|
|
Casual Magic the Gathering is dedicated to the casual play of Magic the Gathering.  Magic the Gathering Cards Store Home Articles Magic Library Magic Shop Custom Cards Contact Us Links Submissions Newsletter |
Onslaught - a Complete Review (blue)Draw a card for each Bird in play. "We help our Southern Order comrades as much as we can. But the Cabal's insidious influence spreads, dividing our forces and leaving new arrivals to fend for themselves." - Commander Eesha ==> FUN: 4 Strong after an Ordered Migration or Battle Screech. -- 63. Annex 2UU, Enchant Land U You control enchanted land. Most refugees left their ancestral homes behind when they came to Otaria. A few decided to bring them along. ==> FUN: 4 Annex is cheaper than Conquer from Ice Age, which does the same thing. It's odd to see blue with a good land control card other than Confiscate. Annex is kind of a cross between Stone Rain and Rampant Growth, in that it reduces your opponent's resources and increases your own. Because it's an enchantment, it's more fragile, though. It should still be useful in mana intensive blue decks. Get an extra land and slow your opponent down at the same time. -- 64. Aphetto Alchemist 1U, Creature - Wizard 1/2 U T: Untap target artifact or creature. Morph U (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) He brews trouble. ==> FUN: 3 Morph brings a bit more life to this boring creature, but not much. -- 65. Aphetto Grifter 2U, Creature - Wizard 1/1 U Tap two untapped Wizards you control: Tap target permanent. Aphetto con artists started working in pairs to make it less likely they'd be the victims of con artists. ==> FUN: 2 Useful, but fragile. -- 66. Arcanis the Omnipotent 3UUU, Creature - Wizard Legend 3/4 R T: Draw three cards. 2UU: Return Arcanis the Omnipotent to its owner's hand. He has journeyed where none have been before. Now he returns to ensure that none follow. ==> FUN: 5 An Ancestral Recall every turn? Where do I sign up? Arcanis can even save itself from removal. What's not to like? Maybe Arcanis is a bit _too_ omnipotent for his own good. Once you get Arcanis in play without summoning sickness, you've as good as won the game from sheer card advantage. -- 67. Artificial Evolution U, Instant R Change the text of target spell or permanent by replacing all instances of one creature type with another. The new creature type can't be Legend or Wall. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.) ==> FUN: 2 Sneaky, but only useful as a hoser against the creature type-based decks that are certain to pop up after Onslaught becomes legal. I'm not completely sure if Artificial Evolution can be used to change a creature's creature type (is that part of the card text, strictly speaking?), but if wall isn't an option, it's probably not going to be worth it. -- 68. Ascending Aven 2UU, Creature - Bird Soldier 3/2 C Flying Ascending Aven may block only creatures with flying. Morph 2U (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) ==> FUN: 3 The blocking drawback makes it harder to use morph to good effect. -- 69. Aven Fateshaper 6U, Creature - Bird Wizard 4/5 U Flying When Aven Fateshaper comes into play, look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. 4U: Look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. ==> FUN: 3 Sage Owl on steroids. It's a strong ability if you have a way to reshuffle your library when you run out of good cards in the top four. Aven Fateshaper is a bit on the expensive side, but Onslaught seems to be a slow set so far. -- 70. Backslide 1U, Instant C Turn target creature with morph face down. Cycling U (U, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) Some things are better left unknown. ==> FUN: 1 Very apt flavor text. Backslide is probably just going to delay the inevitable, unless you can back it up with an Armageddon or something. -- 71. Blatant Thievery 4UUU, Sorcery R For each opponent, gain control of target permanent that player controls. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.) "I'll leave subtlety to the rich." ==> FUN: 3 In one-on-one games, Blatant Thievery is just a more expensive Confiscate. In multiplayer it could be devastating, getting you everybody's best permanent. That's why it'll probably get countered and if it doesn't you'll get ganged up on because you've managed to annoy all your opponents at the same time. Not usually a great idea. It'll be fun while it lasts, though: "Ok, I'll take your Verdant Force, your Gaea's Cradle and your Goblin Bombardment. Guess who's suddenly winning?" -- 72. Callous Oppressor 1UU, Creature - Cephalid 1/2 R You may choose not to untap Callous Oppressor during your untap step. As Callous Oppressor comes into play, an