When you open your booster pack in a draft, what is the first thing you look at?
If you said that you flip through the cards one by one, committing each to memory so as to take note of what you have passed, while simultaneously mentally sorting the cards by order of power level, then you sir are a fine player, the type of Magic prodigy that will be lighting up the Pro ranks for years to come.
No, wait. You’re just a liar. Don’t feel bad, I am too.
I know you skip right to the rare. So do I. For all my claptrap about being a good limited player, I’m just another guy out to see if he opened *TenBux*. Or, alternatively, *BombRares*. Nothing is better than *TenBux* and *BombRares*, unless you’re playing a format where the winner keeps the cards, in which case you have to ship *TenBux* in favor of *Fat-Elephant-Holding-A-Warhammer*.
Without much doubt, the coveted rare slot is the most important slot, crevice, or repository out there, at least to the 18-24 male Magic playin’ demographic. Well, maybe not the most important, but it’s at least in the top two. And since we all paw to end of each pack with such blind, almost sinful eagerness, it stands to reason that we should know how to play the rares we might find at the end of that lonely, cardboard-cobbled road.
Limited isn’t built on commons and uncommons alone. If you don’t believe me, ask the grouchy people at any PTQ what card they lost to. Odds are they aren’t going to say”Electrostatic Bolt”. Mark Rosewater has said many times that rares are made rare for numerous reasons, and one of those reasons is the fact that any greater occurrence of those cards in the set would unbalance Limited play. Rares are great tools for Limited, but they are very specialized ones, and that is all the more reason that you should know how to exploit each. In learning that, you’ll also learn how to stop these gold symbol juggernauts when they’re on the other side of the table.
A Quick Note About Reading This Guide
From that modest starting point, I’ve further divided each half into four more relevant groupings:
Tier 1 Anchor Cards
Tier 2 Anchor Cards
Playables
Unplayables
Let me give you a quick rundown of what each label means. It’s pedestrian stuff, true, but it all fits into the great tapestry of the article, so do me a favor and read it, if only to humor a grumpy young man.
A Tier 1 Anchor card is a card that you will never pass if you open it in Pack 1. Consequently, some of the artifacts in this category are cards that you will never pass…well, ever. These are far and away better than any common, and I would say”any uncommon” as well, but in Mirrodin that is an assertion that is liable to get you into trouble. That said, Tier 1 Anchor cards are cards that you can build a deck around. You will pump the fist when you see one of these in a pack. Throughout Onslaught Block, it was never possible to open two Tier 1 cards in the same pack. Sure, Lightning Rift was good and all, but if you open Visara the Dreadful and Lightning Rift, the Rift is getting shipped like you were Aristotle Onassis.
This has changed. There is a big dumb elephant lurking about. You may be sending Bosh, Iron Golem off to the left. Just a warning.
A Tier 2 Anchor card is a very powerful card that will usually be a first-pick. If you see one of these cards in your booster pack, you want to flip back through the uncommons and commons, looking for stuff like Betrayal of Flesh, Shatter, Electrostatic Bolt, Crystal Shard, Grab the Reins, Spikeshot Goblin, Bonesplitter, and of course the big dumb elephant and his big dumb hammer… better known as Loxodon Warhammer. If none of those cards are present, your choice is easy. If there are good commons and/or uncommons in the pack, then you have to think twice. I’ll try to help you make these decisions.
Playables are rares that fit somewhere in the grand scheme of Mirrodin Limited… but not anywhere that important. Because many of these babies are borderline bombs or borderline brutal, it’s important to know exactly what you’re going to do with one if it does show up. You can really improve your drafting just by understanding that Auriok Steelshaper is not a windmill-slam first-pick. In fact, it’s not a windmill slam anything, unless you get really excited about marginal cards that sometimes get left in the board.
Unplayables are just that- unplayable. If you want to be a good drafter, do not play these cards. Don’t give me any excuses – you don’t need to”try them out”, I’ve already done that for you. If you trust me, you’ll pass them. If you don’t… why are you reading this? Write your own article. One more reminder: There’s an exception to almost every rule. It’s true that if the stars align right, and your deck is awful, and your opponent has three Spikeshot Goblins, and you’re playing some deck where nothing has an activated ability, you might bring in Damping Matrix from the board. Damping Matrix is still unplayable 99% of the time, and therefor it goes in the Unplayable pile, right beside limited pinnacles like Leveler and Shared Fate.
