I can understand people not running Arbiter, and I just personally have a man crush on him. I know he's not nearly the best but I love his shenanigans too much.
I think he is good enough to replace some of the bad two drops like Vampire Interloper. Though I imagine this can lead players to dump their hand unnecessarily, when in fact being an early 2/1 beater is good enough.
I think people are overlooking the fact that a 2/1 is perfectly fine, though not exciting. Would we include him just as a vanilla 2/1, probably not, but the fact that he has a REAL upside and that he isn't always a dead top deck makes him playable if not a staple.
I think that, in the end, he's going to be pretty good. He's not going to be lights out but he's going to fill a good roll and there will be games that he just does amazing things. Really, what more can you ask out of a 2 drop? Yes, yes, I know we are all spoiled in the world of Bobs and Goyfs and Snapcasters but this guy is still gonna be good. Him being a zombie certainly doesn't hurt either.
I do like the fact that Far//Away is an instant which makes the card/s more valuable. I'm not sure if I'll play it in my Dimir section but it might warrant some testing
I like that it forces your opponent to change possible lines of play because of how he punishes spell casting on your turn. That effect itself is worth noting not to mention the fact that he only costs 2 mana!
I think this card would have been much better as a 5GG card since Selesnya is just so stacked and they just picked up 2 more possible playable cards in Advent of the Wurm and Voice of Resurgence.
When I first read the card I was confused and had to read it a few times to actually understand what was going on.
That being said, I'm going to try and make room for this card and see where it takes me. I know that I'm going to lose a great many games to it since I tend to play the blue control deck that this card mashes on.
I like this guy but I'm not sure how I can find a place for him. I'm too big a fan of Grand Arbiter shenanigans to get rid of him and I think Geist, Venser, Verdict, Sphere are currently too good to be cut for rando guy.
I definitely think this guy warrants testing. He's a 2 CC 2 power guy (never seem to get enough of those for some reason) that has a very real potential upside. There is very little downside in this guy, unless you don't like 2 costed 2 power guys and there are times where he can run away with games.
Pretty disappointed by Ral Zarek. He's obviously very good for Cube, but Entwined Dream's Grip, Lightning Bolt and multiple Stitch in Time is cheap design.
I'm not exactly sure how that can be called cheap design. Lightning bolt is a distinct for the Red part of his casting cost and plays well with Izzet's zaping themes. Tapping/untapping is also very thematic for Izzet and what it's trying to do, tinkering and what not. And his ulitmate is basically the living embodiment of the Epic Experiment. If you bothered to ACTUALLY look at the card from the Guild's perspective instead of just dismissing it, you'd notice the awesome flavor and design they put into this dude.
I am very impressed with this new PW. His abilities are costed correctly and not over powered. I love that he has the ability to Volcanic Hammer twice out the gate. I also love the flavor of the ultimate since it fits perfectly with the Izzet mantra of tinkering with experiments and getting unknown results. All in all, I can't wait to cube with this bad boy!
Wish the art were better though. I like that it's steam punkish and it reminds me of (for those of you that have played or know of Warmachines) the Cygnar Warcasters.
I think people are overlooking the fact that a 2/1 is perfectly fine, though not exciting. Would we include him just as a vanilla 2/1, probably not, but the fact that he has a REAL upside and that he isn't always a dead top deck makes him playable if not a staple.
That being said, I'm going to try and make room for this card and see where it takes me. I know that I'm going to lose a great many games to it since I tend to play the blue control deck that this card mashes on.
I'm not exactly sure how that can be called cheap design. Lightning bolt is a distinct for the Red part of his casting cost and plays well with Izzet's zaping themes. Tapping/untapping is also very thematic for Izzet and what it's trying to do, tinkering and what not. And his ulitmate is basically the living embodiment of the Epic Experiment. If you bothered to ACTUALLY look at the card from the Guild's perspective instead of just dismissing it, you'd notice the awesome flavor and design they put into this dude.
Wish the art were better though. I like that it's steam punkish and it reminds me of (for those of you that have played or know of Warmachines) the Cygnar Warcasters.