When it comes to first strike, 3/3's have always
been the gold standard. Kitsune Blademaster and
Ballynock Cohort tore up their respective
Limited formats because you needed 4 toughness
just to block it, and most 4-toughness creatures
are 0/4 and 1/4 Walls-- hardly a threat. The
3/4's didn't start hitting the board until much
later in the game, and by then you've swung a
few times and maybe ate a few chumps. Well, this
thing drops a full turn earlier than those
creatures, and is a 3/3 first strike as long as
you make your land drops. Granted, during
opponents' turns it's a 1/1 barring
Sakura-Tribe-worthy shenanigans. But were you
going to hold this back to block?
I am not a big fan of centipedes. Oh, don't get
me wrong, I respect their right to live in my
yard, but I would really prefer that they stay
out of my way - they have a tendency to walk
straight towards me and over my shoes if I let
them. I am, however, a fan of their cousin from
Zendikar. Yeah, you need lands for him to fight
at maximum power . . . but you were playing
lands anyway, probably quite a few considering
Siege-Gang Commander is in the same color. Yes,
I'm a fan. As long as he's walking over other
people, and not me!
-Balding
for just over 5 years
-Playing MTG for just over 10
Plated Geopede
Love the name. Wish I loved the card. Ok, so I
am a big fan of land based fun. My 42 land deck
is constantly coming out of the closet for
revamping. The Landfall ability has me excited.
However, this little fellow needs some support
cards. Enter in Azusa, Manabond, Fastbond,
etc... With those cards, we might have
something. Without him, the best you can ask for
is a 3/3 first strike on turn 3 and only on your
turn. Not horrible. Just not wowing me.
Today's card of the day is Plated Geopede a 1/1
First Strike with an ability that may seem to be
only useful on offense. Keep in mind that it is
whenever a land enters the battlefield under
your control, so anything that can be activated
on your opponent's turn can give you a 3/3 First
Strike on the block. Landfall seems to promote a
higher ratio of lands in your deck and does have
the nice benefit of making lands potentially
useful draws in the later stages of the game.
This also encourages more strategy in when to
play the lands you draw, which is something that
is rarely seen outside of holding a land as a
bluff.
In Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer this
seems like a mediocre card with some potential
that needs quite a bit of support to function
more reliably. It depends on how important
Landfall becomes of course, but I don't expect
this to find too many homes in upcoming decks.
With Limited too many cards are unknown for the
format, but it certainly has potential. First
Strike is handy and there is already a possible
14/1 with Trample revealed, so something like
this can stop that threat without even getting
killed in the process. Certainly useful for that
if nothing else and a low cost creature is not a
bad pick. Not a high choice in draft, but worth
taking if it is in your color.
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