Scars of Mirrodin Breakdown: Part 6

The final installment of my break down of the SoM cards. And what a wild ride it’s been this past month. So, without any more procrastinating, here we go, into the last few deozen cards…

Necrogen Censer
This card really does not fit in with Phyrexia’s other cards, as it is anti-infect. But, seeing as phyrexia has always had loss of life effects, I see where this comes from. Overall a rather bland card, though.

Necropede
An infecter that the opponent doesn’t want to block. It essentially ensures two damage to blocking creatures, and as poison counters are essentially two damage each anyways, it’s really a 2/2 most of the time. But I think I’m the only person that views this as a phyrrexian Ferropede.

Neurok Replica
It unsommons for two, and has a yotian body. I personally believe Wizard Replica from the first Mirrodin block is much better, as countering is better than bouncing, and it flies. This guy isn’t the worst creature in the set, but I can see how it could easily be better.

Nihil Spellbomb
This card is possibly the best of the newer spellbombs, and holds a condle both AEther and Pyrite from Mirrodin 1. It exiles a graveyard (dredgevine killer), and is playable in all decks. And perhaps the best thing about it is that you can respond to an eldrazi trigger with the ability, exiling the ‘yard entirely. I would not be surprised to see this card in a sideboard.

Nim Deathmantle
I originally read this as any creature dying, which would have made it amazing. As it is, it is a very powerful limited card. In constructed, it could be useful in some decks. The biggest issue is the equip cost, but you could wait to equip it until one of your guys dies, of course. I like it, but I’m not sold on it.

Origin Spellbomb
A fine card, as myr decks want more tokens, and white decks could use it for the card draw and creature. Limited, this thing should be amazing. Constructed, it should be pretty lame.

Palladium Myr
The Sol Ring myr. I view all the mana myr through the lens of them being the moxen, plus two mana for a 1/1 body. This guy is Sol Ring with a 2/2 body at three. It’s a fun card, and great mana acceleration, but when combined with two galvanizers, does indeed make an infinite mana combo. And as previously stated, though in casual it may be devastating from time to time, it is not constructed viable due to requiring at least three creatures. Decent bear, though.

Panic Spellbomb
I hate this card. It is not useful, and takes up a spot that could otherwise give me something good, like a mana myr, or Plague Stinger.

Perilous Myr
Ack! Another phyrexian myr. This guy shocks something when it dies, and as a 1/1 for two, it probably won’t stick around long. Mudbutton Torch Runner may have some company in the sac to damage department…

Platinum Emperion
An 8/8 for eight mana is not extremely useful. His ability would be relevant as well, if it wasn’t of course for infect. As it stands, he will really shine in casual environments more than in any other format, though he would be nice to get down faster if you could.

Precursor Golem
“I attack with my golem and tokens. You don’t block? I tainted strike them.” I saw this happen. It was amusing, but won’t happen often. It’s nine power for five mana, but I see people complaining about him. I don’t know why. Last I checked, Thoctar was tournament viable, and he was three colors. Five mana nowadays is harder to get to, sure, but nine power, and two extra creatures, should be more powerful than people view this. I give it the Arc Slogger mark of disapproval.

Prototype Portal
Infinite Prototype Portals? Nah, too lame. What about Something like a creature, maybe a galvanizer? Still not good enough. What about something incredible, like Mox Opal or Ratchet Bomb? Now we’re talking…

Ratchet Bomb
…which brings me to Ratchet Bomb. Prototyping one of these is amazing, but not required, as the card itself is very reminiscent of a standard, extended, and legacy powerhouse card. It was called Pernicious Deed, and it blew up the world (for X mana cost, minus lands). Guess what? This hits more, and proliferate could help this out (or hurt it if the opponent does the proliferating).

Razorfield Thresher
DANGER! Keep machine clear of maindecks. And graveyards. And sideboards. And topdecks. But seriously, this card is amazing, only for the flavor text.

Rust Tick
Better in limited than I gave it credit for. Just be careful, as if it taps itself, it’s locked out forever.

Rusted Relic
A 5/5 for four is good. It won’t always be a creature, but hey, when it is, look out world.

Sabreclaw Golem
Guy is overcosted. I like the art, but the abilities leave something to be desired.

