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As some of you will realize; I’m not a tournament going player – the last time I went to an organized and sanctioned event was the pre-release of Time Spiral. I always thought this would ever keep me from being able to contribute anything to this series and until now I haven’t really pursued the issue. But then I realized that while I might not be a big tournament player, I sure do play casual and alternate formats; surely I’m not the only one!? In fact, I know I’m not; I’m constantly able to find someone to play with in a 2HG game, to face off against in a Tribal game and even Vanguard is starting to become a regular part of my play cycle. So here I am to give all you pro-Casual players and alternate format junkies the lowdown on this new set and what it means for your choice of flavor. Now obviously I cannot cover all the alternate formats in the history of MTG – for one thing the editors would chew me out for giving them too much work, and secondly there simply isn’t enough time to get such a volume of work out there, so I’m going to have to settle for those formats I feel are the most relevant. For the purposes of this article, I will be reviewing each card's affect on Casual, 2HG, Tribal and Highlander – but should you want to know my opinion on a card in any alternate format I’m more than happy to talk it up afterwards in the provided thread or via email if you aren’t a forum member. But all this talk isn’t getting us anywhere – one of each artifact and land, coming right up! Be warned guys, this is a long read so I won’t be offended if you tackle it a bit at a time. As a quick point; the fact I collect lands doesn’t make me a soft touch to them, but rather a harsher judge. I’ve seen them all and own most of them so I know the rough from the smooth. I ask you to bare this in mind as I review these cards; the problem with reading someone’s opinion is that they are always biased in some way. Anyhow, with that all said and done, let’s crack on with the review:
2HG: Still rather slow, but the concept of shroud in
a match with twice as many people to target your creatures becomes a whole
different ball-game. If played right and used in certain ways I could indeed see
this making some headway in this format. Tribal: Rogue fan-boys everywhere rejoice at this card; deliberately built to facilitate the prowl mechanic that Morningtide has gifted the Rogue tribe with, this plays an excellent role in the newer style decks – shame the weapon can still be targeted. GRADE: B Highlander: The ability to protect your one copy of
a creature from damage effects, spells and activated abilities is an appealing
one - one that many people may decide upon - but the issues here are speed and
the chance of pulling this card. It might see play in some decks but I can’t say
I would put much faith in its use.
Casual: Whilst paying four to draw a card could be
considered expensive, the issue here is that it has a colorless value, meaning
open-ended card draw is now within the grasp of any deck with enough mana. That
is an incredibly appealing idea to decks that otherwise have to rely on
splashing colors or cantrip effects to thin their deck. 2HG: Now in this circumstance the speed to benefit
ratio is just too poor; by the time you could normally make use of this card the
creature it was equipped to would most likely have died. Go for more guaranteed
methods of draw. Tribal: This just seems like another way in a long
list for Wizards to draw cards to me. Granted, that is important, but we’ve got
enough cards to do this already – how about some different effects for a change?
Despite my rant, the added combat aspect and free equip ability cannot be
ignored, especially with all the Wizards with flash flying around the game these
days. Highlander: Ponderously slow in this format; almost
certainly a miss for any serious players of the game. Continual draw is nice,
but combos are flimsy and one effect could ruin it all.
2HG: The fact that this can be dropped one turn
before the Coat could make this a more serious choice in this format. The added
speed and increased attack power could prove useful. Tribal: Open to any class or race, this artifact
even gets more powerful with each Tribal card of the chosen type played, as well
as any Changeling spells for that matter. Its added speed and ever-improving
ability will see Timmy reaching for a few copies of this card every time he
plays in this format. Highlander: Chances you will play more than three
creatures of the same type in Highlander – slim; the chances you will play seven
creatures of the same type in this format – practically zero. Not worth a
serious look at; run Equipment with triggered draw effects and shroud over this.
Casual: I can get haste for far cheaper in this
format and I can achieve a better result with the Anthems compared to this card.
A heavy casting cost and equip cost don’t help this card out, either. 2HG: Same kind of response here I’m afraid; a slow
card which can be outdone by existing cards – skip over it to Sword of Fire and
Ice/Shadow and Light and Loxodon Warhammer. Tribal: Much better; the ability to flick this card
around every time you play a new Warrior in order to grant that creature haste
for free makes this card worth the drop in speed and tempo to some decks; though
play it with caution and exercise a good amount of deck reading when playing
against Control players. Highlander: Dependency on a tribe hurts in this
format, but the ability of haste is still an appealing one to some – though not
so much in my case, I’m afraid.
Casual: Now we are talking business; a repeatable
ping that doesn’t care whose creatures go into the graveyard has some serious
combo potential. I can see Saprolings and Reanimation decks making great use of
this little thing. 2HG: On the one hand the speed isn’t great, but in
truth you will be able to trigger this thing quite a few times in one turn if
you play your cards right. Tribal: The ability to get around the rather high
equip cost and the fact it can shoot for the head again and again or act as
board control to some extent is something that makes me want to play a Shaman
deck. Highlander: If only that equip cost wasn’t so high,
I could see this card doing well here, but the truth is that it will be dealt
with before it ever becomes an issue unless you have a major defensive suite of
cards up your sleeves.
