Commons of Kamigawa - Part 2
Reviewing the Common Cards from Champions of Kamigawa
by Jeff Zandi

10.29.04  Commons of Kamigawa Part 2
Reviewing the Common Cards from Champions of Kamigawa by Jeff Zandi

Last week, we looked in detail at the red and black commons from Champions of Kamigawa. Helping me review these cards is Neil Reeves, Pro Tour regular and noted limited play expert. Last weekend, Neil flexed his sealed deck and Rochester draft muscles at Grand Prix Austin and finished in the top eight.

This week, with Neil’s help, we will review the green, blue and white commons from Champions.

GREEN COMMONS

TIER ONE – MUST PLAY

Kodama’s Might is an Arcane Instant for one green mana that gives target creature +2/+2 until end of turn. This card has Splice onto Arcane for just one green mana. Green is very deep in playable commons, but this one is the best because it is NOT ONLY a very decent Giant Growth-type card, but because its low Splice onto Arcane cost makes it very valuable in decks with any decent number of Arcane cards.

TIER TWO – USUALLY PLAY

Orochi Sustainer is a 1/ 2 Snake Shaman for 1G that taps to add one green mana to your mana pool. If you like the idea of cheap mana acceleration consistent enough to allow you to play less than seventeen land in your Champions of Kamigawa limited decks, then green is the color for you, and Orochi Sustainer is the perfect green common for you. Green has all the color fixing cards for this set, and most of the mana acceleration cards.
The best part is that these mana fixers are commons. The Sustainer is a little better than the rest because it plays on turn two and has a toughness of two making it a little more resistant to removal than a 1/1.

Sakura-Tribe Elder is a 1/1 Snake Shaman for 1G that can be sacrificed to bring a basic land from your library directly into play tapped. Late in the game, you can use this guy as a speed bump that gets one more land out of your deck. On turn two, you should probably sacrifice him during your opponent’s turn before your own third turn.

Kodama’s Reach is an Arcane Sorcery for 2G that allows you to search your library for two basic land cards, putting one of those into play tapped and the other into your hand. This remarkable card gives you mana acceleration by putting an extra land directly into play, while giving you excellent access to your third color (if you are playing a third color).

Matsu-Tribe Decoy is a 1/3 Snake Warrior for 2G. Whenever Matsu-Tribe Decoy deals combat damage to a creature, tap that creature and it doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step. For 2G, the Decoy causes target creature to block Matsu-Tribe Decoy this turn if able. Everything about this card messes with your opponent’s combat plans. If you block and lose your Decoy in combat, the blocked creature will remain tapped during your opponent’s next turn. Matsu-Tribe Decoy is best, however, on the attack, causing the opponent’s best creatures to block him, helping your other attacking creatures to get damage onto your opponent’s face. This little guy doesn’t look like much at first. If you haven’t, you should definitely try this card a few times, you may find out that you really like him.

Order of the Sacred Bell is a 4/3 Human Monk for 3G. At first, I sort of ran past this card, dismissing it for its total lack of creature abilities. Even though this card has no game text, it really does have a special ability, the ability to SMASH FACE! Green decks typically have mana acceleration, making it all too easy to have Order of the Sacred Bell on the table on turn three. The Order’s three toughness is very large in the world of Kamigawa.
Since Order of the Sacred Bell is a Human Monk and not a Spirit, he is unafraid of the cheap early game effects that your opponent may have that work only on Spirit creatures.

Orochi Ranger is a 2/1 Snake Warrior for 1G. Whenever Orochi Ranger deals combat damage to a creature, tap that creature and it doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step. First of all, you’re getting a 2/1 creature for two mana, very solid in the early game. The Ranger’s ability to leave a creature it damages tapped for an extra turn is a subtle, but powerful, effect.

Kami of the Hunt is a 2/2 Spirit for 2G that gains +1/+1 until end of turn whenever you play a Spirit or Arcane card. A lot of games, this card will simply be a 2/2 creature for three mana. Often, however, his pump up ability means that you play a Spirit creature before combat, then send your 3/3 Kami of the Hunt in on the attack.

