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@node start " " '`;,,,, `;;;;; ,,,,,, ,,,,,, ,,,, ,,,,,; ;;;;;, ;;;; , ';;; ;; ' ;;' ,;; '' ,;;';;;; ;;;;;; ,; ;;;;, ;; ,,; ;; ;; ,;;' ';;;;,;' ;;;; ,;;;' ;;;; ';,,,;; ;; ';;, ,;;' ';;;; ;;;; '' '' '''`; ,''' '''''''' ,;;' ;;;; ;;;;. ,;;; ;;;; ;;;;;. T h e G a t h e r i n g (TM) ,;''' ;;'' ```````` PLAYER GUIDE VOL 1 ` ' Top 10 most powerful Alliances cards for Magic: The Gathering @{ " Introduction " Link "intro"@} @{ " Top 10 Cards " Link "top10"@} @{ " Alliance Colours " Link "colors"@} @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 5 " Link "start"@} @endnode **-- @node Intro Inquest Feature: A League of their own Top 10 most powerful Alliances cards for Magic: The Gathering The best expansion set...ever? That's what some players argue. What all players do agree on is that Alliances has some of the most powerful cards ever produced for Magic: The Gathering. From the monstrous creatures with lightning-fast casting costs to the crushing spells with NO casting cost, InQuest played them all and separated the men from the boys to present the 10 most powerful Alliances cards. Copyright 1996 Gareb Shamus Enterprises, Inc. @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 5 " Link "start"@} @endnode **-- @node top10 Balduvian Horde Well, every expansion has at least one card that has people saying, "What the heck were they thinking?" Judging from the Balduvian Horde, Wizards of the Coast wasn't thinking about much. At four mana for a 5/5 creature, who cares if you have to discard a card when you cast it? The Horde might be the biggest playable creature to come out since Arabian Nights. With a Tinder Wall, you can get it out on the second turn, it doesn't do a point of damage to you every turn and it doesn't cost seventy bucks. As good as a Juzam? Try "better." Lim-Dul's Vault Yikes! And you thought Demonic Tutor was useful. With Lim-Dûl's Vault, you can find just about any card in your library for only a few life. But wait, there's more! Why just settle for one good card on the top of your library when you can have as many as five? Let's face it, most of the time you play Demonic Tutor, you don't REALLY need that card right away. Lim-Dûl's Vault lets you get a bunch of useful cards at the top of your library, and it's an Instant! If we have to explain why this card rocks, go back to playing your all-Homarid deck. Force of Will The guy across the table says, "Okay, I won the coin toss so I go first. I play a Lotus, a Mox Emerald, a Mox Ruby and a Land, and I tap it all to play a Shivan." Has this every happened to you? If so, then your first inclination was probabay to beat the guy senseless and rip up his cards. Using your better judgment, you kept quiet and prayed for a Swords to Plowshares so you could give him five life. Now, with Force of Will, the solution is much simpler. Just counter the damn thing! And if you're tapped out? No prob! Just chuck a Dandan to let you counter any spell for free! Helm of Obedience A lot of people play creatureless decks in tournaments...a lot of people are gonna have to come up with a new deck. Wizards of the Coast has been trying to discourage creatureless decks with cards like Autumn Willow, and now Helm of Obediene puts the nail in the coffin. "Not playing with any creature? Okay, I Millstone you for eight...every turn!" And if your opponent is playing with creatures? "Hey, is that a Polar Kraken in your deck? Put that puppy into play on my side!" Who knows...people may start playing with Demonic Hordes in an all-blue deck just so your opponent gets control of it. Diminishing Returns Noticing a theme yet? We've already got a Juzam and a Tutor, so why not throw in a Timetwister? Diminishing Returns is the mass-card-drawing tool everyone's been waiting for, and it's every bit as good as its out-of-print cousin. Sure it costs one more mana, and you have to chuck 10 cards from the game, but that doesn't change what the card does. Only have one card in your hand? Grab seven new ones. Yup, that sucks. Yavimaya Ants What do you get when you cross a Ball Lightning with a Hungry Mist? A misty ball of hungry lightning? Not quite. The combination looks more like the butt-kicking Yavimaya Ants. With all of green's fast mana, the Ants are just as easy to play as a Ball Lightning, do almost as much damage AND they stick around for a while. Even if you can only pay the cumulative upkeep once, 10 damage in two turns ain't too shabby. Ritual of the Machine What's up with taking control of your opponent's creatures without having to worry about getting thwarted by a Disenchant? There's Helm of Obedience False Demise and, of course, Ritual of the Machine. "Ooh...that's a lovely looking Serra Angel you've got there! Think I'll put my Thrull through this little machine here..." It's like a Terror, only better. Hey, this card's almost as cool as Changeling! ("Magic: The Creations," InQuest #7.) Ya think those guys over at Wizards of the Coast are reading InQuest? Lake of the Dead How would you like it if each of your swamps could produce five mana? Don't think they'd ever make a card like that? Guess again. Lake of the Dead takes a couple of turns to get into play, but once it's there, all your mana troubles will