Welcome back to the Daily Shot. Roger Ebert emailed me and said that he’d read the column – he gave it one finger up.
Daily Shot readers, here’s the deal: I’m about to do a set review.
Now, don’t panic!
I know, I know. Everybody is going to be doing a set review – up to and including your mother, and probably MLB president Bud Selig. All these reviews are going to mesh together in your head, pound you into submission by going over the same ground again and again, and eventually you’ll want to swear off reading set reviews altogether. I feel your pain, I really do. Just… Trust me on this one. Before you get burned out on set reviews and Onslaught discussion, try to give me a chance.
Come on, we’ll check this set out together, just you and me! If something is good, we’ll do some brainstorming. If something sucks, we’ll make fun of it. We’ll goof on R&D a little and just have a grand ol’ time.
Whadda ya say?
Cool?
Cool. Off we go. We’re starting with white, and we’re not stopping until we’re either done, or dead.
Instant
Uncommon
Creatures you control gain protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
Cycling W (W, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.)
The clerics saw her as a divine gift. She saw them only as allies in her war against Phage.
This card will see Limited play, and it might be used in Constructed in much the same way that Reverent Mantra was used. Eventually, that is. Glory does the same thing, repeatedly, for the same cost, and it will be around for a while yet. Note the use of a cycling cost other than (2): This is a step in the right direction.
I was hoping to start off this analysis with a more exciting, dynamic, bombastic card. Something that I could either praise or bury in verbal kitty litter. Instead, I get Akroma’s Blessing, the poor man’s Glory for Limited.
Sorcery
Rare
Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments.
Cycling 3 (3, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.)
Ixidor had only to imagine their ruin and Akroma made it so.
I love cycling on this card: While it’s still too expensive to fill the wrecking ball shoes of the original Wrath of God, Akroma’s Vengeance tries to make up for this by ensuring that it will never be useless. First and foremost, you can cycle it away if you need to find that fourth land, or a quick answer, or if you’re looking for something specific in the late game. Second, it destroys every non-land permanent, meaning it can be useful in situations where Wrath isn’t. This will destroy a pile of Zombies and the Infestation; the group of Squirrels and the Squirrel Nest. It will devastate a gaggle of Birds, and that tiresome Soulcatcher’s Aerie or Divine Sacrament will disappear as well.
The more grandiose functionality makes this sorcery a lot different from its contemporaries. Uncorked in the late-game, it will totally sweep a board clean, leaving only lands.
Right now I’m unburdening myself of a long, fornlorn sigh. I’m doing this because cards like Akroma’s Vengeance make me wish with all of my heart that Whispers of the Muse was legal. Fact or Fiction is on the way out, and card drawing methods that don’t commit a permanent to the board are at a premium, especially at instant speed. End of turn Opportunity, untap, Akroma’s Vengeance? Now that would be cool, if pretty damn expensive. The idea would be to just let your opponent do whatever he wanted on turn 6, up to and including laying two to three more creatures, and then you draw four cards at the end of his turn.
Then you untap, and blow up the world. Even Steven, except for the fact that you’re three cards ahead because of the card drawing. Factor in that you destroyed two or three creatures and you’ll end up something like six cards ahead. Lots of potential in this card.
So how to use Akroma’s Vengeance? We’ll need card drawing that doesn’t invest, and maybe some mana acceleration that doesn’t invest. Under no circumstances should you ever blow up one of your own cards. It might be possible to play something like this:
4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Moment’s Peace
4 Cunning Wish
4 Counterspell
4 Akroma’s Vengeance
4 Deep Analysis
4 Memory Lapse
2 Dwell On The Past
2 Opportunity
2-3 other cards
4 Krosan Verge
1 Nantuko Monastery
21 other lands
This deck is right off the top of my head, and might kill with a single Nantuko Monastery. There isn’t much doubt in my mind that this thing has a long road to travel to get to respectability – but given time and testing, who knows what might turn up?
Creature – Cleric Lord
Rare
Tap five untapped Clerics you control: You gain 10 life.