Burr Grafter is a 2/2 Spirit for 3G that has Soulshift 3 and the ability to sacrifice itself to give a target creature +2/+2 until end of turn. Slightly overcosted for a 2/2, the Burr Grafter gives you solid creature insurance on the board. Now get in there and attack! Your opponent will be burdened with the knowledge that you can pump up any of your creatures by sacrificing the Burr Grafter.

Feral Deceiver is a 3/2 Spirit for 3G. For one colorless mana, Feral Deceiver allows you to look at the top card of your library. For two colorless mana, you may reveal the top card of your library, if the revealed card is a land, Feral Deceiver gets +2/+2 and trample until end of turn.
This ability can only be played once per turn. Feral Deceiver is considered the best of the five common Deceiver creatures, all of which feature similar play mechanics.

Moss Kami is a 5/5 Spirit for 5G with trample. Fangren Hunter from Mirrodin was a 4/4 trampler for 3GG. This splashable 5/5 trampling Spirit is well worth the one additional mana. However, six mana is still six mana, so you probably wouldn’t want more than two Moss Kami in your deck. So far, in my experience, it’s rare to have more than one or two of these available to you in a draft.

Humble Budoka is a 2/2 Human Monk for 1G that cannot be the target of spells or abilities. This creature’s special ability is more likely a drawback for its owner. Many players would rather play a more fragile, easier to kill 2/1 creature instead of Humble Budoka. In the end, Humble Budoka is still welcome in many green Kamigawa limited decks simply as a 2/2 “bear” for two mana.

TIER THREE – SOMETIMES PLAY

Wear Away is an Arcane Instant for GG that destroys target artifact or enchantment. Wear Away also has a Splice onto Arcane cost of 3G. The high Splice onto Arcane cost makes it less likely that Wear Away will be used more than once, but the important thing is the overall utility that this card can provide to your deck. Even though there are plenty of playable enchantments and artifacts in this set, Neil and I would be unlikely to have this card in our decks main. This is a card that belongs in the sideboard most of the time.

Serpent Skin is a creature enchantment for 2G that gives enchanted creature
+1/+1 and the ability to regenerate for one green mana. Moreover,
+Serpent
Skin can be played anytime that you could play an instant, making this adaptable card a good choice for the twenty-third best card in your deck.
This card is not much of a sideboard choice. Basically, it either belongs in your deck all the time (probably around half the time or less) or not at all.

Venerable Kumo is a 2/3 Spirit for 4G that has Soulshift 4 and the ability to block as though it had flying. A lot of people are calling this card one of the worst creatures of its kind ever. (green creatures that don’t have flying but which can block flying creatures) I would have to disagree with them. Venerable Kumo is certainly not exciting, but at least one of these will probably fit into most green decks to help out against the large number of flyers in this set. Evasion is such a strong part of winning strategies with Champions of Kamigawa that this card cannot be ignored.

Commune with Nature is a sorcery for one green mana that lets you look at the top five cards of your library. If you reveal a creature card from the five cards that you look at, you can put it in your hand. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in any order. In a format that encourages forty card decks with fifteen and sixteen creatures in them, Commune with Nature can be a quick, cheap way to improve your hand by grabbing a much-needed creature. On turn one, Commune with Nature can help you find a mana producing creature to play on turn two.

Kashi-Tribe Warriors is a 2/4 Snake Warrior for 3GG. Whenever Kashi-Tribe Warriors deals combat damage to a creature, tap that creature, it doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step. The other common green creatures with this ability are much better costed in regards to their power and toughness. This card is overcosted by one mana. This card is hardly ever worth including in your limited decks.

Dripping-Tongue Zubera is a 1/ 2 Zubera Spirit for 1G. Whenever Dripping-Tongue Zubera is put into a graveyard from play, put a 1/1 colorless Spirit creature token into play for each Zubera put into a graveyard from play this turn. We think this is the third or fourth best of the five different colored common Zubera creatures. If you have combos in your deck, like the rare red creature Kiki-Jikki or some other combos in your deck that can take advantage of sacrificing creatures whenever you want, this card could be of greater value to you.

TIER FOUR - NEVER PLAY

Joyous Respite is an Arcane sorcery for 3G that makes you gain one life for each land you control. Life gaining spells should never make the cut in competitive limited decks. It may seem attractive, particularly in a format where most decks have seventeen land in them, but its really not a good idea. Life gaining strategies are too passive to win most of the time in limited play.

