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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
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Image from Wizards.com |
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Leonin
Shikari
Reviewed February 5, 2004
Constructed: 3.1
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 2.9
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
Click here to see all
our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Chris
Gerhardt
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game store owner in CA,
ShuffleAndCut.com |
Sorry I've been
away. Scott and I went to Vegas for 5 days
and had a great time. We actually won some
money. I played table poker for the first
time since really learning the ins and outs of it,
and came away up. Hooray!
Leonin Sh*tkicker -
At least, that's what Scott relishes calling it.
Hmm... seems it's a she. Well, while she is
decent, without her ability, as a bear (a "bear"
is a 2/2 creature for 2 mana, nicknamed such after
the card Grizzly Bears), her ability is what makes
Leonin a true shiznit-kicker. Moving
equipment at instant speed opens a huge door of
possibilities. The most obvious combo is with
Lightning Greaves. Now "Lightning" takes on new
meaning since you eliminate any targeting of your
creatures since you can move Greaves for 0 mana.
You can also move Greaves off of your own creature
anytime so you CAN target it if need be. Nice,
nice, nice. Then add the possibilities of all the
other equipment out there, and you can see why
this ability is so game changing.
In constructed, the
jury is still out whether this card will make
White Weenie viable again. I'm hoping it will, as
I would love to see it come of age again. If it
does happen, Shikari will probably have a big hand
in it. As far as type 1.tabletop, Leonin
Shikari is what Casual play is all about. Some
highly abusable ability taken to the limits of
abusiveness. This card makes equipment fun, and
casual players will undoubtedly find a niche for
it. In limited, you have to have the equipment
available to abuse, but if you do and you're going
white, be sure Shiz-kicka makes the cut.
Constructed:
3 (jury's out)
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Current Price: $10
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Judge
Bill
*Level 2
MTG Judge
*game store employee
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Thursday - Leonin
Shikari
The biggest boon
to a possible White Weenie deck in a while.
This will help move your power and toughness
boosting equipment where it needs to be. You
will see some attempted use of this and
Lightning Greaves, but the Greaves isn't a
card that should be in a White Weenie deck,
as it is non-synergistic (that is, they
cards don't fit). Good to have, but not as
great as has been said.
In casual, the
aforementioned combo with Lightning Greaves
will see A LOT of play. And for good reason,
as 99% of the removal in casual is targeted.
In limited, the
ability to move equipment around at instant
speed is nice, but this isn't something I
would force into my deck. If it fit, though,
I would play it.
Constructed:
2.75
Casual: 4
Limited: 3
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DeQuan
Watson
* game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX)
* pro tour player
* Scrye writer since 2002 |
Thursday -
Leonin Shikari
This is another card from Darksteel that is
hugely popular right out of the gates. Right
now, I've viewing this guy as just another bear
(2/2 man for two mana). I think it does have
some uses, but where does it fit in. It almost
has to be in a weenie deck that can abuse all of
the equipment. However, I feel that if you are
eating up those slots with a couple more
equipment cards and obviously adding four more
creatures (Shikari), then you might be taking
away any good removal or utility spells from the
deck.
This guy is a casual deck all-star though I
would imagine. There are a ton of neat things
you can do. It would be fun to build some casual
decks with this card to see the possibilities.
Whether I play this guy in limited or not will
be solely dependent on how my draft turned out
in regard to my equipment situation.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4.7
Limited: 2.5 |
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Jeff Zandi
5 Time Pro Tour
Veteran
Level 2 Judge |
Leonin Shikari
Another great 2/2 for two mana addition to
current white weenie strategies, Leonin Shikari
does something else important for constructed
play; he makes equipment more realistically
playable. With Leo in play, you can equip
Lightning Greaves (for zero mana cost) at
instant speed to any of your creatures,
effectively countering the creature elimination
card your opponent just tried to target your
creature with. What if your opponent responds
with an instant like Shrapnel Blast to destroy
your Leonin Shikari?
