David Fanany
Player since
1995 |
Growing Rites of Itlimoc / Itlimoc, Cradle of
the Sun
So, the big talking point with this card is the
flipped version,
and how it's literally the game text from Gaea's
Cradle. That's quite understandable. The
comes-into-play effect that comes with the
enchantment side is a pretty standard one for
green, and a useful one too, with the downside
being that you only get it once. The fact that
there's no repeatable benefit and you're looking
to fulfill the transformation requirement with
other cards prevents it from being an automatic
inclusion in decks that can cast it, but there
is still a very good payoff for decks that can
afford to wait (slower, defensive formats like
Commander come to mind).
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5
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James H. |
Growing Rites of Itlimoc//Itlimoc,
Cradle of the Sun
The closest we’ll ever come
to a Gaea’s Cradle reprint, Growing Rites of
Itlimoc makes you jump through a hoop to get
your Cradle, but it’s a manageable one all the
same.
For three mana, you get to
tutor out a creature card from the top four, so
this slots in neatly into decks with lots of
creatures (like, say, Elves). But if you can
play this on turn 3 with enough tokens to make
this work, you’re in excellent shape, since you
get a Gaea's Cradle that still taps for green
with an empty board. It goes without saying that
it's quite powerful, and there are many decks
this slots into (like Elves). The downside of
flipping at your end step is not too bad, since
it lets you leave mana up for some kind of
answer.
I think Growing Rites of
Itlimoc is going to be one of the star cards of
the set. While I am unsure of how Standard will
shape up, Legacy and Modern have a home for it
(potentially), and the power on it is very real
indeed.
Constructed: 4.25
Casual: 4.75
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander: 4.5
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