Captain Rex Nebula – Unfinity
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed:
Casual:
Limited:
Multiplayer:
Commander [EDH]:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I suspect that Rex Nebula’s lore about crashing the Astrotorium into ships, planets, and other theme parks is partly inspired by Zapp Brannigan from Futurama, as there’s more than one episode where the action is affected or even initiated by his lack of navigational skills. Zapp, in turn, is a parody of/homage to Captain Kirk, so by the transitive property, we now kinda sort of have William Shatner in Magic card form. Best make use of it.
Rex is all about people getting hit by things they don’t expect – and that’s what his game text does as well, in a major flavor success. You might be wondering why you’d want to attack with a card that’s presumably doing something else for you, but there’s a whole world of extra value to be gained. Perhaps you have an artifact that’s about to run out of charge counters, or a “jailing” enchantment that can attack a 3/3 blocker where Rex can’t. It can be used simply, too, as a power and toughness boost for creatures that aren’t quite Tarmogoyf-efficient. I think he’ll do well in casual play – it’d almost be more surprising if there isn’t a combo he enables – but there’s potential for other settings, too.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.5 (make him your general and play Darksteel Reactor)
Captain Rex Nebula is an interesting creature, to say the least, thanks to being able to ride anything into battle. Conveniently, he’s a 2/2, fulfilling the crew cost of whatever he’s planning to fly, and he can be a fun way to surprise people with a massive swing out of nowhere (especially if you have a big permanent to animate). While the forced risk of crash landing might seem like a downer…this won’t blow up anything with mana value 7 or higher, and this can be spun to your advantage if you have a permanent fine with getting blown up. He takes a bit of finesse to pilot well, but I think he has enough intribue to be worth a look or two.
His ability also has some interesting implications besides, like trying to protect a permanent in case you]re readying removal, but those seem like side attractions. He’s a particularly intriguing card with a fun ability, and I can see people trying to make him work.
Constructed: 3 (not sold on him, but there might be some intrigue if you can get him in)
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
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