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This Space For Rent

Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day


Image from Wizards.com

Ophidian
Weatherlight


Reviewed May 12, 2005

Constructed: 2.75
Casual: 2.63
Limited: 2.34

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 


Jeff Zandi

5 Time Pro Tour
Veteran

Ophidian

One of the best blue creatures ever, Ophidian provides card advantage and good defense to boot. Ophidian's only weakness is his low power, so this card combos well with power up enchantments or, in today's game, with equipment cards. In control decks, Ophidian provided early game defense with the ability to draw cards occasionally. More popular in constructed formats than limited formats, Ophidian was a part of some great control decks in its day.

CONSTRUCTED: 4.0
CASUAL: 4.0
LIMITED: 3.5


DeQuan
Watson

* Game Store Owner

Ophidian - Wednesday

This is an interesting one. If I were to have reviewed this card five or six years ago, I would have given it a HUGE rating. But over the years, this card has becomes less scary and better cards have slowly come along. It's still good for card advantage, but Thieving Magpie and Shadowmage Infiltrator are stealing the good snake's thunder.

Constructed: 3
Casual: 2
Limited: 2 

Paul Hagan

Ophidian --

It might be because I wasn't playing when this card saw its time in the spotlight, but I have never been a huge fan of Ophidian. It is a decent enough card, and I guess I can't complain about the card-draw effect, but it is a small creature with no evasion ability, meaning the moment your opponent lands a decent-sized creature, Ophidian becomes almost irrelevant.

If you need an ability like Ophidian's and you aren't playing black, then play Thieving Magpie. If you are playing black, play Shadowmage Infiltrator. Only in formats where both cards are unavailable should Ophidian be filling this role.

For limited play, Ophidian *might* find its way into my deck, dependant on what other cards I've pulled in blue. I don't think it is an auto-inclusion, but I also don't think it should be eliminated right away, either.

Constructed Rating: 2.5
Casual Rating: 2.0
Limited Rating: 2.5


Christine
Gerhardt

Ophidian

Ah, the animal kingdom classification lesson for Magic players. How many players would know that Opidian is the term for a snake without this card? Well, many new players still may not since Ophidian is a back in the days card.

Ophidian has a nice ability, but albiet a difficult one to pull off since it has to be unblocked to work. Not too many opponent's are going to be afraid of a 1 power creature, so unless you get into a match against a creatureless/creature light deck, it ain't so good. So for Blue, I suppose it could be a sideboard card? Still, I don't see Ophidian ever being ordered from my Website, so I'm going to assume it's not all that. Now, give Ophidian evasion, say FLYING, and you may have something there...oh wait, that would be Thieving Magpie, wouldn't it. Much better.

Constructed - 1.5
Casual - 2.5
Limited - 2.5
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