So, a couple of days later than planned, but we finally get to the renaissance man of the colour pie - green. Green has seen a fantastic rejuvination of late which is great to see. I personally think that, certainly before Worlds anyway, green was criminally underdrafted. My initial feeling was that the balance would begin to redress itself but seeing how silly blue has gotten I might be wrong. If people keep on drafting blue where you are, be prepared to grab green because if you are one of only a couple of people drafting it, you could be in for good times.
You should know them all by now but lets look at the rules again. I will look at each common one by one and give you my thoughts and feelings. At the end of each colour I will give you a rough first stab at pick orders. Your lists and my lists will not match and you will not share every feeling I have. I urge you to tell me why because this is a two-way thing. I have much to learn as a Magic player and I'm sure if we find some common ground it will benefit us all.
Ambassador Oak
Cost:
Card Type:
Creature - Treefolk Warrior
P/T:
3/3
:
When Ambassador Oak comes into play, put a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token into play.
Well this is a pretty good way to kick things off. Four power and toughness for four mana is superb value for money at common but Ambassador Oak goes a few steps further than that. In a green deck, this card will act like a changeling, allowing all the comes into play effects you would expect - it pumps Battlewand Oak, it counts towards Elvish Promenade and you can attach Obsidian Battle Axe to either creature as you wish. That's a lot of utility in a nice little package.
I also want to talk about the flavour of the card here. Isn't it quite cool that there is this big treefolk emissary dude who discusses treaties and politics with the other races? It's probably the comic book guy in me that likes this. I've been reading way too much Fables...
Bosk Banneret
Cost:
Card Type:
Creature - Treefolk Shaman
P/T:
1/3
:
Treefolk spells and Shaman spells you play cost less to play.
I quite like Bosk Bannaret for a couple of simple reasons. He exists in a tribe that can expect a lot of value from being able to shave 1 mana off some expensive costs. The second thing is he holds the ground well with that big butt of his. Being able to hold your opponent's aggressive start whilst you get the mana on board to start dropping big Treefolk is very important. Obviously make sure the guy is relevant to your deck before including him - vanilla 1/3s for 2 don't make the grade.
Deglamer
Cost:
Card Type:
Instant
P/T:
:
Choose target artifact or enchantment. Its owner shuffles it into his or her library.
Nope. For limited, Deglamer isn't anything better than a sideboard card. And if you bring this in to deal with that pesky O-Ring or Cloak and Dagger you are going to be mightily ticked off when your opponent redraws it a few turns later. Surely it could have at least put the offending card to the bottom of your opponent's library?
Earthbrawn
Cost:
Card Type:
Instant
P/T:
:
Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
Reinforce 1-
(, Discard this card: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.)
I adore cards like Earthbrawn because of the intrinsic internal tension that they contain. Tricks like this require careful thought and consideration. It's the classic example of a card that seems simple and innocuous but using it in the incorrect way at the wrong time will create the opening for things to come crashing down upon you.
I think it will be picked fairly highly because of the versatility and the ability to nullify removal spells the world over.
Elvish Warrior
Cost:
Card Type:
Creature - Elf Warrior
P/T:
2/3
:
See, I can't be overly impressed by a card like Elvish Warrior in the same block as a card like Wren's Run Vanquisher. I know it isn't a fair comparison, not least because the Vanquisher is uncommon.
But that isn't the end of the story here. Just because we have certain preconceptions about a card doesn't actually make it poor. A combined power and toughness of 5 for only 2 mana is still pretty darned good. I think this will end up being a mid pick - somewhere in the region of 6th to 8th.
Everbark Shaman
Cost:
Card Type:
Creature - Treefolk Shaman
P/T:
3/5
:
, Remove a Treefolk card in your graveyard from the game: Search your library for two Forest cards and put them into play tapped. Then shuffle your library.
I think Riki and I might come to verbal blows over Everbark Shaman (and Scapeshift for the same reason) in limited. Don't focus on the body itself here - a 3/5 for 5 mana is a little 'meh' - instead focus on that ability.
Let's say you have a two colour deck, Gx, with a 50/50 split of basic lands. You drop this turn 5 off the back of 3 forests and 2 of the 'x' basics. Over the next 3 turns, if your opponent leaves this unanswered, you remove the other 5 Forests from your deck (of course, presuming you can get some other Treefolk in the bin)! You need to think of this card as a mini Countryside Crusher - the acceleration is gravy and all but even better is know that you have massively increased your chances of drawing something relevant from the cards left in your library. I'm not suggesting this card is the be all and end all but it deserves more respect than it is getting hence the lengthy explanation why.
