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Let's do a little free association. When I say “Blue magic”, what do you think of? If you're like most people, then your initial thoughts are probably of counterspells, card drawing, bounce and lockdown. If I say “Blue creatures”, it likely conjures images of large, flying, amorphous entities that might make decent finishers. I know that it does for me. However, when the folks at Wizards of the Coast (WotC) sat down to design the Lorwyn set with an intense Tribal theme, they had to find some way to keep Blue from sitting on the sidelines while the other colors filled the land with their armies. The Lorwyn set is heavily focused on Tribal play and Blue is no exception. Merfolk, Faeries, Elementals and Shapeshifters are the key tribes represented by Blue. Merfolk are an obvious inclusion for historical reasons. Elementals and Shapeshifters bring some truly unique and interesting abilities to the (war) party. And if you think that Faeries are for... well... faeries, then wait until you see what Lorwyn has in store for you! Like a lot of people, Blue is my favorite color in the Magic: the Gathering (MtG) color pie and I am keen to have a look at the latest additions to the library. In the card ratings below, you may notice that a lot of cards were given grades in the "C" range. In an age of superlatives, you may read this as a poor rating. However, keep in mind that "C" is "average" and a set of 49 cards must have a significant number of average cards in order to allow the truly special cards to stand out. With that out of the way, it is time to take a look at what Lorwyn has to offer the Blue mage.
AEthersnipe is another addition to the bounce crew, joining the likes of Riftwing Cloudskate. This one is limited to non-land permanents. It is a minor point, but in some matches it could limit the playability of the card in certain situations. In this Tribal-oriented set, however, it should find plenty of targets. In any case, it will still bounce your Reality Acid along with the likes of Dream Stalker. If you remove 1U for the bounce effect, a 4/4 Elemental for 4 is not bad. The Evoke ability allows you to bounce a non-land permanent for 1UU, which is expensive for a bounce effect. Utility in cards is a good thing but I don't see this card getting played a lot in Constructed formats.
The Shapeshifter is an interesting creature type and the Amoeboid Changeling is no exception. The changeling ability is new and triggered WotC to update the official creature type list – which they managed to reduce from 354 types to 216 types by adding creature types to cards from ages past. I guess less is more. (And I suppose removing creature types from the Un-sets helped). Anyway, the new ability brings a whole host of ideas to mind and I may have to give some of them a try. Being all creature types is particularly useful in this Tribal set, and the ability to give and take away this ability will likely be exploited in Limited play. The 1/1 body is a bit fragile, though. On a side note, how are you supposed to take a card seriously with artwork that makes it look like a stuffed animal? Grade: C+
Obviously a card intended to make islandwalking Merfolk and Ethereal Whiskerkill (see the card descriptions below for more information about these and other delights) something more than useless, this card actually accomplishes its task reasonably well. If played in a Merfolk deck you get the cantrip which always helps (remember, creatures with changeling count). In Limited and Constructed decks utilizing Merfolk this card must be a consideration. Grade: B-
Seven mana for a 5/5 body plus two 1/1 bodies is good enough, but then I can use those two additional bodies to untap my Behemoth... sorry... Benthicore and give it shroud!? This is not a bad beater, especially in Limited, I would think. It would be even better if I could use mana to activate this guy's ability, but I'll take what I'm given. I could also tap a Fallowsage (see below) and a Veteran of the Depths (see FI: White) to activate my Benthicore’s ability and reap all sorts of benefits. Grade: A
This feels like a Johnny card waiting for the right deck. With clash, you compare the top card of your library with that of your opponent’s top card. Sensei's Divining Top and other cards like it are a natural fit in non-Standard formats. Leveraging the milling effect of winning the clash means that this card is destined for a counter-mill deck or one that manipulates the top of the opponent's library. However, outside of a deck built to leverage its unique abilities, this card would be difficult to use effectively, as randomly comparing the casting cost of cards does not seem like a solid strategy for victory, nor does milling four cards provide much advantage on its own. Grade: C
