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Editor: Audrey Chin-Quan. Friday 08th October 2004.
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Champions of Kamigawa - By the Numbers
It has been a while since I have submitted an article to this site, so I reckon it's about time for a new one. Usually I carry on about draft picks, what's good and what isn't but I got pretty sick and tired of that format. This time around I'm going by the numbers baby, pure and simple. I also wanted to give my general thoughts on the set, the new mechanics and a whole bunch of waffle.
So let's get things started...
Basically CoK is all about spirits, as there are a lot of cards that interact with them - a new mechanic - Soulshift and oh a few legends as well. To break it down for you 70 out of the 154 creatures in the set are spirits with black and green weighing in the heaviest with 17 apiece, blue and red have a few less (11) and white is stuck in the middle with 14. Black is the only colour that has more spirits than normal creatures (17 spirit, 14 non) and green leads the creature count with a hefty 35 (17 spirit, 18 non) so what does this all mean I hear you ask? I'm not too sure where I am going with this either, so lets take a look at some other statistics. There are only 11 creatures in CoK with soulshift (2 in white, 5 in black and 4 in green) with only 6 of these being common I can't see this mechanic having a huge effect until the expansions roll out but it looks like black has a lot of spirit interaction with other cards such as Devouring Greed, Rend Spirit, Thief of Hope and Iname, Death Aspect. Rend Spirit in particular is a biggie as it nails just under 50% of the creatures in the set at instant speed but it looks like it is edged out by Rend Flesh as it has a better strike rate and is an arcane spell (more on that later). Creatures like Teller of Tales, Kami of the Painted Road, Innocence Kami and Kitsune Diviner rely on spirits being cast/in play to push through attacking creatures making them formidable against any black heavy deck (even though Kami of the Painted Road is a little overcosted). Blue has a couple of decent spirit hosers in the form of the common spirit/arcane counter Hisoka's Defiance and the uncommon, Cut the Tethers (return each spirit to it's owners hand unless they pay 3) which should suit any blue based deck (with the exception of U/B). Field of Reality is another anti spirit card for blue but I am always sceptical about creature enchantments (even though it can be returned to your hand).
I guess the next big thing about CoK is Legends. In total there are 63 Legendary creatures/enchantments split over the 5 colours with 5 Legendary artifacts and 8 Legendary lands (note that there are no common Legends) Each colour has a Legendary Shrine that is dependant upon other shrines you control, with green having the weakest (token generator) to the strong blue and red shrines. Unsurprisingly green has the highest amount of Legends - 14 but black, blue and red are all close behind with 13. Blue loses out due to the high number of arcane spells and other instants with a meagre 10. How does this impact the set you ask? Well firstly the new legend rules means that duplicate legends are now like creature removal and there are also a bunch of cards that interact only with Legends, plus there are the new "flip" cards 2 in each colour (1 uncommon and 1 rare) - incidentally most of these are very good for limited - the black ones in particular. Each colour also has its own Dragon legend spirit (the white one is the best one for limited) and "Myojin". The Myojin each have divinity counters (making them indestructible) which can be removed for a game changing effect, except quite a few of them are crap. The green one (Myojin of Life's Web) costs 9 mana (for an 8/8) and I know I won't have too many other creatures I want to play from my hand for free after casting this, the red one is waaayy overcosted at 10 mana and it destroys lands - big deal. Even the blue Myojin is questionable at 10 mana for a 3/3 which lets you draw a card for each permanent you have, but it is the white Myojin which is the most powerful. At 8 mana it's board clearing ability (it doesn't even remove itself!) makes this one of the best rares in the set for limited. There are way too many Legends in CoK so I'm not going to keep talking about them, except most players will have at least one Legend in their deck and you will definitely need some sort of creature removal/suppression for them as some of the more powerful ones will/can dominate the board.
