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By: cRUMMYdUMMY,
Jul 24 2008 1:20am
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NOTE:  While this review specifically covers Standard PDC, you can still glean a bit of knowledge from the review as a Future Extended, Classic, or Block player.

What is PDC?
PDC stands for Pauper Deck Challenge.  PDC is a Magic format where decks are constructed from commons only.  This means that uncommons, rares, and timespiraled cards are not allowed.

What are popular decks in PDC?
Like any Magic format, there are Decks to Beat (DTB).  PDC is no different.  Fortunately, the metagame is quite varied with a mix of Aggro, Control, and Combo available.  Here is a list of some of the popular decks running around in the PDC metagame as compiled by Kehmesis.

Storm Control (Control/Combo) - Uses a suite of counterspells and red removal to stall the opponent's board while it bides time for it's suspended cards to come into play to storm up a pile of goblin tokens with Empty the Warrens.

Grimdrifter (Control) - An attrition style control deck, Grimdrifter uses a plethora of creature removal spells to maintain board control.  It's creatures all provide card advantage through their come into play abilities.  The deck can also run into the lategame as it has a large amount of card advantage in addition to the Grim Harvest engine.

Dark Evocation (Control) - Similar to Grimdrifter, the noteable differences are the inclusion of Momentary Blink, Blightspeaker, and Aven Riftwatcher to provide an even stronger style of attrition play.  It uses it's removal to kill and creatures to chump blocker and hold the board until the lategame, when the deck can get it's Blightspeaker or Grim Harvest engine going.

Use UR Illusions (Aggro) - Using large blue Illusion type creatures, such as Errant Ephemeron and Krovikan Mist, to fly through the sky and beat, Use UR Illusions also carries a good range of red burns to throw to the face and blaze a path for it's creatures.

Blue Beats (Aggro/Control) - Using a similar creature base as UR Illusions, mono-colored Blue Beats gives up the red burn in exchange for a better mana base and counterspells to protect it's investments and to stop yours.

Red Deck Wins (Aggro) - A low and consistent mono-red mana curve and allows this tempo deck to throw down it's entire hand of weenies to overwhelm the opponent and finish up with a variety of burns to the dome.

White Weenie (Aggro) - Mono-colored White Weenie is the premiere aggro deck with a consistent mana base and cheap ground pounders.  While it lacks the versatility of burns, it makes up with combat tricks like Burrenton Bombardiers and Surge of Thoughtweft as well as the card advantage engine of Amrou Scout.

Rating System
My ratings are based on the sets in the current format, including this set.  I will not rate a card higher because of it's future potential (ie: a runner up replacement to a popular card presently in the format).  After all, it is possible a better card may come in future sets or the metagame may change entirely to where those cards are no longer good.  Because there is no way to tell what new cards will be released, all cards are rated according how good they are in the current card pool.

1/5 = This is a bad card as there are very limited situations where this card is better than other alternatives.
2/5 = This is a fringe card with potential in one or two very specific decks.
3/5 = This can be a powerful card, but requires a deck built around it to really shine.
4/5 = This is a solid card and will be commonly played in decks that heavily rely on it's main colors.
5/5 = This card is so powerful that it may be commonly splashed for.


WHITE

Ballynock Trapper


1/5
This card is an expensive Goldmeadow Harrier.  While it's ability doesn't cost mana, it's body can hardly be considered an improvement considering it's casting cost.  There is area for abuse here, as you can tap down their entire board with cards like Niveous Wisps or the new reuseable Cenn's Enlistment.  Ballynock Trapper's body is just too small to survive any sort of removal and he will often hit the board too late in the game.

Cenn's Enlistment
2/5
Any card that can create a large amount of creature tokens, like Empty the Warrens and Sprout Swarm, has potential for abuse.  Just like the previous two, this will probably act as a finisher in a control deck.  However, I just don't see this as being better than either Sprout Swarm or Empty the Warrens without more powerful cards like Life From the Loam to consistently abuse it.  It can also be easily hated out with graveyard removal since the spell is a sorcery and not an instant.


