As a Birthing Pod player, I find this card to be AMAZING. Whenever people sideboard against Birthing Pod, they always put in a bunch of artifact hate while I take out artifacts. This means that people will probably bring more cards against me which only have four targets. Sure, I wont be able to play Pod itself, but I can win against it and they have way more dead cards then I do.
I really hope this replaces Torpor Orb as the hate of choice against Birthing Pod decks! That card is way more backbreaking.
There's absolutely no way that this card would be used in place of Torpor Orb to play against Birthing Pod - it's just 10x easier to do something about Silence in Stone than there is Torpor Orb in a Pod deck - depending on the flavor, you can run anything from Leonin Relic-Warder to Acidic Slime, without even having to miss a beat in the deck. Against Torpor Orb, you really have two choices - Sylvok Replica, or slowing down your deck to run anti-artifact Instants which is in itself a win because it forces the deck to take out potential threats or links in the combo.
Obviously you're encouraging it because it'd be a bad deal, so I'm not really refuting you, more backing what you said up.
I could see someone using BOTH Torpor Orb and Silence in Stone - but Pod decks are more than capable of winning without Pod - particularly if you invest 8 cards solely into shutting down that one card. Anyone who thinks that this card is better than Torpor Orb for Birthing Pod is kidding themselves. The best way to beat pod is not to attack the Pod itself, it's to attack the creatures - abusing the fact that pod can only be used as a sorcery, siding into a ton of creature removal has been the way I've found most effective to deal with Birthing Pod.
Most likely the anonymous source just didn't remember the exact templating. He just provided something that people would know what it means. I'd be pretty surprised if there was a rule change in Innistrad that defined "artifact abilities" and made the provided templating work; it should just be the same as Null Rod has currently.
There's absolutely no way that this card would be used in place of Torpor Orb to play against Birthing Pod - it's just 10x easier to do something about Silence in Stone than there is Torpor Orb in a Pod deck - depending on the flavor, you can run anything from Leonin Relic-Warder to Acidic Slime, without even having to miss a beat in the deck. Against Torpor Orb, you really have two choices - Sylvok Replica, or slowing down your deck to run anti-artifact Instants which is in itself a win because it forces the deck to take out potential threats or links in the combo.
Obviously you're encouraging it because it'd be a bad deal, so I'm not really refuting you, more backing what you said up.
I could see someone using BOTH Torpor Orb and Silence in Stone - but Pod decks are more than capable of winning without Pod - particularly if you invest 8 cards solely into shutting down that one card. Anyone who thinks that this card is better than Torpor Orb for Birthing Pod is kidding themselves. The best way to beat pod is not to attack the Pod itself, it's to attack the creatures - abusing the fact that pod can only be used as a sorcery, siding into a ton of creature removal has been the way I've found most effective to deal with Birthing Pod.
Don't forget Beast Within, which is already being run in some pod decks. I'll gladly give you a 3/3 for my Titan tutoring.
But you are entirely correct that focusing on the pod is not the way to cripple the pod deck
You're either a good troll or a bad Magic player. Either way, I hope that you come to recognize the power level of effects like this at two mana. Your dismissal makes me think you are just messing around, though.
You give him too much credit. By his post he already gives off the impression that all decks run swords or must. We know by his post that he must only play with swords and against people who play them. We can further the assumption that he musn't face any pod decks, tumble magnets, tezzeret decks, or anything that isn't UW midrange, UW control, or some variation thereof because honestly outside of Dungrove Elder/Thrun the last troll and such fringe decks what decks play alot of swords?. I am also to assume that his deck musn't run evoke existence in the sideboard because if something like this doesn't scare him then by all means his deck must have oblivion rings in it because they will be the only maindeckable answer to a card like this in his colors. We are also to assume that his deck has already fantastic answers to sword equipped creatures and that his sworded creatures must be completely useless without swords because of how unwilling to give up the sword usage he is. This is the type of player that will say invisible stalker replaces squadron hawk in WU control/midrange post rotation. He is neither a good troll nor a bad player. He is a bad troll and a horrible player.
On topic however. As most white sideboard cards do, this will see some play even if it is shadowlurking in sideboards.
