Barring something else from Gatecrash (which is highly likely), this will be my 5th Gruul card. Pretty nice but not uber-strong. I could see him getting benched by other good stuff just in this set, especially if Gruul gets hooked up like Golgari and Azorius did.
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I think this is 100% on the money. I think it's a fine card. But with other good Gruul cards coming out in this set, I don't know if it'll actually make the cut after we see what else we're getting.
This looks really bad, especially as a multicolor card. First ability isn't a guaranteed effect (compare to monocolored walkers like the Jaces or even Tibalt), second ability is awkward on an empty board (and arguably does little in an unfavorable board position), and third ability, as stated, is unrealistic at best. This is pretty much the exact opposite of old walker design. I think it's pretty much meant for Constructed where the limitations can be built around, and we can safely wait for whatever undercosted beater Gruul eventually gets.
I like the planeswalker and would like to run him. Definitely will need to see what other goodies come out GTC. His ultimate is overkill, but also keeping flavorwise to RG, needs creatures on the board to become good.
First
Sarkhan vol got drunk and had a wild night with gollum.
Second
I think, if anything, this has the absolute coolest synergy with sarkhan vol. That illegitimate love child and his deadbeat dad would make a helluva team.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I'm having difficulty evaluating this card, specifically because I'm not sure what decks really want these effects enough to run it. It certainly is a beast against aggro decks, but since when do RG midrange decks struggle against aggro? It's still decent against control, but paying three mana to draw two cards over the next five turns (assuming 16 creatures) isn't amazing. Still, 3 cost walkers with two decent abilities, and an attainable (if a tad underwhelming) ultimate are tough to dismiss out of hand.
His ultimate is actually great against control - the control deck isn't going to want to attack into a red/green deck that can punish them for having one less defender.
Also, getting him down on turn 3 evades plenty of countermagic AND allows him to start ticking up before the control deck can really handle it.
If you play him on turn 3 (turn 2 with a mox or something), he can ultimate on turn 6 (or 5 with acceleration).
That's pretty good, considering you're also getting a creature or two (or more) out of the mix.
This is an interesting walker, but I don't think I can find a spot for it. I'm all for 3-mana walkers, but they need to have a little more splash than this to get included. Helping midrange decks handle aggro isn't something that I EVER have to dedicate cards to.
I think this is very good from a first glance. It seems like it shouldn't be too hard to defend, and when you manage to it should be able to generate you a large amount of card advantage over time. I just wish his +1 bottomed the card if you missed, but oh well.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
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I was suspicious as well and talked to some of the RM mods. The best guess is that these are all from a single foil sheet.
That's a pretty big lapse in security for them to walk out this early though, especially after how much WotC has been cracking down on this sort of thing.
Galspanic did an interesting analysis on Domri's art though, and it both fits the attributed artist's style and makes sense that they'd give him a bradywalker to prove himself on.
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It is funny how you guys completely forgot about Fires of Yavimaya.
It is one of the most insane card an aggro deck wants, completely shutting off creatures' biggest weakness (compared to spells which have instant effect on the board state and your opponent strategy) and still providing value for finishing the opponent.
no one forgot it, it's just not a top card for the color combination.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
It is funny how you guys completely forgot about Fires of Yavimaya.
It is one of the most insane card an aggro deck wants, completely shutting off creatures' biggest weakness (compared to spells which have instant effect on the board state and your opponent strategy) and still providing value for finishing the opponent.
Not forgotten. I cut it from my cube AGES ago for being totally outclassed by better Gruul options.
He's only good in a creature based midrange deck against midrange or control type decks , and that just seems pretty narrow for cube.
He's a card that really shines in creature attrition wars where no deck is trying to go WAY over the top.
I think im not including him in my cube (4 gruul spots) and hope gruul gets some more goodies.
Edit:
Doubting the legitimacy of the leaks seem pretty silly to me. Multiple cards with professional quality artwork and design? Photos that all have different angles to show off different part of the foils.
Would require an absurd amount of skill, time and effort to fake this so well. Just not many people are capable of it. The % of those that would actually want to do it would be soo tiny.
Much smaller than the % chance some cards just got stolen or whatever
And yet you play Stormbind in your Cube which is inferior imho.
Don't get me wrong, Stormbind is a fine card, but there are much better cards than can do what Stormbind do: Cursed Scroll, Jaya Ballard, etc.
On the other hand, Fires of Yavimaya has a unique effect, which is what we (at least I) want in Cube. And I still believe it is very powerfull.
I don't think Stormbind's inferior at all. It's a much more needed effect; providing reach to Gruul aggro than it is to provide haste to Gruul Mid-Range.
And there aren't that many cards that can do what Stormbind does in the cube. There's Sulfuric Vortex and Cursed Scroll. That's just about it. Jaya Balard is much worse at that role because as a creature, it's far more fragile and therefore less reliable in the role of reach. Which is the most important component to reach. Stormbind is hard to remove and isn't a casualty to my opponent's Wrath effects, which is what makes it so needed.
Sarkhan Vol is a much upgraded Fires, IMO. Not only does it provide a fires effect, but it also provides a threaten effect. And coming down a turn earlier isn't particularly relevant for the effect, because most of my red 4-drops (and even one of my green 4-drops) have haste already. Which limits the impact of Fires until T5. And if I'm waiting an extra turn, I'd much rather get the global pump, the flexibility of the threaten effect and of course the game-winning ultimate.
