This is a, uh, really big monkey? I mean ape.
Not necessarily climb-the-Empire-State-Building
big, but big just the same. Really, in Magic
terms, I guess Ancient Silverback is basically
Craw Wurm sized, with an extra point of
toughness and, much more importantly, the
ability to regenerate for one green mana. In
Ninth edition limited events (I'm in a 9th
edition league on Magic Online right now) this
monster is very good. In constructed play, you
might want more from a card on which you spend
six mana. In 9th edition limited play, six mana
really isn't that much to spend for a creature
that can make a big difference in the game.
There will be very few times when you play
Ancient Silverback in a 9th limited environement
where he does not net you at least a two for one
card advantage, meaning that your opponent gave
up at least one blocking creature to this beast
BEFORE he managed to find of the several cards
in that environment that stop the Silverback.
Ancient Silverback is definitely a solid Green
beater-- it has massive power, it's hard to
kill, and in a color with so much acceleration,
it's not too hard to get out. Why more people
aren't playing it I don't know
Constructed- 3
Casual- 4
Limited- 4.5
Robert
Overton
Ancient
Silverback - 10/10
I would be delighted to see this guy in a
Limited card pool. He doesn't have evasion, but
he sure sticks around a lot better than
yesterday's card. In constructed, you should be
getting a lot more bang out of a card that has
this casting cost, so I'd avoid it for
constructed. However, if I was just starting
out, I wouldn't be embarrassed to have this guy
in my casual deck. Also, there are worse tribes
than Apes for Tribal Wars, and he's not bad as a
finisher in that deck.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 4
Limited - 4
Aethereal
Ancient
Silverback
The basic big regenerator they put in Ninth
Edition. For the cost, this is not bad, but
there are usually more efficient creatures
available (a good current example being Kodama
of the North Tree). Untargetability is almost
always better than regeneration, as most of the
non-targeted kill effects that are used widely
(like Wrath) don't allow regeneration.
In casual, it's big and regenerates, so it's ok
for a budget green deck.
In limited, a strong pick if you are playing
green. I might even splash the green for it if I
could support it.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 2
Limited: 3.5
Matt Cortez
Ancient
Silverback
Ahh, good ol' Silverback. I remember when I
would drop you down on my kitchen table and my
friends would quiver. That was awhile ago and
since then lots of better things have come
around that cost 6 mana, but back then you were
great. The Kamigawa dragons for example.
Constructed - You can find a lot more cards that
would be worth more for 5-7 mana.
Casual - A great card to add to a casual deck.
I've alway's had to include at least 2 into any
of my fun green beatdown deck's.
Limited - I would be happy to see this in a
pack. Regeneration is very valuable in limited
and the fact that it's a 6/5 body mean's it can
take down pretty much anything that get's in
it's way in limited.
Constructed - 2.5 there are better things
around, sorry Mr. Monkey Man!
Casual - 3.5
Limited - 3.5 something you would be happy to
see.
GB250
Ancient
Silverback
Here is a big, expensive regenerator from Ninth.
It will be interesting to look at some of the
cards from 9th this week, as they serve the
important purpose of defining the power level of
creatures, abilities, and mechanics. One such
ability is Regeneration.
Even though this creature has a pretty decent
Power/Toughness for its mana cost (despite being
prohibitively expensive to begin with), and even
though it has a very cheap regeneration cost, it
is nowhere near as well known as, say,
Will-O-the-Wisp. Why? The answer lies in what
Regeneration is usually used for.
When you want to regenerate something, it is
always because it is about to be destroyed, be
it from lethal damage, or a destroy effect. Even
though a lot of beatsticks have regeneration
(Skeletal Vampire is a good example of
regeneration tricks), it is primarily a
defensive ability. You chump block with a
low-cost, low-toughness regenerator, and it
comes back for more, buying you time.
Regeneration is useful on a creature that is
going to be put in lethal situations a lot.
The problem with the Silverback is that he
doesn't need to regenerate. He has 5 toughness,
well out of range of most burn spells, and just
out of range of the 4/4 for 4's that people play
these days. He is only going to turn nintey
degrees to attack, and end up chump blocked more
often than not. Now, if he had trample...
Constructed: 1/5. He is not going to be played.
Six mana is way too much for what you get.
Limited: 3/5. In Limited, he can be effective,
as regeneration will definitely come in handy. A
player can send the Silverback into the red zone
with little risk, as long as a forest is
untapped. If it isn't blocked for some reason,
so much the better. A 6/5 body is great to swing
around with.
Casual: 1/5. A little boring. Other cards are
cheaper, and can combine regeneration with
something more useful.
Gackley Ferguson
Ancient
Silverback
First off let me just say how great it is to
actually be reviewing cards for pojo.com! I’m
giddy with excitement.
Now onto brass tacks, here’s today’s card!
Ancient Silverback:
Simply put you get a 6/5 creature for 4GG.
Granted, in most green decks you can manage to
get this thing out faster than turn 6, but I’m
not that impressed. Sure he’s a big fattie, and
the fact that he can regenerate is a plus, but
the fact that he doesn’t have trample, so your
opponent can just simply chump block him is a
concern. Especially when you consider that green
offers loads more creatures that have virtually
the same stats with trample, and often cost a
little less than out primate friend here. In
limited, he can be good as a late beater that
sticks around.
Constructed: 2.5/5 There are just too many
better creatures out there that offer more.
Casual: 2.5/5 Again, I can’t see a deck built
around this.
Limited: 4/5 Could really shine in this format,
if you need a late game fattie.
Mr. Anderson
Ancient
Silverback
A basic
Timmy card. It's a 6/5 with a casting cost
of 4GG. The stat's are pretty fair when it
comes to power/cost ratio. The regeneration
is what makes it shine. The only thing that
would make it godly, would be if it had
trample. Can anyone say broken beatstick?
People pay big creatures in casual, so go
ahead and use it. It's too slow in
constructed. In a draft this definately
a good pick. Silverback will win you games
in limited.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4
Limited:
3
Darkuraii
Ancient
Silverback is a good beater for a pretty nice
cost. At 6 mana,
a 6/5 regenerator is a solid card. The double
green hurts though, as
well as only getting five toughness. However
with Wrath of God in
standard right now as well, along with stronger
fatties with evasion,
Silverback can't keep up. However, regeneration
is a fun ability in
casual, when hardly anyone is slinging around
world blasting-no
regeneration spells. As for a draft pick,
Silverback is an ok bomb,
but not amazing. He can be chump blocked of
course, and the double
green can be a nasty commitment in your first or
second booster.
Constructed-3
Casual-4
Limited-4
Nick Tan
Ancient
Silverback
If you’re playing green, more often than not
you’ll want to play tough and efficient fatties
that’ll be able to outmuscle your opponent’s
forces in strength. Ancient Silverback fulfills
this requirement to some extent- it’s a 6/5 for
6 mana, with regeneration. While this is fairly
good, and can even protect the Silverback from
removal, what this fatty really lacks is
trample. With trample it would be everything a
green player would want in the ultimate
creature. I won’t fret too much about it in
limited, though- it’ll be near unstoppable.