Casual: Rampage was never a huge thing when it was
around; some of the oldies like Tynion can back me up on that one. What makes
this card slightly better is that the bonus works in defense as well, though a
shrewd opponent will work around that with relative ease. 2HG: Two people could be attacking you, so that
potentially means a fair few creatures swinging across the board each turn, but
if you can only block one of them then what’s the point? Tribal: Instant-speed Soldier equip is nice and this
could see play very early; but again the issue is that unless you have a means
to block multiple enemies or force multiple enemies to block you, this card is
just plain old junk. Highlander: When it comes to Highlander, numbers in
all respects are usually low – low number of attackers, low number of defenders
and low number of creatures of a given type. Miss this one and use generic
Equipment instead.
Casual: The fact that it’s a Forest means it can
easily be searched for. The fact that it produces three types of mana (two on
the Painland model) is great. The fact I need a Treefolk card to use it straight
off is not so great, but this still seems like a new knish that R&D has never
explored before. 2HG: Sets you up for a three-colored deck nicely,
and as a first turn drop it wouldn’t be too bad if it came into play tapped.
It’s any turn after that when you need to be worried; speed is needed to survive
this format. Tribal: As previously mentioned in the forum, the
Treefolk’s own Harbinger can fetch this land pretty quickly and it does support
all colors involved in the tribe, but outside of this it loses its luster and
becomes slightly weaker in some respects to Ravnica’s Shock-lands. Highlander: This format allows you to take a certain
amount more time, allowing you to play this card without any Treefolk to support
it. The three-colored aspect makes this a certain avenue for Highlander players
to explore.
2HG: A 2/2 on turn two or even turn one in some
cases is always a great bonus, as it sometimes follows that the team to score
the first strike will most likely win the game in this format. Tribal: Any and all tribes can find a use for this
land; the part I find scary is that this card will take advantage of Slivers as
well. *Shudder* Highlander: It has some ups and some downs here. An
additional creature every now and then to add to the attack is nice, but the
chance of losing a land is not a healthy prospect here.
2HG: Speed is needed in this format, which this land
doesn’t have. An overall helpful factor to all types of decks is required by
this format. This card fails to deliver. Tribal: Beyond an Elemental player, you won’t see
this card in many decks. But within those Elemental decks you will see four if
the guy can afford it. Other than that, it’s too narrow to make a huge effect
overall I feel. Highlander: If this turned up in a Highlander game I
would be hard pressed not to laugh at my opponent. To each his own, I know, but
I still feel this would be worse than One With Nothing in this format.
Casual: A slow land without the support; the nice
part about this land is that it can act like a utility spell and buff up one of
your creatures against damage or generally just to make them stronger. Whilst
the concept is not all that new as we have had discard effects for quite some
time, the counter angle interests me on this one. 2HG: It can act as mana, or help yourself or your
partner’s creatures to beat down upon your enemy – sounds like a perfect use of
space in a deck to me. Tribal: Kithin won’t really suffer for having this
to use as a mainstream land, but the added counters really play into their
combat orientated theme.
Now unlike my other articles, due to the relative few cards reviewed here I want to take a more general and open approach to a closing assessment. When you boil it down, the artifacts that have arisen from this new set are generally a let-down, though I am particularly drawn to the Shaman Staff equipment card Thornbite Staff. The chance to abuse that card plays on my mind and sparks off my creative nature. But beyond this it seems to me that R&D needed to fill some gaps and plugged artifacts in there; and whilst all the artifacts make sense for the theme, they don’t bring much to the table in my mind. The lands however are a different matter; beyond Primal Beyond I can safely say that all of these lands are of a standard that we haven’t seen from R&D for some time now; though I’m going to put my word on the line and say that I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mutavault on a few restricted or even banned lists before long. Alright guys, I’m going to head off now and let you all get down to debating and expressing your views. But before I do I want to ask your opinions on a few things: “Did you like my approach to the series?” Feel free to contact me through any of the following methods:
All comments and opinions expressed would be greatly appreciated and I will always answer any questions you have for me. As always I’m also happy to talk through my thoughts and views on this or any other article with you. As always this is Luthervamplord, Signing Off.
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Casual:
Whilst the shroud aspect is nice and an increase in attack power is always the
primary function of Equipment; this card is a tad slow for my liking. Besides,
as any Phage player will tell you, there are better options for shroud out
there. 
Casual:
Charge counters can be made in other ways and the possibility of a recurring
creature is also a high probability in this whimsical format. Still, I can’t
help but feel that this rehash of Coat of Arms is a somewhat poor substitute and
that for the extra mana I’d happily play the Coat over this. 
Casual:
Creature lands have immense play value and are subject to so many combos out
there that I can’t see any way this card wouldn't be considered a bomb rare –
I’ll be hunting around for a play set, that’s for sure. The main benefit to this
one over others is the Changeling aspect – it allows a more astute player to
take advantage of that fact. 
Casual:
Golden lands have certain benefits to them, but casual players have always
accepted that there is some kind of downside to them as well. The problem is
that the downside to this one is that it is far too narrow in its approach to be
of much use to the average deck; Forbidden Orchard is far more useful. 
Highlander:
Spells that do more than one thing go a long way in this format, but a land that
can do it is something all Highlander players would like from their cards.