As a casual/EDH player, I'm loving all of these. But i guess I usually like the intropack feature cards for the same reasons.
Silent Sentinel + bestow - if it comes back, does it come back as a creature or an aura or either?
Inspiration - If it's a common enough mechanic, I wonder if a deck that tries to get as much inspiration out as possible will be a thing.
Devourer of Hope - I love all big stupid demons. Whether they give harpy tokens or sacrifice other things.
Firestoker Dragon - Can allow the whole team through if you have enough mana. And when you're topdecking in limited, having that much mana free is definitely likely to happen.
Tribute - I love cards that give opponents hard choices. Usually it's pretty obvious which one is the best, but once you add in multiplayer and the fact that I get to choose who makes the decision, this one might put some people in a real bind. Or if temporary alliances form, I might be able to ask for which one I want.
Total side note but I like how people are discussing running this over itself.
Well, it has to be said that Kolaghan is clearly better than Kolaghan. Considering what BR decks usually want and how stiff the competition in this guild is, there is no way that I would run Kolaghan over Kolaghan! Kolaghan might make it in as the sixth guild card or so. Kolaghan on the other hand ranks several places below that.
It was so funny to me when they described this as a downgrade to the original Zurgo during the Pax East panel. I was thinking if this is a downgrade, they should really "downgrade" all legendary creatures. Haha.
My deck designing is quite concise at this point:
1. Come up with deck idea
2. Realize this idea is somehow fundamentally similar to another deck I have or that is commonly played in my group
3. Decide I don't want to disassemble one of my existing decks
4. Give up and do nothing
I don't see the point of this new shroud mechanic. It's strictly worse than Hexproof. Threshold is pretty bad too, Delirium is a much better mechanic and probably easier to activate.
Otherwise this card is a pretty neat guy. Dodges removal and grows into a Primal Huntbeast. 3/5
The blue one looked insane to me at first. But I guess you have to wait for it to get tapped (presumably by attacking) and then untap to do some shenanigans.
The fact that you have to wait for all of this (hopefully) makes the card more fair.
Until you realize springleaf drum is also in the set. Then shenanigans ensue.
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I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
It would not come back as an aura, a bestow creature is only an aura when played for its bestow cost.
That's what I figured.
I'm also new to paying attention to rumours, so has it been confirmed that these will be the feature cards of the starter packs? Or is it that posters like this have come out in the past and they've always been the starter pack feature cards?
I feel like Mediator probably is misnamed here... if it's #31 in the set, it's pretty close to the beginning of blue. It's pretty unlikely that "m" is the lead letter of the fifth or less card in the color, right?
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the tribute mechanic seems a tribute to commander (huehuehue). the particular guy revealed isnt horribly interesting, but the mechanic itself has a lot of potential. it isn't pure value like other ETB effects, but as long as both options for the opponent are detrimental then it should be fine.
inspiration also seems breakable. i'm hoping for a low cmc blue creature to fit into mono blue. would be great value with triton tactics, and possibly heroic mechanics.
the other creatures are rather boring. limited bombs to be sure.
Silent Sentinel - Seems like one of the most playable of the five, just because it's ability is the most straightforward and beneficial. You attack, and you can turn this into a Voltron guy pretty easily (In limited, where let's just say there's little removal). It's lacking factor here is that it costs a whopping seven mana.
Mediator of the Ideal - Maybe my personal favorite, because it's the most interesting and surprising. Nothing makes me more excited than untapping and potentially dropping another big creature on the battlefield. Heck, at that point, dropping any permanent on the battlefield would be okay. It's just free card advantage. Already I am swayed to blue.
Devourer of Hope - Playable, but that dreadful seven mana converted cost lingers over it. Fo only being a 6/4, I feel like this should have costed six mana. It has cool abilities, although I hate how sacrificing a creature has become part of regenerating. I hope they have a little bit of a recursion theme for black so you can keep this guy up and running. Anyhow, I guess this guy is alright.
Firestir Dragon - It's your average dragon. Ability that activates upon attacking. I guess it's pretty good, for limited at least. I'd still pick the white or blue guy over this, but then again it depends on the other cards in the set to decide on your guy for the prerelease.
