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Editor: Audrey Chin Quan. Monday 28 June 2004.
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 Scrubbarama: 5th Dawn Limited Review no. 3 - A Random Round-up of RED
I hope you enjoyed my last two reviews and thanks for all your comments - I had a feeling they were going to be concerning those particular cards. I guess everyone has their opinion of Hoverguard Sweepers, and while I probably no longer think it's as good as I rated it in my review, I still think it is a solid early pick and if you have the mana it is a bomb quality card.
During the last week I have done the unthinkable - won two drafts in a row. This was my first tournament victory since January, and comes after losing the last 10 (or more) finals I've played in. It's also sent my limited rating soaring towards 1780 (my previous high was 1781). Looks like I'm hitting form at just the right time for Nationals. Many more of these and I might have to think about revising my column title. I am still making more than my fair share of unforced errors, though. In the first draft I only won because of a technicality on points standings; I only actually drew the match because I didn't attack my Sword of Fire and Ice equipped Cackling Imp against his lone Advanced Hoverguard, for I forgot about the protection from blue!
OK, onto the main stuff, what will people north of the border recruit into their XVs in the game they play in Heaven (Card Heaven, that is)? And what has this new set augmented to a traditional removal color in the way of spells? Here we go......
Beacon of Destruction - 3RR [rare]
Better than a Pinpoint Avalanche, which was in itself a fairly high pick despite the casting cost, the Red Beacon is one of only a handful of useful removal spells in this set. The good thing about recursion is that it has the potential to surprise more than once. In addition, the chances of recursion actually increase as the game wears on, meaning that it becomes more likely to break stalemates. Also the five damage means it can get rid of almost anything in the set, even a Bringer. A potential first pick. [A]
Bringer of the Red Dawn - 7RR [rare]
Threaten each turn! This is actually one of the more situational Bringers considering that you are not guaranteed of it making a significant impact on the game every single turn, however, removing your opponent's best man each turn is pretty wacky. As with most Bringers, once you get it on the table you should win within a few turns. Unfortunately, this one is again nine to cast, just like all the others, and in a fast block like Mirrodin I just don't like it. Also, by experience, it's not as easy to draft Sunburst as it might seem, as there's only one pack of it. [C+]
Cosmic Larva - 1RR [rare]
Now I'd love to say this is really good, but I (rightfully) have never put this into a deck when I have received it, and, I just think it is way too dangerous. Playing it early means you are going to have one or two hits with it at the most, and your opponent will chump block. Playing it late means your opponent will have things to block it with, probably killing it. If you have nothing in the way of sizeable creatures, this is a last resort. [C-]
Feedback Bolt - 4R [uncommon]
This is a situational and suboptimal version of Lava Axe, which I have never included in my deck in a core set draft. Once my opponent played it on me thinking he would kill me with it and I swiftly Shattered an artifact of his so I stayed on 1 life and killed him next turn. For five mana, it will in most cases do only three or four damage and you can't even kill a creature with it. I think that pretty much sums up the story. [D]
Furnace Whelp - 2RR [uncommon]
A promising schoolboy recruit, who will definitely get a stint in the scrum every game. Flyers are pretty thin as a whole in this block and apart from Furnace Dragon I've yet to see one in red. While he is vulnerable to removal, the Whelp can pump up to do typically four or five damage to the dome when your opponent is lacking flyers and he will take out even the largest of the blue guys in defence. He's no Shivan, but still enough to make others shiver. [A-]
Goblin Brawler - 2R [common]
This is definitely better than a simple Grey Ogre, and in my opinion the drawback is not significant enough for it to become unplayable. Goblin Brawler will take out a lot of men in this block simply because most of them have fairly low toughness. A solid, playable half-back, not a marquee player but expect him to be taken in the middle of the pecking order. [B-]
Granulate - 2RR [rare]
While we may see Granulate lurking on the sideboard of a few constructed decks, it is nowhere near as good as some people think in Limited. Molder Slug was good because you got an economically-costed big guy with an ability which will benefit you first (your opponent sacs an artifact first). However, Granulate is a symmetrical one-time effect which makes it highly situational. In Limited, it is not worth building your deck around Granulate. At best it will come out of the sideboard in less than a quarter of matches. [D+]
Ion Storm - 2R [rare]
I got Ion Storm at a pre-release and also in a couple of drafts, never as first picks. The ability is tempting, turning every single counter on your side of the board into two damage. The other plus is that enchantment removal is pretty much zip in Limited. However, you need a large number of creatures and artifacts with counters to make it work - that means Arcbound creatures and Sunburst. If you can get five or six of those spells, well by all means go for it, but more often than not it seems one is not going to get enough fodder to feed the storm. [C+]
Iron-Barb Hellion - 5R [common]
Iron-Barb Hellion will potentially score a few tries but is no good when it comes to tackling. Having haste seems fancy but at six mana he's lost quite a bit of that sting - remember Fire Elemental was 5/4 for five mana. Often at that stage of the game your opponent will have something to deal with it anyway, and for the price he is not extremely tough. Overall the drawbacks seem to slightly outweigh the positives. [C]
