GR Apoc Booster Review

Beyond Dominia: The Limited Magic Mill: GR Apoc Booster Review

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By Winky on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 11:25 pm:

Well here is my Green-Red review for Booster Drafting Apocalypse, namely Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse. This article is intended to help you better understand the cards and how high I would draft each one. I rate each card from 1-10.

Green

Green is a solid color and is pretty well balanced. It is probably best used as a support color in 2-3 colored decks, or for those brave souls the main color in 4-5 colored decks.

Ana Disciple
GB: 9 GU: 8
The black ability of this is great, as it usually means: "B, tap: Prevent 2 damage to target creature or player" which is an amazing ability in itself. It will allow you to control combat and spare yourself a lot of damage. The blue ability is decent, but I don't like tapping a creature to give another flying. It may come in handy or win the game.

Ana Sanctuary
GBU: 8 GU/GB: 4
Don't get me wrong, +5,+5 is incredible. The problem is that if your opponent drops a flagbearer, you're offense will be stopped unless you have flyers. I don't like how this card gets crushed so bad by 3 different non-rare cards. Another thing is that any simple regenerator goes a long way vs. the +5,+5 creature. Still, if you play it right it can win you a lot of games, just watch out.

Anavolver
10
The very best of the volvers, it's at worst a Hill Giant. With this being Green, you can almost always pay both kickers. For example, you can play a single Island and Swamp in your deck, then harrow them into play to pay both kickers. Another great thing is that if you can use the black or blue disciples to add the mana to pay both kickers, and it's not hard to do. The reason the Volvers are rare is because they're so good in limited. Imagine what your deck would be like if you got 2 of these!

Bog Gnarr
2
5 mana for a 2/2 creature is just horrible. I would never play this. The only way it's even close to being good is it can surprise your opponent by casting a black instant after blockers, but that's not good enough to pay 5 mana for a 2/2.

Gaea's Balance
9
This is nuts. I would play at least one land of each type in a 3 colored deck, simply because this is so strong.
It's not the one land of each type that makes this so great, even though that is an awesome effect, it's that it thins your deck of 5 lands and makes your draws way better right after you play it. This reminds me of Fact or Fiction.

Glade Gnarr
7
This guy is expensive for a 4/4, but it's not as bad as Bog Gnarr. Casting Repulse after blockers turns this into a 6/6 surprise, which is good. Casting a blue spell before combat and pumping this to a 6/6 is good too. A 4/4 or 6/6 is pretty big in this format, so this guy is respectable and good, but not excellent.

Kavu Howler
8-9
A 4/5 is beefy, and this has potential to get you card advantage. The cards you can draw off this are better than most draws, so this at times is better than even Phyrexian Gargantua!

Kavu Mauler
8-10
I can't emphasize how good trample is in limited! This has potential to be a 6/6 or 7/7 trample, which is incredible in limited. Still, w/o Kavus, it's much worse than Gargantua. Draft according to the rest of your deck.

Lay of the Land
8
This card is great! It allows you to go fetch your one island for your domain deck, go get the land that you didn't draw in your opening hand, or whatever you may need it for. At 1 mana it's cheap and effective. Don't take it over a good creature or spell however, but still fairly high and put it in your deck if you have room.

Penumbra Bobcat
9
A 2/1 for 3 isn't bad if it has a good special ability like this one. These guys are great, there are many uses for them. You can block and kill a creature or shrug off a removal spell. Another great thing is these guys can put stress on your opponent because they'll have to use a lot of resources to get rid of them.

Penumbra Kavu
8
A 5 mana, 3 power creature isn't as good as a 3 mana, 2 power creature in most cases. This is still great, don't get my wrong, but the mana cost is a little high. I'd take the Bobcat in most situations, but either is good pick.

Penumbra Wurm
10
If this guy were a 6/6 trample for 7, I would take him over almost any green card in the set. This guy is a 6/6 for trample that takes 2 great removal spells or a lot of creatures to get rid of. If your opponent can't kill it somehow, it will trample over for the kill. I've seen great players take Gaea's Skyfolk over this, but I wouldn't. You make the call.

Savage Gorilla
9 1/2
This common creature can potentially kill 2 guys and draw a card off it, there are a few reasons it doesn't get a 10 rating: Almost any removal spell stops it, it kills 2 creatures with no surprise factor, it usually won't win a game for you. Nonetheless, it's an amazing card in the colors, an almost automatic first pick.

