapped. This creature neither deals nor receives damage as a result of combat.

– This card defeats Armadillo Cloak

Armadillo Cloak
	Set: Invasion Cost: 3 Color: Multicolor Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: C Number: 229 Artist: Paolo Parente Text: Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has trample.Whenever enchanted creature deals damage, you gain that much life.

, Empyrial Armor

Empyrial Armor
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: C Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: Enchanted creature gets +X/+X, where X is equal to the number of cards in your hand.

, Hypnotic Specter

Hypnotic Specter
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Specter Rarity: U Artist: Douglas Shuler Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Flying An opponent damaged by Specter must discard a card at random from his or her hand. Ignore this effect if opponent has no cards left in hand.

, and that one pesky evasion creature that’s killing you. It’s terrible in this deck.

Sideboard:

Serrated Arrows

Serrated Arrows
	Set: Homelands Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: David A. Cherry Text: When Serrated Arrows comes into play, put three arrowhead counters on it.During your upkeep, bury Serrated Arrows if there are no arrowhead counters on it.T: Remove an arrowhead counter from Serrated Arrows to put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

and Mazes were as needed, Seal of Strength

Seal of Strength
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Enchantment Rarity: C Number: 115 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Sacrifice Seal of Strength: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.

offered tempo-advantageous extra damage when I needed to race, Rejuvenate

Rejuvenate
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 271 Artist: Greg Simanson Text: Gain 6 life.Cycling 2 (You may pay 2 and discard this card from your hand to draw a card. Play this ability as an instant.)

was my two or 3 drop against burn to buy me a turn of Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

beatings, Moment’s Peace was for faster creature decks that could beat through my ground-pounders (ha!), Tranquil Path

Tranquil Path
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 5 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 89 Artist: John Avon Text: Destroy all enchantments. Draw a card.

was for Pestilence

Pestilence
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 4 Color: Black Type: Enchantment Rarity: C Artist: Jesper Myrfors Text: B: Do 1 damage to each creature and to both players.If there are no creatures in play at the end of any turn, Pestilence must be discarded.

, Story Circle

Story Circle
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Enchantment Rarity: U Number: 51 Artist: Bradley Williams Text: As Story Circle comes into play, choose a color.W: The next time a source of your choice of the chosen color would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.

, and the like (plus I can afford the 5 mana for the cantrip effect thanks to sol rings), and Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

is good against absolutely everybody.

How did I do? I got wrecked match one by mono-black control. Piles of creature removal like Innocent Blood

Innocent Blood
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 145 Artist: Carl Critchlow Text: Each player sacrifices a creature.

s and Diabolic Edict

Diabolic Edict
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Ron Spencer Text: Target player sacrifices a creature.

s traded one-for-one with Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

s and other fat creatures. Symbiosis

Symbiosis
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 275 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Two target creatures each get +2/+2 until end of turn.

(thanks to never having two creatures), Serrated Arrows

Serrated Arrows
	Set: Homelands Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: David A. Cherry Text: When Serrated Arrows comes into play, put three arrowhead counters on it.During your upkeep, bury Serrated Arrows if there are no arrowhead counters on it.T: Remove an arrowhead counter from Serrated Arrows to put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

, and Maze of Ith

Maze of Ith
	Set: The Dark Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: C Artist: Anson Maddocks Text: T: Target attacking creature becomes untapped. This creature neither deals nor receives damage as a result of combat.

were all dead draws. Drain Life

Drain Life
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Drain Life does 1 damage to a single target for each B spent in addition to the casting cost. Caster gains 1 life for each damage inflicted. If you drain life from a creature, you cannot gain more life than the creature's current toughness.

s and Corrupt

Corrupt
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 6 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 124 Artist: Vincent Evans Text: Corrupt deals 1 damage to target creature or player for each swamp you control. When Corrupt successfully deals damage to a creature or player, gain life equal to that damage.

s perpetuate the stalling until I withered away. Sub-optimal hands combined with a lack of elves to draw removal before sacrifice effects hit the big guys didn’t help. I lost 0-2 round one. Similarly, in some later match, I lost 1-2 to Jason Chapman’s nearly creatureless black control deck, with one slow hand, one fast hand, and one average hand. Monoblack control is the one matchup I saw that could handle my fat creature base. Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

s maindeck and more answers in the sideboard would have helped. Fortunately, Peasant Magic is all about the fun; I would have been happy to keep playing with an 0-5 record.

