This is so true. WoTC made it super easy to play a Gruul deck this standard season.
They most certianly did not. This guy will be a 40$ card and all the broke ass people like me who want 4 copies most likely wont be able to get them unless I pull them out of packs or draft them or get them in limited. This is why i have a love/hate feelings toward mythics. I know why do this because multiples in a limited enviroment would warp the format and make it unplayable. I hate the fact that some mythics are 25-40$ and you have to have them in order to win.
They most certianly did not. This guy will be a 40$ card and all the broke ass people like me who want 4 copies most likely wont be able to get them unless I pull them out of packs or draft them or get them in limited. This is why i have a love/hate feelings toward mythics. I know why do this because multiples in a limited enviroment would warp the format and make it unplayable. I hate the fact that some mythics are 25-40$ and you have to have them in order to win.
Seriously, Wizards, you ban Bloodbraid Elf, and then you print this?
Its worse in the Jund like decks simply because it cant find removal and it doesnt provide removal itself (that said green garruck is better than this most the time as the ability to removal should be much better than the mana ability).
However, if you have some more crazy ramp deck the mana ability might be good aswell (if it produces 4+ mana) to ramp into a win.
That said it has its uses, but for current decks its not really something you really want to cast in "Modern" , for standard its totally fine to produce tokens all the time.
Also the fact that every single playable 5 drop in red and green such as Kalonian Hydra and Archangel of Thune is mythic and over $25
If I'm going to spend that much money I'd rather just buy a Tarmogoyf
I might resign myself to getting a playset of Ashiok,
who will almost certainly be cheaper by comparison,
and using him to exile everyone's overpriced Gruul/Naya cards 3 at a time
He can even make a mark before arriving with Thoughtseize.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Some people are really overrating this guy. He's certainly not awful, and will probably see some play, but his +1 isn't particularly great (cradle gets a lot worse at 4 mana), and his ult is hardly ever going to come up. So that leaves a 0 ability that is a bit better than Garruk Relentless's, but in two colors.
People said the same thing about Garruk Wildspeaker, the "first playable Planeswalker" and still one of the most powerful planeswalkers printed to this day (also by my estimation, the closest planeswalker to Xenagos). Making a 2/2 haste creature every turn is brilliant. Morover, like Garruk his +1 also has its uses. There are 3 or 4 potentially playable R/G creatures (Polykranos; Ember Swallower; Stormbreath Dragon and Polis Crusher) with Monstrous which will receive the necessary mana boost from Xenagos. Nylea and (particularly) Purphoros also provide effective mana sinks. Never underestimate the power a few extra mana can provide.
Where Xenagos is much weaker than the original Garruk, is his ultimate. Garruk's Overrun ultimate gave you an excellent opportunity to alpha an opponent. Xenagos's ultimate is just not good, the only time I can think of using it is to stabalise after a board sweep... I mean it's not bad, it just lacks the impact some other ultimates have.
I'm terrible at evaluating cards, so I can't just come in and say 'best PW since JTMS', but I will say that this is the most excited I've been for a PW in a very, very long time.
I might resign myself to getting a playset of Ashiok,
who will almost certainly be cheaper by comparison,
and using him to exile everyone's overpriced Gruul/Naya cards 3 at a time
He can even make a mark before arriving with Thoughtseize.
These days a PW to be standard playable has to be only averange, not necessary good due the inherited power of this permanent type (repeatable no mana costing ability and lack of removal). If you look a the past only very bad PW didn't show up in some list.
So: Will it see play in T2? of course! Will it be expensive? of course! (due to mythic rarity, but this is another topic)
To be playable in eternal format instead a PW has to be ridicolously undercosted compared to his/her abilities (read as cmc <4) unless perfectly fitted in a control shell, and this is not the case..
My two cents: it will be largely played in standard and only occasionally in some rogue list in modern; the price after some time of the release will attest at 30$ and remain at this level for all his rotation in standard.
- L
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"The problem isn't when Scissors says Rock is overpowered, it's when Paper says it is."
