This guy reminds me of Portal Three Kingdoms,
which definitely tickles me. Surely I'm not the
only one to whom it's occurred that they could
retcon that set to take place in a region of
Tarkir that bears an uncanny resemblance to
Romance-era China? There are already plenty of
elements of Tarkir inspired by Mongolian,
Chinese, Indian, and Khmer mythology and
literature . . .
I'm so used to double strike being a feature of
red or white creatures that like to attack that
I didn't notice the most awesome part of Shu
Yun's abilities: he doesn't need to attack
himself. That means that there is a whole subset
of removal that can't touch him, and your
opponent can't afford to wait until he gets
involved in combat to deal with him. I can think
of a lot of spells that get pretty insane when
you increase their mana cost by two and add
"target creature gains double strike until end
of turn". Act of Treason? Lightning Helix?
Goryo's Vengeance? It's hard to think of a wrong
choice, really.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
Shu Yun, The Silent Tempest a legendary human
monk with a lot of prowess in combat. At its
core a 3/2 with Prowess for three is solid and
the ability to give any creature double strike
could be a beating. In standard I don't know if
this card will see a lot of play in Jeskai decks
with their overabundance of more powerful cards
means this guy, who is not unplayable by any
means may get left on the sidelines more often
than not. Overshadowed by strong cards in modern
it might fair slightly better, it could be put
into a Kiln Fiend style deck as another way win
condition but how viable that is its hard to
say, I suspect some fringe play. In eternal
formats I don't expect this card to do anything.
In casual and multiplayer its interesting it can
turn your instants into a lot of potential
damage, it also has some small political
applications as you can give Joe's creatures
double strike if he attacks Ben. As one of the
few Jeskai colored commanders available that
also strongly influences its casual and
multiplayer potential, that being said it has a
lot of potential. In limited I feel this card is
insane outside of combat, with enough spells you
can safety pump it and attack but I like the
idea of double strike on demand, so this is
obviously good in prowess decks. Overall this
guy has some fringe constructed applications and
can be quite powerful in casual.
Today's card of the day is Shu Yun, the Silent
Tempest which is a three mana 3/2 Blue Legendary
with whenever you cast a noncreature spell it
gets +1/+1 until end of turn and you can pay two
Red or White to give target creature Double
Strike until end of turn. A 3/2 for three
that gets pumped up for what Blue is perhaps
best known for is certainly decent, though it is
likely just one boost per turn. The paid
effect is much better as a Double Strike 4/3 is
a serious threat, but Blue and White both have
many evasive targets to work with this as
support.
Overall this is a strong card for Azorius or
Izzet and will likely see some play as endgame
support in combat trick and evasive based build.
In Limited this is a 3/2 for three with a pump
effect which makes it an automatic inclusion for
Blue in Sealed and definitely better with Red or
White as the Double Strike option is a
game-winner with an unblocked creature. In
Booster it is a solid first pick that demands
Red or White support to be fully realized.
Imagine this scenario. You have Shu Yun on the
battlefield. Your opponent has a blocker. You
cast a kill spell to take out their blocker, and
two red to give Shu Yun double strike. Prowess
triggers, making him a 4/3, then he gets double
strike, so you hit for 8 out of nowhere. This
should be a common scenario if you have Shu Yun.
Double strike is a powerful ability that can
never be taken lightly.
There are a lot of good prowess cards, and
Jeskai colors have been very popular. Will this
three-drop make its way into decks over the
other cards? Jeskai colors are usually more
about playing spells than attacking with
creatures, and if they do attack with creatures,
it's more likely a horde of tokens or other
small creatures, so double strike doesn't have
quite as bit an impact as it would in another
color combination. For these reasons, I think
Shu Yun is a good, but not a great card.
