MTG Salvation

Quote from asmallcat »

Would it have been so broken to just give you the mindslaver effect without giving the opponent and extra turn after? I guess it's pretty backbreaking anyway, but if you successfully case a 9-10 drop you SHOULD win the game.

Yeah, you should, but it doesn't have to be easy for you or unfair to your opponent.

This one is costed right and not too back-breaking. I like that it provides more reasons to play sorcery-speed removal, since there's so little reason to play it already. Other than that it's not too flashy, just like a bigger Simic Sky Swallower.

This card is not scary. 0/1s are not a threat, and if Gaea's Anthem were a threat, you've already got threats, and better options in both situations. Curse of Predation scales far better. You don't have to protect it. Awakening Zone makes better tokens and can actually ramp you. You don't have to protect it. What deck wants worse versions of both of these cards at the same time? And it's harder to cast than either?

Best case scenario, you can drop her on turn 2, power out a mean 0/1 and attack for 2-4 extra damage on turn 4 with your multiple elf dorks.

Curse of Predation would have done the same thing, but with a single elf.

I guess this is supposed to be a wonky defensive filler card, where you pump out 0/1s to block while you cast removal spells all game, wait 'til they run out of spells, then start pumping and attacking. That's not how cube games tend to go, in my experience.

This is a great card, but I feel like half of you are greatly exaggerating how good it is. Treetop Village is not much worse, and 2 mana to regenerate is not an insignificant cost.

And I don't think leaving up 5 mana per turn to stop one attacker if its toughness is less than 4 is really strong. It seems like a fantastic way to fall behind.

Things like Ingest and Infect are really parasitic, but they are at least functional mechanics that interact with other things. If <> requires wastes, then this Kozilek will see almost zero play outside of its format. That's not the kind of characteristic you want to attach to a flagship card.

Mana Wok 3
Artifact
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T: Add 3 to your mana pool. Spend this mana only on activated abilities of permanents you control or costs that contain X.

It's possible that they designed this to be a wide-reaching, general change, but are using the block to present it because it fits the flavor, and because, if it flops, they can just leave it in the block as a temporary mechanic. On the other hand, if it's successful, it would still be functional enough to become a permanent feature.

It seems to me that making introducing a permanent change in this way is win-win, while making it a block-specific mechanic that can't function outside the block is would be questionable, if not for the fact that Wastes is not a card you'll want to play in most blocks. It would have to be printed in basic land slots or not at all. (Though I suppose neither of those are a major problem. I just can't imagine what message would be sent by opening one of these in a Khans pack, for instance.)

There's also the fact that Zendikar is a lands block, and thus can handle some insular land mechanics, but I just don't see that satisfying very many people.

Drinking Wisp X(G/U)
Creature - Spirit
Flash
When ~ enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each green mana spent to cast it.
When ~ enters the battlefield, counter target spell unless its controller pays 1 for each blue mana spent to cast it.
0/0

Quote from LucidVision »

Whenever you chose not to draw 3 cards you are in a situation where whatever your doing instead is better than drawing a card.

The problem is that 3 cards is not worth 5 mana and 3 life in black. You can get the same thing for 3 mana and some life. Yawgmoth's Will might give you 80% of what this card does for 60% of the cost. You gain some flexibility in what it can do, but lose flexibility in when you can cast it. It's a bit poor against aggro decks all around. Against control and mid-range, there are better spells to play at 5 mana.

It's an inefficient card that's only truly great when you won't be punished for playing inefficient cards (or they have some freakishly slow army of X/2s.) That isn't to say it's a bad card: it does a lot of things that are often desirable. I can see this card pulling up from behind in many games, and since flexibility goes a long way, I would definitely test it out.

Any creature based deck really isn't going to want to pyroclasm often (and when you do, you are probably losing pretty badly). Super Lava Axe mode is fine as a finisher (but would you ever just run Lava Axe even for one mana cheaper and one more damage?).

"Cryptic Command isn't that good. Would you run a 4-mana Counterspell? A 4-mana draw 1? A 4-mana Boomerang? A bad Sleep?"

