Skyknight Legionnaire has always been a mainstay
for its combination of haste and an evasion
ability. This is the same CMC as the
Legionnaire, but with +1/+1 and vigilance in
exchange for adding a third color of mana to the
cost. Three colors is quite difficult to get out
by turn three, especially when none of them are
green, but a midrange-sized creature with
evasion, vigilance and haste is worth dropping
on any turn. Especially if you've got ways to
pump it up if you should need them, and Jeskai
seems to have no shortage of those.
Those of you who played with Time Spiral or
Apocalypse will recognize this card's game text
as being identical with Lightning Angel's,
albeit with one mana less in the cost and one
less toughness. Despite that latter, this one is
arguably even more powerful. Assuming perfect
mana and no other accelerants, this card starts
the massive beatdown one turn earlier, and is
still in the same colors as counterspells and
two different classes of removal. And honestly,
how many blocks these days don't have perfect
mana?
Today's card of the day is Mantis Rider which
is a three mana Blue, Red, and White 3/3 with
Flying, Vigilance, and Haste. This is a
solid creature for a deck using those colors,
particularly in a Commander and Multiplayer
setting. Outside of the color requirement
there's no major flaw and it will see some play
in settings where the mana management is viable.
In Limited this is an excellent card in Sealed
if two of the colors are playable as the third
can be splashed and puts this as a potentially
serious midgame threat as an evasive offense
plus defense. The triple color requirement
is a risky first pick in Booster that can be
drafted around with two of the three colors
later, mitigating that somewhat.
A 3/3 flier for three mana has always been a
good deal. In fact, many times, they will have
drawbacks and still get played (see Herald of
Torment). In this case, the closest thing to a
drawback is the very specific mana it requires
to play it, but that's easily worked around in a
set with so much fixing.
But not only does the Rider have no real
drawback, it has haste and vigilance! No
worrying about whether to attack or hold back to
block - you can be aggressive and still keep
your defenses up!
This is a great part of any deck that can use
it. Limited decks will have a hard time dealing
with this, so I'd pick it first easily, unless
it's completely out of your colors.
A 3/3 beater with flying, vigilante and haste is
quite a good value for only a mana cost of 3.
It can attack on the turn it is summoned
(directly unless the opponent controls a
creature with flying or reach) and it can block
the next turn if need be as well. However,
this mana cost requires 3 different colors
making it not so great early game. A
toughness of 4 (only 3 toughness makes it
vulnerable to lots of things) would've really
made him beast mode, but still overall
recommendable for W/U/R decks.
