Am I right in thinking the alchemist destroys the issue with eldrazi in mill decks?
You won't be able to exile the Eldrazi legends if it's your turn, since the alchemist trigger will go on stack first followed by the eldrazi graveyard trigger. The Eldrazi ability will resolve first allowing them to shuffle. (Active Player puts their triggers abilities on stack first, then the Non-Active Player).
So basically, you're still helpless against Eldrazi unless you're relying on milling effects usable during your opponent's turn. (Though you will still get zombies to play around with)
A spell that can deal 13 damage to multiple creatures for one mana (and yes, I mean 13 damage multiple times)
I'm guessing this will be 13 damage to 13 target creatures ala Hex. Though it would be too powerful in multiplayer games when the targeting condition becomes more feasible.
Stupid question: The set symbol on the site was gold. Does this mean that the cards in here will be just rares, like in Dragons, or is it mere coincidence and will they all be brought up to mythic rarity?
It looks like they corrected the image on their announcement page to show a mythic-coloured symbol now.
Does the card really need the "if its toughness is greater than 1 part" it seems superflous.
I think it's to avoid confusion. Otherwise players unfamiliar with regenerate (or the rules in general) may be misled to believe that the card could regenerate even zero toughness creatures.
I've played against this type of deck in block before. Although the version I played got massive card advantage with 4x Viridian Revel. 1 active revel was a pain, 2 and it's pretty much game over.
This is pretty solid evidence. I also find it interesting that the full name of the land is "Rey-Goor, the Black Bayou", using the name of the original B/G dual. So crazy thought here, but maybe in the 3rd set we could see a set of enemy duals...with land types? There's none in Extended, and by putting it in the 3rd set they would limit the damage done by having fetches in the same Standard format since the fetches would shortly rotate. (Names could be something like "XXX, the Shining Plateau", "XXX, the Sinking Scrubland", "XXX, the Tropical Island", and "XXX, the Volcanic Island")
Somehow I think the more likely explanation is that they ran out of synonyms for swampy areas. They've printed so many land cycles over the years that they're bound to have to start reusing the base noun sometime.
Protection from all colors is not that good? Since when? Pro all colors means champion is unblockable, or can chump all day long. Attach some equipment and it's a machine. The common played cards it dies to are Journey to Nowhere and DoJ. Etched champion is bonkers, especially when it goes into legacy affinity and gets a Cranial Plating.
And what situation would you rather run a 1/1 over a 0/2 flying? In order to make either of them useful, you have to pump them up somehow- and I'd rather have the evasive one that can chump better in that case. For something like an all-in turn 1 rush bizarre strategy with mox opals, glint hawks & bushwhackers, ok. But outside that?
Well to start, Memnite actually has a power of 1, so it can actually deal damage and kill opposing X/1 creatures. Ornithopter can't do that unassisted. This "free" 1 power creature has a certain appeal. Players are getting their hands on something that perhaps was unthinkable years ago (well... if you ignore Frogmite and affinity friends)
Also, Ornithopter has been around for quite a while and has been reprinted numerous times.
Can anyone tell me what cards *outside* of block Livewire Lash would go well with? Especially rare cards in ~extended (for a pseudo-EDH deck I wanna put this in)?
Problems:
1) It would have to be a creature you would want to target with your own spells.
2) You would have to have an array of spells and/or a repeatable spell you would want to target it with.
I would agree that this is probably something that doesn't need a keyword since it's a special ability that probably shouldn't be on a lot of cards anyways due to its higher power.
Here's my shot at the wording (I changed the flavour up a bit to make it feel more special):
Smoldering Firefiend 1RRR
Creature - Elemental (Rare)
Whenever Smoldering Firefiend deals combat damage to a creature or player, put that many burn counters on that creature or player.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Smoldering Firefiend is on the battlefield, in your graveyard, or in the exile zone, it deals 1 damage to each creature and player for each burn counter on it, him or her.
2/1
This version isn't functionally identical (i.e. stops working if the firefiend is returned to hand or library, does weird things in multiples and you can screw around with the counters -- unlike with the emblem solutions suggested in this thread), but I think the small tweaks are worth it for the simplified text.
It also makes it easy to make it a crazy mythic by removing the word "combat" from the first line (would definitely need to become a 1/1 though). I also think simply increasing the mana cost is a better way of balancing the card rather than tacking on a whole lot of drawbacks.
Has it been filtered through photoshop or did they actually bump the contrast up on the card template that much? The black card border looks mostly grey.
I believe the mock-up was designed to mimic a foil, which is why the colors look weird. I'm sure the art on the normal card will be less colourful.