“We have faced horrors of war and terrors beyond imagining. We will overcome the uncertainties of this new life.”
1/5
If you’ve got five Clerics on the table in Constructed, I’m sure you can find better things to do than gain 10 life. How about attacking? No Constructed deck can afford to put five cards on the table just to gain life.
We’re left with Limited, then, and this is one of those rares for Limited play, so let’s look at Ancestor’s Prophet with that in mind. You draft a white deck, keeping your eye out for the creature type in question, and in every game the board gets stalemated by a big pile of combat-stalling, damage-preventing Clerics. A good rip or two – and all of a sudden, down comes the Ancestor’s Prophet. He starts sending your life into the stratosphere.
“At the end of your turn, I’ll gain 10.”
Not bad. I don’t see any reason for you not to pick this nefarious Nostradamus early. Life gain can be useless, sure…but not when you’re gaining so much that it’s like a Fog In Advance. For casual and multiplayer play, try this guy with Awakening for a nice thirty life/turn and maybe a punch in the face. It’s still not as bad as Phyrexian Processor/Angelic Chorus.
Now, the real question… As a prophet, can this guy tell me how the Survivor: Thailand is going to turn out?
Astral Slide 2W
Enchantment Uncommon
Whenever a player cycles a card, you may remove target creature from the game. If you do, return that creature to play under its owner’s control at end of turn.
“The hum of the universe is never off-key.” -Mystic elder
Weird. Astral Slide is a Limited card that has many uses:
- Save your own creatures from removal
- Remove potential blockers
- Fizzle opposing beneficial creature enchantments
- Get back your stuff that has been stolen
If you find yourself with four or five cycling cards (and really, it’s too bad they didn’t reprint Radiant’s Judgement) in any given draft, you might want to give this a try. You’ll get it late.
In Constructed, you’d have to use lots of cycling utility cards and creatures with interesting CIP (187) abilities. Does that sound like it would be any good to you?
No? Doesn’t sound any good to me, either. It would make a fine name for a ride at a Wizards theme park, but as a card it lacks pizazz.
Instant Uncommon
Put target enchantment on top of its owner’s library.
Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.)
Every day, Order clerics contain as much of the Mirari’s energy as possible, hoping to delay Otaria’s demise.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s simultaneously half as good and twice as good as that Mirage powerhouse, Disempower! It’s that disenchant effect you take late in a draft when you haven’t managed to pick up anything else. I guess the point of the cycling is that you might want to maindeck it.
What else is there to say?
(swig of rotgut)
Gawrsh! This card ain’t no good. Must be one o’ them skill testin’ cards!
Aurification 2WW
Enchantment Rare
Whenever a creature deals damage to you, put a gold counter on it. Each creature with a gold counter on it is a Wall in addition to its other creature types. (Walls can’t attack.)
When Aurification leaves play, remove all gold counters from all creatures.
No one played No Mercy, but maybe that was just because the environment at the time was inundated with combo decks and the like. Or maybe it was because the effect just wasn’t that good. In any case, this isn’t nearly as good as No Mercy, so I doubt it will see much play.
Nantuko Shades and Psychatog can kill you in one hit anyway. Disenchant effects are easy to come by. Guiltfeeder doesn’t actually deal damage. Braids is trouble even if she doesn’t attack. The list goes on. As cards that shut down the attack phase go, this isn’t too bad… But there are better control cards.
Everyone and their brother thought this card was supposed to be”Aurafication” since something like one out of every two white cards has the word”Aura” in it. Actually, the prefix on this word comes from the mineral classification of gold, which is”Au” or something of that nature.
That’s all I remember from the periodic table, submitted for your perusal. Where else, besides an almanac, school, or television, would you get this kind of essential information?
3WWW Rare
Creature – Bird Soldier
Flying
All other Birds get +1/+1. All other Soldiers get +1/+1.
He represents what little pride the Order has left.
3/5
A rare for Limited. Not many armies will be lucky enough to have an Aven Brigadier to help them out, but the ones that do command a powerful ally indeed. If you’ve drafted a lot of Soldiers, this thing is just nuts. I like the sound of a fistful of 3/3 Dive Bombers, Gustcloak Harriers, and Glory Seekers.
