Nemesis - a Complete Review (red)

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==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
Five mana for a 5/1 that doesn't even hang around? That doesn't seem very good. Sure you can use the fade counters for damage, but that costs mana as well, and it could well be dead before you have the mana open again. It costs too much for normal creature decks, but maybe it'll work as a Triskellion replacement in Oath of Druid decks. I doubt it, though.

77. Arc Mage, 2R, Creature - Spellshaper 2/2, Uncommon 2R, Tap , Discard a card from your hand: Arc Mage deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.Terese Nielsen

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 3
Three mana for a 2/2 with a very nice ability should be very good, but Orcish Artillery is in sixth and that looks better in a traditional Sligh deck. I guess Arc Mage could be used as a fifth and sixth Artillery.

78. Bola Warrior, 1R, Creature - Spellshaper 1/1, Common R, Tap , Discard a card from your hand: Target creature can't block this turn.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
This could have been a strong card if its power and toughness measured up better to its casting cost. As it is, you just get a reusable ability, instead of an ok weenie with a potentially useful ability.

79. Downhill Charge, 2R, Instant, Common You may sacrifice a mountain instead of paying Downhill Charge's mana cost. Target creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the number of mountains you control.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
On one hand, this seems like a good kill card, but I'm not so sure how good this is likely to get. Trumpet Blast will usually do more damage as weenie decks won't have many lands out before they go for the kill. Any other deck would do better to just splash green for Might of Oaks. Playing with Downhill Charge also limits your use of Rishadan Port and the like, because every non-mountain land in your deck weakens the Charge.

80. Flame Rift, 1R, Sorcery, Common Flame Rift deals 4 damage to each player.Ben Thompson

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
It's just too limited. Maybe in some braindead light-you-up-like-a-christmas-tree deck, but without Fireblast, I don't think those are viable. At least not right now. This is stronger in multiplayer, but it gets no extra points for that, because it burns your teammates as well. Not a way to become popular, trust me.

81. Flowstone Crusher, 3RR, Creature - Hound 4/4, Common R: Flowstone Crusher gets +1/-1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 1
Flowstone creatures get another chance at becoming overwhelmingly popular. If they make it, I doubt it'll be because of this guy. Not that this is a bad card by itself, but red has better creatures, like Lightning Dragon, that don't have to make themselves vulnerable so they can do more damage.

82. Flowstone Overseer, 2RRR, Creature - Beast 4/4, Rare RR: Target creature gets +1/-1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 4
This, on the other hand, is quite a good attempt. Sure, it doesn't compare well to Masticore (1 more cc, no regenerate, isn't an artifact, requires heavy red), but it also has a few bonuses: it doesn't cost a card every upkeep, so it basically keeps your weenies off the board indefinitely. Also, it can be used to pump your own creatures. Still, Masticore is better, but it won't be that much longer before Urza rotates out.

83. Flowstone Slide, X2RR, Sorcery, Rare All creatures get +X/-X until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 4
The cost is way too much compared to Earthquake, but the idea is interesting at least.

84. Flowstone Strike, 1R, Instant, Common Target creature gets +1/-1 and gains haste until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
It's either a creature pumper or removal, but in either case it doesn't do nearly enough for the price.

85. Flowstone Surge, 1R, Enchantment, Uncommon Creatures you control get +1/-1.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 5
Red's version of Bad Moon, Crusade and Sunken City. On the plus side, it affects all your creatures. On the down side, you can only play with high toughness creatures, at least toughness 3, to prevent having to kill some of your own creatures if you draw more than one Surge. Not a terribly strong card, but great fun nonetheless: Crusade on a budget.

86. Flowstone Wall, 2R, Creature - Wall 0/6, Common R: Flowstone Wall gets +1/-1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 3
A mediocre wall.

87. Laccolith Grunt, 2R, Creature - Beast 2/2, Common Whenever Laccolith Grunt becomes blocked, you may have it deal damage equal to its power to target creature. If you do, Laccolith Grunt deals no combat damage this turn.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
When it comes down to it, you can always take the damage from this. It's a bit harder to block than a Grey Ogre, but anything this can kill when blocked should be easy enough to get rid of with a Shock.

88. Laccolith Rig, R, Enchant Creature, Common You may have enchanted creature deal damage equal to its power to target creature instead of dealing combat damage to creatures blocking it.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 5
I have a feeling the wording on this is way off, but taken at face value, this works quite well as creature control. Use it on something big and block with something small. Choose to have the big creature damage itself (after all, you control the enchantment, so you may determine where the damage goes) and your small creature survives. The big creature probably won't, though.

89. Laccolith Titan, 5RR, Creature - Beast 6/6, Rare Whenever Laccolith Titan becomes blocked, you may have it deal damage equal to its power to target creature. If you do, Laccolith Titan deals no combat damage this turn.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
You can't just let a 6/6 through to deal damage every time, so the ability will be useful more often on the Titan. On the other hand, a 6/6 doesn't often need an ability like this. Even if it gets blocked by a regenerator, you'd rather be able to trample over it than to pick off some weenie. Also, 7 mana is quite a lot. Even green can kill it for less with Desert Twister.

