Crater Elemental from Dragons of Tarkir - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

by  ElspethFTW,  Old School Duelist

Crater Elemental is an especially interesting creature. A 0/6 for 2R is very unusual for mono red. Its first ability makes it a better version of Bloodpyre Elemental, being able to pay a red mana and tap to sacrifice itself to deal 4 damage to a target creature. That's a Limited playable ability, but what's really interesting is the Formidable ability. For 2R, if you control creatures with total power 8 or more, Crater Elemental gets base 8 power until end of turn. That's a potential big beater out of nowhere. Give it any sort of evasion or trample and it could be a game-ender.

In Limited, this is really good if you amass the power which is not too hard to do in Khans Limited. Is it good enough for Constructed, though? 2R seems well worth paying for that kind of power, but 8 power that can be easily chump blocked isn't so fabulous. It's probably going to be Limited playable only.

Crater Elemental looks like a card that could be a lot of fun, but this doesn’t outclass anything being played in Constructed Aggro decks at 3 mana like Goblin Rabblemaster or Mantis Rider. But there are also casual connotations as creatures with big power potential always seem to find a home. Elemental tribal is sort of a thing, you know.

---