Planeshift Preview: Dromar's Charm Jeff Donais Planeshift introduces a cool new series of cards called "Charms." Each Charm is made up of a central color and the two neighboring colors. Each of the Charms has three abilities that range from pretty good to great. The cards have great versatility as their main strength. Dromar's Charm is arguably the best charm because of the specific collection of useful abilities. Dromar's Charm WUB Instant Choose one - You gain 5 life; or counter target spell; or target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. Ability 1: You gain 5 life. Five life is a significant amount to gain for one card. Only Gerrard's Wisdom can reliably gain a reasonable amount of life and Gerrard's Wisdom doesn't have the choice of two other powerful abilities on the same card. The ability to gain the life as an instant is also useful as a surprise. Just when your opponent thinks he has the game won, you can use Dromar's Charm and throw off the opponent's calculations. If the opponent committed to an all-out attack or used a valuable finisher spell like Fireblast or Ghitu Fire, you can easily swing the game to your favor. Gaining five life is also a useful way to live through an Illusions of Grandeur that has been Donated to you in an Extended tournament and can help you live through a Saproling Burst onslaught in Standard. It's helpful in a Necro Donate deck when five life can translate into five extra cards. Ability 2: Counter target spell. The ultimate power in Magic is the ability to stop any spell. There is simply no greater ability than this one in terms of flexibility and potency. Although three mana is one more than a regular Counterspell, it's still a reasonable price to pay for this ability. This is the only spell that will cancel ANY spell that does not require two blue mana, so it can be used in decks without a heavy blue commitment. Ability 3: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. If didn't have the mana available to counter the spell with the second ability of Dromar's Charm, you can always kill it. Many tournament creatures have less than two toughness and can be destroyed immediately. Other creatures can be destroyed by a blocker in combination with -2/-2 from Dromar's Charm. Since this ability reduces toughness, it will handle regenerating creatures like River Boa. Dromar's Charm can remove black creatures, unlike most black removal spells. FORMATS Sealed Deck If you open a Dromar's Charm Invasion Block sealed deck, you have a great reason to play white/blue/black. With incredible versatility, the card is one of the top 10 spells in the environment. Excellent common support cards in the colors are in great supply, including Tower Drake, Recoil, Glimmering Angel and so on. The three abilities are all very useful in sealed deck, especially the counter ability and creature removal. Booster Draft Dromar's Charm is first pick quality, especially since white/blue/black is already viable drafting strategy in Invasion. Charms are also easy to pick up on the second or third pick since players will frequently pass the Charms if they are not in those colors when the Planeshift pack is opened. Constructed Dromar's Charm is a strong addition to a white/blue/black control deck. It has the flexibility of being another Counterspell, creature removal or life gaining against aggressive damage decks. I have included a sample white/blue/black control deck that will be legal in Standard starting March 1, 2001. The deck takes advantage of the black by using Tsabo's Decree, Vampiric Tutor, Cremate (vs. Nether Spirit) and Perish. There are many single copies of cards to take maximum advantage of Vampiric Tutor. Dromar Control (March 2001 Standard) 7 Islands 4 Dromar's Cavern 3 Adarkar Wastes 3 Underground River 2 Salt Marsh 2 Coastal Tower 2 Plains 1 Swamp 4 Dromar's Charm 4 Counterspell 4 Fact of Fiction 4 Absorb 4 Accumulated Knowledge 3 Vampiric Tutor 3 Wrath of God 1 Recall 1 Cremate 1 Blinding Angel 1 Millstone 1 Foil 1 Teferi's Moat 1 Tsabo's Web 1 Tsabo's Decree 1 Seal of Cleansing 1 Dismantling Blow Sideboard: 2 Perish 2 Tsabo's Decree 2 Gainsay 1 Wrath of God 1 Tsabo's Web 1 Disenchant 1 Dismantling Blow 1 Circle of Protection: Green 1 Circle of Protection: Black 1 Circle of Protection: Blue 1 Teferi's Response 1 Disrupting Scepter