-Mark Rosewater
The extra mana from his +1 is also very nice for triggering monstrous not necessarily as a ramp tool. Also just coming down and repaying part of his cost or more and playing another card on the same turn is quite strong ala emissary.
Question for all who might know the answer. In February or whenever in the winter months when we get the next duel deck with planeswalkers in. Will this guy be in it or will it be planeswalkers from RTR block?
The third walker apparently costs 1UB according to viperesque (from the 'Planeswalkers for Theros block' in speculation). Unless I have missed something, Ashiok is on the flavour text of Thoughtseize and is probally (just speculation) the name of the last walker.
The third walker apparently costs 1UB according to viperesque (from the 'Planeswalkers for Theros block' in speculation). Unless I have missed something, Ashiok is on the flavour text of Thoughtseize and is probally (just speculation) the name of the last walker.
Thanks! Just making sure I hadn't missed a preview
Fairly good but not great I guess.
The +1 feels a bit difficult to use effectively, it can definately ramp into some sweet stuff though if you're using some sort of elfball list. It's also the only way to get up to the super strong ultimate but I doubt you'll be using the +1 much more than once unless you really feel you can safely get to that ultimate.
The 0 ability is definately great and the meat behind this PW. Even if he had just that ability i'd like him, creating an army of 2/2 hasters is very sweet.
The ultimate is obviously insane if you get it off but I'll think you'll rarely get there and have it be relevant. The +1 just doesn't seem like something you want to do much.
Overall sweet walker in an aggressive deck that unlike domri rade still functions greatly if you just have 15-20 creatures. Could definately be a player in some sort of elf ramp deck as it's great for powering out big garruk or other stuff while still being very decent if you just aren't ramping.
Ok firstly anyone saying this card isn't good, quit kidding yourself your either deluded or trying to lower the price. You won't lower the price as this is too obviously powerful in a deck that already exists .
On to the card, fantastic design and kudos to whoever did it as this is perfect to the personality of a satyr as well as great in colour representation.
Certainly a chase card right from get go and almost certainly will see play in standard from the start. May even make it to legacy but that's a big maybe.
He's impressive, for sure. Not really getting the whole 'omgz he's the bestest walker since jtms!'
Good, sure. Not unmanageable. Eats a Helix, and I hear those are good. Ramp is going to try to push him down early, with a bunch of mana dorks, drop a beater that eats a Doom Blade or a Verdict, and then wonder why they wasted $40 on this guy. The nasty decks in those colors barely wanted Domri, now all of a sudden they want a 4cc with a +1 that isn't relevant to fast aggro strategies?
I want one for Commander, definitely. But this knee-jerk 'he's great! goodbye control!' is goofy.
You can +1 him before he gets helix'd.
Some people are really overrating this guy. He's certainly not awful, and will probably see some play, but his +1 isn't particularly great (cradle gets a lot worse at 4 mana), and his ult is hardly ever going to come up. So that leaves a 0 ability that is a bit better than Garruk Relentless's, but in two colors.
He's not a "drop in any deck and that deck gets better", but at the deck that wants to play him (midrange) he's pretty great. He lets you power out 7CC-8CC drops on turn 5.That's exactly what midrange wants to do.
What we need now are some really good 7-8 drops, but most sets usual have high costed Timmy cards, so it's a fair bet we will get some.
I'm just surprised they printed this guy, since he pretty much destroys deck diversity in his archetype. For his time in Standard you could just rename the the archetypes to aggro, control, and Xenagos
I'm not sold on his Modern Jund playability, Huntsmaster still does more of what that deck wants to do at the 4CC spot.
Some people are really overrating this guy. He's certainly not awful, and will probably see some play, but his +1 isn't particularly great (cradle gets a lot worse at 4 mana), and his ult is hardly ever going to come up. So that leaves a 0 ability that is a bit better than Garruk Relentless's, but in two colors.
Indeed, I'd be more wary than a lot of people jumping on him. You're paying 4 and getting either a mana ramp, no less one with a win-more condition, or something that farts bears. Lets make no mistake, either side is rather slow. To get considerable mana from his +1 you need an overdeveloped board. Granted, he can do that with his 0, but that entails being turn 7 or 8 out stabilizing a board with a bunch of french vanilla grizzlies.
