This card is quite good in limited, where
red/green is extremely popular (even if most
decks with red and green are usually splashing
one of the
colors) and in constructed play where red/green
aggro decks are enjoying a certain return to the
front of the pack. Red/green decks may have last
seen their prominence back in , you guessed it,
the Invasion block era. Just one more way this
current block mirrors the old Invasion block.
This card is close to a win condition all in
itself for limited decks that can use it
effectively. In the all-Ravnica limited world,
lots of decks were blocking lots of attackers
with lots of 1/1 Saproling tokens. If you've
been playing big creatures in all-Ravnica
booster drafts and you're tired of getting
chump-blocked by 1/1 token creatures, the Rage
Pits are for you.
I like special lands when they can be tapped for
mana. That at least makes the decision to play
them and easy one. The next thing I look at is
the mana investment to use the ability of the
land. This one just takes two mana and requires
a tap. Givign some a creature the ability to get
+1/+1 is nice. But giving the ability to trample
is even nicer. Red/Green decks should enjoy this
card.
Skarrg, the
Rage Pits - In my opinion, this is the best of
the three uncommon guild lands from Guildpact.
It has the cheapeast of the three abilities and
one of the most synergistic with the guild.
Gruul decks are full of huge monsters, but a lot
of them don't have trample. You can't always
expect to have a War-Plow in play, either.
Trample is especially important for Gruul as it
allows you to get damage through to your
opponent so you can cast more Bloodthirst
creatures. The cheap activation cost on this
land also means that you won't have to stretch
to use both it and a cheap Bloodthirster in the
same turn. I don't see much reason why any
red/green deck in Standard wouldn't run this.
I like
Skarrg. It costs a LOT less to activate than
most of the other guild land enhancement
cards, yet has a very useful ability. And
Red/Green is definitely gifted in a way that
can take advantage of this ability. A
definite draft consideration if you're in
G/R.
Constructed - 2.5
Casual -
3
Limited -
3
BMoor
Skarrg, The
Rage Pits- In Ravnica block, there are currently
four ways to give a creature Trample: Fists of
Ironwood, Gruul War Plow, Wildsize, and this
card. I'd call this card the second best, if not
the best. There are a lot of creatures in
Ravnica, and even more in Standard, that make
you say, "if only it had trample". Well, all
those creatures just got a little more playable.
And that's not even counting the +1/+1. Or the
fact that it's an instant-speed trick. Or the
fact that it's essentially uncounterable.
