Skinshifter makes a decent two drop, but I
wouldn't drop it on turn two. This guy's ability
to become a beefy ground pounder, an evasive
2/2, or a font of toughness on command is a
solid ability-- enough so that if I controlled
one, I'd want G up at all times, and if my
opponent had one, I'd be ever vigilant for that
opportunity when Skinshifter was stuck in a form
I could kill. The once per turn limit on the
ability is what breaks it though-- shifting it
into a Bird is tempting for a color that doesn't
usually get flying, but that leaves it stuck in
Shock range for the turn as well. It's a shame
you can't really use the ability as a combat
trick-- if you attack as a 1/1, becoming the
Bird won't help if your opponent's already
blocked. So you become the 4/4 or the 0/8,
depending on how and if your opponent blocks.
Still, that 8 toughness will be sweet if you can
get it in response to a burn spell, and this is
a very attractive creature to put Equipment on,
since you get to improve the best of all three
worlds.
Eventide was a rather difficult set for my
playgroup to assimilate into our collections, as
it had a higher-than-average concentration of
cards whose effects involved the verbs "become"
and "copy," and none of us were as comfortable
with that aspect of the rules as we could have
been (especially considering how long we'd been
playing!). The restrictions on Skinshifter will
make it a little easier to digest, but they also
seem to have been designed to prevent it from
acting the way Morphling used to ("as long as I
have mana untapped, this guy is going to kill
all of your creatures and also can't die. So
there"). Still, it's a card with reasonable
potential. After Eventide, I'm still not as
fluent as I could be with "become" and "copy"
effects, but I did become a fan of Figure of
Destiny, and by extension any creature that
presents a credible threat in any stage of the
game.
Welcome back readers today’s card of the day is
one of the more interesting and flavorful cards
from Magic 2012. Skinshifer is an amazing shaman
the ability to switch from aggressive to
defensive in the same creature is invaluable,
the fact it can become evasive is a nice touch
as well. In standard you want this to be a three
drop as protecting it from various burn spells
and Dismember is important. Currently there are
not many super competitive mono green
decks and decks that could use this have better
uses for their two drops and better ways to make
use of their mana. In extended the same
concept applies it can be a decent beatdown
creature but requires a heavy mana investment.
In legacy there are only two green two drops
worth the cardboard they are printed on,
Fauna Shaman and Tarmogoyf other than that
forget about it. In casual and multiplayer this
card plays quite well with Shaman tribal and the
sheer versatility of the card should make it a
popular choice also combined with Doran
the Siege tower its pretty amazing. In
limited it’s a powerhouse able to shift into
whatever type of creature you need a flier to
fly over stalled boards, a big beef stick or a
wall to hold back fierce attackers.
Overall an interesting and somewhat versatile
creature that might not see a large
amount of non casual play.
Today's card of the day is Skinshifter which is
a two mana 1/1 that each turn at a cost of one
mana can become a 4/4 with Trample, 2/2 with
Flying, or 0/8 until end of turn. Even
with the once per turn limitation the
flexibility of using this to respond to declared
blockers, removal attempts, or to block an
attack. As a versatile and affordable
creature that can be difficult to remove it is a
strong addition to any Green deck and will see
play in a variety of decks.
For Limited this is a solid first pick as a
potential 4/4 Trample or 2/2 Flying as either
are strong in the format, but having both in one
card makes it far more valuable. In
addition the 0/8 can work to stall out nearly
anything your opponent might have which keeps
Skinshifter useful in nearly every situation.
While a Sealed deck running Green as the primary
or secondary color can easily play and maintain
this it is flexible enough to consider
splashing, but loses some power without two
sources of Green mana in play.
