CardShark Content - Nick Branstator (10/7/2003)

This article lists those cards from Mirrodin that I think have the potential to make it into Peasant Magic decks. It's a longer list than is typical for a new set these days, even a full-sized set. Part of the reason is one cited recently by Mark Rosewater: many of Mirrodin's common artifacts would typically be found in the uncommon slot, and many of the uncommon artifacts could easily be rare. That gives us Peasants a number of new tools to use.

I have only included cards I think have a decent chance at making it into competitive Pez decks. The biggest problem in Pez is making a deck that's fast enough to keep up with this extremely speedy environment. I'm not saying that games always end quickly in Pez, but I am saying that you have to be ready for game-critical things to happen on turns three and four. Turn four is when Pros-Tides/Frozen Tides can reasonably go off, and it's about a turn from when Stupid Red Burn takes you out. Turn three is when 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.

comes down. And turn one is when bad things like 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.

, or Ritual->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.

, happen. Most of your cards must do important, game state-changing things during those first four turns if your deck is to have a chance. That's why I haven't included great cards like Crystal Shard

Crystal Shard
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 159 Artist: Doug Chaffee Text: 3, T or U, T: Return target creature to its owner's hand unless its controller pays 1.

: the aggressive decks can't find room in their mana curve , and the decks with counterspells need to leave mana open to disrupt the opponent. The same goes for most of the equipment, as you simply won't have time to both play and use it before your opponent does something that loses you the game.

The cards are sorted by color; artifacts with colored activation costs have been included with that color's cards.

Without further ado...


Black

Barter in Blood

Barter in Blood
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 4 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 57 Artist: Paolo Parente Text: Each player sacrifices two creatures.

While players are unlikely to be willing to give up an uncommon slot for this card, make no mistake as to its power. Mono Black Control might be able to find room for a single copy, easily Tutored up if needed.

Consume Spirit

Consume Spirit
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 60 Artist: Matt Thompson Text: Spend only black mana on X. Consume Spirit deals X damage to target creature or player. You gain X life.

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.

is what makes Mono Black Control go, and now the deck can play up to eight copies - if it wants to. Note that Consume Spirit

Consume Spirit
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 60 Artist: Matt Thompson Text: Spend only black mana on X. Consume Spirit deals X damage to target creature or player. You gain X life.

is actually better than 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.

, as the lifegain isn't limited by the toughness when you target a creature.

Disciple of the Vault

Disciple of the Vault
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Human Cleric Rarity: C Number: 62 Artist: Matt Thompson Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Whenever an artifact is put into a graveyard from play, you may have target opponent lose 1 life.

The Disciple is a poor card on its own, but if somebody can put together an artifact recursion engine, here's your kill card.

Leaden Myr

Leaden Myr
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 191 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add B to your mana pool.

Mono Black Control would love to have some mana acceleration to power out those 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. Myr also give the deck a speed bump for hard-to-cope-with Orders of Leitbur. Nevertheless, there's a lot of competition for your second turn play in MBC, including 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.

, Diabolic Edict

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

, and Order of the Ebon Hand

Order of the Ebon Hand
	Set: Fallen Empires Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Clerics Rarity: C Number: 25 Artist: Melissa A. Benson Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: Protection from whiteBB: +1/+0 until end of turnB: First strike until end of turn

. Consider your mana needs, and particularly the speed with which you need to get four mana, and make your decision on that basis.

Wall of Blood

Wall of Blood
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Wall Rarity: U Number: 82 Artist: Tony Szczudlo Power: 0 Toughness: 2 Text: (Walls can't attack.) Pay 1 life: Wall of Blood gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Many Pez-watchers were surprised to see a resurgence of 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.

decks in the finals at GenCon 2003. Wall of Blood

Wall of Blood
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Wall Rarity: U Number: 82 Artist: Tony Szczudlo Power: 0 Toughness: 2 Text: (Walls can't attack.) Pay 1 life: Wall of Blood gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

gives us a new variant on the theme, with Wall-Fling

Fling
	Set: Stronghold Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 82 Artist: Paolo Parente Text: Sacrifice a creature: Fling deals damage equal to the sacrificed creature's power to target creature or player.

