It's in there now next to Resounding Wave (I temporarily removed Recoil to make room). We'll see how it works when it's been through a few games. It'll probably be stronger in games with only 3 or 4 players compared to a fuller 6 to 8, at least in theory. So far it's been used in one 5 player game where it got rid of a Marit Lage token (take THAT indestructible), and reset someone's Luminarch Ascension, though it had to do so with someone else protecting it in a small counterspell skirmish (showing the difference between this and the Wave).

I'll get to try it again in an 8-man this weekend. We'll see if it performs just as well.

Quicksilver Geyser is decent, since it's an instant and bounces two cards. However, if your stack only has room for one card like this, then this is trumped by Resounding Wave (from Shards of Alara). Resounding Wave is hard to counter (cycling it is an ability, not a spell), doesn't count as your spell for the turn (or even an alternate cost spell), bounces two of any kind of permanent, and draws you a card besides. If your stack has room for two double bounce effects, then toss the Geyser in.

You might want to specifically modify the cards in your stack specifically for Archenemy play.

Degenerate spells like Door to Nothingness, Firebreathers, X-based direct damage or token producers, Legacy Weapon, and Alternate Casting Cost spells like Shining Shoal, Force of Will and Decree of Silence should only be usable by the Archenemy. (Just don't use degenerate spells that can kill multiple players in one turn. One per turn at most)

It'll take a few games to tune this properly.

The Archenemy could also draw two spells per turn. This way, the ones trying to stop him will have a real challenge on their hands.

An alternative to this is a variant where everyone gets to use schemes:

Any player may skip his standard draw for that turn, and instead exile the top card of his library in order to play a scheme. Advantage here is that schemes can't be countered. Disadvantage of course is that you can never tell what scheme you'll turn over, so that keeps things in check. Of course, you'll need a lot of schemes in case people go scheme happy.

I do agree that both are awesome and you'd need a special reason not to include both.

In the case of our stack, we'd love to have both, but we don't actually have Darksteel Colossus yet. All 3 copies among my playgroup are found in various EDH decks. Given that Blightsteel Colossus is coming out in the latest set suggests it will be easier to come across one, particularly during the prerelease when there's a higher chance of pulling one from one of those Phyrexia-only boosters.

For some stacks, the owners might want a limit to the number of indestructible creatures. If so, one of the easiest ways to maintain their ideal numbers is to replace Dark with Blight.


For most stacks, the Hellkite is not conditional enough. I've seen some stacks that only run proportionately few artifacts (and by few, I mean about 2 dozen out of 300++ cards). For those, artifacts might be rare enough to warrant running the Hellkite, and even then only if they run other instant-kill creatures as well.

The real issue here is the haste. Most other instant kill creatures, like the Blightsteel Colossus or Windreaver, will need an additional turn (or the help of another card) in order to kill someone. The Igniter gets to attack immediately, and all it takes is to have a single artifact under your control.

It really depends on the stack in question and how degenerate the Igniter is compared to everything else. If your stack has insane creatures like Greater Morphling, and has room for another "conditional" kill card, then you might want the Igniter.

Alternatively, if your group has certain house rules to keep "firebreathers" in check, then the Igniter might be considered fair. For example, my group has a rule where abilities which increase Power can only be used twice per turn (which makes the Igniter an "average" beater in my stack instead of a broken one).

My stack's pretty degenerate, and it's not even in its ideal form. Gleemax, Blast From the Past, Whispers of the Muse, Legacy Weapon, Johnny Combo Player... It even has several creatures that can kill in one hit if the table lets it survive to attack (ex. Greater Morphling, Windreaver, Flameblast Dragon...). I just make sure there are enough counterspells and direct counters to using these cards (ex. Sudden Death for Mistmeadow Witch). Also, there are one or two house rules keeping things like Johnny Combo Player and Mischievous Quanar in check.

O_O Suddenly Gaze of Adamaro became so much more valuable.

