Cateran Summons is the perfect expression of how truly bad Mercenaries (and black) were in Masques Block. I play black primarily and as a kid was buying my cards at the tail end of Urza's Block and mostly in Masques Block. After black's excellent showing in Urza, Wizards clearly hobbled the color in the following block (not an aberration, either: see how poorly red did in Urza after its dominance in Rath Block).
Let's be clear: This is a hard tutor for one. It's conditional, yes; limited to a Mercenary creature. But even if you only played a few worthwhile mercenaries in your deck it provides cheap fetching. There's the problem, though: there aren't any worthwhile Mercenaries. For example: I suppose in the late game Primeval Shambler could be ok, but a dozen other shade creatures would be better. And that thought process goes on and on: a decent Mercenary could easily be supplanted by a superior non-Mercenary card. Tutoring is the most powe... (see all)
Posted By:
RaymondKHessel
(11/18/2013 9:28:28 AM)
A tutor without card disadvantage, drawback and a converted mana cost of 1?
Defninitely worth playing in the accordant deck!
Don't forget fetching your changeling cards of choice, too.
Posted By:
Mode
(11/8/2009 2:26:23 PM)
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge Knightdeck with Changeling and Iname, Death Aspect !
Posted By:
Infernaldarkness
(11/20/2012 1:59:05 PM)
Narrow, but perfectly crafted. It just makes sense for mercenaries to be easy to call to arms.
Posted By:
firechao
(2/21/2012 12:37:27 PM)
This is the only card that allow you to get big mercenary early on. Combos with Mercenary Knight and Doomed Necromancer.
Posted By:
Cyberium
(8/20/2010 8:03:37 PM)
@RaymondKHessel
"there aren't any worthwhile Mercenaries."
That is absolutely not true. There ARE good Mercenaries (though maybe not in Masques). More importantly, Cateran Summons can search for useful cards with a variety of applications. It can search for removal (Nameless Inversion, Crib Swap), reanimation (Doomed Necromancer), aggressive creatures (Mercenary Knight, Dauthi Mercenary, Chameleon Colossus), or a win condition (Mirror Entity). Because of what it can search for, Cateran Summons is one of the most powerful tutors in the game. 1 mana to search for a useful card and put it straight into your hand is insane.
5/5
Posted By:
OlvynChuru
(4/28/2014 8:07:52 PM)