Once again, a new release rolls 'round and I join the throngs of writers who are attempting to convince you that they understand the set better than anyone else. It would have been easy to claim this in days past, since I am typically the only person writing about a set for Type 4 - but Paul Mastriano recently did a fine bit of work covering some of his favorite Type 4 cards from our newest and most-beloved block, so I'll leave you all to judge whose work is better.
(As a completely unrelated aside, I once heard from some guy that he once saw Paul Mastriano take the tag off of a mattress despite the Federal Warning!)
Anyway, on with the show.
Hybrid Cards
Whee! One of the most revolutionary mechanics in a while is the hybrid mana present on a dozen cards in this set which allow you pay with one of two colors of mana. Do we care? No. But some of the cards are interesting anyway.
The Guildmages
Unfortunately, all but one of these go infinite. Otherwise they'd be really nice cards. The only way any of these but the Boros Guildmage could justifiably see play is if you were to place restrictions on their usage. If you're comfortable with the additional burdens this places on your memory, feel free.
Gleancrawler
Gleancrawler is already a solid 6/6 with trample, which is reason enough to put him in your stack. His ability, however, is conditionally amazing. It's probably going to be tough to maneuver your opponents into letting you take advantage of him, but when you do it will be something special indeed.
Master Warcraft
This card is great for punching through lethal damage to that punk sitting comfy behind his army of defensive creatures like Armored Guardian and Glarecaster. Anything that allows you to make decisions for your opponent is great in other Magic formats, and it's the same way here.
Privileged Position
Speaking of Armored Guardian, wouldn't it be nice if he couldn't be Wrath of Godded away? Privileged Position accomplishes that, but leaves itself open to enchantment removal instead. Ultimately this isn't as good as Armored Guardian - but Armored Guardian is really freaking amazing, so this is still inclusion-worthy.
Shadow of Doubt
I'm just going to list some of the cards this one stops: Bribery, Acquire, Grinning Totem, Planar Portal, Ach! Hans, Run!, Citanul Flute, Gifts Ungiven, Intuition, Academy Rector, Survival of the Fittest, Eladamri's Call, and Bringer of the Black Dawn. And it draws a card, too!
Gold Cards
Less cool than the hybrid cards, the border of gold cards these days now looks like someone urinated on the template. Sadly, a number of these are quite good for Type 4, and I'll cover them here. You may want to proxy them with any spare copies of old gold cards you have lying around, though, so that your stack doesn't look hideous.
Autochthon Wurm
This is a large man. At 9/14, he can comfortably contain Darksteel Colossus, and that's nothing to sneeze at. On top of that he's got trample, which pretty much outclasses Krosan Cloudscraper (except for the morph ability).
Dimir Doppelganger
Not to be played until there's something juicy for it to copy, Dimir Doppelganger is capable of turning your opponents' biggest threats into your biggest threats. That sounds pretty good to me by itself, but this card also prevents any crazy recursion tricks on the parts of your opponents.
Firemane Angel
She's only a 4/3 body, but she's very difficult to get rid of permanently and her abilities make her more effective in combat than she might otherwise have been. The extra life you get when she's dead doesn't hurt either.
Golgari Germination
Creatures in Type 4 die. A lot. And while not all of them hit the graveyard, the majority of them do. This card probably won't single-handedly win you any games, but over the course of the game it could grow you a respectable force of Saprolings.
Grave-Shell Scarab
I'm kind of iffy on this one. Yeah, you can have him every turn, but unlike other formats where he's probably better than the top of your deck, in Type 4 he's probably not better than the top of your deck. I'm not going to use him, but your mileage may vary.
Loxodon Hierarch
I'm most likely going to be trading these to Constructed players, but he's a very good option for your Type 4 stack. The life gain and the 4/4 are nice, but being able to protect your team from some global damage spell is also a great bonus. The same things that make him great in Constructed find him a home in Type 4. The only difference is that they have to pay for him.
Mindleech Mass
Grinning Totem, Bribery, and Acquire are all amazing cards - so why shouldn't this one be as well? Some people would say that using his triggered ability doesn't count for your spell for the turn, and that would make him even better. Note that you can look at your opponent's hand without choosing to play a spell, which can be relevant.
Perplex
In a format where every card is a bomb, forcing your opponent to choose between resolving his current bomb or having multiple bombs available for later is a good thing. As usual in Magic, presenting your opponent with a difficult decision generally spells good things for you. The transmute is an added bonus, allowing you to search out things like Corpse Dance, Shunt, or Blast From the Past.
Phytohydra
You have to love infinite blockers that just keep getting bigger. Trample defeats him, but a lot of creatures don't have that.
Pollenbright Wings
If you already have Rith in your deck, I don't think I'd bother.
Putrefy
Versatility in a card is a huge benefit in Type 4, which is why just about everyone did something to allow Who/What/Where/When/Why into the format. In taking out artifacts and creatures, Putrefy is capable of dealing with most of the biggest threats in the format.
Razia, Boros Archangel
A host of good abilities makes Akroma-Lite playable. Don't expect her to be as good as everyone's favorite eight-drop, though.
Sisters of Stone Death
Memnarch is generally considered to be game over if he hits. While the Sisters aren't quite as effective overall, they can make a given opponent cry just as much. Putting Lure, stoning, and Control Magic onto a 7/5 body gives you a powerful tool to steal everyone else's men.
Szadek, Lord of Secrets
Szadek starts off as a 5/5 flyer and gets better every time he connects. The fact that he mills instead of dealing damage can be suboptimal if only a few people are playing, but can also lead opponents to underestimate the impact he has on the board. Encourage them to underestimate him.