Okay next stop - Arcane. Not too much to say about this mechanic really but it is the Splice onto Arcane which makes things interesting. However you have to remember that due to deck sizes and creature ratios, there won't be too many slots to pack in arcane/splice onto arcane spells (unless they are creature removal) so don't get too funky. Time for the hard stats. Blue has the most arcane spells with 12 (also the splice arcane with 5) compared with Red and Black which have 10 and 9 respectively. Green and white bring up the rear with 6 and 7 arcane spells. Even though blue has the most arcane spells most of them are pretty boring (Peer Through Depths seems nice though) compared with red's juicy Glacial Ray and Green's Kodama's Might. Black has some powerful ammunition in the form of Hideous Laughter (the new instant Infest) although it's splice cost is hefty at 5 mana. Out of the commons I do quite like Soulless Revival, especially in this block as it also can work nicely with Soulshift and can turn around a game from a losing position into a winning one. White has some nice stuff too with the uncommon splicer Candle's Glow as it is pretty cheap and Blessed Breath is a nice combat trick for one mana. other than these spells I can't see Arcane/splice haven't a huge effect on limited.
Bushido!!! This is a nice word for a dull mechanic, but there are some very efficient creatures out there with this ability (especially in the common slot) making it worthy of a mention. White excels in the Bushido stakes with 11 creatures, with red and black trailing pitifully with 4 and 5 respectively. Out of the 11 white bushido boys, 3 are common, 5 are uncommon and 3 are rare. Kitsune Blademaster leads the pack at 3 mana for a 2/2 first striker but the Mothrider is not far behind (there aren't too many evasive creatures in this block). Red may not have much Bushido but it is good Bushido with the commons Ronin Houndmaster and Battle-Mad Ronin. Black's Bushido options are limited with a new "frozen shade" at a hefty 4 mana (Cursed Ronin) and the Nezumi Ronin, a 3/1 Bushido rat for 3 mana!
OK, I think that is enough number crunching for the time being. Lets take a look at the better commons in each of the 5 colours and I will give you my picks (like I said I won't be assigning draft picks here - it is merely an order).
Black
I read a review somewhere on Starcity saying that black was weak in CoK, I think I have to disagree here as it has 4 decent common removal spells and 3 evasive common creatures. Here is my pick of the good stuff:-
Without a doubt this is black's best card. An old reprint from Tempest block (I think), Befoul can wipeout nearly 80% of creatures in the set, and in a pinch knock out a land. In fact with 8 new legendary lands in the set this may crop up more than you think with the limited amount of land destruction around.
This wins out over Rend Spirit for two reasons. Firstly it can target more creatures, 84 of the 154 to be exact. It is also handy for wiping out the big non spirit Legends, plus it is an arcane spell which helps out in the splicing stakes.
Not as good as Cruel Revival but definitely a lot better than Waste Away, Pull Under is the multiple purpose black removal spell of the set and has arcane to boot. Obviously 6 mana is a lot to keep open so you will need some other removal in addition to this but there are only a few creatures this won't take down. Solid removal.
Well on the plus side this wipes out nearly 50% of the creatures in the set but it does Jack when you are staring down Konda, Lord of Eiganjo or Kumano Master Yamabushi. But it is instant speed removal and handles a lot of the common evasive creatures - Teller of Tales, Gibbering Kami, Callous Deceiver and Thousand Talon Kami to name but a few. A good card but like Pull Under you probably still want other removal options.
Nothing wrong with this guy, although it is odd for a 2/1 fear who can't block to be at the top of the common creature pile, but this set sorely lacks evasion. White has 4 common fliers, blue 5 (I'm including Callous Deceiver here), red has 1 mountainwalker in the common slot and black has Gibbering Kami, Kami of the Waning Moon and the Nezumi Cutthroat.
