Woah...That UB land punisher is just nuts. Even the cost is right...I take back what I said about this set, there is at least 1 creature and 4 land cards that are good.
Well, the Awaken cancel got spoiled on Tcgplayer. Name is Scatter to the Winds, has Awaken 3 for 4UU, and is a RARE.
I swear to god i'm never buying product from this set. I'd end up burning half the rares I pull.
I'd like you to meet Draining Whelk. Also a rare 6-mana counterspell that gives you a guy. While the dude you get from it is a lot stronger, you cannot cast it for 3 mana. Tell me again why Scatter to the Winds should NOT be rare?
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I like Blighted Woodland for Titania and probably anything 3 color with G. Replacing a ramp spell with a land you can tap for mana early or ramp and color fix a bit later seems really good.
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Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Well, the Awaken cancel got spoiled on Tcgplayer. Name is Scatter to the Winds, has Awaken 3 for 4UU, and is a RARE.
I swear to god i'm never buying product from this set. I'd end up burning half the rares I pull.
I'd like you to meet Draining Whelk. Also a rare 6-mana counterspell that gives you a guy. While the dude you get from it is a lot stronger, you cannot cast it for 3 mana. Tell me again why Scatter to the Winds should NOT be rare?
Draining Whelk also has flying and can be abused because it itself is a creature. The closest comparison is Mystic Genesis which is one cheaper and also gives a creature. The difference is you don't get a creature, instead you turn your land into a tiny 3/3 for six mana. Cancel is a common. Adding a higher cost to turn your land into a 3/3 too late in the game for the size to matter and allow your opponent a potential pseudo-2-for-1 shouldn't make it a rare. Typically, expensive counterspells have at least decent upsides.
To summarize, It's a rare cancel with the option of paying twice as much mana for a 3/3 that has a very, very small chance of ever being relevant as more than a chump blocker that you decided not to just counter because you wanted a 3/3. It's a cancel with the option of making a poor decision.
Draining Whelk also has flying and can be abused because it itself is a creature. The closest comparison is Mystic Genesis which is one cheaper and also gives a creature. The difference is you don't get a creature, instead you turn your land into a tiny 3/3 for six mana. Cancel is a common. Adding a higher cost to turn your land into a 3/3 too late in the game for the size to matter and allow your opponent a potential pseudo-2-for-1 shouldn't make it a rare. Typically, expensive counterspells have at least decent upsides.
To summarize, It's a rare cancel with the option of paying twice as much mana for a 3/3 that has a very, very small chance of ever being relevant as more than a chump blocker that you decided not to just counter because you wanted a 3/3. It's a cancel with the option of making a poor decision.
There has never been an unconditional counterspell that creates a body of any type (token, creature, or animating something) at anything less than rare.
Well, the Awaken cancel got spoiled on Tcgplayer. Name is Scatter to the Winds, has Awaken 3 for 4UU, and is a RARE.
I swear to god i'm never buying product from this set. I'd end up burning half the rares I pull.
I'd like you to meet Draining Whelk. Also a rare 6-mana counterspell that gives you a guy. While the dude you get from it is a lot stronger, you cannot cast it for 3 mana. Tell me again why Scatter to the Winds should NOT be rare?
I agree, I think the Awaken mechanic is interesting because you can put all the counters on a single card (assuming multiple Awaken spells) so you don't animate all your lands and the spell is just a standard 3 CMC counter if you need it.
Sire of Stagnation looks great. Sort of a more-control-y Consecrated Sphinx with less guaranteed card draw, a better body, but no evasion, and a quasi-stasis effect in that it is very punishing. It is also nicely placed in UB, a color combo that generally lacks ramp (though Black has methods of generating big mana). It should help rein in ramp decks and also give you gas for those that continue to play lands. Not Earth-shattering, but I think it is quite good.
Blighted Woodland looks like the best of the cycle. Yeah, you sacrifice it, but in any Crucible based deck, it is repeatable ramp whenever you want it. I really like it, it doesn't come into play tapped, so the only real drawback is it produces colorless mana, which isn't so bad. Effectively a Harrow on a land for 5 mana and double Landfall will be relevant. Probably going to run it at least in my Omnath list.
