Kazandu Tuskcaller - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

by  R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

The Level Up mechanic introduced in the Rise of the Eldrazi set has had its share of successes and shortfalls. Kazandu Tuskcaller, from that same set, falls somewhere in between. The Shaman is a 1/1 for 1G. She can level up twice for 2GG to become Level 2 and be able to tap and create a 3/3 Elephant creature token. In 60-card Constructed formats, that's not wonderful, especially as Kazandu Tuskcaller only remains a 1/1 herself. If you manage to level her all the way up to 6, though, she then taps to create two 3/3 tokens.

 In Commander / EDH, where mana is often plentiful, it's fairly easy to get Kazandu Tuskcaller easily up to Level 2. With the untap shenanigans that exist in Commander, this card can be quite abuse-able. This is primarily why Tuskcaller was selected to be a reprint in the Evasive Manuevers deck led by the widely hated Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. But interestingly enough, Derevi is not the Commander that plays her the most often. It's actually the token-happy Trostani, Selesnya's Voice that utilizes her talents the best.

Kazandu Tuskcaller is no money card, but she's solid in any token-creating deck or any deck that abuses tap abilities. Her mana-hungry Level Up ability turns a great many players off, but once her token creation ability is online, she's better than you might at first realize.  Kazandu Tuskcaller is a solid addition to any Commander player's arsenal.

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