Basri, Tomorrow’s Champion – Aetherdrift
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.63
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 4.13
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
It is rather unusual to have a card that wants to be in a kindred deck but has an entirely different creature type. The main historical example I can think of is Lorwyn-era elf decks playing Bitterblossom, just because it was the most powerful token generator of all time at that point. Basri’s new card might tempt people to do the same for cat decks, although that depends somewhat on the details of the cats’ strategy. If the aim is to go fast, you can get away with just jamming Savannah Lions in the old-school style and loading up on anthem effects. If the aim is to flood with tokens, he’s not the fastest way to do so but his up-front cost is great and he can be hard to stop once he gets going. It might actually be worth such decks viewing him as a spell with occasional upside. Everyone who’s in Standard (or used to be) within the past few years has piles of removal spells that rival those of the late 90s in power, so casual tables all probably need a card that says “This spell can’t be countered. Creatures you control gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. Draw a card. Sometimes you can use this card as a Savannah Lions or a slower Bitterblossom”. Actually, the fact that cats are the kindred that has that card is a good reason to play cats in casual (as if you needed another good reason!).
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
After a brief stint as a planeswalker, Basri finally makes a return to printed form, and this time he’s masquerading as a crazy cat dude. Basri, Tomorrow’s Champion makes an army of Cats slowly, but cycling him grants all of your feline forces a nice shield for the given turn, which plays well in multiples. And while a 2/1 is not groundbreaking anymore, it’s still significant in a pinch.
I do think Basri is a bit niche, but he’s solid in it, Cat support with a nice bit of overall potency baked in. Slowly amassing an army is a great deal for a one-mana creature, and he’s even not dead in multiples. I don’t think he’ll destroy any formats, but he is quite solid, and I suspect he’ll do well for himself wherever tokens and Cats have room to shine.
Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.25 (an army of Cats is still an army)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4 (Cats can do well here, and both sides of the card have utility)
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. 😉