I think we all remember that summer in our
youth, when an older, more experienced woman
entered our life briefly, whispering promises of
bunrei in our ears. Huh, what? Oh, sorry, I was
just watching this old Dustin Hoffman movie.
Promise of Bunrei may not be delicious enough to
fit into too many serious constructed decks, but
the ability to get four 1/1 creatures in play
from one card costing only three mana sounds
good to me. This card will be a no-brainer
addition to any white deck, though not
necessarily a really early pick in drafts.
This has got to be one of my most favorite cards
out of this set. It is great for weenie decks.
It's even useful for slower control decks in
some ways. I'd expect this card to be popular
among the casual crowds. And you most definitely
want this in your deck is you are drafting white
cards. It's strong all around. I love it.
I have no clue what to think of this card. It
very well could be good, especially since it is
supplying your side of the board with four 1/1
tokens. It comes at a relatively low cost, and
the condition for activation is easily met. My
only issue is where to put it. The only deck
that immediately jumps forth is White Weenie,
since you know that a few of your creatures will
die over the course of the game, but even there,
what do you take out to make room for it? And
aren't you eating up an important turn by
playing this card over Glorious Anthem? Maybe I
am overanalyzing it.
You know what the best part about this card is?
The fact that it isn't Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant
or Enduring Ideal, which gave me lackluster
feelings about this set. Expect to see Promise
of Bunrei in at least one or two decks over the
course of the next few months.
As for limited play, I absolutely love Promise
of Bunrei. It isn't often that someone can make
a limited deck that isn't based around "my
creatures are better than your creatures", so
almost every game you find Promise of Bunrei, it
will serve some purpose.
Hmm...
Promise definitely will make your opponent
think twice about messing with your creatures,
or even about attacking, for that matter, which
would give you the opportunity to chump block
and use Promise. While Promise is more of a
stall tactic than a win condition, there is also
the win possibility under certain conditions.
But stall is more its style as it basically
gives you some chumps or attackers while you set
up something bigger or more expensive.
As for constructed, time will tell if this will
find a deck. I'm going to guess no, but who
knows at this point. In casual, not quite
exciting enough. In limited, you DEFINITELY play
Promise if you are going white at all.
