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Unfortunately today I will only be looking at Green and colorless, keeping my impressions of the hybrids to myself for now. However, I do appreciate Green and as I broached in my last FI article, I love the possibilities Green can bring to the table. Giant creatures, little creatures that get bigger, life gain, disenchant, and even permanent destruction and card draw. Though it seems there has been an overwhelming voice of dissatisfaction flooding the rumor mill about this set, I have kept my hopes high, if only to acquire new cards for my Simic deck. I am actually glad to see a smaller set (and according to the rumor mill this is a trend which will continue) because smaller sets can be easier to collect. With only sixteen Green and seven artifact cards to review, let’s see what kind of powers WOTC has packed into this Hershey’s Kiss.
This one looks really familiar. Of course, it’s a Futureshifted card. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now. Then again, I don't really play life gain decks. I guess it’s not terrible in a Green life gain deck. I really wish I hadn't started with this one. Grade: C
Ouphes? Is WOTC really making a run at some solid Ouphes? Five total damage to a flier for five mana... not too shabby. I'm starting to like this card in the common slot. A bit expensive to play but it could be extremely versatile with Heartmender, Leechbonder, Flourishing Defenses, etc. Grade: B Solid card in the common slot. Being a cheapskate, I'll look for four.
Ah, yes, the Bloom Tender. I am spoiled by my Birds of Paradise and I cringe at mana acceleration that costs any more. I do play with Wall of Roots on occasion, and I have been known to dabble a bit in the usage of Joiner Adept, and even though I gave Devoted Druid a poor grade in my last FI article I actually play it quite a bit and enjoy its company. I don't see this as having a huge Constructed impact, mainly because lands are colorless permanents, but also because the way this is cost seems counterproductive. It’s almost too cheap. if you play it early, I'm going to kill it, so it needs to come in later (when you have several colored permanents) to have more effect than say a Birds of Paradise. Yeah... I'm spoiled. Grade: D
I like Wurms and it’s nice to see some. I miss my Siege Wurm and even though this doesn't have convoke, I'll use it (casually). I might draft this as a finisher, because it’s huge and it has trample. Probably could have been common. Grade: C+ A giant trampling Wurm. If you play Wurms.…
Combo players delight! Put up a strong enough defense and start stashing away your tower counters! I hate this because I actually know someone who will use this and win. Fortunately, destroying enchantments (shroud or no shroud) is getting easier with each set lately.… Grade: C More annoying than anything.
Good God, man! What kind of situational ridiculousness is this? Almost entirely useless in casual. If it wasn't for my innate nature of trying to build around crappy cards for fun, I would really dislike this card. Too costly to be considered for T2, even in a situational sideboard. The upside is that land destruction seems to have been dormant for quite some time, and a Green creature (maybe combo’d with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth) may just make some noise. I guess that’s a positive. If I'm casting something in a land destruction deck for five mana, it should be a finisher.… Grade: D Once again, this should be a common.
It’s expensive, it’s a sorcery, and it is marginally useful. I love the new retrace mechanic, but this spell will really only find a home in a casual retrace deck. I prefer to pump my creatures at instant speed. Does anyone disagree? I will take this one for a spin only because it has retrace. Grade: D A common card that should be rare(ly found in any playable deck).
Wow, I really can't find anything wrong with this one. Raise your hand if you would have trouble untapping this guy. This is a great common and will be perfectly at home in any deck that sports mostly Green spells. Shouldn't be hard to splash him with all the hybrids Wizards of the Coast(WotC) has been printing. Good in Limited, great potential in Type Two. Has anyone noticed the push towards mono-colored decks lately? Grade: A Well done Maro, keep this up and I might just forgive you for chroma.…
Can't say I'm a fan of this one. Its saving grace is that it has trample. I like chroma about as much as I like sunburst. It’s too one-dimensional. It doesn't even benefit at all if I turn all my creatures Green. I mean, there are so many ways of changing creatures’ colors now that it should matter for a big guy like this with chroma. But it doesn't. Another card having us all think mono.…
Uber lame. I can't remember ever being in a game with seven mana to spare and several creatures on the table (which you would need for this to be worthwhile) and thinking, "Man, I wish I could draw like seven cards.…" Oh, wait. Yes I can. I've had quite a few of those moments. Did I say uber lame? I meant uber fantastic! Grade: A Give it trample and it’s an A+.
I want three for my token deck. I am really warming up to retrace and am hoping WotC gives us some cheaper ways of getting our lands back from the graveyard. We can't all afford Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds. This is my favorite so far. Grade: A Perfect cost for a retraceable uncommon.
I'm going to play with this card. I don't see it having an immediate impact on the metagame of Standard, but for the casual player, this card will be a lot of fun. It’s not too highly cost and its ability really isn't over the top, but a gamer could really find some interesting reasons for swapping colors all over the board.… Grade: B Not quite as useful as Painter's Servant, but it’s a Spriggan so.…
Did you hear that? That was my left testy high-fiving my right one. I don't think I'll have a problem getting her into play on turns two or three. She's a powerhouse, she's hot, and she's not Legendary. Grade: A ... Four please.
