Sunday 19 August 2012

Burgeoning

Burgeoning
I didn't know you could spell "awesome" with a B... This card has no major downsides to it. It's perfect for the colour it's in (green loves da ramps) and it's perfectly costed. If it gets out when it should (turn 1), there's not much your opponent can do to you before you get some sort of advantage out of it. Okay, if you go second and your opponent has a Wane in their hand, then maybe you might not get anything out of it. However, if you drop this first turn, then you'll get an advantage over the opponent right away (assuming you have the land in your hand). In a multiplayer match, you'll be even stronger off once it gets back to your turn. Now, I had mentioned that this card has no major downsides to it, but it does have a couple pitfalls to it. First is if your opponent has a way of destroying it before you can get anything out of it but that can be said about any card really. The second problem is the bigger of the two: this isn't at all useful if you have no lands in your hand. However, most players won't start with a one-land hand, so this can speed things up a little bit even if you're mana-starved. Finally, this isn't that useful late-game since most players won't have anymore land that they need to play late in the game, but it might still give you that extra land or two that you really need (plus, your Admonition Angel might make opponents think twice before they play anything...). However, these are very minor problems that can be said about a lot of cards, so only the lack of effectiveness and requirement for lands in your hand really count against this card.

Pros: Helps you get more lands out from turn 1
Cons: Only useful with lands in your hand, not terribly effective late-game
Rating: 4.5/5

Saturday 18 August 2012

Leaf Gilder

Leaf Gilder
This card, despite its looks, isn't that great. "But, it's a stronger Llanowar Elves! How can it not be awesome?!" I hear you cry. Well, it boils down to this: do you really need a stronger Llanowar Elves? Look at it logistically for a moment; how many times have you swung with a Llanowar Elves and wished "Man, I wish it was a 2/1"? Better yet, how many times have you swung with a Llanowar Elves in the first place (aside from when you've got a Kaysa, an Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and 3 copies each of Elvish Archdruid and Imperious Perfect out on the battlefield)? Adding 1 power to Llanowar Elves might seem nice, but it still only have 1 toughness, meaning that it'll break on just about anything. Besides, there's no point in slowing your game down just for a pointier Llanowar Elves.

Pros: Taps for green mana, pointier Llanowar Elves
Cons: 2x cost of Llanowar Elves with little improvement
Replacements: Urborg Elf (at least you variety), Rofellos, Llanowar EmissaryPriest of Titania
Rating: 1/5

Friday 17 August 2012

Tireless Missionaries

Tireless Missionaries
This missionaries should just stop trying because they're not converting me anytime soon. In their basest element, this card is a 2/3 for 5 mana, and that just sucks. I mean, it's got no evasion, no protection, no abilities; it's just there. Granted it does have an ETB trigger of gaining life, but does that warrant a 2 mana cost increase (using Alaborn Trooper as a base)? Not really, since Healing Salve, which is more versatile  and faster, only costs 1 mana. This card has no redeeming qualities since it's way too expensive for what it does.

Pros: Gains you 3 life when it enters the battlefield
Cons: Massively overcosted, no evasion, essentially vanilla
Rating: 0/5

Thursday 16 August 2012

Flare

Flare
Hey look! It's a better version of Geistflame! Okay, maybe not, but at least you get to draw a card in exchange for paying 3 for 1 damage.

Okay, okay, I'll lay off Geistflame (for now). This card is fairly bad. For 3 mana you get to tim something and draw a card at the beginning of the next turn. Not all that fantastic. Heck, for that mana you could attach Bestial Fury to something or cast Balduvian Rage and do more damage! Despite the fact that I really like the "draw a card at the beginning of the next upkeep" mechanic that I wish would come back (thank you for trying Coldsnap), this card is really bad. Even nostalgia can't save it.

Pros: Tims and draws a card at the beginning of the next upkeep
Cons: Massively overcosted
Rating: 1/5

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Ovinize

Ovinize
It's a card that turns a creature into a sheep (effectively). What's not to love? This card is really awesome. This is one of 7 cards that makes one or more creatures lose all of their abilities (HumbleHumilitySnakeformSoul SculptorSudden Spoiling, and Turn to Frog are the other 6). At Instant speed, you can make that 20/3 Sea Spirit into a 0/1 that can easily be squashed. The other part about this card that I really like is that the it gets rid of any abilities that the creature had. The combo I really like is anything with vanishing + this card. Let's imagine you have a Maelstrom Djinn with only 1 measly time counter left on it and it's your upkeep. You can cast this in response in order to make it lose the sacrifice trigger on the card, meaning that it will never trigger (since you'll never pull the last time counter off of the card because there are none left). The only real problem with this card is... nothing. Sure, it can't affect creatures with hexproof or shroud, but you can't really blame that on the card. For the price and what it does, this card is pretty perfect.

