Planeshift - a Complete Review (red)
58. Caldera Kavu 2R Creature - Kavu 2/2 1B: Caldera Kavu gets +1/+1 until end of turn G: Caldera Kavu becomes the color of your choice until end of turn. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
A nice little creature, which is costed just about right. Still, it doesn't really stand out as anything I'd use. Unless I'm making a Kavu theme deck, off course. ---
59. Deadapult 2R Enchantment R, sacrifice a Zombie: Deadapult deals 2 damage to target creature or player. ==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 3
I'm probably not the only one who thinks this card should be called Zombie Bombardment. Turning all your zombies into Shocks does look quite useful, especially with Lord of the Undead to get the zombies back from the graveyard. There aren't enough cheap zombies in current type two to make it a playable card, but in extended with Sarcomancy, Carnophage, Pyre Zombie, Shivan Zombie and probably some more cheap zombies, it could work as a finisher or just as creature removal. It'd make blocking zombies a lot more dangerous. Probably not a tier 1 deck, but possibly worth testing. ---
60. Flametongue Kavu 3R Creature - Kavu 4/2 When Flametongue Kavu comes into play, it deals 4 damage to target creature. ==> TOUR: 5 - FUN: 4
There's very little not to like about this guy. A 4/2 for four mana is just about par for the course, but you also get some very solid creature removal in the bargain. Sure, the downside is that you'll have trouble casting it when your opponent has no creatures and the 2 toughness makes it Shock-bait, but in type two, creatureless decks are rare enough to make it worth the risk. I think Fires will like this card, even though I'm not sure what it would take out. ---
61. Goblin Game 5RR Sorcery Each player hides at least one object, then all players reveal them simultaneously. Each player loses life equal to the number of objects he or she revealed. The player who revealed the fewest objects then loses half his or her life, rounded up. If two or more players are tied for fewest, each loses half his or her life, rounded up. ==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 3
If any card makes me doubt these spoilers, this is it. As someone pointed out, it looks like an Unglued reject. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but the wording on this card is pretty iffy. What constitutes an "object"? If I reveal two pennies, three beads and a piece of pocket lint, how many objects have I revealed? The pocket lint could have gotten there by accident. Similarly, if I hide five tiny beads, but lose one before revealing them, does it count as five or four? I guess this wording avoids the problem with players writing down numbers and pulling silly stunts like claiming their 6 is a 9 or something. Still, it's a wacky card. If you're willing to pay 10 life, your opponent will lose at least 11 life and possibly more (assuming they're still at 20 when you cast it). For 7 mana, that's not bad at all, but a big problem this card has is that it becomes less effective as your opponent's life total gets lower. When you get to seven mana, you've usually had plenty of time to get your opponent down low enough for normal burn to be just as effective, if not more. ---
62. Implode 4R Sorcery Destroy target land. Draw a card. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
I'm a big fan of Rain of Salt (4RR: destroy two lands) in land destruction decks and Implode, although not as destructive, will make a good addition. If nothing else, it'll get me my Rains of Salt faster. Of course, 5 mana is a bit much for tournaments. Sure, Fires could probably run it, but why bother when you can cast a burst instead and win immediately? With Devastate, Frenzied Tilling and now Implode, land destruction has plenty of tools available, they're just too expensive. ---
63. Insolence 2R Enchant Creature Whenever enchanted creature becomes tapped, Insolence deals 2 damage to that creature's controller. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
It's almost the opposite from Mercadian Masques' Insubordination. Unless you're playing with creature tappers like Rhystic Deluge or Flood, it's just a red card that tries to be Arrest, but is too easy to get out of to be useful removal. Compare it with Betrayal, which cost only U and instead of doing two damage per tap, which is often easy to ignore, it replaced itself on the first tap and everything else was bonus. ---
64. Kavu Recluse 2R Creature - Kavu 2/2 T: Target land becomes a Forest until end of turn. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
The Forest version of Slimy Kavu. Nothing special and not really worth playing with unless you're using a good anti-Forest card. None spring to mind right now, but I'm sure there are a few. ---
65. Keldon Mantle 1R Enchant Creature B: Regenerate enchanted creature. R: Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn. G: Enchanted Creature gains trample until end of turn. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
Regeneration and Firebreathing in one card looks interesting and will help to prevent 2-for-1 card disadvantage with at least some removal. The trample will help against opposing regenerators. Still, in the end it's too mana intensive and the extra abilities in different colors only make that problem worse. ---
66. Magma Burst 3R Instant Kicker: sacrifice two lands. Magma Burst deals 3 damage to target creature or player. If you paid the kicker cost, Magma burst deals 3 damage to another creature or player. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
Four mana is a bit much to pay for a mere three damage. The kicker is useful, but costly. If you could kill a dragon legend with this, it could just be worth it, but the restriction of needing a second target makes that impossible. The restriction is probably there to avoid the "six to the head" as a finisher, but it stops the card from being useful against a few of the big creatures red has no good answer to right now. ---
