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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day
Daily Since November 2001!


Image from Wizards.com

Top 10 Cards of 2009:
#1:

Bloodbraid Elf
Alara Reborn

Reviewed January 15, 2009

Constructed: 4.75
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 4.50
Multiplayer: 4.40

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all our Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Bloodbraid Elf

Oh, deary. This skinny, dreadlocked elf chick has hijacked the Top 8's of just about every tournament that ever meant anything since its printing last spring. Do the math-- if you cascade into a three-mana spell with this, you effectively paid three for that spell and one for the Elf herself. A 3/2 with haste for one mana? This baby comes down and not only rips you a free spell with which to further develop your board or kill something of theirs--- or hit them with Blightning--- and then she swings for 3 on the same turn. If you flip up Blightning or Jund Hackblade, that's an extra six damage on top of whatever else you''ve got to swing with. If you flip Terminate or the like, you've got an extra attacker and they're down a blocker, completely skewing the combat in your favor from what your opponent expected to have to defend against. Aggro's biggest weakness has traditionally been that it runs out of cards too quickly, but Bloodbraid Elf turns that on its heel as it gives you an extra free card when you play it.

Constructed- 4.85
Casual- 4.95
Limited- 4.95
Multiplayer- 4.9

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Bloodbraid Elf

One of the most innovative cards in Alara Reborn. One of the most elegant cards in Alara Reborn. One of the most divisive cards in Alara Reborn. One of the most powerful cards in the entire Alara block. One of the most defining cards in 2009-2010 Standard. Pojo's #1 card of 2009.

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Paul

Magic The Gathering Card of the Day: Bloodbraid Elf

Ladies and gentlemen here it is the #1 card of 2009 and I have very little grounds on which to disagree. For a minimum investment of four mana requiring green and red you get a 3/2 creature with haste. The real draw which obviously pushes it into the number one spot is cascade. Cascade as mechanic involves carefully tuning your deck to maximize its effectiveness in standard currently utilizing Bloodbraid Elf in Jund could allow you to cascade into Maelstrom Pulse or another powerful card. Loading your deck with cards using cascade practically builds itself a competitive deck. Cascade plays a prominent role in its own Archetypes most notably featuring spells such as Hypergeneis and Restore Balance from Time Spiral allowing a player to instantly cascade into it providing there is no spell with a lower mana cost then the cascade spell.
Any card that contributes this heavily to agro decks as well as decks utilizing cascade and assisting in powering and spawning its own decks archetypes is a fearsome and powerful card indeed. In standard 5cc, Jund and Spread em have all been powerful decks to utilize cascade to in competitive Magic in extended as well as standard. In eternal no chance. In casual and multiplayer it’s an efficient and aggressive creature but it can slip another spell from your deck be it a creature or a removal spell, or anything in between. In limited Bloodbraid Elf is a great creature and depending on what you draft alongside it a powerful creature and possibly even a semi tutoring tool. Overall Bloodbraid Elf deserves the title of the number one card of 2009 for the decks it contributed too as well as ushering in cascade with a bang and providing players with a powerful tool in a multitude of decks.

Constructed: 5.0
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

The number one card of the year is Bloodbraid Elf which weighs in as a four mana 3/2 with Haste and the impressive ability to Cascade into a second spell of three mana or less. A properly designed deck can take dramatic advantage of this ability and turn a single card into a major advantage.

For Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer this is a great creature held back only by the lower than average toughness and two colors of mana in the casting cost. Otherwise it offers card advantage, a solid field presence, and potential damage from attacking with Haste. While it can be thrown into any Red/Green deck, the best usage comes from carefully selecting any cards that have a lower casting cost to have maximum impact when cast after the Elf.

In Casual a 3/2 is generally not a bad creature for the uncommon level, but adding Haste and more importantly a second card is a major bargain.
The multicolor nature limits the deck choices, but the Alara sets strongly encourage three or more color decks which mitigates this drawback when compared to most other blocks. In Sealed if running a Jund or Naya style deck this should definitely be included as few cards offer as much for four mana. In Booster it is the kind of card that should be drafted shortly after your first pick, when in color, and supported by some of the available mana fixing options. Try to keep your remaining three, two, and even one mana cards left in the library in mind before playing the Elf to help plan your overall strategy in controlling the board. This is much harder in Limited as generally your deck will be filled with singletons instead of playsets, but a little deductive reasoning can go a long way on skewing a random effect towards a more controlled gambit.

Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5


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