. There's the potential for this to be an even faster combo, with 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.

available to help zip out the Wall; additionally, 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.

slots cleanly into the deck to make the combo easier to find. Keep your eyes open for the birth of a new archetype.

Wrench Mind

Wrench Mind
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 84 Artist: Pete Venters Text: Target player discards two cards from his or her hand unless he or she discards an artifact card from his or her hand.

Hymn it ain't. But if you are playing four Hymns already, and are going the dedicated disruption route - not a bad idea with Tide and 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.

Ball running around - you could do worse than this card.


Blue

Aether Spellbomb

Aether Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 141 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: U, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Return target creature to its owner's hand. 1, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Draw a card.

Unsummon

Unsummon
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Return target creature to owner's hand; enchantments on target creature are discarded.

is a great answer to Ritualled Hippies, 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.

ed white weenies, and occasionally as disruption for 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.

. But it typically gets ignored in Pez because it's a dead card against too many decks, like Mono Black Control, Stupid Red Burn, and Pros-Tide/Frozen Tide. Aether Spellbomb

Aether Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 141 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: U, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Return target creature to its owner's hand. 1, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Draw a card.

offers an interesting alternative; while you give up one mana (important against Ritual->Hypno), and instant speed, you get something very similar to a cycling cost of 2. That may make a place for this Spellbomb in a controllish blue deck. In particular, if there is a viable Affinity deck out there, Aether Spellbomb

Aether Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 141 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: U, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Return target creature to its owner's hand. 1, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Draw a card.

will find a place in it.

Crystal Shard

Crystal Shard
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 159 Artist: Doug Chaffee Text: 3, T or U, T: Return target creature to its owner's hand unless its controller pays 1.

Pez traditionally offers very few options for repeatable creature bounce; only Cavern Harpy

Cavern Harpy
	Set: Planeshift Cost: 2 Color: Multicolor Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Rarity: C Number: 97 Artist: Daren Bader Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: Flying. When Cavern Harpy comes into play, return a blue or black creature you control to its owner's hand. Pay 1 life: Return Cavern Harpy to its owner's hand.

comes to mind. Mirrodin adds two new cards to the stable: Crystal Shard

Crystal Shard
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 159 Artist: Doug Chaffee Text: 3, T or U, T: Return target creature to its owner's hand unless its controller pays 1.

, and Isochron Scepter

Isochron Scepter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 188 Artist: Mark Harrison Text: Imprint - When Isochron Scepter comes into play, you may remove an instant card with converted mana cost 2 or less in your hand from the game. (The removed card is imprinted on this artifact.) 2, T: You may copy the imprinted instant card and play the copy without paying its mana cost.

. Being uncommon, the Shard really needs a deck built around it, and it is unclear there's a powerful one to be had, but creative deckbuilders should give some thought to Shard tricks. Note that this is a pretty good creature control card, too, as people are often tapped out in Pez, and White Weenie can't play around the Shard with Cho-Manno's Blessing

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

or Shelter

Shelter
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 46 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Target creature you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Draw a card.

. It's also a lot of fun with creatures with coming-into-play effects, of course.

Dream's Grip

Dream's Grip
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 34 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: Choose one - Tap target permanent; or untap target permanent. Entwine 1 (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)

This is a strict upgrade of Twiddle

Twiddle
	Set: Fourth Edition Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Rob Alexander Text: Tap or untap target land, artifact, or creature.

, which has seen occasional use in Frozen Tide decks. Dream's Grip

Dream's Grip
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 34 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: Choose one - Tap target permanent; or untap target permanent. Entwine 1 (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)

may also have a place with Isochron Scepter

Isochron Scepter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 188 Artist: Mark Harrison Text: Imprint - When Isochron Scepter comes into play, you may remove an instant card with converted mana cost 2 or less in your hand from the game. (The removed card is imprinted on this artifact.) 2, T: You may copy the imprinted instant card and play the copy without paying its mana cost.

