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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
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Catalyst Stone
Judgment - Rare
Pojo's Average
Rating -
Constructed: 2.40
(10 Reviews)
Limited: 1.47 (10 Reviews)
Reviewed August 8, 2002
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
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our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Aaron
Teare
This
Week's Card Selector
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limited
**
constructed ***
To justify Catalyst Stone in limited you better
have several Flashback spells in your deck.
If you can do this you will more than likely one
heckuva draft/sealed deck. A great way to
speed up the flashing of your spells while slowing
your opponent from using Flashback at the same
time.
In constructed I see this as a sideboard in most
OBC builds and really not necessary in most other
formats. Even in OBC I think Catalyst Stone
is just a sideboard card (granted a very good one)
because there are several key decks that don't
care if you increase their flashback cost 'cause
they don't rely heavily on flashback!
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Andrew
Chapman
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Oh my, here's a
funny one. There is no way this card should be
seeing constructed play, though I would have to
say it was designed for it. However, the fact that
it may be played in a small majority of decks is
enough to warrant it seeing play in more. Maybe if
we would all just forget about it, it would just
go away.
In Limited, this thing is
simple. Do you have a lot of flashback cards that
yer playing? If so, you MIGHT consider playing it.
Otherwise, stick this rare in a grab bag and sell
it on eBay.
Constructed: 1.5 (2 in OBC)
Limited: 2
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Abe
Sargent
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Thursday – I’ve
got to be honest – I love seeing a former crap
rare advance to playability. Catalyst Stones have
become another block-defining card as flashback
grew past a –pardon the pun – “flashpoint.”
Stones have become a vital part of both helping
yourself and harming your opponent. Of course,
outside of Odyssey Block, they will never see much
play.
In limited its barely
a sideboard card. Five Color might be more able to
abuse it, although the likely restriction of Quiet
Speculation will limit that possibility, and
probably, eliminate it altogether from the
format.
Constructed – 2.5
Limited – 1.2
-Abe
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Scott
Gerhardt
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An interesting card
against quiet-roar. It slows them down to
normal pace, while allowing you to kick off some
stuff even quicker, like, well, your own roars.
Against mono-black, it's not very useful since
their only flashback spell is Chainer's Edict,
and usually by the time they can flash it, they
have a stupid amount of mana anyway. There
might be a way to abuse a card with such
potential - I just don't know it yet.
In limited it does
little good to you - you're better off not
playing it main, and only bringing it in if you
are heavy flashback and so are they.
Constructed: 3
Limited: 1.5
Current Price:
$2.45
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Alex
Hockey
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There are a few
possibilities for catalyst stone in a constructed
deck. The first that spring to mind are:
1. Some sort of green deck
with "flashback creatures" like call of
the herd.
2. A counter-burn deck that
uses firebolts for creature control and a few
Scorching missiles to burn out your opponent.
3. Some sort deck based
around Recoup. Its not a bad constructed card,
even if it only works well in a few decks - a 3 in
constructed.
This card is mediocre at
best in limited and I'd rather have a mediocre
creature or removal spell than a mediocre artifact
- a 2 in Limited
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Fletcher
Peatross
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Basically
worthless in Limited, this card can really shine
in OBC as an excellent mana boost as well as a
very disruptive card to your opponent. In a field
of many Quiet Speculation decks, four of these
would make excellent additions to the main deck or
sideboard. I don't see it having much play in any
other format though. Limited a 1, Constructed a 3. |
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Rob
Lawing
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In OBC this card
fits into a couple of decks, particularly the G/U
Quiet Roar type deck, and it is pretty solid in
those decks. Once we are out of OBC block I don't
see this card as much good except maybe as a
sideboard choice. This is because it's focus is
just too narrow (changing flashback costs)to be a
big difference in T2. In limited it is almost
worthless as there is really very little chance to
draw your one copy of this in a way to make the
few flashback spells you are likely to have
significantly better.
Rating
Constructed-2 (higher in
OBC)
Limited-1
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Michael
Garten
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Catalyst Stone
is reasonably powerful. When used in blue/green
builds, it makes Roar of the Wurm and Call of the
Herd even more powerful, helps Deep Analysis, and
overall is fairly good against other decks, making
opposing (including identical) flashback cards
cost more. However, casting catalyst stone takes
up the turn two time slot when you could have
played a Wild Mongrel or Merfolk Looter. In OBC,
this card is considerably better, as the emphasis
on flashback is higher (Chainer's Edict, Firebolt).
A 2.5 in constructed, a 1 in limited.
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Judge
Bill
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Who would have
thought when this card was printed that it might
be a good card for your block decks? Now, with
Quiet Roar all the rage, people are starting to
use this as a countermeasure for the mirror match.
Granted, I still don't think it's very good, but
it's got its uses.
In limited, however, this is
complete and utter crap. To be any good in
limiter, a card has to either be a creature or
mess around with creatures, typically. And this
really does neither.
Constructed: 2
Limited: 1
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DeQuan
Watson
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John
Hornberg |
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Mason
Peatross
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I think this
card is overrated - but it does something that
other cards DON'T do, and that's advance your mana
(in a weird way). There aren't any good mana
creatures to play, there aren't any good mana
artifacts, and that means you end up playing
crappy stuff like Catalyst Stone to give you an
advantage in quickness.
Limited: 1
Constructed: 2
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