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A Complete Review of Scourge (red)


82. Bonethorn Valesk 4R common
Creature - Beast 4/2
Whenever a creature is turned face up, Bonethorn Valesk deals 1 damage to target creature or player.

==> FUN: 3
With two toughness, Bonethorn Valesk is too easy to kill to be worth five mana. As interesting as the triggered ability is, Bonethorn Valesk should have been more durable or cheaper.

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83. Carbonize 2R uncommon
Instant
Carbonize deals 3 damage to target creature or player. That creature can't be regenerated this turn. If that creature would be put into the graveyard this turn, remove it from the game instead.

==> FUN: 3
Because I play in an environment where Lightning Bolts are still legal, none of the new burn will ever be good, but Carbonize is still pretty solid, if expensive. With all the graveyard manipulation going on these days, removing creatures from the game is often very useful.

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84. Chartooth Cougar 5R common
Creature - Cat Beast 4/4
R: Chartooth Cougar gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Mountaincycling 2

==> FUN: 3
At the six mana bracket, a 4/4 with firebreathing isn't all that special. Shivan Dragon costs only six mana and is a 5/5 with firebreathing and flying. The cycling is useful early in the game, though, and even if there are better creatures, Chartooth Cougar should be able to do the job nicely.

--
85. Decree of Annihilation 8RR rare
Sorcery
Remove all artifacts, creatures, lands, graveyards, and hands from the game.
Cycling 5RR. When you cycle Decree of Annihilation, destroy all lands.

==> FUN: 4
Decree of Annihilation is a bit overkill. It removes everything from the game, except enchantments and libraries. At a cost of 10 mana, though, that means it'll cost you a lot of your own resources as well (lands and artifact mana). It's not my favorite type of effect, but with some clever choice of enchantments it could give you a pretty solid advantage. And with cards like Brainstorm or Soothsaying in the deck, you'll be able to make sure your next few draws are lands. The cycling ability is interesting as well, but do you really want to cast an Armageddon if you have seven mana available? Even if it is a cantrip, you'll need a lot of artifact mana to make sure you get out ahead.

--
86. Dragon Breath 1R common
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature has haste.
R: Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
When a creature with a converted mana cost of 6 or more comes into play, you may return Dragon Breath from your graveyard to play enchanting that creature.

==> FUN: 4
I wouldn't like to spend two mana to give a creature haste, but firebreathing can make any small creature a threat. It's not really necessary for a 6cc or more creature, but in that case, the haste becomes more useful, because it doesn't cost any extra mana. Unlike some of the other cards in this cycle, Dragon Breath isn't useful in multiples.

--
87. Dragon Mage 5RR rare
Creature - Dragon Wizard 5/5
Flying
Whenever Dragon Mage deals combat damage to a player, each player discards his or her hand and draws seven cards.
"You'll bend to my will - with or without your precious sanity."

==> FUN: 4
I like Dragon Mage, but it's a bit weak. It'll only do its damage once, before your opponent will get to draw seven new cards. And if those new cards don't give him a solution to your Dragon Mage, the next seven will. And what if you're sitting on some great cards yourself that you don't want to lose? You can prepare for that, but it's still a risky ability. If you have a 5/5 flier in play and your opponent can't prevent it from damaging him or her, the last thing you want is to give everybody new cards.

--
88. Dragonspeaker Shaman 1RR ???
Creature - Barbarian 2/2
Dragon spells cost 2 less to play.
"We speak the dragons' language of flame and rage. They speak our language of fury and honor. Together we shall weave a tale of destruction without equal."

==> FUN: 5
Dragonspeaker Shaman allows you to cast a Shivan Dragon on turn four, with no additional effort. Count on it being killed with extreme prejudice. This is a card that can make a dragon theme deck playable. It doesn't say what rarity it is, but I think (and hope!) it's uncommon. Anything but rare, really, because I'll need four of 'em to put together that dragon deck!

--
89. Dragonstorm 8R rare
Sorcery
Search your library for a Dragon card and put it into play. Then shuffle your library.
Storm

==> FUN: 5
Ok, it's a bit expensive, but the potential of getting an army of dragons into play from Dragonstorm is just too good to ignore. It'll be tricky to get a good storm going, though. Where will you get enough mana to cast a few spells and follow them up with Dragonstorm? Again, Shrieking Drake can help out. Just a few blue mana and the tiny Shrieking Drake calls forth the mighty dragon army.

