Hearkening back to the immensely powerful Jackal
Pup, this card seems unlikely to reach the same
lofty heights, at least in the next couple of
months. Once Zendikar shakes up Standard (and
seriously, how cool were those preview pictures
from GenCon we posted last week?), someone will
probably try this card along with Hellspark
Elemental, Hell's Thunder, and perhaps even
Raging Goblin. But even then it may not be
backed up by the sheer volume of damage that its
ancestor had in the Tempest era. I don't think
this card is one to be dismissed, either way.
Constructed: A 2/2 that needs friends to attack
and block. Good doggie...
Casual: Good for new players who have a small
collection.
Limited: It's cheap, but there are alot of
better creatures to pick up. Not a top pick for
me. But maybe I will try and see how many I
could draft next time we draft M10, that would
be interesting.
Overall not a very good card. Just another
common.
Today's card of the day is Jackal Familiar, a
fairly interesting 2/2 for one mana that
requires a bit of work to play effectively.
In Constructed the penalty is pretty heavy and I
really can't see it being played overly much as
without a Hasted partner it can't even attack
until turn three if played on the first turn.
Many other creatures offer more and can have a
supported type as well.
For Casual a few tricks can be added, but
otherwise it is again a fairly lackluster card.
With Limited the desire to play the card does
increase a bit as your pool of cards is fairly
small, but fortunately one of the best cards to
use with the Jackal is also in the set. The
basic play is to first turn Jackal, second turn
Raging Goblin and attack for three. If your
opponent doesn't have a creature this is a
pretty strong opening. It works even better if
you have a Kindled Fury to help deal with an
opponent's creature should they try to block one
to stop the Jackal from attacking the next turn.
All in all a solid choice in limited with
support and your other cards in sealed or
drafted in booster make all the difference. Not
a high pick, but with Raging Goblin in hand not
a low pick either.
Finally with Multiplayer this is even weaker
than in Constructed and Casual as the number of
opponents can easily outlast or remove any of
the Jackal's support, leaving it toothless.
There are plenty of other cards that can fulfill
the role more reliably.