Kithkin Spellduster
1/5
This card is just terrible.  Cloudchaser Kestrel, Elvish Hexhunter, Ronom Unicorn, and Wispmare are all way better than this guy.  While it's true that you can destroy multiple enchantments, it takes an incredible seven mana to even destroy the first one!  Too little, too late.

Kithkin Zealot
1/5
While I was originally thinking that this guy could be a nice sideboard card against RDW, the problem is that this guy is not better than Aven Riftwatcher.  RDW needs to have at least four creatures on the board for this creature to gain as much life as one Riftwatcher.  He is also far less useful in other matchups since his life gain too conditional.

Recumbent Bliss
1/5
Most aura forms of removal are not very good since Momentary Blink is such a common mainboard card.  Also note that the mana cost is identical to Oblivion Ring, a far superior removal spell.


BLUE

Banishing Knack

1/5
I like this card, but have a hard time coming up with uses for it.  At best, you can throw it on Pili-Pala and unsummon their entire army.  At worst, it functions as an unsummon with the potential for card disadvantage.

Dream Thief
1/5
While this creature is three to cast, you must play another spell to activate the draw clause.  This mean's it's actual casting cost is four, unless you play it on the same turn that an Errant Ephemeron came into play from suspend.  It is rather unfortunate that this creature plays a similar role to Latchkey Faerie.  Latchkey has one power more and is far easier to meet the prowl condition and play it straight away on turn three.

Merrow Levitator
1/5
As Blue already has superior creatures with flying, Levitator's best use is to give your non-blue fatties evasion.  However, creatures like Auroch's Herd and Scuzzback Marauders already have trample.

Oona's Grace
4/5 (formerly 2/5)
Oona's Grace reads "Cycle a land for 2U."  It seems overcosted, but any form of reuseable card filtering is potentially broken.  Since it lets you make use of your land draws, it may be found as the fifth Think Twice or even as a replacement for the fourth Think Twice.

khirareq: Oona's Grace should see play in any deck that runs Fathom Seer.  The combination of the two is especially powerful.  I could also see this played in Storm Control as you mentioned, or Faerie Teachings, Mono-blue or Use Your Illusions, possibly Burnt Nemo.  If any card deserves a 4/5, it's this one.

Wilderness Hypnotist
1/5
This card is just awful.  More expensive, color intensive, and conditional  than both Silvergill Douser and Saltfield Recluse, this card has almost nothing going for it except a bigger butt that is still not large enough to be out of burn range.


BLACK

Merrow Bonegnawer


1/5
At first glance, I thought you could choose the card to be removed from the game.  However, it is the opposing player's choice.  That makes this card a really terrible Scrabbling Claws as it is vulnerable to removal.

Raven's Crime
3/5
Being able to recur discard is a really powerful ability.  However, it is dead against aggro decks and at its best against control decks.  Despite not being good against all matchups, there is potential for abuse here.

Smoldering Butcher
1/5
A four mana creature without evasion or trample that will 1 for 1 with a two or three mana creature.  This leads to unfavorable trades as well as lost tempo for the player of Smoldering Butcher.

Soul Reap
3/5
The main advantage to this card over Terror is being able to cause three additional points of damage.  Despite the largest creatures in the game being green, there are plenty of dangerous White, Blue, and Red creatures in the format.  The additional ability to cause 3 points of damage at the drawback being a sorcery is probably worth the trade off though.  While it's ability is not likely to trigger early game, late game you can probably guarantee it simply by running Grim Harvest or Raven's Crime.  Think of this card as a sorcery speed Lash Out for black.


Talara's Bane
1/5 (formerly 2/5)
The color restrictions force it to be a decent sideboard card at best.

SpikeBoyM: Talara's Bane is so so narrow, there is no point in even considering it for a sideboard slot.

