It took me until just about the time I was
writing this review to realize that the
investigate action is a sort of callback to the
Cluestones from Dragon's Maze. Those did not
become particularly iconic outside of limited
matches, but investigate has a good chance at
doing exactly that, particularly for cards like
Thraben Inspector that you might be looking at
anyway. It's not scarily efficient - the number
2 is in the wrong one of its combat stats for
most aggressive decks - but it's a relevant
tribe and not the worst at applying early
pressure, and setting you up to dig into your
deck when you can spare the mana is not only a
compensation for the tendency of early creatures
to die, but makes it a relevant topdeck later
on. That's not always a quality you get
with aggressive creatures, and I expect that
some decks will effectively make themselves more
aggressive so they can play this creature.
A decent one-drop that, if nothing else, ensure
you have something to spend your two mana on
next turn if you didn't already. In most decks,
this is filler, interesting only because white
doesn't often get card draw. In a dedicated
Soldier deck, you could certainly do worse for
your one-drop slot. In Limited, or in a
Clue-themed deck (if they exist) this isn't a
great addition, but it'll get you there.
