Move over, bandicoot! A new protagonist has seen fit to take the reigns. You could even say that he intends to reignite the race track and set the competition alight. That's right: Everyone's favorite purple dragon has made his way into a crossover than my childhood self could only dream of.
But I tire of dragon my feet. This week, let us continue our adventures in CrashSpyro Team Racing.
The best side-effect of the recent bans that we talked about the last time we entered the Arena was that it forced experimentation and cracked open a standard that had remained pitifully stagnant despite the influx of new cards from Core Set 2021.
As a result, we're seeing decks that just didn't get played enough due to the homogeneity of the pre-ban environment, like Izzet Tempo and Control decks that actually run counter spells. But we're not here to talk about those decks today.
Rather, I chose to focus on this rad Temur Elemental concept that's been making the rounds. The elemental-tribal package isn't going to be in Standard for long, since Zendikar Rising is due to come out soon. But since the tools are all here, let's enjoy the moment and play with them while we still can.
Recently, EDHREC added a new page to their website, detailing the most common and popular combos in the format. And, naturally, as one does when exposed to a new resource of valuable information, I perused it.
Two particular combos, both in Dimir colors, caught my attention, because they resulted in a victory via infinite mill. As someone who loves alternate win conditions (I ran Exodia in my old YuGiOh days), mill is always a strategy that holds my attention. Armed with this knowledge, my reptile brain immediately set to work building a mill deck that I could bring to bear against my Cockatrice playgroups.
To do so, I must of course worship at the altar of Phenax, God of Deception. Answering my prayers, the god jumped to the helm of my deck to help lead my forces into their unconventional battle.
The first of my adversaries ran Heliod, Sun-Crowned. Next, the player who ran Rakdos, Lord of Riots during the Ravnican Guild Night opted to pilot the deck again since he enjoyed running it last time. And finally, Bruna, Light of Alabaster brought up the rear.
Start your engines, ladies and gentlemen. We're getting started with a new adventure starring the orange blunder from down under: Crash Bandicoot. Only this time, rather that scaling walls and leaping over bottomless pits, we're dodging missiles and bombs as we out-drive and outwit our competition on the race track.
I know I said we were done with PS1 nostalgia when we completed Crash Bandicoot: Warped, but I lied. Fortunately, I'm (mostly) not alone. Once he was finished watching Netflix, my good pal Acharky deigned to join us for these little go-karting escapades.
It's been over a year since we last adventured upon the high seas. Rusty I may be, the ocean nonetheless calls to me. And I was not the only one to hear the call. The crew may be different (and fuzzier) than before, but no less prideful.
The SS Pride is no worse for wear. Hoist the Rainbow flag and shove off for fortune and glory!
