Post by kennon on Sept 19, 2012 22:12:56 GMT -5
Well, in the interest of keeping myself entertained (always important for a Johnny) I though I'd post a mini set review here of the RTR cards that most interest me for Pauper based on the recently completed MTG Salvation list.
Azorius Arrester- As soon as I saw Detain spoiled, I became excited to see how much of it managed to trickle down to common, because it looks like a great tempo/ soft control play. Azorious Arrester looks like a great, aggressive use of the ability, with two potentially relevant creature types. Soldier aggro, anybody?
Eyes in the Skies- Populate looks like such a great mechanic in general. On its own, we're getting two 1/1 fliers for a 4 mana instant. It's no Lingering Souls, but the fact that they're flying does make me at least curious about this despite being so much more expensive than raise the alarm.
Seller of Songbirds- It's not Attended Knight, but again, the token bird has flying. Between this, Attended Knight and some other cards, I'm curious about a deck that does nothing but play cards which generate more than one creature. If you can dodge certain wipes, it could be interesting to watch your opponent try to keep up with.
Downsize- So, it's probably not worth it, but Overload has me intrigued, and when overloaded, this is an interesting Fog variant. Too bad it probably still won't be solid enough for constructed.
Inaction Injunction- I'm really liking detain, and getting to detain something and cantrip seems like fun. It's certainly cheaper than Repulse and Repeal, but doesn't have the resource advantage of making your opponent re-cast their creature. Of course, judging by the size of most Pauper creatures, that might not be a very large advantage most of the time. I'm interested to experiment with this.
Dead Reveler- Wow, if unleashed, this is a great bargain in a 3/4 body for 3. Sure it can't block, but I'm looking at this being great in some kind of Suicide Black build. Great beef for Pauper Black.
Ogre Jailbreaker- I wish there'd been a bit more Gate synergy in the set, but if you're looking at running some Gates to splash something Ogre Jailbreaker gives even more bang for your buck than Dead Reveler.
Electrickery- Just the sort of common overload that I expected, though not as awesome as I was hoping for. I was really hoping for something along the lines of: 1R, Deal 2 damage to target creature you don't control. 3RR, Overload. I'd like for another 2 toughness sweeper in Pauper aside from Evincar's Justice. Still, the fact that this pings only the opponent's creatures and leaves yours in peace means that some folks might look at experimenting with this in place of Seismic Shudder.
Gore-House Chainwalker- Do what? A 3/2 for 1R? Sure it won't be able to block if you unleash it, but in Red and with those kind of stats, who would want to bother with blocking? This is a huge aggressive card for Pauper. I'm tempted to put this right up there with the Keldon Marauders.
Splatter Thug- Unleashing a 3/3 first striker for 2R seems like a great deal. First Strike is very interesting here. On the one hand, it makes him quite hard to block and kill, which increases his capabilities as an attacker, but it also gives him solid capabilities on defense if you need to cast him without the unleash. This is one of the more interesting ones to me in that it actually seems to offer a relevant choice. Still, it's mostly just going to be a really solid attacker for Red.
Viashino Racketeer- The stats aren't great, but I'm tempted to experiment with a couple copies as a late game way to ditch extra land and loot (we still need a good name for red "looting") for more gas. I wouldn't be all that impressed in any other color, but in Red this makes me curious at least.
Axebane Guardian- Really looking forward to trying this out with some of the RoE defender stuff. I'm thinking a great ground defense while you ping away for ever increasing damage with Vent Sentinel, and then generate tons of mana for a huge Rolling Thunder or Kaervek's Torch. Wall Ball for a deck name, anyone?
Druid's Deliverance- Hmmm... more fogs for the Turbo Fog mill decks always intrigue me, and this is quite good, if you've got a token around to proliferate. Normally I see those decks with no creatures at all, but I'm interested to look for some ideas here. Populate is that cool.
Horncaller's Chant- Ok, it's expensive, I do acknowledge that. But you're also getting 8 power of trampling goodness spread out over 2 bodies. Any deck that currently plays Auroch's Herd is very possibly going to want to experiment with this. If nothing else, it can be Herd 5-8, and Greenpost might be very curious about laying down the beats with this.
Courser's Accord- Cheaper than Horncaller's Chant in converted mana cost, but the second color in the cost and the lack of trample on the bodies means this is probably quite a bit worse. Doesn't mean it will keep me from trying it out.
Goblin Electromancer- See post elsewhere. Very excited for this guy.
Sundering Growth- Wowza! Straight up replacement for Disenchant and Naturalize in White and Green decks and it throws in proliferate to boot. Excellent sideboard card for the tokens deck as it helps take out problem cards and helps the deck keep doing what it wants to do.
The Guild Gates- Awesome. 'Nuff Said.
