No disrespect to any Karametra fans out there, but with the spoil of Iroas, who will clearly see some, if not widespread, play in Standard, which of the remaining four Gods does everyone think will be the Journey into Nyx version of Karametra -- that is, the God that will see zero play in Standard?
My thoughts are that it won't be Pharika or Athreos, if for no other reason than Wizards' recent history of making WB and BG cards quite powerful (Blood Baron, Obzedat, Abrupt Decay, Deathrite Shaman, Ashen Rider (sees play in Legacy), etc).
That leaves Keranos and Kruphix. Now, it would be easy for either of these gods to see little play in Standard simply because UR and GU decks don't see a lot of play in the current Standard (Bant doesn't count), much like Mogis isn't seeing a lot of Standard play currently because there isn't a strong BR deck archetype that could use him, not because he isn't a powerful card (which he is). That could easily change with the right cards in a new set.
Karametra's a different story, since it would take very, very specific cards to make her remotely playable in Standard. Sadly, I'm thinking that Kruphix will be the Karametra of Journey Into Nyx, just because (1) Wizards has such a difficult time trying to figure out what to do with GU, and that (2) since Kruphix is arguably the strongest of the Theros Gods from a flavor standpoint, they had to make sure that he wasn't going to be too strong when he made it to print. So he'll be underpowered instead of overpowered.
There's already a potentially powerful GU she'll between Prophet, Kiora and Kruphix. It really just depends on if Wizards wanted to push that colour combination, or if they were afraid of it.
Personally, I think Keranos will be the "Targeted Commander General", though it could be any of them.
I'm not a fan of Karametra, but I have to give her props for being one of the scariest EDH Commanders. You can pull off some ridiculous combos with her ability. That aside, I do think she's weak in standard. So with that out of the way, I actually think Kruphix will suck, because it seems like people are most excited for him, and that means that he will likely be the biggest letdown. Following his dismal ability will be Pharika, because she's my favorite and I know she won't be good. I have graveyard interactions that don't suck, and to be honest I bet wizards won't allow that to happen. Keranos will be mehh, and I have no clue about Athreos.
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
Same. I've been planning to play BG since theros,and haven't been able to. I already had to wait this long to get scry-land instEad of guildgates...please let pharika be good...
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Huey, Dewey and Louie are always dressed in RUG. it is CLEARLY going to be the wedges block Pioneer: WURFaerie fires BRGDragons ModernBGElves WRBurn UR Fires Turns URGift Storm UG Twiddle Storm
Keranos probably won't suck for the sole reason that there hasn't been a single UR deck in Standard for over a year. Ru Devotion was literally the only UR deck I can recall, and all it was was Red devotion splash Cyclonic Rift/Ral Zarek. No Young Pyromancer, no Spellheart, no Steam Augury, no counterburn, no Niv Mizzet, nothing. All too weak. Even Simic/Dimir had better showings, with Gu Devotion/Ramp and UB Control (Shouta Yasooka) delivering finishes every now and then.
I'd pin it on Atheros to be honest. BW is super strong/represented right now, and a playable Atheros with Ghost Council would be all kinds of dumb. Then again I wouldn't mind it, either, but we're under the assumption that they can't just make 5 Iroas-style cards (aggressively costed and made for more than just EDH-fodder).
Kruphix and Keranos will both be bad. Both their colors are hard to balance without breaking and Wizards is trying (and succeeding) in scaling back the power level from INN/RTR.
I think it will be Athreos or Pharika. W/B has had
1. Obzedat
2. Blood baron
3. Cartel Aristocrat
4. Unburial Rites
5. Ashen Rider
6. W/B Aggro/Midrange is a thing in standard.
G/B has had:
1. Abrupt decay
2. Lotleth Troll
3. Varolz
4. Reaper of the wilds
5. Golgari charm being better than most other charms
6. G/B was HUGE in Innistrad-Ravnica standard, with Junk reanimator and Jund being top tier decks.
I say fair play these things need a bit of toning down. G/W aggro was the most played aggro deck of Inn-Rtr standard, and it is fair that G/W started to get bad cards. Also DID WE F****** FORGET ABOUT PHENAX? He saw just as much play as Karametra but even more useless in EDH.
Agree with YellowAssassin. BG and WB seems like the most likely candidates. Both out of flavor and because I find it hard to believe they'll make Kruphix bad as that color-combo has so little power, whilst the other two nearly has overabundance of power-stuff.
Flavor because Pharika is a healer/medicine-person that roughly translates to clerics, which often doesn't have a high power-level. Athreos is the god responsible to transfer souls from the mortal world to the underworld. That sounds pretty much like graveyard-connection. It's unlikely to give him reanimation and most other interactions with things happening to the graveyard are often quite lackluster. If he's a divine Pain Artist, perhaps even at double the effect, he'd surprise quite a load but it just seems unlikely and more into:
"If condition is met, return creature from yard to hand." - which often is lack-luster.
