MTG Salvation

Quote from Alabran

Eh, not really. It's probably spike, if anything.
The WU Sphinx is kind of Johnny-esque. The article where it was revealed suggested some interesting interactions I hadn't thought of before, though none are standard legal.

Aurelia, the Warleader does a pretty good Relentless Assault impression in Standard.

Throwing this out there again, from MaRo's blog:

"Of the other two mechanics, one is a repeated mechanic brought back that strongly hits the flavor of Greek mythology; the second is a mechanic that we thought had potential but didn’t live up to it first time out - it has been mechanically retweaked and given a new name and flavor. The last mechanics is also tied to the gods"

1. Licids fit the context of a returning mechanic that didn't live up to it's flavor, pretty sure Rosewater has sadi that specifically about Licids in the past.

2. Mechanical retweaking would be necessary for Licids, and what MaRo said they would do if Licids ever came back.

3. Makes sense being tied to the gods, because the transition from creature to enchantment could be the God giving it's blessing to a mortal, or even coming don as an avatar or mortal form (like Zeus was wont to do in Greek Myth)

Also, the God cards have a new card frame - that transitions from a traditional cardframe to the night sky. A sign of transformative properties? Seems like it to me.

Quote from krishnath

Good thing they made a couple of the double sided cards able to transform both ways then.

But yeah, I agree completely, if Licid's ever return, it will likely be as DFC's.

That does make a lot of sense, and I think the rules update would still be applicable to a hypothetical DFC Licid (For example, if the DFC licid flips to transform into an aura, and then someone Flickerforms the creature, the DFC licid would come back on it's front [creature] side). MaRo also said that DFC will make a return, but I don't know if one block later is long enough.

Fortifications were introduced in Future Sight as equipment for lands - see Darksteel Garrison.

Licids may not have been the most useful creatures ever, and they may have caused more rules headaches than any ten mechanics, but I think we may see a new version of licids in Theros block.

1. There has been some speculation from the enchantment subtheme in M14 that Theros may have an enchantment theme. Licids fit well with the enchantment them, and may the a way of doing "Enchantment Creatures" right. MaRo's mentioned that, while they think there is design space for enchantment creatures, they should be more enchantment-like than Lucent Liminid was.

2. MaRo has also said that there will be some new kind of licid someday, or at least something that captures most of what licids wanted to do.

3. From the most recent rules update, new rule 303.4h.

303.4h

This new rule covers the case where an effect attempts to put a non-Aura onto the battlefield attached to a creature. This is possible with cards like Flickerform and Copy Enchantment. The permanent is put onto the battlefield unattached.

This rule change would help clear up some potentially confusing situations involving Licids. Sure, they could just be cleaning up a fuzzy rules point for maintenance sake, but they could also be ironing out some licid-related rules problems.

Thoughts?

Crab Umbra can let a Harabaz Druid go infinite if you have 3 other allies. Maybe not the most effective ally strategy, but cute nonetheless.

The poor Gigantomancer is totally getting Photobombed by that mantis. He even had his super-intense face on before that dumb bug hopped in the frame.

I liked the article, but there was one misconception about the Time Vault/Rings combo. If you know you're going to be casting Rings, you can just untap the vault during your untap phase, drop the rings, then tap the vault and combo out. The initial turn ganed from the vault is counterbalanced by the one you spent to untap it, and you get an extra one from the rings.

This means that if ou can pay the 4 mana to drop and activate the rings with the vault already in play, then it doesn't take an extra turn over the Transreliquat combo. Also, if the rings get countered, you can always just tap the vault to cancel out the missing turn, so nothing extra is lost. I don't think this really affects the viability of the combo, but its worth noting.

I think that running auratog makes sense, even in a more controllish build. First, he's a backup plan to make all of your rings/acids into vindicates even when you can't bounce them. Second, he can be a rather sizable beater in a pinch. And third, if you're already running temporal isolation, you can isolate the Tog, attack through all shadowy, then sac all your enchantments to make him big and get rid of that obnoxious damage prevention.

Ok, so do you play the Harbinger? He's not on the curve at all, but he does nasty things once he gets going. He finds militia, he grabs Cenns and their heirs, and also, he can allow for a toolbox of sorts, letting you grab a card you may not want to run 4 of immediately, like Gaddock or perhaps Mirror Entity (who i guess is another question as well? pretty damn good if he makes it past the first turn, but he's kinda squishy otherwise.) Also, you can do cute things with the Harbinger and Galepowder Mage, if that's your style.

I was really surprised to see you claim Kinsbaile Skirmisher was the other really good kithkin from that post, considering that this was on there:

Cenn's Heir casting cost: 1W
creature kithkin soldier
whenever Cenn's heir attacks it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each other attacking Kithkin.
1/1
common

Its the Kithkin Piledriver, and i believe he would like a spot in your deck

Going G/W gives you Teeg, Tarmo, Saffi, and the Enforcer, if you want to go that high. Plus any other Green kithkin that show up further down the road, since i doubt Kithkin Daggerdare is turning many heads in constructed. Also, the mana base is easily handled, with Brushland there as always, along with the great Horizon Canopy and the potentially great G/W kithkin land. I think that should be enough stuff that getting WW on turn 2 consistently won't be a huge issue.

Don't forget that using a mastermind to bounce the Oblivion ring in response to the comes into play effect means "2UW: Remove target non-land permanent from the game". Takes a little to set up, but that still looks pretty awesome. You could also do something similar, albeit slightly clunkier, with Mangara of Corondor. Lastly, the Mastermind has similar synergy with Reality Acid.

So yeah, probably too slow to mean much, but that can be just nasty if it gets running.

Just out of curiosity, why choose B/R over U/R? Transmute is slow, but using Mystic Speculation and Sleight of Hand can really set up your draws.

I don't really have anyone to test with, but I've been fishbowling the following deck for a little while and seeing wins consistently turn 4-5, with the occasional turn 2,3, or 6 win thrown in. Adding blue can allowing for more early defense as well, since Remand is quite the good card. No sideboard yet, since I've really just been fishbowling, but if the deck seems worth pursuing, it can easily be created.



I generally mulligan unless I have at least one of the combo pieces and some card drawing. I really think I need to put Gigadrowse in here, possibly over the Shocks and move those to the board. The Shocks can be really helpful when going off, but Gigadrowse just deals with so many potential answers that its tough to dismiss. If I put in the drowses, though, the land count also needs to go up. Low land count hasn't been an issue yet, but I definitely see the potential for screw in running 19 lands, even when you don't need much mana to go off.

Have you thought about running plain old shock over the Darknesses in the sideboard? Shock can take out an early beater, which often will save you about as much damage as a Darkness would over the course of the game, I'd think. Also, when you're comboing out, Shock gives you not just an extra spell but also 4 damage (via swath), making your combo blow out a good deal faster.