well if it wasn't already confirmed that I wouldn't be playing standard for the next year...
Its not even this card. Its just the blatant hate against blue-black that's really annoying me. It makes for such and uninspired standard when everything is hexproof, can't be countered, can't even be forced to sacrifice. Really sad design policy.
There is just no interactivity in the format. And generally, even if you manage to land the turn 4 verdict, you're pretty ****ed by then anyway. Assuming that they don't just make their **** indestructible anyway.
This card honestly isn't too bad, but it just annoys me that wizards isn't trying to fix whats broken. We have that thread in the Magic general forum that provides examples of wizards stating that black is too weak, and that it needs to be fixed. Printing cards like this is not a step in the right direction.
Oh hush. Creatures with this type of hate have existed since the colors became well established, if there being handful of these cards in standard makes you rage quit then you may just be bad at that type of deck. I know these guys are usually worthless against someone who plays U/B well, so whats up?
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There is buried treasure everywhere...in a graveyard.
Has Thoughtseize been confirmed? I do think it will be reprinted soon, and it will help black out. That doesn't have much to do with my point though-green is dominating Standard and Modern and it keeps getting pushed and pushed. That gets old after awhile.
As far as I know, Thoughtseize still lives in the same state of pseudo-confirmation that it's lived in for the last few weeks: some previously reliable sources have said that it's in, it still fits the name and number crunch, but definitive proof has not been established.
So, I'll assume for the point of argument that it is in M14. If that's the case, I think it's more a case of Control changing its face than it is of Control being hosed. Seeing green with a bunch of big, untargetable threats and black with a lot of cheap ways to weed out those threats from an opponent's hand before they ever hit the board - that seems like an interesting balance to me.
well if it wasn't already confirmed that I wouldn't be playing standard for the next year...
Its not even this card. Its just the blatant hate against blue-black that's really annoying me. It makes for such and uninspired standard when everything is hexproof, can't be countered, can't even be forced to sacrifice. Really sad design policy.
There is just no interactivity in the format. And generally, even if you manage to land the turn 4 verdict, you're pretty ****ed by then anyway. Assuming that they don't just make their **** indestructible anyway.
This card honestly isn't too bad, but it just annoys me that wizards isn't trying to fix whats broken. We have that thread in the Magic general forum that provides examples of wizards stating that black is too weak, and that it needs to be fixed. Printing cards like this is not a step in the right direction.
Ah yes, the many decks that make all of their things indestructible, have you dead on board by turn 4, play Sigarda, and have everything be uncounterable.
JFC, people, we're talking about a big Mold Adder here. A card so bad Wizards thought Autumn's Veil was a good replacement.
Seems too narrow for a hoser, especially as it's still counterable. As a non-hoser card, a 3/3 hexproof for 1GG isn't breaking down any barriers. It's not even a Troll Ascetic, and that saw limited to no play last time it was legal.
You do realize that design is more than just stats/abilities right? It is also the overall flavor and feel of the card, which I think they nailed. Witches tend to be U/B and this thing likes to stalk them. However, YES you could say that that means it should be pro-U/B but I think that WITH hexproof(which makes sense because it can't be hexed by a Witch) would be brutal, so they gave it the counter ability instead.
I just looked up what blue witches there are and not only are neither of them mono blue, they both where Hybrid. One was white/blue and the other blue/black. In fact, there are just as many white witches as there are blue and more red witches than there are blue and white put together. IMO, unless they give us a blue witch as well it really doesn't feel flavorful, but instead could have been more so if it was only anti-black.
As far as i can remember, when it was in Mirrodin-Kamigawa Standard everybody was abusing it.
That is because of sword of fire and ice + umezawa's jitte. When they reprinted it in 10th it didn't see tons of play.
Witchstalker is really the third hexproof threat that bant pants needed. I know that silverblade paladin hits harder in conjunction with any suited up threat and fencing ace hits harder on it's own, but making the deck even harder to stop with spot removal is going to level it up.
It is competing for a spot in aggro decks that will have Domri, Smiter, Reckoner, Frontline, etc... So I doubt it will see any play unless its in a deck that is abusing hexproof. So if an aura deck survives rotation it might see play, which I doubt.
We have a rare white creature with cannot be targeted by red and black at 3cc also... Could this be part of a cycle of 3cc creatures with two color hosers?
