Less than a month ago Planeswalkers of Steemit discord group was created. Although I stopped playing MTG seriously when my backpack with all the decks I owned was stolen (10 decks worth somewhere around $1000) I immediately joined the group as MTG is one of my favorite games ever designed.
This game is special because it offers an unlimited number of strategies and card combinations, and a countless number of counter-strategies for each combination of cards anyone devises. That fact takes the pressure of "the best combination" off your shoulders and lets the player create a deck that reflects his personality and play-style. I can't describe how well you can get to know a person and a way that a person thinks just by playing Magic with them.
Magic has 5 different colors, and each of those reflects certain vices and virtues. My favorite color in MTG is blue, it stands for knowledge, intelligence, manipulation, deceit, control and similar characteristics. Blue decks thrive by controlling the board and actions of other players. They are at their best when they know about their opponents' incoming cards better then the opponents know themselves. True mastery of the blue color is bending the rules of the game itself.
I decided to share one of my favorite combos in MTG with the Magic community here. Since this is my first MTG post I will share a bit simpler combo here :)
Note: All images portraying cards in this post are owned by Wizards of the Coast.
It is a two-card combo which starts with Keiga, The Tide Star. Keiga is troublesome card on board by itself, it is a 5/5 flying dragon which can quickly waste your opponents' health if left unchecked, but that is not what makes Keiga truly dangerous. The true power of Keiga is in controlling the whole battlefield alone, without doing anything.
This beautiful dragon is best used when an opponent has a more powerful creature on the board. That way you ensure that he will not dare destroy Keiga as you will gain control of his creature and change the scales of battle in your favor. He will also be afraid to attack, both with his more powerful creature and those less powerful ones if you leave your Keiga untapped. If he attacks with weaker creatures Keiga will effortlessly eliminate them. If he attacks with one that is stronger, Keiga will die blocking the creature and you will end up taking his creature that best fits your needs.
Now to make Keiga even more troublesome you will need a few more cards, and my favorite here is a card called Following Footsteps.
There is a rule called The Legend Rule in MTG which was changed in 2013 making this combo possible. The Legend Rule states: If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards.
This means that once you enchant your Keiga with Following Footsteps you will gain one copy of Keiga each turn. Those copies will die instantly, allowing you to pick one creature each turn and gain control of it permanently.
Now, this is a rather costly combo as blue decks usually don't have ways to generate lots of mana and you will have to be able to survive until Keiga enters the battlefield. It is not that hard if your deck is built for that. When I play blue, I usually prefer to play decks with some interesting high-cost blue creatures and sorceries. To be efficient with such a deck I need enough low-cost control cards to allow me to respond to anything and live on the edge. Here are some of those:
Telepathy is my most favorite card of all. It is the backbone of efficient control, as it reveals all of your opponents' cards and allows you to decide to which cards to respond.
Echoing truth is one of the best boomerangs in the game because it often lets you return several cards to your opponents' hands for just two mana. It also completely destroys token decks as their battlefield is usually filled with 10+ creatures which share the same name.
Counterspell is self-explanatory.
Willbender is a great choice as it can protect you early game while being morphed and simultaneously scaring the shit of your opponent (no-one likes to see hidden morphs on battleground). In later part of the game, he can be used to shove some nasty spells your opponent plays right back at him. It also lets you protect Keiga once it is enchanted.
Dragon's Eye Servants is a great card for protection throughout the game. In addition, it lets you check your opponent's hand before hard decisions in case you don't have Telepathy in play.
Spy Network lets you prepare for the next four turns while simultaneously checking what your opponent has up his sleeve. It works best in combination with cards that allow you to shuffle or rearrange your library in case you don't like what cards are coming in the next four turns.
Although there are a lot of more efficient counters among the blue cards I prefer Jester's Scepter because of the psychological effects it has on your opponents. It also lets you get to know your opponents deck better because you get to see five more of his cards. In addition to all of that, if you like to play cards which let you check opponents incoming cards (which I obviously love) you can play it at strategic moment removing some powerful cards from the game. You might also consider using it if you notice your opponent is low on lands and you know there are few lands incoming in his next 5 cards.
Finally, here are two more cards that combo well with Keiga:
This land lets you freely attack your opponent with Keiga and have her untapped to prevent your opponent from attacking. This is especially useful when an opponent has a powerful creature without flying.
Rite of Replication is an expensive multi-control "nuke" for a very late phase of the game if you manage to cast it on your Keiga with kicker.
When you play blue never forget that knowledge is power!