Pros: Turns something into a sheep (effectively) at Instant speed
Cons: None, really
Rating: 5/5 

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Stillmoon Cavalier

Stillmoon Cavalier
This card represents why hybrid mana is awesome. Remember Black Knight and White Knight? Yeah, this card is better than both combined, kinda of like a Megazord. Okay, it does cost more and it doesn't start with first strike, but those things are minor when compared to the overall usefulness of this card. Starting from the top, this card has protection from 40% of all cards in Magic and I'd be willing to bet that translates into over half of all kill spells (I've never done the math to be sure). It can also gain flying, something which black has a slight problem with (at least with cheap good flyers). The first strike makes this card a formidable attacker when combined with its next ability: firebreathing. As I mentioned in my Dragon Engine review, finding unlimited non-red firebreathing is nigh impossible (Dirtwater WraithSea SpiritSnow FortressSoldevi SimulacrumViscerid Deepwalker, and Wall of Water for future reference) so the cost is actually fairly priced. Now, the one drawback with this card is that it has no protection against red, which can easily throw a Lava Dart at it or any other direct damage (and yes, I do think that Lava Dart is 100x better than Geistflame).

Pros: Black Knight and White Knight Megazord
Cons: Weakness to direct damage
Rating: 4/5

Vendetta

Vendetta
This card and I have a little history together. During a debate about Infect online, I was talking about how cards like Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon can't even behind the "doesn't die to Doom Blade" argument for balance. This guy's response? "No one uses Doom Blade anymore! It sucks! Vendetta is so much better!" Now, this argument is flawed for 2 reasons. First, Doom Blade, does in fact, not suck. It is still one of the most powerful kill spells in Magic. Second, and more importantly, this card isn't really that good. Seriously.

Let's look at the good things about this card first. Almost universal kill spell for 1? Sounds pretty awesome, especially since it's at instant speed. However, the speed of the card is counter-acted with the downfall of the life loss. I've seen the following sequence of play, or something like it happen more than once:

Player 1: "I swing with my Terra Stomper"
Player 2: "I hit it with Vendetta"
Player 1: "In response, I Strength of the Tajuru for 8, making Terra Stomper a 16/16. You lose."
Player 2: "Crap..."

This card is, more often than not, going to backfire. Early game, it might be worth the gamble, but later on in the game, the risk usually outweighs the benefits.

Pros: Cheap, quick kill spell
Cons: The life loss can easily be turned against you
Rating: 1.5/5

Monday 13 August 2012

Song of Blood

Song of Blood
We haven't had a really mediocre card for a while have we? This card card can be really good, really bad, or just meh. The biggest problem with this card is not what it does, but its colour. Red doesn't have a lot of deck stacking (in fact, only Magma Jet and Riddle of Lightning allow for specific deck rearranging in red) and this card really works best with deck stacking cards. Otherwise, this card is really a gamble, and to be fair, that does fit with red's shtick. Now, as for its effects, this card can be will good in the right deck. In a Goblin token deck, for example, 3 creature cards gives everything +3/+0 which is really good when you're swamping your opponent with a lot of creatures. However, the gamble may not be worth it in a lot of situations. It's really best saved for that last attack.

Pros: Can give all your attacking creatures up to +4/+0
Cons: Huge gamble without deck stacking
Rating: 2/5

Saturday 11 August 2012

Hellkite Hatchling

Hellkite Hatchling
How could I not do a review of one of the cutest cards in Magic? He's so adorable and spiky and angry at everything! 

Squeeing aside, this card is actually not that bad. Well, as a 2/2 vanilla for 4, he's pretty bad, but in the right deck he works pretty great. Put him in a Thallid-based deck and have him eat all the little mushroom gribblies or do the same in a Goblin token deck. Even if this card only munches on 2 creatures, it still becomes a 4/4 Flying Trample for 4, which is really good for its cost. Make it 10 creatures (very possible by turn 4 with a well-constructed Goblin token deck) and it's a 12/12 Flying Trample for 4! Now, with any Devour-based creature, the inherent problem of needing to sacrifice creatures is an issue if you don't have anything you're willing to part with. This card's Devour power is pretty weak as well, only giving +1/+1 per creature eaten. Still, this card is a solid (not to mention adorable) addition to any R/G token deck.

