I'm a bit surprised we've never done Smite. It's
a pretty solid kill spell for one mana. Only
trouble is, for you to kill it, first you have
to be able to block it. And to be able to block
it, it has to attack you and you have to not
attack with at least one creature. So Smite is
good when you're on the defensive, but not when
you're the aggressor. That's better than the
other way around, since it helps you when you
most need the help and if you're in a situation
where you can't use it, you're probably winning.
The fact that it's only one mana is nice as
well, since it's a combat trick and you don't
want to leave up more than absolutely necessary.
Leave up four mana and your opponent knows
you're up to something. Leave up only one, and
maybe you just didn't have enough to cast that
last card.
I assume that Smite is mostly in Gatecrash to
help white players deal with bloodrush, as one
of that ability's most common uses is to kill a
creature that you "shouldn't" be able to defeat
in combat. I just think it's unfortunate that it
came so soon after Smite the Monstrous, as
having both is perhaps poor planning name-wise,
but that's okay as they're both good cards. Many
white decks will have enough blockers to lure an
opponent into what he thinks is an advantageous
attack, and using one white mana to kill
something huge calls back to some of the best
(and most broken) cards in Magic.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
Smite an interesting removal spell. In standard
the age old adage applies, who blocks? But with
this spell around combat suddenly turns in your
favor. As aggressive as the standard format has
become and cards such as Giant Growth seeing
play I don’t doubt this card could see some
limited play as it straight up deals with
creatures as long as you block them making it a
fine early play and surprising trick. In other
formats it doesn’t do enough to justify its
inclusion in your decks. In casual and
multiplayer it’s a decent trick but is
outclassed by powerful spells such as Path To
Exile, Swords to Plowshares and many many other
spells making it somewhat of a poor choice. In
limited removal is removal, while this is
conditional it still serves a valuable role.
Overall a solid limited card with little
potential elsewhere.
Today's card of the day is Smite which is a one
mana White instant that destroys target blocked
creature. This is a combat trick that can
work as top end removal for a very low cost
which is very powerful in a deck that is more
defensive or using Vigilance. Even builds
that put a token into play every turn can take
advantage of this, but aside from needing a
creature untapped it is also weak against
evasive attackers which is a notable drawback.
Overall this is likely to see some play in
certain builds, though it is unlikely to make a
real impact on competitive formats.
For Limited this is one of the best removal
options available by being low cost and ignoring
the toughness of the target. Every deck
with White mana should run any copies available
as it will be very likely to give you an
advantage and just the presence in the format is
a major psychological weapon. A second or
third pick in Booster and automatic inclusion
for Sealed using Boros or Orzhov colors.
Welcome to the
Pojo.com Card of the Day section. We are closing
out the week looking at a card I am sure many of
you are familiar with, Smite. Smite is reprinted
in Gatecrash, and is a common instant that costs
one white mana. Smite says destroy target
blocked creature.
Doesn't get much simpler than Smite, does it? Attacks are
coming in, you line up your blocks, and
suddenly, things aren't looking your way. What
are you going to do? Smite.
As simple as it was just laid out, that's how easy it can be.
Whether you pair a tiny creature against
something monstrous, or combat tricks start
pouring in on what may have been a favorable
block, you just have to answer with Smite, and
make it all go away. These days the combat
tricks are in my opinion what makes Smite such a
great card. You may be on a slight defensive,
block a creature, and before you know it, there
are a bunch of Bloodrush triggers lined up on a
creature you thought was about to die. And
perhaps even trample damage coming over. A
simple Smite, and things are back in your
favor.