, where it provides the potential for the closest thing Pez has seen to an Opposition

Opposition
	Set: Urza's Destiny Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Enchantment Rarity: R Number: 40 Artist: Todd Lockwood Text: Tap an untapped creature you control: Tap target artifact, creature, or land.

-style lock.

Silver Myr

Silver Myr
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 241 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add U to your mana pool.

The best mana acceleration Pez has ever had in blue - the question is only whether there's a good use for it. This could help blue Pez decks out a lot, allowing them to play a two-caster on turn three while still keeping mana open for the crucial counterspell.

Thoughtcast

Thoughtcast
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 5 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 54 Artist: Greg Hildebrandt Text: Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs 1 less to play for each artifact you control.) Draw two cards.

Another card that will be in an Affinity deck, if there's one to be had. Pez contains many, many free and cheap artifacts, and paying U for two cards is good stuff.


Green

Deconstruct

Deconstruct
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 118 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: Destroy target artifact. Then add GGG to your mana pool.

Artifacts don't get much play in Pez beyond 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.

; you see the occasional Juggernaut

Juggernaut
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: U Artist: Dan Frazier Power: 5 Toughness: 3 Text: Must attack each turn if possible. Can't be blocked by walls.

, but not much else. However, with Mirrodin adding a number of powerful common and uncommon artifacts to the mix, you may find it worth your while to put some artifact hate in your sideboard. Usually, Naturalize

Naturalize
	Set: Onslaught Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 275 Artist: Ron Spears Text: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.

will get the nod over Deconstruct

Deconstruct
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 118 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: Destroy target artifact. Then add GGG to your mana pool.

, but mono-green speed decks may choose Deconstruct

Deconstruct
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 118 Artist: D. Alexander Gregory Text: Destroy target artifact. Then add GGG to your mana pool.

instead.

Lifespark Spellbomb

Lifespark Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 197 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: G, Sacrifice Lifespark Spellbomb: Until end of turn, target land becomes a 3/3 creature that's still a land. 1, Sacrifice Lifespark Spellbomb: Draw a card.

This spellbomb is interesting mainly because we've never seen a common land animator before, so it gives Pez a new kind of tool.

Viridian Joiner

Viridian Joiner
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elf Druid Rarity: C Number: 138 Artist: Daren Bader Power: 1 Toughness: 2 Text: T: Add an amount of G to your mana pool equal to Viridian Joiner's power.

The Joiner is another card that begs for a deckbuilding brainstorm. While a little slow at three mana, there is the potential for huge mana generation here. This and Priest of Titania

Priest of Titania
	Set: Urza's Saga Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elf Rarity: C Number: 270 Artist: Rebecca Guay Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add G to your mana pool for each Elf in play. Play this ability as a mana source.

are dying for a green->blue mana filter so that they can start generating infinite mana with Pemmin's Aura

Pemmin's Aura
	Set: Scourge Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Enchant Creature Rarity: U Number: 45 Text: U : Untap enchanted creature. U : Enchanted creature gains flying until end of turn. U : Enchanted Creature can’t be the target of spells or abilities until end of turn. 1 : Enchanted creature gets +1/-1 or -1/+1 until end of turn.

. One tricky thing about the card is that the cards which make it most useful - power boosters like 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.

- are the ones you really want to put on your aggressive creatures, making it difficult to build a deck using Viridian Joiner

Viridian Joiner
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Elf Druid Rarity: C Number: 138 Artist: Daren Bader Power: 1 Toughness: 2 Text: T: Add an amount of G to your mana pool equal to Viridian Joiner's power.

that doesn't have an identity crisis.


Red

Iron Myr

Iron Myr
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 187 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add R to your mana pool.

Red X-spell burn decks 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.

occasionally see play in Pez. Iron Myr

Iron Myr
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 187 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add R to your mana pool.

could be a good tool for these, boosting the burn, speeding out Juggernaut

Juggernaut
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: U Artist: Dan Frazier Power: 5 Toughness: 3 Text: Must attack each turn if possible. Can't be blocked by walls.

, and providing a chump blocker.

