Post by jilocasin on May 5, 2011 18:39:47 GMT -5
In the previous "Andi's Picks" article I wanted to introduce you to a couple of "power cards" from the Basic Set. This time it is all about the hidden gems to be found in the 60 card strong Basic Set. I will pick one card out of every element:
Soul Surge may be expensive but in mid- or late-game well worth the investment. Each and every Creature of yours that dies is converted into an additional card you draw. That means huge card advantage for you. With the Earth element's resource accleration cards Venus Toad and the previously discussed Elemental Ritual you should be able to form a second Element-Stone-Pile to place Soul Surge on pretty early on. From then on every one of your Creatures you lose translates into another precious card. Note that the card draw is optional, so you might wanna skip it if you are low on cards already during late game.
Ball Lightning is a great Creature which is very hard to kill. It can hit your opponent for 3 damage right on turn 2 only to return to your hand at the end of your turn. Unless they have a blocker with a minimum attack of 2 it is especially hard to get rid of Ball Lightning for the Earth and Water player. Apart from leaving a blocker in the Defense Zone Earth and Water has not much in its arsenal to deal with Ball Lightnings. The fact that it returns to your hand at the end of your turn protects Ball Lightning from non-flash spells like Flaring Flames. Combine it with Powerstones and it becomes even more threatening as a 4/3 or even 5/4 Quickattacker.
Blood Sacrifice looks like a terrible card with a much too high investment at first glance. Still it qualifies as a great "finisher" in the right deck, ideal for breaking stalemates and winning you the game in one huge attack. Blood Sacrifice is best played along with Air's unblockable Creatures Windwanderer and Elder of the Skies. First build up your defenses, fill your Defense Zone with Creatures leaving your opponent under the impression that you got nothing to attack with, then move a single Windwanderer to the Attack Zone, play Blood Sacrifice, which is a Flash Spell to boot, and deal an insane amount of damage possibly finishing up your opponent in one monumental attack. In an Air/Fire Deck like that, Blood Sacrifice and Jupiter's Protection make for an awesome combo. Jupiter's Protection makes all your Creatures unblockable for one turn. Just attack with all Creatures you got - the opponent will not be able to block any - and then, before your last Creature attacks, play Blood Sacrifice, destroying all your Creatures that already attacked and deal a bunch of damage again with your lonely last attacker.
Siren's Call may look innocent but turns out to be a very versatile card. It can be used in many different ways, both offensivley and defensively. You can use it aggressiveley by moving the single blocker that prevents you from dealing damage to your opponent from his or her Defense-Zone to his or her Attack-Zone. You could also use it as some sort of pseudo-Creature destruction Spell by luring a Creature the opponent wants to protect from his or her Defense-Zone to his or her Attack-Zone only to attack and kill it with one of your Creatures. Then you can use Siren's Call defensively: Just attack with one of your Creatures, then use the Call to pull it back to your Defense Zone during your opponent's attack. As Siren's Call is a Flash Spell, you can pull of many different maneuvrers that are bound to surprise your opponent. Last but not least, Siren's Call also has you draw 1 card, so it replaces itself when you play it. Just be careful with it during end-game, as you might well run yourself out of cards with carelessly played card draw like Siren's Call.
That's my four most underrated cards from each of the four elements out of the Basic Set. Tune in next time for some card previews from the upcoming Expansion Set "Underworld
Soul Surge may be expensive but in mid- or late-game well worth the investment. Each and every Creature of yours that dies is converted into an additional card you draw. That means huge card advantage for you. With the Earth element's resource accleration cards Venus Toad and the previously discussed Elemental Ritual you should be able to form a second Element-Stone-Pile to place Soul Surge on pretty early on. From then on every one of your Creatures you lose translates into another precious card. Note that the card draw is optional, so you might wanna skip it if you are low on cards already during late game.
Ball Lightning is a great Creature which is very hard to kill. It can hit your opponent for 3 damage right on turn 2 only to return to your hand at the end of your turn. Unless they have a blocker with a minimum attack of 2 it is especially hard to get rid of Ball Lightning for the Earth and Water player. Apart from leaving a blocker in the Defense Zone Earth and Water has not much in its arsenal to deal with Ball Lightnings. The fact that it returns to your hand at the end of your turn protects Ball Lightning from non-flash spells like Flaring Flames. Combine it with Powerstones and it becomes even more threatening as a 4/3 or even 5/4 Quickattacker.
Blood Sacrifice looks like a terrible card with a much too high investment at first glance. Still it qualifies as a great "finisher" in the right deck, ideal for breaking stalemates and winning you the game in one huge attack. Blood Sacrifice is best played along with Air's unblockable Creatures Windwanderer and Elder of the Skies. First build up your defenses, fill your Defense Zone with Creatures leaving your opponent under the impression that you got nothing to attack with, then move a single Windwanderer to the Attack Zone, play Blood Sacrifice, which is a Flash Spell to boot, and deal an insane amount of damage possibly finishing up your opponent in one monumental attack. In an Air/Fire Deck like that, Blood Sacrifice and Jupiter's Protection make for an awesome combo. Jupiter's Protection makes all your Creatures unblockable for one turn. Just attack with all Creatures you got - the opponent will not be able to block any - and then, before your last Creature attacks, play Blood Sacrifice, destroying all your Creatures that already attacked and deal a bunch of damage again with your lonely last attacker.
Siren's Call may look innocent but turns out to be a very versatile card. It can be used in many different ways, both offensivley and defensively. You can use it aggressiveley by moving the single blocker that prevents you from dealing damage to your opponent from his or her Defense-Zone to his or her Attack-Zone. You could also use it as some sort of pseudo-Creature destruction Spell by luring a Creature the opponent wants to protect from his or her Defense-Zone to his or her Attack-Zone only to attack and kill it with one of your Creatures. Then you can use Siren's Call defensively: Just attack with one of your Creatures, then use the Call to pull it back to your Defense Zone during your opponent's attack. As Siren's Call is a Flash Spell, you can pull of many different maneuvrers that are bound to surprise your opponent. Last but not least, Siren's Call also has you draw 1 card, so it replaces itself when you play it. Just be careful with it during end-game, as you might well run yourself out of cards with carelessly played card draw like Siren's Call.
That's my four most underrated cards from each of the four elements out of the Basic Set. Tune in next time for some card previews from the upcoming Expansion Set "Underworld