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By: ArchGenius, Marcus Rehnberg
Jun 03 2009 1:05am
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     It's that time of year again. Another set has come out, and everyone and there brother has come is going to write up a set review of the new cards.  Why?  Because it's easy.  Writing a review of a new set is one of the simplest things you can write about.  It's like taking a survey over the phone and then publishing the results so people can praise you for the brilliance of your opinions.  

 

       I doesn't take a genius to answer this question. What is your opinion of Maelstrom Pulse?

      A collection of monkeys with a typewriter could eventually produce a set review to rival most internet authors.  Why then do people read set reviews?  The same reason most people listen to political radio talkshows. 

     Let me explain for those people who are not all that familiar with talk radio.  These programs usually contain a small amount of actual news surrounded by a large amount of blaming the other political party for everything that is wrong with the world.  Most of the time you listen to the radio station that roughly shares your personal point of view and you listen to it so that you can reinforce your views and feel confident that your thinking is correct.  At the end of the day, you haven't really learned much from talk radio, but you feel good about yourself. 

     You can also listen to talk radio of a political point of view that differs from your personal opinions in order to argue your point and learn about how the opposing side of the political spectrum sees the world.  And then you have the freedom to bash those arguments to bits, and feel justified in doing so.   

 

      This is why "most" people read set reviews.  To either feel good about having your opinion on the set confirmed or to argue with people who disagree with your point of view.  It's fun. It's entertaining.  It's not particularly educational.

      Since most people will probably write set reviews aimed at how the new cards will affect Limited Formats, Standard, Classic, or Extended, I'm going to take a slightly different approach.  I am not an expert on the commonly played formats.  I generally like to play the smaller constructed formats where there is still some creativity room.  I don't like copying decks and playing them out of the box.  I like to have at least some ownership of creating my own deck. 

     Unfortunetly this doesn't usually work so well when a format has a couple of tier 1 decks that destroy the rest of the field.  With formats like 100 Singleton and Kaleidoscope there is really not enough people trying out decks in order to boil it down to a conventional metagame.  Sure you can group decks into "control" and "agro" but there is still a lot of room for variety because there isn't a long history of results and a really large amount of players trying to optimize their decks.  Pauper is played enough to have a well established metagame, but it's cheap to play, and the metagame seems to change frequently enough to make it interesting.

     So, I'm going to write a review based on how the Alara Reborn will affect the fringe online formats.

     Since a usual set is too big to review at once, most people break the sets down and review a color at a time.  There is a slight problem with this in Alara Reborn since everything is gold.  So instead I'm going to review by rarity starting with the commons.  This works conviently with Pauper since I can break it down into a review with Pauper legal cards and a review with pauper cards that aren't legal.

     Note:  Go ahead and skip around.  A lot of the cards won't have an impact on any of the formats, so I can't really say much about them.  Saying "This card sucks in this format." gets boring after a while. 

 

So, on to the commons.  

 

Ethercaste Knight

 

There are a lot of reasons to go for a mostly artifact deck in 100 singleton including Scourglass, (Skeletal Shard), and Academy Ruins.  This card could be a part of that deck, however not the greatest card in that deck. (Filler)
Ethercaste Knight I would rather have an Esper Stormblade in most situations.  The only edge it has over Qasali Pridemage is the fact that it's an artifact creature, and there aren't enough reasons for that to be an advantage in Kaleidoscope. (Not that Playable)
  Works well with a turn 1 Court Homunculus.  There is a possibility of a blue/white affinity deck. (Filler)

Ethersworn Shieldmage A reasonably good card for an artifact creature themed deck.  Not very useful outside of that deck. (Filler)
Ethersworn Shieldmage A pretty good trick to kill a Bloodbraid Elf, but I don't think there is enough strong artifact creatures to support it. (Filler, or Sideboard)
  Works very nicely with an affinity created Horde.  May provide partial protection for Myr Enforcer and (Spire Golems) against Crypt Rats (Strong Card)

