Pojo's Magic The Gathering news, tips, strategies and more!
 

Pojo's MTG
MTG Home
Message Board
News & Archives
Deck Garage
BMoor Dolf BeJoSe

Columnists
Paul's Perspective
Jeff Zandi
DeQuan Watson
Jordon Kronick
IQ
Aburame Shino
Rare Hunter
Tim Stoltzfus
WiCkEd
Judge Bill's Corner


Trading Card
Game

Card of the Day
Guide for Newbies
Decks to Beat
Featured Articles
Peasant Magic
Fan Tips
Tourney Reports


Other
Color Chart
Book Reviews
Online Play
MTG Links
Staff



This Space For Rent

Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day


Image from Wizards.com

The Rack
Antiquities


Reviewed May 5, 2005

Constructed: 2.88
Casual: 3.00
Limited: 2.50

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

 The Rack

I can remember when THE RACK was THE CARD! Back in the day, almost every deck had some black in it. And if you had black, you were playing some discard strategies in your deck, most likely, and if you were playing discard, you probably played The Rack. I think The Rack would be somewhat popular in limited play in the current limited formats. Of course, The Rack IS in the current format, more or less, when you manage to flip Shortfang from Champions of Kamigawa. I think Shortfang's flipped ability is a great way to honor and sort of bring back old cards like The Rack. In discard decks, two or three copies of The Rack might be The Winning Condition for your deck. Today, if The Rack was available for Type II (Standard) constructed play, I doubt it would be impressive enough to be used much.

Today's decks have to be more focused, and there simply isn't enough powerful discard spells (or ARE there?) to make The Rack really great.

CONSTRUCTED: 2.5
CASUAL: 3.5
LIMITED: 2.5


DeQuan
Watson

* Game Store Owner

 The Rack - Thursday

This card saw a ton of play when discard decks were all the rage back in the day. I bet this card would see a lot of play today if it were legal in Extended and Standard. It's an easily abusable card and I'm sure that goes a long way toward making sure a card doesn't get reprinted.


Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3
Limited: 2.5

Paul Hagan

 The Rack --

I was a little depressed about Power Leak yesterday, but this card sorta makes up for it. I have to confess, I got halfway through my review before I figured out that this card wasn't Black Vise, meaning that you only get to punish your opponent for emptying his or her hand. This can be a huge benefit, especially against any deck that likes to pump out a lot of threats and not sit back for any tricks. Recent examples would be Goblins, Affinity, White Weenie, or Red-Green Beats. Unfortunately, against control-style decks, The Rack takes a bit of a hit in its effectiveness. Don't forget the possibilities this card has with any form of discard.

Overall, I have to give The Rack some credit, but it will rarely make the cut into any of my decks. You can pump out some damage, and it can be good in the right match-ups (and definitely a bit moreso in Limited), but in the end, it just can't do enough.

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


Christine
Gerhardt

The Rack

Meh...An interesting card usually only when you cheese combo it with Black Vise and then you can consider it a fun casual thing at best. Luckily both spells are relatively cheap to cast, and if you get them both down, you will drove your opponent a bit mad. Frustrates opponents in limited, too.

Constructed - 2
Casual - 4 (The Power of Cheese!)
Limited - 2.5
Copyright© 1998-2005 pojo.com
This site is not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise affiliated with any of the companies or products featured on this site. This is not an Official Site.