In the last week before our break, I waxed
lyrical about Dragonmaster Outcast and Kargan
Dragonlord, which were among the inspirations
for Dragon Whisperer. That does not, however,
mean that I think poorly of this card. Not at
all - a card that attacks or blocks on curve and
becomes a bigger threat the longer the game goes
on was always going to be worthy of attention.
As a matter of fact, you almost never see that
kind of thing on a card that also screams casual
play applications via potentially infinite
dragons, and that makes Dragon Whisperer
relatively unique as well.
Today's card of the day is Dragon Whisperer which
is a two mana Red 2/2 with three effects.
For one Red mana it can gain Flying until end of
turn which is a valuable asset to Red at a low
cost which should make it useful most of the
time. The second effect is Firebreathing
for two mana which is reasonable, but more
situational and mana dependent. The third
effect is six mana with a Formidable requirement
of having eight total power among your
creatures, but putting a 4/4 Flying token into
play is well worth the mana if available and it
helps maintain Formidable for future turns.
Overall this is an excellent two mana option for
mono-Red or mostly Red builds that has value in
any stage of the game and should see at least
some play across current formats.
In Limited the slight reliance on Red is
outweighed by the offensive flexibility it
offers and it is a strong first pick in Booster.
The effects are useful early, middle, or late
game and with even a moderate Red pool in Sealed
this should be strong enough to make the color
worth using.
I was asked to select the cards for this week,
and I picked this one because I wasn’t really
sure what to make of it. I’m starting to lean
towards thinking it is pretty good. Early in the
game, you have a 2/2 for 2 mana, something mono
red decks always like to play. It can attack
early for quick damage. 1 additional mana gives
it evasion once the opponent has blockers. Later
in the game, when a 2/2 isn’t all that great,
you can use your excess mana to make the little
shaman not so little anymore. These are the
reasons that I think it’s going to be good.
The Formidable ability is what’s tricking me.
Dragon Whisperer is kind of like a little
planeswalker. It’s +1 is to gain flying. It’s -2
is to pump it up. Then, on rare occasions, you
get to ultimate and start making 4/4 dragons
every turn and put your opponent in an extremely
difficult position. So, just like planeswalkers,
don’t play this for its “ultimate” ability, play
her for her simpler abilities, knowing you have
a trump card in a stalemate.
