The first is Borrowed Grace. A common from the Eldritch Moon block. It gives the player a choice between giving creatures +2/+0 Or +0/+2 Or both. The reason I love this card is because it can make seven 1/1 soldier creatures a threat. Those seven creatures alone can win a game where the player you’re playing against has all of their health. It gives you a knock out blow, that will leave your opponent questioning if they ought to attack.
The second is Righteous Confluence. It has “Choose Three: Destroy Target Enchantment, Create a 2/2 Knight Creature with Vigilance, or Gain 5 Health. You can choose the same mode more than once.” So, basically, you can gain 15 health, create three knights, destroy three enchantments, or any combination. It’s only for five manna. Choice is the best option, as the card has limitless potential during game play. It can single handed bring you back from the brink of losing. At 1 health, you’ll be back at 16, and if at 10 health, you can be at 15 with two creatures on the board with vigilance. The weakest link is the enchantment removal, but even then, players who play enchantments need them for their decks to work. So, it can cripple an opponent’s strategy at worst.
The third is Vampire Nighthawk. A three manna weapon. Vampire Nighthawk has deathtouch. It has life link. It also has flying. It will prevent any opponent from attacking, as it turns the attack phase of an opponent against them. The 2/3 of Vampire Nighthawk means it will block most creatures in the game, and then gain you 2 life on top of it. On offense, it’s even more powerful. But on defense, it will remove your opponents biggest weapons from the board, for only a three manna drop.
The fourth is Angel Song. A really beautiful, and simple card. It prevents all combat damage that turn. If you’re playing aggressive opponents, who on their kill shot want to win the game, Angelsong can completely nullify them, and leave them naked to a counter attack. Most good players are attack heavy as it is, and disabling the attack phase of an opponent is one of the surest ways to cripple them.
The Fifth is Phantom Warrior. There are two cards that are like it, but this one is my preferred for nostalgia’s sake. Unblockable, 2/2, it will rake an opponent for easy damage. Paired with Quietus Spike, it’s like a cruise missile, locked and loaded to tear an opponent. Lock and load them, and when the moment strikes, launch them.
The Sixth is Launch the Fleet. Offensive players will rip with this card. It can take 4 creatures, and make them into 8, all attacking. Though, the extra four are 1/1’s, pair it with a strong field boosting strategy, those four 1/1’s can be incredibly dangerous.
The Seventh is Overwhelming Stampede. This is the best card in the game, hands down. There is no card better than it, because when paired with green decks, it breaks the mechanic of game play. One creature with a power of four or greater, can turn five creatures into monsters with trample. It is a knockout punch every time it’s played. Paired with Elvish Piper, a person can have huge monstrosities out at turn five, and the game won on that same turn if they know what they are doing.
The Eighth is Goblin Bushwhacker. It is my all time favorite card, next to Aether Spell Bomb. It gives all creatures +1/+0 and haste. And for only two manna, and it’s a 1/1 creature already. So, along the lines of Borrowed Grace, if you have ten goblins out, you have twenty damage, even if four of them were played on the same turn Goblin Bushwhacker was played.
The ninth is Aether and Sunbeam Spell Bombs. This is a sleeper, where it will kick one creature to an opponent’s hand. But, it is so easy to bring it back from the graveyard, over and over and over and over and over and over again. It can be used to bounce five or more creatures to an opponent’s hand in one turn, given the right cards being out. The other powerful spell bomb is Sunbeam Spell Bomb, which not as fun, will gain you five life every time it’s used, and can be used to gain forty health a turn.
The tenth is Lightning bolt. Good old lightning bolt. In a red deck, it will clear away any blockers so that extra bit of damage will get through every time. It’s best to be used on creatures, where multiplicity comes in handy. One of the hidden strategies of the game.
The eleventh is Afterlife. It is a three drop, that is removal for white. The creature cannot be regenerated, either. Though, it comes with a setback, it turns the creature into a 1/1 spirit creature with flying, it severely weakens a player’s strategy when white is using black’s strategy of removal.
The Twelfth is of course Quietus Spike. It takes an opponent down to half of their life. It requires a strong player to use in competitive play because it can be cumbersome, but it comes back with some serious heat when it’s used. Paired with unblockable, shadow, flying or lifelink, it can be an incredibly deadly weapon.
B. K. Neifert 