Well if you wanted to be a little anal, I guess you might be right. I think general context is more important.
Also a lot of people have already mentioned about the futility of putting deathouch on a big creature (see Soul of Innistrad and Grave Titan as prime examples). But let's not digress even further.
I think reach is definitely more relevant on a huge creature. It's flavorful that they're able to grasp small flying things in the air. Arbor Colossus was another good example.
Lone Bolster creature enters the battlefield. Cloudshift
Double the +1/+1 counters.
Maybe this could be possible.
No, it isn't possible. Any counters would be lost because of exiling it.
And trying to cloudshift in response to the ability going on the stack doesn't work either because said ability will be countered because the card returning isn't the same one, the game sees them as two separate objects despite being the same card.
And none of that stops Cloudshift in response to the trigger from working. It's not good, but it works.
You can blink it once for each creature with toughness ≤ 5, ending with the mammoth itself, but that's about it.
I think reach is definitely more relevant on a huge creature. It's flavorful that they're able to grasp small flying things in the air. Arbor Colossus was another good example.
The problem is that ridiculous mana cost, though. If you really want to know, you can either give a creature with reach vigilance or you can give it a cheaper mana cost (and an appropriately-sized body). Alternately, you can give it a decent ability that makes it so I'm not playing it to block flyers, such as Ruric Thar, the Unbowed.
I remember people arguing "Well, if you make Arbor Colossus monstrous, you don't even have to attack, so it's better than Kalonian Hydra." Yeah, if I have an 8/8 trampler for five mana, I'm attacking. Every. Time. The only exception involves the rare first strike/deathtouch d00d like Glissa, the Traitor. But seriously, I don't see the point of an eleven-mana Plummet. But that's just me.
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!
Also, again, why did it take until Juvenile Gloomwidow for even one spider in Magic to have actual venom?
Actually this isn't true. Most large spiders' bites are painful, but aren't as venomous as the small ones. Magic's spiders are so far reflective of that.
Well you are wrong. The actual most venomous spiders are big ones: Phoneutria nigriventer and the biggest species in the world: Poecilotheria are quite venomous as well.
It is true that black widows are small and more venomous than some bigger ones, but spiders should definitely have some venom flavor.
Spider venom and Size ratio varies among species. Some large spiders are venomous, some are not.
Same for small spiders. It is common for smaller animals to have more potent venom to compete with larger animals.
Spider venom and Size ratio varies among species. Some large spiders are venomous, some are not.
Same for small spiders. It is common for smaller animals to have more potent venom to compete with larger animals.
Source: Me, Biologist
Thank you, that's what I was alluding to. We tend to see smaller animals equipped with special tools to survive their given conditions
And I don't disagree with hyalapterouslemur; this mastodon is certainly underwhelming for an overall design. A card like Ivorytusk Fortress seems to be more impactful of a card, and it's something I feel is passable/pickable. I don't think I'll pick Mastodon in most occasions. It needs to be more compelling at 7cmc.
Everyone seems to forget that Dragon's Maze was an extremely crammed eleven mechanic set, and that FRF can once again be a limited design space, keyword crammed set with 2 mechanics for each clan in small doses, and an eleventh mechanic (morph) which has a bit more coverage since it's in all colors, though this probably means the majority of the set will just be cycles for limited.
Also a lot of people have already mentioned about the futility of putting deathouch on a big creature (see Soul of Innistrad and Grave Titan as prime examples). But let's not digress even further.
Deathtouch on a big creature would work for a high Power creature being blocked or blocked by multiple creature to spread the range of damage for multiple kills. It would also throw a wrench in P/T buffs and debuffs as at least 1 damage would still guarantee a kill.
Everyone seems to forget that Dragon's Maze was an extremely crammed eleven mechanic set, and that FRF can once again be a limited design space, keyword crammed set with 2 mechanics for each clan in small doses, and an eleventh mechanic (morph) which has a bit more coverage since it's in all colors, though this probably means the majority of the set will just be cycles for limited.
That's an idea.
I would assume they just have five new mechanics for this set so that way it blends well with the last set and Khans of Tarkir, for both flavor and drafting purposes. That also brings me to the question: What will the mechanics of Dragons of Tarkir be?
Lone Bolster creature enters the battlefield. Cloudshift
Double the +1/+1 counters.
Maybe this could be possible.
No, it isn't possible. Any counters would be lost because of exiling it.