Otherwise, I won nearly every matchup. I beat Story Circle

Story Circle
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Enchantment Rarity: U Number: 51 Artist: Bradley Williams Text: As Story Circle comes into play, choose a color.W: The next time a source of your choice of the chosen color would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.

/ Armadillo cloak 2-1 with fast, fat, not-necessarily-green creatures and Tranquil Path

Tranquil Path
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 5 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 89 Artist: John Avon Text: Destroy all enchantments. Draw a card.

s. I beat the Berserk

Berserk
	Set: Alpha Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Dan Frazier Text: Until end of turn, target creature's current power doubles and it gains trample ability. If it attacks, target creature is destroyed at end of turn. This spell cannot be cast after current turn's attack is completed.

deck that Jason Chapman and I goaded Erik Weissman into putting down in favor of Properity/High Tide

High Tide
	Set: Fallen Empires Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 35 Artist: Drew Tucker Text: Until end of turn, all islands produce an additional U when tapped for mana.

. I beat some other deck that I don’t remember right now (apologies to whoever it was – I’m sure I had a good time playing you). In the final round I was 3/2 with decent tiebreakers, but I needed a win against a player with a good record to make top eight for the playoffs. Fortunately (for me) I was paired against my good friend Joe Anderson, the only player with a 4-1 record who didn’t just draw to automatically get into the top eight. So far, the metagame-winning deck he was playing had only lost to strip mine / sinkhole land destruction. Serrated Arrows

Serrated Arrows
	Set: Homelands Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: David A. Cherry Text: When Serrated Arrows comes into play, put three arrowhead counters on it.During your upkeep, bury Serrated Arrows if there are no arrowhead counters on it.T: Remove an arrowhead counter from Serrated Arrows to put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

triumphed as I squeaked off a 2-1 win to bump myself up to eighth place (and Joe down to 9th, doh!).

Eighth place meant I got paired up against the only undefeated player there – Erik Weissman with his High Tide

High Tide
	Set: Fallen Empires Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 35 Artist: Drew Tucker Text: Until end of turn, all islands produce an additional U when tapped for mana.

/ Prosperity

Prosperity
	Set: Classic Sixth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 89 Artist: Dan Frazier Text: Each player draws X cards.

combo deck, which used Snap

Snap
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 43 Artist: Mike Raabe Text: Return target creature to owner's hand. Untap up to two lands.

s and Clouds of Faeries and Frantic Search

Frantic Search
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 32 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Draw two cards, then choose and discard two cards. Untap up to three lands.

es to generate huge amounts of mana with High Tide

High Tide
	Set: Fallen Empires Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 35 Artist: Drew Tucker Text: Until end of turn, all islands produce an additional U when tapped for mana.

to Prosperity

Prosperity
	Set: Classic Sixth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 89 Artist: Dan Frazier Text: Each player draws X cards.

his opponent out, using the one Feldon’s Cane in the deck to win. It was just like the MagmaTides deck I had playtested against with three exceptions: 1) it got its combo off turn 4 fairly reliably, 2) it wasn’t bothered much by instant-speed creature removal and 3) it had room to pack Disrupt

Disrupt
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Adam Rex Text: Counter target instant, interrupt, or sorcery spell unless its caster pays an additional 1.Draw a card.

s, which are excellent against most of what can interfere with his combo. Not only was he undefeated in every match, but he had not so much as lost a single game (although he drew round 6 so his opponent would get guaranteed top 8). Like me, he had not seen the sort of sligh, stompy, and suicide black speed it would take to beat him on turn 4 or 5, prior to death by combo. He won the crucial die roll, and did not hesitate to choose to go first. My Blastoderm

Blastoderm
	Set: Nemesis Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 102 Artist: Eric Peterson Power: 5 Toughness: 5 Text: Fading 3 (This creature comes into play with three fade counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a fade counter from it. If you can't, sacrifice it.) Blastoderm can't be the target of spells or abilities.

army needed 5 turns to kill him, but he combo-ed on his turn 5 first, ending my hopes at victory game one. Game two I chose to go first and had a speedy start, and managed to incur his very first game loss. Game three he chose to go first, and I needed a miracle. Opening hand: no sol ring. Mulligan. Next hand: really bad. Mulligan. Last hand: a bunch of elves and two forests. Keep. He drops his first land, I drop my first elf and draw some huge creature, and then he seems quite upset when he Brainstorm

Brainstorm
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Christopher Rush Text: Draw three cards. Then, put any two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.

s at the end of my turn: no second land! My miracle had come! I proceed to drop elves and fat critters while he fails to draw land for the next turn again (no surprise – Brainstorm

Brainstorm
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Christopher Rush Text: Draw three cards. Then, put any two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.

