I find this card to have some nice potential, but that 1/1 body is really weak. I fear it will end up being just four mana someone casts before their opponent kills it with... well anything (crippling blight comes to mind). It definitely works well with the flux mage we already have as it will just be a nice easy way of getting another card. Plus, now we have a target for Bond Beetle's +1/+1 counter. 1 Green mana for a 0/1 chumpblocker and a card, I can think of worse things.
Overall, I see this being valuable in a limited environment, but probably not constructed playable. Maybe if it were a merfolk so that it could benefit off of a Master of the Pearl Trident.
So I was thinking about what the Orzhov mechanic could possibly be. I've always loved Black/White decks because they can combine the power of White's strong boardwipes,neutralization, and life gain with Black's life stealing, spot removal, and other fun things. Now I never played the original Ravnica set, so I do not know exactly how effective, or as claims go, how ineffective Haunt was so I do not really know how effective my ice would tie in with it. As we all know, Wizards claims that every new mechanic will be able to work hand-in-hand with the previous mechanic. We can see this easily with Selesnya's convoke and populate interaction. However, if we look at Rakdos's Hellbent and Unleash mechanic, technically they are more connected through flavor. If that is the case then I wouldn't be surprised if we see a more colorful/flavorfully connected mechanic for Orzhov.
As such, what would people think of a mechanic that works like the following:
Deathtoll: Whenever a creature you own with Deathtoll dies, you gain life equal to that creature's toughness or power.
Sure in some cases this might be too powerful, especially if we get an enchantment that gives the equipped creature death toll so thing with big stats would just be broken. Maybe the ultimate mechanic might have a "rounded down" clause with a stipulation for a minimum of 1 life. What do you guys think of this kind of mechanic and would it work in an Orzhov deck?
Hey there everyone, my name is Corlando and I have been writing an article series called Cards n'Flux for a few years now. I usually talk new magic cards, come up with casual decks, and just try to start discussion on a few ideas and concepts. Here is my latest article about 2013, I hope you all check it out at Real Otaku Gamer.com a website dedicate to the celebration of nerdom, geekdom, what have you whether it be anime, movies, Magic the Gathering, etc. Look below for my latest article and hope to see a few of you come to Real Otaku Gamer.com
I have to say, I am really looking forward to using Increasing Devotion. I used Conqueror's Pledge as mush as I possibly could while Zendikar was legal and this will fit right into my current White deck easily. I cannot wait to get my hands on a few of these.
We know Sorin is coming back in Dark Acension. I can only hope that he is either mono-Black or Red and Black. My fear is that he'll be a flip card, which I don't find stupid as much as really annoying.
In the final set, I think we will get a White Planeswalker. Lillana is our black, Garruk is our green...ish, Sorin will most like fill the red slot. We also have the red/blue mage from Duels of the Planeswalker 2012 which could easily be our 2nd planeswalker. With all the colors covered, that only leaves White needing some new planeswalker. I would hope it would be Ajani and I will be happier than a kid in a candy store if he comes back. It would be awesome if he was Green/White, but I think he'll stay pure white. hopefully he'll be as useful to White Weenie as he was back in the Lorwyn days.
Moment of Heroism: I think it might be fun in limited if you play it at the right moment. At the same time, I think it will really only be played in limited, quickly heading to the trade fodder or exchange fodder drawer once the draft ends.
Armored Skaab
A 1/4 for three mana is not that bad, plus he's the second blue zombie that does not require things to be exiled from the graveyard so you can play him. I think he is constructed worth in this aspect because you ditch four cards into your graveyard, you get a nice blocker for your troubles, and it feeds your other Skaabs. I definitely know I'm playing him.
Night Terrors: In this set, it's good that this spell exiles stuff so you don't graveyard something only for them to flashback later. Still think it's junk though.
Desperate Ravings: Could be kinda fun.
Ranger's Guile: This could be rather good. It is definitely a way to protect your bid creature from kill spells once you get the big guy out.