opponent chooses a creature type. T: Gain control of target creature that isn't of the chosen type as long as Callous Oppressor remains tapped. ==> FUN: 3 That's not going to be very useful against the theme decks that Onslaught is trying to create. -- 73. Chain of Vapor U, Instant U Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. Then that permanent'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. ==> FUN: 4 In the right situation, Chain of Vapor could end up clearing the table. You can even use it to rescue all of your non-land permanents from a Jokulhaups. -- 74. Choking Tethers 3U, Instant C Tap up to four target creatures. Cycling 1U (1U, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) When you cycle Choking Tethers, you may tap target creature. ==> FUN: 2 Too subtle to be strong. -- 75. Clone 3U, Creature - Clone 0/0 R As Clone comes into play, you may choose a creature in play. If you do, Clone comes into play as a copy of that creature. ==> FUN: 4 Fun card, but it's a reprint. Also, most of the cards worth copying these days are legends, which reduces the usefulness of Clone quite a bit. -- 76. Complicate 2U, Instant U Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3. Cycling 2U (2U, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) When you cycle Complicate, you may counter target spell unless its controller pays 1. ==> FUN: 3 Complicate is more expensive than Mana Leak, but there's always the chance of countering something big and drawing a card from it as well. I refer hard counters, though, because my opponents tend to end up with more lands than they know what to do with. -- 77. Crafty Pathmage 2U Creature - Wizard 1/1 C T: Target creature with power 2 or less is unblockable this turn. The most valuable commodity in the pits is a way out. ==> FUN: 2 A blue version of Dwarven Warriors. Blue has easier, cheaper and more reliable ways of giving creatures evasion. It's an obvious reprint, though, because it can be used on face-down creatures who can turn into something big after they've been made unblockable. -- 78. Crown of Ascension 1U, Enchant Creature C Enchanted creature has flying. Sacrifice Crown of Ascension: Enchanted creature and other creatures that share a creature type with it gain flying until end of turn. "Wisdom, clear my eyes." ==> FUN: 3 Crown of Ascension is pretty good, considering it's yet another Flight enchantment. Still, unless you're playing a theme deck that _isn't_ a bird theme deck, your chances aren't too good of getting much use out of the sacrificial ability. -- 79. Discombobulate 2UU, Instant U Counter target spell. Look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. "I said 'pick his brain,' not 'tear off his head.'" - Riptide Project researcher ==> FUN: 4 Discombobulate is a bit on the expensive side, but it should come in handy, especially if you're using plenty of cards that let you shuffle your library. The flavor text is funny. The name "Discombobobulate" is the strangest one I've seen yet. Is it the technical term for a lobotomy or is it some kind of pun? It contains the words "combo" and "disco", so I wouldn't rule it out. -- 80. Dispersing Orb 3UU, Enchantment U 3U, Sacrifice a permanent: Return target permanent to its owner's hand. "Like the seas, the AEther is fickle and ever-changing. If we can control one, we can master the other." - Riptide Project director ==> FUN: 2 Dispersing Orb is too hard to use. It takes a permanent and a lot of mana to bounce something that your opponent will just play again next turn anyway. It could come in handy if you have a lot of spare lands or a reusable token generator. -- 81. Disruptive Pitmage 2U, Creature - Wizard 1/1 C T: Counter target spell unless its controller pays 1. Morph U (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) "Show weakness to hide your strength." ==> FUN: 4 I'm one of those odd people who liked Disruptive Student, but any attempt at making a deck with them has failed so far. Disruptive Pitmage, however, has more potential. Play it face down and as soon as your opponent taps out to cast something, you can disrupt it. After that, it's still an ordinary Disruptive Student, forcing your opponent to keep one land untapped at all times when casting spells. As soon as your opponent knows you're playing Disruptive Pitmage, every untapped morphed creature means he can't safely tap out to cast something. -- 82. Essence Fracture 3UU, Sorcery U Return two target creatures to their owners' hands. Cycling 2U (2U, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) "Shaping reality is simply a matter of knowing where to apply pressure." - Ixidor, reality sculptor ==> FUN: 1 That can't be right. Five mana