From: Brock [mailto:whatever@hcinet.net]
Peasant Deck: Frenzied Peasants of Rath

I’m having myself a fit of nostalgia. I blame Abe Sargent. And the weekends.

Let me explain. I recently reread Abe’s series on the Underused Card Hall of Fame at Star City Games. Since I’m not sure if the folks here at Pojo look kindly on pimping other M:tG sites (and since I’ve already pushed my luck), I leave it to you to Google it up. 

(Pojo Note:  Fine by me.  ;-) 

Anyway, Abe and I happen to share similar tastes in cards. Both of us dig the Tempest common Blood Frenzy. Here’s what he had to say: “Blood Frenzy is a great {card} because it is unilaterally good. Pumping a creature or getting an extra four damage in is always a nice play. Additionally, Blood Frenzy kills the attacking creature, allowing it to be decent, if a tad awkward, creature kill.“ Well said, Abe.

I also spent part of last Saturday sorting through and reorganizing my old cards (I’m not the only one to let my cards lay scattered willy-nilly all over the house for the better part of three years before I box ‘em up, right?) and stumbled across good ol’ Blood Frenzy, along with some of his buddies from Tempest: Aftershock, Rolling Thunder, Lightning Elemental, Moggs and Slivers. Fun stuff from back in the day.

Then I realized just how much raw power red had in that set. And I don’t mean in block, I’m talking just Tempest on it’s own: Mogg Fanatic, Fireslinger, Rolling Thunder, Jackal Pup and Kindle logged themselves plenty of hours in tourneys world wide. (I’ll kindly spare you the repressed, painful memories of death by Cursed Scroll.)

Where am I going with this? Glad you asked. Like I said, I’m nostalgic for my favorite Magic set. Tempest had some powerful cards in the color crimson. Powerful and very COMMON cards! And since Mr. Sargent’s thought bunnies on Blood Frenzy won’t leave my head… Why say! You don’t think there’s a PEZ deck to be built around that theme, do you?

FRENZIED PESEANTS OF RATH
(Tempest red peasant deck. Uncommons marked with an *)
 
4 Fireslinger
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Canyon Wildcat
1 Lightning Elemental
4 Mogg Conscripts
3 Mogg Raider
2 Sandstone Warrior
 
4 Kindle
4 Lightning Blast
1 Rolling Thunder
2 Aftershock
4 Blood Frenzy
2 Stun
*1 Goblin Bombardment
*2 Searing Touch
 
20 Mountains
 
SIDEBOARD
4 Shatter
3 Stone Rain
2 Aftershock
2 Stun
*1 Boil
*1 Havoc
2 Wall of Diffusion

How the deck works: You can’t GET much less complicated than this deck! It’s red doing what red loves best: burning things and smashing face.

1) Mogg Raiders and Sandstone Warriors: Tiny terrors pump up into terrible titans.

2) Mogg Conscripts: Cheap bodies and food for Mogg Raiders.

3) Lightning Elemental: A sentimental favorite of mine. (More nostalgia.)

4) Fireslinger, Mogg Fanatic, Kindle, Lightning Blast, Searing Touch and Goblin Bombardment: Burn, baby, burn!

5) Rolling Thunder: Hey baby! Yo’ momma, brothers and sisters can burn too!

6) Aftershock: It’s like a common (and stronger) Pillage, but it hurts you, too. Targeted permanent kill for things that can’t be burned. Use it wisely.

7) Blood Frenzy: Gives your attackers a suicidal push or sends your opponent’s blockers to their final resting place. (See Abe’s comments above.) Y’know, I’m half inspired to write an article solely on this card…

8) Stun: An extra helper for your Blood Frenzied attackers plus bonus card drawing.

The sideboard is built with the PEZ scene in mind. Shatter is the Affinity killer while more Aftershocks and Stone Rains are for hunting unique (read: unburnable) game. The Walls of Diffusion are for matches against Shadow decks. (Shadowstorm would be a better card, but I’ve already used up my uncommon allotment.) Boil is anti-blue, Havoc is anti-white. And finally two more Stuns, simply for the hell of it. :)

As always, you’re welcome to send e-mail to whatever@hcinet.net. Until then, I remain…

B. Siems