The Orb's ability to destroy Curses is a cute
trick, but given the fact that there's only five
such cards in existence at the moment and one of
them you're just as likely to want to play on
yourself, that's not what any of us are here
for. What makes the Orb interesting, even good,
is that it grants hexproof to its controller.
Ivory Mask has long been a staple of white's
tools to protect itself. The Orb allows any
color to do it, and protect themselves from
opposing burn spells, discard spells, Edicts,
and other targeted unpleasantness. And at four
mana, it's quite reasonable as well. I'm not
sure how much targeted player hate there is out
there, and Witchbane Orb may languish in
sideboards and shoeboxes if nothing fearsome
turns up in Innistrad block, but we're only one
set of three in-- it'll only take one good
Curse, discard effect, or otherwise to make
people take a second look at Witchbane Orb.
I'm a little surprised there aren't more witches
in Innistrad, with or without gingerbread
houses. Still, there are two sets left to go in
the block, and so Witchbane Orb might turn out
to be even more useful than it is now. As it is
right now, Curses may not be quite scary enough
to require Witchbane Orb just for protection
against them; this is balanced somewhat by the
fact that it also protects against threats like
Incinerate and Devil's Play. Usually only white
gets this level of anti-burn defense (along with
a lot of other stuff!), so it may be a good idea
for the other colors to take advantage of it.
Today's card of the day is Witchbane Orb which
is a four mana source of Hexproof for a player
that can be run in any deck. This is an
excellent sidedeck card that seriously weakens a
large variety of decks by removing you as a an
option for anything that says target player or
target opponent. The cost may delay it
entering the battlefield a little which
acceleration from Green or other artifacts can
help, but once it is in play without artifact
removal the game can become very one-sided.
For Limited where curses are likely to be played
in addition to other targeted effects this is a
defensive bomb and should always be played in
any deck. The cost isn't a drawback in the
format as few targeted effects are likely to be
used before four mana is available and the
colorless aspect is always beneficial to
multicolor decks. An easy first pick in
Booster and the first card to put into your
Sealed deck before choosing a color or colors.
In Multiplayer having Hexproof is a big
advantage and unlike other cards that may make
you a target this literally does the opposite by
removing you as a target. Opponents may
see this as a concern as building up becomes
easier, but any options they have for responding
will likely be greatly reduced.
Welcome to another card of the day review
here at Pojo.com. To kick this week off we are
looking at Witchbane Orb from Innistrad!
Wicthbane Orb is a rare artifact that costs four
generic mana. When Witchbane Orb comes into
play, destroy all curses attached to you, and
then you gain hex proof.
There is not much to say that the
Witchbane Orb doesn’t. It will handle any curse
on you, and then ensure that nothing else your
opponents control will target you. This is
certainly a step in the right direction from the
Leyline of Sanctity. While the Leyline has a
certain immediate threat if it’s in your opening
hand, it does nothing to remove potential curses
on you already later. And the Leyline is only
good in white based decks, because you would
rather drop it from your opening hand, but would
still want to cast it if you draw it. The
Witchbane Orb can go into any colored deck. That
means that a red deck could gain the benefit
from protecting itself from other peoples burn
spells! Having a problem with a mill deck? Run
the Witchbane Orb!
Certainly a great card, and the cost is
not all that bad for what it does. While there
aren’t a whole lot of curses yet (only six so
far in Innistrad) there are sure to be more
throughout the block. I can imagine that several
will be worth side boarding the Witchbane Orb
for, just in case.
The fact that any deck can use the
Witchbane Orb only increases its usefulness. And
if you manage to end some nasty curse in the
process, it’s just that must better.
