*whew* I was afraid we wouldn't review any BAD
cards this week! Thank you, Pojo card of the day
selectors! This card is bad. Why wouldn't it be,
it's from Homelands, the set that nobody ever
loved. (just kidding, I know there are some good
cards in Homelands, but it is still the
least-loved set in Magic history) First of all,
spells that do nothing but allow you to gain
life are.well, they're bad. Usually, the player
who can deal the most damage wins. Hardly ever
does the player who can gain the most life win.
In constructed, if you are playing one of the
bizarre theme decks whose central purpose is
gaining life, you can get the job done with
better cards, probably from the color white. In
limited, gain life spells are usually very
suspect. Yup, some dude can tell the story about
how if he hadn't gained a bunch of life on turn
11, he wouldn't have been able to win the game.
That's how players get confused about the value
of spells. Almost any card in Magic could
potentially make the difference in a very
specific set of circumstances. The simple fact
is, gain life spells are far too defensive to
help you win in most cases. Check out the
winning deck from any booster draft, any
tournament. You will almost never see a card
like this one.
There's nothing really exciting here. It's just
more of the same old life gain. The only
interesting portion is it's ability to work well
with tokens like saprolings or thallids. You
could end up with some large life gain
situations for very little cost. In group games
this card might be amazing, but other than that,
I'd normally pass on it.
Constructed: 1.5
Casual: 2
Limited: 1
BMoor
An-Havva Inn
Ever since I pulled this card out of a Fallen
Empires booster I bought at a flea market, this
card has been one of my favorite older cards
flavor-wise. And what better card to review on
St. Patrick's Day than a card about your green
creatures all meeting at the Inn for a good
meal, some fireplace stories, and maybe some
music? An-Havva Inn perfectly captures this
aspect of Green, and coincidentally so does St.
Patrick's Day. Sadly, An-Havva Inn as a card
just isn't up to the task of being good in
decks. Sorry to ruin the party, but life gain
cards have historically been unplayable. Only in
recent sets have lifegain cards been printed
that are actually worth playing, such as
Nourish, Ghost-Lit Redeemer, and Loxodon
Warhammer. The Inn requires a flock of green
creatures to be worth the 1GG it costs, and even
then, being a Sorcery hurts it even more.
