Magus of the
Library
Green has better mana accelerators. But does it
have better card drawing? No. Despite the fact
that mana acceleration discourages having seven
cards in hand, you will often want to hold off
on playing things simply to get to be able to
draw cards with this guy.
Constructed- 4
Casual- 4
Limited- 4,5
KC MetroGnome
3/1 - Magus of
the Library
All the magi are fun in concept. This one could
be good in a green-based control deck. In fact,
I could almost see a G/U/W draw-go style deck
with green's new-found card drawing, this, and
counterspells from all three colors to protect
the creatures. Because that's the weakness. This
guy is a 1/1. The only color that has trouble
dealing with him is Green. That means you
probably need a full complement of Rebuff the
Wicked and Avoid Fate if you want him to stick
around. Maybe it works, but it's not an easy
deck to make.
Constructed - 3+
Casual - 4+
Limited - 1+
Arcane
Magus of the
Library
Just like Time Spiral, Planar Chaos is back with
a new set of Magi and this time they bring back
the power of lands of yore. First up in the
Magus of the Library (based on the Library of
Alexandria) another card drawing engine for
green to reflect its alternate universe place in
the color pie.
Limited: Definitely a strong card for green in
limited but how strong is it? The mana ability
is nice accel but the card drawing is really
what’s going to be what you want out of it
(after all who wants to pay GG for a Llanowar
Elf that doesn’t even make colored mana?) In the
early game where it would get the most use,
you’re looking to hit double green on turn two,
which isn’t always as easy in drafts or sealed
where your mana base is usually split between
two/three colors. Green does however, have
aplenty of card drawing cards in TS and PC that
can help you get the most use out of your Magus
should you crack one. Nantuko Shaman and Citanel
Woodreaders are both common cards that you can
see fairly easily and the uncommons Harmonize,
Keen Sense and Psychotrope Thallid all provide
either mass card drawing or repeatable card
drawing to help keep you hand at 7. On a side
note with 2HG PTQs popping up which are going to
be sealed events it’s interesting to note that
the Magus will be a definite advantage allowing
one player to play aggro and the other (the one
with the Magus) to stick to more control/removal
based play and use the Magus to maximize their
advantage over opponents.
Constructed: Decks may be able to get some use
out of him in a G/U control deck that uses card
drawing and counters to keep their opponent
down. The Ohran Viper (a great Green creature)
even comes with a card drawing ability when it
hits a player and is sure to be seen along side
the Magus. I think it may see a bit more play in
Extended dredge based decks as the extra card
draw can restock their hand. (Imagine playing
Life from the Loam to get back three land
pushing your hand size above 7 and then using
the Magus to dredge back the Loam to do it all
over again). The problem just might be that the
Magus isn’t fast enough for the current Dredge
based decks like Aggro Loam.
Casual/Multi: Johnnies out there are sure to
love the card draw and will probably breed some
fun casual decks. Even if mono green control
decks don’t make a splash as constructed levels
events, there’s always going to be someone who
wants to use it to fuel their next big combo. I
for one would love to try this out along side a
Seedborn Muse to draw a card on each of my
opponents’ turns. Card draw in multi is always
nice as it lets you restock your hand to take
out the new threats that will inevitably hit the
field. And green has a huge number of creatures
that can draw them cards including Hystrodon,
Veduran Enchantress and Primordial Sage to name
a few which should help the Magus find a home
even if he isn’t as big as the others.
With a properly designed deck the Magus can
definitely draw just as many cards as its old
Arabian Nights counterpart, but just be aware
that if you start getting out of hand it will
become a target and being a creature with a
small 1/1 body it is easy to eliminate.
Limited: 3/5
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
Aethereal
Thursday -
Magus of the Library
Mister Alexandria himself. This is a decent card
to have for a U/G control deck, but the problem
is he costs 2 and therefore doesn't let you sit
on counterspell mana turn 2 if you want to play
him out. Additionally, because he's a creature
and not a land, you have to be playing second or
have already drawn extra cards if you want to
use his ability turn 3. Finally, he's easily
killed by any burn spell out there. Therefore, I
don't think this guy will get a lot of play, but
he's still decent.
In casual, if you ever wanted to play Library
but couldn't due to the cost, now you can.
In limited, if I were already well into green
I'd probably take him, but not over an important
common/uncommon or a bomb rare. He does give you
good card advantage, though, if you can manage
to keep your hand size up.
