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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Riftwing Cloudskate
Image from Wizards.com

Riftwing Cloudskate
- Modern Masters

Reviewed July 1, 2013

Constructed: 3.87
Casual: 3.67
Limited: 4.00
Multiplayer: 3.67

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 


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Riftwing Cloudskate

Saying that Riftwing Cloudskate is more dangerous than it looks is like referring to Tactics Ogre's learning curve as "steep." In other words, it doesn't begin to cover it. Oh, that's just a comes-into-play bounce ability? Right - except that it works on planeswalkers. And creature lands. And tokens, which of course can never come back. And enchantments. And your own Vivid lands that you might want to reset, and your own Nekrataal-style creatures that you can use again. And you also get a 2/2 creature. With flying. And often haste. Often for two mana. Yeah, nothing to be afraid of here.

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Riftwing Cloudskate which is a five mana, or two with Suspend 3, Blue 2/2 with Flying that returns a target permanent to owner's hand when it enters play. As a five mana 2/2 with evasion with a Boomerang effect this is an efficient and thematic card for Blue that works well in a build that slows the game down with control. The two mana Suspend option is a bit more chaotic and able to be mitigated by an opponent somewhat, but managing the field is what Blue does best and the worst case scenario of returning itself or a land to hand isn't really that bad. Overall this is a decent card that is useful for the two cards in one aspect and can be combined with blink effects in existing designs.

For Limited formats where this is allowed the mana cost is not a major concern and evasion with Haste and removing a threat that can block it can be quite effective for a little damage and edge in tempo. There's no real drawback aside from the double Blue in the hard cast, which can be overcome with Suspend, and it is a solid inclusion for any deck with Blue in Sealed. The options in a pack determines the value in Booster, but a fairly early pick is reasonable with the card efficiency being the primary deciding factor.

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

BMoor

Riftwing Cloudskate

You get +1 creature, and your opponent gets -1 creature. Or -1 artifact, enchantment, or even land-- it won't fail to find a target. It's a big tempo swing, at the expense of your opponent getting to see it coming from 3 turns away. Maybe he can do something about it? Maybe he waits a turn to play his trump card? Maybe he just sits there dreading it, in which case you're in his head psyching him out. It's been a control staple pretty much for as long as it's been legal in a tournament format, and Modern is its new home.

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


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