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by Lickquid Top Ten Limited cards for Exodus OK, so I made one or two mistakes last month, but I SWEAR Smite is a great card in Limited! Stop flaming me already! I think that my flame count is dying down, which means that it's time to write another top 10 list. This time I'm gonna go for Exodus Limited. I'm going to emphasize now, since half my critics didn't know this even though I had it written down, Limited is SEALED DECK and DRAFT. This list is not impacted at all by any Constructed format or casual play. The next person to flame me about why Volrath's Lab is a stupid card in Standard will get a visit from my pet Ephemeron. Number One: Hatred, BB3, Instant, Pay X life: Target creature gets +X/+0 until eot (end of turn for those of you who hate acronyms). Oh, look. They reprinted Channel. Darn, I was so disappointed that I started playing after it was banned, and I'd never have anyone use it against me! This calls for some interesting situations: "You aren't blocking by Soltari Foot Soldier? OK, he gets +19/+0 until the end of turn. You really should have blocked him." The only thing that stops this card from being horribly overpowered (it IS broken, no matter what you tell me. I've seen a 3rd turn kill from that. That's not supposed to happen in Booster Draft) is that if it gets countered, you still lose the life.   Number Two: Reaping the Rewards, W, Instant, Buyback: sac a land, Gain 2 life. Speaking of reprintings, I was around to see Zuran Orb's heyday in Standard, and this is it again! I was fortunate enough to see this card, and I got to stay alive for an average of an additional 6 turns when I drew it, and many of those games I won. This card is even worth making white a third color in drafts, and very few cards can say that. It has problems, though, which include the tendency of land sacrifice to add up (a sting I have felt a few times).   Number Three: Paladin en-Vec, WW1, Summon Knight, 2/2, first strike, prot: B, prot: R. Sweet. How many times have you gotten a guy with one protection out, only to have it killed by the other? This guy has both protection from black AND red, the two most destructive colors, especially in Limited. His only downside: He's a creature. Creatures die, he's just harder to make die than most. One little Fighting Drake, and this guy's out for the count, unless you use...   Number Four: Resuscitate, G1, Instant, All your creatures gain "1: Regenerate" until eot. Wait a minute. Regeneration is probably THE ability in Limited, and I get to give it to ALL my creatures? Where do I sign up? The drawback with this thing is that its only for 1 turn, where in Limited only a couple of creatures can die. If they all suicide-block, however...   Number Five: Reclaim, G, Instant, Return target card from your graveyard to the top of your library. Hmmm.... this card's missing a word... wonder what it is.... ah, yes. Tutor. This is the graveyard version of the Mirage tutors. VERY useful in Limited, where you only get a card once. Now you can get back that countered Paladin en-Vec, that Resuscitate for a second vaccine on death, the Reaping the Rewards you burned, the Hatred that didn't quite kill your opponent. Special bonus: To prevent any unauthorized milling of your deck, cast this in response to your draw and get that card when you want it: right away. Bads: If you don't get the good card the first time, this guy can't go fetch it.   Number Six: Soul Warden, W, Summon Cleric, 1/1, Whenever a creature comes into play, gain 1 life. Whee! Limited is all about the creatures. You get life every time a creature comes out... In any Limited format, this is better than that Convalescence garbage... besides, you want more lifegain, get more creatures in your deck. The not-so-goods: It's a creature, and a 1/1 at that.   Number Seven: Dominating Licid, UU1, Summon Licid, 1/1, UU1, T: Dominating Licid loses all abilities, blah, blah, blah, that reads "gain control of enchanted creature" blah, blah, blah, pay U to end this effect. Hehehe... Tell me that if you saw Legacy's Allure while drafting blue, you wouldn't snap it up! This guy's better. Anytime your opponent has a guy you want, take it! Something better comes? No problem! Pay U at the end of his turn and UU1 during yours to get it! I just said that the creature's where it's at in Limited. The biggest one on the board can be yours! What's not so good: It is a creature at first, and can be killed accordingly, it is rather blue-mana- centered.   Number Eight: Necrologia, BB3, Instant, Play only during discard phase, Pay X life: Draw X cards. Drawing is good in Limited. 6 life to fill your hand is worth it. I shafted the card drawing god of Stronghold (Pursuit of Knowledge); I won't make the same mistake again. Necropotence's BBB casting cost made it unplayable in Limited, but only 2 colored mana make Necrologia a good investment. Bad stuff: Paying life can prove overly costly late in the game, countering causes life loss.   Number Nine: Pegasus Stampede, W1, Sorcery, Buyback: sac a land, Put a 1/1 white flying Pegasus into play. Much fun. Exodus gives you many, many ways to burn extra land. Discard it to Forbid or Seismic Assault. Sacrifice it to Reaping the Rewards or this card. Once it's in the grave, get it back with Cartographer or Reclaim. Anyways, Pegasus Stampede is a good version of that Refuge thing from Tempest, and it's uncommon, not rare. Good thing. Any extra land can be used to make 1/1 FLIERS to beat your opponent. Its an economical solution to both Lab Rats and Pegasus Refuge. Its bad stuff: Sorceries can only be used on your turn, sacrificing land can become costly.   Number Ten: Dauthi Cutthroat, B1, Summon Minion, 1/1, shadow, 1B, T: Destroy target creature with Shadow. OK, one of the main things you need to find in Limited is evasion. That translates into landwalk, flying, and shadow. This little guy takes care of one ability, letting your spells focus on the other two. (for those of you keeping track, there are only two landwalk-related creatures in the Rath Cycle, where most Limited stuff with Exodus is. It may not be exactly two, but it's not many.) Not too great because it is also a 1/1 creature, and if there's no shadow to be seen, he's an overcosted Soltari Foot Soldier.   Honorable Mention: Oath of Scholars, U3, Enchantment, During each player's upkeep, if that player has less cards in hand than target opponent, he or she may discard his or her hand and draw three cards. This is my favorite Exodus card, and it gains Honorable Mention because if it works right, you can go through your deck pretty quickly. Unfortunately, your opponent can use it as well. I will take this opportunity to note that Honorable Mention is NOT the same as Number Eleven. Had I meant Number Eleven, I would have written Number Eleven, so there.   Number One-Hundred-Forty-Three (or worst): Spellbook, 0, Artifact, Skip your discard phase. This is the only card that does not even have an obscure use in Limited. If you have to discard in Limited, you need more lands. End of story. This is not quite as bad as Sword of the Chosen (the worst card for Limited in the game), but it's pretty close. (See, Polar, I gave it SOME credit!)          Lickquid          i***u@o***a.com   Lickquid is currently working on an Oath of Scholars deck. It'll be good, I tell you, I swear! Andrew, stop that insane laughter! 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