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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day


Image from Wizards.com

Magus of the Library
Planar Chaos


Reviewed march 01, 2007

Constructed: 2.88
Casual: 3.50
Limited: 2.88

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 

BMoor

Magus of the Library
Green has better mana accelerators. But does it have better card drawing? No. Despite the fact that mana acceleration discourages having seven cards in hand, you will often want to hold off on playing things simply to get to be able to draw cards with this guy.

Constructed- 4
Casual- 4
Limited- 4,5

KC MetroGnome

3/1 - Magus of the Library

All the magi are fun in concept. This one could be good in a green-based control deck. In fact, I could almost see a G/U/W draw-go style deck with green's new-found card drawing, this, and counterspells from all three colors to protect the creatures. Because that's the weakness. This guy is a 1/1. The only color that has trouble dealing with him is Green. That means you probably need a full complement of Rebuff the Wicked and Avoid Fate if you want him to stick around. Maybe it works, but it's not an easy deck to make.

Constructed - 3+
Casual - 4+
Limited - 1+

Arcane

Magus of the Library

Just like Time Spiral, Planar Chaos is back with a new set of Magi and this time they bring back the power of lands of yore. First up in the Magus of the Library (based on the Library of Alexandria) another card drawing engine for green to reflect its alternate universe place in the color pie.

Limited: Definitely a strong card for green in limited but how strong is it? The mana ability is nice accel but the card drawing is really what’s going to be what you want out of it (after all who wants to pay GG for a Llanowar Elf that doesn’t even make colored mana?) In the early game where it would get the most use, you’re looking to hit double green on turn two, which isn’t always as easy in drafts or sealed where your mana base is usually split between two/three colors. Green does however, have aplenty of card drawing cards in TS and PC that can help you get the most use out of your Magus should you crack one. Nantuko Shaman and Citanel Woodreaders are both common cards that you can see fairly easily and the uncommons Harmonize, Keen Sense and Psychotrope Thallid all provide either mass card drawing or repeatable card drawing to help keep you hand at 7. On a side note with 2HG PTQs popping up which are going to be sealed events it’s interesting to note that the Magus will be a definite advantage allowing one player to play aggro and the other (the one with the Magus) to stick to more control/removal based play and use the Magus to maximize their advantage over opponents.

Constructed: Decks may be able to get some use out of him in a G/U control deck that uses card drawing and counters to keep their opponent down. The Ohran Viper (a great Green creature) even comes with a card drawing ability when it hits a player and is sure to be seen along side the Magus. I think it may see a bit more play in Extended dredge based decks as the extra card draw can restock their hand. (Imagine playing Life from the Loam to get back three land pushing your hand size above 7 and then using the Magus to dredge back the Loam to do it all over again). The problem just might be that the Magus isn’t fast enough for the current Dredge based decks like Aggro Loam.

Casual/Multi: Johnnies out there are sure to love the card draw and will probably breed some fun casual decks. Even if mono green control decks don’t make a splash as constructed levels events, there’s always going to be someone who wants to use it to fuel their next big combo. I for one would love to try this out along side a Seedborn Muse to draw a card on each of my opponents’ turns. Card draw in multi is always nice as it lets you restock your hand to take out the new threats that will inevitably hit the field. And green has a huge number of creatures that can draw them cards including Hystrodon, Veduran Enchantress and Primordial Sage to name a few which should help the Magus find a home even if he isn’t as big as the others.

With a properly designed deck the Magus can definitely draw just as many cards as its old Arabian Nights counterpart, but just be aware that if you start getting out of hand it will become a target and being a creature with a small 1/1 body it is easy to eliminate.

Limited: 3/5
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
 

Aethereal

Thursday - Magus of the Library

Mister Alexandria himself. This is a decent card to have for a U/G control deck, but the problem is he costs 2 and therefore doesn't let you sit on counterspell mana turn 2 if you want to play him out. Additionally, because he's a creature and not a land, you have to be playing second or have already drawn extra cards if you want to use his ability turn 3. Finally, he's easily killed by any burn spell out there. Therefore, I don't think this guy will get a lot of play, but he's still decent.

In casual, if you ever wanted to play Library but couldn't due to the cost, now you can.

In limited, if I were already well into green I'd probably take him, but not over an important common/uncommon or a bomb rare. He does give you good card advantage, though, if you can manage to keep your hand size up.

Constructed - 2.5
Casual - 3
Limited - 3
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