Wow this is a great hate card, pesky overpowered card, 3/3 for 3 ok, +1+1 when someone casts a blue or black spells during your turn? way too much, Hexproof??? are they nuts?
I rarely play green cards, but this is the new king of std 3 mana creatures.
And a good reason to play 4 Missium Mortars in any color that plays red.
If these new hate creatures had protection it would make them more interesting for sure.
I think it would make them less interesting. Protection is a boring ability because it removes essentially all meaningful interaction with the creature in question; it can't be targeted and it can't be hurt in combat. I much prefer these variants because they at least give Blue, Red, and Black decks something to do besides go into balls out "win now" mode.
(Sadly, we still have Hexproof on one of them. Baby steps, WotC, baby steps.)
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Obviously placed here to push werewolf tribal decks a little. There is no other reason to make this a wolf. See Tovolar's Magehunter for the flavor of it's name. This isn't hunting witchs, it's hunting magic users, which is why it gets stronger in the presence of magic (spells being cast,) which is quite flavorful.
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Hoping for a cure, or at least an outbreak.
The card itself is, okay I guess. It's a 3/3 Hexproof for 3 that get's fat when you're up against Blue and Black (sooner or later decks with those colors WILL cast something during your turn -- it's inevitable). At least it can still carry an Aura for you. If there won't be any other decent Hexproof creatures or 3 drops next Standard rotation then I guess we're stuck with him.
Personally, comparing it to Witchstalker I still prefer Great Stable Stag, Troll Ascetic and Leatherback Baloth as 3-drop creatures if you're going to splash green or playing Mono-Green and that's in Modern. In Standard and excluding GoST or Silverblade Paladin (which are no brainers), I'd rather go for Loxodon Smiter.
The two things I don't like about Witchstalker are the art and creature type. Sure, Mayor of Avabruck pumps him but only if the mayor flips. Having a name such as "Witchstalker" WOtC could have used Elf or Human assassin / rogue. The name would have fit in much better flavor wise.
Heck, they could have at least chosen a cooler looking wolf art than one with such a big head. That art looks like it should be used on some common 2/1 or 2/2 wolf or even just a token. It's so bad and ugly. Ugh...
That is because of sword of fire and ice + umezawa's jitte. When they reprinted it in 10th it didn't see tons of play.
Witchstalker is really the third hexproof threat that bant pants needed. I know that silverblade paladin hits harder in conjunction with any suited up threat and fencing ace hits harder on it's own, but making the deck even harder to stop with spot removal is going to level it up.
Not true at all. Troll Ascetic saw tons of play when it was reprinted in 10th. Heck, half of the decks in top 8 at 2007 worlds played the Troll. Loxodon Warhammer was a thing at that time and Ascetic carried it better than most.. You also saw people trying to throw Blanchwood Armors and Might of Oaks on it..
The two things I don't like about Witchstalker are the art and creature type. Sure, Mayor of Avabruck pumps him but only if the mayor flips. Having a name such as "Witchstalker" WOtC could have used Elf or Human assassin / rogue. The name would have fit in much better flavor wise.
Evil-detecting dog? I assume that with Game of Thrones having just reached the climax of book 3, it's the perfect time in pop culture terms to have a wolf that detects evil the way the Stark dogs do. (Admittedly, only Ghost actually deals with magical enemies thus far.) Though "witch" does fit if only because the word ultimately has etymological roots associated with magic, though traditional witches are basically only in black, what with sacrificing babies to the devil and all.
The card is meh. It's a 3/3 with hexproof for 1GG, though it's in a format where three-color decks are everywhere. If your opponent casts a blue or black spell on your turn, it gets a counter, but there's one problem with that: While blue has plenty of spells that absolutely have to be played at instant speed to work (counters, bouncing), there's very little black couldn't do at sorcery speed (occasionally removal, though it depends on your what's being removed). And (unlike Great Sable Stag) blue can answer it just fine, so meh.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Oh hush. Creatures with this type of hate have existed since the colors became well established, if there being handful of these cards in standard makes you rage quit then you may just be bad at that type of deck. I know these guys are usually worthless against someone who plays U/B well, so whats up?
There is buried treasure everywhere...in a graveyard.
However, once again we have white and green creature based hosers at rare with no others in sight. Maybe it's not so anomalous after all.
