I give you the epitome of broken cards! Next to black lotus, this is one of the nastiest, most Johnnyfied-out cards ever. In case you don't get the reference, see; http://beta.gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74271
stygimoloch
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(19 votes)
Sweet, sweet Aluren. How I used to enjoy dropping you on turn four after a Birds of Paradise'd out turn-three Pandemonium and going "Ball Lightning, Ball Lightning, swing, in response to combat damage, Phyrexian Dreadnought" because frankly, there are very few situations in which doing 36 damage on turn four is not hilarious. Then that Cavern Harpy came along and you went all mainstream. But after the memories we've shared, Aluren, I could never stay mad at you.
DrJones
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(5 votes)
One of the broken cards from the Tempest era that surprisingly took a whole lot to break, as the R&D team put on themselves a restrain not to design a card that could combo with it. It soon became an expensive rare that nobody played but that everyone traded for better cards, until it finally got its moment of glory in Onslaught, when an oversight with Cavern Harpy actually being a beast and wirewood savage being costed at 2G allowed it to finally have an engine that won the turn you assembled it.
kitsunewarlock
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
One of the many broken enchantments from the Tempest Block. The best part about this card is, despite its strength, it is VERY risky. Since it gives your opponent this effect, you can find yourself giving your opponent an auto-win condition just by letting this resolve. I remember playing Shrieking Drake and Intruder Alarm and squeeling when some sliver deck would play their Aluren. Comboes really well (even in limited/block/draft) with Recycle (or, more recently, Glimpse of Nature...although I'd have to look up the ruling on that). Memorable flavor text too.
uthmatar
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Contemplation & Man-o'-War ;P
ZioKai
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Endless possibilities, but my favorite was Invasion block Aluren+Artic Merfolk+Saproling Infestation. Add in Phyrexian Altar or Ashnod's Altar for endless creature swarm and endless mana production. Broken, broken, card. 5/5.
izzet_guild_mage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh, the possibilities...I wish I had been playing back then :/
metalevolence
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(37 votes)
oh what the ***
WHAT THE ***
threatening your opponent's family is more fair than this card
Holy crap, this changes the game so much it's crazy
DarkCerberusXX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This plus the numerour 3 drops that draw you a card, like Elvish Visionary, Wistful Selkie, etc. Instant army. Or, have an Essence Warden or similair around, or just Jace's Erasure or storm a Brain Freeze after you've emptied your deck. BAM. Instant tears.
aveyD
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Aluren + Momir Vig, Simic Visionary + a lot of small green/blue creatures = all those creatures out on the battlefield all at once!!! and grab Acidic Slime or Indrik Stomphowler as your last creature to get rid of it so your opponents can't use it unless they had creatures in hand.
Fantastically broken. I simply do not know what else to say.
land_comment
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Funny. I like the fact that Mirri is referenced being really violent.
uchuunamako
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(10 votes)
1. Aluren 2. Phyrexian Dreadnought 3. Respond to the casting of Dreadnought #1 with another Phyrexian Dreadnought 4. Dreadnoughts hit the battlefield, their abilities go on the stack 5. Sac one Dreadnought to the other
yyukichigai
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card came out in the same block as Slivers did. A friend of mine built himself an absolutely powerful Sliver deck with this, Recycle, your usual selection of slivers, Sliver Queen, Heartstone, and Ashnod's Altar. Oh, and two of every dual land.
Probably the most expensive deck I'd seen at that point, but damn if it didn't win more often than not.
tavaritz
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Not banned or even restricted & sells under €5.00 => very good card, but not broken.
TPmanW
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Evil combo with Animar from the Commander precons. Also pretty good with Damia I heard.
Shadoflaam
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Why? What madman designed this?
Arachibutyrophobia
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
what, did they think it WOULDN'T be broken?
Duskdale_Wurm
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
One word:
Incredible...
No words describe the power of Aluren!
O___O
penguinmage25
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
wow
Cyberium
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
This was in one of the Tempest block pre-con decks, back when Wizards put good cards in them.
I love how Aluren's price jumps to $15 every three years because the Legacy Aluren combo deck is winning tournaments again. People forget about it long enough, they don't playtest against it, WHAM they die to infinitecreatureflashbang.
