2) It can be Countered. Does it have Scragnoth's ability? No.

3) A Ghitu Fire for 7cc just makes toast out of it. Or 8cc or 9cc or 10cc, whatever it takes. Beware Regeneration.

4) Urza's Rage with kicker will just demolish it. Splashing blue in your B/G Spiritmonger deck? Sorry. But beware Regeneration again.

5) Three Shocks, or even 2 Seals of Fire and a lone Shock, will make short work of it. Of course, we're assuming it hasn't pumped up yet. If so, add another Shock or two. Blah, blah, beware Regeneration, yet again! (Notice a pattern here?)

6) Wrath of God laughs extremely at it. Rout too.

7) We can bounce it. Lots of ways to bounce cards. Works especially nice if we have a Rising Waters lock down.

8) TRY attacking with Spiritmonger with an Ensnaring Bridge in Play. Heh.

9) Guess which card Opposition will tap first?

10) It can be chump blocked. By a Blastoderm, even.

11) It doesn't Fly or have First Strike or even Trample. So a Dragon can fly over it or even block and kill it (well, unless it's done that pumped-up pesky thing, or you got your 6cc 6/6 out before opponent got their 5cc 6/6 out.)

12) Swords to Plowshares. Lifegain hurts, especially if 'Monger (may I call it 'Monger?) has a counter or 3 on it, but what the heck, it works. Thanks to Darren Azhrei DiBattista for mentioning this one.

13) Pacifism. Hey, why not? Can't attack, can't block, just sits there changing its color as it awaits a topdecked Tranquility. Can regenerate though, thus saving your Pacifism.

14) Black critter-killers that don't have that Non-Black thing. Which includes what? We already mentioned Terminate; are there any others? Snuff Out and Vendetta won't work. If not, let's save this slot for ....
....DISCARD!! Persecute, Unmask, Addle, NOT Duress, OSTRACIZE!!
Maybe Ostracize will be good now. Maybe I should have my head examined. What else?

15) Predator Flagship!! It's as cheap or cheaper than Ghitu Fire, and is reusable.

16) Crooked Scales. Ah, you forgot about this one, huh? My Birds or Elves, vs your Monger. Oh, I didn't win the coin flip? Let's do it again! Rich Berezin made Top 8 at 99 NY States with this puppy.

17) Earthquake for 6. Or 7 or 8 or 9 or whatever it takes! As with Ghitu Fire, be sure they can't regenerate.

18) Theft cards!! Be sure to play these carefully by chump blocking a few times, so you get to steal a REALLY big 'Monger. This will come in handy in the soon-to-be-infamous 'Monger vs 'Monger staredowns. "My 'Monger's bigger than your 'Monger!" You see, in Magic, size IS important! Let's see, there's Bribery, Charisma, what else? Rakso and Azhrei can use Control Magic and Treachery. Dayam I miss Control Magic!

19) Just remembered a black card that can kill black critters. Forced March for 8 !!

I was thinking, might Apocalypse have some new ways to off Spiritmonger? It does!

20) Mind Extraction (2B). Just superb in the Mirror Match. Requires your having a black or green creature in play.

21) Before I forget....Void, naming "5". Only in Magic can we "name" numbers. I hate Void. Guess I'll have to love it now. Shoot. Um...maybe not. Void won't stop Regeneration.

22) Two Planar Despairs in a Domain deck should do it. :-)

23) Zombie Boa! What a great 3/3 critter and it only costs B4 to cast, plus B1 to activate. Welcome to The Age of The Zombie Snake, 'Monger!

That's all for Black. Anyone understand the text on Dead Ringers the first time they read it? Didn't think so. Friggin Lawyers!!

On to Red:

24) Illuminate !! So-o-o many options with this card.

BTW, isn't Tahngarth's Glare a mean card? It's just mean.

That's it in red in this set. Green never has ways to off creatures, so why bother looking? Oh, I suppose you could Power Matrix Monger then Hurricane it, but, um, no.

And now for some oldies but goodies.

26) Tangle Wire. My favorite T2 card! Cast these early and often and get stuff "under the wire" to win before Monger is cast.

27) Rishidan Port - Take full advantage of opponent's color screw. Man, I will NOT miss this card when it rotates out.

28) Parallax Wave - Been known to have "some" utility in past decks.

29) Parallax Tide - another slowering card, like Tangle Wire.

Back to Apocalypse:

30) Legacy Weapon. Yeah, right, like you'll ever use the special ability of spending WUBRG to remove a permanent from a game. However, it does have the Serra Avatar thing of being put back into your deck, so perhaps a mutual Millstoning deck ala the T8 Chimera deck from last year's Worlds will develop.

31) Nether Spirit, the perpetual chump blocker, and a "culprit" in its own right. OK, there are ways to remove Nether Spirit, but you have to draw them. Thanks to Toby Wachter for this one.

32) Afterlife. Gone since MBC days, back now. Thanks again to Toby.