RED

Cinder Pyromancer


1/5
If only you could ping creatures, this card would instantly be better.  It is supposed to function as a reusable burn spell, but I would be surprised if it survived for more than one or two turns.  For three mana, you can also get Inner-Flame Acolyte and Giant Baiting, which both have more potential for instant damage.

Flame Jab
2/5
One damage often isn't relevant as most creatures have a toughness of 2+.  However, it does convert your useless lands into additional pings.  So it scores some points there.

Heartlash Cinder

2/5
As a two drop, this guy will be a 2/1 at best.  To even come on par with Inner-Flame Acolyte, you need at least three creatures on the board.  There is potential for this to be used in conjunction with Inner-Flame Acolyte.  Afterwards, it leaves behind a tiny 1/1 body.  Not exactly sure how playable this is, but it would only be playable in RDW.

Hotheaded Giant
4/5
Simply put, I love this guy.  You can consistently power him out on Turn 4 with Manamorphose or a suspended Rift Bolt.  As a 4/4, he will be extremely hard to deal with.  On top of that, he has haste!


Puncture Blast
1/5
This card is one mana too expensive.  While staying relevant on huge monsters, 95% of the time you're going to be using it to kill an X/2 or X/3.


GREEN

Aerie Ouphes

3/5
This has the potential to be a massive 4:1 card advantage by blocking or being blocked, then using it's ability with combat damage on the stack.  Twice!  How likely it is to live up to it's full potential remains to be seen.

Monstrify
2/5
A reuseable Giant Growth is fantastic!  At four mana and sorcery speed, it may be a little slow though.  Additionally, it will untap all your Nettle Sentinels.

Nettle Sentinel
4/5
This creature throws mono green aggro decks a huge bone by simply being an Isamaru with Vigilance.  Imagine the insane combat tricks with this guy and Snakeform.

Tilling Treefolk
2/5

This creature has a small body considering it is a green man.  While a must have for those trying to abuse the Retrace mechanic, I don't think Retrace will be powerful enough to warrant running an otherwise far overcosted creature.

Wicker-bough Elder
2/5
This guy is a 3/3 for four mana, which is terrible.  However, I'm not sure if you can use his ability without having an artifact or enchantment to target.  This leaves me unsure of his true potential.  Anyone know for sure?


HYBRID W/B

Beckon Apparition


2/5
Faerie Macabre removes two cards from the graveyard instead of one and costs no mana to use it's ability.  Beckon Apparition costs mana and removes only one card, but provides a 1/1 flyer as well.  In heavy black decks, Faerie Macabre would be the better card.  This leaves Beckon Apparition to heavy white decks, meaning a card for White Weenie to sideboard against Grimdrifter and Dark Evocation.

Edge of the Divinity
2/5
This aura is incredible if you are playing a heavy W/B hybrid deck since it gives the creature +3/+3 putting it out of burn range.  Imagine dropping one or even two of these enchantments on Nip Gwyllion turn two leaving you a 4/4 or 7/7 lifelink man that is out of burn range and cannot be targetted by Terror.  Incredible, but only useful if you are running the entire suite of W/B hybrid creatures as they are rather weak without this aura.

Harvest Gwyllion
2/5
Rather weak for a four drop, there is little reason to run this guy other than to trigger Nightsky Mimic and work with Edge of the Divinity.

Nightsky Mimic
3/5
Turning your guy into an Errant Ephemeron for a turn with any of the W/B drops is incredible.  You can also use it as a combat trick to 2 for 1 by playing Unmake then blocking with your new 4/4 flyer.  Even if you were playing Unmake and Beckon Apparition as the only W/B hybrid cards, this creature would still be magnificent.

Nip Gwyllion
2/5
Really weak for a one drop.  The redeeming factors are that it works well with Edge of the Divinity and Nightsky Mimic.

