Fighter Class
– D&D: ADVENTURES IN THE FORGOTTEN REALMS
Date Reviewed: July 28, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.38
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 3.13
Multiplayer: 3.00
Commander [EDH]: 3.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
Mechanically, Classes are like a twist on Sagas, requiring mana to progress as opposed to just time. This means that you can wait for an opportune moment, or spend a whole lot of mana at once if you have it. In the case of Fighter Class, which is designed for aggressive decks with equipment, you’ll probably want to get to level 2 as soon as possible – moving cheaper equipment around for free is surprisingly hard to keep up with, and it makes expensive ones like Sword of Vengeance and Kaldra Compleat feel downright unfair. The third level might feel odd for a color combination that’s often associated with attacking with lots of small creatures rather than one or two big ones, but it does go well with the first two levels in that they let you end up with a creature bristling with weapons that’s likely to kill anything you force to block it. While that sounds like it might not come up much in constructed tournaments, it offers another way to break through a late rally or defensive attempt, and red and white can always use more of those.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander: 3/5
At long last, you can fight with class. Yes, I’ve been waiting to use that joke. Kinda.
Class enchantments are interesting beasts; they give you abilities, but they function a bit like Rise of the Eldrazi‘s level-up creatures in needing to hit certain thresholds to get abilities. You start with the Level 1 ability, but can pay in to get more benefits.
On its own, Fighter Class is Steelshaper’s Gift or the comes-into-play effect of the infamous Stoneforge Mystic, a fairly powerful (albeit limited) tutoring effect. Tutors are only as powerful as the cards they have access to, and while being two colors makes this marginally worse, “Steelshaper’s Gift with upside” is a fine starting point.
The Level 2 ability pulls equip costs down, which…is interesting, since a lot of older and more-powerful equipment cards have generic mana costs. Think the Mirrodin Swords ultra-mega-giga cycle, each of which costs 2 to equip, or Umezawa’s Jitte. It’s a weirdly powerful effect if you have the cards this plays well with.
The Level 3 ability is actually subtly powerful, so it makes sense that it costs lots of mana. Forcing blocks is a great way to dispose of creatures, and that sort of “pinpoint” removal is really nice to be able to pull off. It’s five mana in one shot, and 10 overall, to unlock it, but it’s quite potent.
I’d say the Fighter Class, while not the best class, offers a good bit to decks able to use it. Even if you never level it up, Steelshaper’s Gift/Stoneforge Mystic is a good starting point, and each other ability makes things more entertaining. How good it is in Standard likely hinges on what stabulous things are available to it…conveniently, Embercleave is around for a couple more months, so there is that.
Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.25 (definitely most remarkable for that last ability, though the other two can be nice)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 3.5 (more tutors are always nice)
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