Yes, that’s one small (end) step for man…. One giant UPKEEP for (not mankind) but Magic: the Gathering! Welcome to the first-ever piece written about not only a certain cowgirl by the name of Lilah Undefeated Slickshot but also an in-depth look at some of the best cards from the latest sets released, and I’m going to tell you right now: this isn’t the small step for me. It’s a big one.
Chances are good you’re an aficionado like me on arguably the greatest card game ever in history, so the sweet news here is we don’t have to go through the basics. Other than…. Well, Magic: the Gathering is just plain fun. More importantly, it’s a card game that always has something innovative, with new sets coming in regularly, and this latest one is no exception.
So without further ado, let me be the first to welcome you to meeting the…. Outlaws of Thunder Junction!
Feast Your Eyes on Lilah Undefeated Slickshot
You may have noticed the theme here with this new set: if you like six-shooters, leather chaps, and tumbleweed, you might guess that we’re in the wild, wild west. Sort of. Remember: this is MTG. Things aren’t what they seem here in the multiverse.
I mean, look at Elesh Norn or Ashiok for crying out loud! Them some strange lookin’ ladies up in these here parts.
So how about a little eye candy instead? Meet Lilah Undefeated Slickshot, a 3-mana Izzet creature with Prowess, which, as you know, gets +1/+1 whenever you cast a non-creature spell. Now we all know Prowess can break games if not vigilant. But this cowgirl takes it to a whole new level of crazy.
The thing about Lilah Undefeated Slickshot that’s interesting is the second half of the text on the card: “Whenever you cast a multicolored instant or sorcery spell from your hand, exile that spell instead of putting it into your graveyard as it resolves. If you do, it becomes plotted.”
The new mechanic plot makes for an interesting concept. You can, instead of casting a spell with plot, pay the same amount of mana to exile it from your hand and cast the card on a later turn without paying the mana cost.
In other words, it’s a free spell – only later in the game. But with Lilah Undefeated Slickshot, you get that spell back on your next turn or beyond for free after casting it!
Can that possibly be broken? ….Possibly.
Copying Instants and Sorceries Might Break This
That’s an understatement. Here’s a list of crazy combos that can pop off in a way only Wyatt Earp can at the OK Corral:
Chandra, Hope’s Beacon. Complete the Circuit. Invasion of Arcavios. And, last but not least, Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant!
Take note that Chandra’s text says “only once each turn” when copying instants and sorceries. Okay, that’s fine. No problem. Chandra doesn’t mind. Because on that next turn, the instant or sorcery Lilah Undefeated Slickshot plotted in the previous turn gets to be copied again!
Convoke, in particular, makes things blindingly easy to cast when you have a ton of creatures on your side of the battlefield, so imagine casting Complete the Circuit for almost free (especially if you have a Third Path Iconoclast on the board already triggered at least five times in the game).
You can then casually cast a multicolored instant or sorcery on that turn, exile, and plot it, and that spell also gets copied on the stack. It’s not over yet, though.
Pass the turn when you’re done, and let your opponent do, well, whatever (probably nothing too impactful). And wouldn’t you know it? The spell you copied a turn ago? Go ahead and cast it for free. Lilah Undefeated Slickshot did it for you on the house.
That’s…. (counts fingers)…. Three casts on one spell. Just for having Lilah on the battlefield.
Plus, I really don’t even need to go into detail on this sick enchantment for good reason because it caters exactly to what Lilah wants to do. Of course, you need to remove seven counters from the Invasion of Arcavios to cast it for free, but in a spellslinger deck like this? Shouldn’t be too hard….
Cast a multicolored instant or sorcery, copy it with the Invocation, exile and plot the original with Lilah, pass the turn, twiddle your thumbs while you wait for your opponent to do something, proceed with your upkeep and draw, and then cast the plotted spell for free.
You can do this on every. Single. Turn.
As long, of course, as the instant or sorcery you’re casting is a multicolored spell.
Lastly, we can’t finish this off without talking about good ol’ Jinny-G on the down-low, capable of copying the first instant or sorcery you cast on each turn without even blinking.
Now imagine having…. Chandra, Complete the Circuit, the Invocation, and Jin with Lilah Undefeated Slickshot at that OK Corral – and it’s going to be a bloodbath of never-ending copied spells.
I’m talkin’ bullet holes the size of grapefruits.
That’s Just the Beginning With Lilah Undefeated Slickshot
Standard has several other ways to copy spells, of course. So there’s no shortage of nonsense you can accomplish if you’re the spellslinger we know you are. So have fun with this.
Lilah Undefeated Slickshot also seems to be quite the game commander for EDH, turning Izzet into a beast. And with commander? There are way more cards out there capable of boring your opponent to death as you storm off with her into the sunset.
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