Part the Waterveil is nice. An extra turn for 6 isn't bad even though it exiles and, if you pay the Awaken cost, you're really getting a hasty 6/6 for 6 and a extra turn, which is a pretty big swing considering you get to swing twice with it. I like it a lot more than most other extra turns that exile in recent years. It's a perfect fit for my Narset list too in that it is a sizable creature if I need it in a list where I hardly run any creatures (and should probably run none) and it's still an extra turn off the top, which you wouldn't care about it costing 6 mana for an extra turn anyway since you're playing it for free. Probably better overall than Temporal Trespass or Temporal Mastery(without topdeck manipulation). Very pleased with it.
I like Blighted Woodland for Titania and probably anything 3 color with G. Replacing a ramp spell with a land you can tap for mana early or ramp and color fix a bit later seems really good.
Indeed, immediate Titania include. Most games it will be an uncounterable Harrow for one extra mana.
Draining Whelk also has flying and can be abused because it itself is a creature. The closest comparison is Mystic Genesis which is one cheaper and also gives a creature. The difference is you don't get a creature, instead you turn your land into a tiny 3/3 for six mana. Cancel is a common. Adding a higher cost to turn your land into a 3/3 too late in the game for the size to matter and allow your opponent a potential pseudo-2-for-1 shouldn't make it a rare. Typically, expensive counterspells have at least decent upsides.
To summarize, It's a rare cancel with the option of paying twice as much mana for a 3/3 that has a very, very small chance of ever being relevant as more than a chump blocker that you decided not to just counter because you wanted a 3/3. It's a cancel with the option of making a poor decision.
There has never been an unconditional counterspell that creates a body of any type (token, creature, or animating something) at anything less than rare.
Draining Whelk also has flying and can be abused because it itself is a creature. The closest comparison is Mystic Genesis which is one cheaper and also gives a creature. The difference is you don't get a creature, instead you turn your land into a tiny 3/3 for six mana. Cancel is a common. Adding a higher cost to turn your land into a 3/3 too late in the game for the size to matter and allow your opponent a potential pseudo-2-for-1 shouldn't make it a rare. Typically, expensive counterspells have at least decent upsides.
To summarize, It's a rare cancel with the option of paying twice as much mana for a 3/3 that has a very, very small chance of ever being relevant as more than a chump blocker that you decided not to just counter because you wanted a 3/3. It's a cancel with the option of making a poor decision.
There has never been an unconditional counterspell that creates a body of any type (token, creature, or animating something) at anything less than rare.
And all of them have been good, until now. Mystic Genesis saw significantly less play than I thought it would, probably because it isn't a creature, but Mystic snake and Draining Whelk are just awesome. Mystic snake is good because it's well priced, as you said an Ashcoat Bear stapled to a Counterspell. Counterspell is already amazing on its own, so much so that they apparently aren't willing to reprint it outside of a casual product. So, to go with your example, Scatter to the Winds is a Cancel with a Toy Boat stapled to it.
Just because something is always done a certain way, doesn't mean it should always be done that way specifically because it has always been done that way. A rare cancel is still a rare cancel. Just because it has a bad ability that gives an irrelevant creature doesn't mean it should be rare. This would have made an ok uncommon, not even a really good uncommon. Not even a good uncommon. As a rare, it's a waste.
That's ok, after this i'm sitting here waiting for the rare doomblade and rampant grown cards.
Draining Whelk also has flying and can be abused because it itself is a creature. The closest comparison is Mystic Genesis which is one cheaper and also gives a creature. The difference is you don't get a creature, instead you turn your land into a tiny 3/3 for six mana. Cancel is a common. Adding a higher cost to turn your land into a 3/3 too late in the game for the size to matter and allow your opponent a potential pseudo-2-for-1 shouldn't make it a rare. Typically, expensive counterspells have at least decent upsides.
To summarize, It's a rare cancel with the option of paying twice as much mana for a 3/3 that has a very, very small chance of ever being relevant as more than a chump blocker that you decided not to just counter because you wanted a 3/3. It's a cancel with the option of making a poor decision.
If your cancel counters a spell and they use a card to remove your 3/3, it's a 2-for-2, not a 2-for-1. And it's clearly a rare for limited purposes. Many instant speed awaken cards would probably break the format.
