Invasion - a Complete Review (red)

• intro
• white
• blue
• black
• red
• green
• multicolor
• split
• artifact
• land

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
Raging Spirit. It's mostly just a Hill Giant, nothing special. The ability would fit better on a green creature, because it could protect against Perish.

137. Bend or Break, 3R, Sorcery, Rare Each player separates all land cards he or she controls into two face-up piles. For each player, an opponent chooses a pile. Destroy all lands in that pile. Tap all lands in the other pile.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
I love the name, but the card itself is inferior to Armageddon. It doesn't disrupt enough to warrant playing with it. Maybe in a deck with few lands and a lot of artifact mana, but Armageddon would be better in such a deck anyway.

138. Breath of Darigaaz, 1R, Sorcery, Uncommon Kicker 2 (You may pay an additional 2 as you play this spell.) Breath of Darigaaz deals 1 damage to each creature without flying and each player. If you paid the kicker cost, Breath of Darigaaz deals 4 damage to each creature without flying and each player instead.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 4
A solid card. For two mana you get something like a Dry Spell, which can be useful against weenies. For four mana you get a 4 point Earthquake, which will kill most things you usually want to kill with an Earthquake anyway. The only thing it doesn't do is kill Blastoderms, which stops it from being a 5.

139. Callous Giant, 4RR, Creature - Giant 4/4, Rare If a source would deal 3 damage or less to Callous Giant, prevent that damage.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
A kind of Ogre Enforcer with a different wording to prevent rules nightmares. It's an interesting card, but nothing more than that.

140. Chaotic Strike, 1R, Instant, Uncommon Play Chaotic Strike only during combat after blockers are declared. Choose target creature and flip a coin. If you win the flip, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Draw a card.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 2
50% chance to have a possibility of killing a creature. It's not worth the risk, not even as a cantrip. You're better off playing with removal.

141. Collapsing Borders, 3R, Enchantment, Rare At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player gains 1 life for each basic land type among lands he or she controls. Then Collapsing Borders deals 3 damage to him or her.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 5
In the right deck, this could be a great card. I doubt such a deck would be viable, but for fun play, I'll definitely have to try making one. Use green/red with a tiny splash of the three other colors. Green land searchers get you the five basic lands out and red gets you the Collapsing Borders and land destruction. It should be possible to get to a situation where you're gaining two life a turn (from a red card!) while doing 3 damage to your opponent.

142. Crown of Flames, R, Enchant Creature, Common R: Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn. R: Return Crown of Flames to its owner's hand.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 2
Another reprint. It's nice in sealed, but that's all.

143. Firebrand Ranger, 1R, Creature - Soldier 2/1, Uncommon G, T: Put a basic land card from your hand into play.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
This looks like an attempt at a new Skyshroud Ranger, but by the time you can use this, it'll be turn three at least and probably more because you need two colors to cast and use it. By that time, you won't need the ability anymore unless you're playing a weird deck.

144. Ghitu Fire, XR, Sorcery, Rare You may play Ghitu Fire any time you could play an instant if you pay 2 more to play it. Ghitu Fire deals X damage to target creature or player.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 2
It certainly beats Blaze. This could see some play as a kill card. Serious minuses for making such a bland rare though. I hope I never pull one out of a pack.

145. Goblin Spy, R, Creature - Goblin 1/1, Uncommon Play with the top card of your library revealed.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 4
The ability is mostly detrimental, because after a while your opponent will know most of your hand and what use is it really to know what you're going to draw next? It combos a bit with cards like Song of Blood and ways to reshuffle your library, but I doubt those uses will be viable. Still, it could be fun to build a deck around. using Foresight and the new Foresight clone to shuffle your library when you don't like the card on top.

146. Halam Djinn, 5R, Creature - Djinn 6/5, Uncommon Haste (This creature may attack and T the turn it comes under your control.) Halam Djinn gets -2/-2 as long as red is the most common color among permanents or is tied for most common.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
An ok card, but the other Djinns so far have been better because they were harder to block. The extra power is good, but you really want something a little bit extra when you're casting a creature this big. A single Drudge Skeletons can block it indefinitely.

