Sunday 29 September 2013

Original Guild Lands

Duskmantle, House of ShadowNivix, Aerie of the FiremindNovijen, Heart of ProgressOrzhova, the Church of DealsPrahv, Spires of OrderRix Maadi, Dungeon PalaceSkarrg, the Rage PitsSunhome, Fortress of the LegionSvogthos, the Restless TombVitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree
Duskmantle, House of Shadow
This is a worse, and rightfully forgotten, version of Nephalia Drownyard. One card for three mana just isn't worth it. If you have it in case you stall out, you're in for a loooooong game.

Pros: Repeatable 1-card mill
Cons: Costs 3 to activate
Rating: 0.5/5

Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind
Wow. Wooooow... This card is just bad. Really baaaaaaad. It's 5 mana (because it has to tap itself) to potentially cast a spell. This is just terrible and never worth running.

Pros: Maybe cast a spell
Cons; 5 mana startup, might not work, exiles card if fails
Rating: 0/5

Novijen, Heart of Progress
This is one of the better one of these lands. It's a mass buff for a good chunk of your creatures for very cheap. However, it's only for the creatures that entered the battlefield that turn. I consider it a one-time Gavony Township.

Pros: Baby Gavony Township
Cons: One-time Gavony Township
Rating: 3/5

Orhzova, the Church of Deals
Like Duskmantle, House of Shadow, this card is meant to help you if you stall out. However, unlike Duskmantle, House of Shadow, this card is actually useful. I've been a several situations in Limited wherein my opponent will swing at me then I will swing and deal the same amount of damage, but my opponent will win just because they swung first. With this card at least, I can stand a chance of winning by sipping away at my opponent's life total. Still, it is 5 mana for a 2 life difference, so outside of Limited, it's not worth it in the least.

Pros: Helps during stall outs
Cons: Pretty useless outside of Limited, 5 mana for 2 life difference
Rating: 1.5/5

Prahv, Spires of Order
It's a 7 mana Pay No Heed. 7. Mana. Pay. No. Heed. Do I really even need to describe why this card is useless? If it was Fog it would still be too expensive, but at least it would be more usable.

Pros: Repeatable Pay No Heed
Cons: 7 mana for a Pay No Heed
Rating: 0/5

Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
Now, since Rakdos' guild ability during this run of Ravnica was Hellbent, which required you to not have a hand, this card isn't that bad. It's 4 mana for a mass discard which is a little overcosted, but that's due to it being repeatable. All in all, not the worst of these lands.

Pros: Repeatable mass discard
Cons: A little expensive, causes you to discards
Rating: 3/5

Skarrg, the Rage Pits
This is the best one of these lands by far. For 3 mana, you can ensure that a blocked creature will get past the blocker and give it a buff as well. Really, that's about all there is to say here.

Pros: Buff and trample for cheap, repeatable
Cons: Dual colour
Rating: 4/5

Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
Giving double strike at instant speed is really good, and costing it at 5 is reasonable considering how fast that can win you games. Costing it so high is also reasonable because it's repeatable.

Pros: Gives double strike at instant speed
Cons: Costs 5
Rating: 4/5

Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
Having a land that turns into a creature is awesome. Having a land that turns into a Boneyard Wurm is even better. It makes your opponent reconsider their plans for that boardwipe since this will dodge most of them and become huge as a result. I just wish it had trample or some other mini-evasion.

Pros: Boneyard Wurm that's a land
Cons: Only a Boneyard Wurm
Rating: 3.5/5

Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
Not a bad mana sink for those token decks that usually have nothing to do on other people's turns. It's basically a very-difficult-to-counter convokeless Sprout Swarm. Again, not bad for a land.

Pros: Sprout Swarm on a land
Cons: Convokeless Sprout Swarm
Rating: 3.5/5


Just a note, I may be slowing down on the frequencies of my reviews for a while. Stuff has come up in my life that eats up a good portion of my time. I'll try and get at least 2 a week up, but I'm not sure if I can manage that.

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