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Worldwake Red Card Review
Hello and welcome to part 3 of our Worldwake set review. The review and notes you see here are a collection of feedback from a number of players, ranging in skill level from FNM to Semi-Pro players and up to the World of Warcraft TCG World Champion. My thanks go to: Billy Postlethwait, John Dean, Glenn Jones, Jason Brown, Ricky Calarco, Andres Garcia, David Sharfman and the random other people who helped collect thoughts and discuss this set.
Be sure to see the other reviews:
Constructed
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Limited
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Casual
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Akoum BattlesingerThis guy is loads better than the Highland Barbarian spot in Ally decks, both constructed and limited, and at common it isn’t unreasonable to hope for multiples in a ZZW draft. When the Worldwake pack comes around you’ll already know how committed you are to allies and if you are then this guy should be a fairly high pick for you. He’s going to be a strong ally if the mythical Ally deck comes to existence in constructed. Constructed: 3 |
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Bazaar TraderIt says a lot that Rosewater was concerned about printing this creature, the ability to “give” creatures to your opponent can prove dangerous and is a rarely tapped resource in the game so its limitations and true power levels are not well understood. There are combos cropping up around this guy but nothing that appears to be tier 1 worthy really. In limited there is little to be said for it other than perhaps the dream Timmy play of the Trader and Abyssal Persecutor Constructed: 3 |
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Bull RushOne thing about red is that it, above all else, values simplicity. This card is simple. A combat trick to fill in holes in a limited deck, but too weak to be seen in constructed. Constructed: 1 |
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Chain ReactionRed control. This card will almost always be a board clear (with rare exceptions) and is good enough to see play in both limited and constructed. It won’t find a home in Red Aggro but will be quite comfortable in control decks which include red. Constructed: 3 |
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Claws of ValakutI love this card. Three mana for at least +2/+0 and first strike, and likely much more than that. It’s going to be a reasonably strong pick in limited and might even find a home in constructed. The major problem is that it is an aura and leaves you open to losing card advantage since it dies with the creature, but the potential gain, and even one creature dead restores card advantage, and usually one hit to the opponent’s head will prove beneficial. Constructed: 4 |
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Comet StormThe promo card from the pre-release this could single-handedly put Red back on the table as a Standard option deck. You need to spend 6 mana on it (3RR+1 for multkick) to make it better than fireball, and every additional mana is only making it more and more deadly. For 10 mana (5RR+3) you’re dealing lethal with it. Constructed: 4 |
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Cosi’s RavagerThis one has potential but it is too expensive to be really awesome. It’s relegated to ‘decent’ status in limited. And it’s not explosive enough to have any legs in standard or constructed. Constructed: 2 |
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Crusher ZendikonThis is the middle of the pack Zendikon, pretty good at 4/2 trampler for 3, but not awesome. The 2 weakness is a big problem since it all but guarantees the land dies as it goes into combat unless it is unobstructed, and even then pretty much every direct damage spell kills it. Constructed: 3 |
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Cunning SparkmageThey call me… Tim. Yeah, Tims are always good in limited, and this is no exception with haste so that it can ping the turn it comes into play. Constructed: 2 |
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Deathforge ShamanThis one is strong, a good investment as it means you’re getting a 4/3 and if you multkick it’s an auto-doubling of the mana investment. It becomes prohibitive pretty quick but it does what Red does best, deals points to the dome. Constructed: 3 |
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Dragonmaster OutcastWorldwake’s response to Zendikar’s Scute Mob is pretty strong, the main benefit is that it makes separate creatures which need to be addressed rather than just killing the problem causing creature. The {R} casting cost is a trap for newer players who will drop it on turn 1 and hope it is alive when it reaches the turn to go active. Constructed: 4 |
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Goblin RoughriderSimple. 3 mana for a 3/2. It’s not bad… but it’s not great. Constructed: 2 |
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Grotag ThrasherHe’s expensive but not so expensive that he won’t see some limited play. The ability to disallow a blocker can be a game winner, but he’s just more expensive than we’d all like. Constructed: 1 |
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Kazuul, Tyrant of the CliffsThis guy is bomb worthy, potentially a defining card for constructed against an aggro heavy metagame, but definitely a limited bomb, and one card that seems destined to be many EDH Generals. I love this guy, I like the design and the flavor of him. A warrior who can be paid to stop reinforcing you against the oncoming attack. This guy is already a 5/4 for five mana, and then to make tokens that are stronger than the normal weenie attacker is real strong. Constructed: 4 |
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Mordant DragonHe’s not constructed playable, and I don’t really understand why the flame-breathing is {1}{R} rather than the customary {R}. I guess it’s because the damage is, in theory, being done twice. Meh. Overall this guy is too expensive to really be awesome in constructed compared to the other dragons we have access to. Limited and Casual bomb though. Constructed: 2 |
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Quest for the Goblin LordIt’s a Lord enchantment! Well, it’s not really a lord as it only buffs strength and not toughness, but it still has every Timmy’s heart and will see some play if red aggro takes off I imagine. Constructed: 3 |
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Ricochet TrapThis is one that will see play. It’s going to be probably a sideboard card in standard, and it might see some main love in Limited, but it’s nothing ridiculous. Constructed: 3 |
