Interesting card, too durdly for most cubes. Unless you can play it for 0 and get a Thopter token. My rules knowledge is not up to date enough to know if that counts as dying.I am guessing not as otherwise this card is a 1/1 flyer for 0 which is pretty nifty. Does a 0/0 that goes to the graveyard (as a state-based effect?) count as dying?
EDIT: I seem to suck at including images in my posts Sorry, too late to fix this. Off to bed.
As far as being on curve, For 4 mana investment this will give you 4 power worth of bodies (of which 2 fliers), but in two goes, so probably a little behind curve. Asides from being generic artifact support, I could also see it being used to support a sac theme, since it goes three bodies deep for 4. The counter adding ability is very reasonably costed as well, giving you a decent overall investment as an EoT payment. One other thing in its favour is that there really aren't that many good artifact creatures available. I think it's probably a little low impact in its initial form for our liking but I can see it being played in some cubes, sure.
Interesting card, too durdly for most cubes. Unless you can play it for 0 and get a Thopter token. My rules knowledge is not up to date enough to know if that counts as dying.I am guessing not as otherwise this card is a 1/1 flyer for 0 which is pretty nifty. Does a 0/0 that goes to the graveyard (as a state-based effect?) count as dying?
EDIT: I seem to suck at including images in my posts Sorry, too late to fix this. Off to bed.
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On the card: seems too durdly. Even in its cheapest mode, you start with too small of a creature for the investment and it takes too long to get to a point where the mana invested is worthwhile. Easy pass.
I really wanted to like this guy, but I think he's just a little too clunky. Like, Chasm Skulker seems infinitely better than this guy, and that card was only okay. I know this is colorless and that one is blue, so the comparison isn't perfect, but still.
This is so close to the card I have been dreaming of. Making Chronomaton playable would have been sweet and a 2/1 for 2 with a great upside is what I want, but alas there just doesn't see mt to be anywhere on the scalability curve to make this guy sweet.
Amongst the many solid inclusions from Magic Origins, there have been an even greater number of "near misses", cards that would have been home runs if their power levels were dialed slightly higher; this card is one such example.
Amongst the many solid inclusions from Magic Origins, there have been an even greater number of "near misses", cards that would have been home runs if their power levels were dialed slightly higher; this card is one such example.
Yes! So many interesting cards that miss out due to being just not powerful enough.
If only the tap ability had no mana cost... then you could keep curving out while "leveling" this up. Or starting as a 1/0 or a 0/2.
I had the opportunity to play Hangarback Walker this past weekend in a sealed Origins event. I marveled at how good he is. I never played it higher than a two drop because he was always in my opening hand whenever I saw him. Admittedly, sealed limited is always going to be far slower than a cube will ever be however, his ability to block, add a counter and threaten two thopters is pretty incredible. And as a Tinker target he's all value. It might have been the push I needed to test him out.
Yeah, the walker seems to have impressed a lot of people in constructed so far as simply a 2-mana Chronomaton with a powerful death trigger that serves as a mana sink later on. I'm still not sold, but he's certainly on my radar now.
I really want to like this card, but it does seem pretty slow and durdly. The cube could definitely use more mana-sinks though. I might just give it a test run.
Also in the 'really want this to be good' boat. I love both scalable permanents and stuff that replaces itself when it dies, and this is colorless. More feedback welcome
I think playing it at 2 and activating once so it gets 2 fliers on the death trigger is a great investment and totally worth3. The turn you play it as a 1/1 it's a sitting duck, but after that it can threaten to block very effectively. After 2+ activations we are looking at a pretty dangerous card. I think the WCS will be playing it when you really need to build a board presence like on turn 2 when you are facing down a Goblin Guide, or a Gravecrawler or any 2/2 and are forced to block ineffectively. Trading profitably wouldn't be an option here, but you would be able to stall a bit with the extra body. Another less than ideal situation is when you play it and it gets blown up immediately. Still, I probably wouldn't feel to bad because my opponent wasted removal on a 2 drop and I still get a body on the field. If dropped on curve this guy will get more and more problematic for the opponent as the game wears on. Getting it to 3 or 4 counters is like a mini Wurmcoil Engine/Hornet Queen which is a great ceiling. I can also see games where you randomly topdeck it at 6+ mana and play it as a 3/3. Not great for 6, but the flexibility is nice. So yea, at worst you are paying 2 for a Doomed Traveler which is pretty bad, but I think it'll be pretty easy level it up to being a good investment.
Hangarback Walker could definitely have implications in the control, midrange, tokens, artifacts, and pox/stax decks. I've just convinced myself to try it out!
Interesting card, too durdly for most cubes. Unless you can play it for 0 and get a Thopter token. My rules knowledge is not up to date enough to know if that counts as dying.I am guessing not as otherwise this card is a 1/1 flyer for 0 which is pretty nifty. Does a 0/0 that goes to the graveyard (as a state-based effect?) count as dying?
EDIT: I seem to suck at including images in my posts Sorry, too late to fix this. Off to bed.
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What is this? A preview for ants?!
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On the card: seems too durdly. Even in its cheapest mode, you start with too small of a creature for the investment and it takes too long to get to a point where the mana invested is worthwhile. Easy pass.
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Man, if it were only a 1/0.. Or even a 0/1.
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In a Mirran/Artifact cube this is perfect.
It interacts with +1/+1 counters, proliferate, and of course artifact sac effects.
If only the tap ability had no mana cost... then you could keep curving out while "leveling" this up. Or starting as a 1/0 or a 0/2.
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Hangarback Walker could definitely have implications in the control, midrange, tokens, artifacts, and pox/stax decks. I've just convinced myself to try it out!