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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
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Image from Wizards.com |
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Arcbound Ravager
Darksteel Rare
Reviewed April 20, 2004
Constructed: 4.8
Casual: 3.6
Limited: 4.2
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
Click here to see all
our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Chris
Gerhardt
*
game store owner in CA,
ShuffleAndCut |
Want to cry?
Whenever a new set is released, we always auction
off sets of 4 of each of the Rares on eBay.
So, Darksteel hits the scene, and up go our
multiple 4x Rare auctions. Guess what we
auctioned playsets of 4x Ravagers for back then (3
separate auctions) -
$9.01
$8.50
$7.65 Yeah...
BET you wish you had bid on my stuff, eh?? That's
less than $2.50 an Arcbound Ravager, which is
currently flying off my shelves at $24.95 EACH at
the moment! Kinda makes you ill if you think
about it. It's now the hottest card I've
seen selling on my Website in a long time.
Why is it so good?
Well, if you've been living in a cave, or if
you've avoided contact with anyone other than your
mom for the past 4 months, it's in an amazing deck
called Infinity. I'm not going to spend time
explaining it, but if you look in
Jason Matthew's Deck Garage articles, he has a
deck fix and listing there.
In constructed, it's
good. In casual, it's too expensive to truly
be considered casual, but HEY... if you want to
shell out some $$ and play it Type 1.tabletop and
rip your friends to shreds, go for it.
In limited, a very
decent card in a heavy artifact deck.
Constructed:
5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Current Price:
Arcbound
Ravager -
Darksteel - $24.95
Combos
Well With:
ARTIFACTS, STUPID!
;D
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Judge
Bill
*Level 2
MTG Judge
*game store employee
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Wow. From being
crapped on at the release to a $25+ card. Though
this is a very strong part of the current
Affinity deck, this is not the card I would go
after if I had to choose something to ban from
that deck. Yes, the ability to eat artifacts is
very strong. But one well placed Oxidize, and
can you say "card advantage"? Modular really
helps out the Affinity deck, and this is a
perfect fit for it.
In casual
constructed there are probably a lot more cool
things you can do with this.
In limited it isn't
as strong, but it's not hard to be a little bit
weaker. It's still a quite powerful card, as it
takes your excess artifacts and turns them into
a permanent power and toughness boost.
Constructed - 5
Casual - 5
Limited - 4.5
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DeQuan
Watson
* game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX)
* pro tour player
* Scrye writer since 2002 |
Annoying.
Ridiculous. Painful. Scary. Un-fun.
Watch for this guy
at regionals.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 3
Limited: 4
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Jeff Zandi
5 Time Pro Tour
Veteran
Level 2 Judge |
Arcbound Ravager
Everyone knows that the Ravager has become one of
the hottest rares from a
small expansion of all time. Considered utterly
key to the best constructed
Affinity decks, the Arcbound Ravager has become
the most desired card on the
market today. As good as Ravager is, it is hard to
see how it would be any
good in any deck outside of Affinity. The
phenomenon of this card is similar
to Lin-Sivvi and the Rebel deck archetype several
years ago. Once again,
Wizards of the Coast has all but created the most
popular deck out of whole
cloth. Between Arcbound Ravager and Skullclamp,
WOTC has reduced the
Standard (Type II) constructed format to Affinity
versus Everything Else
from now until the time these cards are no longer
legal in the format. In
limited, outside of the trade value of the card,
Arcbound Ravager is a
guaranteed first pick only in strong Affinity
designs. Since all
Mirrodin/Darksteel limited decks involve a good
number of artifacts, the
Ravager is clearly a good pick in all current
limited decks.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.5
CASUAL: 3.5
LIMITED: 4.0 |
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Andy
Van Zandt |
Arcbound Ravager
He's a lot like atog, really, he doesn't pump for
as much, but he keeps the
counters... his real bonus is the modular bit,
and though he's obviously
very strong in the current environment, he's not
"broken" overall. In
fact, in limited, the Crusher tends to be better.
constructed 3.5
casual 3
limited 3.5
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Ray
"Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer
*Game Store Owner (Gamer's Edge) |
Arcbound Ravager
I feel silly reviewing
this card. Here! I’ll just make a prediction! “You
will see many of these cards played during
Regionals. It will grow very big. You will lose
much life. You will wish you played main deck
Oxidizes.”
Prediction Over.
Constructed:
5
Casual:
3
Limited:
3
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Jason
Matthews
* Level 1 DCI
Judge
*game store employee
* gaming for over 15 years |
Arcbound Ravager
This guy is so good that with the card skullclamp
they are defining the standard format. If you go
to regionals you will see this guy a lot. The
ability to sack all your artifacts to get bigger
is pretty good. The ability to move those counters
to other creatures is close to unfair. Many people
ar trying to answer the question “how do I beat
the ravager deck?” I will tell you the answer my
friends Dequan and Zandi are using is to kill
everything. Arcbound Ravager is a good card in all
the formats and I rate it very high across the
board.
Constructed 4
Casual 4
Limited 4 |
Jonathan
Pechon
2 Grand
Prix Top 8's
Multiple Pro Tour
appearances |
Arcbound Ravager
It seems pointless to
review a card that has a deck named after it in
standard. Humorously enough, there are a lot of
people who insist that this card does not actually
need to be in the deck any longer; however, this
is still the most highly-demanded card of the
modern sets nowadays. While there’s only one deck
that this really stands out in, it certainly is
the most touted deck in standard nowadays.
Who plays Affinity in
any sort of casual game that isn’t playtesting?
Really!
Rare-drafting this guy
is always understandable; to boot, he’s certainly
quite strong in any deck that manages a whole slew
of artifacts and artifact-creatures. Obviously
best with other cheap Arcbound creatures, but he’s
absolutely solid the rest of the time. He will
probably be a guaranteed first-pick in any draft
where you get to keep the rares.
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 1.0
Limited: 3.5
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Jason
Chapman |
Arcbound Ravager is,
simply put, amazing. Cards with internal synergy
are always great; the ability to add +1/+1
counters and not lose them even if the Ravager
dies certainly counts. He also combos well with
other Arcbound creatures which can allow the
Ravager to grow quickly. Of course it doesn't stop
there as other effects like Disciple of the Vault
also link up perfectly with this beast. While the
body may seem small all this potential for 2 mana
is always going to be worth the price.
Constructed - Great
for aggressive and streamlined builds that take
advantage of the potential interactions - 3.5
Casual - There may
be some great casual Arcbound decks and this is
one of the best (if not the best) Arcbound
creature - 3.0
Limited - You will
be playing with artifacts so the Modular ability
and sac. ability will come into play. Besides he
is a nice cheap body that represents a continuing
threat - 3.0
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Chase
Secret Squirrel
on the
Pojo.com
Message
Boards |
Arcbound Ravager
One of the main
components in Affinity (hence: RavagerAffinity).
Sac artifacts with Disciple in play, and you win
pretty quickly. Fun with lots of Arcbound
creatures in play too obviously. It is
overvalued IMO, but a staple in one of the most
powerful decks in the environment.
In Casual, it’s
expensive $$$, and it depends on the fun value.
I haven’t seen Arcbound popping up in other
formats, though they might.
In Limited, yeah,
why not? Sac your artifacts for a final swing.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 3
Limited: 4
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