Looks pretty great to me. Sure, you can't get at the card you exile on the first swing if this came down on curve, but you can get it (and the next one) the following turn... and any future turns as long as this survives. That's good enough in my book.
As I was reading this card I just kept assuming the next block of text was going to be the drawback, then I re-read it assuming I had misread something,but no, its all upside.
Card seems pretty nuts, almost doesnt feel like a real card though; none of the abilities feel connected and they dont even all feel 100% green. That being said its a slam dunk into cube for me.
Somewhere Erithizon is looking forward in time at this card and just crying quietly.
It's a super expensive combat trick that's always going to cast at least RR. If you're casting this for 2-3 mana in a red deck, you've probably already won.
I disagree with this. In a vacuum, or in previous years I might agree, but looking at reds three drop section in particular in the past few years, we’ve got loads of token generators. Hanweir garrison alone makes this a 3 drop. Tokens have increased over the last few years and this might be a legitimate contender for cube. There are plenty of games I swing with a hanweir garrison and don’t autowin.
But then the big problem is that it's not so impressive on such a board. Cool, your Garrison is now a 3/4 with double strike and trample. Assuming it connects, you turned RR into 4 extra damage and a leftover thing to equip on future turns... that's not all that great?
The optimal case here feels like paying something like 2RR and tacking this on to Thrun or another card which protects itself. I think this card is one of those that gets substantially better the lower your environment's power is. It'll be a menace in ELD limited but it's not something I'm looking to try out in my cube.
Sorry....the person who posted the original post in the rumor mill got it wrong and I copy/pasted for expediency....yes, the spell is instant speed which is why I referenced hero's downfall.
Note to self: Slow down posting the spoilers....lol. Keep making critical typos!
"All right R&D interns, it's that time again. Here we have a 2GG 4/4 called... uhhhh... what's this set again? Fairy tales? Called 'Questing Beast'. Now reach into the bowl of abilities and start throwing them onto the card until we run out of space or we get it to... ugh, all the way to mythic. I'm gonna go get another scotch, tell me where it ended up tomorrow."
I feel like maybe people are discounting the adventure side of this card a little too. Yeah, it's just a 1/1, but you only spent G on it; it didn't even cost you a card, not really. It's an Elvish Visionary for half price that always draws you a 2G 5/5.
This card probably still doesn't quite get there but I don't think the floor is really that low. It's just another illustration of how hard it is to break into a cube these days.
I'd like this a lot more if Swift End were an instant, even with the life loss. Still worth considering... not sure what a cut for testing would be here.
If you're running a Selsenya tokens deck, this card can slip in well enough. Outside of that, it's essentially a green 5/5 defender for 3CMC, which is probably too underpowered for smaller, powered cubes.
For those with larger cubes this is a tough include to find a cut for. Only real reason to include it is it's fantastic, on point flavour.
It also fits well with Gruul, considering the number of token producers you find there. Looking at my own list, here are all the red cards that are 1/1s or produce them:
Bomat Courier
Goblin Welder
Grim Lavamancer
Mogg War Marshal
Young Pyromancer
Goblin Rabblemaster
Hanweir Garrison
Imperial Recruiter
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Legion Warboss
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
Pia Nalaar
Seasoned Pyromancer
Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Siege-Gang Commander
15 cards out of 95 is a pretty decent chunk, especially considering the quality of some of the names on there. The main issue I see is that many of them compete at that 3 CMC slot.
I can't imagine this being better than anything but the pure vanillas in this slot, and even at 720 I pushed all of those out already. I'd keep Mardu Woe-Reaper over this, the ETB exile is sometimes relevant if you topdeck it later in a game.
Somewhere Erithizon is looking forward in time at this card and just crying quietly.
But then the big problem is that it's not so impressive on such a board. Cool, your Garrison is now a 3/4 with double strike and trample. Assuming it connects, you turned RR into 4 extra damage and a leftover thing to equip on future turns... that's not all that great?
The optimal case here feels like paying something like 2RR and tacking this on to Thrun or another card which protects itself. I think this card is one of those that gets substantially better the lower your environment's power is. It'll be a menace in ELD limited but it's not something I'm looking to try out in my cube.
Well then in that case, SOLD.
This card probably still doesn't quite get there but I don't think the floor is really that low. It's just another illustration of how hard it is to break into a cube these days.
It also fits well with Gruul, considering the number of token producers you find there. Looking at my own list, here are all the red cards that are 1/1s or produce them:
Bomat Courier
Goblin Welder
Grim Lavamancer
Mogg War Marshal
Young Pyromancer
Goblin Rabblemaster
Hanweir Garrison
Imperial Recruiter
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Legion Warboss
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
Pia Nalaar
Seasoned Pyromancer
Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Siege-Gang Commander
15 cards out of 95 is a pretty decent chunk, especially considering the quality of some of the names on there. The main issue I see is that many of them compete at that 3 CMC slot.
1. Survival of the Fittest
2. Gaea's Cradle
3. Natural Order
4. Sylvan Library
5. Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
6. Eternal Witness
7. Oath of Druids
8. Primeval Titan
9. Carnage Tyrant
10. Noble Hierarch
11. Birds of Paradise
12. Hexdrinker
13. Channel
14. Thrun, the Last Troll
15. Thragtusk
16. Tireless Tracker
17. Ramunap Excavator
18. Scavenging Ooze
19. Plow Under
20. Joraga Treespeaker