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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
Shivan
Dragon
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Shivan Dragon - 7th & Older sets
4rr
Flying
r- +1/+0 until end of turn
Pojo's Average
Rating -
Constructed: 3.50
Limited: 5.00
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2001
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating.
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DeQuan
Watson
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I
give the Shivan Dragon a 3. In many ways,
the card is almost a 4. The problem is that
the environment isn't friendly to big creatures
right now. With cards like Terminate and
Vindicate running around, big creatures run and
hide. However, in the right deck, a card of
this caliber can be a great finisher. One
also has to take note that the Shivan Dragon has a
5 toughness. This makes him immune to
Flametongue Kavu, which was probably the most
played card at State Champion tournaments
everywhere. If this guy hits the board and
your opponent can't deal with it, it will most
likely win the game. It's a good finisher
and is still playable. |
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Fletcher
Peatross
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Shivan. Rawr.
In limited this bad boy is easily a 5.
He is the card you want to open if red is your
favorite color, or if any color is your
favorite. Dragons are always a dominate
force in Limited and he is one of the kings.
In constructed his casting cost has proved
prohibitive and he is most likely only a 3 at
best. Shivan used to make the cut in
constructed though, even when Swords to
Plowshares could take him out for one mana.
He will always be the King of red.
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Aaron
Teare
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rating: ****
Shivan IS Magic: the
Gathering. Period.
Technically he
should be only three stars since he costs a
whopping 4RR, but he makes up for it by being a
bad mama-jamma!!
Aaron Teare
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John B
Turpish
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A very
efficient creature that, unlike the
Vampiric variety, is at a cost where it
might get a whiff of the in-play zone.
Although most commonly associated with the
casual player, there's no real reason it
can't be competitive if the situation
calls for it. I have a hard time
using it myself, because it doesn't really
fit into any sort of strategy I ever use
in a deck. The downside, and there's
always a downside, is that to make truly
good use of it you have to be essential
mono red due to the double-specific cost
and the ability that is only limited by
your access to red mana. In type 2
mono red isn't very powerful, even with a
small splash. If you intend to play
this big monster in mono red or base red
with a small splash, then your deck has to
be full of removal so you can survive G/R
beats. What's wrong with that?
Other decks plan on red removal, and use
cards like Galina's Knight, Voice of All,
Nimble Mongoose, Blurred Mongoose, et al..
In less restrictive formats
you have better options, especially with
the greater emphasis on speed. I just
can't see where I'd be able to use him as
things currently stand. I guess he'll just
sit in trade binders waiting for the
appropriate field for him to engulf in
flammable exhalations. Rating = 2
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Scott
Gerhardt
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Shivan Dragon - one of the classic
beatdown creatures that has existed since the game
began. At a 5/5 flier for 6 mana, it's still quite
potent, even in today's environment.
In red control, like Ponza, Shivan is a
tremendous finisher. Provided you can strip black
of it's removal first, Shivan is quite difficult
to get past, due to being incredibly hard to burn
out. Blue would undoubtedly have to waste a
counter on it, or have a Persuasion in hand, and
White will undoubtedly have to Wrath, nailing only
the Shivan.
I like the card because it is definitely a MUST
deal with card. If you don't, you're dead, and
probably dead in 2 turns. Now, I will admit, I
might just be a little sentimental on the card,
but I really feel that it might have a place in
today's environment. It's too slow for Extended,
but Standard might be the place for it.
In limited, it's completely savage and would
always be a 1st pick if going to colors, and definitely
a reason to look at red, no matter when you see it
in a draft.
New Constructed: 4.0
Old Constructed: 3.0
Constructed Potential: 3.5
Limited: 5.0
Overall Rating: 3.875
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Jason
Chapman |
Shivan
Dragon - Rating 4 1/2
6 mana for a
5/5 flyer is solid, especially in a
color that has almost 0 access to decent
flyers. Then all of a sudden you realize
that he can pump and you have a critter
to love. I have even seen him in Sligh
builds even though he is off the mana
curve, I guess they just like that game
finishing damage. Only drawback is that
the card is so direct and aggressive.
Well, I suppose that if you had a
problem with that you would be playing
Red . . .
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John
Hornberg |
Before I commence with my little
rant, I want to make one thing absolutely clear -
Shivan Dragon is a good card.
Shivan is good, he’s one of the best cards in
7th, which was surprisingly useless.
Again, like Bamboozle, this card has yet to find a
home. It could fit into a mono-red deck, but the
problem with it is that it does cost six mana to
play.
The double red in it’s casting cost also
makes the card hard to splash, of course he is
better to play in a red/green or red/black deck
than splashing another color for one of the
Legendary Dragons from Invasion.
Now, mana cost, as proven with Vampiric Dragon,
does account for a lot. The cheaper the better,
the faster the better, and unfortunately, Shivan
Dragon isn’t really any of those. That’s why I
give him a 3. He’s better than some cards, but
for the decks he meant for simply don’t need
him.
In Draft, however, throw everything I said out
the window. It doesn’t get past you, even if you’re
not playing red. Still, I don’t think anyone
would draft 7th in the first
place. It’s a 5 here.
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