Kird Ape

One of the defining features of red/green aggro once upon a time. Also a good indication of why dual lands are good. This card was obviously designed assuming you wouldn't have dual lands. It's a 1/1 on turn one, but if you play a Forest next turn, it becomes a 2/3! The way the game is designed just assumes a certain limit to how much mana and of what kinds a player will have at any given point in the game. Dual lands break those assumptions and make strong cheap cards disgustingly cheap. This is why multicolor cards are so strong-- the game is built under the assumption that multiple colors of mana are hard to get in a timely manner, but dual lands have become string enough and commonplace enough that they aren't, and gold cards get overcompensated for a minor drawback.

Constructed- 3
Casual- 2
Limited- 2
Multiplayer- 3.5

Kird Ape

This was the card I nominated for our Reviewers' Favorites Week.

I first saw a Kird Ape in 1996. It was the Revised Edition version, as I recall, and it was being played against me. The opponent cast it on their first turn, using a basic Mountain. I read its text box, said something to the effect of "Oh. But you don't have a Forest." I'm pretty sure that game ended badly for me.

Oddly enough, although I've known since very early in my Magic career that red and green were my favorite colors, I didn't actually own a Kird Ape until about 2005. I think it was around the time news came out that it was being reprinted in the Ninth Edition. I was especially eager to get some with the new art: Terese Nielsen is my favorite Magic artist, and though I have a soft spot (and then some) for old-school art, I will usually pick a Terese Nielsen version over any other. And besides, given what Magic is like, it probably fits better to show this guy smashing something like happened to me back in 1996.

This is my favorite card because it's a timeless icon for my two favorite colors, because it teaches people the hard way to avoid fooling around too much with mana rocks and card drawing, and because my favorite Magic artist made an ape-sized haymaker look incredibly elegant and beautiful.

Here's to another twenty-one years of "Stomping Ground, Kird Ape, go".

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

Today's card of the day is Kird Ape which is a one mana Red 1/1 that gets +1/+2 if you control a Forest. This is a very nice creature for a Red/Green deck or any build with Forests that can produce Red mana early. The potential to attack or defend with a 2/3 on the second turn is a solid advantage and Kird Ape is a worthwhile play for an aggressive deck in formats in which it is legal.

For Limited formats that include Kird Ape it is a good early pick for Red/Green designs and should be played whenever those two colors are part of your Sealed deck. Also as a 1/1 with a relatively easy to arrange increase in power it has quite a bit of value in the format and is worth choosing as an early pick in Booster if you plan on using both colors.

Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 4.0

Ah, Kird Ape. Definitely a classic card that combined strength with speed.

Let me spell out the pain for you:

Turn 1: Stomping Ground, Kird Ape

...and, that's it! You've now got a 2/3 out on turn 1, before your opponent has even played their first land. From there you just try to overwhelm them in the early game, finishing them off before they can even really get started. Kird Ape is a card designed to put the pressure on early, forcing your opponent to change their game plan to deal with it. With a Giant Growth, you could swing for 5 with it as early as turn 2.

Can you believe this card used to be banned at one point? It's not anymore, nowadays you'll even find things like Loam Lion and Wild Nacatl trying to cash in on what Kird Ape started. Presumably this card was much more of a threat when your opponent wouldn't really even have an answer until turn 3, unless watching their Grizzly Bears die pointlessly on turn 2 counts as an answer.

The only problem really with Kird Ape and things like it that the further the game drags on, the more outclassed they become. They're great for super early pressure, don't get me wrong. But as soon as your opponent plays a Watchwolf or Wall of Omens or Frostburn Weird on turn 2, the fun's pretty much over. Low-level vanilla creatures - even effeciently costed ones - aren't as good later in the game as ones with combat tricks or cool abilities. People like cards such as Qasali Pridemage not just because it's an efficient early game creature, but because it'll always be useful for something, even later in the game. When your opponent plays a 10/10 Apocalypse Hydra on turn 7, Kird Ape is not the next card you want to topdeck.

Of course, Kird Ape is there to ensure your opponent never gets to turn 7 in the first place.

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5