The biggest thing that strikes me about this
card is that she's a Merfolk. Were there Merfolk
in the first Ravnica block? I don't remember
seeing any. Have Merfolk always been native to
Ravnica? Did the Simic "invent" Merfolk since
the last block?
However they did it, this one's a powerful one.
She comes down on turn six. How big do you think
the biggest other creature you have will be by
turn six? Keep in mind, you're playing Simic--
the guild of making your creatures bigger. But
kill spells do exist, so let's be conservative,
and say that your biggest is a 3/3. In that
case, you've paid six mana for a 4/4 and drawing
four cards (because Zegana starts as a 1/1
herself). Granted, Opportunity hasn't been
reprinted in a while, but getting four cards for
six mana is a pretty nice deal even without
getting the 4/4 as well. So what we've got here
is a creature that's always as big as whatever
else you've got, and refills your hand when you
drop it. What's even better is that you can
combo it with a Titanic Growth to get an
additional 4 cards and an additional +4/+4 to
Zegana permanently. If your next biggest
creature is of a decent size (and in the Simic
it should be) then Zegana will always be a
welcome addition to your board and hand.
What I really like is the way Zegana works with
the Simic's new AND old keyword abilities. Since
Zegana comes down as "biggest you've got + 1"
she'll always have higher power (if not
toughness) than any of your creatures with
Evolve, so they'll all get counters. And since
her "draw cards" ability is an
enters-the-battlefield ability, if you've got
Graft creatures you can graft onto her before it
resolves to draw even more cards! I like how
that makes her strongest in a dedicated Simic
deck and a great way to bridge the two abilities
without having to awkward call out either
mechanic and render Zegana useless in a deck
that doesn't use them.
This card probably scared a lot of people when
they first read it - I imagine there were plenty
of players who, once they parsed what Zegana's rules
text actually means, had flashbacks to games
they lost against creatures like Primeval Titan
and Sphinx of Lost Truths. However, Zegana makes
its caster work a little harder than those
earlier cards, and her more subtle interactions
with other cards make her, in my opinion, much
more interesting. Yes, I consider the word
"interesting" a compliment when it comes to
design, unlike certain game designers we all
know.
Today's card of the day is Prime Speaker Zegana
which is a six mana Green and Blue 1/1 that
enters play with +1/+1 counters equal to the
greatest power creature you control and you draw
cards equal to Zegana's power. This has
excellent symmetry with the Evolve mechanic and
the other cards in the Simic guild as well as
effects that blink to get additional card draws.
The high cost is the biggest drawback, though
mana acceleration and card drawing in the same
build help mitigate that. Overall an
interesting and effective leader for a
Green/Blue deck that is even stronger when
partnered with a full Simic deck.
in Limited this can become a very large threat
towards the later stages of a game that Evolves
your other creatures and refills your likely
dwindling or empty hand. The double Green
and Blue keeps it from being easily splashed,
but otherwise there is no reason not to run this
whenever using Simic's colors.
Welcome
to the Pojo.com card of the day section. We are
continuing our look at Gatecrash today with
Prime Speaker Zegana. Zegana is a legendary
creature Merfolk Wizard that costs two generic,
two green and two blue mana for a 1/1. Zegana
enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1
counters on her equal to the highest power among
other creatures you control. When Zegana enters
the battlefield, you draw cards equal to her
power.
Prime
Speaker Zegana is really a great representative
for the Simic Guild and their new Evolve
ability. Seeing she will find the biggest
creature you control, and be one higher ensures
that all of your creatures with Evolve will also
get stronger. Then, you get to draw a bunch of
cards. That is sure to be worth six mana. And
with Cavern of Souls, it is very simply to
choose Wizard and not worry about a Counterspell
ending the fun.
Nothing
really bad to say except her high end mana cost,
but six mana for a deck using green should be
very easy to come by.
