"What Cards Make You Happy?" was a question posed by a forum mate who goes by the name of Drathro. Then it morphed into a request by our illustrious leader Streetz to turn forum responses into individual articles. I like happy things, so I had to oblige. Here we go with my first article ever!

We start this with a trip through good ol' Webster's Dictionary for the definition of happy.

happy (ADV): fortunate; pleased

What a long definition folks. This, leaving much to be desired, led me to looking up the word pleased. Unfortunately my paperback copy of Webster's didn't have the definition of pleased in it. Being the improviser that I am, I was led to the definition of pleasure.

pleasure (N): a feeling of delight; that which brings happiness or enjoyment

Eureka! This was the definition I was looking for, the thing that described how I feel when I play certain cards. That feeling that makes me as giddy as a little girl.

I'm an Angel fan. Anyone who frequents the forums here is thinking "No Duh!" However, for those who don't know, it is because the artwork on angels is in most cases far superior to any other Magic card art. Above all the others is Akroma, Angel of Wrath.

Akroma is a purple-haired beauty that debuted in Legions with lots of abilities and a combined power and toughness greater than her mana cost. A quick look brings us to the fact she is big at 6/6. This alone warrants her rarity. Now add relevant protections from Red and Black, and she is already better than a certain Mythic Rare that brings in 60$ USD. And if that doesn't stoke you a bit, throw in Trample, Flying, Vigilance, and First Strike, and you have a winner. All this can be yours for eight total mana. Akroma is also under $15 USD, for the budget conscious. Everyone's precious Baneslayer Angel can't say any of this.

My list of happy cards wouldn't be complete without a multiple Angels, so I give you, straight from Apocalypse, Desolation Angel. Although not as overwhelming as Akroma, she is still a threat. For five mana, I can get a 5/4 that blows up my lands. This sucks, but why play it in my deck if she does this? Well for starters she has a kicker cost of 2 white which gets me an "instead" clause. "What is this clause of which you speak, Sherlock?" you think to yourself.

Ah, I'll tell you Watson. It is simply "If this card was kicked, destroy all lands instead." See, she’s not so bad now, is she? (Art by Brom doesn't hurt either.)

Land Ho!!! The land that I have the most fun with isn't Strip Mine, nor is it Wasteland. It is Ghost Quarter, from Dissension, that has been the most versatile little gem in my Land arsenal. I can use it on my side to give me any basic I want from my library, coming into play untapped. If I have to, I can also use it as a land destruction effect on one of my opponent’s lands to ruin their land fixing. Wasteland and Strip Mine won't do what Ghost Quarter will do and has done for me.

I'm going to give you one of my "wild cards" early. That wild card is Debtor's Knell. This card from Guildpact is a bit of a quandary for me. It makes me happy to play it, but I really can't put my finger on why this is. I'm sure part of it is that I can rob my opponent of a creature in HIS graveyard. It also allows me to play a creature, if I must, from my graveyard as well. Simply put, it's good. Admittedly, for seven mana you can find better, but I like this card so I choose it over better cards.

All the above cards lead to a deck I've had together for four years. It doesn't have a catchy name, and for that I apologize. But this deck is easily the most creative I have. I give you my first deck to feature "Cards That Make Me Happy!" Angel Reanimator:

This deck is expensive. It doesn't curve out. And unless you are an experienced casual player, I definitely do not recommend this deck for you.

First thing you'll notice is the focus on Angels. They are the backbone of this deck. Without them you cannot win. Period! End of story! As far as the expensive Angels go, I used the Crème de la Crème of Angels. These girls all bring certain advantages to my game and all have purposes.

Then you drift to the Resurrection and start thinking "Why not just use Animate Dead?" Well, even though I do have them, I wanted to splash as little Black as possible in this deck, so Resurrection works beautifully for me. I use Balance, Pacifism, Faith's Fetters, and Prison Term to stall until I get four lands in play. Also, this deck does require you to skip going first and just say "go" on the draw. You want to discard an Akroma, Reya, or Iona in the graveyard. Once you have creature advantage set up, use Desolation Angel late game to kill off land and win. If you want to sub out cards, the best would be the Instants and Artifacts, because, although useful, they aren't exactly necessary. Now that I've explained the deck a bit, it is probably time to move on to the rest of my "Happy" cards.

To start the second half of this article, we take a trip all the way to Visions and a Blue card that had me grinning from ear to ear the time I ripped open the pack. Prosperity is my favorite draw spell. Making your opponent draw cards takes a strategic mind like no other. Set it up right, and this can spell a big failure for your opponent. However, it took a card called Windfall to make this a viable alternate win condition.

The next card came out in my favorite set and has my favorite art. And this is the only reason it is fun for me. I give you, from The Dark, Amy Lee*.......... OK it is actually Elves of Deep Shadow, and I really doubt Amy Lee was the focus behind this card, but I can dream.

Artifacts are awesome. Thopters though are the coolest creatures in the game. And this next card is arguably the most recognizable card in Magic, aside from the "Power 9". From Alpha to M10, it has had a home and hearkens in an era all its own. I could only be talking about one card: the 0/1 flier itself, Ornithopter. I don't know a person who isn't happy when they play this card. It has been a piece to many different combos. It is an icon. It has been the target of many Holy and Unholy Strengths, and is probably one of the older cards to see play today.

My second wildcard is probably best used with any zero cost Artifact. When you see the "gears", people scream broken. No card typifies this more than that Urza's Saga headache, Tinker. Yeah, I am always happy to play this. It is the only time I get to see my opponent wig out. It is in my meanest deck, which uses four of them. (I know that it is illegal in tournament formats, but hey, they are my cards). When I'm feeling happy being nasty, this card is the reason why.

My last wildcard comes from Betrayers of Kamigawa, a part of the worst block ever. I'm talking Genjus here, and Genju of the Fens stood out the most for me. I've always liked Shades, but this is what got me to play Land Enchantments. This thing wins games with open mana.

There are only two cards left, and I'm going to talk about both. In the same paragraph. GASP!!! These cards get a ton of grief. Most shun them as stupid little coin flip cards. These two are the most fun to play, and the most random. The cards I am talking of are Squee's Revenge from Apocalypse and Fiery Gambit from Mirrodin. The randomness of these cards creates an excitement unmatched by any. Never has Epic Pass and Epic Fail meant so much. These are cards that make you want to scream bloody murder when they fail, because of the wasted mana you used to play them. They are also the ones that make you jump with jubilation when they succeed. With these cards fresh in your mind and in your heart, I give you my final deck, Jilted:

At its core, this is a control deck. Reusing as many cards as can be had and clearing the field of any creatures my opponent has. Jilt is the main focus of this deck and is reused the most because of Izzet Chronarch. Jilt bounces Izzet Chronarch and, if you paid the kicker cost, deals two damage to target creature. A minor theme is coin flipping, and Krark's Thumb is there to help Fiery Gambit and Squee's Revenge along. Calling the wrong flip is OK because you have two flips to get the call right. I would recommend this deck to a beginner, but only if they have played a month or two.

And that is a look into the "Cards That Make Me Happy!" I hope you enjoyed the read. I'd like to thank Drathro and Streetz for giving me something to talk about. Now go visit the forums and discuss my article!!!

*Amy Lee is the lead singer for Evanescence, my favorite band.

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.
Find other articles by this author here.
Find other articles from this series here.

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