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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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Fangren Firstborn
Reviewed March 29, 2004
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.4
Limited: 3.5
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
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our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Chris
Gerhardt
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game store owner in CA,
ShuffleAndCut.com |
Fangren Firstborn
is a decent card, but a card without a cause.
It cries to have a card combo with it to take
advantage of its add a counter ability, but there
just isn't anything in the competitive constructed
environment for it.
In limited, if you're
going a good amount of green, this is definitely a
decent pick. It combos well with Modular, of
course, and really is nice with Whispersilk Cloak
(see the Arcbound creatures below for a definition
of Modular). A solid mid pick.
Casual (Type
1.tabletop) is a different matter, though. Combo
it with an enchantment or artifact that gives your
creatures evasion, such as
Levitation or
Flying Carpet and things will start to
accelerate out of control. Then add a few Modular
creatures (eg: see
Arcbound Overseer,
Arcbound Ravager &
Arcbound Bruiser), and maybe
Mindless Automaton, and you've got yourself
some synergy happening. Could be a lot of
fun!
Constructed:
2.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Current Price:
Fangren
Firstborn $5.30
Mindless
Automaton $1.41
Arcbound
Overseer $5.66
Arcbound
Ravager $26.95
Arcbound
Bruiser $0.19
Levitation
$0.79
Flying
Carpet $1.38
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Judge
Bill
*Level 2
MTG Judge
*game store employee
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A nice card for mono
green. Unfortunately, that's all it will ever be
in, due to the triple green in the mana cost.
Since the mono green deck isn't very good right
now, it stands to reason this guy isn't going to
get played very much.
This would be great
in an Arcbound deck, where you could give your
modular guys extra counters and spread them
around. Probably a good card for casual.
Im limited, if you
can support the triple green in the mana cost, I
think this is a great card. Makes you play heavy
green though, which could hurt on the removal
department.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4
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DeQuan
Watson
* game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX)
* pro tour player
* Scrye writer since 2002 |
Fangren Firstborn
I so badly wanted
this card to be good when I first saw it.
Unfortunately, it's only mediocre. The problem
is that it is cost at 1GGG. That's THREE green
mana. The down side is that if it is costed any
different, like say 2GG, it becomes too good.
It's got the proper cost, but unfortunately,
that makes it not so good.
In limited, I would
definitely take this guy. If nothing else, it
will swing one time and give all your team a
+1/+1 token. This works out even better if you
are playing modular creatures.
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3
Limited: 3
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Jeff Zandi
5 Time Pro Tour
Veteran
Level 2 Judge |
Fangren Firstborn
Green gets a bad rap in Mirrodin block constructed
and limited. In limited
play, there are good players that like green, and
I like to think I'm one of
them. Putting the Fangren Firstborn into play
could go a long way toward
making ANYONE look like a good player! This
monster is a real.well, MONSTER!
This card would be seriously powerful if only the
Firstborn itself got a
fresh +1/+1 counter every time it attacked, much
less all the creatures that
attack with it. This card is all about PAY ME NOW,
because you don't wait to
get your counters, you get them as soon as you
declare Firstborn and
whatever other creatures as attackers. Very, very
good. The triple green
mana cost means nine or ten green sources in your
deck. That's okay with me
and most other green players. When you're playing
green, more green mana is
usually better than less. Dropping this guy on
turn three (thanks to a turn
two Myr or Talisman) should help you get the game
over with in a hurry.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.5
CASUAL: 3.5
LIMITED: 4.0 |
Ray
"Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer
*Game Store Owner (Gamer's Edge) |
Fangren Firstborn
Rule 1: This is not a
splashable card.
Ok, that being said.
It’s a really neat card with a really great
ability. I mean, +1/+1 counters are not easy to
come by. It’s a bit situational, but not bad
enough to make it useless, and in fact can be
quite amazing.
The worst part of this
creature is that it dies to almost anything. A
two-toughness creature for four mana is always a
bad deal, and the creature dying to almost any
removal spell out there makes it too fragile to be
really great.
Constructed:
2
Casual:
3
Limited:
3
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Jason
Matthews
* Level 1 DCI
Judge
*game store employee
* gaming for over 15 years |
Fangren Firstborn
Man when I first took a look at this card I was
really impressed. Unfortunately he just hasn’t
made a serious impact on standard. I like him
because he is a beast which works with Ravenous
Baloth and his cost although three solid green and
one he is still affordable. The ability to make
all of the attackers with him and himself bigger
is sweet. I would most assuredly draft this guy
first or defensively draft him so I don’t have to
face him. In casual play he is a really fun card
and I could see playing him in a fun deck.
Constructed 2.5
Casual 2.5
Limited 3.5 |
Jonathan
Pechon
2 Grand
Prix Top 8's
Multiple Pro Tour
appearances |
Fangren Firstborn
I'm not exactly sure where the problem is with
this guy. He's a 5/3 attacker, with the potential
to come into play on your third turn (2nd, if
ridiculous things happen). Somewhere in the middle
of all this, people forgot that Affinity is just
causing nightmares for the rest of the known world
and that this just isn't going to cut it for now.
He needed to be printed in a block where
aggressive green cards were better; he'd be
ridiculous then. As it is, he's just "okay."
The hordes of men you can create in casual decks
makes this guy a little better; he can make your
entire team quite the group of little powerhouses.
I would ignore him for purposes of Mental Magic;
GGG1 isn't a cost you'll ever see crop up, most
likely.
This guy is a potential nightmare in limited
games; he makes reasonable trades in combat nearly
impossible if you are allowed to attack with him
more than once. Your commitment to green has to be
quite heavy, but since you're going to be spending
the Darksteel pack taking things like Tangle
Golem, I don't think that's going to be too much
of a problem. The only issue that people seem to
have with him is that he's green.
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 3.5 |
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Fangren Firstborn
4/2 for 4 that beefs up your creatures pretty
much limits it to limited, but the triple green
says that you have to go green. Of course in
this stage of the draft, if you’re staring down
at this guy you’ve hopefully decide on your
colors, so whether or not it goes in your colors
shouldn’t be that much of an issue. The 2
toughness can be a problem especially
considering that most removal does around 2
damage if not more. So he isn’t really a
“fatty”. In Constructed, I don’t think he’s
playable. He’s kind of caught in between Timmy
and just a weak creature, not to mention he
doesn’t have a deck to fit into that can
compete.
In Casual, yeah, I guess he’s good. Bigger
army = good. Scary if you have a Verdant Force
out.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 2.5
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