Kraglin Card Preview
If you have been around the Marvel Universe, you probably know this week's newest addition, but you might not know him by name. He took over for Yondu but really wanted a bigger mohawk, ringing any bells? No? Well, it's none other than Kraglin. He carries over a little of what Yondu does, but has some added benefits. So let's see what Kraglin can do.
Kraglin is a straightforward On Reveal card that states, “On Reveal: Banish the top card of your deck. If it was 4-Cost or higher, +2 Energy next turn, otherwise give this +4 Power.” Just like Yondu Kraglin banishes a card, but unlike Yondu Kraglin, chooses the top card from your deck, not your opponent's. Also, depending on the cost of that card, two things will happen. You will either gain +2 energy next turn, or Kraglin will gain 4 power. Both are positive, and losing out on one card for either 2 energy or an extra 4 power really isn’t that bad. In a typical game, you don’t draw three cards anyway, so the only downside of this is that you've given your opponent a slight amount of information.
Control the Outcome
You don’t control the top card of your deck, but you do control the cards in your deck, which means with some tinkering you can control the outcome of Kraglins On Reveal. If you have a majority of cards in your deck lower than 4 cost, then Kraglin is most likely to get pretty big, and if you are running a majority of cards over 4 cost, then you’ll have a good bit of extra energy. It's possible Howard the Duck could help, but in my experience, knowing the top card hinders a card's actual playability. If losing the top card would lose you the game, the game was already lost, because your deck building is too card-specific, meaning Kraglin isn’t really a good fit for your deck.
Ramp Card
I have seen a couple of conversations about Kraglin being a new Ramp Card to play with, and while that might be true, I am not sure that it is completely viable. Yes, it does allow you to get a 6-cost card out on turn 4, but then what are you doing on turn 5? It's a one-turn extra energy bonus, not something that lasts like a Wiccan, Electro, or a couple of the others already in the card pool.
But is 3/7 enough?
On the flipside is a 3-cost 7 power card that banishes something worth it? Banish cards can not come back, so is the extra 4 power on Kraglin worth losing out on a potential card? The power option is more interesting than the energy option, especially with card slike Grandmaster or Odin, even. In the current meta, though, 3/7 might actually be too slow, unfortunately. Either way, let's look at some decklists because that's where the real fun is.
JFsnap’s first week decklists
Banished Bounce
Going with the gaining power option, this is my idea for a Kraglin Bounce-type deck. There are some other possible card changes because the 1-cost cards can be shifted around to include Hawkeye if that is your preference, and the top end doesn’t necessarily need to be everyone's favorite Dragon; however, with the cost spread of this deck being mainly below 4 cost, you're almost guaranteed to get +4 power on Kraglin. Then it's possible to bounce him again and get even more power. This deck also raises Kraglin's performance during the final turn because he is more than likely going to gain power, then grant a useless +2 energy on a turn that doesn’t exist.
Kragatus
For the ramp option, there are many different routes you can take, but I am a die-hard Galactus fan, so this is what I would probably start with. Kraglin on 3 into a 6-cost on turn 4 makes the most sense if that turn 4 is super impactful. Shang-Chi is still a thing, so putting down a 10+ powered card on turn 4 isn’t always the best. This deck also has 3 5-cost cards that are impactful enough, making the follow-up turn after Kraglins ramped turn still good.
Banished Don't Care
Arishem has fallen out of flavor recently and isn’t as menacing as he once was, but with Kraglin, he is definitely an interesting choice. Because he adds so many cards to the deck, bansihing one is no big deal, especially because it might be a random card that you don’t want at all. Plus, Kraglin doesn’t really have a negative. Either you get +2 energy, or you get +4 power. Both of these are beneficial when playing with Arishem.
Obligated
This is pretty much your standard, we have a new 3-cost card, so here is a Surfer list post. While Kraglin is fine in a Surfer deck, its probably better to run Gladiator or some other card that might be more consistent. Typically, the cards 4-cost or higher in the Surfer list are too important to lose, so you don’t really want that option to happen, and a 3/7 while good is also easier from other cards in the 3-cost slot.
Variants
Conclusion
Kraglin is a cool card and one that has a lot of different options and routes you can go. But, it isn’t really a needed card. There are plenty of other 3 cost cards that do relatively the same thing, so there isn’t a lot of new here. With that said, if you like new cards and the ability to go in 2 different directions with a single card, then Kraglin is for you. Kraglin has a host of variants coming out as well, with my personal favorite being the Vincenzo Riccardi variant. What do you think of Kraglin, and are you going to pick him up? Let me know in the comments below!