I started drafting Aether Revolt recently. One of the cards that caught my attention right away was Lathnu Sailback. On the surface, it's a pretty boring common. It doesn't do anything except attack. But sometimes attacking is all you need.
Pros for using it:
-It has only one colored mana symbol, making it ideal for multi-color decks. Thus far, I have run red/white/black. Land fixing is almost non-existent in draft, so it's good to have a card that doesn't require too many of the right lands to cast, such as Aetherwind Basker. If those two cards were in the same pack, I would probably draft Sailback first. I am not sure that I would ever have the opportunity to cast Basker. Putting it in my deck locks me out of using three colors.
-Five power for five mana is pretty good in draft. There are a lot of small creatures running around. Quite a few folks like to draft around a theme. I just try to combine low-drop creatures with big old beaters and attack relentlessly. I've won a lot of draft games doing that. For me, Sailback reads "target player sacrifices a creature during combat." Then, since there isn't draw excel that anyone is playing, my opponent's creatures dwindle over time. It can be a slow roll to victory, but slow and steady will get you there.
-So far, no one is drafting it. Everyone passes it to me, so I can confidently take something else expecting that it will come back around.
Cons for using it:
-It doesn't have trample. For a creature that does nothing but attack, trample is the keyword it needs to have. First strike would also be good. But it doesn't have any keywords. It will be overmatched with uncommon or rare creatures that can do more things. Putting Siege Modification on it demonstrates just how good it would be if it had first strike.
-Not everyone likes playing red. This is a personal preference. Red doesn't have the best creature removal in Aether Revolt. Chandra's Revolution is a card that drafters play out of necessity. Red also doesn't have low-drop hasty characters as commons and uncommons. Anyone who commits to drafting red should expect to have a slow first few turns only to come on strong later in the game. This is generally how red drafted decks work, with the exception of the odd rare or mythic thrown in.
Overall, Lathnu Sailback is an excellent card for draft or sealed where Aether Revolt packs are involved. Playing this card makes me understand why Wizards had Mahamoti Djinn as a rare for so long.
Wayward Giant with Siege Modification is a better combination since Menace will force the opponent to expend at least two creatures to block and he can first strike 7 damage split between them.
It can definitely make it into your deck, but I don't consider this a first-pickable card. I have cut Wayward Giant from my decks much more frequently than I have played him and Giant is much more powerful.
Sailback is a 5 drop if you don't have any others.
if u know red is open, sure. A Draft rule is: pick the cards that are good in your deck, but the best comum big splash creature in AER is that black insect 7/7 with inprovise.
I feel that usually when I'm drafting red, I'm not too keen on getting a 5 drop. Especially one without any sort of keywords to help it do stuff; my opponent, who is likely playing a much slower deck than I am, can probably just chump block this until they can play their own really big creature which will probably beat my Sailback.
Keep in mind that you have to answer Aetherwind Basker with Removal or you will get utterly crushed unless its owner has no energy AND no board. He sizes up to such heights that nothing can challenge him, and no chumping allowed. I had him go up to 30+ NRG, but a 10/10 trample will do the trick just as well. Trample is just so good that it can turn a bad Energy source into a one-turn-clock.
A 5/4 vanilla however? I got Servos for days!
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Pros for using it:
-It has only one colored mana symbol, making it ideal for multi-color decks. Thus far, I have run red/white/black. Land fixing is almost non-existent in draft, so it's good to have a card that doesn't require too many of the right lands to cast, such as Aetherwind Basker. If those two cards were in the same pack, I would probably draft Sailback first. I am not sure that I would ever have the opportunity to cast Basker. Putting it in my deck locks me out of using three colors.
-Five power for five mana is pretty good in draft. There are a lot of small creatures running around. Quite a few folks like to draft around a theme. I just try to combine low-drop creatures with big old beaters and attack relentlessly. I've won a lot of draft games doing that. For me, Sailback reads "target player sacrifices a creature during combat." Then, since there isn't draw excel that anyone is playing, my opponent's creatures dwindle over time. It can be a slow roll to victory, but slow and steady will get you there.
-So far, no one is drafting it. Everyone passes it to me, so I can confidently take something else expecting that it will come back around.
Cons for using it:
-It doesn't have trample. For a creature that does nothing but attack, trample is the keyword it needs to have. First strike would also be good. But it doesn't have any keywords. It will be overmatched with uncommon or rare creatures that can do more things. Putting Siege Modification on it demonstrates just how good it would be if it had first strike.
-Not everyone likes playing red. This is a personal preference. Red doesn't have the best creature removal in Aether Revolt. Chandra's Revolution is a card that drafters play out of necessity. Red also doesn't have low-drop hasty characters as commons and uncommons. Anyone who commits to drafting red should expect to have a slow first few turns only to come on strong later in the game. This is generally how red drafted decks work, with the exception of the odd rare or mythic thrown in.
Overall, Lathnu Sailback is an excellent card for draft or sealed where Aether Revolt packs are involved. Playing this card makes me understand why Wizards had Mahamoti Djinn as a rare for so long.
Sailback is a 5 drop if you don't have any others.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
A 5/4 vanilla however? I got Servos for days!