Aisling Leprechaun: Tis be magically delicious

Happy St. Patricks day!

Protip: Run Green Ward

Did you know I'm Irish, well Irish American, it's true, but like most Americans, I'm mostly a mutt. Still, enough about me, I'm here to talk about the most Irish of Magic cards (no not famine), but Aisling Leprechaun.

Pronounced 'Ashling' Leprechaun, it's miraculously not only the only Leprechaun in Old School, but the only Leprechaun in all of M:tG. Yes, in the last 25 years, of revisits, genre stealing, a digging a hole right into the barrel, not a second Leprechaun has ever been printed, which in itself if pretty amazing. Second, the word 'Aisling' is Gaelic for 'dream' or 'vision', and as the last century, has become a female given name.

So what is a Leprechaun? Well a leprechaun in Irish folklore is a small, solitary creature of mischief who's primary occupation is shoe repair, and who hordes all the gold he makes. When this gold is opened, it's so amazing it makes a rainbow (thus the gold at the end of the rainbow). Sometime in the 19th century, the leprechaun became a tongue and cheek image of Irish caricatures, which is something it's remained ever since. In fact, in old Ireland, the leprechaun wore colors depending on what part of Ireland he came from (or sometimes just red). Naturally, are little leprechaun here wears green.


So what does this Gaelic amazement do, well what do you expect him to do, he turns things green. Every creature that encounters him gets a wee bit o' the Irish and becomes permanently Green. How does this work as an advantage, well I will get to that, because of the Holiday, I will evaluate a good away to make him effective.

Art: Hoover never disappoints, and once again he doesn't on this. Sure, it's a simple drawing, but that's part of its (lucky) charm. It actually looks better in the foreign print, with it's more considerable vibrant art, just compare to the image we have at the top.

"as I was going nowhere..."

Yeah, thats a leprechain, being sneaky and small (look at the flower right behind him). For this, the art gets a 5, but it's Quinton Hoover, you shouldn't expect anything less then a 5 for most of his work.

Playability: There are better one drops in green, even in this format, and while turning things green is neat (and flavorful), its usefulness is limited, partially due to how little interact with green in this format (the first pro-green creature came out in Mirage block). However, he does combo hilariously well with Green Ward (or Sword of Feast and Famine if you are into that thing), can be used in conjunction with COP:Green, and is a 1 drop fairy for that 95 Fairy tribal deck you don't want to build. So for his strange niche, I'll give him a 3. Sure, I might be being generous, but that's what its all about today?


Flavor: Something encounters him, and is forever a little Irish. It's flavor is it's only endearing part, but man, is that some tasty flavor. It's like a blood pudding washed down with some Guinness. It's honestly the cards best quality, and for that, another 5.


Until next time, May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows your dead!