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Name:
Gush of Flame
Number:
REI_069
Cost
(G/Y/R): 2/0/1
Type:
Strike
Rarity:
Rare
Trait:
Ranged
Stats:
9/0
Text: "-1
Intercept => +1 Force"
Flavor
Text: "Hey little boy, want a piece
of candy?"
Well,
we're finishing up the week with what I
would consider to be the best defensive
Ranged strike in this set. It's been fun
reviewing for my first week, and I'll
hopefully be back next week with more
reviews. But enough of that; on to the
review of Gush of Flame.
This card
rocks because:
-It
can defend against huge strikes
-It
can punish weak strikes
-It makes
certain other cards more versatile
-The cost
is usually much worth the stats
Well,
first off, this thing's just a defensive
powerhouse. Only two other cards have an
intercept of 9 or above; Smoldering
Confidence, with 10, and Jaded Sphere with
9. But Ranged decks can't run Smoldering
Confidence, and Jaded Sphere is just plain
bad. So this card is the Ranged shaman's
defensive front. It can block almost any
strike your opponent sends at you, excepting
Ultra Cavalry Charge or a beefed-up Eon
Crush. But those are hard to pull off, so
the intercept of this card is more than
good.
Now, with
the effect, we see that the opposite can be
true. If you're facing off against some
crazy low force strike (Rush to Judgement
and Fetish Frenzy are two that I see a lot),
you can easily beef the attack up to
impressive proportions. Against a one force
Fetish Frenzy in the green zone, it's a 1/8.
That's just crazy. It's like Volatile
Exhumation, just without sucking. The effect
makes it versatile, too. You never wind up
with wasted stats, even though against 5 to
8 force strikes, it doesn't seem to matter
much. But against a 4 or less force strike,
you can just have fun pumping yourself up,
getting anywhere from a 5 to 9 (9 would be
extremely rare) force strike.
This card
also increases the versatility of other
cards. There's no Body/Ranged Shaman yet, so
it can't use the intercept boosting
advantages, but Lola has access to Big Bill,
whose ability to add one intercept can be
manipulated to beef up Gush of Flame
instead. That's the only one I can think of
off the top of my head, but it's still good.
Finally,
this card's stats are usually worth paying
for. If you need to block a huge strike, 9
intercept for 2/0/1 is a pretty good deal.
Compared to 9/3 Jaded Sphere, it's
excellent; Jaded Sphere costs 1/0/1, and
gives your opponent another red, essentially
putting you at a two red disadvantage. Not
to mention, Jaded Sphere's force is always
punishable. Against a weak strike, this card
can offer an intimidating force, making it a
2/0/1 high force strike, which is usually
worth paying for. When you get into the
intermediate ranges though, you start to see
the drawbacks...
This card
sucks because:
-The
ability is a lot less useful against
high-force strikes.
-The cost
of the strike gets a little high in the
intermediate strike range.
-Traited
to Ranged Shaman
-The
flavor text is disturbing.
Well,
let's face it. When you're staring down a
nine force strike, the prospect of sending a
zero force back at your opponent seems a
little... lame. Defending against anything
down from a 9 to a 6 is gonna send back a
punishable force, and that's not really too
cool.
And in
the intermediate force range, this card
seems a bit expensive. Defending against a 4
force strike with a 4/5, or a 5 force with a
5/4 for 2/0/1 is not really that great a
deal.
And, of
course, it's franchised to Ranged shaman.
Because none of the Ranged shaman have Body
advantages, the potential of this card is
sort of limited for the time being, and in
Sealed, your options are limited by this.
That last
one was really intended as a joke, but it's
true. I had nightmares the first time I read
that flavor text. I don't really want to
know why Lola's giving "candy" to
children, I can only assume it's some
obscure reference to illicit drugs. No, it's
actually supposed to be a pun on her spirit
ally's name, Candy, but it's more fun to act
like UDE is corrupting children with
drugs...
DANGER!
Kids, don't try these combos at home:
Well,
like I said about Rail Bird, it's a pity
that there's no Body/Ranged shaman yet. This
card would be so much better if it had
access to the Body stat boosters, but...
This card
can really shine in a Lola deck. Lola has
the option of using Big Bill, whose ability
stands to either make this a 10 intercept
strike, a 10 force strike, or anything in
between. Because Gush of Flame can convert
its extra intercept to force, Big Bill plays
a dual role with it.
Ward Off
can sort of help it out, except if the extra
intercept is converted to force, you may as
well have played Spirit Aim. I'd only run
this if you have nothing better to do; since
Ward Off couples so well with other
intercept-dropping Ranged Strikes, I could
see it happening occasionally.
It's a
shame, but I can't really think of any other
good combinations. I'm probably missing a
few, but Lyserg and Trey can't really have
as much fun with this card.
Summary:
This card
has a lot of versatility. It can be a very
effective punisher, or it can be an
extremely high blocker. It can occasionally
be a bit costly, but it's still better than
Jaded Sphere. And in Sealed tournaments, it
offers a very nice intercept that can block
almost any strike you'll see hanging around
in that tourney format.
Rating:
Constructed: 4/5
Sealed:
4.5/5
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