33) Land Destruction, and hope your Monger opponent gets color screwed. I think LD is rather weak however, but it's good as a support strategy.

34) Vindicate.
Veni! Vidi! Vindicate!
Oh, wait!
Regeneration again!
Son of a female Canine!
(So now I understand why Port was invented)
May all Monger players get color-screwed!

35) Meekstone. It won't kill it, but Monger won't untap either. It will either attack once (feel free to chump), or you can help it along with Opposition, in case it gets cheeky and stays upright as a blocker. We'll have none of that! Go Flyers!

Azhrei offers up ideas 36-44, primarily for Type One and Extended Players. I’ll get back to Type Two in a bit, I just found it comforting that Type One, as usual, can handle everything, even Monger.

36) Balance.

37) Moat and Teferi’s Moat. Actually forget Teferi's Moat thanks to Monger's color changing ability. The original is 10,000 times better now.

38) The Abyss.

39) Diabolic Edict. May not work if birds and elves are in play, so handle them first. If so, the "sacrificed" aspect of Edict disallows regeneration.

40) Incinerate. As the final burn, prevents regeneration.

41) Other Regenerators. And there are a ton. Best chump blockers of all, because they lose the “chump” stigma and stick around.

42) Verdant Force. You see, Monger isn’t the only critter that gets bigger and bigger and bigger....

43) Sliver Decks. Azhrei says “most.”

44) Pure Speed. A noted pro once said, “In any format where Sligh is good, it tends to dominate.” Gulp. Too bad, Monger. Red is strong again in T2.

Andrej Awgustow mentioned ways 45-48, as well as Abyss and Incinerate but Azhrei beat him to it.

45) Ashes to Ashes. I always loved this dual sweeper. Removed from Game = No Regeneration Allowed.

46) Reprisal. Kill critter with power 4 or greater and it can’t regenerate. Works for me.

47) Furnace Brood. From deep in the heart of Obscure Mountain, we get this Exodus Common which can cause a critter to lose regeneration.

48) Cursed Totem. I always think of Mike Mason when I hear this card mentioned, for some reason. Yah, Monger won’t be regenerating with this out, and we all know how well Black and Green can(not) handle artifacts, unless you include The Orangutan, Disk (old or new), and Black discard. Too bad this is gone from Type Two.

49) The Link family. No, I'm not talking about The Legend of Zelda, I'm talking about Spirit Link, Soul Link, and Armadillo Cloak. Sure, that just turns Monger into a blocker but at least he won't be crushing your skull. Just fly over him or wait for something to topdeck that kills him. Her. It. Hey, it buys you time.

50) Lobotomy. It’s one of those cards that “define” the metagame, in short, you’d better have this card at the back of your mind as you design, which means don’t be so silly as to build a deck around a single card. Also from the same family.....

51) Rootwater Thief.

52) Denying Wind. I never broke this thing, but tried to. It is so expensive. A James Clarkson idea.

53) Scorching Lava with kicker. Now, this is more reasonable, and already a good card vs Nether Spirit. It’s a double dipper as not only can’t Monger regenerate, it’s removed from the game as well so I’d like to see him bring it back later with Yawgmoth’s Agenda. Thanks to James Clarkson for this idea. Of course, the 2 damage isn’t enough, so we’ll have to bring it in range with other stuff, such as...

54) Flametongue Kavu. In multiples, even. Another Clarkson idea, as well as ways 52 through 64. I don’t like the card disadvantage, but I like Monger even less.

55) Shivan Wurm. James and WotC both offer this up, but you’d better strike fast before the Monger is outrageously large. A good Monger player will find ways to work around it.

56) War Tax. James offers up this Masques Rare, and then there’s its older brother Propaganda. Monger person may be able to pay the tax since they’re playing the two fastest colors in Magic, but then again, maybe not.

57) Temporal Spring. If I broke out all the tappers, counters, removed from game cards, discard cards, regenerators, and regenerator hosers, we’re probably above 100 ways already. I just might do that too. I’m capable of anything.

58) Avatar of Woe. Well, you can tap it to do its Royal Assassin thing.

59) Avatar of Fury. Pumped up. This card was in a Nationals winning deck, right?

60) Intrepid Hero. The Urza’s Saga Rare 1/1 Soldier for 2W that taps to destroy creature with power=4 or greater. Hit it with Scorching Lava first or make sure he’s tapped out on Black since “destroy” isn’t “bury” and that pesky regeneration stuff rears it’s ugly head again. It's reprinted in 7th.

61) Spreading Plague. The Invasion Rare enchantment that states “Whenever a creature comes into play, destroy all other creatures that share a color with it. They can’t be regenerated.” Sure, you need to play black and green critters and it costs 4B, but still.

62) Unnatural Selection/Tsabo’s Decree combo. Wow, James, this one is interesting. You can spend one colorless with the Apoc 1U Rare U.Selection, cast Decree naming Birds or Elves (because you just made Monger a bird or elf), then destroy and discard like crazy. Regeneration again, but you’re playing blue so bounce any Mongers in play.

