Briarknit Kami
This creature gives you a lot for its 3GG
casting cost. You get a spirit that lets you
make a creature bigger, by one +1/+1 counter,
PERMANENTLY...each time you play a Spirit or
Arcane card while the Briarknit Kami is in play.
This abilty could get out of hand quickly. In
booster draft, this card becomes a first pick
not because it's the best green card ever
printed, but because when you get around to
opening your Saviors pack in a
Champions/Betrayers/Saviors booster draft, you
will have a very good idea of "how green" your
deck is going to be and you will have a good
idea of how much Briarknit Kami will be able to
help your deck. There is probably no green card
in Saviors that you can hope for more. This card
doesn't appear to have much of a future ahead of
it in the world of constructed play, however,
too slow and a little too small.
CONSTRUCTED: 2.0
CASUAL: 3.0
LIMITED: 3.5
This guy wouldn't be sooo much better if it just
cost one less mana. As it stands, it's a tad bit
too expansive to play in constructed I think. In
limited however, this card is brilliant. They
becomes a must kill card for your opponent. This
card might prove to have a little more power in
kamigawa block constructed later this year, but
until then, we'll just have to wait and see.
It looks like where they had been slowly coming
along with Spirit and Arcane spells during
Champions and Betrayers of Kamigawa, Wizards of
the Coast has gone all out to make them playable
in Saviors of Kamigawa. I'm not sure Briarknit
Kami quite makes the cut even in a deck
constructed to abuse Spirit and Arcane spells;
he's just doesn't seem like he would get rolling
soon enough for my liking. However, if you can
keep Briarknit Kami on the table for more than
one or two turns while playing Spirit and Arcane
spells, he can turn into a complete powerhouse.
In limited, I have to change my tune a little
bit. There are a *ton* of Spirit and Arcane
spells in Saviors -- enough to have over half of
your deck made out of them. With this as the
case, Briarknit Kami can easily become a
game-breaking creature. If you are into green, I
would suggest playing Briarknit Kami in your
sealed or draft deck.
While WAY too slow for constructed, I do like
this Kami for limited. In a focused Spirit deck
(which is very easy to come up with in draft),
he can really add a punch to your board.
Opponent's will jump through hoops to off him.
His downfall is that he is a bit slow for the
draft environment, as you'll see many games over
by turn 7 or 8. If you can accelerate him down
though, it's good times...make sure you're
grabbing the tiny bit of acceleration available
in your Champions pack picks....after that, it's
almost impossible.
In casual, this could be fun in slower
environments if you're going with a
Spirit/Arcane build. I'd throw it in for fun and
see how it runs for you.
