I think of all the Charms, Simic does the best
job at demonstrating what the Simic guild is all
about-- enhancign and protecting its creatures.
The Simic is very much a creature-based guild,
and its spells serve to back up its creatures.
My only concern is that the Simic has always
been a bit slow considering how combat-based it
is. It can't muster the true aggro of the Boros
or Gruul, and its creature focus means it can't
make up for its lack of speed with superior
control like the Azorius or Dimir. The Selesnya
have this same problem, I've noticed, but they
at least have enough life gain and token
generation to survive long enough to overwhelm
an opponent. The Simic rely not on swarms, but
on a few highly augmented creatures, and are
thus more succeptible to kill spells.
Simic Charm can strengthen, shield, or if need
be recall one of your creatures. It can also
banish a problematic creature on the other side
of the field, and when you're winning through
creatures, all the opponents' creatures are
problematic. My only concern with this card is
that it'll be the best card in the deck it's
in-- because it's not good enough to be your
best card.
Simic Charm
The first thing I thought of when I saw Simic
Charm was that all three of its modes can be
used to save your creatures from your opponent,
in uniquely green and blue ways. If one doesn't
work, the next should, and if none of them
do, you've got bigger problems anyway. I almost
feel bad about saying something as obvious as
that, considering that charms are supposed to be
versatile spells, but this is arguably among the
most straightforward of their number, which is
funny considering that Simic is so focused on
intricacy and synergy. Even if if only enables a
second age of Quirion Dryad (remember her?),
it'll have done its job as far as I'm concerned.
Today's card of the day is Simic Charm which
costs one Green and one Blue for one of three
effects. The first is Giant Growth for an
added Blue mana which is still reasonable and
quite playable when attached to two other
options. The second gives all of your
permanents Hexproof until end of turn which
doesn't help against mass removal, but anything
targeted will be avoided which is enough value.
The last effect is Unsummon with an added Green
mana which again is very useful both offensively
and defensively. Overall this is a very
solid card with three popular effects at a
reasonable cost which means it will see play in
many decks using Blue and Green.
In Limited all three effects are extremely
useful and this is a clear second or third pick
in Booster and automatic inclusion for Simic
builds in Sealed. Even a splash of one
color to add this is well worth it as any aspect
of the card can have a major impact on a game.
Welcome to the Pojo.com card of the day section.
This week we were looking at the Charms coming
out in Gatecrash. We close out this week looking
at the Simic Charm. Simic Charm is an uncommon
instant that costs one green and one blue mana.
Simic Charm's three abilities are: Target
creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn; or
Permanents you control gain Hexproof until end
of turn; or Return target creature to it's
owner's hand.
The Simic Charm is definitely a main deck card, and
rightfully so. In my opinion it is practically
tied in usefulness with the Boros Charm as best
from the set. The three abilities are useful in
all situations. That means this card can go in
any deck using these colors, and have an impact
in any scenario. A Giant Growth for some added
damage, Hexproof your creatures if things are
looking bad, or bounce a creature. Each of these
options are straight solid, and the Simic Charm
will see serious play time.
This week ends with one of the best all-purpose
charms I have seen in a while. All 3 of
the abilities are extremely good and versatile.
While none of the three are super gamebreaking,
you will almost always draw this card and be
happy it's in your hand waiting for the right
opportunity to use the right ability. This
is probably pick 3-5 in draft, maybe as high as
2 depending on the rest of the pack. If
you're playing Simic, this will make the cut.
In constructed I don't see it being as good, but
in the right metagame this could be something
that appears in a lot of decks. Having 3 very
useful abilities stacked on one card, even if
none of them alone are that great for the 2 mana
cost, can allow it to find it's way into decks
based on versatility alone.
