imo better than sakura tribe elder and sylvan ranger. However, I would've LOVED this guy even more if he also had a 1/1 or even 0/1 with infect. Then I could've actually made a somewhat viable ELFFECT deck. I mean heck even looks infected.
ChaosFire
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(10 votes)
I'll give him two stars because the limited format needed him, but what the hell, Wizards?
First, we had Civic Wayfinder. a 3cmc 2/2 that put a basic to hand when you played him.
Then came Farhaven Elf, which for 3cmc brought the p/t down to 1/1 but had the basic come into play tapped.
Then you make this crap. Sure he costs one less but he only grabs the land when he dies.
One of two things will happen. Either the opponent will take 2 a few times or not attack and let it live until its not that important, or you'll have to waste your own removal on it.
Why does this exist?
Shiizu
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
While not quite as reliable as sakura tribe elder, this card brings on the beats. Dealing 2 damage is not irrelevant.
He's going to either deal a lot of damage over time or trade with a 1-2 toughness creature or chump and net you some life. At which point you'll get a free rampant growth. This guy exists because some people care about lots and lots of value in a card. He's not as reliable in either of his tasks, but he is certainly a nice deal for a 2 cmc elf.
PEVE_O
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
I think this is a good variation of civic wayfarer, The card is actually flexible. you can use it aggressively, or you can use it to chump block. either way early on in a game you are probably going to end up better off with it. Plus if you need the land you can always use a card that sacrifices as a cost to put it in the graveyard.
Mata-nui3
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
This is PHYREXIA we're talking about. They are all about sacrificing their creatures. As such, it shouldn't be too hard to get value out of this.
Artscrafter
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Pretty much a variant on Sakura-Tribe Elder that arguably fits the set better than the Elder does.
I wouldn't compare this to the likes of Civic Wayfinder or Farhaven Elf. They fill very different roles. Wayfinder is an elf-deck bear that helps ensure you keep your land tampo but doesn't accelerate. Farhaven is a Rampant Growth stapled to a creature that's unlikely to be good for more than a chump blocker at CMC 3 unless you're playing elf tribal or can recur the ETB effect.
This by comparison is a very good card for a midrange deck especially against aggro. With one card you can slow down the aggro player by taking out an X/2 or smaller attacker while also speeding up your own tempo. It gets around Sakura-Tribe Elder's nerf due to combat damage not using the stack at the expense of not letting you sac it for the effect at will. On the other hand, if you have another sac engine, this can perform double duty.
Less awesome than the Elder against control. You'll probably want to board in more dedicated ramping or something like Explore for that matchup.
A0602
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
A great effect if you have a boardwipe or two.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Not a bad card, this is one of the first commons that caught my eye as I was opening my fat pack, and I now seem to have a playset. It's like Rampant Growth #5-8. I don't know whether I'd run this over Nest Invader, because Nest Invader gives you 2 bodies and {1} back. Though I think this may replace Nest Invader once the Zendikar block cycles out of standard.
Love it, a Civic Wayfinder that encourages aggressive play. I've hit people for six+ damage over several turns because they refuse to block him and give me the land. I even had a guy exile him and then give me a big "Ha! Now you don't get that land" to which I responded "Yeah well, you just wasted a removal spell on a 2/1 I cast four turns ago!"
bfugitive
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Mimic Vat + a sac outlet + this = Best deck-thinning EVER.
Studoku
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Looks good on paper, but is pretty bad in practice.
Played 4 of these dudes in a besieged draft and found it almost impossible to get the land with any reliability- at least not in time to drop a T3 blightwidow/vatmother. I'd have prefered a 1/1 with infect for this- at least people would actually block it.
sniper_ix
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(5 votes)
It's a 2/1 that they will not want to kill early game.
That means that they will either be taking damage or not attacking you. It is a chump blocker mid-game that fetches you a land, and an aggressive creature that they will not want to trade blows with early game. Only defense against this card is a wall.
NoobOfLore
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
It's good at what it does. Excellent for mid-to-lategame decks who need some dangerous blockers early on, and some mana ramp to get things done later. Holds off the aggro for just a little while, and pushes you towards your ultimate goal that much faster, while thinning your deck.
puresightmerrow
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I'm really not sure why this card has recieved as low of rating as it has. I run four of them in a u/g landfall ramp deck and they work perfectly. They are a remarkable asset when playing against aggro decks because unlike sakura-tribe elder they can do enough damage on the block to take out aggro staples such as goblin guide.
13KmSpaceRock
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(5 votes)
This guy says " Skullclamp please."
Sk8er_Boi_1999
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Why would I want my guys to die. Stupid design
The_Stray
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
This card rocks. Run it in a land ramp deck...but not as a primary means of land-ramping. What this actually does is give you an excellent early attacker while you ramp, putting pressure on the opponent, who won't want to block it and speed your ramp. For extra lulz, equip it with a power booster like Darksteel Axe and just DARE your opponent to block and give you a land or continue taking 4 to the dome.
infernox10
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
Are you people messed in the head? He's either getting in for 2 every turn, because your opponents don't want you getting the land, Or he dies, and he bolsters your mana base. My friend uses this guy to good effect with Dungrove Elder. I'm going to use it to good effect with Boneyard Wurm, Splinterfright, and Kessig Cagebreakers. Once my opponents know the strategy, they'll be less likely to block/attack with this little guy out. He produces a lot of value in the correct deck.
