|
|
|
Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
Vampiric
Dragon
|
|
6BR, Creature —
Vampire Dragon 5/5, Odyssey Rare
Flying
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Vampiric
Dragon this turn is put into a graveyard, put a
+1/+1 counter on Vampiric Dragon.
1R: Vampiric Dragon deals 1 damage to target
creature.
Pojo's Average
Rating -
Constructed: 2.375
Sealed Deck: 5.00
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2001
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating.
|
DeQuan
Watson
|
As much as
I like big fatties, I have to give the Vampiric
Dragon a 2. The main reason is that he is
costed one mana too high in my opinion. If
he is any cheaper, he becomes playable as it won't
be so difficult to cast him. Right now, the
only decent decks that play it are reanimator
decks that are playing every trick in the book to
get him into play from the graveyard. His
size is great and his abilities are great. I
just don't see him making his way into many
tournament decks right now. In casual games
when you have all day to cast him, he might get a
little more use. |
Fletcher
Peatross
|
Vampiric Dragon is
best in a Sealed deck, where it rates a 5.
In Draft, its most likely a 4 because decks
are much more focused. Due to the
casting cost, its only a 2 in Constructed.
I think even at 7 mana it would still be too
much. Sealed allows for slower games
usually, and you can almost guarantee that
you'll be at 8 mana sometime in the game.
|
Aaron
Teare
|
Rating: **
A gold card with a
converted casting cost of 8 is NOT gonna see
much constructed play. This is an
excellent option for someone wanting to
"reanimate" fatties from the
graveyard, but that's about it. If
resolves, can be a BOMB in sealed events.
|
John B
Turpish
|
Vampiric Dragon
can completely dominate the board once he's in
play and you're using his ability.
That's right, after you've paid 8, now use his
two-mana-per-use-masticore-wannabe ability.
If you would've used something cheaper you
could've beat your opponent before that time,
and too often your opponent will kill you
while you sit with Vampiric Dragon in hand.
This card is entirely greedy. The only
way I can see making good use of him would be
in a reanimator deck, or some other deck where
you don't have to actually pay that gross mana
cost. - 2
|
Scott
Gerhardt
|
Vampiric Dragon -
the first thing that pops into my mind when I
think of this
card is, "Wow, I'd love to bust that in my
Sealed Booster." Unfortunately, that's
about where I stop thinking fondly on him.
In older
constructed, forget about it. His 7CC is
almost impossible for a creature
that can be easily killed. There's nothing
worse than casting a Vampiric
Dragon, and watch him get Swords to Plowshared,
or even worse, a simple Hydroblast. When
common 1CC things take down your fattie, then
you need a new fattie.
In newer
constructed, it's a little better, but still not
that great. It dodges
all the black removal and would almost always
take a pair, if not three burn spells to take
down. It can still have it's services
Terminated, though,
which, like Hydroblast and StP, stinks. In
a Red/Black control deck,
he might have a place. If you can hold off
an opponent's horde early to
get to the late game and drop him, then his
ability can hold off most the rest of the horde,
while still getting bigger. Black/Red
Control isn't THAT big
these days, though, so should not see a lot
there.
In limited, it's
awesome, plain and simple. A first pick
every time, and a potential
reason to change colors if you get it late in a
draft. Almost definately
switch on pack two, and seriously consider a way
to splash him on pack three.
In conclusion, he's
great trade bait, but I don't see him getting a
lot of play in real tournaments. Bust him
in draft, then trade him to a kid after you
win the draft.
Old Constructed
Rating - 2.0
New Constructed Rating - 3.0
Constructed Potential Rating - 3.0
Limited Rating - 5.0
Overall Rating -
3.25
|
Jason
Chapman |
Vampiric Dragon
- Rating 4
The 8 mana (and
requirement of 2 colors) is darn steep and
almost makes me want to drop this card down to
a rating of 3. Still a 5/5 flyer, in colors
that lack flyers, is pretty nice. The real
point boost for this bad boy comes from the
internal synergy. In general I feel the
Vampiric mechanic is overrated but the fact
that this beast can deal direct damage means
it will come into play a lot more. He's almost
an expensive Masticore and you can't overlook
the power. He fails in aggressive decks
(because of cost) but can be the kill
card in many defensive/control B/R builds.
|
John
Hornberg |
Vampiric Dragon
(Rating - 2 out of 5)
At first glance, the
card looks better than Masticore: It
flies, and Masticore didn’t, It shoots
creatures like Masticore, it’s larger than
Masticore, and it has the Sengir ability.
As usual, there’s
a catch.
At 6BR to play, the
odds of it EVER hitting the board are minimal at
best in constructed. Along with this,
it’s ONLY a 5/5. the 8 for a 5/5 flying
is a rip off for anything. Plus, his
ability to shoot requires a red, which means you
can’t throw gobs of mana into him to kill a
creature. You’re limited to how ever
much red mana you have.
Now, I may seem like
I’m complaining over nothing, but there is a
lot of fact in what I say. All these
drawbacks will keep this card off of the Pro
Tour Circuit, and as little more than great
trade fodder. That’s why I give this
card a 2.
It’s simply not
worth the mana.
|
Wesley
Allison
|
It's big. It's
costly. It's rare. Most importantly,
I don't have one.
All this leads me to give it a 3. As long
as the Invasion Dragons are still in
standard, I think they will be the wyrms to go
with.
|
|