67. Mire Kavu 3R Creature - Kavu 3/2 Mire Kavu gets +1/+1 as long as you control a swamp. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
In the right deck, it's a cheap 4/3. It's not nearly as good as Kird Ape and any deck playing with swamps would pick the new Juzam, Phyrexian Zombie before this guy, not just because it's bigger, but also because it's harder to get rid of. ---
68. Mogg Jailer 1R Creature - Goblin 2/2 Mogg Jailer can't attack if defending player controls an untapped creature with power 2 or less. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
Red has a few 2/2s for 1R with blocking restrictions and they're playable in the right deck, but nothing spectacular. This guy won't even be able to attack if the opponent has a wall out and attacking tends to be more important than blocking when it comes to winning games. ---
69. Mogg Sentry R Creature - Goblin 1/1 Whenever an opponent plays a spell, Mog Sentry gets +2/+2 until end of turn. ==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
In general, it's not that good as an attacking creature, simply because it's a 1/1 and it's no big deal to block it or let it through. Even if you're forced to play something like a Giant Growth or Shock during combat, you can just soak up the damage from the Mogg Sentry for a turn. ---
70. Planeswalker's Fury 2R Enchantment 3R: Target opponent reveals a card at random from his or her hand. Planeswalker's Fury deals damage equal to that card's converted mana cost to that player. Play this ability only any time you could play a sorcery. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
Planeswalker's Fury has the potential to do a lot of damage over time and, unlike the white lifegaining one, damage can't be ignored. The opponent will end up forced to empty his hand as soon as possible. That could be risky, though. If he casts the cheap spells first, there's a greater chance of the more expensive spells being selected. Playing lands has the same problem, but how can you get the expensive spells out of your hands, unless you play lands? An interesting dilemma. ---
71. Singe R Instant Singe deals 1 damage to target creature. That creature becomes black until end of turn. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
Just like in a cartoon, if you burn yourself, you turn black, but only until the next scene. Singe deserves a bonus fun point for that. Strategically speaking, Singe has the double use of destroying creatures like elves and birds while also being able to protect your own creatures from black removal. Assuming, of course, that they can withstand one point of damage. ---
72. Slingshot Goblin 2R Creature - Goblin 2/2 R, T: Slingshot Goblin deals 2 damage to target blue creature. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
It's a better card than Dwarven Sea Clan, but that's not saying too much. I can't really think of any blue creatures with two toughness that are played a lot at the moment, but it can at least get rid of Waterfront Bouncer and Rishadan Airship. ---
73. Strafe R Sorcery Strafe deals 3 damage to target nonred creature. ==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 1
Strafe suffers more from being a sorcery than from not being able to target red creatures. As an instant, it would have at least helped against Chimeric Idol. It'll probably get played, though. With all the downsides, it's still usually a Lightning Bolt. ---
74. Tahngarth, Talruum Hero 3RR Creature - Minotaur Legend 4/4 Attacking doesn't cause Tahngarth, Talruum Hero to tap. 1R, T: Tahngarth deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power to Tahngarth. ==> TOUR: 5 - FUN: 5
Where have we seen five mana for a 4/4 nontapper before? Right, on Serra Angel. Sure, Tahngarth doesn't fly, but what he does do is ping away almost every opposing creature without stopping his attacks. He can even take out blockers with 8 toughness by using his ability at the right time during combat. Fires will love him, but any deck that can afford to pay 3RR will probably seriously consider playing him. Even in a control deck it's a great way to get rid of some annoying weenies. ---
75. Thunderscape Battlemage 2R Creature - Wizard 2/2 Kicker 1B and/or G. When Thunderscape Battlemage comes into play, if you paid the 1B kicker cost, target player discards two cards from his or her hand. When Thunderscape Battlemage comes into play, if you paid the G kicker cost, destroy target enchantment. ==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 5
The spoiler I have claims the casting cost is 2RR, but that's probably a misprint, because all the other ones are only 3 mana. I'll just assume it costs 2R. Both abilities are cheap to use and generally useful. For six mana in total, you can make your opponent discard two cards, destroy one of his enchantments and get a 2/2 to boot. That's a potential 4 for 1, for less mana than the white one. It's also a red card that can destroy enchantments, which is rare. Of course, it needs green mana to do it, but that's not too big a problem. It's possible this will get played in Fires decks as an enchantment monkey, but it probably isn't fast enough compared to something like Wax/Wane or Reverent Silence. ---
76. Thunderscape Familiar 1R Creature - Kavu 1/1 First Strike. Black spells and green spells you play cost 1 less to play. ==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
Black and green are the two colors that can make their own extra mana if they need it, so Thunderscape Familiar is less likely to be useful. First strike isn't that good on a 1/1 either, look at Tundra Wolves.
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