Clash seems like a new ability added by WotC to encourage players to use spells with higher casting costs. I am not going to be fooled by this. However, it seems like there are enough clash cards to put something together if you had the desire. In this case, you get to fight over one of your opponent's creatures, or alternately you could intentionally lose the clash and Donate a creature of your own to your opponent. Meh, not very exciting. Grade: D
As a side note, I am reminded here of Dismal Failure, which adds insult to injury by countering one spell and forcing the opponent to discard another. I think that this card could be a staple of particular deck archetypes in Constructed formats. It should be useful for its utility in Limited formats, but the heavy Blue requirements in its casting cost will make it a difficult card to include in a Limited deck. On the downside, when I first read this card I was thinking that it would make an excellent uncommon, but as a rare it is probably a little less exciting (dropped from an A to a B+ because it is a rare). Grade: B+
A 2/1 body for two mana is a rarity for Blue. You can also give him islandwalk, which can be excellent evasion with cards like Aquitect's Will. It seems like a Limited card. Grade: C+
Why not tap your Fallowsage (see below)? I'm sure there is an infinite loop out there somewhere just waiting to form the core of the Merfolk Mill deck. Grade: C-
Another anti-Tribal card, this one is not much fun for Sliver decks in Standard. Wait, what Sliver decks? Otherwise, it is a bit tricky because it has the changeling ability, meaning that it is all creature types, even though it is not even a creature. Eh? WotC is getting awfully creative these days. Grade: C
This creature introduces something that Blue decks see very little of indeed: an efficient creature. At 4/3 for a converted mana cost of four, this card looks like it should have been printed with a Green background. That is, until you see that it also has flying, which makes it a very Blue card indeed. Flying and efficient? There must be a drawback. Alas, there is. Not being able to attack unless the defending player controls an Island is normally a significant drawback - enough to make it unplayable. However, this set alone offers Aquitect's Will and Tideshaper Mystic to help with that. As a limited card it may have some value as a finisher. As a side note, it was pointed out to me that Ethereal Whiskergill has flying but can’t attack unless the defending player controls and Island. This does not normally make much sense. Is this guy supposed to be some sort of flying fish as well (see Mulldrifter below)? Grade: C+
This card is a must for your Tribal Faerie deck! (Note: The previous sentence was initially sarcasm, but I have been convinced that it probably will be in your Faerie deck. That doesn’t make me love it, though.) The fetched Faerie card does not get put into play, nor does it get put into your hand. Instead, it goes on top of your library. It had better be a great Faerie card. Or it could be something with changeling. Since you will most likely fetch a fattie (which so far means Mistblind Clique – see below) you could use this effect in concert with clash. Note that you can also fetch Faerie Trickery (see below) or any other Faerie card, even if it is not a creature. Grade: C
Now, at its core, this spell is Cancel with a drawback and an advantage. For the same cost as Cancel (1UU), you can counter a spell. In Limited or Block Constructed formats I would think that this drawback could potentially get in the way, or at least make it slightly unreliable at times. However, in Constructed formats with a large card pool, such as Extended or the Eternal formats, and especially in Casual play, the drawback will very unlikely arise with any frequency, if at all. Note, however, that the card could not counter another Faerie Trickery. The advantage, then, is that the countered spell is removed from the game, which can obviously be useful against decks making use of recursion. Overall, I might be able to find a spot for this card in a deck, but from a card design point of view, it would be for the wrong reasons. I would not include it because of any advantage that having the supertype of Tribal or the subtype of Faerie could offer, but rather because these attributes of the card do not necessarily detract from the overall card in my chosen formats. Still, I would have to evaluate it against cards that do not have any drawbacks to consider. Grade: C+
Ok, so every time I tap this guy, I draw a card. There are at least five Blue cards in Lorwyn that allow me to tap this guy in addition to standard methods (like swinging for two), not to mention Summon the School (see FI: White). This could be a good draw engine in Limited and Standard Constructed formats, though he is obviously vulnerable with a toughness of two. By now you should be starting to get a feel for the Tribal synergy that has been built into this set. Grade: B+
