Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Standard Pauper Card o' the Day: Lightning Strike

This should be a fun feature that should not take too much time.  Can't promise I'll get to it every single day, but let's get to it anyway!

The Card o' the Day feature will usually focus on the Standard Pauper format, but every now and then an older card might pop up.  I'll just say a few words about why I like it, my thoughts on its place in the format, and leave you all to add your thoughts in comments.




Red has always been my favorite color and Lightning Bolt will always be my favorite card.  Bolt really is just a tad too powerful, which is why I love it just the way it is.  Adding another colorless mana to the casting cost has been a good way to balance things out since Incinerate, another favorite of mine.

That said, I was disappointed with the previous functional reprint in this vein, Searing Spear.  That's just not in flavor with the idea of The Bolt.  Dealing three damage to a creature or player at instant or speed is an electric mechanic, flavor wise and in game.  It deserves to be represented by lightning bolts in the artwork, and Adam Paquette's Hand-of-Zeus painting is the best bolt art since Magic 2010 brought back the original Lightning Bolt.

I'm not quite sure this card's place yet.  I ran a few in Boros yesterday, but it didn't seem essential.  Cheaper options like Shock might be better, and the many four-toughness dudes and big enchanted Voltrons are out of range of this otherwise fine spell.  I'll still end up playing it heavily, though.  I just love to bolt stuff :-) 


And that does it for our first Card o' the Day on the new Cabel the Pauper blog.  See you tomorrow!  Peace,

- C

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