Witchcraft is a practice that involves the use of supernatural or magical powers for different purposes. It is a topic that has been widely discussed and debated throughout history. One aspect of witchcraft that has gained attention is the concept of a life counter. In witchcraft, a life counter is a tool or method used to keep track of the number of years a witch has lived. This concept is based on the belief that witches have the ability to extend their lifespan through various rituals and spells. By using a life counter, witches can ensure that they are aware of their age and can monitor their progress in achieving immortality.
When it came to looking for actual upgrades, there were actually some pretty surprising positives to add. Some like Toxrill, the Corrosive and the aforementioned Umbris seemed like really easy fits. I was incredibly surprised at a few options going through the list such as K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth and Hell's Caretaker both being horrors, which fit excellently in a deck like this. Phyrexian Obliterator is often seen as just an unblockable 5/5 most of the time, but now that it also mills your opponents it makes them think twice before letting that damage through. Mindslicer is also a great way to rip through hands and fill graveyards, making it an all-star in a deck such as this.
Since this is such a mill-heavy strategy, I also included Relic of Progenitus in the list in case an opponent is playing an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre or Kozilek, Butcher of Truth somewhere in their 99. All this said, yes, the pirate captain incarnation is certainly a nod to Davy Jones, but one that fits within the existing universe and is in keeping with the well-worn Dungeon Master tradition of using other media as an inspiration for elements of your campaign.
By using a life counter, witches can ensure that they are aware of their age and can monitor their progress in achieving immortality. The specific methods used for a life counter may vary from witch to witch. Some may use physical objects, such as a crystal or an amulet, which are imbued with magical energy and can be enchanted to represent the number of years lived.
Unstable Mutation: Mind Flayarrrs
This was actually a fairly hard to write article for a strange reason – Mind Flayarrrs is a pretty good deck out of the box. Normally the game plan of the precons are just plain bad. It’s some variant of “slow put out more and more creatures, and swing at your opponents”. There’s also usually a sort of frustrating lack of cards that “ought to be in the deck”.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Dauthi Horror is a perfect example of a card that ought to be in the deck. And it is. Normally I’d expect to Wizards to skip over a 2 cost horror and focus on things that cost 5+ or do something absurd, but it’s right here. Along with Phyrexian Revoker and Ravenous Chupacabra and Spellskite, cheap or utilitarian horrors that are good on their own and bonused from their commander. Crazy.
Playing this deck out of the box is fairly straightforward. You want to get out a couple of horrors, and then Captain N’ghathrod and then use your evasion abilities to start slamming through with horrors and milling your opponents out.
Okay there’s something I need to get off my chest. Captain N’gathrod is this guy:
Billy Nighy, Davy Jones, Copyright Disney 2006
I think that’s kind of um, lame. Why can’t Wizards come up with their own IP? Or you know, do more universes beyond. This seems like the worst sort of meeting in the middle, a kind of “it’s obvious what this is but we don’t have to pay for it.” Also the timing is about perfect for Wizards to license Pirates of the Caribbean, since nobody really cares about it anymore and it’s just become another tired franchise being endlessly extended. A sort of Endless Evil if you will. And he’s not really a mind flayer. I mean granted, there is a similar look, but Davy Jones is an octopus man. Mind flayers have tentacles, one assumes, because historically they used them to drill through sapient creatures brain boxes to get at the sweet cerebrum therein. As the mind flayers evolved to become more psychic these little tentacles thingies probably because vestigial largely, but it’s perfectly logical. Okay, I’ll grant you this is probably more thought than TSR ever put into mind flayer evolution. And there is a mind flayer (2 sort of) one from Stranger Things which is from D&D and then one from Baldur’s Gate and it’s not a pirate or any of this stuff.
FromTheShire: Quick side note here, Davy Jones isn’t a mind flayer but Captain N’ghathrod is an established Ilithid (Mind Flayer) character in D&D, which is kind of the point of this set. Mind Flayers as a race date way back to the 70’s when D&D was owned by TSR and Gary Gygax, well before the Pirates movies, and is now owned by Wizards of the Coast. There is absolutely a ton of established lore about them as one of the most iconic monsters, including about their life cycle, history of piloting Spelljamming ships, and how they use their powerful and dexterous tentacles for many things, among them eating brains. All this said, yes, the pirate captain incarnation is certainly a nod to Davy Jones, but one that fits within the existing universe and is in keeping with the well-worn Dungeon Master tradition of using other media as an inspiration for elements of your campaign.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Captain N’ghathrod aside, horrors and nightmares are neat. I like the distinction they appear to be drawing, that horrors cause mill, and nightmares cause exile (generally). Umbris, Fear Manifest is a nice similar commander, who causes a similar kind of effect, slots nicely into the deck, and is also both a horror and a nightmare.
While exile can lead to your opponents’ win conditions or best cards disappearing from the game, graveyards are graveyards to most players. Cards that go into them are not usually coming back, except in higher-level competitive decks. This archetype is not suitable for those games. There are risks to milling your opponents, and when you are considering who to attack, you probably want to avoid decks that contain black or white reanimation, or red spell re-casting (Flashback, Underworld Breach) but don’t spend too much time obsessing over who exactly to mill.
When you’re playing this out of the box you don’t have a lot of choices really. The deck runs minimal ramp and interaction, and basically no tutors or anything like that. The problem with the deck is there’s really little ability to close out the game. Once Menace isn’t good enough, you have no payoff for all the milling you’re causing. The deck lacks sufficient reanimation or graveyard activity punishments.
