Welcome back to another week of Crack a Pack MTG with Bruce. We’re going to take a little break from some M15 for a while, mostly because as cool as the set is, it is also a very tricky draft format because there are a very high number of picks where it is tough to decide what is best. It just isn’t a clear cut slam dunk. There are so many interchangeable cards and cards that seem to be reasonable (but not amazing) in M15 that picking cards and ordering selections is very difficult. So, this week I thought I’d go back to Journey Into Nyx…but don’t worry, I’ll be back on M15 for next week, that’s a guarantee.
There’s no point beating around the bush…let’s get down to business and see what we’ve got.
Ok, once again this week we have opened up another premium Mythic Rare in our pack. Pharika is pretty solid god who got a bit of bad reputation. She’s a house at 5/5 for 3 mana if you can get her online…so if you want to take her you had better be ready to go Black and Green. Her activated ability is also pretty useful if you can score a few Constellation cards in your draft. She also accesses your graveyard to make 1/1 death touching snake tokens which can warp combat and trade up to take out much larger creatures. Add in the feature that she’s worth a couple of dollars and you have the makings of a very fine first pick. In some formats I would be shy to grab a Gold card as my first pick, but considering the relative power level of the card and the fact that the B/G deck is actually very good, I’d be prepared to grab her and see what I can manage when it comes to finding playable cards to support Pharika. She’s not quite a windmill slam first pick, but she is very solid and clearly gets out in front as the early favorite.
Believe it or not, the next card to grab my attention is Sigiled Starfish. This innocuous little 0/3 is super useful. For starters, it blocks “Bears” for days, but the real asset is the Scry 1 ability when you tap it. This allows for SO much card filtering in your deck that it is a little absurd. This improved card selection may not give you true card advantage, but the improved quality of what you will be drawing will make a huge difference and put you in the driver’s seat.
The next card that grabs my attention is Bladetusk Boar. This solid creature comes with evasion in the form of intimidate and just does work. A 3/2 for 4 mana isn’t super efficient, but the fact that it almost assuredly speeds up the clock on your opponent means that it needs to get answered soon. Also, Red is very strong in this format, so grabbing the Boar and then forcing Red a little doesn’t feel like a bad idea.
Gold-Forged Sentinel is another interesting card. A 4/4 flier for 6 mana, but seeing as it is an artifact it can fit in any deck. I like the 4/4 flier. I like that it is an artifact and can deal with creatures with Intimidate. This is a very reasonable choice and a solid body that can get rough and tumble when you need it. Normally artifacts aren’t a high priority for me, but this one is a very serviceable body and can fit anywhere.
Sigiled Skink also gets my attention because a 2/1 for 2 mana is very crucial in this very fast draft format. The fact that it allows you to scry 1 whenever it attacks can also set up some very good card filtering and really help your cause avoid drawing into dead cards. I like this little guy, but he is a little limited due to his 1 toughness.
Colossal Heroics is a useful combat trick to untap a blocker and pump it…and the Strive ability can help you to set up a situation where you could conceivably blow your opponent out with surprise blockers. It takes a fair degree of set up, so go sparingly with this card, but it does make a useful addition to a deck and is a long way from being unplayable.
Spiteful Blow always gets my attention. Yes, it is still 6 mana removal…that hasn’t changed from a couple of weeks back when I looked a pack of Journey Into Nyx…but it does kill a creature, set your opponent back a turn with respect to their land, and is a nice insurance policy. I’ll look at it because removal at almost any price will get consideration, but it’s not super flashy.
Akroan Mastiff is a very solid tempo type creature for white. The ability to tap down a creature is very relevant and makes this a strong utility creature. The body is a little fragile, so it is unlikely to be going into combat too frequently, but I won’t give up on it.
Nyx Infusion is a versatile aura that can act as a form of quasi removal or as a pump spell. The options presented here makes this a very valuable little addition to deal with creatures of all sorts. Look in this pack alone at all the things this card kills. Sigiled Skink, Akroan Mastiff and Bladetusk Boar and it turns the Gold-Forged Sentinel into a Wind Drake. No, this is useful in either mode, but mostly as a form of conditional removal.
Godhunter Octopus. I don’t much care for this card. Sure, a 5/5 for 6 mana is pretty useful at the top end of the curve, but the condition placed on this creature in order for it to attack really makes me nervous. There are lots of other very good 6 drop creatures in this format and I would be none too thrilled to have this at the top of my curve unless I was well and truly stuck.
