WR Seismic Edge

The namesake cards in today’s library have both seen play in numerous decks throughout the years. The reason being is that the two cards just happen to be in that sweet build-around-me genre that brewers adore. It also helps that their similarities mean you don’t have to rely on a single play set to make the entire deck work. That latter point can be crucial, as limiting your win condition to a single card can be a shuddering thought to many players. So how do the two do as a team? Let’s see in WR Seismic Edge.

Seismic Assault vs. Land’s Edge. Despite the harsher casting cost, the deck plays a 4:1 ratio with regards to Assault vs. Edge. What might shock you is that there are actually numerous reasons to do so, rather than simply the most obvious one. Naturally, it would be ridiculous not to address that versatility is important, however I do want to point out a less considered aspect as well – Land’s Edge is an Enchant World. A what? Essentially, this means there can only be one in play at a time. Thus Edge can be destroyed by other Enchant Worlds that are played as well, whether they be by you or your opponent.

Petrified Field might seems like an odd choice here since it can hinder our chances at playing Seismic Assault, however the card can also be a god-send in certain board states. How? With Land Tax in play, it can be used to lower your land count should an opponent manage to even themselves’ with yours. Another thing to consider is that while Wasteland can be a more aggressive option in the same slot/role, it doesn’t provide you with a way to recoup a land you might actually need to play against your opponent.

Re: Land Tax – despite being a linchpin in re-stocking your hand with lands, Tithe should not be ignored. Heck, it can actually be better in several circumstances. A main point is that Tithe doesn’t require you to have less land than the opponent, which can certainly be relevant. It can also be played whenever, so you can use it when the opponent thinks you only have 1 card in hand and they’ve got a 4-toughness creature in play. Also, Tithe just says Plains on it, so you can use it to get Plateaus should you require the red mana.

Why the Winds of Change? Whenever you incorporate just one copy of a card in your deck, you should always have a good reason to do so. In this case, we added Winds to get rid of hands with dead cards in them. Once you have an Assault in play, any Lotus Petals, Mox Diamonds, extra Assaults et cetera can be considered unnecessary. Rather than playing them anyway, why not use them to your advantage?

I think it’s interesting that the really old Land’s Edge decks were WR, while the newer Seismic Assault decks tend to choose RG. With Ancient being in the middle, I had actually considered which option to pursue. I plan to write about RG at some point so I won’t talk about it at length here, but just know it’s certainly viable should you want to explore your options. Happy Brewing!

WR Seismic Edge

Land

14 Plains

9 Mountain

4 Plateau

2 Petrified Field

1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

Total: 30

Spells

4 Seismic Assault

1 Land’s Edge

4 Mox Diamond

4 Land Tax

4 Tithe
4 Lotus Petal

2 Lodestone Bauble

4 Blood Moon

1 Winds of Change

2 Lightning Bolt

Total: 30

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Orim’s Chant

2 Red Elemental Blast

2 Pyroblast

2 Pyroclasm

1 Disenchant