There's always a 1G creature that taps for G
somewhere in any given block. They never really
catch on. This one can't even tap for G until
you play a creature with at least 2 power and/or
at least 3 toughness, so as an accelerator it's
fairly useless. It'd be a good target for
yesterday's card, Forced Adaptation though. The
real draw here is the potential-- if you keep
putting out big creatures (and a green deck
shouldn't have trouble doing that) then this
will grow into a heavy hitter itself, and it'll
tap for more and more mana Elvish Archdruid
style. It's definitely best suited for Casual
Elf decks and Mean Green variants involving
Fangren Firstborn and the like. Other decks
might be able to drop it in play early, let it
accrue a few counters on its own, and then
simply use it as a blocker or to power out a
massive X spell, but it just isn't worth playing
unless you're willing to coddle it.
This is an interesting card to assess. Most
mana creatures are for the early game; this one
seems more inclined towards the late game. Most
mana creatures are less than stellar in combat;
this one can quite plausibly grow to a stature
where she can take on armies. I do like how her
mana ability facilitates the continuation of her
evolve ability, by allowing you to cast more and
more expensive (and, most likely, larger and
larger) creatures. That potential means that a
lot of decks are going to want to remove her on
sight, which is a compliment in a strange sense,
but means you may not always see that
spectacular widening gyre. Be cautious.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
Gyre Sage an interesting and powerful mana
accelerator/ beat stick. In standard this card
has proved it can hang with the big boys
accelerating into threats as long as you keep
dropping creatures and then itself can serve as
a powerful creature making it an inclusion in a
few decks noticeably those running tremendous
amount of creatures. In modern I could see this
card seeing some play in creature heavy deck
lists and providing a unique effect for perhaps
elf based decks. In legacy and vintage I don’t
see this card making an impact at all. In casual
and multiplayer this card has dual purposes as a
powerful creature and accelerant also the elf
and druid creature types are relevant making it
quite useful for various deck types. In limited
its solid threat. Overall a powerful card that
doesn’t dominate but serves important dual roles
in multiple places.
Today's card of the day is Gyre Sage which is a
two mana Green 1/2 with Evolve that taps to add
one Green mana for each +1/+1 counter on it.
This takes at least one additional creature or
effect to produce even one mana, which leaves
more independent sources a better option in most
decks for the reliability. It does offer a
possible blocker or attacker, though with no
other abilities almost any other creature can
serve better in that role. In the right
build it can provide a great deal of mana for an
X effect or large spell possibly by using cards
like Hunger of the Howlpack, Increasing
Savagery, creatures with Scavenge, or just a
dedicated Evolve deck. Overall a card that
can do quite a bit and may see some play even
with a situational nature.
In Limited this is a great card to have in a
Simic deck as it is a source of acceleration and
potential threat that can easily enter play on
the second turn, with drastically diminishing
value as the game goes on and becomes a very
poor topdeck for a rare. Any Sealed using
Green mana can benefit from a two mana with
Evolve and getting at least one counter on it
should not be difficult. For Booster it is
a worthwhile first pick even though it requires
support in game that support can be any larger
creature, not necessarily a particular keyword
or theme.
Welcome back to the Pojo.com Card of the Day
section. Today we continue our look at some
green themed cards with Gyre Sage from
Gatecrash. Gyre Sage is a rare green creature
elf druid that costs two generic and one green
mana for a 1/2. Gyre Sage has Evolve and tap:
add one green mana to your mana pool for each
+1/+1 counter on Gyre Sage.
On it's own, Gyre Sage is good, and will
probably get up there eventually. But when
combined with the card we reviewed yesterday,
Forced Adaptation, the mana is an every turn
mana accelerator. Not to mention, more mana
means more creatures, which may mean more +1/+1
counters, which may mean even more mana. I guess
that the only real question is what will you do
with all that mana?
