You are: Home -> Articles -> Columns -> State of Play |
Editor: Audrey Chin Quan. Tuesday 25 June 2002.
|
Judgment Limited Review - Red
Read the first part of this series:
Card Name: Anger Ideally you want to get this little fellow into the graveyard as soon as possible because he is not that good on the table. When Anger is in the graveyard the game will shift in your favour quite quickly. Anger suits a R/G aggro style deck that can take advantage of big green creatures. A mid range pick, steer away if you are not playing fat.
Card Name: Arcane Teachings This card is so good I'm renaming it Arcane Beatings. One of the best creature enchantments in the block this can be played on any creature and is always a problem for your opponent. It suits any style of deck but is optimal in a R/G or R/W beatdown deck, as it will make your phantom creatures "immortal" (ie you can still prevent damage with no counters as the creature now has +2/+2).
This is a first pick for red players and that goes to show how good this common enchantment is.
Card Name: Barbarian Bully I initially thought the bully was pretty bad but I'm starting to like him. This grey ogre has a good punisher ability but the random discard can be annoying. Ideally suited to a beatdown deck don't be afraid to pitch cards to this guy if you are on the offensive. Remember to try and pump this guy before you attack or block, as you don't want to do this in combat A mid range pick at this stage and pick up a few madness cards to make him worth it.
Card Name: Book Burning Let me say this now - I like this card. This is one of the cheaper punisher cards out there and has a lot of strategic potential. Firstly this can be used to reach threshold really quickly, which on the second or third turn of the game is not bad. Secondly it can be a good late game card to mill your opponent out. If they choose to take the damage then fine, you have just reduced their life total by about a third. Still this does not suit every style of deck and feels at home in R/G or R/W so will generally be a late pick. If your deck relies on threshold pick it relatively earlier.
Card Name: Breaking Point Red gets a cheap Wrath of God effect with a punisher drawback in the form of Breaking Point. Because of the punisher cost you can't really play around it, so you may need to play some of your better creatures on the table. At the very worst you should break even with this card but I don't think it is broken. An early pick but I'd be tempted to take an Arcane Beatings over it.
Card Name: Browbeat Another good punisher card, Browbeat can really put the hurt on your opponent. There is not a single player out there who wants their opponent drawing three cards so this is basically 5 damage for 3 mana. This suits a deck that plays other punisher style cards backed up with cheap efficient creatures and burn. A high pick and one of the better uncommons for red in Judgement.
Card Name: Burning Wish Like all of the other wishes, Burning Wish requires you to have decent cards in your sideboard to warrant playing it. Chances are if you are playing red then your sorceries are going to be burn related and should be maindecked. Burning Wish is too narrow for limited play and will end up in the scraps.
Card Name: Dwarven Bloodboiler The Bloodboiler is a solid creature that can use himself to boost a creature the turn he is cast. Bearing in mind there are not too many playable dwarves in the set (with the exception of the strike force and the bomb squad) you may have to play suboptimal creatures to make this guy worthwhile. If you have drafted a quick deck with a few dwarves already then Dwarven Bloodboiler may be a high pick. Otherwise he is a midrange choice if there are no better red cards available.
Card Name: Dwarven Driller The driller is expensive for what it does and later in the game his ability may be useless. He is handy for a few extra points of damage early especially if your opponent is playing enchant lands. A mid range pick and may be drafted to make up the numbers.
Card Name: Dwarven Scorcher This dwarf is not that good as he sacrifices himself. If it had a tap ability then he may be playable. Lava Dart is much better than this and I can't really understand why they printed both of these cards in the same set. A late pick and I'm surprised if anyone would play this.
Card Name: Ember Shot As far as overcosted damage spells go this one takes the cake - but hey you draw a card! -whoop di doo. If you are desperate for removal then you could play one of these but seven mana is a lot and it will often stay in your hand. You can guarantee this card will go around the table - a late pick.
Card Name: Firecat Blitz Firecat Blitz is the kind of card that can win games all by itself. A mid to late game card, you can often generate around 10 cats by around turn 7 or 8 with the flashback. This suits a R/G build with cheap creatures such as Chatter of the Squirrel and/or Acorn Harvest. Can you imagine Rites of Initiation on top of all that - ouch! This is a high pick and possibly the best uncommon for red.