63) Ice. As in Fire/Ice, the Apoc split card, from the tapper family. You get to draw a card which just might be Scorching Lava.

64) Waterfront Bouncer. Works for me. Thanks to James Clarkson for all these nice ideas.

65) Meddling Mage. Another metagame “definer,” and easily the strangest card in Type 2 in a long time other than the wholly unplayable Goblin Game, and the sick mistake that is Spiritmonger.

66) Pariah. Sure it turns him into a blocker so fly over him. At least it neutralizes him. And if he tries to combo with red direct damge or attack with other stuff he better have a black mana untapped so he can save his Monger AND your Pariah. Too funny. Buys time to draw into death stuff.

67) Manacles of Decay. The W1 Apoc Common from the Pacifism family. And Pacifism is T2 legal too so you can have 8 in a RW deck if you fear critters that much. Clarkson's idea.

68) Captain's Maneuver. The XRW Apoc Uncommon that is an instant and redirects damage from targ creature or player to another creature or player instead. Whether he has black untapped or his life total is low enough will tell you whom to target. Clarkson's idea, again.

69) Spiritmonger. Why not fight fire with fire? Hope you get yours out first and watch them eat each other.

70) Spectral Lynx. Useful as it has protection from green as well as regeneration. Also useful in the dreaded Spiritmonger mirror match (thanks to rkoelsch over at The CPA Alliance for that one). Question: What's good about the Spiritmonger Mirror Match? Answer: One of the Spiritmonger decks are going to lose.

Over at MtgNews, The Crimson Tide is just filled with tons of ideas on how to beat Monger. Among the many he lists that haven't been already mentioned are:

71) Vengeance. The W3 Uncommon from 7th that says "Destroy target tapped creature." It seems a tad expensive to me and you have to beware that untapped black mana stuff again, but technically it works.

72) Confiscate. The Urza's Saga Uncommon that controls target permanent for UU4. Which reminds me of team mate Hector Claveria's idea of...

73) Dominate. OK, that's Type Two legal, but also pretty expensive at 8cc to steal a Monger.

74) Northern Paladin. Again with the destroy not bury thing.

75) Eastern Paladin. Again.

76) Shackles. The Invasion common that won't let a critter untap and returns to hand for one white mana.

77) Backlash, the Invasion Uncommon. Crimson Tide lists it as "temporary." OK, C. Tide gets points for creativity here. The card reads "Tap target untapped creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power to its controller."

78) Bind. What the....? Damn but this works! Kill Monger AND draw a card. You the man, Tide (may I call you Tide?)

79) Tsabo's Assassin. Nope, can't regenerate, sorry Monginini. It's an Invasion Rare and works best in a mono-black deck. From the Royal Assassin family.

80) Obliterate.

81) Humble. From the Pacifism family. 1W, Instant, Urza’s Saga Uncommon Target creature loses all abilities and is a 0/1 creature until end of turn. Won't kill Monger but will surely anger opponent, no?

82) March of Souls. 4W. Turns Monger into a 1/1 Flyer! From Planeshift. No, you cannot regenerate, Monger. Stop that annoying habit of yours!

83) Slay. But be sure that Green mana is tapped out, which is unlikely as my Monger deck has birds and elves in it.

84) Aether Mutation, then block with saprolings the next time he plays it..... (and I quote The Crimson Tide directly on this one). Creativity points once again!

85) Pernicious Deed for Five. In my opinion, this card's name is too feminine. I would have prefered Phyrexian Disk or Volrath's Raging Hell Hammer. But that's just me. Also in my Monger deck, you betcha.

86) Treva's Charm. Remove from game = you can't regenerate. Sorry (not really).

87) Draco. OK, well this one is just silly Tide because it's a silly card. If I list this then I'll have to list Tidal Kraken. But a big THANK YOU for all your wonderous ways.

88) Tidal Kraken.

89) Mystic Snake. Counter AND critter, all in one card.

90) Misdirection. Surprised? Why? Not only is this most misunderstood spell in Magic a nappy non-counter way to counter a counter by redirecting said countering spell to Misdirection, it can REdirect a Monger player's creature destruction spell to Monger. Consider that since Monger person is probably playing Black, he/she, or even he-she (hey, you don't know), is probably playing some form of creature destruction, and as long as it doesn't say non-black, you might be "In like Flynn," if you'll pardon my using a 50-yr-old expression. Could happen.

Over at The CPA Alliance, MikeyMike is full of ideas. To whit:

91) Arrest. 2W, Enchant Creature, Mercadian Masques Uncommon Enchanted creature can’t attack or block, and its activated abilities can’t be played. Oh, ouch.

92) Order. Of Order/Chaos, the new Apoc split card. To quote MikeyMike: "ORDER/chaos, you remove 1 from the game and your opponent will fear playing a 2nd monger." You know something, WotC? I think your split cards are an incredible hit. I think I speak for most of us when I say you should print more of them.