for the same effect as Undo from Visions is a bit much. The cycling doesn't make up for it. Maybe there's an additional cycling effect missing, like an Unsummon. Even then, it wouldn't be worth it. -- 83. Fleeting Aven 1UU, Creature - Bird Wizard 2/2 U Flying Whenever a player cycles a card, return Fleeting Aven to its owner's hand. "Don't become so enthralled with magic that you forget you can fly without it." ==> FUN: 4 Fleeting Aven is a nice, solid weenie, but the returning to hand is a mixed blessing. You're obviously going to play plenty of cycling cards yourself, so you can save Fleeting Aven if you need to. On the other hand, if your opponent plays even a few cycling cards, you'll be recasting it every other turn, tieing up your mana supply. -- 84. Future Sight 2UUU, Enchantment R Play with the top card of your library revealed. You may play the top card of your library as though it were in your hand. "My past holds only pain and loss. I will conquer it by creating the perfect future." - Ixidor, reality sculptor ==> FUN: 5 At first sight, I figured Future Sight just boiled down to "draw a card", but then I realized my mistake. It's more like a personal Howling Mine that keeps on howling until you run out of mana or landdrops. Sadly, I don't think it's possible to cycle cards from the top of your library because that doesn't involve playing them, but Future Sight can still be used to create a potent deck. You don't even need to add Explorations and Birds of Paradise to help you play as many of the revealed cards as possible, you can just add Future Sight to a blue weenie deck and you're in business. The Future Sight will allow you to play an almost guaranteed extra land each turn and one or two weenies, which should be plenty of cardadvantage to overwhelm most opponents after a few turns. Just make sure not to add too many expensive spells or situational ones, like counterspells. -- 85. Ghosthelm Courier 2U, Creature - Wizard 2/1 U You may choose not to untap Ghosthelm Courier during your untap step. 2U, T: As long as Ghosthelm Courier remains tapped, target Wizard gets +2/+2 and can't be the target of spells or abilities. ==> FUN: 2 Ghosthelm Courier is eerily similar to Pearlspear Courier. On one hand, the untargetability is more useful than not tapping to attack, but on the other hand, wizards tend to be utility creatures, so the +2/+2 isn't as useful. It's a good card to give a wizard deck some much needed oomph, but I won't be adding wizards to a normal deck just to get some use out of Ghosthelm Courier. -- 86. Graxiplon 5U, Creature - Beast 3/4 U Graxiplon is unblockable unless defending player controls three or more creatures that share a creature type. "Attempts to revive this ancient species have not been entirely successful, but results indicate potential for future development." - Riptide Project researcher ==> FUN: 1 Way overcosted, even if it is usually unblockable. -- 87. Imagecrafter U, Creature - Wizard 1/1 C T: Choose a creature type other than Legend or Wall. Target creature's type becomes that type until end of turn. When Otarians learned not to trust wizards, the wizards learned to adapt. ==> FUN: 4 What Invasion block did to creature color, Onslaught seems to be doing to creature type. Imagecrafter looks like it offers some fun possibilities, but it may not be worth the effort. Most creature-specific effects just give +1/+1 or some ability to all creatures of that type. Is it really worth it to add Imagecrafter to a deck with Lord of Atlantis if you could just use only merfolk to begin with? Well, you could use it to change Lord of Atlantis to a merfolk, which he should have been to begin with, so he gets his own bonus. You could add a Crystalline Sliver so you can make your creatures untargetable, but that starts to water down your deck quite a bit. Maybe Imagecrafter is better off in a deck with Engineered Plague. -- 88. Information Dealer 1U, Creature - Wizard 1/1 C T: Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of Wizards in play, then put them back in any order. "One wizard is a suspect. Two wizards are a conspiracy." - Elvish refugee ==> FUN: 4 I wonder if my sudden headache has anything to do with that sledgehammer the Wizards of the Coast design team is using to beat the "make creature theme decks" message into my head. -- 89. Ixidor, Reality Sculptor 3UU, Creature - Wizard Legend 3/4 R Face-down creatures get +1/+1. 