A Quick Note About Big Commons,
Grab The Reins, And The Big Two:Grab the Reins is the standard by which colored uncommons are measured. You can safely take Grab the Reins over every Tier 2 and below card on the following list – you won’t regret it later. Only the Tier 1 cards should give you pause, and in each case you will probably have to ship Grab the Reins (though I could understand taking it over Solar Tide or even Glissa). More than that, don’t forget the”Big Two”: Loxodon Warhammer and Crystal Shard. Loxodon Warhammer and Crystal Shard are insane, and they fit in every deck. They are likewise better than every Tier 2 and below rare on the following list, and Loxodon Warhammer is, in my opinion, the best card in the set for the purposes of Limited play. You can take it over anything, even Molder Slug. You will probably lose to the Slug, but against everything else, the Warhammer is better.
In my opinion, the three best commons in the set are Bonesplitter, Spikeshot Goblin, and Electrostatic Bolt (with Shatter nipping at the heels). Many of the rares I talk about below will be compared to those three cards, and that’s by design – you have to know how to make the tough decisions that come up when you crack a powerful rare and an equally degenerate common.
Let’s get started.
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Colored Rares Categorized
Tier 1 Anchor Cards
Solar Tide
Glissa Sunseeker
Molder Slug
Tier 2 Anchor Cards
Leonin Abunas
Luminous Angel
Living Hive
Troll Ascetic
Arc-Slogger
Megatog
Promise of Power
Reiver Demon
Vedalken Archmage
Plated Slagwurm
Playable
Auriok Steelshaper
Loxodon Punisher
Second Sunrise
Tooth and Nail
Copperhoof Vorrac
Vulshok Battlemaster
Dross Harvester
Nim Devourer
Vermiculos
Broodstar
Fatespinner
Lumengrid Auger
Quicksilver Elemental
Unplayable
Loxodon Peacekeeper
Hum of the Radix
Confusion in the Ranks
Fiery Gambit
Mass Hysteria
Trash for Treasure
Grim Reminder
Spoils of the Vault
March of the Machines
Shared Fate
Temporal Cascade
War Elemental
===
Card-By-Card Analysis – Tier 1 Cards
Solar Tide
Wrath effects are easy to use in Limited, but if you’re unfamiliar with how they work, I’ll give you a quick refresher. If you have one in your opening hand, it’s sometimes tough to play correctly. You have a couple of options. First, you can sandbag it. Whine. Act like you’re land-flooded right to hell and back. Play out just enough junk to chump block a couple of times. Then, just when he thinks he got the game in hand, you unleash the mighty Solar Tide. This doesn’t work quite as well with Solar Tide as it did with Rout, Kirtar’s Wrath and Akroma’s Vengeance, so I suggest you take the second option.
Play normally. Pound face. Show no mercy. A Wrath of God is great backup if your plan of kicking your opponent’s hatless butt happens to fail. Solar Tide is good almost anytime. Card advantage incarnate. Three for ones, four for ones, the sky is the limit. You’ll never be sorry to have it. Unleash the Tide, fire out a couple of guys, and the guy across the table is going to feel like he just went a couple of rounds with Mancini. And don’t overlook that Entwine! Sometimes you can really tailor things to your advantage, so keep an eye out for opportunities to do so.
Don’t roll your eyes at me, sailor. I know it’s obvious stuff. The real meat of the article comes when we get to the rares that aren’t obvious inclusions.
Glissa Sunseeker
Glissa is the”Visara” of the format, but unfortunately she’s not quite as good as Visara. She can’t kill Spikeshot, Skyhunter Cub, or that Hoverguard that is pounding on you. She dies to Electrostatic Bolt, Pyrite Spellbomb, Terror, Consume Spirit, and she gets nullified by Arrest. So why is this little vixen a Tier 1 card? Because if your opponent doesn’t have any of that stuff, then you’re probably going to win.
Not everyone can play B/R. Not everyone has seven pieces of removal. Sometimes they’ve only got a couple of Neurok Spies and some Equipment. Sometimes they’ve got a Leonin Den-Guard and a Bonesplitting dream. Sometimes they’ve got a fistful of Deconstructs and a couple of Goblin War Wagons. In every case, the formerly strong enemy gameplan is going to go right to hell once Glissa hits the table. If you open her, go G/x and don’t look back.