Wild Devastating Nessian - I'd almost consider this to be the weakest card. When you first read it, you immediately are drawn the fact that you can make it a 12/12, or it's going to be punching a creature in the face. However, your opponent gets to choose, and that is a huge downside. Also, if they don't have any creatures, they're almost always going to let you fight a creature.
My conclusion is that just by looking at the five cards here, I will be playing either blue or white just by looking at the rares.
The blue one looked insane to me at first. But I guess you have to wait for it to get tapped (presumably by attacking) and then untap to do some shenanigans.
The fact that you have to wait for all of this (hopefully) makes the card more fair.
Nope, still busted.
Guys, we're talking about playing the top card of our deck for free, EVERY TURN. And that's not even considering twiddle effects.
The Sphinx is straight broke in Theros limited, especially given how poor the removal is.
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I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Well, angels don't exactly fit in Theros. Angelos might be a greek word, but I'm not sure how many times it was used for supernatural creatures before Hellenistic Judaism and Christianity brought the use of the word angelos to mean supernatural messenger rather than just a mortal messenger.
I love these rares. I went to the THS prerelease and it was the most fun I've ever had playing the game in awhile. Been playing Standard for awhile and it can get pretty lackluster. I think all of these are limited for sure but why can't we appreciate that about them?
White dude: ok. What I see here is the potential of sun Titan shenanigans. If there is anything remotely close to o-rings in the set this guy can seal the deal on his own but considering bestow was originally panned for born of the gods I'm sure he will be able to target some enchantment creatures as well.
Blue dude: so what you're saying is you cheat things into play after you attack? Yep. You also have five toughness? Yep. Ok then. My prophet of kruphix deck just got a new friend.
Black dude: 7 cmc is not that bad considering abhorrent overlord punished games at the prerelease. His ability seems doable if you are drafting theros. You can Akroan crusader up and then destroy things late game. As for an engine itself, until we see something like blood artist we may be s.o.l. All we have are reaper of the wilds and dark prophecy for death triggers so....
Green dude: ok. I don't see why he's getting such a bad rap. First let me acknowledge the validity of any aforementioned arguments. What I see here is a creature that does things. As opposed to one that does not. Back in the day you gotta craw wurm. A 6/4. A 12/12 for six and you still gripe? This reminds me of shipbreaker kraken. When I was at the prerelease I chose black. Why? Green looked awesome. So did red. I chose black because I knew I had nothing to deal with a 6/6 that got bigger so I had to. In limited this guy will wreck face because he's huge and no matter what strategy you run you will eventually win by turning a guy sideways.
These aren't meant for constructed because constructed isn't the only format. To assume a game has to be competitive all the time takes away from it being a game.
So tapping and untapping the blue one will result in massive advantage on the field? Cant be hard to have a deck take crazy advantage of that. Simic, with prophet maybe. Just silly
The blue one looked insane to me at first. But I guess you have to wait for it to get tapped (presumably by attacking) and then untap to do some shenanigans.
The fact that you have to wait for all of this (hopefully) makes the card more fair.
has already been spoiled. So it seems we may have a "tap"/"untap" sub-theme.
Even if we don't, it's safe to say that the Sphinx plus either Springleaf Drum or Witches' Eye, which was mentioned earlier, is pretty sweet. Blue certainly wins "best promo of the prerelease" I think.
Sadly, this is just something else that hints at my fears that the Drum is going to be bumped up to uncommon for "limited reasons"...
Let's not forget a few things here. The white dude can bring back enchantment creatures and Gods. That's a big deal. The blue guy turns things Into enchantments with manifestation counters. We still don't know a ton about those or what else they'll be featured on. Also, the green is all about the opponents choice, and that's a huge disadvantage.
I feel like Mediator probably is misnamed here... if it's #31 in the set, it's pretty close to the beginning of blue. It's pretty unlikely that "m" is the lead letter of the fifth or less card in the color, right?
