Magic: The Gathering 2014 Intro Pack review

Wizards have released the M14 Intro decks along with the M14 core release set. There are 5 intro decks that are pre-built for you, ready to be unpacked and played straight away.

Lightforce(White + Green)
Psychic Labyrinth(Blue + White)
Death Reaper(Black + Red)
Fire Surge (Red + Blue)
Bestial Strength(Green + Black)

Each pack contains a 60 card deck which is made up of a premium rare card, a non-premium rare card, and 58 commons and uncommons. The pack will also contain 2 sealed M14 booster packs.

Fire Surge is our deck of choice for this review. The theme of this deck is to do as much quick damage as possible early game, but also control the game tempo and finish up using your spells. Burn, counter, and card advantage with a couple of decent creatures that offer evasive damage will get you the win.

The flashy cards

Chandra’s Phoenix (Foil x1) is a great card and synergizes with the deck perfectly. It looks good, swings in for 2 flying damage on turn 3 and if she dies, fear not, for she can be resurrected to your hand if you do direct damage to your opponent with an instant or sorcery spell. Card advantage and evasive damage all rolled up into one card.
Shiv’s Embrace (x2) is my pick for best card in the deck. For 4 mana you’ll enchant a creature and turn it into a Shivan dragon. Your creature will get +2/+2, gain flying, and have a power pumpable ability. Expect to win many a game if you cast this on your Ragathan Firecat and it resolves on turn 4.
Shivan Dragon (x1). Although he’s not worth a lot of money, he is no joke when he enters the battlefield. He will most likely be your game finisher should the game drag on for a bit. A 5/5 flyer that has the ability to pump his power will always be a threat and if not taken care of will end the game swiftly.

Not so flashy, but still important

Dragon Hatchling (x2) is the card I win the most with. At first glance it’s easy to underestimate this 0/1 flyer for 2 mana. However as the game goes on the evasive 2 or 3 damage you’ll be able to swing in for early game multiple times is what will usually set you up for a Lava Axe win.
Flames of the Firebrand (x2) is such a good card. For 3 mana you get to divide 3 damage any which way you wish. You will almost always get a 2 for 1 with this card. It can only be played at sorcery speed but planned right you’ll most likely be taking down 1 or 2 of your opponents early blocks and then swinging in for a bit of damage.
Chandra’s Outrage (x1) is a card you’ll be hoping to draw mid to late game. At instant speed you can deal 4 damage to any creature which is usually enough to kill just about anything – and on top of that you’ll do 2 damage to your opponent. This combos nicely with Chandra’s Phoenix because if she’s in the graveyard she’ll return to your hand.
Essence Scatter (x1) and Negate (x1) are your counters for 2 mana which you’ll want to keep to further disrupt your opponents tempo. You’ll wish you had more of these.
Opportunity (x2) will gain you huge card advantage in the late game. I think that the feeling of resolving an Opportunity in your opponents end has to be the sweetest feeling this deck can offer.

Not flashy and you want to swap out

Open up your two sealed M14 boosters and find better cards to replace these ASAP.

Fleshpulper Giant (x2) is 7 to cast for a 4/4 with a very mediocre ability of squashing a creature with toughness 2 or less.
Staff of the Flame Magus (x1) might have a place in a mono red control deck (do those even exist?) but in a very tempo dependant deck like Fire Surge I see no place for it. There are about a million better options for a turn 3 play.

The Fire Surge deck is a great deck for beginners to start off with and does work nicely out of the box. The more you play with it the more you’ll realize that timing is everything with this deck.

It has the aggro appeal of wanting to sink all your mana and bash in every turn, but you’ll also want to stay aware of when to use Essence Scatter, Disperse, or a burn spell.

The balance between dealing damage and trying to control the tempo of the game is where this deck will test your skills and sharpen you up as a magic player.