I am doubtful. I don't think that it's a mechanic that wizards would actually write. Unless they've decided to keyword everything. That could just have been written as "When ~ comes into play, sacrifice it unless you pay [COST]." Reads better and is less confusing. I can't imagine them keywording it.
The story fits that it would be the release promo.
I think the mechanic is interesting enough to deem print, and has more design space than channel ever did.
Channel was always 'discard the card for the bigger effect; play the card for the weaker, continuous effect'. This seems to be 'evoke the card for the effect alone; play the card for the effect on legs'.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
News and spoiler contributor for GatheringMagic.com
Weird card, but seems real... I'm not too sure about it though, it seems a little early and rather unlikely taht wizards would screw up like that (sending one in by accident with a shipment of promo Reyas)
The mechanic... i like. It has some good abuse potential, as we ARE getting a creature in play after all... and if it's going to die anyway, we can always abuse it with sacrfice outlets/effects and comes into play triggers. Maybe this particular card's ability isn't something to go at, but... we should wait to see more cards with Evoke. I don't know how Evoke would work with instants/sorceries, though. Chances say they won't use it there.
As a side note, this card could get really nasty if you can return it to your hand from either play or the yard...
"All these people having fun are playing for a gigantic 40000$ award, while I'm here sweating, players asking me stupid layer questions we all hate, and I'm thirsty.
thats a really really goo card in limited I'd have to say. Either a early game removal spell, and like game you have a 3 power Nekkretal with evasion. and it's splashable! I like that mechanic. will be fun if they do alternate cost things
Agreed... I am rather unimpressed by this mechanic:
Shriekmaw 1B
Creature - Elemental
Fear
Kicker 3
When ~NAME~ comes into play, destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature.
When ~NAME~ comes into play, sacrifice it unless its kicker cost was paid.
3/2
And really, we've seen something very similar with the cycle of creatures in Dissension (Court Hussar et al).
There's really very little new here; it's just completely repackaged and made to look different.
EDIT:
But these are two very fundamental differences you're talking about... I'll agree that Evoke is, in general, a weaker version of Channel (note that Pithing Needle shuts down Channel abilities, but not Evoke)... but to me, it's more comparable to a SKizzik-like Kicker ability.
The real problem with the Kicker route is that you once again get more text and a less streamlined ability.Beyond that, Evoke gives you a nice new thematic keyword. Much like "haunt" features creatures haunting each other (could have been done with Imprint, FYI), this features planeswalkers evoking the power of elementals much like they would play spells. The creature shows up, says "here's my thing", then leaves.At the end of the day though, YES, this could have been done with Kicker. Graft could have been done with kicker. Hell... Forcast could have been done with Kicker!!!:~ UWCreature - Cat Elementalflying~ has P+T = to the number of creatures w/ flying you control.Kicker:2If you paid the kicker cost, this can be played during your upkeep. When ~ comes into play, put a 1/1 flying token into play and return ~ to your hand. You may not play ~ during this upkeep again.1/1Yes, everything could be done with Kicker. That doesn't mean it should be.
This seems very powerful in constructed and totally ridiculous in limited. Very similar to Flametongue Kavu and Nekrataal; quite possibly better than both. I won't be surprised if I end up playing this at Champs this year, I love it already...
I am doubtful. I don't think that it's a mechanic that wizards would actually write. Unless they've decided to keyword everything. That could just have been written as "When ~ comes into play, sacrifice it unless you pay [COST]." Reads better and is less confusing. I can't imagine them keywording it.
What about this keyword is confusing? The way you write it, it's Kicker. But this way, it's not kicker. Also, Spell Blasts targeting it cost more.It's a fun, simple, and flavorful keyword - even if it's not original (Actually, I think it's pretty original too...).
Wow, that's a pretty big mess up for them to have shipped out a Lorwyn release event promo with the Xth Reya promos. I definitely believe this is the real Lorwyn release card though, what reasons are there for doubting it? WotC could easily make a mistake like this, and actually they have before(remember when we heard about the textless Psionic Blast months before it was a player rewards card?).
