Cards that grant other creatures haste have had
a... volatile history. The best-known one, Fires
of Yavimaya, defined an archetype. The rest...
not so much. Plenty of creatures have been able
to do it, but usually as an activated ability.
Instants and sorceries that do it pretty much
have to have extra effects on top of that,
because if you're paying extra mana to give a
creature haste, that means you're playing the
creature at least one turn later than you
could've (and thus not actually attacking with
it any sooner than you could've). Static
abilities like this are usually the most
promising. That's how Fires of Yavimaya did it.
I had high hopes for Emblem of the Warmind and
Madrush Cyclops, but one of them had to attach
to a creature that was presumably joining the
fight, and the other one had to compete with
Bloodbraid Elf at the four-mana slot.
The real power here though is the extra draw
power. If you drop a 4-power creature, not only
are you swinging with an extra 4, but you're
also drawing a card. If that card is a creature,
and you have mana left enough to play it, this
card could enable alpha strikes out of nowhere,
in much the way that Fires of Yavimaya once did.
The three-color requirement means that decks
built around it aren't likely to be as fast as
Fires decks of old, but midrange and casual
Timmy decks will get a big kick out of this.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Temur
Ascendancy
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
the power Temur enchantment. This card provides
haste to each creature you control making every
threat an immediate must deal with. In addition
being able to draw a card every time you play a
large powerful creature means you should be able
to keep a constant stream of threats coming. In
standard Temur colored decks I think have some
of the most powerful cards, the huge green
monsters available to decks provide the backbone
for some really great agro and midrange decks.
Outside of standard I don’t foresee this card
having much of an impact competitively. In
casual and multiplayer haste is a great mechanic
and once again being able to refill your hand is
also great three different colored mana may
occasionally be a strain but its cheap mana cost
wise. In limited it’s a solid card for
aggressive decks in the colors. Overall a card
with solid constructed and casual applications.
Today's card of the day is Temur Ascendancy
which is a three mana Green, Blue, and Red
enchantment that gives your creatures Haste and
whenever one with power of 4 or greater enters
play under your control you may draw a card.
Haste is nice to have, though other options
exist for giving it to all of your creatures,
and the card draw effect is beneficial if
somewhat limited in scope. In the right
three color deck this can be an asset and may
see play in Commander as support, though it is
unlikely in any other format as the color
requirements and fairly minor effects aren't
enough to justify slots in a deck.
For Limited this can add some useful effects for
a Temur clan and in a dedicated Sealed build is
worth including, though only if already using
those colors. The three colors and
situational effects are not worth the pick in
Booster and it is safe to pass in most
situations.
Each of the different clans has their own three
mana ascendancy enchantment. The Temur one fits
its "attack with big creatures" theme. Giving
all of your creatures haste and drawing a card
when big ones enter is a pretty powerful
effect.
The haste can be really helpful not only for
attacking, but for effectively making your
mana-producing creatures cost one less, since
they can tap when they enter the battlefield.
This makes it easier to get the 4 power
creatures out.
But is it reasonable to have a deck with enough
4 power creatures to take full advantage of the
second effect? That is yet to be seen, but I
think it's highly possible. Khans has given the
Temur clan lots of big creatures with low cost.
If you get this in limited, it's a great benefit
- assuming your deck can manage the three
colors.
Oh my gosh it's Fires of Yavimaya! Except
part-blue for some reason. Color identity
worries aside, this card is an insane rush to
play with and insanely frightening to play
against. It's even more upside than Fires of
Yavimaya (and Fires is already all upside), and
addresses the fear of running out of creatures
that Fires-style decks traditionally hold. Now
all we need is a Saproling Burst analogue in
Fate Reforged, and we can party like it's 2001
again.
