The could have jusg errated ninjitsu to be from hand or command zone.
I agree. Higure and Ink-Eyes are the only two cards that would be affected, so it's not like there could be unforeseen consequences, and it's also not like they've never changed how a keyword ability works before. Further, they're both compelling commanders because Higure tutors (making up for what is otherwise a lack of playable mono-U ninjas) and Ink-Eyes is just plain fun, as a literal grave-robber.
My take on C18 is that the set in general is just okay. There are some interesting cards and some things that I have personally wanted to see print for a while (an Esper Zombie General and a card for Xantcha in particular). My thoughts on the new cards: White Boreas Charger - I like that the ability is a "leaves the battlefield" ability and doesn't just trigger when it dies, so blinking it still gets you the effect. I can potentially see this in Roon or Brago for that reason. This is potentially a way for a white mage to try and keep up with a green mage vomiting lands onto the battlefield, and combining it with a Scroll Rack or cards with Retrace could be very good. I predict that this card will be fairly undervalued and won't see a lot of play, but it will crop up in some very special circumstances. Empyrial Storm - I like the "Commander Storm" mechanic, and this card seems pretty legit. I can really see a general like Rhys or Trostani really getting a lot of mileage out of this, especially Rhys which is really cheap to cast a few times before slamming 3-4 Angels. I think that the default for these is that it will almost always get copied once, so getting 2 4/4 Flying Angels for 6 mana seems worthwhile for any deck that cares about tokens or Angels. Heavenly Blademaster - I see this as being more of an Equipment general than an Aura general just due to its vulnerability, but getting your equipment attached to a creature with double Strike can be really good. Swords of X and Y are the obvious choice here, but Umezawa's Jitte, Mask of Memory, or Quietus Spike also seem potentially saucy. Like many things in this set it is expensive to cast, but you do get a lot of potential value. Loyal Unicorn - I like the Lieutenant ability, and I like how this one is worded so that you can't get blown out in combat by an instant-speed removal spell. It's a fine card for what it does, but I'm just not sold on what it does as being something necessarily worth doing. Magus of the Balance - As someone who played with the original Balance "back in the day", I for one am glad that it is banned in EDH. The question here becomes whether this effect is any good when you delay it for a turn and tack on 5 mana. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out where this might fit in, although I suppose any deck that runs a sacrifice theme or lots of artifact mana will be the more obvious choices. I guess the biggest draw is that it is potentially a nice way to try and reign in runaway land ramp, runaway token generation, or runaway card draw. Blue Aminatou's Augury - This card is pretty nuts if you have approx. 10+ of at least 4 cards types in your deck. At that point, getting a free land, free creature, free instant, free sorcery, and a free artifact/planeswalker/enchantment for your 8 mana seems well worth the cost. You kinda have to be careful to not be running too many reactive cards or X-spells that would be duds, so in some ways you have to treat this as a pseudo "Super Cascade". I think that once you figure out if your deck runs the kinds of cards that this would be good with and/or manipulates the top of the deck enough to stack the deck in your favor, then the only thing holdng you back is whether you have the kind of deck that can generate 8 mana often enough. For that reason, I see this as something that will go into decks like Maelstrom Wanderer that wants to do these things anyway and this would just give the deck another payoff for doing so. Echo Storm - Everybody wants multiple copies of Sol Ring, Gilded Lotus, or Blightsteel Colossus, so I think that any deck that runs blue and has 14+ good artifacts worth copying will try and squeeze this in. Beware the Arcum guy copying Spine of Ish Sah, Possessed Portal, or Smokestack, but I think that for the most part people will be happy with multiple Solemn Simulacrum, Myr Battlesphere, or mana rocks. Estrid's Invocation - A Copy Enchantment that keeps on blinking itself is perfect for copying enchantments with ETB effects like Spreading Seas, Aquatic Incursion, or Reality Acid, but getting something like New Perspectives turn after turn seems pretty gnarly. Ever-Watching Threshold - A nice card with a not-too-expensive casting cost that will act as a rattlesnake (keeping people from wanting to attack you). I've never been a fan of cards like this, and I think that overall you have enough good card draw options in blue that don't require you jump through hoops that this will likley not see much play. Loyal Drake - A Wind Drake that can potentially draw you an additional card per turn seems pretty good for any deck that seeks to have its commander out for any reasonable portion of the game. Niv-Mizzet will especially like this. Octopus Umbra - Very flavorful, but the only thing that makes this remotely playable is Totem Armor. Overall, I'm not a fan as I would likely want to be upgrading cheap, small creatures into 8/8's, so saving them with Totem Armor seems like its not going to be all it is cracked up to be. Primordial Mist - Kind of a cool way to generate some card advantage and some 2/2's while you are at it. I doubt I'll play this, but I really like the concept and it seems appropriately costed. Vedalken Humiliator - Humility being white I would have expected this to also be white, and even having the ability tied to Metalcraft doesn't necessarily change my mind on it. However, blue being the color of morphing and transfiguring creatures I guess this fits the new color pie better. As for gameplay, this is a nice way to break stalemates, expose Hexproof cretures to removal, and/or create one-sided Wraths with Night of Souls' Betrayal, Goblin Sharpshooter or Umezawa's Jitte. Black Bloodtracker - Will go well in Vampire Tribal or +1/+1 counter decks, so I would expect that Edgar Markov and Ghave might be the best places for this to go. This also makes for some good sacrifice fodder in pretty much any Jund deck, or perhaps something like Jarad. For as innocuous as it looks, I think that this kind of card has a lot of places where it will potentially see play. Entreat The Dead - In non-Miracle mode, it costs 1 more than a Zombify for X=1 and it costs 1 more than an Ever After on X=2, so you are not getting a good deal on the mana. The tradeoff is obviously that in Miracle mode you are getting potentially 3 or 4 creatures for your 5 or 6 mana. You need some Scroll Rack, Vampiric Tutor, or other means to ensure you hit the miracle on this which shouldn't be too hard. The bigger issue will be making sure you hit Miracle with the mana and creatures in the graveyard to make it worthwhile. Loyal Subordinate - At least its life drain hits all opponents and it has menace, but that 1 toughness makes me a little nervous. I like that this at least has a very relevant creature type, so perhaps that it where it shines. Night Incarnate - I like that Evoke makes this feel like a modal spell with some cool options, but in the end its just a removal spell (albeit one that black can easily recur, so its got that going for it). Skull Storm - Really high ceiling, really low floor. For 9-mana, I think you should expect more. I think that there is just too much variance and too high of a casting cost for this to be good, although I may change my mind the first time someone casts this right after a Damnation with 5 copies and kills the whole table. Sower of Discord - a really good way to simultaneously make the weakest player into the second most hated player at the