And trying to cloudshift in response to the ability going on the stack doesn't work either because said ability will be countered because the card returning isn't the same one, the game sees them as two separate objects despite being the same card.
And none of that stops Cloudshift in response to the trigger from working. It's not good, but it works.
You can blink it once for each creature with toughness ≤ 5, ending with the mammoth itself, but that's about it.
What are you trying to say? You could blink it 100 times in response to all the triggers and they'll resolve pumping up your smallest creature each time. If the Mastodon is the only creature you have in play at the end, it will give itself 500 +1/+1 counters.
What are you trying to say? You could blink it 100 times in response to all the triggers and they'll resolve pumping up your smallest creature each time. If the Mastodon is the only creature you have in play at the end, it will give itself 500 +1/+1 counters.
No it wont. It will give itself 5 1+/1+ counters. Remember exiling stuff and then bringing it back again removes any counters on it unless stated otherwise (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave).
Exiling it with 0 counters on it can't remove counters. There's nothing to remove while you are exiling it.
What are you trying to say? You could blink it 100 times in response to all the triggers and they'll resolve pumping up your smallest creature each time. If the Mastodon is the only creature you have in play at the end, it will give itself 500 +1/+1 counters.
No it wont. It will give itself 5 1+/1+ counters. Remember exiling stuff and then bringing it back again removes any counters on it unless stated otherwise (Skullbriar, the Walking Grave).
Exiling it with 0 counters on it can't remove counters. There's nothing to remove while you are exiling it.
Not the point, the original point was AtheistGod stated that 'if' you blinked the mastadon 100 times and it was the only creature on your field, you would be able to put 500 +1/+1 counters on it. Which in untrue, after blinking it 100 times, you only get 5 counters to put on it.
You said the counters get removed by blinking. While true, that was irrelevant since nothing with counters on it was ever blinked. You blink the Mastodon to get 100 copies of "Bolster 5" on the stack and let them resolve, putting 500 +1/+1 counters on your Mastodon.
I don't understand why no one has commented on this card having a non-standard card border. The colour is washed out and the text-box itself is white bordered, which leads me to believe it could be like Ghostfire and "count-as" colourless. If you don't believe me, take a look at our current spoiler and compare the mastodon with Yasova. Yes this card image is from a poster, but that wouldn't make the text-box white bordered. Am I really the first to notice this?
Well to be fair blinking it 100 times means there's a fair bit of mana to be made, so I reckon there're more ways to kill the game off without making a fat elephant.
Here's how it works:
- You play Sandsteppe Mastodon.
- Trigger goes on the stack.
- You cast Cloudshift targeting the Sandsteppe Mastodon.
- Cloudshift resolves. Sandsteppe Mastodon is exiled and returns, triggering again.
- The new trigger resolves, putting 5 +1/+1 counters on the Mastodon.
- Finally, the original trigger resolves, putting another 5 +1/+1 counters on the Mastodon.
This can be scaled up if you happen to have 100 Cloudshifts and 100 mana. It works.
I don't understand why no one has commented on this card having a non-standard card border. The colour is washed out and the text-box itself is white bordered, which leads me to believe it could be like Ghostfire and "count-as" colourless. If you don't believe me, take a look at our current spoiler and compare the mastodon with Yasova. Yes this card image is from a poster, but that wouldn't make the text-box white bordered. Am I really the first to notice this?
The original picture from the OP doesn't have that white border. I assume it's some template used to create the image for the spoiler.
Here's how it works:
- You play Sandsteppe Mastodon.
- Trigger goes on the stack.
- You cast Cloudshift targeting the Sandsteppe Mastodon.
- Cloudshift resolves. Sandsteppe Mastodon is exiled and returns, triggering again.
- The new trigger resolves, putting 5 +1/+1 counters on the Mastodon.
- Finally, the original trigger resolves, putting another 5 +1/+1 counters on the Mastodon.
This can be scaled up if you happen to have 100 Cloudshifts and 100 mana. It works.
Seems like a lot of extra work just to scale up a reaching elephant. Cloudshift isn't in standard, and I don't think anyone will be playing that combo in modern. Casual is left to be the determinant of that effect, and I would much rather be doing something else anyway.
I don't understand why no one has commented on this card having a non-standard card border. The colour is washed out and the text-box itself is white bordered, which leads me to believe it could be like Ghostfire and "count-as" colourless. If you don't believe me, take a look at our current spoiler and compare the mastodon with Yasova. Yes this card image is from a poster, but that wouldn't make the text-box white bordered. Am I really the first to notice this?