Orochi Leafcaller is a 1/1 Snake Shaman for one green mana that lets you create one mana of any color for the activation cost of one green mana.
There are three green commons that solve your deck’s colored mana problems much better than this card.

Jukai Messenger is a 1/1 Human Monk with forestwalk for one green mana. It’s possible that this card is not even good enough to sideboard in against green opponents, simply because you need more than a 1/1 creature to win the game.

Vine Kami is a 4/4 Spirit for 6G that cannot be blocked except by two or more creatures and has Soulshift 6. Simply overcosted. If this card is in your deck, you have some problems. For seven mana, you need to do better than a 4/4 creature. This creature comes into play so late in the game that his special ability, requiring at least two blockers, is unlikely to really matter.

BLUE COMMONS

TIER ONE – MUST PLAY

Mystic Restraints is a creature enchantment for 2UU that taps enchanted creature when it comes into play, and stops enchanted creature from untapping during its controller’s untap step. Mystic Restraints can be played anytime you could play an instant. This card is basically THE removal card among the blue commons. The casting cost is reasonable enough, but the ability to play this card as an instant truly puts it over the top. This is a first pick in drafts.

Teller of Tales is a 3/3 flying Spirit creature for 3UU. Whenever you play a Spirit or Arcane card, tap or untap target creature. In this format, where evasion is at a premium, a 3/3 flyer is basically a win condition. Teller of Tales special ability provides a great way to move potential blockers out of the way before you attacks.

TIER TWO – USUALLY PLAY

Soratami Cloudskater is a 1/1 flying Moonfolk Rogue for 1U that for two colorless mana allows you to return a land you control to your hand, then draw a card, then discard a card. This card is an evasive attacker early in many games, but Cloudskater becomes a real power card a little later when he starts trading extra land you have in play but may not need for better cards. Any blue deck in this format is certainly happy to include one or two of these.

Soratami Rainshaper is a 2/1 flying Moonfolk Wizard for 2U. For three colorless mana and the return of a land to your hand, target creature you control cannot be the target of spells or abilities this turn. Late in the game, when Rainshaper is pounding your opponent in the head for two points a turn, Rainshaper’s special ability can disrupt virtually any strategy your opponent can come up with to get rid of the Rainshaper.

Soratami Mirror-Guard is a 3/1 flying Moonfolk Wizard for 3U. For two colorless mana and the return of a land you control to your hand, target creature you control with power 2 or less is unblockable this turn. The Mirror-Guard is kind of the reverse version of the Rainshaper. The Mirror-Guard is mostly about 3 powered flying beatdown for just four mana.
Mirror-Guard’s ability is much less useful than Rainshaper’s.

Hisoka’s Defiance is an instant for 1U that counters a target Spirit or Arcane spell. This card would be worth playing if for no other reason than because half the creatures in the set are Spirit creatures and half the non-creature cards are Arcane cards. However, when you consider that the most powerful rare and uncommon creatures in the set are all Spirit creatures, Hisoka’s Defiance becomes an even more important card.

Counsel of Soratami is a sorcery for 2U that causes you to draw two cards.
If you’re lucky, this card won’t fit in your deck thanks to all of your great creature and creature-removal cards in your deck. When Counsel of Soratimi does fit in your deck, you get decent card drawing for a decent price, albeit a sorcery and not an instant. The reason you don’t want to fill up your deck with this card is that you need to draw creatures and spells, not more card-drawing spells.

River Kaijin is a 1 /4 Spirit for 2U. This creature is essentially a wall that can still attack from time to time. River Kaijin’s 4 toughness lets him confidently block 3/3s and the numerous 2/2 creatures with Bushido 1.

TIER THREE – SOMETIMES PLAY

Consuming Vortex is an Arcane instant for 1U that returns target creature to its owner’s hand. This card has a Splice onto Arcane cost of 3U, making it difficult to abuse this card repeatedly. Bounce cards are generally not automatically a part of your deck, and Consuming Vortex is no exception.

Floating-Dream Zubera is a 1/ 2 Zubera Spirit for 1U. When Floating-Dream Zubera is put into a graveyard from play, draw a card for each Zubera put into a graveyard from play this turn. A two toughness creature that replaces itself with another card when it is destroyed is really quite remarkable for just two mana. On the other hand, there really aren’t many creatures that this Zubera can block and survive. This card does provide card advantage, but at the cost of putting a very low powered creature in your deck.