There are only two combo decks that have survived in Legacy (with no bannings) and have placed tournament top results for longer than five years: the deck built on this card, and the High Tide deck that uses Reset and draw spells. (Three combo decks if you count all Tendrils decks the same, but Tendrils tends to come back strong only whenever there's a new bomb draw card, like when they printed Ad Nauseam.) Aluren doesn't get banned because it doesn't dominate, because the combo deck is very hard to learn to play well -- 9 times out of 10, after a match you're thinking "oh god I could've won if only I had thought to do..." even if you're a seasoned expert.
You are currently looking at the comments page for the second-best still-useable combo card ever, in the entire history of Magic. And it even gives Tendrils of Agony a run for its money. In a world where the Wizards of the Coast overlords can eliminate overpowered predators by selectively banning cards, not even Survival of the Fittest could survive as the fittest green combo card -- Aluren's tried and true.
DarthParallax
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Any player may play a what?! as if it WHAT?!
WITHOUT WHAT?!?!!??!?!??!!?!??!!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
And here I was wondering if FTV: Enchantments would have any seriously good cards to pick from.
Silly me. :p
You know, just plain giving all your 0-cost Ornithopters and Memnites Flash would have been good enough. It happens to do quite a bit more than just that though. :p
kiseki
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Yes lots of ways to abuse this. Here is mine:
How about This + Garruk's Horde + Phyrexian Devourer? Cast the creatures that cost 3 or less out of your deck, and exile the other cards. Do this at instant speed before any counters resolve and kill the Devourer.
Lots of ways to win at this point, but here is an interesting one: Four of them should be Laboratory Maniac, and four should be Elvish Visionary. As soon as you have at least one visionary on the stack, exile any others that come up, so that a couple Maniacs will resolve earlier and you will win the game instead of losing it.
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh Mirri, you so funny.
Trygon_Predator
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
I think the "any player" clause was meant to make it "fair". In the sense that dropping a twenty-ton weight on your opponent would also be fair. Goes very nicely with Animar, Soul of Elements as your commander.
On an unrelated note, what's the flavor of this card? Is this an enchanted rainforest where animals jump out unexpectedly at you?
goes infite whit Urabrask the Hidden,Wizard Mentor and Kor Hookmaster,Village Bell-Ringer,,Eternal Witness,or anyhing else having converted mana cost 3 or less ( whitout triggers/costs hurting you when entering the battlefield) and a enters the battlefield trigger or triggering something else ( if the creature triggers nothing it just has infite untaping in your turn)
DacenOctavio
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Play and bounce your Man O'War or Æther Adept ad infinitum, then cast a huge Storm Entity for free.
GrimjawxRULES
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is madness, and a ridiculous amount of fun in multiplayer, especially when your deck is rigged to feature low-cost creatures and Glimpse of Nature
acolyte_of_night
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card brings a lot of fond high school memories. Such a fun card. Aluren+Recycle+Slivers fun. Too bad it's too broken to reprint.
Zhared
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Relentless Rats!
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So, stupid combo deck question:
Are there enough self-replacing cards assuming Aluren is in play to build the world's silliest Laboratory Maniac deck? Candidates so far:
You'd need Mana Severance, I imagine, but the basic idea is to run a whole lot of "empty" card slots and therefore use the Maniac to win. Alternatively, having a bunch of empty slots and a combo in the deck somewhere could work.
zenitramleirdag
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i remember back in the old days when it was simpler..just this and recycle..
but johnny players have found sicker ways to abuse it these days..
PS: i love using this in my Azusa deck. T1:Play Forest, tap, play Sol Ring T2 Play Forest, Play Aluren, flash in Azusa T3: Play Phyrexian Altar, go infinite, play Genesis Wave
Check aluren's rulings. Although there are a couple points of synergy, animar will never allow you cast cmc >3 critters for free via aluren. Aluren checks the printed cmc, i think it has something to do wit it being in the hand zone.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is fair in the same sense that Wrath of God is fair.
So here's something I learned in an EDH game I played recently: with Aluren on the field you can flash in your <=3 cmc general even if you have already cast it and all you have to pay is the additional {2}x previous casts!
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To think, the main win condition in the Aluren deck is the unassuming Cavern Harpy and the unremarkable Parasitic Strix.
Brodric
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of my favorite flavor texts, and one of my favorite characters.
Sir_Read-a-Lot
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Trygon_Predator
Forget Animar, Aluren + Momir Vig with a u/g <=3 cmc creature in hand ends the game right there.