>.< /facepalm

Serves me right for relying on a text-based message regarding Bonehoard instead of looking at the actual card image.

Regarding the Hellkite Igniter, I'm not sold on that either.It can go infinite without errata or house rules by fulfilling a very easy condition (most Stacks have a lot of artifacts). If your stack only has a relative handful of artifacts (I have a friend whose 360 card stack has only 22 artifacts), then his infinite pump condition is sufficiently limited.

In the case of our stack, we have a house rule where "All power enhancement and copy effects can only be activated twice per turn per card." That means this guy isn't gonna get very big in our stack. We use Hoard-Smelter Dragon instead. Minus the haste, but has that important artifact destruction utility.

I run a pretty heavy stack. My take on the official previews so far with regard to my personal Stack:

• Black Sun's Zenith - Since we don't run the "you have infinite #s of each basic land in play" house rule (we run the "1 of each basic land in play"), this is essentially the first Mutilate effect that's worth using, plus it has that reshuffle clause. If you have Mutilate in your existing stack, this is strictly better. If you want to have both, this is your second Mutilate.
  
  Blightsteel Colossus - Hoo-boy. This guy is insane. "Ach, Hans, run! It's the Blightsteel Colossus!" Bam. Dead player. Sacrifice to Miren the Moaning Well and repeat the next turn. He's replacing Darksteel Colossus in my stack as soon as my group gets their grubby fingers on one.
  
  Bonehoard - Is this an almost a Strictly Better Lhurgoyf, being colorless? Hard to tell since it comes with the caveat that you can't affect this with creature recursion. But we'll be testing this to see if the ability to grant any of your evasion creatures the Lhurgoyf trait is going to be a beating in some games.
  
  Consecrated Sphinx - Two cards per player is crazy, but fragile. If he even survives a few turns, he'd have paid for himself. It's almost tempting to go crazy with this guy but you might just deck yourself.
  
  Into the Core - If your stack is looking for a way to nuke 2 artifacts into the exile zone, then this is the card you're looking for. A good countermeasure in artifact-heavy stacks. Mine is only moderate on the artifacts, but they're all pretty deadly (ex. Legacy Weapon) so this might find its way in.
  
  Phyrexian Rebirth - I'm not fully decided on this one. If we find one off-hand we'll test it. Given the beaters in our stack, the token at BEST will be roughly "average" size with a chance of being huge (like if someone's been abusing Pride of the Clouds or recently cast Storm Herd). It's definitely strictly better than Desolation Giant. Is it strictly better than Kirtar's Wrath? Not necessarily. The token will be bigger than 2 1/1 fliers, but it has no evasion, and more importantly, Kirtar's Wrath nukes regenerators. Definitely needs testing.
  
  Spine of Ish Sah - This is known as the Strictly Better Desert Twister or Vindicate, because it's colorless and can hit protection creatures. Emrakul laughs at Vindicate. Not so with this card. Depending on your stack, this might be combo-recurred more easily than either of the previously mentioned sorceries.
  
  Thrun, the Last Troll - You would compare this guy to Gaea's Revenge. He can use equipment and can be self-enchanted, and he regenerates. Conversely, at default size he's lots smaller. Also, not hasty. Note that Gaea's Revenge can still equip a Behemoth Sledge, but not much else. Something to think about. Another consideration whether to include him is if you need a seemingly innocuous creature that can slip under the radar (not that he can be countered to begin with).
  
  Victory's Herald - In T4 the effect you're looking for is this guy granting your creatures lifelink (and we loves lifegain on a stick in multiplayer). The other ability isn't quite as useful since most T4 creatures already fly or evade. Given that, Windbrisk Raptor has a similar lifegain-granting ability, AND it's bigger by far, making the Raptor more likely to survive combat. If you want the lifegain ability in your stack, this is an option, but if you already have the Raptor, like we do, you'd probably skip this.