Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Type Fun's Top 200 Enchantment's: Part XXXI

#95: Haunted Crossroads
The drawback with Haunted Crossroads is that using it means you aren't drawing new cards. And I guess that's why I don't see it much. But for those willing to do so, this issue can easily be mitigated, turning Haunted Crossroads into a very powerful recursion engine. That's probably not the best way to use Haunted Crossroads anyway. Having a reusable Raise Dead engine is nice, but it's also possible to take advantage of the fact that this stacks the top of your library. You can control your own draws. Dump cards from your library into your graveyard and put the creature you want on top. Use it with Erratic Explosion. Use it with Infernal Genesis. Perhaps the most impressive combo is with Skill Borrower, which can do all sorts of neat tricks by copying the creature you put on top of your library.

#94: Leyline of the Void
Unless you get the (admittedly awesome) opening hand play, this is going to be significantly more costly than Planar Void. One reason it ranks above Planar Void is that with a full playset in your deck, this opening hand play is quite likely and won't allow the opponent any time to respond to it. When it comes to graveyard hate, they're both good cards. Leyline of the Void really shines because it only affects your opponents' graveyards. There are enchantments on this list, both already presented and upcoming, as well as some non-enchantment cards that can really use this effect. So in addition to wrecking some strategies your opponents might use, it has combos that massively increase the power of other cards. My favorite, and easily one of the most potent, is Bridge from Below (coming soon to a list near you).

#93: Parallax Wave
We recently took a look at Parallax Tide, but this one is the king of the Parallax enchantments. A lot of what goes for one goes for the other, but removing creatures is generally better than removing lands. The advantage Tide has is that it blocks disruption. The advantage Wave has is that it removes pesky blockers while you go for the kill, which it's actually quite good at. In aggressive white decks, this enchantment is deadly. Few opponents will be able to withstand an assault when they lose five of their potential blockers. It can also be used for utility, preventing opponents from using targeted removal on your creatures or even to re-use "comes into play" abilities on your creatures, but the main use I've seen has been to clear blockers out of the way. Oh, it's also a nice toolbox enchantment for Academy Rector (which is why I used an image of it at the end of my Academy Rector article).

#92: Decree of Silence
The "decree" cards from Scourge are all expensive spells with cycling abilities that act as alternatives. Most of them are sorceries. It's only the blue one that's an enchantment. But it's one powerful enchantment. I'd say it's game-winning, at least most of the time. Cycling it is expensive, much moreso than you'd normally pay for a counter. It has the advantage of not being a spell, though, which is nice. Using it as an enchantment is even better. Eight mana is really expensive, but it counters the next three spells your opponent plays. Sure, he can try to use his three worst spells to get around this monstrosity, but even if he does that successfully, it's probably worth it, as he'll waste those spells, tempo, and the mana he used to cast them. Meanwhile, you're free to do whatever you want. I'd go for winning the game, but what you do is your own call. This is also a nice toolbox enchantment for Academy Rector (and using it that way cuts the cost in half).

#91: Abundance
It won't do anything that particularly stands out or intimidates opponents, but Abundance is a solid, practical enchantment. It lets you replace drawing a card with something else. I didn't really point it out before on this list, when I covered Pursuit of Knowledge, but being able to skip drawing a card is a cool bonus for an enchantment to have, since it can save you from losing by decking. Abundance has an excellent combo with Sylvan Library (coming soon to a list near you). Since you don't actually draw cards, the drawback from Sylvan Library doesn't happen. Even by itself, Abundance lets you get a land when you need more mana and a nonland when you don't. Not amazing, but over time it helps out a lot. Abundance is another good green enchantment to try out in Enchantress decks (although it's a bit expensive for that purpose).

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