I'm a little surprised to even see this one on
Card of the Day at this point. It was banned in
Standard, that's how good it is. And unlike all
the other cards we've reviewed this week, it's
rotated out of Standard even without the
bannings. But it has not, as far as I know, been
banned in Modern yet despite that format having
a banned list as long as the line to get into
the Helvault. So I guess this is as good a time
as any to take a fresh look at Stoneforge Mystic
through the lens of the formats it is now legal
in.
Personally, I can't even talk about Modern. This
is a format where turn four Emrakul is
considered moderate to sub-par. I think Mystic
would probably be good, especially if there's a
combo involving an Equipment that I'm not
thinking of just now, but if Batterskull is the
best it can go get, well, that's not good enough
anymore.
Casual formats, on the other hand, would love
this. People love to build decks full of all
sorts of Equipment, and the Mystic lets you go
get whichever one you want. In Commander, it'd
be a great tutor. The fact that it also puts
Equipment into play from your hand isn't so
overpowered as people think. You still have to
pay 1W to do that, and you still have to pay to
Equip it. Most Equipment that costs much more
than 2 or 3 has an Equip cost to match. Going
and fetching Argentum Armor may sound awesome,
until you remember that you still have to wait
until you get six mana to actually use the
Armor. So really, the only card that this gets
nuts with is Elbrus, the Binding Blade, and that
just sounds like enough fun that I'm not
worried. I'd recommend Stoneforge Mystic to
anyone who has the cash to pick up a copy.
I honestly can't believe we've never reviewed
this card before. I'm guessing perhaps the
reason is because a lot of the things that can
be said about this lady were said in other
places already. While it's considered a truism
that anything that tutors and reduces cost, like
she does, is "inherently" broken, it's also true
that there are a lot of more innocent uses for
this card, unlike others that appeared
in Caw-Blade. Yes, she's the most powerful
equipment tutor in Magic so far, possibly the
most powerful ever assuming that Wizards of the
Coast wants to avoid Caw-Blade-style fiascos in
the future. But because of the nature of
equipment, a lot of her power comes from the
environment. If your deck has Trailblazer's
Boots and Adventuring Gear, she's cute. If it
has Behemoth Sledge and Sword of Vengeance,
she's strong. If it has Batterskull and
Umezawa's Jitte, you're probably playing Legacy.
She's either the most broken card in Magic or
the most fun card in Magic, and which one is
entirely up to you - I don't think you can say
that about any other card that exists!
Today's card of the day is one I'm surprised we
haven't reviewed yet as it is undeniable
powerful and the only non-Blue card currently
banned in Extended in addition to being banned
in Modern and Singleton formats.
The card is of course Stoneforge Mystic which is
a two mana White 1/2 that can tap for two to put
an equipment from your hand into the battlefield
and allows you to search your library for an
equipment card to add to your hand when it comes
into play. The potential for bypassing the
drawbacks of higher casting cost equipment cards
is a huge force to contend with and even without
the search aspect the Mystic can drastically
accelerate an offensive. It takes quite a
bit to join cards like Jace, the Mind Sculptor
on a banned list which leaves Stoneforge Mystic
as a card that will be played where legal for a
long time.
Unlike some of the other formats, Stoneforge
Mystic is legal in Limited and a first pick bomb
provided it is supported by any decent equipment
cards that become available. Equipment
cards are already powerful in a format driven by
creatures and multicolor decks benefit from
their colorless nature, so support like this is
even more useful. This is not a card to
pass in Booster even if it isn't in your colors
and Sealed should seriously consider White
whenever this is in the pool alongside even a
small number of equipment choices.
Welcome to the Pojo.com Card of the Day
section. Today, we are looking at Stoneforge
Mystic from Worldwake. Stoneforge Mystic is a
rare white creature kor artificer that costs one
generic and one white mana for a 1/2. Stoneforge
Mystic says when it enters the battlefield, you
search your library for an equipment card,
reveal it, and put it into your hand, the
shuffle your library. Stoneforge Mystic also has
an ability that says pay one generic and one
white mana, tap, put an equipment card from your
hand onto the battlefield.
Ah, the good old Stoneforge Mystic. One
of the most loved cards for a specific deck,
Caw-Blade. Well, that was right up until it was
banned. And rightfully so. Such a powerful card,
even by today’s standards. Imagine being able to
fetch Elbrus the Binding Blade turn two, then
turn three have it on the field and equipped to
say, a Suntail Hawk you dropped first turn. You
would no doubt have a 13/13 out following that
swing. And at that point, your opponent will
likely scoop, or put up a decent fight before
succumbing. But the real purpose was used to
fetch your swords, and then really put the hurt
on.
Such a good card. It was a shame that so
many people decided to run copy-cat decks that
the Mystic ended up being banned. I would have
liked to see her utilized in other kinds of
decks. But now, I suppose since she is not in
Standard anymore, we could still see her in
action yet again!
