Welcome to Hybrid Week on Pojo.com! This week,
all of our cards of the day will be hybrid
cards, and we'll be looking at what that means
from a card evaluation perspective. A hybrid
card really needs to be evaluated from two
perspectives-- one for each color that can play
it. Today's card, for example, must be
considered both as a White removal card and as a
Red burn spell.
Direct damage to attacking or blocking creatures
is a lesser-used part of White's slice of the
color pie that really only gets trotted out
during multicolor sets, when we need some
examples of abilities that White and Red have in
common. Notice in particular the similarity
between this and Fire at Will from Eventide--
even the art is eerily similar. When White isn't
cooperating with Red, it prefers to exile
creatures. Personally, I disapprove-- if I were
in charge, White would get combat-based direct
damage more often, because it makes a nice combo
with something else White gets-- first strike.
Four damage for three mana is pretty close to
what Red is used to getting for its burn spells,
though it doesn't usually have the combat
restriction. Red prefers to be able to kill a
potential blocker and then swing, not wait until
the offending creature chooses to enter combat.
White, meanwhile, is used to being able to
flat-out remove creatures regardless of
toughness, but White removal often comes in the
form of Excommunicate, Arrest, or other cards
that leave the possibility of teh creature
returning. Against a player who can get a
creature out from under Arrest, this would be a
good option to sideboard in.
I like this card, perhaps irrationally much,
despite the fact that it basically re-uses the
joke from Selesnya Sagittars' flavor text (look
it up). It certainly has a great look and feel,
and while it doesn't quite compare to the god
tier of either white or red's anti-creature
spells, it's much more affordable for the
budget-minded (and you'll always feel good about
blasting a Baloth with a card that someone threw
away after a draft). And besides, can Path to
Exile set off the Boros Reckoner combo?
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Arrows of
Justice
Welcome back readers today’s card of the day
is Arrows of Justice an interesting combat trick
which allows four damage to be dealt to a
creature on offense or defense. In standard this
card doesn’t cut the mustard when it comes to
kill spells it costs three mana and is
conditional. In other competitive formats this
creature removal is not worth running due to
restrictions and cost. In casual and multiplayer
this card compared to other removal spells is
pretty bad compared to white removal spells you
could get Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile
and literally hundreds of other combat related
conditional kill cards that are better. In red
this card is kind of unqiue and can allow red to
deal with some creatures but most powerful burn
spells can deal 4 damage or more and can also be
switched to players. This card is a decent
budget option or if you don’t have any better
cards it can do in a pinch. In limited its solid
removal and as they say removal is removal I
would draft this highly as the hybrid mana
provides flexibility. Overall a card mostly for
limited and with applications elsewhere, by no
means a bad card just not a good one.
Today's card of the day is Arrows of Justice
which is a three mana Red or White instant that
deals four damage to target attacking or
blocking creature. Offensively this is a bit
weak as it still locks down the attacker as
being blocked, though it can destroy a target
that would otherwise have survived the attack.
In that case some kind of power boost is
probably better as it can work both in that role
or added unblocked damage and several include
First Strike or other beneficial effects.
Defensively this is a bit better as it can be
used without a blocker or other requirements
beyond three untapped mana. Overall other
choices exist for Red, White, or both that can
do similar jobs and may be a better fit for most
decks.
For Limited this is a solid source of removal
that can be played in multiple guilds thanks to
the single hybrid mana requirement. Three mana
is reasonable for four damage and it is well
worth inclusion in Sealed and strong enough to
be a second or third pick in Booster depending
on the pack.
