Well folks, I'm back doing what my actual job description on this project of ours says, I'm explaining strips. I apologize for the lack of explanations in the past, but it was agreed upon that the last batch of scripts didn't really have anything that needed explaining, since we're further developing the comic to function outside of the Magic world, as well as in it. Anyway, on to the explaining...
Actually, first let me re-emphasize reading the general guide to Magic that I wrote when we started the comic. While I can explain what the cards in the strips do through these explanations, you'll probably still be confused as to what I'm talking about, but if you read that guide, you should be in good shape.
So the first thing you might not understand is this Thought Nibbler thing. He's a pretty cool little guy that is a 1/1 flier (which means he can deal and take one point of damage, and can only be blocked by other creatures with flying) for the mere price of one blue mana. He's incredibly efficient, but such efficiency comes at a price, and that is that he reduces your hand size by two cards, which can be pretty costly, especially later on in the game since the less cards you have in your hand, the less options you have with which to deal with other threats (this concept is known as card advantage).
In response to Bryan casting the Thought Nibbler, his opponent casts a Mystic Penitent, which is another highly efficient little creature. For one white mana, he's a 1/1, just like the Nibbler. He also 'doesn't tap to attack' which basically means that he can attack, and still be available to block. The main difference is that he has something called Threshold, which means a special ability is activated once you have at least seven cards in your graveyard. In the Penitent's case, he gains a +1/+1 bonus, making him a 2/2. He also gains that nifty flying ability. Once Threshold is activated, he becomes an amazing creature for his miniscule casting cost.
BryanŐs opponent then mentions a 'race.' In Magic terms, this means that the creatures will race to kill their respective opponent. Bryan will attack with his Nibbler for 1, leaving himself wide open, then his opponent will attack for 1 with the Penitent, leaving himself wide open. This is done to essentially whittle away your opponent's life points and make the game go faster.
Unfortunately, I cannot exactly explain what the Strength of Insanity card that Bryan mentions does. It's not available on the spoiler I use to refresh my memory as to what cards do, and unfortunately I don't know what it does off the top of my head. What I can tell you is what pro-white means. This means that the creature has protection from white: it cannot be blocked by white creatures, be affected or targeted by white spells or abilities, and cannot receive damage from white sources.
Next is Minotaur Explorer. This is a red creature for one colorless mana and one red mana, and he is a 3/3. This is an excellent cost-to-power ratio that is not normally found. The only catch to this guy is that when he comes into play, you must discard a card, at random, from your hand. At random means you must do it in some random means, and you don't have a choice as to what card you discard.
Next is the mighty, mighty Psychatog. For one colorless, one blue, and one black mana, he is a 1/2 creature, which means he can initially deal one point of damage and take two. What makes him mighty are his special abilities. You can discard a card from you hand to give him a +1/+1 bonus, and you can remove two cards in your graveyard from the game to give him a +1/+1 bonus. This is so good because you can discard cards to give him a bonus, then remove those discarded cards to give him an additional bonus. This is also amazing because it can be done without the expenditure of mana, and at any time. It makes Psychatog very difficult to deal with, and very dangerous if he can get past defenses.
Bryan's opponent attempts to Blazing Salvo the Psychatog. Blazing Salvo is a red spell for one red mana that deals 3 damage to a creature, unless that creature's controller decided to take 5 damage. As you can see, Bryan takes the damage to save his 'Tog. He then uses an Aether Burst, which is a blue spell for one colorless mana and one blue mana that returns 1 + X creatures to their opponents hands (X is equal to the number of additional Aether Bursts in all graveyards in the game) to bump the Mystic Penitent back to his opponent's hand. Since his opponent just attacked with his Minotaur Explorer, removing the Mystic Penitent leaves the way open for Psychatog to attack.
When Bryan says he 'feeds' his spells to the 'Tog, it means that he discards his cards to give Psychatog many +1/+1 bonuses. He then flashes back a Deep Analysis. Flashback is an ability that some cards have that allow them to be cast from your graveyard at a different cost, and then you must remove them from the game. Deep Analysis lets you draw two cards, which then translates to an additional +2/+2 bonus to the Phychatog for discarding those cards, and then another +1/+1 bonus to him for removing those discarded cards from the game.