Strength of Night
8-9
At a 3 mana instant, all creatures you control get +1,+1 until end of turn, this card isn't a slouch. How many times have your traded your 3/3s with 4/4s or made your creature stay alive when theirs didn't, via Aggressive Urge? That was just one creature, it's great if you could pull that off with all creatures. The problem is that it won't work out in every situation, and it's 3 mana. This will work out a lot of times though, and if you have a zombie or two in play this just gets nasty.

Sylvan Messager
6
4 mana 2/2 trample...there's better, but there's worse. This guy pulling 2 cards is great, but you can't control that really and it's horrible of you can't. Not bad if you're short on creatures, but there are a lot better things around.

Symbiotic Deployment
2
This thing, I guess, could work. If it does, you'll probably still lose though. It's just too risky. You drop it with 4 creatures in play for example, and then your opponent casts Breath of Darigaaz or Rout, auto loss for you. Somebody out there probably won with this......but I don't know how.

Tranquil Path
5
This is an okay sideboard card. There are enchantments you need to get rid of (Diversity Tactics) or lose. 5 mana is a lot to pay, but if it removes that killer enchantment, it's worth it.

Urborg Elf
7
This guy is good, but nothing spectacular. It helps your mana out a lot and speeds it up, but that's it. Don't take it high.

Red

Red is a great color, and probably the best in all 3 sets. It has a number of decent commons, a ton of great uncommons, and some good rares. If you open up pack one and aren't sure what to do, go red.

Bloodfire Colossus
10
This guy is simply amazing. Although it's essentially 9 mana, (you wouldn't want to cast this without a R untapped in case your opponent tries to kill it) it will probably win the game for you. Usually how you will play this guy is attack with everything and then activate it's ability to clear the board, dealing about 10 damage overall to your opponent. This guy is Wrath of God on a stick!

Bloodfire Dwarf
9
A 1/1 for 1 is fast, and the ability is great. I've died simply because of this little guy killed all of my creatures, a couple times. A fast, great card.

Bloodfire Infusion
7
I usually play this as a sideboard card, in case my opponent has really good small creatures (like multiple Razorfin Hunters, Gaea's Skyfolks, or Goblin Legionnaires) and it is great sometimes. Sacrificing a creature is a big price to pay, but it can be very rewarding.

Bloodfire Kavu
8
This isn't as good as the dwarf in my opinion, but it's no slouch. It can clear the board easily, but it's expensive to do so. This could barely make the cut main deck, or it could be a great sideboard card.

Desolation Giant
RW: 10 RnonW: 5
This guy should be a 4/4 or cost 1 less to play! Desolation Angel has a come into play disadvantage too, but at least it's a 5/4 flyer for 5! If this had no abilities, it would be worse than Hill Giant. Still, in a RW deck, this is an amazing card. It clears the board (how many times have I said that in the first 5 red cards of Apoc? Red is the best!) and throws a 3/3 creature in there for your opponent deal with. Great with Gaters.

Dwarven Landslide
3
Would be good if you drafted 3, 3 Turf Wounds, and maybe Implode. Still, unless that odd deck comes up, it's not worth your time.

Dwarven Patrol
5
This could be a 3 mana removal spell, because it can just block and kill a lot of creatures. I don't see it good in most situations, but it has potential.

Goblin Ringleader
7-8
I've seen worse than a 2/2 haste for 4. If it gets one card off of it then it's definitely worth it.

Illuminate
10
Wow. It's a sorcery Heat Ray to me, but if you hold back and just make sure you don't die, you can finish your opponent off with either the red or blue kicker. I would probably take this over almost any rare in the set.

Kavu Glider
8
This is great with either W or U. Simply not as good as Tower Drake, but it's still no slouch.

Minotaur Tactician
RWU: 6 RW/RU: 4
Even in a RWU deck it would still be hard to get this to be a 3/3 haste on your fourth turn, and so I would only play it if you absolutely had to. If you're not playing all 3 colors, don't bother.

Raka Disciple
8
This is pretty quick and both abilities are good, but it's not incredible. Solid card.

Raka Sanctuary
RWU: 10 RW/RU: 8
If you can get this doing 3 damage a turn, you're going to win. Just like Gary Wise said, if it's damaging your own creatures then you're going to run them down anyway. Excellent card even in RW or RU. 1 damage to a creature a turn is similar to Tim or Kris Mage or other bomb cards, why not this one?

Rakavolver
RWU: 10 RU: 9 RW: 8
A 5/5 flying spirit is outstanding. A 3/3 flyer for 4 is great as well. A 4/4 spirit isn't bad, but not as good as A lot of the other cards in the colors.

Smash
5
This card is great vs. Dodecapod or Power Armor, but there isn't really any other big artifacts to worry about. Don't feel bad if you take it, but don't take it over a decent card for your deck.