147. Hooded Kavu, 2R, Creature - Kavu 2/2, Common B: Hooded Kavu can't be blocked this turn except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
2/2s for 3 mana are rarely popular due to their vulnerability to Shocks and such. The ability is useful enough, but I still don't think it'll see play.

148. Kavu Aggressor, 2R, Creature - Kavu 3/2, Common Kicker 4 (You may pay an additional 4 as you play this spell.) Kavu Aggressor can't block. If you paid the kicker cost, Kavu Aggressor comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
A 3/2 for 3 mana is quite nice even if it can't block, but the kicker cost is ridiculous. An extra 4 mana for +1/+1 will never get paid in serious games. Even if you have 7 mana, you should have better things to do with it.

149. Kavu Monarch, 2RR, Creature - Kavu 3/3, Rare All Kavu have trample. Whenever another Kavu comes into play, put a +1/+1 counter on Kavu Monarch.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 4
A sort of reversed lord. It doesn't give +1/+1 to Kavu, it gets it from them. A 3/3 trampler is quite good for red and it'll probably get played just for that. So far most Kavu haven't been exceptionally strong, but they could still make a strong deck together.

150. Kavu Runner, 3RRR, Creature - Kavu 3/3, Uncommon Kavu Runner has haste as long as no opponent controls a white or blue creature. (It may attack and T the turn it comes under your control.)

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 1
That casting cost has to be wrong.

151. Kavu Scout, 2R, Creature - Kavu 0/2, Common Kavu Scout gets +1/+0 for each basic land type among lands you control.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
A 5/2 for 3 mana is nice, but it's too hard to get there and a 3/2 or 4/2 isn't worth the effort.

152. Lightning Dart, 1R, Instant, Uncommon Lightning Dart deals 1 damage to target creature. If that creature is white or blue, Lightning Dart deals 4 damage to that creature instead.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
Parch was a good card, but mainly because it could be played for a respectable 2 damage against anything, including players if I remember correctly. Lightning Dart isn't useful enough against non-blue, non-white opponents to take the place of Parch.

153. Loafing Giant, 4R, Creature - Giant 4/6, Rare Whenever Loafing Giant attacks or blocks, put the top card of your library into your graveyard. If that card is a land card, prevent all combat damage that Loafing Giant would deal this turn.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
Five mana for a 4/6 is costed about right, but the drawback is irritating and this is not exactly a fast beatdown creature.

154. Mages' Contest, 1RR, Instant, Rare You and target spell's controller bid life. You start the bidding with a high bid of 1. In turn order, each player may top the high bid. The bidding ends when the high bid stands. The highest bidder loses life equal to the high bid. If you win the bidding, counter that spell.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
A red counterspell. It's a great bluff card, but good opponents will know to let their spell go early if you have a significant life advantage.

155. Maniacal Rage, 1R, Enchant Creature, Common Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and can't block.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
Another reprint. It's a good way to get rid of a blocker in a pinch, but in the end it's a creature enchantment with no real hope of making it into a good deck.

156. Obliterate, 6RR, Sorcery, Rare Obliterate can't be countered. Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and lands. They can't be regenerated.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 5
Now *this* is a reset button. Except that it doesn't work on enchantments, of course. It might see some play in sideboard against permission decks, but for the most part, 8 mana is just too much to reliably cast.

157. Overload, R, Instant, Common Kicker 2 (You may pay an additional 2 as you play this spell.) Destroy target artifact if its converted mana cost is 2 or less. If you paid the kicker cost, destroy that artifact if its converted mana cost is 5 or less instead.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
This is an attempt at making a cheaper version of Shatter. The problem is that Shatter wasn't prohibitively expensive to begin with. Shatter's problem is that it's just too limited compared to Disenchant. This could see play in sideboards depending on the metagame, but I doubt it.

