Youre dealing damage, using your mana as you see fit, and guess what
As it can stabilise the board by being a 5/5 flying wall and then gain you back your life by attacking your opponent when you have dealt with their creatures
The first is whenever you cast a spell of a specific color (one of the colors of that card, but it went through the cycle), the creature gets +1/+1
Since its an alternative casting cost, you cant use this chapter to cast an overloaded Cyclonic Rift, but there are plenty of other options
You ideally want to be a little ahead or at least have multiple ways to deal with any given problem available to you so you are never forced into trading your Counterspell for a weak card
Before the duel starts a Setup Phase occurs: (1) : Each player place their shuffled Main Deck and Extra Deck in their corresponding zones