JJROCKETS
06-15-2008, 10:05 PM
First of all I would like to congratulate Tom Rogers/Kaijudo Kid for getting his cookie. Here, take a cookie!
Anyways, that cookie is beside the point. Time to get down to buisness on our next card of the day. Cranium Clamp.
Name: Cranium Clamp
Cost: 4
Civilization: Darkness
Type: Spell
Rules Text:
Your opponent chooses and discards 2 cards from his hand.
Flavor Text:
"Hold still! This is the only headache remedy I know. I promise, soon you won't be able to feel your head at all!"
Mana Number: 1
Artist: Akifumi Yamamoto
Rarity: R
Collector Number: 27
Set: Epic Dragons of Hyperchaos
This card is great. Discarding 2 cards on turn 4? Definantly going to deck 4 of these. If your opponent goes first, then this card can really set them back in the hand. This card is good later on in the game, but is crazy good on turn 4. It gives your opponent less cards to work with when they really need it. Just today I was playing somebody who went second, on turn 1 and 3 played blockers, then I hit them with clamp on turn 4. They were top-decking with 3 mana. The next couple turns of theirs were wasted, so I was easily able to take over and control the game until I got enough mana to summon my Core-Crash Lizards and play Invincible Cataclysm then swing for game. Ever since turn 4 they had no chance simply because of Cranium Clamp. The advantage can win you the game from the begining, just like in this example.
Lets take a moment and compare Clamp to some other discard counter-parts. First off, Lost Soul. Lost Soul ditches the entire hand, but at 7 mana. Clamp ditches 2 cards, which is sometimes the whole hand. Other cards like Locomotiver discard at random, while Cranium Clamp they choose. This really doesn't sound that bad, but to explain, I'll tell you about somebody I faced at Continentals '06.
This guy was using a light and nature deck. Overall, it really wasn't very good. If I was smart I could have beat this guy. First game, he plays out blockers and some attackers, quickly sweeps in for 3 shields, but after I get out Thrash Crawler and wipe his field with Searing Wave, I easily took control of the field and dominated with Bolmeteus when I played him. I was feeling pretty confident going into game 2. This time, he gets out a much better rush. I'm down to no sheilds left, and a Thrash Crawler. I kill his last creature with Volcano Charger and hand it over to him. Hes draws and passes back to me doing nothing with 3 cards in his hand. I figure using Clamp I can take total control of the duel. What I forgot to take into consideration when playing Clamp was that he was using 4 Dava Toreys, and 4 San Fists. I stupidly play Clamp, he shows 2 San Fist and says GG. Alright, that didn't go as planned. Game 3 I decide to go first, I need to get Thrash out as soon as I can because I wasn't using Bloody Squitos, something I wish I was using. Same thing basically happens game three, he rushed me down to 1 shield, but I don't have Thrash. I kill off one creature with Volcano Charger, and pass play over to him. He attacks me to break my last shield with his only creature and 1 card in hand. The shield was Locomotiver so without thinking I shield trigger and discard his Dava Torey. I cant kill both creatures so he swings for game next turn.
Yeah, so I lost that round and was 2-2 (Came back to be 5-3, getting 24th.) Only one of the games was because of Clamp, but you get the point, the fact that they chose can come back to hurt you in the long run, so just be weary when playing Clamps, a situation like that RARELY happens, but I am actually considering splashing in 4 Terradragon Arque Delacernas as discard hate, which will stop my opponent from even attempting to discard, which will help me keep control of the field. I'll let you guys know how that works out.
Well, I am sort of swaying off topic right now, but oh well, its just a card of the day, right?
Don't get me wrong, Clamp is an amazing card, and definantly one of the best discard cards in the entire English game, possibly better than Lost Soul, but it is all a matter of opinion. Overall I rate Clamp an 8/10. Its great, but against Light and Nature, BE CAREFUL.
