Monday 30 April 2012

Sage of Lat-Nam

Sage of Lat-Nam
(Note: I apologize for the wordiness of this card, but I hate how the 8th edition one looks. For simplicity's sake, it's "Tap, sack an artifact: Draw a card")

Cards like this are very nice in combo decks. Sacking an artifact to draw a card doesn't seem like it's all that good, mainly because the artifacts that spring to a lot of peoples' minds are the artifacts you want to keep around (like Darksteel Myr). But what this card really works with are those few suicidal artifacts, like Junk Diver, Myr Retriever, or Cathodion, and even undying artifacts like Myr Servitor. In, say, Cathodion's case, it's essentially colourless Dark Ritual with card advantage. Same thing with Junk Diver or Myr Retriever, except it's an Argivian Restoration instead of a Dark Ritual. With a couple Myr Servitors, you effectively draw 2 cards a turn instead of one (one at the end of your last opponent's turn and one during your draw step). It's also another way to keep bouncing Spine of Ish Sah back to your hand every turn. The only real downfall of this card is that you have to tap it for it to work, so it only starts shenanigans on turn 3.

Pros: Combos well with a few artifact cards that like dying
Cons: Needs to tap, doesn't work well with all artifacts
Rating: 4/5

Sunday 29 April 2012

Touch of Invisibility

Touch of Invisibility
This is overcosted, even in block. Cephalid Pathmage is a better choice in block for this ability and it came out in the block after this one. Sure, in block, it was the only card that made something else unblockable, but was it worth it? Not really. As I mentioned before, cards like Cephalid Pathmage or Crafty Pathmage are better than this. Why? First, they're on creatures, so they stick around for a bit and don't require the mana investment right away. Second, they're cheaper than this at 3 mana each. Finally, cards like Crafty Pathmage can be used repeatedly for no mana (the Cephalid has to die unfortunately). Nowadays, the young whippersnapper Standard players have cards like Artful Dodge and Ghostform, so that makes this card really overcosted (although I don't know why people prefer Artful Dodge to Ghostform...). You might be thinking "well, back then it was reasonable to pay 4 to make something unblockable and draw a card". Shadow Rift did better (since it can either be unblockable or it can be used to block that pesky shadow creature your opponent might have) and draws a card for 1. 

Pros: Draws a card and makes something unblockable, art is nice
Cons: Overcosted for both abilities, older and newer cards are better at what it tries to do
Rating: 0.5/5

Saturday 28 April 2012

Patron of the Kitsune

Patron of the Kitsune
Probably the weakest of the Patrons, this card is still fairly good. It's best in multiplayer in my personal opinion because it gives you multiple chances to gain life without taking damage. Not much else to say about this except it's a good card that's well-costed for its ability, even without the offering. Combo with Righteous Cause, Victory's Herald, Hissing Miasma, or Hellrider for more attack triggers that will make you win a little faster. In duel games however, the lifegain may not be enough to stave off loss.

Pros: Great in multiplayer games, big 'n' beefy
Cons: Might not work so well in duels, doesn't have flying (which is weird for a Spirit)
Rating: 3/5

Spikeshot Elder

Spikeshot Elder
It's a better Spikeshot Goblin, plain and simple. It is an awesome 1-drop that usually has to be dealt with before turn 3 or 4. Why? Not only does Claws of Valakut make this thing into a Howitzer, but it also came out in the same set as Grafted Exoskeleton, which while not making it as big as Claws, it put your opponent on a 4-turn timer minimum. And why is it better than Spikeshot Goblin? After all, Goblin only costs 1 mana to activate whereas this costs 3. The big difference is that Elder can activate multiple times a turn whereas Goblin can only activate once without outside influence (like an Umbral Mantle). Now, the one issue with this card is that without anything on it, it's not that great. That and it doesn't get going until turn 3.