Pros: Gets Flying and Trample if it snacks on at least 1 creature
Cons: Really weak and overcosted if it misses its meal
Rating: 3.5/5

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Lhurgoyf

Lhurgoyf
Yup, it's the progenitor of Lhurgoyfs. Seen as one of the more powerful creatures from early Magic, this card has quite the reputation for being badass, but does it deserve all the praise? Well, at base level, it's a 0/1 for 4 which, needless to say, is really bad. However, it does improve greatly if there has been a lot of creatures killed in the game. It's major advantage over cards like Boneyard Wurm or Revenant is that is counts creature cards from all graveyards, not just your own. In multiplayer, this card becomes a tank late game because of this. However, it can work against you as well. Against a reanimator deck, this card probably won't get that high up in power unless a lot of your creatures are dying. A burn deck with very few creatures will also leave this card lacking in power. It also doesn't have any type of evasion like Trample, so a 1/1 token can easily be thrown in front of it. To be completely honest, I prefer Magnivore or Tarmogoyf over this. Magnivore has haste and a lot of people use sorceries in their decks, so it'll get fairly big and Tarmogoyf costs 2 less and relies on variety rather than sheer numbers (sure, he has a max power level, but he'll probably reach it quicker than this card).

Pros: Gets really big with creature deaths
Cons: Relies on creatures dying (and staying dead), no evasion
Rating: 3/5

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Black Knight/White Knight

Black KnightWhite Knight

Here are 2 enemies that can never fight. Both cards were designed in order to counteract the other one. How do they stand up? Actually fairly well, even in comparison to newer cards. For double-white cards, there aren't that many better cards than White Knight for that cost, but it's not the best (better cards include Auriok ChampionElite Inquisitor, and Samurai of the Pale Curtain). Black Knight fares about the same with other cards that cost double-black (BloodghastKalastria Highborn, and Nantuko Shade). But, if we ignore any comparison to all other cards, how good are these two on their own? Pretty good. A 2/2 for 2 with protection and an ability? Sounds pretty solid to me! However, the biggest stumbling block is the double mana cost, which makes it a little harder than usual to splash. It doesn't render it impossible, it just makes it a little harder than say Brood of Cockroaches or Mystic Familiar

Note: I'd like to point out that I find it weird that Black Knight has been printed 8 times whereas White Knight has been printed 10 times. I'm not inferring racism, I just think it's odd.

Pros: 2/2 with protection and First Strike for 2
Cons: Double mana cost
Rating: 4/5

Monday 6 August 2012

Basic Land

SwampIslandMountainPlains
Forest
No, you didn't read the title wrong; this is actually a review about the 5 basic lands. Hey, I said my goal was to review every Magic card didn't I?

Now, these cards give you the obvious advantage of being able to play your spells, but there are better ways to play spells than just with vanilla lands. Here are some better nonbasic lands (picked at random): Cavern of SoulsDromar's Cavern, or Exotic Orchard. Now, those nonbasic lands are nice, but most nonbasic lands fall prey to 2 major problems and one of 3 minor problems. The minor problems are that they enter the battlefield tapped (Faerie Conclave), produce only colourless (Darksteel Citadel), or require you to bounce a land (Orzhov Basilica). The first major problem that they all succumb to is that there is a ton of land destruction targeted specifically at nonbasic lands, so they are a fair bit more vulnerable than basic lands. The other big problem is that you're limited to 4 of each nonbasic land in your deck, whereas you can have as many basic lands as you want in a deck. You do have another option when it comes to mana producing however: artifacts. Artifacts have the same problems as nonbasic lands do, but they can do a little bit more sometimes. The Mana Myr are both artifacts and creatures that can produce mana (either coloured or colourless), but they are vulnerable to creature destruction and artifact destruction, so they're fairly risky to trust your mana generation to. 

However, with all that said, how do basic lands hold up against nonbasic lands and mana-producing artifacts? Well... fairly poorly to be honest. Let's look at it with another example. Let's look at Eager Cadet and Lantern Kami. They're both 1/1s for 1 mana, but Lantern Kami has Flying, making the better choice. It's fundamentally the same creature, but Eager Cadet has something less than Lantern Kami and it's the same thing with basic lands. They serve the same function as nonbasic lands, but they're lacking that little bit extra that nonbasic lands have. So really, you can't say they're that great since there are a bunch of cards that are better than they are. Sure, there are worse cards, but there exist a wide variety of better mana-producers out there. 

