Omen Hawker – March of the Machine
Date Reviewed: April 24, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.13
Casual: 3.13
Limited: 3.37
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I find this idea of colors other than green getting ways to generate mana interesting. They seem to be suggesting that it’s analogous to the way blue draws cards most easily, but other colors can do it with restrictions or different methodologies. In Omen Hawker’s case, the restriction seems quite severe at first – but Magic sets regularly include creatures in the “Invoker” archetype, named for the original Legions and Rise of the Eldrazi cycles. Abilities like monstrosity also exist, particularly in casual Magic, and he makes plenty of artifacts and lands with late-game activated abilities look a lot less late-game. I doubt this card does anything seriously powerful, much less broken, at this exact moment. But Omen Hawker’s own cost is the same as Llanowar Elves, and a new and unique ability like this needs to be given due consideration – and experimentation.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 3
Limited: 3.5 (seems good with Incubator tokens, among others)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3
Blue has started ti get a number of mana dorks over the years, and Omen Hawker is an interesting one for several reasons. Unless I’m missing one, this is the first one-mana blue mana dork, though it does come with a downside in locking the mana to paying for activation costs of abilities. This actually makes a decent enough pairing in lower-powered formats with mana filtering abilities, since you can pair the filtration to get an unfettered pip of mana. That said, blue does love its abilities and its tricks, and while this is hardly the most inspiring body, it’s an interesting one with a fair bit of potential. Keep an eye on Omen Hawker; it’s not immediately threatening, but it feels like a card that might put a strong strategy up another level.
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 3.25
Limited: 3.25 (if you have something this pairs well with, have fun)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We would be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