As for the card itself, it's a definite limited first pick, being removal and an big evasion creature. I don't know that it would see any constructed play, but it'll be a limited staple of the near future.
Is that art work known from something? Wasn't there a Lowryn art thread? I ask because I swear I've seen that picture somewhere before. I agree with Jake123 the templating seems a but off, maybe they did this for space reasons?
I for one welcome elementals in black. Previously the only other two elementals black had were Desecration Elemental and Bog Elemental. The card is exceptional and the design space around evoke seems deep.
Agreed... I am rather unimpressed by this mechanic:
Shriekmaw 1B
Creature - Elemental
Fear
Kicker 3
When ~NAME~ comes into play, destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature.
When ~NAME~ comes into play, sacrifice it unless its kicker cost was paid.
3/2
Comparing mechanics to Kicker is stupid - Wizards themselves recently said in one of their articles that almost anything can be rewritten using Kicker.
So.... they admitted that the game is nearly out of design space? ....
I think the mechanic is interesting enough to deem print, and has more design space than channel ever did.
It's not the mechanic, it's the keyword. Two subtely different things.
Then again, Mark has been quoted saying that keywording is important so that players know what they're getting... but still, I think players could connect the dots on this one.
Can any rules gurus tell whether the card gets sacrificed immediately after coming into play or whether it just goes onto the stack as a triggered effect based on the reminder text? I'm curious whether evoke only triggers CIP/Leaves Play abilities or whether you can get the chance to sacrifice it to something else or tap it for an ability before it dies.
I think the design space created by evoke depends a lot on the rest of the block. For all we know, Evoke could interact perfectly with a major theme of Lorwyn. By itself, it's kind of like channel, but it can create more interactions than channel did. If we get cards that trigger on other things coming into play like Wirewood Savage, it can become more interesting. There's also the potential for Bridge from Below or Hatching Plans-style cards where evoking them is more powerful than playing them normally. And alternate evoke costs, which are almost guaranteed to show up in Morningtide, could be interesting. And there's also cards that trigger when something is evoked or interact with evoking cards similar to the things they did with cycling in Onslaught block.
Not all of these will happen in Lorwyn Block, especially since it's only two sets, but still, I think Evoke has a lot more design potential than it seems like at first just looking at this card.
Oh, and that art is awesome.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Life... is like a grapefruit. It's orange and squishy, has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast."
-Douglas Adams
So.... they admitted that the game is nearly out of design space? ....
That or Kicker was unnecessarily open ended. I mean, let's face it, kicker is split cards, modal cards, comes into play creatures, alternate casting costs, and a whole lot more... all in one vague and confusing keyword.
Guys, you need to think through the possibilities of the mechanic in more detail before you dismiss it.
First point: although on this card the Evoke cost is a subset of the play cost, it doesn't need to be. It could be "sacrifice a creature" or hybrid mana or any other of the cost-tweaks Wizards has used on previous costed abilities.
Second, if it works the way I think it does (as a triggered ability) it has potentially interesting interactions with activated abilities that can be played in response to the trigger.
Third, it does great double duty by potentially triggering both evoke triggers (analogous to the cycle triggers from Onslaught) and, potentially, any card-type/subtype triggers. If you had a "do X when you play an elemental" enchantment, using this guy as a Terror would still net you that benefit.
As a mechanic to be expanded over just two sets... seems like it has plenty of design space to me.
EDIT: Extra point! You can reverse Evoke by creating permanents with leaves-play effects, and then paying more to get their spell effect right away instead of waiting until it dies normally.
Flavorfully, might we expect to see evoke only on elementals? They have their own theme deck to play with it, and it seems to make sense, as you could just call up the raw power of, say, a deathly shriek to strike down an enemy creature, or invest more mana to embody it and let it run around as well. It makes less sense on bodies like Kithkin or Merrow, which seem a lot more like normal dudes than embodiments of some raw power. I suppose I could see it on artifacts or enchantments, although an enchantment would need a comes-into-play effect to make it interesting, something that isn't too common (outside of Ravnica).
Can any rules gurus tell whether the card gets sacrificed immediately after coming into play or whether it just goes onto the stack as a triggered effect based on the reminder text?
