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Editor: Audrey Chin Quan. Saturday 15 June 2002.
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Judgment Limited Review - White
Read the first part of this series:
Card Name: Ancestor's Chosen Seven mana for a 4/4 first striker is not that good. Maybe he should have flying instead of the gain life ability? There are much better white cards than this and I would never play him. A late pick - what else can I say?
Card Name: Aven Warcraft The threshold ability is much better than what it does otherwise. This is marginally better than Prismatic Strands because it targets creatures you control but you need to achieve threshold for it to be effective. Otherwise this is just a Sacred Rites. Still not complete chaff, would suit a deck that plays a lot of low toughness creatures, could be a good sideboard card against mass removal effects like Gloomdrifter or Mutilate. A mid to late pick.
Card Name: Battle Screech I've drafted this a couple of times now and like it a lot. It is fantastic with Mirari's Wake and is always card advantage. If you are lucky you can play the flashback on the same turn you cast it for a super flying force. This is definitely one of the better uncommons for white and should be drafted early.
Card Name: Battlewise Aven 2/2 common fliers with special abilities are always good. I think battlewise Aven is slightly better than the Aven Fisher in this regard. Once at threshold this guy should dominate the skies. Good in any sort of deck but would suit one that can hit threshold quickly - maybe R/W. This is a good first pick if there are no broken cards in the booster. Still an early pick anyway.
Card Name: Benevolent Bodyguard I think this is one of the best one drops in the set. The bodyguard is great at any time of the game and can often save your best creature from visiting the graveyard. He also puts the beats on quickly and is good for combat tricks. Still a 1/1 is a 1/1 and Benevolent Bodyguard is a mid range pick. If these guys come round late and you are playing white get as many as you can.
Card Name: Border Patrol The patrol pretty much ties up the ground but won't be beating down your opponent much. I think the casting cost is fair but other than that it is very ordinary. If you need creatures draft and play this guy otherwise pass him up. Although Arcane Teachings on him would be good. A mid to late pick.
Card Name: Cagemail I'm not a fan of the Cagemail I have to say. Some players like this card as it stops an opposing flier, you can put it on your own creature, etc, etc but it is too defensive for my liking. The best use for this is on an Angelic Wall and that is saying something. A late pick but don't hold your breath.
Card Name: Chastise This is the best uncommon for white. It is that good it may even see constructed play. It doesn't stop regenerators but so what! - white needs all the removal it can get. Imagine casting this on a Phantom Nishoba, no I'll have the life thanks very much! A first pick for white with only broken rares such as Glory or Commander Eesha pipping it out.
Card Name: Commander Eesha Everyone plays creatures don't they? This is a no brainer first pick, but I'm not sure if it is easily splashable.
Card Name: Funeral Pyre This card is too iffy for my tastes. It would be good to remove incarnations from the game but there are much better cards to do that sort of stuff. A late pick.
Card Name: Glory It is a close call between Glory and Eesha for the best white card in judgement. Glory is the second best incarnation in the set and perhaps the most versatile. Even if you can't send her to the graveyard a 3/3 flyer for five mana is not to be sneezed at. Once in the graveyard she can wreck havoc during combat, make creature enchantments useless and laugh at targeted removal. The double white in the casting cost can be hard to splash for but it is definitely worth considering if you open this card. Wow come to think it, Glory is better - best white card in Judgement.
Card Name: Golden Wish Golden Wish is quite expensive for limited play but it does have its uses. Most of the artifacts in Odyssey block draft are terrible and the ones that aren't should be maindecked, eg Patchwork Gnomes. So that leaves enchantments. The spheres spring to mind as the obvious choice but they are uncommon so you won't have more than one of those (usually). How about fetching a Coral Net from the board against a green/white player? A Primal Frenzy to put on your biggest creature? A Cagemail to put on that annoying flyer, erm, maybe not. I think the Golden Wish is a late pick but if you draft carefully you may be able to pick it higher. Am I reading too much into this card? I guess we'll have to find out.
Card Name: Guided Strike Now this is what white needs as a common! Everytime I drew one of these at the prerelease it was good. Guided Strike should always net you card advantage, is great when played on your phantom creatures and you draw a card. I wouldn't go as far to say this is a first pick but it is worth taking early, as these sorts of cards do not get passed far.
Card Name: Lead Astray Lead Astray on the other hand is not a Guided Strike. No card advantage and definitely no drawing of cards. I would put this in "the scraps" category.
Card Name: Nomad Mythmaker First off, lets think what creature enchantments are good in this situation. We have Arcane Teachings, Seton's Desire, Psionic Gift, strength of Lunacy, Strength of Isolation and Shade's Form. I'm sure there are many more but we'll go with those for now. The mythmaker sould be great at making your creatures bigger in combat with the teachings, desire, etc and seems broken with Shade's Form. But you need to draft those enchantments first then draft the mythmaker. Alternatively you could rely on your opponent to draft all those killer enchantments then kill their creatures and bring back the enchantments. Sounds like a bit too much effort doesn't it? A late pick unless you can make it work.
Mana Cost: 3WW Type & Class: Creature - Bird Soldier Spirit Card Text: Flying. Phantom Flock comes into play with three +1+1 counters on it. If damage would be dealt to, Phantom Flock prevent that damage and remove a +1/+1 counter from Phantom Flock. Rarity: Uncommon Pow/Tou: 0/0 I can remember drafting a Mirror Wall over this and regretting it big time (I thought the Mirror Wall had flying!). When is a 3/3 flyer not good for your deck? The flock handles any other fliers with ease and like all phantom creatures benefits from a spell that gives it counters. The flock is a high pick and one of the best fliers in Judgement. This is up there with Chastise as best uncommon in the set.