93) Plague Wind. Whereas "breaking wind" is easy to do in real life (try NOT doing it), it's incredibly difficult to break Winds in Magic. Still, it works. James Clarkson sent me this idea before MikeyMike posted it.

94) Collective Restraint. From the planet of Hannibals the Cannibals. Look at the card!

95) Delerium.

96) Cho-Manno, Revolutionary. El Chumpo. Has a toughness of 2, but might as well be infinity, no? Thanks again for your tips, MikeyMike. Which reminds me....

97) Cho-manno's Blessing. Well, technically, but Mongo would have to have green mana tapped out, which they probably won't have. So use that Port/Bounce/Land Destruction stuff.

98) Glacial Wall. Won't be good for long, but saves you a turn or two. I heard this card was popular vs Fires.

99) Pure Reflection. Get this down before Monger. Sure, Monger personage still gets a 6/6 criitter, but without special abilities, so Voice of All, Story Circle, etc., can have good times.

Well, we’ve reached my original target of 99 ways. Why stop there? Before I break out the counters, etc., here are some more (yes, some rather obscure) ideas I’ve received:

From Andrej’s Anti-Regeneration “tech” (Ways 100 - 107)

100) Disintegrate. OK, I know it’s not T2 legal, but it’s a way.

101) Runesword. Chronicles Common and The Dark Uncommon. Not T2 legal, and you probably wouldn’t use it if it were. Still, it works, technically.

102) Bone Shaman. The Chronicles Common and The Dark Uncommon. Who likes this card? Was handed out free in mags in Ige Age days. A 3/3 RR2 Giant that has to be comboed with DD AND blocked. Makes you think of Lure, doesn’t it? C’mon, don’t kid me. It does. Stop denying it. Sigh. Am I making a point here? Am I showing you how low we have to go to stop Monger?

103) Gravebind. B, Instant, Ice Age Rare Target creature cannot regenerate this turn. Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn’s upkeep.
Best comboed with DD or creature kill, eh?

104) Hurr Jackal. R, Summon Jackal 1/1, Fourth Edition Rare and Arabian Nights Common.
T: Target creature cannot regenerate this turn. Too bad we can’t use this one now, eh?
Wait a minute. We never used this when we could.

105) Lim Dul’s Cohort. 1BB, Summon Zombies 2/3, Ice Age Common. Creatures blocking or blocked by Lim-Dűl’s Cohort cannot regenerate this turn.
We be scrapin’

106) Orcish Healer RR, Summon Cleric 1/1, Ice Age Uncommon.
RR, T: Target creature cannot regenerate this turn.
RBB, T: Regenerate target black or green creature.
RGG, T: Regenerate target black or green creature.
I don’t think even Type One players play this, do they?

107) Whippoorwill G, Summon Whippoorwill 1/1, The Dark Uncommon. GG, T: Until end of turn, target creature may not regenerate and damage done to target creature may not be prevented or redirected. If target creature goes to the graveyard, remove it from game.
No comment. I think the card speaks for itself

Next up: Some CPAers weigh in......stay tuned......

Firestorm at CPA offers up a number of ideas, including and specifically 108 – 114:

108) Wall of Nets. 1WW, Summon Wall 0/7, Exodus Rare. At end of combat, remove from the game all creatures blocked by Wall of Nets. If Wall of Nets leaves play, return to play under their owners’ control all creatures removed from the game with Wall of Nets.

109) Sol’kanar the Swamp King. 2UBR, Summon Legend 5/5, Chronicles Rare AND Legends Rare. Swampwalk . (this is important). Whenever a black spell is successfully cast, gain 1 life.

110) Overtaker. 1U, Creature — Spellshaper 1/1, Mercadian Masques Rare. 3U, tap, Discard a card from your hand: Untap target creature and gain control of it until end of turn. That creature gains haste until end of turn.

111) Capsize. Tempest Common. Buyback. Nevernever Monger.

112) Nicol Bolas. Chronicles and Legends Rare. Well, technically. Be honest, didn’t just the mention of this card strike fear in your heart? Yeah, you know it did. Don’t lie to me. You remember. Not exactly “optimal” vs Monger, though.
But it works.

113) Urborg Skeleton. B, Creature — Skeleton 0/1, Invasion Common. Kicker 3 (You may pay an additional 3 as you play this spell.) B: Regenerate Urborg Skeleton. If you paid the kicker cost, Urborg Skeleton comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it.

114) Sacred Mesa. 2W, Enchantment, Mirage Rare. During your upkeep, sacrifice a Pegasus or bury Sacred Mesa. 1W: Put a Wild Pegasus token into play. Treat this token as a 1/1 white creature with flying that counts as a Pegasus. “.....is nice for blocking forever....Firestorm”

Istanbul at CPA has a few ways:

115) Security Detail. 3W, Enchantment, Mercadian Masques Rare.
WW: Put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token into play. Play this ability only if you control no creatures and only once each turn.

