Thursday, January 30, 2014

Born of the Gods - Red Review




87 Akroan Conscriptor

Akroan Conscriptor is likely one of the best heroic creatures in the environment.  Too expensive and fragile to see constructed play outside of possibly block.  In limited this shaman is going to lead to huge blow outs. 

Standard – 1.0
Limited – 3.5

88 Archetype of Aggression

A 3/2 for three mana is slightly above the curve for most red creatures.  The fact that he gives your team the ability to push through damage is all upside, nevermind that he takes trample from your opponent.  In constructed it should be noted that this guy battles vs Elspeth very well, small enough to not be wrathed and basically neutralizes her tokens if you have any board presence at all.

Standard – 2.0
Limited – 2.5

89 Bolt of Keranos

Solid red removal spell, not as good as Lightning Strike, but the double red cost might make it stick around a little longer in the draft packs.  Sorcery speed is a big downside. 

Standard – 1.0
Limited – 2.5

90 Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass

Curving out Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass into bestowing Spearpoint Oriead gets you a 7/4 First Striker.  That is one serious threat. This guy on his own is not all that impressive as he will generally only trade down on the attack.  Defending in red is not exactly where you want to be.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 1.5

91 Epiphany Storm

Has your two drop been outclassed by larger creatures?  Turn it into a looter!  Problems solved.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 2.5

92 Everflame Eidolon

I do not care much for this little spirit.  Tempo is so important in this limited environment.  The turn you bestow him he does very little.  There is room for upside, firebreathing a flier is strong, but I just think there are better guys to have in your deck.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 1.5

93 Fall of the Hammer

One sided fight!  Nothing better than landing a solid sucker punch out of nowhere.  They do not even get to fight back.  Will be better in the RG decks but still quite serviceable in most other decks.

Standard – 1.5
Limited – 2.5

94 Fated Conflagration

This card might see some small play in the sideboard of red decks.  It is interesting to note that this is the first red spell that specifically targets Planeswalkers as opposed to players with the option to redirect. 

Standard – 2.0
Limited – 2.0

95 Fearsome Temper

On the surface this seems good enough.  It might prove to be just too mana hungry to be all that great. 

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 2.0

96 Felhide Spiritbinder

Playable just based on its base stats alone.  If you get to untap it you can at minimum have a hasty 3/4 attacker for 1R with much larger potential depending on what creatures are on the board.  Be aware that if you copy a creature that has lots of enchantments on it, you will only get a copy of the creature you target with no other bonuses.

Standard – 1.5
Limited – 3.0

97 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix

The two modes of this tribute Phoenix are very different from each other.  When you have a haste creature you are able to sequence your spells in a way to maximize it’s impact.  When you do not know if your creature will have haste it makes things very awkward.  You will always get the mode that your opponent can deal with the best.  That is generally not good for you.  In limited you will most likely be just fine with either choice.

Standard – 2.0
Limited – 3.0

98 Forgestoker Dragon

The best thing about this dragon is that he does not fear Nessian Asp.  The turn you get to attack with him you can falter three possible blockers allowing for a big alpha strike.  Has all the makings of a near bomb.

Standard – 1.0
Limited – 3.0
99 Impetuous Sunchaser

Love the flavor of Icarus, too fragile and angry to be very good.

Standard – 1.0
Limited – 1.5

100 Kragma Butcher

An Inspired card I can get behind.  If they can’t kill him the first attack he just hits harder the next attack.  Should always trade evenly or slightly upwards.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 2.5

101 Lightning Volley

Not a big fan of this card.  I think it costs too much and requires too much work to get fair value out of the effect.

Standard – 1.0
Limited – 1.5

102 Nyxborn Rollicker

This party goer is playable if you have a few ordeals.  Otherwise its ok sidestep dancing with him

Standard – 1.0
Limited – 1.5

103 Oracle of Bones

Lets look at what we get here for 2RR, either a 5/3 Haste; or 3/1 Haste and the ability to cast one instant or sorcery from our hand for free.  I would love a 2RR 5/3 haste, the second side requires lots of unknowns.  What if I have no cards in hand and top deck this?  Seems pretty lackluster.  I would still play this guy, but I would not put much faith in him being more than just a 3/1 haste that sometimes is better.

Standard – 2.0
Limited – 2.0

104 Pharagax Giant

Nobody likes taking five to the dome.  Just read this guy as a 5/5 for five and be happy about it.

105 Pinnacle of Rage

This card does too little and costs too much to be played.  But it is removal and can possibly be used post combat to finish off some bigger creatures that blocked.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 1.5

106 Reckless Reveler

It’s a bear that can double as God Weapon removal.  While not amazing it’s very playable.

Standard – 1.0
Limited – 2.5

107 Rise to the Challenge

First strike is a really good trick, tacking on +2/0 is just enough power boost to really turn around a combat.  Theros is all about the combat tricks and this one is good enough.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 2.5

108 Satyr Firedancer

I can see this Satyr taking over for Young Pyromancer in the RW burn decks.  Instead of getting a 1/1 for your burn spells, you get to use them to just dome your opponent and then kill a creature.  Talk about having your cake and eating it too. 

Standard - 2.5
Limited – 2.0

109 Satyr Nyx-Smith

If you can give this shaman a little bit of evasion he can apply tons of pressure and possibly take over a game.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 2.5

110 Scouring Sands

For decks that were looking to run Electrickery, this will most likely just replace it.  Most likely will be a good sideboard option in limited.

Standard – 1.5
Limited – 1.5

111 Searing Blood

While this card is very similar to Zendikar all star Searing Blaze, it isn’t quite as good.  Searing Blaze did not care if the creature died to force through damage to the dome.  With all that said this is a card that will see plenty of Standard play. 

Standard – 3.0
Limited – 3.0

112 Stormcaller of Keranos

Flamespeaker Adept has found a new BFF.  Repeatable Scry 1 is a really powerful effect, allowing you to dig through the deck to find answers.  Not quite cheap enough to make the cut in sixty card decks.

Standard – 1.5
Limited – 3.0

113 Thunder Brute

Another tribute card that does not offer the opponent a clear good choice.  Remember that this guy has trample, I suspect it will be overlooked a lot.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 2.5

114 Thunderous Might

Will almost always get +2/0, that alone wouldn’t be good enough to play with so many other options around.  But the fact that this will just continue to grow as you develop your board pushes it into being playable in red based decks.

Standard – 2.0
Limited – 2.0

115 Whims of the Fates

The wacky red chaos card of the set.  If you are very far behind in a game this could put you right back into things.  I would not recommend casting this spell if you are already winning.  Obligatory “this is primarily an EDH card” comment.

Standard – 0.0
Limited – 1.0

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