Xenagos seems pretty nuts in at least Standard. I wouldn't be surprised if that card retains its $30 price. I don't know about Modern for sure, but the Gaea's Cradle ability has potential.
Gaea's cradle wasn't that great when it was standard (sorry, type 2) legal, and you didn't have to pay for it or defend it.
Good, sure. Nuts no. It's a slightly more swingy(/worse?) Garruk Wildpeaker.
There is no "Broken" card in Theros but instead alot of powerfull ones...
People coumplaining about the Slowdown of the formart are right but Theros brings alot of Good Things for older formarts...
Power cards
01. Xenagos, the Reveler
02. Purphoros, God of the Forge
03. Titan's Strength (seriously wizards, you got insane on creating this card)
04. Steam Augury
05. Elspeth Sun's Champion
I thought all 3 of those were broken as soon as they were spoiled though I wasn't sure if DRS would see standard play or just eternal. I think alot of people actually called those cards. Better examples would be Angel of Serenity, and Crater hoof behemoth because they were meta dependent. Not that many people expected that 7 drop to hit $20. If I had to guess a creature that might suprise people I would go with Shadowborn Demon. It can get pretty absurd with Whip of Erebos or Gift of Immortality and at it's very worst lets you stabilize vs aggro by removing a threat and giving you a large flying blocker. It also synergizes and is on curve with Reaper of the Wilds, Bogbrew Witch and Trading Post.
As far as theros goes I think Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is going to surprise some people in the slower format. Free creature spells shouldn't be underestimated in control especially since control lost virtually all of it's creatures with flash. Even in the control matchup it seems good. The ultimate on turn 6+ or an uncounterable aetherling on turn 5+ could easily win games in the mirror match.
Go back and read the Thragtusk thread, most though he was just a decent creature that may or may not see play. In fact typically EVERY card that has done a lot after release like say Dark Confidant or Tarmogoyf has had a good number of naysayers when the card was first spoiled.
I'm gonna agree; nothing is appears to be broken, but there are some strong cards. Could be wrong. Maybe there is some totally broken card we can't see. As of now, doesn't appear that way though.
Yeah, Titan's Strength will at least see some sort of attempt at play. +3/+1 and scry for red is excellent. I mean, I'm imagining:
I edited OP just for you, bud. Sorry, English isn't my first language.
I also think Titan's Strength looks almost better then Giant Growth, a long beloved card. Aqueous Form is also really solid.
I have no problem with common and uncommon card being a bit pushed though. What makes my love of Magic waver is when I look at a Mythic like Voice of Resurgence and can only manage to think "wow, now I can't play Selesnya without buying 4 30$ cards". That's just Wizards breaking the laws of card design to sell boosters for a rare.
I'm glad that this time they managed to have no cards like this and rather focus on having lots of possible playables that focus on synergy.
I'm glad that this time they managed to have no cards like this and rather focus on having lots of possible playables that focus on synergy.
Still kinda sucks that preordering instills Xenagos at 25$ and Purphoros at 20$ with a few other cards about as expensive xD. Of course loads of those are bound to drop once release hits but I find it kind of silly that prices seems to have been raised artificially just in hope that people might buy them who thinks in speculation.
Just spot the Scry-lands at 4-5$. They may surprise in effect but overall a Guild Gate with Scry 1 doesn't scream 5$ card to me. It may say 2.5$.
I edited OP just for you, bud. Sorry, English isn't my first language.
I also think Titan's Strength looks almost better then Giant Growth, a long beloved card. Aqueous Form is also really solid.
I have no problem with common and uncommon card being a bit pushed though. What makes my love of Magic waver is when I look at a Mythic like Voice of Resurgence and can only manage to think "wow, now I can't play Selesnya without buying 4 30$ cards". That's just Wizards breaking the laws of card design to sell boosters for a rare.
I'm glad that this time they managed to have no cards like this and rather focus on having lots of possible playables that focus on synergy.
There's a few good 1 drop cards.
Titan's Strength, Boon of Erebos, and Warrior's Lesson all look quite good. In a format that's looking to be almost entirely about creatures, +3 power for 1 mana (with upside) is almost as good as a Lightning Bolt.
If you like Titan's Strength take a look at Rubblebelt Makka from Gatecrash, it's a red Giant Growth though you can only use it on attackers and it won't trigger heroic.
I remember people saying " It's a bad blue sun zenit" LOL, so I Bought my copies for 4 or 5 euros.
I remember being one of those people who was disappointed with Sphinx's Revelation because USZ could target and function as a win condition. Here's my poor opinion on it immortalized for all. I caught on to how good it was quicker than most, but due to a lack of them in my area I didn't get them for under $15 or $20.
