All right, you know the drill: I’m going to list tons of cards, then I’m going to rate them. Higher numbers are better. And then I’m going to throw in some comments. Some will be insightful, hopefully, and others might even be funny. For those of you who missed the first installment of this series, you can find it here. Without further ado:
Block: 1
Getting a one-power creature for two mana is a bad thing, especially when you’re a red mage. A symmetrical ability doesn’t make this card suddenly get better. Combined with enough real land destruction, the Blizzard-Herder could be a real nuisance for control decks… but Stone Rain and Befoul aren’t enough to complement this Goblin.
Standard: 2
Thanks to Molten Rain and Demolish, the Blizzard Herder gets ever-so-slightly better, so it becomes “bad” rather than “wretched.”
Block: 3
With so few ways to put lands in the graveyard, this might as well be a vanilla creature. I can only think of three reasonable ways to trigger the Raider’s ability: Akki Avalanchers, Stone Rain, and Befoul. (Feast of Worms is not reasonable). And I suppose you could add Gods’ Eye, Gate to the Reikai to placate the Avalanchers. The Raider may be less than exciting – but red has demonstrated before that it can win with dorky 2/1 guys (remember Invasion block?), and this card does combine with Hearth Kami to give red eight two-mana creatures with two power.
Standard: 3
With Molten Rain and Demolish added to the mix, Akki Raider looks a little better, and it fits the Ponza mana curve perfectly, hitting the board the turn before you Rain a land. But can it displace Hearth Kami (great vs. Affinity) and Slith Firewalker (great vs. control)? I doubt it. It’s usually better to play two spells that stand well on their own rather than one spell that can and another that only gets better when combined with the first one.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
I see seven mana and I’m expecting something really good… And what I see is no evasion, a mere four toughness that is easily taken down by a pair of bears, and a drawback of having to attack each turn? Even without the drawback, this creature would be terrible.
Block: 3 (Sideboard)
With the Hondens, the Genju, and now Tallowisp, Aura Barbs could end up being a nice sideboard option. Red may not be able to destroy enchantments, but at least it can punish opponents for playing them. Having another splice target never hurts, either.
Standard: 1
If enchantments rise again, this rating could change significantly – but right now I highly doubt it. Besides, if red really wants to destroy enchantments it can with Culling Scales or Oblivion Stone.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
Akki Raider is starting to look better already. Let’s play the if game again. If you can keep the fragile Baku in play, trigger its ability two or three times, and force it past your opponent’s defenses it could deal quite a bit of damage. That’s way too many ifs.
Block: 4
Enrage is back and it’s definitely better than before. But do you remember how much constructed play Enrage saw? Exactly – so this is going to have to be significantly better than Enrage to see action. Without paying the alternate casting cost, it’s strictly worse than Enrage, unless you’re splicing something onto it for free. Paying mana to splice something onto Blazing Shoal is pretty lame because that additional mana cuts into the Shoal’s ability to deal extra damage.
Now let’s consider the alternate casting cost. Imagine that you play Frostling on turn 1. The following turn, you attack and your opponent doesn’t have any blockers or removal. Before damage is on the stack, you remove Myojin of Infinite Rage from your hand to play Blazing Shoal for free, pumping up Frostling to 11/1.
Now let’s leave reality completely. Imagine that you have two Shoals and two Myojins in hand. Now you’re swinging with a 21/1 Spirit. The mythical turn 2 kill is possible in Kamigawa block! Johnnies around the world can rejoice. Of course, if you want to critically examine this scenario, you might find a few problems with probabilities and vulnerabilities.
Let’s get serious. You don’t want to play something you’ll never cast just so you can make massive Shoals. What’s realistic? Patron of the Akki, Earthshaker, and Ryusei, the Falling Star are pretty expensive but still have a chance of being cast.
Blazing Shoal is narrow and rigid. To best abuse it, you need to build a suicide red deck and use it like Hatred. That requires an all-in strategy. Either you’re wrecking opponents or you’re getting wrecked when they have the necessary removal or counterspell. This card is good, but it’s far from great.
Standard: 4
Raging Goblin means that with a Mountain, two Shoals, and two Myojins, you can kill an opponent on turn 1. And you thought Johnny was excited before. Six-card combo? No problem, right?
Block: 3 (Sideboard)
This is a really peculiar card, and it takes a little thinking to unravel it. As long as your deck is predominantly Spirit or non-Spirit-based and your opponent is playing a creature set with the opposite theme, this is one hell of a sideboard card, turning every one of your creatures into three-quarters of a Flametongue Kavu.
