Monday, 16 January 2012

Oozing and Ahhhing

Constructed: 1/5 Limited: 2/5

Predation isn't easy especially if you cost GGG. Unplayable outside of heavy green decks in limited, the ooze does a pretty good beating face if you land it early. Late it is just an annoying blocker, who people will either fly over or trample through. Was not expecting the indestructible, but it doesn't make up for the fact this card is subpar. Dead Weight, Claustrophobia, and Silent Departure all deal with it, so if faced with this in a pack of dark ascension just ship it left and take a better card. (In before I get crushed by this card in sealed).


Constructed: 1/5 Limited: 1/5

This pack isn't going to be feeding anytime soon. There are a few people who will want this in there commander decks but I don't think it will show up anywhere in standard decks. I wouldn't fault anyone for playing one copy in sealed  if you need some more cards to fill your deck out but I would advise against this in draft. It would be nice if you could draft some shenanigans involving this and the scaab guys and recursion...wait, just no. Sorry wolfpack, back to the woods with you.

Constructed: 1/5 Limited: 1.5/5

Interestingly designed card, I think this guy is just OK. A 2/3 flyer in any colour is nothing to scoff at, and accelerating you into your 5 and 6 drops is good. The trade off is that you don't get your 2/3 on your own turn. Fringe playability in limited doesn't usually translate well into the constructed meta and this doesn't either. I wouldn't be too sad to play this guy in my limited deck, but that is where he will stay.


Constructed: 0/5 Limited: 1.5/5

This card will lead to some blow-outs for sure. Smack this on some guy with a massive butt and some power and watch as your opponent squirms in their seat. I think you only want to play it in a deck where you can cast and flash it back and it just so happens that Green and Black have some of the better creatures to abuse this card with. Don't get me wrong, i am not saying you should auto pick this pack 1 pick 1, but picking this up maybe 9/10th is out of the question and pretty much makes the deck every time. No place in constructed decks and we will leave it at that.


Constructed: 4/5 Limited: 2/5

This card certainly puts a dampener on all those undying creatures that may show up in decks of the future. In standard he stops those and the new 1 drop zombie. In modern it stops more than just those. "Is that a nice Vengevine in your graveyard", " Shame about those Bloodghasts". Narcomebas just want to party because they're forever alone in the flues of their home world. The Grafdiggers has decreed it that you shall not pass. On top of this the cage prevent players from casting spells from their graveyards, shutting down strategies like burning vengeance, and any deck reliant on flashing back spells to gain card advantage over the opponent, like Solar Flare, or Innistrad Block BUG control lists that have been picking up pace in the daily events recently.

Being able to fetch this with Trinket mage helps its playability in standard, and I expect to see this pop up in sideboards across multiple formats. In Limited, its uses are.... well limited. A great sideboard card to bring in if your opponent is playing the spider spawning or burning vengeance deck but otherwise, think carefully before adding it to your main deck.

Constructed: 3/5 Limited: 3.5/5

What a name for a card....and the card isn't too bad either. Nice body coupled with a good mana cost mean this guy will probably find a home in aggressive red decks straight away. Not sure if he is as good or better than Hero of Oxid Ridge, only testing will tell. That ping ability will do more damage than you think, and thank someone holy, that it has haste so you "essentially" have a 4/3 when hitting a player. I think it might see more play in modern than standard in a creature heavy aggressive deck featuring Bloodbraid Elf, Boggart Ram Gang and Goblin Guide. Slamming when you have a few creatures out is going to put your opponent in world of hurt. In Limited, he just as good, forcing damage through even on stalemated boards. That extra couple of damage here and there will matter when push comes to shove. The lack of evasion is a slight issue but we can turn a blind eye the rider from hell can't we?


Constructed: 1.5/5 Limited: 2/5

I think wizards are trying to tell us something. Lets listen to them for a second...."Play black/white tokens". I am not sure this is the card, along with Sorin to push the archetype into the standard metagame, but they're are giving us all the tools to try. My issue with deck and any token strategies that are considering this card, is that there mana will be horrible. 4 Duals does not a 2 colour deck make. Even just playing Sorin off the 4 Isolated Chapels is pushing it and no Shimmering Grotto is not a card I want to be playing with. I am underwhelmed by this, but who knows it's ability might be powerful enough to push a token deck over the edge.

In limited this card is very good, if you can support it in your mana base. Black/White is notoriously bad for filled with powerful cards, but being clunky and having dodgy as hell mana so maybe B/W humans/tokens isn't something to be drafted. Perhaps drafting green/white and splashing this card off a grotto and an amulet might be a better proposition. You cannot deny this card is powerful, but it is lacking a home at the minute. We still have a little over 100 hundred cards to be spoiled and perhaps in those card might be something to help make this card a beating if you lay it down.

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