Would have to cost 1WWW to get played in Constructed. If this is the sort of rare I’m going to have to open in order to get the four or five that matter, then I’ll be only to happy to match this Bird with one of my own. Or two.
(hoist)
To overcosted crap everywhere! Readers, stand with me, and show ’em how you feel.
Or sit. Whatever works for you.
Aven Soulgazer 3WW
Creature – Bird Cleric Uncommon
Flying
2W: Look at target face-down creature.
“Every question has a proper answer. Every soul has a proper place.”
3/3
This card reminds me a lot of Aven Windreader, and I was always happy to have a couple of those in my pile when I was passing the packs around. The ability doesn’t exactly blow my hair back, but it’s better than nothing. Knowledge is power, and all that.
Yep. That sounded intelligent. That’ll fool those SOB’s for one more day.
Wait… Did I type that, or just think it?
Creature – Cleric Common
T: Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn, where X is the number of Clerics in play.
“Death never stops to rest. Neither can we.”
1/1
If the entire Onslaught block is to be based around creature-types, (just as the entire Odyssey Block was based around graveyard interaction, and the entire Invasion Block around color interaction), then you will likely be able to draft decks with seven or eight Clerics regardless of whether or not you’re opening three packs of Onslaught or one.
Battlefield Medic is a common, and while one of them isn’t much to write home about, two will dominate combat and three is just obscene. Throw in some more Clerics and you’ve turned your side of the Red Zone into the Magic equivelent of Fort Knox. This creature may well turn out to be the most important creature in Onslaught Block Limited, though don’t quote me on that – there are a lot of pretty common ways to punch his clock.
Alone, he’s a wimp. With a ton of flunkies, he’s nothing short of the man. Head of the Cleric cartel. A mafioso medic.
Catapult Master 3WW
Creature – Soldier Lord Rare
Tap five untapped Soldiers you control: Remove target creature from the game.
“There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team,’ but there’s a ‘we’ in ‘weapon.'”
3/3
Much like the Masters of the Invasion Block, these”tap five” guys are turning out to be obscene in Limited while simultaneously being worse than cancer in Constructed. While it’s true that we don’t know exactly how easy or hard it will be to keep five Soldiers on the table during your average game of Onslaught Limited, I can’t imagine it being too difficult, especially against a removal-light color.
Make no mistake about it – if Catapult Master hits the table and the controller of this Soldier Lord has his four flunkies and isn’t under immediate”you are going to lose the game if you don’t chump block” pressure, then the contest is over, and the rout is on. Having an army whittled away, turn by turn, isn’t fun.
He’s also great for 5-Color – you can play for ante without fear of losing anything important. In fact, if you lose the Master on purpose, you can actually pull a little reverse-espionage and make your opponent’s deck worse.
Creature – Soldier Uncommon
Tap two untapped Soldiers you control: Catapult Squad deals 2 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
Together they could hit anything between the heavens and the horizon.
2/1
“The year is 1200, and ye and I are undercover detectives on the jousting circuit! Now let’s gallop, baby!”
CATAPULT SQUAD (in color)
Great card. Playable in Constructed if you need a warm body, and I’d never be ashamed to have a handful in my draft deck. White is shaping up to be the color that rules combat when it comes time to sit down at the Onslaught Limited table.
I just wish Catapult Squad wasn’t 2/1. Who wants to trade with an unpumped Rootwalla?
Instant Uncommon
Prevent all damage target creature would deal this turn. That creature’s controller may sacrifice a land. If the player does, he or she may copy this spell and may choose a new target for that copy.
A mediocre trick that will probably be a 15th pick a lot of the time. The best possible use you could get out of something like, say, Healing Salve, was when you’d use it to save your own Hill Giant when it would run into theirs. If they can make a copy themselves, what’s the point?
Yeah, this thing is a real three-coiler. Three-hundred sixty bowl-barraging degrees of the proverbial cornloaf.
