Card Talk 4

Arni Metalbrow card art

Today is the fourth post in my Card Talk series.

Reminder on how Card Talk works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game. 

Today's card is . . .

Rubinia Soulsinger

Hmmm. A multi-colored legendary creature from Commander 2013. But not originally; she was first printed in Legends and reprinted several times thereafter.

I like legendary creatures so much that I dedicated a month of posts to them. And I enjoy multi-colored ones in particular; those gold-bordered cards caught my eye when first playing Magic (I enjoyed the Chronicles set because of them). They are visually pleasing, and often powerful to boot. Rubinia is no exception.

Rubinia's power is in her ability, allowing you to gain control of an opponent's creature (for as long as you like, if you can keep Rubinia alive). And you can exchange control for another creature if a more powerful one hits the board. What a great way to take your opponent's weapon and turn it against them. 

I don't know how much play Rubinia sees; her cost suggests "not much." (More recent reprints go for less than $0.40.) She is an easy target, with only 3 toughness, and would die to many removal spells. Still, she would be a fun addition to casual drafts or decks.

This version of Rubinia appeared in Commander 2013, which was a set of five preconstructed multi-colored commander decks. Wizards started their Commander series in 2011, releasing preconstructed decks as a way to gain interest in the Commander format, introduce new cards specifically designed for the format, and reprint important cards to make them accessible. Some commander products have greatly increased in value over the years; more recent offerings are on the weaker side.