Play every u/g <=3 cmc creature in your deck. If that deck includes an Essence Warden, Man-O'-War, and a Nulltread Gargantuan to gather them you'll have more life than you'll ever need.
bulbwidth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of my all-time favorite cards. The possibilities are endless, and this has indeed been a cornerstone for me more than any other spell. It's powerful, but not trivial or insanely so; exactly the way I like it.
Comments (54)
WHAT THE ***
threatening your opponent's family is more fair than this card
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATSSSS!!!!
This is probably my best card in my Momir Vig, Simic Visionary EDH deck! :)
2. Phyrexian Dreadnought
3. Respond to the casting of Dreadnought #1 with another Phyrexian Dreadnought
4. Dreadnoughts hit the battlefield, their abilities go on the stack
5. Sac one Dreadnought to the other
Probably the most expensive deck I'd seen at that point, but damn if it didn't win more often than not.
Incredible...
No words describe the power of Aluren!
O___O
There are only two combo decks that have survived in Legacy (with no bannings) and have placed tournament top results for longer than five years: the deck built on this card, and the High Tide deck that uses Reset and draw spells. (Three combo decks if you count all Tendrils decks the same, but Tendrils tends to come back strong only whenever there's a new bomb draw card, like when they printed Ad Nauseam.) Aluren doesn't get banned because it doesn't dominate, because the combo deck is very hard to learn to play well -- 9 times out of 10, after a match you're thinking "oh god I could've won if only I had thought to do..." even if you're a seasoned expert.
You are currently looking at the comments page for the second-best still-useable combo card ever, in the entire history of Magic. And it even gives Tendrils of Agony a run for its money. In a world where the Wizards of the Coast overlords can eliminate overpowered predators by selectively banning cards, not even Survival of the Fittest could survive as the fittest green combo card -- Aluren's tried and true.
WITHOUT WHAT?!?!!??!?!??!!?!??!!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
.............................................._____V_____V_____V_____VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV_____________________________...............................
And here I was wondering if FTV: Enchantments would have any seriously good cards to pick from.
Silly me. :p
You know, just plain giving all your 0-cost Ornithopters and Memnites Flash would have been good enough.
It happens to do quite a bit more than just that though. :p
How about This + Garruk's Horde + Phyrexian Devourer?
Cast the creatures that cost 3 or less out of your deck, and exile the other cards. Do this at instant speed before any counters resolve and kill the Devourer.
Lots of ways to win at this point, but here is an interesting one:
Four of them should be Laboratory Maniac, and four should be Elvish Visionary.
As soon as you have at least one visionary on the stack, exile any others that come up, so that a couple Maniacs will resolve earlier and you will win the game instead of losing it.
On an unrelated note, what's the flavor of this card? Is this an enchanted rainforest where animals jump out unexpectedly at you?
good to Animar, Soul of Elements
goes infite whit Urabrask the Hidden,Wizard Mentor and Kor Hookmaster,Village Bell-Ringer,,Eternal Witness,or anyhing else having converted mana cost 3 or less ( whitout triggers/costs hurting you when entering the battlefield) and a enters the battlefield trigger or triggering something else ( if the creature triggers nothing it just has infite untaping in your turn)
Are there enough self-replacing cards assuming Aluren is in play to build the world's silliest Laboratory Maniac deck? Candidates so far:
- Elvish Visionary
- Alchemist's Apprentice
- Wall of Omens
- Wall of Blossoms
- Sarcomite Myr
- Street Wraith
- Gitaxian Probe
- Manamorphose
- Anything with a low cycling cost (Sarcomite Myr probably qualifies for this more than anything)
You'd need Mana Severance, I imagine, but the basic idea is to run a whole lot of "empty" card slots and therefore use the Maniac to win. Alternatively, having a bunch of empty slots and a combo in the deck somewhere could work.
but johnny players have found sicker ways to abuse it these days..
or take it a step further with a chittering rats
PS: i love using this in my Azusa deck.
T1:Play Forest, tap, play Sol Ring
T2 Play Forest, Play Aluren, flash in Azusa
T3: Play Phyrexian Altar, go infinite, play Genesis Wave
Check aluren's rulings. Although there are a couple points of synergy, animar will never allow you cast cmc >3 critters for free via aluren. Aluren checks the printed cmc, i think it has something to do wit it being in the hand zone.
Forget Animar, Aluren + Momir Vig with a u/g <=3 cmc creature in hand ends the game right there.
Play every u/g <=3 cmc creature in your deck. If that deck includes an Essence Warden, Man-O'-War, and a Nulltread Gargantuan to gather them you'll have more life than you'll ever need.