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As far as I know, Thoughtseize still lives in the same state of pseudo-confirmation that it's lived in for the last few weeks: some previously reliable sources have said that it's in, it still fits the name and number crunch, but definitive proof has not been established.
So, I'll assume for the point of argument that it is in M14. If that's the case, I think it's more a case of Control changing its face than it is of Control being hosed. Seeing green with a bunch of big, untargetable threats and black with a lot of cheap ways to weed out those threats from an opponent's hand before they ever hit the board - that seems like an interesting balance to me.
Ah yes, the many decks that make all of their things indestructible, have you dead on board by turn 4, play Sigarda, and have everything be uncounterable.
JFC, people, we're talking about a big Mold Adder here. A card so bad Wizards thought Autumn's Veil was a good replacement.
Standard: W/R Aggro
remeber great sable stag?
They constantly act like it's completely unbeatable.
Seriously, it's sad.
I just looked up what blue witches there are and not only are neither of them mono blue, they both where Hybrid. One was white/blue and the other blue/black. In fact, there are just as many white witches as there are blue and more red witches than there are blue and white put together. IMO, unless they give us a blue witch as well it really doesn't feel flavorful, but instead could have been more so if it was only anti-black.
Typhoid Rats = tech?
That is because of sword of fire and ice + umezawa's jitte. When they reprinted it in 10th it didn't see tons of play.
Witchstalker is really the third hexproof threat that bant pants needed. I know that silverblade paladin hits harder in conjunction with any suited up threat and fencing ace hits harder on it's own, but making the deck even harder to stop with spot removal is going to level it up.
We have a rare white creature with cannot be targeted by red and black at 3cc also... Could this be part of a cycle of 3cc creatures with two color hosers?
I rarely play green cards, but this is the new king of std 3 mana creatures.
And a good reason to play 4 Missium Mortars in any color that plays red.
(Sadly, we still have Hexproof on one of them. Baby steps, WotC, baby steps.)
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With the blue one spoiled, I think we can expect a red and a black one pretty soon... another rare that isn't thoughtseize.
Hoping for a cure, or at least an outbreak.
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Personally, comparing it to Witchstalker I still prefer Great Stable Stag, Troll Ascetic and Leatherback Baloth as 3-drop creatures if you're going to splash green or playing Mono-Green and that's in Modern. In Standard and excluding GoST or Silverblade Paladin (which are no brainers), I'd rather go for Loxodon Smiter.
The two things I don't like about Witchstalker are the art and creature type. Sure, Mayor of Avabruck pumps him but only if the mayor flips. Having a name such as "Witchstalker" WOtC could have used Elf or Human assassin / rogue. The name would have fit in much better flavor wise.
Heck, they could have at least chosen a cooler looking wolf art than one with such a big head. That art looks like it should be used on some common 2/1 or 2/2 wolf or even just a token. It's so bad and ugly. Ugh...
Not true at all. Troll Ascetic saw tons of play when it was reprinted in 10th. Heck, half of the decks in top 8 at 2007 worlds played the Troll. Loxodon Warhammer was a thing at that time and Ascetic carried it better than most.. You also saw people trying to throw Blanchwood Armors and Might of Oaks on it..
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Evil-detecting dog? I assume that with Game of Thrones having just reached the climax of book 3, it's the perfect time in pop culture terms to have a wolf that detects evil the way the Stark dogs do. (Admittedly, only Ghost actually deals with magical enemies thus far.) Though "witch" does fit if only because the word ultimately has etymological roots associated with magic, though traditional witches are basically only in black, what with sacrificing babies to the devil and all.
The card is meh. It's a 3/3 with hexproof for 1GG, though it's in a format where three-color decks are everywhere. If your opponent casts a blue or black spell on your turn, it gets a counter, but there's one problem with that: While blue has plenty of spells that absolutely have to be played at instant speed to work (counters, bouncing), there's very little black couldn't do at sorcery speed (occasionally removal, though it depends on your what's being removed). And (unlike Great Sable Stag) blue can answer it just fine, so meh.
On phasing:
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a hilarious parody of hexproof haters, but it made me laugh all the same.
Commander:
R Daretti, Scrap Savant
BR Olivia Voldaren
BRG Shattergang Brothers
GUR Riku of Two Reflections
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain