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Today, we review Rikabu, the
Dismantler; a common out of Survivors
Rikabu, the Dismantler
Civilization: Fire
Type: Machine Eater
Mana: 3
Power: 1000
Ability: Speed Attacker
Rikabu. How I have been waiting for
this card to come out. Ever since I heard that speed
attackers were coming out, I’ve been on the edge of
my chair so to speak. I figured there would be a
speed attacker for 3, getting the idea of a slayer
for 3 in Wailing Shadow, and low and behold, here it
is. The craziness that lives in Rikabu is
astounding. Let’s go…
The Positive Side
Here we have one of those cards that
can alter, change, and even win the game. There are
only a handful of those cards that exist, including
the immortal trifecta of spells (terror pit, snare,
holy awe).
It can already give you an extra
attacker. For example, if you have 3 attackers and
your opponent has 3 blockers and no shields left and
you draw this guy...gg.
Let’s say that they have finally
busted out a huge king tsunami after having all his
shields lost. And you draw this…gg
What if you’re facing a huge swarm of
blockers and they have no shields and you luckily
hit a holy awe with the attackers he had, and you
draw this…gg
Get it? It’s crazy. This card should
be put in the loony bin in one of those pink pillow
rooms, singing “I Can See Clearly Now” while
flipping pages of his magazine with his feet…Too
Soon?...
Ok, in general, for it’s cost it’s
only the most crazy red card that you could possibly
play with 3 mana…there might be more, but I’m too
lazy to look. ;)
The Negative Side
I’ll just tell you the bad things
that I’ve found with this card when I used it and
when I built my deck. The deck problem is that this
card almost always needs 4 copies. If you use a deck
at all, then you’ll know it’s hard to decide what to
take out for this card. I had to just go with the
total of the deck increase instead, since the other
stuff works so well together.
In my metagame, people have decided
to make my colors, and play my deck almost
card-for-card. I recently decided to splash holy awe
in my red/black deck. The very next week…all
red/blacks were using holy awe. It’s like
trendsetting and I’m a fashion model….
Why is this a problem you ask? The
only thing worse than losing to a rikabu is losing
to a Rikabu, knowing that you have a rikabu
yourself. It makes the game feel like a
rikabu-showdown, first one to draw it survives. Read
my first or second tourney report and you’ll see.
The card can be completely useless
because of its power. 1000 is very sub-par and it
can die to any block, even the amazing marrow ooze.
This makes you have to play this card very
methodically in your strategy, so you ensure that
every move you make with this card is best for you,
cause one mess up can really screw up what could
have been.
Finally, let’s go with “what else
could you use?”
-…
-…
-…
-…Uh…Dogarn?
-…And…Armored Cannon Balbaro
Ok, there really is no reason not to
use this card…except if you don’t have red. Then you
can slip by, but somehow, you’ll die a little bit
inside…
The Limited Side
This card only gets more crazy with
limited. The way I see it, games in limited can
become very turn count based, as in that the loser
of a game could have probably won with one more
turn. Rikabu, and his ability to not get summoning
sickness only helps you. If you don’t take this, you
should be slapped and shipped to Skull Monkey Island
to peel potatoes…. Take this card and you will know
why speed attacker is an uber-crazy effect.
The Recap
Here’s the + and – again
Pluses
+ Speed Attacker
+ Very inexpensive for the effect
+ Just flat out amazing
Minuses
- Sucks to be on the receiving end of
this guy
- Too Timely
- Too weak
Constructed- 5/5-
I may be biased, but I think that
every red deck should use this card. Hands-Down.
Limited- 4.5/5-
Not that much different, but it can
have less of an impact because of the fact that it
is really weak, so you may be better off with
stronger monsters or just wait for the right time.
Art-3.5/5-
Good thing this card actually looks cool…
That’s it for the very impressive
Rikabu, the Dismantler. If anyone has any questions,
comments, concerns, or complaints, E-mail me at:
pt_1bc_2@yahoo.com
Later Days…
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