Fathom Mage – Gatecrash
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
This card was intended to be the showpiece and main build-around card for Gatecrash‘s Simic mechanic. It never quite performed as such in constructed, being a little on the slow and/or fragile side for tournaments. But it more than makes up for that by being a strong card in casual play. The same low toughness that contributes to its fragility means that if it does survive, your first two evolve triggers are going to be easy to get, especially in light of green’s affinity for big creatures and token generation. And it interacts very well with any card that distributes +1/+1 counters in other ways – there were proportionally fewer of these in Gatecrash compared to more recent sets, but even one such card turns it into a serious threat even before you consider how much the mechanic has exploded over the years. On a similar note, you even have better stack-based interaction in green with which to protect it, and not just blue. Using Snakeskin Veil to counter a removal spell targeting a Fathom Mage feels almost as unfair as your average Cryptic Command casting. (It’s actually not.)
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Fathom Mage is a very Simic card in how it feels: it gets bigger, as you play the game and you draw cards as it gets bigger. That said, this has always felt like a card that should be better than it is, but it’s hurt badly by being a four-mana 1/1 with no protection. While nearly anything will trigger its evolve ability (it needs to have higher power or toughness),you still need it to live long enough to start firing and getting bigger. That said, this is a “kill on sight” sort of card…and there are plenty of things it combos with, like the graft mechanic from Dissension and other ways to generate counters. Fathom Mage is certainly a card that can be massively swingy in your favor if you get a couple of turns with it alive, but keeping a fragile creature that doesn’t grant immediate benefit alive in today’s game is harder than ever.
Constructed: 2 (can theoretically pay off, but is just way too slow and fragile for the payoff you get)
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5 (was pretty decent, though nothing earth-shattering, but having a guaranteed one in the Simic prerelease wasn’t too much of a cost that way)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
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