Planeshift - a Complete Review (blue)
20. Allied Strategies 4U Sorcery Target player draws a card for each basic land type among lands he or she controls. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
Drawing up to five cards is pretty good, but I can't really see any decks playing this. You're almost forced to play five color green with Harrows and that's a vulnerable basis for a tournament deck. Cards of this type are hard to get right. To be useful in tournaments, it should have a good effect when cast with just three different basic lands, yet still not have an overly powerful effect when cast for the full five. Allied Strategies also suffers because it's not an instant. ---
21. Arctic Merfolk 1U Creature - Merfolk 1/1 Kicker: Return a creature you control to its owner's hands. If you paid the kicker cost, Artic Merfolk comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
I've been meaning to make a list of all creatures in type two with a useful comes-into-play ability. Sadly, I haven't had time. Off the top of my head, I'd say there aren't that many good ones in type two right now. Only Uktabi Orangutan and Ravenous Rats spring to mind. Still, there are a lot of creatures with useful kicker abilities, so cards like Arctic Merfolk have potential. The kicker abilities do tend to put the creature over the four mana mark, though. With Armageddon, Blastoderm and Rising Waters as popular as they are right now, those kicker costs won't be paid reliably. A quick look at Sixth Edition gives a few other creatures with useful comes-into-play abilities: Staunch Defenders for 4 life, Sage Owl for a look at the top four cards of your library, Gravedigger for a Raise Dead effect and Goblin Recruiter to tutor for goblins. Nothing that works particularly well with Arctic Merfolk. ---
22. Confound 1U Instant Counter target spell that targets one or more creatures. Draw a card. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
A cantrip version of Intervene from the Urza block. I've played against Intervene in casual play and it was generally a pain to lose my bolts to it. I'm sure I'll be seeing Confound played against me as well. It's good enough that I wouldn't be surprised to see it played in sideboards at tournaments, but I can't really think of a good deck to put them in. Merfolk aren't very good in type two at the moment and Rising Waters generally prefers to use free counters and doesn't have a lot of creatures to protect. Maybe Nether-Go can use them to counter the inevitable Last Breaths and Scorching Lavas. ---
23. Dralunu's Pet 1UU Creature - Shapeshifter 2/2 Kicker 2B, discard a creature card from your hand. If you paid the kicker cost, Dralunu's Pet has flying and comes into play with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the discarded cards converted mana cost. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
Finally a good use for Polar Kraken. A 13/13 flyer for 6 mana is nothing to sneeze at. In type two, it can be used with the Avatars from Prophecy for a potential 10/10 flyer. That way, the Avatars have a chance to be useful even if you have no Pet in hand. ---
24. Ertai's Trickery U Instant Counter target spell if a kicker cost was paid for it. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
It's too limited to stand a chance. Only if a card with some devastating kicker cost pops up does it have a chance of seeing sideboard play. ---
25. Escape Routes 2U Enchantment 2U: Return target white or black creature you control to its owner's hand. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 5
It's probably too expensive a strategy for tournament play, but with Ravenous Rats and Staunch Defenders, it could be a good card. Strip your opponent's hand and get as much life as you want. Meanwhile, you can use Sunscape Battlemage to draw cards and get rid of flyers. On top of that, your creatures become extremely hard to kill as long as you have mana open. Outside type two, cards like Bone Shredder, Monk Realist and Monk Idealist give the deck enough meat to be very annoying to play against. It looks like quite a mana hog, though. ---
26. Gainsay 1U Instant Counter target blue spell. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
There isn't a lot of reason to put this in a sideboard, other than surprise value. The problem with that is, if you play blue, your opponent won't be surprised if you counter something. ---
27. Hunting Drake 4U Creature - Drake 2/2 Flying. When Hunting Drake comes into play, put target red or green creature on top of its owner's library. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
You can just use Hunting Drake as an expensive 2/2 flyer if your opponent isn't playing red or green, so it's a useful card in casual play and limited. I'm quite fond of Time Ebb, so I'll probably try this one out as well, but it doesn't do enough to make a difference in tournaments. ---
28. Planar Overlay 2U Sorcery Each player chooses a land he or she controls of each basic land type. Return those lands to their owner's hands. ==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 4
There's been speculation that this card is supposed to say "Return all other lands...", which would make sense, because as it's written, it would hose the Harrow-decks which a lot of cards in Invasion and Planeshift try to encourage. It would also fit the Global Ruin mould better. Still, I think that would make Planar Overlay too good. If that's the case, it'll definitely see play. As it is, I like it in casual play for a weird Solfatara deck I'm working on. Anything that has the potential to bounce more than one land is welcome in that deck. ---
