A contemplation of Mirari

[Duppleganger]

Take a look at an Odyssey card. Just under the picture, on the right side of the card, you can see It.
Mirari.
The card that gave the Odyssey its icon (a thing never heard before, I believe). A card everybody agree could be put to a good use - in the right kind of deck. So why is nobody publishing some kind of article/review about it?
Let the silence be broken!


A (very) long time ago, there was a card named Fork. It came as an Interrupt (a variation of an instant) and for 2 red mana, won you the game.
Well, not quite - but close enough.
fork could duplicate the effects of any instant or sorcery spell, while allowing you to choose a different target for it. Pay close attention to that : ANY instant or sorcery - your opponent's included.
The versatility of the card was optimal. Anything your foe did, you could do too. It could be a counter-measure for your opponent's surprises. With only one card you could foil a well-laid plan.
A few examples :
Your opponent attacks with a Serra Angel, and you block with a Sengir Vampire (both 4/4 flyers). Your oppoent casts Giant Growth on the Angel. Just fork it!
You wish to cast an important creature, which your opponent counters. Fork the counter back unto itself!
Your opponent Braingeysers himself for 7 cards. Do you really want to stay behind on cards? Just fork it!

These are only a few examples, based on your opponent's cards and acts. The versatility of Fork truly shows when you fork your own potent spells. Would you like to Time Walk an extra turn? Why not two? An Ancestral Recall for 3 cards? Fork it for 6!

I believe I've demonstrated the immense potential of Fork. No wonder it was restricted in type 1, and stays restricted to this day.

Many comparisons have been made between Mirari and Fork. At first glance, they look the same. Both enable you to duplicate an instant or a sorcery for additional mana. There are three major differences though.
The first difference is easily noticable. You can fork any spell you like - but you can only mirror your own spells.
The second difference is subtle, yet important all the same. Where Fork is an instant, Mirari is an artifact. There will be no trick effects using this card. Your opponent will always be prepared for a second casting of every spell. However, this fact matters little because you can only mirror your own spells. The opponent already knows you can do nothing about his.
The third, and perhaps most important factor, is the casting cost. Mirari requires that you pay 3 colorless mana to duplicate a spell - a reasonable price. However, merely to bring it into play you need to pay 5 colorless mana.

For those reasons, Mirari has to be used in decks that are fine-tuned to meet its needs (at least in type 2/extended. In type 1, there is an entire arsenal of 'power' cards you'll want to duplicate - Time Walk and Ancestral Recall in particular). What can we use it for?

Or Shefer has already suggested that the Mirari can be used for the following purposes : Burn, Card-drawing, Duplicating token-creating spells (such as Call of the Herd) and Discard. Upon building the following deck, we'll focus on the two effects I consider the most beneficial - Card drawing and Token duplication.

Token Duplication :
Perhaps you recall the uproar that ensued, following the advertisement of Call of the Herd and Beast Attack. Call of the Herd was heralded as the best creature in the game, giving you two 3/3 creatures for the very cheap price of one card. Imagine, then, that for the casting of the Herd once you get 2 hefty creatures, and a second, flashbacked casting gives you -=another=- 2 creatures!
Take a moment for calculation...
Four creatures for one card!
Card advantage has never been more abused - except by the following cards I'll soon talk about.

Card Drawing :
The best way for drawing cards is playing blue. Sleight of Hand and Opt allow you to find quickly a better card than the one you could have had in your hand. Fact or Fiction acts as a 'fiuller' - filling and fueling your hand with cards. It often has the effect of Demonic Tutor (or maybe Diabolic Tutor now) as well. If you have 4 copies of a card in your deck, you'll often bump into it when you draw 5 cards.
Imagine casting Fact or Fiction (FoF) and mirroring it. Now either fill your hand with cards (at least 5, most often) or have the most useful 2 cards in your deck brought to your hand.
And, of course, do it all at the end of the opponent's turn. At instant speed!
Card advantage is the name of the game in this deck, and FoF mirrors this well.


Obviously, the deck has to be green, so that it can include Call of the Herd. Also, we'll require fast mana, so that we can cast and use the Mirari as soon as possible. Birds and Elves will serve us well on that account. What else can we put into that deck, though?
Green supplies us with Beast Attack - another excellent token-creator for 5 mana. It's worst setback is its casting cost, consisting of -=3=- green mana and 2 colorless. In any other 2 colors deck playing such a card would be risky at best. However, the Elves and the Birds will both give us an additional green mana base, and now that there are opposite painlands, there is no better reason to use them.
Wild Mongrel is The Bear, and I consider him particulary fit in this deck. Not only does it come into play early on, and can block most creatures, it can also block the fearsome Shadowmage and kill it. I've seen many b/u decks stalled to the ground for fear of the Mongrel's rabid bite.
Also, once you cast your first mirrored FoF, you can expect to have enough cards in hand to pump this little guy right up to the next expansion :>

Blue makes the brunt of the deck. Fact or Fiction is a must. A mirrored Repulse also gives us some hefty card advantage - washing out two opposing creatures and gaining two cards, for the price of one. Divert is a card that all blue decks use, and for good reason. It counters counters, makes an opponents' Squirrel Nest your own, and redirects permanent destruction. It can be used for 1 blue mana at the early stages of the game, or mirrored to make it a Deflection.