Molten Rain

Molten Rain
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 101 Artist: Hugh Jamieson Text: Destroy target land. If that land is nonbasic, Molten Rain deals 2 damage to the land's controller.

Oy - more three-cost land destruction! Black currently rules land destruction in Pez simply because of the presence of Sinkhole

Sinkhole
	Set: Alpha Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Artist: Sandra Everingham Text: Destroys any one land.

(and, to a lesser extent, 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.

), but with Red's new Ritual-style cards and Molten Rain

Molten Rain
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Red Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 101 Artist: Hugh Jamieson Text: Destroy target land. If that land is nonbasic, Molten Rain deals 2 damage to the land's controller.

, Red might present a viable alternative.

Pyrite Spellbomb

Pyrite Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 232 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: R, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Pyrite Spellbomb deals 2 damage to target creature or player. 1, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Draw a card.

Many of the comments on Aether Spellbomb

Aether Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 141 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: U, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Return target creature to its owner's hand. 1, Sacrifice Aether Spellbomb: Draw a card.

apply here, with two caveats: 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.

always has a use where Unsummon

Unsummon
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Douglas Shuler Text: Return target creature to owner's hand; enchantments on target creature are discarded.

does not, and Pyrite Spellbomb

Pyrite Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 232 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: R, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Pyrite Spellbomb deals 2 damage to target creature or player. 1, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Draw a card.

won't help you with 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.

. It will, however, take out Soltari Priest

Soltari Priest
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Cleric Rarity: U Artist: Janet Aulisio Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: Protection from red; shadow (This creature can block or be blocked by only creatures with shadow.)

s, and gets around 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.

. Too slow for the maindeck of Stupid Red Burn, it might make it into the sideboard; a better home for it is in the aforementioned red-X spell decks, where it can be treated as a cycling colorless 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.

.

Seething Song

Seething Song
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 104 Artist: Martina Pilcerova Text: Add RRRRR to your mana pool.

Not your mama's 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.

, Seething Song

Seething Song
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 104 Artist: Martina Pilcerova Text: Add RRRRR to your mana pool.

still gives you two extra mana to play with during that crucial third turn. 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.

and Iron Myr

Iron Myr
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 187 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add R to your mana pool.

available as well, red players can start looking at spells that were previously too expensive to contemplate.

Shrapnel Blast

Shrapnel Blast
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 106 Artist: Dave Dorman Text: As an additional cost to play Shrapnel Blast, sacrifice an artifact. Shrapnel Blast deals 5 damage to target creature or player.

Five damage is an awful lot of damage for two mana, and this is at instant speed. Being an uncommon, it has to compete with the traditional choice of 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.

in Stupid Red Burn, but this card is good enough that it could get the nod. Your main problem is the need for artifacts - artifact lands help, but aren't enough by themselves, and artifact lands dilute your ability to play the alternate cost on 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.

.


White

Awe Strike

Awe Strike
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 6 Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: The next time target creature would deal damage this turn, prevent that damage. You gain life equal to the damage prevented this way.

This one has a very narrow application: white can use it against speed creature decks that rely on one or two creatures to kill. That means red speed, playing a few creatures and a bunch of burn, and green with reliance on 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.

. In either case, the life swing from Awe Strike

Awe Strike
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 6 Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: The next time target creature would deal damage this turn, prevent that damage. You gain life equal to the damage prevented this way.

might give you two extra turns to live instead of one from Fog

Fog
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Jesper Myrfors Text: Creatures attack and block as normal, but none deal any damage or otherwise affect any creature as a result of an attack or block. All attacking creatures are still tapped. Play any time before attack damage is dealt.

or Holy Day

Holy Day
	Set: Legends Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Justin Hampton Text: Creatures attack and block as normal, but none deal any damage. All attacking creatures are still tapped. Play any time before attack damage is assigned.

, meaning it will sometimes be a cheaper white Moment's Peace

Moment's Peace
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 251 Artist: Rebecca Guay Text: Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Flashback 2G (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

. This won't ever be maindeck material, but might make the sideboard of a control deck with access to white mana.

Gold Myr

Gold Myr
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 180 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add W to your mana pool.