Fieldmist Borderpost An average way for a R/G deck to protect itself from Armageddon or for a Naya deck to increase the power of an Armageddon. (Filler)
Fieldmist Borderpost  A staple in RG decks, it powers up Jund Hackblade and (Naya Shushblade) and jumps in front of a Hit/Run to save a creature.  Also it's a way to lesson the damage from a Anathemancer. (Filler)
  Borderposts will be good to power up "Blades" and because there are fewer nonbasic land alternatives. (Strong Card)

Glassdust Hulk Cycling Artifacts do have their uses considering Astral Slide and the 3-4 creatures that return artifacts/artifact creature to your hand when they come into play.  Playable but not great in an artifact creature deck. (Filler)
Glassdust Hulk Could be useful with Artifact Lands and Sharuum the Hegemon however I have a feeling the Hulk is a bit too weak for the format (Not quite playable)
  It is actually quite strong in a blue/white affinity deck with the appropriate artifact lands. (Strong Card)

Offering to Asha Not worth it, too many better options exist. (unplayable)
Offering to Asha I think the format is too quick for a four mana counterspell, and the lifegain is not that great. (unplayable)
  Not worth it, too many better options exist. (unplayable)

Sanctum Plowbeast Astral Slide is the only reason to consider this card and I have yet to see a 100 singleton deck make good use of Astral Slide, and yes I have tried. (Filler)
Sanctum Plowbeast There are better ways to fix your mana. (Filler)
  There are better mana fixers and better cyclers. (Filler)

Stormcaller's Boon Cascade works really well with any of the tutors that put a card on top of your library.  It's somewhat playable as a Bant way to get around Moat (Filler)
Stormcaller's Boon In the right deck, this can force through a mostly UG alpha-strike.  However it's not that effective unless you're facing a Teferi's Moat (Sideboard)
  Most UW decks will have flyers and counterspells which both don't work well with this card.  It might be played in a UG mimic deck, but I don't think it's that useful otherwise. (borderline unplayable)

Talon Trooper A reasonably efficient UW creature, but there are better UW creatures in the same class.  (Filler, borderline unplayable)
Talon Trooper  (Unplayable)
   (Filler, borderline unplayable)

Architects of Will Cycling makes it playable but not amazing.  There are a lot of good shuffling effects in 100 singleton that may be interesting to play with the Architects, but (Sensei's Diving Top) is superiour in that regards and Glassdust Hulk is a superior cycling artifact creature. (unplayable)
Architects of Will Too expensive for what it does, and not enough cards that can abuse the cycling ability. (unplayable)
  There are better and more powerful cyclers and the card itself is not too helpful.  (borderline unplayable)

Brainbite It looks really bad when compared to Thoughtseize.  I wouldn't work too hard to fit this into a deck.  (Barely Playable)
Brainbite Seems a bit too slow.  Castigate and Tidehollow Sculler are much quicker and two mana really isn't worth the cantrip effect. (unplayable)
   It's a bit slow for discard (Barely Playable)

Deny Reality Cascade is good in 100 singleton and this is a very good card.  Works very well with Mystical Tutor and (Sensei's Diving Top)  Probably a new staple card for UB. (Strong Card)
Deny Reality It may be tricky to avoid a counterspell with the cascade ability, but there are ways around that.  It's still a pretty good card. (Filler)
  Probably too hard to avoid missing a counterspell with the cascade, so probably not as playable in pauper than the other formats.  Recoil is probably better in this format. (Filler)

Etherium Abomination Too expensive, there are better cards for less. (unplayable)
Etherium Abomination Too expensive, there are better cards for less.(unplayable)
  Too expensive, there are better cards for less. (unplayable)

Jhessian Zombies Twisted Abomination is much better in most circumstances.  It is a pretty poor substitute.  It's only advantage is that it can search for a basic island in case your opponent has a Blood Moon in place.  Generally, if you're that desperate for blue and black mana, play a Dimir Signet or another artifact mana producer over this. (unplayable)
Jhessian Zombies You should be able to fix your landfixing without bad landcycling creatures. (unplayable)
  Filler, but pretty close to unplayable (unplayable)