2U: Turn target face-down creature face up. "Reality has exiled me. I am no longer bound by its laws." ==> FUN: 4 The blue morph creatures we've seen so far haven't been all that strong power-wise, so it makes sense that blue gets the lord of the face-down creatures. Ixidor's other ability could be very useful to avoid huge morph costs and get big creatures into play cheaply. Also, note that Ixidor gives blue the ability to get any morph creature into play with only blue mana. It's a risky strategy, though. If Ixidor dies, you'll be stuck playing 2/2s until you find another one. -- 90. Ixidor's Will 2U, Instant C Counter target spell unless its controller pays 2 for each Wizard in play. "Some dreams should not come to be." ==> FUN: 1 Only useful in a wizard deck and even then I'd rather have Counterspell, because it's cheaper. Ixidor's Will's only upside is that it's splashable. But, considering most wizards are blue anyway, that's not really an issue. -- 91. Mage's Guile 1U, Instant C Target creature can't be the target of spells or abilities this turn. Cycling U (U, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) "Next time, don't bother." ==> FUN: 2 Mage's Guile resembles Confound. The effect is a bit stronger, because Mage's Guile can "counter" abilities as well and prevents further targeting until end of turn, but Confound is a cantrip. The only downside to Confound is that it's a dead card if your opponent isn't playing targeted creature spells, but what are the odds of that? -- 92. Meddle 1U, Instant U If target spell has only one target and that target is a creature, change that spell's target to another creature. Strength may win the fight, but style wins the crowd. ==> FUN: 3 A good choice for a reprint in such a creature-oriented set. With a bit of luck, you can use Meddle to save one of your creatures and kill one of your opponent's creatures at the same time. That sounds good in theory, but it's hard to pull off in practice. Meddle usually sits quietly in my hand while my opponent is beating me down. -- 93. Mistform Dreamer 2U, Creature - Illusion 2/1 C Flying 1: Mistform Dreamer's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. Devotion, the second myth of reality: The faithful are most hurt by the objects of their faith. ==> FUN: 3 A solid flyer that fits into any blue creature theme decks, because it can easily become a wizard or bird or whatever else is needed. You can also use it to annoy opposing theme decks by changing into a a goblin when your opponent has a Goblin King in play. -- 94. Mistform Mask 1U, Enchant Creature C 1: Enchanted creature's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. Trust, the fifth myth of reality: Every truth holds the seed of betrayal. ==> FUN: 1 There's not much point to Mistform Mask, except using it as a kind of Pacifism by turning the enchanted creature into a wall. Mistform Mask isn't flexible enough, because it can only affect the enchanted creature. Unnatural Selection is almost strictly better, as long as you don't want to turn any creature into a wall. -- 95. Mistform Mutant 4UU, Creature - Illusion Mutant 3/4 U 1U: Choose a creature type other than Legend or Wall. Target creature's type becomes that type until end of turn. Familiarity, the first myth of reality: What you know the best, you observe the least. ==> FUN: 2 Unnatural Selection is a better choice for serious messing with creature types. It's cheaper and harder to destroy. Mistform Mutant is too expensive for a 3/4 with an ability that's fun but not exactly strong most of the time. -- 96. Mistform Shrieker 3UU, Creature - Illusion 3/3 U Flying 1: Mistform Shrieker's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. Morph 3UU (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) ==> FUN: 3 Even with the two extra abilities, Mistform Shrieker can't make up for the -1/-1 compared to Air Elemental. -- 97. Mistform Skyreaver 5UU, Creature - Illusion 6/6 R Flying 1: Mistform Skyreaver's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. Conviction, the third myth of reality: Only those who seek the truth can be deceived. ==> FUN: 2 The Skyreaver is appropriately costed for what it does, but its abilities are a bit bland for a rare. On the other hand, I could be underestimating the mistform ability, especially if Onslaught is so focused on creature types. -- 98. Mistform Stalker 1U, Creature - Illusion 1/1 U 1: Mistform Stalker's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. 2UU: Mistform Stalker gets +2/+2 and gains flying until end of turn. ==> FUN: 2 The pumping ability is nice, but too expensive. You'll need to spend a lot of mana every turn just to get a 3/3 flyer. -- 99. Mistform Wall 2U, Creature - Illusion Wall 1/4 C (Walls can't attack.) 