Ana Battlemage seems exceptionally powerful in limited. A grey ogre when you need it, or a six mana 2/2 with a relevant ability. I dont imagine this will be cast for nine too often and so the question becomes which ability is more appropriate for the situation. By turn six, your opponent probably wont have many cards in hand, especially if they played first, but creature kill is always relevant. If youre on the play however, and with a little acceleration, the pitch three could be very powerul.
I actually think that Heroes Remembered is playable in constructed. A W/x control deck can suspend it early, use cards like condemn and Wrath of God to stave off defeat, and then put the game out of reach for an agro deck. Against control decks, well, I guess you can pitch it to Compulsive Research.
nice. My friends and I can never agree on when teams can attack, who they can attack, targeting and things like that. Official rules should really clear things up.
It seems to me that wizards is going through something of a nameslinging phase. Between equipment, legendary creature, shrines, and some others that im probably forgetting, and now auras, NO TYPE LINE IS SAFE!
Great cards, mostly. Sligh is going to be a house made of bricks in block. Cohorts and all the akki, im trembling already. Some decent creatures. Thanks blue, and i couldnt help but notice that you confirmed my initial beleif: Cunning Bandit = one of the best limited cards in the set!
This card certainly seems cool but has no real application. Even in the Block sligh deck that was talked about before (This is a good deck and it will be played) this wont be in it. It basically comes down to, as someone said before, two cards of yours for a card of their choice. The only way to abuse it is to play it early when they really dont have a choice, and for that you need chrome mox, which isnt in block.
The Blue card is pretty bad. One shot untargetability and invisibility is not even worth a card. The splice cost makes it at least playable, able to save a blue creature of yours from some removal spell, still this is nothing to get excited about and a 23 filler card at best.
ROar of Jukai, now heres a card. Cards like this are incredible, while not nearly as strong as Stir the Pride or Roar of the Kah this card as the same kind of game changing effect that makes it a real winner. Whether played or spliced your opponent will leave the combat in a daze not knowing what happened or how his creatures all got to the graveyard.
Kijin and that other guy: To say that red is shallow and it will never be your main color is sophmoric and is the kind of thing that was heard when Cok first came out. If you conciousencly draft red it can be the strongest deck at the table. With deep cards like blood rites Houndmaster and quality burn at the common slot. The prospect of having 6-8 mountains seemed to confuse someone. While certainly unlikeylt this is far from impossible, and late game you will often find yourself with lots of extra lands. Now 6-8 may be a stretch but the point is that TOrrent is simply more reusable than Whisper. Four cards from the yard, while even less important than mountains, are pretty hard to come by.
Kijin makes another huge mistake by underestimating splice. He says that at the prerelease he only saw it happen once or twice to no great affect. PR's are not accurate guages of a limited format by any means, and there is no doubt in my mind that splice has grown in popularity since Cok was first released. SPlice is a force in draft and should be feared. As to this cards splashability, that is undeniable, and to say that "Saccing two mountains makes this tough to splash" Reveals a basic misunderstanding of the card. It also has a well priced regular cost that is easy to splash and the card itself is arcan allowing things to be spliced onto it.
It baffles me that people can, on one forum, look at a card like Flames of the blood hand, and say "wow, no life gain. This is a good card. especially in limited." And then those same people can come to this forum and read about Torrent of stone and say "Bah. It makes you sac your lands. Its not good, especially not in limited." Life gain matters about as much as lands in the late game in limited (not at all) making this good and flames of the blood hand bad.
I actually feel that the red one is better than the black one and heres why.
Both are arcane so this doesnt help either.
torrents splice cost, late game, is completly irrelevant and can be used 3 or even four times in a game (late game obviousley when you enter topdeck mode with your opponent, not early)
whispers splice cost, while also irrelevant, can only be used about twice in a game.
torrent is highly splashable and very efficient, capable of taking out most of the common creatures in the format.
whisper is not at all splashable and is competing with the two rends for your three slot removal.
so splashability and reusability win out over the fact that the red is just damage, while the black is banishment. Reuasable removal is so good in limited. This is not meh, this is not even ok, this is a great card and a first pick if your in red when you open your betrayers pack.
All the artifacts mentioned, sun droplet, vial, and others, do work, its true. But they also get blown up by like half of the cards in many top contstructed decks right now, which is why I say use Mirrodins Core. Basically its a 4/4 flier for four with "At the begging of your 'keep pay 1" Thats definantly good.
Akarat, Red is actually the second strongest spiritcraft color behind only blue. This will only add to that power and potentially make red the best spirt/arcane color. That turn sequence you described is certainly appealing and ideal but not at all neccasary. If you drop this guy early and just wait until he naturally accumulates the counters, even just 3 instead of 4 or 5, you can flip him and proceed to control the rest of the game. Your fear of burn is understandable but would you say that Graverobber/Nighteyes is not a bomb? (he is most certainly) What about, say, sparksmith or Timberwatch elf back in ONS limited. Vulnerability is a drawback, but you cannot live in fear, especially when you could be dominating the board with your little creature.
You cannot 2-0 with this guy, although techniaclly its not 2-0, its more like 2-.333 becaue youve invested the card, but you get another use and a creature making a single use roughly a third of a card. The threat of stolen creatures, or even just stealing his biggest guy before his combat step will severaly limit his comabt step decisions though, and if he leaves anything back you can steal that and potentially 2-0(.3333)
And although its unlikely, dont forget about the sac outlets. Blood rites and even the common, Devouring Rage are both in Red and both reward stealing your opponents mens.
