I liked Blastoderm and I like Calciderm equally
as much. It's also another good finishing
creature for rushed decks. That's something
they've lacked for a while now. It could turn
out to be a card full of interesting uses in the
long run. Maybe in a White/Black there, you
could find some neat tricks.
Calciderm
Why was Blastoderm, this card's green brother,
so successful? Because it found its way into a
deck that featured a way to give it haste, thus
enabling it to deal 20 points of damage instead
of 15. It also was in the color of mana
acceleration. White doesn't have those
capacities, so can Calciderm live up to its
legacy? Probably not. But white is the color of
quick weenie rushes, and historically white has
been severely lacking in large creatures,
especially large creatures that are relatively
cheap to cast. Calciderm could easily make a
good finisher in a deck full of 2/2's for 2,
where 15 damage will be more than enough and you
won't mind waiting until turn five to swing with
it, because by then it'll have a small army
backing it up.
Constructed- 3.8
Casual-2.5
Limited- 3.4
KC MetroGnome
2/19 -
Calciderm
This is a card I like very much. Blastoderm is
very popular, and for good reason. An
undercosted fattie that can't be the target of
spells or abilities is nothing to sneeze at.
Does white weenie (or boros) have room at the
four slot for this? I'm not sure. He might not
be quite good enough. In Peasant (no rares, 5
uncommons) he could fit in the white weenie
decks at the four slot, but then it's not
certain if he's good enough to warrant giving up
the uncommon slots (over, say, Swords to
Plowshares). So he's good, but I'm not sure if
he's quite good enough to see heavy play
(although I suspect he'll get some attention and
testing).
Constructed - 3+
Casual - 4
Limited - 4
Aethereal
Monday -
Calciderm
A white reprint of Blastoderm. Blastoderm was
popular back in the day when he was legal
because he smashed face and was harder than
usual to kill, even though he went away in a few
turns. Now he's back, and he's still good, but
I'm not sure he'll get nearly as much play as he
did because a) We don't have Fires of Yavimaya
and b) He's white. He could feasibly go into the
current BDW decks but I think his 4 casting cost
will keep him out of those. So, he's good, but I
don't see him finding a home in a deck.
In casual, the original is better, again,
because it's green.
I'm not sure how good Blastoderm was in Masques
block limited, but I don't think Calciderm will
make the cut here because he goes away in a few
turns, and you want creatures that stick around.
