This is really bizarre, because I had an idea that is ridiculously close to this. I'm working on a list right now, and I'll get back to you when it's done.
Here's my first attempt, it's not very refined. I like the inclusion of shrine of burning rage for some added late game, but it's a little creature lite.
What is phantasmal image doing in that list? I know it's interaction with sun titan is cute and all, but that's more for bant pod. You can't equip it, and don't even play that many creatures you would want to be killing. Not to mention the few times you snag something good it is going to get nailed by a tumble magnet or something.
So we have 1 precursor and 4 golems. Cackling counterpart is cast and copies for each golem, giving you what should become 5 more golems, but is actually 10. Then the two precursors both spawn two more golems. So that's fourteen, plus the initial five, giving you a whopping 19 golems. Not sure if that's right, but I'll give anyone a gold star who can tell me how many I'll have when I flash it back!
I know that's pretty silly, but precursor golem is actually a great way to interact with cackling counterpart, and adding in all the protection instants white has, it could actually be competitive. One the top players at my shop is testing a blue white deck like that, and he's 3-0 vs. other competitive players playing puresteel, tempered steel, and some sort of control or something. It's cool if you don't dig the idea though.
I don't see how control decks would ever want to play this in a control mirror matchup, given that it turns on the opponent's Dismember. I can't imagine a deck that picked its threats based on resistance to Dismember suddenly giving all of that up just for a bit of mana acceleration.
Saving the mana to hold up Mana Leak isn't the best strategy against Dismember, either. They're bound to have 3 mana available to pay for it.
Actually, being a UW control player, I'm not afraid of this card for a few reasons. First of all, it provides no card advantage, and no impact to the board if you don't have the finisher in your hand. Then, even if you do, you run the chance driving it into a mana leak (If you're silly and try to play it on turn four.) If you are smart, and try to wait until you have, say seven mana to get around the leak, then you can get leaked, pay for it, then be all tapped out for their finisher. Only difference is that their titan is a 6/6, and your's is a 5/5. Also, the argument that it gets killed by dismember is extremely valid, since your grave titan will only net you two 1/1 creatures, from the two cards and mana investment. On the other hand, it might be decent against aggro to held turn the tide. A turn four grave titan (even though it isn't a real grave titan) is devastating against any form of aggro deck that can't answer it.
Basically, it just doesn't do much if you don't have the finisher in your hand, and even if you do, it's not going to be as effective as you want it to be against any decent control player.
I'm not counting it out, but I think this card is going to let many deck play their hand quickly, then realize that their board isn't as strong as they think it is (-1/-1 is a bigger effect than it seems) and then their top decks just become frustrating because everything is less effective.
Here's your problem. If you have birthing pod out, and you are successfully podding to five and six, you are probably going to win anyway, so the combo you have to work for isn't necessary. Also you are going to have to play more ruinators and images if you want to truly take advantage of them.
I'm going to take a look at each ability he has, and then give my overall opinion on him.
-0 fight. This is a great ability to see for green. Being able to take out some of those pesky blockers to help your creatures get through, and don't forget your also getting card advantage as long as garruk stays on the table. If there are no killable creatures on the battlefield, you can go ahead and use his next ability.
-0 wolves. Everybody knows that being able to protect itself is a huge factor on how good a planeswalker is. Spamming out 2/2 wolves can put pressure on a control opponent, while providing important blockers against fast decks. Don't overlook the fact that using his first ability on a wolf gets him flipped, even though it would be a really desperate move.
+1 deathtouch. I love this ability. I would play him hands down if all he had was this +1 ability and a few other supporting ones. Think about trying to attack and opponent who can put these wolves out each turn, and grow garruk. You have to decide whether or not to run all your creatures at him to destroy him, or hold back and remove him in other ways. Deathtouch always make the best blockers, best trades, and adds a ton to the card advantage he will net you if he stays on this long.
-1 tutor. It's a fauna shaman with a twist. Sacrificing a creature doesn't hurt you at all because at this point you will have an army assembled thanks to him. Don't forget that since it costs no mana to activate, you can search your library for a creature with CMC equal to the lands you have and play it on the same turn. Nice toolbox effect.
-3 overrun. It's just not the same as Garruk Wildspeaker's ultimate. The reason his was so good was that it could be used the turn after you activate it, and could easily win you the game. In this case, it takes extra turns to flip him and get him to three given his low total after being flipped, and you still need to have creatures in the graveyard for it to truly work. His tokens don't even help you get there.
