This is a cute card. It can effectively stop any
creature from attacking or blocking. I suppose
it's similar to pacifism in this way. It has the
added bonus of giving a creature the ability to
produce any color mana. This can work for you or
against. When you need to stop a creature from
hitting you (or blocking) it's decent. But you
also have to be aware that you are giving your
opponent accelerated mana production. You can
use it on your own creature though to gain a
mana advantage of your own if its needed as
well. There are a few different ways to use this
card. I don't think it's going to ever be on
your list of first choice cards to make the cut
though.
My first though on this card is that it was a
mana accelerant. I tried to think what creature
Green had that it wouldn't mind enchanting with
this, and what you'd be acclerating to. Then I
realized it's actually a Pacifism variant--
you're supposed to enchant your opponent's
creatures with it. The mana ability is
irrelevant there, since if your opponent can
play a big creature, they likely have all the
mana they need already. Now I've come back
full-circle to thinking you should use it
yourself for the mana, maybe in a 3, 4, or
5-color deck. In limited it's gold-- green
doesn't get any creature removal beyond this,
and you might need the color fixing.
Utopia Vow -
Most of the new spins on old colors I like quite
a bit. They provide colors with tools they've
never had before. This, I don't like very much.
Pacifying your opponent's creatures is good, but
not when you're giving them resources. This is
best played in the late game to remove a big
threat when mana is already abundant. And don't
ever think of playing it on your own creature.
This card is another real head-scratcher. It's
good in limited as a pacifism effect already.
However, you give the opponent a full turn of
mana development over you. It might be worth it
if you can hit their bomb. Then, as with
pacifism, an untimely disenchant can ruin your
day. You can also drop it on your critter that
you weren't going to be swinging or blocking
with anyway (Essence Warden, perhaps) to develop
your own mana further. It has a lot of creative
uses, but I don't see it making a splash outside
of limited.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 3
Limited - 4
Aethereal
Utopia Vow
One of the more debated cards from the set, this
shuts down a creature but accelerates and fixes
their mana. If you really wanted to, you could
play this on your guy to fix your mana, but I'd
only do that in a desperate situation. This has
absolutely no place in constructed, as you
already have better cards (Faith's Fetters, for
instance).
In casual, nah. Just play Fetters, Arrest, etc.
In limited is where the debate comes in. If it
showed up early in the pack and I was light on
removal, I'd snap it up, but I'd probably skip
it if I were set on removal already unless it
was clearly the best card in the pack. The
usefulness of it varies highly with what you
already have in your pool. I imagine when Future
Sight hits this might get more popular, as it'll
be in pack two and not pack three.
