Well, I guess Garruk vs. Liliana didn't go well
for this poor guy. He's officially been
indoctrinated into Golgari colors it seems.
Though his first +1 ability outright destroys
another planeswalker, so maybe he'll fare better
in Round Two? His second +1 ability is Classic
Garruk, minus the fact that the Beasts are
black. His -3, usable once right off the bat and
again after a single +1 activation, is creature
kill and life gain, so Garruk is bound to have
significant board impact as soon as he hits the
field.
As for his Ultimate? Well, I think this is the
first time we've seen a 'walker give an opponent
an emblem. And since you're almost certainly
creating 3/3 Beasts with deathtouch on your way
to 8 loyalty, giving your guys +5/+5 and trample
whenever they swing is a... Beastly combination.
This may in fact be the first card in Magic that
can give you a creature with deathtouch and
trample without the need for a second card, and
that's just about the most fearsome keyword
combo in the game. In multiplayer, it also gives
the other players a strong incentive to attack
somebody besides you. ;)
I've actually kind of lost count of how many
versions of Garruk we have now. I'm not sure if
that means they don't know which one they like
best, or just that he's popular. Either way,
this Apex Predator version may be the most
powerful yet. It's tempting to be disappointed
that he doesn't draw a bunch of cards like the
M12 or M14 version, but I look at it a different
way: he's just about as good at killing things
as it's physically possible to be. Taking out
other planeswalker cards while gaining loyalty
would be amazing in itself, and the fact that
his Beast tokens can trade with almost anything
and are powerful enough to be threats in
themselves only compounds his danger. Any deck
that can afford his colors and his mana cost is
far better for it.
Today's card of the day is Garruk, Apex
Predator which is a seven mana Black and Green
planeswalker with five loyalty. The first
effect of +1 that destroys target planeswalker
is very situational, but when it can be
activated it is a huge benefit with the only
possible drawback being one less usage of the
other +1. The second effect for +1 gives
you a
3/3 with Deathtouch, which is an excellent
effect to use as even two tokens from it
justifies the seven mana cost. The -3 of
destroying a target creature and gaining life
equal to the toughness isn't bad, removal with
another benefit is efficient, but unless the
creature is a major threat that can't be handled
by the 3/3 Deathtouch tokens it is much better
to build up to the ultimate. The -8 is
fantastic, particularly in Multiplayer, as it
makes any attack a serious threat and any player
can take advantage of it. Overall this is
a very strong card in slower formats, though the
higher mana cost will keep it from seeing much
play outside of Commander and Multiplayer.
In Limited this is a clear first pick in Booster
even as a two color card and one can be splashed
to support the other. 3/3 creatures each
turn alone is enough to win games and the
biggest threat an opponent may have can be
handled by the -3 or other +1 if a planeswalker.
In Sealed it is a card to build your deck around
and barring a truly atrocious Black and Green
selection it should be the cornerstone to a
winning build more often than not.
For Multiplayer, the emblem produced by the -8
may be the single most effective bargaining chip
in the entire game as the threat of it and
inability to remove it once applied should
concern almost any opponent.
First, the casting cost. 7 mana is a hefty cost
for anything - especially for a planeswalker
that you hope will be around several turns to do
major business. You had better have some good
ramp or have a controlling deck that expects to
grind out some long games. But if either of
these are the case, let's look at what you get
for your mana.
+1: Destroy another target planeswalker. There
will be a lot of games where this doesn't come
up, but other times when his insistence on being
the only 'walker on the board will tilt the game
heavily in your favor. The number of cards that
directly kill planeswalkers is still relatively
low, so this is very useful.
+1: Put a 3/3 black Beast creature token with
deathtouch onto the battlefield. For a +
ability, this is amazing. The deathtouch scares
even the biggest opposing creatures. Perhaps you
want to sit behind a wall of deathtouching
beasts for a few turns while you build up your
master plan. Perhaps you want to send the beasts
directly at your opponent, either taking them
down 3 life at a time or taking out their
blockers. Either way, you're in good shape.
-3: Destroy target creature. You gain life equal
to its toughness. Since Garruk comes in with 5
loyalty, you can do this immediately after he
enters the battlefield. Wiping out an opposing
creature and gaining life can be a huge swing -
especially since you're left with a planeswalker
that can stick around to build up and do it
again.
-8: Target opponent gets an emblem with
"Whenever a creature attacks you, it gets +5/+5
and gains trample until end of turn." As with
most ultimate abilities, it's not going to get
to this point very often. Either an opponent
will take him down before he gets there, you'll
keep him down yourself by using -3, or his +
abilities are enough to win you the game before
he gets up to 8. But, if you get to use the
ultimate, your opponent might as well concede.
It turns even lowly mana elves (the ones that
helped you accelerate Garruk out in the first
place) into lethal weapons. This is especially
fun in multiplayer games where everyone gets to
take part in the fun of making their creatures
huge when they attack the hapless emblem-wearing
opponent.