Standard: 3 (Sideboard)
Assuming that there are going to be few Spirit-heavy decks in this format, Clash of Realities is actually a very strong addition to any Spirit-based deck, especially against creature-heavy decks.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
Yet again, Wizards R&D is designing our decks for us. The combination of Akki Blizzard-Herder, Akki Raider, and Crack the Earth guarantee that the
“symmetrical land destruction” archetype will be viable.
Please tell me that you picked up on my sarcasm.
Block: 4
This seems like one of the best cards in this cycle. The Bandit really is quite cunning. Flipped, it suddenly puts opponents on a four-turn clock, and its ki counters combine perfectly to help Asamuki punch through defenses. It’s unfortunate that the creatures you steal don’t untap and don’t have haste, but they still have their uses. With Junkyo Bell, Devouring Rage, Blood Rites, or Soulblast, you can ensure that the creatures you’ve borrowed will further your evil plans. The Bandit is even decent against creatureless decks, since it attacks for so much damage once it flips.
Standard: 1
As with all these ki creatures, you don’t have enough time… or once you flip your guy for some big action, your opponent will say thank you and take it with Vedalken Shackles.
Block: 3
If every opponent played creatures, then this would be a staple for red decks, since it works so well with Glacial Ray. But in the Arcane world of Kamigawa, it’s quite possible that some decks will be creatureless. Therefore, this spell is stuck in average land.
Standard: 2
Thanks to Disciple of the Vault, Arcbound Worker, Hearth Kami, Slith Firewalker, Birds of Paradise, and Eternal Witness, this might even be more playable here. But Arcane decks will struggle against the greater diversity in this format, and non-Arcane decks will play the vastly superior Magma Jet.
Block: 3
It’s not an Arcane, and preventing life gain/damage prevention are really lame bonuses. In pure Philosophy of Fire terms, though, dealing four damage for three mana is a bargain…. and Lava Spike is already in this set. This spell combined with Lava Spike might enable some sort of really cheesy burn deck. Blazing Shoal could fit there nicely, too.
Standard: 3
Add Volcanic Hammer, Shrapnel Blast, Forge[/author]“]Pulse of the [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author], and Fireball to the mix and one has to wonder whether it’s possible to build a deck that does nothing but burn an opponent as quickly as possible.
Block: 3
It’s got a solid amount of power and it’s red, so I have to give it an average rating, but this ogre is outclassed by Kumano, Master Yamabushi. It’s also questionable whether or not aggressive red decks – which are usually mana curve-conscious – would want to play any creatures in the five-mana slot.
Standard: 1
Arc-Slogger is so much better.
Block: 5
This is, without a doubt, the best one-drop Spirit. Thanks to Bushido, many creatures have low toughness and the Frostling is thrilled to shoot them. Unlike all of the other cards in this cycle, Frostling can effectively attack into two-toughness creatures and kill them.
Standard: 4
The format is rife with Disciple of the Vault, Arcbound Worker, Hearth Kami, Birds of Paradise, and Eternal Witness – all creatures that the neutered Mogg Fanatic enjoys taking out. But it seems like Frostling’s most natural fit would be in an aggressive red creature deck. Can such a deck compete with Affinity? Even Goblins struggled against Arcbound Ravager and friends.
Block: 4
This is one bad-ass chick. The only thing preventing her from being amazing is her vulnerability to removal… but this isn’t as big a problem as it might seem at first. Fumiko is a card that will define an entire archetype. Every spell in the deck will be based around her. Off the top of my head, I envision a R/W build with Blessed Breath to protect Fumiko along with other Arcanes. Although this deck would be designed to wreck creature-based strategies, the flexibility of burn spells and Fumiko’s respectable attacking power would give it game against control strategies too.
Standard: 3
Fumiko will have a hard time taming Affinity’s explosiveness. Vedalken Shackles and Death Cloud also pose problems.
Block: 5
Say hello to one of the two best Genjus in the cycle. This Spirit may be the most fragile of the bunch, but it hits the hardest. This smashing potential combines beautifully with red’s ability to burn away pesky blockers or fire off the final points of damage after the Genju has been contained. That means that your opponent’s only hope is removal spells… but the Genju keeps coming back (unless there’s bounce or enchantment removal involved), and eventually your opponent will run out of ways to kill Mountains.
And what a stick this card is against control! It can come out on turn 1, slipping under countermagic, is immune to sorcery-speed removal, and once you have four lands it has haste.
Standard: 4
The mana intensity remains a significant hurdle in this format, even for a Genju that is this awesome.
