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

Soul Warden
Image from Wizards.com

Soul Warden
M10

Reviewed September 15, 2009

Constructed: 2.75
Casual: 3.75
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 3.75

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

Soul Warden

Many an aggro deck has been frustrated by this little 1/1 hitting the table on turn one. Many a combo deck has hit seven-digit life totals or more with her in play. And many a game of M10 draft have been swayed by the incremental advantage this gal generates, turn after turn. It may seem small, but Soul Warden is a reminder to us all that small things add up over time.

Constructed- 2
Casual- 3
Multiplayer- 4
Limited- 3.3

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Soul Warden

A classic favorite from the days of Exodus, and still a favorite to this very day. Soul Warden is at her best as part of a combo - with tokens, Whitemane Lion, Crypt Champion, Equilibrium, or others - but is far from disappointing even when facing one or more opponents' worth of "regular" creatures.

In fact, the only problem I can think of with this card is that Essence Warden is equally cool, and they can't both be in the same core set!

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Miguel

Tuesday

9-15-09

 

Soul Warden

 

Constructed: I have not heard or seen any infinite combo for Standard.

 

Casual & Multiplayer: It is a common now. Pair it up with it's green counterpart and start dropping them in a big multiplayer game to start gaining life. Of course they will be kill as soon as possible. They never stay out very long.

 

Limited: The make for longer games. With some of the good control in M10 the little extra life could win you the game. Sometimes, it is true.

 

Overall a good reprint again sort of like yesterday's.

 

Constructed: 3

Casual: 4

Multiplayer: 4

Limited: 3

 

Later

Miguel

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno Today's card of the day is the one mana 1/1 life gaining Soul Warden from M10. A possibly easy to overlook card that is useful in a support role and often left alive by opponents long enough to equal a noticeable increase in life points for the controller.

In Constructed and Casual the Soul Warden is a good drop at one mana if life gain is your primary or secondary goal. Otherwise a more aggressive or directly defensive option can help you win the game. Life Gain does not win games by itself, but it can be useful when it is attached to other effects and cards.

With Limited if playing White you have no reason not to play every copy of this card that you see. It increases your life total and is a 1/1 for one, which is always useful in this format. While the life gain doesn't help you win it can certainly make losing more difficult as most aggressive decks will rely on creatures to win. Effects that return creatures to hand or deck are especially useful as it forces a second casting of the target for added life gain. In Sealed this should be in every White build you have as this is the only common one mana creature available to you. In Booster Draft I'd consider this a relatively high choice after removal as it is useful with no particular downside. I do not consider it the type of card one should hate draft though which makes the high rating seem a bit strange. This is the kind of card that is good without being truly powerful causing it to have a fairly unique interpretation during drafts.

For Multiplayer it is not surprising that this card gains usefulness as the number of opponents increases. If defended in some way your life can quickly grow to levels that may cause some opponents to decide attacking other players first is more efficient. This strategy coupled with cards that win based on your life total can be a viable style of play until your gaming group realizes what is going on.

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.0

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