Whenever you see a card that costs one mana, has
an effect, and draws you a card, that's Wizards'
way of saying that whatever the effect is, they
consider it to be so weak it doesn't deserve its
own card, but they didn't feel like making it
the activated ability of a creature this time,
so they put it on a one-mana cantrip. Indeed,
switching power and toughness is a weak ability
that once in a blue moon allows you to kill a
Wall or turn combat math in your favor, but
since most creatures have power that isn't too
much higher or lower than toughness, this
doesn't do much. Switching like this does get
better when you remember that blue gets to give
creatures -X/-0, but then you remember that most
cards that do that aren't any good either. At
least you get to filter your deck by one card,
so in Limited if you need an extra card you
could do a lot worse than this.
Certain mechanics are irrevocably associated
with certain colors, but it's good to see that
once in a while they're willing to shake things
up and print something that's genuinely
different. Switching creatures' power and
toughness doesn't look too useful, but you never
know when you're suddenly going to need to kill
a Wall. It can also do a pretty good
impression of Giant Growth, given all the 1/3
and 2/4 drakes and such that have been in recent
sets.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Twisted
Image
Welcome back readers today's card of the day is
a newly printed power and toughness switching
card luckily this one draws you an extra card.
In standard unless you have a deck built around
power and toughness combos this does not deserve
a spot in your main deck or sideboard. In
extended and eternal I doubt this card will have
any impact at all. In casual and multiplayer it
can take out Birds of Paradise and make for
interesting combat scenarios but aside from that
this card is not powerful enough to warrant
inclusion. In limited I would be hesitant to add
this card to my deck, the only advantage is card
draw. Overall a unique type of card that
occupies a niche, but wont see a lot of play.
Today's card of the day is Flesh Allergy which
is a four mana removal that also costs a
sacrifice of one of your creatures. As a
sorcery speed with nothing else this would be a
pretty bad card, but the loss of life clause can
have some benefit in a sacrifice themed deck and
played as a finisher. Overall it takes a
fairly dedicated mono-Black deck to make this
work and a deck like that can win tournaments,
so it can see some play. Better removal
and loss of life choices exist, but as a card
that combines both it is somewhat useful even if
it isn't the best example of efficiency.
In Limited this is not the best removal choice
as it requires a sacrifice costing you a two for
one and is unlikely to inflict much loss of life
to an opponent in the format. It is one of
the few cards that can take out any
non-Indestructible threat which does give it
some value, but splashing it is unlikely with
the double Black in the mana cost. In
Sealed this can be played if you are running
Black, have expendable creatures, and find
yourself light on removal. For Booster
draft this is a tough choice and can be picked
up in a weak pack if Black seems to be your
primary color, but should not be considered a
great choice unless your other cards are well
suited to supporting it.
Today’s Card of the Day is
Twisted Image from Scars of Mirrodin. It is a
one blue mana instant that switches power and
toughness and allows a card draw. I definitely
feel the format playing this card makes it’s
value much different.
In limited formats it is just that, limited. There
hasn’t been a great deal of cards to affect a
cards power in standard, and therefore, the
potential of this card in standard is greatly
reduced. In most instances for standard, you
would have to run a black and blue deck, perhaps
Vampires, to reduce the power, and then kill it
off with this card. With the help of say Urge to
Feed, you could possibly kill anything with a
power of three. The most practical use for this
card in standard is paying one blue mana to draw
a card.
That being said, in casual formats, such as Vintage, this
card has some major potential. With other blue
cards such as Ovinize, Serendib Sorcerer,
Disorient, etc, this card could be vicious. Five
mana, Twisted Image, and Disorient, and even
most dragons are now gone from the board, and
you get a new card. Granted, these abilities can
be more common using creatures, but it doesn’t
help to have support from instants, and the card
draw is always nice.