Molder Slug
I’ve been told by no less an authority than Josh Bennett that most Pros consider this the best card in the format for the purposes of Limited play. I’m not sold yet, but I do know that just a few days ago in a team draft, I was playing a deck featuring Loxodon Warhammer and Empyrial Plate. I went up against Kevin Phelan playing B/G with Molder Slug, and it was the Slug that wore the pants in that matchup, boy howdy! I was living in fear of the Slug that day, and though I managed to pull out a win, I lost the game where the Slug stayed on the board.
The first game I won, he didn’t draw it. The second game I won, he drew it, but I cast Duplicant. Is the Slug the best because it beats other bombs? I’m not sure. In most cases I’d rather have the Warhammer, but certainly not against that W/R deck with multiple Shatters, or that U/G deck with triple Deconstruct and a Viridian Shaman.
For the uninitiated, here is why the Slug is so good:
It’s an Abyss, in a color where it’s easy to break the symmetry, and it doesn’t die to any common removal spell besides Terror. Enemy Hematite Golems, Myrs, artifact lands, and Bonesplitters will be eating the old dirt sandwich. You, stylish forest-mage that you are, will be beating down with Fangren Hunters. Gee gee, good sir. Get on with your bad self.
Card-By-Card Analysis – Tier 2 Cards
Leonin Abunas
This guy is a W/x deck’s best friend. Against R/G, there is almost no card you’d rather have on the table. A great defensive body at a reasonable cost, and he creates tremendous virtual card advantage against the Red and Green spells in Mirrodin draft. Shatter, Deconstruct, Viridian Shaman, Detonate, Goblin Replica – they’re all as dead as can be. The concept of virtual card advantage is one that many players overlook, but it’s actually very important to understand.
If the card your opponent drew was totally useless… it’s just like he never drew at all. Plus one card for you. Not quite card advantage, but it might as well be. The Leonin Abunas is startlingly powerful because against certain color combinations, he turns some of the most powerful commons and uncommons in the set into dead draws! Take this guy early. He is better than both Spikeshot Goblin and Bonesplitter Pick 1, Pack 1.
(Note: Viridian Shaman and Goblin Replica aren’t technically dead draws, but I doubt your opponent is going to be doing the Charleston on top of a flagpole when he rips them, either.)
Luminous Angel
Luminous Angel can sometimes present some tough choices. It doesn’t die to non-Black removal, is a great clock in the air, and provides a lot of defense. The commons and uncommons that you want to take over it are generally Red, or pieces of Equipment that are naturally very good in White, so odds are you’re setting yourself up for a fight by passing this bad boy.
When W/R is the consensus best draft archetype, it’s a rough beat to have to put your neighbor into White. That said, sometimes you have to ship the Angel when something better comes down the pipe, like the more maximally useful Grab the Reins, the ri-God-damn-diculous Crystal Shard, or just a plain ol’ Spikeshot Goblin.
Luminous Angel will win you games, but so will Spikeshot. Either take it and go White, or pass it and use this card as a signaling tool. Oh, and if the White should still come… don’t be afraid to savagely cut your neighbor off. He’ll probably cling to his”gift” second pick rare like a leech to a skinny-dipper’s unmentionables, and find himself with a terrible deck when all is said and done.
Living Hive
Once it hits, they’re probably noooooooot winnin’. Better than Plated Slagwurm in some cases, worse in others, the Hive remains an excellent card for any Green mage. Against some dingleberry masquerading a bunch of Auriok Transfixers or regenerators as an actual defense, it’ll bust you right through and bolster your army as well.
Against Black, well, it’s probably headed right to the boneyard. Still, even Black will have problems if you’ve played the attrition game. Once this Klackon-themed knee to the face hits just a single time, Barter in Blood isn’t going to do jack squat and if Consume Spirit is the ticket of the day, Mr. Skull better have more Swamps than a Florida real-estate agent, or it ain’t happening.
Where to take it? Well, it’s a good’n, that much is for sure. You’ll need a pretty good reason to ship it – only top tier commons and uncommons need apply, and sometimes not even then.
Troll Ascetic
Troll Ascetic is very good, but don’t let possible constructed applications blind you to the fact that it’s an underachiever in Mirrodin Limited. More often than not, the format goes like this:
Turn 1: one-drop, or nothing.
Turn 2: Myr.
Turn 3: four-mana creature.
