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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Runechanter's Pike
Image from Wizards.com

Runechanter's Pike
Innistrad

Reviewed January 13, 2012

Constructed: 3.00
Casual: 3.40
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 2.50

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 of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Runechanter's Pike
 
Something very interesting happened in the past year with the Stoneforge Mystic deck That Shall Not Be Named: equipment became something that control decks could use too, not just aggressive ones. Runechanter's Pike continues that tradition, a surprisingly aggressively-costed card that fits into the same sorts of decks as Delver of Secrets and Kiln Fiend. I admit to a certain bias here, as I always prefer proactive styles in both creature decks and controlling decks, but in any objective sense, this is a card that gets better in the long game and can go in an awful lot of decks, as every color has at least some instants and sorceries. Definitely one to watch.
 
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 2/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Runechanter's Pike which is a fairly low cost equipment that gives First Strike and an attack boost equal to the number of instant and sorcery cards in the graveyard.  This a decent choice for producing threat and by not boosting toughness can actually draw out removal to otherwise minor targets.  Any color deck can benefit from this, though ones using tokens produced by spells may do a bit better with it overall.
 
For Limited the lack of instant and sorcery cards in most builds weakens this, but a cheap source of First Strike for any deck should not be overlooked.  In Sealed every deck should include this as there is no drawback and it should have a positive impact even with minimal cards in graveyard.  For Booster this is a viable first choice even if is not overwhelming as it can work with any later picks and has potential if supported with removal or other spells.
 
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

     Welcome to Pojo.com’s Card of the Day Section. Today we are taking a look at Runchanter’s Pike from Innistrad. Runechanter’s Pike is a rare artifact equipment that costs two generic mana and equips for two generic mana. Equipped creature has first strike and gets +X/+0, where X is the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard.

     Runechanter’s Pike is a lot of fun, especially for a burn oriented deck. I absolutely love the potential of this card in so many ways. When used in a red burn deck, it combos very nicely with Chandra’s Phoenix. Should the Chandra’s Phoenix die, you simply hit an opponent with a red instant or sorcery to return the Chandra’s Phoenix to your hand so that you can cast and equip it again, and now it is even bigger!

     Of course the Runechanter’s Pike is nice in any deck that is going to be spellslinging. Whether it be counter spells, milling spells, removal spells, or even better, pumping spells! Imagine this card in any decent pump deck with a trample creature? How huge can it become, and trample over to boot.

     The first strike is key component here, too. Remember how we were using it with the Chandra’s Phoenix? Well imagine that Phoenix having first strike, and how many burn spells you’ll be popping off. How many creatures will be able to go toe to toe with that kind of flaming bird and survive to tell the tale?

Limited: 5/5
Casual: 5/5
Constructed: 5/5
Multiplayer: 2/5


Paul

Welcome back readers todays card of the day is interesting equipment that beefs creatures up based on the contents of your graveyard.  This card doesn’t make the cut in standard even decks that use the graveyard and fill it with instant and sorceries those decks run Snapcaster Mage or just don’t have room for a card like this. In extended, modern, legacy and vintage the same concept applies this card is not powerful enough and doesn’t fit into playable decks. In casual and multiplayer it could be a powerful and constant boost for your creatures as the longer the game goes on the more spells should find their way to the graveyard and first strike is nothing to sneeze at, if a deck has a major equipment theme or has a high spell count trying one or two of these may be a worthwhile investment. In limited even if you only get +2 this card is definitely worth it,  power pumping and first strike are relevant and first strike helps you conquer stalled board states. Overall a fun casual and limited card as it doesn’t have much potential in constructed.
 
Constructed: 1.5
Casual: 2.0
Limited: 2.5
Multiplayer: 2.5


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