World-Weak: The Underrateds (Part One)

A couple of days has passed since Worldwake has become tournament legal. We at Spiral have been testing out some Worldwake cards and have discovered some diamonds in the rough. While the rest of the Magic community is going ga-ga over the hyper-expensive (with emphasis on "hype") Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Abyssal Persecutor, hoarding those one-hundred-peso Basilisk Collars despite not having any decks with which they could be played, and "designing" the most obvious Elf and Vampire decks with new additions Joraga Warcaller and Kalastria Highborn, I indulge in the thrill of the hunt for the next Rishadan Port or Tarmogoyf – that card that everyone else thought was useless but turned out to be the best of the rest. Without further ado, here are some Worldwake cards which I think are currently underrated.

DUAL MAN-LANDS (CELESTIAL COLLONNADE, CREEPING TAR PITS, LAVACLAW REACHES, RAGING RAVINE, AND STIRRING WILDWOOD)

I. Don't. Get. It. Why does the community in general dislike these mana-fixers? If the price of the card is reflective of its perceived power level, then Worldwake's two-color man-lands are extremely underrated. I have completed my set of man-lands buying them for P150 to P250 each. The weaker, short-lived M10 lands sell from P300 to P500, far more expensive than the man-lands.

Why does everyone think that M10 duals are better? Maybe it's just a textbook case of supply and demand. Maybe we have just been too star-struck with the fetch-lands that we think all other lands post-Zendikar are extremely inferior. Or maybe, and I believe this to be the case, we are just waiting for the Net-decks to arrive before we finally realize how useful they are.

I might be eating my words later about three months or so, but for now I stick with my opinion that the man-lands are far superior to M10 duals in three color shard-based decks. The main argument against the man-lands is that they come into play tapped. I've studied Jund, and Grixis and Esper control decks. Guess what – most of the time, M10 lands do come into play tapped. They are often played in the first turn tapped. Other times, there is no other choice but have them come into play tapped due to the absence of the appropriate basic land on the battlefield. And still, in majority of games, it really doesn't matter whether they come into play tapped or not. In my book, I'd rather play with pro-active attacking dual lands than those that just sit there and do nothing but often have the same drawback.

For those who still fear getting mana-screwed due to the always-comes-into-play-tapped man-lands, here's a simple tip: up the deck's land count and lower its mana curve. Twenty-six to twenty-eight lands in a deck isn't at all bad when these lands turn into 4/4 flying monsters which could single-handedly win games. Another tip: if you collected M10 lands thinking they were tournaments staples, there is no reason why you shouldn't have these Worldwake duals.

BESTIAL MENACE, WOLFBRIAR ELEMENTAL, LEATHERBACK BALOTH AND OMNATH, LOCUS OF MANA

These green spells, as great as they are, still seem to be taking the backseat to Joraga Warcaller and his crew of elves.

Bestial Mance and Wolfbriar Elemental are the token generators Oran-Rief, the Vastwood has been waiting for. Bestial Menace is a less powerful Cloudgoat Ranger or Siege-Gang Commando, but has the advantage of belonging to the color with efficient mana acceleration. But better than the Ranger and the Commando is Wolfbriar Elemental, which is at the very least an efficient 4/4 four-drop, and quite insane later on with more mana. An early Garruk accelerating into either of these two green token makers is sure to swing games.

If you thought Woolly Thoctar was good, Leatherback Baloth is even better. The toughness of five shrugs off Bituminous Blast and kicked Burst Lightning. Plus it belongs to a color which is naturally aggressive and contains efficient one-mana accelerators. A second-turn Baloth, which can survive perennial early creature-kills Urge to Feed and Lightning Bolt, can easily win games.

While Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Abyssal Persecutor share the spotlight as the two most expensive cards in Worldwake, everyone else seems to be forgetting another mythic rare that may be even better than the two in terms of card power. Everyone else thinks Omnath, Locus of Mana belongs only in some casual decks. I think this is a result of misunderstanding how Omnath's abilities work. Or maybe he has been overshadowed by Joraga Warcaller and the Elves deck, the obvious yet uncreative mono-green aggro deck of choice.

Omnath is comparable to former Standard star Figure of Destiny -- the more mana you have available, the bigger it gets. Only, Omnath is better, as you can actually use the mana you pump him with. With Vines of Vastwood and Eldrazi Monument to protect him, and Wolfbriar Elemental and Strength of the Tajuru as mana dumps, maybe another mono-green aggro deck, aside from Elves, is also viable. Something like this:

Mana-Monster

4 Llanowar Elves
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Omnath, Locus of Mana
4 Leatherback Baloth
4 Wolfbriar Elemental

4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Bestial Menace
2 Eldrazi Monument
2 Strength of the Tajuru

4 Khalni Garden
4 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
14 Forest

(With apologies to KoA and Ankol for sharing this deck list...)

The important question now is this: Is this Omnath deck better than the typical Elf deck? It's tough to answer at this moment. Elf is more consistent in the early game, but this mid-size deck packs more power. But one thing is for sure – the Omnath deck is far more fun and creative than the more popular Elf deck.

I have already surpassed my quota of 800 words for this article. And I have to do something else at the moment. Be back tomorrow for more "snappy" underrated cards!

(To be continued...)