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Pojo's Harry Potter Card of the Day

Swarm! - Quidditch Cup


 

Swarm!
Power Needed: 5 CoMC
Card Type: Spell
Effect: Count the number of Creatures in play (yours and your opponent's). Do that much damage to your opponent.
Card No: 73
Rarity: Common
Set: Quidditch Cup
Average Rating: 2.57 (based on 7 reviews) 
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.


Alex Rockwell

I dont think this card is very good, and I think that there are much better alternatives, such as steelclaw.

If you are playing against a deck without creatures, then the most this card could typically do is about 5 or 6 damage, at the most, and to do that you have to get out all your creatures and keep them out.

Another spell such as a quiddich damage spell which includes another effect, like fouled, a charms spell such as stupefy, or a potion, would be better in this case, as would steelclaw, which will probably just do lots more damage than swarm will.

The only time that I think swarm could be good is if BOTH you and your opponent are playing decks with lots of creatues, AND you are not using transfiguration, so that you cant play steelclaw. Since that is the only time this card is good, I wouldnt recommend playing it. I would either play steelclaw instead, or some other damage spell. Since you generally arent going to play ONLY creatures, since its really easy to get another color of spells, you could always have the option to have either Quiddich, Charms, Potions, or Transfiguration, so there will always be some better spell you can play to do damage, whether it be a fouled, a stupefy or stream of flames, a dogbreath potion, or a steelclaw.

Rating: 2


Crusader

This card can be a great card. But, what happens if a Transfiguartion Exam is used? You have no creatures for this card to work with. Some decks don't even use creatures, so you have to depend heavily on your deck getting 4-5 creatures out, which is pretty rare against a deck that has no creatures. The only decks that get that many creatures are Weenie decks, but 5 CoMC is a pretty high lesson count for a weenie deck. If you can get this card to work though, its a great card to have. But, getting it to work is rare and hard work.

Rating: 3


Hagrid23

Swarm lets you count all the creatures in play (yours & your opponents) and do that much damage. Swarm can work great inna fast creature deck. If your opponent is playing small creatures too, it can be devastating.

Of course, right after your opponent plays a Trans Exam, it's just taking up space in your hand.

Since the amount of damage depends totally on the cards in play, there is no guarantee that it will do damage. It's a good complement to the Steelclaw but (normally) not as dangerous. Make sure you have 4 Steelclaws in your deck before you consider adding Swarm.

Rating: 3


MadEye_D

I like this card in speed creature decks. It is a good complimenting/alternate card to Steelclaw and it works great as a last second play near the end of a game. The other nice thing about this card is that it is also a COMC card. So you don't need other lesson types to use it.
I only rated it a 2 because, this is the only type of deck that I see it being useful in and it is also not a card that can be played early in a game with any effectiveness.

Rating: 2


ProfLupin

   At first glance you'd think this card frankly, well, sucks. At second and third glance you probably still think that :p Swarm lacks versatility against certain decks. It's also pretty expensive for such a usual low damage card. At average, assuming your deck has a Creature base, you can do about 4-5 damage at the peak of the game, ALSO assuming they play creatures. The only circumstance you would do heavy damage is when both player's deck are speed creature (my upcoming article will explain speed creature decks in full detail) and you both have around 7-8 creatures out, which hardly happens in the first place.

   Steelclaw far out numbers it in total damage, just look at it logically: you had 2 Boa Constrictors and 2 baby dragons out(Combined DPT: 10), and your opponent had the same. Steelclaw would do: 10; Swarm would do: 8. And that's if your opponent had around the same the amount of creatures as you, also if you dont play Hagrid, which would make steel do 14 damage. Half of Swarm's effectiveness depends on the opponent and the amount of creatures they play. And as your opponent is ever changing(unless ya play the same person that plays the same deck :x), the chance of it's effectiveness damage wise is cut as much as half, again assuming that your deck has a creature base (which it better should, in this case). Creatures that don't do damage in the first place, like Unicorn, Pet Toad, etc, will do better than steelclaw, but if you are putting those non damage creature's effects to good use, you can do much more than 2-3 damage with a 5C card.

   Bottom line: NO VERSATILITY to your opponents decks, especially against an anti-creature spell only deck, which makes it worth nada. Got a spell based deck? Go with Ouch! or Stream of Flames(All 5 power cards). Why? Straight damage, not a "depends-if"card. Got a creature based deck? Go with Steelclaw. Why? More damage in more situations. Just consider: Which would you hope to draw if you had 3 vicious wolves out: a Steelclaw or a Swarm? Steelclaw is just the more consistent choice, though steelclaw is also dependant on the amount of creatures you play AND the amount of damage it does. But you have more control over that, since you are the one playing the creatures that determine the overall damage( keep in mind your opponent's anti-creature cards, so you dont have complete control on what creatures you play).

   I absolutely hate rating systems, think it's the worst way to go about it. The opponent's deck is ever changing, your deck is ever changing, the metagame is ever changing, the sets that are out are ever changing, so then a final number to rate the card is never, ever perfect (especially one on a 1-5 scale :p). Also some cards depend on what you have(ex: this one), or at a certain time(When your opponent has a large hand, in Charms Exam's case). But...profpoke insists that every CotD member do one, so I'll just approximate.

Rating: 2


profpoke

If your just starting playing, this could be a good card in cheap low costing creature decks.
In decks like that with Ravens, Hounds, Rats, Spider, anything that you can play quickly to get alot of creatures into play.
If your opponent plays a creature deck too, you get the advantage by making him take one damage for each of his creatures too!
Although it may not be always as effective as Steelclaw, it could be better in some cases where your deck only uses creatures for their effects (Owl, Norris, Toad, Unicorn), but that'll probably be rare when you see someone doing that. ;)
It is common, but it's cost is a little high when considering it for quick, low-costing creatures.

Rating: 3


Snuffles

Swarm in my oppinion is a pretty cool card. If both you and your opponent are playing creature decks, you can hit for a lot and even if you only hit for your creatures, it is still extra damage. Yet, I would say that swarm is more or less a support card. Perhaps for a straight trans/comc deck that is simply lacking in direct damage would be its best target. If you are playing charms, potions, or quidditch though, I would probably end up opping for better damage such as stupefy, malevolent mixture, or fouled!
Another drawback is if your opponent is playing an anti creature deck, you're not likely to hit for much. I guess I would say swarm is usefull in some decks and a fun card just because of it's name if not only for it's effect :)

Rating: 3

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