My Top Ten Favorite Magic Cards #5

The Ravnica/Time Spiral block version of solar flare (which is kinda weird because all of the Kamigawa dragons that gave the deck its name had rotated out and had totally abandoned any graveyard recursion that had made it famous) was the deck with which I've had the most tournament success. It was an awesome combination of the most powerful cards in standard, combined with a game plan that came naturally to me as a timmy and multiplayer enthusiast. One of my favorite moments in magic of magic is getting to play some badass big boy or girl that has a big impact on the board and that's what solar flare was all about, splashy cards like Angel of Despair, Persecute, Wrath of God and Akroma that had a big impact.

I have some great memories of intense matches playing with this deck at big tournaments in Asheville and just winning round after round. For some reason success came really easily to me with this deck. Part of it was that this deck was the most powerful deck in standard at that moment and many of the people at FNM tournaments were player tier-two decks. Part of it was I was religiously watching replays on magic online and they were helping improve my play and providing me an understanding of how matchups and sideboarding work like never before. There was one point where I had won three tournaments in a row with this deck. It was a great feeling, although I doubt I'm as good at magic as this streak would suggest. It was more being in the right places with the right deck, having done the right legwork.

At any rate, Angel of Despair was the backbone of this deck. She is a beating that is hard to overcome. Not only do you take out their best permanent, but also hung around as a threat that unchecked would end the game in a few turns. Sure the color requirements are tough, but with the Ravnica duals it was rarely a problem, and few other creatures in magic provide such versatility and value as this card.

Now, at this point, you might be thinking that this list is going to be all creatures, but, spoiler alert, the next two cards are non-creature cards. I wonder if you will be able to guess what they are.