, remember?). I think it was my third turn when I made my fatal, game-losing mistake. With plenty of land in play, I don’t hesitate to play the last card in my hand for free – Land Grant

Land Grant
	Set: Mercadian Masques Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 255 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand instead of paying Land Grant's mana cost.Search your library for a forest card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

. He Disrupt

Disrupt
	Set: Weatherlight Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Adam Rex Text: Counter target instant, interrupt, or sorcery spell unless its caster pays an additional 1.Draw a card.

s it!!! He draws into land, and before my slow start can finish beating him down, he goes off with his combo with only 3 land! Thanks to excellent play and deckbuilding, Erik sailed into first place, earning him GenCon 2002’s illustrious Master of Peasant Magic honor.

While I was there, I asked Erik what he thought about banning or restricting cards in Peasant Magic. At the time, he said that the type 1 restricted list ought to be in effect. Frantic Search

Frantic Search
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 32 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Draw two cards, then choose and discard two cards. Untap up to three lands.

did a lot to help power his deck, making mana while drawing to combo elements. Since then, I’ve done some wondering about restrictions. Here’s the commons and uncommons from the type 1 restricted list (the only banned cards are ante cards and Chaos Orb

Chaos Orb
	Set: Oversize Cards Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Mono Artifact Rarity: X Artist: Mark Tedin Text: 1: Flip Chaos Orb onto the playing area from a height of at least one foot. Chaos Orb must turn completely over at least once or it is discarded with no effect. When Chaos Orb lands, any cards in play that it touches are destroyed, as is Chaos Orb.

, a rare):

Uncommons:
Berserk

Berserk
	Set: Alpha Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Dan Frazier Text: Until end of turn, target creature's current power doubles and it gains trample ability. If it attacks, target creature is destroyed at end of turn. This spell cannot be cast after current turn's attack is completed.

Black Vise

Black Vise
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: If opponent has more than four cards in hand during his or her upkeep, Black Vise does 1 damage to opponent for each card in excess of four.

Channel

Channel
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: Until end of turn, you may add colorless mana to your mana pool at a cost of 1 life per point of mana. These additions are played with the speed of an interrupt. Effects that prevent or redirect damage may not be used to counter this loss of life.

Demonic Consultation

Demonic Consultation
	Set: Ice Age Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Rob Alexander Text: Name a card. Remove the top six cards of your library from the game and reveal the next card to all players. If it is the card named, put it into your hand. If not, remove that card from the game and continue revealing the top card of your library and removing it from the game until the named card appears.

Demonic Tutor

Demonic Tutor
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Search your library for one card and take it into your hand. Reshuffle your library afterwards.

Enlightened Tutor

Enlightened Tutor
	Set: Classic Sixth Edition Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 19 Artist: Dan Frazier Text: Search your library for an artifact or enchantment card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.

Fact or Fiction

Fact or Fiction
	Set: Invasion Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 57 Artist: Terese Nielsen Text: Reveal the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two face-up piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.

Hurkyl's Recall

Hurkyl's Recall
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: R Artist: NéNé Thomas Text: All artifacts in play owned by target player are returned to target player's hand. Any enchantments on those artifacts are discarded.

Library of Alexandria

Library of Alexandria
	Set: Arabian Nights Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Mark Poole Text: Tap to add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool or draw a card from your library; you may use the card-drawing ability only if you have exactly seven cards in your hand.

Mystical Tutor

Mystical Tutor
	Set: Classic Sixth Edition Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 83 Artist: David O'Connor Text: Search your library for an instant or sorcery card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card on top of it.

Recall

Recall
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Artist: Richard Kane Ferguson Text: Choose and discard X cards: Return X target cards in your graveyard to your hand. Remove Recall from the game.

Regrowth

Regrowth
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Dameon Willich Text: Bring any card from your graveyard to your hand.

Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

Tinker

Tinker
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 45 Artist: Mike Raabe Text: At the time you play Tinker, sacrifice an artifact.Search your library for an artifact card and put that artifact into play. Shuffle your library afterward.

Voltaic Key

Voltaic Key
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 314 Artist: Henry G. Higgenbotham Text: 1, T: Untap target artifact.