table while making yourself the most hated player at the table as you attack the player with no board presence and you still get to drain life from another opponent. I think that you would need to take an inventory on how many effect you have in your deck that are "damage" versus "loss of life" as this will only trigger on the former and not the latter (so no shenanigans with Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Exsanguinate, Extort, etc.). Red Emissary of Grudges - You don't see the words "secretly choose an opponent" very often. The concept on this card is pretty good, although I think that attaching it to a big expensive body was probably a mistake. I think this would have probably seen much more play if it was cheaper (like a 4/3 flyer for 4 mana), but perhaps the things worth copying are all expensive enough that this can still come down in time to matter. Enchanter's Bane - Well, I guess red is finally getting some enchantment hate as only red can do (a la the punisher mechanic). It seems fitting that once there are no other enchantments on the field you are forced to either take 2 damage or sacrifice it. It's an interesting card if nothing else. Fury Storm - A spell that copies itself and other spells seems really meta, and given all the potential I can see this being a nice finisher in some decks. I think that the key will be to make sure you are using this offensively and not waiting around for your opponents to give you something worth copying. Loyal Apprentice - Getting 1/1 Thopters with Flying is really nice, and a commander like Daretti or the newly printed Brudiclad (or any deck that wants artifact fodder) will really enjoy having this in the deck. Nesting Dragon - This is a neat card. Landfall is powerful if you run fetchlands or ramp, and this will fit right into any 3, 4, or 5-color Dragons deck that runs fetches and ramp (as almost all of them do in order to fix and ramp lands). I really like the flavor as well of the mana dragon laying her dragon eggs then spitting out little whelps. Reality Scramble - If you invest some part of your deck into controlling the top of your library, generating sacrificial fodder, and having things in your deck worth cheating out then this card can be ridiculous. That's just a lot of moving parts. It also restricts you to just sacrificing cards you own, so not steal and sac shenanigans (although Switcheroo-type shenanigans are now on the table). This seems like a card that seems totally awesome at first glance, then sours as you try to make it work. Saheeli's Directive - It started with Genesis Wave for any permanent, then Epic Experiment for Instants/Sorceries, so it makes sense that we get a red one just for artifacts. Having Improvise is a nice touch and I think any big mana artifact deck with enough red in it is going to like this. Treasure Nabber - This is the nice little hidden gem in this set. I'm going to love this in Bosh where I can take my opponents artifact mana and throw it at their heads for damage (and give me some of the mana to do so), but I think in general being able to use my opponent's mana rocks against them is a nice effect. This also has the nice side effect of stopping someone from going off with artifacts and Paradox Engine. And it's a Goblin! Of course, there is going to be someone who will try and abuse it with Mycosynth Lattice and something like Zuran Orb for a one-sided Armageddon, but you really have to go out of your way to make the game miserable like that. Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor - So we always wanted to know who Varchild was and why he had War Riders that leave behind survivors, but now we know. This is a pretty slick little card that makes for a cool general, or perhaps as part of another deck that uses cards like Xenograft or Conspiracy to turn everything into a Survivor. Nice taste of nostalgia and solid gameplay-wise. Green Crash of Rhino Beetles – Nice throwback to Crash of Rhinos, and although some people see a 15/15 for 5 mana I don’t see this seeing much play outside of the precons. Yes, it is entirely possible to get 10 lands a high enough percentage of the time that you can get the P/T boost and it’s default mode of being “just” a 5/5 Trampler for 5 is good enough to see play, but I just think that when you jump through all the hoops to get to 10 lands that you are looking to actually play high-CMC spells, and once you’ve ramped to that point the cost savings is a moot point. Maybe I’ll change my mind once I’ve gotten around to playing with it, but I’m not particularly bullish on this one. Genesis Storm – Like Reality Scramble, this rewards you for your manipulating the top of your library and having stuff worth cheating into play in your deck, but unlike Reality Scramble you don’t need fodder to feed the engine. That makes it significantly better in my opinion despite not having Retrace and just needing to cast your commander a few times to really break it. Loyal Guardian – I think any commander with green that uses +1/+1 counters will want to have this card around. I like that it puts counters on everything and not just creatures with +1/+1 counters on them already (such as Renegade Krasis or Cytoplast Root-Kin), and I like that it also puts counters on itself. There are a lot of good options at 5 mana for +1/+1 counter decks so this might not see play just based on the numbers, but it’s as good or better as a lot of other commonly played options. Myth Unbound – Messing with the commander tax seems a little scary, but rewarding people for actually playing their commander seems kinda nice. Commanders like Prossh, Skyraider of Kher and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician benefit the most of this kind of effect; Commanders that either evade the commander tax or have combos built-in that allow for it to be cast multiple times to keep getting an ETB effect. For more casually-oriented players, they might like this for any general that they feel gets blown up too often. Either way, it will be interesting to see just how players end up using this card. Nylea’s Colossus – Interesting effect that is unfortunately stapled to a really expensive creature. My first though was to put this into my Uril, the Miststalker deck, but I don’t currently run anything at 7+ mana in the deck (and only one 6-drop) so it just may be too pricy to run despite the pretty awesome nature of the ability. I think that in general, most Enchantress decks will want to play him but not necessarily at that cost. Ravenous Slime – Nice little graveyard hoser that will happily get bigger for doing what it wants to do anyway. I don’t think this is anywhere near as good as Scavenging Ooze, but it will do the job nicely. Turntimber Sower – Fetchlands, Retrace cards, cycling lands, Avenger of Zendikar, etc. all love this card and I foresee land-sac decks like The Gitrog Monster or Titania, Protector of Argoth wanting this for sure. And if you get a token doubler or two in the mix, you can turn a discard outlet into some mana ramp. Whiptongue Hydra – Another solid Hurricane variant that doesn’t muck around with damage and just Wraths everything that flies. In that regard, there really aren’t a lot of good ways to just give your opponents creatures flying to take full advantage of this, but it’s not a bad tool to have. Multicolor Aminatou, the Fateshifter – I like the +1, given that there are plenty of reasons to want to either get cards out of your hand and back into your library (like when you have an active Land Tax), or when you want to have a specific card on top of your library (for something like Cascade and other things in the precon). The -1 is an awesome effect and it is the main reason why I like Venser, the Sojourner so much (except this one is even better in that you don’t have to wait for the end of turn to get your permanent back). I’m not a huge fan of the ultimate, but I can see that if Aminatou is your commander then you can build around the ability somewhow. Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle – This is a totally unique card that I can only really compare to something like Exploding Vegetation as far as mana ramp goes and then something like Dark Depths as far as getting a big creature out of your land after jumping through some hoops. I would just treat this as a UG ramp card that might occasionally have some upside and go from there. Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer – There is definitely a lot of useful incentives to want to run a deck that generates tons of Myr, Servos, and Thopters, and this not only gives them all Haste but also potentially converts them into all kinds of potential monsters. I also like that it doesn’t specify creature tokens, so Gold, Treasure, and Clues are all potential candidates. Estrid, the Masked – So the +2 is a little awkward to try and use unless you are packing a ton of things worth untapping and things to enchant them, but there are only so many Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, etc. to run around. I think that the majority of use of the +2 ability is going to be tied to the -1 ability which is an absolute gem and a perfect kind of ability to find on a Planeswalker. The ultimate seems okay; nothing earthshaking, but good enough to get the job done with a minimal amount of setup. Gyrus, Waker of Corpses – Having seen cards like Marath and Prossh completely take over metas, you learn quickly to not underestimate cards that enter the battlefield with a variable cost and get better the more they are cast. I will say that having a Commander that give you the option to pay as much mana as you want and encourages ramping up the counters on it seems a little dangerous, but I will say also that there is a little bit of inherent danger involved in building your deck around him. As a commander I would be wary, but I would also be optimistic as he avoids a lot of the clichés that Jund decks often fall into. Kestia, the Cultvator – Kestia is awesome for any Bant enchantress deck, and I would think that she might end up being the best possible candidate to be the general for that deck. I guess it all depends on the other 99 cards as to whether Kestia or Tuvasa will draw you more cards. Lord Wingrace – Seems like a solid add to pretty much any Jund deck, but I’m not so sure of him as the Commander. There is a lot of card and mana advantage that can be gained by just +2-ing and -3-ing this every other turn. The ultimate ability is a little scary on how much it costs, but it is really good and should be on the verge of game-winning when it goes off. Saheeli, the Gifted – I like that her +1 provides here with some protection and feeds into her second +1 which has the potential to enable some huge plays. The ultimate ability seems really good, although the temporary nature of the token copies keeps it somewhat balanced (even though I would think that it wouldn’t be too hard to manipulate the game to a point where hitting the ultimate will be game winning). This is a nice follow up to the original Saheeli Tawnos’ Urza’s Apprentice – From a flavor standpoint, I’m just really glad that Tawnos finally got his own card and it doesn’t disappoint. Given that it is both a Strionic Resonator and a Rings of Brightearth makes me think that there is a possibility to build a deck that is filled with abilities worth copying. Throw in a Thousand-Year Elixir, Paradox Engine, or other untap effects for some real copy shenanigans. Thantis, the Warweaver – Not a bad rattlesnake card, but I just don’t see this being the kind of card worth building around. Tuvasa the Sunlit – Well, having an Enchantress in your command zone as the commander for your enchantress deck seems really powerful, but given that its only when you cast an enchantment and once a turn it is potentially better to just run Kestia. I foresee that people are going to want to use Leyline of Anticipation type effects to try and run out enchantments on other people’s turns as well. Varina, Lich Queen – Esper really needed a Zombie commander and Varina does not disappoint. The looting ability is fantastic and the ability to turn looted cards into Zombie tokens is really good. Topping it off with some added Lifegain and that she’s a 4/4 for 4 mana makes this a winner. Xantcha, Sleeper Agent – Another nice throwback to the original Sleeper Agent, I think that there are some interesting interactions where your opponents don’t necessarily want to draw cards of this without risking the ire of someone who got a free 5/5 creature. It’s a cool political card that has some potential. Yennet, Cryptic Sovereign – Some expensive cards with odd casting costs like Iona, Shield of Emeria, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Blazing Archon, Darksteel Forge, Plague Wind, and the somewhat on-theme Void Winnower are all pretty good to cast when they are free. I guess it’s a good thing that Enter the Infinite and Omniscience have even CMCs. This is a really good “top of the deck” matters card that doesn’t care about card type (as most of them do), so I would fill the deck up with a bunch of odd-CMC bombs and go to town. Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow – We also finally get a UB Ninja commander. I like the combat trigger a lot as it feed right into what an aggro Ninja deck wants to do, and I love that they created Commander Ninjutsu just for this card. Artifacts/Lands Ancient Stone Idol – I’m not a real fan of this card, but I can see someone playing Trostani and being able to a) get this out cheap, and b) wanting to populate 6/12 trampling constructs. Coveted Jewel – So it’s an Ancestral Recall and a Black Lotus all wrapped up in one card… that then turns into a massive potential liability and gives your opponents a ton of incentive to want to attack you so that they can enjoy the same benefits. It provides for a potentially entertaining little “game within the game”, but I plan on running this only where I can play and then get rid of it asap (via Bosh, Welder, Daretti, etc.) or where I want my opponent to have it (like maybe Zedruu). Endless Atlas – The evolution continues; Jayemdae Tome was one-upped by Arcane Encyclopedia and now Endless Atlas makes both of them largely irrelevant. The “3 lands with the same name” should be relatively easy for a lot of decks, although I’m going to have to get tighter on my basic land counts in some of my decks to make sure I can run this. I think that decks that look to take advantage of Paradox Engine will be particularly interested. Geode Golem – I like the ability, although I’m not so sure that it is going to work out in practice. I just think that having to still pay the commander tax is probably a necessary drawback, but it is still kind of a bummer. Although I might still want to play this just so I can say “geode” over and over again… Retrofitter Foundry – There are a lot of moving parts going on here, so it is hard to truly take in everything that is going on with Retrofitter Foundry. It would be easy to pair this up with Parallel Lives and Earthcraft and go infinite, or perhaps abuse this with Paradox Engine, Unwinding Clock, or Clock of Omens. It doesn’t have the same amount of “game over” feel that a Staff of Domination has, but it just seems like the “fair” use of this to upgrade Servos and Thopters seems so benign that people will be more likely to abuse this than to use it “fairly”. Forge of Heroes – Not a bad card if you are running a Planeswalker or a creature that uses +1/+1 counters as your general. It doesn’t seem very good, although I am wondering why the door was left open to potentially target your opponent’s commanders. Isolated Watchtower – Nice way to try and catch up to someone ramping way ahead of you, but I don’t like that it costs 2 to play and that they have to be 2 lands ahead of you to use it. That just seems like a recipe for falling further and further behind.
