Topiary Stomper – Streets of New Capenna
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.17
Casual: 3.00
Limited: 3.42
Multiplayer: 3.00
Commander [EDH]: 3.07
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this scene every time young children play with Lego. I do, however, think it’s great that a city setting doesn’t automatically preclude dinosaurs; and jokes aside, Topiary Stomper is a reasonably good card in the right deck. Being a ramp spell and a threat in one card alleviates one of the traditional weaknesses of ramp decks, and although you might be wary of such a concept after the whole Omnath thing in Standard, he doesn’t generate additional card advantage beyond the extra land and so is a very different type of card. I wouldn’t expect to see him too much in a format like Modern, but in formats where you have time and deck space for other ramp spells, I think he’ll do fine.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander [EDH]: 3/5
Topiary Stomper is an interesting enough creature, combining an efficient beater with mana acceleration. The issue is that the mana acceleration is almost needed to make this work, since you have to get to seven lands before it can do something that isn’t just sit there and look cute, and a 4/4 with vigilance is okay, but not so hot if you have to wait for it to come online. There are shenanigans with blinking this to ramp with reckless abandon, but those generally ask for you to dip into other colors, which the double-green somewhat impairs.
That said, this isn’t awful, but it’s underwhelming. I believe its current use has mostly been in green devotion decks in Pioneer, who can take advantage of the casting cost a bit better. But a slow Rampant Growth is maybe a bit less than ideal, and a 4/4 with vigilance, while still passable, is not the hardest thing to break through in a long game.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 3
Limited: 3.25
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.25 (might be useful to blink and accelerate out of control)
A very balanced card with some great art to go with it, it reminds me of something we’d see in Batman: The Animated Series (I might be dating myself a bit there) but all in all it is a balanced card. Three mana for a ramp spell (initially) isn’t great for just one basic land when cards like cultivate exist but it does net you +1 in lands so that is good. If you’re playing with Topiary Stomper you’re likely playing in a ramp deck. You’re going to have the seven lands either the turn this comes out or on the next turn if you’re doing it right and you’ll have yourself a Serra Angel for three plus one land. All around I like this card for ramp decks!
Constructed: 3.5/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander [EDH]: 3/5
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We’d be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
Click here to read over 4,000 more MTG Cards of the Day! Daily Since 2001.