Block: 3
This is a slight improvement over Mogg Conscripts. For the Conscripts, you had to successfully resolve a creature spell, but the Cohort only cares that you play one, so countermagic won’t spoil your fun.
Any 2/x creature for one mana has to be carefully evaluated, especially when it’s red. The drawback is potentially huge. That two power means nothing if it can’t attack. The Cohort only seems like it could work if at least one of two conditions are met. The deck needs to follow the Sligh mana curve for creatures as closely as possible and favor creatures substantially over burn, or the deck needs a way to replay inexpensive creatures. With Frostling, Akki Avalanchers, Akki Raider, Hearth Kami, Battle-Mad Ronin, and Ember-Fist Zubera red can overload on the early creature drops pretty easily. Taking the replay approach, there are Ninjas and Veil of Secrecy.
I’m probably overvaluing this creature, but in a carefully constructed deck he could be quite powerful.
Standard: 2
Raging Goblin, Spark Elemental, Slith Firewalker, Canyon Wildcat, and Goblin Raider get added to the mix – but so do Affinity and Eternal Witness. It seems much less likely that the Cohort will be able to overcame his drawback and not perish on his first or second trip into the red zone.
Block: 4
Remember that cheesy burn deck I mentioned? Well, here’s another fine candidate. This ability may look symmetrical, but not when a red mage has control over it. The plan seems ludicrously obvious: Control the board for a few turns, drop Hidetsugu, activate it, and throw burn at your opponent’s face to finish him or her off. It could work. Running into creature removal is really annoying, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is one of the most efficient ways red has even been able to deal ten damage.
Standard: 2
After you untap with Arc-Slogger, you can usually deal six to eight points of damage to your opponent for three mana. With Hidetsuga you can tap, not pay any mana, and deal ten points. Strictly in Philosophy of Fire terms, the latter is better… But Big Slogs is harder to remove thanks to its fatter butt, and in a pinch it can kill stuff important creatures, like Disciple of the Vault. Arc-Slogger also doesn’t get screwed by the Legend rule, nor does it have to tap in order to deal damage. And don’t forget that Big Slogs doesn’t shoot you in the foot, either.
Block: 4
This is a strange one. Once it’s out, your offense is supercharged, and additional copies make your creatures even more fearsome… But by the time you get around to casting it, an aggressive deck should already have dumped most of the creatures out of its hand. Plus, that first five mana doesn’t actually do anything that turn. You might not even have another creature in hand to cast the turn after the Web comes into play. Playing mana acceleration can get the Web out faster, but by investing those early turns like that you’re giving up an early offense.
There is one card that promises to be insane with the Web, however: Sosuke’s Summons. For three mana, you get two hasty 3/1 Snakes. And the recursion of the Summons ensures that your opponent will never escape the Web of War. Conveniently enough, Sakura-Tribe Elder happens to be a Snake and it also helps you play this enchantment a turn earlier.
Standard: 2
I don’t see how you have the time to invest all this mana in a spell that doesn’t help you at all until the turn after you cast it.
Block: 5
First Volley was disappointing, but this is more like it. In the mid- to late-game, this is one hell of a burn spell. You might even be tempted to cast Dampen Thought on yourself, just so that you fill your graveyard with enough fuel for a twenty-point Ire. This card promises to define an archetype, since it puts the Arcane burn deck on the map.
Standard: 2
Once again, I can’t figure out how Arcane.dec will be able to beat Affinity. Hopefully, I’m mistaken, because I’d love to see a Betrayers archetype appear out of nowhere and crush that annoyingly broken artifact deck.
No, I’m not bitter.
Block: 4
It may be fragile, but this is one hell of a hoser to mechanic-based decks. You could probably even maindeck it. The funny thing is that many of your opponent’s answers to the Crackshot, like Glacial Ray or Horobi’s Whisper, are Arcanes, so the Crackshot will still act as a Shock to your opponent’s dome before it dies.
Standard: 1
Since the Arcane and Spirit mechanics are unlikely to run rampant, the Crackshot has little potential.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
The White and Green review showed us two terrible creature enchantments that I promised were part of a long list. Here’s the third one.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
Even if you can find a way to break this ability, you still have to cope with the mana intensity (five total for the first activation) and its fragile two toughness.
Block: 3
Standard: 3
For all you Aura of Domination lovers, you’ve finally got a creature that forms a combo with it. Another option is Psychic Puppetry. But instead of going for either of these combos, you might get a little crazier and simply play a good red creature instead of the Recluse.