158. Pouncing Kavu, 1R, Creature - Kavu 1/1, Common Kicker 2R (You may pay an additional 2R as you play this spell.) First strike If you paid the kicker cost, Pouncing Kavu comes into player with two +1/+1 counters on it and has haste. (It may attack and T the turn it comes under your control.)

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
2 mana for a 1/1 with first strike or 5 mana for a 3/3 with first strike and haste. Neither option is very good.

159. Rage Weaver, 1R, Creature - Wizard 2/1, Uncommon 2: Target black or green creature gains haste until end of turn. (It may attack and T the turn it comes under your control.)

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
The ability is expensive and not good enough.

160. Rogue Kavu, 1R, Creature - Kavu 1/1, Common Whenever Rogue Kavu attacks alone, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 2
Interesting. It's no Jackal Pup, but in a burn deck, it could be a nice, cheap pressure creature.

161. Ruby Leech, 1R, Creature - Leech 2/2, Rare First strike Red spells you play cost R more to play.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 1
White gets better cards with no drawbacks, like Longbow Archer. In itself a solid creature, which will probably see play, but serious minuses for being rare.

162. Savage Offensive, 1R, Sorcery, Common Kicker G (You may pay an additional G as you play this spell.) Creatures you control gain first strike until end of turn. If you paid the kicker cost, they get +1/+1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
This would have been a good card as an instant. The surprise would have killed a few of your opponent's creatures. As it is, though, it's just another red card that discourages blocking. The kicker option is nice to have to give your creatures an extra punch, but it's not good enough.

163. Scarred Puma, R, Creature - Cat 2/1, Common Scarred Puma can't attack unless a black or green creature also attacks.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 3
Shouldn't that name be "Scared Puma", because it doesn't dare to attack on its own? Anyway, 1 mana for a 2/1 scream Jackal Pup, but don't make the mistake of trivializing the drawback. You not only need to have another creature to attack with this, but it has to be a specific color, so two Pumas won't be able to attack together like Mogg Flunkies can. This card reminds me a bit too much of Mogg Conscripts, which looked good as well, until I played with it.

164. Scorching Lava, 1R, Instant, Common Kicker R (You may pay an additional R as you play this spell.) Scorching Lava deals 2 damage to target creature or player. If you paid the kicker cost, that creature can't be regenerated this turn and if it would be put into a graveyard this turn, remove it from the game instead.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 3
It's no Incinerate, but it looks like it's the best thing red has against regenerators and other nasty stuff that doesn't want to stay dead. Two damage for two mana is playable enough for this to see use.

165. Searing Rays, 2R, Sorcery, Uncommon Choose a color. Searing Rays deals damage to each player equal to the number of creatures of that color that player controls.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
A kind of Price of Progress for creatures. It's just more situational. It only works well against mono-colored creature decks as long as you aren't playing a creature deck in the same color.

166. Shivan Emissary, 2R, Creature - Wizard 1/1, Uncommon Kicker 1B (You may pay an additional 1B as you play this spell.) When Shivan Emissary comes into play, if you paid the kicker cost, destroy target nonblack creature. It can't be regenerated.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 2
The new Bone Shredder. I much prefer Bone Shredder, but if graveyard decks become popular again (and they probably will, if only because of the white angel that reanimates and the new Living Death), this is probably the best option available in T2.

167. Shivan Harvest, 1R, Enchantment, Uncommon 1R, Sacrifice a creature: Destroy target nonbasic land.

==> TOUR: 5 - FUN: 5
What better way for a weenie deck to prevent your opponent from reaching a solid mana base? It's not a main deck card, it's a great sideboard option.

168. Skittish Kavu, 1R, Creature - Kavu 1/1, Uncommon Skittish Kavu gets +1/+1 as long as no opponent controls a white or blue creature.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
A 2/2 for 2 mana isn't good enough to take the risk of it being only a 1/1.