Mistvein Borderpost Protection against armageddon effects and also a way to turn on "Blades" (Filler)
Mistvein Borderpost Anathemancer protection and a good way to turn on "Blades" (Playable)
  Land Color fixing is in short supply, so this should see some play. (Strong Card)

 

Soul Manipulation Exclude is one of the stronger cards in 100 singleton and this is of a similar power.  This will be a staple. (Strong Card)
Soul Manipulation Very Powerful effect, will be one of the staple counterspells next to Trial/Error unless there is a glut of creatureless decks in the metagame. (Strong Card)
  It will see a lot of play, especially because Exclude is expensive and hard to get. (Strong Card)

Vedalken Ghoul One of the worst cards in the set.  It isn't playable. (unplayable)
Vedalken Ghoul One of the worst cards in the set.  It isn't playable. (unplayable)
  One of the worst cards in the set.  It isn't playable. (unplayable)

Breath of Malfegor This card will not see play outside of multiplayer. (unplayable)
Breath of Malfegor This card will not see play outside of multiplayer. (unplayable)
  This card will not see play outside of multiplayer. (unplayable)

Demonic Dread One of the weaker cascade cards but still playable if you're playing the right colors.  (Filler)
Demonic Dread Someone will try to pull out the cascade-storm deck trying to play (Bitumnious Blast) cascading into Bloodbraid Elf cascading into Demonic Dread or Violent Outburst cascading into Jund Hackblade or Rip-Clan Crasher.  I think you're better off sticking just to the blast, bloodbraid, and outburst, and leave the Dread out for better Cascade cards. (Filler)
  I think it will look good when played with Nantuko Husk and (Goblin War Marshal) (Strong Card)

Igneous Pouncer It's an elemental with land cycling, which means it's a valid target for a Flamekin Harbinger.  Otherwise it's not too exciting. (Filler)
Igneous Pouncer A little too fragile to be playable. (unplayable)
  A little too fragile to be playable. (unplayable)

Monstrous Carabid All of the one mana cyclers are possibly useful combined with Astral Slide, Lightning Rift, Genesis, etc, but I think there are better options than this guy. (Filler)
Monstrous Carabid A little too weak to be playable. (unplayable)
  A little too weak to be playable. (unplayable)

Singe-Mind Ogre A little to weak to be playable. It too often hits a land.(unplayable)
Singe-Mind Ogre A little to weak to be playable. (unplayable)
  A little to weak to be playable. (unplayable)

Terminate A staple that is now easier to get. (Strong Card)
Terminate Versatile 2 mana cost removal is rare and valuable.  This will be heavily played. (Strong Card)
  A staple that is now easier to get (Strong Card)

Veinfire Borderpost Armageddon protection and nonbasic land hate protection. Will probably see some play. (Filler)
Veinfire Borderpost Anathemancer protection and gets in the way of Hit/Run, so it will see some play. (Strong Card)
  Colorfixing for colors outside of green is somewhat rare for pauper. (Strong Card)

Colossal Might Great with Double Strikers, however I basically prefer Reckless Charge (unplayable)
Colossal Might There are better pump spells including Rally the Righteous and Sigil Blessing  Will probably not see play. (unplayable)
  Not a great way to survive against Crypt Rats, so probably won't see much play. (unplayable)

Deadshot Minotaur It's no Flametongue Kavu, and most threatening flyers have 4 or 5 toughness. (Meloku, the Clouded Mirror) Exalted Angel Battlegrace Angel, Zur the Enchanter etc. (filler, in Astral Slide deck)
Deadshot Minotaur A bit too slow for a 5 drop, and not enough ways to take advantage of cycling. (unplayable)
  A bit slow and doesn't take out Spire Golem.  (unplayable)

