The similarities to Sparkmage Apprentice are
profound enough to make me wonder if we'll be
seeing this in M12 in Sparkmage Apprentice's
place. The only difference is that the Shaman
pays one mana more for one additional point of
power... and the Goblin subtype, allowing it to
benefit from Goblin tribal abilities like Goblin
Warchief et al.
Sparkmage Apprentice's biggest downside was its
1/1 body. Sure, it's a passable kill spell in a
format where 1-toughness creatures aren't hard
to find and are usually worth playing, but a 1/1
creature is not going to make a big impression
in combat. Most likely it's just going to ping a
creature dead, then chump block. It might
possibly swing for one if the X/1 it killed was
your opponent's last creature and they don't
draw a new one, but it's still a pretty
underwhelming body. Blisterstick Shaman is still
a little small considering what you paid, but at
least a 2/1 has a larger selection of creatures
with which it can trade, and attacking for 2
just feels more justified than attacking for 1.
And remember-- attacking is the part that you
get to do more than once, so if Sparkmage and
Blisterstick each get to attack more than once,
then Blisterstick will have dealt more damage.
IF they survive the first attack.
I used to be a fan of Sparkmage Apprentice,
particularly her new art in M10. If you were
too, you'll probably like Blisterstick Shaman
too. The fact that it's a Goblin will make it
occasionally more relevant than its ancestor,
although I suspect it won't quite be at the
level needed for adoption by Goblin-themed decks
with older cards (Gempalm Incinerator is still
one of the best creatures ever printed, even by
the standards of recent sets). Nonetheless, this
card is a solid role-player in limited decks and
possibly in casual.
Today's card of the day is Blisterstick Shaman
which is a three mana 2/1 goblin that deals one
damage to target creature or player when it
comes into play. The effect and creatures
types are both decent, but for the cost this is
a little overpriced and isn't likely to see much
if any play in Constructed formats. Goblin
or burn decks have other options for either
effect, but this is an unlikely combination of
burn on a goblin that remains in play after
dealing the damage. Aside from that other
goblins and direct damage do the jobs far
better, so getting both in one probably isn't
worth it in this situation.
In Limited the cost is a bit high, but a single
red and a 2/1 with one damage isn't bad when
several creatures only have one toughness.
When playing Red in Sealed this should be played
unless your mana curve is too heavy around three
and you can't afford it. For Booster this
can be drafted as early as third or fourth pick
if the pack is weak and should work well in any
deck as a surprisingly effective card.
Hello and welcome to
another card of the day here at Pojo.com. Today
we are taking a look at Blisterstick Shaman. The
Blisterstick Shaman costs one red and two
generic mana. It is a 2/1 that when it comes
into play it deals one damage to target creature
or player.
Let me first say that I have always been a fan of comes into
play, or enters the battlefield abilities just
for how easily they can be exploited. For
instance, a nice standard combo to run with the
Blisterstick Shaman is Splinter Twin and Mimic
Vat. Of course, it requires two of the
Blisterstick Shaman as well. Put the Splinter
Twin on the first one played, that way you can
spit out a hasty copy every turn. Then once
Mimic Vat is out, play the second, using the one
damage to target itself, which will send it to
the graveyard, then, imprint it on the Mimic
Vat. Now, you can drop two Hasty Blisterstick
Shamans a turn, sending at least 6 damage a turn
down field. I think that makes this a very
playable common that could easily be broken, if
given the right circumstances.
And of course there certainly are other ways of breaking this
card, this was just an easy fun way of doing it
in standard.
