This is the first gold card to make a real
difference in constructed tournaments in Magic's
modern era, an era that I consider to have
started in 1995 with the coming of Type II (now
called Standard) constructed play. Back then,
lots of people added a little red to their
mostly-green Ernham Djinn decks in order to fit
Stormbind. More importantly, the green/white
Ernham-Geddon deck archetype even splashed a
little red for a few copies of Stormbind and
some Lightning Bolts back in the day. I never
think of this card as a limited card, because we
didn't play much limited back then, but it WOULD
have been quite good in Ice Age block limited.
I sure am glad I looked at this card's current
wording before writing my review of it. New
wording has made this card require you to have
the card in hand to discard.
That said, I can't say that I dislike Stormbind.
It is hardly the greatest damage spell ever
created, but having a recurring source of damage
on the board is never a bad thing, right? My
only concern is that you can only effectively
use Stormbind when you either (A) can win right
now, (B) have nothing good in hand, or (C) are
willing to dedicate to Stormbind as your win
condition this game.
Much like other gold cards, the biggest
restriction to Stormbind is that you have to be
in both red and green to play this card.
Stormbind is a classic card that hasn’t stood
the test of time very well. When it first saw
play, it was part of a very good Green/Red “Good
Stuff” deck that featured lots of direct damage
and removal and big creatures. The ability of
Stormbind to consistently do a large amount of
damage in the mid to late game made it a
powerhouse. Today, the only formats where
Stormbind is legal are way too fast for this
card. Stormbind was an excellent card back when
everyone was playing “fair” Magic. In a world of
quick-kill combo decks and free countermagic,
though, Stormbind unfortunately has seen its
best days pass it by.
um...is this coming back or something? Stormbind
uses opposing colors to...um...do something
neither color is known for. Random. Dumping
cards from your hand for only 2 damage can get
cumbersome and really hurt you in the long run.
And Green and Black are not known for drawing,
so the thought of replenishing your hand isn't
going to happen. Meh.
