Seconded Oji, its a payoff and enabler all in one.
I seem to have completely missed Oji whenever it first came out. Though I'll admit I've kind of overlooked most of the "second spell" cards because I didn't know how reliable they would be. The only other one I really remember getting much discussion was Clarion Spirit. So I'm wondering how often have people been able to get these to trigger?
I'm tempted to try Oji, but it really hinges for me on whether I can regularly get the second ability to trigger. Gain 2 Scry 2 is worse than Cloudblazer's Gain 2 Draw 2 or maybe even Elite Guardmage's Gain 3 Draw 1; also it lacks the flying of the other two.
Being both a payoff and enabler, though, does seem to make it a fantastic signpost card.
Part of the problem I have with barrow blade is that I don't really know what the motivation is for someone to draft it. I went through my entire green section and aside from stopping a giant trample creature from trampling through, it doesn't really do anything to any of them. It doesn't contribute to any plan, it just sorta snipes random cards that you can't plan for.
I get that. And it doesn't really fit an archetype. But i have enjoyed it. Though my comment concentrated on the defensive capability, it's also really good on offense. When they realize they lose first strike or deathtouch, suddenly blocking doesn't look as good.
Fog Bank - (3 cubes) Seems like the perfect early road block for a control deck to slow down aggressive/midrange decks, and it has done well when I've seen it played.
Always been a fan of Fog Bank, and I'm one of the three running it. In a draft this past week, it got absolutely ridiculous when I equipped it with Barrow-Blade - it held everything at bay for several turns by both removing trample and preventing damage.
Speaking of Barrow-Blade, that's another one that I feel should get more play than just 17 cubes. I realize it's only 6-months old and from a set that some people may have avoided, but I've found it to be really good. The floor is a Leonin Scimitar, which isn't terribly impressive, but the ceiling is so high and gets better the stronger your opponent's creatures are. It takes away first strike, double strike, trample, deathtouch, lifelink, indestructible, persist, undying, hexproof, shroud, protection, lots of death triggers, damage triggers, damage prevention abilities, end of turn triggers, and a host of other abilities. During another game in that same draft this past week, I had it attached to Vampire of the Dire Moon, and during my opponent's alpha strike (he was losing and tried to apply maximum pressure), the vampire traded with Pelakka Wurm while removing trample, removing the card draw trigger, and gaining me 2 life. I then played Reanimate and got the vampire back out and re-equipped.
I've never had a shortage of playables when it came time to assemble a deck from the draft pulls, so I've expanded to 6 slots per guild to allow for more archetype signposts. The assumption of increasing my guild slots is that drafters will see them sooner and more often but won't suffer from a few more dead cards once they lock in their colors.
I've also never had a shortage of usable mana-fixing, as I don't run inflexible duals. My land selections prioritize flexibility and being useful to the most players possible.
-A specific gate/dual only matches 10% of possible 2-color decks and will often be useless to 90% of drafters.
-A triland matches 30% of possible 2-color decks.
-A thriving land matches 40% of possible 2-color decks.
-Ash Barrens/Evolving/Terramorphic/etc. match 100% of possible 2-color decks (and 3-color+).
This has served my drafters well, minimizing dead land slots in packs, and we've had anything from mono-color to five-color decks (had one friend who regularly built 4-color). I find that the lands become legitimate picks because more players can use them, so they are less likely to circle the table repeatedly.
Detective feels like a joke to begin with. While it is weird they aren't being consistent, I don't particularly care about the type or pretty much any mechanics from Clue: the Gathering.
Out of curiosity, how many cards would this apply to? Just Dogged Detective? I think that is the only black border one. If so, yeah, they probably just should have changed it.
Also, Dinosaur wasn't a new type - it was a return to type - Pygmy Allosaurus.
I've been through the entire set, and I have to say this set just doesn't do it for me. Not a fan of cloak, disguise, detective tribal, investigate matters, suspect, collect evidence, or even cases (the least bad mechanic?).
POSSIBLY CONSIDERING:
-Snarling Gorehound - Menace on a 1/1 isn't particularly useful, but repeatable surveil can be. I have 169 creatures that trigger this, along with 23 cards that produce tokens that trigger it. there's no "once per turn" clause, so this seems decent at setting up my next draw and fantastic for a reanimator deck.
-Ordruun Mentor - I run Sunhome Stalwart, though it's never particularly impressed me. Ordrunn's extra power makes Mentor quite a bit better, and being able to loan out first strike (even when Ordrunn Mentor isn't attacking) is pretty nice. Only problem is it's a guild slot.
-Push//Pull - I haven't really ventured past 2 color in Peasant, but this card intrigues me. Serviceable removal or a potential game-ending spell that otherwise triggers ETBs and death triggers?
PROBABLY NOT FOR NOW:
-Afterlife Insurance - Interesting, but until we get a few more dependable board wipes, I'll probably hold off.
