|
|
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 |
A Complete Review of Legions (blue)30. Aven Envoy U CommonCreature - Bird Soldier 0/2 Flying ==> FUN: 1 Aven Envoy is just a more expensive Ornithopter. And Ornithopter wasn't exactly great. -- 31. Cephalid Pathmage 2U Common Creature - Cephalid Wizard 1/2 Cephalid Pathmage is unblockable. T, Sacrifice Cephalid Pathmage: Target creature is unblockable this turn. ==> FUN: 2 An unblockable 1/2 isn't going to make your opponent quake in his boots. The sacrifice ability can be pretty good if you're playing with big, strong, very blockable green stuff, but even then there are cheaper ways of giving evasion. -- 32. Chromeshell Crab 4U Rare Creature - Beast 3/3 Morph 4U When Chromeshell Crab is turned face up, you may exchange control of target creature you control and target creature an opponent controls. ==> FUN: 3 Fun if you're playing with dangerous creatures, like Force of Nature. Not only do you take one of your opponent's creatures, you also give him 8 damage per turn he probably won't be able to prevent. It's not a very workable tactic, but it should be good fun. Still, at ten mana total to pull off it's too expensive compared to cards like Legerdemain, which have a similar effect but cost much less. Chromeshell Crab can be reused if you manage to turn it face-down again, but if you chose your exchange wisely the first time, you shouldn't need to do it again. -- 33. Covert Operative 4U Common Creature - Wizard 3/2 Covert Operative is unblockable. ==> FUN: 2 A beatdown wizard? Mwah. Of course straight unblockable is better than flying, but flying usually does the trick as well. Consider that you can get an Air Elemental at the same price and Covert Operative doesn't look that great anymore. -- 34. Crookclaw Elder 5U Uncommon Creature - Bird Wizard 3/2 Flying Tap two untapped Birds you control: Draw a card. Tap two untapped Wizards you control: Target creature gains flying until end of turn. ==> FUN: 4 It looks like Bird decks are going to be very good at drawing cards. First Airborne Aid, now Crookclaw Elder. Getting a bunch of Birds in play isn't very hard if you use cards like Ordered Migration or Battle Screech. -- 35. Dermoplasm 2U Rare Creature - Shapeshifter 1/1 Flying Morph 2UU (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) When Dermoplasm is turned face up, you may put a creature card with morph from your hand into play face up. If you do, return Dermoplasm to its owners hand. ==> FUN: 2 When not used as a creature, Dermoplasm can be seen as a buyback sorcery for seven mana that allows you to put a creature with morph into play without payment. Without *further* payment anyway. Seven mana is pretty steep, although you can spread it out and get a big creature into play on turn four. I'd still rather use Quicksilver Amulet, though, because it's not vulnerable to a well-timed Shock and isn't limited to morph creatures only. The idea of a morphed creature that can morph into any morph creature you have is interesting, but for the execution it would have been better if the Dermoplasm could get a morph creature out of your deck into play (and then get itself shuffled into your deck). The extra options that would give you would make it worth the seven mana. -- 36. Dreamborn Muse 2UU Rare Creature - Spirit 2/2 At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player puts the top X cards from his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the number of cards in his or her hand. ==> FUN: 4 Milling an opponent is fun, especially if it's fast enough to do some serious damage to his or her deck. Ever since flashback and threshold, it's probably not a very strong tactic anymore, but Dreamborn Muse can still be fun. If you play it when your opponent has a full hand, he may be forced to empty it faster than he had planned. If you can follow it up with a Sunder, you can give you opponent a big problem. Not only does he have a full hand he needs to empty, he doesn't have any mana to do it with. A deck with Howling Mines and Dreamborn Muses should prove interesting as well, if you're careful to include ways to empty your hand (like Null Brooch) or ways to shuffle your graveyard into your library (like Gaea's Blessing). You'd better include some Counterspells as well or Dreamborn Muse is bound to become Shockbait. -- 37. Echo Tracer 2U Common Creature - Wizard 2/2 Morph 2U When Echo Tracer is turned face up, return target creature to its owner's hand. ==> FUN: 3 A useful combat trick to save one of your creatures or get rid of a dangerous attacker or blocker, if only for one turn. -- 38. Fugitive Wizard U Common Creature - Wizard 1/1 Many wizards came to the Riptide Project hoping to return home with answers. Most, however, wouldn't return home at all. In fact, most just ate vanilla ice cream. ==> FUN: 1 Yawn. The flavor text says it all: vanilla. It's pretty stupid too. Ice cream doesn't fit in a fantasy setting. *UPDATE* The rumored flavor text doesn't seem to be real, so never mind what I said about that. It's still a stupidly vanilla creature, though, unworthy of being a Magic the Gathering card. -- 39. Gempalm Sorcerer 2U Uncommon Creature - Wizard 2/2 Cycling 2U (2U, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) When you cycle Gempalm Sorcerer, all