Card Name: Phantom Nomad The Phantom Nomad is not bad for a 2 drop, as it will often take a few blocks to deal with it. Like all phantoms the nomad is susceptible to "pinger" style effects such as Psionic Gift and Arcane Teachings. A mid range pick and will vary depending on your mana curve.
Card Name: Prismatic Strands White received some nifty combat tricks in this set and Prismatic Strands is one of them. This works better if your opponent is playing colours that are different from yours because it prevents all damage from one colour. The flashback is great as you can often cast it twice in the same turn. A mid range pick.
Card Name: Pulsemage Advocate The Pulsemage Advocate's ability comes at a steep cost. Three cards is a lot to give back to your opponent and you can often bet they won't be lands. I guess it also depends on the creatures you draft and they will need to be broken to warrant playing this guy. I think the Pulsemage is a late pick and will vary depending on the creatures you have drafted. If you have Wayward Angel, Aboshan, etc then he could be worth it.
Card Name: Ray of Revelation White has received some form of enchantment removal in each set with Ray of Distortion in Odyssey, Frantic Purification in Torment and now Ray of Revelation in Judgement. All of these have their uses and if you are going white then you should try and draft at least one of these. Ray of Revelation is possibly the weakest if you are not playing green but is better than nothing. A late pick, these should always be lapping the table.
Card Name: Selfless Exorcist The Exorcist has a neat ability that reduces threshold, deals with incarnations and removes pesky creatures that simply won't die. He is tough enough to finish off all the incarnations (except Genesis) and a good blocker to boot. This makes the Exorcist a solid early to mid range pick depending on your mana curve.
Card Name: Shieldmage Advocate For a common the Shieldmage is a damn good card. The fact you only have to return one card makes this one of the better advocates and has to be dealt with quickly otherwise it will dominate the table. Possibly a first pick if there is no broken white uncommon/rare in the pack.
Mana Cost: 5WWW Type & Class: Creature - Angel Card Text: Flying. Threshold - All other creatures you control gain +2/+2 Rarity: Rare Pow/Tou: 6/6 A 6/6 flyer for eight mana seems a bit expensive especially as it has a threshold ability. Once the Seraph is down the game should be over but the question is do you really need this card?? If you have drafted a few mana accelerators I would pick this a bit higher otherwise a mid to late pick.
Card Name: Solitary Confinement This has constructed play written all over it. Solitary Confinement is only a stall card in limited and unless you draft Genesis will not see too much play. Solitary Confinement is confined to the sideboard. A late pick.
Card Name: Soulcatcher's Aerie I have seen an OBC deck built around this card and I was quite impressed as those feather counters do mount up. For limited play it is too narrow and could be a liability if your opponent was playing birds too. This will often get passed to you. Don't take it.
Card Name: Spirit Cairn Is this an answer to all those crazy madness cards going around? You can even use it if you discard. This is a sideboard card in my opinion as it is very reactionary. If your opponent has Compulsion or a Mongrel or something like that then you may side it in. This is a late pick but think about your own deck too when/if you draft it.
Card Name: Spurnmage Advocate The most fragile of the advocates has possibly the most aggressive ability. Being able to destroy a creature in white is rare nowadays so this guy has to be useful. The returning the two cards bit is the problem, especially if their graveyard is chock full of goodies - try to target land and smaller creatures which would have no impact on the game. Spurnmage Advocate fits in a deck that lacks removal, so probably a G/W or U/W build. By all means play him with other colours, but you will often have better removal options. A mid to late pick depending on the deck.
Card Name: Suntail Hawk The Benevolent Bodyguard is slightly better than the hawk but it still is a playable card. A solid one-drop, Suntail Hawk will often get in a few points of early damage. A good target for creature enchantments you may want to play this if you have Arcane Teachings, Seton's Desire, etc. The hawk is a mid to late pick as it basically is a filler card.
Card Name: Test of Endurance I'll write a tournament report the next time I get to 50 life in a limited tournament and win with this card. Don't hold your breath. Part of the scraps.
Card Name: Trained Pronghorn Trained Pronghorn seems quite bad. A 1/1 for 2 mana with a discard ability.. please. If you are really, really desperate for creatures then you could maybe consider this but otherwise it's chaff.
Card Name: Unquestioned Authority Well, well, well this is good isn't it. Tucked away at the bottom of the list lies one of the stronger white cards. Unquestioned Authority is versatile, draws you a card but is susceptible to bounce and/or enchantment removal. It fits into any deck and is one of the best uncommons in white alongside Chastise and Phantom Flock. This is a first pick without a doubt barring a crazy rare.
Card Name: Valor This little card is quite good as first strike comes in handy. He is best used, as a combat trick to gain massive card advantage so would suit a deck where he could easily be pitched. By himself Valor is not that great so I wouldn't draft him too early. A mid range pick.
Card Name: Vigilant Sentry By himself the sentry is a grey ogre, but at threshold it is a different story. Reaching threshold is key with these guys so you have so consider that when drafting. I think it would fit in a R/W deck that would hit threshold with Book Burning or something similar. It could also work in U/W, with cantrips like Obsessive Search, Mental Note etc. If threshold is not a problem Vigilant Sentry is a mid range pick otherwise leave it in the booster unless you really need a creature. [ Email the Author | Discuss this Article ]
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