The upgraded Savannah Lions is still a great card. His threat in the early game is considerable if they don't deal with him and his creature types are a nice upgrade from cat. The rarity really makes him more accessible to budget players as well - which is what the weenie decks are good at. Too bad Magic 2011 doesn't seem to favour soldiers as much as 2010. Still, he's a great 1 drop for an aggressive deck that wants creatures.
BantCaptain
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I love that this is reprinted, even if the Swordsmiths and Armoursmiths weren't. Looks like I won't be playing Soldiers in standard for much longer :(
A3Kitsune
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Still copies 5 to 8 of Savannah Lions in any format which allows both.
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(12 votes)
Definitely a green, red or black creature... mostly green.
Red would use a 2/2 or 3/1 instead with "attacks each turn if able" or "At the beginning or your upkeep, ~ deals 1 damage to you". Black would use tokens or mana acceleration instead. But green would be great with this card... just the missing Savanna Lions in green
Richard_Hawk
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Much better than lions as there is more support in tribal format for Soldiers. 5/5.
EvilCleavage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I remember when M10 came out, and I didn't get a chance to buy that many packs. I had one of these. Then when M11 came out I was so excited I bought a whole freakin bunch haha. Now I have like 15 of these bad boys! And you know what the weird thing is? I still feel like it's a rare valuable card. 5/5 for one of the best one drops ever, and the fact that it's a soldier is beautiful
Gelzo
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm glad that we got an uncommon version of Savannah Lions. I think it's kind of stupid for vanilla creatures to be rares.
Also, I love that the flavor text hints at aggro.
Keiya
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Cheza, you ALWAYS complain that something is off-color. Elite Vanguard is just fine for White Weenie and Soldier decks.
pzfreez7
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Cheza, I don't know how you could be so wrong. The black would be 2/2 with ~deals 1 damage to you (aka vamp. lacerator). green for 1 mana is usually mana excel, maybe sum vanilla creature, but not this. red would have first strike, haste, or sac to deal damage. elite vanguard fits white weenie perfectly
Stray_Dog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Cheza - White can have aggressive, efficient non-rare creatures at lower mana levels.
SoulShatterer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
It's a good soldier one-drop. Would have been better as a 1/2 or a first striker though, which isn't unreasonable at uncommon.
endersblade
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I remember when Savannah Lions was in every white deck. I also remember selling them for heaps of cash. Then this guy came out. He's leaps and bounds better because of his soldier tribal, and he's barely worth the cost of the cardboard he was printed on. Something seriously wrong with that >.> On top of that, this guy doesn't eat up a rare slot in a pack. Man, I got so tired of pulling the Lions from Alpha and Beta backs...
divine_exodus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Back in M12 :)
NuckChorris
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Good card, just keep Abbey Matron away from this guy. That matron eats these guys for brunch. This is specifically shown in one of the Magic novels from way long ago, I forgot which one, maybe it's a fanfic, but whatev.
"We are professional soldiers, but sir, I don't see how you can expect us to take on the matrons of the abbey." -Myte Strongfist, Elite Vanguard
blindthrall
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@SoulShatterer: Rime Dryad isn't a particularly good card. Much rather the power boost.
vantha
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card makes Savannah Lions obselete. I find it funny that the power level of Magic changes every year. At one point Savannah Lions was considered a good card and Rare. But with Elite Vanguard gaving two useful creature classes: Human and Soldier, its very difficult for any player to use Savannah lions.
I agree with Gelzo that Vanilla creatures shouldn't be rares, and looking back on Legends it doesnt make any sense to see huge vanilla creatures being rares. Magic is a game of Math and strategy. Making a set based on vanilla sort of ruins the overall strategy aspect of the game.
Comments (16)
Red would use a 2/2 or 3/1 instead with "attacks each turn if able" or "At the beginning or your upkeep, ~ deals 1 damage to you". Black would use tokens or mana acceleration instead. But green would be great with this card... just the missing Savanna Lions in green
Also, I love that the flavor text hints at aggro.
"We are professional soldiers, but sir, I don't see how you can expect us to take on the matrons of the abbey." -Myte Strongfist, Elite Vanguard
I agree with Gelzo that Vanilla creatures shouldn't be rares, and looking back on Legends it doesnt make any sense to see huge vanilla creatures being rares. Magic is a game of Math and strategy. Making a set based on vanilla sort of ruins the overall strategy aspect of the game.