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Most, if not all, of the new and interesting questions about Mirrodin can be answered by analysing the Red cards for Limited play.

[First, a note on this series: Artifacts will be grouped with colours where it makes sense to do so. Hence, Spellbombs, Replicas, Golems, mana-Myrs and Shards will be grouped as coloured cards, even though they obviously all (the Shards in particular) can be played in off-colour decks.]

DT: Hello everyone, Paul has taken the baton for the red review and I am here to add in my thoughts on some of the cards complete with sarcastic comments and a lot of incessant arguing just for the sake of it.

COMMONS

Let's start by asking some of those questions I mentioned above: Is artifact removal better than direct damage? Is the flexibility of 2 to the dome better than the flexibility of an additional 2 to an artifact creature? Is a Gray Ogre that sacs to Shatter better than an inexpensive, fat-arsed fire-breather?
My initial thoughts are no, yes and I think so, yielding a ranking of:

1. Spikeshot Goblin
2. Pyrite Spellbomb
3. Electrostatic Bolt
4. Shatter
5. Goblin Replica
6. Hematite Goblin

But all are very worthy early picks. Let's look at them in a little more detail:

1. Spikeshot Goblin

Even without the combo with Bonesplitter that I'm already sick of reading about, this is an amazing card. The fact that it's a pinger with an extra point of toughness to make itself ping-resistant is worth the price of admission alone. From what I've seen so far, Mirrodin Limited is about getting as many unembarrassing creatures into play as early as possible so you have some Equip targets, and this is arguably the least embarrassing of all.

DT: This is easily the best common in the set and a card that will guarantee the "truckie slump" from your opponent when you play it, especially if you have a nasty piece of equipment on the table.

2. Pyrite Spellbomb

Obviously a good Limited card - a Seal of Fire that counts towards Affinity. In case of emergency, draw card.

3. Electrostatic Bolt

4. Shatter

These two are very close, but Bolt will take out most artifact creatures as well as numerous coloured ones. It may however prove to be the case in this set that removing Equipment is more important than removing equippable bodies. Time will tell.

DT: I agree with the Spikeshot and Pyrite Spellbomb but I would definitely rate Shatter over the Bolt. It obviously depends on how much creature removal you have but I cannot stress how important artifact removal is now and Shatter is one of the better ones. I would sometimes even take Shatter over Pyrite Spellbomb but never over the Spikeshot. I have played with the Electrostatic Bolt a lot and have always been happy to draw it but I still think there are too many good artifacts out there that need to be dealt with...

5. Goblin Replica

Shatter is superior for its lower cost and instant-speed flexibility (in fact, if there's an artifact you absolutely, positively have to kill, you would probably try to wait until you hit seven mana with this guy), but the ability of the Replica to 2-for-1 via damage-on-stack shenanigans is impressive.

DT: Yeah this guy works well with Moriok Scavenger and the black shard so there are some opportunities to get some crazy card advantage with Goblin Replica. Mirrodin looks more tricks based (and it is a lot slower) than Onslaught and there are also more combos so anything that has "sacrifice this to destroy that" in the text has the potential to be really broken.

6. Hematite Golem

I can't believe this beatstick is coming in sixth, but try as I might, I can't see anything I'd want to displace above. A toughness of 4 can survive a block against the majority of creatures in the set, but I doubt this guy will be spending too much time on defence. From my (admittedly dodgy) memory of sets gone by, it's very unusual to get such high-quality power-boosting on such a robust, inexpensive body.

DT: The Hematite is definitely the best of the golems but I'm not sure if I would first pick this but hey that is just me...

So those are the first-pick quality commons. Here follow the remaining playables:

7. Iron Myr

All the mana-Myrs are solid additions to on-colour decks and quite playable even in off-colour ones given:

a) the abundance of 4cc spells; and
b) the fact they add to one's artifact count; and
c) they're equippable.

DT: The mana myrs are great but the question I have is do you still draft these guys even if they are not in your colours? I'm still of the opinion you should only play colour specific myrs but if your deck is laden with a lot of 4 or 5 drops (especially if they are artifacts) then does it really matter? How important is that mana? Maybe we will have a better idea of this a little bit later. Also the myrs (and talismans for that matter) reduce land counts and at the pre-release some players were playing only 15 lands in their deck (Kim Brebach style!). The rule of thumb is play 17 land with 1 myr, 16 with 2 myrs and if you are feeling lucky 15 land with 3, but I wouldn't risk going that low!

8. Krark-Clan Grunt

9. Vulshok Berserker

10. Ogre Leadfoot

A bunch of playable but unexciting creatures. The Grunt is clearly the best, but I may have the order wrong for the other two. The Berserker wins only because of its lower CC in a format where low CC bodies are even more important than usual. The Ogre's extra point of toughness is well worth the extra cost though, and its ability is like a Mirrodin version of Fear (Fearrodin? tee hee).

11. Incite War

This card wins games (in fact, it literally won me the last game I played) so it has to go somewhere amongst the playables, but you certainly don't want any more than one, and you probably want to value most creatures higher otherwise it won't be much of a game winner!

DT: I have to agree with what Paul said about the creatures but Incite War could be moved up the list a little bit. There are several combat trick cards like this; Blinding Beam, Roar of the Kha, Wail of the Nim etc that you really want one of in your deck but you don't want to waste a high draft pick on it. I reckon these sorts of cards are going to get a lot more popular over the next few months and they will all be solid midrange picks, instead of draft wheels (that's Rochester draft talk).

12. Krark-Clan Shaman

Scraping into the playables is this 1/1 for 1 with a conditional (and costly) quake ability. The fact that creature sweepers are so rare in the format ups its currency, but not too much higher than this.