WotC last printed Counterspell in the 7th Edition Core Set. With the release of Time Spiral, the cost of the pure hard counter was increased to 1UU in the form of Cancel. By reprinting Cancel in the 10th Edition Core Set, WotC once again made their stance very clear: at least for the next two years, the cost of the hard counter would remain unaltered. As if to drive the point home even further (a.k.a. beating a dead horse), we have Familiar's Ruse, which has the same mana cost as Counterspell, but requires the additional cost of returning a creature to your hand. As with many cards, there are certainly some situations in which this might be desirable. For example, if my opponent has played Temporal Isolation on my Air Elemental, I might find it useful to counter the next spell he plays and rescue my beater in the process. However, in other situations I may find that the loss of tempo caused by returning a permanent threat to my hand is too high a price to pay for a counterspell. This makes it difficult to judge the power of the spell in Limited formats, though I somehow think that it might end up being useful, especially in decks running Blue. Turning to Constructed formats, one must obviously think about decks out there that are built specifically to abuse blink/bounce/comes into play effects. This card would seem like a natural addition to such decks, even while not fitting into archetypal control decks that usually do not have many creatures to pay the cost. Grade: B
I am shocked to find this card in this set. The set is largely focused on Tribal wars and the synergy of cards in the Limited format. Yet here we have a card that stands out as something that could actually be useful. This is a mid-game card that allows to you draw, not three cards, but three nonland cards. Any lands you draw get moved to the bottom of your library, so you do not even have to shuffle them back into rotation. For every land card that you pull and move to the bottom of your library, you are improving the potential quality of your next card draw. This card could really only have been better if it could be played at instant speed. That is a significant drawback, as most Constructed Control decks will look to do their card drawing at the end of their opponent's turn - significant enough to drop it from the 'A' category. Still, it may have some impact as a result of the pure quality of the cards being drawn. Grade: B+
During my evaluation, I left this one blank until the end because my First Impression is that this is one of the worst cards ever printed. As soon as I write it I know that I will have missed the point entirely and this will end up being one of those great cards that I was just too incompetent to understand. In fact, while this piece was being reviewed, every Johnny in the house felt obligated to step up and take a swipe at me. I have listened to their talk of abusing and breaking this card and remain unconvinced. There are those who would know about such things and argue that card advantage wins games, period. This card packages up that advantage with a nice little bow and gives it to each and every opponent. It does so from the mid-game, just when most opponents would love to have a fist-full of cards and usually have the mana to put them to good use. What's that, you say? Your opponents can only have seven cards in hand and therefore must discard down at the end of their turn? Yes, this is true, and I also have built a mill deck before. Keep in mind that most lockdown/mill decks that don’t attack the library directly actually rely on the fact that the opponent is unable to play the cards that you are forcing them to draw via something like Stasis, while this card actually requires that they play spells in order to trigger the effect. The fact that in the meantime your opponents will find all of the cards they need to send your brain chunks and skull fragments spraying in all directions might make it worth reconsidering. Besides, nothing is forcing them to play more than one spell, so they could have seven cards per turn from which to choose the single best card to play against you if they decide not to defeat you in a single catastrophic bludgeoning. On top of that, it is a RARE. I tend to buy singles, but this card alone could keep me from buying booster packs of Lorwyn. If I spent my hard-earned cash on a booster pack and drew this in my rare slot, I would be forced to turn up at WotC with a baseball bat and demand my money back. (I suppose it is a good thing, then, that I live thousands of miles away.) On the upside, this card does have a lot of synergy with One with Nothing. You could make a Black/Blue deck with a catchy title like, "Heads, You Win, Tails, I Lose", or maybe just "Doormat". Ok, maybe I’m not as personally offended as I’m implying, but seriously, if this card worked in reverse fashion, it would be a massively broken card advantage engine. Why would anyone give that to his or her opponent? Oh - maybe that's it; I could gift this card to my opponent. That is a solid strategy. Grade: Z - I would rather it was blank.
