Leeches?

[Cateran Emperor]

Does anyone else think that some of these creatures are actually very powerul? I pulled a foil Andradite Leech and tried him out, and he's a monster! I'd rank the thingies like this:

1. Andradite (swamp, ritual, leech is lethal)
2. Jade (excellent beatings)
3. Ruby (keeps himself alive early on)
4. Sapphire (play Cloudskate)
5. Alabaster (you're better off with an Alabaster Wall for 1 more)

 

[DÛke]

...is the best for 2 reasons:
The environment is slow, meaning the 3 casting cost is not high at all for suicidal decks, which makes the leach very playable. Plus, like you mentioned, Black has Ritual to back it up. The only problem is that it really does slow you down, meaning that it would be helpful if you combine the Leech strategy with other colors'. The Black leech would fit perfectly in Red/Black or Black/Blue decks.
I don't like any of the other Leeches, mostly because I only play Black.

 

[Gizmo]

Surely the black one is by far the worst? I think the Leeches are naturally designed to be splashed into off-colour decks and yet he is the one who requires a ton of black mana to back him up. Isn`t a simple Shade better?

1. Jade
(HUGE GAP)
2. Sapphire
3. Ruby
(SMALL GAP)
4. Andradite
5. Alabaster

 

[Baskil]

I liked the white one . I thought it would be a good two-drop in rebel. Of course, then I remember Silkenfist Fighter, and slowly walked away...

I still somewhat like the black and green ones, but I think that they'll be hard to find a home for. (I currently like Blastoderm better than Jade Leech in Armageddon)

 

[Gizmo]

I think the 4cc creatures look like this:

1. Blastoderm
2. Lumberying Satyr
3. Jade Leech
4. Mungha Wurm
5. Maro

Anything else is drivel.

 

[Zadok001]

Well, I'm starting to wonder about running those Andradite ones in mono-black decks. They're really quite interesting with their interactions. I suppose the best comparison would be Derelor, and the Leech is about on-par there. My choices?

1. Black Leech
2. Blue Leech (2/2 flier for 2. Obviously, this is a wonderful splash.)
3. Green Leech (Too easy to block and leave alive.)
4. Red Leech
5. White *cough* crappy *cough* Leech

 

[Duel]

Gizmo: What about Skizzik? and Derelor? In fact, green has no monopoly on 4cc creature. The only 3 they have that are wortwhile are the the derm, the leech, and Maro.

Okay, Andrite leeches are good for one reason only:
They give you something else to spend black mana on.
My rating of the leeches is this:

1 Jade leech. It's big, it's beefy, and if you play right, it doesn't hurt too much.

2 Andrite leech. Castable first turn, plus allows you an alternative to casting spells: Beatdown pump. Also, immune to black removal, and burn will have a hard time matching you if you keep land untapped.

3 Sapphire leech. It's got evasion and it stays there. 5c decks can seriously use it, as they don't use much blue, and it's one of the best 2cc drops out there, IMHO.

4 Alabaster leech. I think people miss the point with this leech. True, it would be better as a 2/2. Abso-friggin-loutely. But, nonetheless, it kills stuff. And with the rash of */1 creatures, especially, 2/1 or 1/1, it's a beautiful stall method.

5 Ruby leech. Elvish archers was better. Unless they have a zap, the two are the same, only one is better, and it isn't the leech.

[Edited by Duel on 10-29-00 at 03:35 AM]

 

[Gizmo]

I`m pretty sure I was only talking about green creatures. Although I didn`t make that clear.

Anyway, Skizzik isn`t very good after all, and he actually costs RR3, not R3 (the casting cost is an outright lie designed to make you waste your Skizzik). Derelor is perfectly good, probably better than Jade Leech because it`s immune to Terror.

 

[Duel]

Oh, okay, that makes sense. ONly green creatures listed.

 

[Azreal the Soulmaster]

GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa!!!!!!!
skizzik is an amazing card the staple kicker card you don't have to pay the kicker and you more or less get a ball lightning, but if you want to you have a ball lightning minus the sac part


"the light is merely an illusion for those too timid to embrace the darkness"

 

[Mikeymike]

I've yet to pay a non-kicker Skizzik in about 6 chances. I'd only want to cast it for 4 if it was to end the game, which red isn't fast enough to have him do.

I don't like any of the leeches, but I guess Jade is the best (the others are no bargain). The Andradite Leech could work with Bog Initiate, but Gizmo hits the nail on the head in mono-black. The Nakaya Shade is even better than him.

Answer me this on the Jade Leech. He is a 5/5 for 2GG, fine he's efficient. But now all the other 5/5s for 2GG now cost 3GG, Elves cost 1G, Artifact Mutiation costs 1GR, Fires of Yavimaya 2GR, etc. He's not as good as Emperor Crocadile which no one played with, but in most circumstances he is better than both Maro and the Mungha Wurm as Gizmo states. I'd play the Rushwood Elemental and Lumbering Sartyr before him.

 

[Griffion2000]

I don't really like the leeches, because a mono-colored guy. Now if I could donate an alabaster leech to my mono-white opponent; not only would his cards be harder to cast, but I could yell, "Hey everyone, ____ is playing with this sorry ass card!"

In order, of how I like them is:

1. Jade leech - It's reasonable, and green makes good mana anyway
( large gap )
2. Andradite Leech - I'll take a shade anyday
( gap chasm )
3. the blue one - blaaa
4. the red one - blaaa
( giant, gap the size of the universe )
5. the white one - what were they smoking when they thought this one up?!?

 

[Cateran Emperor]

If Jade Leech is on the board, then the CCs are as follows:

Fires o' Yavimaya: 1GGR
Artifact Mutation: GGR
5/5's: 2GGG
Elves: GG

Now as for why I like Andradite Leech, think about this in context for a second naysayers. Turn 1 Swamp, Ritual, Leech. His ability doesn't cost additional mana Gizmo, so consider him in a suicide deck concept. You are correct, he is dependent on black mana. But last time I checked, Swamps weren't black spells and the Leech doesn's affect abilities. Think about it. He does work quite well.