Pros: It hurts a lot with the right enchantments/artifacts, doesn't tap to activate
Cons: Requires a fair mana investment, requires right enchantments/artifacts
Rating: 3.5/5

Friday 27 April 2012

Pristine Angel

Pristine Angel
If there was ever a card to work with Concerted Effort, it's this card. It essentially makes all your creatures unblockable and give them shroud. If you can play something like Oathsworn Giant, Akroma's Memorial, or Serra's Blessing and this has protection from almost everything constantly and with Concerted Effort out, everything you have is nigh-indestructible. While it is nice to have a 4/4 flyer that is unblockable and has shroud, there are some inherent problems to this card. First and foremost, if you don't have a way to give it vigilance or untap it during the declare attackers step, it loses its protection and evasion. Secondly, you can't equip it or enchant it in any meaningful way. Sure, you could use Giant Growth and then another instant to untap it to make it a 7/7 unblockable/shroud, but that's a lot of trouble to go through. But any enchantments or equipments will fall off it once it untaps.

Pros: Protection from almost everything all the time
Cons: Protection from almost everything all the time including your stuff
Rating: 4/5

Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai

Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
This is an interesting land. On the one hand, it only produces colourless mana and is Legendary, so you can only have one out at a time. But on the other hand, it does give you a creature when it dies. If you're really in a dire situation for creatures, you can play a second Gods' Eye and get two creatures for free. Combo with Crucible of Worlds and you can get two creatures for free every two turns! Now, the problem with that is that you won't be able to play any new lands if you want this to work. My personal favourite combo with this card is Crucible of Worlds, a couple Islands, a couple Hedron Crabs, and two Gods' Eyes (maybe an Azusa, Lost but Seeking to speed it up). Sure, it takes a while to set up, but it leads to a lot of shenanigans, especially if you've got the Azusa out. Now, unless you've built a deck around it, this card isn't that great as it only produces colourless and it's Legendary.

Pros: Doesn't come into play tapped, gives a creature if it dies
Cons: Only produces colourless, Legendary, good chance it won't die, needs a deck built around it to work properly
Replacements: Crystal Vein
Rating: 3/5

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Misinformation

Misinformation
This card's not to good but not too bad as well. If you want to lock down your opponent to only drawing the same card(s) that keep ending up in their graveyard, like any of the spellbombs (particularly the older spellbombs), it's not that bad. It's best if used right after a Ponder or any other deck manipulation because it screws with your opponent's plans.
The issue with it is that it only works if your opponent has cards in their graveyard that they don't really want, and their aren't many cards that people don't want back. Even cycled cards or spellbombs are usually things people want because it draws them cards. Really, only situations like Harrow when they have no lands in their library or putting a creature from their graveyard that they were planning on reviving on their library will result in no backfires.  Also, you can't target yourself with this card, so its uses are quite limited.

Pros: Screws up opponents draw schemes, makes them draw not-to-useful cards
Cons: Really limited uses, good chance of backfiring
Rating: 1/5

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Sliver Overlord

Sliver Overlord
If this hits the field, just scoop. It's one of the best 5-drop tribal creatures in the game (Brood Sliver and Horde of Notions being two others). If you've built your deck correctly, you've got this guy out on turn 3 and then your opponent cries because he's lost the game. The search is awesome, since it'll get your best Slivers out when you need them (Magma Sliver, Pulmonic Sliver, Root Sliver, Shifting Sliver, or Sliver Legion come to mind). The stealing effect doesn't see much use since Crystalline Sliver will usually be on the field, however it can be fun if a Hivestone is on the field. It does cost one of each colour, but every Sliver deck runs at least a couple Gemhide Slivers in them, so it usually doesn't matter.