Windfall

Windfall
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 111 Artist: Pete Venters Text: Each player discards his or her hand and draws cards equal to the greatest number a player discarded this way.

Commons:
Crop Rotation

Crop Rotation
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 98 Artist: DiTerlizzi Text: At the time you play Crop Rotation, sacrifice a land.Search your library for a land card and put that land into play. Shuffle your library afterward.

Frantic Search

Frantic Search
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 32 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Draw two cards, then choose and discard two cards. Untap up to three lands.

Lotus Petal

Lotus Petal
	Set: Tempest Cost: 0 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: April Lee Text: tap, Sacrifice Lotus Petal: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Play this ability as a mana source.

Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

Why are these restricted? For starters, they’ve all appeared in multiples of four in some winning type 1 deck(s). Most of the restricted list contains powerful card drawing, graveyard recursion, and tutoring elements that makes combo decks viable. Tinker

Tinker
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 45 Artist: Mike Raabe Text: At the time you play Tinker, sacrifice an artifact.Search your library for an artifact card and put that artifact into play. Shuffle your library afterward.

is another combo card. Channel

Channel
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: Until end of turn, you may add colorless mana to your mana pool at a cost of 1 life per point of mana. These additions are played with the speed of an interrupt. Effects that prevent or redirect damage may not be used to counter this loss of life.

, Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

, and Lotus Petal

Lotus Petal
	Set: Tempest Cost: 0 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Artist: April Lee Text: tap, Sacrifice Lotus Petal: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Play this ability as a mana source.

are mana acceleration used for turn 1 kills. Black Vise

Black Vise
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: If opponent has more than four cards in hand during his or her upkeep, Black Vise does 1 damage to opponent for each card in excess of four.

, Berserk

Berserk
	Set: Alpha Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Dan Frazier Text: Until end of turn, target creature's current power doubles and it gains trample ability. If it attacks, target creature is destroyed at end of turn. This spell cannot be cast after current turn's attack is completed.

, and Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

are just too powerful for their cost. Again, why are these restricted? Because these cards facilitate decks that are not fun to play against. Nobody wants to lose before they take their first turn. Nobody wants to go down without having the chance to put up a fight. (Force of Will

Force of Will
	Set: Alliances Cost: 5 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Terese Nielsen Text: You may pay 1 life and remove a blue card in your hand from the game instead of paying Force of Will's casting cost. Effects that prevent or redirect damage cannot be used to counter this loss of life. Counter target spell.

has not made it onto this list for good reason.)

Let’s look at these cards in Peasant Magic. I’d like to first observe that four of one of these cards was at the heart of most of the best decks I saw. Erik had 4 Frantic Search

Frantic Search
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 32 Artist: Jeff Miracola Text: Draw two cards, then choose and discard two cards. Untap up to three lands.

es, the card with the most synergy with his combo besides the combo itself. I ran 4 Sol Ring

Sol Ring
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Mark Tedin Text: T: Add 2 colorless mana to your mana pool. This ability is played as an interrupt.

s, because they’re ridiculously undercosted. The monoblack control decks I saw ran 4 Demonic Tutor

Demonic Tutor
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Search your library for one card and take it into your hand. Reshuffle your library afterwards.

s to get to their Cabal Coffers

Cabal Coffers
	Set: Torment Color: Land Type: land Rarity: U Number: 139 Text: 2, T: Add B to your mana pool for each swamp you control.

or to find an answer to whatever threat they faced. I saw the four Libraries of Alexandria counter/burn deck, which made top 4. Number two was a burn-to-the-head deck, running 4 Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

s. Heck, my deck should have had four Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

s. Creator of the format Rob Baranowski had 4 Berserk

Berserk
	Set: Alpha Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Dan Frazier Text: Until end of turn, target creature's current power doubles and it gains trample ability. If it attacks, target creature is destroyed at end of turn. This spell cannot be cast after current turn's attack is completed.

s powering the Stompy deck he borrowed from Erik. I’ll admit to playtesting a Channel

Channel
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: Until end of turn, you may add colorless mana to your mana pool at a cost of 1 life per point of mana. These additions are played with the speed of an interrupt. Effects that prevent or redirect damage may not be used to counter this loss of life.

-Fireball

Fireball
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Artist: Mark Tedin Text: Fireball does X damage total, divided evenly (round down) among any number of targets. Pay 1 extra mana for each target beyond the first.

