Cool Card Design of the Day6/5/2013 - In the same way that blue uses looting and scrying to improve card quality without explicit card advantage, green can use effects like Mwonvuli Beast Tracker and Grisly Salvage to give you lands or creatures as you need them. Verdant Explorer is Borderland Ranger without the extra cardboard.
Note that I am in no way saying Borderland Ranger is too good or should be replaced, only adding another way to accomplish a similar goal in a green way.
Verdant Explorer makes two-landers a lot more keepable, it seems like a good smoothing card for faster formats, making sure you can curve out when you need to.
ReplyDeleteThe "may" is crucial on this one. If I had a 4-land hand and this spell, and the land search were mandatory, I might consider dumping it. I like the flexibility though.
ReplyDeleteThe "may" makes this a bit more tricky for new players. I mean, there are definitely going to be the few players who use the ability because they don't know they don't have to.
DeleteIt's also a bit of a let down to not use an ETB ability, while a borderland feels good if you need the land or not.
you can always fail to find...
DeleteMost of the time I think I would rather have Sylvan Ranger as my two-drop. But that means there are *definitely* sets where Verdant Explorer is the better card to print.
ReplyDeleteCompletely off-topic, but the Beast Tracker makes me wonder - how would you cost a creature that Commune With Nature'd as in entered the battlefield, like a deeper but more restrictive Sea Gate Oracle?
Obviously it depends on stats, but given the both Commune with Nature and Sleight of Hand have seen Modern play, 2G should be fine for a marginally useful body.
DeleteIt is the may that makes this card click for me.
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong but most search effects have an implicit may anyway, as you never have to find the thing you're searching for.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I like the card, and secretly I'm certain this guy lives just to hose Dimir grind cards ;)