So, wait, does having a and a card mean I have three color pairs? And & would be 6?
That's kinda unintuitive both flavour and gameplay wise.
No. Each permanenet that is exactly two colors counts only for that two color combo. I was responding to someone who complained about the restriction. My point was that exactly two colors is intuitive but anything else would lead to confusion.
The exactly 2 colours thing is dumb. Why not two or more? On the other 5c niv it made sense because it was still broken even with that restriction
Flavorwise: Because the guildpact cares about guilds, not Alara shards or Tarkir factions. Mechanically: Because it offers a unique build-direction separate from five color goodstuff. Gameplay: Because "number of different color pairs among permanents you control that are exactly two colors" is easy to define while setting a range of X between 0-10. Imagine the confusion and arguments if it said "number of different color pairs among permanents you control" - does this mean a white permanent and a red one count for Boros? Does a WBR card just count for just one pair or all three that can be formed with those colors? (WB/BR/WR) Specificity is our friend.
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
Except they're not. Manifest makes a face-down colorless 2/2, while cloak makes a face-down colorless 2/2 with ward 2.
If there are only one or two Cloak cards in your whole commander deck, seven years after any Cloak cards have been printed, and nothing on the card defines what it does, it leads to more confusion or having to use external tools to look up what is happening in-game, possibly after someone has already revealed removal because no one bothered to mark that the creature had ward. I already dislike that Disguise can so easily be confused with Morph - same cost, same look, but different abilities - and if the player isn't using reminder cards (instead of just a card back) to show the ward, the least they could do is run a card that explains exactly what it is making.
EDIT - And to add further to the confusion, the reminder card for cloaked creatures doesn't even say that it can be turned up like the manifest and morph reminder cards say. So now you can use a card that doesn't describe cloak to turn something face-down and then put a reminder card on it that doesn't describe what it can do...
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.
Golgari Decimate trades a land for a planeswalker, eases the targeting requirements by adding "up to," gets instant speed, but requires an additional cost.
Yep - joining with those who like Escape Tunnel. I cut Rogue's Passage a while ago when I made it so all lands in my cube help fix mana, but this returns some of that functionality. I actually really like that it offers a nice alternate mode mid to late game when Terramorphic or Evolving Wilds is no longer needed.
Vitu-Ghazi Inspector how good do we think this is? I can't shake the thought of cycling something like Generous Ent turn 1, and then putting this guy down turn 2. Is that too much of a magical Christmas type scenario, or is this card at the very least okay?
Sounds a bit magical Christmas land to me.
At its floor, the Inspector is a two mana 1/3 reach - nothing to write home about.
Collect evidence 6 is a fairly high bar. Short of the Ent or Troll, you'll likely have to wait several turns to get... a slightly better Kujar Seedsculptor? I mean Reach, +0/+1, and 2 life aren't nothing, but I don't think even the ceiling is really worth it.
Give it a sword of __ & __ that has pro red, play the new Judith (find a way to protect her also... or let her die if she's the Commander) and play a burn spell like Pyroclasm (I'm on my phone, so the mobile version doesn't have the same tools as the desktop version, but it's an iconic card, so you get my drift).
Or keep it simple with just this, Judith, and Blazing Volley/End the Festivities/Tectonic Hazard. These are far better cards in Judith anyway, as they are one-sided and less mana; no need for pro-red.
I like Morph.
I think Megamorph is a dumb, unnecessary variant with a goofy name.
I didn't mind Manifest because even though it was different, the face-down card still represented the same thing - a 2/2 colorless creature that might be turned up at some point.
I like Disguise least of all because now a face-down card does not represent the same thing - it isn't compatible with the others and must be represented uniquely. I.E. - you must run reminder cards for this so you know which one has ward among your many face-down cards.
Angel of Despair may have recently been outclassed, but it will remain my favorite card - awesome art and a powerful ETB ability in colors than allow it to be recurred either by blinking or through reanimation, all stapled to a big flying body. What's not to love?
I'm tempted to try Oji, but it really hinges for me on whether I can regularly get the second ability to trigger. Gain 2 Scry 2 is worse than Cloudblazer's Gain 2 Draw 2 or maybe even Elite Guardmage's Gain 3 Draw 1; also it lacks the flying of the other two.
Being both a payoff and enabler, though, does seem to make it a fantastic signpost card.
Speaking of Barrow-Blade, that's another one that I feel should get more play than just 17 cubes. I realize it's only 6-months old and from a set that some people may have avoided, but I've found it to be really good. The floor is a Leonin Scimitar, which isn't terribly impressive, but the ceiling is so high and gets better the stronger your opponent's creatures are. It takes away first strike, double strike, trample, deathtouch, lifelink, indestructible, persist, undying, hexproof, shroud, protection, lots of death triggers, damage triggers, damage prevention abilities, end of turn triggers, and a host of other abilities. During another game in that same draft this past week, I had it attached to Vampire of the Dire Moon, and during my opponent's alpha strike (he was losing and tried to apply maximum pressure), the vampire traded with Pelakka Wurm while removing trample, removing the card draw trigger, and gaining me 2 life. I then played Reanimate and got the vampire back out and re-equipped.
