I know, right? No-one was expecting that, but let me explain…
In the 2020 online Summer Derby I played a black and white Pestilence deck. This seemed appropriate, especially the guest appearance from a vampire bat:
Everything in balance right?
And if a pestilence is sweeping the plane, than we need something to fight back. In the absence of a “Vaccine” card in Old School, I turned to an alternative: Healing Salve.
It also just happens to be the only Alpha card I own, or am ever likely to own ☺
But when you play with it in the deck, it turns out to have a myriad uses.
In the Summer Derby I used it to “counter” Lightning Bolts, and also win a game by preventing damage that would have killed me from my own Pestilence.
Underworld Dreaming me? Pah, I can last an extra couple of turns to find a Disenchant.
It got REALLY interesting when I started using it in combat and adding it to the stack.
Opponent thinks they can trade Hyppies? Nope: mine survives and smacks you next turn. Want to pump your Factory to kill mine when you attack? Nope I’ll block yours, kill it, and then have mine survive to come at you next time.
And the most complex stack I had to work out…using my Hyppie to block a Vampire, add in some Pestilence damage and then use 2 Healing Salves to save my Hyppie while his Vampire takes an early “blood” bath.
On top of all this, the Healing Salve is dripping in flavour. Dan Frazier’s artwork of the disembodied hands is a little weird. Will the salve reattach these hands after they’ve been lost in a horrific accident involving a Dancing Scimitar?
We may never know, but we do know the world needs more healing and less pain and destruction right now, so why not apply a salve? It will only cost you one white mana….
– Brother Robert
During the Time of the Great Pestilence 2020…
Brothers Of Fire 