Unmake
4/5
This is Oblivion Ring at instant speed.  Oblivion Ring is already incredible.  I expect any deck capable of paying WWW or BBB to play this as a 4-of due to the versatility that an instant speed Oblivion Ring provides.


HYBRID U/R

Clout of the Dominus

2/5
An incredible aura with incredibly not many good creatures to enchant.  The best target is Stream Hopper since he is enchantable on turn 2 and is least likely to be killed during the process, resulting in a 2 for 1 trade.  The other enchantable creatures are only enchantable on turns 3, 4, and 5.  Usually this will be too late as the opponent will most likely have creature removal ready by then.

Inside Out
1/5
Most creatures have identical power and toughness.  Even in a U/R hybrid deck, I think there are better uses for the slot.

Noggle Bandit
3/5
(formerly 2/5)
No one plays creatures with defender, meaning this creature is unblockable.  A perfect target for Clout of the Dominus, but the earliest he is enchantable is turn 4.  Opponents will likely have removal by then.

khirareq: Noggle Bandit is the first time Phantom Warrior has been printed at common.  It is much superior to Amrou Scouts and Skirk Shaman which both have seen play, and of course Infiltrator il-Kor is quite popular in Blinkdrifter and Fish type decks.

Noggle Bridgebreaker
3/5
This guy gets an additional +1/+0 over the conventional Hill Giant for his drawback.  If you can use the returned land via the the Retrace mechanic, then this guy is seriously worth considering.  Even if you can't use the Retrace mechanic, this guy is still a big man for four mana.


Riverfall Mimic
2/5
Only playable in a U/R hybrid deck.  Turning into a 3/3 unblockable is rather weak considering the other mimics all have at least 4 power.

Stream Hopper
2/5
Reminds me of Goblin Balloon Brigade.  He won't be very good unless enchanted with Clout of the Dominus.


HYBRID G/B


Desecrator Hag
3/5
This provides a limited Gravedigger for Green.  Black already has the superior Gravedigger.  Think of him as an Eternal Witness.  Certainly more playable than Evolution Charm and turns on Woodlurker Mimic.

Drain the Well
1/5
Worse than Poison the Well since it gains life instead of doing damage.  Probably still worse than Mwonvuli Acid-Moss since it does not accelerate your mana.

Gift of the Deity
2/5
Certainly a very powerful aura, not good enough to warrant the mana cost as it is nowhere as powerful as Runes of the Deus.  The Lure clause on the aura can be easily avoided if the enemy was already attacking with all of their creatures.  It is good to break a ground stall though.

Odious Trow
1/5
Green has the superior River Boa and black has Augur of Skulls.  The only possible reason you would use Odious Trow would be to turn on Woodlurker Mimic.

Rendclaw Trow
3/5
This is already a pretty good creature as he can chump and come back again to block twice.  Both times shrinking their critters.  Most likely better than Phyrexian Rager which is commonly played in Grim Drifter and Dark Evocation.


Woodlurker Mimic
2/5
This guy is a beast if you can trigger his ability.  Easily one of the best mimics in the set.  He destroys any creature that chump blocks him, I don't think the additional Wither ability will be relevant at all.  Unfortunately, there are not many playable hybrid G/B cards, not to mention no G/B instants to serve as a combat trick.


HYBRID R/W

Battlegate Mimic
2/5


This guy is definitely fits the role of fast aggro that W/R would play.  Unfortunately, all the other W/R are nigh unplayable or flat out terrible.

Double Cleave
1/5
This functions as a combat trick to give first strike or simply pump the creature's power.  Unfortunately, it's still just as vulnerable to removal as it does not buff the toughness.

Duergar Assailant
3/5
In general, not a very powerful creature as the ability cannot be used at any time nor can it be used to target a player.  It may replace Karpulsan Wolverine in RDW though as he is functionally a 2/1 on both offense and defense, while Wolverine is only a 2/1 on offense.

