Hey guys! Sorry I'm late with a couple of these spoilers, but school was in the way then so we can focus on some Magic stuff now. :)
Scars of Mirrodin Game Day brought 2 mirrored spoilers, while Worlds this past weekend gave us 2 more mirrored spoilers (including the Buy-A-Box Promo).
How do I mean "mirrored"? Well, you take a Mirran-alligned card, reverse it for Phyrexia's flavor, and you have the Phyrexian version of the card.
You'll see what I mean...after the jump!
The first spoilers are a couple of "mirrored" Uncommon Constructs. The first one gains life. Guess the second one before scrolling down.
If you're thinking "the Phyrexian one is better", I'd agree with you. For a one-off deal, gaining 3 life for 4 mana isn't that great anymore, especially when we have 2 mana for 8 life or 2 mana for 4 life AND a blocker.
Considering that 3 life LOSS will get you closer to winning, though, I'd consider Pierce Strider to be the better of the two. That and if you could make it unblockable, he'd effectively be 6 damage for 4 mana (or posssibly upwards of 11 damage for 5 mana.)
Will they see Constructed play? I'd say, of the two, Pierce Strider would if a good artifact deck came up. For casual, again, Pierce Strider for a colorless burn deck (thank you Ghostfire. :) ) In Limited, you better take those Pierce Striders while you can. Three "damage" that's colorless is nothing to sneeze at. Peace Striders, though, I don't know. It could effectively gain you 3 life plus whatever damage it can block. Or it could undo a Pierce Strider's gains. We'll see. I'm no pro, so take what I say with a grain of salt. :p
As for the other two "mirrored" cards, they are Rares. (Bet you didn't think you'd get anything that high class this early, huh?) They are Crusaders for their respective sides, in the colors you'd believe are primary for Mirrans and Phyrexians: White and Black.
First, here's the White one...Mirran Crusader!
Okay, so he's effectively a 4/2 creature (thanks to Double Strike) and gets protection from Black...and green? Why would White need protection from an allied color? I guess considering Green's leaning more Phyrexian than Mirran he can use all the help he can get. Still, 4 damage for 3 mana might not be bad, especially against Rock decks that rely on Black and Green as their primary colors. Could it see Sideboard play? I think so. Black control decks are starting to crop up, so if that holds through Mirrodin Beseiged's release he could easily see Sideboard use for White control to get some aggro on. In Limited? I'd say hell yes take it!
So you've seen the Mirran Cruasder. Do you want to take a guess at the Phyrexian Cruasder? I'll give you one hint: He's also effectively a 4/2, but think about how Phyrexia gets that "4" across.
Give up?
Here he is...Phyrexian Crusader!
Okay, so how does his "4" show up? In the Infect ability. Remember, if you're trying to win with Infect, the life total is effectively 10 instead of 20. That effectively makes each 1 point of damage the equivalent of 2 under a 20-point system. Therefore, 2 damage from a Phyrexian Crusader is effectively 4 damage.
I see off the bat he's a Zombie. Mmm...casual Zombie decks will love this, especially with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth comboing with Zombie Master.
How's his Constructed playability? I don't know, honestly. He's got First Strike, so he can Infect before taking damage. That could work well if he's blocking a 3-power creature. Otherwise, I don't see him as being much more than a 2-Infect creature. I feel he's superior in blocking situations, but unless you can boost his power or unless Red and White see a lot more play, I just don't see the playability. Possibly as a 1-of at most right now, but we'll see. Again, I'm no pro. Just keep that in mind!
I hope you enjoyed these previews! Mirrodin Beseiged releases late January, so we'll have our local "Post-Release" event the week after it releases. Packs are still looking to be $2.75 each, but I'll confirm that when I can get an order in.
Take care for now! :)
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