Common Review: Aven Tactician

Sometimes, certain card just stuck in my mind. Not because they are awesome (awesome card stuck not only sometimes but all the times) but because some cards just make you think "why?". These days, I can't help but compare the two:

When I first look at the DTK cards, I always wonder why Aven Tactician costs so much, when its ETB (enter the battlefield) effect is exactly the same with Sandcrafter Mage. Online reviews said that 2/3 flier is good, but Vulturous Aven only costs 4 mana and both generate advantage in their own ways (Tactician can also be considered as 3/4, which is quite solid, but I don't think a 3/4 flier for 5 mana is exciting). Compared to Tactician, Sandcrafter Mage could bolster your early creature or serves as solid 3/3 on turn 3. Until recently, I simply look at Aven Tactician as a copy of Sandcrafter Mage in different mana curve. Then it bugs me.

I think it goes without saying that +1/+1 counter is good. It makes your creature tougher and hit harder. Bolstering the card (I mean Sandcrafter/Tactician) itself is nice, but not exciting, you'd rather have another creature ready to attack carrying the counter rather than wait a turn to make use of it. The thought of having a weaker creature with powerful ability gets significantly upgraded is the most alluring. Now, is Aven Tactician really is a mere copy of Sandcrafter? I've come to a conclusion that it's an amazing card of its own.

This have to do more with the bolster. Like what I've said, it's better for the counter to be carried by weaker creature, but with powerful ability, and creatures that Sandcrafter and Tactician could bolster is limited to their toughness (2 and 3 respectively). Both Sandcrafter and Tactician don't have any other ability except their bolster so you'd want the counter to go somewhere else. Sandcrafter is very good early, but late, you'd rarely have a card weaker than him, making casting him simply a 3/3 (which is, again, not bad, but isn't exciting, this is pretty much the same with Sandsteppe Scavenger). This is where Tactician shines. Bolster boosts creature with lowest toughness or tied with the lowest toughness, so with Tactician's 3 toughness, if you adjust your field carefully, you'll have a whole nice choices in what can be bolstered! These are choices that excites me the most: (italics are for uncommons)

4/4 Glade Watcher
3/4 Scaleguard Sentinels
2/4 Territorial Roc
3/4 Graceblade Artisan (goes to 6/8 with Glaring Aegis)
4/4 Abzan Kin-Guard (far more awesome than a 3/3 lifelink creature)
4/4 Dragonloft Idol (when you control a dragon....)
3/4 Lotus Path Djinn (4/5 flier with a single prowess)
4/4 Mistfire Adept (goes to 5/5 flier with a single prowess)
5/4 Summit Prowler (now that's BIG)
5/4 Temur Sabertooth (as if it isn't annoying enough in 4/3)
3/4 Vulturous Aven and Aven Tactician (3/4 flier that can could attack right away is a good pressure)
3/4 Elite Scaleguard (harder to get rid of)
4/4 Silumgar Butcher
4/4 Strongarm Monk

There are a ton of good options that Sandcrafter and Scavenger could boost (my favorites are Misthoof Kirin and Ojutai Interceptor) but those bolstered 3-toughness cards, in my opinion, are on a whole new level, and that makes Aven Tactician really stands out too!


Now I think about it...
Writing this article actually makes me excited with Sandsteppe Scavenger as well! (I really dislike it before)

Bolster 1 to small creature is nice, but Bolster 2, well, lets look at tasty targets! (and bolstering them should require no hard planning!) Huh now I pity Sandcrafter and not that excited about Tactician. Cached Defenses and Dromoka's Gift comes to mind but I think an additional 2/2 body is better to have, both of those card feels so Aura-ish.

3/3 Aven Skirmisher
4/3 Dragon Hunter (now the real hunt begins!)
3/3 Gudul Lurker (here, take your 7 turn clock, oh you bother to pay 1 mana to morph it? 5 turn it is)
3/3 Servant of the Scale (would your opponent let him die? hmm)
4/4 Atarka Beastbreaker (closer to formidable, closer to 8/8)
4/4 Battle Brawler
4/4 Blood-Chin Rager
4/4 Herald of Dromoka
3/3 Marang River Skeleton
5/4 Dragon-scarred Bear
4/4 Dragon Bell Monk (vigilance and prowess? yes please!)
3/3 Aven Sunstriker (hey already more than 5 mana megamorph)
3/3 or 4/4 Dromoka Captain (making him more relevant late game)
4/3 Marang River Prowler
4/3 Misthoof Kirin
6/4 Bloodfire Enforcers 
5/4 Champion of Arashin
5/3 Ojutai Interceptor (you can have it as 6/4 too)
6/4 Sabertooth Outrider (hey you have formidable now)
4/4 Youthful Scholar

Also, synergy with Morph:
6/7 Aerie Bowmasters (shot all em dragons)
6/7 Sandstorm Charger (only at 5 mana)
6/6 Cycle of Megamorph Dragons
7/9 Marsh Hulk (well, wtf)
9/8 Segmented Krotiq (well, wtf)
8/8 Stormcrag Elemental (well, wtf)