Champions of Kamigawa Flipping friday, October 15, 2004 - 2:30 PM |
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| Champions of Kamigawa brought us a new way to look at creatures. The flip mechanic has been around since Invasion. (Fire/Ice anyone?) But the concept of a creature that is two in one is such a great idea. (Keep in mind that the split cards in invasion forces you to pick one of two spells, the flip creatures get better as you meet a certain requirement. For example, take this card: Simple, no? Just get to seven cards and you can draw seven more next turn! Keep in mind; you need to activate the ability in order to get the flip. So, the only way he flips is tapped. He should never flip when untapped. This new ablity can open doors for crazy new ideas for deckbuilding. So, for you convenience, I present my opinions of the worth of all the new flip cards in Champions of Kamigawa. (There are an Rare and Uncommon for each color) (All ratings are out of 5) Red: These are the worst. Uncommon: Initiate of Blood/Goka the Unjust. This is WAY to expensive to be of any use. It would be so much better if it did direct damage. But, no. The fact that damage has to be already dealt to do anything useful and the fact that it only tacks on 1 damage, makes this a piece of crap. Keep it in the shoebox under your bed. Constructed: 0 Limited: 1 Block: 1 Rare: Akki Lavarunner/Tok-Tok Volcano Born Another expensive dud. The ability is cool, but you need to be able to attack with a 1/1 on turn 4 in order to get the ability. This is a guy that will almost never flip. If they had costed this more aggressively, it would be cool. But, at its current state, it sucks. Constructed: 1 Limited: 2 (It would be cool to splice a Glacial Ray for 3 damage) Block: 1.5 Black: Have to be the best ones. Uncommon: Nezumi Graverobber/Nighteyes the Desecrator This is a sold card. Not very good for constructed, (damn you, Affinity) but in block and limited, it’s a bomb! Imagine it against T2 control. (I know I just discounted its use in constructed but…shut up! I’m the writer here!) Opponent: Land, Serum Visions You: Land, Chrome Mox, Nezumi Graverobber Opponent: Land, Go. You: Land, Pay 1B to flip, Attack for 4. He’s painful to say the least. Constructed: 3.5 Limited: 5 (Bomb!) Block: 4.5 Rare: Nezumi Shortfang/Stabwhisker the Odious If God represented all that wasn’t aggro decks, this guy would represent sinners. The Lord's bane. Seriously, this guy is a headache for anyone who doesn’t go: Artifact Land, Chrome Mox, Cranial Plating, Ornithopter, Frogmite, Go. (Thanks, Aeo Paquette) Once he is flipped, he is the epitome of a double-edged sword. Have no attackers? Take 6 a turn. (Unless you are keeping cards in your hand) Creature standoff? Well, you have a seven turn clock to draw into something good. Is great either way. Constructed: 4 Block: 5 Limited: 5 Blue: Kinda crappy, but the rare has uses. Uncommon: Student of the Elements/Tobita Master of Winds He will never flip. There are TWO cards in standard that would help him flip and neither are played. If flipping him were easier he would be block playable, but that’s not the case, so they blew it. Constructed: 0 Block: 0.5 Limited: 1 (Only if you can draft Lifted By Clouds, but that card sucks also, so you are screwed if you have the ability to flip this.) White: These guys are bad, but the uncommon might be playable. Uncommon: Bushi Tenderfoot/Kenzo the Hardhearted He is so hard to flip, but with cards like: Indomitable Will and Otherworldly Journey it might not be so hard. It would be easier in Standard. You can go: Turn 1: Tenderfoot. Turn 2: Play Leonin Scimitar and equip. That’s attacking with a 2/2 that your opponent really does not want to chump-block. But that does not really happen often. (Remember Auriok Glaivemaster?) Constructed: 2 Limited: 2.5 (I saw someone do it at the prerelease.) Block: 3 (He is a powerhouse when flipped.) Rare: Kitsune Mystic/Autum-Tail, Kitsune Sage Useless. There are a total of three enchantments in Champions and they are nonexistent in Standard. (I counted three playable enchantments in Standard. The rest are