Maro is requires a little bit of thinking,
because it's not your standard Green Fattie
(tm). Often with your four-cost green guys it's
worth your while to go Turn 1: land, Birds (or
elves) Turn 2: land, card (speed bump, mana
accel, whatever), Turn 3: land, fattie. Now, a
little math shows that this route leaves you
with a 3/3 Maro (4/4 on the draw). I'll take one
of the other 4cc green fatties, thanks. Maro
fits a little better in a slower, more
controlling deck. Perhaps G/U with some card
draw. It's even better with instant speed card
draw, where that dusty old Ancestral Recall
turns into a Gather Courage with triple cantrip
(now we're talking!). Now you can play it later,
with a full mit of cards, and have a fat critter
for 4. But your fat critter doesn't have any
evasion or protection built in. And you're
limited on how you can protect him (do you
really want to engage in a counter war if each
spell you cast makes your finisher smaller?). It
seems fun at first, but probably isn't worth the
time.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 3
Limited - 3+
Aethereal
Maro
*insert Mark Rosewater joke here*
A classic creature that keeps getting reprinted
over and over, it is named after the current
Magic lead designer, Mark Rosewater. Kind of
amusing that the card doesn't get played much,
as it requires a high hand size to be effective,
and by the time this comes out you'll usually
have a low hand size. You can combo it with card
drawing (duh) but in general there are far
better choices for your mana.
In casual, you can use him as a funky win
condition if you can draw an enormous hand
somehow.
In limited, he's acceptable but not a top pick
due to the fluctuating body size. Also, hand
sizes in limited tend to not be that large.