Cobbled Wings: I don't know. Puresteel decks could really use this. Cheap artifact that gives your weak guys flying and the ability to block any big problems.
Here's the thing I'm looking forward to seeing in just a fun little WW deck.
Turn 1: Plains, Doomed Traveler
Turn 2: Plains, Honor of the Pure, swing for 2 or into a bear and it dies giving you a 2/2 flyer to swing with next turn.
Turn 3+: Have fun.
I can see the Goliath being a limited bomb, but I don't know... maybe in casual Zombie decks he might also have some fun. He won't make it to standard for sure, but he still seems fun. I'll find a way to use him.
I'm concerned about the playability of Blue/Black Innistrad Zombie decks. Sure we have great cards like Army of the Damned, Endless Ranks of the Undead, Rooftop Storm, Moan of the Unhallowed, plus a few strong creatures like Grimgrin and Skaab Ruinator, but right now we really only have the first few turns of a deck and the last end all turns. We do not really have a mid game which concerns me. Yes we still have more than half of Innistrad left to spoil, but but that is divided amongst any of 6-7 categories so there is no guarantee that Innistrad will supply us with our mid-range zombies.
Now I know what you'll probably say, but Skaab Ruinator and Stitched Drake can make pretty good mid-range stuff, what about them. The problem is in what they require to be cast. Stitched Drake is not bad because conceivably it can be played on turn there if on turn two you lost a creature to a removal spell. However, Skaag Ruinator is going to require three creatures in your graveyard to exile which means unless you play something like Glimpse the Unthinkable on yourself and mill 1/6th of your deck (and you hit a number of creatures) then Skaag Ruinator is not going to come out till probably turn 4 maybe 5.
I really wish Black Zombies were not so oriented around tokens. If only tokens remained in your graveyard instead of disappearing then Blue/Black Zombies would be in a much stronger position.
What are your thoughts on the matter? What kind of cards does Black/Blue Zombies need right now to be viable?
What I believe Blue/Black Zombies needs is one or two uncommon creatures that are threats all on their own. For example a :2mana::symu::symu: flyer zombie that when it deals damage to a player, its controller gets to draw a card then discard a card. This would seriously create fuel for Skaags. Another great thing would be a :1mana::symb::symb: or :2mana::symb: zombie with either lifelink, deathtouch, or something like blistergrub where when it dies it deal two damage to target creature or player. What do you guys think?
I can tell you right now, Army of the Damned is going right in my Zombie deck I'm planning on building. Granted, gonna take a long time to get to, but if successfully cast, that's game.
Plus in multiplayer, it just becomes sick cause you're able to swing multiple times. This plus Endless Ranks of the Undead would literally just be fun, fun times. "How many zombie tokens do you get this turn?"
"Oh I'd say about 8."
Best part, even if they boardwipe, you can get it all right back with just two more mana. Hello awesome!!!
The issue is you've got to throw 2 Zombies down to get the ball rolling, so you're forced to overextend to a point. And if your opponents running sweepers it'll only end badly. Which makes me sad, since it's such a fun card that'll (probably) see very little play.
This is why you run a sort of Blue/Black deck. This way even if you do over extend yourself you can eventually get back what you used. You could easily play a few Divinations or a copy of Blue Sun's Zenith or two so you can either draw a few cards. Then cast Rooftop Storm and you instantly rebuild your army.
Here's how I see a deck being built... at least so far:
4x Diregraf Ghoul (2/2 :symb:)
3x Mana Leak
3x (some other counterspell)
3x Endless Ranks of the Undead
4x Moan of the Unhallowed (Wonderful card to give you several uses)
3x Zombie Infestation (You might even want to cut another one because drawing more than one in a game is kind of useless)
4x Cemetery Reaper
2x Grave Titan
2x Blue Sun's Zenith
Currently this brings you to about 28 cards and the thing with this kind of deck, you probably don't have to worry about Board-sweepers. Why? Even if your entire army gets killed off, you can probably rebuild your army in less time than your opponent which means they'll have to waste more mana trying to kill your creatures where you can simply just rebuild your forces with tokens. With this worry of Board-sweepers negated, you can just have counterspells in the sideboard, pack some good removal, and throw in more card draw spells.
