Monday, June 6, 2016

Back Issues: Inquest Gamer 95

This issue was released in March 2003

Magic: The Gathering:

A few Onslaught Block Decks were included, copied here for posterity.

Alarming Development:
2 Dermoplasm
4 Quicksilver Dragon
4 Willbender
4 Chain of Vapor
4 Read the Runes
4 Imperial Hellkite
1 Rorix Bladewing
4 Skirk Alarmist
4 Shock
4 Starstorm
1 Words of War
11 Island
13 Mountain

Dragons!  Dragons everywhere!

Pitchers' Duel:
4 Festering Goblin
4 Graveborn Muse
4 Hollow Specter
4 Blackmail
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Duress
4 Smother
2 Lavaborn Muse
3 Chain of Plasma
4 Shock
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
15 Swamp

Discard control.  This is one of my favorite styles of deck, but I wasn't playing during this time, sadly :(.

Crank Callers:
4 Caller of the Claw
4 Catapult Squad
4 Deftblade Elite
4 Exalted Angel
4 Gustcloak Runner
4 Longbow Archer
4 Whipcorder
4 Shared Triumph
4 Wrath of God
4 Forest
16 Plains
4 Windswept Heath

Ooooh, interesting.  So White Weenie... then board wipe into Caller of the Claw for MORE Swarm.  I like it!

How about an Extended (at the time) deck?

Rock On:
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Chainer's Edict
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Duress
4 Vampiric Tutor
2 Spiritmonger
4 Pernicious Deed
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Yavimaya Elder
1 Living Wish
1 Naturalize
1 Dust Bowl
7 Forest
4 Llanowar Wastes
7 Swamp
4 Treetop Village

Green/Black Control?  Weird.

Cheap Extended Deck: Sligh-t of Hand:
4 Goblin Cadets
2 Goblin Grappler
2 Goblin Lackey
4 Jackal Pup
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Raging Goblin
4 Lava Dart
4 Reckless Charge
4 Shock
4 Fire/Ice
20 Mountain

Straight up Sligh for very little cost.  Even a few moderate cost rares would add some improvement.

Legacy's Aluren:
1 Maggot Carrier
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Vampiric Tutor
3 Raven Familiar
4 Brainstorm
3 Intuition
3 Cavern Harpy
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Wirewood Savage
4 Aluren
4 Living Wish
1 Soul Warden
3 City of Brass
3 Forest
1 Grand Coliseum
4 Hickory Woodlot
3 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
4 Yavimaya Coast

Use Cavern Harpy + Aluren + Wirewood Savage to ensure you have card draw, then Soul Warden + Maggot Carrier to kill the opponent and keep you alive.  Pretty nifty.

Cheap Extended Deck #2: Draco Explosion
3 Draco
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
4 Careful Study
4 Frantic Search
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Erratic Explosion
4 Sonic Burst
4 Fire/Ice
13 Island
12 Mountain

Use Draco + Brainstorm + Erratic Explosion to kill your opponent.  Nasty

Blessed Aurators:
4 Frantic Search
2 Stroke of Genius
3 Argothian Enchantress
1 Ancestral Mask
3 Eladamri's Vineyard
4 Enchantress's Presence
4 Exploration
4 Fertile Ground
1 Krosan Reclamation
4 Living Wish
1 Rancor
4 Wild Growth
1 Auratog
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Brushland
11 Forest
3 Island
2 Serra's Sanctum
4 Yavimaya Coast

Either kill with a big trampling Auratog, or deck them with a Stroke of Genius.

Cheap Extended Deck #3: Madness Revisited
2 Aquamoeba
2 Wonder
4 Careful Study
4 Circular Logic
3 Daze
2 Foil
2 Gush
2 Thwart
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
3 Roar of the Wurm
10 Forest
13 Island

Get some big things out, get Wonder in the graveyard, win.

Bug Zapper:
4 Nantuko Husk
4 Phyrexian Ghoul
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
3 Vampiric Tutor
1 Confiscate
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Symbiotic Wurm
4 Wall of Blossoms
4 Pattern of Rebirth
1 Saproling Burst
1 Pandemonium
4 Academy Rector
1 Seal of Cleansing
4 Brushland
3 Caves of Koilos
4 City of Brass
6 Forest
4 Llanowar Wastes
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Swamp

Ghoul/Husk eats something with Pattern of Rebirth on it, grabs Symbiotic Wurm, eats it, eats the insects, attacks and kills.  Easy as can be.

Top 10 Magic Cards at the time:
  1. Grinning Demon
  2. Onslaught Fetch Lands
  3. Blistering Firecat
  4. Birds of Paradise
  5. Shadowmage Infiltrator
  6. Nantuko Shade
  7. Force of Will
  8. Mobilization
  9. Call of the Herd
  10. Exalted Angel

Top Ten CCGs:
  1. Yu-Gi-Oh!
  2. Magic: The Gathering
  3. Pokemon
  4. Lord of the Rings CCG
  5. Legend of the Five Rings
  6. Star Trek CCG: Second Edition
  7. Dragon Ball Z CCG
  8. WWE Raw Deal
  9. Warlord CCG
  10. MLB Showdown
My own thoughts: I really need to buy some starters for WWE Raw Deal, Warlord, and MLB Showdown.  I've not played any of them, and they seem pretty well liked.  Yu-Gi-Oh! is another one I've never played, but I don't see myself getting into it, I admit.

Yu-Gi-Oh!:
"The Metal Raiders" Deck

Monsters:
3 Barrel Dragon
2 Cannon Soldier
1 Cyber Jar
1 Jinzo
2 Jinzo #7
1 Magician of Faith
3 Mechanical Chaser
2 Overdrive
2 Witch of Black Forest

Magic:
3 Axe of Despair
1 Card Destruction
1 Change of Heart
1 Dark Hole
2 Heavy Storm
1 Limiter Removal
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystic Plasma Zone
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Painful Choice
1 Pot of Greed
1 Premature Burial
1 Raigeki
1 Swords of Revealing Light

Traps:
1 Call of The Haunted
1 Imperial Order
1 Magic Jammer
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment

My own thoughts: Normally, I wouldn't include Yu-Gi-Oh decks, because the game is still pretty active, and I think it has rotation and plenty of fan sites to cover it.  Also, I know next to nothing about the game.  However, this issue doesn't have a lot of non-Magic going on, so I figured I'd put whatever I could in this article.

Final Thoughts:
Yes, pretty light on the CCG stuff in this issue.  This issue had a lot of coverage of Extended (Type 1.5, I believe) tournaments, what decks to bring, what the best cards were in the format, things like that.  Since I really feel like this is knowledge no one needs, I didn't bother putting it up here.  They also have a lot of coverage of the Legions expansion for Magic.  There's also a lot of coverage of Collectible Miniatures Games, which is outside the scope of my little blog.  Funny enough, many of the cards they are excited about using are about to see a reprint in Eternal Masters.  I feel old :(.

Finally, the magazine ends with some cards from a 'What If?' Buffy the Vampire Slayer expansion for Magic. 

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