Fertilid
Cost:
Card Type
Creature - Elemental
P/T:
0/0
:
Fertilid comes into play with two +1/+1 counters on it.
, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Fertilid: Target player searches his or her library for a basic land card and puts it into play tapped. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Grey Ogres with a reasonable ability are fine in this format so Fertilid ticks that box. And again with the land-thinning. To be honest, most of the time I can see this trading with another guy or eating a removal spell and grabbing a land on the way out. And that's absolutely fine by me.
So sure, this guy isn't as good as Festercreep but you will need strong justification to not run it. Another mid pick.
Game-Trail Changeling
Cost:
Card Type:
Creature - Shapeshifter
P/T:
4/4
:
Changeling (This card is every creature type at all times.)
Trample
Chamelion Colossus definitely has the weirdest of all the changeling art but Game-Trail Changeling runs it pretty close. A 4/4 trampler for 5 is pretty sweet for common. That it turns on all relevant tribal triggers makes this guy even sweeter.
My only slight annoyance is the GG in the casting cost but double mana requirements tend to be a lot easier in green than any other colour. But, hey, I'm only nit-picking here. This is a high pick.
Luminescent Rain
Cost:
Card Type:
Instant
P/T:
:
Choose a creature type. You gain 2 life for each permanent you control of that type.
Sigh. Life gain sucks. Riki put it pretty well in his green review. Basically if you put life gain onto an already solid card you have a winner - Hierarch and Helix are both good examples. Plain, boring life gain gets you nowhere. You better have good reason to run this.
Lys Alana Bowmaster
Cost:
Card Type:
Creature - Elf Archer
P/T:
2/2
:
Reach (This can block creatures with flying.)
Whenever you play an Elf spell, you may have Lys Alana Bowmaster deal 2 damage to target creature with flying.
Lys Alana Bowmaster does what it does efficiently and well. What with UB Faeries being such a powerful archetype, Bowmaster's value only goes up. There's not really a lot more to say about this card - basically if you are green you will always run this card. Sure, he might end up being an Ogre but he could end up being amazing too. Pick these up around 5th or 6th I would think.
Reins of the Vinesteed
Cost:
Card Type:
Enchantment - Aura
P/T:
:
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2.
When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard, you may return Reins of the Vinesteed from your graveyard to play attached to a creature that shares a creature type with that creature.
Reins of the Vinsteed asks too much for what it gives. I think 4 mana is just a little too expensive and then you have to make some serious decisions to try and chain him onto something else correctly. My gut is that this would be maybe ok in draft but would probably hit the board in sealed unless you got a busted pool. It doesn't quite make the grade for me. I'd much rather have Earthbrawn in this card's slot.
Winnower Patrol
Cost:
Card Type:
Creature - Elf Warrior
P/T:
3/2
:
Kinship - At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Winnower Patrol, you may reveal it. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Winnower Patrol.
I like this card because he is better than your average Grey Ogre and has the potential to get out of hand very quickly. Let's say, that on average, any time you play this over the course of time it remains on the board it gains one +1/+1 token. I think that's probably a reasonable assumption. That makes Winnower Patrol on average a 4/3 for 3 that is sometimes a little worse and sometimes a little better. That's good enough for me. An easy include, especially in draft.
The List
1) Game-Trail Changeling
2) Ambassador Oak
3) Earthbrawn
4) Lys Alana Bowmaster
5) Everbark Shaman
So there we go. Once again, I'm fairly happy with positions 1 - 4 but that 5th slot is probably a little more debatable. Winnower Patrol makes a good shout for that slot too in my mind. I don't think green did quite so well in this set as it did in Lorwyn but I have the suspiscion that at least early on while people find their feet, it will be underdrafted.
There are no common lands or artifatcs in the set so nothing to discuss here. Hope you have enjoyed this season's Limited Prospects as much as I enjoyed writing them. Hopefully they have made you re-evaluate some of your early thoughts on certain commons and, if not, you probably agreed with me in the first place which is always good. What I will most likely do is dedicate an On The Bubble in a few months time as a follow up to this to see where I was right and where I was wrong. Hopefully there aren't too many glaring mistakes. Time will tell. Thanks for the feedback guys - see you back here for (Dark Lorwyn - damn, no strikethrough) Shadowmoor.
And relax...
-Flame on-
Dave
Tags: Limited Prospects Morningtide Green Lorwyn Dave Sealed Draft Limited