Well that's my top 5 but there are a few other cards mentioning. Gibbering Kami is up there too for the same reasons I mentioned for the cutthroat but it is the casting cost which keeps it off my list. 2/2 fliers for 4 seem the norm nowadays but Soulshift ensures that this will usually replace itself. Cruel Deceiver is worthy of a mention too, especially if you have some form of library manipulation as he is one of the more powerful deceivers (along with the green one). Other playable creatures include Kami of the Waning Moon, Cursed Ronin, Nezumi Ronin, Scuttling Death, Villainous Ogre and Wicked Akuba. In fact the Wicked Akuba would be higher on my list if it wasn't for the fact there are so many 2 drops at the moment. Sigh....
In the spell department I really like Soulless Revival for the reasons I mentioned earlier and Waking Nightmare is going to be good simply because of the sheer number of high end legends in this set (plus it has arcane to boot!). Midnight Covenant could well work well with cards like the Cutthroat but non returnable creature enchantments that don't generate any card advantage (i.e. they can't be played as instants) I tend to shy away from. Could well be one to keep an eye on though......
White
Most of white's spells look very good in CoK and at this initial stage I would go out on a limb to say it is the strongest colour but I haven't really played enough limited to know for sure. As I said earlier white has the most Bushido and 4 common fliers (3 of which are solid), in addition to a new fog effect and some decent removal. Here is my list:-
I had 2 of these at the pre-release and they dominated the board. They work even better if you have other removal spells as you can shut down creatures while you wait for the right kind of removal to turn up. You have to watch tapping out as your opponent may try to bounce the creature etc but this card is so much better than pacifism and arrest it's not funny.
Wow is this little guy amazing! In fact it is a major pain in the arse to get rid of and if there is more than one of these in play you may as well as forget about the combat phase. It can handle most of the fliers in the set with ease and makes a great target for Soulshift. A solid little beater and one of white's best creatures.
Bushido!! This guy and the Ronin Houndmaster
are the best 2 common Bushido boys on the block with the blademaster just edging out his red compatriot. The combination of First Strike and Bushido means this Kitsune can handle nearly all of the ground based low end drops and can make blocking extremely problematic for your opponent if you have a combat trick or some burn. A solid 3 drop which should always be picked early.
This is on par with the Dive Bomber from Onslaught block, but maybe a tad better due to the Bushido factor. It can pretty much handle all of the non Legendary evasive creatures making it a solid flyer and because it is a samurai works well with cards like Call to Glory, Nagao and Takeno.
Bugger it, I don't want to put another creature on my Top 5 so this will have to do instead. I lost quite a few times to this card at the pre-release, the key here is obviously to play it to take down a creature (preferably) on a flyer and then beat your opponent like a red headed stepchild with it. Of course there are many ways to shut this card down but it is a nice combat trick (like Serpent Skin and Uncontrollable Anger) which you should be aware of.
There is still so much more depth in the white commons and they are pretty close to be included in the Top 5. Here are some of the near misses with my thoughts. Kitsune Healer would have been my next creature on the list but when you think about it, if you are drawing sometimes you want to play a better creature than this on the 3rd turn and it times it won't be doing anything at all. The preventing damage to Legends is the key with this guy though and backed up with a Kabuto Moth or two he can be very hard to remove. Hundred-Talon Kami is another decent flyer for the white mage, even though it is a little overcosted, like the Gibbering Kami will often replace itself. Kami of Ancient Law is a highly playable bear as there are a lot of annoying enchantments around and can be recursed with Soulshifters, Kitsune Diviner is up there too and worthy of a maindeck slot and Kitsune Riftwalker is another maindecker useful against the fatter green spirits (think Moss Kami) and protection from Arcane is a sweet bonus. Even the lowly Devoted Retainer and Lantern Kami can be used as filler creatures, in addition to the chunky Kami of the Painted Road which reinforces white's strength in CoK.
