Welcome to "Cards You're Going to be Playing
With in Four Days" Week! For some reason, Birds
of Paradise is the least-imitated core set
staple in Magic; there are only a couple of
dozen variants, as opposed to over 9,000
derivatives of Lightning Bolt and Healing Salve.
One reason may be that block mechanics usually
don't go as well with creatures (what would a
Bird of Paradise with threshold look like?) as
exalted does. Perhaps Noble Hierarch will open
the door for other imitators of the original
mana bird. Time will tell, but until then, this
lady will win games. Remember to wait for her
exalted trigger to take effect before you use
that Chameleon Colossus's ability!
It's always tough reviewing cards before we've
had a chance to play with them in the proper
context. Cards like this make it a bit more
difficult. At first glance, this is the type of
card that seems like it can't be any better than
just average. But, then it has exalted. I'm not
a fan of the ability, but it ALMOST makes this
guy a 1/2 creature. Being able to tap for 3
colors is really nice as well. It will likely
see some play, but it's a question of how much.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 2.5
Limited: 4
Jake
Monday - Noble Hierarch
The card that's gonna take over Birds of
Paradise in some decks. Hopefully even bring its
price down. Well we can hope. The real advantage
is its exalted. Being able to hit with a 1/2
early on can make the difference between losing
by a few and winning. Most decks with BoP mainly
use it as mana accel early and equipping it with
moldervine cloak or loxodon warhammer later on.
The birds tend to be only used in 2-3 color
decks anyway, so out with old in with the noble.
Great in Bant for sure as mana fixing and d more
exalted the better.
