Hello Pojo readers. This week I picked the cards that will be reviewed. Aside from being some of my favorite cards, each of them has had a dramatic effect on the metagame recently. We begin with...

Cryptic Totem

Type: Creature

Civilization: Nature

Race: Mystery Totem

Mana Cost: Six (6)

Rules Text:

Double breaker (This creature breaks 2 shields.)
While this creature is tapped, your opponent can't use the Shield Trigger ability of his shields.

Flavor Text:

"He speaks in riddles. Or gibberish. I can't tell." -Fighter Dual Fang

Power: 6000

Rarity: Rare

Set: Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction

Cost/Power: Six mana starts getting into the higher end of the spectrum. Cryptic Totem is well worth the cost though, boasting 6k attack power with Double breaker to boot. His power is more than enough to survive Searing Wave, destroy Merfolk, and blast through all commonly played blockers. Just be careful when summoning Cryptic Totem because he is especially vulnerable to Corile.

Race/Civilization: Cryptic Totem is an odd man out here. He lacks the regular mana tricks we have come to expect from Nature, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means you’ll have to do some experimenting to see if Cryptic Totem is worth using in the Nature section of you deck. His race, the Mystery Totems, is nothing spectacular. There are only five Totems so far and they have little support.

Effects: This ability is how Cryptic Totem earns his keep. Taking away shield triggers from your opponent can be devastating. No longer can they count on that Holy Awe set by Emeral to save the game. No longer will that chain of Mana Nexus be enough. Once you have enough creatures to destroy their shields and attack for the win, Cryptic Totem seals the deal. One minor downside is that he must be tapped to activate the effect. This means you need tot wait a turn for summoning sickness to go away before attacking trigger-free. A solid card overall.

Limited: 4/5

Fatties are normally better in drafts due to the low number of ways to counter them. Cryptic Totem is indeed a great beatstick in limited, but his effect will not matter much with few shield triggers available in Thundercharge.

Constructed: 4/5

If you are running any type of control or aggro-control then consider Cryptic Totem. He has been great so far in my own BUG deck, helping to win two major tournaments.