This is the best card of the week. This card was
good from the very start, limited players
grabbed ahold of this card as soon as Time
Spiral arrived, and Empty the Warrens has only
become a more important card for red limited
decks ever since. I have found it happily
surprising that Empty the Warrens has found a
home in both Extended and Standard Constructed
decks. The goal is always the same: play Empty
the Warrens after several other spells have
already been cast during your turn, put as many
Goblin tokens into play. I have to say I prefer
the synergy of Empty the Warrens with various
blue or black Suspend cards to the idea of
powering Empty the Warrens with super-combo mana
spells in constructed. Either way, though, this
is one very fine common that is will be one of
the most memorable original cards from Time
Spiral.
I've seen this produce 8 tokens on Turn one
thanks to Rite of Flame. This card scares me,
quite frankly.
Constructed- 4.5
Casual- 3.5
Limited- 4
Aethereal
Friday - Empty
the Warrens
One of the kill cards used in combo decks, this
makes lots and lots of little goblins if you
have a high storm count. This is often used in
place of Dragonstorm, as then you don't have to
worry about dealing with casting a nine mana
spell. That's about all it's good for, though,
as you'll be lucky to get 4 goblins with this in
a red rush deck early enough for it to matter.
Still, good in the decks that it's good in.
In casual, this would be fun to play in a casual
storm deck.
In limited, this is an excellent card. If
possible, hold on to it until you resolve a
suspend spell, and then play it (and maybe
another spell before it!) to maximize your storm
count. I hear a free addition to your storm
count is good.
Constructed - 3.5
Casual - 4
Limited - 4
-David N
Friday
Empty the Warrens
4 for 2 1/1s isn't that great but what is
important about this card is the storm effect.
Could be key in red goblin decks that drop a lot
of small goblins to build up the storm or has a
lot of mana boost.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 2
Limited: 2
David Fanany
Empty the
Warrens
Certainly an interesting card by anyone's
measure. Empty the Warrens is a key card in the
"other" storm deck making an impression in
Standard. It's the most fragile of the win
conditions with storm (compare Dragonstorm and
Ignite Memories) since it requires you to attack
with 1/1 creatures, giving your opponent a turn
to use Pyroclasm or Wrath of God. Many decks
don't play either of those, though. In casual
play, attacking with 150 goblins gets many more
style points than what storm decks usually do.
In limited, Empty the Warrens isn't so good.
It's very difficult to set it up to make lots of
tokens, and although ending up with two to four
extra 1/1 creatures isn't a terrible result from
one card, it usually won't do enough to swing
the game in your favor.
Constructed: 4/5 (in the right deck!)
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 2/5
PsychoAnime
The fact that there's a decent deck based around
this and that most Storm cards
are really good ensures a good rating.
It's really competing with Dragonstorm and
Ignite Memories as a win condition.
Ignite Memories is clearly the worst out of the
3 as it requires some interaction
with your opponent so is this better than
Dragonstorm?
Dragonstorm costs 9 mana; Empty the Warrens
costs 4 mana.
Dragonstorm doesn't work when the dragons are
drawn. Empty the Warrens always
works.
Dragonstorm wins the game on the turn you play
it; Empty the Warrens does not.
I think the last comparison is the most
important as that extra turn means a
potential board clearer. To get around it
additional cards must be used with
Empty the Warrens whereas Dragonstorm is more
standalone. I could see both
working though but my preference is Dragonstorm
although one can argue that
Dragonstorm requires more accelerants so that
makes up for the additional cards
Empty the Warrens need.
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5, smack your opponent with a band of
goblins.
Limited: 2/5, 1/1 do not do much and building a
high storm count is hard.
Arcane
Reviews by
Arcane
Empty the Warrens
Constructed: Is seeing a lot of play in the
Extended deck, Dirty Kitty (Goblins with green
for Fecundity). Goblins can power out the
creatures and the mana for lots of spells in a
single turn upping the storm count up very high,
and with Goblin Warchief they all have haste.
With the Spells rite of flame, seething song,
etc this spell has a lot of power but most
players in Standard are more content to use that
mana to play out a dragon storm for the win, as
their goblins won’t draw them extra cards or
have haste in this format.
Casual/Multi: A great spell to help you get back
into a game if you’re behind or to take that
extra leap ahead. I use it right now in a
suspend deck with cards like Clockspinning and
Fury charm to lose my suspend counters, put a
bunch of spells out there and then play a bunch
of goblins. What works even better is that if
someone tries to stop the suspend cards or toss
around instant speed kill it will jack up the
storm count even higher. And more players means
more spells, which is a dream come true for this
spell.
Limited: This card is a bomb in limited in the
hands of a smart player. There are tons of great
cards that can help power this card out and get
the storm count up. Every color has access to
suspend cards, white has weenie creatures, and
black has madness. Combos well with Coal Stoker
obviously letting you pay five mana for a 3/3
and 4 1/1s, or even something as simple as a
chromatic star. With only a few board sweeping
cards available in limited (Damnation, Pyrohemia
and Sulpherous Blast being the only ones I can
think of off the top of my head) means that your
opponent isn’t likely going to manage to break
even on the card advantage to take out all your
tokens.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4
The Missing
Linc
Empty the
Warrens
I have to admit when this card first came out, I
did not think a lot about it. However, after
being swarmed by goblins in the limited
environment and seeing this included as a
finisher in many constructed decks that work the
storm mechanic to its max, this card has earned
my respect. In limited, be sure to save a cheap
creature or spell if you have this in hand. Four
1/1 creatures early game can allow for some
creative gameplay.