The combination of the two colors gives us another good card, which becomes a hoser when combined with Mirari. Temporal Spring is its name. Using one card, you can wash -=2=- permanents to the top of the opponent's library, forcing him to repeat his last 2 turns.
Mystic Snake gains us a counterspell and a creature at the same time. However, I'm not utterly sure it should be in this deck, as the card advantage it gains us cannot be mirrored. It seems to be enough by itself, though, so we'll give it a try anyway.

So! Let us begin our deck creation!

3 Mirari
4 Llanowar elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Call of the Herd
3 Beast Attack
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Temporal Spring
4 Repulse
4 Fact or Fiction
2 Divert
2 Mystic Snake

9 Island
9 Forest
4 Yavimaya Coast


Give it a try. It'll probably lose the first matches - it's only a raw on-paper deck, after all. But with just a little fine-tuning...

May the Mirari be with you!

(as always, polite coments, criticisms, and better deck ideas will be welcome)

[Fox of another fox]

בכמה אתה מוכר חבילה כזאת? אני אקנה בשמחה

[Duppleganger]

אני לא עוסק במכירה של קלפים. אם אתה רוצה, אני בטוח שיבגני (Djen), ליאור זומרפלד או רבים אחרים ישמחו למכור לך את הקלפים שאתה צריך.
אבל אני לא ממליץ לקנות את הקלפים רק בשביל החבילה הזאת. (את ה birds וה Fact or Fiction כדאי להשיג בכל מקרה, אבל ה Mirari עדיין מוטל בספק) כמו שציינתי, זה רק רעיון לחבילה. יכול להיות שהיא תעבוד, יכול להיות שלא. תנסה אותה קצת על הרשת (דרך תוכנת ה Apprentice), ורק אז תחליט אם אתה רוצה אותה או לא.
בהצלחה.
Dup

[nightwing]

מעניין...
בתור בעליו הגאה של קלף fork, שהוא אכן ישן (revised edition ) אני יכול לספר שהוא אכן קלף שימושי ומפתיע.
פעם הרגתי מישהו כאשר הוא עשה על יצור שלי fireball - פשוט שכפלתי את הקסם עליו והשאר היסטוריה.

[Avenger]

ויפה, רועי, סוף סוף מישהו כותב סיכום על הקלף Mirari אחרי כל ההתלהבות מהקלף ואז כשנעלמה כל ההתלהבות.....

[Fox of another fox]

רועי- אם אתה יכול לעזור לי באיך לבנות חבילה טובה אז תשלח לי בבקשה הודעה פרטית- אין לי מושג איך אתה כל כך טוב במג'יק...

[Shefer]

Roee, why didn't you just make it Elf-Ball or sort of instead of the blue. Molten Influence, Price of Glory (sideboard) and Holistic Wisdom (Secret tech... ain't telling why I use it) are much better than mere Temporal Spring and (very very good) Divert. Besides, Red gives you land destruction (2 of the 1R destroy non-basic out of them) and simple Shock (3R for Instant Arc Lightning for 4 damage)...

[Gidi]

רעיון נחמד...

[Tsabo Tavoc]

mirri
קצת יקר לא?
די בטוח שהוא שווה את זה אבל תחשבו על זה ככה.
רוב החבילות די מהירות כך שהוא מגיע מאוחר מדי או שיכולות לטפל בו, בעזר
recoil, void, decmite
ויש עוד הרבה
אני יודע אני יודע
אלא פתרונות בודדים, אבל עכשיו חוץ מכחול, שיבצע נעילה או יקנטר אותו, לא תראו כמעט צבע שעומד לבדו, ולכל שילוב של צבעים יש פיתרון טוב וששווה את זה.
לבסס עליו דק שלם... לא חושב ככה.
אבל זה רק אני

[Lucivar]

Well if your wondering about the speed, thats what the bops and the elves are for. and as for destroying the mirrari, thats why he put in a mystic snake. but wouldn't it also help to put in some more counterspells?

[Tsabo Tavoc]

עדיין תחשוב על זה...
המיררי סופג לך חמש מנה
חמש מנה שיכולים לבוא בקלפים או ביצורים שבדרך כלל לירוק יותר חשובים

[Lucivar]

Well for that you have the beast attack. next turn you cast two beast attacks which works better then casting one beast attack the turn before. works well wouldn't you say?

[Seeker Of Rain]

היום בPTQ יצא לי בפעם הראשונה Mirari אבל כמובן היה צורך להחליף את החבילות בחבילות אחרות ...

[Duppleganger]

Dear Shefer :

Land destruction is supposed to start killing lands on turn 2-3. If it can't destroy those initial lands, it'll most probably lose the game. Once you hinder the opponent enough, you cast your big creature and kill him.
Mirari won't be of help - unless you're planning on destroying all of your opponent's lands - and even then it'll be too slow and of very limited use.

As for burn... I believe card drawing and limiting my opponent is more important.


Btw, congratulations to Gidi for winning the Ptq San-Diego.

Dup.

[Fox of another fox]

גידי ניצח?!? איך ניצחת את דני יוסף?

[Tsabo Tavoc]

קודם כל דני שיחק נגד אורי בטופ 8... ואורי נחשב לשחקן הכי טוב בארץ...
שנית הוא לא קיבל שום קלף טוב לפי מה שידוע לי.
חוץ מזה הוא אלוף הארץ ל CUNSTRACTED טייפ 2