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90. Dragon Tyrant 8RR rare
Creature - Dragon 6/6
Flying, Trample, Double Strike
At the beginning of your upkeep, pay RRRR or sacrifice Dragon Tyrant.
R: Dragon Tyrant gets +1/+0 until end of turn.

==> FUN: 4
From a set that makes red the dragon color, I'm hoping for a few more interesting dragons than this. Dragon Tyrant is just big. Really big. Double strike makes it effectively a 12/6, which can be pumped by +2/+0 for every red mana. But how much of that are you going to need before your opponent is dead? If you cast Dragon Tyrant with only Mountains, you'll be able to turn it into a 16/6 on your next turn, effectively a 32/6. Fun, but massive overkill. Especially when you consider that it's a flying trampler, so blocking probably isn't going to do much good.

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91. Enrage XR uncommon
Instant
Target creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn.

==> FUN: 2
A reprint of Howl from Beyond, only in red this time. Probably a more fitting color, but and X damage spell can be used for a similar effect and it's more versatile (i.e. doesn't require a creature to cast it on). Enrage can be pretty good on creatures with double strike, though, but those are rare enough as it is and I don't remember red having any good ones. Dragon Tyrant certainly doesn't need it.

--
92. Extra Arms 4R uncommon
Enchant Creature
Whenever enchanted creature attacks, it deals two damage to target creature or player.

==> FUN: 4
A bit expensive for a creature enchantment, but reusable removal is never a bad thing.

--
93. Form of the Dragon 4RRR rare
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, Form of the Dragon deals 5 damage to target creature or player.
At the end of each turn, your life total becomes 5.
Creatures without flying can't attack you.

==> FUN: 4
A nifty idea, turning the player into a dragon. The execution is flawed, though, it makes the game too short. Either your opponent finds a way to deal 5 damage to you or he or she loses in a few turns. And that damage isn't going to come from a weenie rush, not unless they all have flying.

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94. Goblin Brigand 1R common
Creature - Goblin 2/2
Goblin Brigand attacks each turn if able.

==> FUN: 1
Yawn. Another red bear with a drawback. And this drawback is more dangerous than blocking limitations.

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95. Goblin Psychopath 3R uncommon
Creature - Goblin Mutant 5/5
Whenever Goblin Psychopath attacks or blocks, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, the next time Goblin Psychopath would deal combat damage it deals it to you instead.

==> FUN: 3
That's a pretty high-stakes coinflip. Too bad the flip is done when the attack is declared, not after blockers are declared. That takes away your opponent's uncertainty. I wouldn't play Goblin Psychopath without a Goblin Bookie, or a 2-headed coin...

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96. Goblin Warchief 1RR uncommon
Creature - Goblin 2/2
Goblin spells you play cost 1 less to play.
Goblins you control have haste.
They poured from Skirk Ridge like lava, burning and devouring everything in their path.

==> FUN: 5
In spite of the five stars, I find Goblin Warchief very disappointing. I guess they didn't want to make it too similar to Goblin King, so they changed the +1/+1 to haste. Sadly, I'm not a big fan of haste and they could have been more creative. Still, Goblin Warchief is perfect for a goblin deck, because it comes out relatively early and allows you to quickly cast any goblins remaining in your hand. I'm dreading the green warchief already. Will it be an Elven Warchief, making all elves cheaper to cast and give them all trample? That would be pretty dismal, unworthy even of 5 stars.

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97. Goblin War Strike R common
Sorcery
Goblin War Strike deals damage to target opponent equal to the number of Goblins you control.

==> FUN: 2
If I'm not mistaking, Goblin War Strike is a reprint from Portal (Second Age?) Not a bad card, but limited to goblin decks, where Mob Justice from Stronghold does the same thing for all your creatures at only one more mana.

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98. Grip of Chaos 4RR rare
Enchantment
Whenever a spell or ability is put on the stack, reselect its target at random if it has a single target.

==> FUN: 5
Reminiscent of Unglued's Ricochet, only a much bigger effect. Not just spells that target a player get their target randomized, every spell with a single target does. That'll make life very interesting if your opponent is playing a lot of targeted stuff, like removal.

