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by Saito
Enchantment / Enhancement In Magic: the Gathering, it's obvious that you're more likely to play with some types of cards than others. For that reason, red decks always have a place for Incinerate, and almost no place for Solfatara. Why? Simple: Some cards are more useful than others. You can't deny the fact that because Incinerate's so useful and Solfatara's almost useless, people tend to place four Incinerates and no Solfataras in a deck. And yet, there is one subset of cards that almost never get played, and most of these cards have relatively good uses. This is serious. You are talking about an entire group of cards whose potential has never been realized. I am talking about local enchantments, and trust me -- they are definitely getting the wrong end of the stick. Granted, you may have noticed a number of standouts among them -- Empyrial Armor, Pacifism and Fire Whip, to name a few -- but these don't get put into that many decks. In fact, the rest probably aren't used at all! Why? The main reason for this reservoir of untapped (no pun intended) potential lies in the principle of Card Advantage: The greater the number of cards you have relative to your opponent, the more chances you have to win. Card Advantage may be manifested in many places, most notably cards in hand and cards in play, but there exists one constant strategy to gain Card Advantage: Get rid of more of your opponents' cards with less of your cards. It is for this reason that Earthquake and Wrath of God are tournament staples, and it is for this reason that Mind Twist was banned. Unfortunately, it is also for this reason that many local enchantments are not used in decks. Plant a Regeneration on a creature you control and each Dark Banishing automatically becomes a card capable of taking out two cards at the same time. It is because of the oddly simple nuance that local enchantments have to be anchored to a target permanent that makes them rather infrequently played. My point is, however, that as much as anything may have a catch, the utility of that "anything" lies in finding a way to get around its catch.
The first obstacle we must get around is the fact that once a permanent is destroyed, all local enchantments on it are destroyed as well and Card Advantage is lost. Thus, two ways to get past this obstacle: Either stop the destruction of the permanent in the first place, or find a way to keep Card Advantage despite the consequences. Blue excels at the prevention strategy, as it has few permanents to begin with and emphasizes the importance of whatever it brings out. Counterspells easily stop the permanent-kill, and redirectors like Meddle and Deflection can send them somewhere else. Mystic Veil is also an excellent choice. To retain Card Advantage, one must either find ways to draw more cards (another specialty of Blue), or play with staple Card-Advantage cards like Winds of Rath. Cantrip local enchantments like Bestial Fury and Vampirism are good, and reusable local enchantments like Flickering Ward and Crown of Flames are even better. Next, one must place only the appropriate local enchantments in a deck. Local enchantments aren't side dressing that you can just toss in -- careful planning must also play a part. You can't just throw a random bunch into your favorite deck. Creature-pumpers like Giant Strength and Armor of Thorns go together; Card-drawers like Curiosity and Betrayal go together.
Speaking of themes, local enchantments themselves may be the basis of several strategies as well. The aforementioned creature-pumpers may serve their purpose in a lightning-fast creature deck. Certain local enchantments that you can sacrifice to achieve protective effects, like Briar Shield, Carapace and Thrull Retainer, may form the cornerstone of a good deck. Other cards like Venom and Mortal Wound may serve to buy you time against other creature decks. Of course, one of the most important things we must consider is the fact that local enchantments need permanents to attach to. You don't want to have a bunch of Enchant Creature cards in hand with no creatures in play.
Finally, remember that local enchantments need not be restricted to your permanents. Your opponent's stuff is just ripe for things like Teferi's Curse, Tahngarth's Rage, Enfeeblement, or (D'oh!) Pacifism. And if your opponent isn't playing with creatures, there's a few other cards you can irritate him with, like Cursed Land and Psychic Venom (I mean, he's got to be playing with lands!). The cute part is that he can't off the stricken permanents himself unless he's willing to lose Card Advantage. Like all other Magic cards, local enchantments have their advantages and their disadvantages. The key to bringing out their full potential lies in emphasizing those advantages and sidestepping those disadvantages. After all, if people can figure out how to play with cards like Necropotence and Stasis in tournament decks without suffering their aftereffects, then nothing at all should never be used.
"The Mouse That Roared" uses a number of fair creature-pumping local enchantments in order to go for the quick kill. It follows the above guidelines on using local enchantments, and adds creature versatility to enable its attackers to slip through opponents' defenses to deal fair amounts of damage. In this deck, the principle of Card Advantage is largely ignored, as your primary objective is to take your opponent down as soon as possible. "The Mouse That Roared" is, at its heart, a weenie deck, designed to pour on the early-game damage at the cost of cards in hand. As a result, card recovery is tough. The deck carries fourteen creatures with various evasion abilities -- you can start pounding on an opponent early in the game and continue pouring on the damage. Raging Goblins are perfect for surprise attacks, and Mogg Maniacs will either get through or deal damage to your opponent when they die. Just to make sure that you get your cards when you need them, four Impulses round out the library manipulation. Meddle is there to protect your enchanted creatures and perhaps take out an opponent's creature in the process. Incinerates are there for emergencies -- usually when your opponent has a stubborn blocker -- but they can also be used to zonk your opponent for the last bits of life she has left. Just remember to cast everything at the last instant, and don't get rid of any creatures you can probably target with Meddle. The good part about this deck is that in playing it, you probably won't worry about reset buttons your opponent might use. She can't Wrath of God without having taken quite a bit of damage, and Earthquake won't touch the ten creatures that can fly. Armageddon and Jokulhaups will easily give you the advantage, as all but four of the cards in this deck may be cast with two mana or less. Speaking of two-mana-or-less cards, the Mana Severances are there to ensure that all future draws you get after casting them are good ones. I recommend that you cast a Mana Severance when you've got four lands in play and two in hand. "The Mouse That Roared" is a possibly nerve-wracking, yet brutal, deck to play. And if you've never heard a mouse roar before, trust me -- you don't want to hear one. Saito
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