Enchantment Rare
As Circle of Solace comes into play, choose a creature type.
1W: The next time a creature of the chosen type would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.
Now I get to use the word”Unwieldy”.
An unwieldy, turn four-hogging card. It also has an unwieldy activation cost, and occupies an unwieldy station of rarity. They should have named it”Circle Of Unwieldiness.”
Playable in Limited if you want to spend all of your time saving mana for the bothersome activation cost (why isn’t it just (1)?), when you’re looking to bust out that posh Constructed rare you’ll be about as happy to see this as you were when you’d open a Rune Of Protection: Lands.
So close to being good, too. This isn’t really an answer to fast enemy creatures in Constructed – it just requires too much mana. Might work against Nantuko Shade and Psychatog, but the black deck has Corrupt and the like to fall back on, and Psychatog can just cast Upheaval. Maybe at 2W and W or (1) to activate, it might have been a card to fear.
Enchantment Rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 5 life or less, you gain 3 life and draw a card.
Enlightenment comes most swiftly at life’s end.
The new Phyrexian Arena? Not by a long shot, though it may have a use. The idea would be to keep your life hovering between eight and five, mana burning for enough to draw your card during the opponent’s end step. On your turn, you go back up to eight life and you draw an extra card.
If you’re playing enough damage prevention and countermagic, you can protect that life total and take an extra draw every turn. Convalescent Care might also let you get a little extra use out of your Wrath of God-style effects, in that an opponent will need more than one creature to effectively damage you. And what if you have a couple of expendable blockers, such as those created by Mobilization? Then the opponent would need four creatures.
Then you Wrath and he or she needs four more creatures. Don’t count this card out.
Creature – Soldier Uncommon
3W: Tap target creature.
3W: Crowd Favorites gets +0/+5 until end of turn.
“The rabble likes them. Make sure they win, then book them for tomorrow.” –Cabal Patriarch
4/4
Skill tester. Overcosted by a billion, and Heidi Fleiss had a cheaper activation cost. Don’t play it.
Crown of Awe 1W
Enchant Creature Common
Enchanted creature has protection from black and from red.
Sacrifice Crown of Awe: Enchanted creature and other creatures that share a creature type with it gain protection from black and from red until end of turn.
“Honor, guide my step.”
About as good as Floating Shield when it works, though not as versatile. A sideboard card against black and red, and creature-damage bombs like Starstorm. You’ll get it late.
Creature – Wall Uncommon
(Walls can’t attack.)
Morph 4W (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for o3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
Success is one part inspiration, nine parts desperation.
4/5
Interesting in that it can attack while unmorphed because it isn’t a Wall. You can Morph it during combat for a one-time-only performance of four damage, though the cost is steep. Having to keep mana open to surprise block with this guy is like having to keep mana open for Second Thoughts – it slows you to a crawl and it isn’t easy.
Not sure where I’d pick it. Try it yourself and get back to me.
Quick thought – do they call it Crude Rampart because it’s crudely Constructed? Or because there’s a random Frenchman up on the parapet, screaming offensive remarks at you?
Brain:
“Nice Python reference.”GT:“Thanks.”
Brain:“You’re now officially the nerdiest Magic columnist on earth.”
GT:“That’s a cross I’ll have to bear.”
Creature – Soldier Common
First strike
When Daru Cavalier comes into play, you may search your library for a card named Daru Cavalier, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
2/2
Howling Wolves, sorta. 2/2 first strike for 3W just isn’t that good… But what if you draft every Daru Cavalier at the table? There are bound to be seven or eight of them in a ON/ON/ON draft. That could make for a very strong offense, especially when backed with the right tricks. Perhaps most importantly of all, this guy is a Soldier. Catapult Masters of the world, start your engines.
Daru Cavalier would have to cost 1W to be Constructed-worthy, which begs the question… Will they ever make a playable Welkin Hawk? Or was that what the whole Rebel archtype was supposed to be? Seriously, this bears exploring.
What if they printed a 2/1 creature with the Welkin Hawk ability for WW? Would that be broken? Nah. I bet something like that comes out eventually.