90. Laccolith Warrior, 2RR, Creature - Beast 3/3, Uncommon Whenever Laccolith Warrior becomes blocked, you may have it deal damage equal to its power to target creature. If you do, Laccolith Whelp deals no combat damage this turn.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
This guy is sortof in the middle. Too big to let through, but not big enough that you'd prefer trample on him. Still, 4 mana for a 3/3 is a notoriously unplayed set of creatures when it comes to tournaments.

91. Laccolith Whelp, R, Creature - Beast 1/1, Common Whenever Laccolith Whelp becomes blocked, you may have it deal damage equal to its power to target creature. If you do, Laccolith Whelp deals no combat damage this turn.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 3
This is the only Laccolith creature that might get played. It's a bit like a Mogg Fanatic in that it'll usually die to kill a weenie. It's not as good as the Fanatic, though. If your opponent just soaks up the damage, his weenies survive.

92. Mana Cache, 1RR, Enchantment, Rare At the end of each player's turn, put a charge counter on Mana Cache for each untapped land that player controls. Remove a charge counter from Mana Cache: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. Any player may play this ability but only during his or her turn before the end phase.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 5
It encourages opponents to tap out during their own turn, which is good, because you'll have less surprises to worry about. On the other hand, the effect isn't big enough to make your opponent desperate to tap out. Certain decks might have a real problem even using the charges on this, because they only give colorless mana, so it could sometimes be a good idea to leave the charges on until you have enough for a big X spell. That tactic is only going to work against certain decks, though, so it's probably not a card you can build a deck around. Too many decks can just ignore it. Fun in multiplayer, if only to see how many charges you can gather on this before someone takes the bait and uses them for a gigantic X spell.

93. Mogg Alarm, 1RR, Sorcery, Uncommon You may sacrifice two mountains instead of paying Mogg Alarm's mana cost. Put two 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens into play.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
Extra fodder for Arms Dealer and Fodder Cannon. The alternate casting cost is a bit too steep for serious play, though.

94. Mogg Salvage, 2R, Instant, Uncommon If an opponent controls an island and you control a mountain, you may play Mogg Salvage without paying its mana cost. Destroy target artifact.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
It proves that WotC was really shaken up by combo winter if a year later they are still printing Academy hosers. It's nice to think so anyway. Maybe this will see play against blue versions of the artifact decks that seem to be quite popular right now.

95. Mogg Toady, 1R, Creature - Goblin 2/2, Common Mogg Toady can't attack unless you control more creatures than defending player does. Mogg Toady can't block unless you control more creatures than attacking player does.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
The drawback is usually no problem, but when it is a problem, it can be an irritating one. Goblin Raider is a better choice.

96. Moggcatcher, 2RR, Creature - Mercenary 2/2, Rare 3, Tap : Search your library for a Goblin card and put that card into play. Then shuffle your library.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
Like the merfolk version, it's not very good. If you want to tutor for goblins, you're better off with Goblin Matron. Sure it can only be used once, but Moggcatcher could well be dead before you can use it at all. This card would be quite a bit nicer if Goblin Mutant was still in T2. But even then, I doubt it'd get played.

97. Rupture, 2R, Sorcery, Uncommon Sacrifice a creature. Rupture deals damage equal to that creature's power to each creature without flying and each player.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
This is only better than Earthquake if you want to get rid of some big nasties but don't have the mana for a big 'quake, yet you do have a big power creature that will die to the 'quake anyway. That's quite a narrow use. Earthquake is mostly used to get rid of a weenie swarm and most decks that use it are light on creatures, especially non-flying ones.

98. Seal of Fire, R, Enchantment, Common Sacrifice Seal of Fire: Seal of Fire deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

==> TOUR: 5 - FUN: 4
This is to Shock what Chain Lightning was to Lightning Bolt. Most of the time it's strictly worse, but Shock is so good that 8 copies of it are a good thing.

99. Shrieking Mogg, 1R, Creature - Goblin 1/1, Rare Haste When Shrieking Mogg comes into play, tap all other creatures.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
A tiny version of Thundermare. It's pretty useless, because you only get to do a free one damage with it before your opponent will untap and gets a free attack, because you have no blockers. It's a combo with Moggcatcher, though. Fetch Shrieking Mogg during your opponent's upkeep and he looses an attack, whereas you get a free unblocked one. It also makes a not very good combo with cards like Betrayal and Theft of Dreams. Tap your opponent's creatures to draw cards.

100. Stronghold Gambit, 1R, Sorcery, Rare Each player chooses a card in his or her hand. Then each player reveals his or her chosen card. The owner of the creature card revealed this way with the lowest converted mana cost puts that card into play. If two or more creature cards are tied for lowest cost, those cards are put into play.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
Most of the time, this will just be a gamble and gamblers never win. It might be an interesting sideboard choice for Sneak Attack decks against creatureless blue decks, but those aren't really viable right now. This is just a fun card.