Hello fellow players, interested in Peasant magic! I'm planning on putting a series of articles on the blog about strong cards in Peasant Magic that rarely see play. Why is it with some cards that we can see the potential but they never end up in our decks? This time let's look at Qasali Pridemage.
What do we see? It's a 2/2 Cat Wizard for GW. That's a bear. It has Exalted and for one colourless you can sacrifice him to destroy an artifact or enchantment. I think we can be quick to conclude that it is a strong card: a bear that boosts solitary attackers and holds an answer to opposing enchantments and artifacts.
So, why didn't we see a single Pridemage in any Peasant decklist for ages? I think the answer lies in the fact that there wasn't a deck in which he could fit. GW decks weren't good enough because they weren't able to cope with decks like Faeries, Blink or Storm. GW decks fight fair combats where other decks pack things like Hymn to Tourach, Mulldrifter or Spellstutter Sprite. Now I'm not saying that those cards are unfair, but they are powerful and put the opponent on a disadvantage in an aggressive way. They do 2 for 1 and most GW cards don't. The Pridemage is a support card that can fix certain problems, but it won't put you on cardadvantage and isn't a part of your winning combo.
But I think it is still possible to build a quite competitive GW deck with Qasali Pridemage. Martijn Beljaars played Midnight Presence on the Peasant tournament of october. Possibly maindeck and certainly in the sidboard he could have played some Pridemages. Let me inspire you to look further into GW.
Creatures
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Icatian Javelineers
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Steward of Valeron
4 Kor Skyfisher
3 Watchwolf (U)
4 Centaur Healer
Spells
2 Vines of Vastwood
3 Armadillo Cloak
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Swords to Plowshares(U)
Lands
4 Selesnya Guildgate
10 Forest
8 Plains
This deck is pretty straight forward and play decisions are not too difficult. It has got a few reactive cards in Vines of Vastwood and Swords to Plowshares, other than these it's just play creatures and put them sideways.
Something with a little more perseverance:
Creatures
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Centaur Healer
2 Sensor Splicer
Spells
4 Elephant Ambush
3 Beast Attack (U)
4 Rootborn Defenses
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Swords to Plowshares (U)
2 Rancor
Lands
4 Selesnya Guildgate
11 Forest
8 Plains
These are just example decks in which Qasali Pridemage fits. I'm sure you can do better than this and I'm looking forward to see some reactions!
Hope you enjoyed, see you next time,
Johan