Hey everyone. Today, we wrap up this Stompatron Spell week. Next week, we get to reviewing new Thundercharge stuff. I’m workin on the next article for my Feature Article Installment, so look out for that.

Today, we review a card that kind of was left hidden in the mix. I don’t know if it’ll get some play, but I have a couple ideas for this card. It’s…

Crisis Boulder

Civilization- Fire

Type- Spell

Mana Cost- 4

Ability- Shield Trigger

Your opponent destroys one of his monsters or one of his mana cards.

The Rundown

I don’t see any of this in the meta around me. I would like to see this card in play, since I can see it as a card with some kind of potential. But for now, it’s nothing major.

The Positive Side

I hope this card can be seen in its other view. The card is basically Mana Crisis and Proclamation of Death into one, only you can’t control which is activiated. I mean, we first look at this card and we think, “Man, a guy must be stupid to choose a monster in his zone, right?” Now, normally, I would agree, because on occasion, monsters tend to be more significant than mana, as mana can be replaced.

However, what would happen if your opponent didn’t have mana at all. Let’s say you hydro hurricane every mana they had, or managed a Divine Riptide or Cataclysmic Eruption, the more likely card to use Crisis Boulder. I would think that if they can’t designate a mana card, then their locked into choosing a monster. So basically, with your opponent with no to little mana, it’s the red version of Proclamation of Death, which is pretty good.

It would also work well in those mana control decks with those Engineer Kipo and Bombersaur. I would see your opponent being more opted to destroy monsters over the mana card, so that would be pretty cool as well.

The fact it’s a shield trigger will help as well. I mean, with the well timing of the card and the mana in their mana zone, it can be pretty effective.

The Negative Side

The card does have its share of negatives. First of all, the card seems redundant to go though all of that to just get the same effect as another card in the game. To get procy, you have to get rid of all the mana first. To get mana Crisis, you have to get rid of the monsters. Besides that, you have no control of the effect, which limits its topdeck value, and its overall effectiveness.

It would be decently hard to actually get this thing to get to where you want it to go to, because chances are, your opponent is educated enough to know which effect will be less crucial. If your lucky to face a person who really has no clue to card games and strategy and future planning in the game, then you have a good chance to get something done, but finding a person like that won’t always happen, so don’t depend on it.

The fact it is a shield trigger has it’s pluses. However, it’s not one of those shield triggers you want at the last moment. Kind of like proclamation, faerie life, Glory Snow, all of those. Cards that don’t do anything when their the last shield and there’s still 1 attacker left. I think the choice for them is pretty easy when they still can attack. They can choose either of the effects, it doesn’t matter.

Finally, here’s “What else could you use?”

- Rothus?

- Proclamation of Death?

- Mana Crisis?

- Wait a turn for Searing Wave?

Well, there isn’t much choice for mono-Red, but opportunities arise with more Civs.

The Limited Side

I would think this card would be better in Limited. Mana becomes more crucial to keep, monsters tend to last longer, and stall can be more effective with a lesser deck amount. Plus, it’s a shield trigger, which is sufficiently rare to get a decent shield trigger in a limited deck.

The Recap

Here’s the + and – Recap

Pluses

+ Proper control gives you choice

+ Shield trigger

+ 2 potential effects

+ Fire spell that can kill something without power limits

+ Fire spell that can destroy mana immediately

Minuses

- Normally leans toward the mana destruction choice

- This shield trigger isn’t the best last minute

- Choice almost too obvious at times

Constructed – 3/5 – Can be good if you can control the field. It’s still not a bad card, on it’s own, but it only gets better with the proper control.

Limited – 3/5 – Just about the same. This time, stall seems to be more effective, destruction and mana destruction more critical, but not too much to really change the outcome. Still, it’s a shield trigger and a decent one at that.

That’s my take on this Crisis Boulder. If anyone has a Question, Comment/Concern/Complaint, a reaction to an article or review, or anything about the game in general, E-Mail me at nimbly@gmail.com

Later Days…