Saturday, March 26, 2016

Shadows over Innistrad Review: Red

Link to Black Cards

I will leave double-faced cards, or DFCs, for a separate section.


Avacyn's Judgment: seems destined to be a junk rare, in which case as a casual player I will play it a lot.
Burn from Within: the loss in Indestructible seems narrow in Modern, but fits this block. Also similar to Devil's Play and also likely destined for junk rare status.


Bloodmad Vampire: limited.
Dance with Devils: good pinging for one, but its a high cost. I am on the fence with this one.


Devil's Playground: large scale pinging at a cost only fitting battlecruiser Standard. Another junk rare.
Dual Shot: limited.


Dissension in the Ranks: a much cheaper effect in green, I guess worth it if you must play it in red. I know I am not planning to.
Ember-Eye Wolf: limited, but I really like that boost. Yeah... that's a really good boost. I got to play this card in the pre-release. That boost is awesome.


Falkenrath Gorger: hmm... is this a chase rare? Snapcaster Mage gave every card in your graveyard Flashback. This one is one less mana for the same body. I hope this card does not become expensive because I really want to test the effect in play.
Harness the Storm: hmm... another good one. Same as before: if it does not become crazy expensive, I want to play this card. This is a really good card. I want to play it bad.


Fiery Temper: limited.
Howlpack Wolf: limited as in the format, and limited as in the scope with the tribal clause.


Flameblade Angel: great effect that can ping your opponent to death, but its a 6 drop rare that doesn't kill you in a few terms and that means its a guaranteed junk rare in Modern, and only somewhat playable in Standard constructed. Of course, its an outright limited bomb.
Gibbering Fiend: great Delirium clause. This thing can ping an opponent enough for you to finish them off with a few burn spells. It requires patience, but unless you opponent has Hexproff, its an early cast for the pinging. I like it a lot.


Geistblast: another guild foreshadow, yet a weak card at three mana. The blue clause, however, can be used to reap extensive havoc. Its any instant or sorcery spell.
Goldnight Castigator: doubling the damage against you isn't the best idea. Why not use walls instead? I read junk mythic. I fail to see the benefit of the negative clauses on this card.


Hulking Devil: limited.
Inner Struggle: great trick, but not worth four mana. At two mana I would have really wanted it.


Incorrigible Youths: low Madness cost and it has Haste. Its all right.
Lightning Axe: in the right deck (meaning one that benefits from discarding), this card is very good indeed.


Insolent Neonate: Menace on a one drop 1/1 is pretty good. In limited this card should do well, and it can even do well in constructed. The discard clause is a desperate measure.... unless you want to trigger Delirium, in which case, I am board with this card for constructed casual play.
Reduce to Ashes: limited. Its similar to Lava Axe.


Mad Prophet: a reprint from the original Innistrad block. You discard first, which I don't like. Its like Tibalt... not that good.
Rush of Adrenaline: limited.


Magmatic Chasm: limited.
Pyre Hound: limited, but if I have a bunch of instants and sorceries in contructed, this thing can get big.


Malevolent Whispers: I am not getting this 'madness cost same as casting cost' thing. Except if you are forced to discard. I can see the benefit there. Its battlecruiser expensive, yet it does have a boost. I am on the fence for this one.
Ravenous Bloodseeker: narrow and requires too much of a build-around. You need to benefit from that discard, and you also need to not be blocked since you will be attacking with a 3/1.


Senseless Rage: limited.
Sanguinary Mage: limited, but Prowess is really good.


Scourge Wolf: oh, this is good, this is very good. Its an early drop with double strike. You just need to seed that graveyard pronto. And that's the problem... I need to have some great discard outlets to make this work.
Sin Prodder: in the great tradition of 'wall of text' junk rares such as Guild Feud. I like it a lot. I would put it into a red/black graveyard matters deck and go to town. If you use your graveyard, this thing is extra card in both circumstances.


Spiteful Motives: you would have to clean out the field of opposing creatures, and if you do, this thing is good. Otherwise, you will be buffing a creature you cannot attack with. Now, if you put it on a flyer and your opponent does not have flyers, that's good too.
Vessel of Volatility: battlefield mana storage. I like it, but can't see an optimal way to use it. It reads like a Storm card, and I don't like playing or playing against Storm.


Stensia Masquerade: this one fits in a white/red deck with enchantments that neutralize or temporarily exile your opponent's creatures. I like it.
Voldaren Duelist: limited.


Structural Distortion: limited... except if you need to exile a pesky dual land...
Ulrich's Kindred: guild foreshadow. In green you should have enough mana to trigger Indestructible, and that can be very useful. It doesn't read awesome, but it has its use.


Tormenting Voice: carry-over from Khans of Tarkir block. Solid in limited and also in constructed.
Uncaged Fury: limited.


Wolf of Devil's Breach: reads like too much work to make it be very destructive. I would have to discard a card that has a high enough mana cost. Maybe in a red/black deck you discard for the hit, and then recover the card you just discarded somehow. It requires a lot of setting up. It reads junk mythic.

Link to Green Cards