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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
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Phantom Creatures
Judgment - The Crew looks at all 6 Phantom
Creatures
Pojo's Average
Rating -
Constructed: See
Below (9 Reviews)
Limited: See Below (9 Reviews)
Reviewed May 31, 2002
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
Click here to see all
our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Fletcher
Peatross
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Phantoms
will bring back WW. Phantoms might even see play
in Extended. Throw an enchantment on it and you've
now got a damage-proof creature. Throw out Glorious
Anthem and you've now got an army of damage-proof
creatures. I like these cards, even if most of
them die rather easily if they are blocked a few
times.
In Limited they are much
less powerful and range from 2-4 in Power.
In Constructed they are more
worthwhile and range from 2-4 in Power, with more
towards 4. |
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Judge
Bill
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Let’s take
these from best to worst:
1) Phantom
Nishoba
A very large
body, it will take 7 packets of damage if you
kill it that way. And if it goes through 7
combats, you will gain 28 life. A large life
swing, and a very large body.
Constructed: 4
Limited: 4.8
2) Phantom
Centaur
… but just
barely over #3. This is because of the
Protection from Black and the bigger body (5/3
vs 2/2 when they come on line). The protection
from black stands to be a big this in the
current format.
Constructed: 3.8
Limited: 3
3) Phantom Nomad
A bear that has
to be killed twice. We also get initial power
and toughness equal to the casting cost. I think
this may see quite a bit of play in constructed.
Constructed: 3.9
Limited: 2.5
4) Phantom
Nantuko
The ability of
adding a +1/+1 counter stands to make this one
get out of hand. Really quick.
However, this
ability is much better in limited than
constructed.
Constructed: 2.2
Limited: 4
5) Phantom Tiger
The ability to
have a 3/2 on the third turn (or sooner) makes
this one better than the last one I have to
review. However, I think there are many more
green creatures I’d rather play in this slot.
Constructed: 2
Limited: 2.2
6) Phantom Flock
This creature
costs at least one, and maybe 2 too much mana
for my liking. Yes, it flies, so you should
probably play it in limited, but I don’t see
it getting any play in constructed, as there are
many more creatures I’d rather have for 5
mana.
Constructed: 1
Limited: 3
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Doc
Mackerel
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Phantoms
The Phantom creatures are
going to add a lot of depth to combat. They're
great battling against opposing fatties, but
really bad against small amounts of damage like
Fire and Progigal Sorcerer. The 2 cards that will receive
most attention are Phantom Nishoba and Phantom
Nantuko. The rest are primarily the same, but with
varying costs and generic abilities slapped
on.
Phantom Centaur is the best
of the rest, beginning life as a 5/3 with
protection from Black for 2GG.
Phantom Nantuko is going to
be a very tricky little creature. It comes out
with 2 lives, and every turn you can give it an
extra life, or attack with its trample ability. A
dangerous weapon in the hands of a
tactician.
Phantom Nishoba is the Timmy
of the Phantom critters, kicking off with 7 lives
plus a shed-load of abilities. However, he goes
down to a bounce or death spell just as easily as
the rest.
Phantom Centaur - 4.5
Phantom Flock - 3.5
Phantom Nantuko - 4.5
Phantom Nishoba - 4
Phantom Nomad - 3.5
Phantom Tiger - 3
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John Hornberg
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With the
exception of 2 of the Phantom Creatures, none of
them are all that great.
The best one in my opinion
is clearly without a doubt Phantom Centaur. In any
of these creatures see play, this one is the one,
being a 5/3 for I think 4, and having Protection
from Black on top of that. A 4 in both formats.
Phantom Nantuko is probably
the next best one, and while he probably will be
pretty good, I really don't like him. He doesn't
die unless forced out by creature destruction,
that's for sure. A 3 in constructed, because he is
Phantom Nomad + Divine Sacrament, without the
Sacrament. In limited, he is okay, but I refuse to
rank something that I cannot rank fairly, or
accurately.
Phantom Nishoba is really
good, just costs way too much. 7 mana only makes
decks in multiples of one unless it's like Roar of
the Wurm, where there is another, cheaper way to
put that lug into play. Until then, he will be
ignored. He kicks ass in draft, a 1st pick
everytime regardless of colors, but not really
amazing in constructed. In constructed, this guy
gets a 2.5, because he's fun, but not cost
effective. A 5+ in limited, take him no matter
what. Don't ask questions.