And I disagree that 3/3s are not relevant or poor decisions. First of all, anything you can get "for free" (i.e. without wasting another card slot) is good in my book. And second, that's on top of a three mana counter, which may not fit in fully optimized decks, but is perfectly fine for many decks. After all, Dissipate or Spell Crumple or Dream Fracture do see play. It doesn't instantly go into every blue deck ever, but we don't need such cards anyways.
What to do with three +1/+1 counters? You can equip swords to them. You can put the counters on Inkmoth Nexus or Creeping Tar Pit for a very fast clock. You can animate Darksteel Citadel for an indestructible blocker that can chump sword holders forever. You can animate a bounceland and slap a Pemmin's Aura or Freed onto the Real onto it for infinite mana. And I'm fairly sure there's something even more degenerate that's not occurring to me atm.
I did say pseudo. I said this because of the time and mana it takes to get that 3/3 and the time you lose when it's killed. Waiting and holding back a counter for 3 turns in hopes of getting a 3/3 on turn 6 for 3 extra mana is a lot of time and investment for a 3/3 as a reward. What's worse is when the newly made land creature is killed setting you back a land drop and possibly a turn's worth of time. That is a hell of a lot of risk over a 3/3. And as far as instant speed awaken breaking limited, so far, Scatter to the Winds is the only instant speed awaken spoiled that i've seen. Everything else, even the murder-esk card, has been sorcery. You don't have a choice when you get to awaken Scatter to the Winds, only IF you awaken it. The reason I say this is because counterspells are used to eliminate threats to you and your things before they resolve, a lot of times during your opponent's turn, but you'll counter a threat whenever it arises. Your not going to sit there on something played during your turn because you want a dude to swing with during your next turn. Awaken gives Haste. At best, instant speed awaken makes a blocker. Awaken, along with many other mechanics, have been grossly over priced. The best Awaken costs so far have been Coastal Discovery getting a 4/4 for only 2 extra mana and Part the Waterveil which gets a 6/6 for only 3 extra mana. A 3/3 for 3 is kind of average, not for blue, but green and sometimes red.
In limited where nearly every deck is aggro, except those random sets that give really good mill options, a 3/3 on turn 6 is extremely underwhelming. Considering how long you would need to hold Scatter to the winds just to get that 3/3, while ignoring all the threats you should probably counter, it is bad. It's nothing like Draining Whelk that comes down as a big flyer and starts bashing for the win. It's not like Mystic Snake that comes in early, counters a threat, gives you tempo, and starts swinging away. It's not like Mystic Genesis that comes in on that game winning mythic your opponent drafted and get's you a big token to start swinging with. Scatter to the Winds get's you a measly little 3/3 on turn 6. Yes, I know you can stack counters from awakening on one land, but the longer that land sits there and the more time and mana you spend giving it counters, the more likely it is to die and waste all of your effort.
Man-lands are good because they're only creatures when you want them to be. Iirc, using Awakening or any other "land is a creature permanently" ability overrides the Man-land's ability and it will be a creature even when the UEOT ability runs out. Sure, your land is bigger, but it's still vulnerable which is the one thing you don't want it to be. I know about Darksteel Citadel and the two mana lands with Freed/Aura. These things make me dislike awakening less, but nothing will make me like it. Either way, this small paragraph doesn't affect the argument on Scatter to the Winds rarity, as rarity is solely based on limited.
They're equally ineffective if the opponent doesn't want you drawing cards. Voyage searches for up to X lands, and you can fail to find on anything with specific characteristics anyways.
Good point. I forgot about the "up to" clause in the card.
So pretty much the only way I can currently think of to definitely trigger the ability is Yavimaya Dryad (plus Deadeye Navigator to repeat).
They're equally ineffective if the opponent doesn't want you drawing cards. Voyage searches for up to X lands, and you can fail to find on anything with specific characteristics anyways.
Good point. I forgot about the "up to" clause in the card.
So pretty much the only way I can currently think of to definitely trigger the ability is Yavimaya Dryad (plus Deadeye Navigator to repeat).
