This card is great for a blue control deck...See the look on an opponents face when you have a Tradewind Rider on the board with a couple of creatures and you start playing the Gilded Drake bounce game...
TheTraitorKing
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Why is this so good? I don't get it. Isn't it just another one of those "entropy" cars?
kylenyu
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
This thing was so ridiculously OP when it was legal. There are a few cards with as many possibilities as this that are even remotely acceptable to reprint. This would be a card worth reprinting without being boken in the current format.
morticianjohn
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
works well with some of the untap creatures from Shadowmoor like Silkbind Faerie
Jokergius
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Huh...I see it...Play this, then next turn Gilded Drake (Assuming you would have at least another creature on the field) Switch creatures with your opponent, return Gilded Drake to YOUR hand, rinse and repeat!! HAHA!! Kinda like my Bazaar Trader+Mark of Mutiny Combo d^-^b but more EPIC!! d+_+b
Cyberium
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Tradewind Rider is often used in land-control deck such as Tradewind-Geddon. You set up control, wipe out lands, then return opponent's land to his hand every turn for the lock down. Winter Orb is also a popular choice.
Another version uses Awakening to gain extra untap steps so one could return permanents back to opponents' hand rapidly.
Third version involves control cards in general, such as Zur's Weirding and Stasis, to control the field.
Lord_Ascapelion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Agonizing with Capsize. This kind of repeatable bounce must have given some decks headaches, especially with countermagic to back them up.
That said, I kinda want one, lol.
Eustache_the_Moose
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Simply one of my favourite creatures of all times! For the ocasional merciless lock, the effective combination with discard and the fact that blue can't do much against artifacts and enchantments beside bouncing/countering them. My Legacy decks are always kinda creature-heavy even when I play blue, so I'm always able to make good use of a couple of these.
Combo with Prophet of Kruphix for a difficult lock down for your opponent to overcome.
Aremath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@MattLynn: That's incorrect. If I'm understanding your comment correctly, you think that tapping him through Freed from the Real is the same as activating his ability. That's false. To activate the ability, you have to pay the costs associated with the ability. In this case, you have to {T} him, along with two other creatures you control. Even if he just had to {T} to use it, using the first ability on Freed from the Real wouldn't help him out since if he's tapped you can't pay the {T} cost to activate the ability. The first ability of Freed from the Real helps him out if you have 4 other creatures on the field, because then you can use the ability twice, but oftentimes you simply won't have the creatures to make that work.
The reason this card is insane is because it bounces permanents. Most bounce spells today say 'nonland permanent' or 'creature' These are limited types because you can't hit lands. It's brutal to bounce your opponent's shocklands and have him think about whether or not it's worth it to take 2 repeatedly. Basically, once this hits the field, assuming you have the other creatures to help him out, your opponent can't play lands, and if he lands an actual threat, you can just bounce it. 4 toughness dodges bolt too :D
The only real problem is that sometimes he'll just be a 1/4 for {3}{U}. In some matchups, you have little hope of getting or keeping enough creatures on the field to use him properly.
Comments (11)
HAHA!!
Kinda like my Bazaar Trader+Mark of Mutiny Combo
d^-^b
but more EPIC!!
d+_+b
Another version uses Awakening to gain extra untap steps so one could return permanents back to opponents' hand rapidly.
Third version involves control cards in general, such as Zur's Weirding and Stasis, to control the field.
That said, I kinda want one, lol.
The reason this card is insane is because it bounces permanents. Most bounce spells today say 'nonland permanent' or 'creature' These are limited types because you can't hit lands. It's brutal to bounce your opponent's shocklands and have him think about whether or not it's worth it to take 2 repeatedly. Basically, once this hits the field, assuming you have the other creatures to help him out, your opponent can't play lands, and if he lands an actual threat, you can just bounce it. 4 toughness dodges bolt too :D
The only real problem is that sometimes he'll just be a 1/4 for {3}{U}. In some matchups, you have little hope of getting or keeping enough creatures on the field to use him properly.