I'm native spanish speaker, it's probably "Arbiter of Ideals" or "Arbiter of the Ideal" (probably the first one though)
For everyone losing their **** about the blue one: It only "plays the top card of your deck every turn" as long as you guarantee there are no instants, sorceries, planeswalkers, or enchantments in your deck. And when you have 5 untap triggers on the same turn, they're all wasted if the first card revealed is any of those.
The white one seems considerably better in practice. Both (typically) require attacking every turn to get their effect. The blue one is a dice roll as to whether you get anything, and whatever you get is not vulnerable to enchantment removal. There are no enchantment sweepers in the block, but there almost certainly certainly will be one in the same standard. The white one doesn't care if the things you find die, because it will just bring them back again. Sphinx synergizes with things that tap/untap him. White guy synergizes with enchantments.
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in limited i think the worse is the blue one cause it needs too much of other cards to have great effect and enters as a beatter if you don't get a cards that tap it ( after 1 turn it is a advantage machine. and with scry i for sure know that someone will have luck)
The Red one is a finisher for R agro ( splashed)
The G one is the one i think will give more value when played ( it can kill a creature but likely will be 12/12 ; Also Theros don't have alot of removals soo you probably will attack with it at least one time)
The White one relies on luck ( but mostly likely to you be reanimating blockers or just be win more. That is good on limited)
The B one i think is the best ( cause it is removal when needed and a resilient threat)
I think they are good cards for the purpose they've been made (prerelease bombs). Other than that, I don't think you can expect much. You can bet there'll be people attempting break the blue one, others will try to find applications for the black and green ones, but that's it.
Arts are all awful, just as expected. I fail to see why they keep using those weird and blurred arts for promo cards.
Well....After Stormbreath Dragon I suppose they just had to make a Dragon that was crap and a half.
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Ah, so like "casque," not like "casket." That does make more sense...
Though a dragon-shaped coffin would be pretty cool...
Silent Sentinel + bestow - if it comes back, does it come back as a creature or an aura or either?
Inspiration - If it's a common enough mechanic, I wonder if a deck that tries to get as much inspiration out as possible will be a thing.
Devourer of Hope - I love all big stupid demons. Whether they give harpy tokens or sacrifice other things.
Firestoker Dragon - Can allow the whole team through if you have enough mana. And when you're topdecking in limited, having that much mana free is definitely likely to happen.
Tribute - I love cards that give opponents hard choices. Usually it's pretty obvious which one is the best, but once you add in multiplayer and the fact that I get to choose who makes the decision, this one might put some people in a real bind. Or if temporary alliances form, I might be able to ask for which one I want.
—Mowagh the Gwyllion, Fang Skulkin
It would not come back as an aura, a bestow creature is only an aura when played for its bestow cost.
Until you realize springleaf drum is also in the set. Then shenanigans ensue.
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
That's what I figured.
I'm also new to paying attention to rumours, so has it been confirmed that these will be the feature cards of the starter packs? Or is it that posters like this have come out in the past and they've always been the starter pack feature cards?
Arbiter/Advocate
Advocate of the Ideal or Arbiter of the Ideal
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inspiration also seems breakable. i'm hoping for a low cmc blue creature to fit into mono blue. would be great value with triton tactics, and possibly heroic mechanics.
the other creatures are rather boring. limited bombs to be sure.
Silent Sentinel - Seems like one of the most playable of the five, just because it's ability is the most straightforward and beneficial. You attack, and you can turn this into a Voltron guy pretty easily (In limited, where let's just say there's little removal). It's lacking factor here is that it costs a whopping seven mana.
Mediator of the Ideal - Maybe my personal favorite, because it's the most interesting and surprising. Nothing makes me more excited than untapping and potentially dropping another big creature on the battlefield. Heck, at that point, dropping any permanent on the battlefield would be okay. It's just free card advantage. Already I am swayed to blue.
Devourer of Hope - Playable, but that dreadful seven mana converted cost lingers over it. Fo only being a 6/4, I feel like this should have costed six mana. It has cool abilities, although I hate how sacrificing a creature has become part of regenerating. I hope they have a little bit of a recursion theme for black so you can keep this guy up and running. Anyhow, I guess this guy is alright.
