Conflux Review

Over the past week:

Blong bought a Fat Pack and box of conflux, he opened all but 6 packs. Blong's opened 38 packs of Conflux.

Vern bought a box and he's opened all his packs, I think. Vern's opened up 36 packs of Conflux.

Second and Peter split a box. Peter also opened up a Fat Pack. Peter's opened 26 packs of Conflux. Second's opened 18 packs of Conflux.

I just opened up 5 packs of Conflux last night. I still have one pack of Shards and 6 packs of Conflux at home left over from the Pre-Release, awaiting for a random draft.

Chong's box is on its way. If he opens up at least 30 packs then that means that MN has opened up a total of 153 packs of Conflux in the past week.

Conflux is much like Mornintide and Future Sight, in the sense that all three sets have great rares and are really fun to crack open. Their value is in opening up the packs as well as drafting with them. In Future Sight, people cracked open boxes, not just packs, in hopes of finding a Tarmogoyf. People opened up Morningtide boxes in hopes of finding Bitterblossoms, Chameleon Colossi, or Reveillarks.

Here are some of my favorite cards from the set so far, cards that I am personally excited for (this list is constantly changing):

Cylian Sunslinger: It's like a Chameleon Colossus in the sense that it grows. Granted it doesn't have "Pro Black" and is only a 2/2 but it can quickly become a 5/5 on turn 3! Then it can become an 8/8 on turn 6, just like a Figure of Destiny. There's always the case that it's a creature and that you can Terror or Wrath it away but still! A Grizzly Bear, a 2/2 for 2 mana, is usually already a pretty good deal, but one that can grow and adapt to the mid-game and late-game play, as well as, adjust to tempo swings from your opponent is a great card! That's why Figure of Destiny is so good, it's got early, mid, and late game potential. Green's been really weak in Standard play but hopefully the this card makes green a little stronger.

Cliffrunner Behemoth: All you have to do is get a Figure of Destiny out and this guy becomes a 5/3 Haste, Lifelink creature! In the near future, I predict I will die like this:

Turn 1: a 1/1 Figure of Destiny. I'm at 20 life.
Turn 2: a 2/2 Figure of Desitny. I'm at 18 life.
Turn 3: a 4/4 Figure of Desitny. I'm at 14 life.
Turn 4: a 4/4 Figure of Destiny & a 5/3 haste, lifelink Cliffrunner Behemoth. I'm at 5 life.
Turn 5: I Wrath of God the board and my opponent plays a 1/1 Figure of Destiny and another 5/3 haste, lifelink Cliffrunner Behemoth. I die.

Fleshformer: I want to put this guy in my 5CC deck just to try him out.

Paragon of Amesha: I also want to try this guy out. A 2/2 First Strike for 3 mana is always a good creature, but making him a 5/5 First Strike, Flying, Lifelink creature just has to be amazing! Can't wait to try him out!

Maelstrom Archangel: I've got one of these guys and so far so good! She doesn't have the initial tempo swing that Broodmate Dragon has but she does come out one turn faster then Broodmate. Her potential to do 5 damage and then to play a Cruel Ultimatum for free is just too great.

BONUS!!! Here are two decks that I've been toying around with

1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
4 Swans of Bryn Argoll
3 Vendilion Clique

3 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
4 Incinerate
2 Negate
4 Firespout
3 Remove Soul

3 Jace Beleren
2 Seismic Assault

It's a U/R control deck. Either I can deck them with Jace & the Swans or I can control the board and beat them down with direct damage. It still needs some more tweaking but it's so much fun to play with! Some of my favorite plays: Firespout the board with your Swans out because you sweep their board AND you get to draw three cards! Incinerating your own Swans at the end of your opponents turn! Using Jace's +2 ability, granted they get to draw a card, but so do you, and it's like gaining two life. Eventually, you deck them! :)

3 Battlegrace Angel
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Knight of White Orchid
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
2 Reveillark
2 Sower of Temptation

2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Jace Beleren

4 Cryptic Command
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Path to Exile
4 Martial Coup

This one is an oldie but goodie! It's your classic U/W control deck from the old days, I'm talking 1994! Remember playing with 4 White Knights, 4 Serra Angels, 4 Counterspells, 4 Wraths of God, 4 Swords to Plowshare, Armageddon, Balance, & Land Tax. Well, it's back! I still need one more Battlegrace Angel, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Elspeth, & 3 Martial Coups. But I can see 5CC being played less because people are going to back to their more traditional control archetypes.