Card Name: Flaring Pain This is an interesting card as it has a variety of different uses. Firstly it stops annoying tricks like Prismatic Strands and stops phantom creatures from using their counters. It can also be used to get around "protection from X" creatures too so watch out Commander Eesha. The fact it has flashback makes it doubly annoying for your opponent. Flaring Pain looks like a sideboard card but I would maindeck it as nearly every deck plays phantoms and/or prevention type cards. A mid range pick.
Card Name: Fledgling Dragon Could this be the best creature for red in Judgement? I think so. A 2/2 flyer for 4 mana is rather ordinary but throw in it's threshold ability and you have created a monster. Getting to threshold should not be a problem in a R/G or R/W deck where the dragon is ideally suited. A first pick as this will be a gamebreaker when you hit threshold.
Card Name: Goretusk Firebeast With all the punisher cards in Judgement the Firebeast pales in comparison. I would not normally play with this type of card but I can see its use in a deck that plays aggro beatdown (typically R/G). These decks often run out of steam and need a bit of extra burn to finish their opponent off. Still a late pick in my opinion but I could be wrong..
Card Name: Infectious Rage I don't like any card that has an element of randomness to it and Infectious Rage fits into that category. This card is too risky as it can kill off your own creatures and/or end up on your opponent's best flier making it unstoppable. A very late pick and will probably be one of the last cards being passed around.
Card Name: Jeska, Warrior Adept Compare Jeska to Halberdier and you can see she is a much more efficient creature. Great for picking off annoying 3 drops like Cabal Torturer and Hallowed Healer, she also has first strike and haste so can be used aggressively and/or defensively. A solid first pick, there are no red uncommons worth taking her over.
Card Name: Lava Dart As far as one mana burn spells go Lava Dart is not that bad. The flashback cost is reasonable and can be used when you are tapped out. There are plenty of annoying 1/1 creatures around to warrant playing this and better still it is an instant. Not to be chosen that early, Lava Dart is a mid to late range pick.
Card Name: Liberated Dwarf He used to serve the dark side when he was enslaved but now he is free and helping out his green buddies again. Liberated Dwarf is much better than the enslaved variety in Torment but relies on you playing R/G. The first strike and power boost is handy, especially on fat green creatures. Still nothing to get excited about, the dwarf may or may not see play depending on the style of R/G deck. A late pick.
Card Name: Lightning Surge Lightning Surge is up there for best red card in Judgement but I think the Fledgling Dragon edges it out because it just can win games. The surge however can deal with most of the creatures in the format (and phantoms at threshold) and has the added bonus of having both threshold and flashback. Once at threshold Lightning Surge is great for zapping those pesky Shieldmage Advocates. Always first pick this card, as you won't regret it.
Card Name: Planar Chaos This card is so random it is not funny. Please don't play this in a draft deck.
Card Name: Shaman's Trance Hmmm, interesting card but is it playable in limited?? It only appears to be useful if you are playing the same colours as your opponent and even then they need to have some decent flashback cards. The verdict is no and therefore is relegated to the scrap heap.
Card Name: Soulgorger Orgg Could Wizards have made a creature worse than this?? Soulgorger Orgg is terrible and I can't even think of a good use for this card other than the bin.
Card Name: Spellgorger Barbarian What is it with red and random discard? It is the only colour that seems to do this and the cards are bad because of it. The Spellgorger also has one toughness, which makes it quite fragile and is not my idea of an efficient creature. If you have the option of playing Halberdier over this guy do it. A late pick and you need to be desperate to play it.
Card Name: Swelter A solid uncommon, Swelter is card advantage but a Shower of Coals it isn't. The fact it can't target players is a bit frustrating but removal is removal and I would always play this card. An early pick but Firecat Blitz may just edge it out.
Card Name: Swirling Sandstorm If you don't have threshold this card does nothing! How weird is that? Once you reach threshold Swirling Sandstorm may as well read Wrath of God as it should be able to wipe out most non flying creatures in the set (aside from phantoms and certain advocates). The downside is you need threshold, making it a late pick.
Card Name: Worldgorger Dragon This is a risky creature to play as a single Kirtar's Desire can shut it down. Still a 7/7 trampling flyer for 6 mana is a good deal and if you are the sort of player that likes to take a chance then this is the card for you. It is hard to say when to draft this but I'm thinking the dragon is a mid range pick. [ Email the Author | Discuss this Article ]
|