Wizards gain flying until end of turn. ==> FUN: 4 Most wizards aren't formidable enough to make them scary when they can't be blocked, but some have useful abilities that trigger when they deal combat damage to a player. Shadowmage Infiltrator is one of them, although he already has fear and doesn't needs flying as well. But Gempalm Sorcerer is an ok weenie with the potential of being a cantrip gamewinner. -- 40. Glintwing Invoker 4U Common Creature - Wizard Mutant 3/3 7U: Glintwing Invoker gets +3/+3 and gains flying until end of turn. The Mirari flares in his mind. ==> FUN: 2 A 3/3 for 5 mana is pretty bad and you can't count on its ability to make up for that, because 8 mana is very hard to reach. And if you do reach it, a 6/6 flier isn't that great anymore. -- 41. Keeneye Aven 3U Common Creature - Bird Soldier 2/3 Flying Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) ==> FUN: 3 Keeneye Aven is a bit on the expensive side, to make up for the cycling. The cycling isn't very useful, though, because a flying creature is almost always useful. You'd rarely want to cycle it away in the hopes of drawing something better. -- 42. Keeper of the Nine Gales 2U Rare Creature - Bird Wizard 1/2 Flying T, Tap two untapped Birds you control : Return target permanent to its owner's hand. You cannot fight the storm. ==> FUN: 3 Keeper of the Nine Gales tries to be this set's Tradewind Rider, but doesn't really succeed. Unlike Tradewind Rider, the Keeper is vulnerable to most red removal and it only works with birds, which limits the deckbuilding options a lot. Birds of Paradise are a good addition to such a deck, but there is no real replacement for Wall of Blossoms. -- 43. Master of the Veil 2UU Uncommon Creature - Wizard 2/3 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.) When Master of the Veil is turned face up, you may turn target creature with morph face down. ==> FUN: 3 Master of the Veil is a very sneaky morph hoser. If your opponent attacks with a face-down creature, you can block with a face-down Master of the Veil. If your opponent turns his creature face-up, you do the same, turning his creature face-down again, killing it in combat. Master of the Veil can also be used as a way to reuse morph abilities, but I haven't seen any yet that are worth reusing. Most are too subtle and rely on the element of surprise, something you'd lose this way. -- 44. Merchant of Secrets 2U Common Creature - Wizard 1/1 When Merchant of Secrets comes into play, draw a card. To scrape out a living in Aphetto, wizards are reduced to selling rumors, lies, forgeries, or - if they get desperate enough - the truth. ==> FUN: 2 Pyknite wasn't very good and Merchant of Secrets is basically the same card, only in a different color. A 1/1 just isn't useful enough to make it worth it. Only in cases where you need as many wizards in play as possible does Merchant of Secrets become an option and even then I'd rather have a more useful wizard. Drawing a card makes up for that a bit, but not enough. Blue has plenty of better card drawing -- 45. Mistform Seaswift 3U Common Creature - Illusion 3/1 Flying 1: Mistform Seaswift's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. Morph 1U (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 A flying creature with power three at a reasonable casting cost is a good deal. By itself, it can kill an opponent in seven turns, which puts the pressure on. The single point of toughness makes Mistform Seaswift vulnerable to all kinds of removal, though. The morph ability doesn't look very useful, except in cases where you're stuck on three lands or your opponent has a Prodigal Sorcerer in play. The Mistform ability will make it easier to fit Mistform Seaswift into a sliver deck. -- 46. Mistform Sliver 1U Common Creature - Sliver 1/1 All Slivers have "1: This creature's type becomes your choice in addition to its other types until end of turn." ==> FUN: 3 I like the subtle mistform ability and the fact that it's a sliver, but the combination is just a bit... odd. I can't see a good use for it, unless you want to play a deck that's half sliver deck and half some-other-creature-type deck. But such a deck would be less than optimal. You can't even use Mistform Sliver to protect your slivers from Extinction, because they'll remain slivers. The only possible use I can find is as a sideboard card in a sliver deck against creature-themed decks, making it no more than a hoser. -- 47. Mistform Ultimus 3U Rare Creature - Illusion Legend 3/3 Mistform Ultimus is every creature type (even if this card isn't in play). Mistform Ultimus may attack as though it weren't a wall. It may wear your face, but its mind is its own. ==> FUN: 4 A very interesting card. Useful if you're expecting to face a lot of creature theme deck, especially in multiplayer. But there's a downside as well. Mistform Ultimus is vulnerable to a lot of type-specific removal, like Word of Blasting. Mistform Ultimus goes well into a lot of theme decks, but in the end it's only a Hill Giant that happens to be the right creature type. -- 48. Mistform Wakecaster 4U Uncommon Creature - Illusion 2/3 Flying 1: Mistform Wakecaster's type becomes the creature type of your choice until end of turn. 2UU, T: Choose a creature type. The type of each creature you control