But wait a minute. What if your opponent doesn’t have many instants in his or her deck? So like a good player, you attack with the Recluse each turn and only play spells afterward. And who cares if blocking with the Recluse is impossible – this is a red creature, after all. I guess this Ogre is actually average rather than terrible.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
This looks like a really bad combat trick. Imagine you attack with a four-power creature… And then you Overblaze it, so it deals eight damage instead of four.
But if damage is your goal, you could have played Flames of the Blood Hand instead for one less mana and still dealt the same amount of damage. And the Flame can deal damage without any creatures in play.
Block: 4
The blue Patron is pretty awful, so this is a nice change of pace. The power, toughness, and ability all look great. But how does the crop of sacrificial lambs look? Exercising some quality control, we have: Akki Avalanchers, Goblin Cohort, Ishi-Ishi, Goblin Crackshot, Akki Raider, Akki Coalflinger, and Zo-Zu, the Punisher. There are options, but they pale in comparison to white’s Foxes.
Standard: 2
Raging Goblin, Goblin Raider, and Goblin Brawler are the biggest gains… in other words, not much. I can’t imagine that this sorry Goblin lot could stand up to Affinity. Even in Goblin Warchief’s golden age, this tribe had trouble standing up to the artifact deck.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
It’s really bad. I won’t insult you with an explanation.
Block: 4
This makes a fine companion to Ronin Houndmaster, ensuring that red can continue its aggression through the three-mana slot. And of course we all know our Dan Paskins red deck theory. (But j ust in case, I’ll paraphrase; thanks to red’s burn, the Gatekeeper’s drawback, like Jackal Pup’s, is irrelevant.)
Standard: 1
There’s still the Affinity problem.
Block: 1
Since all the cool lands are legendary and the depletion lands are too clunky for it to be worth playing more than two of them, Sowing Salt stinks like yesterday’s diapers.
Standard: 4
This actually becomes pretty good in Standard. There are numerous juicy targets, including artifact lands, Blinkmoth Nexus, Glimmervoid, Cloudpost, and any part of the Urzatron. My favorite thing about Sowing Salt is that once you hit one piece of the Urzatron, the full set will never get assembled… and Eternal Witness can’t change that. Cranial Extraction didn’t kill Tooth and Nail, but this might.
Block: 2
If this could target players, it would be the new Fireblast… but it doesn’t, which means that you’ll never catch me maindecking it. And you have to trade a precious resource in order to splice this card. Therefore, splicing will only be appropriate in decks with a heavy red mana commitment and only in the late game.
This card is just looking worse and worse. I wouldn’t even want to sideboard it. I’ll take Yamabushi’s Flame or Hanabi Blast instead.
Standard: 1
Creature removal is more plentiful here, and there is a plethora of real burn spells to choose from.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
This symmetry is easily broken: Just play a deck that has few, if any, creatures. This doesn’t make sense, though, since the more creatures your opponent has, the better Twist of Allegiance becomes – but a creatureless deck depends upon controlling your opponent’s creatures. If you let your opponent build up an army to better take advantage of this spell, then you also end up taking a beating.
There’s a much more elegant card that you can play: Blind with Anger.
Red In Review
Red scores quite a few goodies and it needs the help because Champions of Kamigawa didn’t overwhelm the red mage with quality spells. Frostling and Shinka Gatekeeper round out red’s early mana curve nicely. The most interesting thing I find is the number of cards that can become the centerpiece of decks: Blazing Shoal, Fumiko the Lowblood, and Ire of Kaminari take the red mage in three totally different directions.
Block:
- Blazing Shoal
- Cunning Bandit
- Frostling
- Fumiko the Lowblood
- Genju of the Spires
- Heartless Hidetsugu
- In the Web of War
- Ire of Kaminari
- Ishi-Ishi, Akki Crackshot
- Patron of the Akki
- Shinka Gatekeeper
Standard:
Total Red Spells With Potential: 12
Now onto blue.
Block: 3
Miscalculation for free? That has a nice ring to it. I do find it a little odd that the white card in this cycle has flying while the blue one doesn’t, but that’s just because the color pie seems like such a mess.
Anyway, it seems like this card would fit very nicely in a base-blue arcane deck. Getting the necessary ki counters to make this card work is less problematic than for other colors since blue is blessed with the largest number of Arcanes. Another option is to pair this wannabe Spirit with the next card on this review…
Standard: 1
It’s hard to imagine that this can compete with Mana Leak and Condescend.
