"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
I know this isnt the best thread for this, but It is for the purpose of cube.
When would be the best time to buy Ral for cube? He's $30 right now and i think he is going to be $50 by the time the set is released.
He will increase before release, but not permanently. You will get him for less than his current price if you wait, and it depends on how much you value getting him on release date.
Proxied him and put him in the cube today. He was in my first pack so I decided to try force him, ending up in a practically mono-blue artifact ramp/lockdown deck. I definitely found him to be a force to be reckoned with if you have any of the mana accelerators, and the minus ability a very nice option to have while trying to keep control of the board.
Also, as an added bonus I was able to ultimate him twice (ramping him and running a Tangle Wire is good times). I beat the odds and got four turns off each one.
The deck that drafted Ral was a mono red deck splashing for him. He usually acted as 2x bolt ala Staggershock, but he sometimes tapped to get things out of the way to beat down.
It also got some random value by tapping down my Mana Vault and messing up my game plan. I'll see if I can get it in a draft in a more slow RU deck like counterburn/grixis, etc, but I am a fan so far.
The two bolts are really the backbone this card wants to lean on. The tap and untap thing I think we will see has all sorts of funny opportunity value. I can't wait to see where this card feels best in. The tapping is certainly neat as a blocker remover.
Proxied Ral Zarek and tried it yesterday. I had U/G ramp deck, splashing red. It was really really good. Bolting, untapping Rofellos and ramping up to Wurmcoil Engine+Karn Liberated. At one point I had Ral Zarek, Karn Liberated and Jace the Mind Sculptor in play, ultimated Ral. Only got one extra turn out of it! Still won pretty easily. This is my #1 U/R card from now on.
Proxied Ral Zarek and tried it yesterday. I had U/G ramp deck, splashing red. It was really really good. Bolting, untapping Rofellos and ramping up to Wurmcoil Engine+Karn Liberated. At one point I had Ral Zarek, Karn Liberated and Jace the Mind Sculptor in play, ultimated Ral. Only got one extra turn out of it! Still won pretty easily. This is my #1 U/R card from now on.
Are you untapping or bolting more often upon casting the card?
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I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
Proxied Ral Zarek and tried it yesterday. I had U/G ramp deck, splashing red. It was really really good. Bolting, untapping Rofellos and ramping up to Wurmcoil Engine+Karn Liberated. At one point I had Ral Zarek, Karn Liberated and Jace the Mind Sculptor in play, ultimated Ral. Only got one extra turn out of it! Still won pretty easily. This is my #1 U/R card from now on.
I now cannot wait to test this on saturday! Nice one untapping rofellos!
Small sample tonight with a 4 player draft. I didnt get to see him action much but the player who drafted him said he used the -2 ability well over 75% of the time. The player said he liked knowing he was in his deck but was never really thrilled when he drew him. He was kind of Grixis midrange/control deck. His biggest complaint was that Ral can't protect himself. Hopefully as we draft him more we'll find those decks he shines in the most.
His biggest complaint was that Ral can't protect himself.
...Yes he can. In more ways than most planeswalkers, actually. He can untap your creatures so he can block, and he can outright kill them with his -2 ability.
I have a feeling he was in a losing position almost every time he cast him. He complained a lot about his deck in general. I never got to see him in play so Im not sure what his reasoning was but it was also his first time even seeing the card.
I think this card is really sweet because of the untap ability. Don't get me wrong, the bolt ability is what makes him good, but the way that this is a solid planeswalker in any RU deck but can also be built around with cards like mana rocks and creatures with tap abilities makes it not only a good card for cube, but a sweet one too. Kind of like a much better Venser.
Card seems amazing. I play a lot of cube multiplayer. Has anyone been able to test him in a multiplayer setting, more specifically, going for the ultimate, i.e. players go out of their way to kill him or?
Ral Zarek has been getting picked really late recently, I've gotten it dead last. In our last draft wound up in the sideboard of an Izzet tempo deck. When I asked the player, he said he just felt he just had better options for 4-drops in both red and blue. It's hard to argue with this, as there are plenty of solid mono-color options at 4CMC in this guild, so Ral's on my watch list at the moment.
I'd like to hear some other cube owners' opinions on this. Are my players underrating Ral Zarek, or is it outclassed by its mono-colored competition in this slot?
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I think it's stellar. Both abilities are relevant, especially in tempo decks where disrupting blocking, tapping down reactive resources, ramping, vigilance and/or just being a pair of lightning bolts are all relevant. Not to mention decks where he's untapping Monoliths or keeping a control opponent off double-blue is awesome. I think he's an A+ cube card.
Ral Zarek is a solid card. Due to his multi-colours aspect, he kind of fits more a tempo-shell or combo-shell only, but can also be used in other scenarios like in a American or Izzet control decklist.
The fact that he can repeatly bolt things on the battlefield or opponents is quite nice and makes him able to protect himself in a situation where you're not so far behind. He can also open the path for creatures that want to push additional damage or help you protect yourself while attacking. Plus, he got the abililty to untap huge mana rocks like Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Basalt Monolith, etc. Can also untap even more combo-oriented card like Time Vault. In fact, Him + Vault = Auto-Win. With that said, he shines more in a heavily powered cube because those kind of interactions only appears in there, but still solid even without those possibilities.
Ral is the best Izzet card now. So whatever order you had before, bump everything down one and put him at the top.
It's definitely better than Loothouse (though it is better than an Island :rolleyes:).
My new top Izzet section would look like this:
2 Fire // Ice
3 Izzet Charm
4 Prophetic Bolt
5 Electrolyze
6 Izzet Signet
7 Desolate Lighthouse
8 Jilt
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I hope Desolate Lighthouse has 250 pokedollars because its gonna need a burn heal.
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When would be the best time to buy Ral for cube? He's $30 right now and i think he is going to be $50 by the time the set is released.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I expect Maze to opened heavily (aka this whole block) and since it is a small set, there will be a good amt of Ral's floating around.
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Also, as an added bonus I was able to ultimate him twice (ramping him and running a Tangle Wire is good times). I beat the odds and got four turns off each one.
It also got some random value by tapping down my Mana Vault and messing up my game plan. I'll see if I can get it in a draft in a more slow RU deck like counterburn/grixis, etc, but I am a fan so far.
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Are you untapping or bolting more often upon casting the card?
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I now cannot wait to test this on saturday! Nice one untapping rofellos!
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...Yes he can. In more ways than most planeswalkers, actually. He can untap your creatures so he can block, and he can outright kill them with his -2 ability.
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That doesn't mean that Ral can't protect himself, because he can.
Sorry that he was in terrible shape every time he cast him, but that's not Ral's fault, and it's certainly not because Ral can't protect himself.
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I'd like to hear some other cube owners' opinions on this. Are my players underrating Ral Zarek, or is it outclassed by its mono-colored competition in this slot?
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The fact that he can repeatly bolt things on the battlefield or opponents is quite nice and makes him able to protect himself in a situation where you're not so far behind. He can also open the path for creatures that want to push additional damage or help you protect yourself while attacking. Plus, he got the abililty to untap huge mana rocks like Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Basalt Monolith, etc. Can also untap even more combo-oriented card like Time Vault. In fact, Him + Vault = Auto-Win. With that said, he shines more in a heavily powered cube because those kind of interactions only appears in there, but still solid even without those possibilities.
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