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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Gift of Orzhova
Image from Wizards.com

 Gift of Orzhova
- Gatecrash

Reviewed March 20, 2013

Constructed: 2.67
Casual: 3.17
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 2.50

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 of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Gift of Orzhova

Auras tend to be at their best when they're removal and not self-augments, because they just make the wearer that much more attractive a target for kill spells. But an Aura that grants a power/toughness boost, some form of evasion, AND an extra ability that "pays you back" when it hits, like this does, is worth the risk of card disadvantage-- you can play it on your two-drop and immediately swing for an extra one damage and a shot of life gain. In a White Weenie aggro deck, it'd be a good option to keep your early drops relevant in the late-game, or possibly even just to sideboard in against other aggro decks so the extra life gain helps you win the race. Black tends to lean more towards control, so unless some sort of monoblack aggro deck emerges, I don't see this catching on. Ironically, White is better suited to take advantage of this, but the creature it would most want to put this on can't wear it, because it has Protection from Black.

Constructed- 2
Casual- 2.5
Limited- 3
Multiplayer- 1.5


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Gift of Orzhova

This is just my kind of card. I like Auras (even before they started getting "tribal" support in Rise of the Eldrazi), I like flying and other evasive abilities, and I like the Orzhov. You've probably noticed that it takes away the standard way of dealing with Geist of Saint Traft and similar cards, and that it's not only repeatable life gain but one that advances your plan too - making it so much harder for aggressive decks to come back from.

This card's very existence gives me hope that Armadillo Cloak will return to an expert-level set one day. Start writing those letters, people.

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

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Gift of Orzhova which is a three mana Black or White aura that adds +1/+1, Lifelink, and Flying.  This is a little expensive for an aura in competitive formats and provides no protection against a two for one loss, but giving evasion, Lifelink, and a power/toughness boost is decent for the price.  On a creature with Hexproof or Vigilance it is a notable threat and may see some play in Black/White on the Casual scene at least.
 
For Limited this isn't unreasonable to splash into Boros or Dimir, but excels in Orzhov both for the easier mana management and the Lifelink fitting in nicely with the Extort mechanic.  The risk of a two for one is lessened in the format and the power of evasion or Lifelink is well established.  For an Orzhov build this is an automatic inclusion that can turn anything beyond a 1/1 into a noticeable problem, while in Booster it is a strong on color pick around third or fourth in a pack and can easily make a difference in any stage of the game.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.0

Side Note: Just wanted to mention a KickStarter Campaign:

The name is Shift and it has some aspects similar to Yu-Gi-Oh! with the offense and defense ratings while even going so far as to have a Duel Dial accessory.  You can check it out at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laboratory/shift-the-single-card-ccg
and see if you like the idea.  It is basically a trading card game that instead of a deck has just one card per player that can turn to alter the abilities it has.  Kind of like Transform in magic, evolving in Pokémon, or defense mode in Yu-Gi-Oh!


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