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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
Daily Since November 2001!
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Image from
Wizards.com |
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Aethermage's Touch
- Modern Masters 2017 Edition
Reviewed
April 5, 2017
Constructed: 2.67
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 3.38
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.50
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale:
1 - Horrible 3 - Average. 5 - Awesome
Click here to see
all of our
Card of the Day Reviews
|
David Fanany
Player since
1995 |
Aethermage's Touch
I remember when Dissension first came out and
this card got a lot of attention, promising
end-of-turn Angels of Despair and mid-combat
Blazing Archons for a much lower cost than Chord
of Calling. As it turns out, that latter card
got more of the constructed spotlight because it
works so well on the back of Selesnya's powerful
token-based strategies, but that, of course, was
also well before flickering-based theme decks
were popular (and even before Time Spiral
block's Blink Riders archetype). I think some
people were also kind of hung up on its
white-blue mana cost and thus the traditional
style of control decks, when really you want as
many creatures as possible with as many
comes-into-play abilities as possible. That can
be a control deck too, of course, but it's a
whole different type of scary compared to the
counter-and-kill-everything style, and if you're
now starting to think about what happens when
this shows you Mulldrifters and Shriekmaws, then
that's the point.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5 |
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James H. |
Aethermage's Touch (4/5)
Flash in a creature for a turn? What could go
wrong? The wording on this actually makes it a
better play on an opponent's turn; since it
returns during your end step, bringing it at the
end of their turn (or during your end step) lets
the creature stick around a bit longer. It even
bounces it to your hand, to reuse when it's most
convenient for you.
Where this card runs into trouble starts with it
being Azorius colors. Usually, Azorius and the
three-color permutations involving it (Jeskai,
Bant, Esper) tend to be light on creatures to
where looking at only the top four cards is
bound to result in a whiff. Four cards to look
at is also a low number for an effect like this,
even with the ability to bring any creature in;
Collected Company lets you look at six and gives
you two.
It's not a useless card, but it asks Azorius to
go in a direction it's oft not comfortable with
in deck building, making it far weaker than it
really should be.
Constructed: 2.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 2.5
Commander: 3
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