On the spell side of things I've already mentioned Indomitable Will but Ethereal Haze and Blessed Breath are playables. A mass fog effect for a cheap price should never be overlooked and can often mean the difference between winning and losing - it is also the type of card you should see late in a draft too. Blessed Breath looks like a nice foil for Cage of Hands (it can also be spliced cheaply) and a nifty combat trick (not as good as Shelter though). As for the other stuff Terashi's Cry is a dodgy Blinding Beam which gets the job done and Call to Glory will make the cut of some decks depending on the samurai count. Overall a lot of good commons for a white player....next!
Blue
Blue is perhaps the weakest colour in CoK as it has the least amount of creatures, less Legends no Soulshift or Bushido and a lot of crappy Arcane spells. So what are its redeeming qualities? Well it does have 5 common evasive creatures which aren't terrible, the best "instant" creature enchantment and a semi decent counterspell. Here is my pick of the bunch:-
This is hands down blue's best common card as it has an useful ability which can push through your other flyers when there is a stand off in the air. It is a bit susceptible to pingers like Frostwielder but thankfully there are not too many of those in the common slot (in fact I think he is the only one). Still I think blue could have done a lot better with it's commons but hey I don't make the cards.
Unlike Dehydration and other similar creature enchantments in the past with Mystic Restraints you can cast it during your opponent's attack step negating the damage. However it looks pretty obvious if you have this so a crafty player will see this coming. There are plenty of targets for this though and a lot of creatures with irritating tap abilities like Kiku, Ben-Ben, Kiki-Jiki, Kitsune Healer and Kabuto Moth justifies its slot on this list.
This is a close call to the other 2 cards on this list but the Mirror Guard's ability is slightly better in the long run than the Teller of Tales. Big fliers are always good in this game and the teller has an aggressive ability which should let you punch through the air with ease. It is also handy for locking out an opposing creature with the odd Arcane spell from time to time. It is a shame there are only uncommon and rare soulshifters for this guy but still highly draftable.
This is probably a little too high on the list but the cards are shallow. I like the fact this stops things like Glacial Ray and Kodama's Might as they can be big game sweepers if played at the right time. It is quite easy to leave 2 mana open for Defiance especially if you know what spirits your opponents have. The only problem with this card is Soulshift. It is usually best to wait for a big spirit to come out so that it can't be returned but it does depend on the state of the board, the amount of removal you have and the tempo of your deck. A flexible card though.
Like Neurok Prodigy and Skywing Aven before it, Soratami Rainshaper is still highly playable yet fragile. Most of the time this will be trading with other fliers or protecting one of your key legends before it bites the dust. Still pretty boring though.....
Outside of the top 5 is Soratami Cloudskater, much like the Cephalid Scout from Odyssey this guy shines in the late game turning your lands into extra cards - tag that onto a flying 1/1 and you have an annoying little beater which may draw a removal spell occasionally. Callous Deceiver is not that bad as deceivers go but can be unreliable when you absolutely have to block a flyer, but still playable (unlike River Kaijin though). In fact Floating Dream Zubera is not too bad as far as the Zubera goes but you have to be scraping the bottom of the barrel to play this guy. Hisoka's Guard has a question mark over it's head in my opinion as it stops you from playing your effects but it really depends on what you are facing, but still it is only a 1/1 and for 2 mana that is not good enough in this set. Oh and Kami of Twisted Reflection is utter pants. I know it is a grey ogre but it is very frustrating you can't bounce your opponent's creatures. Don't play it.
You would think blue would have some amazing splicing and arcane spells but it doesn't. Apart from Hisoki's Defiance and Mystic Restraints the pickings are very slim indeed. Let's start off with the crap and I'll work backwards. Consuming Vortex is OK but the splice cost is too expensive and I think I would rather have Eye of Nowhere instead as it returns permanents, except it is a sorcery, rendering them both nearly useless. Field of Reality is situational and you would much rather have an evasive creature over this every time, a possible
sideboard card but that is about it. Lifted by Clouds is plain janky unless you have the Student of Elementscombo in which case it is quite good. Psychic Puppetry is yuk again and the same goes with Reach Through Mists unless you have The Unspeakable and all the other stuff. The other stuff includes Sift Through Sands which is a real filler card and Peer Through Depths is actually playable but nothing to get excited about. Thoughtbind is a situational counterspell that comes in from the board when you have literally no answers to your opponent's threats and Council of the Soratami is actually quite good if you need a bit of mid to late game card drawing but overall the outlook for blue is not good, lets hope it improves in the next set.