The Troll will probably get played quite a bit on turn five, with regeneration mana open. It’s basically a better version of Tel-Jilad Exile, but the one mana discount usually won’t matter too much because of the ridiculous number of Manakins in the format. Played correctly, it will become a relentless attacker (there’s almost no better target for Equipment for Green) and a tireless defender, able to hold off pretty much anything, and immune to enemy targeted effects that can throw a monkey wrench into defense plays, like Blinding Beam or Icy Manipulator.
Where do you take the Troll? In Green, it’s about on par with Deconstruct or Bonesplitter, possibly a bit better than each. Passing the Troll is the stronger”I’m not Green!” signal, though, so take that into consideration. More often than not, you’ll be taking him, if only because he’s a pseudo-*TenBux* that can really hit hard in the draft itself. Just don’t get carried away and take Troll Ascetic over Crystal Shard or the big dumb elephant and his big dumb hammer.
Arc-Slogger
Arc-Slogger is a solid creature through and through. Red has a shortage of widebodies, with Rustmouth Ogre and the like being sought-after for that very reason, and because of this critical lard shortage, the Slogger is quite a coup for the savvy Red drafter. If you start off with a Myr, a turn four Slogger is tough to deal with, especially since it might be able to remove a blocker or two as it heads into the Red Zone.
Don’t go nuts with the ability, but remember the Millstone rule. Some people act like they’ve taken a bullet to the kidneys when they have to mill cards. It actually doesn’t do anything to your board position, and you’re just as likely to mill your ten worst as you are your ten best, so don’t go into conniptions. If you really need that Spikeshot Goblin dead, feel free to kill it. Arc-Slogger is the axe on the wall. In Case Of Emergency, Mill Ten.
The Slogger is probably about on par with Spikeshot Goblin, Electrostatic Bolt and Bonesplitter, it’s better than the rest of the common claptrap. Don’t take it over Shard (and when I say Shard, you know which one I mean), Grab the Reins, or the big dumb elephant.
Megatog
*voice of Monty Python peasant*
“Help, help, I’m bein’ Regressed!”
Megatog is a dynamite finisher and a rock-solid attacker and defender if you have artifacts on the board, so barring the aforementioned Regress in time of winnery, it should serve you well. Once you have it in your pile, make especially sure you grab the requisite two Myrs, a few artifact lands, and maybe even a Nuisance Engine (you could do worse!). I might not take Megatog over surefire hits (Spikeshot, Bonesplitter), but I’m perfectly willing to admit that I couldn’t really argue too hard against the idea. After all, 21/22 tramplers tend to acquit themselves well on the field of battle. Just watch out for tricks, traps, and Terrors!
Try it both ways. Take it over Spikeshot, and see how it does. If it’s not exciting, you know better for next time. Personally, I hope not to have to make that decision.
Well, I lied. I hope that decision comes up a lot. Means I have a good pack on my hands. If you *are* going to take this over Spikeshot, though, make sure you don’t squander the pick by totally ignoring what cards you have in your pile. Whenever you can reasonably take an artifact as opposed to a non-artifact, do so. Don’t get to the end of the draft only to discover you’ve ended up R/G with three artifacts.
Promise of Power
No one is going to play Promise of Power except for the resident Black drafter, and if that’s you, and you’ve got a seats worth of room on each side to grab up those Black cards, things are looking very good indeed. Promise of Power is good enough to go early, so you’re going to get shoehorned into a relatively poor color if you take it. For that reason, I’m inclined to pass it more often than not when there is a comparably powerful card in the pack, something like (yes, again) Bonesplitter, Spikeshot Goblin or Icy Manipulator. You’re likely creating a Black neighbor by doing so, and that will work to both of your advantages as the draft progresses.
The Demon token can be bounced, but it’s almost impossible to kill if it’s any decent size, with the best option being Arrest. The card drawing is obviously nuts if you’ve traded card for card for a while and need a new tank full of gas – it’s like dropping Serum Tank on an empty board.
Take Promise of Power below the best uncommons. Though it’s potentially more powerful overall than even the best commons, I’d recommend you pass it Pick 1, Pack 1 if you can reasonably keep your options open- the bit of potential you get from taking it over Bonesplitter or Spikey is not worth the chance of getting your draft ruined by some guy who took a Betrayal of Flesh to your right.