Of all the colors, white has the hardest time accessing mana acceleration, especially in Pez (feel free to try Trade Caravan

Trade Caravan
	Set: Homelands Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Creature Sub Type: Caravan Rarity: C Artist: Kaja Foglio Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: During your upkeep, put a currency counter on Trade Caravan.0: Remove two currency counters from Trade Caravan to untap target basic land. Use this ability only during any opponent's upkeep.

if you are looking for a challenge). Like the rest of the Myr, Gold Myr

Gold Myr
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 180 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: T: Add W to your mana pool.

allows deck builders to contemplate cards that were previously just slightly too expensive to see play in Pez.


Artifacts

Bonesplitter

Bonesplitter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: C Number: 146 Artist: Darrell Riche Text: Equipped creature gets +2/+0. Equip 1 (1: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

Of all the equipment in Mirrodin, Bonesplitter

Bonesplitter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: C Number: 146 Artist: Darrell Riche Text: Equipped creature gets +2/+0. Equip 1 (1: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

stands the greatest chance of making it into a Pez deck. Most of the rest is simply too expensive to bother with. Even Bonesplitter

Bonesplitter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: C Number: 146 Artist: Darrell Riche Text: Equipped creature gets +2/+0. Equip 1 (1: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

faces serious competition in the form of 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.

, and 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.

will likely get the nod in any deck with access to green mana. Bonesplitter

Bonesplitter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: C Number: 146 Artist: Darrell Riche Text: Equipped creature gets +2/+0. Equip 1 (1: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

is most likely to see play in a deck with some combination of swarming creatures (providing lots of targets), fragile creatures (necessitating a creature booster that doesn't go down with the creature), and evasion. That sounds most like White Weenie to me.

Chromatic Sphere

Chromatic Sphere
	Set: Invasion Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 299 Artist: Luca Zontini Text: 1, T, Sacrifice Chromatic Sphere: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Draw a card.

While the Sphere is a reprint, this is the first time it's been printed in the common slot. Pez decks tend to be mono-colored because of the lack of mana-fixing and the swiftness with which a bad mana draw is punished; Chromatic Sphere

Chromatic Sphere
	Set: Invasion Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 299 Artist: Luca Zontini Text: 1, T, Sacrifice Chromatic Sphere: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Draw a card.

will help any such decks that don't have something better to do with turn 1.

Fireshrieker

Fireshrieker
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: U Number: 171 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Equipped creature has double strike. (It deals both first-strike and regular combat damage.) Equip 2 (2: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

Fireshrieker

Fireshrieker
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: U Number: 171 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Equipped creature has double strike. (It deals both first-strike and regular combat damage.) Equip 2 (2: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

should remind you of the recently-banned 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.

, at least insofar as it doubles the damage your creature deals. This + 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.

+ a creature = serious face-smashing. Still, it requires a lot of mana to get it out and use it; I recommend playing Fireshrieker

Fireshrieker
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: U Number: 171 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Equipped creature has double strike. (It deals both first-strike and regular combat damage.) Equip 2 (2: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

only if you are also playing some mana acceleration, as spending all of turn three getting this out is probably a bad idea.

Frogmite

Frogmite
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: C Number: 172 Artist: Terese Nielsen Text: Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs 1 less to play for each artifact you control.)

Only playable in Affinity decks, Frogmite

Frogmite
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: C Number: 172 Artist: Terese Nielsen Text: Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs 1 less to play for each artifact you control.)

could fit into an Affinity combo as another free creature (assuming four artifacts in play).

Isochron Scepter

Isochron Scepter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 188 Artist: Mark Harrison Text: Imprint - When Isochron Scepter comes into play, you may remove an instant card with converted mana cost 2 or less in your hand from the game. (The removed card is imprinted on this artifact.) 2, T: You may copy the imprinted instant card and play the copy without paying its mana cost.

Isochron really needs its own article; there are so many potential uses for this card as to be silly. Basically, it's as if Wizards came out with thirty different cards in one. At two mana to play and two to cast, the Scepter is cheap enough for Pez as long as the instant you imprint has an immediate impact on the game.

