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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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Gaea's
Cradle
Urza's Saga Rare
Reviewed June 29, 2004
Constructed: 4.2
Casual: 4
Limited: 2.8
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
*
game store owner in CA,
ShuffleAndCut |
One of the most
favored land cards ever, and well deserving of it.
Cradle can accelerate you into many kinds of
madness if you play lots of creatures, especially
weenies like elves. Now add to that some
insane "X" spell, and you've got quite a nice
finish to your game. Just a few of the
combos mentioned below by our CotD staff include:
Fireball,
Stroke of Genius,
Overrun,
Verdant Force, and I could go on and on.
In constructed, it's
amazing, and still one of our hottest sellers.
As you can see by all the reviews below, it's a
staple in MANY decks, and could almost always be
used instead of a Forest if you played creatures.
In limited, it's
playable if you have an X spell to set off, or if
you have some massive creature you'd like to get
out early.
In casual, there are
about as many uses for this card as there are X
spells. Absolutely one of the more fun cards
to build a deck around.
Constructed:
4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3
Current Price:
Gaea's
Cradle -
Urza's Saga - $25.11
Combos
Well With:
Fireball -
Darksteel - $0.99
Stroke of
Genius -
Urza's Saga - $10.35
Overrun -
Odyssey - $1.39
Verdant
Force -
Tempest - $13.73
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Judge
Bill
*Level 2
MTG Judge
*game store employee
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Gaea's Cradle
A great card to have
in green creature decks, as it helps you
acceleration toward Verdant Force and other
similar green fatties. It also has an Archetype
named for it - "Elf-Ball," which uses the mana
from it and creatures like Llanowar Elves to
accelerate into a big Fireball (or similar burn
spell) to finish you off, or an Overrun or two
to attack for the win instead.
Great for casual
decks, as it helps you get the mana to cast
bigger spells.
Again, this is also
banned in block constructed.
I wouldn't want this
in sealed. It provides acceleration, but the
acceleration comes too slow for it to make any
real difference.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 1.5
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Jonathan
Pechon
2 Grand
Prix Top 8's
Multiple Pro Tour
appearances |
Gaea’s
Cradle
Guy A: “I like
Elves!”
Guy B: “You don’t
say…”
Guy A: “No, I mean, I
really like Elves. Lots of them. I like
‘em everywhere. They’re great! I make soooooo
much mana!”
Guy B: “Right…I’m
going to go over here now.”
Guy A: “Fireball you
for 40 with my Elves and Cradle! HAHAHHAHAHAHA!”
This somewhat
simulated conversation is kinda how it feels to
play with Cradle; that rush of being able to
cast…well, anything, is pretty powerful. Between
various Elf deck, Cradle has fueled Opposition
decks, Rebel decks, Secret Force, and pretty much
anything else that was able to spit out a slew of
creatures. This is raw power at a level we
probably will not see again.
You like creatures,
you like lots of mana, you like this card. It’s a
great option for Mental at times, it’s good just
to drop eight guys into play and go to town. Fun
for everyone involved, especially if you’re the
guy at the table with Cradle while everyone else
is stuck with theirs in their hands.
This was a kinda
strange card in limited; you never wanted to have
this be the only land in your hand when you were
starting the game. Obviously it could be
situationally powerful, but it was better to just
rare-draft it and let it rest in your sideboard
until you found a pile of Elves that needed to be
made into a deck.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 2.0
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Ray
"Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer |
Gaea’s
Cradle:
While the Cradle is
not Academy, it’s certainly close enough to create
such decks as Elf Balls, and the Green Blue Hermit
Druid deck from Urza’s Block. This card has had
the most longevity of these cards, mainly because
creatures are what the casual decks are all about,
and a card that rewards you for playing creatures
is a Good Thing ™ to casual players. While it
doesn’t fit in every deck, it certainly comes
close in the casual world. If your deck uses green
mana, and has creatures, this is the card for you.
Constructed:
5
Casual:
4
Limited:
2
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DeQuan
Watson |
This card is soooo
much fun. I loved this card and played it every
chance I got. I wish I had a good deck for it
in extended right now. I'd gladly play the hell
out of it. Casual players love this card to
death. In limited play, it doesn't have a lot
of value, but honestly...who cares. It's still
amazing for everything else :)
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 1.5
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Andy
Van Zandt |
Gaea's
Cradle
One of the cards most often shoved into decks that
don't really need it,
just because it's better than another forest most
of the time. Then,
sometimes it produces a very large amount of
mana. Probably most famous for
its use in Elf Ball decks, to power up huge
fireballs after you swarm in
for a couple damage.
constructed 4
casual 4
limited 4.5 |
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Chase
Secret Squirrel
on the
Pojo.com
Message
Boards |
Gaea’s
Cradle
This one I know is
definitely good. Great in Extended in basically
any mono/two color green deck. This plus birds,
elves, and any of the hundreds (well not really)
green creatures gets your fatties out earlier than
usual. Play
Crush of Worms..haha , hmm not really,
anything really. It’s been a staple in plenty of
decks, and should stay that way until it rotates
out of extended.
Definitely good in
limited too, though not as much, still speed is
speed, and this provides speed every turn.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4
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w00t |
Gaea's
Cradle -
Constructed - Lets
think of it's abilitys here.
Turn 1 : Forest,
Birds of Paradise.
Turn 2 - Forest,
Rofellos, Bop.
Turn 3: Gaeas
Cradle. How much mana do we have here? 9 Mana.
On turn 3!!!! You can cast Biorythym + Shock or
unsummon with that mana! Or you can cast a
Masticore + Derranged Hermit. You can go many
routes, with your 9 mana beast. Gaea's Cradle
can be a quick "Mana Isn't a problem" card.
Casual - Casual
players love critters. Gaea's Cradle Loves
Critters. See the connection?? Use it with the
usual small critters, and then quickly power up
to a turn 3 Silvos. In any creature heavy green
deck, this card can be the mana needed to cast
the large boys quick.
Constructed - 3.5
Casual - 3.0
Limited - N/A
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