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Is Kor Firewalker a Chase Uncommon?
by Bill Stark | posted at 2010-01-15 17:50:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, Worldwake, Prerelease, Spoiler, Preview, Trick Jarrett, Kor Firewalker, ManaNation
Late last night I previewed TheStarkingtonPost.com exclusive Worldwake preview, Chain Reaction (you can read that article here). It is a very exciting red card, and as I said in the article could potentially alter how formats are played. But before you get too excited about Chain Reaction, you should probably check out the exclusive spoiler from ManaNation.com:
Kor Firewalker WW
Creature - Kor Soldier (UNC)
Protection From Red
Whenever an opponent casts a red spell, you may gain 1 life.
2/2
(For the full spoil, including full art for Kor Firewalker, read the article at ManaNation.com)
This card is nuts. At least, it's as nuts as a "fair" creature can get with solid combat stats, a form of protection, and solid bonus abilities. Consider historical parallels. Silver Knight? Paladin en-Vec? Sea Sprite? All saw competitive play, and both Silver Knight and Paladin were chase cards in their rarities at various stages during their competitive careers. Kor Firewalker is an absolutely crushing development for red and base-red decks, and we will be feeling its impact in Standard and Extended worlds to come for many years.
Red decks have made careers off surviving against powerful hate (I once managed to win a game against Silver Knight + Worship lock with a monored Goblins deck that had no way of removing the Knight), but Kor Firewalker is on another level. It stalls the ground game by forcing unfavorable attacks, in turn forcing a red opponent to overflow the board in an effort to get around the 2/2. But that just cushions the opponent's life total while they try to find a second copy of the Firewalker (God help you if they find a second copy of the Firewalker).
An absolutely insane uncommon, this thing is headed to high prices for sure. Thanks to Trick and the gang at ManaNation.com for bringing Kor Firewalker to the public's attention (and do check out their review, it's a hot one).
So what do you think? Is Kor Firewalker the end of red decks? Sound off using the forum link below.
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Bill Stark is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheStarkingtonPost.com. He began playing Magic in 1995 after being introduced to the game by his brother. Since then he has competed at all levels of play including the JSS, Grand Prix, Nationals, and Pro Tour. In addition to his career as a pro, Bill began writing about the game early on for TheDojo.com, the first website dedicated to Magic. Since then he has written and edited for nearly every major Magic website on the web. In 2007 he began work as an official coverage reporter for Wizards of the Coast, flying to Grand Prixs, Nationals, and World Championships to record the events happening at each. He was also hired for six months as an R&D intern at Wizards where he worked on the redesign for DailyMTG.com as well as helping to develop multiple Magic sets. After leaving Wizards, he started TheStarkingtonPost.com to utilize his many contacts in the industry to provide a better information solution for fans of TCGs, gaming, and Magic: The Gathering.