I like that this card triggers Constellation
twice (and thus works well with yesterday's
card) but a pair of 2/2's and Scry 1 isn't much
of a payout for six mana. It wasn't too long ago
that the Core Set was giving us a pair of 2/2
flyers for four mana, in the same set as a
Legend who makes extra 2/2 flyers when you cast
spells. Is the fact that they're Enchantments
really worth that much? Sure, it's an
enchantment-themed block, but that just means
there's plenty more options for the guy who has
six mana to burn and wants "an enchantment".
Today's card of the day is Rise of Eagles which
is a six mana Blue sorcery with Scry 1 that puts
two 2/2 Blue enchantment tokens with Flying into
play. This is just not a competitive card
as for the cost it doesn't offer enough for any
Constructed format. Talrand's Invocation
has the core elements for two mana less and
there are far better plays for Blue at six mana
that aren't just two 2/2 tokens.
Overall a card that won't see any play outside
of the most Casual of settings or a gimmick
enchantment or bird deck.
In Limited this is a much better play as it
works with both enchantment or scry support and
puts two evasive tokens into play. The cost is
manageable and multiples are possible given the
common rarity which is a noticeable benefit as
evasion and tokens win games in Limited.
For Booster this is a good early pick for the
advantages it brings to the midgame and in
Sealed a copy or two is a strong motivation for
at least splashing Blue.
My first impression of this card when I
opened it at the pre-release was "bah, this is
just another overcosted token producer", and I
quickly threw it in the stack of cards I
wouldn't be playing. Later, as I was building my
blue-green deck, I noticed I was a little light
on flying creatures, so for lack of a better
card, I decided to toss this in.
Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised. It
did multiple things for me. First, it did fit
the bill for flying creatures. In one game, I
was pretty fortunate to hit all my land drops,
so I could play it by turn 6. We had hit a stall
with ground creatures, and I was able to get
these birds out and use some combat tricks to
make them bigger and I finished off my opponent
in a few turns.
In another game, I had pulled out a couple
constellation creatures, dropped my 6th land,
and looked again at Rise of Eagles in my hand.
Somehow I had glossed over the fact that these
are enchantment creatures! I was able to play it
and trigger the constellation of
my Whitewater Naiads twice, making him and
another fatty unblockable for the win!
So, Rise of Eagles is a great card, right?
No. Fortunately, it was just the right card at
just the right time in both of these cases, but
it's still a marginal card. There are a lot
better things to play for six mana than to get
two 2/2 flying enchantment creatures. There are
more efficient ways to make get flying
creatures. But I learned through this experience
that Rise of Eagles is better than I thought. I
wouldn't put it in a constructed deck, but I
wouldn't be embarrassed to have it in my draft
or sealed deck, and perhaps there's a fun casual
deck out there to utilize the type of
interactions I encountered in that pre-release.
...and that's it! That's the review. The End! We
can all go home now.
Ahhh, you caught me. I'll ramble on about it for
another paragraph or two.
I kind of want to like this card. Nice art,
makes more than one guy, they're 2/2's with
flying even, plus it has scry thrown on for good
measure. All good things. So where does it break
down? The cost, unfortunately. 6 mana is simply
too much for this. Rise of Eagles is like a
Fated Intervention that's worse in every
possible way. It costs 6 mana instead of 5, it
gives you 2/2's instead of 3/3's, it gives Scry
1 instead of Scry 2, and it's a sorcery instead
of an instant. Flying is nice, but not nice
enough.
How many blue cards with Constellation are
there, anyways? Would it surprise you to know
there are only two? It almost feels like they
did blue last when it came to Constellation, and
had already used all their best ideas on the
other colours. Still, if this had only cost 5
mana instead of 6, I'd at least say it has a
small amount of playable potential. But 6
mana for two 2/2's just isn't worth it by any
stretch of the imagination. Join the Ranks felt
a bit overcosted too, but at least 4 mana is
easier to get to, plus it was an instant and
had a heavily supported Soldier theme.
Honestly, the best thing going for Rise of
Eagles is its art. The only time you should ever
use this card is in Limited, as that's where you
can reliably get to 6 mana, and 2/2's with
flying can play a valuable role. Because it's
not like Rise of Eagles is useless. 2/2's with
flying and scry are quite nice things. It's just
that they're nice early-mid game. By turn 6 you
want something with a little more *oomf*. It's
just too slow and expensive in Constructed, and
even Casual and Multiplayer.
Unlike most things in The Hobbit and Lord of the
Rings, this is one situation that the Eagles
just aren't going to solve.