Firewild Borderpost It will see some play as a way to protect yourself against armageddon effects, and a way to turn on blades.  It may be riskier than other mana artifacts because of sideboard (hydoblast) (filler)
Firewild Borderpost Protections a creature from Hit/Run, turns on a turn 2 Jund Hackblade, triggers Balefire Liege and occasionally turns up off of a cascaded Bloodbraid Elf (Strong Card)
  Will be played along with Jund Hackblade (Strong Card)

Godtracker of Jund A pretty weak card that shouldn't see any play. (unplayable)
Gorger Wurm A pretty weak card that shouldn't see any play. (unplayable)
  A pretty weak card that shouldn't see any play. (unplayable)

Rhox Brute There are more powerful 4 drop red and green creatures.  It looks pretty sad when compared to Rumbling Slum and Spellbreaker Behemoth (unplayable)
Rhox Brute There are more powerful 4 drop red and green creatures.  It looks pretty sad when compared to Rumbling Slum and Spellbreaker Behemoth (unplayable)
  Between this and Springing Tiger, I would probably still go with the Springing Tiger, but in a red/green deck that decision is close. (filler)

Valley Rannet Land Cycling with the shock duals and original duals is pretty good in 100 singleton, but still I don't expect this to see too much play. Krosan Tusker is still probably better (unplayable)
Valley Rannet There are enough land fixers and hardly any reanimation cards, so I don't think this will see much play. (unplayable)
  Krosan Tusker probably beats this card out. (unplayable)

Violent Outburst With Sensei's Divining Top, and the right deck, being able to play a removal spell or Tarmogoyf at instant speed can be quite good. (Good Card)
Violent Outburst This seems to be a perfect fit with the strategy of Bloodbraid Elf and Jund Hackblade I expect it to see plenty of play. (Good Card)
  This seems to go well with Spark Elemental and Lightning Bolt. (Good Card)

Captured Sunlight Four life isn't that much and for the price-tag I'd rather see a Loxodon Hierarch.  It might see some play since burn is common in 100 singleton, and there are a reasonable amount of good top of the library tutors in 100 singleton. (Filler)
Captured Sunlight I am working on a bant deck consisting of Shorecrasher Mimic Bant Sureblade Rhox War Monk and Bant Charm  In that deck Captured Sunlight would trigger Shorecrasher Mimic because all of the other less than 4 CC cards in the deck are blue/green.  In that deck Captured Sunlight might be a reasonable decent sideboard card. (Sideboard)
  Kind of Expensive for 4 mana, but it might see play in an environment with lots of burn. (Sideboard)

Grizzled Leotau A very good cheap creature that is hard for red to kill, works really well with Doran, and can survive long enough to put on equipment.  Will probably see a reasonable amount of play. (Good Card)
Grizzled Leotau A great complement to a Doran based deck.  It can also slow down a lot of aggressive decks.  The only problem is that there are a lot of other really good two drops in White and Green, and I really think this only makes the cut if you are playing Doran. (Good Card)
  A good way for Armadillo Cloak decks to slow down Slivers.  Will see some play. (Good Card)

Leonin Armorguard Strictly a limited card.  It's not good enough for constructed play. (unplayable)
Leonin Armorguard Strictly a limited card.  It's not good enough for constructed play. (unplayable)
  Strictly a limited card.  It's not good enough for constructed play. (unplayable)

Pale Recluse A fairly good limited card but there are better land cyclers in 100 singleton. (unplayable)
Pale Recluse Kaleidoscope has enough of a land base that I don't think the land cyclers are needed. (unplayable)
  Krosan Tusker is better. (unplayable)

Qasali Pridemage One of the best commons in the set.  This will be in every deck that can support its colors. Also works really nicely with Genesis. (Excellent Card)
Qasali Pridemage This will be played in either the sideboard or main deck of every deck that can support its colors.  One of the main weakness of WG was being shut down by Teferi's Moat, this trades quite nicely with moat, as well as Tidehollow Sculler, and a number of other things.  Although there are almost too many WG 2-drops, I still believe this will make the cut. (Excellent Card)
  Great against a lot of decks including Affinity, Mono U Spire Golem type decks and others.  Also gives Akrasan Squire a boost if you don't particular want to go the WG sliver route. (Strong Card)

