One of the more efficient Elf lords to hit print
in quite some time. At three mana, you've
basically got Elvish Champion-- a 2/2 that gives
all other Elves +1/+1. What makes the Warcaller
special is the ability to multikick. On turn
five, the same turn that Overrun goes live, he
can be played as a 3/3 that gives the team
+2/+2. And of course, Elves have long been known
for their ability to generate mana. A few
Llanowar Elves or other mana-producing Elves on
the field can suddenly become beastly in combat
when the Warcaller comes down. And of course,
you can increase the bonus by putting more +1/+1
counters on it after the fact. This card and
Immaculate Magistrate could get very damaging,
faster than you realize.
Multikicker is such an interesting, twisted,
and game-changing mechanic, I'm surprised it
wasn't in Future Sight. Joraga Warcaller is an
excellent representative of it. Devastating?
Usually. Overkill? Possibly. Fun? Definitely.
Magic The Gathering Card of the Day: Joraga
Warcaller
Welcome back readers today’s card of the day
is Joraga Warcaller a powerful elf warrior from
the Worldwake set. Joraga Warcaller shows off
the new ability from Worldwake multikicker, For
each 1G you pay in addition to the Warcaller’s
base mana cost of G it enters the battlefield
with a +1/+1 counter for each time it was
kicked. As a bonus other elf creatures you
control get +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on
Joraga Warcaller. Wow for 1GG you get a 2/2 elf
that grants all your elves +1/+1 becoming a sort
of elvish lord that can pump itself up as well
as other elves, this fact makes up for its lack
of a secondary ability. In standard currently
elves are being played heavily with Nissa Revine
in token generating decks.
Eldrazi Green may find room for this card as it
can pump armies of elf tokens and provide a
bonus to tokens lingering around. In extended
and eternal there are more powerful elves to
consider so this card could be utilized in decks
along cards like Immaculate Magistrate and Gaes
Cradle and Priest of Titania. In casual and
multiplayer this card makes my mouth water,
combine with cards like Doubling Season, Coat of
arms and mana producing elves you can make a
powerful deck that will quickly bring the pain
coming your way. In limited being able to draft
powerful elves is a problem so this card
wouldn’t rate to highly, if you manage to snap
Nissa Revine and other powerful elf cards
definitely grab this.
Today's card of the day is Joraga Warcaller
which starts as a one mana creature, but you
would only rarely want to play it that way. The
Multikicker effect not only increases the
Warcaller, but any others elves under your
control as well equal to the counters on Joraga.
A deck with him would likely contain a large
amount of mana acceleration and Quest for the
Gemblades, Strength of the Tajuru, and Soul's
Might which are all legal in standard and work
quite well with this theme, but also work
independently if needed for another target.
Joraga Warcaller can be played for one mana and
powered up later, which is quite efficient early
on with an the Quest if it already has a
counter.
Played for three mana this is an Elvish
Archdruid without the tap ability that can be
further enhanced, but elven decks often have
access to far more mana which only improves this
card's potential.
For Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer the
elven tribe has always been a popular one and
this card has a different take on the lord
concept that should appeal to many players. The
combination with cards like the easy to fulfill
Quest for the Gemblades puts this as a potential
tournament contender. The potential for two
Joraga Warcallers with a Strength of the Tajuru
played on each is also quite possible and when
playing in Extended formats there are cards like
Immaculate Magistrate to be played in a Lorwyn
token build for major impact.
In Limited the odds of having many additional
elves is quite reduced, which weakens this
considerably. In Sealed this should still be
played in any Green deck as there are nine other
elves you may have in Zendikar's block, but only
three of them are at the common level. Arbor Elf
in particular works well to add extra mana for
the Multikicker while the uncommon Greenweaver
Druid serves a similar purpose. In Booster draft
extra attention should be paid to elves and
acceleration in later packs, but not to the
exclusion of all else. As only one card in forty
this may not appear in every game, but being
available as a turn one drop or a late game
threat allows the kind of flexibility that
excels in the format.
