No matter how old you get, you always remember the past and look fondly back at memories. In the world of Magic the Gathering it takes the form of old cards you used to enjoy and old decks you used to use. Coming back to MtG I missed some of my old cards so I decided to fix that problem by hunting them down and bringing them back into my new collection.
A long while ago I made the shameful decision to give away my collection and move away from my local gaming group in search of a new life. In doing so I managed to give away some much beloved cards that in some cases would be worth a fare bit now. We live and we learn. I always regretted that decision (getting rid of the collection, not the moving bit) and remember some of the cards well. I had in my eyes, quite a good collection of cards and was always building and rebuilding different decks and playing against friends. Two decks that I loved to build were variations on mono green and artifact decks. Something about both these decks appealed to me, green had crazy creatures and enchantments that could turn the tide of any game at a moments notice. Artifact decks were unpredictable and crazy. There were strange and complicated devices and creatures that made it nuts to play and tough to play against as you never knew what was coming next. When looking back and wanting to remake a deck as well as collect some of my old cards I decided to go for the more green option rather than the artifact route for two reasons, firstly it seemed that the mono green cards were easier to find and secondly, the artifacts were damned expensive or at least some of them were if you could find someone willing to part with them.
So, rebuilding a green deck from way back in the past. What would it have in it and what could I get hold of. Firstly just like today, no green deck would be without a set of ‘Llanowar Elves’. A card from the very start, ‘Llanowar Elves’ are the poster boy for any green deck, a way of speeding up mana production and to be honest, just a cool looking card. Next on the list was another set of a creature from the other end of the mana curve, ‘Craw Wurm’. By today’s standards this creature is big, slow and far too expensive to have in a deck without some kind of interesting pay off. The ‘Craw Wurm’ is just a standard 6/4 creature with no special abilities or talents but damn does the card look good and bring back memories of slamming one of those on the board and your opponents taking a step back wondering how to deal with it. I guess it’s closest comparison today would be ‘Collosal Dreadmaw’.
One card I absolutely had to add to the deck was my all time favorite card, ‘Killer Bees’. I’ve already written about my love for this card and It was the first old card or rather set of cards that I bought purely for the love of the card itself. In this deck build though it proves a great lil beast for flying over the battlefield and causing untold damage given the chance. Speaking of aerial support in this deck, another card that looks more amazing the modern day cards is the original ‘Ornithopter’. Just look at the card. For me it almost defines what an artifact card should look like. Something based on a Da Vinci sketch and has a mana cost of 0, yes 0 mana to cast, oh the joy it was to get one or two of these in your opening hand and throwing them out onto the battlefield on your first turn. Used for chump blocking or other more nefarious purposes, these ‘Ornithopters’ a a beautiful inclusion to any old deck.
It’s at this point that the build for this deck took a bit of a change and began to mix two of my old decks together into one ‘memories’ deck. A combination of green and artifacts would make up an interesting set of cards. After the addition of ‘Ornithopter’, I managed to find and get hold of two copies of ‘The Hive’. A card that brought token creatures to a game before there were token cards to use. An artifact that could pump out insect tokens by the swarm load gives any battlefield a strong blocking ability. Let this card do its job for a few turns and then go in for the kill was always a fun trick I used. This was an instant inclusion when I saw them. Moving back into green cards, another one that brought back fun and devious memories was ‘Venom’. An enchantment that works similar to deathtouch does today. Put ‘Venom’ on something like an ‘Ornithopter’ and you have a blocker that no opponent wants to loose their big expensive creature to. Add ‘Venom’ to a card like ‘Lure’ and the game gets crazy. ‘Lure’ makes every available creature block the attacking creature. With ‘Venom’ attached it means that every creature that is forced to block will die at the end of combat. A very effective board wipe. Sadly I haven’t managed to get hold of any ‘Lure’ cards yet but they are on my list to keep an eye out for. Other notable additions using a similar mechanic of destroying blocking creatures have also been found and added to this collection such as ‘Thicket Basilisk’ and ‘Cockatrice’.
Lands, lands, lands. You simply can’t play Magic the Gathering without lands (oh I’m sure there’s some crazy convoluted Modern deck that people will shout at me and say you can use without playing lands but I don’t know of it and I’m pretty sure I never want to go up against). There’s something so good about old white bordered land cards. Maybe they just take me back to an older time, an easier time when more people played for fun, when Wizards of the Coast weren’t so insane that the created ‘Nexus of Fate’! I hate that card. Anyway back to the old cards. White bordered lands are a true retro feeling card probably more so to me than any other card. The artwork on the cards looks so beautiful and ‘of the time’ in MtG terms. I have been tempted on more that one occasion to pull them out of this deck build and add them to a deck I use more often just because the are so good to look at. A friend had a set of these old forests that I managed to pry out of his hands and add to the collection while I buy up my own collection over time.
Other lands to add to this deck for some mana ramping ability but also more so, just because they are iconic of the older game and the older cards are a couple of sets of the Urza ‘Tron’ lands as they are known now. Urza’s Mine, Tower and Power Plant are some amazing looking cards. The version of ‘Urza’s Tower’ that I have in this collection is up there with my all time favorite artworks in the entirety of the WotC collection. They are cards that I could have traded away a dozen times or more since getting hold of them as Modern Players love these little belters when building some crazy decks. Maybe one day I might fall into that group and build a ‘Tron’ deck but not for now, for now these stay firmly in this deck where I can enjoy them for what they are, fun, good looking cards.
After a few weeks of searching, trading, waiting expectantly by the door for the postman just like my dog and hounding friends for anything they had, I managed to put this collection together and make a deck out of it. I don’t know if I will ever get to play it or even if I do, if it will be any good. Its more a trip down memory lane than an exercise in putting together a competitive deck. This is for me to sit back and enjoy regaining if only in part, my old collection of cards and bringing back the teenage joy of playing Magic the Gathering. Each time I see one or more of these cards, I’m instantly taken back to playing at my long gone local game store full of other players trying out wild deck builds, or taken back to my old home and the garage where friends would gather and hold our own mini tournaments and leagues.
These cards its safe to say, will not be given away again. These will stay with me in this deck or in a growing folder of my collection just so I have the chance to show my son just what his dad used to play way back in the day. Especially considering that even at the age of 5, he’s watching me play and picking up on the language and fun that can be had while playing. This collection could be something that I will be able to pass on down to him at some point so that he can continue it and build upon for himself and maybe even his kids. A piece of Magic the Gathering history yes but also a piece of my personal history. Something that no one should forget.
ManaTapped 