This is the first card I've seen all week that
made me feel like I'd want to play it and
include some Gates to "activate it". You might
think that it'd be fitting to attach this to
another gate-based creature, like an Armory
Guard or a Gateway Shade, but that's falling
into a trap-- an oubliette, I'd call it in this
case. Play some Gates by all means, but
remember-- this card isn't worth playing unless
you've already dropped a Gate, and you should be
playing it on a creature that has a means of
protecting itself from removal-- hexproof,
regeneration, indestructibility, or protection
from [something] are all good candidates.
Turning something like into a bigger,
unblockable threat is a credible clock well
worth having a few lands come into play tapped.
It's true that if you want to give a creature
+2/+2, there is no shortage of ways to do so;
and it's also true that if you want to make a
creature unblockable, there are almost as many
ways to do that. However, you don't often get
them in the same place, and if you're a
two-color deck that wanted Gates anyway, this
card naturally fits in pretty well. Way of the
Thief is, unfortunately, a victim of context to
a certain extent: Auras are at an all-time high
in terms of both number and impact, and having
parts of its effect be conditional can be an
issue.
Today's card of the day is Way of the Thief
which is a four mana Blue aura that gives +2/+2
and if you control a Gate, Unblockable. This
isn't a bad card if you are running four or more
Gates as it can easily be splashed with just the
single Blue and can offer some resistance to
removal with the defensive boost. Aside
from that it suffers the two for one weakness of
most auras and the requirement of a Gate for the
primary benefit leaves it less flexible than
Tricks of the Trade. The toughness boost
should only matter against burn or -X/-X effects
as Unblockable is best used on a constant
offensive, so outside of multicolor Gate decks
this isn't likely to see much play.
In Limited this can be a major threat when
attached to even a midrange creature by putting
a very short clock on the game for your
opponent.
The toughness boost is a bit more relevant and
Gates gain quite a bit of value when this is in
your pool. Early in a draft this is a
middle of the pack choice without the lands to
support it, but one quickly becomes an earlier
pick when you have the other. A strong
card in the format and in general should always
be included in Sealed if you have playable Gates
for the possible win condition, particularly in
Simic with the
+1/+1 counters.