1: Mistform Wall's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. Fellowship, the fourth myth of reality: As the tides of war shift, so do loyalties. ==> FUN: 1 Horned Turtle is very similar to Mistform Wall, but it can attack each turn without needing mana to do it. -- 100. Nameless One 3U, Creature - Wizard Avatar */* U Nameless One's power and toughness are each equal to the number of Wizards in play. Morph 2U (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) "Open your mind to me." ==> FUN: 4 Just like Doubtless One, Nameless One gives a finisher to a deck type that needs one. Where clerics are mostly defensive, wizards are generally more focused on utility, so a bit of power is a good thing. The morph ability doesn't seem all that useful on Nameless One, but it can come in handy if you don't have any wizards in play and you need a a creature that's better than a simple 1/1. Or if you're stuck on three lands. -- 101. Peer Pressure 3U, Sorcery R Choose a creature type. If you control more creatures of that type than any other player, you gain control of all creatures of that type. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.) ==> FUN: 4 Very interesting. Peer Pressure puts the mistform ability into a different light. It's a bit situational, but if your opponent has, say, three clerics in play and you have four mistcloak creatures, you can turn them all into clerics and cast Peer Pressure to get control of all three of your opponent's clerics. It works even better with Unnatural Selection, so you can use it to turn your own creatures into a specific type and your opponent's best creatures as well. It'll cost a bit of mana, but it looks like fun. -- 102. Psychic Trance 2UU, Instant R Until end of turn, Wizards you control gain "T: Counter target spell." The Riptide Project was perhaps the only school devoted to preventing the spread of knowledge. ==> FUN: 3 Psychic Trance means you get to counter a spell if you cast Psychic Trance in response to it and have an untapped wizard available. If you have any more wizards ready, your opponent will probably not cast anything else that turn. That gives you a chance to cast spells without worrying about your opponent's counterspells or keeping mana open to play your own counters. -- 103. Quicksilver Dragon 4UU, Creature - Dragon 5/5 R Flying U: If target spell has only one target and that target is Quicksilver Dragon, change that spell's target to another creature. Morph 4U (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) ==> FUN: 4 A bigger, better version of Silver Wyvern. Quicksilver Dragon costs only one extra mana for +1/+2 and the ability to play it morphed. That'll be a bit of a gamble, though, because you're not likely to have enough mana available if your opponent tries to get rid of it immediately. You'd need three mana to play it face-down, five to turn it over and another one to change the spell's target. The only thing missing from Quicksilver Dragon that Silver Wyvern does have is the ability to redirect abilities targeted at it. -- 104. Read the Runes XU, Instant R Draw X cards. For each card drawn this way, discard a card from your hand unless you sacrifice a permanent. "The world is a puzzle, and the mind is its key." ==> FUN: 2 Read the Runes is no Stroke of Genius. Sure, you can use it to wash a bad hand to a better one and get rid of some excess lands in play at the same time. It's not a bad card an sich, but it's costly for what it does and blue usually gets better card drawing. -- 105. Reminisce 2U, Sorcery U Target player shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library. "Leave the door to the past even slightly ajar and it could be blown off its hinges." ==> FUN: 2 Reminisce is a good way to make most of Odyssey's mechanics (threshold, flashback) irrelevant, because they are graveyard-based. Since older cards can do the same thing cheaper, Reminisce should only be useful in type 2, if that. You can also use it on yourself as a mass Gaea's Blessing, but it's not a cantrip and you don't get to select the cards you want back into your library. -- 106. Riptide Biologist 1U, Creature - Wizard 1/1 C Protection from Beasts Morph 2U (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) "I gave it two choices: life in the lab or death in the hunt." ==> FUN: 1 Morphing a 2/2 into a 1/1 isn't going to scare anybody. Riptide Biologist is strictly a beast deck hoser and not a very good one at that. A 1/1 isn't going to stop green's big creatures, especially not if they have trample. -- 107. Riptide Chronologist 3UU, Creature - Wizard ?