Five +1/+1 counters is a pretty sweet bonus. The
trick is playing it on the right creature-- you
may remember that this once shared Standard with
Blighted Agent and still shares Standard with
Invisible Stalker. Getting a whopping ten +1/+1
counters can easily end a game immediately.
But maybe you're playing creatures that can in
fact be blocked, for reasons I don't understand.
;) Even on its first incarnation, Increasing
Savagery can turn even a humble Walking Corpse
into the kind of creature that forces opponents
to chump block. Sorcery speed hurts this,
though-- all you can do is cast it on your guy
and swing, and hope that your opponent doesn't
have a response or a combat trick of his or her
own.
Increasing Savagery
A viable strategy against control decks,
especially the reactive counterspell-heavy ones,
has historically been to get something down
early and attack frequently and consistently. A
feature of this was that it was
frequently difficult to speed up your operation,
as any power-boosting spells would probably be
online at the same time as their counterspells.
As such, these kinds of strategies will welcome
cards like Increasing Savagery, which are not
only resistant to the inevitable Negate but, in
a twisted sort of way, almost welcome it. Your
opponent is almost better off letting you get
five +1/+1 counters and saving his reaction for
the flashback - which puts him behind on the
table. It's win-win with this card.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Increasing
Savagery
Welcome back readers todays card of the day
is an interesting creature enhancing spell.
Increasing Savagery initially puts 5 +1/+1
counters on a creature for a minimal investment
of four mana, when cast from the graveyard it
gives you 10 counters for seven mana. In
standard this card has not seen much play it’s
not a bad card but not fitting into a standard
metagame and providing an effect countered by
the sheer existence of creature removal made it
an unappealing card for deck builders few
creatures provide enough synergy to make the
effect worth it, perhaps with the release of
Simic in Gategrash. In modern, legacy and
vintage, this card doesn’t fit into existing
decks and is not powerful enough to actually see
play in a competitive deck in these formats. In
casual and multiplayer this card can be amazing
in decks utilizing a heavy +1/+1 counter theme,
combine with cards like Corpsejack Menace or the
newly spoiled Fathom Mage for a +1/+1 centric
deck, there also exists a plethora of other
powerful cards to combine with counters. In
limited it provides a massive boost to a
creature and then can be flashbacked to do the
same to another creature making them into must
deal with threats a powerful spell.
Today's card of the day is Increasing Savagery
which is a four mana Green that puts five +1/+1
counters on target creature, can be cast for
seven with Flashback, and if cast from graveyard
puts ten counters instead of five on the
creature. This is fairly powerful, particularly
with Hexproof and evasion or Trample effects
involved, and with the cost of four on the
initial casting it is easy for Green ramp to
work with.
The Flashback cost is manageable, though a
little high, and can be a game winning play in
the right situations. Overall this is a card
that may see more Casual play than competitive,
but has enough potential to be included in some
one or two hit kill designs.
In Limited this is a major bomb that can turn
almost any two creatures into huge threats that
need to be responded to by the opponent. An easy
first pick in Booster and automatic inclusion in
Sealed if Green is being used as more than a
splash. The drawback of needing a creature to
target is similar to an aura or equipment, but
the low in format cost for the power gain and
ability to cast it twice give it more than
enough weight to deserve a slot in every Green
deck.