Phantom Nomad is okay. A 2/2
for 2 is always nice, and adds an I foresee the
the element of the indestructible blocker becoming
fun with this guy in white weenie, which I see
making a comeback in a sense, actually. I give
this guy a 3, because he is kind of what White
Weenie needed right now. We'll have to wait and
see.
Phantom Tiger and Phantom
Flock can be ignored in constructed. There are
better creatures for decks. Phantom Tiger, though,
is clearly the worst of his kind, being a 2/2 for
3 mana. BOth get 1.5, because while one is worse
than the other, they will both see no play. In
limited, Phantom Tiger gets a resounding 2,
because he is a creature, and Phantom FLock gets a
4 because it flies, and cost the same as
Windreader.
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Rob
Lawing
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The Phantoms are all
excellent creatures, particularly when they have
an enchantment on them which boosts there
toughness. Once the enchantment is on they are
virtually unkillable until it is removed. Since
these guys are all green or white or both the
enchantment stuff is easy to get in either
constructed or limited. I think they are all
very playable with the Nishoba being close to
broken. My only complaint is that I see no
reason they should be only in green or white.
Let's all demand phantom goblins, djinns, and
specters for the next release.
Ratings (Based on
all creatures collectively)
Constructed- 3
Limited- 4
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DeQuan
Watson
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Ok, I think the jury
is still out on the phantom creatures. I
think that the Phantom Nomad can be intersting in
a white weenie style deck. I also think that
the Phantom Centaur is going to see a little bit
of play. Other than that, I'm not a huge fan
of them for constructed play.
In limited it's worth to take them, depending on
which ones you pull. The Nishoba is hard to
deal with, and the Tiger is fun. If you can
enchant them with something that gives them
bonuses like Arcane Teachings, then they are even
harder to kill.
Constructed (Phantom Centaur and Phantom Nomad) :
3.6
Constructed (all others) : 2.7
Limited: 3
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Mason
Peatross
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Phantom
creatures
At first I thought these
guys were shitty, because I didn't read the card
properly. I thought they would just die the first
time they took enough damage - I was assuming they
were like creatures that got weaker according to
the amount of damage they took. I was wrong - they
only lose one counter a turn. That's pretty hoss.
The other hoss thing to do is enchant these guys.
Slap a Seton's Desire on one of them, and you've
got a unstoppable killing machine. There aren't
enough Banish effects in the set to take care of
it - you've created a nightmare for your opponent.
Limited Rating: 4+
Constructed Rating: 3+ (Especially the Centaur)
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Aaron
Teare
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Limited
****
Constructed ***
Phantom Creatures are excellent in limited play as
they are all well fairly costed creatures that
hang around much longer than the average creature.
While durable, be sure to look out for the bane of
Phantom Creatures... TIM! In a stalemate...
any Tim or re-usable source of damage will rip
through a Phantom Army in a heartbeat.
In constructed Phantom Creatures are all alittle
tame IMO... with the exception of Phantom Cenataur.
The pro black is unnecessary but appreciated all
the same. The beauty of the Centaur lies in
his 5 offense for only 4 mana... and his ability
to trade with other big creatures and live to
fight another day!
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John B
Turpish
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Phantom Nishoba
costs too much to go into anything other than
Reanimator, and that deck has better things to
get.
2
Phantom Nomad is a 2/2 for
2, and on a creature this size I'd have to say the
Phantom mechanic is more of a negative than a
postive, especially without trample. However, if
you played a bunch of toughness-enhancing effects
any low-cost Phantom would be cool. Too bad he's
the only one.
2.5
Phantom Tiger runs into
essentially the same problems as Phantom Nomad
without having the bonus of being white or being
low-cost (and therefore lending itself well to
Glorious Anthem, etc).
2
Phantom Centaur is pretty
good. Some people compare it to Blastoderm, and to
this I must strongly disagree. Comparisons aside,
it has 5 power for 4 mana. That is very important.
Also, it has Protection from Black. While that
ability isn't nearly as important as the
power-cost ratio, it could help out from time to
time.
4
Phantom Flock just costs way
too much.
1.75
Phantom Monster is pretty
good, but there's no reason to use him when you
could use Possessed Aven (unless blue is a splash,
in which case you probably have access to even
better creatures). Hey, you said ALL Phantom
creatures.
1.5
Phantom Nantuko could
possibly be used in block, but probably won't. The
main thing holding this guy back is the fact that
to make him grow you must forsake attacking. You
could theoretically use him in control, block and
end of turn grow, and that's why I say he's a
possiblity, but honestly isn't Squirrel Nest
better?
2
Phantom Warrior... just
kidding.
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