You simply respond by equipping the Shikari with
the Greaves, countering the Blast. Equipping at
instant speed changes everything where equipment
is concerned. Instant speed makes equipment GOOD
ENOUGH for constructed (some equipment was
already good enough for constructed). As a a
rare, Leonin Shikari doesn’t figure to make much
of a difference in limited, and white players in
those formats are already drafting all the
equipment they can.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.5
CASUAL: 3.0
LIMITED: 3.5 |
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Andy
Van Zandt |
Leonin Shikari
Best dude for white weenie here... jump that
splitter, mask of memory, empyrial plate, or
clamp around as blockers best suit. lets equip
work on your first striker and a normal damager.
Very scary in limited for both these reasons,
all in a reasonable grizzly bear.
constructed 3.1
casual 2.9
limited 3.2 |
Ray
"Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer |
Leonin Shikari
This card won my “cool factor” award when I
first saw it for the set. The amazing things you
can do in limited with this guy are stunning.
This guy with the Bola…. Good times. This guy
with the LongBow…. Good times.. This guy with
just about any equipment… Good Times. It’s even
playable in constructed white weenie being a 2/2
for 1W, although there are certainly better
choices out there. In casual, it should be good
for some equipment fun for those of you
capitalizing on this blocks new card type.
Casual: 3
Constructed: 2
Limited: 5 |
Jason
Matthews
* Level 1 DCI
Judge
*game store employee
* gaming for over 15 years |
Thursday-Leonin
Shikari
Well I don’t know about everyone else in the
magic world but I was not a fan of equipment
because of the fact that you couldn’t move it at
instant speed and with this guy you can. I think
that when you add this guy and Lightning Greeves
together you get a nasty combination. In just
about every form of magic you can have a lot of
fun with this guy as long as you back him up
with the proper equipment. He is an all around
good creature. In a game where you usually don’t
get a secondary ability for a 2/2 that cost 2 it
makes the guy a bargain.
Constructed 3
Casual 3
Limited 3 |
Jonathan
Pechon
2 Grand
Prix Top 8's
Multiple Pro Tour
appearances |
Leonin Shikari
The Grizzly Bear just don’t cut it any more, heh.
This guy, along with Skullclamp and the Swords,
does some really interesting things to possibly
make White Weenie into a really aggressive deck
again. Lightning Greaves helps to make this guy
even more silly if you look at the Goblins
matchup. However, there really just isn’t enough
of a space in constructed right now for this
deck…though I’m really hoping I’m wrong.
The goodness of this guy in limited directly
corresponds to the number and quality of
equipment in your deck. If you’re the guy with
Greaves/Skullclamp/etc. etc. then this guy
should probably be a fairly high pick.
Otherwise, he’s just okay.
I really don’t know if equipment is seeing that
much play in multiplayer and whatnot. I would
suspect not.
Constructed: 3.25
Limited: 2.5 up to 3.75
Casual: 1.5 |
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Chase |
Leonin Shikari
Could this card make WW come on top of Type 2? I
doubt it but it will come close. 2/2 for 2 is
good all by itself, but the fact that you can
equip a Lightning Greaves or whatever at Instant
speed makes any deck running burn get worried.
This card says “kill me NOW” in WW. Equip
Loxodon Warhammer right before damage is on the
stack and you gain at least 3 life while dealing
trample damage. I think Lightning Greaves is the
most powerful trick with this, as most every
deck is running some kind of creature
destruction, but even a Bonespliter can easily
catch them off guard. WW may still be weak for
whatever reason, but my Gobos and I will be
watching out for this card.
In Casual, it’s decent, but equipment is still
fairly new and there aren’t too many of them
around. This easily shortens your deck to a
pretty close version of Type 2 WW. For now, it
isn’t that good, but after more equipment is
released in Earth and various other sets, this
will be better.
In Limited, it’s a 2/2 for 2 and allows you to
play your random equipments faster. But it’s bad
because you can’t focus a limited deck on
abusing equipment. No thanks.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 2
Limited: 1.5
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