Overall, I like this set for the good cards that it provides, but there are some missed opportunities for cards that are just too expensive for the effect.
The could have jusg errated ninjitsu to be from hand or command zone.
I agree. Higure and Ink-Eyes are the only two cards that would be affected, so it's not like there could be unforeseen consequences, and it's also not like they've never changed how a keyword ability works before. Further, they're both compelling commanders because Higure tutors (making up for what is otherwise a lack of playable mono-U ninjas) and Ink-Eyes is just plain fun, as a literal grave-robber.
ink eyes becpmes dangerous as a 5 mana general that when hitting gets a creature from defending player's grave for free. Also avoids tax. Black also has a lot of evasion in the form of fear and menace.
Higure is limited to tutoring ninjas so he is harmless with the errata.
Probably the value of hexproof and blue mana symbols over what the spider has to offer. Each has upsides and downsides.
I do like the new avatar. A possible 3 mana ranger's path on a 4/4 trample isn't too bad. It will easily go in the hug-decks since it helps but also can defend the caster.
Probably the value of hexproof and blue mana symbols over what the spider has to offer. Each has upsides and downsides.
I do like the new avatar. A possible 3 mana ranger's path on a 4/4 trample isn't too bad. It will easily go in the hug-decks since it helps but also can defend the caster.
Ok, but you aren’t including that turtle in anyU deck, even if you splash other colors. Thantis is build around from the command zone. That’s like saying how underwhelming Hot Pockets are for dinner when Pizza exists. Classic Chewbacca defense.
avatar of growth - ugh, group hug, no thanks. Oh, it combos with DEN? Even less thanks.
militant angel - decent, but usually attacking multiple opponents is bad, and the payoff is only decent. Guess it's good for adriana, captain of the guard?
inspired sphinx - 7 just seems like a lot for this. I guess it's comparable to sphinx of uthuun and probably better, but still, meh.
rot hulk - also feels pretty pricey, but that can be a pretty great etb effect and potentially goes infinite with the right stuff. It's probably pretty good i guess.
goblin goliath - have a hard time seeing this be great - the tokens seem like goblin tribal, but then he costs a ton for those decks. Ability is interesting but very expensive. Maybe better than I give it credit for, but I don't see playing it much.
angelic guardian - simple, solid ability. seen before but generally at higher cmc or without the body. Still no iroas, but solid.
angler turtle - i like this a lot. Forced attacks with built-in protection and a fat body is all just great together. 7 is a lot but this is a huge problem for casual decks.
vengeant vampire - really solid ability, although in EDH I wonder if a 4/4 can't basically just be left alone until a board wipe happens and the ability is moot. Guess it's still a good blocker, though.
immortal phoenix - cool, but probably the least playable of a bunch. 5/3 french vanilla for 6 is trash and I wouldn't want to cast it once, let alone twice.
rampaging brontodon - big and fat. Strong card for a fairly casual beatdown deck, if not particularly interesting to me.
Rot Hulk looks like a clear best out of these. Reanimate it and it brings along a big group of friends.
Goblin Goliath has the potential to create some very swingy turns thanks to the power of one sided furnace effects. It's probably worse than Gratuitous Violence or Angrath's Marauders in general, even bringing some goblins along for the ride.
Militant Angel potentially drops a lot of power on the board in addition to being the second most reasonably costed body of the bunch. A 3/4 flier is only a piece of equipment away from competing with most things you find in the air, which is a reasonable ask in white. I'm expecting that to show up in less voltron-y equipment heavy decks.
Angelic Guardian is an effect I like a lot. The 6 CMC slot is already super crowded in most decks so that may not be enough to make the cut. I'll pick one up regardless.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
That's a big wurm. Can't wait to pay 16 life to Toxic Deluge it.
No trample though, blocking with saproling all day.
If old mechanics are returning, there’s a chance that they might “combine” them since guilds might ally with each other? I made a card a while back base on original Ravnica:
Voters’ Voice
WGUU
Instant
Convoke
Forecast — , Reveal ~ from your hand: Create a 1/1 white, blue, and green Citizen creature token. (Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
As much as people are complaining about the lack of trample on the wurm, I think indestructible plays very well with it. What's the best way to cast it? Have a bunch of tokens. What are a bunch of tokens weak to? board wipes. What's a big indestructible wurm GREAT against? It's a nice way to diversify your threats. Trample would be kind of redundant with already having a wide board. Plus it plays great with berserk
Comparing thantis to the turtle is complicated. Thantis forces your dudes to attack, but in the command zone that's a smaller downside than it would otherwise be, since you can build around it a bit. Thantis is also vulnerable to targeted removal, which I think is good for that sort of effect. Him having hexproof could make him really annoying for some metas. On the plus side, he gets big, and he has reach and vigilance. I guess he also has 2 less toughness, but that's pretty unimportant. The combo of reach, vigilance, and growth makes him a much more effective deterrent against attacking you, as long as they don't just want to kill him with targeted removal.
I think my bigger problem with thantis is that he has the problem a lot of commander-set commanders have - they picked the colors first, and then tried to find a design that could arguably fit inside it. Forced attacks are primary red and secondary blue. Green is justifiable with reach and vigilance, the growth, and the spider flavor. And then black is there because...? It hasn't had forced attacks in many years. Mechanically thantis should be RG or URG.
Same is true for a ton of other multicolor legends these days imo. Why are tuvasa and kestia blue? Blue has had very little notable enchantment interaction and no enchantresses to speak of. Or a commander will have some vestigial line to justify a color, like varina's lifegain for white, or yennett's vigilance for white and menace for black.
The real reason for these colors is either to fit the required number of legends with the color identity for the decks (yennett and thantis), or because people want X mechanic for X color combo - esper for varina to include the amonkhet and innistrad zombies, and bant enchantress because people keep making that deck for...some reason, I'm sure. And then my favorite bad example - the damn equipcats from 2017. Green has zero synergy with equipment, if anything it clearly hates it. But we had to have cats, and cats are WG, so they gave mechanics that are clearly W or WR to a WG commander. To me it feels analogous to when something contrived happens in a story in order to patch some plot hole - it ruins the immersion, and forces you to see the hand of the maker at work, rather than just appreciating the creation.
Boy, that ended up being a fairly off-topic screed. my bad.
The fact that they are comparable is a big red light.
I think it's mostly a big green light that these are actually very solid rares for casual commander.
