Decently-priced creatures with flying are always
worthwhile inclusions in any deck-- the fact
that this Spirit can't block nonfliers doesn't
really matter, because you'll usually want to
attack with it anyway unless your opponent has
an untapped Dragon or something. Undying is
useful here, even though it's unlikely that
Stormbound Geist will ever tangle with another
creature in combat, as it will dissuade
opponents from using removal on, and allow it to
"survive" Pyroclasm- and Hurricane-style
effects. To be honest, I'm not sure it'll catch
on outside of Limited, unless there's a UW
Spirits aggro deck to be built.
The "can only block creatures with flying"
drawback is often overestimated. When you have
an aggressively costed evasive creature (in
blue, no less) why would you need to block? To
wit, Rishadan Airship (the ancestor of Skywinder
Drake) and Cloud Sprite have both made
appearances at Worlds. Stormbound Geist is
perhaps even stronger than those cards, and it's
even on-color and on-theme with a powerful tribe
(Angel of Flight Alabaster says hi). Ironically,
the awesome Drogskol Captain kind of decreases
the need for any of his comrades to have
undying, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
Today's card of the day is Stormbound Geist
which is a three mana Blue
2/2 with Flying, Undying, and can only block
creatures with Flying.
This is a fairly aggressive and removal
resistant creature that is affordable for decks
with a decent supply of Blue mana. Not
being able to block most creatures is a
noticeable drawback, but a deck with this should
be looking for more attacking than defending and
in general it is a flaw that can be avoided.
Overall this is a strong card in the right build
that can keep pressure on an opponent as a 2/2
or 3/3 with evasion and will likely see at least
some play at the tournament level.
In Limited a three mana 2/2 Flying with Undying
is a bargain and noticeable threat to an
opponent's life points that can be very
difficult to remove, particularly if Undying is
activated. The format favors evasion
heavily which should encourage usage in Sealed
despite the double Blue as it is still valuable
in the later stages of the game. A
creature like this is also a high priority in
Booster and should be drafted early, alongside
removal and bombs.
Welcome to the
Pojo.com card of the day section. Today we are
looking at Strombound Geist from Dark Ascension.
Stormbound Geist is a 2/2 common blue creature
spirit that costs two blue mana and one generic
mana. Stormbound Geist has flying and can only
block creatures with flying, and also has
Undying.
Not a big fan of the Stormbound Geist. The
blocking restriction is the main killer for me.
I hate being told what my spells can and cannot
do, and enabling me to block something on the
ground is simply annoying! Granted, we would be
swinging for two damage every turn, unless
something kills it, then it is three, but it is
still inconvenient in the event of a damage race
to be forced into an attack situation.
