This is a wizards of the coast deck I did not make this up. This is the first of many theme decks that I own that I am posting up so that people can see the difference between old theme decks and today's "intro packs". This specific one holds a really special place in my heart because it was the deck I bought and ran when I chose to get into this game and I still to this day love running it in its unaltered unchanged format. Enjoy.
The information pamphlet included in the box.
"The "Bait & Bludgeon" deck shows your opponents the value of affinity, one of the new Mirrodin mechanics. Cards with affinity for artifacts cost 1 less to play for each artifact you control. Affinity doesn't affect the colored mana required, but with enough artifacts in play, you'll pay close to nothing for your affinity spells.
The cornerstone of the "Bait & Bludgeon" deck is its mana acceleration, which lets you play spells quicker than the usual one land per turn would. Talisman of Dominance, Leaden Myr, and Silver Myr fill this role nicely. With a deck full of affinity spells, the mana acceleration doesn't stop there. Every artifact you get on the table often acts like an extra land regardless of what else it does. The most efficient artifacts to play are the artifact lands. Not only can you tap them for mana, but they also reduce the cost of your affinity spells.
Playing lots of mana accelerators is only half the battle. You need to draw lots of cards to take advantage of your cheap affinity spells. Use cards like
Serum Tank
, Thirst for Knowledge, and Thoughtcast to refill your hand. Don't be afraid to use Aether Spellbomb to draw a card if you need to.
While you work up your mana base and refill your hand, buy time on the ground with Steel Wall, a cheap 0/4 blocker. Slow things down by bouncing your opponent's creatures with Aether Spellbomb. If your opponent gets a really big threat out, take it down permanently with Irradiate. With the number of artifacts packed into the "Bait & Bludgeon" deck, Irradiate can take out almost any monster.
Once your arsenal of artifacts is on the table, it's time to drop some killer creatures. Fly over your opponent's defenses with
Somber Hoverguard
. For an even bigger punch, use
Nim Shrieker
, which gets +1/+0 for each artifact you have in play. Want the best of both worlds? Broodstar has affinity and it gets +1/+1 for each artifact you have. And it flies, too!"