(Kaervek’s Torch, really) deck that could manage turn 2 kills 35% of the time if it went second, and I’m sure tweaking and aggressive mulliganing could bring that up to around 50%. That’s the kind of deck that could eliminate good players with good decks from a tourney and still manage a losing record.

At first I disagreed with Erik, but now I suspect that the type 1 restricted list ought to be in effect. Don’t get me wrong – Peasant Magic is the most fun I’ve had playing Magic in a while, and I’ve played a lot of Magic recently, but the cards on the type 1 restricted list are not really the reasons why this is so. As much as I dislike reducing the cardpool, the cards on the type 1 restricted list should be considered for restriction in Peasant Magic as well. Who enjoys losing a game to Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

? How about Black Vise

Black Vise
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: If opponent has more than four cards in hand during his or her upkeep, Black Vise does 1 damage to opponent for each card in excess of four.

? Channel

Channel
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: Until end of turn, you may add colorless mana to your mana pool at a cost of 1 life per point of mana. These additions are played with the speed of an interrupt. Effects that prevent or redirect damage may not be used to counter this loss of life.

-Fireball

Fireball
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Artist: Mark Tedin Text: Fireball does X damage total, divided evenly (round down) among any number of targets. Pay 1 extra mana for each target beyond the first.

? The 5-uncommons restriction prevents uncommon abuse from becoming too degenerate, with most combo decks having to trade uncommon combo elements for uncommon tutors, but I think we’ll see more of these cards as time progresses.

There are, of course, several objections to this worth noting. 1) Peasant Magic is fun, and until it’s not, why change anything? 2) No dominant deck types are pushing rogue builds aside with these cards; it’s not like decks with these cards have outdated decks without them. 3) This list does not exactly describe the unbalancing Peasant Magic cards. For example, Crop Rotation

Crop Rotation
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 98 Artist: DiTerlizzi Text: At the time you play Crop Rotation, sacrifice a land.Search your library for a land card and put that land into play. Shuffle your library afterward.

and Tinker

Tinker
	Set: Urza's Legacy Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 45 Artist: Mike Raabe Text: At the time you play Tinker, sacrifice an artifact.Search your library for an artifact card and put that artifact into play. Shuffle your library afterward.

are mediocre with 5 uncommons and no rares, and probably don’t need restriction. 4) When you start restricting things, new power cards emerge to take their place, so perhaps no progress is made anyways.

I would like to take a moment to dismiss the idea of banning U1 uncommons and treating C1 commons as uncommon. While cards like Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

are upgraded in rarity, it unnecessarily punishes people who use more obscure C1 and U1 cards, like Clockwork Steed

Clockwork Steed

Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: U Artist: Terese Nielsen Power: 0 Toughness: 3 Text: Clockwork Steed cannot be blocked by artifact creatures.When Clockwork Steed comes into play, put four +1/+0 counters on it. At the end of any combat in which Clockwork Steed attacked or blocked, remove one of these counters.X, T: Put X +1/+0 counters on Clockwork Steed. You may have no more than four of these counters on Clockwork Steed. Use this ability only during your upkeep.

(C1 in Homelands), Cursed Rack

Cursed Rack
	Set: Fourth Edition Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Artist: Richard Thomas Text: Target opponent discards down to four cards during his or her discard phase.

(C1 in Antiquities), and City of Shadows

City of Shadows
	Set: The Dark Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: R Artist: Tom Wänerstrand Text: T: Sacrifice one of your creatures, but remove it from the game instead of placing it in your graveyard. Put a counter on City of Shadows. T: Add X colorless mana to your mana pool, where X is the number of counters on City of Shadows.

(U1 in The Dark). If the card pool is cut, cards cut from it should be carefully chosen, rather than removed as a block.

Anyways, in the meantime I don’t know that there’s cause for anything to be restricted, but I sure don’t want there to be a Peasant Magic tourney where every competitive deck opens by stripping my first land or comboing me out turn 3. Is another vote in order? If new restrictions are in order, what cards (commons in particular) really need banning, besides Strip Mine

Strip Mine
	Set: Fourth Edition Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Artist: Daniel Gelon Text: T: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.T: Sacrifice Strip Mine to destroy target land.

?

Coming soon: more deck lists and an overview of how MOPM2 changed the Peasant Magic metagame.

Oh yeah, I do want to propose a Chicago-area Peasant Magic tournament sometime this year. I don’t know where or when it could be, but I imagine that with a reasonable location a bunch of you Midwesterners could show up and we could have a grand ‘ole time. Ideas anyone?

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