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Danesh Jogia
Email: daneshj@optushome.com.au
Forums Nic: omegaideal

Limited: First pick draft pretty much every time. The only time you don't first pick him is if you're playing Red/Green and have enough targeted removal to kill him straight away every time. I have definitely won drafts solely on the strength of this guy. Decks like Green/Black and in particular the ever awful Green/White just don't really stand a chance once you get him down. In Sealed he's just as good. Note that I think he makes suboptimal cephalids quite worthy of playing. I'm not sure if I'd go down to Cephalid Snitch level but certainly guys like Cephalid Scout become a shoo-in.

Constructed: This guy has already seen use in OBC, but I think thats where it will end. Well, I suppose it will depend on what Onslaught looks like but right now there's just other things you'd rather play in Standard. Nevertheless, if mono-green is still attractive in OBC then you will certainly seem some Aboshans floating around in sideboards. If only there were some constructed worthy Cephalids.

Value: Ahh, minimal, I think say $5, certainly less than a booster pack.

dj

Jason Street
Email: mastervillain@hotmail.com

Aboshan is kind of cool. He's not a major factor to consider in terms of his beatstick powers alone, but the fact he is a Flood-on-a-stick makes him interesting - Though don't make the mistake of tapping all the non-fliers before you use the abilities of other creatures that require tapping.

For Extended we have, well, a Flood-on-a-stick. He is also a ready to use Icy Manipulator, though more expensive and boltable. Unfortunately you would not get a lot of satisfaction using his Icy powers with many Cephalids, since they mostly suck. Asuuming you get him out though, you will shut down a large portion of the creatures out there, and this is never a bad thing.

Type 1? Ummmm.... I think if you want to play a serious game for Type 1 then you have much better options.

Where he shines is going to be fun play, particularly multiplayer (assuming people are not nasty and using things like Extinction). You can just take a pile of Cephalids and throw them in a deck with Aboshan and then grab some other cards to make it interesting - Coat of Arms (all royalty has one), Sunken City (they need somewhere to live), and so on. Urza's Incubator makes your Cephalids cheap, and Volrath will let you rent his Laboratory to make millions of squiddy things to attack with.

Cards to use with Aboshan: Mystic Decree (all creatures lose flying and islandwalk), Conspiracy, Hurricane, Titania's Song and last and most importantly: Living Plane or Nature's Revolt - these two green enchantments turn ALL lands into creatures (1/1 and 2/2 respectively). You can now pay three blue mana during a players upkeep to tap ALL their lands. Oh, and of course while they have no blockers you can beat them up with your land. Isn't that FUN?

Well I think so....

Jason

Dan Turner
Email: daimyodan@yahoo.co.uk
Forums Nic: RECOIL

Blue gets a squid king in the form of Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor.

Limited

Aboshan is one of the best cards in the limited environment and is only eclipsed by Cabal Patriarch. Once he hits the table your opponent will be tapping almost all of their creatures in their end step leaving them open for an alpha strike.

He is definitely a first pick in draft and you may even consider counterdrafting him if you are not playing blue. His other ability is not as good as there aren't many cephalids that are playable (looter and broker aside). Remember you can always use Aboshan himself to tap down fliers or pesky lands with enchantments (such as Chamber of Manipulation).

Constructed

Type 2 - Aboshan is a star in limited but not so hot in constructed. Six mana is a lot to play for a creature and lets face it you would rather have a 5/6 flier for the same cost.

OBC - This guy may see some use in block but it really depends on the speed of the environment. Chances are Aboshan will be violently erupted, ghastly demised, firebolted or butchered before he even sees an untap step.

Despite all of this Aboshan will still be popular with the kiddies so I think he would go for about $8.

Dan

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