Also-Run Commons:

I think Goblin Striker is only playable in the most desperate of circumstances, despite alluring visions of equipping the Whammer and swinging the turn it comes into play. Once you start down the path of anything with a power and toughness being playable with the right equipment, you're only a short step away from Clockwork Beetles and dribbling insanity.

I find myself unable to get excited about Fists of the Anvil, despite having witnessed its play in a number of Limited games. Seems to be very few ways to use it card-advantageously. Equipment is squeezing out non-creature spells of dubious quality and this is certainly one of the victims.

Molten Rain is a decent sideboard card and Seething Song is rubbish.

DT: I was actually surprised by the usefulness of the Shaman as you can always sacrifice artifacts when damage is on the stack to clear the board but he is a 1 shot wonder and it really sucks if your opponent has some sort of trick to protect their big fatty - like Razor Barrier for example. I tried Fists of the Anvil and I think it has potential in the right deck as 4 extra points of damage are often enough to squeak over the finish line in those close games where it comes down to a race. I would probably sideboard it in if it came down to a bashfest and only maindeck it if I was absolutely desperate. Seething Song and Goblin Striker are pure trash...

UNCOMMONS

I count four Red uncommons I'd pick before Atog, and that's saying plenty:

1. Shrapnel Blast

Obviously insane. A dirt cheap Lava Axe that can take out nearly any creature in an emergency.

2. Detonate

If a card says "Bury target artifact" then it's a bomb-defuser in Mirrodin. Yeah, it's only a sorcery and possibly a costly one at that, but it would probably be a first-pick even if it didn't have the potential to wipe a chunk of life off your opponent's total.

3. Grab the Reins

Degenerate when you hit RR5, but both halves are very playable before then. From memory (usual disclaimers apply) both Ray of Command and Fling have always been high picks in the Limited formats in which they've featured, so their combination is a bit of a no-brainer.

DT: This is one of the most vicious tricks I have seen in limited for quite some time and will often shift the tide of the game dramatically in your favour. I still rank Shrapnel Blast and Detonate over this due to the high mana cost but I still think this is first pick material.

4. Granite Shard

Call me old-fashioned but any permanent that says "deal X to target creature or player" should rarely be passed. Not as good as the Spikeshot Goblin or even the Viridian Longbow for mind, but often a first-pick nonetheless. Even in off-colour decks.

5. Atog

The flavour text says it all. Definitely falls into the low-CC, unembarrassing creature category.

6. Rustmouth Ogre

A fine creature despite its considerable cost. Virtually guaranteed to kill one chump blocker per turn.

And then the pickings become slim. Forge Armor is playable but feels like another victim of equipment-squeeze. Fractured Loyalty is probably unplayable even with multiple pingers with which to combo. And the red Slith is nothing to write home about.

[A brief Ross Rant (tm) on Sliths: What a dumb cycle of creatures!? They grow when they hit an opponent so let's give them a random smattering of color-oriented powers, ONLY ONE OF WHICH IS EVASIVE!? So the white one is pretty good, the rest are relatively useless (I mean, black is playable, but only because it's a Skeleton, not because it's a Slith. End rant.]

DT: I pretty much agree with the uncommons, although Granite Shard is nowhere near as good as the blue and black shards. Atog sounds good in theory but there will not be many times when this guy will get through and you have lethal damage on the stack. Unlike the Megatog it does not have trample and will most times trade with a Fangren Hunter or a Golem. Slith, pith...

RARES

Megatog and the "honarary red" Bosh, Iron Golem are obviously stupidly good. Although,having played with more than my fair share of Altar of Shadows in limited decks to date, I've decided that 7CC is enough to relegate a card to the sideboard in numerous matches, so the 8CC of Bosh is not an insignificant consideration.

DT: If I drafted a Bosh I would be on the look out for as many myrs as possible because once he hits the table your opponent is going to be in trouble if they don't have artifact removal or an Arrest. The same goes for Megatog, I have seen this thing crush blockers and trample over for the win on a couple of occasions so I would always maindeck these. Also what is wrong with Altar of Shadows? It is pretty damn good and your opponent would have probably used most of their artifact removal by the time it hits the table.

[PR]Just clarifying, I have had nothing but praise for the Altar when it's actually hit the table, but have often finished a bloodthirsty first game on only six or even five lands, which makes the Altar a dubious proposition for the second. But I would never dream of siding out a Megatog!

A pair of interesting and playable creatures in Arc-Slogger and War Elemental. The Slogger is a very reasonably priced 4/5 body with one or two Shocks up its sleeve, while the Elemental is an initially overcosted 1/1 body with attractive growth potential.

Despite rave reviews, the Vulshok Battlemaster just doesn't do it for me. Occasionally it will be fantastic when it comes into play, but note that your opponent can re-equip the very next turn, and you'll probably have a better target for your own equipment than this Gray Ogre.

Trash for Treasure appears to be main-deckable, but only becomes valuable after you've drafted at least one artifact bomb. And everything else (Confusion in the Ranks, Fiery Gambit, Mass Hysteria) is dross.

DT: I think that Bosh and the Megatog are first picks, followed by the Arc Slogger then War Elemental. I could take or leave the rest but Trash for Treasure does look interesting but like Paul says you need artifact bombs - Altar of Shadows maybe? See you next time.

So they're our first thoughts on Red. With its potent combination of artifact destruction, direct damage and a solid enough mix of creatures, it certainly gets my favourite colour vote at this early juncture. Many thanks to Mr Turner for his insightful contributions. Next up, I relinquish the talking stick for Dan's views on White.

Until then
Paul Ross

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