Fire at Will
1/5
This card becomes terrible since you cannot target players.  You will rarely 2 for 1 with this card since most creatures are simply 2/2 to begin with.  The remaining damage will just be thrown away.  WWW already has the superior Unmake.

Hobgoblin Dragoon
1/5
A 1/2 flyer is pretty terrible.  Had he been a 2/1, he would have been playable since he can attack and block creatures like Mulldrifter without any problems.  He's not though, and still dies to Mulldrifter.


Scourge of the Nobilis
2/5
This enchantment is powerful as it gives lifelink in addition to firebreathing.  If your W/R hyrbid creature can connect even once, it will most likely swing the game in your favor.  Most of the W/R hybrid creatures are really bad though, so decks built around this aura will not do very well.


HYBRID U/G


Favor of the Overbeing

2/5
Similar to Edge of the Divinity, there are few creatures worth enchanting.  The obvious choice is Slippery Bogle, which leaves you with a 3/3 Shroud, Vigilance, and Flying.  Another target may be Shorecrasher Mimic, but he is still vulnerable to removal.  The other U/G creatures are fairly poor due to being overcosted.

Grazing Kelpie
1/5
If this was a 3/2, then it would definitely be a pretty good creature.  At 2/3 though, it simply lacks the power after dying the first time.  It gets only one point of toughness for the extra two mana compared to Safehold Elite.  It's ability, while nice, may appear as a sideboard, but there are already more effective means of removing cards from the yard.

Shorecrasher Mimic
2/5
This guy hits hard and has trample, which means he can't be chump blocked.  At 5/3, he is unlikely to die in combat, but likely to die to removal.  Even then, there are not that many good U/G hybrid cards to activate him with.

Slippery Bogle
2/5
Unlike Silhana Ledgewalker, this guy does not have evasion.  However, he is enchantable.  Throwing Favor of the Overbeing or even Steel of the Godhead leads to an almost unkillable creature with evasion.  I think someone will try to throw a bunch of enchantments on this otherwise weak creature.


Snakeform

4/5
Giving Blue and Green cantripping creature removal is awesome.  It's no Terror or Incinerate, but it has potential card advantage, which is to offset it's expensive 3 mana casting cost and necessary combat phase removal.

Trapjaw Kelpie
1/5
Gravelgill Axeshark is unplayable at 5 mana.  Adding an additional mana and giving it Flash does not help it's case.  It is still an overcosted 6 mana creature.


ARTIFACTS

Antler Skulkin
1/5
An overcosted creature for White.  While the ability is nice, most white decks run weenies and five mana is far out of top end of the curve for White Weenie.  Not to mention the tiny 3/3 body.

Fang Skulkin
1/5
Wither is nice, but there are no huge black creatures.  Those in this set generally already have wither.  You can also play Sickle Reaper to get same creature without having to pay the additional mana cost for it's ability.

Hoof Skulkin
1/5
Another creature with a body too small.  Green usually gets at least 2/3 or 3/3 for 3 mana.  The pump ability is also too expensive at 3 mana.

Jawbone Skulkin
1/5
Sootstoke Kindler would probably be better than this guy.  At one mana more, Sootstoke Kindler's ability is free to use.

Shell Skulkin
1/5
While the ability is nice, the creature still cost too much for it's size.  It will also be killed before they kill your blue creature.  They can also wait until you are tapped out.


How Might These Cards Affect Standard PDC?

While I like where Wizards was trying to go with this set, the cards are simply not as powerful as those from the Timespiral set.  The Retrace mechanic, is good, but not unfair.  Overall, the set is not impressive, but there are some good cards that will see play time.  Too many of the hybrid cards rely on other cards of the exact same hybrid colors to be effective.  The mimics, while powerful and cool, are not as good as they could be if the set had more playable hybrids.

