Ted's Prophecy Picks!

Hello again. I'm back with enough Tedman's Tales to fill a common box. Yes, the time is come to talk about Prophecy. You all knew it was bound to happen, and it might as well be now. Today, I'm going to talk about my Type 2 picks. The best of Prophecy, color by color. Today: White, Blue and Black.

It begins.

Abolish
WW1, Instant, Uncommon
You can discard a Plains from hand instead of paying Abolish's mana cost.
Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Illus. Kev Walker (1/143)

Now most people are thinking that this is just an overcosted Disechant. But keep in mind that it's an instant, and only a Plains needs to be discarded. It's a great weapon against the likes of Bargain, Replenish, etc. And an uncommon, too!

Diving Griffin
WW1, Creature - Griffin 2/2, Common
Flying
Attacking does not cause Diving Griffin to tap.
Illus. John Howe (6/143)

This guy is great flying defense for a normally grounded color (White). Cheap and undercosted for its ability, this guy is good for flying defense with Rebels.

Mageta, the Lion
WW3, Creature - Spellshaper Legend 3/3, Rare
2WW, , Discard 2 cards from hand: Destroy all creatures in play except for Mageta the
Lion. Creatures destroyed this way cannot regenerate.
Illus. Brom (13/143)

Now this guy's just a beating and a half. As well as having a three power/toughness, a built in Wrath ability, he keeps himself around after. He's going to be going into every good Rebel deck in one copy, if not more. Great against Stompy, Rebel mirror match, and basically any creature- heavy deck.

Mirror Strike
W3, Instant, Uncommon
Target unblocked creature deals combat damage to its controller instead of you this turn.
Illus. Dave Dorman (17/143)

In a big attack, you don't want your opponent to play this on you. Avatar of Might suddenly seems like a small problem. It's great also because you can still block and kill the creature as well as having its damage go to its controller. I still can't believe it's an uncommon.

Reveille Squad
WW2, Creature - Rebel 3/3, Uncommon
When you are attacked, if Reveille Squad is untapped, you may untap all creatures you control.
Illus. Greg & Tim Hildebrandt (18/143)

This Rebel is great. It gives White a cute new defensive mechanism. You can always attack without fear of having no blockers. This guy should see quite a bit of play in Rebels. Its only shortcoming is in its 4 casting cost, which is sometimes hard for Rebels to search for without Lin Sivvi. Either way, it's a great card.

Shield Dancer
W2, Creature - Rebel 1/3, Uncommon
2W: During this turn, all damage dealt by target attacking creature to Shield Dancer is redirected to itself.
Illus. Mike Ploog (23/143)

Once again, Rebels get a boost in this set, as opposed to Mercenaries who get the cruddy Informer. This time, White gets an aggro-defensive creature. What? Avatar of Fury pumping for 10 and attacking? No. This guy single-handedly shuts down decks with big finishers (Blue?).

Avatar of Will
UU6, Creature - Avatar 5/6, Rare
Flying
If an opponent has no cards in hard, Avatar of Will costs 6 less to play.
Illus. rk post (30/143)

All I can say is, WOW! He survives Morphling. He flies. He can be played for cheaper. Can anyone say "New Blue Finisher?" I can. I can most definitely see this guy going into Post-Urza's Blue decks. And try him with discard too.

Foil
UU2, Instant, Uncommon
You can discard an Island and another card from hand to substitute Foil's casting cost.
Counter target spell.
Illus. Nelson DeCastro (34/143)

The new Force of Will, which we all know dominated tournament Blue. It's a bit less powerful, giving you the option of playing it for free, but at the cost of 2 MORE cards. My advice: play this card, but only use it in case of extreme need.

Mana Vapors
U1, Sorcery, Uncommon
All lands under target player's control cannot untap during that player's next untap step.
Illus. Mark Romanoski (38/143)

This card is aweseme. A great way to temporarily lock someone down. It's a solid card, and should see play in a few Blue decks, maybe even Fish.

Rethink
U2, Instant, Common
Unless target spell's controller pays X, counter that spell. X equals the converted mana cost of that spell.
Illus. Matt Cavotta (42/143)

Blue has found a new staple Counterspell. It's great against decks like Black Control where they play lots of expensive, powerful spells. In the common slot, with only one Blue mana requirement, this card is extremely splashable.

