Dreamshackle Geist – Crimson Vow
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.92
Casual: 3.33
Limited: 4.08
Multiplayer: 2.67
Commander [EDH]: 2.50
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
When you first look at Slivers, you’re tempted to make a hyper-aggressive deck that just tries to stomp using all the different bonuses. It’s kind of counter-intuitive when you learn that the Sliver deck with the most tournament success was all about using them to give each other more resilience while you disrupted the opponent with counterspells (at least, it was for me). That style of play has existed ever since, and it can actually be any color and doesn’t have to use Slivers. In fact, it doesn’t even need counterspells – Dreamshackle Geist is a great card for such a strategy, and it only interacts with things on the table. But that’s okay, because you’re presumably attacking with a bunch of evasive creatures and slowing down your opponent’s biggest threat. Actually, even if your only evasive creature is Dreamshackle Geist itself, that’s still a good strategy, because it’s costed hyper-aggressively and you might have things that are good at blocking too. There are situations where you need multiple cards to get the effects he has, so take advantage of it: he’ll work in aggro, aggro-control, midrange, and control decks alike.
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander: 3/5
With blue’s fondness for locking down creatures, Dreamshackle Geist slots right in, thanks to both a nice tribe and a pretty potent effect. If an opponent’s creature is proving pesky, this makes sure the creature won’t irk you again (or, at least, while this lives), and it can even incapacitate a blocker in a pinch. It also has impact as soon as it comes down (unless they meet it with a kill spell immediately), and a 3/1 body with evasion makes for a reasonable clock to end games with. It’s definitely more a bit player than a main attraction, but there’s a fair amount going for the spirit, and it definitely can end games if unanswered.
Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.75 (this thing definitely must be answered, or the game is over)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 3.5
Dreamshackle Geist
Another bad rare that WOTC needs to print because of…reasons. This is the card you want in limited if you’re running blue, no questions asked because you get the effect on every turn and it’ll help in control strategies plus your opponent will likely not have great cards to answer to this in terms of removal. It is fine in other formats, but it’s main downfall is the one toughness because literally anything in red can just get rid of it. If your opponent has a Chandra planeswalker then you better hope you got one use out of this at the very least. It is in shock range and anything else range too…that and not having flash is what is holding this back from being a pretty good card. The mana cost is fine, it’s not so bad but this is a very good example of a card that was mainly designed for limited. This is a pretty hard pass otherwise.
Constructed: 1/5
Casual: 2/5
Limited: 3.5/5
Multiplayer: 2/5
Commander: 1/5
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