Semblance Anvil
Remember friends, artifact creatures lower two costs (as do tribal anythings). This card is better than it seems, but does put you at a disadvantage the turn to cast it (unless you plan to go all Aluren with this thing).

Silver Myr
The best mana myr was saved for last. It adds blue mana, which is important as many good blue cards have two blue in their costs. Therefore, it enables splashing (especially in limited, where blue opens up the possibility of proliferation and card draw).

Snapsail Glider
Lame metalcraft creature. That is all.

Soliton
Poor gemini engines. They split apart, and suck eggs now.

Steel Hellkite
This guys hits players, then nukes their fields. I suppose one couldn’t ask for more with an artifact dragon. Unless you include Draco, Tek, or Clockwork Dragon…

Strata Scythe
This card is a lot like Extraplanar Lens in that it imprints a land card. It is completely unlike the lens in all other ways, of course. I like it, as it gets a land from your library instead of sacrificing board position, and pumps up your creature based on the opponent’s lands also.

Strider Harness
Lighting Greaves is better most of the time, but sometimes that extra +1/+1 really counts. It may not be constructed viable, but in EDH, I run both this and the greaves in my equipment based deck, just to ensure haste happens sometimes.

Sword of Body and Mind
This card is not as good as Fire and Ice, and Light and Shadow is about on par with it. This card does not grant protection from two relevant colors like the other two did. It does allow you to deck and opponent quickly with an unblockable, however. And, it provides another creature as well. It’s good, but not excellent.

Sylvok Lifestaff
I’m not a fan of the card, as three life rarely maters. But it may help keep you out of the final bolt range. I think this card it more likely to be a dead draw most of the time, however.

Sylvok Replica
I like this more than the elf from Mirrodin 1. It naturalizes, and has a decent toughness for most earlier beaters, even in standard. Definitely an early pick in draft due to it being removal in green.

Throne of Geth
Activates leaves play artifacts, like the myr I mentioned earlier. It proliferates as well. And remember, it can eat itself in case you need it to.

Tower of Calamities
No matter how hard it tries, it will never be as awesome as Shivan Meteor…

Trigon Cycle
White- Gains life. Not aweful.
Blue- Draws cards, but costs too much.
Black- Spreads the withery love. Decent in limited.
Red- Adds more power to an infect dude. Very cool card.
Green- Makes infect tokens. Possibly the best, though red and black are close.

Tumble Magnet
Awesome limited card. This thing is annoying, and looks like something that Tony Stark would keep in his chest. And yes, you will always have your finisher tapped down with it.

Vector Asp
The worst infect card out there. No one should argue this. It simply is.

Venser’s Journal
The worst Spellbook effect out there. No one should argue this.

Vulshok Replica
Possibly the best of the new replicas, as volcanic hamer at instant speed (or Bolt +1) is never bad. And remember, it attacks for three also.

Wall of Tanglecord
A 0/6 for two, that can gain reach, is pretty amazing. Especially in a format riddled with small creatures, and no burn that is good enough to take it out. In any defender type deck, this should be run as a four-of. Period.

Wurmcoil Engine
I shouldn’t even have to say how this is. It survives day, and swings for a twelve life point switch. And remember, it was the promo, so it’s price is lower than it should be. Amazing card is simply amazing.

New Dual Lands
I’ve seen people calling these the best duals since the originals. No, those were the Ravnica shocklands. These are really good early on, but will normally be the invasion block CIP tapped lands. Not awful, but I prefer the M10 lands more.

Glimmerpost
I was hoping for a Glimervoid referrence, but alas, it did not happen. The worst locus ever printed, this should still be run with Cloudpost because in 8-post decks, you’re likely going to need to recuperate from some of the life loss.

And thus, that’s all the Scars cards. Next time you see me, I’ll finally start writing about combos. If you disagree with any of my comments on cards, just leave a reply, and I’ll explain why I said what I did about it. See you all next time,

-Johnny, Combo Player

Scars of Mirrodin Breakdown 5

I’m back to continue with my breakdown of the scars cards. All of the colored cards have been dealt with. Now, it’s time for the hard part. The artifacts. But before I begin, I want to wish the Giants good luck in the World Series. Moving on to the important game, though…

Accorder’s Shield
It costs zero, which is a plus. I don’t see this being playable, though, in tournaments. The equip cost is just too much mana to invest. Not a terrible card to start with, though.

