KrazyCaley's Top 10 Mono-blue Creatures

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KrazyCaley

16 August 2009

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Time once again for a KrazyCaley Top 10 list, and today we're discussing mono-blue creatures from the history of Magic. Blue is, of course, about at the bottom of the list when it comes to creature strength and effectiveness, but blue's creatures, while hardly being game-winning fatties, often affect the course of the game in unusual, and indeed, rather blue ways. We begin!

Honorable Mentions:

• Prodigal Sorcerer- Sorry, Tim, but you're just not THAT good.
• Chronozoa - Brilliant concept! It just takes entirely too long for it to really be too much of a threat. (Six turns before things get beyond your opponent's capability to reasonably deal with it).
• Sakashima the Impostor- I love this guy, I really do. He would be #11 if this were a top 11. But it's not.
• Vizzerdrix - You suck. What are you even doing here? You're the worst and most anti-thematically blue creature I've ever seen.

10 - Ambassador Laquatus

Laquatus was and is one of Magic's most enthralling villains. He's up there with Yawgmoth and Nicol Bolas in terms of sheer brilliant bastardry. He's also a pretty efficient mill card that can really start burning cards off the top in the late game. At 1/3, he's not super durable, but he can take some punishment. More importantly, he's often such a big target that he'll draw a good bit of your opponent's removal for you, and if you have other mill cards to support him, he's a nasty customer indeed. So a tip of the hat to the good Ambassador. Please don't wipe my mind!

9 - Master Transmuter

Like Elvish Piper, a Master Transmuter hitting the board causes fear and paranoia in the opponent. They know that SOMETHING terrible is about to happen to them, but they don't know what. Sphinx of the Steel Wind? Some sort of awful Parasitic Strix-ish bouncing combo? The possibilities truly are endless. What's important is that when an opponent sees Master Transmuter hit the board, they know they have exactly one turn to kill it before something awful happens. Unless you give the Master Tranny haste somehow. Then they have zero turns.

8 - Erayo, Soratami Ascendant  ^Flip

Erayo, Soratami Ascendant, is a flying 1/1 for 2. Hardly impressive. But what makes Erayo scary is, of course, the possibility of her flipping. If four spells get cast in a turn while Erayo is out, she flips to the enchantment Erayo's Essence, which simply counters the first spell your opponents play each turn. And that, my friends, is sheer unspeakable horror that makes any blue control player worth his salt laugh maniacally. There's many a great idea for getting the 4 spells in a turn to happen, including syncing up a few suspend cards or arming yourself with lots of cheap counterspells. (One sequence I saw involved, on one's own turn, force spiking your own resolved suspend spell, paying the 1, then pact of negationing the spell, then force spiking the pact of negation, not paying the 1. Voila, for 3 mana, you've flipped Erayo!) The best part of Erayo is really the look on your opponent's face that they'll have to cast spells in twos to get anything accomplished for the rest of the game. And then, usually, they sweep.

7 - Ertai, Wizard Adept

Also coming to us from the land of "renewable sources of counter" is Ertai, Wizard Adept. Ertai is a rather fragile gentleman at 1/1, but you needn't fear opposing removal too much since he is also a counterspell gun. Of course, he doesn't exactly cast Counterspell itself, but rather an effect which costs 2UU and counters spells instead. That's a bit pricy, but if you have the mana to get him out and power his ability, he will sit on the board taunting your opponent, especially if you have other counters in your deck to supplement him. While surprises are well and good, it's always a bit fun to have a counterspell out on the board for your opponent to ponder.

6 - Mulldrifter

Probably the most-played mono-blue creature around these days; Mulldrifter finds his way into all sorts of deck archetypes; 5-color, Esper mill, Grixis control; I've even see him in a Faeries deck. Players simply can't get away from the wonderful taste of drawing two for three mana, or possibly getting a flying 2/2 on top for an extra two mana. Players often abuse Mulldrifter by combining him with recursion effects to keep him coming back over and over again. When it comes to efficiency, Mulldrifter is easily one of the best card-drawing mechanics in Standard, and also one of the most efficient blue creatures ever printed.

5 - Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Teferi is a 3/4 with flash for 5. That by itself would be a playable card which would be fun to wreck combat havoc with. But Teferi is so much better than just that. He also gives ALL your creatures flash. All of 'em. Horrifying enough. But wait, there's more! Teferi ALSO prevents your opponents from casting spells at any speed other than sorcery speed! You can take your own turn in peace, stop worrying about combat tricks (and probably execute a few tricks of your own with all your newly-flashy creatures), and generally have a great time.

4 - Keiga, the Tide Star

Another one from the "Go ahead, make my day" file. Keiga is a flying 5/5 for 6, sure, which is pretty good for a blue creature. But even if your opponent manages to kill him, they get to kiss their best dude goodbye, and wave to him as he migrates on over to your side of the board. And there's no enchantment or artifact controlling that dude that they can target; you've got him free and clear. And that, guys and gals, is truly the best of times.

3 - Meloku the Clouded Mirror

Meloku is a 2/4 flier, making him durable and flexible for defensive purposes. He also might as well read "If you can't or don't really want to lay another land this turn, get a 1/1 flier." Or in some situations: "Return all lands you control to your hand. You win the game." Or in some situations "Return a land you control to your hand- Target enemy huge horrible creature deals no combat damage to you this turn." Meloku's 1/1s are so flexible and so easily generated that they are often game-winners for the blue player that uses Mr. MCM. He definitely rocked Kamigawa block, and continues to hit Extended very hard.

2 - Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

Kira is not well-appreciated by most players, which is a shame. For a mere 3, you get a flying 2/2 that gives ALL your creatures, herself included, shroud to the first spell OR ABILITY that targets them each turn. While this means that you probably shouldn't run a lot of friendly-creature-targeting effects in your deck, it also makes your stuff very difficult to kill or even target with anything for your opponents. If you can protect Kira with counterspells, she will return the favor and keep your side of the board extremely safe and secure. Combined with Teferi, she makes for a combo that would be described by the Beastie Boys as "ill."

1 - Arcanis the Omnipotent

Really, all you need to know about Arcanis is right there in the title- he is omnipotent. While his card doesn't read "You win the game," it comes pretty close to being truly omnipotent. So what does Arcanis do? Well, he casts Ancestral Recall, you know, that EXTREMELY broken Power 9 card that costs $3,000. Only, it's not really Ancestral Recall because it's FREE. Just tap him. Turn Arcanis sideways and pick up a smooth three cards. And that's not all. He is EXTREMELY tough to kill. He's a 3/4, which makes it tough enough as it is. And if that weren't enough, he can also unsummon himself at any time for 4 mana. Unfortunately, of course, Arcanis does cost a full 6 mana, but when compared to many other six-drops, I think you'll agree that Arcanis more or less rules the schools. Getting him down means having overwhelming card advantage for the rest of the game, and what could be bluer than that?