116) Kjeldoran Outpost.
Land, Alliances Rare.
When Kjeldoran Outpost comes into play, sacrifice a plains or bury Kjeldoran Outpost. T: Add W to your mana pool. 1W, T: Put a Soldier token into play. Treat this token as a 1/1 white creature.
Be honest. Didn’t it feel nice to see this old friend mentioned again?
Thanks, Istanbul.

117) Ivory Gargoyle.
4W, Summon Gargoyle 2/2, Alliances Rare.
Flying .
If Ivory Gargoyle is put into the graveyard from play, put it into play under owner's control at end of turn and skip your next draw phase. 4W: Remove Ivory Gargoyle from the game.

118) Peacekeeper.
2W, Summon Peacekeeper 1/1, Weatherlight Rare
During your upkeep, pay 1W or bury Peacekeeper.
Creatures cannot attack.

“...and that's just the white stuff. “ ..... Istanbul

The fellow known as “Dead” at The CPA Alliance (who calls himself “Dead?”.....that’s either the silliest thing or the coolest thing I ever heard) offers up the following two:

119) City of Solitude.
2G, Enchantment, Visions Rare.
Each player may play spells and abilities only during his or her turn.
“Um, yeah.....your regeneration equals SQUAT!”

120) Pit Spawn
4BBB, Summon Beast 6/4, Exodus Rare
First strike
During your upkeep, pay BB or sacrifice Pit Spawn.
If Pit Spawn damages any creature, remove that creature from the game.

OK, that’s it from the CPA to date. Let’s break out the couterspells, shall we?
Let’s include the 3rd best counterspell, which is Counterspell, as #2, and move on, shall we?

121) Mana Drain
Was there ever a better counterspell outside of Ungluded?

122) Force of Will
The 2nd best CS.

123) Absorb
Like a breath of fresh air.

124) Undermine
Can you FEEL it?
Take 3!

125) Dissipate

126) Power Sink

127) Exclude

128) Thwart

129) Daze

130) Deathgrip

131) Spell Blast

132) Lifeforce

133) Sleight of Mind

134) Force Spike

135) Memory Lapse

136) Remove Soul

137) Order of the Sacred Torch

138) Daring Apprentice

139) Desertion

140) Arcane Denial

141) Tidal Contol

142) Scent of Brine

143) Brine Seer

144) Ertai, Wizard Adept

145) Forbid

146) Thrull Wizard

147) Vodalian Mage

148) Miscalculation

149) Brine Shaman

150) Force Void

151) Withering Boon

152) Mana Leak

153) Ertai’s Meddling

154) Dismiss

155) Disruptive Student

156) Rewind

157) Lilting Refrain

158) Mundungu

159) Abjure

160) Spite

161) Stronghold Biologist

162) Rethink

163) Spiketail Hatchling

164) Foil

165) Spiketail Drake

166) Sunken Field

167) Mage’s Contest

168) Evasive Action

169) Ertai, the Corrupted

170) Dromar’s Charm

Nick Lynn sent in the following suggestions, ideas 171- 192

171) Abu Ja’Far. The Arabian Nights and Chronicles Uncommon that buries any creature that blocks or is blocked by it. It’s an 0/1 for W. You’d probably need a Crusade or Holy Strength to attack with it. Best of all? It’s a “Leper.”

172) Royal Assassin. The Rare BB1 1/1 from every basic set through 4th that taps to destroy a creature. Doesn’t say bury, so use it during opponent’s upkeep to render Monger moot.

173) Sorceress Queen. From Arabian Nights, Revised, 4th and 5th. Taps to turn target creature into a 0/2. The original Nights version had special abilities and enchantments on this card are unaffected.

174) Brine Hag. UU2 Legends Uncommon. This card has been errated. The text says if Hag goes to graveyard, the creature(s) that damaged it become 0/2 “that turn,” but the errata says they become 0/2 permanently.

175) Gaseous Form

176) Muzzle

177) Juxtapose

178) Lady Evangela

179) Time Elemental

180) Temporal Adept

181) Broken Visage

182) Deliver

183) Two Serrated Arrows

184) Tsabo Tavoc

185) Uncle Istvan

186) Wall of Shadows

187) Wall of Vapor

188) Essence Vortex

189) Fumarole

190) Jokulhaups

191) Apocalypse

192) Zur’s Weirding

193) Breathstealer’s Crypt

Ben Palmer sends in the following possibilities, Ideas 194 - 204 :

194) Hobble

195) Humility

196) Caltrops

197) Traprunnner

198) Fog

199) Constant Mists

200) Dawnstrider

201) Yavimaya Embrace

202) Mirrorwood Treefolk

203) Desolation Giant

204) Theives’s Auction

Over at The CPA Alliance, Istanbul comes back with even more ways (ideas 205 - 225), in his own words:

205) Ashen Ghoul (and it's good in a deck, too!)

206) Binding Grasp. Ice Age and 5th Uncommon. (I'll take that, thank you...)

207) Blinking Spirit (Crunch all you want, we'll make more!)

