Parents - Getting Kids Involved! 

The Seventh in a Series of Articles for Parents of Young Players

Legions!

One of the most exciting times in Magic is when a new set is released. This coming Monday, the newest Magic: The Gathering set, Legions, will hit the store shelves, and players all over the world will begin gobbling boosters up as fast as they can afford them.  Then groups of friends will gather around a table as they bust boosters or play drafts with the new set.  Silence will ensue as the cards are studied one by one, with intermittent exclamations, groans and gasps as great and horrible creatures and abilities are discovered.  Players of all ages will begin considering which cards will add nicely to their decks, and friends and fellow players will trade for the cards they want.

If you were lucky enough to attend one of the Worldwide pre-release tournaments, you may have glimpsed (and experienced) some of this newest set.  We were lucky enough to work at Ray Powers' pre-release in San Diego, California, and we were privy to seeing the new cards first hand. I'd like to take a few moments to give a rundown of what Legions has to offer us:

Creature Feature
Creatures don't just make up the majority of this set, they make up ALL of this set!  Every card is a creature; no instants, no sorceries, no enchantments, no artifacts, and no lands. Just critters everywhere you turn. Most have abilities that go with them, and that helps to negate the need for the other card types. Makes for some interesting drafts, that's for sure!

Abilities
With each new set, Wizards introduces some new concepts or abilities to the game. This time, they gave us Provoke and Double Strike. Creatures that have provoke can make another creature block them.  Creatures with Double Strike deal their damage twice, firstly during the first strike combat damage step and again during regular combat damage step. New concepts such as these send players minds to scheming as to ways to take full advantage of them. How about using Might of Oaks on an unblocked Double Striker? Ouch......!

Tribal
Tribal Creatures are also being highly encouraged in this new block. Not since the heyday of Rebels have tribal decks been so viable. Some of the tribes that might see play are Elves, Goblins, Beasts, and Slivers...Yes, I said SLIVERS!! Slivers are back, and they are back with a vengeance!! 15 New ones, 3 in each color, evenly split among rarities. Sliver Queen has gone through the roof of late as players anticipated the release of Legions and the new Sliver minions, many of which have some great new abilities for the Sliver family... Fun, fun fun!!

Take some time to check Legions out! Buy some packs, trade some cards with your friends, start your collection, and plan your latest, greatest deck! Most of all, have fun with it!

Until next time...

 ~ Christine

www.ShuffleAndCutGames.com