Finally! Emeria Shepherd is exactly the kind of powerful expensive landfall card I was waiting for for my Karametra deck! Just absolutely amazing. And if I'm getting a creature back, I don't even care if the landfall triggers off a plains or not, because I can just put it in my hand and cast it for another trigger.
Finally! Emeria Shepherd is exactly the kind of powerful expensive landfall card I was waiting for for my Karametra deck! Just absolutely amazing. And if I'm getting a creature back, I don't even care if the landfall triggers off a plains or not, because I can just put it in my hand and cast it for another trigger.
Finally! Emeria Shepherd is exactly the kind of powerful expensive landfall card I was waiting for for my Karametra deck! Just absolutely amazing. And if I'm getting a creature back, I don't even care if the landfall triggers off a plains or not, because I can just put it in my hand and cast it for another trigger.
Finally! Emeria Shepherd is exactly the kind of powerful expensive landfall card I was waiting for for my Karametra deck! Just absolutely amazing. And if I'm getting a creature back, I don't even care if the landfall triggers off a plains or not, because I can just put it in my hand and cast it for another trigger.
It's not a Gravedigger... Return target nonland permanent. So Creatures, Enchantments, Artifacts and Planeswalkers can all come back from your graveyard... going to be fun to combo with Burnished Hart
Shepherd + any creature with an ETB landsearch ability + Sac outlet = get all the plains in your deck
Shepherd + Sakura-Tribe Elder = get all the plains in your deck
Just, anything that bounces, flickers, recurs, or tutors lands. All the value.
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Finally! Emeria Shepherd is exactly the kind of powerful expensive landfall card I was waiting for for my Karametra deck! Just absolutely amazing. And if I'm getting a creature back, I don't even care if the landfall triggers off a plains or not, because I can just put it in my hand and cast it for another trigger.
It's not a Gravedigger... Return target nonland permanent. So Creatures, Enchantments, Artifacts and Planeswalkers can all come back from your graveyard... going to be fun to combo with Burnished Hart
Oh wow, I misread that. Stronger than I even thought.
EDIT: Full spoiler's up. So many green colorless cards that make colorless tokens - my Freyalise deck slowly weeps (I've been looking for a Wolfbriar Elemental upgrade for a while now, and if the 4 or 6-drop made green tokens, they could've easily been it).
From a more objective perspective, some other interesting Eldrazi are out. Not sure if there are many rares/mythics that weren't out there yet.
Serpentine Spike is a riff on Cone of Flame and might see play in Mono-R when they need some extra help against reanimator.
Man, WOTC must've really felt bad when they screwed up Allies last time. It seems like every other creature in this set is an Ally, and that's sweet for Ally decks.
As for the set itself, I've got to hand it to the team at WOTC. I don't think I've seen a set so polarizing in quite some time. Overall card quality seems to be at such a strange place in this set, because we got new weapons like Scour From Existence and Brutal Expulsion, and yet there's clearly underpowered junk like Natural Connection and Guul Draz Overseer. There's potentially awesome new options for fetchable mana in the Tango lands, and even Limited looks like it's gonna be a blast. Of course, just having the full-art lands back would've moved cases, but the Expeditions pretty much sealed the deal: this set rules.
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Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
I'd like you to meet Draining Whelk. Also a rare 6-mana counterspell that gives you a guy. While the dude you get from it is a lot stronger, you cannot cast it for 3 mana. Tell me again why Scatter to the Winds should NOT be rare?
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Draining Whelk also has flying and can be abused because it itself is a creature. The closest comparison is Mystic Genesis which is one cheaper and also gives a creature. The difference is you don't get a creature, instead you turn your land into a tiny 3/3 for six mana. Cancel is a common. Adding a higher cost to turn your land into a 3/3 too late in the game for the size to matter and allow your opponent a potential pseudo-2-for-1 shouldn't make it a rare. Typically, expensive counterspells have at least decent upsides.
To summarize, It's a rare cancel with the option of paying twice as much mana for a 3/3 that has a very, very small chance of ever being relevant as more than a chump blocker that you decided not to just counter because you wanted a 3/3. It's a cancel with the option of making a poor decision.
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B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
There has never been an unconditional counterspell that creates a body of any type (token, creature, or animating something) at anything less than rare.