/? U U, Sacrifice Riptide Chronologist: Untap all creatures of the type of your choice. The wizard consulted the Riptide Project about how to further his research. He wasn't prepared for what they told him. ==> FUN: 2 It's hard to rate Riptide Chronologist without knowing its power and toughness, but I think it's safe to assume it's not going to be a 5/5 or anything. The ability is useful, both as a combat trick and as a way to reuse utility creatures. But is it worth sacrificing an expensive creature for it? Probably not. Riptide Chronologist would have been much better as a 1/1 for U. -- 108. Riptide Entrancer 1UU, Creature - Wizard 1/1 R Whenever Riptide Entrancer deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice it. If you do, gain control of target creature that player controls. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.) Morph UU (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) ==> FUN: 4 No blue morph deck should be without a Riptide Entrancer, just to make your opponent agonize over which face-down creature to block. -- 109. Riptide Shapeshifter 3UU, Creature - Shapeshifter 3/3 U 2UU, Sacrifice Riptide Shapeshifter: Choose a creature type. Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card of that type. Put that card into play and shuffle the rest into your library. ==> FUN: 5 The ability is a bit expensive, but Riptide Shapeshifter can replace itself when killed, assuming you can afford to keep the mana open. For casual play, there's nothing like sacrificing your Riptide Shapeshifter and naming "elemental" to get your Verdant Force into play. Who needs green mana anyway? Play with Brainstorm to get any drawn Force back into your library. You don't even have to go out of color, as blue has plenty of good creatures, like Quicksilver Dragon. It's not even a rare, so getting four shouldn't be too hard. -- 110. Rummaging Wizard 3U, Creature - Wizard 2/2 U 2U: Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard. "I've got everything you'd ever need right here. Just give me some time to find it." ==> FUN: 2 A nice creature if you're playing plenty of flashback cards, but there are better ways of filling your graveyard, like Ambassador Laquatus. Rummaging Wizard allows you to skip extra land draws, increasing the quality of your draws, but it's expensive to use. -- 111. Sage Aven 3U, Creature - Bird Wizard 1/3 C Flying When Sage Aven comes into play, look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. From their mountain aeries, aven scholars see far more than the distant horizon. ==> FUN: 3 Unlike Sage Owl, Sage Aven is an effective blocker, as well as library manipulation. But is two extra toughness worth two extra mana? -- 112. Screaming Seahawk 4U, Creature - Bird 2/2 C Flying When Screaming Seahawk comes into play, you may search your library for a card named Screaming Seahawk, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library. ==> FUN: 3 Screaming Seahawk costs one more mana than Daru Cavalier. That's justified, because flying is more useful than first strike, especially on the attack. Still, five mana is a lot for a 2/2 flyer. Do you really want to pay 20 mana for four 2/2 flyers when you could just play a Quicksilver Dragon for one mana extra? I like the card in theory, but it's just too expensive for what it does. I wonder what the other colors' abilities will be. Hopefully green won't get a 2/2 with trample... -- 113. Sea's Claim U, Enchant Land C Enchanted land is an island. "My vengeance will drown my enemies as my storms drown the desert." - Ixidor, reality sculptor ==> FUN: 2 Lingering Mirage, without the cycling. Lingering Mirage was actually playable, because it made your islandwalkers unblockable and it could be used against nasty non-basic lands, like Tolarian Academy and Gaea's Cradle. Sea's Claim can do the same, but you can't cycle it if you don't need it, so there's a good chance it'll end up as a dead card. Also, I haven't seen any blue islandwalkers in Onslaught yet, so it's an odd set to put this card in. -- 114. Slipstream Eel 5UU, Creature - Beast 6/6 C Slipstream Eel can't attack unless defending player controls an island. Cycling 1U (1U, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) "It's a fine way to travel, if you don't mind the smell." ==> FUN: 2 Seven mana for a 6/6 is ok, but Slipstream Eel can't even attack unless you're lucky or you're playing with a card like Sea's Claim. It's a fine blocker, but I'd end up cycling it away most of the time. -- 115. Spy Network U, Instant C Look at target player's hand, the top card of that player's library, and any face-down creatures he or she controls. Look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. ==> FUN: 5 Spy Network doesn't do very much, but the amount of information it gets you is staggering. You'll know exactly what resources your opponent has, even after his next draw and you get the Sage Owl effect on your own library. That can really help, if you're desperate for another land or counterspell, depending on what you saw in your opponent's