be history. Third turn Sengir Vampire without a Dark Ritual? No problem. Ihsan's Shade? No problem. Lord of the Pit? Cosmic Horror?? Baron Sengir??! We're talking serious mana production here. Now you can get all the stupidest, most expensive creatures out with no trouble. Elvish Spirit Guide Wow! A 2/2 creature for three mana! This thing rocks!!! Oh, wait a sec... while that may be ALL the Gray Ogre has going for it, the Elvish Spirit Guide has this one other nifty ability that's worth mentioning. Want to get a big creature out early in the game? Use the Spirit for an explosive start. Need some green mana in a pinch when you're tapped out? Once again, Elvish Spirit Guide to the rescue. Just got Power Sunk for one? Cast the Spirit Guide and beat the crap out of him. Scars of the Veteran Biggest problem with Reverse Damage? You have to save three mana to use it and it can't even protect your creatures. Not only can you cast Scars of the Veteran with zero mana and protect your creatures from an untimely Fireball, you can also make them HUGE in the process. You Fireball my Serra for four? I make it a 4/8! With its ability to protect up to seven points of damage for almost no cost, Scars of the Veteran is a must for any white deck. Honorable Mention Stromgald Spy Speaking of cool, the Stromgald Spy may not be the most powerful card in Alliances, but his ability is just too funky to not mention. Sure, you could take the easy route and use a Glasses of Urza and look at your opponent's hand, but it's so much cooler to send the spy in for a little bit of espionage. Now all we need is a white Summon Spy card so we can get the Spy vs. Spy deck going... Worst Card Mishra's Groundbreaker Let's get this straight...with Mishra's Groundbreaker you get to pay four mana and use up a card to make one of your lands Lightning Bolt bait This is a good thing? Wouldn't you rather draw a Bog Wraith or a Phantom Monster? Heck, we'd even settle for a Hill Giant or, gasp, Mercenaries. Oh yeah, we suppose you could use it to kill your opponent's lands, but, it just be easier to use a Stone Rain or something? If you didn't have to sacrifice the Groundbreaker to use its special ability it MIGHT be a decent card... @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 5 " Link "start"@} @endnode **-- @node colors Ranking the Colors 1. Red Big creatures, mass destruction, cards that do damage for zero mana... red's just about got it all in this expansion. Red still can't deal with enchantments, but MAN can it handle artifacts and lands. Forget Goblins, Kobolds and Dwarves...the apes are the big boys in red now. The best thing about the red cards in Alliances is that there are very few that are outright worthless. In fact, there are quite a few cards that will make an impact on the tournament scene. 2. Blue Between Diminishing Returns, Library of Lat-Nam and Force of Will, blue has the most powerful cards of the five colors (though fewer of them) Complemented by a nice mix of countering ability, library manipulation and creature control, blue's got a nice set of cards. Alliances didn't really do anything to make all-blue decks viable, but it certainly made blue a color to be reckoned with. 3. Green Once again, green gained a bunch of really good creatures. Deadly Insect and Elvish Ranger may not be very exciting, but they pack a lot of punch. And although Kaysa's a legend, green finally got a card to give all of its creatures a boost. However, green got shafted on just about everything else. Tornado is practically unusable, and the various new enchantments just aren't exciting enough to put green any higher than third on the list 4. Black Black's got some really funky new abilities with cards like Ritual of the Machine and Stromgald Spy. Lim-Dûl's High Guard is another useful weenie (2/1 first strike for three mana) and Dystopia is a horrifically powerful hoser-a must for the sideboard of any straight black deck. Still, overall Alliances just doesn't add that much to this color. There are a few really good cards, but there are just too many that aren't terribly exciting. 5. White White's got a lot of interesting cards, but nothing that'll really turn any heads. Scars of the Veteran is funky because of its zero-cost, but every color's got that. As always, white's got some interesting, over- priced creatures, but nothing that's going to shake up the play environment. Of course, white players shouldn't complain. With white dominating the tournament scene, it's about time Wizards of the Coast held back a little. The Other Stuff: The artifact mix in Alliances is pretty good. There are some worthwhile artifact creatures, and a lot of twisted new abilities that can be added to any deck. For the most part, the gold cards are usable, with none costing more than four man to cast, and no more than one of each color mana. As for lands, each color got a specific land. Some are great, some are okay, but none of them suck. It's always nice to see new lands, so no complaints here. InQuest editors Jeff Hannes, Pat McCallum & Michael Searle patiently await the tournament-winning Mishra's Groundbreaker deck. Copyright 1996 Gareb Shamus Enterprises, Inc. @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 5 " Link "start"@} @endnode **--