This isn't JTMS. Its not a swiss army knife of always useful abilities. To get mileage out of him, you need to have a board that has both lots of creatures- a developed early board- as well as bigger threats at high CMC. You're either getting one or the other elsewise. As a curve topper in aggro, this is just flat out bad. In a midrange, it can make more sense, and indeed he might be viable there on the back of efficient mana dorks like our utopia tree 2.0. But make no mistake, its not a card you throw in 4-of in every deck you run RG.
He's just one step up wirewood channeler, its really not saying that much
Turn 1: Experiment 1
Turn 2: Burning-Tree Emissary, evolve X1, Sylvan Caryatid, evolve X1. Attack for 3.
Turn 3: Xenagos, +1 for mana, Domri Rade, -2 to fight, swing for 3 more...
Turn 4: +1 for mana, play an 8 drop. Hell, play Borborygmos since you're Gruul. Fight if you didn't on Turn 3.
This card just sealed the deal on RGx mid-control for me. I've been trying to use Clan Defiance for a while now. Lots of good stuff for slower jund now.
Ok firstly anyone saying this card isn't good, quit kidding yourself your either deluded or trying to lower the price. You won't lower the price as this is too obviously powerful in a deck that already exists .
On to the card, fantastic design and kudos to whoever did it as this is perfect to the personality of a satyr as well as great in colour representation.
Certainly a chase card right from get go and almost certainly will see play in standard from the start. May even make it to legacy but that's a big maybe.
This does nothing in Legacy, and is not a BBE replacement in Modern. It's a fantastic standard card, but in older formats if you use the 0, you're playing 4 mana for a haste 2/2 token (bolt/etc), or a mana effect that does not replace the card it's on that is situational as well. It's nowhere near the power level of a Gaea's Cradle.
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They most certianly did not. This guy will be a 40$ card and all the broke ass people like me who want 4 copies most likely wont be able to get them unless I pull them out of packs or draft them or get them in limited. This is why i have a love/hate feelings toward mythics. I know why do this because multiples in a limited enviroment would warp the format and make it unplayable. I hate the fact that some mythics are 25-40$ and you have to have them in order to win.
It's already $40 on starcity.
Its worse in the Jund like decks simply because it cant find removal and it doesnt provide removal itself (that said green garruck is better than this most the time as the ability to removal should be much better than the mana ability).
However, if you have some more crazy ramp deck the mana ability might be good aswell (if it produces 4+ mana) to ramp into a win.
That said it has its uses, but for current decks its not really something you really want to cast in "Modern" , for standard its totally fine to produce tokens all the time.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
I might resign myself to getting a playset of Ashiok,
who will almost certainly be cheaper by comparison,
and using him to exile everyone's overpriced Gruul/Naya cards 3 at a time
He can even make a mark before arriving with Thoughtseize.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
People said the same thing about Garruk Wildspeaker, the "first playable Planeswalker" and still one of the most powerful planeswalkers printed to this day (also by my estimation, the closest planeswalker to Xenagos). Making a 2/2 haste creature every turn is brilliant. Morover, like Garruk his +1 also has its uses. There are 3 or 4 potentially playable R/G creatures (Polykranos; Ember Swallower; Stormbreath Dragon and Polis Crusher) with Monstrous which will receive the necessary mana boost from Xenagos. Nylea and (particularly) Purphoros also provide effective mana sinks. Never underestimate the power a few extra mana can provide.
Where Xenagos is much weaker than the original Garruk, is his ultimate. Garruk's Overrun ultimate gave you an excellent opportunity to alpha an opponent. Xenagos's ultimate is just not good, the only time I can think of using it is to stabalise after a board sweep... I mean it's not bad, it just lacks the impact some other ultimates have.
My custom sets:
Caeia Block (Released - Beta)
Generals of Dareth (In Design)
I lol'd.
This is going to stick out like a sore thumb, and I can't help but wonder how far it will go like a rocket on the secondary market.
Where's the downside to this, or is this simply really powerful (or has the potential to be really powerful)?