There’s a couple of known cards, and I’ve used in various decks before, some of which are game-ending combos.
- Bloodchief Ascension
- Mindcrank
- Syr Konrad, the Grim
- Dreadhound
Throwing all of these in gives a baseline for your opponents not wanting to be milled. The other thing we want is a positive payoff, and the easiest one is to use reanimation cards.
Captain N’ghathrod does this on his own, but many of the best reanimation cards don’t require you to reanimate out of your graveyard. This means potentially stealing the best or most utilitarian creatures from your opponents.
Between your commander reanimation and some targeted ways it ought to be possible to grab some big beefy creatures or else some things that will give you some nice utility.
Credit: Wizards of the Coast
The other important step is to add a bunch more ramp, and some actually bigger creatures, and better removal and interaction, while cutting out the worthless ETB lands and focusing on core lands that are worth having.
Here is the cut list:
1 Forgotten Creation
1 Mind Flayer
1 Sludge Monster
1 Dark Hatchling
1 Dross Harvester
1 Nihilith
1 Woe Strider
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Phyrexian Rager
1 Plague Spitter
1 Fractured Sanity
1 Hex
1 In Garruk’s Wake
1 Syphon Mind
1 Extract from Darkness
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Curtains’ Call
1 Memory Plunder
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Reflections of Littjara
1 Black Market
1 Choked Estuary
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 River of Tears
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Port of Karfell
1 Rogue’s Passage
1 Tainted Isle
1 Temple of the False God
1 Grell Philosopher
1 Psionic Ritual
1 From the Catacombs
And here is the add list:
1 Island
1 Deadly Rollick
1 Reanimate
1 Animate Dead
1 Agadeem’s Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt
1 Dance of the Dead
1 Necromancy
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Go for the Throat
1 Snuff Out
1 Hero’s Downfall
1 Watery Grave
1 Bloodchief Ascension
1 Dreadhound
1 Elder Brain
1 Faceless Devourer
1 Phyrexian Obliterator
1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
1 Thrummingbird
1 Toxrill, the Corrosive
1 Umbris, Fear Manifest
1 Yarok’s Fenlurker
1 Frantic Search
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Liquimetal Torque
1 Fractured Powerstone
1 Mana Drain
1 Fierce Guardianship
1 Force of Negation
1 Force of Will
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Urza’s Incubator
1 Phyrexian Totem
This leaves you with a more consistent package of ramp that means you’ll get out N’gathrod on turn 3-4, start slamming away with menaced horrors, and ramp from opponents artifacts or utility creatures, combining with your ability to ultimately force out huge threats, and get out one of your graveyard punishers like Bloodchief Ascension or Mindcrank so that you can actually credibly mill out an opponent, or else kill them via life loss.
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Surprisingly, in the game's nearly 30 years now we've never really had much support for horror tribal. In fact, the only other real card I can think of that fits this mold is Umbris, Fear Manifest which dropped just last year. It wasn't in its own commander deck, though, and was instead relegated to being openable in Innistrad: Crimson Vow set boosters. With the Mind Flayarrrs precon, we finally get some genuine support for this largely unsupported tribe. Let's check out the base precon!
Others may rely on more symbolic methods, such as using a calendar or a book to record their age and milestones. The use of a life counter in witchcraft serves multiple purposes. Firstly, it helps witches keep track of their age and progress in their quest for immortality. This can be especially important for witches who are actively performing rituals and spells to extend their lifespan. Secondly, a life counter can also serve as a reminder of the passage of time and the need for witches to make the most of their existence. It can act as a motivation for witches to continue their practices and strive for personal growth and development. Lastly, a life counter can also be a tool for witches to reflect on their journey and experiences. By having a physical or symbolic representation of their age, witches can reflect on the lessons they have learned and the wisdom they have gained throughout their years of practice. In conclusion, the concept of a life counter in witchcraft is an interesting and intriguing aspect of the practice. It represents the desire for immortality and serves as a tool for witches to monitor their progress and reflect on their experiences. Whether it is through physical objects or symbolic methods, the life counter is an important element in the life of a witch..
Reviews for "Ancient Practices: Witchcraft Life Counters in History"
- Sarah - 2 stars - I was really excited to try the Witchcraft life counter app, but I was deeply disappointed. The interface was clunky and confusing to navigate, and it took forever to figure out how to input my current life total. Additionally, the app crashed multiple times while I was using it, which was incredibly frustrating. Overall, I found it to be a poorly designed and unreliable app.
- John - 1 star - This Witchcraft life counter app was a total waste of money. The features promised in the description were not delivered, and the app lacked basic functionality. The user interface was unintuitive and difficult to use, and it frequently froze or crashed. It also had a tendency to drain the battery quickly, making it even more frustrating to use. I would not recommend this app to anyone.
- Emily - 2 stars - I expected more from the Witchcraft life counter app. While it did function well enough to keep track of my life total, the user experience was lackluster. The design felt outdated and the app felt sluggish. It also lacked customizability options, which would have been a nice addition. Overall, it was a mediocre app that didn't live up to my expectations.
- Mike - 3 stars - The Witchcraft life counter app wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. It did the job of keeping track of my life total, but it lacked any additional features or options. The user interface was fairly simple and easy to navigate, but it could have been more visually appealing. If you're looking for a basic life counter app without any frills, this one will do the job, but don't expect anything exceptional.