Fan Favorite Friday #22: One Wispy Boy

Salutations you superb beings! Happy Friday! I feel like I’m finally recovering from the 24 awesomeness of our Extra Life events. I must be getting old if staying up that long is starting to take such a toll on me, but I haven’t almost dozed off in the office at all today (okay maybe just once, after lunch!)

You may have noticed we didn’t have a vote again this week. That’s partly because I didn’t have enough suggestions, and partly just because I wanted to talk about one of the BEST CARDS IN MAGIC EVER.

Yeah, that’s right, I’m talking the creepy flickering thing in the sky, the ultimate troll, the greatest card that I always think has flash even though it doesn’t: FLICKERWISP!

GAZE UPON THIS FLYING MONSTROSITY!

You may be asking, “Flikerwisp? One of the best cards ever printed in Magic? Are you just on a huge PleasantKenobi kick? What in the world are you talking about?”

Well, I’ll answer all of your questions: “Yes, definitely, maaaybe, and I’ll tell you! But first, we have to sort out the winners from last week’s FFF!”

For those of you who follow our Facebook, you may have noticed that the post you were supposed to comment on to win the Swords to Plowshares never showed up! Weird, right? I’m blaming the weird gremlins that live in the internet and seem to be plaguing my whole life. I’m certain we made all the posts right, but who knows! Anyway, we’re going to combine posts this week. You could win the Swords to Plowshares OR these sweet foil Flickerwisps:

This is the first time I’m genuinely sad I can’t win one of my own contests!

All you have to do to win is:

  • Like the ABU Games Facebook Page

  • Like the post announcing the giveaway

  • Comment on said post telling us your favorite Flickerwisp OR Swords to Plowshares story, or just why you think they’re Cool!

All right, I’m going to make an offering to the internet gods so hopefully nothing goes wrong with the posting of these this week… and now we can get started! Let’s dig in!

History:

Flickerwisp was first printed in Eventide, which was released on July 25, 2008. Gloom was spreading over Shadowmoor, an eternal freaky night, bringing all sorts of creepy crawly things from the fringes of folklore started taking over the plain. Flickerwisp, the horrifying flying amalgamation of wings and legs, was one of those creepy things. Seriously, look at how unnerving it is! WHY DOES IT HAVE SO MANY LEGS?

Since it’s initial printing, Flickerwisp has been printed six more times, but all in sets like Modern Masters or Commander product. What, Wizards, you think the Wispy Boy is too good for Standard?

I mean… it probably is. Yeah.

Since its printing, this freaky flying elemental has become a mainstay of any deck trying to mess with their opponents (tax them, if you will), get better value out of value creatures, and have a decent flying beater to boot.

Flickerwisp has become an icon, albeit an icon that is frequently underestimated by the weak minded.

I’ll admit, I didn’t see the light immediately when I first encountered this horrifying, beautiful creature. I’d seen them played but never paid much attention. Then I got to play my friend (and now fellow ABU employee) Adam’s Death and Taxes list in a Legacy tournament and my eyes began to truly open to the nutty power that is The Wisp. I immediately decided to build a D&T deck of my very own, and it’s still one of my favorite go-to decks.

I’m even playing Flickerwisp in Modern now! Lance (seen on many of our Boardgame Breakdowns) convinced me to try playing Green and Taxes after I retired Infect in a fit of depression and I’ve been binging PleasantKenobi videos and fine-tuning the list ever since. I’ll show you what I’m working with in the decks section down below, and if you have some feedback I’d love to hear it! Now, let’s talk about just how powerful our Wispy Boy really is.

What Makes This Card So Cool?

Flickerwisp’s ability is just so insanely powerful. There’s a section on Thraben University entitled “Flickerwisp and You” and I think they’ve covered it much more thoroughly than I could! Here are a couple of my favorites from the page, but you should definitely head over there and read it yourself if you want to learn more about Flickerwisp or how to play Legacy Death and taxes.

You can:

Vial it in on your end step to blink out an opponent’s land for a turn, effectively acting as a Rishadan Port activation.”

“Hardcast it to remove all counters from permanents like Chalice of the Void, Engineered Explosives, or Endless One.”

“Hardcast it to switch your Phyrexian Revoker, Oblivion Ring, Runed Halo, or Leonin Relic-Warder from one target to another.”

“Use it on an opposing creature in response to a pump spell for huge value (Mostly in the Infect matchup).”

And probably my favorite: “Vial it in to destroy tokens (e.g. Marit Lage, opposing Germ tokens)”

Yeah, suck it Merit Lage! These are just some of the awesome things you can do with a Flickerwisp. Combine that with shells designed to tax your opponent and they’re going to have a bad time while you cackle to yourself.

Flickerwisp is almost always my favorite top deck! The versatility is INSANE.

What Decks Is This Card Played In?

Like I mentioned earlier, you’re mostly going to find Flickerwisp in builds designed to tax your opponent in many ways. For example, here’s the Green and Taxes list I’ve been working on in Modern:

 

I don’t want you to be able to play your cards.

Leonin Arbiter + Ghost Quarter makes me giggle like a maniac every time and having Flickerwisp around to flicker cards like Knight of Autumn, Blade Splicer, and Eternal Witness just feels great! Plus, I can use it to mess with my opponent’s stuff, which always feels good.

Here is a pretty standard Death and Taxes deck in Legacy that makes good use of 4x Flickerwisp:

 

In Conclusion:

Do you see what I mean now? Flickerwisp is kind of absurd, in a glorious way. The versatility is just bonkers!

What do you think? Do you have any awesome Flickerwisp stories? What cards would you like to see highlighted in this column in the future? Let me know in the comments or feel free to hit me up on Twitter!

Take care out there, and I’ll see you next week!

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Joe Davidson is the Content Production Manager at ABU Games. When he's not playing Modern, Legacy, or following around Team ABU with a camera he's pursuing a BFA in Fiction at Boise State University. He loves Goblins, casting burn spells, and writing about Magic. You can find him on Twitter @MTGJoeD.