Pacifism type cards.) Constructed: 1 Limited: 0 Block: 0 (What a garbage rare) Green: It’s playable, but I think the uncommon is better. But, combine both to have the ultimate token army! Uncommon: Orochi Eggwatcher/Shidako, Broodmistress I like this card. It plays better than it looks. Combined with Orochi Hatchery it is quite a force to be reckoned with. Plus, I think snake decks will be viable in Block. Constructed: 3 Limited: 4.5 Block: 4 Rare: Budoka Gardener/Dokai, Weaver of Life Good ability combined with a neat flip ability makes this card very solid. It accelerates and when you reach the almighty ten, you get 10/10 tokens! A 10/10 on turn 11 at the most (Unless you are kand screwed. God forbid) sounds pretty good to me! Although it suffers from the Affinity rash, it is a blockworthy card. Constructed: 3 Limited: 4 Block: 4 That’s all of them. Before I leave, I will list all of the flip cards in case you don’t know them too well. So here you go: Akki Lavarunner: 3R, Creature - Goblin Warrior 1/1 Haste Whenever Akki Lavarunner deals damage to an opponent, flip it. ----- Tok-Tok, Volcano Born Legendary Creature - Goblin Shaman 2/2 Protection from red If a red source would deal damage to a player, it deals that much damage plus 1 to that player instead Initiate of Blood: 3R, Creature - Ogre Shaman 2/2 {T}: Initiate of Blood deals 1 damage to target creature that was dealt damage this turn. When that creature is put into a graveyard this turn, flip Initiate of Blood. ----- Goka the Unjust Legendary Creature - Ogre Shaman 4/4 {T}: Goka the Unjust deals 4 damage to target creature that was dealt damage this turn. Nezumi Shortfang: 1B, Creature - Rat Rogue 1/1 {1}{B}, {T}: Target opponent discards a card. Then if that player has no cards in hand, flip Nezumi Shortfang. ----- Stabwhisker the Odious Legendary Creature - Rat Shaman 3/3 At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player loses 1 life for each card fewer than three in his or her hand. Nezumi Gaverobber: 1B, Creature - Rat Rogue 2/1 {1}{B}: Remove target card in an opponent's graveyard from the game. If no cards are in that graveyard, flip Nezumi Graverobber. ----- Nighteyes the Desecrator Legendary Creature - Rat Wizard 4/2 {4}{B}: Put target creature card in a graveyard into play under your control. Budoka Gardener: 1G, Creature - Human Monk 2/1 {T}: You may put a land card from your hand into play. If you control ten or more lands, flip Budoka Gardener. ----- Dokai, Weaver of Life Legendary Creature - Human Monk 3/3 {4}{G}{G}, {T}: Put an X/X green Elemental creature token into play, where X is the number of lands you control. Orochi Eggwatcher: 2G, Creature - Snake Shaman 1/1 {2}{G}, {T}: Put a 1/1 green Snake creature token into play. If you control ten or more creatures, flip Orochi Eggwatcher. ----- Shidako, Broodmistress Legendary Creature - Snake Shaman 3/3 {G}, Sacrifice a creature: Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. Jushi Apprentice: 1U, Creature - Human Wizard 1/2 {2}{U}, {T}: Draw a card. If you have nine or more cards in hand, flip Jushi Apprentice. ----- Tomoya the Revealer Legendary Creature - Human Wizard 2/3 {3}{U}{U}, {T}: Target player draws X cards, where X is the number of cards in your hand. Student of the Elements: 1U, Creature - Human Wizard 1/1 When Student of Elements has flying, flip it. ----- Tobita, Master of Winds Legendary Creature - Human Wizard 3/3 Creatures you control have flying. Bushi Tenderfoot: W, Creature - Human Soldier 1/1 When a creature dealt damage by Bushi Tenderfoot this turn is put into a graveyard, flip Bushi Tenderfoot. ----- Kenzo the Hardhearted Legendary Creature - Human Samurai 3/4 Double strike; bushido 2 (When this blocks or becomes blocked, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn.) Kitsune Mystic: 3W, Creature - Fox Wizard 2/3 At end of turn, if Kitsune Mystic is enchanted by two or more enchantments, flip it. ----- Autumn-Tail, Kitsune Sage Legendary Creature - Fox Wizard 4/5 {1}: Move target enchantment enchanting a creature to another creature. Mr. Pink out. |
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