Argentum Armor
I’ve heard musings of a deck using this card. I understand it uses Kor Outfitter to equip it immediately. However, that requires getting it into play first. I’d say there are probably better equipments in the set to use instead of this, but it’s an interesting idea for sure. Look out for this, as it may rise in price.

Auriok Replica
This card is not all that great compared to Soldier Replica. I feel that blocking, and nuking a creature is more beneficial than blocking and preventing all the damage from a creature. The flip side is that this can save you from bolt damage, so both have their uses.

Barbed Battlegear
A fun little equipment. Not quite as good, I feel, as Vulshok Battlegear. But this does grant one more power, so an auriok edgewright with it could be pretty devastating in combat. If only a Kor Duelist could survive with this on it.

Bladed Pinions
First Strike and Flying are amazing together. This allows any of your creatures to become a great blocker, and good attacker as well. I opened two of these back at the prerelease, and they let me soar in to victory. Add onto the fact that this lets infect creatures handle other creatures before the other can damage them, and it’s pretty nifty.

Chimeric Mass
Trinket Mage grabs it, for starters. This is one of those cards that people will look at and see Chimeric Staff or Chimeric Coils in. And they should, it shares many similarities with both. The biggest bonus over those, however, is not the fact you pay all the mana only once. It’s the proliferation possibilities that let this one really shine.

Chrome Steed
Artifacts with metalcraft get a bit on lenience from me when it comes to their abilities as they count themselves for the ability. This is a 4/4 for four mana in an artifact heavy deck. That is not bad, especially considering the only other one I can think of is Synod Centurion, which also benefits from having multiple artifacts. This may not be tournament level, but it is pretty amazing in an artifact heavy deck.

Clone Shell
Let’s call it what it is: you hideaway a card on it. This guy is pretty weak for his cost, but with sacrifice outlets, you could easily cheat in Emrakul, a titan, or even something as simple as trinket mage. And though there is the possibility for huge success, there is also the chance you will fail big.

Contagion Clasp
It is effectively a scar for two generic mana, that can also pump walkers and weaken whatever you scarred. I like this card, as it just gets more useful the longer a game goes (in the right deck). If someone wants to make a straight up proliferate deck (don’t ask me why), they had better run this.

Contagion Engine
This card seems amazing, but is pretty underwhelming. I don’t hate this card myself, but it’s worthless in any tournament scene (other than draft).

Copper Myr
The most useless of the mana myr (but that’s like saying Mox Emerald is the worst mox). This myr is important in limited as a body and mana fixing. Not a bad card, and a myr to boot.

Corpse Cur
An infect dude that gets back other infect dudes. At four mana, I’d hope for more, but people need to remember that when hitting players, they are essentially four power dudes that can’t have the life gained back. Dies to almost all removal, though, and it isn’t the most cost effective infecter anyways.

Culling Dias
A fun little card for any EDH deck that needs some extra card drawing. I use it in Ib Halfheart to great effect. In tournaments, it likely won’t show up anywhere, but it is always possible it might.

Darksteel Axe
I’ll take the trusty machete any day over this. And bone splitter over that. The axe is cool, but the indestructible ability is pointless most of the time. If more artifact removal is run, I could see this replacing machete in my standard equipment deck, though.

Darksteel Juggernaut
I saw this and though it would be huge in limited. I was wrong. It dies too quickly to infect, and can be blocked forever by darksteel myr. However, I am not ruling it out from block constructed. I could see this as being a finisher there.

Darksteel Myr
Overcosted blocker. That’s all.

Darksteel Sentinel
Again, overcosted, but this can attack and block, so it isn’t completely useless. Just mostly…

Echo Circlet
The most underwhelming equipment in the set. It’s pretty bad, even on something nigh unkillable. Though deathtouch could be nice with it.

Etched Champion
Cool card that dodges almost all removal (contagion clasps not included). Not too bad of a bear.

Flight Spellbomb
This is actually a pretty neat card. It is a jump that you activate when you want it. And although it may not be competitive level, I think it’s better than most people give it credit for.

Glint Hawk Idol
Why is this in the same set as Glint Hawk? That’s all I want to know…

Gold Myr
More useful than copper, but less so than Silver and Leaden. Still amazing in limited.

Golden Urn
I see no reason for this card. It is worse in many ways than most other life gain cards in existence. I will say that it is very cool looking in foil.

