But enough of my future plans. Let's start my Tarmo-Rant
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I am sure you are all familiar with this little creature. You know, that massive two drops that n00bishly beats face in. That $30-ish card that takes all skill out of the game? Yeah, I thought you'd remember him. Let's face the truth guys. This guy is one of the few cards to impact every single format in which he is legal. I mean, this beast has impacted even Legacy and Vintage. However, I am not here to debate those formats. In fact, I am not an expert beyond Kamigawa block. I know I may be fairly new, so even my Extended knowledge is limited. Hence why I will not start my webpage until post Ext Rotation. But back on topic, Tarmogoyf has impacted every format and is destined to stick with us for the rest of the game.
Now, here is my expertise on the card. Tarmogoyf, while being a good card, does not belong in every deck that runs green. I may be a Spike, but I do love that flavor. For example, I see tons of Standard Elf decks that run 4 Tarmogoyf and 3 Troll Ascetic. Now, I know I am dragging Troll into this, but it furthers my point. As a flavor junkie, this is the nail to the face for me. Is Tarmogofy an Elf? No. Is Troll? No. Then simply do not call the deck Elves. Elves is a tribal theme that is good. Its a NO NON-ELVES ALLOWED thing. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that the so-called "Elf" Decks that run it are bad, but they live under a false name.
But now that this part of my rant is over, let me go into my opinion of how overrated this card is. At its best, it is a 8/9 for two mana. Not bad by any means. But is it worth the title of "Best Creature Ever" like Evan Erwin would say. I think not. To be the Best Creature Ever, I think it should be a requirement that the creature should do more than attack and block. Others like Psychatog and Dark Confidant, which are the two most common comparisions as the Best Creature Ever, do so much more. For example, I am partial to Confidant because of card advantage, while a Johnny would prefer Psychatog. My proposal is not that Tarmogofy is the best creature ever, but the best Timmy creature ever, as Psychatog is to Johnny and Dark Confidant is to Spike. But the best ever.....I think not.
Now, on to Tarmy in decks. When Evan Erwin was discussing how sick he thinks Tarmogoyf is, though I am not sure which of the past 30-some episodes that was, I saw something that disturbed me. Let me recreate a similar representation for you below:
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Ornithopter
4 Tarmogoyfy
Is something wrong with this portion of list? Yeah, I think so. Tarmogoyf is in a Ravager deck. While, yes, I can see the logic with Ravager's reknown sacrificing everything to make Ravager huge, it doesn't feel right. I am sure there are better options that a Tarmy for Ravager. But thats just how I feel. You make your own call and run the Tarmy and pray someone doesn't drop the Shriekmaw on it to make you sad.
Another thing that I dislike is how almost every deck out there is willing to splash Green for Tarmogofy....end of story. Yes, I can see splashing Green for the sake of Green cards, but only Tarmogoyf? At least throw a Krosan Grip in the sideboard....geeze. To me, this shows how players who have Tarmogofys, show them off, even if the deck would do just as fine without them.
Finally, the stupid-ass names that are spawned from Tarmogoyf. GoyfRack. Goyfsieze, Goyf this and Goyf that. Ok, so we know Tarmogofy is in the deck. Thanks for telling me. I am also a fan of crazy names (Pickles and Sonic Boom are just amazing in that case). I can guarantee this won't change, but it just lacks originality. I mean come on people, a random name is the way to go. It makes your deck stand out, even if it is the completely same list as someone else.
In conclusion, I want to get a few things strait. Tarmogoyf is a great card, don't get me wrong there. I think it is amazing in Mono and Gx Aggro, as well as the Rock. However, leave it out of the RavagerAffinity, the Elves, and that random Red Goblin deck with Green for Tamogofy in it. We are in a new era of Magic. No longer are we restricted to 3 playable decks like when Mirrodin was T2 legal. Make that original deck without the Goyf.
Another thing I want out there before I am crucified for this, is that no, this post is not a rant about its price (which is on average $120 for four cards, which is against my policy and disgusts me that it goes for that much). If I wanted to go on that thought, I would have brought in cards like Wrath of God, Damnation, Promotional, Foil Textless verisions of those cards, Pithing Needle, Thoughtsieze, Garruk and many more.
Until next time, this is Minti signing out
-J~Minti