Reiver Demon
Speaking of Promise of Power, this is one you want to get passed to you if you happen to open Promise and take it. Reiver Demon is sometimes insane, sometimes”merely” a 6/6 flier, and sometimes it sits in your hand and does pretty much nothing while you get pounded. Best against G/x decks, the Demon is still a formidable card against, well, anything. Just make sure you have the Swamps to support it! Keep that in mind as you draft. Take a Black card when you can reasonably do so.
Reiver Demon is close in power level to Promise of Power, maybe slightly lower. Pick 1, Pack 1, you’re going to want to pass this if a nutty uncommon or common is present. The devil you know (getting into strong colors) is usually better than the devil you don’t (getting into Black, which is pretty thin). This is especially true in six-man drafts, where the card pool is weaker as a whole and you’re more likely to have to play three colors as a result. Take Bonesplitter and let some other guy hang himself when he ends up with a Demon and three other Black playables. In team draft, it will be easy for you to extrapolate who ended up with the Demon, and play around it.
Vedalken Archmage
If this gets going, it’ll win the game as surely as if it were attacking you for twenty. That said, it’s fragile as can be, and doesn’t do much when peeled off the top at the end of a game. Once you have an Archmage in your pile, adjust your draft strategy to make it maximally useful, but don’t sacrifice too much card quality. It’s a delicate balance. Ideally, you want to end up with a deck that can hold its own without the Archmage, and that just wins when you get the Archmage on turn three.
This is another card that I’m inclined to ship when there is something more rock-solid in the pack, a proven commodity like Bonesplitter, Spikeshot or Electrostatic Bolt (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite cards). If I do take the Archmage, it’s usually the standout powerhouse in an otherwise mediocre pack. Don’t feel bad about taking it over strong commons if you think you can draft fittingly (it certainly has tons of potential), but don’t come crying to me if your deck is awful without the Archmage on the table.
Plated Slagwurm
Mmm… Green fat. The Slagwurm dominates the ground as soon as it comes out, is immune to most removal (stuff like Barter in Blood and Solar Tide being the exceptions) and will generally turn into The Abyss once it gets running, forcing the enemy to chump block each turn. Paired with Neurok Hoversail or, god forbid, the big dumb elephant and his hammer, the Slagwurm is unstoppable.
There is no Green uncommon or common that I would take over the Slagwurm, such is the power of the card, but you have to keep in mind that any regenerator is going to stymie even this mighty colossus. Luckily, Green has a card called Predator’s Strike, and that unholy combo will see to it that your opponent feels the full pain. For something without legs, how can getting smashed by it like so many knees?
Better than Living Hive except in some rare scenarios, like when the enemy has a regenerator (not all that rare, true enough, but hopefully you can get through with your other creatures) or when you’re low on life and still need to attack while maintaining blockers (something the Hive does very well), I like the Slagwurm better, and I’d probably take it over top-tier commons in any color with some frequency. If you want to go Green, this is a great start. Take it unless there is a dumb uncommon in the pack (Crystal Shard, Grab the Reins, big dumb elephant).
Card-By-Card Analysis – Playables
Auriok Steelshaper
Taking Steelshaper first as a prelude to going W/R Equip.dec is like playing Onslaught Block and taking Aphetto Alchemist first with an intention to go R/U. The card just isn’t that good. You can move Equipment around faster and your guys get bigger, sure. If you end up with a ton of Equipment and a bunch of Knights and Soldiers, he’s going to work out well for you.
Interestingly enough, if you have a ton of Equipment and a bunch of Knights and Soldiers, you’ve probably got a good deck regardless. I’m not saying”don’t play Steelshaper” – he certainly has his place in the White equip decks of Mirrodin Limited – I’m just saying”don’t first-pick him.” I can’t imagine a pack bad enough for you to first-pick this guy. If you’re White Equip, don’t take this guy over Den Guard, Skyhunter Cub, Skyhunter Patrol, any good piece of Equipment, Arrest, or any good card in your second color, if you have one.
Plain and simple. He’s mediocre. If you deck is great, he will be good. If your deck doesn’t work out, he is awful.
Loxodon Punisher
The Punisher is better than the Steelshaper is, but you still generally have no business first-picking him. He’s like a slightly worse Skyhunter Cub. Evasion + size > lots of size. If you see Skyhunter Patrol, Skyhunter Cub, and the Punisher in the first pack, try to find some way to ship all three…take the Electrostatic Bolt or something. If you’re White and see those three cards, take the Cub if you have a bunch of Equip. If not, Patrol.