208) Caribou Range (A m00se once bit my sister)

209) Elder Druid (Spiritmonger can't attack if he's tapped...)

210) Giant Trap Door Spider (Out of the game with you!)

211) Goblin Snowman (for that humiliation effect)

212) Icy Manipulator (See also Elder Druid)

213) Icy Prison (Shoo!)

214) Jester's Cap (Can't cast the Monger if he's not in your deck!)

215) Merieke Ri Berit (Mine!)

216) Minion of Leshrac (He's big, he's beefy, he's got prot. black.)

217) Order of the Ebon Hand (Protection from black stops this guy cold.)

218) Pit Trap (Hey, look! It's in Type 2!)

219) Wall of Pine Needles (Spiritmonger, regeneration 0wnz j00)

220) Yavimaya Gnats (See above)

221) Contagion (Okay, it's not dead, but a 2/4 is a lot easier to stomach...)

222) Gorilla Chieftain (Two, four, six, eight! This guy can regenerate!)

223) Helm of Obedience (Gimme!)

224) Lim-Dul's High Guard (First strike AND regenerate!)

225) Ritual of the Machine (Black Control Magic!)

Emile No Oni sent me the following (ideas 226 - 240), in his own words:

226) Winds of Rath (Tempest) : I believe the monger will not be enchanted, right (spirit link sucks) 

227) Pain

228) Cleanse (Legends) : OK, it's a color -hoser, but in this case, it's a good one (mongie, mongie, mongie, where are you baby ?)

229) Spinal Embrace (Invasion) Now, THAT'S a GOOOOD card, I mean , pump your enemy with HIS monger, then suck the life out of the fatty... OOOOH, YEAH...

230) Death Stroke (Stronghold) at last, an use for this card!

231-233) Crypt Rats, Pestilence, Thrashing Wumpus : Disease is so cool, if it don't kill the monger, it will kill it's controller

234) Spinal Craft (Tempest) Targeting has never been so fun

235) Extinction (Tempest) : I wonder how many "Creature-Beast" this Decree's ancestor can kill single-handedly?

236) An-Zerrin's Ruins (Homelands) Same as previous, but an enchantment this time

237) Retribution (Homelands) Two beasts with one card. The worst set ever, really ?

238) Barrin's Spite (Invasion) Talkin' about double killer...

238) Perish (Tempest) Hey, I even killed 2 Kavu Chameleon with this one at my Regionals

239) Tsabo's Decree (Invasion) How the creator of such a good card could have been killed by that whimp Crovax ? Never mind, I 'm too in the storylines (L5R experience)

240) Pillar Tombs of Aku (Visions) Just because I'm a huge fan of the card

Chris Stead sends in the following (241 – 259):

241) Recursive Defiant Vanguard. OK. Monger keeps regenerating for a while as Rebel Swarm swarms over or past Mongrel.

242) Legacy's Allure. Tempest Uncommon steal critter card.

243) Jeweled Spirit. Sacing two lands to keep him a perpetual blocker seems a bit expensive to me, but maybe you intend to play with Harrows and Lays of the Land?

244) Flowstone Overseer. Giving Monger a +1/-1 “bonus” in order to kill it requires a ton of free red mana.

245) The Phyrexian Plaguelord/Debaser/Defiler family. From Urza’s Legacy. That’s quite a family. On the wall of their home is a “Damage goes on the stack” sign. Chad Stair also recommends this one.

246) Unnatural Selection + Shoreline Raider.

247) Child of Gaea. Tramples, Regererates, is fat, has upkeep. Urza’s Saga Rare.

248) Consuming Ferocity. Mirage Uncommon Enchant Creature, 1R. Will take some deckbuilding skills to use this effectively, but it does bury.

249) Null Chamber. I thought I’d seen Meddling Mage before in some form. Here it is. 3W, Enchant World, Mirage Rare. You and target opponent each name any card except a basic land. Those cards cannot be played.

250) Tradewind Rider

251) Trickster Mage. And Static Orb/Trickster Mage make a nice combo too if you wish to risk it.

252) Palinchron. Urza’s Legacy Rare. Works nicely, actually. Damage on the stack. Fire in the hole.

253) 3 Quicksands.

254) Stasis

255) Equipoise. Visions Rare.

256) Sands of Time. Visions Rare.

257) Equipoise + Sands of Time. Just to be really nasty.

258) Leviathon

259) Voracious Cobra

260) Squirrel Tokens. Chad Stair sends this one in. I hate squirrels, except Rocky from Rocky and Bullwinkle. In Magic they chump quite nicely, however.

Martti Nurmikari recommends (261 - 263):

261) Nevinyrral’s Disk

262) Exile

263) Gossamer Chains

264) Topple. Steve Myers recommends this.

265) Black Lotus, Mountain, Channel, Fireball. Sent in by Shaun Mack.

ShadowDrifterX suggests (266 - 276):

266) 2 Shrinks + Transmutation. Now this is original. Give Monger a power of 0 then switch power and toughness.