Of course we still have to see what the rest of Innistrad will bring, but I believe that Zombies will be a competitive deck. We just have to get a few more good zombies. And since we're promised a Zombie legendary, I think we'll get what we're gonna need.
I don't know. It might just be me, but I just don't see how Garruk can be useful. Sure he makes 2/2 wolves and that's cool, but the problem is going to be keeping him on the field. If your opponent has any creatures worth their mana, Garruk will be dead before he can flip. Sure his back side is cool with the 1/1 death touch wolves and the necro-overrun, but the -2 seems weird in that you kill a creature on the field to get one in your hand. I'm probably just not seeing how amazing he is, but I think he'll have his few minutes of fame before people realize that a guy who must be wounded before he becomes good is not a great card.
As for the enchantments, love them both. Gonna need the Endless hordes for my Zombie deck. Cemetery Reaper just got amazing~ "At the end of your turn I'll make a zombie and during my turn I'll get four."
The thing I like about Fiend Hunter is its synergy with the other white weenies we've gotten already.
Turn 1: Plains
Turn 2: Plains Elite Inquisitor
Turn 3: Plains Mentor of the Meek
Turn 4: Possible Plains then Fiend Hunter (getting rid of any big creature they play) and pay a mana to draw a card.
Awesome.
Liliana of the Veil... she's gonna be interesting to work with however, she will definitely see play. For example we already have a great target for her to sac, Dearly Departed. If you have this 4WW guy in your graveyard each human you summon gets stronger when they come into play. Just play with a Black/White deck and getting this spirit in the graveyard will be easy.
As for the werewolf, gotta say I'm looking forward to it. It's relatively easy to cast and gives you some serious damage potential.
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Overall, I see this being valuable in a limited environment, but probably not constructed playable. Maybe if it were a merfolk so that it could benefit off of a Master of the Pearl Trident.
As such, what would people think of a mechanic that works like the following:
Deathtoll: Whenever a creature you own with Deathtoll dies, you gain life equal to that creature's toughness or power.
Sure in some cases this might be too powerful, especially if we get an enchantment that gives the equipped creature death toll so thing with big stats would just be broken. Maybe the ultimate mechanic might have a "rounded down" clause with a stipulation for a minimum of 1 life. What do you guys think of this kind of mechanic and would it work in an Orzhov deck?
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We know Sorin is coming back in Dark Acension. I can only hope that he is either mono-Black or Red and Black. My fear is that he'll be a flip card, which I don't find stupid as much as really annoying.
In the final set, I think we will get a White Planeswalker. Lillana is our black, Garruk is our green...ish, Sorin will most like fill the red slot. We also have the red/blue mage from Duels of the Planeswalker 2012 which could easily be our 2nd planeswalker. With all the colors covered, that only leaves White needing some new planeswalker. I would hope it would be Ajani and I will be happier than a kid in a candy store if he comes back. It would be awesome if he was Green/White, but I think he'll stay pure white. hopefully he'll be as useful to White Weenie as he was back in the Lorwyn days.
Armored Skaab
A 1/4 for three mana is not that bad, plus he's the second blue zombie that does not require things to be exiled from the graveyard so you can play him. I think he is constructed worth in this aspect because you ditch four cards into your graveyard, you get a nice blocker for your troubles, and it feeds your other Skaabs. I definitely know I'm playing him.
Night Terrors: In this set, it's good that this spell exiles stuff so you don't graveyard something only for them to flashback later. Still think it's junk though.
Desperate Ravings: Could be kinda fun.
Ranger's Guile: This could be rather good. It is definitely a way to protect your bid creature from kill spells once you get the big guy out.
Cobbled Wings: I don't know. Puresteel decks could really use this. Cheap artifact that gives your weak guys flying and the ability to block any big problems.
