Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Ravnica Allegiance. Ttoday I’m shifting my focus over to Gruul with a look at some powerful cards that want to overrun your opponent.
Today's spotlights include an enchantment that helps all your creatures, a powerful Dragon, and a Boar that will win. You. The game. Well maybe not all the time, but it’s going to do its best to do so. Gruul is a very aggressive guild and Ravnica Allegiance is playing it up with everything from its Riot mechanic to the powerful creatures we’ve seen so far. Let’s have a look at what these new cards do!
I want to start off with an enchantment that will make sure all your creatures are having a riot. Here is Rhythm of the Wild:
The first part of this enchantment states that your creature spells can’t be countered. We've seen this by itself on a green enchantment with Leyline of the Lifeforce, and on its own that could be a great sideboard card. But that's not all.
The best part about this card lies in its second ability, the ability to give non-token creatures Riot. Riot, as a mechanic, stacks so you can have multiple instances on the same creature. This means that it would be fine to play multiple copies on Rhythm of the Wild in the same deck. With two of them in play you could give a creature +2/+2 or Haste and +1/+1. You could even give it the silly, but still awesome, double haste! This makes all your incoming creatures a little more powerful, but you will have to take turn three off to put this on the battlefield.
Next up is a red Dragon that puts the choice in your hands, damage now or damage later. Let's look at Skarrgan Hellkite:
With advantages for both options, this card's Riot choice is one of the hardest around. Let me break it down, assuming you're casting it on turn five and can get a new land every turn.
Riot choice Haste
Turn 5 – 4 damage
Turn 6 – 8 damage
Turn 7 – 12 damage
Turn 8 – 16 damage
Riot choice +1/+1 counter
Turn 5 – 0 damage
Turn 6 – 7 damage
Turn 7 – 14 damage
Turn 8 – 21 damage (23 damage if you can get to 8 lands)
Your choice could be very dependant your opponent’s life total, and whether you need to use its ability to kill off any threats or can afford to go straight for the face. Overall I like Skarrgan Hellkite no matter what you choose, and it will be great five-drop for aggressive decks.
Finally is a beast of a Green creature that will break stalemates at your upcoming Prerelease tournament, End-Raze Forerunners:
The first card that comes to mind when trying to find a comparable card is Craterhoof Behemoth. As this is a rare instead of a mythic, End-Raze doesn't quite pack the same punch. However, it does have some advantages over Craterhoof. The most significant advantage is that it grants itself and all your creatures Vigilance for a turn. Although there's a good chance that you'll finish off your opponent when End-Raze Forerunners hits the battlefield, if your opponent somehow survives you willl still have blockers up to prevent a counter attack. Watch out for this finisher during Prerelease week and hope you can defeat your opponent before they get to eight mana.
There you have it folks, three powerful cards for Gruul that can win the game. I think the one that could see the most play in Standard is Rhythm of the Wild, if it can find the right deck and have enough support to work. Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose of Ravnica Allegiance. Join me again tomorrow as I look at some cards from the deadly Orzhov guild!