Pros: Sliver search, Sliver steal, 7/7 for 5
Cons: Costs one of each colour
Rating: 5/5

Masticore

Masticore
You play this, you're gonna have a bad time. There are no redeeming factors to this card, and I have no idea why they made it a Mythic Rare! "It combos great with Training Grounds!". Not really. It does trade mana for damage on a 1:1 basis, but I'd prefer to mill people (Ambassador Laquatus), double my cheap spells (Izzet Guildmage), or maximize my +1/+1 counters (Gilder Bairn) for that 1 mana. The regen is nice, but, oh wait, that means you have to keep discarding to keep this thing around longer! There are so many more things that are better than this thing. I'm pretty sure that its Mythic status proves that Wizards blindly follows whatever the hell people say on the forums as a proper litmus test of what the average Magic player thinks, and that's kind of sad. The only positive thing I can say about it is that it'll hurt when Flung.

Pros: Doesn't die to Terror, hurts when flung, does deal some damage.
Cons: Makes you discard cards, abilities are over-costed, pointless to keep around
Rating: 0.5/5

Saturday 21 April 2012

Tarnished Citadel

Tarnished Citadel
Not much to say about this card besides the fact that it's a worse Grand Coliseum or City of Brass. The only difference is that this comes into play untapped whereas Grand Coliseum doesn't and this can produce colourless without dealing damage whereas City of Brass can't. But really, is 3 damage worth that 1 coloured mana? I'd prefer giving someone a creature, like with Forbidden Orchard, rather than take 3 damage.

Pros: Can produce any colour of mana infinitely, doesn't come into play tapped
Cons: Deals 3 damage for producing coloured mana
Rating: 1/5

Priest of Gix

Priest of Gix
I like cards like this, especially in multicolour deck. Why? It's a type of mana filtering that you don't really see in many other cards as well as boosting the mana in your pool. It works great in multicolour decks. Let's say you're running a black/blue Zombie deck and you have 2 Islands and a Swamp. If you have a Geralf's Messenger in your hand, you can't play it since it costs 3 black, but it you play this first, you can pay it. It can add much needed mana of a different colour to your mana pool in various scenarios. However, the mana it adds might not be what you need when you need it. What if you needed the mana for an instant or ability on someone else's turn? There are flaws to cards like this, but there are a lot of benefits to playing this.

Pros: Pseudo-filters mana, increases mana in your pool
Cons: Mana added doesn't last for too long, may not create mana when you need it.
Rating: 2.5/5

Friday 20 April 2012

Consuming Bonfire

Consuming Bonfire
Yeah, this card's pretty bad m'kay? At least, outside of block it's pretty bad. 5 mana to deal 7 damage is pretty good, but 5 mana for 4 damage isn't that great and the potential to deal 0 damage for 5 mana is just terrible. Outside of a Lorwyn block tournament, this is just not usable (unless you REALLY need that extra Elemental spell in a tribal deck). There's enough cards out there that can change creature type on the fly that can negate this. Also, it's at sorcery speed. There aren't that many good sorcery speed burn spells that are worth it (Flame Wave and Brightflame being examples of good sorcery speed burn spells).

Pros: Good against Treefolk decks
Cons: Terrible against non-Treefolk decks
Replacements: Beacon of Destruction or Lightning Surge
Rating: 0.5/5

Thursday 19 April 2012

Bosh, Iron Golem

Bosh, Iron Golem
Like a boss. That both describes the art (because, let's face it, he's struttin') and what the card does. Sure, Brion Stoutarm is cheaper, but there's a major difference in-between these 2 cards. First, Brion sacrifices creatures whereas Bosh sacrifices artifacts, but since Bosh will be in an artifact deck (it is Mirrodin after all) it shouldn't really matter. The biggest difference is that Bosh doesn't have to tap. This means that not only can he fling that Spine of Ish Sah as soon as he comes on to the battlefield, but he can do it multiple times in one turn and attack in the same turn. Now, he does have the problems of every artifact (Smash, Shatter, Shatterstorm...) as well as vulnerability to creature destruction so he's not infallible. But, for the cost, he's well worth it.

