Card Check: Mapatano Utando

Hi folks!

This will be a new column on this blog. I will briefly introduce some cards I find interesting and share my thoughts on them. Todays card will be the unique Akunanse master card  Mapatano Utando. This card drew my attention when I've seen it played by Tomas Varga at our latest Constructed tournament. The card features an always useful ability namely to reduce a bleed by one. However this ability itself wouldn't be enough to allow its way into tournament decks, at least imo. 

The interesting part is it's second ability. Even weenie Akunanse vampires have good access to strong combat options like dealing aggravated damage or getting some extra damage with presses. Most decks won't block a bleed for one and I think many players won't count on this cards strength. A first turn weenie (Meno Ngari or Dolie) can get you the edge just to be able to influence the needed 7-8 pool on your Magaji (Uchenna, Nkule Galadima). This way your Akunanse wall can build up pretty fast. Of course this is not the only way to do it. You can also go for a fast (2 turn) big cap like Matata, Umdava or even Fakir al Sidi. This helps you getting your deck set up faster. Since Akunanse is mainly a wall-combat hybrid this is especially awesome to be able to set up your defense faster. 

I will definitely add this card to my Akunanse deck, which I am building currently. I've seen it work in Tomas's deck and I am curious if I can use it with the same effectiveness.   

by: Mephistopheles