169. Skizzik, 3R, Creature - Elemental 5/3, Rare Kicker R (You may pay an additional R as you play this spell.) Trample; haste (This creature may attack and T the turn it comes under your control.) At end of turn, sacrifice Skizzik unless the kicker cost was paid.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 3
Yet another attempt at a new Ball Lightning. Because of the trample it's a pretty good attempt, but it's still no Ball Lightning. The kicker cost is cheap enough that you'll usually want to pay to keep it if you have the mana.

170. Slimy Kavu, 2R, Creature - Kavu 2/2, Common T: Target land becomes a swamp until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 4
Orcish Farmer, or very close to it anyway. The ability isn't worth it most of the time, unless you have swampwalkers. In fun play, there's great synergy between this and Spreading Algae, creating a 1 mana, reusable land destruction. Just add Icy Manipulators to tap the enchanted Swamp.

171. Stand or Fall, 3R, Enchantment, Rare At the beginning of your combat phase, separate all creatures defending player controls into two face-up piles. Only creatures in the pile of that player's choice may block this turn.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 2
Yet another red card to make blocking harder. It seems almost every set has a few of them, but so far I haven't seen any that were good enough to play.

172. Stun, 1R, Instant, Common Target creature can't block this turn. Draw a card.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 1
Another reprint. The ability isn't useful enough to warrant playing it, even though it's a cantrip.

173. Tectonic Instability, 2R, Enchantment, Rare Whenever a land comes into play, tap all lands controlled by its controller.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 3
Control decks will hate this card, because they like to keep their mana open and get a lot of land on the board, two things that don't go together with this card on the board.

174. Thunderscape Apprentice, R, Creature - Wizard 1/1, Common B, T: Target player loses 1 life. G, T: Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
A useful creature. There won't be any more Worship to worry about in T2, but life loss will still be better than damage.

175. Thunderscape Master, 2RR, Creature - Wizard 1/1, Rare BB, T: Target player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life. GG, T: Creatures you control get +2/+2 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
Like the other masters, the colored mana costs might be too prohibitive, but the effects are definitely strong.

176. Tribal Flames, 1R, Instant, Common Tribal Flames deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of basic land types among lands you control.

==> TOUR: 5 - FUN: 4
Look at it as a Kindle that gets big more easily. At the start of the game, getting one or two damage from this is probably enough and later on it could easily get up to 4 or 5 if you've made your deck right. The difference between this card and some of the other ones with the same mechanic is that this one becomes useful with only 2 different lands out, good with 3 different lands and great with more. You don't need to have all five lands out to make it worth playing with this.

177. Turf Wound, 2R, Instant, Common Target player can't play any land cards this turn. Draw a card.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 4
Reprint of Solfatara. I'm actually happy about this. It's not a very good card, but I have a deck with Solfatara's, Boomerangs and other cards to slow my opponent's land development down. Howling Mines make sure I get plenty of this type of card to keep my opponent at only a few lands. More Solfatara's are always welcome. I'm afraid it still won't be a very good deck, but I don't care as long as it's fun.

178. Urza's Rage, 2R, Instant, Rare Kicker 8R (You may pay an additional 8R as you play this spell.) Urza's Rage can't be countered by spells or abilities. Urza's Rage deals 3 damage to target creature or player. If you paid the kicker cost, instead Urza's Rage deals 10 damage to that creature or player and the damage can't be prevented.

==> TOUR: 5 - FUN: 3
Three uncounterable damage for 3 mana is good enough to see play. The kicker probably rarely will because it's so expensive, but it gets around Circles of Protection as well, so who knows. Still, it's a direct damage card in the rare slot, which is a bit irritating.

179. Viashino Grappler, 2R, Creature - Viashino 3/1, Common G: Viashino Grappler gains trample until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 1
If you're playing green anyway, you might as well get a better creature to begin with.

180. Zap, 2R, Instant, Common Zap deals 1 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
Flare revisited. Flare didn't see any play that I know of, so I doubt this will either.