Kami of Twisted Reflection is a 2/2 Spirit for 1UU that can be sacrificed to return a target creature that you control back to its owner’s hand. This card is somewhat comparable to the green creature that can be sacrificed to give another creature +2/+2 until end of turn. Since Kami of Twisted Reflection can only be used to bounce your own creatures, his beneficial effects are hard to take advantage of. In heavy blue decks, this could be a good enough 2/2 for three mana to include several of, but not very often.

Callous Deceiver is a 1/3 Spirit for 2U. For one colorless mana, this card lets you look at the top card of your library. For two colorless mana, you may reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card is a land, Callous Deceiver gains +1/+0 and flying until end of turn. This creature’s special ability just doesn’t provide as positive an advantage as some of the other common Deceiver creatures. You would usually be better of with the more vanilla flavored River Kaijin.

Reach Through the Mists is an Arcane instant for one blue mana that lets you draw a card. In limited play, about all you can do with this card is put a few of them in your deck to help you essentially shrink your deck down, using Reach Through the Mists to help you cycle through your deck to get to the more important cards.

Thoughtbind is an instant for 2U that counters a target spell with converted mana cost of four or less. The common wisdom about this card, so far, is that this card’s cost makes it unlikely to counter anything important.

Eye of Nowhere is an Arcane sorcery for UU that returns a target permanent to its owner’s hand. Somewhat more versatile than Consuming Vortex, Eye of Nowhere is still FAR from a premium card choice for your Champions of Kamigawa limited deck.

TIER FOUR – NEVER PLAY

Peer Through Depths is an Arcane instant for 1U that allows you to look at the top five cards of your library. You may reveal an instant or sorcery card from those five cards and put it into your hand. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in any order. If this card worked the way I WISH it would, it would be really powerful…because when I think about looking at the TOP FIVE cards of my library, I think about getting to go through my library to find the five BEST cards, my deck’s TOP FIVE cards.
Unfortunately, that’s not how the card works…

Hisoka’s Guard is a 1/1 Human Wizard for 1U. You can choose not to untap Hisoka’s Guard during your untap step. For an activation cost of 1U and tapping, as long as Hisoka’s Guard remains tapped, target creature you control other than Hisoka’s Guard cannot be the target of spells or abilities. Whew! It’s hard to imagine when you would want to go to this much trouble to make one of your creatures untargetable. Forget about it.

Psychic Puppetry is an Arcane instant for 1U that taps or untaps a target permanent. Psychic Puppetry also has Splice onto Arcane for one blue mana.
This ability is perfectly interesting on a creature like Teller of Tales, but not in a card with no other abilities.

Field of Reality is a creature enchantment for 2U that causes the creature enchanted with it to be unblockable by Spirits. For 1U, you can return Field of Reality to your hand. Against a deck containing mostly Spirits, it’s possible that you could sideboard this card in, but so far, this has been a completely uninteresting card to the better players in the game.

Lifted by Clouds is an Arcane instant for 2U that gives a target creature flying until end of turn. This card has a Splice onto Arcane cost of 1U.
Magic has printed a lot of cards that give a creature the ability to fly for a single turn, none of them has been good enough to seriously play with, and this version is no exception to the rule.

Wandering Ones is a 1/1 Spirit for one blue mana. That’s it. No special abilities, nothing, just as generic a 1/1 creature as you could possibly imagine. Just say no.

Sift Through Sands is an Arcane instant for 1UU that lets you draw two cards, then discard a card. If you played a spell named Peer Through Depths and a spell named Reach Through Mists this turn, you may search your library for a card named The Unspeakable, put it into play, then shuffle your deck.
Thanks, Wizards of the Coast, for printing a card that will do very little by itself, but can possibly do something pretty broken if you have at least one good card in your deck (The Unspeakable) and at least three bad cards in your deck (Peer Through Depths, Reach Through Mists and Sift Through Sands).
Thanks but no thanks.

