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Staff

Hey guys! I'm back and this time I'm going to talk to a card I haven't actually played yet.

Ground Giant

[quote]Set/Rarity :      DM-13 Eternal Phoenix Rare
Card Number :     14
Civilization :     Nature
Card Type :     Creature
Cost :     4
Creature Type :     Giant
Power :     1000+
Card Text :     This creature gets +2000 power for each civilization in the battle zone.
If this creature has more than 6000 power, it gains Double Breaker.
Flavor Text :     "Light and Dark joining forces!? At this fact the proud giants trembled with rage."
Illustrator :     Taro Yamazaki


Card art and information courtesy of the ccgdb.com/duelmasters Collectible Card Game Database


The Basics

At first glance this card may look gimmicky, but he's really a good choice. You're paying four mana for a one-thousand power creature, which sounds a bit odd, but keep in mind he counts himself for the Nature Civilization! So you're really paying 4 for 3000 power with a likely chance at  more power "double breaker," because odds are you're not going to be playing a mono Nature mirror match. At least, not during the current state of things.

You're definitely going to be playing more colors (or at least rainbows) to optimize this guy, meaning you can make him have "double breaker" yourself. That's really cool, because then anything that isn't Nature the opponent puts into play is helping you do that faster! This gives you room to do something neat like play a spell, since you'll be able to break another shield with Ground Giant's new ability to possibly compensate.

He's basically a fair body that turns into or comes into play as a beatstick depending on the circumstances. And he's very likely to end up as a beatstick in most of your games.


How This Affects The Game

More goodies for green! Nature's definitely one of the best, if not the best color choice right now. It has Soulswap, which is hands down the best spell in the game at this point, Mana Nexus which is a worthy metagame call, and this guy! Soulswap can even help him out by turning your opponent's Nature creature into a weaker creature of another civilization, essentially stealing the power and tacking it onto your Giant!

This definitely puts a lot more difficulty on traditional control, which tends to remove based on power in this scenario. They're basically going to need to whip out those Spiral Gates or Slayers they might've been saving immediately before this guy does too much damage, or pray for triggers. And those triggers might not be able to stop him if he has enough power!

Against aggressive decks, he tends to be around for a while. It becomes a game of weening his power while the controller attempts to advance while returning it to it's previous power status. This means Ground Giant will usually be the last guy on his side of the battle zone until he dies, unless removed by a spell -- and that's far less likely in this match-up.

Ground Giant's pretty tricky against Rush, but he can still work for you. Rush essentially has to consist of one non-Nature civilization, giving him a boost, and you're probably playing aggressively if this guy's in your deck. You can save up for a shield-breaking symphony with the right cards to defend yourself.



How This Affects You

If you're playing multicolor with Nature, this guy's probably your main dude for the early towards mid game scenario. Especially if you're able to bang out a dual civ of two different colors before him. That means you have the speed benefits of rush with the added stability and recovery abilities!

Control should also look at this guy, because he can do a lot of damage in a single swing. It might be interesting to stock up on multicolor blockers and then hammer down this guy as your finisher! Barring a tremendous amount of triggers, the game can easily be yours in just a few short turns.

Everybody's going to have to have a way to get rid of this guy, though. Weather it's a trade with your own Ground Giant, creature-based removal tactics which should be doing well in this environment (Aqua Surfer, Rothus the Traveler, etc), or more non-specific spells which can be played early in the game, you're going to want more options than your metagames where Ground Giant wasn't around. And with multicolors on the rise, this guy is going to be around for a while -- so prepare accordingly!


New cards definitely have a strong bearing on what's played, even moreso when they coincide with the current metagame trends. With aggressive strategies and the Nature civilization being hot right now, Ground Giant is sure to see loads of play. Better make sure you can deal with the beatsticks coming down earlier than expected, or finding a way to isolate him consistently!