The next four ways require Monger player to not be able to regenerate. I’ll list them, then would prefer not to hear about stuff that says “Destroy” rather than bury. Sure you can handle his black mana with cards like Port, but honestly a later Monger will be able to go the distance.

267) Thicket Basilisk

268) Cockatrice

269) Venom

270) Venomous Breath. In fact, just about any card with “Venom” in it.

271) Force of Nature

272) Polar Kraken

273) Aberoth

274) Skyshroud Behemoth

275) Lord of the Pit

276) Will o’the Wisp. Eternal Chump Blocker!

Jan Nebendahl offers up the following three Invasion commons to halt Monger, in Jan’s words: “tapping Mongi until Crovax starts liking white fluffy bunnies.”

277) Benalish Trapper

278) Stormscape Apprentice

279) Thunderscape Apprentice

Kevin Carr mentions:

280) Catastrophe

281) Exotic Curse in a Domain deck then some non-regenerative burn

282) 2-3 Raka Sanctuary in play with a blue and white permanant and non-regenerative burn if he’s not tapped out

283) Stalking Assassin

284) Winnow. Nice in the mirror match or if opponent actually has two mongers in play. “Destroy” not bury again. From here on out I’m ignoring destroy effects.

285) Tangle. Keeps him from attacking for 2 turns.

286) Darting Merfolk, as a blocker and with a U open.

287) Ring of Gix

Bjarte W. Offers up:

288) Retribution of the Meek

289) Cornered Market. Assuming you neuter Monger with Pacifism or its ilk, this will prevent any others from being played. Not recommended for the mirror match.

290) Island Sanctuary

291) Debt of Loyalty.

1WW, Instant, Weatherlight Rare
Regenerate target creature. Gain control of that creature.
“I killed him because I had to,” Starke lied to Gerrard. “But now I pledge my loyalty to you.”
I like this one. It helps if you destroy not bury Monger first with something like Intrepid hero, though.

292) Bubble Matrix

293) Crusading Knight. It’s not the Prot:Black, which can be easily gotten around by mongerer, but the +1/+1 for each swamp your opponent has in play.

Bobalishessss offers up the following:

294) Holy Day

295) Fog Patch

296) Orim’s Chant

297) Maze of Ith

298) Energy Field

299) Spirit of Resistance

300) Deflection. See 90) Misdirection.

Dr. Smog has some suggestions as well, but first, he has this amusing commentary:

Damn Spiritmonger isn't even a Monger, in creature type or abilities. He doesn't sell anything, like all the other mongers do. And there is NO FLAVOR TEXT! Why go through all the trouble to make a card like this with all the hype, and not add any text to fit it into the story?! the damn thing is an overpowered Sea Serpent. A big creature with no ties to the story. Anyway, here's some ways to kill it that you might have overlooked or got batched together with the other "type" removals (remove from game, bury, return to hand, etc)

301) Mammoth Harness. This is bizarre. This is totally bizarre. You will probably have to read the card about three times to figure out why it works.

302) Fatal Blow

303) Death Pits of Rath

304) Wind Dancer + Scarecrow

305) Wind Dancer + Island of Wak-Wak

306) Yawgmoth Demon and Metrognome - for only 4 mana every upkeep, you can eternally keep the monger at bay. Throw in a Sadistic Glee, and you'll win the game in 14 turns or so. :)

307) Ashnod's Transmogrant & Crumble - Green finds a way to eliminate the Monger, at the cost of giving.

Dead is back, and he suggests:

308) Soul Sculptor. Turn Monger into an enchantment and now you can Disenchant it. Urza’s Saga Rare. There are other anti-enchantment cards, and Dead mentions Allay, Devout Witness, and Aura Mutation (that would be cool). Unfortunately, they all say “destroy,” not bury. Fortunately some people actually tap out to play Monger (not good players, mind you). Go figure.

309) Divine Presence (Invasion Rare) + Toughness 4 or more creature, chump block forever.....

310) Portcullis (Stronghold Rare) plus two of your own creatures in play.

311) Grinning Totem (Mirage + 6th Rare). Well, I mentioned Jester’s Cap at 214, how did we miss this one? It helps to be in the mirror match, or to have G and B available.

312) Spike Weaver (Exodus Rare)

313) Equilibrium

314) Dominating Licid (Exodus Rare)

315) Illicit Auction (Mirage + 6th Rare)

316) Drought (Ice Age Uncommon) . They'll run out of swamps eventually if you keep the pressure high enough, plus they need genuine swamps rather than just birds or painlands to meet the requirement.

317) Abyssal Gatekeeper (Weatherlight Common) as long as their only creature is Monger, it’s buried.

318) Nightshade Seer (Urza’s Destiny Uncommon) + 6 black cards in hand

319) Excise (Prophecy Common)

Johnathan Geras writes:

320) Obsidian Acolyte

321) Nightwing Glider

322) Nightmare

323) Oubliette (Arabian Nights Common)

324) Sand Squid (Mercadian Masques Rare)

OK, I'm still open to ideas, but that's all for the moment. I'll probably break out all the bouncers, regenerators, pacifiers, removed from gamers, discard cards, regenerator hosers, etc, just to see how big this thing gets.

