Pojo's Magic The Gathering news, tips, strategies and more!

Pojo's MTG
MTG Home
Message Board
News & Archives
Deck Garage
BMoor Dolf BeJoSe

Columnists
Paul's Perspective
Jeff Zandi
DeQuan Watson
Jordon Kronick
IQ
Aburame Shino
Rare Hunter
Tim Stoltzfus
WiCkEd
Judge Bill's Corner


Trading Card
Game

Card of the Day
Guide for Newbies
Decks to Beat
Featured Articles
Peasant Magic
Fan Tips
Tourney Reports


Other
Color Chart
Book Reviews
Online Play
MTG Links
Staff



This Space
For Rent

Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Qasali Ambusher
Image from Wizards.com

 Qasali Ambusher
- Shards of Alara

Reviewed Aug. 23, 2016

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.38
Limited: 3.13
Multiplayer: 3.00
Commander [EDH]: 2.88

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale:
1 - Horrible  3 - Average.  5 - Awesome

Click here to see all of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Qasali Ambusher
 
I remember a conversation I had with somebody back in 2008, where they argued that this card was "stone-cold" proof that the Ravnica dual lands were going to be reprinted imminently. Why would Wizards give us a trick like this unless you could trigger it with just one land? Perhaps because it's actually pretty strong, regardless of how many lands you need for it or the exact colors of your deck. Even just in the environment of the Alara block, it stops an awful lot of one- to three-mana creatures. In constructed, it's a little overly defensive and a little bland compared to other creatures from Naya, but it's not entirely without value, considering that a lot of constructed games are all about saving mana or spending it on as many things as possible.
 
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5
James H.

At Friday Night Magic (FNM), I've gotten a surprising amount of mileage out of this card. It looks fairly innocuous (a 2/3 reach for 3 is a pretty mediocre rate of return), but the effect is far nastier. You get the chance to flash it in for zero mana when someone's attacking you and you control a Forest and a Plains…like a Temple Garden or Canopy Vista, maybe?
 
Qasali Ambusher is a deceptively powerful card, since it trades with or outright crushes a lot of the cards that aggressive decks favor (Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, Delver of Secrets). It's powerful with fetchlands and dual lands with land types, but it can come up short in a less favorable format. Being a 2/3 is also a touch awkward as far as vulnerability to burn spells go in the format.
 
Constructed: 4
Casual: 3.75
Limited: 2.25
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 2.75


Copyright© 1998-2016 pojo.com - Magic the Gathering Card Reviews
This site is not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise affiliated with any of the companies or products featured on this site. This is not an Official Site.