Sigil of the Nayan Gods You basically need 3 creatures to make this worthwhile.  I don't think the cycling adds enough to this card to make it worthwhile.  Most often I'd rather have Armadillo Cloak, Moldervine Cloak or Elephant Guide (unplayable)
Sigil of the Nayan Gods Once again, it's too hard to get enough creatures on the field to make it worthwhile. (unplayable)
  Armadillo Cloak is so much better. (unplayable)

Sigiled Behemoth A pretty good card for limited but there are a lot better things you can do with 6 mana. (unplayable)
Sigiled Behemoth A pretty good card for limited but there are a lot better things you can do with 6 mana. (unplayable)
  A pretty good card for limited but there are a lot better things you can do with 6 mana. (unplayable)

Wildfield Borderpost Will be used in combination with Winter Orb and Armageddon effects.  Also turns on the blades, which will also see a reasonable amount of play. (filler)
Wildfield Borderpost Will see play in a 2 color deck to avoid the pain of Anathemancer and to absorb a hit from Hit/Run. (Strong Card)
  There aren't a whole lot of good land options for pauper, so this should see some play. (Strong Card)

Vectis Dominator Not a very good card, and should be avoided like a Chimney Imp (unplayable)
Vectis Dominator Not a very good card, and should be avoided like a Chimney Imp (unplayable)
  Not a very good card, and should be avoided like a Chimney Imp (unplayable)

Magefire Wings Doesn't do enough to avoid the inherant risks of a creature enchantment.  Will not see play. (unplayable)
Magefire Wings Doesn't do enough to avoid the inherant risks of a creature enchantment.  Will not see play. (unplayable)
  Doesn't do enough to avoid the inherant risks of a creature enchantment.  Will not see play. (unplayable)

Putrid Leech Excellent Creature which should be a staple in any decks that can support it's colors.   The only problem is that the Green/Black color combination is not that frequently played in 100 singleton, and if you're going for 4 or 5 color decks, then you're probably looking for more expensive creatures than a really good 2 drop. (Excellent Card)
Putrid Leech If a black/green deck emerges from Alara Reborn, this will be a staple in that deck because it's a really good creature and it can survive against Firespout, Lightning Helix, and Ajani Vengeant's form of Lightning Helix. (Excellent Card)
  There are a lot of good black/green cards including Wild Mongrel, Tortured Existence, and Golgari Brownscale.  I can see Putrid Leech fitting nicely in that deck. (Strong Card)

Cerodon Yearling With all the sweepers in 100 singleton haste is really good.  This guy is also a good creature to put a Sword on.  Will probably see play in a zoo or Boros equipment based deck, but it is weaker than (Goblin Legionaire) in most decks (Filler)
Cerodon Yearling I think this creature is about at the same power level as Boros Swiftblade.  The Swiftblade looks better when equipped or enchanted, but the Cerodon is better at stomping on opposing planeswalkers because of haste. (Filler)
  With (Goblin Legionaire),Battlegate Mimic, and Cerodon Yearling there just might be a decent Boros deck win's deck in Pauper.  I'm not sure it would be tier 1, but it just might exist. (Filler)

Winged Coatl While it is a very good limited trick, it's a bit weak in 100 singleton.  Especially in an environment filled with burn. (unplayable)
Winged Coatl In most circumstances I'd rather play a Trygon Predator or Plaxcaster Frogling (unplayable)
  Snakeform is probably a better way to go for combat based removal.  Especially if you are going the Shorecrasher Mimic route.  Winged Coatl will probably not see play. (unplayable)

Esper Sojourners It has a unique enough effect that it might see play in an artifact based deck. But it will probably not see much play. (filler)
Esper Sojourners There isn't enough artifact recursion to make this worthwhile. It's not exactly the first card I'd want to dredge with Academy Ruins(unplayable)
  The best shot is for this to be in an affinity deck, although I don't think it's quite strong enough for that, even if it has some synergy with Salvage Slasher (filler)

