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by Jaybie Cantey Card Spotlight Helm of Awakening Now that Visions has hit stores, tournament decks everywhere are changing to meet the challenge of the new Type II environment. While many cards will find a good home in Erngeddon, Land Destruction, Prison, and Discard decks, there are also new cards that have the potential to cause their own new decks. This month's Card Spotlight takes a close look at one of those cards: Helm of Awakening. Helm of Awakening: 2 colorless: All spells cost 1 less generic mana to cast. The Helm, a reprinted version of Stone Calendar, is an excellent asset to have when competing against current tournament decks. It allows for a quick recovery from Armageddon or land kill, and allows efficient use of mana when facing Prison decks. For the bargain-basement price of only two mana, the Helm allows for e ensive spells and creatures to swing the tide of the game early, without the benefit of Moxes or Time Walk. Helm of Awakening: don't leave home without it. Top 5 Combos with Helm of Awakening 5). "X" Spells. With three helms out, a fireball does three extra damage, a Stream of Life gains three additional hit points, and a Power Sink is three points more effective.   4). Artifact Attack. Although Helms can't reduce colored mana, they can make for a deadly Artifact speed deck. Just imagine dropping down Icy Manipulators for free.   3). Negation. If you have a Helm or two out, land destruction is much more useless.   2). Helm of Awakening is a great "filler" card. If you have your deck completely finished but still lack four cards (and the deck isn't mana deprived), there is no reason not to toss a few Helms in.   1). A great new Type I deck presents itself: "Black/ Red Cheese": Black 4 Nether Voids 4 Dark Rituals 4 Aku Djinns 4 Sinkholes Red 4 Stone Rains 4 Balduvian Hordes Artifact 4 Helms 4 Nevinyrral's Disks 4 Relic Barriers Lands 4 Badlands 3 Strip Mines 9 Swamps 9 Mountains Get a helm or two, a relic barrier, and a Nether Void out. During your opponent's turn, tap your helms with the barriers, leaving his spells 3 more to cast. During your turn, the Helms will offset the Voids, leaving you in the clear. With the trusty speed of Dark Rituals, a second turn Aku Djinn is not out of the question. Disks provide plenty of reset, and eleven land-kill cards should provide backup once you have the lock in place. Well, I hope this helps. See you next month.        Jaybie Cantey [ Back to March 1997 Table of Contents ] [ Back to Beyond Dominia ] Magic: the Gathering is a Registered Trademark of Wizards of the Coast