Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Guilds of Ravnica. This week, I’m looking at all the wonderful new mechanics we'll see in the new set. So far, I’ve talked about Convoke, Jump-Start, and Surveil. Now it's time to focus on Boros and their brand-new mechanic, Mentor.
Mentor is a creature-only mechanic described as follows: “Whenever a creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature with lesser power.” By itself it doesn’t do much, but in combination with other creatures it can help you build a more powerful army. I'm reminded Exalted, which gave creatures bonuses in specific scenarios. It could also be compared to Evolve, affecting creatures with lesser power. Mentor gives bonuses in the form of permanent +1/+1 counters though, which is nice.
Today I’ll be talking about how Mentor is used in three new creatures, and how I think they can be used to your advantage.
First off we have a Boros creature that can still be a Mentor even after multiple attacks. Here is Boros Challenger:
Right off the bat, you are getting a 2/3 creature for two mana which is quite strong. It reminds me bit of the recent two-cost Thorn Lieutenant.
In its current state, Boros Challenger can only pump up creatures with one power or less. But, thanks to its ability, it can pump itself and another attacking creature at the same time. This means you can turn a 1/1 into a 2/2, and the following turn make it a 3/3. It's a tough ability to navigate around too, since the threat is there, but you don't have to use it unless you need to. Your opponent might have a 3/3 that would normally block, but the threat of running into a 3/4 Boros Challenger will often leave this creature unblocked.
Next up is a creature that has high power, low toughness, and a hammer. Let's take a look at Hammer Dropper:
Worried about not being able to get multiple Mentor triggers off your creature? Hammer Dropper is here to help you out.
At 5/2, this card all but guarantees that you'll be able to pump up anything else you attack with. The tough part is making it survive more than one turn of combat. With just two toughness, Hammer Dropper won't survive being blocked by most creatures. I can see it doing well in Limited though, where its high power will be able to trade with almost anything on the board. If you can chain it together some removal spells to clear the path, the game could end quickly thanks to its high power.
Do you love those pesky little red creatures called Goblins? If so, this new card is for you! Here is Legion Warboss.
Welcome to the new Goblin Rabblemaster!
How does Legion Warboss compare to Goblin Rabblemaster? Well let’s see. They both have the same casting cost and power and toughness. Goblin Rabblemaster causes all your other Goblins to attack while Legion Warboss only forces the token it makes that turn to attack. Goblin Rabblemaster's tokens will only be 1/1 creatures at most, but its power can grow magnitudes when attacking. Legion Warboss's stats will never change, but it does have the ability to make any token it attacks with into a 2/2 Goblin.
If you can give Legion Warboss haste it can become even a larger threat. With Goblin Warchief still in the Standard format, not only can you cast it for two mana, but you can even start attacking with two 2/2 Goblins that turn. I think Legion Warboss will be a force in the coming months and I’m interested to see what other toys aggressive decks will get in Guilds of Ravnica.
These cards want to make me attack, attack, attack. Boros cards are going to be very aggressive thanks to the new Mentor mechanic and I can’t wait to see what else Guilds of Ravnica has in store for us. Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose and join me again tomorrow as I look at the mechanic from Golgari.
