I was a little disturbed that a couple of the
Modern Masters cards that originated in Lorwyn
and Kamigawa got new, more video game-ish art
for their new version. Because obviously Magic
is somehow anything like a video game and should
look the same. Conversely, I was happy that
Otherworldly Journey didn't, because I think
it's physically hard to draw anything that looks
more like an otherworldly journey than this.
There are also a surprising number of decks that
can use this card, considering that has less raw
power than something like Honor of the Pure -
countering a Doom Blade-type card with this
feels fantastic and will have your opponent
questioning his decision, and you can even use
it as your own removal from time to time. It
doesn't matter how many +1/+1 counters are on a
creature if its controller is out of the game.
Did you also notice that if you target a
creature that had more than one +1/+1 counter on
it, it comes back with only one?
Today's card of the day is Otherworldly Journey
which is a two mana White instant that exiles a
creature until the beginning of the end step and
places a +1/+1 counter on it when it returns to
play. This may cost one more mana than
Cloudshift, but it has several interesting
applications including the counter and not being
held to only your own creatures. Overall
this is a solid card with high playability in a
variety of builds and the reprint in Modern
Masters will likely have it see increased
attention in non-Standard formats.
In Limited settings where this is available it
is a versatile tool that can be used
offensively, defensively, and in some cases
removal or control. Any deck using White
mana can find some use for it, even if just for
the counter, and it should be an automatic
inclusion in Sealed and fairly early pick in
Booster.