Grixis Sojourners There are cheaper artifact ways to accomplish the cycling part of this card, and the creature that is attached to this card is unimpressive. (unplayable)
Grixis Sojourners Too expensive for what it does.  I don't expect this to see play. (unplayable)
  Too expensive for what it does.  I don't expect this to see play. (unplayable)

Jund Sojourners This seems a bit slow for what it does.  Will probably not see play. (unplayable)
Jund Sojourners A bit too underpowered for the 3 color investment. (unplayable)
  A bit too underpowered for the 3 color investment. (unplayable)

Naya Sojourners Although it works reasonably well with persist creatures, I think it's a bit too expensive for constructed play. (unplayable)
Naya Sojourners Although it works reasonably well with persist creatures, I think it's a bit too expensive for constructed play. (unplayable)
  Although it works reasonably well with persist creatures, I think it's a bit too expensive for constructed play. (unplayable)

Bant Sojourners There are much better options for 4 bant mana. (unplayable)
Bant Sojourners There are much better options for 4 bant mana. (unplayable)
  Kind of weak for a 4 mana, 3 color deck (unplayable)

Arsenal Thresher A little weak, even in a very heavy artifact deck it'll probably only be a 4/4 or a 5/5.  There are better options. (unplayable)
Arsenal Thresher A little weak, even in a very heavy artifact deck it'll probably only be a 4/4 or a 5/5.  There are better options. (unplayable)
  Has a small chance of being playable in an Affinity deck, but I still think it's a bit weak for that. (unplayable)

Esper Stormblade All the blades are quite powerful and this is no exception.  Will see some play in an esper artifact creature deck. (Strong Card)
Esper Stormblade Triggers Nightsky Mimic and becomes a 6/5 flying monster with a Edge of the Divinity attached to it.  The third really good W/B two drop behind Mimic and Sculler. I think this will see play. (Strong Card)
  Triggers Nightsky Mimic and becomes a 6/5 flying monster with a Edge of the Divinity attached to it.  I think this will see play. (Strong Card)

Grixis Grimblade The blades are slightly weaker in 100 singleton than in the other formats because it's harder to get and keep out another multi-colored permanent, but in a red/black deck I can see this card being played. (Filler)
Grixis Grimblade Has the weakest Mimic partner, but Deathtouch is very useful.  It will see some play, but not as much as the other colors. Zombies may be useful with Unholy Grotto and Anathemancer (Filler, slightly playable)
  Has the weakest Mimic partner, but Deathtouch is very useful.  It will see some play, but not as much as the other colors. (Filler)

 

Sewn-Eye Drake A solid limited creature but a bit too weak for constructed.(unplayable)
Sewn-Eye Drake A solid limited creature but a bit too weak for constructed.(unplayable)
 

A solid limited creature but a bit too weak for constructed.

(unplayable)

Jund Hackblade Multicolored creatures are harder to keep in 100 singleton but I still think this will see some play. (Strong Card)
Jund Hackblade One of the best red/green creatures in the set.  A turn 2 hasty 3/2 creature is pretty good.  Also bear in mind that it triggers Woodlurker Mimic which might be playable now. (Excellent Card)
  Mimics and blades seem to go hand in hand.  The main question is if an aggressive Pauper deck can support 3 colors.  Anyway, it should see a lot of play in Red/Green regardless of the Jund option. (Excellent Card)

Sangrite Backlash A very good limited spell, but it's a bit weak for constructed. In most cases I'd rather have a Lightning Bolt or Incinerate. (unplayable)
Sangrite Backlash One of the few 2 CC Red/Green removal options, so it might see some play in Gruul.  However it is three colors and therefore weak against protection creatures. (Filler)
  A very good limited spell, but it's a bit weak for constructed. In most cases I'd rather have a Lightning Bolt or Incinerate. (unplayable)