Krark-Clan Engineers - 3R [uncommon]
I have seen some cases where he can be a net positive, namely when I had a Platinum Angel on the table and my opponent had no other way of removing it despite being ahead on life total. Despite this, you are not likely to have more than three or four artifacts on the board at the same time, and, in addition, it is card disadvantage big time. The best time to use the ability is when damage is on the stack and two of your artifact creatures are going to die anyway. Even so, highly situational, and will rarely come off the interchange bench. At four mana for an otherwise vanilla 2/2, it's not going to figure highly in Limited play. [C-]
Krark-Clan Ogre - 3RR [common]
A five power 3/3 without a game-breaking ability makes a poor second-row forward most of the time. Is the ability game-breaking? Probably not, considering it's card disadvantage and most of the time it's situational. Despite this, in the pre-release I have seen this card win a game in one of the most high-level matches I've ever seen in the Limited format. It probably goes best in a red/blue or red/white deck where you can get that critical point or two of flying damage through. Otherwise, he can be summed up as suboptimal. [C-]
Magma Giant - 5RR [rare]
It's a try-scoring terminator! OK, before you Queenslanders get too excited, take a deep hard look at this guy. For seven mana, would you rather have a Shivan Dragon, a Two-Headed Dragon or this guy? Dealing a symmetrical effect is going to help you in certain situations, and to rely on it is unreliable. Magma Giant doesn't have trample and doesn't have evasion, although it is marginally harder to chump-block than most, because it kills the titchy ones. If he's lucky he might even make it onto the Constructed arena, but while serviceable, I wouldn't say he's the next Superman by any means. [B-]
Magma Jet 1R (uncommon)
A very good, instant-speed combat trick or outright removal spell. Two damage in this block will get rid of a lot of things. I still haven't even picked up one of them in any type of play, and that's testament to how high this is going to be picked. Probably close to on a par with Shock in Onslaught block. [A-]
Magnetic Theft R (uncommon)
This is a combat trick that only works when there is an equipment in play, but when that does happen to be the case, it will swing a combat result around a surprisingly high percentage of the time. While this is no bomb, I think this card is somewhat underrated in the drafts I have seen, it being nearly always available in the last three or four picks. With equipment being plentiful in the final set of this block I deem this card to be not excellent but patently playable. [B-]
Mana Geyser - 3RR (common)
Crap. This is no good for early acceleration and while it might get you the red bringer somewhat later in the game it's just a simple waste of a slot. Reminds me of Brightstone Ritual and Carnival of Souls. [F]
Rain of Rust - 3RR (common)
A controversial pick. Make no mistakes, this set is thin on removal. Is a five cost Shatter worth it? The LD effect will never be used unless your opponent is grossly mana-screwed (it does happen to me, more often than the law of averages might suggest). But who didn't play Pinpoint Avalanche or Cruel Revival (even without zombies) when OLS was around? There are definitely better artifact removal spells in Mirrodin and Darksteel, but if you can't get them well this one is the next best thing. A solid mid-range utility spell that has saved my skin numerous times en route to being undefeated in my pre-release flight. [B-]
Reversal of Fortune - 4RR [rare]
Six mana for what could potentially, and a large portion of the time, do absolutely nothing. On top of this, you don't even get to remove it from your opponent who might just as well play something in response. While the art work is pretty, I'll resist my instincts and say no thank you. [F]
Screaming Fury - 2R [common]
Sorcery "combat tricks" lack surprise, but this one has a little bit of surprise in it because it gives haste. It works best in a situation where the target is a flyer or other evasive creature (like Neurok Spy) where you are assured of getting the damage through, in that case it's virtually a three cost Lava Axe. I would prefer a removal spell over it always, but if you are totally lacking in that department (as a red drafter, shame on you!), this is on the cusp of viability. [C+]
Spark Elemental - R [common]
How many times do some players need to be reminded that a Lightning Bolt in Limited is almost always used on a creature? At best, this is going to do 3 damage first turn, in the early game, where life loss is insignificant. Most of the time it's your opponent who decides what gets used to block this and remember it's one use only. This means Spark Elemental has no flexibility and no utility whatsoever in this environment and he should be consigned to the scrap heap. [F]
Vulshok Sorceror - 1RR [common]
OK, 1/1s are often dismissed as 98-pound-weaklings in the big, tough and deluxely brutal world, but Ms. Timothea S. Vulshok is certainly a chick who's going to make some impact. Played on the third turn, she'll even remove a myr or a mana elf and possibly knot up your opponent for the rest of the game. Of course played at any time she'll conspire to make combat math just a little more hostile for them, not to mention the option of relentlessly gnawing away at their life total. Good on you for promoting gender equality in the 21st century - you may not be Exalted Angel but you'll do womankind - and mankind - proud. [A-]
That's it! Please show me where I have erred - and look forward to the next instalment of white - possibly the color that benefited most in this set. Good luck to all of you practising for Nationals - may you never have to mulligan!
Cam
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