Block: 4
Now that there are all these ki counter creatures, there are actually some cards that can support Chisei’s drawback. And if you’re playing a mono-blue deck and your mana base is very stable, you could throw in the new rainbow land, Tendo Ice Bridge, too. It takes some work to keep Chisei pleased – but if you can manage that, it’s a hell of a bargain. Especially when Chisei teams up with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner.
Standard: 2
With Aether Vial, Mirrodin’s Core, Energy Chamber, and Sun Droplet, it becomes much easier to feed Chisei. Of course, this would entail building an aggressive blue deck. And all aggressive decks run into the same problem: Affinity. Chisei and her drawback don’t look so hot compared to free 4/4s.
Block: 4
Standard: 4
This is probably the closest thing we’ll see to Force of Will ever again. Without the alternate casting cost, this is a bad Spell Blast. The lower the mana curve of your opponent, the better it will be.
Unlike the other spells in this cycle, the X is very picky. Erring on the side of too much or too little means you can’t use the alternative cost to counter a particular spell… So Disrupting Shoal is particularly good when your deck has a similar mana curve to your opponent’s. The most obvious example of this is the mirror match. Disrupting Shoal is good, but it’s definitely not great. If it operated like a Power Sink instead of a Spell Blast, it would be amazing, but it doesn’t. I think this will be another one of those chase rares that disappoints.
Block: 3
There is some obvious synergy here with Hokori, Dust Drinker and Azuza, Lost But Seeking. Even if you can keep one of those fragile combos in play, the Floodbringer is still a very expensive Rishadan Port.
Nevertheless, blue is willing to take a 1/2 two-mana flier for two reasons. First, it doesn’t die to Frostling. Second, it’s another nice creature with evasion that works well with Ninjutsu.
Standard: 1
If you want to push the Ninja deck, and it’s going to be one hell of a push, there are better options like Spiketail Hatchling and Sage Owl.
Block: 3
As the only Genju with evasion, this looks promising. Unfortunately, it’s just within range of the dreaded Glacial Ray.
Another problem is that the Genju mechanic is an anti-combo with Ninjas, one of the best reasons to play a deck with blue creatures. Plus, many blue decks want to abuse the arcane mechanic – something that requires lots of mana. Since the Genju is mana-intensive, it doesn’t seem like it’s a good fit there either.
So what we have is a recurring 3/2 flier that lacks a home.
Standard: 1
I almost suggested this as a good card for the mono-blue control mirror… then I remembered that Temporal Adept does the job much better. I can’t think of any deck in the format that could put this Genju to good use. G/U Control can’t abandon Rude Awakening, because the Genju is vulnerable to opposing flying creatures and Vedalken Shackles.
Block: 2
It takes a lot of effort to make this card work, but the rewards are potentially quite large. You need two things: a way to manipulate your library and expensive spells to flip into the graveyard. Sensei’s Divining Top and the Deceivers satisfy the former and there are numerous expensive cards that could help with the latter.
Even when you get all the pieces together, though, you still have to pay five mana to draw all those cards. Five mana is quite a bit when it doesn’t do anything to impact board position.
Standard: 2
You gain Darksteel Pendant, Sage Owl, and Orcish Spy (ha, ha). None of those seem like they’re going to suddenly break Heed the Mists.
Higure, The Still Wind
Block: 5
This is the first Ninja on the list… and he sure is a cool one. I send my compliments to Wizards R&D for coming up with such an interesting and flavorful mechanic.
For Ninjas to work, you need cheap evasion creatures that can hit your opponent early and ways to prevent your men from being blocked. Lantern Kami, Nezumi Cutthroat, Soratami Cloudskater, Floodbringer, Kami of the Waning Moon, and Soratami Mirror-Guard provide solid Ninjutsu outlets. Black removal, blue Twiddle effects, and Veil of Secrecy let Ninjas provide an additional assist. Offhand, it looks like Ninja.dec has the tools it needs to be viable.
Higure is the lynchpin of any dedicated Ninja deck. Attacking with an unblockable Mistblade Shinobi or Throat Slitter every turn is pretty strong. And if you don’t have either of these Ninjas in hand, then Higure is happy to tutor up the most helpful Ninja. Although Higure is a little on the slow side, it’s refreshing to see it has so many good abilities attached to a sturdy 3/4 body.
Standard: 3
Ornithopter, Spiketail Hatchling, Sage Owl, Phantom Warrior, Ravenous Rats, and Chittering Rats get added as potential Ninjutsu outlets. That’s a substantial boost because it opens up the abuse of creatures with “comes into play” abilities.
