I've tried to run it a few times and haven't been very happy with it. You need to have a very high number of evolve creatures, and they need to already have been evolved 2-3 times for it to work when put on the board.
When it works, it really works, but that's not been very often at all.
Hmm? It doesn't matter how many times they've been evolved, as long as it was at least once. The dream is to have 2 or more evolve creatures in play (with 1 power or less with two, 2 power or less with 3, etc). This lets you make a 2/2 or bigger for 1G, as the Ooze will trigger your evolve creatures.
Is it also possible that the card isn't as good as we think it is, but we haven't figured it out yet?
I for one have taken it twice, both times early in pack one. Both times I wasn't able to reach critical mass of evolve creatures. Maybe the card is too hard to make amazing?
It really only has two modes, useless and pack rat, so if you can't usually get enough evolve creatures to feed it in the draft, it might be best to not take it early before you know what your table looks like.
Speaking of critical mass, how many evolve creatures do you need before you can play it?
I'd argue that Gruul Keyrune is probably the best.
Keyrunes are roughly important if your deck really wants 5 mana. Of the guilds, Gruul likes 5 mana just a bit more than the others, giving it an edge (it doesn't hurt that its a pretty strong topdeck on an empty board).
Because doing that allows you to swing with your 5/2 and play your 3-drop on t3. It's a risk which may or may not be worth it.
Auras having haste is a big reason why they're playable to good now (instant speed removal is more expensive/rarer than it used to be). Losing that edge really makes the card much worse.
I said at the prerelease, with my friends, that Madcap Skills would be a format defining card. From gameplay I think I was a little generous, but its definitely great.
I really don't have a problem with it being good. Auras have traditionally been super weak in limited, and I find it interesting when you can legitimately voltron people out of games.
Ooze Flux and two 1 power/toughness or smaller creatures with evolve gives you a 2/2 for every 1G you have. And it grows with each extra evolve creature you have, and it allows you larger evolve creatures as you amass more.
The toughness sweet spot for limited is generally 3, and I believe that gatecrash will be no different, especially considering there is a shock at common.
The lack of Centaur tokens also helps lower the average power of creatures. That being said, I don't know how Evolve will affect this.
When doing an analysis of limited, I think it's worthwhile to prioritize the commons. Every colour/guild is going to have splashy uncommons and rares, but when you are looking at averages, what's really going to matter are the commons.
I'd therefore like to request a different set of stats that only includes the commons, please.
why do you need an efficient win condition when you have infinite mana?
(especially when you have a win condition thats resilient to countermagic due to flashback).
Hmm? It doesn't matter how many times they've been evolved, as long as it was at least once. The dream is to have 2 or more evolve creatures in play (with 1 power or less with two, 2 power or less with 3, etc). This lets you make a 2/2 or bigger for 1G, as the Ooze will trigger your evolve creatures.
I for one have taken it twice, both times early in pack one. Both times I wasn't able to reach critical mass of evolve creatures. Maybe the card is too hard to make amazing?
It really only has two modes, useless and pack rat, so if you can't usually get enough evolve creatures to feed it in the draft, it might be best to not take it early before you know what your table looks like.
Speaking of critical mass, how many evolve creatures do you need before you can play it?
Keyrunes are roughly important if your deck really wants 5 mana. Of the guilds, Gruul likes 5 mana just a bit more than the others, giving it an edge (it doesn't hurt that its a pretty strong topdeck on an empty board).
Auras having haste is a big reason why they're playable to good now (instant speed removal is more expensive/rarer than it used to be). Losing that edge really makes the card much worse.
I really don't have a problem with it being good. Auras have traditionally been super weak in limited, and I find it interesting when you can legitimately voltron people out of games.
That being said, its still just a dude (albeit a good one I'd always want in a Boros deck)
The lack of Centaur tokens also helps lower the average power of creatures. That being said, I don't know how Evolve will affect this.
There are common only averages in the OP...
why do you need an efficient win condition when you have infinite mana?
(especially when you have a win condition thats resilient to countermagic due to flashback).