Hotheaded Giant is a huge guy that will be easy to power out with Rift Bolt and Manamorphose.  This may go into Storm Control as an alternate win condition from the sideboard after they board out all the removal spells against you.  It may be seen in RDW as a replacement to Gathan Raiders.  Nettle Sentinel is an obvious 4 of in any deck running heavy green.  Unmake is an obvious inclusion into decks like White Weenie and possibly Blinkdrifter.  Noogle Bridgebreaker is a huge guy for both red and blue.  He might be played in some sort of midrange deck, if those come into existance.  Snakeform is going to be maindeck for most mono green-or mono-blue decks such as Blue Beats.  It will serve as the removal that mono-blue and mono-green lack.

I cannot wait until the Timespiral set rotates out.  Almost every deck in the PDC metagame is based exclusively on Timespiral cards.  Storm Control would die without Empty the Warrens.  Grim Drifter and Dark Evocation would similarly be gone without Grim Harvest and all it's flashback tricks.  Blue Beats and Use UR Illusions would cease to exist without Krovikan Mist and Errant Ephemeron.  RDW and WW will play with an entirely different base of creatures.  Hopefully Shards of Alara will introduce something new and vigorously shakeup the metagame as it is getting pretty stale by now.

8 Comments

by cRUMMYdUMMY at Fri, 07/25/2008 - 17:31
cRUMMYdUMMY's picture

I think everyone is just seeing, "Oh, potential Brainstorm material!" to replace late game lands with less dead cards.  The mana cost being a steep 2U to cantrip is what prohibits Oona's Grace from seeing a slot in all the decks mentioned.  Cantripping for 2U is still expensive, especially when Fathom Seer already fills your hand by giving you +4 cards in hand and simultaneously depleting your mana.  You will most likely replay the lands that you just returned with the Seer.  Though the more I think about it, the more potential I see in Oona's Grace.  I just don't expect to be blown away by it's ability.

 Having played in nearly every MPDC since last season, I have seen Amrou Scouts played from the board once.  Other than playing them myself, I have also only seen Infiltrators played once as well.  I have never ever seen Skirk Shaman.  However, being more a more senior player than I, I will default to your judgement that they have been played competitively before and as a result, may find a home in some fish type decks.

Sitting at the top of the curve for a red deck, Puncture Blast would have to be an astounding beater akin to Gathan Raiders, Inner-Flame Acolyte, or Giant Baiting to make it.  Given that Hot-Headed Giant is more likely to take up a slot in RDW, I sincerely doubt that Puncture Blast will make the cut.  As you said, in most other decks, Skred will be the better card.

 Flame Jab is not comparable to Seismic Assault since it does half the damage and at sorcery speed instead of instant speed.  If Flame Jab were either 2 damage or instant speed, I would rate it higher.  At the moment, its uses are so limited, I think most people will find it underwhelming.

by khirareq at Fri, 07/25/2008 - 10:57
khirareq's picture

Oona's Grace should see play in any deck that runs Fathom Seer.  The combination of the two is especially powerful.  I could also see this played in Storm Control as you mentioned, or Faerie Teachings, Mono-blue or Use Your Illusions, possibly Burnt Nemo.  If any card deserves a 4/5, it's this one.

Noggle Bandit is the first time Phantom Warrior has been printed at common.  It is much superior to Amrou Scouts and Skirk Shaman which both have seen play, and of course Infiltrator il-Kor is quite popular in Blinkdrifter and Fish type decks.

Puncture blast should take the place of skred from the get-go in many red decks.  Yes, skred is much cheaper and kills larger things, but it doesn't hit the face, which is why skred doesn't always see play in red decks now.

How is it bad to trade your mountain for their creature?  Is seismic assault bad?  Yeah, Flame Jab is no seismic assault, but it doesn't cost triple red either.

by cRUMMYdUMMY at Thu, 07/24/2008 - 21:56
cRUMMYdUMMY's picture

@ Anonymous

Thanks for the suggestion, next time I'll just note when it's not as vulnerable to removal then.

