Welcome to the last(?) Planar Chaos review article. Sigh. It brings a tear to my eye. If you read the title and don’t know what I’m talking about, Read a Book (This is a link to the CNN story, not the video. You can find the video from there, but it’s NSFW. This is not the time nor the place for social commentary, but if you want to talk about it with me, e-mail me: mtgcolorpie@gmail).
In this final(?) look at timeshifted cards, we finally get 2 cards that I’ve been waiting for years in White. Not because I love White cards, it’s the fact that they should get those cards. What we see is the other Core Set plant (The first being Prodigal Pyromancer), and an area that I wish White would venture into, but I don’t really see it happening, and that makes me a Sad Panda.
Calciderm – Blastoderm
5/5 for 4 mana is usually pretty good, and most of the time the drawback isn’t that bad. If we ignore the mechanic Fading Vanishing and focus on the Shroud, yes, this can be White. This is balanced because of Fading Vanishing making it temporary, but White can see the Shroud ability, though not very often. It’s the fact that Shroud can be a defensive ability that can make this card acceptable.
Verdict – Sure, but only because of Fading Vanishing
Malach of the Dawn – Ghost Ship
Regeneration got shifted over to White as this set because it’s seen as another defensive ability (which it is) instead of the Life/Death aspect in Green/Black. Again, it makes sense as Blue shouldn’t have gotten it in the first place. One shouldn’t see it so often in White (maybe helping other creatures out instead of itself, like the Healer ability which is really a mini Regeneration), but don’t be surprised when you do see it.
Verdict – Hey, it’s flying beefcake; in the alternate Multiverse, Angels are male
Ah, the area that I wish Wizards would explore more. This is a Tax, and I wholly endorse Wizards to let White have conditional counterspells. Blue, obviously, should still get counterspells, but the ones that are straight counters. Rune Sang, Mana Leak, and other “taxing”counters should go to White, because it doesn’t always counter the spell. I don’t expect that to happen since Blue/White is already a powerful control color combination and doesn’t need 500 counterspells in a deck.
Verdict – Please continue with this, Wizards, please…
Mesa Enchantress – Verduran Enchantress
I was hoping for this for years now. Green wants to destroy enchantments, not feed off of them. While hating enchantments, White also likes them because they can set rules. It’s only natural for White to be able to benefit from enchantments (like they have in the past) and it was only time before this card came to be. I wish it was another enchantress, but maybe it was seen as too powerful.
Verdict – Expect to see this in 11th Edition
I’m sorry to say, I ripped up every one of these I opened in a pack (except for drafting, obviously). Yes, it can fit with White’s ability (even creature generation to some degree), but I wanted a Damnation, not this. So, it got my wrath (no pun intended). For the record, there’s only two cards I’ve ripped up on the spot, this and Chimney Imp.
Verdict – Don’t expect to see these again, I’ve ripped them all up.
Porphyry Nodes – Drop of Honey
White usually wants to protect the small guys, so this seems like a strange card to be in this color. But, White wants to set the rules, and this time, the rules are, “If you’re small, you lose.” Yes, it’s a little different (it’s not like we haven’t seen it before) but it does kinda fit with White’s philosophy of wanting everyone to play by its rules.
Verdict – Yes, this works, but you won’t this many times.
Revered Dead – Drudge Skeletons
See about Malach of the Dawn.
Verdict – See above
White pumping up creatures is second nature, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. White also likes to share abilities, but it’s something that should be seen more often (I’ll talk about that in a future Design Class). Do I need to say more here?
Verdict – We will see slivers again. Sigh
Non-combat direct damage sees strange for White to have. And, if this wasn’t a timeshifted card, I would have said it was completely off-color. Wait, I can say that now. Sure, protecting its kind (a non-White creature) is nice, but it doesn’t really make sense to have White have that non-combat damage. Meh, it doesn’t make that much sense.
Verdict – Doesn’t really fit. If it was an instant that could only be played during combat, sure, I would allow it. Then it wouldn’t be a timeshifted card then.
You guys agree, disagree? Any thoughts? I know I missed something. What is it (I’m not saying I left something out to trick you, but you’re Magic players, you know about stuff).
MTG Color Pie 