Naya Hushblade A little on the weak side because it's in colors that has so many better options at two mana.  I don't think it will see much play. (filler)
Naya Hushblade Might see some play combined with Battlegate Mimic. But I tend to think that most decks playing these colors have better options.  Might see a little play. (filler)
  Might see some play... see above

Trace of Abundance There are too many better cards that do similar things. If it didn't give Shroud, it might have been played with Earthcraft along with Fertile Ground and Squirrel Nest (unplayable)
Trace of Abundance A nice non-creature ramp card and it will probably see some play.  Also activates the blades, Battlegate Mimic and Balefire Liege Will probably see a reasonable amount of play. (filler)
  Not as good as (Sakura Tribe Elder) and therefore will not see play. (unplayable)

Bant Sureblade Triggers Shorecrasher Mimic and holds off a lot of creatures.  It may see some play in a bant deck, but there are probably better options. (filler)
Bant Sureblade Triggers Shorecrasher Mimic, looks good in pants, and holds off a lot of creatures.  This will see a lot of play as a way for UG decks to fight off RG decks. (Strong Card)
  Triggers Shorecrasher Mimic, see above...

Crystallization It's a little harder to play than Pacifism and not much better, therefore I don't think it will see any play. (unplayable)
Crystallization Removal that triggers Shorecrasher Mimic, therefore I expect it to see a reasonable amount of play. (Strong Card)
  Removal that triggers Shorecrasher Mimic, therefore I expect it to see a reasonable amount of play. (Strong Card)

Conclusions:

Biggest Impact Commons for 100 Singleton

Qasali Pridemage - This card is simply so much better than the other cards that were filling it's spot. 

Putrid Leech - There aren't too many 4 power two drops, and while it is likely that your "pay 2 life" effect will be met with a lightning bolt in response, I still would rather had the Leech than most other 2 drops.

Grizzled Leotau - As long as red decks remain popular, this card will be a great speed bump, until players can get out the bigger guns.  Sure, Wall of Roots and Wall of Blossoms are nice, but they can't wear a Sword of Fire and Ice to victory and they can't attack with (Doran the Siege Tower) back-up.  Watchwolf may hit harder, but it also dies to a lightning bolt quite often.

Soul Manipulation - Exclude is one of the best counters around, and in an environment with innumerable discard and cycling abilities not to mention Entomb I can't imagine a Raise Dead effect being that much worse than "draw a card" 

Biggest Impact Commons for Kaleidoscope

Putrid Leech - This creature along with Maelstrom Pulse make Green/Black aggro or Doran's colors a viable and potent deck.  Not to mention that the Leech, and (Anthamancer) are both zombies that can be brought back with Unholy Grotto.

Qasali Pridemage - This card is key for Green/White decks to battle against Teferi's Moat

The "blades" - The Mimics with the exception of the red/blue one, are some of the strongest two-drops if you are playing mainly two-colors.  The "Blades" give you another way to trigger the Mimics and another powerful set of 2-drops.  Jund Hackblade allows red/green to hit for 5 damage on turn 2, It also triggers a Woodlurker MimicEsper Stormblade combos nicely with Nightsky Mimic and Edge of the Divinity. etc. 

Biggest Impact Commons for Pauper

The "Blades" and the "Borderposts" - For similar reasons as Kaleidoscope, the blades combo well with the mimics, and the borderposts add some needed mana fixing to non-green colors.

Soul Manipulation - Seems to work well with Mystical Teachings and other control type cards. 

Esper Stormblade - Ethersworn Shieldmage - Glassdust Hulk - Ethercaste Knight - Here are four solid artifact creatures that could easily fit into an affinity deck.

 

Tune in next time when I'll tackle the rest of Alara Reborn and my opinion of its impact on 100 singleton and Kaleidoscope.

 

Well, thanks for reading and remember, there is more to life than winning and losing.

- Marcus, the guy with a name on Magic Online that is entirely too long...

