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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Molten Primordial
Image from Wizards.com

 Molten Primordial
- Gatecrash

Reviewed February 12, 2013

Constructed: 3.30
Casual: 3.40
Limited: 3.80
Multiplayer: 3.70

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 of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Molten Primordial

Six power and haste is a freight train that comes out of nowhere. This one hurts all the more for being an Act of Treason effect alongside it-- you gain two extra attackers and your victim is down a blocker. This card seriously disrupts your opponent's combat math-- no doubt any good opponent takes a moment each turn to determine how many creatures he can safely attack with versus how many he needs to leave back to block. Act of Treason and effects like this prove that math false, and even though it only lasts for a turn (and with 4 toughness, the Primordial itself may or may not last longer) it can be a devastating blow.

Of course, the real gold here is if you can combo it with an effect that lets you sacrifice creatures-- preferably with no additional mana cost. Stealing their blocker, attacking them with it, then sacrificing it so that you get some additional benefit and they don't get it back, is a perfect storm of insult and injury. The fact that you get to steal one creature from each opponent in a multiplayer game adds to the politics of it. You're not likely to attack each opponent with their own creature, more likely you'll swing them all at one player. Depending on blocks, some opponents may not be harmed at all by this while others may be taken out of the game altogether. It's a very hard effect to "distribute evenly", so you'd better be prepared to declare all-out war on somebody when you cast this.

Constructed- 3.5
Casual- 4
Limited- 4
Multiplayer- 4

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Molten Primordial

There was a time when card design didn't explicitly take multiplayer into account - the default was for spells and abilities to have one target, and cards were generally not "aware" that you could have more than one opponent. Now, of course, things are very different, and cards like Molten Primordial are, if anything, somewhat common. Interestingly, I've heard that this shift hasn't been universally popular among multiplayers; some have argued that cards that are "pushed" for multiplayer are not actually as beneficial as "normal" cards that can be used in multiplayer games. Others, though, are sure to welcome the kind of havoc that a card like Molten Primordial can wreak  (ie. the extensive kind), and the fact that it gets far, far better as you add opponents and those opponents become more stereotypically EDH-ish (ie. lots of huge creatures with triggered abilities and such). While I think this is probably the weakest of the Primordials in duels, it's always funny to kill people with their own cards, and it certainly helps you recover if your opponent's recently hit you with his own Primordial.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Molten Primordial which is a seven mana Red
6/4 with Haste with the comes into play ability that gains control of one of each opponent's creatures until end of turn. Seven mana for a 6/4 with Haste isn't bad, though in Red cards like that are usually dragons and this having neither Flying, Trample, or any other multiple turn benefit reduces the value considerably. What it does have is excellent potential for blowing out a single opponent in one turn, primarily in Multiplayer games, by having a mass Act of Treason effect.  Overall this isn't really strong enough for Constructed one-on-one games for the mana cost, though it has just enough power to be appealing in Multiplayer.
 
In Limited this isn't bad for the price with Haste, a 6/4 body, and adding one of your opponent's creatures for what should be a decisive alpha strike.  The mana cost isn't unreasonable in the format and aside from maintaining a low mana curve there is little reason not to include this in Sealed builds using Red mana.  In Booster this isn't the most powerful rare, but it can win games or do severe damage and is a viable first pick.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 4.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

     Welcome to another great card of the day review here at Pojo.com! Today we are looking at Molten Primordial from Gatecrash! Molten Primordial is a rare red creature avatar that costs five generic and two red mana for a 6/4. Molten Primordial has Haste and says whenever it enters the battlefield, for each opponent, gain control of one target creature that player controls until end of turn, untap it, and it gains haste until the end of turn. 

     We have already discussed that the Primordials are great multiplayer cards, IF you can get the mana to successfully cast them. However, I feel that in honesty, Molten Primordial could well be one of the better suited Primordials for a regular 1v1 game. When combined with things like Battalion, you instantly have the requirements for it so long as you controlled at least one creature prior to dropping the Molten Primordial. And since you choose which creature to take, situational circumstances will dictate the best one to take. Take the only blocker and get in for a decent amount, or take their biggest and force choices to be made. Either way, could be a definite game changer. And let's hope that after smashing your opponent with their own creature, you have some way of not allowing them to gain it back, say, a Cartel Aristocrat for example. 
 
Limited: 3/5
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Scott
Scott
Gerhardt
Host, The Gamer's Dome

Molten Primordial
 
This is actually a quite nice Primordial.  In an aggressive deck it might simply be the card you need to finish off an opponent.  It's bomb in limited and might move you over into red.  Casual players will like it.  Multiplayer players will love it.  Even constructed I think will see a dose of this guy.  Like all primordials I don't like the cost, but I think this is a good way to win when you might have sputtered out a little bit.  Combine it with a way to get rid of your opponents' creatures once you're done with them and it's doubly effective
 
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4.5
 
Check out The Gamer's Dome, hosted by yours truly, Scott Gerhardt!  New shows every Tuesday night!  www.TheGamersDome.com 

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