Tishana’s Tidebinder – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Date Reviewed: December 22, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.50
Casual: 4.13
Limited: 4.13
Multiplayer: 4.00
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale: 1 is bad; 3 is average; 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
This card was not on my Top 10 list.
I was rather blindsided by Tishana’s Tidebinder (see above) – it’s much more effective than it might read, and it works on a shocking number of things. Considering the kinds of abilities that people make use of in bigger formats, you can not only prevent an opponent from winning the game, but effectively win it yourself. If nothing else, you now have an efficient attacker, possibly with a lot of kindred effects backing it up. I underestimated that a lot when it first came out, but the part I almost didn’t notice was the thing about planeswalkers: if you counter one of their loyalty-raising abilities, they’re barred from building towards their ultimate or generating value in that way that makes tables and sometimes formats tilt towards them. Your opponent actively needs to get rid of the Tidebinder, or play a second copy to legend-rule the original off the table. That’s not a very efficient way to play planeswalkers, and if you have trouble against Magic’s most popular and polarizing card type, this is just the card for you.
And on top of all that, the art looks like a scene from a Conan or Pellucidar story, and I support such things one hundred percent.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander: 4
This card was 4th on my Top 10 list.
Stifle effects aren’t the most common things to come upon, so it stands out when we get a good one. Tishana’s Tidebinder is actually a pretty excellent one, all things considered: in addition to the Stifle, if you hit a creature, planeswalker, or artifact, then their activated abilities are turned off until Tishana’s Tidebinder leaves. While a 3/2 is hardly the hardest thing to remove, Merfolk are famous for their deep support pool, and she slots in well as both an additional weapon for the deck ad a good, catch-all check that will rarely be left wanting. And, in addition to its potent effect, this still is a 3/2 with flash that can trade up in a pinch.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.25
Multi0layer: 4
Commander: 4.25 (icing down a Commander is often more effective than just removing it)
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