We can figure out which creatures are better than others to include in
your deck by comparing them to equivalent cards.
For example, let's look at these two cards: Suntail Hawk and Doomed
Traveler. Both creatures cost one white mana to cast and have
power/toughness of 1/1.
Suntail Hawk has an added ability of flying.Suntail Hawk
As you can see, a good card can be somewhat subjective. In the previous two examples, each card did have powerful characteristics, but only if played against the right deck. Our goal with this chapter is to reveal ways in which you can assess a card s true value in the game. While cards don't have an absolute scale of goodness, some cards are definitely better than others. By asking yourself a few simple questions you'll be able to determine if a card is actually worth putting in your deck or not. Does the creature have an added ability⁷? Is it useful in your deck? We can figure out which creatures are better than others to include in your deck by comparing them to equivalent cards. For example, lets look at these two cards: Simtail Hawk and Doomed Traveler. Both creatures cost one \vh让e mana to cast and have power/tougliness of 1/1. Suntail Hawk has an added ability of flying. Suntail Hawk (Creature — Bird Flying (This creature can \ be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.) Its eye the glaring suny its cry the keening wind. ^Heather Hudson ,M & C 199> 2007 Wizard* o^thc Coam. Inc. 5<v、83
Doomed Traveler has this added ability: when Doomed 乃'aveler dies, put a 1/1 white spirit creature token with fixing onto the battlefield. (Creature — Human Soldier * When Doomed Traveler dies, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying onto the battlefield. He vowed he would never rest until he reached his destination. He doesn't know how right he was. 一^ Lars Grant-West of the LLC IICM You would benefit greater by adding Doomed Ti'aveler instead of Suntail Hawk to your deck. Why? Because, Doomed Traveler is a two for one creature. It only costs one mana to cast, but when it dies you get a free flying creature to take its place on the board. Compare that to Suntail Hawk who is flying from the gate, but once it dies you have nothing to automatically take its place. You would have to cast another creature (if you had it in your hand.) When constructing a deck it's best to think about which ability will benefit you most. Sometimes you may find that two different cards have powerful abilities, but one would actually work better for your deck.
For example, let's say you're building a red and green deck and are choosing between adding Striking Slivei' or Elvish Mystic. Both creatures cost one mana to cast and have a 1/1 power/toughness. Striking Silver has this added ability: silver creatures you control have first strike (they deal combat damage before creatures without first strike.) - \bu 're too busy recoiling in fear to realise that il's already hit you. Striking Sliver Sliver creatures you control have first strike. (They deal combat damage before creatures without first strike.) Elvish Mystic has this added ability: tap it to add one green mana to your mana pool. When comparing these two cards it may be hard to figure out which one would work best in your deck because both have strong abilities. However, if the deck you are constructing does not include a lot of silver
creatures, then it would be pointless to add Striking Silver to it. The ability will not be utilized. If that is the case, then Elvish Mystic would provide a greater advantage because 让 helps accelerate your mana pool and allows you to cast more cards faster. Before adding a creature card to your deck you need to compare it to other cards with the same mana cost. You may find that a card you once considered is actually not the best choice for your deck based on its “theme." A topic we will cover in more detail in a later chapter. Can the card be played oil your opponenfs turn? One of the major drawbacks of Magic the Gathering is that you have to use mana to cast spells. If you tap all of your mana on your turn you put yourself at a disadvantage because you can't cast additional spells. A powerful way to gain an advantage in the game is to save up mana so that you can play a card on your opponent's turn instead of your own. In theoiy, this allows you to use your mana twice: once during your opponent's turn and then again on your turn when it untaps. This factor is important when constructing a deck because too frequently players include mana draining sorceiy cards instead of instants. Sorceries can only be played on your turn, which can render you defenseless during your opponent's turn. Instant cards are better to use because they can be cast on both your turn and your opponents. Often, in the game of Magic you can find an instant card that has the same (or similar) ability as a sorceiy card. Adding these to your deck instead will make it more powerful since you don't have to wait until your turn to play them. For example, let's compare the two cards Mugging and Shock. Both cost one red mana to cast.
Mugging is a sorceiy card that deals 2 damage to a target creature. Additionally, that creature can't block this turn. Shock is an instant card that deals 2 damage to a target creature or player. Shock @ Shock deals 2 damage to target creature or player. Lightning tethers souls to the zcorld. Kor saying Illu$. Randy Gallegos By comparison, Shock is a better card to put into a deck. Why? Because, it's an instant card which can be played on your opponent's turn. Imagine if a 2/2 creature is attacking you and don't have any creatures of
乃'agic Slip is an instant card that gives a target creature -1/-1 until end of turn. It also has morbid ability - that creature gets -13/-13 until end of turn if a creature died this turn. For most decks, Tr'agic Slip would be the optimal choice to include. It*s a great card because it has two abilities: it can be used to kill off a small 1/1 creature or to get rid of a powerful creature your opponent controls. Imagine blocking your opponent's 10/10 creature that is attacking with a 1/1 and then casting Tragic Slip instantly to kill the 10/10 creature off. All while it's still your opponent's turn. While casting Bone Splinters would result in the same outcome, its downfall is that 让 must be cast during your turn and depletes one black mana from your pool. It also gives your opponent a full next turn to react to this situation. Tragic Slip, on the other hand, would not give your opponent time to react since casting it on your opponent s turn allows you to immediately follow up with another move because it then becomes your turn. While we advocate that you try to include instants instead of sorceries in your deck, remember that not all sorceries have an equivalent match. An example of this is Planai' Cleansing, a sorceiy which destroys all nonland permanents.
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