You listening? I don’t care how big you can make him. Cub it up, Johnny. And if I don’t that Patrol hit your pile like a dead dog on a hot day, I’m going to have some goons on you before you can say”Marlboro Man”. This guy is nothing but a big, fat Myr Adapter.
Second Sunrise
This will never be consistently good, but with sacrifice effects like Atog you might slip it in as the twenty-third card, simply because it has the potential to be gamebreaking. When you offer up a slot in your deck to Second Sunrise, you’re doing so based on the potential for broken things to happen, for enemy Solar Tides to be nullified, for enemy Grab the Reins to be reverse, for disastrous combat phases to undone. While you’re waiting for those broken things to occur, you can use it in more mundane ways, like saving an important artifact from Deconstruct, or drawing some extra cards off your spellbombs.
The card is very hard to use proactively, so it’s not for the weak of heart. Still, if the last three or four cards in your deck are average at best, you might want to give this a whirl if you have spellbombs and other synergistic effects. Just make sure your opponent can’t take even more advantage of the card than you!
Don’t take Second Sunrise high. Let it fall into your hands, and nab it when there’s nothing but junk in the pack.
Tooth and Nail
While Tooth and Nail is very, very slow, it can also be very, very powerful. With any sort of stable board position, tutoring for your two best creatures on turn six or seven is going to be nuts. Putting two baddies into play is seldom as good, but it may come in handy if you keep your eyes open. Of course, if you can Entwine this sucker, so much the better! Not a high pick by any means, you might want to pick up this late-game powerhouse if the only cards in the pack are ones that won’t do much for you. It’s certainly playable unless your deck is very fast, or of impeccable quality. I’d rather have Wurmskin Forger in the seven slot myself, but sometimes those guys get snapped up!
I just wanted to let you know that it’s ok to play this. Don’t first-pick it. Don’t automatically dismiss it, either.
Copperhoof Vorrac
Though the size of the Vorrac can easily be manipulated by your opponent, it can be a force to be reckoned with when the board gets clogged up. I saw a discussion recently about Fangren Hunter and Clockwork Vorrac (which is the better pick), and I’m not sure myself. If you take the Vorrac, you’re drafting potential. If you take the Hunter, you’re drafting consistency. For now, I consider them roughly equal. As I play with the Vorrac more (I’m only been able to once, and it was fairly good), I’ll be able to formulate a more conclusive opinion. Take it as you would a Fangren Hunter. Do not first-pick this card if there is a strong common or uncommon around. Come on, guys – it’s not the second coming of Thorn Elemental.
Vulshok Battlemaster
Sometimes good, sometimes awful. It depends how much Equipment is on the table. The Battlemaster can give you a big-time tempo boost, taking Equipment off opposing creatures (which then has to be put back on, using valuable time and mana) and also Equipping your own stuff to itself for free (I’ve seen it done with Sword of Kaldra). That said, the Battlemaster is not a first-pick. In fact, it’s not even close to being better than good Red creatures like Hematite Golem and Rustmouth Ogre. It will probably make your deck as a twenty-to-twenty-third card, but you have to keep in mind that there are times it will just be a bad Vulshok Berserker.
Dross Harvester
Now here’s a tough card to get a handle on. Some people think it’s as unplayable in Limited as Flesh Reaver was (back in the days of yore), while others have tried it and swear it’s actually quite good, especially against White. Let me tell you how I use it. First of all, you’ll get it late. Most people hate this card for the same reason Juzam Djinn was hated when it first came out, multiplied by about four. Once you have it, the question becomes”How do I use this?”
I try to bring him in from the board. I find that it’s a fine card against White, but it helps to be playing B/R, possibly with something like Nim Shambler. You want some way to get rid of this sum’bitch if he starts really putting the shoes to you. If you see an Icy Manipulator in Game 1 and you don’t have much artifact removal, keep him out. Dross Harvester can and will win games against White by himself, but he will also lose games by himself that you might have won if you’d just been playing Dross Prowler.
Not unplayable though. Don’t let that drawback fool you.
Nim Devourer
He just keeps coming back! The”Black Hammer” of Mirrodin, Nim Devourer will always make your deck if you’re playing swamps, but he’ll never be too spectacular. He’s sorta like Gigapede was, in that you can transform any crappy creature you happen to have in play into the Devourer (with Gigapede it was any card in hand, and you had to recast it, to boot).