Blink and bounce, oh what fun! Grade: B-
As a generic answer to a creature threat that your opponent has played, this card has some serious weaknesses as compared to some other options that are available like Pacifism or Temporal Isolation. The higher casting cost is the first obvious one, as is the fact that the creature must be tapped. To be fair, there is a lot of tapping going on is this set but the card still feels like a weak option for locking down a threat. Grade: D
A 6/6 body for six mana is good efficiency, and good is excellent for Blue. Guile has a limited form of evasion in that it can only be blocked by three or more creatures, and with all of the creature-tapping abilities available in this set it might be difficult for your opponent to do. When it is put into a graveyard from anywhere it goes back into your library, which makes it difficult to get rid of permanently. On top of all of this, while Guile is in play your counterspells all become thievery spells instead and remove your opponents' spells from the game. This guy is all pros and no cons. That is unless you consider the fact that this guy is only going to exist in mono-Blue Constructed decks to be a con. Grade: A
The islandwalk ability might be used in this environment as the whole Merfolk Tribal deck is shaping up to include ways to make islandwalk useful. The one-time deck manipulation ability is all right but probably isn't enough to justify the mana cost of this guy. With some blink action it might be decent, but in the end there are better methods to achieve the same goal. Overall, this card is pretty average. Grade: C
This is where I get to give my first impression of planeswalkers, a new concept introduced by WotC with the Lorwyn set. To be honest, I initially wanted to give a bad first impression, but after a closer look, I am not so sure that they are all that bad. In a way, planeswalkers are more like enchantments than creatures, since they can neither attack nor block, and you take advantage of them by adding and removing charge (ok, "loyalty") counters. Their biggest weakness, of course, is that they are vulnerable to both combat damage and direct damage from non-combat sources. For a planeswalker like Jace Beleren, who has only three loyalty counters to begin with, he is only a Lightning Bolt away from being removed. Looking at Jace in particular, the first ability of having each player draw a card is a dangerous gamble in most cases, though it would work well in the proper deck (such as lockdown). Otherwise, the second ability will allow you to draw three cards over three turns for 1UU, which is not all that bad, though more draw would be better. Finally, for -10 loyalty counters, you can drop 20 cards from either your library or your opponent's into the appropriate graveyard. This last ability is an obvious boon to mill decks and could even be leveraged to your own advantage with a lot of cards with flashback and something like Crucible of Worlds in play. Overall, I think that planeswalkers are an interesting new concept, and while I am not yet fully convinced of their usefulness, I think that they are an intriguing innovation to the game that we know and love so much. Finally, Jace has cool artwork. I have not personally been overwhelmed with the artwork of the Lorwyn set, but Jace is a welcome exception. Grade: B+
Grade: C+
Islandwalking, buddy-finding 'folk. Cool. Grade: C+
The Tribal theme seems to be creeping into Sliver territory. Merrow Reejerey is a lesser Muscle/Sinew Sliver (higher casting cost) that also lets you Twiddle permanents (like your Fallowsage). Note that the ability triggers whenever you play a Merfolk spell, so your Aquitect's Will and Merrow Commerce will trigger it. This card should get some play in Limited and Standard Constructed formats where it’s Sliver-like tribe pump will make it a welcome addition to the Merfolk tribe. Grade: B
Go Faeries! A 4/4 body for four mana along with flash and flying. This guy is a powerhouse. Once again, there has to be a drawback or else the card wouldn't be quite fair. This is where the new keyword ability champion comes into play. In order to put this guy into play without sacrificing it (which I'll assume for now that you want to do) you have to remove another Faerie card that you control from the game. Don't worry though; you get it back later when this guy leaves play. In fact, the champion ability is being touted as the big answer to Wrath of God, and used effectively, it just may be. You have to love it when you can use a card’s drawback to your advantage. In any event, this type of ability once again reinforces the tribal nature of the set. In the past there has often been synergy within particular tribes, but the mechanics of Lorwyn go beyond synergy to almost require a tribal approach to deck building. Grade: A for Tribal decks