When playing Isochron Scepter

Isochron Scepter
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 188 Artist: Mark Harrison Text: Imprint - When Isochron Scepter comes into play, you may remove an instant card with converted mana cost 2 or less in your hand from the game. (The removed card is imprinted on this artifact.) 2, T: You may copy the imprinted instant card and play the copy without paying its mana cost.

, you have to make sure that you have a lot of instants in your deck. Most of the time, it won't be worth it to you to play the Scepter if there's only one instant in the deck that's worth imprinting. The exception is combo decks that have access to 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.

or good card drawing.

Some good Pez imprint options:

* 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.

: Two mana to pick one of three cards is pretty swanky; best if you have some way to shuffle your library every so often so as to get rid of bad cards built up on top of your library.
* Boomerang

Boomerang
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Alan Rabinowitz Text: Return target permanent to owner's hand.

: Great for stunting (or eliminating) mana development, Boomerang

Boomerang
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Alan Rabinowitz Text: Return target permanent to owner's hand.

-Scepter could see play in a dedicated bounce-your-permanents, mana-lockdown deck.
* Counterspell

Counterspell
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Mark Poole Text: Counters target spell as it is being cast.

/Memory Lapse

Memory Lapse
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Mark Tedin Text: Counter target spell. Put that spell on top of owner's library.

/Mana Leak

Mana Leak
	Set: Stronghold Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 36 Artist: Christopher Rush Text: Counter target spell unless its caster pays an additional 3.

/Arcane Denial

Arcane Denial
	Set: Alliances Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Richard Kane Ferguson Text: Counter target spell. That spell's caster may draw up to two cards at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.

: Obvious and powerful. Pez has seen decks try to lock down the game with repeated counterspelling before, usually through card drawing and Forbid

Forbid
	Set: Exodus Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 35 Artist: Scott Kirschner Text: Buyback Choose and discard two cards. (You may choose and discard two cards in addition to any other costs when you play this spell. If you do, put Forbid into your hand instead of your graveyard as part of the spell's effect.) Counter target spell.

. Such decks get a new lease on life with access to an easier way to keep the Counters flowing. Note that Memory Lapse

Memory Lapse
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Mark Tedin Text: Counter target spell. Put that spell on top of owner's library.

might be even better than Counterspell

Counterspell
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Artist: Mark Poole Text: Counters target spell as it is being cast.

on a Scepter, as you can put your opponent's deck in stasis if he or she tries to cast one spell per turn.
* Diabolic Edict

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

: I can hear the Mono Black Control decks slavering already. Making your opponent sacrifice a creature every turn is a dream come true for that deck. But does MBC have any other instants it wants to play?
* Dream's Grip

Dream's Grip
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 34 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: Choose one - Tap target permanent; or untap target permanent. Entwine 1 (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)

: As mentioned above, this lets you play Opposition

Opposition
	Set: Urza's Destiny Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Enchantment Rarity: R Number: 40 Artist: Todd Lockwood Text: Tap an untapped creature you control: Tap target artifact, creature, or land.

-lite: by paying the kicker on Dream's Grip

Dream's Grip
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 34 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: Choose one - Tap target permanent; or untap target permanent. Entwine 1 (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)

with the activation of the Scepter, you can tap a permanent and untap the Scepter for 3 mana. That puts it in the same mana-lockdown deck as Boomerang

Boomerang
	Set: Fifth Edition Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Alan Rabinowitz Text: Return target permanent to owner's hand.

.
* Fog

Fog
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Jesper Myrfors Text: Creatures attack and block as normal, but none deal any damage or otherwise affect any creature as a result of an attack or block. All attacking creatures are still tapped. Play any time before attack damage is dealt.

/Holy Day

Holy Day
	Set: Legends Cost: 1 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Justin Hampton Text: Creatures attack and block as normal, but none deal any damage. All attacking creatures are still tapped. Play any time before attack damage is assigned.

/Respite

Respite
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Rebecca Guay Text: Creatures deal no combat damage this turn. Gain 1 life for each attacking creature.