Mortal Obstinacy, Cruel Feeding, and Nature’s Panopoly. I lump all of these in together, not because they do the same thing, but because they are all marginal cards that you could play if you wanted to try and benefit from some Heroic triggers. Otherwise, they are all kind of Blah and could be played as a 23 card, but you aren’t going to fist pump like a champ because you grabbed any of them. Your deck would also largely be fine if they didn’t make the deck in favor of some other card too.
Desecration Plague is the last card in this pack and is probably the most unplayable card in the pack. Destroying a land is fine and all, but truthfully speaking, you would rather be doing something else with your mana. Sure, the Kitchen Table “Land Destruction deck” will love this card, but in a draft, if you would like to do well, you avoid this and hope it gets forced on someone. It just does not do enough to impact the board state and leaves you stranded looking at a dead card in hand.
Once again this week, there is almost no doubt about what gets drafted first. Pharika, God of Affliction is just too powerful to ignore, and so you’ll grab her and try and force Black and Green a little. There are a few other cards in this pack in both Black and Green that might work their way back to, so I won’t feel bad. However, I have left Red and two very strong Red creatures (the Boar and the Skink) available meaning that there will almost assuredly be someone in Red nearby. All in all, I feel pretty good about my pick and comfortable with the direction I would be taking and ready to see what came next.
So, there we have it…another week, another pack, and pretty sweet Mythic Rare in the form of Pharika. What would have picked first? Pharika? The Starfish? Something else? I could see someone making a pretty good case with this pack as there were actually some other choices that could have made sense in another strategy, but I feel pretty safe in taking the Pharika and trying to build the B/G agro deck.
Thanks very much and until next time, may you open nothing but bomb Mythic rares.
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791
Nyx Infusion- A 3 mana (1 black, 2 colourless) aura that gives enchantment creatures +2/+2 otherwise the creature gets -2/-2. The versatility is nice here…it could be a form of removal for a pesky “bear”, or a nice boost to a creature on your board. Overall, it’s kind of meh, but playable if you are looking for the flexibility this offers. This will be around late in the round, so no rush to grab this up.
Oakheart Dryads- a 2/3 for 3 mana (a green and 2 colourless) this enchantment creature comes with Constellation that says whenever it or another enchantment enters play target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. This is a serviceable body, a reasonable Constellation ability, and is generally pretty reasonable, if not exciting.
Oppressive Rays- a 1 white mana aura that prevents target creature from blocking or attacking unless their owner pays 3 colourless. Also, activated abilities of the creature cost 3 colourless more to activate. This is pretty cheap and can really slow down an opponent. It acts much like a Pacifism and strangles off activated abilities making it pretty decent “removal”. You will have to pick your spot and use this strategically because they may just be prepared to pay the cost, particularly the later the game goes, but as an early ay to freeze up your opponent this will be a strong card.
Oreskos Swift Claw- a 3/1 for 2 mana (a white and a colourless) is a good aggressive creature in a White Weenie style deck. He’s a little vanilla, but still solid and aggressive in a draft.
Pensive Minotaur- a 2/3 Minotaur for 3 mana (2 colourless and a red). He’s a solid enough body in red and if you are drafting the B/R Minotaur deck he’s ok, but just a little bland. He’ll still make decks, but is just a dude.
Phalanx Formation- This is a 3 mana (1 white, 2 colourless) for an instant that grants target creature double strike and has Strive to allow you to target additional creatures by paying a colourless and a white. It could be a fun combat trick, but you will need to be careful with all the Strive combat instants that you don’t water down your deck by substituting tricks for bodies.
Pharika’s Chosen- This is a 1/1 for 1 black and you get a snake with Deathtouch. This will see plenty of play and will be an early deterrent to your opponent to attacking because NOBODY like attacking into deathtouch creatures. Sedge Scorpion is solid, and so is this.
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof- Another Centaur, this time a 3/4 for 5 mana (1 green and 4 colourless) and comes with Heroic and gets two +1/+1 counters when targeted by a spell. He’ll be playable, but is a little expensive considering Nessian Courser is a 3/3 for 3 mana, and you then need to work to make this guy bigger, but if you need a sizeable body and solid Heroic trigger this will be just fine
Pin to the Earth- Don’t look at this as an Aura. Look at this as actual blue removal, because a -6/-0 pretty much means the creature is useless. Yes, it can block and act like a wall, but if you’re casting this Aura it’s because you don’t want to get smacked across the face by a big beater, so that’s a trade off I’m prepared to make. At a mere 2 mana (a blue and a colourless) this spell is cheap, splashable, and quite effective.
