Theros: Creatures of Interest

CDW

Epic...that is all.

        It's time to take a break from all the Golgari chatter.  Today Tallen is going to be discussing several of the interesting creatures brought to us by Theros.   And how they bring new tools to the aggro player.  Let's get into the red zone!  

        Whew...feeling a little warm under the collar for this one.  A 2/1 for one mana is pretty solid.  But this isn't new, considering Dryad Militant is a 2/1 as well.  However, our little soldier has some skills.  He's a one drop with protection from MULTICOLORED.  Yep, not just from creatures, our brave little man dodges any multicolored removal as well, with the bonus of gaining us extra life.  This is incredibly useful in a format filled with powerful multi-colored cards from the Return to Ravnica sets.  Is he a Champion of the Parish?  No, but he is incredibly powerful in his own way, giving white decks a great one drop for the future.

        An admission must be made.  Upon first glance this is a solid 3/3 for two mana and I wondered how this was any better than a Call of the Conclave.  Thankfully I read on and saw his monstrous affects.  Well, hello there... hexproof and indestructible 4/4.    This cat is a control player's nightmare.  The only cards or abilities capable of interacting with a monstrous Fleecemane Lion are sacrificial effects.  This card will see play in many G/W aggro decks.  

        Let's change it up a bit with a non-white card.  I love this guy, period.  If someone thought I was a fan of the previous creatures then you need to be enlightened.  I'm a black/red player at heart.  They are two of the most destructive and aggressive colors in Magic.  They are the essence of aggro, in my opinion.  So how can we use this guy?  First his sacrificial ability is very good for two mana.  Experienced aggro players know there comes a time in a game where you can get stalled out.  Tymaret allows your creatures to have value, even if the opponent has great blockers, such as Boros Reckoner on the field.  Ideal sacrificial targets are early game creatures, such as Rakdos Cackler and Spike Jester.  Both lose their great value as the game progresses and Tymaret let's each deal a last, spiteful, two damage, to help end the game.  His second ability is not as impressive, but a recursion affect with a steep cost can be useful in certain situations.  All in all I really like the tools he brings to my favorite colors.  

        Narnia fans, Tumnus is back and armed!  Boon Satyr has great potential in aggro-tempo decks.  Flash let's our satyr move at instant speed.  Allowing him to dodge board wipe affects, a desirable ability.  He's a 4 power creature for three mana cost and his Bestow mechanic can enhance other creatures. Should your opponent kill the enchanted creature, you still have a  4/2 satyr to work with.  Allowing us to avoid a two for one card loss.  Boon Satyr should find its way into several card slots in decks using green spells, especially the mono-green archetype.  

        One word to describe this creature, potential.  The fiery adept has potential with the good number of scry spells released by Theros.  She will likely find a home in a blue/red tempo deck, due to these colors having access to some of the best scry spells.   Two great examples of scry spells are voyage's end and magma jet.  Flamespeaker Adept is not for every deck, but in a deck built around her, like tempo, she will be able to exert a great deal of pressure on the opponent.  

          Hopefully this post has your aggro minds whirring with ideas and  teaches us to pay close attention to the less hyped cards before a new set is released.  We aggro players need to analyze our options to find the new workhorse creatures to build our game plan around.

TO BE CONTINUED....