His +1 ability is classic green draw. Right out
of the gate, you're refilling your hand with
creatures... or maybe you're not. Since it's
whatever's on top of your library, you can
indeed whiff with Garruk's +1 and have nothing
to show for it. Odds are you'll get at least one
card though, and it's possible you'll get more.
That ability segues nicely into his -3 ability--
to drop a green creature directly into play.
Since he starts with 4 loyalty, you can use that
immediately if you need to, in which case you
just spent 4GG for whatever you just played. I
can see casual players using Garruk to cheat out
a Progenitus.
But if you do that, you're likely not charging
up his Ultimate. For 7 loyalty (at which point
your hand is probably loaded with monsters) you
get to search your deck for a creature and drop
it into play EVERY time you play a creature. How
many creatures do you even have left in your
deck by then?
My biggest concern is that such a
creature-focused strategy is very susceptible to
a Day of Judgment. But then again, Garruk's +1
is as good a way as I can think of to recover
from a board wipe, so maybe Garruk is actually
insurance against the very counter-measure he
seems to suggest?
I'd love to know if there's a procedure for
deciding which planeswalkers get new versions
and when. I certainly didn't expect Garruk to
have a new incarnation now, especially since his
previous one was already pretty interesting.
Nonetheless, I don't doubt that his new
incarnation will have an impact at some point.
While all three of his abilities relate to
creatures, they all do powerful things in that
vein: Sneak Attack is widely considered broken
and this has an even cheaper activation cost
(though it makes you pay more for the permanent
it's attached to), and a repeatable version of
Lead the Stampede is exactly what creature-heavy
decks have been waiting for since about 2007 or
so. Definitely one to watch.
Today's card of the day is Garruk, Caller of
Beasts which is a six mana planeswalker with
four loyalty. The fairly high mana cost keeps
this Garruk more oriented towards a mana
acceleration build than previous versions. His
+1 ability is a solid source of card advantage
and supports acceleration well by giving the
available mana something to be spent on. The -3
can be situational in this kind of deck as it is
a lot of loyalty to spend when mana should be
readily available, but can be used alongside
very high mana cost creatures that connect to
the -7.
The -7 is extremely powerful with the right
creatures and after the +1 fills the hand,
though finding the right balance to avoid
slowing the deck down early and still have
enough targets to win is going to be vital.
Overall this is a powerful card in a very
specific build, which may keep it from higher
end competitive settings, yet should become a
reasonably popular alternative in smaller
tournaments, casual, or Commander.
In Limited the card advantage of the +1 and
-7 make for an extremely dangerous card and
absolute first pick in Booster. Supporting it by
drafting Mystic Elves and some bomb creatures
should make for a solid deck strategy, but even
without an ideal pool the +1 is impressive. In
Sealed the pool just may not work well for this
Garruk which can make playing him dependent on
your other color choices. He works best in
mono-Green which is unlikely in Sealed and
support may just not be available.
Card draw, a specialized “sneak attack” effect,
and the buddy system makes it clear that Garruk
and his leather loincloth are a fierce force of
nature!
If Garruk wasn’t a planeswalker, I think he
would have a good shot at a career in
professional wrestling. Garruk the Gnarled
Giant! Powering up Garruk helps you hunt down
the best creatures on the top of your deck,
while simultaneously sending all those useless
lands and non-creatures to the bottom of the
deck where they belong. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST!
If the creatures on the field can’t defend
Garruk while he’s in the ring, he’ll make a
sacrifice and summon any green creature from
your hand! Mana cost? We don’t need no stinking
mana cost! If that’s not tough enough for you,
when the emblem brings the heat it makes sure
your creatures always bring a friend. Summon a
skinny Elvish Mystic and his macho friend
Kalonian Hydra comes to play as well! It’s a tag
team match!
Casual:
When I read Garruk’s emblem effect the Timmy
player in my head just screams “…and now I
search my deck and summon Emrakul the Aeons Torn
to the field!”
Every time I use that emblem I’m going to call
out “Avengers Assemble” and summon a hulk, and
any card that let’s me feel like Samuel L
Jackson has got to be a good card.
