I'm not sure how to feel about this card. It's
the lynchpin of Wolf Run Ramp, which is
currently one of the best decks in Standard. The
deck wouldn't exist without Wolf Run, but would
it exist without the other key cards in it?
Primeval Titan, to search up those Wolf Runs and
ramp your mana? Inkmoth Nexus, to deliver a
+X/+0 infectious blow? I personally am of the
opinion that if Primeval Titan is not reprinted
in M13, Kessig Wolf Run will be relegated to the
sidelines. We already know when Inkmoth Nexus is
leaving Standard, and it surely won't be back.
Invisible Stalker might work as well, but it
needs to deal 20 instead of 10 and it pushes the
deck into a third color. There's no denying that
this is a good card, especially in high mana
decks, but i think some people are overvaluing
it. Then again, cards don't exist in a vacuum.
Kessig Wolf Run may not be as good without the
Titan or the Nexus, but that's irrelevant
because the Titan and Nexus do indeed exist. The
only format I can think of where Wolf Run exists
and Titan and Nexus don't is Limited, and even
there, the Werewolves in the format benefit
greatly from an offensive-minded mana sink.
Back during the Ravnica era, my favorite
Standard deck was Gruul and my favorite land in
the deck was Skarrg, the Rage Pits. Sure,
Stomping Ground had the amazing art on its side,
and later Treetop Village came to show that
Urza's Saga deserves to be remembered for more
than just broken cards, but "Oops, Silhana
Ledgewalker has trample now" effectively won a
ridiculous number of games for just two mana.
Kessig Wolf Run is like Skarrg on Red Bull. The
biggest problem a lot of aggro decks have is too
much mana and not enough threats. Kessig Wolf
Run makes there be no such thing as too much
mana any more - worth it plus.
Today's number three card of 2011 is Kessel
Wolf Run which is a land that taps for one mana
and can tap for X, Red, and Green to give a
creature +X/+0 and Trample. Being a
repeatable instant speed source of Trample that
is quite difficult to remove makes this a very
useful card for a deck with larger creatures and
both colors of mana available. The small
drawback of not producing colored mana shouldn't
be an issue if Green's acceleration is used to
search lands and that combines well with the X
in the cost. Overall an excellent addition
to a Green/Red build and will definitely be
seeing play in a variety of builds.
For Limited formats this is a decent if somewhat
limiting first pick in Booster as it forces you
into two colors from the start and is difficult
to pick in later packs unless you already have
both colors chosen. Even with those
concerns the reliable source of Trample and
tapping for mana makes it worth using whenever
possible and splashing the other color should be
easy in Sealed.
Welcome back to
the Top 10 cards of 2011 here at Pojo.com! We
are looking at Kessig Wolf Run from Innistrad
today. Kessig Wolf Run is a rare land that taps
to add generic mana, or pay X, one red, one
green mana, tap it, target creature gets +X/+0
and gains trample until end of turn.
Hands down one of the best rare lands from the
set, if not in a long time. The fact that it is
uncounterable pumping, and gives the creature
trample are super valuable. Used on a creature
with infect, it could be devastating.
The Kessig Wolf Run explains itself why it is as good
as it is. How many times have pump spells been
countered? No more. How often do we wish our
pump spells could just grant trample? Done The
Kessig Wolf Run is a very impact card no matter
how applied.
