Green doesn't have many ways to get past
blockers. Fog may seem like a defensive measure,
but it does have offensive potential. When your
opponent attacks, it's with the understanding
that you'll either take significant damage or
surrender the lives of some of your creatures to
block and kill his. If you take a third option
and play Fog for a single G, your opponent
suddenly finds you and your army undamaged and
all his own creatures tapped-- ready for a
counterattack.
Alternatively, you can alpha strike with your
big green beasts fearlessly. If your opponent
survives, he'll assume that you've left yourself
open for a counterattack. So he'll go for the
desperation swing, and you spring Fog on them.
Oh no, now you can swing with everything a
second time!
A very old card and also a very evocative one,
as they like to say now: the creatures get lost
in the fog, and can't fight the opponent or his
creatures. The main value of this card is
surprise, as green is generally considered to be
more offensive than defensive. Many games have
been won by getting the opponent to go all-out
when they didn't expect a Fog, and then
launching a game-winning counterattack. It's
usually a straightforward card for frustrating
creatures, but it also acts to shut off
triggered abilities of creatures like Scroll
Thief, Hypnotic Specter, and Ashling the
Extinguisher.
Welcome back readers today's card of the day
is the classic Fog, since its inception in Alpha
Fog has become one of the more popular card
mechanics leading to other cards such as Holy
Day and its brethren. In standard Fog decks have
existed for a while although they have primarily
used white as their fog color, this is not to
say Fog wont see play its a solid card. In
extended and eternal it has a probable home
although I'm not sure of exact archetypes. In
casual and multiplayer this is a beautiful and
powerful card, opponents massive hordes of elves
getting you down, Akroma about to kill you? Not
any longer. The politics associated with this
card could help assist you in making friends
around the table or just keeping someone in the
game you want or playing kingmaker. In limited
its a solid combat trick I wouldn't draft it too
highly but if your in green its a decent card.
Overall Fog is a powerful card that's as old as
Magic itself and still powerful.
Today's card of the day is Fog which costs a
single Green mana and prevents all combat damage
during that turn. Unlike the later Safe Passage
which prevents all damage combat or otherwise
that would be dealt to you or you creatures, Fog
is both more specific in being only combat
damage and more general in impacting all sources
of combat damage. This is quite powerful for a
single mana though and can avoid a great deal of
damage from any alpha strike or even one large
evasive creature. Also, particularly useful
against creatures that leave play at the end of
the turn or are powered up by an instant or
sorcery. Not every deck fields the kind of
offensive that calls out for a Fog response, so
it may be best suited to the sidedeck depending
on your local metagame.
For Limited this is almost a must include in
your Sealed deck if you are running Green main
or as a color filter support. The format is
heavily combat oriented and an opponent going
all in with an alpha strike might leave
themselves open for you to win the game the
following turn. In Booster this is a solid
choice to pick shortly after a Green bomb or
major acceleration as removal is light in the
color.
