From: Jonathan Chapman [mailto:necrom23@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 7:31 PM Subject: Top 10 Nature Cards Honorable Mentions: Gigamantis, Niofa, Ultimate Force (whose time is not yet here) 10 - Avalanche Giant The fact that he always breaks a shield is great, but his cost and the fact that he can't attack creatures brings him down a bit. What makes him 10th is this little card called Corile. 9 - Raging Dashhorn This is a great card for mono-green decks. The fact that he's huge and with no drawbacks ranks him in at 9. The fact that he costs 5 makes and is only playable in mono-green keep him from making it any further. 8 - Burning Mane The fact that he's a 2000 for 2 is great, but it's that line that says "Beast Folk" that make him quite playable. 7 - Brutal Charge Played in an aggressive deck this card can be huge. The fact that it can come out early or on the same turn as another creature add to it's playability. You get to search for a creature instead of simply draw a card. That means you can fetch another evolution, which nets you tempo and power. Wait too long and this card isn't as great however. If you could play creatures after attacking this would be quite broken. 6 - Sniper Mosquito He's not an aggressive creature, nor is he control. So what makes him good? Simple. He's pure card manipulation. All those evo cards you played as mana can be returned to your hand. If he takes out a shield at the same time then great. He's basically free since you can toss him down on the same turn as so many other great cards. He also makes a great follow-up to a 3rd turn Bronze-Arm Tribe. 5 - Fighter Dual-Fang Not only does he give pure power at 8000, but he also puts mana into play. The fact he's an evolution makes him bounce's worst nightmare. The only thing holding him back are better cards. Honestly he's an auto include in most decks. 4 - Natural Snare While some argue that this isn't as good as Terror Pit because it gives your opponent resources, I'd argue that it's every bit as good since A) it remove a powerful attacker, B) allows you to swing for a one-turn kill, and C) can get you out of a bind. Natural Snare wasn't as good until Mana Nexus was printed. The two have a quasi-symbiotic relationship. 3 - Bronze-Arm Tribe This is the best card-advantage card in the game. Not only is it evo-bait for some amazing evolutions, but it puts a mana in play (card advantage) and speeds your deck up a complete turn. While there are other cards that draw more cards and even put mana into play, this is the most useful for a green deck or even a deck just splashing green. 2 - Barkwhip A 5000 haste attacker right? Oh.. it gives all your beast folk 2000 more? And it costs 2?! Oh but it must have some drawback like it has to be played on Giant Insects or something right? Beast Folk?.. you mean the most cost efficient green creatures? Yeah right.. you're putting me on. 1 - Mana Nexus This card is absolutely sick. It single-handedly has people putting Terror Pit and Holy Awe in decks they have no business belonging in. It's a shield trigger and it 's caused many games to be lost for no good reason. I've seen folks pull two of these out of their mana zone. I've seen this pop up on a turn where all hope was lost and put a Holy Awe in the mana zone to stop attacks for several turns - long enough to totally change the game. Maybe it would be less broken if it was more like Emeril and had you swap a shield with a card in the mana zone.