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99. Misguided Rage 2R common
Sorcery
Target player sacrifices a permanent.

==> FUN: 4
Fun, but too expensive. I don't think there is a right way to cost this effect. At one or two mana, it would be way too strong in a land destruction deck, giving cheap land destruction, with the option of being able to get rid of an annoying Silver Knight when he is out of land. At three mana, though, it'll only be usable in a land destruction deck and it's not worth the risk of your opponent having some throwaway weenie in play when you cast it. But maybe I'm being too hard on Misguided Rage, I'm certainly going to try it in my next land destruction deck.

--
100. Pyrostatic Pillar 1R uncommon
Enchantment
Whenever a player plays a spell with converted mana cost of three or less, Pyrostatic Pillar deals two damage to that player.

==> FUN: 3
I'm usually not too worried about the small stuff... well, except for Swords to Plowshares... and Disenchant... and Counterspell... ok, let me rephrase: I'm usually pretty worried about the small stuff, so Pyrostatic Pillar looks interesting. It's basically a cheaper version of Spellshock with a lesser effect that you can get around if you're playing a lot of expensive spells. It could help slow your opponent down, while you build up enough mana to get your dragons in play.

--
101. Rock Jockey 2R common
Creature - Goblin 3/3
You can't play Rock Jockey if you played a land this turn. You can't play a land if you played Rock Jockey this turn.

==> FUN: 3
That's a very tame drawback for an undercosted creature like this. Red is usually the king of tough drawbacks, but not being able to play a land for one turn is no big deal. It just delays your playing of Rock Jockey til turn four at the earliest. By that time you're probably out of lands in your hand anyway if you're playing a weenie deck.

--
102. Scattershot 2R common
Instant
Scattershot deals 1 damage to target creature.
Storm

==> FUN: 2
Way too limited. You'll need a bit of luck just to make Scattershot do enough damage to be worth the casting cost and you can't even use it on players.

--
103. Siege-Gang Commander 3RR rare
Creature - Goblin 2/2
When Siege-Gang Commander comes into play, put three 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens into play.
1R, Sacrifice a Goblin: Siege-Gang Commander deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

==> FUN: 5
Four goblins for the price of one, what's not to like about that? Siege-Gang Commander can even be used as a reusable Shock, whenever one of your goblins dies. And anybody who's played goblin decks knows that there's nothing the little buggers are better at than dying!

--
104. Skirk Volcanist 3R uncommon
Creature - Goblin 3/1
Morph Sacrifice 2 mountains. When Skirk Volcanist is turned face up, it deals 3 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures.

==> FUN: 3
I like the ability, but I'm not crazy about having to sacrifice two mountains for it. Getting a 3/1 in the bargain isn't as good as it may seem either, because the single point of toughness makes it very easy to kill.

--
105. Spark Spray R common
Instant
Spark Spray deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Cycling R

==> FUN: 2
Take away one damage from Shock, add cycling and what do you have? A card that's not worth playing with. I can't remember a single time when I was unhappy to have a Shock in hand.

--
106. Sulfuric Vortex 1RR rare
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, Sulfuric Vortex deals two damage to that player. Whenever a player would gain life, that player gains no life instead.

==> FUN: 2
A bit of a brute-force 10 turn clock. Not bad in a burn deck, but Sulfuric Vortex gets a star taken away just because I love playing lifegain decks and Sulfuric Vortex hoses those.

--
107. Torrent of Fire 3RR common
Sorcery
Torrent of Fire deals damage equal to the highest converted mana cost among permanents you control to target creature or player.
Dragon fire melts any instrument designed to measure it.

==> FUN: 3
Could be pretty big, but it's too unreliable and expensive to serve as removal.

--
108. Uncontrolled Infestation 1R common
Enchant Land
Play only on a nonbasic land. When enchanted land becomes tapped, destroy it.

==> FUN: 1
I've said it before, hosers (in this case a nonbasic land hoser) need to be more powerful than similar non-hoser cards to make them worth playing with. As written, Uncontrolled Infestation is similar to Stone Rain, with two major drawbacks: it only works on non-basic lands and it gives your opponent one more use out of the land. That just isn't good enough. Hopefully, it'll turn out to have something extra, like the ability to buy it back from the graveyard.

 
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