Hello again, loyal readers. This week I will discuss the fun and fascinating Rebels and Mercenaries. They are really fun to play with, and I believe if you chose the right ones they could make for tournament viable decks.

First let's discuss the Rebels. There are two types of rebels: recruiters and non-recruiters. Almost all the non-recruiters have special abilities. All the rebel recruiters can go get rebels one size larger than themselves for one extra mana. For example the Ramosian Sergeant costs one white for a 1/1. For three colorless mana she can go get a two casting costing rebel. It goes up from there. The two casting cost rebels can go get the three cost rebels, etc, etc. Most of the recruiters have a fair casting cost to power/ toughness ratio. The Sergeant cost one white for a 1/1, the Captain cost two white and one for a 2/2 first striker. There are three new recruiters in Nemesis, one of which is the Defiant Falcon (one white, one colorless, flies, goes to get three or less casting cost rebels). It is decent because it flies, but as I have said before any 1/1 is going to have a hard time staying around long with Masticores being the dominant form of creature removal these days. The best recruiter (best rebel for that matter) is Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero. I said she was the best card in Nemesis in my first column and I meant it. She can get any rebel, because of the X cost in recruiting and she recycles the rebels in your graveyard to be used again. It is slow but she can get your Light or Law Bringers (tap and sacrifice to remove black or red creature from the game) and then put them back in your deck to be used again later. Simply put, she is the only MUST HAVE card for any rebel deck.

Both Rebels and Mercenaries get really interesting when you look at all the special abilities of the non-recruiters. Two of my personal favorites are Steadfast Troops, and Jhovall Queen. The troops are 2/2's for two white, and the queen is a 4/7 for two white and four. Both do not tap to attack. It harkens back to the days of the Serra Angel. If you can get the queen on the table quick (as early as turn four with Remote Farms), you should be able to cruise to victory very quickly. I have already mentioned the Lightbringer and Lawbringer for creature removal, but there is another excellent removal card in the form of a rebel, Defiant Vanguard. He also a recruits, he gets four casting costing rebels or less, but his real power is in his special ability. When he blocks, at the end of combat he destroys himself and what ever he blocks. Think about this for a minute. It is non-targeted creature removable at its best. Here is one example: imagine your opponent has a big Multani Maro Sorcerer (power and toughness equal to the number of cards in both players hands, can not be the target of spells or abilities). You can't get rid of him with Afterlife, Exile, Swords to Plowshares, nothing. Wrath of God will work, but it also takes all your stuff. Now you can block Multani with the Vanguard, and poof they are both gone. If you have Lin Sivvi you can put the Vanguard back in your deck to be used again. He only cost three to cast so the smallest of recruiters (except the Sergeant) can go get him. One more analogy and I will move on, remember Stratego ™? Remember the bomb? Another excellent rebel is the legend Cho Manno. He is a 2/2, for two white and two, but that doesn't matter. His special ability is that you prevent all damage dealt to him. This is really amazing, whenever he is blocked he won't die. Red simply can't kill this guy, black has to use something like Snuff Out or Vendetta, and green and blue are stuck because they don't have much removal at all. He is absolutely great. The two Gliders are good cards as well. Having flying and built in protection from black or red can ruin your opponent's day if they are playing mono color decks. Some other fun rebels are Pious Warrior (2/3, whenever he is dealt combat damage you gain that much life), and Task Force (1/3, whenever they are the target of a spell or ability it gets +0/+3).

The mercenaries are just as cool as the Rebels are. The recruiters for the mercenaries differ from the rebels in that they can only get mercenaries smaller than themselves. For example a two casting cost mercenary can only get a one casting cost mercenary. However they do have better casting cost to power/toughness ratios. A recruiter that costs two to cast is a 2/1, or one that cost three to cast is a 2/2. The mercenary recruiters have more abilities than the rebels do. Some have built in fear like the Rathi Intimidator, and Cateran Enforcer. Or swampwalk like the Cateran Slaver (one of the best pictures in Masques). Black also has the unique card, Cateran Summons. For one black you can go through your deck and put any mercenary into your hand. Black does not have any legendary mercenaries yet, but that doesn't matter. There are plenty of excellent mercenaries. There is the superb Rathi Assassin. For to black and two you get a 2/2 that can recruit mercenaries three casting cost or less, or for two black and one tap to destroy target tapped non black creature. It is more expensive than the old Royal Assassin is, but these days you take what you get. Strong-arm Thug brings dead mercenaries back to your hand. Silent Assassin can kill blockers for one black and three without tapping, and she only cost two black to put out. With her one the table your opponent might have to let some creatures through just to avoid losing their whole army. One of the coolest mercenaries is Rathi Fiend. He is a 2/2 for one black and three who can go get three casting cost or less mercenaries, but has the added ability of making each player loss three life when he comes into play. This gets around things like those pesky Worships and Energy Fields. The Spineless Thug and Spiteful Bully can round out any mercenary deck by providing cheap creatures with minimal drawbacks. On a sidebar the Ascendant Evincar (3/3, 2 black and four, flying, all non black creatures get –1/-1, all black creatures get +1/+1, legend), and Death Pit Offering (Sacrifice all your creatures when it comes into play, all your creatures get +2/+2) make great additions to Mercenary decks by beefing your army up.

There are also two more mercenaries, and one other rebel I would like to discuss. Nemesis gave us Skyshroud Poacher, Moggcatcher, and Seahunter. Skyshroud poacher is a green rebel who can get any elf for three colorless mana. Mogg Catcher and Seahunter are mercenaries who can go get goblins and merefolk respectively, each for three colorless mana. These are a great boon for theme decks of their creature types. How about going to go get those Goblin Marshalls for three mana and putting them directly into play. Then sacrificing all those goblins to draw cards with Eye of Yawgmoth or using them against your opponent with Goblin Bombardment. There are other uses for these guys like putting elves in mono white decks or merefolk in mono black decks, but that has already been brought up buy other publications and I don't need to re-write their stuff here. Next week I will discuss a few deck ideas (not rebel or mercenary) that I think might make a comeback because of cards additions from Nemesis and Masques.