@ SpikeBoyM

 What said control decks would Oona's Grace be played in?  The only one I can imagine is Storm Control.  Dark Evo and Grimdrifter already have a ton of draw with Mulldrifter and Phyrexian Rager.

I did not realize Talara's Bane only discards creatures.  Okay, 1/5.

 Would Flame Jab be good in RDW?  Would RDW even have room for Flame Jab?  Doubtful.  Two mana and two cards to do two damage is horrid.  If it was instant speed, I would be inclined to agree that it would be useful, but it's not.

Puncture Blast is good, if you have the mana.  Chill to the Bone is probably the best black removal, if you have the mana.  Usually you don't.  3 damage for 3 mana is overcosted.  Especially with Lash Out and Incinerate around, I don't see decks dropping either to run Puncture Blast when most of the time you're going to kill something that doesnt have a toughness of 4 or greater.

 Wickerbough Elder is a four to cast for a 3/3.  That's really bad.  IF, and I stress, IF there is a target, then he is a five mana 4/4.  That's still worse than the likes of Crabapple Cohort, which has an easier ability to trigger and is larger for the same mana.  Scuzzback Marauders and several other 5 drops are just as good, if not better, with less conditional abilities.  As for being able to reliably grow him, I don't know how good the new auras will be since Shield of the Oversoul is the best of the series and that hardly sees any action.

 Noggle Bandit is slightly better Amrou Scouts, Infiltrator Il-Kor, or Skirk Shaman.  Those three cards are not played or hardly played at all.

by Anonymous (Unregistered) 24.224.99.5 (not verified) at Thu, 07/24/2008 - 12:26
Anonymous (Unregistered) 24.224.99.5's picture

good review quite informative so seeing the phrase it dies to removal every two cards did get old, especially considering most cards in pdc die to removal...its a fact of magic but shouldnt get counted against a card...i mean every non-black creature dies to terror.....but we still play nonblack creatures.

by cRUMMYdUMMY at Thu, 07/24/2008 - 12:27
cRUMMYdUMMY's picture

@ Anonymous

Thanks for the support.  I don't know if a deck built entirely around Eventide would work in Standard since they would rely heavily on the mimics and the auras.

@JMason

That's rather unfortunate, since that relegates Wickerbough Elder to the sideboard unless your deck decides to mainboard Elsewhere Flask or Chromatic Star to guarantee a target and makeup for the card disadvantage.

As for the conjugation, good catch!  Sometimes it skips my mind while I'm writing.  I will make a mental note of that for my next article.

by SpikeBoyM at Thu, 07/24/2008 - 14:31
SpikeBoyM's picture

I think you are being far too hard on a number of cards, and overvaluing a number of other cards. Starting with Oona's Grace- this card gives true control a late game plan and is a card I can't imagine not running in said control decks.  Talara's Bane is so so narrow, there is no point in even considering it for a sideboard slot.  I think you underrate Flame Jab and Puncture Blast.  Jab just turns late game lands into damage, which is very important in aggro decks.  Blast, on the other hand, is a other three mana instant that deals three damage, which is solid.  Similarly, it can function as a combat trick.  Wickerbough Elder is far from terrible, especially since you think the auras are going to be played.  I also think you undervalue Noggle Bandit as a 2/2 unblockable is good all on its own, without any help from an aura.

by JMason (Unregistered) 217.10.133.193 (not verified) at Thu, 07/24/2008 - 02:31
JMason (Unregistered) 217.10.133.193's picture

Seems like a thorough review.

Wickerbough Elder requires a target.

Please note that the possessive form of it does not take an apostrophe.

Great Review by Anonymous (Unregistered) 144.183.31.2 (not verified) at Thu, 07/24/2008 - 05:28
Anonymous (Unregistered) 144.183.31.2's picture

These types of articles are my favorite reads.  They keep me coming back each day to MTGO Traders to check for a new one.  Maybe next time you'll build a deck around some of the new cards?  Good job!