Chris' Magic: The Gathering Card of the Day!

September 19, 1997

The Card of the Day is....

Varchild's War-Riders

3/4
Trample, rampage:1
Cumulative upkeep -- Put a Survivor token into play under target opponent's control. Treat this token as a 1/1 red creature.

A brief rundown of the card:

This is one of the most devastating creatures around early in a game. Being unboltable, the War-Riders can unleash tons of damage in just a few turns. Trample really helps deal damage early in a game, rampage helps later in a game. If we could only find a way to control those pesky Survivor tokens...:

Subterrainian Spirit
This is one of the easiest ways to wipe out all the Survivors each turn right before you attack. Be careful when you use the Spirit's ability to clear away Survivors though, you will be doing a point of damage to your War-Riders as well--bringing them within reach of an Incinerate.

Lure
Heck with killing the Survivor tokens! Let them grow in numbers for a few turns and then put Lure on your War-Riders to do a ton of damage to your opponent. All of the Survivors will have to block the War-Riders giving it +1/+1 for each past the first. Assign all the damage to one Survivor and let the rest live. All the trample damage will spill over the lone Survivor....crushing your opponent.

Lost Order of Jarkeld
Varchild's War-Riders are the easiest way to ensure your opponent will have tons of creature to build up your Lost Order.

Gaea's Avenger+Thran Forge
True, this isn't the best combo, but it is with Gaea's Avenger....somthing you just don't see everyday (cool picture!). Let the Survivors grow in numbers for a little while then make them all into artifact creatures--giving about the same effect as Lost Order of Jarkeld.
Pestilence/Whitering Wisps
Right before you attack, do a point of damage to each creature and player to make sure your War-Riders aren't hassled by those irritating Survivors.
Firebreathing
Firebreathing+trample=death
Aether Flash+Dingus Staff
Aether Flash deals 2 damage to all creatures as they come into play--more than enough to kill all Survivor tokens. Dingus Staff will deal 2 damage to any player any time any of their creatures go to the graveyard. Brutal. This combo was sent in to us by several dozen people.

Magic: The Gathering is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Click here to go home

Email me or not. You can choose.