Tolsimir Wolfblood
Tolsimir isn't that great on his own, but if your drafting skills are up to the challenge he can give you a substantial bonus. The sacrificial wolf (lamb?) he creates can prove useful as well.
Twisted Justice
Similar to Overwhelming Intellect, this is likely going to draw you four or more cards when it resolves. Fun.
Vulturous Zombie
Creatures die, cards hit the graveyard, and the Zombie grows huge. Play him, and fear him.
Mono-Colored Cards (and Artifacts)
Dull, boring old mono-colored cards (and artifacts). At least these don't look like someone decided human waste was a good look for a card border.
Blazing Archon
Like Peacekeeper, but harder to kill and able to dish out a beating on its own. Its cost is also a benefit I'll be getting to in a bit.
Boros Fury-Shield
Reflect Damage is already in use. Why not this as well?
Chant of Vitu-Ghazi
Reverse Damage is already in use. Why not this as well?
Devouring Light
Somewhat weaker than Swords to Plowshares, another removal spell that removes creatures from the game instead of killing them outright is welcome in a format that features 11/11 trampling indestructibles and the best recursion mana can buy.
Faith's Fetters
This will stop a creature from doing pretty much anything you don't want it to, and gains you four life in the process. Furthermore, it can even put a stop to things like Survival of the Fittest, Quicksilver Amulet, and Shield of the Ages.
Festival of the Guildpact
Damage prevention that cantrips? Can't argue with that. You can even just "cycle" it if you want.
Seed Spark
Generic enchantment/artifact removal, but it gives a nice bonus in two chump blockers.
Copy Enchantment
So your opponent resolved Soothsaying, a totally broken card in Type 4. Now you can have one too!
Eye of the Storm
Use at your own risk. I will not be held responsible for what this does.
Followed Footsteps
Yeah, some of your best creatures are legendary. So don't put it on one of those. I know I wouldn't complain about a new Voidmage Prodigy every turn.
GROZOTH
GROZOTH consumes! Where GROZOTH goes, none shall be left uneaten! Fear GROZOTH'S passing for he comes not alone! Yes, GROZOTH has a posse!
This is by far my most favorite Type 4 card in this set. The absolute hilarity of his combination of abilities is already great - but when he hits the board, he proceeds to Tutor up great cards like the Winds, the Bringers, and other randomness like Colossus of Sardia, Crush of Wurms, and the aforementioned Blazing Archon. I love this guy, and so should you.
Muddle the Mixture
While it can't counter permanents, Muddle the Mixture can still counter a lot of threats and is capable of being transmuted into a number of other cards that can handle what it can't counter (like Diabolic Edict and Artifact Mutation). It can also get Survival of the Fittest, which isn't shabby.
Dark Confidant
Oh wait - never mind. I just got caught up in the hype, sorry.
Disembowel
More simple, solid removal.
Helldozer
Normally I wouldn't recommend land destruction because of the relative scarcity of land in the format, but when it's attached to a 6/5 body that can both nuke a land and swing in the same turn, I'm all for it.
Moonlight Bargain
Do I really have to explain why the most powerful card drawer since Fact or Fiction deserves play?
Shred Memory
An excellent way of nuking key threats sitting in a graveyard, Shred Memory can also be transmuted into other utility spells if desired. And like Muddle the Mixture, it can also get Survival.
Excruciator
7/7 is a big enough body, and the ability to ignore Shield of the Ages, Pentagram of the Ages, and Polka-Dotted Boxer Shorts of the Ages is handy.
Flash Conscription
Slightly less versatile than Grab the Reins, this card will still turn around games for you.
Reroute
You play this for the same reason you play Willbender, Squelch, and Stifle: Door to Nothingness.
Chord of Calling
I hear Tooth and Nail is pretty good. This only gets half as many creatures, but is an instant, which is awesome.
Trophy Hunter
Handy for taking down pesky Dragons and Angels, Trophy Hunter becomes quite a threat in its own right in the process.
Bloodletter Quill
Thanks to Type 4's infinite mana, this is basically Jayemdae Tome... And drawing cards is good.
Nullstone Gargoyle
This will basically stop anything that isn't a creature from being played until it dies or everyone else hates you. If you can't deal with the anger of your peers, don't play with it, but otherwise it's great.
Plague Boiler
Pernicious Deed is good, so why not this?
Sunforger
Urza's Rage. 'Nuff said.
Voyager Staff
Good way to stave off a lethal attack for a turn or protect your own man from a Wrath.
Lands
I'm running out of cleverness. How funny can lands be anyway? They're just land. The word isn't even that amusing. I mean listen to it: "land."
I didn't laugh. I doubt you did either. You can see this sentiment reflected in cartoons. It was never the land in Looney Toons that got a laugh, but rather the absence thereof. Oh Wile E., how many times will you chase the Roadrunner right off a cliff?
Anyway.
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
Probably the most impressive of the lands for Type 4, Sunhome makes all of your threats twice the threat they used to be. Mmmm... just imagine using it on an unblocked Szadek....
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
This card seems like it should be useful, but I've been given reports to the contrary. I can see how it might not measure up to other creatures, but I'd give it a shot anyway.
Vhitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
Rather low-powered, but churning out chump blockers turn after turn isn't a bad thing, and you don't have to use a spell to do it.
Alas, I think I've run out of set, so I guess I'll have to finish up this review. I suspect my opinion of the new gold borders will draw a greater response than anything else I've said today, but that's okay. Just remember that GROZOTH has a posse - and he doesn't like the borders, either.
David Kleppinger
dr.klep@gmail.com
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