Subject: The Unseen Power of Shrieking Drake (Humor) Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 01:34:16 EDT From: ArLevi@aol.com To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com By Dan Levi I've been looking through the Dojo recently and I noticed some problems that I intend to fix. I see people consistantly saying that the best card in Magic, at least in type 2 is Impulse. Wrong! It's Shriking Drake! Granted, it may not be as easy to cheat with Shrieking Drake, but just think of the possibilities, keeping in mind that the best creature to return with Shrieking Drake is itself: 1. Make your opponent believe you are a scrub. Then unload on him.This is really easy to do if you have a Shrieking Drake and an Island in your opening hand. Drop an Island. Tap the Island. Say, "Oh, wait, I can't play Mask of the Mimic if I have no creatures out, right? Oh, darn, I already tapped the land. Um, I guess I'll play the Shrieking Drake." Then when your opponent says, "You have to return a creature to your hand," you respond by saying, "There were no creatures out when I played him, so he stays in play." If your opponent agrees, it's obvious your opponent is a scrub himself and you can easily beat him. Otherwise, return the Drake to your hand and start playing like a real player in a few turns. He'll obviously let his guard down because he thinks you are a moron. 2. Intimidate your opponent by telling him indirectly what you'll be doing. This can be done with a number of cards. Bring out a Contemplation, then say, "Hey, would you play with a 2 card combination if it let you cast a stream of life with your blue mana that had a buyback of zero mana?" This also works well with cards like pandemonium, Equilibrium, and Soul Warden. (Substituting in the words "Fireball," and "Multiple Unsummons" for Stream of Life when appropriate) 3. Aluren. Think about it. Someone plays a Swords on your Mahamoti Djinn. Say, I respond by casting Shrieking Drake for zero mana (Now that's Ba-roken) and return my Mahamoti. The Swords fizzles, and best of all, you have a 1/1 flyer out that you played for free! That's what I call Mana efficiency. 4. Dream Halls. Wow, what was WOTC smoking when they made this card? Didn't they think of how that would affect the current playing environment? Especially with Shrieking Drake still in type 2. Think of it: You play a fifth turn Dream halls. The Shrieking Drake/Soul Warden combo you've been using has been saving you from the beat-down you're recieving, but it doesn't matter, because you can play stream of life with your blue mana with buyback of 0. Now, ditch the Shrieking Drake that still in your hand, even though you've been making good use of it, and play something gigantic! Preferably Marjhan or Island Fish Jasconius. 5. This is for friendly play only. It's another form of intimidation. When you start playing, tell your opponent, "Oh, by the way, all of the Flying Men in here are proxies for Shrieking Drakes." When your opponent says, "Why? You don't have any Shrieking Drakes?," you respond with, "No, it's because my 12 Shrieking Drakes are all in serious tournament decks." This will put the fear into your opponent. (Or course you are lying. You actually have lots more Shrieking Drakes. You need lots to be considered a serious "tounament playa") 6. The best use of Shrieking Drake is it's ability: U: Reveal Shrieking Drake to all opponents. Pretend you are casting a blue spell. Use this ability only when Shrieking Drake is in your hand. This ability may be countered as if it was a spell. All effects that trigger when a blue spell is cast are triggered. Now, you may ask what the point of that is. But look at this deck I made. Land: 12 Islands 8 Forests Blue: 4 Shrieking Drakes 4 Foresight 2 Mystical Tutor 1 Noble Benefactor 1 Braingeyser 4 Browse 4 Library of Lat Nam Green: 2 Stream of Life 4 Overgrowth 4 Wild Growth 4 Stunted Growth 2 Forgotten Lore Artifact: 1 Rocket Launcher 4 Lapis Lazuli Talisman Okay, the idea with this deck is to get out a Lapis Lazuli Talisman, And Island that makes 5 mana (through wild and over growths) and to have a drake in your hand. Tap the land for 5 mana, one of them blue. Cast the drake. Return the drake to your hand. You have 4 mana left over. Use 3 to untap the land that makes 5 mana. Repeat the process. Bam! You now have as much green mana as you want! Cast a Stream or Stunted Growths until you can kill your opponent with a braingeyser or your opponents with a giant rocket launcher. The foresights, tutors, browses, Benefactor, and Libraries will ensure that you get the cards you need/want. The best part is, the first time you play someone with this deck, they won't know what the hell to do with it! Example: Second turn I play Lapis Lazuli Talisman. Opponent: That card blows. Me: You'll see. 4th turn: Ok, my island now makes 5 mana. One blue and 4 green. Opponent: Why the hell would you want to do that? Me: You'll see. 5th turn: Me: Do you have 40,000 cards in your deck? Opponent: No. Me: Well, eat this!!! Throw down a Shrieking Drake and a Braingeyser on the table. Opponent: I don't get it. You have one good card in your deck. So? Are you conceding or something? Now I explain what's going on. Opponent: You are a complete moron for making this deck. See the power of Shrieking Drake? (He, he, now everyone will bow down to the power of shrieking drake and I can sell my large collection of them for lots of money.) (Note to all who read this: I have actually in reality done everything I've outlined in this article including building 3 serious tournament decks with Shrieking Drake and making and playing and winning games with the Lapis Lazuli Talisman)