Tommorow brings us to Fatal Brood, a set with many great cards in it, but I will be reviewing an under-played card from that set. BIG cookie to whoever guesses it.
Anyways, that cookie is beside the point. Time to get down to buisness on our next card of the day. Cranium Clamp.
Name: Cranium Clamp
Cost: 4
Civilization: Darkness
Type: Spell
Rules Text:
Your opponent chooses and discards 2 cards from his hand.
Flavor Text:
"Hold still! This is the only headache remedy I know. I promise, soon you won't be able to feel your head at all!"
Mana Number: 1
Artist: Akifumi Yamamoto
Rarity: R
Collector Number: 27
Set: Epic Dragons of Hyperchaos
This card is great. Discarding 2 cards on turn 4? Definantly going to deck 4 of these. If your opponent goes first, then this card can really set them back in the hand. This card is good later on in the game, but is crazy good on turn 4. It gives your opponent less cards to work with when they really need it. Just today I was playing somebody who went second, on turn 1 and 3 played blockers, then I hit them with clamp on turn 4. They were top-decking with 3 mana. The next couple turns of theirs were wasted, so I was easily able to take over and control the game until I got enough mana to summon my Core-Crash Lizards and play Invincible Cataclysm then swing for game. Ever since turn 4 they had no chance simply because of Cranium Clamp. The advantage can win you the game from the begining, just like in this example.
Lets take a moment and compare Clamp to some other discard counter-parts. First off, Lost Soul. Lost Soul ditches the entire hand, but at 7 mana. Clamp ditches 2 cards, which is sometimes the whole hand. Other cards like Locomotiver discard at random, while Cranium Clamp they choose. This really doesn't sound that bad, but to explain, I'll tell you about somebody I faced at Continentals '06.
This guy was using a light and nature deck. Overall, it really wasn't very good. If I was smart I could have beat this guy. First game, he plays out blockers and some attackers, quickly sweeps in for 3 shields, but after I get out Thrash Crawler and wipe his field with Searing Wave, I easily took control of the field and dominated with Bolmeteus when I played him. I was feeling pretty confident going into game 2. This time, he gets out a much better rush. I'm down to no sheilds left, and a Thrash Crawler. I kill his last creature with Volcano Charger and hand it over to him. Hes draws and passes back to me doing nothing with 3 cards in his hand. I figure using Clamp I can take total control of the duel. What I forgot to take into consideration when playing Clamp was that he was using 4 Dava Toreys, and 4 San Fists. I stupidly play Clamp, he shows 2 San Fist and says GG. Alright, that didn't go as planned. Game 3 I decide to go first, I need to get Thrash out as soon as I can because I wasn't using Bloody Squitos, something I wish I was using. Same thing basically happens game three, he rushed me down to 1 shield, but I don't have Thrash. I kill off one creature with Volcano Charger, and pass play over to him. He attacks me to break my last shield with his only creature and 1 card in hand. The shield was Locomotiver so without thinking I shield trigger and discard his Dava Torey. I cant kill both creatures so he swings for game next turn.
Yeah, so I lost that round and was 2-2 (Came back to be 5-3, getting 24th.) Only one of the games was because of Clamp, but you get the point, the fact that they chose can come back to hurt you in the long run, so just be weary when playing Clamps, a situation like that RARELY happens, but I am actually considering splashing in 4 Terradragon Arque Delacernas as discard hate, which will stop my opponent from even attempting to discard, which will help me keep control of the field. I'll let you guys know how that works out.
Well, I am sort of swaying off topic right now, but oh well, its just a card of the day, right?
Don't get me wrong, Clamp is an amazing card, and definantly one of the best discard cards in the entire English game, possibly better than Lost Soul, but it is all a matter of opinion. Overall I rate Clamp an 8/10. Its great, but against Light and Nature, BE CAREFUL.
Tommorow brings us to Fatal Brood, a set with many great cards in it, but I will be reviewing an under-played card from that set. BIG cookie to whoever guesses it.