Some Preliminary Conclusions

1) Spiritmonger is both overrated and underrated. It very much depends on the format in which you use it. My initial feelings in this regard follow:

Limited - Incredible, good luck getting this as your Rare.
Invasion Block Constructed - Very Good
Type Two - Good, and there are several ways to use it here. A straight B/G build? Or B/U with a splash of Green? Perhaps a G/R build with a splash of Black?
Extended - Average to below average.
Type 1.5 - Poor. Too many other cards and better ways to kill it.
Type One - Bad.

2) Forthcoming as playtesting and results ensue.

You are encouraged to send in even more ways to kill Monger, and of course you'll get credit if yours is the first of each card/trick that I encounter. Ciao!

LINKS for Spiritmonger

Wizards' Link for Spiritmonger Strategy

OK, it's bad enough they publish this thing, now they feel they have to actually promote it. Sheesh! I understand the marketing reasons (Chase it!) but still. Here's a sentence in that article that I disagree with: "...the only sure way to deal with a Spiritmonger is to counter it or Terminate it.....". Hardly. Otherwise, the article is full of the excellent prose we've all come to expect and enjoy from Brian Buttgoblin Kibler. BTW, WotC, you might want to correct the spelling in your headline, because right now you spell it "Spritimonger."

ORIGIN of Spiritmonger !

Yes, every broken card idea has an origin, and Spiritmonger is no exception! Read all about it here! Congrats to brothers Gregory and Bradley of Wisconsin, inventors of Spiritmonger, for pulling a fast one on WotC! I hope you two are proud "Daddies."

Jarrod Bright's "Gladiator" 7/16 BGW Deck at Mindripper tuned to beat Fires and UW Control

Sean McKeown's 7/11 article at Mindripper re Post-Apoc T2 including his updated Snuff'O'Derm now renamed "Dirty Deeds"
"Done Dirt Cheap !" Sorry, Sean, I couldn't resist. :-)

Brian David-Marshall's Disk-O-Queen Deck at NGO which uses Four Maindeck Mongers and takes advantage of the One-Sided Geddon Combo Jolrael,Empress of Beasts/Pernicious Deed (Tony Tsai won a T2 Tourney with this Beast(s))

Theron Martin's In-Depth IBC Analysis at Mindripper
Theron is the 2000 Indiana State Champion and was first after the swiss rounds at Mid-West Regionals, 2001. He also correctly predicted Waters as the winningest deck prior to last years MBC season.

Sean McKeown's late June 2001 article re Dark Fires (w/Monger, natch) and Traditional Fires in the July/October'01 T2 at NGO

Ariel Jones' "Awaiting the Odyssey and Looking back at Masques" Article at Star City, 6/22, including his Top 10 Masques Block card lists he will and will not miss

David Sutcliffe's excellent Apocalypse (for T2) article at CPA

Sean McKeown's June 15th July/Oct01 T2 Article at NGO including "Snuff'o'Monger" and a few B/W builds as well
(Sean now calls his build "Snuff Films")

Cid Meilleur's NEW Snuff'o'Derm deck at Mindripper (6/14/01)

Mike Mason's Indian Summer Decklist and Article at Star City

Bill Ericson's Decklist and Article at NGO

Spike's Article at Pojo Magic

Sean McKeown's Top 10 Type Two Cards from Apocalypse(Spiritmonger is 9th!!)

Toby Wachter's Phyrexian Arena Decks (They're so Nasty!)
By the way, you can get an Arena and a Death Grasp, both Rares, in the preconstructed deck, "Burial."

OTHER LINKS

Neutral Ground Online
Star City
Mindripper
Meridian Magic
The Magic Word (Nate Heiss' new Magic Site)
The Casual Players Alliance
Pojo Magic
Wizards' Sideboard - Magic
7 Towers
Beyond Dominia Type One Magic Mill
New Wave
M:tG News
CCG: Prime
Brainburst
MTG Planet
Look Up A Card
Official Magic Rulings Summaries (D'Angelo's)
Mark Rosewater's Question Mark
A Great Bunch of Tips from Vasco Da Gama re On-Line Magic
Paul Emerson Leicht's Article on Cheating (NGO)
RaceFighting (7/20/00) by Me

This page courtesy of and Copyright 2001, All rights reserved, by

Greg Smith

Mars at The CPA Alliance
Proud Member of Team Hacked
Proud Member of The 21Hacked Alliance
Proud Owner of a Zippo Lighter (and purported "possessor" of BDM's Gaea's Blessings (alleged)...we will neither confirm nor deny)

Soltari Jokulgoblin <=== The Picture

Soltari Jokulgoblin <=== The Public E-Mail Group

Uktabi Afterglow <=== Picture taken Fourty minutes after the artwork for Uktabi Orangutan was painted

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