Null Rod says "Activated abilities of artifacts can't be activated." Silence of Stone apparently says "Artifact abilities cannot be activated."
It may be a new way of shortening it.But usually these sort of hate cards have a way of saying that... like Linvala and Cursed totem have the whole "activated abilities cant be activated" thing starting out in their text.
Like everyone else is saying, it is probably "same crap" but it is sorta interesting how they dodged the official reprint policy with this card. I mean... does that mean we can have something silly as "This Artifact is both an Swamp/Island" somehow ala Underground Sea? Technically not a land....
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To the people that say that a card needs to be a higher rarity because of Limited... I hate you guys so much. I present to you with this.
This card is not good. It will be run in many scared players' sides, foolishly, those even willing to sacrifice their sword equipability to try to gain an edge over their opponent's. But that's foolish. Oh well, if someone wants to be dumb and run this as a waste of space in their sideboard, let them.
Here’s the problem: Imagine cards' relative "difficulty" as a slope. Any card below your comprehension level on the slope is either obviously playable or obviously “bad,” and the rest require some thought or game play to categorize. But we have to design Magic for all players. That means the more advanced a player you are, the more cards you label as “bad cards.” But the lower-level cards are crucial to allowing the beginning player the same sense of discovery and exploration. You may think that the “lucky charms” (Crystal Rod, Iron Star, Ivory Cup, Throne of Bone, and Wooden Sphere) are bad, but our testing shows that most beginners are drawn to them and only learn over time that they are not as good as they seem (usually because a more advanced player tells them). That is why we keep including them in the basic set.
Basically if you believe your kneejerk reaction to a card one way or the other, you're probably not a good player. It takes a while evluate cards, especially those with broad abilities and affordable casting cost. Torpor Orb actually sees play, but only because folks are hard up to deal with Pod & Company (Squawk). Lotsa folks crowded in with very absolute judgments on that card and nearly all were wrong (not a staple, not unplayable).
Guess that is one way to shut off swords. Interesting card.
If I'm reading this right though, I'd say you're a little off there. It says the abilities can't be activated. Sword abilities are triggered. If you feel like siding it in vs my swords, feel free, just don't get mad when you find out that it doesn't work and you just played a dead card. Other dude who commented on this was actually right. What this card is good for is other formats, stopping pod, and may be good against a few other things once we figure out the format after rotation. It's terrifying to modern affinity players because it shuts off about half of our mana producers.
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If I'm reading this right though, I'd say you're a little off there. It says the abilities can't be activated. Sword abilities are triggered. If you feel like siding it in vs my swords, feel free, just don't get mad when you find out that it doesn't work and you just played a dead card. Other dude who commented on this was actually right. What this card is good for is other formats, stopping pod, and may be good against a few other things once we figure out the format after rotation. It's terrifying to modern affinity players because it shuts off about half of our mana producers.
R&D: "Why hey there, Affinity, here's a giant, spiky pine cone. Now go shove it up your ***."
Cause we needed ANOTHER one of those.
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There are two types of people in this world: people who think that countermagic is the most powerful effect in the game and people who aren't morons.
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yeah, but it really doesn't do anything about the sword that's already out and equipped. This makes it really situational in that scenario. Granted it would be nice to drop this against an opponent with no way to deal with it before they drop a sword. Realistically though, O-Ring is back in the format and you're probably better off with that or naturalize to handle you're sword hating.
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yeah, but it really doesn't do anything about the sword that's already out and equipped. This makes it really situational in that scenario. Granted it would be nice to drop this against an opponent with no way to deal with it before they drop a sword. Realistically though, O-Ring is back in the format and you're probably better off with that or naturalize to handle you're sword hating.
well you can really argue both sides of that coin. preemptively playing this out is stronger in that it guarantees no chances for your opponent to swing with the sword. with o-ring and naturalize (if you are tapped out for ex) your opponent usually gets a swing in with the sword.
i'm not saying this is the greatest card ever... but i can definitely see it having a lot of uses. not to mention the flexibility it offers over some of the other options... ie shutting down pod/spellskite/swords/equipment in puresteel/etc etc. it's more flexible than simply running a naturalize.