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Roiling TerrainLand destruction is always a tough theme to carry off in a deck. Wizards has limited the number of LD spells accessible to players since it has consistently proven to be one of the most “un-fun” parts of Magic. Ironic since Stone Rain is the most reprinted card ever. In any case, this card is marginal. A 4 mana land destruction spell is cheap in a world without land destruction spells, and on par for the world we’re living in, but par is hardly good enough to build a hole-in-one deck. Skip it all around I say. Constructed: 2 |
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Rumbling AftershocksThis is a johnny spell. Do with it what you will. But I highly doubt we’ll see it anywhere other than the random limited deck that has enough multi-kicker and kicker spells to make this one not suck. Constructed: 1 |
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Searing BlazeI love this spell. The {R}{R} is unpleasant but not undoable and it is at least as good as your money, or it is 3 times as good if you played a land. I doubt we’ll see it in constructed, though I suppose we could in some RDW build. Constructed: 3 |
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Skitter of LizardsHe’s a decent haste–y one drop but becomes pretty bad past the first multi-kick. Cast him for {1} or {3} and enjoy, past that he becomes way overcosted. Even the {3} is not that great of a deal. Constructed: 2 |
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Slavering NullsMindless Null got a lot of flack last set for being so bad. This guy is actually decent. With no drawback other than lacking toughness, he will do well in the popular R/B archetype draft decks. Not likely to find a home in constructed though. Constructed: 2 |
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Stone Idol TrapI misread this card the first time I read it, as a card which put out a huge dude to attack alongside your other attackers, but the token’s toughness didn’t make much sense. Then after rereading I realized this guy is just meant to pop out when you’re being attacked… and well… I’m not a huge fan. He’s a 6/12 so he’s likely to survive the assault. And then you do get to attack with him for the one following turn, before he is exiled. Considering I can get Ball Lightning as an attacker for {R}{R}{R} and that he can only block one creature, I’d say his sweet spot is when you’re being attacked by 3 or more creatures. But that’s in limited, I’m not a big fan of him in constructed. Or casual for that matter. Constructed: 2 |
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Tuktuk ScrapperAnother toolbox ally, he has his uses but we’re not seeing enough prevalent artifacts for him to be a big beater. Now if the next set is artifact themed… Or if Eldrazi do indeed prove to be artifact creatures then this could prove quite useful. Constructed: 3 |
Trick Jarrett is the host and founder of ManaNation.com, he writes, edits, covers, and spoils Magic for a living. Playing it whenever he can manage to find the time. He is engaged to a lovely woman who refuses to learn Magic, and they have a cute cocker-spaniel puppy who is all too eager to play Magic.
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I think you have misread Comet Storm. You cannot choose the same target twice. Hence the clause “choose a target. then choose another target for each time it was kicked.”
I will refer to the equation that I came up with a while back that I posted on the spoiler to this card on mananation:
“n=(x-2) when x is an integer > 2
x mana: n dmg/1 target or (n-1) dmg/2 targets or (n-2) dmg/3 targets or (n-3) dmg/4 targets …”
Honestly, these reviews are practically worthless for limited when you only use the scale from 2–5, and give very few 2s. The cards are clearly more finely grained in power than suggested by giving most of them threes.
In particular, some ratings are atrociously misguided. Bull Rush is in no way even remotely close to Cunning Sparkmage in limited power. Cunning Sparkmage is a card one would be very happy first picking whereas Bull Rush is one of the last picks. Maybe if you have a deck with a bunch of bears and they have a lot of Halimar Excavators and Calcite Snappers you would consider siding Bull Rush in, but you know your draft went awry if this is in your starting 40.
And when Quest for the Goblin Lord also gets a three for limited, it just gives off the impression there was not much oversight given to these reviews.
@Forrest — You’re right, I completely misunderstood the card. I believed that it could target the same target again and again. Thanks for the clarification.
@Tails2k5 — You’re right, in terms of comparing the rating numbers the reviews are sub par. To be honest I haven’t gone through and compared what cards got the same scores to see if they were of near equal power levels. Instead I was using a general rating and going from there.
I think it is difficult to judge how a card will do in casual. Chain Reaction is a good card in any format, if it isn’t too expensive, and I know some people that would build a deck around Roiling Terrain.
that akoum battlesinger definitely has boobs… its not a guy its a gal lol
lol claws of valakut higher than chain reaction…
I agree with Tails2k5., Trick, I’ve read through all your articles on review for Worldwake (you can see my comments across all the articles) and it’s good but flawed. Giving a 3 for sparkmage and bull rush and a 4 for battlesinger is totally out of sync here. A sparkmage with haste (who cares about his stats?) is incredible. Outweighting his other predecessors like pyromancer or stinger. In all the allies, I would rate battlesinger lower than the others. Once again, you’re not rating the card in accordance with other relevant cards in its respective formats. If one is playing ally deck, whether in limited or standard if possible, you do not want your ally creatures to die…period. Hurling your allies in with a +2/+0 is a sure way to kill your allies (sure it takes out the enemy’s creature too but that isn’t the point in ally theme deck) but also takes out your ally abilities.
Some of the ally creatures that requires the more ally on battlefield the better in:
(a) Ondu cleric
(b) Talus paladin
© Halimar Excavator
(d) Jwari Shapeshifter
(e) Agadeem Occultist
(f) Harabaz Druid
(g) Vastwood Animist
(h) Hagra diabolist
(i) Bala Ged
(j) Tajuru Archer
(k) Murasa Pyromancer
(l) Kazuul Warlord
(m) Sea gate loremaster
Anyway, I think you see the point here…ally’s theme is “unity is strength”. Don’t let your allies die easily.
sorrie…it’s a +1/+0 for ally tagged to battlesinger…with that in mind, it’s rating should go down to a 2 at most.
don’t look at skitter of lizzards like a bad idea. it is an improved RAGING GOBLIN.
even somewhat lategame, you will not be dissatisfied by drawing it.