Here's my version of the Sphinx-Bone wand deck I've been testing on MTGO. Originally I had built a U/G version that was focused on ramp and cantrips, with fog-effects to stay alive. However, I found that to be very inconsistent.
I decided to add white, and the deck is a lot better now:
Adding white allows me run View from Above, which allows me to activate the wand as much as I want, so long as I have Wall of omens, Oblivion Ring, Rhox War Monk, or Sun Titan on the battlefield. With the View, I can safely increase the creature count of the deck, which greatly improves my early game survival.
My early game consists of ramping, scrying and blocking. And if I have the War Monk out, I can go on the offensive to start creating a life buffer.
I often find View from Above allowing me to have 4 wand activations the turn after it comes down, which is enough for 1, 2, 3 and 4 damage pings. Depending on my board position, I choose whether to wipe out opposing creatures for my war-monks to get through, or aim 10 damage straight for the dome.
I haven't tried red or black at all, since I feel that the wand is too slow for those colors. (particularly red, which I feel already has a large selection of burn to choose from, without needing the help of a 7 mana artifact)
You won't be able to exile the Eldrazi legends if it's your turn, since the alchemist trigger will go on stack first followed by the eldrazi graveyard trigger. The Eldrazi ability will resolve first allowing them to shuffle. (Active Player puts their triggers abilities on stack first, then the Non-Active Player).
So basically, you're still helpless against Eldrazi unless you're relying on milling effects usable during your opponent's turn. (Though you will still get zombies to play around with)
I'm guessing this will be 13 damage to 13 target creatures ala Hex. Though it would be too powerful in multiplayer games when the targeting condition becomes more feasible.
It looks like they corrected the image on their announcement page to show a mythic-coloured symbol now.
I think it's to avoid confusion. Otherwise players unfamiliar with regenerate (or the rules in general) may be misled to believe that the card could regenerate even zero toughness creatures.
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Somehow I think the more likely explanation is that they ran out of synonyms for swampy areas. They've printed so many land cycles over the years that they're bound to have to start reusing the base noun sometime.
Journey to Nowhere can't target the etched champion. That's more of an Emrakul weakness.
Well to start, Memnite actually has a power of 1, so it can actually deal damage and kill opposing X/1 creatures. Ornithopter can't do that unassisted. This "free" 1 power creature has a certain appeal. Players are getting their hands on something that perhaps was unthinkable years ago (well... if you ignore Frogmite and affinity friends)
Also, Ornithopter has been around for quite a while and has been reprinted numerous times.
It's not rare, but you could do a cute combo with any white creature, the lash, and View from Above. (or any creature, and another white permanent)
Here's my shot at the wording (I changed the flavour up a bit to make it feel more special):
Smoldering Firefiend 1RRR
Creature - Elemental (Rare)
Whenever Smoldering Firefiend deals combat damage to a creature or player, put that many burn counters on that creature or player.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Smoldering Firefiend is on the battlefield, in your graveyard, or in the exile zone, it deals 1 damage to each creature and player for each burn counter on it, him or her.
2/1
This version isn't functionally identical (i.e. stops working if the firefiend is returned to hand or library, does weird things in multiples and you can screw around with the counters -- unlike with the emblem solutions suggested in this thread), but I think the small tweaks are worth it for the simplified text.
It also makes it easy to make it a crazy mythic by removing the word "combat" from the first line
I believe the mock-up was designed to mimic a foil, which is why the colors look weird. I'm sure the art on the normal card will be less colourful.
I decided to add white, and the deck is a lot better now:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Seaside Citadel
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Plains
3 Forest
2 Island
3 Augury Owl
4 Rhox War Monk
2 Sun Titan
3 Sylvan Ranger
4 Wall of Omens
4 Cultivate
4 Day of Judgment
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Sphinx-Bone Wand
4 View from Above
Adding white allows me run View from Above, which allows me to activate the wand as much as I want, so long as I have Wall of omens, Oblivion Ring, Rhox War Monk, or Sun Titan on the battlefield. With the View, I can safely increase the creature count of the deck, which greatly improves my early game survival.
My early game consists of ramping, scrying and blocking. And if I have the War Monk out, I can go on the offensive to start creating a life buffer.
I often find View from Above allowing me to have 4 wand activations the turn after it comes down, which is enough for 1, 2, 3 and 4 damage pings. Depending on my board position, I choose whether to wipe out opposing creatures for my war-monks to get through, or aim 10 damage straight for the dome.
I haven't tried red or black at all, since I feel that the wand is too slow for those colors. (particularly red, which I feel already has a large selection of burn to choose from, without needing the help of a 7 mana artifact)