one of the earliest Artificer creatures in Magic. She was the armorer of Testuo Umezawa and has more backstory than one would expect from a card with no flavor text. Her picture isn't that noteworthy--the markings on her face are pretty neat, but the rather silly looking armor behind her takes up so much of the card that its hard to tell what Tanaka really looks like. I can't even tell if she has hair or clothes or not...It looks more appropriate for an instant or sorcery than a creature...especially if the creature is the person and not the armor. But she is an armorsmith so it makes sense. And the color sceme matches her colors.
Her casting cost is pretty difficult to hit, having 2 colored mana symbols with no colorless or hybrid to help alleviate the burden. Statistically she is only a 2/2. She isn't black, nor an artifact, has no shroud or regeneration...so she is quite difficult to keep alive. Name a form of removal and she is most likely susceptible to it. She has banding, which is really only nice in this case if your blocking (as you would probably never attack with her).
Her true strength lies in her ability. Being able to counter activated abilities as an activated ability is pretty sweet. And if your opponent isn't playing white, you can completely lock down their strongest artifacts. She can stop equipment from being equipped (although they can just equip again if they have enough mana) and she can cancel Sensei's Diving Top from hiding on the top of the library when you try to kill it with a Disenchant or the like.
Really it almost goes without saying that this card is *only* appropriate as side-board against artifact decks, or with cards like Memnarch. Unfortunately, Mytosynch Lattice causes her ability to weaken, as your opponent can then use any mana to pay her "unless" cost.
She really seems to shine in EDH. With so many staple artifacts in EDH (Tormod's Crypt, Mind Slaver, Engineered Explosives, Top...), she can really ruin someone's day. She's actually a damned good blue/white general too. Much better than Gwafa Hazeed, in my personal opinion.
GrimGorgonBC
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(8 votes)
She is terrible..give it up :P
Weretarrasque
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Well, granted, countering an ability by forcing an opponent to pay colored mana is pretty darn effective. And since white is really not an artifact-using color (the few Esper cards excluded) this is pretty good. Unfortunately, its scope is so small that itmay never see the light of day.
A3Kitsune
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@kitsunewarlock:
She has hair - it may be hard to make out if your copy of this card doesn't have sharp colors, but it's blocking part of the armor. She also has clothes, or at least a top. Note the difference in coloration between her shoulder and the other visable parts of her. Also note the shine on said shoulder, and the pale yellow edging where shoulder meets neck.
It would have been nice if she had an ability that helped you find and/or put into play artifacts instead of banding. But, all in all, not bad.
eestlinc
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
She was the first gold card I ever got, and my first legendary creature. I'm one of the select few that has ever attacked with her as a member of a band.
Salient
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
She looks so happy.
I'd love to see her mess up some Painter's Stone player's day. "Whatever do you mean, you don't play Plains?"
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
lawlz- thanks to Banding, this is the subversion of the Trope: 'Oracle Texts make old cards read much shorter and cleaner'. :p
Her ability is very good, though if it could only have somehow stopped mana abilities, she would have briefly been an answer to opposing MOXEN. Now the question is, if she was exactly costed and P/T'd the way she is now, with that extra functionality of stopping artifact mana sources....would she still be played or not?
I think not. 4 colored mana is still pretty rough, and she's completely counterable/destroyable.
@ DavidLopes: Sadly no, as Tanaka can only counter the activated abilities of artifacts, and not triggered ones.
Mode
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Who would have thought someone that looks as absent-minded as her could actually counter activated abilities? Let alone have enough social competence to form a band with other creatures?
raptorman333
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
shuts down equipments... i like it. i lot better use as magic progresses then when it was printed. still, a well balanced rare: for 4 mana you get a 2/2 with banding and an ability that's so specific that they limit it's use by making it.. rare! wow what a concept. i miss that way of thinking, instead of just power creeping in the form of rare cards--e.g. Spitemare-->Boros Reckoner. 3.5/5
Comments (11)
Her casting cost is pretty difficult to hit, having 2 colored mana symbols with no colorless or hybrid to help alleviate the burden. Statistically she is only a 2/2. She isn't black, nor an artifact, has no shroud or regeneration...so she is quite difficult to keep alive. Name a form of removal and she is most likely susceptible to it. She has banding, which is really only nice in this case if your blocking (as you would probably never attack with her).
Her true strength lies in her ability. Being able to counter activated abilities as an activated ability is pretty sweet. And if your opponent isn't playing white, you can completely lock down their strongest artifacts. She can stop equipment from being equipped (although they can just equip again if they have enough mana) and she can cancel Sensei's Diving Top from hiding on the top of the library when you try to kill it with a Disenchant or the like.
Really it almost goes without saying that this card is *only* appropriate as side-board against artifact decks, or with cards like
She really seems to shine in EDH. With so many staple artifacts in EDH (Tormod's Crypt, Mind Slaver, Engineered Explosives, Top...), she can really ruin someone's day. She's actually a damned good blue/white general too. Much better than Gwafa Hazeed, in my personal opinion.
She has hair - it may be hard to make out if your copy of this card doesn't have sharp colors, but it's blocking part of the armor. She also has clothes, or at least a top. Note the difference in coloration between her shoulder and the other visable parts of her. Also note the shine on said shoulder, and the pale yellow edging where shoulder meets neck.
It would have been nice if she had an ability that helped you find and/or put into play artifacts instead of banding. But, all in all, not bad.
I'd love to see her mess up some Painter's Stone player's day. "Whatever do you mean, you don't play Plains?"
Her ability is very good, though if it could only have somehow stopped mana abilities, she would have briefly been an answer to opposing MOXEN. Now the question is, if she was exactly costed and P/T'd the way she is now, with that extra functionality of stopping artifact mana sources....would she still be played or not?
I think not. 4 colored mana is still pretty rough, and she's completely counterable/destroyable.
Let alone have enough social competence to form a band with other creatures?