The Hive - 5
Artifact
{5}, {T}: Put a 1/1 colorless Insect artifact creature token with flying named Wasp onto the battlefield.
Initial thoughts:
What a terrible card. For 10 mana you get a 1/1 flier, 15 mana you can get two 1/1 fliers. It just isn't a good thing to do with left over mana. Any of the storage lands (See: Dreadship Reef) is probably better than this. The casting cost is too high, the activation cost is too high. The effect is too weak to be competitive. It's not even like you can break this card with Rings of Brighthearth. It beats the regular mana curve at two fliers for 7 mana, or three for 9 mana, but that still doesn't make it any good.
This card doesn't "stop" you from winning. In fact it actually helps you win but it changes the pace of a game from good to a grueling slow. If you're winning you want to keep winning, not change the pace of the game so your opponent can catch up. The card stops you from winning a different way. If you have a bunch of cards in your deck that are better than this, then because you drew this card it is stopping you from getting the real winning card.
How to fix this card:
Either decrease the casting/activation costs or increase the effect. To keep "The Hive" flavor alive it would probably still crank out 1/1 fliers. So here we go:
The Hive - 2
Artifact
{3}, {T}: Put a 1/1 colorless Insect artifact creature token with flying named Wasp onto the battlefield.
Simple. That's all the card needed really. A low mana cost to get it out, and a slightly lower activation cost. Now it does what it was supposed to do: swarm fliers at your opponent. Unless they have something like Storm Crow on their battlfield.
However, as it was printed, not only do they say a bunch of useless things "represent wasps with tokens," "make sure indicate each one is tapped," "must be killed individually" among other things, but it also is one of the most useless cards in Magic. A shining example of what bad rare cards also existed in Alpha. 1/5
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