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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day


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Pulse of the Fields 
Darksteel Rare


Reviewed September 3, 2004

Constructed: 3.8
Casual: 4
Limited: 2.9

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 


Chris
Gerhardt

* game store owner in CA, ShuffleAndCut

Here we go...this is the "keep me alive until I find what I need" Pulse.  It can be frustrating to play against as you undo lot of what your opponent did the turn before.  In the meantime, you get to take time to set up your diabolical plan, whatever that may be, often control orientated but not necessarily.

In limited, it's not as good, as you usually don't have a plan that's quite as diabolical as you could in constructed.  But still worth considering if you're going white.

In casual, much more fun as diabolical plans are often in the works.  Set up time is of huge value to a casual player, and this fits right in.

Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 3

   Current Price:
Pulse of the Fields - Darksteel - $5.37

   Combos Well With:
Diabolical stuff...


Jeff Zandi

5 Time Pro Tour
Veteran

Pulse of the Fields
Pulse of the Fields is probably the second best Pulse from Darksteel, after
Pulse of the Forge. Pulse of the Fields, in constructed, gives control decks
a mechanism for surviving extra turns in order to reach the cards in their
deck that they need to stabilize bad board positions or to find win
conditions. This card fit right into white control decks with lots of
Scourge cards. In Mirrodin block constructed, Pulse of the Fields is
slightly less powerful, which may mean the card will probably not be as
popular in its second year of Standard play as it was in its first. In
limited, Pulse of the Fields is less powerful than in constructed, but is
still valuable for stretching out some games a few more turns.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.5
CASUAL:              3.5
LIMITED:              3.5

Ray "Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer

Pulse of the Fields

 

Woe be unto the state of Magic when life gain becomes a viable strategy for the game. Seriously, this is a really interesting card that I do not understand why R&D created. Reusable life gain is built to slow the game down considerably, something we don’t want to happen in general. If Wizards felt that the game needed something to help people recover from speed decks, then this card is not the way to go. They should have created more stall type cards or board sweepers, like Ensnaring Bridge, or Wrath of God. This card all by itself can make too many strategies unplayable, unless a player is willing to mana burn themselves down as well, which does not seem to me like the idea of “good play skills” we want to encourage in players.

 

Constructed:                 4

Casual:                         5

Limited:                        3


DeQuan
Watson

* game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX)

For some reason, I feel like we reviewed these pulses before. Either that or I've had conversations about them many times. Regardless, Pulse of the Fields is arguably the best of the pulses. Pulse of the Forge is pretty good too. But right now, Pulse of the Fields is getting a lot more play in tournaments.

Even casual players like this card. Why? Simple. Life Gain.

I would definitely take this card in limited, because it can make it extremely hard for your opponent to break a stalemate.

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 3
Paul
Hagan
Pulse of the Fields --

Yay! We finally found a good Pulse! If you are playing a Blue-White control deck, you are playing Pulse of the Fields right now. It turns rough games into easy games, just because you can do nothing but sink mana into it and keep your opponent frusterated for most of the game. I played in a tournament a while back where I was piloting RG Land Destruction and my opponent sat across from me with UW Control. I had absolute control of the game for a long, long time, but because he had Pulse of the Fields, I could do absolutely nothing to stop him from making the slow (but effective) comeback. Hands down, this is the best life-gain spell printed since Renewed Faith.

As far as casual players go, y'all should enjoy Pulse of the Fields. It allows you to set up whatever you need to do, all the while your opponent struggles to punch enough damage through to make a difference. Unfortunately for them, every land you lay is one step closer to them losing the war.

In limited, I love Pulse of the Fields! I can't count the number of times I have seen someone pull an Alpha Strike against their opponent, with *just enough* damage to end the game. Every time that happens, think of what kind of damage Pulse of the Fields could do to their game plan.

Constructed Rating: 3.5
Casual Rating: 4.0
Limited Rating: 3.0
Chase

Secret Squirrel on the Pojo.com
Message
Boards

Pulse of the Fields
 
4 life at instant speed is not too bad.  And if you’re losing, you get to gain 4 more life.  8 life for 6 mana is fun, but it’s an expensive stall card.  Sunbeam Spellbomb is generally more useful if you’re looking to stall.  I’ve always felt that this doesn’t make the cut in constructed.  If they’ve got a beefed up Ravager or Slith firewalkers this won’t make much of a difference.  If you’re looking for life gain, you should go with Astral Slide decks, and this is too expensive to make the cut.  Not too useful.
 
In limited it's also too expensive to make a difference.
 
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 2
 

 

 

 

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