Pros: Not limited to 4 a deck, enter untapped
Cons: Vanilla, no extras attached
Rating: 3/5

Sunday 5 August 2012

Kuldotha Rebirth

Kuldotha Rebirth
This is a staple of my Goblin deck. Now, this is one of the few cards I actually like from Scars block, and it works best with a couple other cards I like from that block; namely Ichor Wellspring and Mycosynth Wellspring. For red, one of the biggest problems it has is card draw. "But cards like Wheel of FortuneGoblin Lore, and Reforge the Soul give red huge draw power!" Most of that power though comes at a price, usually discarding cards (sometimes at random). With this card and Ichor Wellspring, there are no downsides. It equates to 3 mana for 2 cards and 3 gribblies; not a bad deal (heck, Panic Spellbomb gives you 1 card for 2 mana and it's still a good deal). Red's other problem, mana ramping, is also partially solved by this card in a similar fashion. Mycosynth Wellspring and this card equals 2 lands (albeit tapped) and 3 gribblies for 3 mana; again, it's a pretty good deal. Now, the issue with this card is twofold. First, it's sorcery-speed, meaning you can't make an army of Teds to block an attacker. Second, you need an artifact to work (however, I get around this by using Liquimetal Coating). As an end note, I think I just mentioned every single card I liked from Scars block in this review (with the exception of Black Sun's ZenithChancellor of the ForgeGoblin Wardriver, and Horrifying Revelation).

Pros: 3 gribblies for 1 mana
Cons: Requires an artifact, slow
Rating: 4/5

Friday 3 August 2012

Camel

Camel
Yet another reason why you shouldn't listen to Gatherer's rating system. Just to get it out there: yes, this card is very flavourful and cool. But does coolness alone carry a card to greatness? No, but it does have a couple benefits. In essence, this card prevents 1 point of combat damage to another creature you control. And, for 1 mana, it's kind of worth it. It could also serve as a target for something like Redirect or Hecatomb. So, it works as a sacrificial lamb or as a weakened Carom. But, white can do so much better for making sacrifices.  Beckon ApparitionDoomed Traveler, and Spiritual Visit are all better and those are only a few that cost 1 mana. However, if your opponent is packing 4 Deserts, you may want to consider running at least one of these (or City in a Bottle).

Pros: Prevents damage from Desert, you won't feel bad sacrificing it
Cons: Doesn't do much except die
Rating: 1/5

Thursday 2 August 2012

Makeshift Mannequin

Makeshift Mannequin
Continuing on the theme of sacrificial creatures from my last review, here's another great card that basically makes a sacrificial pawn for one use. Unlike Kher Keep, this card actually makes a real creature instead of a token, but it requires a creature in your graveyard. Even if all you have is a Gray Ogre in your graveyard, this can still be useful to throw in front of a Phyrexian Hydra. However, cards like Belfry SpiritGlen Elendra Archmage, or anything with Modular work really well with this card. Anything that has a death trigger was meant to work with cards like this (the Asian Five are a prime example). However, it requires any of those cards to be in your graveyard, so it only works after you've lost something. It also cost 4, so late game is probably the only time you'll see this played, and it may be too late by that point.
Note: Yes, you can take the mannequin counter off without killing the creature. You just have to use AEther Snap or Chisei, Heart of Oceans.

Pros: Flash reanimates a creatures
Cons: Creature dies if targeted, costs a fair bit
Rating: 3.5/5

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Kher Keep

Kher Keep
This card deserves a reprint in From the Vault: Realms if only for the fact that it produces Kobolds of Kher Keep tokens. However, it's deserves it even more because of its token generating abilities. What can a 0/1 gribbly (let's call him Ted) do you may ask? Well, the first obvious choice is Skullclamp. 2 cards for 3 mana? That's a pretty good deal, especially in red. Ted could also make a great suicidal defender with Dead-Iron Sledge. He could go on a Cultural Exchange to your opponent's kingdom and trade places with an Autochthon Wurm. Ted could also turn into something more useful by simply being Polymorph'd. Finally, Ted could serve as "Tactical Ambush Commander" and be thrown into front of a Dread Cacodemon or as "Most Honourable Offering" if a Hand of Emrakul decides to come and visit. Basically, this land provides you with a lot of solutions to a lot of problems. However, it's main drawbacks are that it only produces 1 Ted a turn and it's Legendary so you can't have more than 1 of these out at a time. But, 1 is usually enough anyway.

Pros: Creates Ted, the "Ultimate Problem Solver"
Cons: Only produces 1 Ted a turn, Legendary
Rating: 4/5