Also they aren't intro pack rares, they're from the gift pack. Which afaik has never had functionally unique cards until now so there's no point of comparison. At least it's a lot better than the awful gift pack last year, although it does annoy me that they're making more functionally unique cards outside of boosters.
Anyway there's no reason a commander has to be better than every rare. That's ridiculous. Hexproof commanders are annoying as balls anyway, we don't need more of that crap.
I think my bigger problem with thantis is that he has the problem a lot of commander-set commanders have - they picked the colors first, and then tried to find a design that could arguably fit inside it. Forced attacks are primary red and secondary blue. Green is justifiable with reach and vigilance, the growth, and the spider flavor. And then black is there because...? It hasn't had forced attacks in many years. Mechanically thantis should be RG or URG.
BG has good synergy with +1/+1 counters. While Thantis could most definitely be RG alone, BRG isn't too far fetched.
Same is true for a ton of other multicolor legends these days imo. Why are tuvasa and kestia blue? Blue has had very little notable enchantment interaction and no enchantresses to speak of. Or a commander will have some vestigial line to justify a color, like varina's lifegain for white, or yennett's vigilance for white and menace for black.
Tuvasa is a merfolk from Ixalan, the tribe's main color is UG. While blue isn't known for having enchantress, it's big on auras since Urza's block, and Theroes where Kestia is from has enchantment theme in every color. Heck, Zombie Daxos was from Theroes and he's a WB with enchantment theme.
WotC had indeed attempted to add extra colors into a legend to broaden its spec for EDH purposes, but if we take characters' background into consideration the designed would be more justified. Take Lord Windgrace for one, he may well be mono G, but storywise he's from Urborg and is known for using Black, Red, and Green mana spells in the past. The biggest case I see is Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith, which could be entirely white, his green is a loose connection due to him being a Bant shard resident.
BG has good synergy with +1/+1 counters. While Thantis could most definitely be RG alone, BRG isn't too far fetched.
Tuvasa is a merfolk from Ixalan, the tribe's main color is UG. While blue isn't known for having enchantress, it's big on auras since Urza's block, and Theroes where Kestia is from has enchantment theme in every color. Heck, Zombie Daxos was from Theroes and he's a WB with enchantment theme.
WotC had indeed attempted to add extra colors into a legend to broaden its spec for EDH purposes, but if we take characters' background into consideration the designed would be more justified. Take Lord Windgrace for one, he may well be mono G, but storywise he's from Urborg and is known for using Black, Red, and Green mana spells in the past. The biggest case I see is Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith, which could be entirely white, his green is a loose connection due to him being a Bant shard resident.
I really don't give any credit for flavor justification. Tuvasa being a merfolk isn't very mechanically important to the card, and is vestigial at best. I know some people are building merfolk tribal with her, but let's be honest, those people have lost their minds.
In terms of synergy with enchantments, blue is a very very distant third behind white and green, and green alone has gotten essentially identical effects on cards without any help from white or blue, (and arguably white without green or blue) whereas blue has never gotten either of those effects before afaik. So mechanically I don't buy it. Ditto for kestia - sure, blue got enchantment creatures, but I don't see any enchantment synergy in blue even in theros. Hell, red gets enchantments (and bestow) as well, but it's not an enchant-synergy color and doesn't receive enchantment-synergy cards.
Black doesn't have significant synergy with +1/+1 counters. It's incorporated in scavenge because black likes using the grave, and GREEN like +1/+1 counters. And it was the color dropped from abzan in DTK while white stuck around. Do +1/+1 counters exist on black cards? Yes, of course, +1/+1 counters are mechanic used very frequently so they exist everywhere. Using them as justification for black being part of the card is spurious when there is already a color present (green) which handily justifies the mechanic.
The mechanics and flavor in mtg are often flexible enough that you can justify basically anything if you really want to, but if someone showed you thantis minus the cost and asked you to guess the colors, black would not be a reasonable color to guess imo. And same for tuvasa, minus the typeline.
- Rabid Wombat
They couldn’t do that and not do it for Ith, for example.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
White
Boreas Charger - I like that the ability is a "leaves the battlefield" ability and doesn't just trigger when it dies, so blinking it still gets you the effect. I can potentially see this in Roon or Brago for that reason. This is potentially a way for a white mage to try and keep up with a green mage vomiting lands onto the battlefield, and combining it with a Scroll Rack or cards with Retrace could be very good. I predict that this card will be fairly undervalued and won't see a lot of play, but it will crop up in some very special circumstances.
Empyrial Storm - I like the "Commander Storm" mechanic, and this card seems pretty legit. I can really see a general like Rhys or Trostani really getting a lot of mileage out of this, especially Rhys which is really cheap to cast a few times before slamming 3-4 Angels. I think that the default for these is that it will almost always get copied once, so getting 2 4/4 Flying Angels for 6 mana seems worthwhile for any deck that cares about tokens or Angels.
Heavenly Blademaster - I see this as being more of an Equipment general than an Aura general just due to its vulnerability, but getting your equipment attached to a creature with double Strike can be really good. Swords of X and Y are the obvious choice here, but Umezawa's Jitte, Mask of Memory, or Quietus Spike also seem potentially saucy. Like many things in this set it is expensive to cast, but you do get a lot of potential value.
Loyal Unicorn - I like the Lieutenant ability, and I like how this one is worded so that you can't get blown out in combat by an instant-speed removal spell. It's a fine card for what it does, but I'm just not sold on what it does as being something necessarily worth doing.
Magus of the Balance - As someone who played with the original Balance "back in the day", I for one am glad that it is banned in EDH. The question here becomes whether this effect is any good when you delay it for a turn and tack on 5 mana. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out where this might fit in, although I suppose any deck that runs a sacrifice theme or lots of artifact mana will be the more obvious choices. I guess the biggest draw is that it is potentially a nice way to try and reign in runaway land ramp, runaway token generation, or runaway card draw.
Blue
Aminatou's Augury - This card is pretty nuts if you have approx. 10+ of at least 4 cards types in your deck. At that point, getting a free land, free creature, free instant, free sorcery, and a free artifact/planeswalker/enchantment for your 8 mana seems well worth the cost. You kinda have to be careful to not be running too many reactive cards or X-spells that would be duds, so in some ways you have to treat this as a pseudo "Super Cascade". I think that once you figure out if your deck runs the kinds of cards that this would be good with and/or manipulates the top of the deck enough to stack the deck in your favor, then the only thing holdng you back is whether you have the kind of deck that can generate 8 mana often enough. For that reason, I see this as something that will go into decks like Maelstrom Wanderer that wants to do these things anyway and this would just give the deck another payoff for doing so.