"I am really warming up to retrace and am hoping WoTC gives us some cheaper ways of getting our lands back from the graveyard." Who needs Life from the Loam? Perfect cost, decent body, extremely useful CIP effect. Grade: A+ Maybe Green will be ending on a high note….
Nope. Guess not. I'd rather have a Nettle Sentinel or a Llanowar Elves. Thanks for nothing. Grade: F Thanks for getting my hopes up.
I see what they're trying to do with this one, but it seems to be more trouble than it’s worth. For the casual game there is just better enchantment removal out there, and in Standard it seems like this would be a wasted slot. You'd really have to load it up with counters to abuse it and at that point someone will just Terror it. No fun. Grade: F Ultimate failure on the tail end for Green.
I like the idea here; what puzzles me is the flavor. We've seen months and months of fae, Merfolk, midgets, and Treefolk. We've moved on to Ouphes and Scarecrows... and here's a Golem? Once again I won't need to use five creatures to untap, but in my token deck he'd be downright nasty. Expensive at seven, and colorless, which may prove to be useful. Grade: B+ A good rare, but the flavor does not excite me.
Not really sure where they're going with this. I mean, I guess I could pay seven mana to give a White creature persist until end of turn... and turn my creatures White with Painter's Servant, but why not just play Kitchen Finks? I mean, I get it. Turn something White, give it persist, blah blah blah. Just seems like I could spend my mana in a more wise fashion. Grade: F It should at least be a 3/4.
Uh oh. I smell a cycle here. At least this one is affordable, however, why am I giving creatures wither and not just playing creatures that have wither? Why do these have to only affect a certain color? I guess you could make a Scarecrow/Swirling Spriggan deck.… Grade: D- At least it’s cheap.
This just may be the most absolutely inefficient way to pump a Green creature ever imagined by R&D. Someone needs to get fired. Grade: F Just plain terrible.
Once again, I hate the fact that the creature has to be Red. Why are we granting abilities to colors who already inherently own these abilities? I am getting angry.… Grade: D+ I can't wait to see the first Scrapbasket deck... at least this one is playable. To think of all the wood pulp wasted on this cycle. I will be hearing the trees screaming in my sleep for weeks.
Spell-oriented Equipment can give you a big boost. I would run this over any of the hybrid auras from Shadowmoor. I'm putting this one in my Blue/Red "return stuff to your hand all day" deck and putting it on the only tiny creature I'll let grace the board.
A casual bomb! I love it. Cheap and effective, and I'm not even thinking about the "draw a card" part. I loved Academy Ruins and now I can get my Platinum Angel back along with my Lotus Bloom, all on the same turn. Now I can play Platinum Angel from the graveyard for seven mana... the same it costs me to play it from my hand. "Sac a scarecrow," not a problem with all the crappy ones they're making. Grade: A+ Will be utterly relevant to casual play FOREVER!
We know how I feel about this cycle. I'd really like to hear from the tournament guys in the forums about these. It seems like a waste of paper to me. I'd take a nap if it weren't for all the trees screaming in my head. Grade: D Shroud is good. Personally I'd rather play an instant with Veilstone Amulet on the board, but that's me.
Another card to give me a headache. I will abuse this card. Nausea, Forbidden Orchard, and Porphyry Nodes are all asking to come out and play. Gentleman, let's build some decks.… Grade: A Another casual bomb. Well done WOTC.
As for Green, I am feeling as though WOTC is pushing the metagame back to mono-colored decks and, after sharing colors and powers like a bottle of whiskey among hoboes in the last couple of sets, have begun to settle in on what really matters: Making Green stronger through card draw and large, affordable, trampling creatures. Regal Force and Talara's Battalion, I'm looking at you... well more at you, Talara. Until next time, this is hamsandwich wrapping myself in cellophane and going to work. ~hamsandwich~
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So here we are, smack in the middle of First Impressions
Week, getting geared up to take a look at our Green and artifact cards from
Eventide. I can honestly say that after playing with Shadowmoor at my casual
table I have become a fan of the hybrids and the seemingly disenfranchising of
tribal cards. I felt like Lorwyn had us choosing a race or class and having to
stick with those cards. Shadowmoor blew the doors wide open making tribes matter
less, and colors matter more. So you can imagine my excitement (being a Simic
man) when I first heard that Eventide would breach the enemy hybrids once again,
possibly harking back to the days of the Ravnica block. 
Helix Pinnacle - G
Grade: C It'll work wonders in a Mono-Green deck. And will
come into play with a giant bullseye on its forehead.
Grade: A Intensely useful. May get overlooked, but if I
pull it, I'll use it.
So there it is, people. I'm not even going to add up the
grades because there were so many bad ones that it might just be depressing.
Fortunately, amidst the rotting compost pile that is the bulk of these cards
we've managed to dig up a few prize chunks of fertilizer that will be
invigorating to casual games across the globe. Ward of Bones will be as
frustrating an artifact there ever was, and Scarecrone has made Scarecrows more
relevant than Painter’s Servant, and will even carry into any artifact creature
deck and improve it. Period.