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BMoor |
Bloodbraid Elf
Oh, deary. This skinny, dreadlocked elf chick
has hijacked the Top 8's of just about every
tournament that ever meant anything since its
printing last spring. Do the math-- if you
cascade into a three-mana spell with this, you
effectively paid three for that spell and one
for the Elf herself. A 3/2 with haste for one
mana? This baby comes down and not only rips you
a free spell with which to further develop your
board or kill something of theirs--- or hit them
with Blightning--- and then she swings for 3 on
the same turn. If you flip up Blightning or Jund
Hackblade, that's an extra six damage on top of
whatever else you''ve got to swing with. If you
flip Terminate or the like, you've got an extra
attacker and they're down a blocker, completely
skewing the combat in your favor from what your
opponent expected to have to defend against.
Aggro's biggest weakness has traditionally been
that it runs out of cards too quickly, but
Bloodbraid Elf turns that on its heel as it
gives you an extra free card when you play it.
Constructed- 4.85
Casual- 4.95
Limited- 4.95
Multiplayer- 4.9 |
David Fanany
Player since
1995 |
Bloodbraid Elf
One of the most innovative cards in Alara
Reborn. One of the most elegant cards in Alara
Reborn. One of the most divisive cards in Alara
Reborn. One of the most powerful cards in the
entire Alara block. One of the most defining
cards in 2009-2010 Standard. Pojo's #1 card of
2009.
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
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Paul |
Magic The Gathering Card of the Day: Bloodbraid
Elf
Ladies and gentlemen here it is the #1 card
of 2009 and I have very little grounds on which
to disagree. For a minimum investment of four
mana requiring green and red you get a 3/2
creature with haste. The real draw which
obviously pushes it into the number one spot is
cascade. Cascade as mechanic involves carefully
tuning your deck to maximize its effectiveness
in standard currently utilizing Bloodbraid Elf
in Jund could allow you to cascade into
Maelstrom Pulse or another powerful card.
Loading your deck with cards using cascade
practically builds itself a competitive deck.
Cascade plays a prominent role in its own
Archetypes most notably featuring spells such as
Hypergeneis and Restore Balance from Time Spiral
allowing a player to instantly cascade into it
providing there is no spell with a lower mana
cost then the cascade spell.
Any card that contributes this heavily to agro
decks as well as decks utilizing cascade and
assisting in powering and spawning its own decks
archetypes is a fearsome and powerful card
indeed. In standard 5cc, Jund and Spread em have
all been powerful decks to utilize cascade to in
competitive Magic in extended as well as
standard. In eternal no chance. In casual and
multiplayer it’s an efficient and aggressive
creature but it can slip another spell from your
deck be it a creature or a removal spell, or
anything in between. In limited Bloodbraid Elf
is a great creature and depending on what you
draft alongside it a powerful creature and
possibly even a semi tutoring tool. Overall
Bloodbraid Elf deserves the title of the number
one card of 2009 for the decks it contributed
too as well as ushering in cascade with a bang
and providing players with a powerful tool in a
multitude of decks.
Constructed: 5.0
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5
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Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno |
The number one card of the year is Bloodbraid
Elf which weighs in as a four mana 3/2 with
Haste and the impressive ability to Cascade into
a second spell of three mana or less. A properly
designed deck can take dramatic advantage of
this ability and turn a single card into a major
advantage.
For Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer this
is a great creature held back only by the lower
than average toughness and two colors of mana in
the casting cost. Otherwise it offers card
advantage, a solid field presence, and potential
damage from attacking with Haste. While it can
be thrown into any Red/Green deck, the best
usage comes from carefully selecting any cards
that have a lower casting cost to have maximum
impact when cast after the Elf.
In Casual a 3/2 is generally not a bad
creature for the uncommon level, but adding
Haste and more importantly a second card is a
major bargain.
The multicolor nature limits the deck choices,
but the Alara sets strongly encourage three or
more color decks which mitigates this drawback
when compared to most other blocks. In Sealed if
running a Jund or Naya style deck this should
definitely be included as few cards offer as
much for four mana. In Booster it is the kind of
card that should be drafted shortly after your
first pick, when in color, and supported by some
of the available mana fixing options. Try to
keep your remaining three, two, and even one
mana cards left in the library in mind before
playing the Elf to help plan your overall
strategy in controlling the board. This is much
harder in Limited as generally your deck will be
filled with singletons instead of playsets, but
a little deductive reasoning can go a long way
on skewing a random effect towards a more
controlled gambit.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5
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