All the Ascensions are pretty compelling (except
the blue one) and give you obscene rewards if
you can complete the task assigned. Trouble is:
can you go four opponent's turns without losing
any life? The only deck I know that can make
such a boast is TurboFog-- a deck that packs 12
or more Fog-like effects. And many of said
effects don't stop direct damage, so a single
Bolt will delay your Ascending by a turn. But
when you get there, oh man. It'll be turn six by
then, at least, which means you can pump out
three 4/4 flyers for only six mana! That's 150%
better than Broodmate Dragon, and Broodmate gets
played in the highest tiers of professional
competition!
Today's card of the day brings us back to Zendikar
with Luminarch Ascension a quest that can grant
4/4 Flying tokens for just two mana.
It does take four turns without losing any life
which is a drawback, but a Turbofog style of
play can really make this card shine as can
simply playing against a control deck. Getting
this enchantment out against control can be a
serious problem as the tokens themselves are
harder to deal with than countering a creature.
For Constructed and Casual this is a potentially
key card to a stall deck as it gives a potential
win condition. The trigger is a problem in an
aggressive environment, but a deck can be
designed to handle that temporarily at least.
In Limited this is not an easy rare to get the
full value out of as the format encourages
offensive creature builds. I'd still play this
for the potential massive token swarm it can
create, but anything else that prevents or
defends against damage is critical for support.
In Sealed I'd play it if you are going with
White anyway and in Booster the tokens make it a
decent first round pick. However, if defensive
and stall isn't your cup of tea it may be worst
drafting something more aggressive from the
pack. This is the kind of card that can be a
bomb or a dud and the difference is all about
how you and the table play their cards.
With Multiplayer the words "each opponent's end
step" is critical as it and any low cost high
defense monster on turn one can pretty much make
this one of the best turn two drops in the
format. Depending on the number of players the
quest can be completed before your third turn
which is when the 4/4 tokens start appearing.
The above creates a very dangerous position for
the rest of the players, so expect some
alliances and retaliation.
Welcome back readers today’s card of the day is
a powerful enchantment. With a minimal mana
investment you can pump out an army of 4/4
flying angels. The catch is that you have to not
lose life for a total of four turns. Ideally you
want to avoid taking damage from opponents
anyway and with Turbo
Fog being a viable archetype luminarch Ascension
can be a solid addition and a win condition. In
standard Turbo Fog prevents a ton of damage and
can stall the necessary time to power out
angels. In extended and eternal formats this
card can prove a worthy notch in a deck. In
casual and multiplayer this cards playability
increases radically because if you can set it up
so people cant or wont attack you or stall one
time around the table with enough people you can
dominate the board for the rest of the game with
angels. This card definitely will see play
around the kitchen table with all the
interesting play scenarios it can provide for
players. In limited if you have enough damage
prevention cards or powerful creatures this card
may be able to power out tokens your opponent
would be hard pressed to deal with.
