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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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Barter
in Blood
Mirrodin
Reviewed January 16, 2005
Constructed: 2.72
Casual: 2.25
Limited: 3.29
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
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Card of the Day Reviews
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Jeff Zandi
5
Time Pro Tour
Veteran
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Barter in Blood
This card was a top pick in Mirrodin limited
formats, featuring a subtle way
to gain both card and board advantage. Often,
when you drew Barter in Blood
and had a similiar number of creatures in play
as your opponent, the move
was to start double blocking their most powerful
attacks. Then, after
apparently weakening your board position by
losing all of your creatures
while leaving, say, one or two powerful
creatures on their side of the
board, you could play Barter in Blood and clean
up the rest of the board.
Other times, the trade off would be even better.
You might play a mana
producing Talisman on turn two while your
opponent plays his first and then
his second creature. Then, on your third or
fourth turn, you can play Barter
in Blood to get a two cards to one advantage. In
any case, there is almost
always a way to gain advantage with Barter in
Blood. Cagey opponents,
realizing this, may make a conscious effort to
keep at least one or two
creatures on their side of the board that they
really don't care about in
order to defend against your Barter in Blood.
Not useful enough for
constructed formats.
CONSTRUCTED: 2.0
CASUAL: 3.0
LIMITED: 3.5 |
Ray "Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer |
Barter in Blood
There are cards that just don't go in every
deck, and this one is pretty high up on that
list. In a creature heavy deck, where you often
lose the same amount of creatures they do, this
card tends to not work very well. But in a
control oriented deck, this card is amazing,
giving you two for one advantage, and forcing
your opponent to play slow or risk higher loses,
which is what a control deck really wants, a
long game. In limited this card shines as well,
as you can often set up for this card to work in
your favor. In casual format, it depends on the
format, but in multi player, it's sure to get a
lot of people hating you.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 2
Limited: 2 |
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DeQuan
Watson
* game store owner (The
Game Closet - Waco,TX) |
Barter
in Blood - Friday
I have to say, this card isn't as good as
Diabolic Edict or Chainer's Edict even. But
it's definitely one of the few ways to get
players to sacrifice creatures. It's not in a
lot of decks, but it's huge in the decks that
it's in. Casual players will likely stray away
form this card because it makes BOTH players
sacrifice two creatures. So you have to be
really careful when playing this card.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 2
Limited: 3.5 |
Paul
Hagan |
Barter in Blood
--
There isn't a lot of non-targeted removal in
Black right now, and that only serves to make
Barter in Blood a better card. I cannot count
the number of games that I have seen Barter in
Blood swing -- taking an opponent from two
creatures to none can be devestating, especially
if you don't have any creatures on the board at
the time to lose. Barter's cost isn't great, but
it is acceptable for what it does.
In limited, I'll definitely play Barter in
Blood, but it seems like each time I do, I wind
up losing a little bit more than I would like.
It can be a game-saver, but be careful with the
timing, as it can actually wind up giving your
opponent more of an advantage than you have.
Constructed Rating: 3.0
Casual Rating: 2.5
Limited Rating: 3.0 |
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Andy
Van Zandt |
Barter In Blood
Obviously strong in your opening hand, or in a
deck or situation where you don't plan on having
creatures out when you cast it (or when you
don't care if you lose a few). Not as focused or
versatile as chainer's edict, but good in
different situations or in combination, and
particularly good against tooth-and-nail, if it
has some support.
constructed 2.5
casual 1.5
limited 3.5 |
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Chris
Gerhardt
*
game store owner
(Shuffle and Cut) |
Barter
in Blood
An
interesting control card for Black.
While it's a bit high costed for
some decks, it might find a place in
Casual decks that revolve around its
theme if you play against creature
decks that give you problems. In
limited, in the right heavy black
deck, it also has its uses.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 2.5
Limited - 3
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Scott
Gerhardt |
Barter in Blood
I like this
little gem. It's a double edict for both
players and if you're a control oriented player,
can serve as a Wrath. Even better, if you have
token generators, you might be able to wrath
them and keep yourself alive. I think this has
more casual use than constructed to be utilized
properly, but it's clearly not bad. In limited,
it's completely awesome - a very early pick.
Constructed: 3
Limited: 4.5
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