This was the Sliver that made people fear Sliver
decks. Get six or seven Slivers out, and you'll
have a board full of 6/6's with flying, first
strike, haste, trample, "B: Regenerate" and
whatever else they liked to tack onto monsters
back in the Bronze Age of Magic. But the
Slivers' downfall was that the enemy could kill
one Sliver and the remaining team also lost that
Sliver's ability, meaning that a well-aimed
Terror could rob the Sliver player of a
surprising chunk of his potential damage output.
Crystalline Sliver makes ALL Slivers immune to
targeted removal. Your opponent is now staring
down NOT just a mob of creatures with more
combat abilities under the sun, but a mob of
creatures with more combat abilities under the
sun THAT HE CAN'T KILL. Before Crystalline shows
up, the army of Slivers is daunting but not
unbeatable. Crystalline robs the opponent of
most common answers-- only a Wrath of God or
other board wipe would help, and those have
never been exactly common, most creature-based
decks don't even bother with them.
I once heard a story that this card was
originally going to be in Time Spiral's
timeshifted subset, but was pulled because it
led to too many "you can't do anything"
scenarios for its opponents. I've always found
this hard to believe, considering that Time
Spiral's Slivers are in all five colors, mostly
have mid-range costs, and practically each one
pulls towards a different strategy, making it
difficult to find the basis for a deck among
them in smaller formats. However, there can be
no doubt that this is one of the most powerful
tribal cards in all of Magic. In a deck built
for aggression and backed up by disruptive
elements, Crystalline Sliver is capable of
ending games before they begin. I wouldn't be
surprised if this card is the reason that most
lords now have rules text that clearly specifies
"other" creatures of their type.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
one of the most powerful slivers ever printed.
The ability to grant shroud to your entire army
allows you to protect your slivers to make sure
they maintain their plethora of abilities. In
eternal formats where it is legal this card
provides much needed protection from powerful
removal spells that fill older formats from
Lighting Bolt to Swords To Plowshares providing
a lynchpin for decks looking to utilize this
powerful tribe. In casual and multiplayer
protecting yourself from all but mass removal is
a great way to accumulate a board position and
insure the survival of your important slivers.
In draft environments that utilize this card its
definitely a draft around and can turn slivers
into unstoppable monsters. Overall there isn't
much to say, shroud is quite powerful and
granting your entire team this ability is really
a no brainer.
Today's card of the day is Crystalline Sliver
which is a two mana White and Blue 2/2 that
gives all slivers Shroud. In a sliver deck
without auras or beneficial targeted combat
tricks this is an extremely effective way to
shut down most removal available to an opponent.
Outside of global and sacrifice effects there is
little remaining to respond to sliver threats,
particularly with the very low cost of two mana
allowing this to be played early in a game. The
drawback of not targeting your own creatures is
noteworthy, but easily addressed during deck
design and overall this is one of the most
dangerous tools in the sliver tribe.
In a Limited format where this is available
the main drawback is giving any slivers your
opponent has the benefit of Shroud as well. The
two colors require at least some deck dedication
and other slivers dramatically increase the
value, though it stands well enough by itself as
a 2/2 with shroud. A solid second or third pick
in Booster if in color or as a hate draft as you
absolutely do not want to face multiple slivers
with Shroud across the table. In Sealed it
naturally depends on whether your Blue or White
pool is strong enough to run with as primary
colors or a splash, which should be strongly
considered based on the potential advantage this
offers.
Slivers are one of the most terrifying
creatures to fight in large numbers. Shroud is
one of the most frustrating abilities to fight
against. (I love burn spells so I’m biased).
Therefore, at a fast and efficient mana cost and
sporting a 2/2 body, Crystalline Sliver is one
of the most frustterrying slivers in the whole
brood. When this terristrating creature hits the
field you better have a field sweeper in your
hand or be ready for the pain.