Green
In CoK green has the most creatures, a lot of spirits, some soulshift and powerful Legends that will shake up the table. It is interesting to note though that the most powerful common is not a creature spell but a mana ramper, which is great as it means the bigger guys will come out a turn earlier. Kodama's Reach is a nice splicer/combat trick and there are more snakes than you can shake a stick at. Lets break down the decent commons.
This has to be the best land searcher in a long, long time. Better than Rampant Growth and even Harrow, Kodama's Reach thins out your deck, ramps up a turn and guarantees that you will make that 5th drop. It also makes playing 3 colours easier (really Dan?) but due to the colour intensive casting cost of Legends I can foresee players sticking to a 2 colour strategy.
I think it is quite fitting to have this in the No.2 slot as it is one of the best splice cards in the set (aside from Glacial Ray of course). Cheap, effective and always useful, Kodama's Might fits into any deck and is a good answer for any Bushido shenanigans. A solid trick for a green mage.
Green's first creature on this list is a good one, plus there is no double green, odd don't you think? Anyway this is a beating especially if it comes down a turn earlier (with Kodama's Reach, Orochi Sustainer, Sakura - Tribe Elder it's in the bag). Trample makes this formidable and it is big enough to pummel through most of the Bushido ground cloggers with ease so chances are one will need some form of creature removal for this and/or gang blocks to take it down.
This is one of the best common Hill Giants around and given the fact this can be played on the 3rd turn quite easily your opponent is going to have to answer some pretty stiff questions. The only cheaper common creature that can stop this early is the Kitsune Blademaster and that is saying something. Another good creature for green's arsenal.
It is good to see green getting a good run of creatures here at different slots in the curve and although it doesn't have the versatility of white, it has sheer power to bust through the ranks. Kami of the Hunt is no exception as this hits the ground running as a 3/3 (most of the time) and due to the plethora of green spirits one should have no problem fuelling this Kami.
There are many more decent green creatures just outside my Top 5 and I was tempted to put Serpent Skin on there too but I felt 4 mana was too much to pay to keep a creature around (compare this to Indomitable Will and you see what I mean). Honorable or interesting mentions include the Venerable Kumo (soulshift makes this playable) Feral Deceiver (definitely one of the better ones), Humble Budoka and Orochi Ranger are both decent 2 drops, Orochi Sustainer is a handy mana ramper which will come around late and finally the Matsu-Tribe Decoy is worth a mention as his "lure" ability can potentially be a game ender - I wonder if they will print any cheesy Basilisk type effect for this?? Other playables include Burr-Grafter, Kashi-Tribe Warriors and Sakura-Tribe Elder. Sorry, but I think the Vine Kami is just too expensive, especially with Moss Kami in the common slot.
Creatures have always been green's strong point but as you can see from my list above the first 2 slots were taken out by spells. Serpent Skin is probably next in line and is still quite playable but it is really a poor man's Kodama's Might. The only other 2 playables in the common slot seem to be Commune With Nature and Wear Away. Wear Away is unfortunately relegated to the sideboard now as there are common creatures that can deal with artifacts and enchantments and much like Peer Through Depths, Commune With Nature is maindeckable as you should nearly always get something with this. As I said above green strengths are in it's creatures and CoK delivers a strong suite of beaters backed up with 2 powerful non creature spells in the common department. Lets just hope they don't give green the shaft in later expansions....(like that ever happens)
Red
Red has often found itself at the top of the heap in the base sets of previous expansions, but it looks like it may not be the case in CoK. However there are still some powerful spells in the common slot and a whole bunch of angry little goblins. Lets get into the Top 5 shall we?