Pros: Can chuck artifacts on the first turn on the field, big 'n' beefy trampler
Cons: Vulnerable to 2 types of destruction, does cost a bit
Rating: 4/5

Shadowmoor Dual Lands

Wooded Bastion Fire-Lit ThicketGraven Cairns Mystic GateSunken Ruins
These are some great lands that came out in Shadowmoor (except Graven Cairns, which came out first in Future Sight). Why are they great? They're mana acceleration and mana variety in land form that doesn't come into play tapped (like Arctic Flats), require you to sack or bounce lands (like Lotus Vale or any of the Guild lands), or hurt you (like Grand Coliseum). As a first turn drop, it's not the greatest, as it can only produce colourless on its own. but from turn 1 on, it's awesome. It not only doubles the mana produced by a single basic land, but it can diversify it as well. If you only have an Island and Sunken Ruins, you could play Counterspell, Countersquall, or Dash Hopes. It gives you tons of options in land form, so it's fairly safe from destruction as well as being free to play.

Pros: Diversifies mana colours, doesn't enter tapped, bouncy, or painfully
Cons: Not very useful without the right start-up mana
Rating: 4/5

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Ancestral Mask

Ancestral Mask
Could you say awesome? Put this on anything and, on average, it'll be worth +4/+4 at least. In an Uril, the Miststalker EDH or an Aura Gnarlid 60-card it's worth a whole lot more. In any deck that runs a lot of enchantments this is an asset. Downfalls? If it's not in the right deck (ie: in a draft), it may not be that great. Otherwise, it'll be a huge asset and a threat.

Pros: Provides big bonuses in an enchantment-based deck
Cons: May not be worth much in a draft deck
Rating: 4.5/5

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Gift of the Woods

Gift of the Woods
This enchantment is actually pretty good. If you're worried about your big attacker dying to your opponents' equally big blocker, problem solved. Need a bigger blocker? Again, problem solved. It's cheap and effective for combat purposes. Now, it's major drawback is that it's only really effective for combat purposes. Outside of that, it does nothing. It doesn't protect from Lightning Bolt or any other damage spell. And, while it stacks with lifelink, it only works if the creature is blocked or is blocking. The best use for this would be on something like Venomous Dragonfly that has Lure on it.

Pros: Beefs up attackers & blockers in combat, life gain that stacks with lifelink
Cons: Only works in combat, must be blocked for it to trigger
Rating: 2.5/5

Saturday 14 April 2012

Rakalite

Rakalite
So, you thought that Amulet of Kroog was bad? It does cost 2 and needs another 2 to prevent 1 damage, but at least it stays on the field. This card bounces every time you use it. Every. Single. Time. This could be okay, for example in decks that rely on artifact/cards entering the battlefield (like decks with Confusion in the Ranks, Leonin Elder, or Cloud Key) if it cost 1. If it cost 1 and cost 2 to activate, along with the bounce, it would be usable. Not good, but usable. The best case scenario, given the changes described above, would be 2: Prevent 1 damage and gain 1 life, assuming you have Leonin Elder out as well. But, the fact that it costs SIX MANA is just... wow. To be fair however, you CAN activate it multiple times in the same turn, so it might be useful ONCE.

Pros: Costs a lot (useful for Animate Artifact or Karn's Touch), usable multiple times in 1 turn
Cons: Massively overcosted, bounces itself
Rating: 0.5/5

Standstill

Standstill
This card is hilarious. It's a different take on the earlier Hesitation, but makes people think a little more before they act. Hesitation can easily be defeated by throwing down a cheap, useless creature like an Ornithopter or something that you want in your graveyard like a Carrionette. This card, however, can spell doom for your opponent. Early game, it gives their opponent(s) good card advantage; mid-game, it refills their hands; and late game, it allows them to draw their win condition (if they haven't already done so). Early game is the best time for this in my opinion though, since if you drop it on turn 2, you're pretty much guaranteed to draw 3 cards on the next person's turn.