becomes that type until end of turn. ==> FUN: 3 Mistform Wakecaster is a bit too expensive. The mass-mistform ability looks nifty, but it probably won't be all that useful in practice, leaving you with an expensive 2/3 flier. -- 49. Primoc Escapee 6U Uncommon Creature - Bird Beast 4/4 Flying Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card from your hand: Draw a card.) ==> FUN: 2 Air Elementals are good, but two extra mana just to add cycling isn't worth it. If Primoc Escapee wasn't so expensive, it wouldn't *need* cycling. -- 50. Riptide Director 2UU Rare Creature - Wizard 2/3 2UU, T: Draw a card for each Wizard you control. ==> FUN: 5 It's Archivist, only much much better! It's not vulnerable to Shocks and in a wizard deck your opponent has to deal with Riptide Director immediately or get overwhelmed by all the cards you're drawing from it. Even by itself, it's a Jayemdae Tome that can help out with blocking duties. -- 51. Riptide Mangler 1U Rare Creature - Beast 0/3 1U: Change Riptide Mangler's power to target creature's power. (It doesn't change back at end of turn) ==> FUN: 4 Riptide Mangler can become a dangerous creature under the right circumstances. Waiting for your opponent to play a big creature probably isn't the best plan, because the Mangler will still only have three toughness and no extra abilities like flying or trample. You could play with a few high-powered creatures yourself, but an even better idea is to use temporary creature enhancers, like Giant Growth and Might of Oaks. If you attack with a 2/2 and a 0/3 Mangler, you can Giant Growth the 2/2 and turn the Mangler into a surprise 5/3. -- 52. Shifting Sliver 3U Uncommon Creature - Sliver 2/2 Slivers can't be blocked except by other Slivers. Once the last few slivers the Riptide Project controlled were dead, there was nothing to keep the island from being completely overrun. ==> FUN: 3 In most cases, Shifting Sliver will make all your slivers unblockable. But where's the fun in that? Shifting Sliver is too much a kill-me-or-lose card, whereas I like slivers more for their tendency to stack their abilities on top of eachother, until the opponent is completely overwhelmed. -- 53. Synapse Sliver 4U Rare Creature - Sliver 3/3 Whenever a Sliver deals combat damage to a player, its controller may draw a card. "Species XR17 feeds upon the mental energies of its victims. This explains why the goblins remain unaffected." - Riptide Project researcher ==> FUN: 5 What can I say? Ophidian good - five Ophidians better! Synapse Sliver suffers a bit from the same problem as Shifting Sliver, that it's too good, but as long as your opponent can block all of your slivers, he'll be ok. -- 54. Voidmage Apprentice 1U Common Creature - Wizard 1/1 Morph 2UU (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) When Voidmage Apprentice is turned face up, counter target spell. ==> FUN: 3 You'll almost always want to play Voidmage Apprentice face-down, so its casting cost isn't really relevant. Although this may well be the strongest morph ability I've seen yet in Legions, seven mana total is a lot to counter a spell. In most cases, it'll cost you more mana to counter the spell than it cost your opponent to cast it. And what do you get in addition to the counter? A 2/2 that turns into a 1/1. -- 55. Wall of Deceit 1U Uncommon Creature - Wall 0/5 (Walls can't attack.) 3: Turn Wall of Deceit face down. 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: 3 It looks pretty original to have a creature which can morph back and forth, but it's the same principle as Walking Wall and some of the blue animateable walls. Not a bad card, though especially because you can attack with a 2/2 and if your opponent blocks with a 2/2, you can morph it into a 0/5 after damage is done, so your creature lives and your opponent's dies. -- 56. Warped Researcher 4U Uncommon Creature - Wizard Mutant 3/4 Whenever a player cycles a card, Warped Researcher gains flying until end of turn and can't be the target of spells or abilities this turn. ==> FUN: 4 With enough cycling cards, Warped Researcher is basically a 3/4 with flying and untargetability. At five mana that's reasonably costed. -- 57. Weaver of Lies 5UU Rare Creature - Beast 4/4 Morph 4U When Weaver of Lies is turned face up, turn any number of target creatures with morph other than Weaver of Lies face down. ==> FUN: 4 Weaver of Lies is another one of those morph creatures that you'd almost never want to pay the casting cost of. It can be a very nasty hoser if your opponent attacks with a morphies, pays the mana to turn them face-up and then loses them all because Weaver of Lies turns them all into vulnerable 2/2s again. It's even more fun if you're also playing with Voidmage Apprentice, giving you another chance to counter a spell. -- 58. Willbender 1U Uncommon Creature - Wizard 1/2 Morph 1U When Willbender is turned face up, change the target of target spell or ability with a single target. ==> FUN: 4 Willbender's existence is going to make it a lot more nerve-wracking to play targeted removal. That Shock could just end up killing one of your own creatures or you. I haven't had much luck with cards like Meddle in the past, but Willbender won't sit in your hand idly, it'll just be a 2/2 creature until you need the ability. |
Other Links |
|