So what does this say about breaking stuff from the reprint policy? That as long as certain things are dodged like color/type... it can be printed? Like Fork vs Reverberate?
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To the people that say that a card needs to be a higher rarity because of Limited... I hate you guys so much. I present to you with this.
yeah, but it really doesn't do anything about the sword that's already out and equipped. This makes it really situational in that scenario. Granted it would be nice to drop this against an opponent with no way to deal with it before they drop a sword. Realistically though, O-Ring is back in the format and you're probably better off with that or naturalize to handle you're sword hating.
And a sword doesn't do anything about the Silence of Stone that's already out and not exiled or destroyed. An odd sort of balance, ain't it.
So what does this say about breaking stuff from the reprint policy? That as long as certain things are dodged like color/type... it can be printed? Like Fork vs Reverberate?
Quote from WotC Reserved List Policy »
Reserved cards will never be printed again in a functionally identical form. A card is considered functionally identical to another card if it has the same card type, subtypes, abilities, mana cost, power, and toughness.
The correct wording is the same as on Null Rod. There is no such thing as an "artifact ability."
Indeed, and there never could be. The syntax would point to something very different.
The only change we could see is "Abilities of artifacts can't be activated." It means the right thing on activated abilities, and doesn't say anything about any other ability anyway.
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You know they're going to reprint all cards from the reserved list. It's just a matter of time, and with a new coat of paint.
Difference between artifact and white are far different though. They reduce the powerlevel by forcing a splash to play it. "New coat of paint" and reducing the powerlevel are reasons why they were probly on the reserve list to begin with.
If I'm reading this right though, I'd say you're a little off there. It says the abilities can't be activated. Sword abilities are triggered. If you feel like siding it in vs my swords, feel free, just don't get mad when you find out that it doesn't work and you just played a dead card. Other dude who commented on this was actually right. What this card is good for is other formats, stopping pod, and may be good against a few other things once we figure out the format after rotation. It's terrifying to modern affinity players because it shuts off about half of our mana producers.
What are you triggering your sword with? Tapping mana? Haha, no seriously it's an activated ability and will turn off swords ability to equip and birthing pods ability to well do anything in type2 (Forces pod to put answers in their deck (more than just acidic slime since you pod to that to begin with). Will make for an interesting meta for sure.
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There's absolutely no way that this card would be used in place of Torpor Orb to play against Birthing Pod - it's just 10x easier to do something about Silence in Stone than there is Torpor Orb in a Pod deck - depending on the flavor, you can run anything from Leonin Relic-Warder to Acidic Slime, without even having to miss a beat in the deck. Against Torpor Orb, you really have two choices - Sylvok Replica, or slowing down your deck to run anti-artifact Instants which is in itself a win because it forces the deck to take out potential threats or links in the combo.
Obviously you're encouraging it because it'd be a bad deal, so I'm not really refuting you, more backing what you said up.
I could see someone using BOTH Torpor Orb and Silence in Stone - but Pod decks are more than capable of winning without Pod - particularly if you invest 8 cards solely into shutting down that one card. Anyone who thinks that this card is better than Torpor Orb for Birthing Pod is kidding themselves. The best way to beat pod is not to attack the Pod itself, it's to attack the creatures - abusing the fact that pod can only be used as a sorcery, siding into a ton of creature removal has been the way I've found most effective to deal with Birthing Pod.
Don't forget Beast Within, which is already being run in some pod decks. I'll gladly give you a 3/3 for my Titan tutoring.
But you are entirely correct that focusing on the pod is not the way to cripple the pod deck
You give him too much credit. By his post he already gives off the impression that all decks run swords or must. We know by his post that he must only play with swords and against people who play them. We can further the assumption that he musn't face any pod decks, tumble magnets, tezzeret decks, or anything that isn't UW midrange, UW control, or some variation thereof because honestly outside of Dungrove Elder/Thrun the last troll and such fringe decks what decks play alot of swords?. I am also to assume that his deck musn't run evoke existence in the sideboard because if something like this doesn't scare him then by all means his deck must have oblivion rings in it because they will be the only maindeckable answer to a card like this in his colors. We are also to assume that his deck has already fantastic answers to sword equipped creatures and that his sworded creatures must be completely useless without swords because of how unwilling to give up the sword usage he is. This is the type of player that will say invisible stalker replaces squadron hawk in WU control/midrange post rotation. He is neither a good troll nor a bad player. He is a bad troll and a horrible player.