Who's Ashiok? the third walker in Theros?
So: Will it see play in T2? of course! Will it be expensive? of course! (due to mythic rarity, but this is another topic)
To be playable in eternal format instead a PW has to be ridicolously undercosted compared to his/her abilities (read as cmc <4) unless perfectly fitted in a control shell, and this is not the case..
My two cents: it will be largely played in standard and only occasionally in some rogue list in modern; the price after some time of the release will attest at 30$ and remain at this level for all his rotation in standard.
- L
"The problem isn't when Scissors says Rock is overpowered, it's when Paper says it is."
-Mark Rosewater
The third walker apparently costs 1UB according to viperesque (from the 'Planeswalkers for Theros block' in speculation). Unless I have missed something, Ashiok is on the flavour text of Thoughtseize and is probally (just speculation) the name of the last walker.
Thanks! Just making sure I hadn't missed a preview
The +1 feels a bit difficult to use effectively, it can definately ramp into some sweet stuff though if you're using some sort of elfball list. It's also the only way to get up to the super strong ultimate but I doubt you'll be using the +1 much more than once unless you really feel you can safely get to that ultimate.
The 0 ability is definately great and the meat behind this PW. Even if he had just that ability i'd like him, creating an army of 2/2 hasters is very sweet.
The ultimate is obviously insane if you get it off but I'll think you'll rarely get there and have it be relevant. The +1 just doesn't seem like something you want to do much.
Overall sweet walker in an aggressive deck that unlike domri rade still functions greatly if you just have 15-20 creatures. Could definately be a player in some sort of elf ramp deck as it's great for powering out big garruk or other stuff while still being very decent if you just aren't ramping.
EDH
WBG Karador's Sepulcher GBW
What makes this card good?
I will henceforth refer to all combo decks with Xenagos as Xenogears as should all men of good conscious.
You can +1 him before he gets helix'd.
He's not a "drop in any deck and that deck gets better", but at the deck that wants to play him (midrange) he's pretty great. He lets you power out 7CC-8CC drops on turn 5.That's exactly what midrange wants to do.
What we need now are some really good 7-8 drops, but most sets usual have high costed Timmy cards, so it's a fair bet we will get some.
I'm just surprised they printed this guy, since he pretty much destroys deck diversity in his archetype. For his time in Standard you could just rename the the archetypes to aggro, control, and Xenagos
I'm not sold on his Modern Jund playability, Huntsmaster still does more of what that deck wants to do at the 4CC spot.
Hitting your bombs in midrange 2 turns faster.
Indeed, I'd be more wary than a lot of people jumping on him. You're paying 4 and getting either a mana ramp, no less one with a win-more condition, or something that farts bears. Lets make no mistake, either side is rather slow. To get considerable mana from his +1 you need an overdeveloped board. Granted, he can do that with his 0, but that entails being turn 7 or 8 out stabilizing a board with a bunch of french vanilla grizzlies.
This isn't JTMS. Its not a swiss army knife of always useful abilities. To get mileage out of him, you need to have a board that has both lots of creatures- a developed early board- as well as bigger threats at high CMC. You're either getting one or the other elsewise. As a curve topper in aggro, this is just flat out bad. In a midrange, it can make more sense, and indeed he might be viable there on the back of efficient mana dorks like our utopia tree 2.0. But make no mistake, its not a card you throw in 4-of in every deck you run RG.
He's just one step up wirewood channeler, its really not saying that much
Turn 2: Burning-Tree Emissary, evolve X1, Sylvan Caryatid, evolve X1. Attack for 3.
Turn 3: Xenagos, +1 for mana, Domri Rade, -2 to fight, swing for 3 more...
Turn 4: +1 for mana, play an 8 drop. Hell, play Borborygmos since you're Gruul. Fight if you didn't on Turn 3.
This does nothing in Legacy, and is not a BBE replacement in Modern. It's a fantastic standard card, but in older formats if you use the 0, you're playing 4 mana for a haste 2/2 token (bolt/etc), or a mana effect that does not replace the card it's on that is situational as well. It's nowhere near the power level of a Gaea's Cradle.