WHITE COMMONS

TIER ONE – MUST PLAY

Cage of Hands is a creature enchantment for 2W. Enchanted creature cannot attack or block. For 1W, you can return Cage of Hands to your hand. This is the best option for removal among white commons, making it the number one white common for limited play. Early in the game, if you need to lock down a creature, it’s important not to worry too much about keeping 1W available for returning Cage of Hands to your hand. While you want to be able to return Cage of Hands to your hand any time that there is a threat of Cage of Hands ending up in the graveyard, you can’t let the greed of wanting to reuse Cage of Hands make you miss-play your game.

TIER TWO – USUALLY PLAY

Kabuto Moth is a 1/ 2 Spirit with flying for 2W that taps to give target creature +1/+2 until end of turn. The ability to give a creature two additional points of toughness makes Kabuto Moth one of the best white commons in the set. This card is practically an always pick, and it is selected quickly in booster drafts.

Kitsune Blademaster is a 2/2 Fox Samurai for 2W with first strike and Bushido 1. This card attacks fearlessly. The Blademaster’s combination of first strike and Bushido make him one of the best common creatures in the set. You would be happy to play three of these if you could get them for your limited deck.

Mothrider Samurai is a 2/2 Human Samurai for 3W with flying and Bushido 1.
Bushido is really a better ability for creatures that get blocked more often than this creature does. In a lot of ways, Mothrider Samurai is another in a long line of 2/2 white flying creatures for four mana. Mothrider Samurai trades or wins in combat with virtually all of the common and uncommon flyers in the set.

Indomitable Will is a creature enchantment for 1W that gives enchanted creature +1/+2. This card can be played any time that you could play an instant. This is a powerful enough combat trick, thanks to the ability to play it as an instant, that you need to fight the desire to play it aggressively on a turn one or turn two creature simply to make that creature a better attacker. You need to wait to use this card until it swings a combat situation in your favor.

Kitsune Diviner is a 0/1 Fox Cleric for one white mana that taps to tap target Spirit. This card’s power is rather subtle, but once you have played with him, you will really like Kitsune Diviner. He is really very similar to the 1/1 white creature from Mirrodin that let you tap artifacts. Basically, the Diviner lets you tap roughly half the creatures in Champions of Kamigawa, and without having to spend mana to do it. One of these is almost a must-play.

Kami of Ancient Law is a 2/2 Spirit for 1W that can be sacrificed to destroy target enchantment. This card has great usefulness in any deck as a reliable
2/2 creature for two mana. This card allows you to include anti-enchantment technology in your main deck without the risk of having a dead card in case your opponent has no enchantment cards in his deck.

Kitsune Riftwalker is a 2/1 Fox Wizard for 1WW that has protection from Spirits and from Arcane cards. Basically, this creature has protection from roughly half of the cards in the format. Double white mana cost means you need to include the Riftwalker only in decks with at least seven plains in order to insure the ability to play it on turn three as often as possible.

TIER THREE – SOMETIMES PLAY

Kitsune Healer is a 2/2 Fox Cleric for 3W. The Healer can tap to prevent the next one point of damage that would be dealt to a creature or player this turn. The Healer can also be tapped to prevent all damage that would be dealt to a target legendary creature this turn. I might play this card if I had two or more legendary creatures in my deck, but I doubt I would include this creature for his normal healing ability. Samite Healer from the ORIGINAL Magic set provided the same ability (for non-legends) as Kitsune Healer for half the mana cost.

Hundred-Talon Kami is a 2/3 flying Spirit with Soulshift 4 for 4W. If you need another flying creature in your deck, this card is good enough to play with. The current limited formats are shaping up to be faster than originally thought, so it really is important to limit the number of cards you have in your deck with casting costs of five, six or higher.

Harsh Deceiver is a 1/ 4 Spirit for 3W. For one colorless mana, Harsh Deceiver will let you look at the top card of your library. For two colorless mana, you can reveal the top card of your library. If the card revealed is a land card, untap Harsh Deceiver and it gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Play this ability only one time each turn. The real attraction with this card, if it has one, is its four toughness. This creature’s special ability is among the weakest of the five common Deceiver creatures, but Harsh Deceiver is still worth playing in a pinch.

Lantern Kami is a 1/1 flying Spirit for one white mana. In most sets, a 1/1 flying creature is not of much use, but in Champions of Kamigawa, Lantern Kami can be good enough to make the cut in your deck. Many of the common flying creatures in the set have a toughness of one, allowing Lantern Kami to trade with them in combat.