There you have it folks. Highlights of some of the cards that interest me because I'm reading and rereading the spoilers tonight.
Azorius Arrester- As soon as I saw Detain spoiled, I became excited to see how much of it managed to trickle down to common, because it looks like a great tempo/ soft control play. Azorious Arrester looks like a great, aggressive use of the ability, with two potentially relevant creature types. Soldier aggro, anybody?
Eyes in the Skies- Populate looks like such a great mechanic in general. On its own, we're getting two 1/1 fliers for a 4 mana instant. It's no Lingering Souls, but the fact that they're flying does make me at least curious about this despite being so much more expensive than raise the alarm.
Seller of Songbirds- It's not Attended Knight, but again, the token bird has flying. Between this, Attended Knight and some other cards, I'm curious about a deck that does nothing but play cards which generate more than one creature. If you can dodge certain wipes, it could be interesting to watch your opponent try to keep up with.
Downsize- So, it's probably not worth it, but Overload has me intrigued, and when overloaded, this is an interesting Fog variant. Too bad it probably still won't be solid enough for constructed.
Inaction Injunction- I'm really liking detain, and getting to detain something and cantrip seems like fun. It's certainly cheaper than Repulse and Repeal, but doesn't have the resource advantage of making your opponent re-cast their creature. Of course, judging by the size of most Pauper creatures, that might not be a very large advantage most of the time. I'm interested to experiment with this.
Dead Reveler- Wow, if unleashed, this is a great bargain in a 3/4 body for 3. Sure it can't block, but I'm looking at this being great in some kind of Suicide Black build. Great beef for Pauper Black.
Ogre Jailbreaker- I wish there'd been a bit more Gate synergy in the set, but if you're looking at running some Gates to splash something Ogre Jailbreaker gives even more bang for your buck than Dead Reveler.
Electrickery- Just the sort of common overload that I expected, though not as awesome as I was hoping for. I was really hoping for something along the lines of: 1R, Deal 2 damage to target creature you don't control. 3RR, Overload. I'd like for another 2 toughness sweeper in Pauper aside from Evincar's Justice. Still, the fact that this pings only the opponent's creatures and leaves yours in peace means that some folks might look at experimenting with this in place of Seismic Shudder.
Gore-House Chainwalker- Do what? A 3/2 for 1R? Sure it won't be able to block if you unleash it, but in Red and with those kind of stats, who would want to bother with blocking? This is a huge aggressive card for Pauper. I'm tempted to put this right up there with the Keldon Marauders.
Splatter Thug- Unleashing a 3/3 first striker for 2R seems like a great deal. First Strike is very interesting here. On the one hand, it makes him quite hard to block and kill, which increases his capabilities as an attacker, but it also gives him solid capabilities on defense if you need to cast him without the unleash. This is one of the more interesting ones to me in that it actually seems to offer a relevant choice. Still, it's mostly just going to be a really solid attacker for Red.
Viashino Racketeer- The stats aren't great, but I'm tempted to experiment with a couple copies as a late game way to ditch extra land and loot (we still need a good name for red "looting") for more gas. I wouldn't be all that impressed in any other color, but in Red this makes me curious at least.
Axebane Guardian- Really looking forward to trying this out with some of the RoE defender stuff. I'm thinking a great ground defense while you ping away for ever increasing damage with Vent Sentinel, and then generate tons of mana for a huge Rolling Thunder or Kaervek's Torch. Wall Ball for a deck name, anyone?
Druid's Deliverance- Hmmm... more fogs for the Turbo Fog mill decks always intrigue me, and this is quite good, if you've got a token around to proliferate. Normally I see those decks with no creatures at all, but I'm interested to look for some ideas here. Populate is that cool.
Horncaller's Chant- Ok, it's expensive, I do acknowledge that. But you're also getting 8 power of trampling goodness spread out over 2 bodies. Any deck that currently plays Auroch's Herd is very possibly going to want to experiment with this. If nothing else, it can be Herd 5-8, and Greenpost might be very curious about laying down the beats with this.
Courser's Accord- Cheaper than Horncaller's Chant in converted mana cost, but the second color in the cost and the lack of trample on the bodies means this is probably quite a bit worse. Doesn't mean it will keep me from trying it out.
Goblin Electromancer- See post elsewhere. Very excited for this guy.
Sundering Growth- Wowza! Straight up replacement for Disenchant and Naturalize in White and Green decks and it throws in proliferate to boot. Excellent sideboard card for the tokens deck as it helps take out problem cards and helps the deck keep doing what it wants to do.
The Guild Gates- Awesome. 'Nuff Said.
There you have it folks. Highlights of some of the cards that interest me because I'm reading and rereading the spoilers tonight.