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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
Concentrate
(Odyssey)
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Concentrate
Odyssey - uncommon
2UU
Sorcery
Draw three cards
Pojo's Average
Rating -
Constructed:
2.75
Limited: 3.88
Reviewed January 08, 2002
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating.
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Fletcher
Peatross
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I believe that this
card might find its way into constructed because
of its sheer power, but right now Fact or Fiction
is just plain superior. Its a 3 but more likely a
2 in today's environment. In Limited this card is
never bad and is a 3.5 (and upwards of 4 depending
on what cards it nabs you). |
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Aaron
Teare
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Limited ***
Constructed **
You've heard me say this before, card drawing is
card drawing. Concentrate isn't the best
since it's hard to splash at UU mana, not to
mention it's clunky as a Sorcery. Even
still... with the slower pace and low power feel
of Odyssey Concentrate could be big in the block.
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Scott
Gerhardt
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You ever see
that kid who always handed in his homework the day
AFTER it was due? That's me. Okay, sorry. :(
Anyway, Concentrate. Four
mana, three cards, sorcery speed. Well, there are
a few things to look at. First of all, blue hates
tapping out. Kinda like a root canal - very
painful. Even more so, they hate tapping out on
THEIR turn. Most people will tell you that most
any blue sorcery that costs more than 3 mana is
probably not good.
Does concentrate break the
rule? Actually, maybe. Right now, domain is
playing Allied Strategies to get (hopefully) 5
cards for 5 mana at a sorcery speed. Concentrate
is a guaranteed 3 for 4 mana, and you don't have
to play lots of basics. With the loss of such
powerful cards as Accumulated Knowledge from type
2, blue is certainly struggling for a solid card
draw mechanism. This certainly might be it. I
think there is some definite play potential in
block, and I would not even rule out the type 2
possibilities, though Opportunity might be a
better card for the slot. In extended, forget
about it. Impulse, and Accumulated Knowledge, as
well as Stroke of Genius, are all far superior
cards for the purpose.
In limited, it's greatness.
Worth playing in blue every time, but not worth
playing blue for. Card advantage is everything in
limited.
New Constructed: 4.0
Old Constructed: 2.5
Constructed Potential: 4.0 (it's peaked out right
now)
Constructed Rating: 3.5
Limited Rating: 4.0
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John
Hornberg |
Concentrate
is a remarkably good card, but it suffers from a
major flaw, and this makes this card relatively
invisible to other cards. The fact that
Concentrate is only a sorcery makes it a less than
pleasant play on a turn when you could otherwise
be playing a much needed counter of one of your
opponents spells, or a Fact or Fiction at the end
of your opponents turn.
This card is good,
but gets docked for being blue, and not being an
instant. So, I give this card three different
ratings, and this goes in progressive order:
Extended - 1, Type II - 3, Odyssey Block
Constructed - 5. It will be awesome in block,
because there is no Fact or Fiction or Opportunity
to play at instant speed.
In limited, cards
are cards. This kind of card advantage is great no
matter what, and it's unfortunate that two people
that I draft with, Andy and Jay, think it's bad in
limited for the fact that it's a sorcery. Ignore
things like that in limited, a rule of thumb for
me in limited is that if it has "Target
Player draws *blank* cards" and nothing else,
then it is good.
I see this going
within the first three to five picks, possibly as
late as whenever. So, I give this card a 5 in
limited, because it's card drawing.
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Mason
Peatross
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When is
drawing three cards bad? Oh yeah... NEVER. This is
is the easiest rating I've done.
Ancestral Rating -
25%
Limited Rating - 5
Constructed Rating - 4
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John B
Turpish
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Concentrate
is really only playable in a few decks, as it is
generally less powerful than Fact or Fiction due
to its sorcery status. However, in type 2 there
are very few good card drawers, so sometimes it
makes the cut.
2
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Robby
Hinton |
Limited:
***^ (3 1/2 Stars)
Constructed: ** (2 Stars)
I personally think
that Concentrate is great in Limited. Four mana
for three cards is a pretty good deal. The problem
lies in the fact that it is a sorcery, of course.
When you use mana during your turn, you lose some
flexibility to react to your opponent during their
turn (Magic 101). I have no problem doing this
later in the game, though.
In Constructed, the
card gets considerably worse with things like
Thieving Magpie and Shadowmage Infiltrator around.
Definitely not worth it in Constructed (usually).
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DeQuan
Watson
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First rule
about card advantage...don't talk about card
advantage (at lest two much anyway).
People go over this all the time. Getting
extra cads is rarely bad. However, with all
the cheap contrips and card drawing tools in
constructed right now, I don't see Concentrate
getting a lot of play. The worst part is,
the ability is excellent. I believe it's the
casting cost that makes this card suffer. It
has to compete with Brainstorm, Opt, Peek,
Accumulated Knowledge, and Fact or Fiction. That's
like an all-star team of card drawing tools to
compete against.
Now limited is totally different. I wouldn't
recommend first picking a Concentrate, but I would
tell you to pick it. Maybe with a 4th or 5th
pick. In limited getting extra cards seems
to be even better than in constructed. I
think it is definitely worth it to take it that
early. Even if you have a bunch of mediocre
cards in the deck, maybe oyu can draw into enough
of them and just outrace your opponent, or just
outnumber them creature wise.
Constructed: 1.5
Limited: 3.3
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