Mystic Snake is an Ashcoat Bear stapled to a Counterspell, both commons, and it's a rare.
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I agree, I think the Awaken mechanic is interesting because you can put all the counters on a single card (assuming multiple Awaken spells) so you don't animate all your lands and the spell is just a standard 3 CMC counter if you need it.
Sire of Stagnation looks great. Sort of a more-control-y Consecrated Sphinx with less guaranteed card draw, a better body, but no evasion, and a quasi-stasis effect in that it is very punishing. It is also nicely placed in UB, a color combo that generally lacks ramp (though Black has methods of generating big mana). It should help rein in ramp decks and also give you gas for those that continue to play lands. Not Earth-shattering, but I think it is quite good.
Blighted Woodland looks like the best of the cycle. Yeah, you sacrifice it, but in any Crucible based deck, it is repeatable ramp whenever you want it. I really like it, it doesn't come into play tapped, so the only real drawback is it produces colorless mana, which isn't so bad. Effectively a Harrow on a land for 5 mana and double Landfall will be relevant. Probably going to run it at least in my Omnath list.
Part the Waterveil is nice. An extra turn for 6 isn't bad even though it exiles and, if you pay the Awaken cost, you're really getting a hasty 6/6 for 6 and a extra turn, which is a pretty big swing considering you get to swing twice with it. I like it a lot more than most other extra turns that exile in recent years. It's a perfect fit for my Narset list too in that it is a sizable creature if I need it in a list where I hardly run any creatures (and should probably run none) and it's still an extra turn off the top, which you wouldn't care about it costing 6 mana for an extra turn anyway since you're playing it for free. Probably better overall than Temporal Trespass or Temporal Mastery(without topdeck manipulation). Very pleased with it.
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
Indeed, immediate Titania include. Most games it will be an uncounterable Harrow for one extra mana.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Don't worry, darkeshrine, I feel your pain. What a disappointing rare to pull from a pack. It feels like a Summoner's Bane.
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And all of them have been good, until now. Mystic Genesis saw significantly less play than I thought it would, probably because it isn't a creature, but Mystic snake and Draining Whelk are just awesome. Mystic snake is good because it's well priced, as you said an Ashcoat Bear stapled to a Counterspell. Counterspell is already amazing on its own, so much so that they apparently aren't willing to reprint it outside of a casual product. So, to go with your example, Scatter to the Winds is a Cancel with a Toy Boat stapled to it.
Just because something is always done a certain way, doesn't mean it should always be done that way specifically because it has always been done that way. A rare cancel is still a rare cancel. Just because it has a bad ability that gives an irrelevant creature doesn't mean it should be rare. This would have made an ok uncommon, not even a really good uncommon. Not even a good uncommon. As a rare, it's a waste.
That's ok, after this i'm sitting here waiting for the rare doomblade and rampant grown cards.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
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RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
I did say pseudo. I said this because of the time and mana it takes to get that 3/3 and the time you lose when it's killed. Waiting and holding back a counter for 3 turns in hopes of getting a 3/3 on turn 6 for 3 extra mana is a lot of time and investment for a 3/3 as a reward. What's worse is when the newly made land creature is killed setting you back a land drop and possibly a turn's worth of time. That is a hell of a lot of risk over a 3/3. And as far as instant speed awaken breaking limited, so far, Scatter to the Winds is the only instant speed awaken spoiled that i've seen. Everything else, even the murder-esk card, has been sorcery. You don't have a choice when you get to awaken Scatter to the Winds, only IF you awaken it. The reason I say this is because counterspells are used to eliminate threats to you and your things before they resolve, a lot of times during your opponent's turn, but you'll counter a threat whenever it arises. Your not going to sit there on something played during your turn because you want a dude to swing with during your next turn. Awaken gives Haste. At best, instant speed awaken makes a blocker. Awaken, along with many other mechanics, have been grossly over priced. The best Awaken costs so far have been Coastal Discovery getting a 4/4 for only 2 extra mana and Part the Waterveil which gets a 6/6 for only 3 extra mana. A 3/3 for 3 is kind of average, not for blue, but green and sometimes red.
