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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day
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Image from Wizards.com |
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Yukora, the Prisoner
Betrayers of Kamigawa
Reviewed May 17, 2005
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 3.25
Limited: 2.75
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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Jeff Zandi
5
Time Pro Tour
Veteran
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Yukora, the
Prisoner
This is a great card that I didn't think was
very good when I first saw it.
This is because I first encountered Yukora in a
booster draft. Ripping open my Betrayers pack,
there he was, staring back at me in all of his
5/5 fatness. Still, I couldn't get over the idea
that if he were destroyed (which happens to the
best of creatures on a regular basis) that I
would lose all the rest of my creatures (my
non-Ogre creatures). This is a classic case of
Missing The Point. The POINT is that Yukora
rules the board from the moment he hits the
table. In the popular color combination of
black/green, Yukora might even hit the table on
turn three. When he lands on the table, chances
are good that your opponent doesn't have a way
to get rid of him.
WHAM, Yukora smashes for five. Chances are good
that your opponent doesn't have enough creatures
to team block him and destroy him. WHAM, Yukora
smashes for five. Lots of times, when you play
Yukora, you don't have a lot of other creatures
in play and therefore no reason to fear Yukora's
drawback. Finally, even if you DO have lots of
non-Ogre creatures in play and your opponent
DOES have enough creatures to block Yukora and
kill him (destroying your board in the bargain)
you still have another way to win.
Attack with Yukora as well as all your other
creatures. Your opponent can't afford to take
five damage, he needs to block Yukora with
enough guys to kill him, causing him to allow
many of your other attackers to come through
unblocked. On top of all of this, there are many
tricks in many different colors that you could
use to keep Yukora from dying even after he is
blocked by two or more creatures with enough
accumulated power to destroy him. You could
remove one of the blockers with Horobi's
Whisper, Consuming Vortex or even little ol'
First Volley in order to cause the blocking
player to no longer be able to kill Yukora after
all blocks have been declared. You could give
your Yukora +1/+0 and first strike with a small
white instant, or give your Yukora protection
from a color with Blessed Breath, you could
power up your Yukora with any number of green
spells. The list goes on and on. In constructed
play, Yukora could be even more powerful. A mono
black control deck might be primarily focused on
destroying the opponent's hand with discard
spells and their creatures with global removal
spells, then drop Yukora as a win condition. In
case you haven't figured it out yet, I love this
card. Best giant black fattie in, say, ten
years...?
CONSTRUCTED: 4.0
CASUAL: 4.5
LIMITED: 4.0 |
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DeQuan
Watson
* Game Store Owner |
Yukora, the
Prisoner - Tuesday
This guy is quite fun. He's a good creature for
monoblack decks with very few creatures. That
way you don't risk losing anything from playing
it. There were a few block constructed deck
using this guy and they simply played a large
number of demons as their creatures. Getting a
5/5 for four mana is great. It's even better
with this small of a drawback. It's not as great
in limited, because it's a bit harder to keep it
from killing your other creatures when it dies.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3
Limited: 2.5 |
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Paul Hagan |
Yukora, the
Prisoner --
This is a good example of showing that drawbacks
can easily be worked around. All you have to do
is play Yukora in (A) an Ogre deck, (B) a deck
with few creatures, or (C) a deck where you
don't mind another creature going to the
graveyard (ex. Kokusho, the Evening Star), and
you have a cheap 5/5. I really do like Yukora,
and I think he should be considered for any
black deck that meets any of the above criteria.
Casual players can probably find better options
at four mana, so unless you have a limitation on
what sets you can use, I'd suggest passing on
this guy.
In limited, it is difficult to say if you should
play Yukora or not. I think I would include him,
but not necessarily play him every time I had
the opportunity. His drawback has potential to
be devastating when your deck isn't planned
around him.
Constructed Rating: 3.0
Casual Rating: 2.5
Limited Rating: 2.5 |
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Christine
Gerhardt |
Yukora, the
Prisoner
Well,
duh...it's good in an Ogre deck. But most
Ogres are Red, not Black. Still, it's a
5/5, and if you can handle the board wiping,
he may be a good deal for Casual or Limited
play.
Constructed - 2.5
Casual -
3
Limited -
3.5
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