/Tangle

Tangle
	Set: Invasion Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 213 Artist: John Avon Text: Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.Attacking creatures don't untap during their controllers' next untap steps.

: Many decks simply roll over and die if they can't deal damage with their creatures. Many Pez decks aren't creature-reliant, so your deck has to be able to do other things too, but Fog

Fog
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Jesper Myrfors Text: Creatures attack and block as normal, but none deal any damage or otherwise affect any creature as a result of an attack or block. All attacking creatures are still tapped. Play any time before attack damage is dealt.

and its buddies remain very powerful options for Scepter-based decks.
* 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.

: If 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.

looked good, this looks truly powerful, digging deeper, and sifting unwanted cards to the bottom of your library to boot.
* Fire-Ice/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.

/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.

/Shrapnel Blast

Shrapnel Blast
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 106 Artist: Dave Dorman Text: As an additional cost to play Shrapnel Blast, sacrifice an artifact. Shrapnel Blast deals 5 damage to target creature or player.

/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.

: The power of this one is obvious, and conveniently, you'll usually be playing many of these spells in your burn deck. Fire/Ice is particularly fun, giving you a veritable Swiss Army Knife (Do I want to tap something? Draw a card? Ping two creatures? Slap my opponent?), and note that with the Scepter, you don't even need to be able to cast the other half of the card to use it.
* Raise the Alarm

Raise the Alarm
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 16 Artist: John Matson Text: Put two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens into play.

: Creature generators are hard to find in Pez, and this is a very efficient creature generator.
* Shelter

Shelter
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 46 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Target creature you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Draw a card.

: Shelter

Shelter
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 46 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Target creature you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Draw a card.

already sees play in White Weenie; imprinted on a Scepter, it gives you repeatable creature protection, a way to create evasion, and card drawing to boot.
* 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.

/Terror

Terror
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Ron Spencer Text: Buries target creature. Cannot target black creatures or artifact creatures.

: Repeatable pinpoint creature removal, now that's scary. The Swords option won't see much play simply because both it and Scepter are uncommon. Terror

Terror
	Set: Revised Edition Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Artist: Ron Spencer Text: Buries target creature. Cannot target black creatures or artifact creatures.

's chances are better, though the non-black (and, to a lesser extent, non-artifact) restriction is pretty limiting in an environment with lots of good black creatures running around.

No doubt there are many more options to consider than these, too.


Lightning Greaves

Lightning Greaves
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: U Number: 199 Artist: Jeremy Jarvis Text: Equipped creature has haste and can't be the target of spells or abilities. Equip 0 (0: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

Repeatable haste effects are another of those rare commodities in Pez. Make no mistake, giving one creature haste each turn is nearly is good as giving all your creatures haste, unless you have some way of putting lots of creatures in play at once (unlikely in Pez), or want to haste your 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.

(possible). The untargetability is a nice effect too, and might give the Greaves a place in a control deck that needs to protect its utility creatures while getting immediate use out of them. Being an uncommon really hurts this card; it does great things, and is very efficient, but it's not clear what deck will find room for it.

Mask of Memory

Mask of Memory

Set: Mirrodin Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Sub Type: Equipment Rarity: U Number: 203 Artist: Alan Pollack Text: Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you may draw two cards. If you do, discard a card from your hand. Equip 1 (1: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card comes into play unattached and stays in play if the creature leaves play.)

As a Forbid

Forbid
	Set: Exodus Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 35 Artist: Scott Kirschner Text: Buyback Choose and discard two cards. (You may choose and discard two cards in addition to any other costs when you play this spell. If you do, put Forbid into your hand instead of your graveyard as part of the spell's effect.) Counter target spell.

ian player, I'm excited by this card. My choice of two cards? Switchable to a new creature if the first dies? Sign me up! Any deck making use of this card will look very different from the Quicksilver Dagger

Quicksilver Dagger
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 3 Color: Multicolor Type: Enchantment Creature Rarity: C Number: 118 Artist: Alex Horley Text: Enchanted creature has "TAP: This creature deals 1 damage to target player. You draw a card."