Rhystic Scrying
UU2, Sorcery, Uncommon
Draw 3 cards. If any player pays 2, discard 3 cards from hand.
Illus. Roger Raupp (44/143)

This card has many uses. For one, you can wait for them to tap out to Ancestral Recall, our play it in Replenish to do a temporary Attunement. It's very versatile. Should see play in a few different decks. But that's a guess.

Withdraw
UU, Instant, Common
Return target creature to its owner's hand. Unless another target creature's controller pays 1, that creature is also returned to its owner's hand.
Illus. Adam Rex (54/143)

Many tote this card as one of the best cards in Prophecy. I disagree, but it's good. Wait for them to tap out, and bounce two critters. At worst, it's a Boomerang for a creature.

Avatar of Woe
6, Creature - Avatar 6/5, Rare
If all graveyards have have a total of 10 or more creatures, Avatar of Woe costs 6 less to cast.
Avatar of Woe cannot be blocked except by artifact or black creatures.
T: Destroy target creature, that creature cannot regenerate.
Illus. rk post (56/143)

This is it. The highest-valued card in Prophecy. And it's got good reason. It's a Royal Assassin on steroids. Good steroids. It should see a lot of play, mainly in Black Control. Once it's out, it's only doom for your opponent.

Despoil
B3, Sorcery, Common
Destroy target land. That land's controller loses 2 life.
Illus. Scott M. Fischer (62/143)

Black gets a LD boost in Despoil. The added kick of losing two life is quite valuable. Not a fabulous card, but quite good.

Greel, Mind Raker
BB3, Creature - Spellshaper Legend 3/3, Rare
XB, T, Discard 2 cards from hand: Target player randomly discards X cards.
Illus. Arnie Swekel (66/143)

Why do you think that Mind Twist was banned? It was too powerful. Now we get Greel, Mind Raker to fill up that void that Mind Warp failed to fill. An adequate creature for Black Control. Although he costs 5 to play, Black really shouldn't have a problem casting it (with Dark Ritual and Peat Bog), and once it's out against Blue, it's very dangerous.

Nakaya Shade
B1, Creature - Shade 1/1, Uncommon
B: Unless any player pays 2, Nakaya Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Illus. Ray Lago (69/143)

One of the only good Rhystic creatures. The best part of this guy is that he ends of tapping the opponent out really fast. And no more days of 4 casting cost pumpers for Black. He should be seen in a few MBC Black decks.

Pit Raptor
BB2, Creature - Mercenary 4/3, Uncommon
Flying, First Strike
At the beginning of your upkeep, unless you pay 2BB, sacrifice Pit Raptor.
Illus. Thomas Gianni (72/143)

Black finally gets a good flyer! And it's a Mercenary, too. It's really hard to kill in combat, too.

Rhystic Tutor
B2, Sorcery, Rare
Unless any player pays 2, search for a card in your library, put that card into your hand, shuffle your library.
Illus. Dan Frazier (77/143)

This card is hyped as the best card in Prophecy. I sincerely doubt it, but it is good. In R/B Land Destruction, it's killer. Should see play in a lot of Black decks.

In a big attack, you don't want your opponent to play this on you. Avatar of Might suddenly seems like a small problem. It's great also because you can still block and kill the creature as well as having its damage go to its controller. I still can't believe it's an uncommon.

Umm..."unblocked". So you cant block and kill it....

A new staple for Sped Red is:

T1: Cadets, go.
T2: Take 2, Brawlers, go
T3: Tangle Wire, Take 6 go
T4: Play a burn or creature, take 6 go
T5: End Game.

Also, with the Avatar of Will (and really for all the Avatars), you will find that they will pull you out of precariously bad situations alot more then they should (as you realized last Tuesday.. )

Mono-Green Extended deck:

4x Aluren
4x Worldly Tutor
As many Prophecy Avatars as you can cram in.

He-he: free Avatars. That is as long as you can satisfy the conditions, and they can be played as instants! Now tell me Avatar of Woe is overhyped.

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