I cut Fires a long time ago, and it won't ever be making it back in. Not with the existing competition, and certainly not after the Gatecrash upgrades.
I'm extremely tempted to take out Firespout for him, but it depends on the rest of Gruul in Gatecrash. I'd either focus on more aggro or midrange. I'm leaning to including him regardless, since the synergy with what RG is attempting to do in my Cube is just spot on
Sarkhan Vol is a much upgraded Fires, IMO. Not only does it provide a fires effect, but it also provides a threaten effect. And coming down a turn earlier isn't particularly relevant for the effect, because most of my red 4-drops (and even one of my green 4-drops) have haste already. Which limits the impact of Fires until T5. And if I'm waiting an extra turn, I'd much rather get the global pump, the flexibility of the threaten effect and of course the game-winning ultimate.
I cut Fires a long time ago, and it won't ever be making it back in. Not with the existing competition, and certainly not after the Gatecrash upgrades.
Agreed, and SV is the card that killed Fires for us. It's a fantastic 'walker for cube and I think many underrate it. The ultimate is easily attainable and most importantly his +1 is super relevant for aggro, tokens and midrange alike. His threaten ability kills a lot of players too.
On reflection, Domri won't be making it in my 3 card section. I also prefer Huntmaster and especially Flinthoof Boar to the new 'walker. That said, I think he'll be good in aggro. People seem to think he's midrange only, but I disagree with that - I just don't think his +1 works quite hard enough.
I think this is 100% on the money. I think it's a fine card. But with other good Gruul cards coming out in this set, I don't know if it'll actually make the cut after we see what else we're getting.
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Sarkhan vol got drunk and had a wild night with gollum.
Second
I think, if anything, this has the absolute coolest synergy with sarkhan vol. That illegitimate love child and his deadbeat dad would make a helluva team.
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me neither.
Also, getting him down on turn 3 evades plenty of countermagic AND allows him to start ticking up before the control deck can really handle it.
If you play him on turn 3 (turn 2 with a mox or something), he can ultimate on turn 6 (or 5 with acceleration).
That's pretty good, considering you're also getting a creature or two (or more) out of the mix.
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you're a turn early here. it's a -7, so if you +1 him ever7 turn starting turn 3 (2), he ultimates turn 7 (6).
But this, I doubt.
My bad, thought he started at 4 loyalty.
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It's weird that 5 foil mythics is spoiled at once. It could be some kind of Wizard plant though.
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I was suspicious as well and talked to some of the RM mods. The best guess is that these are all from a single foil sheet.
That's a pretty big lapse in security for them to walk out this early though, especially after how much WotC has been cracking down on this sort of thing.
Galspanic did an interesting analysis on Domri's art though, and it both fits the attributed artist's style and makes sense that they'd give him a bradywalker to prove himself on.
So despite some red flags, they look legit.
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no one forgot it, it's just not a top card for the color combination.
Not forgotten. I cut it from my cube AGES ago for being totally outclassed by better Gruul options.
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He's only good in a creature based midrange deck against midrange or control type decks , and that just seems pretty narrow for cube.
He's a card that really shines in creature attrition wars where no deck is trying to go WAY over the top.
I think im not including him in my cube (4 gruul spots) and hope gruul gets some more goodies.
Edit:
Doubting the legitimacy of the leaks seem pretty silly to me. Multiple cards with professional quality artwork and design? Photos that all have different angles to show off different part of the foils.
Would require an absurd amount of skill, time and effort to fake this so well. Just not many people are capable of it. The % of those that would actually want to do it would be soo tiny.
Much smaller than the % chance some cards just got stolen or whatever
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I don't think Stormbind's inferior at all. It's a much more needed effect; providing reach to Gruul aggro than it is to provide haste to Gruul Mid-Range.
And there aren't that many cards that can do what Stormbind does in the cube. There's Sulfuric Vortex and Cursed Scroll. That's just about it. Jaya Balard is much worse at that role because as a creature, it's far more fragile and therefore less reliable in the role of reach. Which is the most important component to reach. Stormbind is hard to remove and isn't a casualty to my opponent's Wrath effects, which is what makes it so needed.
Sarkhan Vol is a much upgraded Fires, IMO. Not only does it provide a fires effect, but it also provides a threaten effect. And coming down a turn earlier isn't particularly relevant for the effect, because most of my red 4-drops (and even one of my green 4-drops) have haste already. Which limits the impact of Fires until T5. And if I'm waiting an extra turn, I'd much rather get the global pump, the flexibility of the threaten effect and of course the game-winning ultimate.
I cut Fires a long time ago, and it won't ever be making it back in. Not with the existing competition, and certainly not after the Gatecrash upgrades.
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We ended up cutting it because it's a lot more conditional. It can't shoot creatures and it doesn't always deal damage.
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Agreed, and SV is the card that killed Fires for us. It's a fantastic 'walker for cube and I think many underrate it. The ultimate is easily attainable and most importantly his +1 is super relevant for aggro, tokens and midrange alike. His threaten ability kills a lot of players too.
On reflection, Domri won't be making it in my 3 card section. I also prefer Huntmaster and especially Flinthoof Boar to the new 'walker. That said, I think he'll be good in aggro. People seem to think he's midrange only, but I disagree with that - I just don't think his +1 works quite hard enough.
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