-based builds we've seen at the last two GenCons; Mask wants a more aggressive, tempo based deck, so I imagine it being played with Man O' War, fast critters, and a nice mix of bounce and counterspelling. Note that it only affects combat damage, so you can't use this with pingers.

Mindstorm Crown

Mindstorm Crown
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 3 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: U Number: 207 Artist: Ben Thompson Text: At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card if you had no cards in hand at the beginning of this turn. If you had a card in hand, Mindstorm Crown deals 1 damage to you.

The Crown pushes the edge of playability in Pez, as you can ill-afford to tap out on turn three just to invest in cards for the future. However, the Crown may find a home in aggro-control black, with 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.

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.

helping to power out the Crown early, and the Crown helping to offset the card disadvantage of those same cards.

Myr Enforcer

Myr Enforcer
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 7 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Myr Rarity: C Number: 211 Artist: Greg Staples Power: 4 Toughness: 4 Text: Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs 1 less to play for each artifact you control.)

It's hard to believe, but Mirrodin draft has shown that you 'll often be spending four or even three for this guy. With a good set of artifact lands, 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, and cheap artifact creatures, an Affinity deck should be able to put him down on turn 3 reliably. That's a big beater for the mana.

Pyrite Spellbomb

Pyrite Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 232 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: R, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Pyrite Spellbomb deals 2 damage to target creature or player. 1, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Draw a card.

Red mages plagued by white weenies protected by 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.

, Cho-Manno's Blessing

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

, and Shelter

Shelter
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 46 Artist: Christopher Moeller Text: Target creature you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Draw a card.

may rejoice at the Pyrite Spellbomb

Pyrite Spellbomb
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: C Number: 232 Artist: Jim Nelson Text: R, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Pyrite Spellbomb deals 2 damage to target creature or player. 1, Sacrifice Pyrite Spellbomb: Draw a card.

. Too slow to keep up with the rest of red's efficient burn, the Spellbomb could find its place in the sideboard of decks that are willing to spend burn on creatures, rather than just going directly to the opponent's head.

Steel Wall

Steel Wall
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Wall Rarity: C Number: 248 Artist: David Day Power: 0 Toughness: 4 Text: (Walls can't attack.)

Forbid

Forbid
	Set: Exodus Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 35 Artist: Scott Kirschner Text: Buyback Choose and discard two cards. (You may choose and discard two cards in addition to any other costs when you play this spell. If you do, put Forbid into your hand instead of your graveyard as part of the spell's effect.) Counter target spell.

ian decks have made ample use of Walls and pseudo-Walls like Soldevi Simulacrum

Soldevi Simulacrum
	Set: Ice Age Cost: 4 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Rarity: U Artist: Dan Frazier Power: 2 Toughness: 4 Text: Cumulative Upkeep: 11: +1/+0 until end of turn

to stave off the hordes while they get their counterspells and card-drawing into play. Steel Wall

Steel Wall
	Set: Mirrodin Cost: 1 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Creature Sub Type: Wall Rarity: C Number: 248 Artist: David Day Power: 0 Toughness: 4 Text: (Walls can't attack.)

is custom-made for the task, providing an ample butt while being cheap enough to leave you counterspelling mana when you need it. It's a fine target for Quicksilver Dagger

Quicksilver Dagger
	Set: Apocalypse Cost: 3 Color: Multicolor Type: Enchantment Creature Rarity: C Number: 118 Artist: Alex Horley Text: Enchanted creature has "TAP: This creature deals 1 damage to target player. You draw a card."

, too. The only drawback is that is can't handle creatures with evasion; decks with good red mana will probably use Wall of Diffusion

Wall of Diffusion
	Set: Tempest Cost: 2 Color: Red Type: Creature Sub Type: Wall Rarity: C Artist: DiTerlizzi Power: 0 Toughness: 5 Text: (Walls cannot attack.) Wall of Diffusion can block creatures with shadow.

instead.

If you enjoyed this article, I'm considering an article on new Pez decks in a post-Mirrodin world, so let me know your opinion with your votes!

Thanks!

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