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Tom Rogers on Duel Masters
Reap & Sow
December 30, 2009
Reap and Sow
Set/Rarity : DM-11 Blastosplosion of
Gigantic Rage Uncommon
Card Number : 55
Civilization : Fire/Nature
Card Type : Spell
Cost : 5
Card Text : (This spell is put into your
mana zone tapped.)
Choose a card in your opponent's mana zone and put it into
his graveyard. Then put the top card of your deck into your
mana zone.
Flavor Text : "Only those who don't
understand call it chaos. The rest call it life." -Gonta,
the Warrior Savage
Illustrator : Norikatsu Miyoshi
Reap and Sow is a powerful
card which slips right into one
of the game's most powerful decks: four color control. It
also has various uses in aggression and rogue strategies
alike, as it's power lies within positioning and distance.
-The Basics-
With a casting cost of five to gain a mana seems like it's a
bit much, but once you factor in the destruction of your
opponent's mana it seems like almost nothing. The returned
mana card essentially reduces the casting cost to four,
making it utterly ridiculous. This also creates an
invisible fifth mana, because the opponent will still at the
same turn count they were last move provided they charge
mana (which they usually will). The advantage in
having the invisible mana is that your threats are
essentially all under a Pseudo- Reduction spell of each
costing one less for the rest of the game. You're
always going to be up a turn, no matter what the opponent
does. The gain of your own mana assures this, as well as
provides you with the ability to be ahead [i]two[/i] turns
against a platter of strategies which don't play mana
acceleration.
-How This Affects The Game-
This drastically gives the upper hand to four-color control,
in a returning of previous order in the shift for power
between it and DWF Control. The balance had been shifted for
some time, somewhat equated with Soulswap, and now the old
choice reigns supreme. With the ability to destroy a card in
the mana zone, four-color control holds new ground against
Bombazar-based strategies and allows you to respond to the
never-ending time bomb. Combining this with other mana
destruction effects or acceleration further widens the gap.
This card even works in Bombazar strategies,
especially the mirror-match, by disabling the opponent's
ability to keep up with your ever-expanding Battle and Mana
Zones, while pumping up the latter. It's enough to consider
holding off a summon in order to drop the Destiny Dragon on
the following turn.
In the matchup against DWF control, Reap and Sow simply
means "I'm getting to Lost Soul first. No matter what."
There's not enough time to recover from your own mana loss
while the opponent is accumulating resources or decreasing
what you have left, let alone play according to an
additional gain in the opponent's mana. The four-color
control player is guaranteed to win the infamous race to the
card which gives a significant edge in the game, as well as
other various turn seven candy.
Reap and Sow reems lower-level aggression. Trying to
create a "Speed Attacker" victory with no hand can
be difficult, and incredibly so with two mana. You'll need
to devote a topdeck to resources late-game while the
opponent is given a "free turn" to deal with any
possibility of you drawing it or building up their own
forces. Drawing a "Speed Attacker" can actually
become a problem after Reap and Sow, because you'd
have to hold it in your hand a turn where it's susceptible
to discard! For slightly slower yet notably aggressive
strategies, losing a mana is still a huge hit --
especially in decks which attempt to regain their resources
through the mana zone, utilizing creatures such as Sniper
Mosquito, Spark Chemist, Splash Zebrafish, Shtra, or Earth
Ripper, Talon of Rage.
Gimmick decks which base their strategies around card
combinations including One Turn Kill, Deckout/Mill, and
alternate victory conditions such as Ultimate Galaxy
Universe benefit from using Reap and Sow for the distancing
it creates from the opponent. Propelling them faster to the
desired (and usually late-game) situation, Reap and Sow also
slows down the opponent. This way, they're closer to
creating the combo or packing on the heat, and also stopping
the opponent from doing anything but watch it happen.
-How This Affects You-
You should definitely be using this thing if you're
running Fire and Nature. Consider running it if you run one
and splashing these to create mana for the other copies. Run
it in Bombazar. Run it in four-color control. Run it in One
Turn Kill.
If you're not running Fire and Nature, you're going
to need to do two things. You're going to want to minimalize
the damage created by this card, and you're going to want to
create a similar effect in your own strategy. Duel Masters
will eventually result in all decks becoming one style which
encompasses the optimal functions of the game. This may very
well be one of them. Start seeking various alternatives for
other colors; Divine Riptide, Miraculous Plague, and Glory
Snow come to mind. Chargers of all colors and acceleration
tactics fit into the picture for prevention. Early-game mana
destruction of your own to pre-emptively shut down the
casting of this spell on turn five may even help. It depends
on you, and what you're playing, and how you can fit this
niche of the game into your own.
Reap and Sow is a big deal in Duel Masters -- it's
reshaping the meta and breathing life into old strategies
which either are or were heading to retirement. There's
something to be said about a card which can gain so much
momentum on both sides of the spectrum simultaneously --
that is, progressing whilst hindering the opposing force.
The 'flow' in Duel Masters dramatically falls into your
favor with the power of Reap and Sow, and forces you to
prepare for the force of nature itself if you're playing
against it.
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