Pros: Allows for card advantage at any point in the game
Cons: May backfire if not properly planned
Rating: 4/5

Thursday 12 April 2012

Amulet of Kroog

Amulet of Kroog
This is a bad card. There's not much else to say about it. Prevent 1 damage for 4? Not worth it. If it didn't have to tap to activate, it might be a little bit better, but it would still be bad. Not much else to say about this besides the fact that I dread having to review more cards of this quality.

Pros: Practically indestructible (because no one will waste a destroy spell on it)
Cons: Can only do 1 thing and it can't do it very well.
Rating: 0.5/5

Reliquary Monk

Reliquary Monk
I liked using this card in my Cleric deck. Why? It makes your opponents rethink a boardwipe or swinging with that one really big creature. If they have a nice artifact or enchantment that they need to keep around to win (particularly in multiplayer games), they might not want to swing at you out of fear that you'll destroy their nice thing. Targets I've hit before include Mirari's Wake, Myr Battlesphere, and Draco. Now, the major disadvantage to this card is that it does have to die for it to work. Otherwise it's an overcosted 2/2 vanilla.

Pros: Allows for political play, dies for a reason
Cons: Does have to die to work, exile renders it useless
Rating: 3/5

Death Pits of Rath

Death Pits of Rath
This card is great in token decks. Back in the day, my opponents hated when I dropped this. Their 5/5 fliers could now be killed with a Shock. Crypt Rats was a board-wipe for 4. The only real way to deal with this effect was to give your creatures first strike. Nowadays, indestructible gets around this, but back in the good old days this card was to be feared in black or black/red decks. It's one downfall is that it is on the high end of the mana curve with a converted mana cost of 5.

Pros: Makes non-indestructible creatures easily killable
Cons: Costs 5 (converted mana cost), doesn't get around indestructible
Rating: 3.5/5

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Street Wraith

Street Wraith
This card is decent in my opinion. It's a 3/4 Swampwalk for 5 and it also has cycling, which is always nice if you really need a certain card that isn't the one with cycling. An added advantage is that it's black, so it can go into a reanimator deck and thus it can be used for the card draw AND as a good creature. It is, however, double black so some decks that only splash black may not want to use it. For its cost, it's pretty good; it's no Bloodgift Demon, but then again it's better than Eviscerator.

Pros: Black cycling, fairly good for its cost, swampwalk
Cons: Double black, not Bloodgift Demon
Rating: 2.5/5

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Captive Flame

Captive Flame
I really like enchantments like this: ones that allow for a lot of flexibility. Firebreathing is normally an ability that only single creatures will have (mostly due to things like Firebreathing) and your opponent will usually block those creatures first out of fear that you'll pump them up for the kill. This card makes even your little gribblies into threats. As long as you attack with more creatures than your opponent has blockers and, provided that they don't have any way to deal with that one damaging creature (like Second Thoughts), they're taking a lot of damage. Conversely, you can do a suicide charge with gribblies to take out your opponent's big creatures. It is, however, a little on the expensive side for red aggro decks which is it's only real drawback.

Pros: Gives firebreathing to all your creatures
Cons: A little expensive for red
Rating: 3.5/5

Mindless Automaton

Mindless Automaton
This card is pretty awesome especially with the resurgence of flashback in Standard right now. It allows you to get rid of the cards you either don't want in your hand or put the cards you want in your graveyard into it. It works in reanimator decks, flashback decks, threshold decks, Damia decks, and even in Arcbound decks (for the draw). Your Arcbound Hybrid died? Well, just draw a card to ease that sadness. Even in a pinch, you can buff this guy by discarding cards. That might not be the best option, but if you really need a temporary blocker that will let you draw half those cards back. Finally, with the new Miracle mechanic, any creature that lets you draw cards on opponents' turns is great.

