Simple and effective. A 2/1 for two, and when it
dies, you get a Rampant Growth effect. Like
Sakura-Tribe Elder, only you trade an extra
point of power for the ability to control when
the land fetch happens. But that's okay, because
a 2/1 is pretty clearly made to swing with, as
often and as early as you can. They can take the
two damage, or they can block, inevitably
killing your 1-toughness Elf and giving you that
land fetch, and possibly losing a creature of
their own. Better yet, they may assume that
you're attacking into a larger blocker because
you just want the extra land, so they block with
bigger creature... never expecting the Giant
Growth you had in hand, which was the real
reason you were willing to attack with it. The
same goes for if they choose not to block-- they
may thing taking two damage is worth not letting
you ramp your mana, but they don't know they're
really taking five or more damage.
Contrary to what some people will tell you,
Sakura-Tribe Elder did not become unplayable
after combat damage no longer used the stack.
Viridian Emissary does not obsolete it, or
anything else for that matter, but rather
occupies a niche all its own. While it's taken
over the "kill an attacker and get a land"
niche, it doesn't work at instant speed unless
you have another card (may I suggest Plaguemaw
Beast?). The Emissary shines in limited where
Phyrexia-heavy decks like you to sacrifice
creatures, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it
follow in the footsteps of its famous ancestor
and appear in constructed. And if your deck can
fit some of both, why not?
Today's card of the day is Viridian Emissary
which is a two mana 2/1 Green elf that will put
a basic land into play tapped when it is sent to
the graveyard from the battlefield. The
effect isn't as reliable for acceleration as
other elf options, but Green has no shortage of
those and a two mana 2/1 elf that can speed
things up works quite well in their designs.
It will depend on the exact build, but even if
it is just played to charge into the opponent's
defenses it may trade and will gain you the
advantage. Overall a solid card when used
correctly and an interesting twist to Green's
standard themes.
For Limited this is a very nice common to get in
multiples as a 2/1 for two that can help fix a
multiple color deck and put pressure on the
opponent early in the game. There is no
drawback to running this card and should be
played in any Green build in Sealed and drafted
aggressively in Booster as both support and one
of the lowest cost threats in the format.
Welcome to the
last installment of card of the day for this
week at Pojo.com! Today we take a look at
Viridian Emissary from Mirrodin Besieged. The
Viridian Emissary costs only one green and one
generic mana to cast. The Viridian Emissary is a
2/1 that when it is sent to the graveyard from
the battlefield, you may search your library for
a basic land card and put that card into play
tapped, and shuffle your library.
Ah, another great card for the land fall mechanic which
is still standard legal. This guy serves as a
great blocker for getting land, but perhaps a
better use is removing your own creature for
some greater purpose to get said land pumping
potential land fall mechanics, and then
attacking. And since this guy is Phyrexian,
perhaps he is best suited for a Phyrexian mixed
with Zendikar card deck. Like for instance, a
green and balck deck could exploit this guy for
its land fall by using Plaguemaw to proliferate
if there are any poison or -1/-1 counters
floating around, getting you a land, which can
gain you life with Grazing Gladeheart and/or
pump a Baloth Woodcrasher and then use a Tainted
Strike to give it +1/+0 and infect.
All in all a very great and useful card, in pretty much any
format because you could always use some extra
mana.