Multicolor: 60 (14.8%)
Lands (all mana-fixing): 33 (8.1%)
Multicolor + Lands: 93 (22.9%)
I've never had a shortage of playables when it came time to assemble a deck from the draft pulls, so I've expanded to 6 slots per guild to allow for more archetype signposts. The assumption of increasing my guild slots is that drafters will see them sooner and more often but won't suffer from a few more dead cards once they lock in their colors.
I've also never had a shortage of usable mana-fixing, as I don't run inflexible duals. My land selections prioritize flexibility and being useful to the most players possible.
-A specific gate/dual only matches 10% of possible 2-color decks and will often be useless to 90% of drafters.
-A triland matches 30% of possible 2-color decks.
-A thriving land matches 40% of possible 2-color decks.
-Ash Barrens/Evolving/Terramorphic/etc. match 100% of possible 2-color decks (and 3-color+).
This has served my drafters well, minimizing dead land slots in packs, and we've had anything from mono-color to five-color decks (had one friend who regularly built 4-color). I find that the lands become legitimate picks because more players can use them, so they are less likely to circle the table repeatedly.
Out of curiosity, how many cards would this apply to? Just Dogged Detective? I think that is the only black border one. If so, yeah, they probably just should have changed it.
Also, Dinosaur wasn't a new type - it was a return to type - Pygmy Allosaurus.
IN:
-Escape Tunnel - Early game fixing with mid-late game flexibility makes for a strictly better Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse. Should be a staple.
POSSIBLY CONSIDERING:
-Snarling Gorehound - Menace on a 1/1 isn't particularly useful, but repeatable surveil can be. I have 169 creatures that trigger this, along with 23 cards that produce tokens that trigger it. there's no "once per turn" clause, so this seems decent at setting up my next draw and fantastic for a reanimator deck.
-Ordruun Mentor - I run Sunhome Stalwart, though it's never particularly impressed me. Ordrunn's extra power makes Mentor quite a bit better, and being able to loan out first strike (even when Ordrunn Mentor isn't attacking) is pretty nice. Only problem is it's a guild slot.
-Push//Pull - I haven't really ventured past 2 color in Peasant, but this card intrigues me. Serviceable removal or a potential game-ending spell that otherwise triggers ETBs and death triggers?
PROBABLY NOT FOR NOW:
-Afterlife Insurance - Interesting, but until we get a few more dependable board wipes, I'll probably hold off.
No. Each permanenet that is exactly two colors counts only for that two color combo. I was responding to someone who complained about the restriction. My point was that exactly two colors is intuitive but anything else would lead to confusion.That was the point. I was responding to someone who complained that "The exactly 2 colours thing is dumb."
Mechanically: Because it offers a unique build-direction separate from five color goodstuff.
Gameplay: Because "number of different color pairs among permanents you control that are exactly two colors" is easy to define while setting a range of X between 0-10. Imagine the confusion and arguments if it said "number of different color pairs among permanents you control" - does this mean a white permanent and a red one count for Boros? Does a WBR card just count for just one pair or all three that can be formed with those colors? (WB/BR/WR) Specificity is our friend.
If there are only one or two Cloak cards in your whole commander deck, seven years after any Cloak cards have been printed, and nothing on the card defines what it does, it leads to more confusion or having to use external tools to look up what is happening in-game, possibly after someone has already revealed removal because no one bothered to mark that the creature had ward. I already dislike that Disguise can so easily be confused with Morph - same cost, same look, but different abilities - and if the player isn't using reminder cards (instead of just a card back) to show the ward, the least they could do is run a card that explains exactly what it is making.
EDIT - And to add further to the confusion, the reminder card for cloaked creatures doesn't even say that it can be turned up like the manifest and morph reminder cards say. So now you can use a card that doesn't describe cloak to turn something face-down and then put a reminder card on it that doesn't describe what it can do...
At its floor, the Inspector is a two mana 1/3 reach - nothing to write home about.
Collect evidence 6 is a fairly high bar. Short of the Ent or Troll, you'll likely have to wait several turns to get... a slightly better Kujar Seedsculptor? I mean Reach, +0/+1, and 2 life aren't nothing, but I don't think even the ceiling is really worth it.
I think Megamorph is a dumb, unnecessary variant with a goofy name.
I didn't mind Manifest because even though it was different, the face-down card still represented the same thing - a 2/2 colorless creature that might be turned up at some point.
I like Disguise least of all because now a face-down card does not represent the same thing - it isn't compatible with the others and must be represented uniquely. I.E. - you must run reminder cards for this so you know which one has ward among your many face-down cards.