Overall - He seems as if he going to be a crippling force if he stays on the battlefield too long, but what planeswalkers aren't? With his low starting loyalty and inability to get above three quickly leaves him open to burn. He does, on the other hand, protect himself quite well and provide good card advantage. He isn't the kind of planeswalker that can single-handedly win you the game (I'm looking at you gideon), but if he is supported by a strong cast (probably a midrange deck with the focus on a different color) he will succeed.
What did you expect, them to just be given away for free? Because it a card dealer, they have to make money, and consequently will be handing out 10 for $1. I think that's a good deal for scg.
Ok, I'm very tired of the ruining magic idea. It's acceptable for people to state reasons for disapproving of the mechanic, but to make such dramatic accusations are absolutely ridiculous.
I've heard of people wanting to quit draft because of it... Really? What's wrong with drafting with them? Is it too hard to check something off a list or sleeve up your cards? Or is it the fact that somebody might see the back of your card and know what your are playing? Because you know putting your hand over the back of it can solve that problem...
I've heard that it's going to confusing new magic players. You might find this hard to believe, but people aren't going to quit magic because 15 or so cards are different than the others. There are thousands of other cards to play with if they don't like it. Not to mention if I was knew, I would be like "WHOA! THESE CARDS HAVE TWO SIDES! I'm totally playing them, it's like two cards in one!" Trust me, little kids will love it, even if it's a little tricky for them to understand.
I've heard that it will be hard to protect your investment, given that you have to be flipping them around all the time. Magic is unique because when you buy a card, you have the chance to play with it, then possibly profit from it after your are done. Other hobbies such as videogames are pretty much a pay-for-enjoyment kind of business. Don't take for granted the ability to get money for something that you have used for enjoyment. It's also really easy to keep them in good condition. You can put it in a sleeve, then if you afraid to take it out of the sleeve, you can print up a picture of the back and proxy it up (I like to take a sleeve, put a card in backwards so you can see Magic Symbol, then slip the picture in) It'll take you two minutes to print up, and when it transform, all you have to do is put the proxy over it, which is just as much hassle as putting a token into play, but nobody complains about grave titan!
I understand if you don't like the flavor or playability, but please don't make silly statements like it is going to ruin magic. Because it won't. And secretly I think you know that too. And if you really thought that Wizards didn't know what they are doing, you wouldn't be playing this game, and the fact that you are posting on their products forum tell me you like it a lot. Thanks for reading!
hope they come up with some really creative uses for morbid.
I hope they do too, but I'm slightly more considered with getting some playable cards. Looking at transform, it didn't look like many of them could be constructed playable, and I've never really been into the whole "fight" idea. I forgot who it was, but the comparison to landfall is really accurate. For instance, the difference between Lotus Cobra and Searing Blaze should represent the usages of morbid.
4x Geosurge
4x Grim Lavamancer
3x Hero of Oxid Ridge
4x Infernal Plunge
4x Inferno Titan
4x Koth of the Hammer
23x Mountain
4x Shrine of Burning Rage
3x Sphere of the Suns
3x Volt Charge
2x Wurmcoil Engine
Here's my first attempt, it's not very refined. I like the inclusion of shrine of burning rage for some added late game, but it's a little creature lite.
Doublepost merged and warned.
-Sene
So we have 1 precursor and 4 golems. Cackling counterpart is cast and copies for each golem, giving you what should become 5 more golems, but is actually 10. Then the two precursors both spawn two more golems. So that's fourteen, plus the initial five, giving you a whopping 19 golems. Not sure if that's right, but I'll give anyone a gold star who can tell me how many I'll have when I flash it back!
I know that's pretty silly, but precursor golem is actually a great way to interact with cackling counterpart, and adding in all the protection instants white has, it could actually be competitive. One the top players at my shop is testing a blue white deck like that, and he's 3-0 vs. other competitive players playing puresteel, tempered steel, and some sort of control or something. It's cool if you don't dig the idea though.
except for the fact that mono-green has access to creeping corrosion? And naturalize? And dispatch is a joke against this deck.
Actually, being a UW control player, I'm not afraid of this card for a few reasons. First of all, it provides no card advantage, and no impact to the board if you don't have the finisher in your hand. Then, even if you do, you run the chance driving it into a mana leak (If you're silly and try to play it on turn four.) If you are smart, and try to wait until you have, say seven mana to get around the leak, then you can get leaked, pay for it, then be all tapped out for their finisher. Only difference is that their titan is a 6/6, and your's is a 5/5. Also, the argument that it gets killed by dismember is extremely valid, since your grave titan will only net you two 1/1 creatures, from the two cards and mana investment. On the other hand, it might be decent against aggro to held turn the tide. A turn four grave titan (even though it isn't a real grave titan) is devastating against any form of aggro deck that can't answer it.
