Animar, Soul of Elements – Double Masters
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.00
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 3.25
Multiplayer: 3.88
Commander [EDH]: 5.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
We haven’t reviewed Animar since he was released, way back in the original Commander theme decks, but it’s not because he hasn’t been impressive. Quite the opposite, in fact – he’s a popular choice in that format, and for good reason. He’s equally at home in midrange decks and combo decks, as James alludes to on this page, and can run away with a game due to his efficiency and his immunity to the best removal spells. Like we discussed in our first review of him, he’s also an Elemental and benefits from synergies as old as Lorwyn and as new as M20 (Chandra, Novice Pyromancer is not as blatantly pushed as her Torch of Defiance incarnation, but might be more fun!). As such, Animar has a great pedigree and a great future, and I recommend him highly in pretty much any casual setting.
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander [EDH]: 5/5
Animar has long been considered one of the Temur-colored commanders, thanks to being one of the first Commander face cards as well as a notorious source of both value and infinite loops with cards like Ancestral Statue. A well-built Animar, Soul of Elements deck can both blank a huge swath of decks as a consequence of its immunity to two of the premier removal colors and threaten to spiral out of control as soon as it gets its engines online with those first creatures. You can, of course, build a reasonably fair and fun Animar deck without going into their infinite loops, but what fun is that? It combines an enabler with an Absolute Unit of a creature in a long game (and even plays well with additional +1/+1 counter sources), and it will never not be a scary card to stare down on the other end of a table. While it’s weak early on, the speed at which Animar can get out of control is remarkable, and Temur has rarely been left wanting for ways to protect its own creatures.
Constructed: 2 (awkward color demands are a thing, and it takes too long to get rolling, even with its advantageous protective profile)
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 5 (Animar is basically a “answer me or lose” Commander, and while you will put a massive target on your back, he’s still able to win in the face of a riled-up table)
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