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Chrome that Sphere

    As many know, my early articles were less than acceptable. But I've since
changed my ways, mainly from that excellent Scrub article. Anyway, I want to
write about a card few see as playable (besides in Limited): Chromatic
Sphere. This card is one I love having 2-4 in my decks, since it acts as many
different things. But I mainly use it in my UBR deck. Why? Because, for 1
mana, you get any color of mana and a card.

Chromatic Sphere-1
1, T: Sacrifice Chromatic Sphere: Add one mana of any color mana to your mana
pool. Draw a card.

    Why is this good? Lets say I play this first turn. Second turn, I have no
land to play. I tap my only land, add r to the pool, use Seal of Fire on my
opponents Elf/Bird/Seargent, get another land and play it. But the best way
to use its power is to draw the card before using that one mana, since the
card you draw might be better than the one you're going to play.
    Notice I said 2-4 Spheres. Some decks, like Disrupter (U/B), use big
creatures and don't need it. But, if their short a B mana for Dark Ritual,
here's your ticket. But what id you get it in the late game? Well, for one,
Marsh Crocodile always needs a sucker card. But since it takes up space for
better cards, play it and discard it, and you get a card and one mana or 2.
I'd put this same note for using Mana Cylix, but since it doesn't get you
speed, it isn't as useful as Chromatic Sphere. If you play 3 or more colors,
this artifact is like a best friend at certain times. Mishra's Helix
(Extended) or Kris Mage/Waterfront Bouncer/Stampede Driver (Standard or
Limited) can take care of that mana if you really need the card.

As usual, my E-mail is Paulwayner@aol.com