It looks good at first blush-- for three mana, a
4/5 and a 1/1. Yes, but not quite. The 4/5 is
also a land, so you need four mana if you want
the 4/5 to attack that turn. Also, the 4/5 is
only as hard to kill as the 1/1-- when it dies,
your 4/5 reverts to being a land again. And if
the 4/5 dies, then you just spent 2G for a 1/1
and turning your opponent's Doom Blade into a
Rain of Tears. Also, if you want to attack with
the 4/5 or leave it back to block, you can't tap
it for mana. This one's a real skill tester, and
I'm not convinced it's good enough for any
archetype that might want it.
A simple and elegant card - so much so that,
much like its fello M10 star Negate, you can't
believe this is the first time you've seen it.
It reminds me a lot of Living Terrain from
Prophecy and the core set's Eighth Edition, and
like that card, can be a lot of fun. I
especially like it for limited - two creatures
for the price of one is a great deal, and
there's sometimes not much else to do with extra
Forests.
-Balding
for just over 5 years
-Playing MTG for just over 10
Awakener Druid
What is not to love. For 3 mana you get a 4/5
creature and a 1/1 creature. Your forest still
counts as a forest so it's not really like you
are getting mana screwed by playing this.
However, don't forget your land can now be
terrored so don't play it to quickly when mana
is needed. But I do like this card.
Today's card of the day is Awakener Druid a three
mana 1/1 that turns a Forest into another
creature for as long as the druid remains in
play.
This is an interesting effect, but fairly easy
to disrupt if your opponent is given the
opportunity. I consider the best play after
Awakener to be something that adds toughness to
the druid itself, making two threats on the
field that can't be removed for the price of one
card.
In Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer this is
a different, but generally average card in terms
of power. Other options can be more reliable and
grant multiple small creatures or one large one
without being attached to a vulnerable 1/1 body.
For Limited with the smaller card pool this
isn't a bad card at all, but needs to be played
correctly for maximum effect. Oakenform is an
excellent choice here and suddenly having a 4/4
and 4/5 in play can be a nasty surprise. It is
still vulnerable, but playable. In Booster I
would still pick other creatures or removal
before Awakener depending on the pack, but it
can serve the role of a three mana threat well
enough.
In Sealed this is an easy choice to include in a
deck with at least a few Forests and can be
excellent bait for removal.
