Galvanic Arc
This card is one of five common creature
enchantments that give you a powerful secondary
effect to go with a relatively benign "primary"
effect.
Believe me, nobody playing Galvanic Arc cares
that this card is a permanent that actually
gives their creature first strike. A three
casting cost card that deals three damage to a
creature or player is good enough for most
people, in limited play. However, if you play
Galvanic Arc and the creature you are playing it
on is destroyed in response, your Galvanic Arc
will be countered (with no legal target) and you
will have been effectively two-for-one'd. So,
while you have to be careful with this card, it
is still an important card for limited play.
Probably a little worse than Volcanic Hammer
(not in this set) in my opinion. Spending a card
to give a creature first strike has never been a
particularly good idea, and it still isn't.
The only way this card is any good in
constructed is in combo decks built around the
idea of lots of enchantments in one way or
another.
CONSTRUCTED: 2.5
CASUAL: 3.0
LIMITED: 3.5
I'm generally amused by this card. There have
been several cards over the years that do three
damage for three mana. This does the same thing.
It does come with a bonus though. You get to add
the first strike ability to a creature. There
are drawbacks though. You obviously need a
creature in play. And it doesn't happen at
instant speed like other burn spells. I like it
though. I especially like it in limited play.
There have been very few Enchantment - Aura
cards that I have used with success over the
years. Rancor, Armadillo Cloak, Elephant Guide,
etc. have all done some good, but they all had
the ability to swing the game heavily in your
favor. I don't really see Galvanic Arc doing
that. The burn is a nice addition, but would you
play an Enchantment - Aura that just gave first
strike? Neither would I.
For limited play, unfortunately, removal is
removal, and removal tends to be a huge boon to
winning games. Go ahead and sneak Galvanic Arc
into your limited deck, but at least be mildly
embarrassed by it.
This is a great card in limited. I have splashed
a four color deck with the additional red just
to play a couple copies of Arc. It's just too
good. You get an okay ability of first strike,
but the real reason you play it is the 3 damage
you do to some creature, or maybe a player.
Worst comes to worse, you can always enchant
your opponent's creature as you kill it if you
are out of creatures for some reason. I've found
that 3 damage kills most things in this set.