With just reminder text to judge off of...
It is a special action, which does not use the stack (paying the 1B). Then, it has a triggered ability because it says When.
This means if it has haste and a tap ability, it can use the said ability.
If it has another type of activated ability, it can also be played in responce to the sac it trigger.
"If I do go to heaven, I'll smack god across the face and tell him to get me a grilled-cheeses sandwhich and then say 'Yea what now god!? Say some'in! I dare you!' "
Channel differs from Evoke in 2 ways:
1) Channel was an activated ability (which means it was instant speed and uncounterable for the most part) - Evoke costs less...but probably has better effects as well.
2) You have the option of not playing the Evoke ability and still getting the effect.
Doesn't this card add more evidence to the 'tribal card type' theory?
I admit it is a bit of a stretch but can't this card be viewed as a sorcery speed terror with the creature type elemental attached?
So, if there was a card in Lorwyn that allows you to 'search for an elemental card' you would in essence be searching for a terror in the same way a rebel searcher can bring out a Pacifism?
Just a random thought.
No, it actually adds much less evidence to the tribal card type being in the set.
Because we have CREATURES that are doing things TRIBAL spells could be doing.
If it was Tribal, it would say Tribal.
If it is a creature in the type line, it cannot be Tribal.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
News and spoiler contributor for GatheringMagic.com
Yay for the first card of the Lorwyn rumor season!
First pick in draft, obviously.
The art kind of looks Mesoamerican to me.
Definitely believable: The story behind its finding sounds credible; high-quality scan; the foiling would be difficult to fake; and even the little details like the star next to the collector number are correct.
It's a shame they won't be in standard together though.
Gleancrawler would still cost too much to cast. And if you can manage to keep Gleancrawler in play for several turns, you should already be winning...this is just a "win-more" situation.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
- Jon Finkel Facts: (follow the link at left to see more Facts, or add more Facts!)
- Chuck Norris counted to infinity twice—because he was trying to count how much damage Jon Finkel deals in an average game.
- Jon Finkel believes in maintaining a healthy, balanced diet. He gets all his fiber from eating Magic cards for breakfast, and all his protein from eating Magic players for lunch.
The story fits that it would be the release promo.
I think the mechanic is interesting enough to deem print, and has more design space than channel ever did.
Channel was always 'discard the card for the bigger effect; play the card for the weaker, continuous effect'. This seems to be 'evoke the card for the effect alone; play the card for the effect on legs'.
Twitter
The mechanic... i like. It has some good abuse potential, as we ARE getting a creature in play after all... and if it's going to die anyway, we can always abuse it with sacrfice outlets/effects and comes into play triggers. Maybe this particular card's ability isn't something to go at, but... we should wait to see more cards with Evoke. I don't know how Evoke would work with instants/sorceries, though. Chances say they won't use it there.
As a side note, this card could get really nasty if you can return it to your hand from either play or the yard...
The real problem with the Kicker route is that you once again get more text and a less streamlined ability.Beyond that, Evoke gives you a nice new thematic keyword. Much like "haunt" features creatures haunting each other (could have been done with Imprint, FYI), this features planeswalkers evoking the power of elementals much like they would play spells. The creature shows up, says "here's my thing", then leaves.At the end of the day though, YES, this could have been done with Kicker. Graft could have been done with kicker. Hell... Forcast could have been done with Kicker!!!:~ UWCreature - Cat Elementalflying~ has P+T = to the number of creatures w/ flying you control.Kicker:2If you paid the kicker cost, this can be played during your upkeep. When ~ comes into play, put a 1/1 flying token into play and return ~ to your hand. You may not play ~ during this upkeep again.1/1Yes, everything could be done with Kicker. That doesn't mean it should be.
It's also interesting that evoke is revealed just after the errata change on Phyrexian Dreadnought.
Thanks to R&Doom at Ye Olde Sig and Avatar Shoppe for resizing a painting by Stanley Donwood
What about this keyword is confusing? The way you write it, it's Kicker. But this way, it's not kicker. Also, Spell Blasts targeting it cost more.It's a fun, simple, and flavorful keyword - even if it's not original (Actually, I think it's pretty original too...).
