Oh the combos you can set up! Vengevine in the
graveyard and Talara's Batallion in your hand!
It's pandemonium out there! Tutors are always
powerful, even when you're limited as to what
kind of card you can search for. Getting two
cards, even if one of them goes to the
graveyard, is an excellent deal. You don't even
have to let your opponent pick which card you
get, like with Fact-or-Fiction-style cards. And
as years go by, the graveyard becomes more and
more of a resource to be exploited. Even if the
card you "bury" is just a mediocre Scavenger,
you've still gotten a great deal. Even in
Limited, you might not have a combo in mind but
getting the best creature out of your deck is
huge, especially if you drafted a bomb. You'll
undoubtedly have a Scavenger you can fatten it
up with as well.
Magic flavor is a lot more mutable than most
people realize. This card is basically Gifts
Ungiven, but with a different picture and flavor
text, it can completely make sense in black and
green. Like its famous progenitors - Gifts
Ungiven, Fact or Fiction, Moonlight Bargain - it
looks like it has a balancing quirk or
disadvantage, which in practice turns out to be
no such thing. Since it will almost never be
played in a deck that doesn't have creatures
that can operate from the graveyard, there are
times when resolving this says "you lose" almost
as much as Fact or Fiction did. And even if
you're not playing reanimator, it can still find
you a creature that you need most at any given
time.
Today's card of the day is Jarad's Orders which
is a four mana Black and Green that has you
search your library for up to two creature
cards, put one in hand, and the other in the
graveyard. While this is best suited to a
Golgari or other graveyard themed deck, it can
work with many different cards and combinations
to set up combos or improve your position.
With a card that is beneficial while in the
graveyard this is a two for one tutor at a
reasonable cost that has no major drawbacks
aside from the two colors in the casting cost.
Overall it may not see widespread play, but in a
deck built to utilize it fully it is a very
effective card.
In Limited the two colors and effect almost
exclude any non-Golgari deck from using it and
in that guild's designs it works quite well
alongside many of the in set cards. It is
technically splashable by adding one of the
colors to another deck and using it just as a
one for one into hand tutor, but even one or two
graveyard cards in the deck to be searched add
value with minimal commitment. Sealed
Golgari decks should include this without a
second thought and it can be a first pick for
booster, followed with aggressive Green and
Black drafting.
Welcome to the Pojo.com card of the day section. We are
closing out the week looking at Jarad's Orders
from Return to Ravnica. Jarad's Orders is a rare
green and black sorcery that costs two generic,
one green, and one black mana. Jarad's Orders
says search your library for up to two creature
cards, reveal them, then put one into your hand,
the other into your graveyard. Then shuffle your
library.
Anytime you run a new age Golgari deck, the graveyard is
just your biggest resource, so putting key
things into it can be a major advantage. Whether
it be to reanimate it, or to Scavenge it.
Jarad's Orders lets you dig to get the creature
you need most, in Golgari likely either a
Lotleth Troll or Jarad himself, plus deposit
something into the graveyard to Scavenge onto
it, likely a Slitherhead or Sewer Shambler.
Just such a great card not to use. But I must say that in
many situations I almost feel Grisly Salvage is
better. But there's no doubting getting what you
want where you want is key.
