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Rampage Review: Part 5
Nature Thank God It’s Friday. While it’s not the same Urkel-influenced era of the 90’s, it still leaves us with these burning questions. Will Beasts still be the Nature deck of choice? What new innovations does the civilization that was “all about the mana zone” give us to gawk at? And Do we finally have a playable Super Rare? Well hold on to your Pixie Sticks, because it’s the last session of our Rampage Review, and this is Nature. Earthstomp Giant Super Rare - S5/S5 C’mon, WOTC wouldn’t disappoint. Earthstomp Giant is quite the monstrous fattie, and an aggressive enough Nature deck won’t need more than 5 mana. If he dies before he swings, then no drawback kicks in. If he does swing, that’s two shields, or a seriously beat up blocker. Against water, this cards isn’t as good, but every other color, this guy is a pretty big threat. Not the flashy rainbow wow cards of EVO, but he more then makes up for the other Super Rares in this set. Rating: **** Aura of Reversal At five mana, you’re probably not going to need to accelerate into anything right away, and if you do, that means you’re going to need to protect your shields from enemy attack anyways. Ghastly Drain is so much better, Aura of Reversal is garbage. Nice picture though. Rating: *
This guy is really good for a seven drop. Oh, wait, I said seven drop. He is an insanely large body, but he’s still just one of those large vanilla beatsticks. At least Water doesn’t have one of these dorks in the set. Rating: **
While the effect isn’t as good as Jack Viper, it’s still a great effect. At worst he’ll swing for a shield, and then turn into mana. Gigamantis is one of the hardest cards I’ve had to evaluate because the effect is on the border of being good or unplayable. I’m going to go on course of Mighty Shouter and say that while the ability is good, it’s probably nothing compared to Nature’s other evolution creatures. It is, however, nice to have that option for the Insect deck, and nice to know Nature is going to get good evolution creatures. Rating: *** Mana Nexus Uncommon - 48/55 If my hunch is right about this and Sundrop Armor, then we might have a new theme going on. Another interesting fact is since Gigamantis will transfer your creature to your shield zone, you might be able to get them back in the same game. Don’t rely on this combo, but also don’t be afraid to play Natural Snare as mana early on anymore. Mana Nexus could turn out to be quite the card, or not. Sundrop Armor and Mana Nexus will have to earn their keep. Until they do, I‘m willing to give a little optimism. Rating: ***** Uncommon - 49/55 Even if Tree Folk were big now, Masked Pomegranate wouldn’t see play. Five for 1000 is mediocre, even with evasion. Stampeding Longhorn one ups this guy, and even he’s sup-par. Rating: * The effect is literally ripping to soul off a creature, but in reality, Evolution creatures biggest advantage is the speed attack and their come into play effects, like Fighter Dual Fang and Chaos Worm. Sometimes Ultracide Worm or Ladia Bale will be down where this card become useful, but often times, it won’t be all that spectacular. Rating: **
Rare - 51/55 At turn 5, you’ll be able to swing, and by that time, it’s logical to have a creature dead. But he’ll probably only swing once and it could’ve just become mana anyways, which brings the point of if it was just going to be mana, why not play a better spell that can also become mana. Point enforced. Rating: ** Common - 52/55 Finally ending our cycle of mono-colored creatures, Raging Dash Horn takes the silver. I mean, c’mon, it’s a psyched out Deathblade in mono green. While that’s nothing to get excited about, Horned Beasts might get better, in which case, Raging Dash-Horn will see the play he probably deserves now, but won’t see. Rating: **** Common - 53/55 A shield trigger on a slightly more narrow Flood Value. This mechanic could be all that and a bag of chips, and Roar will definitely see play in conjunction with Gigamantis. Aside from that, it’s probably worthy on it’s own right in Beasts. It’s great how your evolution cards are finally safe from Lost Soul. Refreshing. Rating: **** Common - 54/55 Sniper Mosquito is one of those cards that you either like or you hate. And sorry to say, I’m on the hate side. It dies to Crimson Hammer, if people are still playing it. It stifles your acceleration into Bronze Arm, the most important drop in green today, and on top of it all it gets kicked in the jimmies by nearly every creature with the blocker ability. It’ll see play in the Insect deck just because it’s a cheap drop, and that’s all. Which annoys me, since the card doesn’t belong there. It does belong in Suicide rush decks, but Red seems to be fine on it’s own there, doesn’t it? Rating: ** Common - 55/55 A three mana creature that can jump the 5000 hurdle. This might save the insect deck from oblivion. Whether or not it ousts Beasts is another story entirely, but it’s nice to have him along for the ride, no matter where the metagame takes us. Rating: *** Top 10: Rampage 1. Emeral 2. Volcanic Arrows 3. Sieg Balicula, the Intense 4. Mana Nexus 5. Sundrop Armor 6. Jack Viper, Shadow of Doom 7. Flametropus 8. Flood Value 9. Roar of the Earth 10. Psychic Shaper There were a lot of close calls, but I think it’ll look something like this. Only four creatures, and only one darkness card, not exactly what previous top 10’s in my book have looked like. Email me with your opinions, as long as they aren’t just blatant insults: YOUR STOOPID, THIS CARD SUX, BOLTALE DRANGON IS DA BOMB! So mail me your opinions, and if I get the chance, during the next set I’ll look back on my reviews and see if I hit or missed. Until then, keep looking forward to a plethora of new articles involving cards from Rampage. Until then. AOL: hydromorph1602 Email: kian1602@hotmail.com
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