If you want, by paying the Evoke cost, this card is Counsel of the Soratami, full stop. If you pay an extra 2, you get a 2/2 flier. That's not terrible for a common and it may have some value in Limited play. It is a mid-game card, at which point a 2/2 flier may have a little value in Limited and the two cards will definitely be useful. My biggest gripe is that it looks like a flying fish. Ugh. Grade: B
This card is pretty average. For three mana and only a chance at making it a 3/2 I don't think that this card brings a lot to the tribe. Grade: C-
While I personally am not all that fond of the Faerie tribe, this card is not too bad. Flash gives it some possibilities and there are many ways to leverage the Twiddle effect. A slightly tougher body would have made this card a bit more useful. Grade: B-
A common card that gives the ability to manipulate the top of your library but allows you to shuffle your library if you do not happen to like what you see, and in either event you get the cantrip. And all of this for the low, low price of U. It actually is not too bad, and is an obvious inclusion in Standard formats if you plan on using the new clash mechanic. Its sorcery speed causes some issues as it forces you to spend that U during your own turn when you would probably rather do it at the end of your opponent's turn (unless you have a very short memory). Grade: C
I am not all that fond of creature auras, as they tend to set you up for card disadvantage when your opponent bolts your creature. However, if you want to add some abilities to a game-finisher, then unblockability and shroud are some of the best to add. It is just a bit pricey at four mana. Grade: C+
A 1/1 flying creature for two mana is about average. Ringskipper gives you an ability to get him back into your hand via clash, but this is not enough to get me excited about it. Grade: C
Here we have an attempt to re-create the effect of Mana Drain using modern spell costing and mechanics. Again, clash is only good if you are doing extensive manipulation with the top of your deck, and only guaranteed if you can also manipulate the top of your opponent's deck. Anything else is just random, and a four-mana counterspell is poor.
Flash flying Faeries form fun for friends and family. Once again the tribe-pumping ability shows up, but the difference between the new tribe-pumpers and the Slivers that came before them is that the bonus does not apply to itself. With a 1/1 body and not having shroud itself, this guy will draw the next point of damage that your opponent can manage to send in its direction. Otherwise, it's a pretty good card. Grade: B
Flash flying Faerie for four seems a bit pricey for a 2/3 body. At a casting cost of three this would have been a good little card. As it stands, he will likely see some play in Limited but is not of good enough quality to want to include it in Constructed decks. Grade: C
Since Shapesharer can target itself with its shapeshifting ability, this is a pretty good card for two mana. Copying some other, much cooler creature will hopefully compensate for the weak body. This card has some possibilities. Grade: B-
A 2/1 for two with a cantrip is not a terrible card. The drawback is a bit strange, but if you are running a Merfolk deck, revealing one should not be an onerous task. Still, it does not get me very excited. Grade: C+
The Silvergill Douser can remove the effective kill power of your opponents' creatures but does nothing to actually deal with them. I think that I would rather spend the card slot on something that progresses me toward victory rather than just slowing my opponent's victory. Grade: D
What, no flash!?! Sower of Temptation is obviously slower than its brethren, but gaining control of an opponent's creature is card advantage and beats all rolled up into one package. If only this card were a cooler tribe, like Illusion. Yeah, that would be fantastic. Grade: A
It’s no Draining Whelk but I fail to see a downside in a Faerie deck. Otherwise it’s pretty average. Grade: B+
Twiddle-de-dee! I think that Fallowsage will get motion sickness from all of the tapping and untapping shenanigans in the Merfolk tribe. Call it the card advantage tribe. Grade: C+
Here is yet another source for making your islandwalkers truly useful, and at a reasonable cost. Grade: B-
This creature just seems a little too costly for its ability. With a 2/2 body for four mana, having to pay an additional 1U to bounce a permanent just seems inefficient, especially since you can only do this when it becomes tapped. Tapping it won't be a problem, but this means that you can only trigger the ability once each time.