Echo Storm - Everybody wants multiple copies of Sol Ring, Gilded Lotus, or Blightsteel Colossus, so I think that any deck that runs blue and has 14+ good artifacts worth copying will try and squeeze this in. Beware the Arcum guy copying Spine of Ish Sah, Possessed Portal, or Smokestack, but I think that for the most part people will be happy with multiple Solemn Simulacrum, Myr Battlesphere, or mana rocks.
Estrid's Invocation - A Copy Enchantment that keeps on blinking itself is perfect for copying enchantments with ETB effects like Spreading Seas, Aquatic Incursion, or Reality Acid, but getting something like New Perspectives turn after turn seems pretty gnarly.
Ever-Watching Threshold - A nice card with a not-too-expensive casting cost that will act as a rattlesnake (keeping people from wanting to attack you). I've never been a fan of cards like this, and I think that overall you have enough good card draw options in blue that don't require you jump through hoops that this will likley not see much play.
Loyal Drake - A Wind Drake that can potentially draw you an additional card per turn seems pretty good for any deck that seeks to have its commander out for any reasonable portion of the game. Niv-Mizzet will especially like this.
Octopus Umbra - Very flavorful, but the only thing that makes this remotely playable is Totem Armor. Overall, I'm not a fan as I would likely want to be upgrading cheap, small creatures into 8/8's, so saving them with Totem Armor seems like its not going to be all it is cracked up to be.
Primordial Mist - Kind of a cool way to generate some card advantage and some 2/2's while you are at it. I doubt I'll play this, but I really like the concept and it seems appropriately costed.
Vedalken Humiliator - Humility being white I would have expected this to also be white, and even having the ability tied to Metalcraft doesn't necessarily change my mind on it. However, blue being the color of morphing and transfiguring creatures I guess this fits the new color pie better. As for gameplay, this is a nice way to break stalemates, expose Hexproof cretures to removal, and/or create one-sided Wraths with Night of Souls' Betrayal, Goblin Sharpshooter or Umezawa's Jitte.
Black
Bloodtracker - Will go well in Vampire Tribal or +1/+1 counter decks, so I would expect that Edgar Markov and Ghave might be the best places for this to go. This also makes for some good sacrifice fodder in pretty much any Jund deck, or perhaps something like Jarad. For as innocuous as it looks, I think that this kind of card has a lot of places where it will potentially see play.
Entreat The Dead - In non-Miracle mode, it costs 1 more than a Zombify for X=1 and it costs 1 more than an Ever After on X=2, so you are not getting a good deal on the mana. The tradeoff is obviously that in Miracle mode you are getting potentially 3 or 4 creatures for your 5 or 6 mana. You need some Scroll Rack, Vampiric Tutor, or other means to ensure you hit the miracle on this which shouldn't be too hard. The bigger issue will be making sure you hit Miracle with the mana and creatures in the graveyard to make it worthwhile.
Loyal Subordinate - At least its life drain hits all opponents and it has menace, but that 1 toughness makes me a little nervous. I like that this at least has a very relevant creature type, so perhaps that it where it shines.
Night Incarnate - I like that Evoke makes this feel like a modal spell with some cool options, but in the end its just a removal spell (albeit one that black can easily recur, so its got that going for it).
Skull Storm - Really high ceiling, really low floor. For 9-mana, I think you should expect more. I think that there is just too much variance and too high of a casting cost for this to be good, although I may change my mind the first time someone casts this right after a Damnation with 5 copies and kills the whole table.
Sower of Discord - a really good way to simultaneously make the weakest player into the second most hated player at the table while making yourself the most hated player at the table as you attack the player with no board presence and you still get to drain life from another opponent. I think that you would need to take an inventory on how many effect you have in your deck that are "damage" versus "loss of life" as this will only trigger on the former and not the latter (so no shenanigans with Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Exsanguinate, Extort, etc.).
Red
Emissary of Grudges - You don't see the words "secretly choose an opponent" very often. The concept on this card is pretty good, although I think that attaching it to a big expensive body was probably a mistake. I think this would have probably seen much more play if it was cheaper (like a 4/3 flyer for 4 mana), but perhaps the things worth copying are all expensive enough that this can still come down in time to matter.
Enchanter's Bane - Well, I guess red is finally getting some enchantment hate as only red can do (a la the punisher mechanic). It seems fitting that once there are no other enchantments on the field you are forced to either take 2 damage or sacrifice it. It's an interesting card if nothing else.
Fury Storm - A spell that copies itself and other spells seems really meta, and given all the potential I can see this being a nice finisher in some decks. I think that the key will be to make sure you are using this offensively and not waiting around for your opponents to give you something worth copying.
Loyal Apprentice - Getting 1/1 Thopters with Flying is really nice, and a commander like Daretti or the newly printed Brudiclad (or any deck that wants artifact fodder) will really enjoy having this in the deck.
Nesting Dragon - This is a neat card. Landfall is powerful if you run fetchlands or ramp, and this will fit right into any 3, 4, or 5-color Dragons deck that runs fetches and ramp (as almost all of them do in order to fix and ramp lands). I really like the flavor as well of the mana dragon laying her dragon eggs then spitting out little whelps.
Reality Scramble - If you invest some part of your deck into controlling the top of your library, generating sacrificial fodder, and having things in your deck worth cheating out then this card can be ridiculous. That's just a lot of moving parts. It also restricts you to just sacrificing cards you own, so not steal and sac shenanigans (although Switcheroo-type shenanigans are now on the table). This seems like a card that seems totally awesome at first glance, then sours as you try to make it work.
Saheeli's Directive - It started with Genesis Wave for any permanent, then Epic Experiment for Instants/Sorceries, so it makes sense that we get a red one just for artifacts. Having Improvise is a nice touch and I think any big mana artifact deck with enough red in it is going to like this.
Treasure Nabber - This is the nice little hidden gem in this set. I'm going to love this in Bosh where I can take my opponents artifact mana and throw it at their heads for damage (and give me some of the mana to do so), but I think in general being able to use my opponent's mana rocks against them is a nice effect. This also has the nice side effect of stopping someone from going off with artifacts and Paradox Engine. And it's a Goblin! Of course, there is going to be someone who will try and abuse it with Mycosynth Lattice and something like Zuran Orb for a one-sided Armageddon, but you really have to go out of your way to make the game miserable like that.
Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor - So we always wanted to know who Varchild was and why he had War Riders that leave behind survivors, but now we know. This is a pretty slick little card that makes for a cool general, or perhaps as part of another deck that uses cards like Xenograft or Conspiracy to turn everything into a Survivor. Nice taste of nostalgia and solid gameplay-wise.
Green
Crash of Rhino Beetles – Nice throwback to Crash of Rhinos, and although some people see a 15/15 for 5 mana I don’t see this seeing much play outside of the precons. Yes, it is entirely possible to get 10 lands a high enough percentage of the time that you can get the P/T boost and it’s default mode of being “just” a 5/5 Trampler for 5 is good enough to see play, but I just think that when you jump through all the hoops to get to 10 lands that you are looking to actually play high-CMC spells, and once you’ve ramped to that point the cost savings is a moot point. Maybe I’ll change my mind once I’ve gotten around to playing with it, but I’m not particularly bullish on this one.
Genesis Storm – Like Reality Scramble, this rewards you for your manipulating the top of your library and having stuff worth cheating into play in your deck, but unlike Reality Scramble you don’t need fodder to feed the engine. That makes it significantly better in my opinion despite not having Retrace and just needing to cast your commander a few times to really break it.
Loyal Guardian – I think any commander with green that uses +1/+1 counters will want to have this card around. I like that it puts counters on everything and not just creatures with +1/+1 counters on them already (such as Renegade Krasis or Cytoplast Root-Kin), and I like that it also puts counters on itself. There are a lot of good options at 5 mana for +1/+1 counter decks so this might not see play just based on the numbers, but it’s as good or better as a lot of other commonly played options.
Myth Unbound – Messing with the commander tax seems a little scary, but rewarding people for actually playing their commander seems kinda nice. Commanders like Prossh, Skyraider of Kher and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician benefit the most of this kind of effect; Commanders that either evade the commander tax or have combos built-in that allow for it to be cast multiple times to keep getting an ETB effect. For more casually-oriented players, they might like this for any general that they feel gets blown up too often. Either way, it will be interesting to see just how players end up using this card.
Nylea’s Colossus – Interesting effect that is unfortunately stapled to a really expensive creature. My first though was to put this into my Uril, the Miststalker deck, but I don’t currently run anything at 7+ mana in the deck (and only one 6-drop) so it just may be too pricy to run despite the pretty awesome nature of the ability. I think that in general, most Enchantress decks will want to play him but not necessarily at that cost.
Ravenous Slime – Nice little graveyard hoser that will happily get bigger for doing what it wants to do anyway. I don’t think this is anywhere near as good as Scavenging Ooze, but it will do the job nicely.
Turntimber Sower – Fetchlands, Retrace cards, cycling lands, Avenger of Zendikar, etc. all love this card and I foresee land-sac decks like The Gitrog Monster or Titania, Protector of Argoth wanting this for sure. And if you get a token doubler or two in the mix, you can turn a discard outlet into some mana ramp.
Whiptongue Hydra – Another solid Hurricane variant that doesn’t muck around with damage and just Wraths everything that flies. In that regard, there really aren’t a lot of good ways to just give your opponents creatures flying to take full advantage of this, but it’s not a bad tool to have.
Multicolor
Aminatou, the Fateshifter – I like the +1, given that there are plenty of reasons to want to either get cards out of your hand and back into your library (like when you have an active Land Tax), or when you want to have a specific card on top of your library (for something like Cascade and other things in the precon). The -1 is an awesome effect and it is the main reason why I like Venser, the Sojourner so much (except this one is even better in that you don’t have to wait for the end of turn to get your permanent back). I’m not a huge fan of the ultimate, but I can see that if Aminatou is your commander then you can build around the ability somewhow.
Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle – This is a totally unique card that I can only really compare to something like Exploding Vegetation as far as mana ramp goes and then something like Dark Depths as far as getting a big creature out of your land after jumping through some hoops. I would just treat this as a UG ramp card that might occasionally have some upside and go from there.
Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer – There is definitely a lot of useful incentives to want to run a deck that generates tons of Myr, Servos, and Thopters, and this not only gives them all Haste but also potentially converts them into all kinds of potential monsters. I also like that it doesn’t specify creature tokens, so Gold, Treasure, and Clues are all potential candidates.
Estrid, the Masked – So the +2 is a little awkward to try and use unless you are packing a ton of things worth untapping and things to enchant them, but there are only so many Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, etc. to run around. I think that the majority of use of the +2 ability is going to be tied to the -1 ability which is an absolute gem and a perfect kind of ability to find on a Planeswalker. The ultimate seems okay; nothing earthshaking, but good enough to get the job done with a minimal amount of setup.
Gyrus, Waker of Corpses – Having seen cards like Marath and Prossh completely take over metas, you learn quickly to not underestimate cards that enter the battlefield with a variable cost and get better the more they are cast. I will say that having a Commander that give you the option to pay as much mana as you want and encourages ramping up the counters on it seems a little dangerous, but I will say also that there is a little bit of inherent danger involved in building your deck around him. As a commander I would be wary, but I would also be optimistic as he avoids a lot of the clichés that Jund decks often fall into.
Kestia, the Cultvator – Kestia is awesome for any Bant enchantress deck, and I would think that she might end up being the best possible candidate to be the general for that deck. I guess it all depends on the other 99 cards as to whether Kestia or Tuvasa will draw you more cards.
Lord Wingrace – Seems like a solid add to pretty much any Jund deck, but I’m not so sure of him as the Commander. There is a lot of card and mana advantage that can be gained by just +2-ing and -3-ing this every other turn. The ultimate ability is a little scary on how much it costs, but it is really good and should be on the verge of game-winning when it goes off.
Saheeli, the Gifted – I like that her +1 provides here with some protection and feeds into her second +1 which has the potential to enable some huge plays. The ultimate ability seems really good, although the temporary nature of the token copies keeps it somewhat balanced (even though I would think that it wouldn’t be too hard to manipulate the game to a point where hitting the ultimate will be game winning). This is a nice follow up to the original Saheeli
Tawnos’ Urza’s Apprentice – From a flavor standpoint, I’m just really glad that Tawnos finally got his own card and it doesn’t disappoint. Given that it is both a Strionic Resonator and a Rings of Brightearth makes me think that there is a possibility to build a deck that is filled with abilities worth copying. Throw in a Thousand-Year Elixir, Paradox Engine, or other untap effects for some real copy shenanigans.
Thantis, the Warweaver – Not a bad rattlesnake card, but I just don’t see this being the kind of card worth building around.