Wow. Both of these cards are going to be powerful in limited. The black one's splice cost could really only ever hurt your soulshift chains and even that is neglibible, making it stellar common removal. The red one is very very good. I was one of the people who disliked flaming bloody hand of only hits players because it couldnt hit creatures, but this, this is more like it. Four mana for Four damage is a bargain no doubt, but with the free splice this is a real winner. Late game when youve got a property surplus you can just have a field day playing cards and splicing this saccing the tapped mountains. Both great cards.
Akarat, amassing 4 or even 5 kai counters is no large feat. Ask yourself, the last time you drafted a dedicated spirit craft deck how many times per game you triggered spiritcraft. Even 2 or three counters can win games. I see people getting hung up on the cant attack part of this card. Yes its unfortunate but keep in mind all the possibilitys that still exist.
Removing their blockers so your other creatures can attack.
Sac outlets such as blood rites, devouring greed, devouring rage, Fear demons upkeep sac, steal an ogre to avoid such a sac
and the most common steal a guy block your guy they both die, 2 for, wait, 2 for 0!! hah, and i can do it again next turn.
I predict this becomes the kind of first pick that fireball was in darksteel. You see it, you take it. Only difference was that could be splashed, this will make you play red.
zorbop makes a number of excellent points. I dont need to restate why its such a bad piece of burn but i will say this: Even if Life does pack 4 seals of cleansing main, which not all do, but even if, vortex is still better than this chaff. Vortex takes a pro active stance against the combo and even does damage every turn, as opposed to forcing you to sit there and leave three mana. And if they do the eventually draw the seals, that may or may not even be playing, youve still dealt them 4-6 damage and held them off 2-3 turns, always better than the 1 turn and 4dmg that the bloody ahdn will buy you. Vortex is the better card for the job seals or no.
Why is everyone getting so excited about this in limited. 5 damage spells like lava axe are good because its a full quarter of their life, thats a huge chunk. 4 damage is not 5 damage and while sometimes you might be able to just "hand" em out of the game this situation will be rare indeed.
Terashi's Verdict is very powerful. White is going to be a force in block constructed A FORCE I TELL YOU! The artifact (whose name i do not remember) interests me from a design standpoint. First the shoals, now this. SOme kind of block super fast Blazing discard reanimator deck might have potential. Artifact, discard fatty, reanimate fatty w/ the gains haste sac at end of turn spell not the sucky one. that the fatty's converted cost+the fatty's power in damage.
Casual card at best
ROar of Jukai, now heres a card. Cards like this are incredible, while not nearly as strong as Stir the Pride or Roar of the Kah this card as the same kind of game changing effect that makes it a real winner. Whether played or spliced your opponent will leave the combat in a daze not knowing what happened or how his creatures all got to the graveyard.
Blue: Thumbs down
Green Two thumbs way up
Thanks R_E
Kijin makes another huge mistake by underestimating splice. He says that at the prerelease he only saw it happen once or twice to no great affect. PR's are not accurate guages of a limited format by any means, and there is no doubt in my mind that splice has grown in popularity since Cok was first released. SPlice is a force in draft and should be feared. As to this cards splashability, that is undeniable, and to say that "Saccing two mountains makes this tough to splash" Reveals a basic misunderstanding of the card. It also has a well priced regular cost that is easy to splash and the card itself is arcan allowing things to be spliced onto it.
I actually feel that the red one is better than the black one and heres why.
Both are arcane so this doesnt help either.
torrents splice cost, late game, is completly irrelevant and can be used 3 or even four times in a game (late game obviousley when you enter topdeck mode with your opponent, not early)
whispers splice cost, while also irrelevant, can only be used about twice in a game.
torrent is highly splashable and very efficient, capable of taking out most of the common creatures in the format.
whisper is not at all splashable and is competing with the two rends for your three slot removal.
so splashability and reusability win out over the fact that the red is just damage, while the black is banishment. Reuasable removal is so good in limited. This is not meh, this is not even ok, this is a great card and a first pick if your in red when you open your betrayers pack.
You cannot 2-0 with this guy, although techniaclly its not 2-0, its more like 2-.333 becaue youve invested the card, but you get another use and a creature making a single use roughly a third of a card. The threat of stolen creatures, or even just stealing his biggest guy before his combat step will severaly limit his comabt step decisions though, and if he leaves anything back you can steal that and potentially 2-0(.3333)
And although its unlikely, dont forget about the sac outlets. Blood rites and even the common, Devouring Rage are both in Red and both reward stealing your opponents mens.
Removing their blockers so your other creatures can attack.
Sac outlets such as blood rites, devouring greed, devouring rage, Fear demons upkeep sac, steal an ogre to avoid such a sac
and the most common steal a guy block your guy they both die, 2 for, wait, 2 for 0!! hah, and i can do it again next turn.
I predict this becomes the kind of first pick that fireball was in darksteel. You see it, you take it. Only difference was that could be splashed, this will make you play red.
Why is everyone getting so excited about this in limited. 5 damage spells like lava axe are good because its a full quarter of their life, thats a huge chunk. 4 damage is not 5 damage and while sometimes you might be able to just "hand" em out of the game this situation will be rare indeed.