Firestir Dragon - It's your average dragon. Ability that activates upon attacking. I guess it's pretty good, for limited at least. I'd still pick the white or blue guy over this, but then again it depends on the other cards in the set to decide on your guy for the prerelease.
Wild Devastating Nessian - I'd almost consider this to be the weakest card. When you first read it, you immediately are drawn the fact that you can make it a 12/12, or it's going to be punching a creature in the face. However, your opponent gets to choose, and that is a huge downside. Also, if they don't have any creatures, they're almost always going to let you fight a creature.
My conclusion is that just by looking at the five cards here, I will be playing either blue or white just by looking at the rares.
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SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Nope, still busted.
Guys, we're talking about playing the top card of our deck for free, EVERY TURN. And that's not even considering twiddle effects.
The Sphinx is straight broke in Theros limited, especially given how poor the removal is.
I'm officially proposing we retire the word "insane" from the MtG vocabulary.
"The best way to be different is to be better" - Gene Muir
Cubes:
Modern Banlist Cube
Monocolor Budget Cube
Red Iconic- dragon, check
Blue Iconic- sphinx, check
Black Iconic- demon, check
White Iconic- archon....
GModern Belcher
GGreen Deck Wins
3I'm the King
RBlazeTron
Yeah, but all the cards you play are enchantments and vulnerable to the many "Destroy all enchantments" cards that have been printed over the years.
White dude: ok. What I see here is the potential of sun Titan shenanigans. If there is anything remotely close to o-rings in the set this guy can seal the deal on his own but considering bestow was originally panned for born of the gods I'm sure he will be able to target some enchantment creatures as well.
Blue dude: so what you're saying is you cheat things into play after you attack? Yep. You also have five toughness? Yep. Ok then. My prophet of kruphix deck just got a new friend.
Black dude: 7 cmc is not that bad considering abhorrent overlord punished games at the prerelease. His ability seems doable if you are drafting theros. You can Akroan crusader up and then destroy things late game. As for an engine itself, until we see something like blood artist we may be s.o.l. All we have are reaper of the wilds and dark prophecy for death triggers so....
Green dude: ok. I don't see why he's getting such a bad rap. First let me acknowledge the validity of any aforementioned arguments. What I see here is a creature that does things. As opposed to one that does not. Back in the day you gotta craw wurm. A 6/4. A 12/12 for six and you still gripe? This reminds me of shipbreaker kraken. When I was at the prerelease I chose black. Why? Green looked awesome. So did red. I chose black because I knew I had nothing to deal with a 6/6 that got bigger so I had to. In limited this guy will wreck face because he's huge and no matter what strategy you run you will eventually win by turning a guy sideways.
These aren't meant for constructed because constructed isn't the only format. To assume a game has to be competitive all the time takes away from it being a game.
Remember,
Even if we don't, it's safe to say that the Sphinx plus either Springleaf Drum or Witches' Eye, which was mentioned earlier, is pretty sweet. Blue certainly wins "best promo of the prerelease" I think.
Sadly, this is just something else that hints at my fears that the Drum is going to be bumped up to uncommon for "limited reasons"...
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
I'm native spanish speaker, it's probably "Arbiter of Ideals" or "Arbiter of the Ideal" (probably the first one though)
The white one seems considerably better in practice. Both (typically) require attacking every turn to get their effect. The blue one is a dice roll as to whether you get anything, and whatever you get is not vulnerable to enchantment removal. There are no enchantment sweepers in the block, but there almost certainly certainly will be one in the same standard. The white one doesn't care if the things you find die, because it will just bring them back again. Sphinx synergizes with things that tap/untap him. White guy synergizes with enchantments.
The Red one is a finisher for R agro ( splashed)
The G one is the one i think will give more value when played ( it can kill a creature but likely will be 12/12 ; Also Theros don't have alot of removals soo you probably will attack with it at least one time)
The White one relies on luck ( but mostly likely to you be reanimating blockers or just be win more. That is good on limited)
The B one i think is the best ( cause it is removal when needed and a resilient threat)
Arts are all awful, just as expected. I fail to see why they keep using those weird and blurred arts for promo cards.
Because it is probably an early draft of it.