Serecin
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(5 votes)
This + Birthing Pod + Skaab Ruinator is a vicious combo.
WhiteyMcFly
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Have this little guy out when your Worldslayer works its magic, and start with an advantage over your opponent. Oh boy, is Worldslayer Elves gonna be fun.
LPFan55
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Serecin , that's not a combo with this, that's a combo with Birthing Pod and Skaab Ruinator :P it works with anything with 2 cmc. But i'll admit, at least in standard, this has to be the greatest thing to sac for the combo :P
sqweebag
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i just wish he was a zombie elf, i mean he looks like a corpse in the picture and being from the same set as glissa it would make sense that there would be other zombie elf tribal with her. but aside from that this is a great card not much more you could ask of a 2cmc creature that got 2 on the beating side and fetches for free. specialy at a common
Excellent card, and the psychological effect it has on the opponents is not to be underestimated. From my experience, opponents just don't want it to be killed, so it can easily deal 8-10 damage throughout a game (at least in standard).
Mana fixes. Card Neutral 2/1 => aggressive beater. People win games on the backs of 2/1s all the time; between being able to beat on the guy for 10% of his life and the abilities. This may not be Dark Confidant, but what is..?
This is a solid, solid card.
My favorite play? Stall your T3 land drop so they don't want to block (thinking you're mana screwed.) Do the same T4+ if you want.
Lord_Skoonie
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Slap a Rancor on this thing and watch the fun begin.
Comments (29)
deck. I mean heck even looks infected.
First, we had Civic Wayfinder. a 3cmc 2/2 that put a basic to hand when you played him.
Then came Farhaven Elf, which for 3cmc brought the p/t down to 1/1 but had the basic come into play tapped.
We then renamed Civic Wayfinder to Borderland Ranger.
Then you make this crap. Sure he costs one less but he only grabs the land when he dies.
One of two things will happen. Either the opponent will take 2 a few times or not attack and let it live until its not that important, or you'll have to waste your own removal on it.
Why does this exist?
He's going to either deal a lot of damage over time or trade with a 1-2 toughness creature or chump and net you some life. At which point you'll get a free rampant growth.
This guy exists because some people care about lots and lots of value in a card. He's not as reliable in either of his tasks, but he is certainly a nice deal for a 2 cmc elf.
The card is actually flexible. you can use it aggressively, or you can use it to chump block. either way early on in a game you are probably going to end up better off with it. Plus if you need the land you can always use a card that sacrifices as a cost to put it in the graveyard.
I wouldn't compare this to the likes of Civic Wayfinder or Farhaven Elf. They fill very different roles. Wayfinder is an elf-deck bear that helps ensure you keep your land tampo but doesn't accelerate. Farhaven is a Rampant Growth stapled to a creature that's unlikely to be good for more than a chump blocker at CMC 3 unless you're playing elf tribal or can recur the ETB effect.
This by comparison is a very good card for a midrange deck especially against aggro. With one card you can slow down the aggro player by taking out an X/2 or smaller attacker while also speeding up your own tempo. It gets around Sakura-Tribe Elder's nerf due to combat damage not using the stack at the expense of not letting you sac it for the effect at will. On the other hand, if you have another sac engine, this can perform double duty.
Less awesome than the Elder against control. You'll probably want to board in more dedicated ramping or something like Explore for that matchup.
Played 4 of these dudes in a besieged draft and found it almost impossible to get the land with any reliability- at least not in time to drop a T3 blightwidow/vatmother. I'd have prefered a 1/1 with infect for this- at least people would actually block it.
That means that they will either be taking damage or not attacking you. It is a chump blocker mid-game that fetches you a land, and an aggressive creature that they will not want to trade blows with early game. Only defense against this card is a wall.
Excellent for mid-to-lategame decks who need some dangerous blockers early on, and some mana ramp to get things done later.
Holds off the aggro for just a little while, and pushes you towards your ultimate goal that much faster, while thinning your deck.
He's either getting in for 2 every turn, because your opponents don't want you getting the land,
Or he dies, and he bolsters your mana base.
My friend uses this guy to good effect with Dungrove Elder.
I'm going to use it to good effect with Boneyard Wurm, Splinterfright, and Kessig Cagebreakers.
Once my opponents know the strategy, they'll be less likely to block/attack with this little guy out.
He produces a lot of value in the correct deck.
Card Neutral
2/1 => aggressive beater. People win games on the backs of 2/1s all the time; between being able to beat on the guy for 10% of his life and the abilities. This may not be Dark Confidant, but what is..?
This is a solid, solid card.
My favorite play? Stall your T3 land drop so they don't want to block (thinking you're mana screwed.) Do the same T4+ if you want.