Or they could just keep printing 1/2 flyers for 5WW. Either way is good.
Daru Healer 2W
Creature – Cleric Common
T: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn.
Morph W (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
1/2
Does anyone else miss”The Janitor”? The morph on this pseudo-Sanctum Custodian gives it the ability to surprise an opponent, and to beat down for two if the need arises. Personally, I’d rather have it prevent the missing point of damage, but hey, we can’t have everything.
This guy is a Cleric, meaning he’s great with the Battlefield Medics you’re sure to be scrambling for. Opponent expects you to prevent one, why not morph the Healer and prevent three instead? Better yet, block with the unmorphed Healer, stack the two damage, and then morph him and prevent three.
I’m still waiting for a Daru card that doesn’t bore me to tears, by the way.
Daru Lancer 4WW
Creature – Soldier Common
First strike
Morph 2WW (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
Although the Order frowned upon his preparations for the pits, behind closed doors most saw the fights as a necessary evil.
3/4
Still waiting.
A butt-ugly casting cost that hopefully will never have to be used, this guy gives you a 3/4 to swing with early on if you’re willing to waste all of turn 3 and turn 4 getting him up to speed. Morph is so much like Echo that it’s scary. I think that if I spent two turns playing this guy and morphing him, and my opponent returned him to my hand, I would cry.
Not sure how high I’ll take this tempo-draining Lancer O’ Doom, but I’ll damn sure find out quick.
Creature – Cleric Common
If a source would deal damage to a Cleric you control, prevent 1 of that damage.
“I will wield the stone of my homeland as though it were the fists of the Ancestor.”
3/3
I’ll tell you what – I can’t wait to see the poor shmoe who drafts G/W in Onslaught. At the rate these cards are going, you’d have to draw Kamahl, Fist Of Krosa just to break through for two damage.
The Cleric deck isn’t going to be much fun to play against if you don’t have a lot of removal: This guy essentially adds a point of toughness to all of your Clerics, giving you a nice Lashknife Barrier effect to use when you need to do some gang blocking. How does any ground-based offense get through something as simple as a couple of Battlefield Medics and this guy? Bad times for green.
As usual, unplayable in Constructed by virtue of being overcosted by at least a mana.
Creature – Cleric Uncommon
Whenever Dawning Purist deals combat damage to a player, you may destroy target enchantment that player controls.
Morph 1W (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
2/2
At least he’s not Daru Purist. They decided to quit while they were ahead at 0 for 3.
This is probably the crappiest of the various”block me or regret it” effects on Morph creatures. If nothing else, though, he’s a 2/2 for 2W. Perhaps more importantly, Dawning Purist is a Cleric – just what you need to pump up those Battlefield Medics. Can you tell I like Battlefield Medic?
Instant Common
Creatures of the type of your choice get +0/+4 until end of turn.
“Only on the battlefield can we repay all the Order has given us.”
Yawn. Best-case scenario, you save a couple of creatures with this pile. A sideboard card at best, you might want to bring it in against something like Starstorm or a similar spell, especially if you drafted a theme deck. Better with Soldiers, who can’t prevent their own damage, than with Clerics, who don’t need it.
I’ll be honest with you, though – I don’t want it in my deck. If it is, something went wrong. Or maybe I’m just sh*t. Or both.
Instant Common
Destroy target enchantment.
“The truth will outshine all lies.”
Strictly worse than Erase. For Limited, you only want it if you haven’t picked up any enchantment removal. Don’t worry – you’ll get it late. Now that Wizards was able to Demystify the arcane art of enchantery and dweomercraft, maybe they could get started on my taxes, or the reasons for the banning of video games in Greece.
Good ol’ Greece. You can’t play Mario Sunshine there anymore, but they have a hell of a navy.
Creature – Cleric Common
Protection from black
Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.)
1/2
Dread was as foreign to her as the landscape ahead.
You’ll play it if you have a deck with Cleric-related effects, or if you’re playing against Black. Otherwise, don’t bother.
Thank you for coming here this evening to listen to be stating the obvious.