29. Planeswalker's Mischief 2U Enchantment 3U: Target opponent reveals a card at random from his or her hand. If it's an Instant or Sorcery remove it from the game. While this card is removed from game you can play it as if it were in your hand without mana cost. If an X is in the casting cost X equals 0. At end of turn if you haven't played that card, return it to its owner's hand. Play this ability only any time you could play a sorcery. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
A nifty trick against burn and counterspell decks, but ultimately you're only forcing your opponent to play his or her instants and sorceries faster, just in case. Most decks don't run a lot of them, so getting one on the activation is just a matter of luck. ---
30. Rushing River 2U Instant Kicker: sacrifice a land. Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. If you paid the kicker cost, return another target nonland permanent to its owners hand. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
The beauty of Boomerang is that it's never useless. You can always use it to bounce a land to stall your opponent. Rushing River doesn't have that option. That doesn't make it a bad card, but with Wash Out available, I don't see much reason to play it. ---
31. Sea Snidd 4U Creature - Beast 3/3 T: Target land's type becomes the basic land type of your choice until end of turn. ==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 3
You generally don't want to pay five mana for a 3/3 and then tap it every turn to deny your opponent a specific mana color. By the time you can cast Sea Snidd, it probably won't do any good anymore anyway. It can help when you're casting Allied Strategies or Planar Overlay, but Dream Thrush is a better option. ---
32. Shifting Sky 2U Enchantment As Shifting Sky comes into play, choose a color. All nonland permanents are the chosen color. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 5
Reap decks get a nice boost. Out with the laces and in with Shifting Sky. There are plenty of other possibilities as well, like Anarchy for a board clearer, Light of Day for defense and Wash Out just to see your opponent's face. I can't think of any tournament worthy combos offhand, but just because I can't doesn't mean there aren't any. ---
33. Sisay's Ingenuity U Enchant Creature When Sisay's Ingenuity comes into play, draw a card. Enchanted creature has "2U: Target creature becomes the color of your choice until end of turn." ==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 2
Although it's a cantrip, it's by no means sure you'll get to draw the card. If the creature is destroyed in response, you can wave that card goodbye. As such, it's risky to use it as a cantrip with a minor beneficial ability like protecting creatures from black removal. ---
34. Sleeping Potion 1U Enchant Creature When Sleeping Potion comes into play, tap enchanted creature. Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step. When enchanted creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice Sleeping Potion. ==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 1
Another card in the tradition of Thirst and Dehydration. I can't really see a good reason to play such a risky card. Even in limited there are just too many ways to target a creature to make this reliable removal. ---
35. Stormscape Battlemage 2U Creature - Wizard 2/2 Kicker W and/or 2B. When Stormscape Battlemage comes into play, if you paid the kicker W cost, you gain 3 life. When Stormscape Battlemage comes into play, if you paid the kicker 2B cost, destroy target nonblack creature. That creature can't be regenerated. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
This one isn't nearly as nice as the white version. Sure, you can kill a creature with it, but the white one had a potential 4 for 1 card advantage (a 2/2 creature, a destroyed flyer and 2 cards drawn). This one only has 2 for 1. The lifegain isn't enough to play it either, because Venerable Monk is rarely played and it has the lifegain for free. ---
36. Stormscape Familiar 1U Creature - Bird 1/1 White spells and black spells you play cost 1 less to play. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
A bird without flying? That seems wrong, it probably has flying or a different creature type. If it has flying, the rating will go up a notch. A 1/1 is too easy to get rid of compared to a 0/3 or a non-creature artifact like the Medallions. With flying, it'd at least be a useful attacker. ---
37. Sunken Hope 3UU Enchantment At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player returns a creature he or she controls to its owner's hand. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 5
I like Umbilicus and this card looks like it's even more fun to play with. Umbilicus was too easy to opt out of by paying life or bouncing a spare land. It's a bit on the expensive side, though, so it probably won't get played. By itself, it's not enough creature control either, because it's easy enough to keep bouncing a cheap creature and recasting it each turn. With no Bone Shredder, Avalanche Riders or Wall of Blossoms, bouncing your own creatures could get expensive if you're using creatures like the Battlemages. ---
38. Waterspout Elemental 3UU Creature - Elemental 3/4 Kicker U. Flying. When Waterspout Elemental comes into play, if you paid the kicker cost, return all other creatures to their owner's hands and skip your next turn. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
The effect is rather good, but the drawback of losing a turn is a bit much. Unless you have something like Rising Waters in play to limit your opponent's ability to recast his or her creatures, those creatures will be back soon enough. And if you have Waters in play, how are you going to get enough mana to cast Waterspout Elemental anyway?
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