Nevertheless, removal spells are plentiful and more powerful in Standard. Having an opponent remove a creature that you just put out with Ninjutsu is very painful for your tempo… And an active Arc-Slogger is particularly painful. And there’s still the big obstacle known as Affinity. So I don’t think that Ninja.dec will be very good in this environment.
Block: 3
This is a pretty sweet flier, since it’s hard to stop with removal. The problem is that it faces stiff competition from Meloku, the Clouded Mirror and Keiga, the Tide Star. Unless removal-heavy decks dominate the format, Meloku and Keiga are strictly better.
Standard: 1
Few six-mana spells ever make the cut; this doesn’t.
Block: 3
It’s a Spirit, it has just enough toughness to survive Glacial Ray, and it poses a difficult dilemma for opposing ground-pounding decks. Any creatures with less than three power will get returned to your opponent’s hand, causing tempo problems. Even when a creature big enough to kill the Wall comes into the red zone, bouncing it will cost even more tempo since its casting cost is higher.
In general, Walls are horrible – but this seems like a fine defense for a control deck, and especially one that abuses the Spirit mechanic.
Standard: 1
Too many Standard decks can win in non-groundpounding ways, though evasion, loss of life, direct damage, or Platinum Angel.
Block: 5
Now this is an impressive Glass-Spinner. As a 2/2 flier, three mana is par for the course – but the ability puts Kira over the top. If you cast Kira, followed by an important creature, then suddenly your opponent needs to find three removal spells to kill the important guy. That’s pretty devastating. It’s also handy that Kira is a Spirit, which you may have heard can be pretty relevant for various triggered abilities. This is the best blue flier that has been printed in a long time.
Of course, there are some minor drawbacks to Kira. You can’t (or at least won’t want to) target your own creatures with her in play. And her ability doesn’t help against mass removal spells. The first problem doesn’t really matter, since you rarely want to target your own creatures with blue spells… and the second issue is a problem that all creatures face, so who cares?
Standard: 4
Aether Vial increases Kira’s potential, turning her into a counterspell for targeted creature removal, and I don’t see any reason why evasion and untargetability won’t be good here. The latter is particularly hot against Vedalken Shackles.
It’s also worth noting that Kira and Platinum Angel get along really well.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
This is a fragile and mana intensive way to make creatures unblockable. Blue has better ways to push creatures through the red zone.
Block: 2
For four mana, a counterspell has to do something pretty special to be good. Though Arcane decks will exist, it’s easy to play around the Cabal Therapy effect of this counter. And, of course, Hinder is much better.
Standard: 1
Arcane decks probably won’t be as popular, and better spells like Mana Leak and Condescend are available.
Block: 4
As one-shot Consuming Vortex, this Ninja is demanding and cumbersome… but there are many ways to ensure that this Ninja gets past an opponent’s defenses every turn. If Shinobi isn’t contained quickly, he will destroy opposing creature decks.
Standard: 2
Not nearly as good, for the same reasons that I mentioned with Higure, the Still Wind.
Block: 5
This Ninja makes an excellent counterpart to its Mistblade cousin. While Mistblade Shinobi beats up on creature decks, this Ninja wrecks control decks by beating them at their own game: card advantage. But unlike Mistblade Shinobi, bouncing a one-power creature to Ninjutsu this Ninja into play actually adds an additional point of damage.
Even if you don’t aim for any sneaky Ninja surprise attacks, this card is an Ophidian that deals damage and draws cards. It might even be able to stand on its own in a control or counter-burn deck.
Standard: 4
We already have Thieving Magpie, so it seems like this Ninja will only get played if it stays true to its heritage or finds a deck that is only willing to have a small blue splash. See Higure, the Still Wind for additional comments.
Block: 3
That’s a lot of mana for a 5/4 flier, especially when you consider Keiga, the Tide Star and Meloku, the Clouded Mirror. Plus, there aren’t a lot of overwhelmingly good Moonfolk to power up the offering mechanic. And the special ability is only impressive if you also have other Moonfolk in play. This looks barely average.
Standard: 1
The format is faster and more brutal, so this Patron doesn’t stand a chance.
Block: 3
This is an interesting variation on Flight. (But not a new one, as Rick seems to be implying – The Ferrett) Plopping one of these on a Ninja doesn’t seem like that bad idea, since it gains evasion, and if your opponent tries to kill the Ninja later you can bounce the Ninja back to hand.
Against your opponent’s men, Phantom Wings can act as a sorcery-speed Unsummon. If you’re playing an aggressive deck or one focused on tempo, a bad Unsummon is still pretty decent. Finally, I like the idea of being able to tutor up Unsummon with Tallowisp. (This is a decent target that I forgot to mention earlier in the white review.)
