I notice that there's no mention of this card
caring whether the spell that targets your
creature was played by you or your opponent.
That means that this can effectively give all
your pump spells an additional +3/+3 of
effectiveness-- great if you're running
monogreen infect, but not really in anything
else. Expecting your opponent to target your
creatures just isn't going to happen. Your
opponent will see the Wild Defiance and know not
to bother unless he's absolutely sure his kill
spell will stick. The good news is, that will
effectively blank the Wring Flesh or Shock in
your opponent's hand, as now it can't kill
anything. The bad news, it doesn't do anything
against the Doom Blade or Go for the Throat. If
I were already running full sets of Ranger's
Guile to shield my creatures from kill spells,
or if my opponent had played a lot of
Incinerates and Volt Charges in Game One, I
might consider a copy or two of this. Probably
in my sideboard. It's fun to imagine swinging
for 3, having an opponent play a Doom Blade,
only for you to respond with a Ranger's Guile
and informing your opponent he's now being swung
at for 10. But most players just won't misplay
that badly. The best this will do is keep your
opponent's kill off your creatures. Don't expect
to ever actually get +3/+3 off it though, unless
you bring your own targeted instants and
sorceries.
A disadvantage of having seen as many Magic
cards as I've seen is that you sometimes read
new ones as what you expect them to be, not what
they actually say. At first I didn't realize
that this card triggered from any instant or
sorcery, not just your opponents', and that
makes it a whole lot better. The worst-case
scenario is Titanic Growth giving someone +7/+7
- granted it's for five mana, but not all at
once, which is worth more than suspend's low
popularity might suggest. Getting "cute" with it
might be even more worthwhile; adding a power
and toughness boost to spells like Ranger's
Guile and Artful Dodge is just crazy. Glistener
Elf says hello, too.
Welcome back readers and todays card of the day
is an interesting rare, Wild Defiance makes your
pump spells even better and also has the ability
to protect your creatures from direct damage
spells. In standard I can see this combined with
infect creatures and pump spells as well as
cards like Livewire Lash to put a quicker clock
on your opponents. The other major aspect is
that it shuts down most burn spells pointed at
your creatures and provides a solid defense
against red decks giving this card two possible
applications that will allow it to see some
marginal competitive play. In modern I foresee
it serving the same type of decks mainly poison
and a suspicious sideboard card against burn
decks in creature heavy decks. In legacy and
vintage it has no immediate impact and its
effect on the format is negligible at best. In
casual and multiplayer it also provides a tool
for poison decks but is not the most exciting
card and has even more limited applications. In
limited it’s a solid card for green decks
featuring pump spells or targeted abilities.
Overall a card with some constructed
applications but is a somewhat boring casual and
multiplayer choice.
Today's card of the day is Wild Defiance which
is a three mana Green enchantment that that
gives a creature you control +3/+3 until end of
turn whenever it is the target of an instant or
sorcery spell. In addition to being a basic
combo with a huge number of cards this also
helps prevent many kinds of targeted removal
that an opponent might be using. Whether
simply using combat tricks to turn a minor
effect into a bigger impact on the game,
sidedecking it against Red burn, or working with
Infect for a dramatic early win this is a card
that can be played in a variety of different
ways. The deck has to be built around it
as it is entirely reactive by doing nothing by
itself, but the potential is strong enough to
promote at least a few designs.
For Limited this is reduced in value noticeably
as the number of instant or sorcery spells
available is much lower, particularly those that
would be used to target your creatures. It
can be beneficial in the right situation, though
more often than not a simple three mana creature
should have more of a role in a game. This can
generally be passed in Booster and sidedecked in
Sealed barring a pool of power up cards or
against an opponent that drafted heavy removal.
Welcome to
a new week of card of the day reviews here at
Pojo.com! To kick start this week we are looking
at Wild Defiance from Avacyn Restored. Wild
Defiance is a rare green enchantment that costs
two generic and one green mana. Wild Defiance
says that whenever a creature you control
becomes the target of an instant or sorcery
spell, that creature gets +3/+3 until end of
turn.
I never really like any card that says my
Lightning Bolt can’t kill something, and this is
one of those cards. While it is a great card if
you are the one using it. Giving a creature
+6/+6 off of a single mana Giant Growth is
always something to celebrate. Being able to
ensure your creatures are able to survive many
direct damage spells such as Shock and Lightning
Bolt is amazing.
This card has made a surge in the Tournament scene
being combined with Infect. One unblocked
creature getting two Titanic Growths and it is
game over. Really hard to respond to an attack
where one point of damage could mean the game
with this on the board. I will be glad when
Infect rotates out of Standard, but what other
menaces await us that can be combined with Wild
Defiance?
