Today we look at a creature that’s very similar
to a card we looked at last week, named Megaria,
Empress of Dread. Hourglass Mutant puts its own
spin on slayer-ism, making only the Water and
Fire civilizations a major threat. Let’s see
how it compares.
Hourglass Mutant
Cost:
3
Race:
Hedrian
Civilization:
Darkness
Type:
Creature
Rules Text:
·
Each of your water creatures and fire creatures
in the battle zone has "slayer."
(Whenever a
creature that has "slayer" battles, destroy the
other creature after the battle.)
Power:
2000
I guess we can make this a continuation of my
Megaria review, since these two cards are so
similar. For instance, both Hourglass Mutant
and Megaria empower creatures with the slayer
ability, making them deadlier than a Billion
Degree Dragon. However there are several
dissimilarities. The biggest difference is the
power to mana ratios. Even though Hourglass
costs 2 mana less than Megaria, it only comes
with 2000 power, whereas Megaria weighs in at a
hefty 5000 power. This means that Hourglass
Mutant is susceptible to weenie kill, such as
cards like Crimson Hammer, Tornado Flame,
Phantom Dragon’s Flame, etc. Despite this
difference, the advantage is that you’ll have
slayers by turn 3, so even your silly blockers
like Marine Flower will become deadly.
The other wonderful aspect of Hourglass Mutant
is the fact that it only influences your side of
the field, unlike Megaria. This means that all
of your water and fire creatures become instant
slayers and your opponent reaps zero of the
benefits. However, does this really matter? If
the whole point of having slayers is to give
weenies a chance to bypass blockers and take
down the big guys then, it doesn’t really matter
whether your opponent gets the slayer effect
because he/she can kill your creatures anyway,
right? The only way I could see this working to
my advantage is if I were playing weenie
blockers and using the slayer effect to stall
for my trump card. Either way, just like Megaria,
your opponent will most likely not see the
onslaught coming.
Obviously, both cards have their advantages,
although Hourglass Mutant can be considered a
little more newb-friendly. Give it a shot and
you will not be disappointed.
The Good:
You can create a regenerating swarm of slayers.
The Bad:
Does not work with civilizations other than
water and fire.
The Ugly:
All it takes is a simple Crimson Hammer and your
strategy goes up in smoke.
Constructed Rating:
4.5/5 – Summon up an army of slayers and your
opponent will not know what to do. It’s really
hard to prepare for a mass slayer strategy.
What’s even better is that Hourglass Mutant
starts the insanity at turn 3!
Limited Rating:
3.5/5 – There is a lot of potential in limited,
although it’s a little hard to build around this
creature.
Want to get more Duel Masters
support
in your area? Come and check out our Duel
Masters
petition.
