Any card that can potentially take out two
creatures by itself is worth looking at. I don't
really expect Arc Trail to draw much attention,
since it's sharing a Standard with Lightning
Bolt, can't deal more than 2 to any one target,
and is a sorcery while everybody wants instant
removal, but it could definitely be worth
looking at. Of course, most of the time this is
just going to be a weaker Searing Blaze, taking
out one creature and hitting its controller for
1 (or 2). But people do play creatures with 1 or
2 toughness, and Arc Trail gives red a handy way
to clear out a room.
The original Mirrodin block had a lot of art
showing odd pterodactyl-like creatures; the new
one has the same, plus some of those creatures
getting struck by lightning. It's not only
dinosaurs that have to fear Arc Trail, though;
there's a lot of fast creatures that get
absolutely crushed by this, especially in Scars
of Mirrodin draft and sealed. It may often be
hard to pick this over Pyroclasm in a lot of
situations, but it can also hit players, which
may sometimes come up.
Today's card of the day is Arc Trail which is a
two mana burn spell that deals two damage to one
target and one damage to another target.
This is quite efficient as a two for one at
removing very small threats or dealing a little
damage to an opponent on the side, but quickly
loses value if the opponent has any larger
creatures or enhancements in play.
Potentially worthy of a sidedeck slot against
Myr, Vampires, or other swarm decks depending on
the area, but while the cost of two may not be
crippling the Sorcery speed does hurt compared
to other options.
For Limited the large number of low toughness
creatures in the set makes this an incredibly
powerful card that can ruin even the best
opening draws for an opponent. A two for
one is a bargain for just two mana and should
always be drafted early in Booster and played
whenever possible in a Sealed pool.
In Multiplayer the odds improve of having
worthwhile creature targets or at least two
opponents to split the damage across and it can
be used to trigger effects like Chandra's
Spitfire or Quest for Pure Flame.
