Saturday 3 May 2014

Journey Gods

Athreos, God of PassageIroas, God of Victory
Pharika, God of AfflictionKeranos, God of Storms
Kruphix, God of Horizons

Well, it's time to meet our new mythic overlords.

Athreos, God of Passage
This is my personal favourite of the new gods. He basically allows you to swing your little guys with complete disregard to your opponent's field because it gives your opponent the choice of taking the little guys to the face or taking a Lightning Bolt to the face unless you get a free Raise Dead for each creature that dies. Yeah, you'll have to replay each creature that comes back to your hand, but if you have things like Cathedral Sanctifier, you just get the ETB benefit multiple times. He's also a 5/4 for 3, which is nice.

Pros: Gives either free Lightning Bolts or Raise Deads
Cons: Opponent gets to choose
Rating: 4/5

Iroas, God of Victory
He's Dolmen Gate glued to Goblin War Drums. Honestly, this is the most underwhelming of all these gods (not the worst mind you). He's good, just kind of "meh" effect-wise. I don't really know how to explain it properly, but I was expecting something more flashy and cool instead of just recycling two older cards and melding them into one. The only real issue is that, while it combines two cards into one, it comes out a turn later than both of them would (Dolmen Gate costs 2 and Goblin War Drums costs 3). A good card, just not exciting for me.

Pros: Dolmen Gate and Goblin War Drums all in one
Cons: Costs 4
Rating: 4.5/5

Pharika, God of Affliction
This is sadly the worst on the new bunch. Black/green likes either reanimating its own creatures or eating your opponent's dead ones for an effect. That effect is not something positive for your opponent. I understand that Whip of Erebos is a problem that needs solving, but I can't help but think that maybe this isn't the best solution. I would have thought something along the lines of Creakwood Ghoul but with a better positive side would have been more appropriate. Giving your opponent a free Typhoid Rats is not a good answer to the Whip. I suppose you can use it on your own creatures, but why aren't you running Whip of Erebos or some other Golgari-flavoured deck instead?

Pros: Exiles creature cards in graveyards
Cons: Gives a free Typhoid Rats to that creature's owner
Rating: 2/5

Keranos, God of Storms
Free cards or Lightning Bolts? Yes please! Every turn, you're going to be getting an effect that will be beneficial to you in one way or another. However, it does come with a cost. First, it costs 5, which is a bit late in most games. Second, you have to reveal the first card you draw every turn, which gives your opponents a lot of information. If you're mana-screwed, revealing another Keranos isn't going to strike fear in your opponent's heart (although it will still hurt). A good card, just not a great card in my opinion.

Pros: Free Lightning Bolts or card draw
Cons: Only once per your turn, reveal your draw
Rating: 3.5/5

Kruphix, God of Horizons
This is a pretty cool dude and really works well with your Monstrous creatures. It's a sort-of-worse-sort-of-better Upwelling inside of a Reliquary Tower. I really like the idea of a one-sided Upwelling, but I'm not a fan of it being colourless mana since colourless mana is pretty much only useful for X spells and some artifacts. Still, it's a pretty cool card, despite costing 5 and being unable to kill a Nyx-Fleece Ram.

Pros: Sort-of-worse-sort-of-better Upwelling with a Reliquary Tower
Cons: Costs 5, can't kill a sheep
Rating: 4/5

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