Tomb of Horrors Adventurer – Baldur’s Gate
Date Reviewed: June 7, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 1.00
Casual: 3.00
Limited: 4.00
Multiplayer: 2.67
Commander [EDH]: 3.50
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
If you haven’t looked at the full Battle for Baldur’s Gate card list yet, the main thing you need to know about the initiative mechanic is that it’s currently the only way to access a unique dungeon card (in the style of the “venture” mechanic from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms). That alone makes any of the cards that use initiative interesting; most of them also don’t have much of a downside for using them in a deck of their color. For example, Tomb of Horrors Adventurer would already be reasonable in slower spell-based decks without the dungeon mechanics (think spellslinger decks in Commander, rather than the tempo-based spellslinger decks in tournament play). When you add the dungeon stuff on top, you get a card that can generate a lot of advantage in an environment that’s the right speed for it.
Constructed: 1/5 (again, just because it’s currently only legal in the fastest tournament formats)
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander [EDH]: 3/5
Let’s star from the top: taking the initiative is sort of a weird cross between the monarch mechanic and Adventures int he Forgotten Realms‘ venture into the dungeon; you venture during your upkeep and when you successfully take initiative, be it through a spell that takes it or through damaging a player with it. By default, you can only enter the special Undercity dungeon (which can only be entered this way), but if you’re in one of the three dungeons from the previous go, you can progress through them.
So that brings us to the Tomb of Horrors Adventurer, who has the “second spell matters” mechanic of a lot of monks. Duplicating your second spell in a turn can be fun if you’ve the ability to do so, and copying it twice is even nicer. Unfortunately, as a 4/4 for six mana, this elf leaves a bit to be desired. Still, there are lots of things you can do with initiative, and this seems like one of the fiddlier, albeit rewarding, cards to play around with from the set.
Constructed: 1 (this ain’t moving much of anything in Legacy)
Casual: 4
Limited: 4 (keep in mind that initiative is consistent advantage, and you might be able to snowball that if you can protect yourself suitably_
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
Already a pretty good card on its own for decks specifically trying to spellsling but if you have a dungeon in your commander deck then this card does extra fun goodies. In the right deck it could really turn the tide of the game, I’m thinking in a Kalamax, the Stormsire build would really help this card find the right home it is looking for. A great card in limited as well for the mid-game although the mana value is still a bit too high in my opinion, the card could have at least had flash!
Constructed: 1/5
Casual: 2/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 2/5
Commander [EDH]: 4/5 (In the right deck this could be a lot of fun slinging spells!)
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