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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day
Daily Since November 2001!


Image from Wizards.com

Pale Recluse
Alara Reborn

Reviewed April 16, 2009

Constructed: 2.65
Casual: 3.65
Limited: 3.85
Multiplayer: 3.00

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Pale Recluse

First of all, if I'm reading this right, you can cycle it for a Forest OR a Plains, not one of each, and no you can't pay 4 and cycle it for both abilities. But even so, big fat expensive creature with cycling has always been a recipe for success. Draw it early, you go get yourself a land out of your deck. Draw it late, drop it as a 4/5 with reach. Versatility is a valued quality of cards.

Constructed- 3
Casual- 3.5
Multiplayer- 3
Limited- 3.5

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Pale Recluse

Looking at this card, I feel a little bad for Esper - despite their mastery of metallurgy, it never occurred to them that they would ever need a can of bug spray big enough for this guy. The days of one landcycling card being able to get four different lands are long gone; if history rhymes, as Mark Twain said, this little big guy is the new Eternal Dragon. Now all we need is a multicolor version of Astral Slide . . .

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
The Missing Linc

-Balding for just over 5 years
-Playing MTG for just over 10

Pale Recluse

A limited friend. However, not much to say beyond that. For 6 mana, the creature needs to do something more than average. The reach aspect is nice. Often green has problems with the flyers and there is not much out there that can get past this fellows 5 toughness. Early on, you can cycle which is also nice. I hope they print one of these multi-cyclers that works well in reanimator. As multiplayer games give you a little more time, this guy might be more playable.

Constructed: 2
Casual: 3
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3

DeQuan
Watson

* Game Store Owner
Pale Recluse - Thursday

It seems like we have a spider or two appear in every set. So, if you're a fan, here's another one ..

I find it interesting that this card has three relevant abilities. One of them is Reach, which most spiders in the game seem to have. That's not a huge deal, but it comes with both Forestcycling and Plainscycling. We don't see much of either ability lately. This does increase the chances of Pale Recluse seeing some play though. Normally, you'd look at a card with such a high casting cost and toss it aside.

This time though, you're getting some solid mana fixing along with a 4/5 body. It almost makes Reach a bonus feature.

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3

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