The card itself is kinda meh but I am really loving that mechanic ;P
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
SonofaBith - Wizards was so excited about making the packaging for Modern Masters 2 recyclable, they decided to make most of the rares and all but 1 of the UC's recycle-bin ready too. Convenient!
Interesting. You're right. Good job, that's a neat combo.
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&cmc= >[3]&subtype=+[%22Spider%22]
So far all the spiders >3cmc are definitely playable in limited. If they're deemed trash I rest my case. lol
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
Also a lot of people have already mentioned about the futility of putting deathouch on a big creature (see Soul of Innistrad and Grave Titan as prime examples). But let's not digress even further.
I think reach is definitely more relevant on a huge creature. It's flavorful that they're able to grasp small flying things in the air. Arbor Colossus was another good example.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
You can blink it once for each creature with toughness ≤ 5, ending with the mammoth itself, but that's about it.
The problem is that ridiculous mana cost, though. If you really want to know, you can either give a creature with reach vigilance or you can give it a cheaper mana cost (and an appropriately-sized body). Alternately, you can give it a decent ability that makes it so I'm not playing it to block flyers, such as Ruric Thar, the Unbowed.
I remember people arguing "Well, if you make Arbor Colossus monstrous, you don't even have to attack, so it's better than Kalonian Hydra." Yeah, if I have an 8/8 trampler for five mana, I'm attacking. Every. Time. The only exception involves the rare first strike/deathtouch d00d like Glissa, the Traitor. But seriously, I don't see the point of an eleven-mana Plummet. But that's just me.
On phasing:
Spider venom and Size ratio varies among species. Some large spiders are venomous, some are not.
Same for small spiders. It is common for smaller animals to have more potent venom to compete with larger animals.
Source: Me, Biologist
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Thank you, that's what I was alluding to. We tend to see smaller animals equipped with special tools to survive their given conditions
And I don't disagree with hyalapterouslemur; this mastodon is certainly underwhelming for an overall design. A card like Ivorytusk Fortress seems to be more impactful of a card, and it's something I feel is passable/pickable. I don't think I'll pick Mastodon in most occasions. It needs to be more compelling at 7cmc.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
Deathtouch on a big creature would work for a high Power creature being blocked or blocked by multiple creature to spread the range of damage for multiple kills. It would also throw a wrench in P/T buffs and debuffs as at least 1 damage would still guarantee a kill.
That's an idea.
I would assume they just have five new mechanics for this set so that way it blends well with the last set and Khans of Tarkir, for both flavor and drafting purposes. That also brings me to the question: What will the mechanics of Dragons of Tarkir be?
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
What are you trying to say? You could blink it 100 times in response to all the triggers and they'll resolve pumping up your smallest creature each time. If the Mastodon is the only creature you have in play at the end, it will give itself 500 +1/+1 counters.
Exiling it with 0 counters on it can't remove counters. There's nothing to remove while you are exiling it.
You said the counters get removed by blinking. While true, that was irrelevant since nothing with counters on it was ever blinked. You blink the Mastodon to get 100 copies of "Bolster 5" on the stack and let them resolve, putting 500 +1/+1 counters on your Mastodon.
"A Plague on All Your Houses!" - Thespian's Stage Pox
But it's a hilarious idea.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
- You play Sandsteppe Mastodon.
- Trigger goes on the stack.
- You cast Cloudshift targeting the Sandsteppe Mastodon.
- Cloudshift resolves. Sandsteppe Mastodon is exiled and returns, triggering again.
- The new trigger resolves, putting 5 +1/+1 counters on the Mastodon.
- Finally, the original trigger resolves, putting another 5 +1/+1 counters on the Mastodon.
This can be scaled up if you happen to have 100 Cloudshifts and 100 mana. It works.
The original picture from the OP doesn't have that white border. I assume it's some template used to create the image for the spoiler.
Seems like a lot of extra work just to scale up a reaching elephant. Cloudshift isn't in standard, and I don't think anyone will be playing that combo in modern. Casual is left to be the determinant of that effect, and I would much rather be doing something else anyway.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
You are just imagining things.
.
The image is WAY off from what I'm used to seeing.
The font is wrong, and the picture is too large on the card, plus the quality of the image itself.
Mine didn't come with January's promo
GW Rhys the Redeemed EDH
RUGAnimar, Soul of Elements EDH
WBRAlesha, Who Smiles at Death EDH