Pull from the Deep- A blue sorcery where for 2 blue and a colourless you may return an instant and a sorcery from your graveyard to your hand and exile Pull from the Deep. This allows you to re-buy a solid combat trick, a Heroic enabler, or just grab your Divination one more time to fill up your hand. With no flashback in this set, this will be useful to get access to your spells in your yard, but will mostly a late game play as you would rather be doing other things with your mana earlier in the game.
Quarry Colossus- a 5/6 Giant for 7 mana (2 white, 5 colourless) this is a neat card with a quasi removal effect. When Quarry Colossus enters play return target creature to its owners library just beneath the top X cards, where X is equal to the number of plains you control. Let’s be real, this is a huge body and with 2 white mana will be in a pretty White heavy deck, so you should have a high number of plains on the battlefield. This guy makes your opponent’s best creature disappear for…oh…I don’t know…a large number of turns and gives you a chance to finish him off with the Giant beat stick you just cast. I like him, but at seven he’s a little slow. Cross your fingers and hope you get there.
Reprisal- a very funcational reprint of an efficient White removal card. With all the enchantments out there boosting the power of creatures it should be no issue to find a suitable target and at instant it will come out of nowhere and really shift combat. Basically, combat just got impossible to predict, so don’t bother trying to play around the removal…just accept that if your opponent has mana up and cards in hand that he has a trick or something make you go nuts.
Returned Reveler- A 1/3 Zombie satyr for a black and a colourless mana, this pretty vanilla creature says that when it dies each player mills the top three cards of their library. Here we go with the Mill again, this time on a creature that needs to DIE before you get the benefit…and…as if that weren’t already bad enough, it is symmetrical meaning the Mill hits you too! No, there are very few cards I’ve called poor in this set, but this is poor. Lots of set up, bad stats, symmetrical ability…more like don’t waste your time. This will be last pick regularly, I’m sure.
Reviving Melody- a 3 mana (1 green and 2 colourless) sorcery that allows you to choose 1 or both of return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand and/or return target enchantment from your graveyard to your hand. I get to re-buy 2 cards for 3 mana? That’s a pretty good deal and in a set with enchantment creatures it means you are basically getting back two creatures. Good deal! Anything running Green will play this.
Rise of Eagles- a 6 mana (2 blue, 4 colourless) sorcery that gives you two 2/2 bird enchantment creature tokens and then Scry 1. Ok, Talrand’s Invocation is the closest comparison I can draw, but that was 4 mana for a pair of 2/2 fliers. This is 6 for a pair of birds…and a Scry… umm…yuck?! Unless you are REALLY working hard for those Constellation triggers this will be a bubble card and will likely miss out in favour of something that will impact the board more directly.
Rollick of Abandon- a 5 mana (2 red, 3 colourless) sorcery that gives all creatures +2/-2 until end of turn. This looks PERFECT for the B/R Minotaur deck where all your Man-Bulls are 3 toughness…suddenly your stampeding horde are all 5/1’s at a minimum. The B/R deck doesn’t care that they die to a feather duster…all this deck cares about is trying to stomp on your jugular…and if enough Man-Bulls hit the mark it’s game over. It could also be a very unusual sweeper to wipe out a White weenie/Bear deck, but that takes work and I would rather bank on this being an aggressive card over the potential sweeper effect.
Rotted Hulk- a 2/5 elemental for 4 mana (1 black and 3 colourless). A decent body at a reasonable cost means that this vanilla creature will see play in draft. He’s just another dude with a big butt to hold off your opponent’s critters.
Rouse the Mob- This is another scary trick to make the B/R Minotaur deck really scary. For 1 red mana target creature gets +2/+0 and trample and you can cast the Strive ability for an additional 2 colourless and a red to start getting additional targets. Boost your Man-Bulls with Rollick of Abandon and then give one (or MAYBE more…but good god am I living in fantasy Christmas land then…think of the mana requirements!) trample to just keep the beat down pouring in. I bet your opponent will just about ready to scoop after that barrage. However, this one feels pretty narrow and a bit limited. Unless you are all in for aggro beat down you can probably do better.
Satyr Grovedancer- A 1/1 for 2 mana (1 green, 1 colourless) you get a Satyr Shaman that when it enters the battlefield put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. This is Timberland Guide from Avacyn Restored and is pretty fun. The Grovedancer can be a Bear if you need it (or lack another target) by pumping itself, but just like the Supply-line Cranes, can boost another creature for more value. A serviceable card and nice ability.
Sigiled Skink- This is a 2 mana (1 red, 1 colourless) 2/1 lizard that lets you scry whenever it attacks. What more reason does Red need to attack? All in…all the time…and now you get to scry to improve your card selection next time. It’ll be played in Aggro builds of all sorts if only to hit the Scry ability.