Standard: 1
This is still just a glorified Flight.
Block: 3 (Sideboard)
As a narrow, four-mana counter there’s no way this card can be awesome… but it does fill a niche in blue’s arsenal. Control decks don’t like Cranial Extraction, and a single Quash means that you’ll never have to worry about any Extractions again. Quash also promises to be high technology against Arcane decks, since it can rip away cards in hand just like Minamo’s Meddling and also ensures that your opponent’s long-term draws will be less threat-heavy.
Standard: 3
Again, Quash fills a niche. There are a number of slow spells that control decks would be delighted to rid an opponent’s entire deck of, such as Cranial Extraction, Plow Under, Rude Awakening, Tooth and Nail, and Death Cloud. Unlike normal counterspells, you don’t need to worry about your opponent using Eternal Witness to replay these threats.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
This is an insanely demanding and mana intensive way to bounce creatures, especially when spells like Consuming Vortex exist.
Block: 1
Given the popularity and strength of artifacts in this block, this rating should be self-explanatory.
Standard: 4
Here is another “Affinity hose,” – and I wish it were cause for celebration. Too bad Energy Flux wasn’t reprinted instead. Yes, this can really set Affinity back in its board position. The bad news is that if Affinity is playing first, you might be dead before you can even cast Reduce Dreams. The other bad news is that numerous permanents, like Blinkmoth Nexus, City of Brass, Disciple of the Vault, Atog, Moriok Rigger, and Somber Hoverguard are totally unaffected. Hopefully this isn’t the next Imi Statue.
Ribbons of the Reikei
Block: 3
It shouldn’t be too hard to score three cards with this spell. And I could see this as a method of refilling your hand in an aggressive G/U Spirit deck. It can work, but it takes careful planning and deck construction. Being an Arcane isn’t that exciting since the spell is pretty expensive, but from time to time it will be handy in the late-game.
Standard: 1
Way too much effort for this faster format.
Block: 4
The extra point of toughness and resilience against targeted removal puts this Spirit a cut above the typical 2/2 fliers for four mana. Conveniently, the Glasskite is also just beyond the range of Hideous Laughter. Assuming that Arcane decks and mono-black decks loaded with removal will be popular archetypes, this Glasskite looks pretty good. It might even help push an aggressive blue deck from wistful dream into reality.
Standard: 1
As durable as it may be, the low power-to-toughness ratio really hurts this creature’s playability. It doesn’t do enough for four mana.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
This guy doesn’t pack a punch and is the slowest, most mana-intensive Millstone effect I’ve seen in a long time. If you want to destroy libraries, stick with the Dampen Thought plan.
Block: 3
With two of these, you can make sure that you never get decked… so they are solid technology against any deck based on Dampen Thought. But that’s pretty narrow and unexciting.
Imagine you have a way to burn through your entire library very quickly, until there’s nothing left (i.e. self-inflicted Dampen Thought). And let’s assume that you’re holding Glacial Ray in hand. At the end of your opponent’s turn you cast Stream, shuffling another Stream and another Glacial Ray back into your library. Then you draw your card. If it’s the Stream you cast it, splicing the Ray in hand, and shuffle another Stream back into your library. If you draw the Ray instead, you cast it, splicing the other Ray onto it and then start the process over again next turn when you draw the Stream.
I’m sure there are more complex, better variations of this recursion, but this is the first example that came to mind and is only meant to demonstrate the potential. Stream of Consciousness can act like Soldevi Digger, allowing you to recur the best cards in your graveyard once your library is empty. Very interesting…
Standard: 1
Remember the time issue? Remember that not-so-friendly little Arcbound Ravager?
Block: 3
This is the biggest reset button ever printed. The card might as well read “Shuffle up and start the game over, only this time each player begins with seven life.” To look at it another way, this is a very efficient burn spell that deals thirteen damage for ten mana. Granted, it’s horrendously expensive, but the effect is so powerful that I feel like there must be a way to break it.
Standard: 1
The popularity of countermagic, Affinity, and Death Cloud spoils whatever fun you might have with this interesting spell.
Block: 3
This might be the second best creature in this cycle – and what puts it ahead of its white, green, and black brethren is the flexibility. Tap an opponent’s blocker to punch through with a Ninja, or stall a menacing attacker for a turn while you search for an answer. Untap that blocker you need to stay in the damage race or untap one of your creatures so that you can tap it for an activated ability again.
