Apocalypse Limited Review: Red Gary Wise This is the fifth installment of my series analyzing the cards in Apocalypse for Limited play. You can find the previous installments here. RED Welcome to the weakest color in Apocalypse. Don't get me wrong, red has some great uncommons and rares, but when I make a general appraisal on the strength of a color, it's the commons I look at, and when it comes to the commons, red just doesn't have what it takes. Over and again, we see weak red cards designed for use with white and blue, and over and again they just aren't strong enough to make splashing viable. Minotaur Tactician, Raka Disciple, Tundra Kavu... these cards just don't do it, and Dwarven Landslide and Tahngarth's Glare make it over half the red commons that you just don't want to be playing. Fortunately, while consistency is red's biggest weakness, it definitely has its perks. You have to be playing red to optimize your Jilts, there are some insane uncommons in the form of Raka Sanctuary and Illuminate, and Rakavolver and Desolation Giant are both nuts. If you're majoring in red, understand that you'll need to get most of your cards before Apocalypse: then you can fill your deck out with a couple of bombs. Commons Bloodfire Dwarf I seem to like this little guy more than most. He provides you with an early drop, a fast gating target and a cheap way to kill those annoying tappers, Razorfin Hunters and other annoying 1-toughness creatures, can often trade for an offending 2-power attacker and you'll get him late. You should definitely consider the synergetic ramifications of its ability on your deck, but you could do worse. A 7th - 9th pick, because you can get it that late. Bloodfire Infusion It surprises a lot of people when I tell them I'm not a fan of this card. Yes, there are times where the Infusion can be huge, but I've never been a fan of mass kill spells like Rupture or Spontaneous Combustion that require the sacrifice of a creature- I find the card advantage applications to be too circumstantial. That said, the Infusion is obviously a solid card, so if you see it late, take it. A 4th - 6th pick. Dwarven Landslide You could conceivably sideboard this against a 5cGreen deck or Keldon Necropolis, but even those scenarios are a stretch. A 13th - 15th pick. Kavu Glider This guy is interesting in that he's obviously got some power, but he's best in a base blue-white deck and probably not good enough for a thin splash. In other words, unless your mana base is the undesirable 6/6/6, you won't be optimizing the Glider, so you should probably try to find a deck with plenty of red mana and some islands, don't worry about the white ability too much. A 5th - 7th pick Minotaur Tactician Again, a blue-white card that isn't good enough to splash, it's too bad, because 3/3 haste creatures can be pretty good. Compare this thing to Kavu Runner... a 13th -15th pick. Raka Disciple And yet again. The Disciple does have the beneficial blue flight ability, but is probably only worth sideboarding against flyer-heavy decks, because the abilities in question just aren't worth splashing most of the time, especially for blue-white, which will often have enough flyers and damage prevention anyway. Am 8th - 10th pick. Smash A very strong sideboard card in Rochester Draft where you'll know who has the artifacts in their decks. An 11th - 13th pick. Tahngarth's Glare You couldn't pay me enough to play this card. Never use it. It's that bad. A 15th pick. Tundra Kavu With all the red commons looking for a 6/6/6 blue-white-red deck, this is probably the best. Simply, at that point, your mana will be so bad that you'll want the Kavu as a stabilizer. Throw in the fact it'll allow your Vodalian Serpent to attack against the non-blue mage and you have a warm body that can make the cut. A 8th - 10th pick. Uncommons Bloodfire Kavu Better than its Dwarven cousin, the Kavu is a little slow, but pretty effective regardless. A Pyroclasm with legs, the Kavu is especially good with Squee's Embrace, allowing you to serve for four a turn while your opponent has to hold back their creatures for fear of the ability being activated. A 2nd - 4th pick. Dwarven Patrol If you're going to go beatdown, the Dwarf is the way to do it. Four points a turn for three mana is a great deal, and while his untapping ways may seem to be a hindrance, it's pretty good when you need an additional blocker for the turn before you're going to sweep in for the kill. A 3rd - 5th pick. Goblin Ringleader While 2/2 haste for four is far from optimal, the Ringleader is an interesting card because of its ability. The two best of the multicolor 2 casting cost creatures (with respect to Gaea's Skyfolk), Razorfin Hunter and Goblin Legionnaire, both happen to be goblins, so if you get a few of them, this suddenly becomes the potential source of some serious card advantage. I wouldn't pick it to high, but it's something to consider later on. A 6th - 10th pick. Illuminate Existing in the same color combination as Jilt, the question which one do you take? While the answer isn't definite, depending on how much burn and bounce you have, because of the versatility of Illuminate to be a strong early game kill spell or a late game-ender, I think Illuminate is the way to go. If you read my blue installment, you'll know how much respect that means I have for this card. A 1st pick. Raka Sanctuary If you are blue-white with a red splash, this card may be your dream come true. I confused a lot of people when I said this was an Abyss for your opponent, but really what I mean was that by the time you have to start targeting your own creatures, your opponent should be dead. Not usually worth playing for only one of the colors, I'd take Illuminate or Jilt because you may be the only one who wants the Sanctuary. A 1st - 10th pick Rares Bloodfire Colossus Okay, I hate using cards that have an 8 in the casting cost, but this one is pretty solid. The 6/6 body is pretty difficult to stop, and if they do, you have the option of wiping the board clean. No, this isn't a power card, it costs too much, but it is worth playing if you have it. A 4th - 6th pick. Desolation Giant The mana is really difficult but, wow, is it worth it. The Giant is a powerhouse that you can cast as your first creature on turn four or hold back for later on to wipe the board clean after you hold creatures back in your hand. Be very careful about taking this if your deck can't handle the double white, double red requirements, but there isn't much you'll take over it if you can. A 1st - 3rd pick, but don't bother if you can't support it. Rakavolver Well, I'd say Illuminate is the best pure card red has to offer, but if you're playing blue-white-red, it's hard to argue with this little puppy. The Rakavolver, the best of its species, is not only huge, not only evades, but also makes you a lock to win the damage race. Five points a turn is a lot to overcome regardless, and when it's in the form of a 5/5 flyer, your opponent's chances just aren't very good. A 1st pick. Wild Research A lot of people are talking about the potential applications of this card in Constructed play, so you may want to rare draft it. I can't see any other reason to choose it in Limited. A 13th - 15th pick.