This isn't Pyroclasm, it isn't Lava Axe, and it isn't Shatter. It is better than all three, and all three are things you'll regularly want at your disposal. When you need a Pyroclasm, you really need a Pyroclasm. When you want a Lava Axe, nothing is better. When you're looking for a Shatter, three for the price of two is more than enough.

For a blue one, I'd want something more like this:

1UU
- Scry 1
- Counter target spell unless its controller pays 1
- Target permanent doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.

I think the wording was intentional, otherwise it could've been worded differently.

You can call it a "strict" interpretation if you want, but it's simply playing the card as it's worded. It was designed to specifically work with "drafted" cards, and Sealed Pools contain no "drafted cards".

The card would probably be even more broken in Sealed, since you'll have the remainder of a 90 card pool to choose from.

The WOTC stance on it as already been confirmed:

Q: "Do cards obtained as part of a Sealed Pool count as cards "drafted" for the purposes of Arcane Savant?" -Me
A: "No. There are no "drafted" cards in Sealed Deck." -Matt Tabak

Quote from 6jerfz »

That's sort of my question to myself in regards to these cards. Is it truly worse? Maybe at the moment, but as time marches on and more equips and playable low CMC artifacts get printed, it is inevitable that Tangle Wire will depreciate in power.

Yes. It's truly worse. Those cards will only aim to make Tangle Wire better in the decks that play it. Cheap equipment makes Wire better for the decks that play Wire. Wire isn't a control card that's used to combat aggro decks with cheap equipment. It's an aggro card used against control to bind up their resources (and their mana artifacts) early to leverage an advantageous board position. And it relies heavily on how asymmetrical the effect is since it can tap itself as one of its cards. It would be significantly worse without the ability to tap artifacts.

People have said many times on this forum that they want to design a cube that's based on "fun" or "enjoyment" rather than power level. As if cards exist in this vacuum that isn't tied to players' past experiences.

People enjoy playing with powerful and iconic cards. Contrary to what ravnic says, there is a correlation between power level and fun for a lot of people. it's not 1 : 1, but there is a reason that my cube is the most popular in the area when compared to other cubes that have gimmicks/themes or a lower power level. People love to open powerful cards and are excited to draft them.

Discussing the most powerful cube inclusions works in an online forum because there is a common language and experience identifying the best cards from each set. Discovering a most fun cube is a much more difficult proposition, involving actual play testing, discussions with a group over preferred card-combinations and archetypes, and collecting experiential feedback. The latter option is practically impossible to achieve with an online community, hence the much more expedient and realistic option of discussing what's best, power-wise, online.

If you run this in an aggro deck, how long can your opponent afford to take the damage? if they aren't taking damage, they're giving you card advantage and how long can they afford to do that? This is a sort-of punisher card that actually could work in cube. I think this looks really strong.

Cheers,
rant

Even if my curve stops at three, it's free damage every turn if they bin it, and an extra card drawn if they don't. Add to that the fact that it's stapled on an evasive three power splashable three drop and...man, this card seems really good.

Comment Hidden

Suggested by one of my drafters:
Anomalous Shudder 1U
Instant
Devoid
Counter target spell unless its controller pays C.

Edit: Moved to UU with a dissipate/syncopate clause.

Quote from TheTennesseeFireman »

That said, you can also look at this card and see effects that have had nothing but success in the past. Token-making plus abilities have always been good. Minus anthem abilities have always been good. Three mana planeswalkers have always been good. Planeswalkers that protect themselves and have attainable, powerful ultimates have always been good. "Armies in a can" have always been good. Almost every single one of these effects that can be cubed, has been cubed at some point. I can't think of a card I've ever evaluated with higher raw pedigree than this one. Look at it from the perspective of history, and it totally gets there.

"Token-making plus abilities have always been good"
True, but these are LITERALLY the worst tokens that can possibly be produced. We have no precedent evaluating a planeswalker with tokens this bad.

Armies in a can have traditional been good, but this is not an army in a can. One of the main advantages of an army in a can is that they produce multiple THREATS in one turn. Taxing removal spells for control decks, and providing multiple blockers in one turn against agro.

You make some good points as grounds to test her out, and am glad you or others will. I personally won't be, but I'll listen to the reports and keep an open mind.