Standard: 1
There are more tempting creatures that help get Ninjutsu online and, while flexible, this Kami’s ability doesn’t have the raw power of something like Disciple of the Vault.
Block: 4
It’s a narrow Control Magic for one less mana. There are going to be all sorts of targets for this in block, and some of the greatest hits include Soilshaper, Nezumi Cutthroat, Nezumi Graverobber, Wicked Akuba, Isamaru, Hound of Konda, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, and Samurai of the Pale Curtain.
But the beautiful thing about Control Magic was that it could steal any creature. In the best-case scenarios you even got to swipe creatures that cost more than four mana. Threads of Disloyalty is fixed, and it will never snatch a fattie.
Standard: 3
Against Affinity you can target Disciple of the Vault, Arcbound Worker, Arcbound Ravager, and Atog. Granted, the Ravager will always be sacrificed in response, but paying three mana to blow up the Ravager with a blue spell is pretty solid. Against White Weenie, you get to take basically anything. Tooth and Nail, Mono-Black Control, and G/B Control usually don’t have anything that can be targeted (since Sakura-Tribe Elder can be sacrificed). You can’t maindeck Threads, given its sporadic usefulness. An even bigger problem is that Threads is outclassed by Vedalken Shackles.
Block: 4
This card looks like a very powerful addition to Arcane decks. Against creature decks, you can tie up your opponent’s blockers or ambush an opponent’s attackers. But this spell is also great versus control decks, since it acts like a pair of Rishadan Ports. With Glacial Ray spliced, Toils wreaks even more havoc in combat. Or you can go in the other direction and add Psychic Puppetry to tap down even more lands against control decks.
Naturally, all this tapping has excellent synergy with Ninjas.
Standard: 2
Toils might see some action in a Ninja deck if that archetype makes the jump to Standard. That doesn’t seem likely, though. Given Affinity’s explosiveness, I doubt that Arcane decks will survive the Standard gauntlet.
Block: 2
The Familiar is one hell of an engine for improving your card quality… But it doesn’t provide card advantage. Though it’s resistant to burn spells, black removal and bounce are problematic. In addition, you have to ask yourself, what kind of a deck would want to play the Familiar rather than a finisher? When a control deck gets around to tapping six lands during its main phase, it’s going for the win. It doesn’t need more control. And obviously, Tomorrow isn’t what an aggressive deck wants.
That leaves just one deck type left: combo. Even then, this is an extremely expensive combo facilitator.
Standard: 1
Standard has plenty of better card drawing and search cards that can help put your combo of choice together.
Block: 4
This is one of the best blue combat tricks ever been printed. And with the appearance of Ninjas it couldn’t come at a better time. Let’s look at the potential of this card a little more closely. Imagine that you’re attacking with two little creatures and your opponent tries to wreck your team with Glacial Ray spliced onto another Glacial Ray. In response, you cast an Arcane of your own, splicing Veil of Secrecy onto it. The single Veil saves two creatures.
Of course, you can also use the Veil offensively and provide the creature of your choice with a secret passage through the red zone. Thanks to its flexibility, free splicing, and status as an arcane, this is an awesome trick.
Standard: 3
We get to add several creatures to the mix that can really benefit from unblockability. Three men that really like to hit opponents are: Blinding Angel, Greater Harvester, and Living Hive. Assuming that Ninjas won’t be big, it’s card to imagine the type of blue deck that could take advantage of the Veil and beat Affinity.
Block: 1
Standard: 1
We all know how cool Ninjas are… but not every one of them can be great. The one power and limitation of only being able to return Ninjas to your hand during your turn cripples this Ninja, which is too bad. There’s lots of potential here, and Walker of Secret Ways is such an awesome name.
Blue In Review
With Ninjas and new tricks to get creatures through the red zone, blue scores a whole new archetype. It also gets two powerful additions to its already impressive array of Arcanes.
Beyond that, though, there is a miniature Control Magic and the latest attempt to hose Affinity. It’s surprising that the majority of blue’s best spells are creatures. Perhaps we’ll finally see a blue creature deck become viable again. That would be exciting, although I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Block:
- Higure the Still Wind
- Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
- Mistblade Shinobi
- Ninja of the Deep Hours
- Shimmering Glasskite
- Threads of Disloyalty
- Toils of Night and Day
- Veil of Secrecy
Standard:
Total Spells With Potential: 9
That wraps up the second installment. Whew, it feels good to be almost done! All these card evaluations are taking a toll on me. Join me next time for Black, Artifacts, Land, and that one multicolor spell.
Thanks for reading and take it easy,
–Rick
rick at rickrust dot com