I don't think I'll be reading the story this time, anyone care to explain how an Oltec guy (from inside the core of Ixalan?) ended up inside a vault on this plane?
So discounting the ability to just use the Vampiric Tutor mode on its own (as outside of certain niche situations it's always going to be a bad idea), we basically have a split card, where one half is BBB, draw 3, lose 3 (so a mono-black version of Painful Truths), and the other half is 2BBB to cast Demonic Tutor and Divination.
The 5 mana option is...alright, I guess, but it's not a card that I would necessarily want to play in a lot of decks, because as mentioned above, black is INCREDIBLY deep on tutors. The 3 mana option though, has nowhere near the competition.
There are less than 10 cards in all of Magic that will unconditionally draw you three cards (and let you keep all of them) for only three mana, and of them, Necropotence is the only one I would say is hands-down better. Like, I would at least consider playing this in most every commander deck that has the manabase to support the BBB mana cost, even if that was the only mode. The fact that your cheap draw 3 spell then upgrades later on to let you pick one of the cards to be whatever you want is just the cherry on top.
Agree. I see this as a staple for monoblack, or any deck heavily enough into black that BBB is relatively easy to pull off. I wouldn't run it if it was just the 2BBB mode, but that is a nice bonus.
Yeah I'm not sure what the actual text of the official rules is, but "you may cast" worded like that lets you ignore the ordinary timing restriction, but does mean you have to cast it right after the ability triggers when tinybones connects. Ragavan's "until end of turn" clause means you actually must behave by traditional timing rules, but you have until end of turn to do so.
Tinybones would get hosed by Teferi Time Raveler, Ragavan wouldn't.
If a card says "you may cast it", you have to cast it specifically at the time of the trigger, ignoring sorcery speed etc. If it gives you a time window like "you may cast it as long as" or "you may cast it until end of turn" etc, you have to abide by regular timing restrictions.
anyway the biggest is 7 since that would make 14 then you can get 28 or 30 if you add one more counter
The way I read it, it checks to see that her power is 16 or less before doubling. So she gets to 16/16, it lets her double to 32/32. Next turn she'd lose 31 counters and you'd gain 31 life.
“You may cast target, nonland permanent from that players graveyard”
But it doesn't say "as if it had flash". Does this somehow get around timing restrictions? I don't get how this thing isn't limited to ONLY flash permanents at that point. Ragavan says "until end of turn you may cast it". Tinybones just lets you cast as you connect.
Yeah I'm not sure what the actual text of the official rules is, but "you may cast" worded like that lets you ignore the ordinary timing restriction, but does mean you have to cast it right after the ability triggers when tinybones connects. Ragavan's "until end of turn" clause means you actually must behave by traditional timing rules, but you have until end of turn to do so.
Tinybones would get hosed by Teferi Time Raveler, Ragavan wouldn't.
I am interested in the themes of all four of these decks. I wonder if the Naya one will actually have deserts too, and maybe even have Hazezon, Shaper of Sand as a reprint? Could be perfectly on theme of growing lands back.
I find it kind of silly that this is an "old timey western set" and that translates to "characters you've seen before all cosplaying"
Is it just me, or are sets beginning to look like video games with seasonal skins? Like it's all just a costume party for characters.
it isn't just you. And if we had some attachment to these characters beyond "...cool commander I guess?" it'd be a sweet selling point. As it stands it just comes across as awkward and stilted.
I always like to see artists preview their own cards. Leave some of their favorite works that would normally get ignored for their own previews. I also really like this artist's work here, and hope to see them in a showcase frame in the future.
Wow - LOVE that felidar guardian art, and the serpent is top notch. The other two are great too.
Do any of these have much value? I'm going to be very tempted to get this either way... and I've been trying to soft-boycott wotc's money grabs too.
Yeah, cool when the artist gets a chance to comment on their own work, and becomes an easy way for fans of the mtg art to see more of the artist.
Ok I am sort of hoping the fifth card is something I actually need for a deck and has decent value... or I guess if it's something awful I can just write this one off like all the other secret lairs.
Wow - LOVE that felidar guardian art, and the serpent is top notch. The other two are great too.
Do any of these have much value? I'm going to be very tempted to get this either way... and I've been trying to soft-boycott wotc's money grabs too.
I might have to build a Tiny deck just for cuteness factor.
Also, I'm sort of impressed by all the neat things this deck tries to do with clues. Turning them into equipment (meh), exalted (ok now we're talking) and ust 6/6 monster plants (!!) are all ways to make them quite aggressive.
Because Reinterpret grabs from a small subset (your hand) while counterpoint grabs from the graveyard, in a graveyard deck that makes the new card automatically tailored for the current situation as compared to Reinterpret as you can oly work with what is in your hand and mostly could have cast anyways.
You starting with the premise that Reinterpret is a good card... which is not.
I really hate cards that don't explain what they do. Cloak will likely only ever appear in this set, and the extended art doesn't explain this set-specific mechanic. It adds complexity and frustration to an already over-complicated game, especially in Commander.
??? Cloak rules are the same as manifest
that’s a complicated mechanic though! And how is someone seeing the word “cloak” even supposed to know that?
I agree with OP and I think it’s mostly a problem on the needlessly enlarged full art cards, but fortunately limited to rares and mythics.
Card seems good enough but I wish it were an instant.
Agree. I see this as a staple for monoblack, or any deck heavily enough into black that BBB is relatively easy to pull off. I wouldn't run it if it was just the 2BBB mode, but that is a nice bonus.
Right, that's what I said.
The way I read it, it checks to see that her power is 16 or less before doubling. So she gets to 16/16, it lets her double to 32/32. Next turn she'd lose 31 counters and you'd gain 31 life.
Yeah I'm not sure what the actual text of the official rules is, but "you may cast" worded like that lets you ignore the ordinary timing restriction, but does mean you have to cast it right after the ability triggers when tinybones connects. Ragavan's "until end of turn" clause means you actually must behave by traditional timing rules, but you have until end of turn to do so.
Tinybones would get hosed by Teferi Time Raveler, Ragavan wouldn't.
All the tribute and good proceeds aside, this is also fantastic value for a secret lair.
I find it kind of silly that this is an "old timey western set" and that translates to "characters you've seen before all cosplaying"
Agreed.
Yeah, cool when the artist gets a chance to comment on their own work, and becomes an easy way for fans of the mtg art to see more of the artist.
Ok I am sort of hoping the fifth card is something I actually need for a deck and has decent value... or I guess if it's something awful I can just write this one off like all the other secret lairs.
Looks like a (big) cat to me. Love the art.
No interest in the rest of these.
Do any of these have much value? I'm going to be very tempted to get this either way... and I've been trying to soft-boycott wotc's money grabs too.
I might have to build a Tiny deck just for cuteness factor.
Also, I'm sort of impressed by all the neat things this deck tries to do with clues. Turning them into equipment (meh), exalted (ok now we're talking) and ust 6/6 monster plants (!!) are all ways to make them quite aggressive.
or they were just answering your question?
that’s a complicated mechanic though! And how is someone seeing the word “cloak” even supposed to know that?
I agree with OP and I think it’s mostly a problem on the needlessly enlarged full art cards, but fortunately limited to rares and mythics.
Card seems good enough but I wish it were an instant.