Dark Ascension Event Decks Revealed

There are a few things Magic: The Gathering players can expect with each new set: the hunt for the money cards, pre-release events, promotional cards, and event decks. With all of the pre-release stuff done for Dark Ascension (DKA), players were beginning to wonder, “Where are the DKA Event Decks?” Well, today Wizards of the Coast officially revealed the DKA event decks and their contents. Let’s get to know Gleeful Flames and Spiraling Doom.

First of all, if you’ve never heard of an event deck, let’s talk about those for a second. An event deck is a low-cost deck that’s designed to be playable at Friday Night Magic events. We can argue until we’re blue in the face about whether or not they’re effective, but that’s what Wizards tries to do when they make these decks. More often than not, the event decks include desirable rares (this time around, Inkmoth Nexus and Birthing Pod are the money cards). Generally speaking, you can buy an event deck and, through much critical thinking, upgrade it into something competitive. If you’re a seasoned veteran, you’re probably just buying event decks for some of their pieces; however, if you’re just getting started, you could ostensibly use event decks as a starting point for your MTG career. So, what are these decks all about? You can check out the press release above for the detailed information, but I’ll break it down as simply as I can.

Gleeful Flames seems like it’s trying to be a variant of Red Deck Wins (a mono-red deck that deals lots of damage really quickly). Gleeful Flames accomplishes this through cards like Goblin Fireslinger, Brimstone Volley, and Arc Trail; however, this deck is missing a lot of the staples of Red Deck Wins (Grim Lavamancer, Volt Charge, Shrine of Burning Rage, and Stromkirk Noble immediately come to mind). If you’re interested in Red Deck Wins, I’m not sure whether or not this is a good place to start. Red Deck Wins isn’t exactly the most expensive deck, and this event deck is really missing a lot of the essentials; plus, Inkmoth Nexus (and a few other cards) seem totally out of place. Still, if you’ve been looking to grab some Inkmoth Nexus for your collection, this is a good investment.

Spiraling Doom, at the very least, is built around a solid idea: Birthing Pod; however, just like Gleeful Flames, there are a lot of misplaced cards that really detract from the core idea of the deck. You can do a lot of really cool things with Birthing Pod (chalk that up to its cost: 3 colorless and 1 Phyrexian mana symbol [which can be paid with one green or two life]). There are some cards that serve as excellent ammunition for Birthing Pod (like Strangleroot Geist and Viridian Emissary), but other cards are just totally out of place in the deck (like Myr Battlesphere and Mortarpod). Still, I think this deck is at least salvageable. I’m surprised that there aren’t more cards in this deck with the new Undying mechanic; similarly, there are plenty of good cards with Morbid that are just missing from this deck.

Check out the decklists in their entirety below and sound off in the comments. What would you do to make these decks more playable? Also, if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to enter our Dark Ascension Fat Pack Giveaway!

Main Deck – Gleeful Flames 60 cards
3  Haunted Fengraf 2  Inkmoth Nexus 17  Mountain 22 lands 4  Forge Devil 4  Goblin Arsonist 4  Goblin Fireslinger 4  Goblin Gaveleer 1  Hellrider 3  Torch Fiend 20 creatures	4  Artillerize 4  Brimstone Volley 1  Curse of Stalked Prey 2  Faithless Looting 4  Goblin Grenade 3  Infiltration Lens 18 other spells Sideboard 2  Act of Treason 4  Arc Trail 1  Dismember 2  Gut Shot 3  Into the Core 3  Torpor Orb

Tags: birthing pod, comic booked, Dark Ascension, dark ascension event decklists, dark ascension event decks, gleeful flames deck, gleeful flames decklist, inkmoth nexus, Kyle Black, Magic, Magic The Gathering, MTG, spiraling doom, spiraling doom decklist

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Written by Kyle Black

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