Golem Artisan
This guy is incredible in limited, and a flop in constructed. Nothing else to say.

Golem Foundry
This reminds me of Chimeric Egg. The difference being that this makes tokens that stick around, and the other gets counters from opponents not casting artifacts. Slight differences, but major gameplay shifts.

Golem’s Heart
And then casual artifacts had life gain. I liked the original cycle somewhat, but this card seems forced to me.

Grafted Exoskeleton
Grafted Wargear would be proud. This thing in an EDH deck should be pretty scary, in all honesty. Especially if you put it onto something like a flier or an unblockable dude.

Grindclock
Proliferate, mill more. The thing about this is that it doesn’t really become worth it until it has around three or more counters on it. And although it may be slower to start milling than Millstone and the ilk, it can end games faster once it hits the third (or fourth) counter. I don’t foresee standard mill being all that playable (other than something like Dredgevine).

Heavy Arbalest
This card is kind of cool, and on an infect creature brings the opponent even closer to death. But don’t forget to reequip before your next turn…

Horizon Spellbomb
The second most useful of the new batch of bombs. This card can nab a basic land to hand, so it’s not quite on par with Explorer’s Map ability to grab any land. But if you pay a green mana as well, it does replace itself. It’s really just your call on which to run, but in a nonbasic light deck, this probably takes precedence if green is involved.

Ichorclaw Myr
How could something so innocent as a myr be so evil? It is a nice infecter to use as it only costs two mana. I’d say it is one of the best colorless infect creatures.

Infiltration Lens
This is actually kind of funny. See, a large number of people compared this to skullclamp. I can see the comparison, but they serve different purposes. This is meant to discourage blocks. The other is meant to win you the game. Only a minor difference, right?

Iron Myr
I love how the mana myr are being showed from worst to best. Iron is more useful than Gold only due to the higher number of X spells in red. Once again, limited loves him.

Kuldotha Forgemaster
You ever notice how wizards loves “fixing” broken cards? This guy looks to me like a “fixed” goblin welder. But I don’t see how this guy is anywhere near playable. At least some of the others (Time Warp, for example) can be used to some extent.

Leaden Myr
Second best due to black’s lack of mana fixing nowadays. That’s all.

Liquimetal Coating
This allows to shatter that Jace. Who cares that he’s eighty-something dollars? I can kill him for less than a buck, and then get a burger with the rest of my change. You, on the other hand, are probably broke from your transaction. Ha!

Livewire Lash
I actually am in the minority of my playgroup that doesn’t like this card a huge amount. Yes, it goes will with infect. But only if you are using target effects yourself. It does cost two to cast and equip, so it’s not weak by any means. But I don’t get everyone’s appeal to this card.

Lux Cannon
Not nearly as fun as KABOOM! to yell, but much more fun to play with. This card can get rid of pesky planeswalkers, idiotic infecters, lame lands, and even evil enchantments. And yes, artifact alliteration’s awesome.

Memnite
I like ROFLcopter more. Just because it flies. This guy isn’t anything to snuff at, as a 1/1 for zero cost is above the curve (obviously). I just don’t like it as much.

Mimic Vat
This card is somehow five dollars. It is combo-centric, yes, but I figure it’s price should fall pretty soon. After all, it’s not like there’s an infect dude that kills itself or anything.

Mindslaver
Mindslaver is back. For anyone who didn’t play when this was first released, prepare to have an interesting casual experience (or two).

Molten-Tail Masticore
Overrated and overpriced. It’s abilities do fuel themselves, yes, but only in a creature heavy deck. And most of the time you’d have wanted to drop that creature yourself.

Moriok Replica
Night’s Whisper rocks. This is that at instant speed on a body. Do the math.

Mox Opal
Not as good, I feel, as Chrome Mox, but definitely nothing to ignore. It should stay around thirty for good reason, and will definitely see play somewhere, maybe even vintage.

Myr Battlesphere
…Or as I call it, Katamyri Damacy, Myr Blogosphere, or the Myr Ball of Death. No matter what you call it, you can’t deny your urges. You want it. You don’t know why. It is unexplainable. But you want it. Badly.

Myr Galvanizer
Ah yes. Demonfox here recently had a rant about this card. Time for my take on it. I don’t see this card as overpowered, or anywhere near good. It is a combo that requires three creatures (at least) to stay in play, and have something to do with the mana (Razor Boomerang). And yes, although this is easily obtainable outside of a game, one must put in a large amount of effort to build a deck around the combo.

