Clean Sweep
What’s Sokenzan? That’s the mountain range in Kamigawa. Each of the oddball “cycle” of sweep cards has the same naming convention; all will become clear when the rest of them are released.
What’s an oddball “cycle”? There are more cards with sweep, obviously. But there aren’t one per color. Some colors have none, some have one, and some have two.
What’s sweep? It’s a mechanic that has you return any number of basic lands of a specified type to your hand as part of the spell’s resolution. The number of lands you bounce determines the magnitude of the spell. Bounce a lot for a big spell, bounce a few for a little spell. You determine the number of lands to return—and actually return them—when the spell resolves, so if Barrel Down Sokenzan is countered, or you realize damaging the creature is useless (perhaps it regenerated in response), then you return no Mountains and you haven’t hurt your board position.
Sweep Under the Rug
As a burn spell, Barrel Down Sokenzan is functional and versatile, but not spectacular. It only hits creatures, so that limits its usefulness right there. For , you typically get to deal 3 damage, plus have the option of hitting players, plus get an extra benefit (see Carbonize, Yamabushi’s Flame, and Urza’s Rage). In this case, you have to bounce two Mountains to gain a comparable effect, which sets you back a little (but not too much) in your board development. Of course, the variable damage amount sets it apart from these fixed-number spells; Barrel Down Sokenzan can burn out creatures that Yamabushi’s Flame barely singes.
Blaze and its ilk are next in line for comparison. The amount of damage Blaze deals is also related to the number of lands you have, but the differences between these spells are so great that they’re hardly in the same ballpark. Blaze makes you tap lands, not bounce them. Blaze keys off of any lands (not just Mountains), as well as other mana sources. Blaze lets you hit players. Barrel Down Sokenzan has a fixed (and low) mana cost, meaning you can play other spells on the same turn that you throw a huge Barrel. It deals damage equal to double the number of bounced Mountains. No, they seem similar on the surface (number of lands translates to amount of damage), but they don’t mesh.
The closest card to Barrel Down Sokenzan is Spitting Earth. Spitting Earth also only hits creatures, and it also cares only about Mountains. It’s one mana cheaper and it’s not Arcane, but the main difference is that it leaves the Mountains on the table in exchange for dealing half of Barrel Down Sokenzan’s maximum damage. Both are good, with each one being better in different situations.
So there you have it. Barrel Down Sokenzan is a playable but mediocre Limited card. The end.
Right?
Wrong.
Oh, so very, very wrong.
In any other set, that might be right, but in Saviors of Kamigawa, this card does much, much more.
引用元
BARREL OF FUN Posted in Feature on May 17, 2005
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/barrel-fun-2005-05-17
《霜剣山の逆落とし/Barrel Down Sokenzan》のプレビュー記事です。土地を手札に戻すことで効果が変化するメカニズム、掃引のカードを紹介しています。
カードとしてはクリーチャー限定の火力であり、効率は《猛火/Blaze》や《大地の飛礫/Spitting Earth》と比べて一概に上位とも下位とも言えません。しかし、このカードをプレビューする趣旨は単なる火力の１つ、というものではなく、他のメカニズムとのシナジーにあります。
これまでのプレビュー記事で語られた通り、『神河救済』のテーマは手札であり、特に手札が多いほど報酬が得られるものです。一方で、ここまでプレビューされたのは、手札が多いと〜というものであり、手札を増やす手段はあまりフォーカスされていません。そこで、このカード・メカニズムによって一気に大量に手札を増やすことが可能である点が輝いてきます。
なお、掃引（と同時収録の魂力）は、MTG史上初の能力語メカニズムなので、その点についても何か語って欲しかったところですが、特にこれといった話はありませんでした（※１）。
※１
後の記事で解説されました。
神河当時 - 《空を引き裂くもの、閼螺示/Arashi, the Sky Asunder》のプレビュー
https://researchofkamigawa.diarynote.jp/202110012011155731/
補足
記事として取り上げることはありませんが、神河のことが触れられているものについて、付記しておきます。
《初めて苦しんだもの、影麻呂/Kagemaro, First to Suffer》のアートについて
SKETCHES: KAGEMARO, FIRST TO SUFFER Posted in Arcana on May 17, 2005
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/arcana/sketches-kagemaro-first-suffer-2005-05-17
リミテッド視点から、コモンカード《死面の鼠/Deathmask Nezumi》《霊的な訪れ/Spiritual Visit》《螺旋形の燃えさし/Spiraling Embers》のプレビュー
PRERELEASE PREP Posted in Limited Information on May 17, 2005
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/limited-information/prerelease-prep-2005-05-17
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