 (Shuyin Knight of Zanarkand on Magic Online)

 

8 Comments

I want to point out that in a by jed roguski (not verified) at Wed, 06/03/2009 - 01:57
jed roguski's picture

I want to point out that in a UG Kaleidescope deck removal is very lacking. People will play a 3 cc spell that says: destroy target attacking creature. Now throw a body on that spell and you have Winged Coatl. Far from unplayable in my opinion.

Agreed. Winged Coatl does not by Lord Erman at Wed, 06/03/2009 - 03:03
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Agreed.

Winged Coatl does not count as a creature in UG. It counts as removal. 4x of it should go into all UG decks. Definately.

LE

Winged Coatl by ArchGenius at Wed, 06/03/2009 - 10:28
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Perhaps I'm being overly critical of the snake with wings, but it seems like a pretty weak card for UG.

Against WB, it dies easily to Zealous Persecution, and Stillmoon Calvalier first strikes it out. They also probably see it coming through either Sculler or Castigate.

Against GW, it does nothing to Oversoul of Dusk gives a -1/-1 counter to Kitchen Finks and maybe trades with a Dauntless Escort in one the better situations.

Against RW, it doesn't stop a (Battlegate Mimic),(Boros Swiftblade) and will probably eat a (Lightning Helix)

Against RB, it trades with most of the creatures they have, but most cost less than or equal to the Coatl. And it might die to Terminate or hit/run. You might get lucky and trade it with a Demigod of Revenge only to have it come back again next turn. Also I've been toying with Stillmoon Cavaliers in my RB deck and Winged Coatl doesn't stop a Cavalier.

Against RG, it is removal, but it is also a slow defensive card that is a 1 for 1 trade against a deck that can do crazy things with Bloodbraid Elf.

In my humble opinion UG decks should be fast and aggressive focusing on pushing damage through cards like Shorecrasher Mimic. At least Snakeform can be used aggressively and replaces itself, while Winged Coatl is just too defensive for my taste. Maybe I'm missing something though.

Why would you play Winged Coatl over Snakeform in Kaleidoscope? Or if you play both, does a UG deck really want to be slowed down with 4 Snakeform and 4 Winged Coatl?

I've been running 4 coatl and by Anonymous (not verified) at Wed, 06/03/2009 - 16:02
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I've been running 4 coatl and 4 snakeform in my first attempt at a pauper deck, and whenever I draw the coatl I wish I either another threat or snakeform instead. I know this is pauper UG and not kaleidescope, but I have to agree there are better cards out there.

Name one for Kaleidoscope-UG by Lord Erman at Wed, 06/03/2009 - 16:20
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Name one for Kaleidoscope-UG please.

LE

for Kaleidoscope - by ArchGenius at Wed, 06/03/2009 - 17:00
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for Kaleidoscope - Mirrorweave, and after sideboarding Curse of Chains

Admittedly, UG has few options for pure creature removal. That's not a reason to play weak creature removal. It's a reason to play to UG's strengths, attacking with huge creatures that often can't be targeted by your opponents. I'd rather play some combination of Lorescale Coatl, Plaxcaster Frogling, Trygon Predator, and Snakeform for 3 drops and then use Mirrorweave to win combat matches rather than to play with Flying Coatl to play a defensive game with offensive colors.

If you're going to limit yourself to two colors in Kaleidoscope, you should play to the color's strengths rather than try to mitigate it's weaknesses.

for Pauper - Temporal Spring, it's never a dead card

I disagree with the by Doomhed (not verified) at Wed, 06/03/2009 - 19:09
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I disagree with the armorguard assessment for pauper. I think it could be used in slivers to improve the mirror.

sigil of the nayan gods could see play in token decks and there have been some in pauper to make a small splash.

colossal might seems like a pretty beefy card in pauper, that can speed up your clock to the point where you can kill before the rats eats your team of 3/3 dorks

After playing in numerous by ArchGenius at Thu, 06/04/2009 - 09:57
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After playing in numerous triple Reborn drafts, I have a new respect for Colossal Might. I'm still not sure it is better than lightning bolt or incinerate, but the trample part of it is nice. It is definitely better than I originally thought.