Myr Propagator
A fun little card that sucks to high heaven. I like him, though, so I shall call him Propy. And he shall Propagate. On a more serious note, he is unplayable in limited and constructed. A shame for him, and all who open him around the world.

Myr Reservoir
This could have been a land and balanced. As an artifact, it suffers the same way that Myr Matrix did. That is to say, it is too slow to get down, and does not help myr tribal.

That’s all the artifacts from A-M. Next time I’ll finish the set with the remaining artifacts and the lands. Until then, have fun playing.

Scars Preview Cards 2 – Revenge of the Myr

SPOILER ALERT! If you want to remain ignorant of the spoiler season, do not read any further! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Gobmas again. Boy, has it been a busy few spoiler days. I’m not going to be able to cover everything in one go, but I’ll get what I can.

I’ll hit the thing that has excited me the most so far first: the best Gray Ogre ever printed! That’s right, it’s the return of Trinket Mage!

For those of you that don’t know, Trinket Mage is… well, it’s just plain amazing. There are so many different artifacts that cost 1 or less that you can find; and mind you, that includes artifacts that cost X. Just going off of what has been spoiled so far, here’s some cool things he can fetch: Basilisk Collar, Brittle Effigy, Memnite, Mox Opal, Chimeric Mass, Amulet of Vigor, Everflowing Chalice, Elixir of Immortality, Expedition Map, Ornithopter, Voltaic Key, the Spellbomb Cycle, and Darksteel Axe. That’s a lot of answers to fetch, all while getting a respectable body on the field! Basically, Wizards reprinting Trinket Mage is, by itself, going to have a large impact on Standard.

And right after that impact, of course, we get an answer in Leonin Arbiter! It may not seem like much at first, but this Cat is going to be a key to standard in the coming months. It not only makes fetchlands a liability, but also significantly powers down Fauna Shaman decks and completely neuters Ramp decks single handedly. With this card in the Standard format, you can be sure White Weenie variants will be a viable choice. It is worth mentioning, though, that he shuts down your Stoneforge Mystics as well, so you don’t want to go relying on him too much. Also, though I’m not very experienced with the Legacy metagame, I can tell right now that it might be even bigger in that format than in Standard. It can help slow down Zoo significantly, with their reliance on fetchlands, and beats back tons of the multifarious combo decks that inhabit the format. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what the full impact is!

Myr Galvanizer is another card that struck my interest. It’s a Myr lord that can, if you have two of them and a Palladium Myr, generate infinte colorless mana. Yes, it is a three card combo made up only of creatures that can not only be killed easily but also have summoning sickness. BUT, it is worth mentioning that it is s combo made up of colorless uncommons, so it is very possible, even likely, that you could see this combo come up in a SoM draft. Other than the combo and the awesomeness aspect of it being a lord for a creature type that has never had one before, though, I don’t find Myr Galvanizer all that impressive. It’s +1/+1 ability is almost irrelevant, since there is very little chance a Myr-aggro deck could be viable, and people will almost always be using it for its second ability. Still, the sheer uniqueness of the card is sure to make it fairly popular.

My next card, though potentially powerful and very interesting, really doesn’t have much one can say about it. Galvanic Blast is a new Shock variant much akin to Burst Lightning; mostly in that they are both strictly better than Shock itself. Now that you can use this, Lightning Bolt, and Burst Lighting in the same deck, though, perhaps a new Burn archetype will be viable in Standard. Beyond that, though… well, the card is what it is.

Second to last is an awesome new throwback to something far before Mirrodin Block, and based off a card that is still on the Wizard’s “No Reprints” list. Get ready for Molten-Tail Masticore! Yes, that second ability of his actually has synergy with his upkeep cost and is ridiculously powerful. Actually, this guy should see a fair amount of play, since he actually survives Day of Judgment for a measly 2 mana, while hitting for either 4 or 8 every turn, sometimes without even having to attack! To my chagrin, it does still die to Baneslayer, though. Regardless, the new Masticore is going to be a huge threat to Wall of Omens everywhere in the next few months.

Anyway, thats all I’ve got for now. Until next time, don’t forget to Katamari your opponent’s face in. Feel free to leave a comment!