Anyways, the power level is without a doubt lower in this set. I've managed to come up with a few interesting decks so far though. W/G aggro taking advantage of double strike, on player damage triggers, and heroic looks good and is backed up by a very good card draw spell, R/G ramp looks good (albeit very expensive) because it basically has 12 Burning Tree Emissaries now with all the devotion benefits that brings, Maze's End (what I'll probably play until the meta settles as it's mostly pre rotation cards) is going to have some time to shine in standard before the card pool expands. Gift of Immortality seems promising too... I'm currently trying that out in a Junk shell with lots of discard creatures and removal. On the subject of removal though, it just seems really bad in this format. Putting Gift of Immortality onto Lifebane Zombie, Sin Collector, or Voice of Resurgence with a sac outlet just feels dirty.
I've actually had a poor opinion of the dragon though, the ramp deck isn't really ramping into 5 and 6 cost creatures. Instead it's ramping into 4 drops like Polukranos, Kalonian Hydra, and even Ogre Battledriver. I think the dragon is 1 CMC too high for the obvious deck for it.
My pick is Nykthos. It may be weaker at the moment in mult-colour but when we move out of RTR next year and into more mono-coloured decks it'll really shine, especially as you can now chain into a second one.
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New Standard: WR Heroic Boros Soldiers
EDH: GW Sisay, UB Wrexial, WR Anax and Cymede (Coming soon)
Turn 1: Akroan Crusader
Turn 2: Legion Loyalist, Coordinated Assault, get hasty token attack with battalion for 5.
That seems a little broken to me. Attacking with 2 2/1 trample/first strike and another 1/1 trample/first strike on turn 2 is good. The card itself is not broken, but that is good.
So far, from what I can see (looking through "Standard goggles" at least), there are a handful of really strong cards. Obviously Thoughtseizeis up there, but we all knew that.
As far as theros goes I think Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is going to surprise some people in the slower format. Free creature spells shouldn't be underestimated in control especially since control lost virtually all of it's creatures with flash. Even in the control matchup it seems good. The ultimate on turn 6+ or an uncounterable aetherling on turn 5+ could easily win games in the mirror match.
Surprise! (It showed up in every single esper control list in the top 16 in scg's standard tournament this weekend)
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Wizards print good rares, players complain about cash grab. They print underwhelming rares, players complain that the cards suck. They spoil the best cards first, players complain about the insane prices of preorders. They spoil the meh cards first, players complain that this is the worst set ever.
So. I think I understand now.
As far as these forums are concerned, WotC can never do anything good because:
Card that is new and probably good = "pushed"
Card that is new and probably bad = "EDH/casual fodder"
Card that is a reprint = "lazy"
Card that is a better version of an older card = "power creep"
Card that is a weaker version of an older card = "worthless"
There are no broken cards in Theros. There are, however, three cards in particular that are unfair; unfair in the sense that they violate fundamental rules of the game and allow you to play on a different axis than your typical Magic deck:
Ashiok is already seeing play and Whip is being experimented with by the pros. The cards to make a Prophet deck operate likely don't exist yet, but they will at some point and once they do the Prophet is going to be a powerhouse.
My pick is Nykthos. It may be weaker at the moment in mult-colour but when we move out of RTR next year and into more mono-coloured decks it'll really shine, especially as you can now chain into a second one.
I think we'll be seeing a good bit of nykthos even in this environment.
I thought BTE was explosive before....now they come down as free devotion and pay nykthos's activation cost so that a Stormbreath Dragon can join them.....and then the dragon provides enough devotion to pay for monstrosity next turn
Gaea's cradle wasn't that great when it was standard (sorry, type 2) legal, and you didn't have to pay for it or defend it.
Good, sure. Nuts no. It's a slightly more swingy(/worse?) Garruk Wildpeaker.
People coumplaining about the Slowdown of the formart are right but Theros brings alot of Good Things for older formarts...
And no one remember that
- Thoughtseize
- Magma Jet
are in?Power cards
01. Xenagos, the Reveler
02. Purphoros, God of the Forge
03. Titan's Strength (seriously wizards, you got insane on creating this card)
04. Steam Augury
05. Elspeth Sun's Champion
Meme cards
01. Mistcutter Hydra
02. Ashen Rider
03. Prognostic Sphinx
04. Stormbreath Dragon
05. Fleecemane Lion
Underrated Cards
01. Spellheart Chimera
02. Swan Song
03. Curse of the Swine
04. Soldier of the Pantheon
05. Whip of Erebos
Overrated cards
01. Thassa, God of the Sea
02. Underworld Cerberus
03. Hammer of Purphoros
04. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
05. Heliod, God of the Sun
It was a staple in Trinity, a format-defining deck. Some monowhite rebels deck even played it.
Anyway, Xenagos is obviously a very different card in that costs mana and generates creatures.
Go back and read the Thragtusk thread, most though he was just a decent creature that may or may not see play. In fact typically EVERY card that has done a lot after release like say Dark Confidant or Tarmogoyf has had a good number of naysayers when the card was first spoiled.