Tangarth's Glare
1
Although this has some power with Temporal Spring....I wouldn't even played it if I had 3 copies of each. You don't need to waste a card in your deck doing unnecessary, unimportant things. Don't play this.

Tundra Kavu
8
Gray Ogre with a special ability is always nice, and this one's ability is good. You can help your mana if you're using white or blue, or you can help your domain cards if you're not. Always a solid card.

Wild Research
1-10
This card depends entirely on the rest of your deck. I've heard of people winning with it...so with 4-5 good enchantments or instants this can be amazing. However...it would be pointless if you only had 1 or 2 enchantments or instants. If you draft right, it's usually on the high end of the scale

I would like to note that a couple people contacted me saying that Phyrexian Gargantua should have a 10 rating instead of a 9. While I sort of agree, it is an amazing card, I just don't think that it will alone win you a game. Phyrexian Arena, Desolation Giant, etc will. That is just my opinion.

For questions or comments, e-mail me, Kyle Felter, at [email protected].


By Nevyn, the Village Idiot (Nevyn) on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 10:35 am:

the reason desolation angel is a 5/4 flyer for 4 is that a one-way armageddon is devastating to your position, so it is near unplayable in black limited decks that can't make white, as in this environment, there are many answers the opponent can have to the flyer.

However, the desolation giant mirrors wrath instead, which means that you can often play it without losing a single permanent, or losing an inconsequential one like ravenous rats. So to make it a 4/4 or bigger would be a problem for limited (as well as a constructed issue).

THat being said, I agree that giant is a marginal pick unless you are also into white.


By JoeTzu on Thursday, June 21, 2001 - 07:34 pm:

Wow, a few comments on your rankings.

Illuminate... Have you played much with this? I agree that it is really good, but don't kid yourself and think you are ever going to play both kickers. There are a lot of rares in the set I would take over that.

Savage Gorilla First pick? If the ability did not require tapping then he would be a ten. He is still good, but must sit on defense most of the time.

Goblin Ringleader is not good. On his own, he sucks, and there aren't many goblins that are going to come up. The rating is unimportant since you can scale it however you want, but Dwarven Patrol is much better than this guy.

I think you need to spend a little more time comparing your ratings. You gave tundra kavu, and a 4/4 spirit linked guy the same rank.


By Nevyn, the Village Idiot (Nevyn) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 09:51 am:

Joe , let me just say on illuminate that it would be better than all but maybe 3-4 rares in the set even with no kickers. Also, one of it's kickers is on colour, so is always easy late game to use. As for the blue kicker, it is not all that hard late game either (8-9 mana to take out a fattie and draw 3-4 cards).

Also, belive it or not, I have paid both kickers, doing 5 damage 2 ways and drawing 5 cards.


By Winky on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 07:57 pm:

Goblin Ringleader is good on its own. It's similar to Gray because both can attack on the fourth turn. Haste is a strong ability. If you cast a 3rd turn Gray Ogre and this fourth turn, you can overwhelm your opponent easily. If this draws even one card it's amazing, and there are plenty of good goblins (slingshot, legionaire, razorfin hunter, etc.). I would comfortably play it.

Savage Gorilla is potentially 3 for 1 card advantage, and that is very very good.

Illuminate can kill almost any creature, and possibly finish off an opponent with cards or damage. You can't really get better than that in this environment. You don't need both kickers or even any kickers for this to be good.


By SpectralShift on Saturday, June 23, 2001 - 12:28 am:

Goblin ringleader is bad -- The reason being there are few goblins worth getting, and four mana for a 2/2 (haste or not!) is not a good deal. In terms of card quality, the only way this card is "good" is if you have slingshot goblins or legionaires, which is possible. Still would not rate it that highly, except in a very specific deck. Would rather have any number of 4 mana 2/2's that fly, or ancient kavu... maybe even root grevil (ack!)

Gorilla is amazing.

Illuminate is *amazing*. Its a heat ray and stroke... that alone makes it worthwhile. You don't *have* to pay kicker, but when you do, you normally win.

The only other disagreement I have is with the disciples (and not on this page...) The black and red ability is amazing, blue is also handy. The green and white abilites are subpar (making the best one white, worst one black)


By Nevyn, the Village Idiot (Nevyn) on Monday, June 25, 2001 - 10:26 am:

Just a quick note Winky .... grey ogres are bad unless they have a strong ability. Even if you consider ringleader an ogre (which it only is if you are the one on offense) , it's still not that good. THe lack of good goblins in the block exaggerates this.


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