On topic however. As most white sideboard cards do, this will see some play even if it is shadowlurking in sideboards.
mxmlmn on cockatrice
Which, Moltensteel Dragon?
The creator of Maro's Magic 8-Ball!
That too I guess. More explicitly, Shrine of Burning Rage. Between Timely Reinforcements, this new null rod, and the rotation of cards like Searing Blaze, and Goblin Guide, RDW is pretty much dead as far as I can tell.
mxmlmn on cockatrice
It may be a new way of shortening it.But usually these sort of hate cards have a way of saying that... like Linvala and Cursed totem have the whole "activated abilities cant be activated" thing starting out in their text.
Like everyone else is saying, it is probably "same crap" but it is sorta interesting how they dodged the official reprint policy with this card. I mean... does that mean we can have something silly as "This Artifact is both an Swamp/Island" somehow ala Underground Sea? Technically not a land....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY8h2vp5Xis
I feel like players like this honestly just need to read this article: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr5
Basically if you believe your kneejerk reaction to a card one way or the other, you're probably not a good player. It takes a while evluate cards, especially those with broad abilities and affordable casting cost. Torpor Orb actually sees play, but only because folks are hard up to deal with Pod & Company (Squawk). Lotsa folks crowded in with very absolute judgments on that card and nearly all were wrong (not a staple, not unplayable).
:symrw::symrw: Titan Mimic (tec)
If I'm reading this right though, I'd say you're a little off there. It says the abilities can't be activated. Sword abilities are triggered. If you feel like siding it in vs my swords, feel free, just don't get mad when you find out that it doesn't work and you just played a dead card. Other dude who commented on this was actually right. What this card is good for is other formats, stopping pod, and may be good against a few other things once we figure out the format after rotation. It's terrifying to modern affinity players because it shuts off about half of our mana producers.
If you hate the deck, I'm probably playing it!
it stops you from equipping the sword.
Cause we needed ANOTHER one of those.
yeah, but it really doesn't do anything about the sword that's already out and equipped. This makes it really situational in that scenario. Granted it would be nice to drop this against an opponent with no way to deal with it before they drop a sword. Realistically though, O-Ring is back in the format and you're probably better off with that or naturalize to handle you're sword hating.
If you hate the deck, I'm probably playing it!
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If this is true, I expect that Null Rod's Oracle text will be changed to have the same wording.
well you can really argue both sides of that coin. preemptively playing this out is stronger in that it guarantees no chances for your opponent to swing with the sword. with o-ring and naturalize (if you are tapped out for ex) your opponent usually gets a swing in with the sword.
i'm not saying this is the greatest card ever... but i can definitely see it having a lot of uses. not to mention the flexibility it offers over some of the other options... ie shutting down pod/spellskite/swords/equipment in puresteel/etc etc. it's more flexible than simply running a naturalize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY8h2vp5Xis
And a sword doesn't do anything about the Silence of Stone that's already out and not exiled or destroyed. An odd sort of balance, ain't it.
From http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=magic/products/reprintpolicy
Indeed, and there never could be. The syntax would point to something very different.
The only change we could see is "Abilities of artifacts can't be activated." It means the right thing on activated abilities, and doesn't say anything about any other ability anyway.
Awesome avatar provided by Krashbot @ [Epic Graphics].
Difference between artifact and white are far different though. They reduce the powerlevel by forcing a splash to play it. "New coat of paint" and reducing the powerlevel are reasons why they were probly on the reserve list to begin with.
What are you triggering your sword with? Tapping mana? Haha, no seriously it's an activated ability and will turn off swords ability to equip and birthing pods ability to well do anything in type2 (Forces pod to put answers in their deck (more than just acidic slime since you pod to that to begin with). Will make for an interesting meta for sure.