In limited where nearly every deck is aggro, except those random sets that give really good mill options, a 3/3 on turn 6 is extremely underwhelming. Considering how long you would need to hold Scatter to the winds just to get that 3/3, while ignoring all the threats you should probably counter, it is bad. It's nothing like Draining Whelk that comes down as a big flyer and starts bashing for the win. It's not like Mystic Snake that comes in early, counters a threat, gives you tempo, and starts swinging away. It's not like Mystic Genesis that comes in on that game winning mythic your opponent drafted and get's you a big token to start swinging with. Scatter to the Winds get's you a measly little 3/3 on turn 6. Yes, I know you can stack counters from awakening on one land, but the longer that land sits there and the more time and mana you spend giving it counters, the more likely it is to die and waste all of your effort.
Man-lands are good because they're only creatures when you want them to be. Iirc, using Awakening or any other "land is a creature permanently" ability overrides the Man-land's ability and it will be a creature even when the UEOT ability runs out. Sure, your land is bigger, but it's still vulnerable which is the one thing you don't want it to be. I know about Darksteel Citadel and the two mana lands with Freed/Aura. These things make me dislike awakening less, but nothing will make me like it. Either way, this small paragraph doesn't affect the argument on Scatter to the Winds rarity, as rarity is solely based on limited.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
Good point. I forgot about the "up to" clause in the card.
So pretty much the only way I can currently think of to definitely trigger the ability is Yavimaya Dryad (plus Deadeye Navigator to repeat).
Parallax Tide provides five triggers at your next upkeep or earlier with tricks.
There's also Parallax Tide.
Also, if they don't take the lands from Voyage or New Frontiers, then you still ramp a bunch. Seems like a Win/win.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
That's true. Now that you've all mentioned land exile, if it's in 5-color, there's also Realm Razer.
Gotta love it when you can turn your lands into Eternal Witness or Karmic Guide, as needed.
RGWMayael the AnimaRGW
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And use the combo to retrieve Reveillark and Harrow and such to start it all over again.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
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Ulrich the Politician
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I do agree it's strong, though.
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
Shepherd + any creature with an ETB landsearch ability + Sac outlet = get all the plains in your deck
Shepherd + Sakura-Tribe Elder = get all the plains in your deck
Just, anything that bounces, flickers, recurs, or tutors lands. All the value.
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
I now have a burning desire to resolve a Hive Mind (Pick Your Favorite land find spells) with that in play.
That angel is really great too, last 2 days have been good for edh bombs.
EDIT: Full spoiler's up. So many green colorless cards that make colorless tokens - my Freyalise deck slowly weeps (I've been looking for a Wolfbriar Elemental upgrade for a while now, and if the 4 or 6-drop made green tokens, they could've easily been it).
From a more objective perspective, some other interesting Eldrazi are out. Not sure if there are many rares/mythics that weren't out there yet.
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW
Bane of Bala Ged has Exile Annihilator 2, essentially. This is sweet and might see some play.
Emeria Shepherd seems B-A-N-A-N-A-S in reanimator and landfall decks. Go Kaalia!
Grip of Desolation seems really good in Mono-B. Guaranteed 2-for-1.
Serpentine Spike is a riff on Cone of Flame and might see play in Mono-R when they need some extra help against reanimator.
Man, WOTC must've really felt bad when they screwed up Allies last time. It seems like every other creature in this set is an Ally, and that's sweet for Ally decks.
As for the set itself, I've got to hand it to the team at WOTC. I don't think I've seen a set so polarizing in quite some time. Overall card quality seems to be at such a strange place in this set, because we got new weapons like Scour From Existence and Brutal Expulsion, and yet there's clearly underpowered junk like Natural Connection and Guul Draz Overseer. There's potentially awesome new options for fetchable mana in the Tango lands, and even Limited looks like it's gonna be a blast. Of course, just having the full-art lands back would've moved cases, but the Expeditions pretty much sealed the deal: this set rules.
Currently Piloting:
EDH
BGGlissa, The Traitor - Recursion (Primer)
WBRKaalia of The Vast
URGRiku of Two Reflections
WUBSydri, Galvanic Genius
UBRamirez DePietro
GWKrond, The Dawn-Clad
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician
RGOmnath, Locus of Rage
Modern
UG Infect