Awful against first strike just like all Nims, it remains a fine defensive creature that is (again like all Nims) a force to be reckoned with should your draft include a Nuisance Engine. Don’t take Nim Devourer over something like Pewter Golem, or Terror, or even Consume Spirit if you expect to be playing eleven Swamps plus. You’ll get him reasonably late, and when you do, he’ll be a good addition to the deck.
Vermiculos
Tim Aten provided a very good analysis of this card in his Mirrodin Black Review. You really do need a huge, huge pile of artifacts for this guy to do something, and you need to be playing Black as well. You’ll get him, really, really late. Do not first-pick him under any circumstances – there will always be something better.
Broodstar
Like all Affinity cards, taking Broodstar means that you need to modify the way you’re drafting, and move artifacts a notch or two up in your pick orders. This is potentially the most powerful of all the Affinity cards, but also potentially the most useless, should you fail to draft correctly. It’s an old joke by now, but eight-mana 2/2 fliers do not set the world ablaze. Should Broodstar be in the pack with Somber Hoverguard and/or Myr Enforcer, you might as well nab the ‘Star – the rewards for getting your hands on a nutty artifact/Affinity deck are potentially much greater if you go for the gusto.
Fatespinner
A large pain in the ass to play against, Fatespinner will sometimes even be a first-pick in a weak pack. Don’t take him over good cards, but definitely play him if you draft him. If you’re established in Blue and the draft has been proceeding as planned, you’ll likely get him late, as he can’t be splashed and the fact that he’s quite good is still a well-kept secret in some circles! What Blue cards would I take over Fatespinner? Amongst commons, probably Neurok Spy. With uncommons, Domineer likely gets the nod, as does Looming Hoverguard. Other than that, though, the coast is clear!
Fun. No card lets bad players hang themselves quite like Fatespinner. He’s the Custody Battle of Mirrodin.
Lumengrid Auger
This funky guy, while not an automatic first-pick by any means, is another perfectly reasonable first-pick out of a weak pack. The Auger is very nice to have on the table when he gets going, providing an amazing advantage in card quality. That said, in terms of pure power level he can’t hope to match up with things like Bonesplitter, Spikeshot and Bolt, and those are better picks should the opportunity arise.
Quicksilver Elemental
Stop passing this to me sixth, and stop leaving it in your sideboards. It’s a great creature, probably Blue’s best in the set with regards to versatility. It’s a tough pick between this widebody and Neurok Spy, and though I’d probably take the Spy more often than not, I’d have to think twice about it. Yanking the ability off of a Spikeshot Goblin or Hematite Golem (or, better yet, both!) is the stuff that dreams are made of. Don’t forget regeneration, tap target artifact, or”This creature gains flying”. Those are good times as well! Don’t be ashamed to first-pick Quicksilver Elemental if the pack dictates that you should. Like many other Blue rares, it falls behind the big commons and uncommons of the set, but in that regard, Quicksilver Elemental is in good company. It takes a real bomb to beat the big dumb elephant.
Dumb Remarks About The Bad Cards
- Loxodon Peacekeeper should be called”Crocksodon Peacekeeper”, because the very idea that anyone would play it is a just that:”A crock.”
- Hum of the Radix should be called”Dumb Of The Radix” because that’s what you have to be to play it. Dumb.
- Confusion In The Ranks should be called Confusion In The Anks because that’s who you have to be to play it. Anks.
- Fiery Gambit gets the same amount of”rogue play” as the X-Men character.
- Mass Hysteria should be called”Ass Hysteria”…because it’s ass.
- Grim Reminder is aptly named because if you play it in Limited, everyone you know will constantly remind you of how bad you are.
- Spoils of the Vault should be called”Soils of the Vault” because that’s what your opponent does when you play it against him in limited. Soils. Himself. With laughter.
- March of the Machines should be called….uh….”Smarch of the Machines.” Just because.
- Temporal Cascade should be called”Temporal Asscade”, because…oops. I already used that one.
- War Elemental should be called”Floor Elemental” because that’s where you should throw it when it gets passed to you 15th. The floor.
And with that, I’m spent.
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That’s it for the colored cards. I’ll be back next week to give you some info on the artifact rares in the set – it’s important to know what you’re doing when you crack one of those, too! See you then.
Geordie Tait
FP_GLyM on MODO
GT_ on #mtgwacky
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