Tideshaper Mystic is the one-man islandwalk engine for your Merfolk deck. He will be the target of removal spells. Grade: A
Despite being a bit mana intensive, this Shapeshifter is not terrible. I would still love to see WotC put out a creature like this at a converted casting cost of three. Grade: B-
A 4/4 creature for six mana plus removing a Merfolk from the game is a bit tough. However, you can get your removed creature back when this one dies, so it’s probably only temporary. HOWEVER, this guy can net you extra turns! The Prophet is the big finisher of a Tribal Merfolk deck. Can you say "evasion"? Not that I'm building a Merfolk deck or anything, but if I did, I might have to consider putting him in a Protective Bubble. I'm just saying…. Grade: A
For 1U I can Unsummon with the possibility of putting the creature on top of its owner's library instead of in his hand. Again, in a deck that is utilizing scry effects the clash ability might be useful, but overall this card just feels like hard work. Grade: C-
Oh yeah! It costs you a card but it may be just the thing for a surprise finish. Grade: B
Yawn. I do not see this card making it into any of my decks. Grade: D
I think that we have also learned another valuable piece of information: Faeries rock! (I can’t believe I actually wrote that.) Seriously, flavor is a key aspect of the game for me and I personally find the Faerie creature type a bit distasteful. But if you let your inner Spike takeover, I think you will find that the Faerie tribe is a force to be reckoned with. As a final summary, I would have to say that I am a bit disappointed that WotC did not manage to slip in a few more treats for those of us that might not be as excited about the Tribal hype. However, the set is well designed and I think that it is certainly worth taking a close look at the interactions between the cards. I think that most players will still find something worthwhile.
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Grade:
C+
The
series of charms that has come out over the years has provided some cards with
excellent flexibility by allowing the player to choose the effect that the card
provides. Cryptic Command is a powerful extension of this concept, in this case
allowing the player to choose two effects. It is noteworthy that "draw a card"
is one of the effects, as it means that the card can pretty much always be
played, but the cantrip effect actually gets you the least benefit for your
mana. If you consider that Cancel is the new standard for a hard counterspell,
at 1UU, then you see that the card draw costs U. Boomerang costs UU, which means
that in combination with countering a spell you get it for half price, and
tapping all creatures your opponents control is a dastardly effect if used
correctly (such as to set up an alpha strike or in lockdown decks), and seems to
be worth at least 2U on the open market, if not more. The combination of four
good effects to choose from, the ability to choose two of them, and the high
relevance of these effects to decks running Blue means that this card is not
just an efficient two-cards-in-one deal, but can also have a devastating effect
on the board position for the cost.
Here
we see an example of the new supertype, Tribal. As applied to an instant it does
feel slightly strange but we should all start getting used to supertypes,
especially since the re-introduction and expansion of the Snow supertype in
Coldsnap.
Among
my friends, I'm not really known as a comedian myself, but I tend to "get" the
jokes of others. I guess you could say that I'm not normally slow on the uptake.
But if this is a joke, I don't get it.
For
a cost of 1U this card basically gives all of your Merfolk (and changeling
creatures) vigilance... sort of. If Merfolk is your tribe, then you'll need this
one.
Grade:
D
Grade:
D
Overall,
Lorwyn has brought strong Tribal flavor to Blue. I think it is safe to say that
if you were looking for that awesome new counterspell that would define control
decks in the Standard environment, you were disappointed. However, the set is
highly cohesive and Limited format events should prove to be interesting.
Consider also that the changeling ability makes several Blue cards useful with
any tribe and in Limited tournaments they should see a lot of play.