As for the card itself, it's a definite limited first pick, being removal and an big evasion creature. I don't know that it would see any constructed play, but it'll be a limited staple of the near future.
With evoke, it works better with Momentary Blink.
Anyways, I like it. Cool card.
I like that artwork, whatever it is.
I won't comment on the validity.... as usual.
So.... they admitted that the game is nearly out of design space? ....
.
More or less. It was a pretty surprising article to read, actually.
And I still can't get over that awesome artwork.
GWU Bant Manifest - The Future Is Here. Or it will be at the end of turn. GWU
Then again, Mark has been quoted saying that keywording is important so that players know what they're getting... but still, I think players could connect the dots on this one.
I think the design space created by evoke depends a lot on the rest of the block. For all we know, Evoke could interact perfectly with a major theme of Lorwyn. By itself, it's kind of like channel, but it can create more interactions than channel did. If we get cards that trigger on other things coming into play like Wirewood Savage, it can become more interesting. There's also the potential for Bridge from Below or Hatching Plans-style cards where evoking them is more powerful than playing them normally. And alternate evoke costs, which are almost guaranteed to show up in Morningtide, could be interesting. And there's also cards that trigger when something is evoked or interact with evoking cards similar to the things they did with cycling in Onslaught block.
Not all of these will happen in Lorwyn Block, especially since it's only two sets, but still, I think Evoke has a lot more design potential than it seems like at first just looking at this card.
Oh, and that art is awesome.
-Douglas Adams
That or Kicker was unnecessarily open ended. I mean, let's face it, kicker is split cards, modal cards, comes into play creatures, alternate casting costs, and a whole lot more... all in one vague and confusing keyword.
The creature definitely isn't as grotesque as black usually is. I really like this art a lot.
Judging from the curly black hair in the right corner, this is definitely a real scan and someone was scanning something other than just MTG cards.
First point: although on this card the Evoke cost is a subset of the play cost, it doesn't need to be. It could be "sacrifice a creature" or hybrid mana or any other of the cost-tweaks Wizards has used on previous costed abilities.
Second, if it works the way I think it does (as a triggered ability) it has potentially interesting interactions with activated abilities that can be played in response to the trigger.
Third, it does great double duty by potentially triggering both evoke triggers (analogous to the cycle triggers from Onslaught) and, potentially, any card-type/subtype triggers. If you had a "do X when you play an elemental" enchantment, using this guy as a Terror would still net you that benefit.
As a mechanic to be expanded over just two sets... seems like it has plenty of design space to me.
EDIT: Extra point! You can reverse Evoke by creating permanents with leaves-play effects, and then paying more to get their spell effect right away instead of waiting until it dies normally.
With just reminder text to judge off of...
It is a special action, which does not use the stack (paying the 1B). Then, it has a triggered ability because it says When.
This means if it has haste and a tap ability, it can use the said ability.
If it has another type of activated ability, it can also be played in responce to the sac it trigger.
MTG Rules Advisor
Winner of Weekly Contest Week 39.
1) Channel was an activated ability (which means it was instant speed and uncounterable for the most part) - Evoke costs less...but probably has better effects as well.
2) You have the option of not playing the Evoke ability and still getting the effect.
No, it actually adds much less evidence to the tribal card type being in the set.
Because we have CREATURES that are doing things TRIBAL spells could be doing.
If it was Tribal, it would say Tribal.
If it is a creature in the type line, it cannot be Tribal.
Twitter
First pick in draft, obviously.
The art kind of looks Mesoamerican to me.
Definitely believable: The story behind its finding sounds credible; high-quality scan; the foiling would be difficult to fake; and even the little details like the star next to the collector number are correct.
Gleancrawler would still cost too much to cast. And if you can manage to keep Gleancrawler in play for several turns, you should already be winning...this is just a "win-more" situation.
- Jon Finkel believes in maintaining a healthy, balanced diet. He gets all his fiber from eating Magic cards for breakfast, and all his protein from eating Magic players for lunch.
It looks real, and playable at the same time, maybe MBC...I don't know I don't play black...
Extendo
Read my Blog!