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
On topic it's gotta be the BW god. GB received nice eternal cards but they really don't have anything semi-expensive and standard playable. Meanwhile WB can coast on stuff like Obzedat or Blood Baron. If he's good, then well WB will just stay good.
On topic it's gotta be the BW god. GB received nice eternal cards but they really don't have anything semi-expensive and standard playable. Meanwhile WB can coast on stuff like Obzedat or Blood Baron. If he's good, then well WB will just stay good.
I'm actually backing Athreos to be somewhat playable. He shows up in a decklist in the Reconstructed column on the Wizard's site, and I suspect that means he's not a complete dud.
On topic it's gotta be the BW god. GB received nice eternal cards but they really don't have anything semi-expensive and standard playable. Meanwhile WB can coast on stuff like Obzedat or Blood Baron. If he's good, then well WB will just stay good.
I'm actually backing Athreos to be somewhat playable. He shows up in a decklist in the Reconstructed column on the Wizard's site, and I suspect that means he's not a complete dud.
You mean the decklist that includes Fate Unraveler and Underworld Coinsmith (in an aggro deck), but not pack rat? I'm not sure that it's very relevant. However, the fact that Athreos is a 4-of in a low-cmc deck makes me think he will cost 1BW (or 2BW at the most).
If I had to choose a god to replace Karametra it would obviously be Keranos, he allows you to draw an extra card whenever you hit a land giving UR decks a great mana control. But if I had to choose other cards beside gods then it would be harder, it is not common for a single set to imprint similar cards.
You mean the decklist that includes Fate Unraveler and Underworld Coinsmith (in an aggro deck), but not pack rat? I'm not sure that it's very relevant. However, the fact that Athreos is a 4-of in a low-cmc deck makes me think he will cost 1BW (or 2BW at the most).
It's not a strong indicator, it just suggests there's a chance the card might be standard-playable rather than being purely an EDH card or something.
Also DID WE F****** FORGET ABOUT PHENAX? He saw just as much play as Karametra but even more useless in EDH.
Phenax is in some mill decklists, though nothing that's making it into the Top 8. He's definitely a fun card if you can get him on the board with two Wall of Frost (and, of course, a Triton Tactics in hand), but he certainly is not the EDH all-star that Karametra is.
I guess I was more talking about which JOU God will be the Karametra as far as Standard is concerned. With Keranos spoiled (and pretty cool looking), I'm wondering when Wizards is going to spoil the letdown card, and which one of the remaining three it's going to be. Either it'll be spoiled tonight, or it will be narrowed down to two.
LOL Checking out this thread after all the gods were spoiled, I couldn't help but laugh when the thread changed from, "we will have to wait and see" to "AND XYZ"
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All your base are belong to us!
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
Also DID WE F****** FORGET ABOUT PHENAX? He saw just as much play as Karametra but even more useless in EDH.
Phenax is in some mill decklists, though nothing that's making it into the Top 8. He's definitely a fun card if you can get him on the board with two Wall of Frost (and, of course, a Triton Tactics in hand), but he certainly is not the EDH all-star that Karametra is.
I guess I was more talking about which JOU God will be the Karametra as far as Standard is concerned. With Keranos spoiled (and pretty cool looking), I'm wondering when Wizards is going to spoil the letdown card, and which one of the remaining three it's going to be. Either it'll be spoiled tonight, or it will be narrowed down to two.
Yes, you need to play other terrible cards to make him not as completely bad....which makes him really bad.
By far the worst God of the set in my opinion, he is at best a support card for Lazov or Mimeoplasm in EDH.
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Quote from Wolfman about lack of Conspiracy spoilers-
"I'd say this about guarantees that it won't be up till this Friday, but considering the current track record, the ETA is now probably two weeks after the set has been out."
Quote from Sirius_B
Speak for yourself, if drawing *****-headed wurms makes social justice warriors cry I'll make it my favorite hobby.
I have a feeling that it is Kruphix. He just seems too slow for Standard. Athreos is awesome. Pharika could see some sideboard play at least. Iroas seems pretty good. Keranos might be a control wincon post-rotation. But Kruphix doesn't seem to work in anything.
My thoughts are that it won't be Pharika or Athreos, if for no other reason than Wizards' recent history of making WB and BG cards quite powerful (Blood Baron, Obzedat, Abrupt Decay, Deathrite Shaman, Ashen Rider (sees play in Legacy), etc).
That leaves Keranos and Kruphix. Now, it would be easy for either of these gods to see little play in Standard simply because UR and GU decks don't see a lot of play in the current Standard (Bant doesn't count), much like Mogis isn't seeing a lot of Standard play currently because there isn't a strong BR deck archetype that could use him, not because he isn't a powerful card (which he is). That could easily change with the right cards in a new set.