Now, there are a couple drawbacks. First and foremost is that it is a 2/2 for 4, albeit it's colourless mana. Second, it's an artifact, meaning that it's more vulnerable due to it being exposed to both kill and smash spells. However, the fact that it's an artifact can work in this card's favour. It can go into any deck because it's not colour-reliant.

Pros: Colourless, card draw/discard without tapping
Cons: Initially weak, vulnerable to artifact destruction
Rating: 4/5

Vigil for the Lost

Vigil for the Lost
This is a card I like, but many people seem to hate. The biggest argument I hear against this card is "Proper Burial is strictly better" and I have to disagree with this point of view. Let's look at 2 situations.

The first situation is on turn 8. The set-up: your opponent just wiped the board and you lost 3 1/1 Soldier tokens (it's not a good day for you), you have 10 mana untapped (nothing played on the last turn), and nothing in your hand. With Proper Burial, you gain a whopping 3 life. With this card, you can pump your mana into this and gain 10 life, a 300% increase!

The second situation is the same as the first except you lost 16 2/2 Cat tokens and a 6/6 Kemba, Kha Regent with no mana available. With this card, you gain nothing, but with Proper Burial you would gain 38 life.

In certain situations, this card is better than Proper Burial, but it is NOT strictly better nor is it strictly worse. It all depends on your deck build. If you have a white token deck, get Proper Burial. If you're running a white-green ramp deck with a few biggies, get this card. Basically, if you're going to have the mana to spend, this card is good.

Pros: Trades spare mana for life, can make token deaths worthwhile
Cons: May not have mana to spend, bad in board-wipe scenarios
Rating: 2.5/5

Stern Proctor

Stern Proctor
This card isn't too bad. It's artifact or enchantment bounce for 2 blue. The enchantment bounce of this card is what makes it good. There are only 2 other pure blue cards that bounce enchantments specifically (Hoodwink and Linessa) and no cards that outright destroy enchantments in blue, so this makes this card more versatile than your average 2-drop in blue. If your opponents has a really annoying enchantment that's either preventing you from attacking outright (Norn's Annex late game) or is making you otherwise worried (Grave Pact for example in a multiplayer gamer) and bam! it's back to their hand.

The first negative pointer is that it's pure blue, making it slightly more difficult to put in a multicolour deck, but it's not as bad as say Reiver Demon for coloured mana symbols, so it can be done. However, this card is more than likely going into a Wizard tribal, so it more than likely won't matter. The second negative for this is that it IS specific to enchantments and artifacts. It's good for when you want to save that Boomerang for something else, but otherwise it might hamper your plans.

Pros: Enchantment bounce in blue and it's a Wizard
Cons: Hard to splash, targeted bounce
Rating: 2.5/5

Rishadan Port

Rishadan Port

Okay, first up: one card I really don't understand. I understand what the card does and everything, I just don't understand why everyone thinks it's so amazing. Tapping to add a colourless - good. Not coming into play untapped - good. Paying 1 and tapping to tap a land - not so great. Think about it: you're tapping 2 of your lands to tap 1 of their lands. The trade just isn't worth it.

In set, this card was awesome as Masques was really slow mana-wise. However, outside of set this card is not that good. There are 2 scenarios in which I can see this being used. The first is to tap a dual or multi-land when your opponent is mana-screwed. Yes, this is a good idea, however you are screwing yourself over as well because you're losing 2 lands (or a land and a mana rock) in order to tap down their land. The second scenario is to tap down a land in order to slow your opponent down. If that's the case, your master plan is defeated when they make their land-drop for the turn.

Sure, there are certain situations where this is useful (Cabal Coffers, Gaea's Cradle, Tolarian Academy...) but they are too few and far between to warrant the $40 pricetag this card has currently.

Pros: It comes in untapped and it produces colourless (for colourless EDHs?)
Cons: The secondary ability is pretty useless
Alternatives: Icy Manipulator, Wasteland (for nonbasic lands), Strip Mine, any land destruction, Early Frost
Rating: 3/5