Kami of the Painted Road is a 3/3 Spirit for 4W. Whenever you play a Spirit or Arcane card, Kami of the Painted Road gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. This is not the best creature option by a long shot among the white common creatures. Once in play, his special ability is weaker than similar abilities of creatures in other colors. To make the most of gaining protection from a color, you would need to have Arcane instant cards in your hand, ready to play when your opponent attempts to destroy this creature with a spell of their own. Neil says to leave this card out of your deck. I say that’s good advice.

Blessed Breath is an Arcane instant for one white mana that gives a target creature protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Blessed Breath also has Splice onto Arcane for one white mana. This little card can provide important protection for your creatures from your opponent’s removal cards, or even single-turn protection from another creature in combat, or from an activated ability from an opponent’s creature.

TIER FOUR – NEVER PLAY

Silent-Chant Zubera is a 1/ 2 Zubera Spirit for 1W. When Silent-Chant Zubera is put into a graveyard from play, you gain two life for each Zubera put into a graveyard from play this turn. By far the weakest of the five common Zubera cards, you should leave this card out of your limited decks. The ability to gain two life is not nearly a good enough reason to include this little guy in your deck.

Quiet Purity is an Arcane instant for one white mana that destroys a target enchantment. This card is very narrow, and is all sideboard in our opinion.

Call to Glory is an instant for 1W that untaps all creatures you control.
Samurai you control gain +1/+1 until end of turn. This card could be good enough for your deck if you happen to have five or more Samurai cards. If all you get from this card is a bunch of untapped non-Samurai creatures, it’s just not enough bang for the buck.

Pious Kitsune is a 1/ 2 Fox Cleric for 2W. At the beginning of your upkeep, put a devotion counter on Pious Kitsune. Then, if a creature named Eight-and-a-Half-Tails is in play, you gain one life for each devotion counter on Pious Kitsune. You can also tap Pious Kitsune to remove a devotion counter from Pious Kitsune and gain one life. This card is simply not worth playing, probably not even if you have the elusive Eight-and-a-Half-Tails. This is the very definition of a card so narrow that it just should not be played.

Devoted Retainer is a 1/1 Human Samurai with Bushido 1 for one white mana.
This card really is quite a bargain for one white mana. The problem is that this little guy really doesn’t help you win much. Devoted Retainer doesn’t make the cut because at best, it trades with 2 toughness creatures. Good, but usually not good enough.

Ethereal Haze is an Arcane instant for one white mana that prevents all damage that would be dealt by creatures this turn. This card is essentially a white Fog spell. The current limited format may be a little too aggressive to fit a card as low on the power scale as Ethereal Haze.

Terashi’s Cry is an Arcane sorcery for 3W that taps up to three target creatures. This card is a lot like a white Falter, giving you the unexpected ability to push more combat damage through than your opponent is expecting.
Like the Devoted Retainer and Ethereal Haze, this card is another example of a good card that isn’t quite good enough.

Vigilance is a creature enchantment for one white mana gives enchanted creature the ability to attack without tapping. Nope. Attacking without tapping, an ability now named “vigilance”, is a perfectly desirable creature ability, but hardly one worth wasting a card in your deck for. This may be one of the worst commons in the set.

SUMMING IT ALL UP

I want to remind everyone that these card reviews are only intended for limited formats. More importantly, these are reviews based on only a month of playing with Champions of Kamigawa. There is still a lot to be learned about how to make the most of these cards in sealed deck and draft play. A lot was learned last weekend at Grand Prix Austin, and I’ve been sifting through that information as quickly as I can. In the meantime, I really believe there is good card insight in this and last week’s common review that can help you in the current sealed deck PTQ format. Neil Reeves is a great resource in all forms of Magic limited play, as his top eight finish last week at Grand Prix Austin once again proves. I’m a big fan of Neil’s Giant Magic Brain and I’m happy to learn from him whenever I get the chance.

As usual, I’m always interested to know what YOU think.

Jeff Zandi
Texas Guildmages
Level II DCI Judge
jeffzandi@thoughtcastle.com
Zanman on Magic Online
ZZanman on AOL Instant Messenger