Gorion, Wise Mentor – Baldur’s Gate
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 1.17
Casual: 3.00
Limited: 3.25
Multiplayer: 2.92
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Gorion has an outsized impact on the Forgotten Realms for someone who doesn’t survive past Baldur’s Gate‘s prologue; as such, you would have presumed he’d have a good card. Efficient stats plus a static ability that works with a solid mechanic (adventure is always card advantage) gets him there, and that’s even before you consider that adventure didn’t really work as a theme in Commander before this set. He’s probably not going to get banned, like a certain famous card that he imitates, but he’s more than good enough to make a mark in casual settings. (And Commander is less ban-happy than Standard has been recently anyway.)
On a semi-related note, it’s great to see that they managed to get adventure cards into Battle for Baldur’s Gate and party cards into its Commander decks. Those mechanics were tailor-made for a Dungeons and Dragons-themed set, and Wizards deserves credit for not just going “Didn’t fit, oh well” even though they had 10,000 other sets within a year of Adventures in the Forgotten Realms.
Constructed: 1/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander [EDH]: 4/5
The rules text on Gorion, Wise Mentor might give nightmarish flashbacks to those who played Standard during Throne of Eldraine‘s reign of terror: the rules text is the same as Lucky Clover, a seemingly innocuous artifact that made the Adventures deck of the era into the indomitable monster it wound up being. Gorion’s not going to destroy Legacy any time soon, but being able to eke even more value out of those two-for-one spell is pretty solid with the likes of Brazen Borrower and friend running around. He’s not flashy, but he’ll make for a solid build-around piece if you can amass the pieces, and he even pairs well with the aforementioned accursed Clover for multiplicate fun.
Constructed: 1 (he’s too slow to leave an impact in Legacy, and I don’t think any of the Adventures have done damage there)
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
Adventure tribal has its commander! I personally am a big fan of Adventure and think it’s one of the best mechanics of the past decade. Now commander players (and constructed too but I think Adventure tribal will be really niche) can have a commander that gives you a bonus for playing Adventure spells. It is simple and allows you to get another bonus for going on an adventure, it is great!
Constructed: 1.5/5 (this is a commander set)
Casual: 2.5/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 2.5/5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5/5
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