No surprises here really, cheap, efficient and potentially reusable removal is a good thing and it can also damage players - more than enough reasons to earn the coveted no. 1 slot. A no brainer.
A slightly more expensive Incinerate, Yamabushi's Flame is a perfect foil for potential Soulshift targets and can deal with most of the low end common creatures in the set (with the exception of Kabuto Moth). A fine removable spell which can also go to the dome.
Like the Kitsune Blademaster, the Houndmaster is 3rd on the list and without a doubt red's best common creature, as nothing else comes close. A great tempo card, the Houndmaster puts pressure on quickly and makes blocking unfavourable. Bushido!
I like this better than the white and green instant enchantments (the blue is the best IMO and the black unplayable) as +2/+2 is a considerable bonus and on an evasive creature you don't really need to worry about the "attack each turn if able" part. Conversely it can be used on opposing creatures but there are not too many commons worth putting this on - however there are enough decent rare and uncommon Legends with powerful abilities to warrant playing this. Again like Mystic Restraints a crafty player should see this coming if you have 4 mana up during combat but that still doesn't make it bad.
This is a contentious pick but "Falter" type cards have always been good in limited and the blizzard is no exception. White has a similar card in CoK, Terashi's Cry which taps creatures but it costs 1 more mana than this, which I think just pushes it over the edge. Unearthly Blizzard is more suited to draft games than sealed because the game tempo is faster and in a R/G build it really shines as green has a lot of heavy hitters in the common slot and an alpha strike backed up with one of these usually means game over. (um except if they have Ethereal Haze...)
I think that the top 4 picks on this list are locked in but there are a few other cards I considered in the 5th spot. One of my other choices was Frostwielder, but a 1/2 pinger for 4 mana is excessive in a set where there is not a lot of 1 toughness creatures (the blue common fliers are an exception here). He does have anti-Soulshift tech built-in though so is still highly playable but maybe just out of my top 5. Crushing Pain was up there as well initially but it seems this is always going to be a 2 for 1. However 6 damage is a lot to consider as it deals with nearly every creature in the set and it can be useful with cards such as Frostwielder, Yamabushi's Storm and Initiate of Blood, but maybe not top 5 material. The last candidate I had in mind was Battle-Mad Ronin as he has quite a good Bushido for his casting cost and players won't block him with anything decent for fear of losing it, but at the end of the day he is a 1 power creature, much like the Soratami Cloudskater in that regard, edging it out of my top 5.
Other playable (and interesting) creatures include Akki Avalanchers, Brutal Deceiver and Sokenzan Bruiser. I particularly like the Avalanchers as they can deal with bigger creatures in a pinch and are quite handy if drawn in the late game. The red deceiver is a lot weaker than the others, but still playable if your deck needs creatures and the Bruiser is deadly against other red decks, but may see some maindeck action if you are creature light. None of the other creatures held much appeal or were decidingly average (like Kami of Fire's Roar) so I have omitted them from this list.
Spells wise I have already mentioned Crushing Pain but there are a couple more decent ones in the common slot. Stone Rain will see some play with the Legendary Lands around and Yamabushi's Storm is quite useful as there are a few decent 2/1's in the format and it can be a mini board sweeper in some situations and stops any nasty Soulshift action going on. The rest of the red cards are chaff and although red is not so strong as it has been in previous sets it stills has enough decent cards in the common slot to prop itself up.
Well that rounds up all of the common review for CoK and next time I will be breaking up the Uncommons and then the Rares. I know this one kind of turned into a full blown limited review when I was going through the colours so I'll make sure to have some hard stats for the next piece. At this point it looks like White is in the front with Black and Green behind it and Red and Blue bringing up the rear. Will the uncommons shift the balance of power....
Until next time
Dan
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