Basically, it just doesn't do much if you don't have the finisher in your hand, and even if you do, it's not going to be as effective as you want it to be against any decent control player.
I'm not counting it out, but I think this card is going to let many deck play their hand quickly, then realize that their board isn't as strong as they think it is (-1/-1 is a bigger effect than it seems) and then their top decks just become frustrating because everything is less effective.
Not trying to offend anyone!
Here's a link to a bant birthing pod deck that just placed early today. Most of the cards are staying in, so you can check out what he used.
-0 fight. This is a great ability to see for green. Being able to take out some of those pesky blockers to help your creatures get through, and don't forget your also getting card advantage as long as garruk stays on the table. If there are no killable creatures on the battlefield, you can go ahead and use his next ability.
-0 wolves. Everybody knows that being able to protect itself is a huge factor on how good a planeswalker is. Spamming out 2/2 wolves can put pressure on a control opponent, while providing important blockers against fast decks. Don't overlook the fact that using his first ability on a wolf gets him flipped, even though it would be a really desperate move.
+1 deathtouch. I love this ability. I would play him hands down if all he had was this +1 ability and a few other supporting ones. Think about trying to attack and opponent who can put these wolves out each turn, and grow garruk. You have to decide whether or not to run all your creatures at him to destroy him, or hold back and remove him in other ways. Deathtouch always make the best blockers, best trades, and adds a ton to the card advantage he will net you if he stays on this long.
-1 tutor. It's a fauna shaman with a twist. Sacrificing a creature doesn't hurt you at all because at this point you will have an army assembled thanks to him. Don't forget that since it costs no mana to activate, you can search your library for a creature with CMC equal to the lands you have and play it on the same turn. Nice toolbox effect.
-3 overrun. It's just not the same as Garruk Wildspeaker's ultimate. The reason his was so good was that it could be used the turn after you activate it, and could easily win you the game. In this case, it takes extra turns to flip him and get him to three given his low total after being flipped, and you still need to have creatures in the graveyard for it to truly work. His tokens don't even help you get there.
Overall - He seems as if he going to be a crippling force if he stays on the battlefield too long, but what planeswalkers aren't? With his low starting loyalty and inability to get above three quickly leaves him open to burn. He does, on the other hand, protect himself quite well and provide good card advantage. He isn't the kind of planeswalker that can single-handedly win you the game (I'm looking at you gideon), but if he is supported by a strong cast (probably a midrange deck with the focus on a different color) he will succeed.
I've heard of people wanting to quit draft because of it... Really? What's wrong with drafting with them? Is it too hard to check something off a list or sleeve up your cards? Or is it the fact that somebody might see the back of your card and know what your are playing? Because you know putting your hand over the back of it can solve that problem...
I've heard that it's going to confusing new magic players. You might find this hard to believe, but people aren't going to quit magic because 15 or so cards are different than the others. There are thousands of other cards to play with if they don't like it. Not to mention if I was knew, I would be like "WHOA! THESE CARDS HAVE TWO SIDES! I'm totally playing them, it's like two cards in one!" Trust me, little kids will love it, even if it's a little tricky for them to understand.
I've heard that it will be hard to protect your investment, given that you have to be flipping them around all the time. Magic is unique because when you buy a card, you have the chance to play with it, then possibly profit from it after your are done. Other hobbies such as videogames are pretty much a pay-for-enjoyment kind of business. Don't take for granted the ability to get money for something that you have used for enjoyment. It's also really easy to keep them in good condition. You can put it in a sleeve, then if you afraid to take it out of the sleeve, you can print up a picture of the back and proxy it up (I like to take a sleeve, put a card in backwards so you can see Magic Symbol, then slip the picture in) It'll take you two minutes to print up, and when it transform, all you have to do is put the proxy over it, which is just as much hassle as putting a token into play, but nobody complains about grave titan!
I understand if you don't like the flavor or playability, but please don't make silly statements like it is going to ruin magic. Because it won't. And secretly I think you know that too. And if you really thought that Wizards didn't know what they are doing, you wouldn't be playing this game, and the fact that you are posting on their products forum tell me you like it a lot. Thanks for reading!
I hope they do too, but I'm slightly more considered with getting some playable cards. Looking at transform, it didn't look like many of them could be constructed playable, and I've never really been into the whole "fight" idea. I forgot who it was, but the comparison to landfall is really accurate. For instance, the difference between Lotus Cobra and Searing Blaze should represent the usages of morbid.