Random Card Challenge

i've been quite busy these past few days. so busy that a post that i started writing last monday is still a draft. anyway, before i get to post that, i'll copy and paste something i've been doing here at the office to wake myself up. i call it RANDOM CARD CHALLENGE.

the instructions: i'll click the "Random Card" tab on The Gatherer until three standard-legal cards come up. i'll then build a deck around (meaning those three cards would be part of the victory condition) or with (meaning the cards would just be in the deck) those cards, whatever those cards would be.

here are some examples:

CHALLENGE 1

CARD #1: Angelic Arbiter

CARD #2: Crumbling Necropolis

CARD #3: Resounding Scream

i got excited when i hit the arbiter because the card was playable, but when i hit the grixis triland and than unheard of card, then the challenge was on. since it was in grixis splashing white, i thought of discard. and discard with the arbiter out would be quite tricky. when i play a discard spell, i can't attack which is fine. and the villain has to either attack or just pass...well, that didn't make sense. oh well, here it is.

ANGELIC DISCARD

Lands (24)

2 Celestial Colonnade

4 Crumbling Necropolis

2 Island

2 Lavaclaw Reeches

3 Marsh Flat

2 Mountain

2 Plains

3 Scalding Tarn

4 Swamp

Creature (6)

3 Angelic Arbiter

3 Lilliana’s Spectre

Other Spells (30)

4 Blightning

2 Countersquall

3 Diabolic Tutor

4 Lilliana’s Caress

4 Mana Leak

2 Megrim

4 Mind Rot

3 Oblivion Ring

2 Path to Exile

2 Resounding Scream

CHALLENGE # 2

CARD #1: Celestial Colonnade

CARD #2: Demonic Appetite

CARD #3: Dragonskull Summit

a bummer. two lands and an unplayable aura even in limited. however, the r/b color of the deck and the sacrifice a creature cost for the appetite made me think of a deck that has some sacrifice synergies. enchanting a mortician beetle with the appetite gives it a counter each turn while boosting it +3/+3. add some token producers and white for elspeth and voila:

DEMONIC BEETLE

Lands (24)

2 Celestial Colonnade

3 Crumbling Necropolis

3 Dragonskull Summit

1 Island

3 Marsh Flats

3 Mountain

2 Plains

2 Scalding Tarn

5 Swamp

Creatures (12)

4 Dread Drone

4 Emrakul’s Hatcher

4 Mortician Beetle

Other Spells (24)

4 Corpsehatch

4 Demonic Appetite

2 Eldrazi Monument

3 Elspeth Knight Errant

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Mana Leak

3 Oblivion Ring

CHALLENGE 3

CARD #1: Giant Spider

CARD #2: Holy Strength

CARD #3: Manabarbs

well, the first 3-color deck in the challenge. i had a hard time figuring out synergies between these cards. well, what i thought of, since the spider is a good defender, i thought of locking down my opponent's creatures w/defenders and his mana with the barbs then trying to damage him via other means. i thought of vent sentinel:

BARBED DEFENDERS

Lands (24)

3 Arid Mesa

2 Forest

4 Jungle Shrine

4 Mountain

1 Plains

2 Raging Ravine

4 Rootbound Crag

2 Stirring Wildwood

2 Verdant Catacombs

Creatures (24)

2 Giant Spider

4 Joraga Treespeaker

2 Knotvine Mystic

4 Llanowar Elves

4 Overgrown Battlement

4 Raging Nimbus

4 Vent Sentinel

Other Spells (12)

4 Banefire

2 Holy Strength

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Manabarbs

well, the following two decks i built while inside the LRT. not that it influenced it or anything, just shows how dedicated i am. :)

CHALLENGE 4

CARD #1: Arc Runner

CARD #2: Ornithopter

CARD #3: Mind Rot

TWO COLORS! at last! well, b/r are the easiest and most powerful decks to build. what i looked at is arc runner's until end of turn existence and ornithipter's 0 casting cost. then i thought of sarkahn the mad. turn your runner into a dragon on the end step, or cast sarkahn, then cast ornithopter and turn it into a dragon. nice. the mind rot, well, i'll just throw in one.

RUNNING MAD

Lands (24)

4 Dragonskull Summit

4 Lavaclaw Reeches

5 Mountain

3 Scalding Tarn

5 Swamp

3 Verdant Catacombs

Creatures (18)

4 Arc Runner

4 Ball Lightning

2 Dread Drone

4 Hellspark Elemental

4 Ornithopter

Other Spells (18)

1 Eldrazi Monument

4 Grim Discovery

4 Lightning Bolt

1 Mind Rot

4 Sarkahn the Mad

4 Terminate

CHALLENGE 5

CARD #1: River Boa

CARD #2: Hyena Umbra

CARD #3: Tidehollow Strix

talk about weird. this would be esper, with green. what i looked at is the boa's islandwalk ability and the strix's 3 mana cost. and then i thought of a spreading seas deck. well, at least i tried.

ESPER GONE GREEN

Lands (24)

3 Arcane Sanctum

3 Creeping Tar Pit

2 Forest

2 Glacial Fortress

3 Island

2 Marsh Flats

2 Misty Rainforest

2 Plains

2 Sunpetal Grove

3 Swamp

Creatures (15)

4 Esper Stormblade

4 River Boa

4 Tidehollow Sculler

3 Tidehollow Strix

Other Spells (21)

4 Ardent Plea

1 Canopy Cover

4 Convincing Mirage

2 Deny Reality

2 Hyena Umbra

4 Spreading Seas

4 Stormcaller’s Boon

well, that's it. you could alter the instructions for better results (like 3 rare nonland cards). you could check what the cards do by searching them here. have fun.