Exits are at the back of both isles.
Bathrooms are back in the lobby. Take a left.
Dive Bomber 3W
Creature – Bird Soldier Common
Flying
T, Sacrifice Dive Bomber: Dive Bomber deals 2 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
“Your graves will lie beneath my final nest.”
2/2
A 2/2 flyer for four with a good ability will almost always make my deck, and the D’Avenant Archer ability has historically been strong in Limited. I’ll take as many of these as I can get, and the fact that it is a Soldier is icing on the cake. I wouldn’t take it over something like Gustcloak Harrier, though.
Something about the name of this card makes me laugh: I think it’s the rememberance of a story I once read about a young man who would use his treehouse as the staging point for pinpoint accuracy”defecation bombing attacks” on passing civilians. What a world, huh?
Creature – Cleric Avatar Uncommon
Doubtless One’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of Clerics in play.
Whenever Doubtless One deals damage, you gain that much life.
“Share your devotion with me.”
*/*
They tease us with Mortivore and now we end up with this guy. I’m doubtless, too – about the fact that I’ll be using El Capitan Cleric as a bookmark about a week after the set’s release.
He’s a rare for Limited. You’ll probably get this guy later than you might think, since he’s pretty useless to people who haven’t been snapping up all the Clerics. In the right deck, with the board stalled, Doubtless One will come out and you will just win. Might be especially funny if you opponent has a number of Clerics as well.
Heh… People who draft theme decks are going to love checking every rare slot for their anchors. Doubtless One, Catapult Master, Ancestor’s Prophet – every pack might have the gold symbol messiah that a solid but unremarkable card pool desperately needs.
Exalted Angel 4WW
Creature – Angel Rare
Flying
Whenever Exalted Angel deals damage, you gain that much life.
Morph 2WW (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
4/5
The more I think about these”play on turn 3, morph on turn 4″ cards, the more I realize that people should be down on their knees, thanking God that Repulse is rotating out of Standard. Any bounce spell on this Angel turns your turn 3 and 4 into the biggest waste of time since the Virtual Pet.
Imagine it – you play this chick, pass the turn, get it back, morph her, attack, get Aether Bursted, and then you have to pass the turn, play her, pass the turn again, and Morph her again. Sweet lord in heaven, that is slower than Disney’s Dan Clegg on ice. Even given a Birds of Paradise to speed you along, one bounce spell staves off an attack until turn 5. By then, she might just get bounced again!
That being said, if you still want to try to make these 4CC Morph biggies work, Exalted Angel is a good place to start, along with Grinning Demon. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Creature – Cleric Common
Protection from Goblins
Morph W (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
“Like any pests, goblins must be repelled quickly or they multiply.”
1/1
Three things about this 1/1 save him from being totally useless, a la Krosan Wayfarer: First, you can play him as a 2/2 if you want to lay the beats. That is good – one of the worst things about having a bunch of 1/1s in your draft deck is drawing them late.
Second, he has protection from Goblins. This could come in handy against the right deck.
Third, he is a Cleric. In Onslaught Limited, being a Cleric is like being a made man. It puts you a cut above the rest. In fact, you can liken drafting Clerics to drafting La Cosa Nostra. Bada-bing.
Glarecaster 4WW
Creature – Bird Cleric
Flying Rare
5W: The next time damage would be dealt to Glarecaster or you this turn, that damage is dealt to target creature or player instead. 3/3
How much mana do these guys think I have open on any given turn? A thousand? Sure, it’s a powerful ability… But the second you tap out you’re going to get sucker punched right in the jimmies. You’ll probably sit around like a schmuck, with Glarecaster playing”Mr. Moat”, while your opponent actually uses his mana (gasp!) to develop his board. Then, when he finally does deal with the Glarecaster, you end up on the short end of the stick.
Until the very, very late game, this guy is just an overcosted 3/3 flyer. He ain’t great. Under the right circumstances and against the right deck, this card can take control of the game, yes. Compared to a real gamebreaker like Starstorm or Visara, though, it’s nothing.