Turn 1: Plains, Doomed Traveler
Turn 2: Plains, Honor of the Pure, swing for 2 or into a bear and it dies giving you a 2/2 flyer to swing with next turn.
Turn 3+: Have fun.
Now I know what you'll probably say, but Skaab Ruinator and Stitched Drake can make pretty good mid-range stuff, what about them. The problem is in what they require to be cast. Stitched Drake is not bad because conceivably it can be played on turn there if on turn two you lost a creature to a removal spell. However, Skaag Ruinator is going to require three creatures in your graveyard to exile which means unless you play something like Glimpse the Unthinkable on yourself and mill 1/6th of your deck (and you hit a number of creatures) then Skaag Ruinator is not going to come out till probably turn 4 maybe 5.
I really wish Black Zombies were not so oriented around tokens. If only tokens remained in your graveyard instead of disappearing then Blue/Black Zombies would be in a much stronger position.
What are your thoughts on the matter? What kind of cards does Black/Blue Zombies need right now to be viable?
What I believe Blue/Black Zombies needs is one or two uncommon creatures that are threats all on their own. For example a :2mana::symu::symu: flyer zombie that when it deals damage to a player, its controller gets to draw a card then discard a card. This would seriously create fuel for Skaags. Another great thing would be a :1mana::symb::symb: or :2mana::symb: zombie with either lifelink, deathtouch, or something like blistergrub where when it dies it deal two damage to target creature or player. What do you guys think?
And I promise you, I will be the one to do it.
Plus in multiplayer, it just becomes sick cause you're able to swing multiple times. This plus Endless Ranks of the Undead would literally just be fun, fun times. "How many zombie tokens do you get this turn?"
"Oh I'd say about 8."
Best part, even if they boardwipe, you can get it all right back with just two more mana. Hello awesome!!!
This is why you run a sort of Blue/Black deck. This way even if you do over extend yourself you can eventually get back what you used. You could easily play a few Divinations or a copy of Blue Sun's Zenith or two so you can either draw a few cards. Then cast Rooftop Storm and you instantly rebuild your army.
Here's how I see a deck being built... at least so far:
4x Diregraf Ghoul (2/2 :symb:)
3x Mana Leak
3x (some other counterspell)
3x Endless Ranks of the Undead
4x Moan of the Unhallowed (Wonderful card to give you several uses)
3x Zombie Infestation (You might even want to cut another one because drawing more than one in a game is kind of useless)
4x Cemetery Reaper
2x Grave Titan
2x Blue Sun's Zenith
Currently this brings you to about 28 cards and the thing with this kind of deck, you probably don't have to worry about Board-sweepers. Why? Even if your entire army gets killed off, you can probably rebuild your army in less time than your opponent which means they'll have to waste more mana trying to kill your creatures where you can simply just rebuild your forces with tokens. With this worry of Board-sweepers negated, you can just have counterspells in the sideboard, pack some good removal, and throw in more card draw spells.
Of course we still have to see what the rest of Innistrad will bring, but I believe that Zombies will be a competitive deck. We just have to get a few more good zombies. And since we're promised a Zombie legendary, I think we'll get what we're gonna need.
As for the enchantments, love them both. Gonna need the Endless hordes for my Zombie deck. Cemetery Reaper just got amazing~ "At the end of your turn I'll make a zombie and during my turn I'll get four."
Turn 1: Plains
Turn 2: Plains Elite Inquisitor
Turn 3: Plains Mentor of the Meek
Turn 4: Possible Plains then Fiend Hunter (getting rid of any big creature they play) and pay a mana to draw a card.
Awesome.
Liliana of the Veil... she's gonna be interesting to work with however, she will definitely see play. For example we already have a great target for her to sac, Dearly Departed. If you have this 4WW guy in your graveyard each human you summon gets stronger when they come into play. Just play with a Black/White deck and getting this spirit in the graveyard will be easy.
As for the werewolf, gotta say I'm looking forward to it. It's relatively easy to cast and gives you some serious damage potential.