Strength in Numbers - Commons of Icecrown
September 24, 2010
Icecrown is out, and like last time I want to go over my thoughts on the best commons in the set. I’m going over commons because they’re far more… well… common in the Limited format. I’ll attempt to outline the top 10 commons in the set; let’s just get right to it.
Entomb- There are not many ways to reliably destroy equipment in this format. And Death Knight is getting a common to do so. The high points of this card are that it is very cheap and it gets any equipment card. For the low cost of two, you get to get any equipment off the board. And most equipment that are going to be problematic are more expensive, so it’s a good use of resources. I’d like to give honorable mention to Blood Plague; I played against it at my release event and it just about won the game. I want to see it in action again, but a DoT that essentially gives all my allies reverse hardiness just crippled me.
Mark of Life- In a format with no ferocity and very few combat tricks makes giving your guys attack bonuses even better. And with so many other allies with mend in the format, you can have your ally back to full health in no time.
Pierce- Pierce is pretty self explanatory. Two cost, deal four is always solid. Warrior has been lacking a cheap way to kill allies early game and now they have it. Ruination was Warrior’s main removal in the first two sets, but it was so expensive. The only time you wanted to play it was if you’re destroying both a weapon and an ally. Without any early game removal, you might fall too far behind for Ruination to be helpful. Pierce can keep parity in the early game and you can hold onto Ruination until it is best situation presents itself.
Cold Bones- Cold Bones is Old Bones’s younger, polar brother. A four cost, four attack and five health is expected of a Hunter’s companion. He is also Frost Resistance and gives your hero Frost Resistance too! Playing him can make the opponents frost allies irrelevant. I really like the fact that he is so big, making it difficult for your opponent to get the bear off the board if played on turn four. I think he will swing a lot of games where he will be so difficult for the opponent and their frost allies to overcome.
Poach- This card is just as amazing as it will be in Constructed. The perfect thing to be doing on turn one or any turn that they have cards in hand for that matter. This will probably most affect games when used to leave opponents without a turn four play. Playing against Death Knight, your opponent better hope he or she doesn’t have Corpse Explosion in hand when you Poach. Devouring Plague, Feral Spirit, Explosive Shot, Enveloping Shadows, Nathanos, Flint, you name it— if it costs four or less, Poach has it on lock.
Torashu Stronghoof- This man is a whole lot of 4/4 for four. Lots of F’s. His drawback is minor, and the bonus of having mend to both off set his drawback even more and heal the team puts this guy in the top 10. I can’t think of a situation where this guy would be bad. Just pay attention to the board and don’t give the opponent an opportunity to take advantage of his drawback. For example, don’t attack a 3/3 if they have a 4/4 in play. You just have to trade for the 4/4. Now I know that is somewhat restrictive, but he can eat smaller allies in some situations and just heal the damage.
Banshee Soulclaimer- Now I’m real excited to do some drafts and see what can be done with Scourge. This is one to be excited about. I think this gal can dominate a game; the goal is to get as many as possible into play. The more you have, the harder they are to kill. It’s bad times for Alliance and Horde if your opponent doesn’t kill the first one fast and a second one comes down. I just need to see how many people can draft Scourge at a table.
Cold Hearted- The proactive man’s World in Shadows. The ball is in your court to have Frost Resistance allies and it is crucial to draft and play to your own cards. Another example of a proactive quest is Death to the Traitor King, and that was amazing in Scourgewar. Cold Hearted can be used both proactively and defensively, and that’s why I love it.
Everfrost- I probably don’t need to explore into this too much. Pure Evil, eat your heart out. Now there is a reshuffle effect that doesn’t reset both decks, so it enables the win condition of kill me or you will deck out.
I really couldn’t decide on the last card. One I played with at the Icecrown Release Party; the other I didn’t see anyone else play, but I think it would have a greater impact on the game.
I played with Bronwyn Lightborn and was very happy with the results. I normally don’t like one drops, but she has a relevant late game ability of destroying abilities—difficult to do in this format. She has two attack, and Frost Resistance to make her more difficult to deal with. My second round opponent couldn’t play early frost allies because I had two in play and they would just gobble them up.
The second card that I have been looking at is Vishala. I really want to play with this card to see it in action because it might not be good enough, but I think it could also run a game. She has frost resistance which makes her a little more resilient. The situation that I’m thinking about is her ability to lock an ally down for the turn. Using that until you play another ally big enough to eat the smaller ally and have her start locking down a bigger ally. She seems like she would be problematic enough for the opponent to play removal ability on her which is fine because it’s not being used on another ally. Again I would really want to play with this card before a final decision, but if you get a chance give it a try.
Well, there it is. In my opinion the best ten commons of Icecrown. Look for these in your Sealed and Draft pools. Give them a try and see if you agree with my choices. Well until next time keep playing and having fun.
-Dan Clark
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