Sophina, Spearsage Deserter – Secret Lair
Date Reviewed: July 28, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 1.25
Casual: 4.00
Limited: n/a
Multiplayer: 3.00
Commander [EDH]: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
As part of The List, Sophina and all of the other reskinned Secret Lair cards are not available in Limited, and their legality is limited to Legacy and Vintage. So keep that in mind.
At long last, we get to something slightly controversial: the mechanically-unique cards from the Secret Lair series. Sophina, Spearsage Deserter is an Innistrad-flavored version of a card from the Stranger Things one, Chief Jim Hopper. Before you get too excited, note that the cards are, for all intents and purposes, exactly the same card, sharing both legality and an equivalent deck-building limitation.
So, with all of that done, let’s get to Sophina. On her own, she’s a good way for Boros to try and grind out more card advantage, fishing out clue tokens whenever she attacks and getting even more of them if you have friends. And a 4/4 with menace is good at not immediately dying in combat! Speaking of friends, friends forever (a reined-in Partner mechanic) is a twist that lets you build interesting synergies and have multiple friends at the helm; with six possible creatures to pair Sophina with, you can make for some interesting decks, especially since a lot of them have synergies with Clue tokens (either making more of them or interacting with them). She’s hardly a star, and she’s too pricey and slow for Legacy, but she’s an interesting piece to a color pair that sometimes struggles in a longer game.
Constructed: 1.5
Casual: 4
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 4
I have to be honest: I had no idea what this card was until we reviewed it. I skipped out on the discussion of the Walking Dead and Stranger Things Secret Lairs when people started threatening each other. I am, however, always up for more Innistrad characters, more women with flaming spears, and more investigate cards in red and white. The mechanic plays well into those colors’ synergies with artifacts and tokens, and since many Boros decks live for the attack step, Sophina adds a welcome dimension beyond just tapping all your creatures and hoping for the best. It obviously won’t compete directly with blue card-drawing, but it will sometimes add just enough to keep your deck moving long enough to deal enough damage.
Constructed: 1/5 (as James points out, she’s only legal in Legacy, where she’s not well positioned)
Casual: 4/5
Limited: n/a
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander [EDH]: 4/5
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