Karametra's a different story, since it would take very, very specific cards to make her remotely playable in Standard. Sadly, I'm thinking that Kruphix will be the Karametra of Journey Into Nyx, just because (1) Wizards has such a difficult time trying to figure out what to do with GU, and that (2) since Kruphix is arguably the strongest of the Theros Gods from a flavor standpoint, they had to make sure that he wasn't going to be too strong when he made it to print. So he'll be underpowered instead of overpowered.
Anyhow, what does everyone else think?
Personally, I think Keranos will be the "Targeted Commander General", though it could be any of them.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
I want a super-Gorgon that doesn't bite.
"OH GOD MY BRAIN IS EXPLOADING AT HOW BAD THE ART IS ON MY OWN CARD"
-A friend's first impression of Ancestral Recall
10/10, I tapped.
Pioneer: WURFaerie fires BRGDragons
ModernBGElves WRBurn UR Fires Turns URGift Storm UG Twiddle Storm
I'd pin it on Atheros to be honest. BW is super strong/represented right now, and a playable Atheros with Ghost Council would be all kinds of dumb. Then again I wouldn't mind it, either, but we're under the assumption that they can't just make 5 Iroas-style cards (aggressively costed and made for more than just EDH-fodder).
1. Obzedat
2. Blood baron
3. Cartel Aristocrat
4. Unburial Rites
5. Ashen Rider
6. W/B Aggro/Midrange is a thing in standard.
G/B has had:
1. Abrupt decay
2. Lotleth Troll
3. Varolz
4. Reaper of the wilds
5. Golgari charm being better than most other charms
6. G/B was HUGE in Innistrad-Ravnica standard, with Junk reanimator and Jund being top tier decks.
I say fair play these things need a bit of toning down. G/W aggro was the most played aggro deck of Inn-Rtr standard, and it is fair that G/W started to get bad cards. Also DID WE F****** FORGET ABOUT PHENAX? He saw just as much play as Karametra but even more useless in EDH.
Decks:
Standard:
Gruul aggro
Modern:
MonoG infect
Edh:
Nekusar, Too bad you have to discard your deck at the end step.
Casual:
I'm trying to make tibalt work guys!
Dimir mill
I'll have you know when I saw Phenax spoiled,
I cried for only 20 minutes.
Check out my expected lands table at:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Airj6A6lYAz_dG05T2JETnVTak1xQ0tqOHNSdEJLWVE&hl=en_US#gid=0
Flavor because Pharika is a healer/medicine-person that roughly translates to clerics, which often doesn't have a high power-level. Athreos is the god responsible to transfer souls from the mortal world to the underworld. That sounds pretty much like graveyard-connection. It's unlikely to give him reanimation and most other interactions with things happening to the graveyard are often quite lackluster. If he's a divine Pain Artist, perhaps even at double the effect, he'd surprise quite a load but it just seems unlikely and more into:
"If condition is met, return creature from yard to hand." - which often is lack-luster.
Ok that's the only evidence I've. 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
so long as in this case, "Karametra" is code for "really awesome General unlike any in those colors".
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
Edit: Which is actually false: Venser, Shaper Servant
Venser, Shaper Savant, Karn, Silver Golem, Nicol Bolas
On topic it's gotta be the BW god. GB received nice eternal cards but they really don't have anything semi-expensive and standard playable. Meanwhile WB can coast on stuff like Obzedat or Blood Baron. If he's good, then well WB will just stay good.
I'm actually backing Athreos to be somewhat playable. He shows up in a decklist in the Reconstructed column on the Wizard's site, and I suspect that means he's not a complete dud.
You mean the decklist that includes Fate Unraveler and Underworld Coinsmith (in an aggro deck), but not pack rat? I'm not sure that it's very relevant. However, the fact that Athreos is a 4-of in a low-cmc deck makes me think he will cost 1BW (or 2BW at the most).
It's not a strong indicator, it just suggests there's a chance the card might be standard-playable rather than being purely an EDH card or something.
Phenax is in some mill decklists, though nothing that's making it into the Top 8. He's definitely a fun card if you can get him on the board with two Wall of Frost (and, of course, a Triton Tactics in hand), but he certainly is not the EDH all-star that Karametra is.
I guess I was more talking about which JOU God will be the Karametra as far as Standard is concerned. With Keranos spoiled (and pretty cool looking), I'm wondering when Wizards is going to spoil the letdown card, and which one of the remaining three it's going to be. Either it'll be spoiled tonight, or it will be narrowed down to two.
LOL Checking out this thread after all the gods were spoiled, I couldn't help but laugh when the thread changed from, "we will have to wait and see" to "AND XYZ"
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
Yes, you need to play other terrible cards to make him not as completely bad....which makes him really bad.
By far the worst God of the set in my opinion, he is at best a support card for Lazov or Mimeoplasm in EDH.
"I'd say this about guarantees that it won't be up till this Friday, but considering the current track record, the ETA is now probably two weeks after the set has been out."
Quote from Sirius_B
Speak for yourself, if drawing *****-headed wurms makes social justice warriors cry I'll make it my favorite hobby.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.