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
Yeah, Titan's Strength will at least see some sort of attempt at play. +3/+1 and scry for red is excellent. I mean, I'm imagining:
T1: Rakdos Cackler unleashed
T2: Enter combat phase, attack, Titan's Strength...
That's it. That isn't Magical Christmas Land. That is 5 damage on turn two and draw smoothing.
Still, it's just a one shot combat trick, so it might not be good enough regardless of how strong it is.
I edited OP just for you, bud. Sorry, English isn't my first language.
I also think Titan's Strength looks almost better then Giant Growth, a long beloved card. Aqueous Form is also really solid.
I have no problem with common and uncommon card being a bit pushed though. What makes my love of Magic waver is when I look at a Mythic like Voice of Resurgence and can only manage to think "wow, now I can't play Selesnya without buying 4 30$ cards". That's just Wizards breaking the laws of card design to sell boosters for a rare.
I'm glad that this time they managed to have no cards like this and rather focus on having lots of possible playables that focus on synergy.
Just spot the Scry-lands at 4-5$. They may surprise in effect but overall a Guild Gate with Scry 1 doesn't scream 5$ card to me. It may say 2.5$.
There's a few good 1 drop cards.
Titan's Strength, Boon of Erebos, and Warrior's Lesson all look quite good. In a format that's looking to be almost entirely about creatures, +3 power for 1 mana (with upside) is almost as good as a Lightning Bolt.
If you like Titan's Strength take a look at Rubblebelt Makka from Gatecrash, it's a red Giant Growth though you can only use it on attackers and it won't trigger heroic.
I remember being one of those people who was disappointed with Sphinx's Revelation because USZ could target and function as a win condition. Here's my poor opinion on it immortalized for all. I caught on to how good it was quicker than most, but due to a lack of them in my area I didn't get them for under $15 or $20.
Anyways, the power level is without a doubt lower in this set. I've managed to come up with a few interesting decks so far though. W/G aggro taking advantage of double strike, on player damage triggers, and heroic looks good and is backed up by a very good card draw spell, R/G ramp looks good (albeit very expensive) because it basically has 12 Burning Tree Emissaries now with all the devotion benefits that brings, Maze's End (what I'll probably play until the meta settles as it's mostly pre rotation cards) is going to have some time to shine in standard before the card pool expands. Gift of Immortality seems promising too... I'm currently trying that out in a Junk shell with lots of discard creatures and removal. On the subject of removal though, it just seems really bad in this format. Putting Gift of Immortality onto Lifebane Zombie, Sin Collector, or Voice of Resurgence with a sac outlet just feels dirty.
I've actually had a poor opinion of the dragon though, the ramp deck isn't really ramping into 5 and 6 cost creatures. Instead it's ramping into 4 drops like Polukranos, Kalonian Hydra, and even Ogre Battledriver. I think the dragon is 1 CMC too high for the obvious deck for it.
EDH: GW Sisay, UB Wrexial, WR Anax and Cymede (Coming soon)
Casual: GW Elephants
Turn 2: Legion Loyalist, Coordinated Assault, get hasty token attack with battalion for 5.
That seems a little broken to me. Attacking with 2 2/1 trample/first strike and another 1/1 trample/first strike on turn 2 is good. The card itself is not broken, but that is good.
Beyond that, I think Whip of Erebos is insane (Trostani's Summoner says hi, and so does Obzedat, Ghost Council). Oh and all your dudes get lifelink, btw, plus a couple of devotion to black if that's your thing.
Sylvan Caryatid of course is amazing, but is also answered by another high-power card, Anger of the Gods.
Bow of Nylea is ridiculous as well, albeit legendary.
Lastly, I think Gift of Immortality is amazing and stands to get abused.
(EDIT: I forgot Spellheart Chimera ... that's also a stupendous card among the rest).
But again, none of that stuff is broken per se (at least not right now). But then again, neither was Stoneforge Mystic when she first arrived.
Nothing broken at all. Closest is just an elspeth on t6 in limited.
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
Surprise! (It showed up in every single esper control list in the top 16 in scg's standard tournament this weekend)
she is just so good.
Ashiok is already seeing play and Whip is being experimented with by the pros. The cards to make a Prophet deck operate likely don't exist yet, but they will at some point and once they do the Prophet is going to be a powerhouse.
Check out my expected lands table at:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Airj6A6lYAz_dG05T2JETnVTak1xQ0tqOHNSdEJLWVE&hl=en_US#gid=0
I think we'll be seeing a good bit of nykthos even in this environment.
I thought BTE was explosive before....now they come down as free devotion and pay nykthos's activation cost so that a Stormbreath Dragon can join them.....and then the dragon provides enough devotion to pay for monstrosity next turn
Elite Arcanist + Zhur-Taa Druid + Triton Tactics
Go figure =)
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
It's a pretty neat interaction. If only the Arcanist wasn't so fragile.