I've never written a rebuttal article before. It seems really easy. All you need to know is just how wrong the other guy is, and be able to propose an improvement, or a better viewpoint. Being duly possessed of these qualities, I submit to you, the reader, the opening salvo:

"Just how wrong is Nick Morley?"

Don't get me wrong, his latest article, found here, does say many things that make sense, like how Armed Response, Mana Geyser, and Vicious Betrayal are all utter crap in MD5 Limited. However, he also makes several statements which I simply don't agree with. So, to help stop the stagnancy of American Magic that has been recognized recently in this forum thread by kNuts and countless others, I am here to help find a way out of the gutter for all the Americans out there, at least where Limited is concerned.

First, the Bringers are not crap. It is apparent to me that Nick is not a huge fan of the Sunburst mechanic. Has anyone ever played a Pentad Prism on turn 2, followed by a Bringer on turn 3? Yeah, it's unlikely, but surely even without that timely Prism, a properly drafted and played Sunburst deck will yield the huge man a few turns later. Hell, I wouldn't mind dropping a Bringer of the Any Freaking Dawn on turn 8. He's still probably going to totally dominate the game.

Speaking of Sunburst, everyone's favorite mana fixing color, Green, was the victim of a viciously executed smear campaign in Nick's last article. He devotes barely a paragraph to it, saying, in essence,"Crap, crap, more crap, holy crap that's crap . . ."

I will admit that Green does not offer as much as some colors do in Fifth Dawn. It does not have anything to really compete with the power of Trinket Mage or Stasis Cocoon, but it does have many playable cards, and most are not sub-par, as Nick so claims. Ferocious Charge, Sylvok Explorer, even Tangle Asp are fine common choices for any Green-based deck. Most of the uncommons are at least marginally playable, even Viridian Lorebearers and Fangren Pathcutter. They are not the best, but they have each made it into my deck at least once.

Red was also the victim of some comments, particularly concerning it's power level in general. It's true that Red isn't that great in Fifth Dawn, but that's why we have two other packs where Red is better, and a supporting color to pick up the slack when quality Red cards start to run dry, which tends to be sooner than later in most cases.

Two cards that were listed under Nick's"Tons of Jank" list included Krark-Clan Ogre and Krark-Clan Engineers. In MMM, people used to play Leadfoot Ogre when they had to, and justified it by pointing out that it was bigger than most of Red's creatures. The same holds true here for the Krark-Clan Ogre, except that it can remove blockers, instead of having a triggered ability that I have never seen occur when it would actually matter.

The Krark-Clan Engineers are another matter. Since the cards we are talking about are mostly cards that are coming later in the pack, and thus will not need to be compared to early pick cards because all there will be in the packs are these marginal cards. So, in defense of the 2/2 for R3, let me make a simple point.

In a block where more than fifty percent of the cards are artifacts, isn't any artifact removal you can get your hands on good?

Yeah, yeah, you sacrifice two artifacts to kill one, but you are getting a 2/2 for it. Besides, isn't trading your only two artifacts good if you are destroying an opposing Sword of Ha-Ha-I-Win?

The same simple point holds true for Disruption Aura. The way I read that card, you pay three, and now your opponent has to tap four or five or his lands per turn, or he loses the artifact that he needs most?

Where's the sign-up sheet for that one?

Even on a mana Myr, which have gone way up in value with only one Mirrodin pack, it is sure to be a removal spell. How about playing it on any of the Darksteel Golems? Pay six for my guy or I lose it? But I only have three lands out! Don't tell me you've never been annoyed by the guy who powers out a damned golem with Vedalken Engineers on turn 3 every game. This will put him back in line.

In closing, I'm listing the colored cards in Fifth Dawn that I had better never, ever, ever see in anyone's deck. Many of the cards Nick listed were narrow in scope, and hard to use effectively. These cards aren't just narrow in scope and use, they are garbage.

(Commons and Uncommons Only)
Armed Response
Early Frost
Eyes of the Watcher
Into Thin Air
Vicious Betrayal
Mana Geyser
Screaming Fury
Spark Elemental
Tel-Jilad Lifebreather
Viridian Scout

Yeah, I know none of these are really bold predictions, but it never hurts to make sure everyone is on the same page.

To Nick, thanks for making me angry enough to write something. Keep it up..

Until the next time I see something that cheeses me off,

Nigel Higdon
captainpunkrawkDIESPAM@yahoo.com