As a footnote, I wish Glarecaster wasn’t a Cleric. Do you want to spend six mana for a mediocre bomb only to have him get wrecked by a charm? Black has got the Cleric deck’s number.
Glory Seeker 1W
Creature – Soldier Common
The turning of the tide always begins with one soldier’s decision to head back into the fray.
2/2
Limited play wouldn’t be the same without it. Feel the Bear power! As always, 2/2 is sometimes good enough for Constructed.
Creature – Cleric Soldier Common
T: Target Elf or Soldier gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
“Everyone deserves a chance to live. My job is to make sure they get it.”
2/4
Overcosted by a billion. How good would Benalish Heralds have been at 5W?
Question:
“What would it take to make Grassland Crusader playable in Standard?”Answer:“A Sharpie.”
Creature – Soldier Common
T: Gravel Slinger deals 1 damage to target attacking or blocking creature. Morph 1W (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
1/3
BOOOOOOOOOORING. That’s not gravel he’s slinging, it’s sand. My eyes are getting heavy-lidded.
Anyhow, he’s mediocre, but playable, and a fair defensive creature. Can swing for two if it’s damage you need. I don’t think I’d want this guy in my deck. Probably the worst card to ever bear the”slinger” name.
Creature – Bird Soldier Common
Flying
Whenever Gustcloak Harrier becomes blocked, you may untap it and remove it from combat.
Banking steeply, the aven streaked toward the ground-and vanished.
2/2
“Bravo to Charlie, over.”
“Go ahead, over.”
“We’ve got enemy flyers at six-oh-delta-niner…let’s hit ’em, over.”
Wow is this card good for Limited. Killer common! Draft as many as you can, and when they start hitting the board, don’t stop attacking until your opponent is dead. I’m surprised they didn’t cost this guy at 4WW or something. Somebody make a typesetting mistake?
Creature – Soldier Common
Whenever Gustcloak Runner becomes blocked, you may untap it and remove it from combat.
Cabal spies trying to follow the Order’s movements are constantly frustrated by tracks that stop dead.
1/1
Though he isn’t stopped dead in his tracks like most 1/1s are when the bigger boys come out to play, he still isn’t the Lava Axe that you want out of an offensive 1/1 like Suntail Hawk or Cloud Sprite of environments past. I doubt anyone will play him unless they need a Soldier in the worst way.
Cause Gustcloak Runner is a Soldier in the worst way.
Creature – Bird Soldier Rare
Flying
Whenever a creature you control becomes blocked, you may untap that creature and remove it from combat.
“Our death-arrows flew in high arcs towards the aven. And then . . . nothing.” -Coliseum guard
3/4
Rares for Limited again. This guy is a first pick, as he directs traffic in combat like nobody’s business. Every turn you can serve with the whole team and not lose a man. Great for racing when the opposing side has that one big blocker.
And…
(*drumroll*)
…he sucks in Constructed. Give that design team sixty-four silver dollars.
Creature – Soldier Uncommon
Whenever Gustcloak Sentinel becomes blocked, you may untap it and remove it from combat.
Entire platoons have mysteriously vanished from battle, leaving enemy weapons to slice through empty air.
3/3
Hill Giant, but better. His ability won’t save him from nasty combat tricks, though – it’s a one-shot deal and if you decide that he’s staying on the battefield, you can’t change your mind once the blocker morphs into Grinning Demon. There’s one surprise I wouldn’t want to run into if I were a Soldier.
“Men, attack that blob!”
“Aye sir!”
(morphing noises)
“OH SWEET MOTHER****ING SH*T, RUN AWAY!”
Creature – Bird Soldier Uncommon
Flying
Whenever Gustcloak Skirmisher becomes blocked, you may untap it and remove it from combat.
They’re trained in the art of pressing their luck.
2/3
If this set were a TV program, I’d be going to take a leak right about now.
I think I understand the exciting, dynamic mechanic that carries the Gustcloak name. Can we get on with the show and move our attention to other cards now?
Good in Limited, garbage in Constructed, someone go make me a sandwich.