hand. It's even better if you have a way to shuffle your library. -- 116. Standardize UU, Instant R Choose a creature type other than Legend or Wall. Each creature's type becomes that type until end of turn. At that point, the wizards' argument got a lot uglier. ==> FUN: 4 Standardize is a narrow card, but it has potential. Cast a Natural Affinity to turn all lands into creatures and Standardize them into wizards, before you attack with your 30/30 Nameless One. Very stylish. -- 117. Supreme Inquisitor 3UU, Creature - Wizard Lord 1/3 R Tap five untapped Wizards you control: Search target player's library for up to five cards and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library. "It's hard to fight on an empty mind." ==> FUN: 5 I'm a bit torn about Supreme Inquisitor. On one hand it forces you to play a wizard deck, on the other hand it's a reusable Denying Winds. It's also vulnerable to a lot of removal, but since it can be used as soon as it comes into play, you're likely to get at least one use out of it, which should be pretty devastating to your opponent. -- 118. Trade Secrets 1UU, Sorcery R Target opponent draws two cards, then you draw up to four cards. That opponent may repeat this process as many times as he or she chooses. ==> FUN: 4 It's a good thing you can decide how many cards to draw or your opponent would just continue drawing until you ran out of cards. Trade Secrets is an odd card and I'm not sure how it will work in practice. There's always the risk that your opponent will keep drawing until he has a great hand. Sure, you're likely to have one as well by that time, but it changes the game to a contest of who has the best win cards in his deck and who can cast them first. Of course you can build your deck in such a way as to take advantage of this kind of situation. A Black Vice is an instant win if your opponent ends up with 20 cards in hand. Lots of flashback cards and creatures like Ashen Ghoul in your deck can help you make the most out of that kind of situation. But, if your opponent so much as expects tricks like that, he'll only let the effect happens once and you'll end up with a net advantage of two cards, which is about right for three mana. -- 119. Trickery Charm U, Instant C Choose one - Target creature gains flying until end of turn; or target creature's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn; or look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. ==> FUN: 4 Nice, but a little bit too subtle for my tastes. The first ability is useful to give you a surprise blocker or to get an attacker through unblocked. The second ability won't often be useful outside of the Onslaught block. The third ability is nice, but doesn't give card advantage. And if I really want the Sage Owl effect, I'd rather play Spy Network. -- 120. Voidmage Prodigy UU, Creature - Wizard 2/1 R UU, Sacrifice a Wizard: Counter target spell. Morph U (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) ==> FUN: 5 Suddenly, every wizard is a Daring Apprentice. It won't usually be worth playing Voidmage Prodigy face-down, because your opponent will already be worried about counterspells if you have UUU available. Still, it can be useful to play some other creature face-down and make your opponent think it's a Voidmage Prodigy, to draw out some removal. -- 121. Wheel and Deal 3U, Instant R Any number of target opponents each discards his or her hand and draws seven cards. Draw a card. ==> FUN: 2 Note that it says _opponents_. Sadly, Wheel and Deal is no new Wheel of Fortune. Except for special circumstances, it's never a good idea to cast Wheel and Deal. Your opponent will usually end up with more cards than he or she started with. And you're giving away threshold for free. Wheel and Deal combines well with cards like Megrim and Black Vice, but that's about it. -- 122. Words of Wind 2U, Enchantment R 1: The next time you would draw a card this turn, each player returns a permanent he or she controls to its owner's hand instead. "Be logical in all things. Do not allow instinct or passion to cloud your mind." - Volume II, The Book of Insight ==> FUN: 2 I wonder which Vulcan wrote that "Book of Insight". Words of Wind would be a lot better if you could pick your opponent's permanent to return to his or her hand. As it is, you can use it to save one of your creatures if it's about to be destroyed, if you have a cycling card available. You can also reuse creatures with comes-into-play abilities, but there are cheaper ways to do that. Unless you're drawing several cards each turn, your opponent will just return a land or a cheap permanent and barely be inconvenienced. Words of Wind and Stasis is a pretty good combo. |
Other Links |
|