Tuvasa the Sunlit – Well, having an Enchantress in your command zone as the commander for your enchantress deck seems really powerful, but given that its only when you cast an enchantment and once a turn it is potentially better to just run Kestia. I foresee that people are going to want to use Leyline of Anticipation type effects to try and run out enchantments on other people’s turns as well.
Varina, Lich Queen – Esper really needed a Zombie commander and Varina does not disappoint. The looting ability is fantastic and the ability to turn looted cards into Zombie tokens is really good. Topping it off with some added Lifegain and that she’s a 4/4 for 4 mana makes this a winner.
Xantcha, Sleeper Agent – Another nice throwback to the original Sleeper Agent, I think that there are some interesting interactions where your opponents don’t necessarily want to draw cards of this without risking the ire of someone who got a free 5/5 creature. It’s a cool political card that has some potential.
Yennet, Cryptic Sovereign – Some expensive cards with odd casting costs like Iona, Shield of Emeria, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Blazing Archon, Darksteel Forge, Plague Wind, and the somewhat on-theme Void Winnower are all pretty good to cast when they are free. I guess it’s a good thing that Enter the Infinite and Omniscience have even CMCs. This is a really good “top of the deck” matters card that doesn’t care about card type (as most of them do), so I would fill the deck up with a bunch of odd-CMC bombs and go to town.
Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow – We also finally get a UB Ninja commander. I like the combat trigger a lot as it feed right into what an aggro Ninja deck wants to do, and I love that they created Commander Ninjutsu just for this card.
Artifacts/Lands
Ancient Stone Idol – I’m not a real fan of this card, but I can see someone playing Trostani and being able to a) get this out cheap, and b) wanting to populate 6/12 trampling constructs.
Coveted Jewel – So it’s an Ancestral Recall and a Black Lotus all wrapped up in one card… that then turns into a massive potential liability and gives your opponents a ton of incentive to want to attack you so that they can enjoy the same benefits. It provides for a potentially entertaining little “game within the game”, but I plan on running this only where I can play and then get rid of it asap (via Bosh, Welder, Daretti, etc.) or where I want my opponent to have it (like maybe Zedruu).
Endless Atlas – The evolution continues; Jayemdae Tome was one-upped by Arcane Encyclopedia and now Endless Atlas makes both of them largely irrelevant. The “3 lands with the same name” should be relatively easy for a lot of decks, although I’m going to have to get tighter on my basic land counts in some of my decks to make sure I can run this. I think that decks that look to take advantage of Paradox Engine will be particularly interested.
Geode Golem – I like the ability, although I’m not so sure that it is going to work out in practice. I just think that having to still pay the commander tax is probably a necessary drawback, but it is still kind of a bummer. Although I might still want to play this just so I can say “geode” over and over again…
Retrofitter Foundry – There are a lot of moving parts going on here, so it is hard to truly take in everything that is going on with Retrofitter Foundry. It would be easy to pair this up with Parallel Lives and Earthcraft and go infinite, or perhaps abuse this with Paradox Engine, Unwinding Clock, or Clock of Omens. It doesn’t have the same amount of “game over” feel that a Staff of Domination has, but it just seems like the “fair” use of this to upgrade Servos and Thopters seems so benign that people will be more likely to abuse this than to use it “fairly”.
Forge of Heroes – Not a bad card if you are running a Planeswalker or a creature that uses +1/+1 counters as your general. It doesn’t seem very good, although I am wondering why the door was left open to potentially target your opponent’s commanders.
Isolated Watchtower – Nice way to try and catch up to someone ramping way ahead of you, but I don’t like that it costs 2 to play and that they have to be 2 lands ahead of you to use it. That just seems like a recipe for falling further and further behind.
Overall, I like this set for the good cards that it provides, but there are some missed opportunities for cards that are just too expensive for the effect.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
Higure is limited to tutoring ninjas so he is harmless with the errata.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Also five more from holiday box?
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
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
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
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I fail to see how you’ve come to that conclusion, in regard to the turtle and Thantis that is.
I do like the new avatar. A possible 3 mana ranger's path on a 4/4 trample isn't too bad. It will easily go in the hug-decks since it helps but also can defend the caster.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
Ok, but you aren’t including that turtle in any U deck, even if you splash other colors. Thantis is build around from the command zone. That’s like saying how underwhelming Hot Pockets are for dinner when Pizza exists. Classic Chewbacca defense.
militant angel - decent, but usually attacking multiple opponents is bad, and the payoff is only decent. Guess it's good for adriana, captain of the guard?
inspired sphinx - 7 just seems like a lot for this. I guess it's comparable to sphinx of uthuun and probably better, but still, meh.
rot hulk - also feels pretty pricey, but that can be a pretty great etb effect and potentially goes infinite with the right stuff. It's probably pretty good i guess.
goblin goliath - have a hard time seeing this be great - the tokens seem like goblin tribal, but then he costs a ton for those decks. Ability is interesting but very expensive. Maybe better than I give it credit for, but I don't see playing it much.
angelic guardian - simple, solid ability. seen before but generally at higher cmc or without the body. Still no iroas, but solid.
angler turtle - i like this a lot. Forced attacks with built-in protection and a fat body is all just great together. 7 is a lot but this is a huge problem for casual decks.
vengeant vampire - really solid ability, although in EDH I wonder if a 4/4 can't basically just be left alone until a board wipe happens and the ability is moot. Guess it's still a good blocker, though.
immortal phoenix - cool, but probably the least playable of a bunch. 5/3 french vanilla for 6 is trash and I wouldn't want to cast it once, let alone twice.
rampaging brontodon - big and fat. Strong card for a fairly casual beatdown deck, if not particularly interesting to me.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
Goblin Goliath has the potential to create some very swingy turns thanks to the power of one sided furnace effects. It's probably worse than Gratuitous Violence or Angrath's Marauders in general, even bringing some goblins along for the ride.
Militant Angel potentially drops a lot of power on the board in addition to being the second most reasonably costed body of the bunch. A 3/4 flier is only a piece of equipment away from competing with most things you find in the air, which is a reasonable ask in white. I'm expecting that to show up in less voltron-y equipment heavy decks.
Angelic Guardian is an effect I like a lot. The 6 CMC slot is already super crowded in most decks so that may not be enough to make the cut. I'll pick one up regardless.
That's a big wurm. Can't wait to pay 16 life to Toxic Deluge it.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
No trample though, blocking with saproling all day.
If old mechanics are returning, there’s a chance that they might “combine” them since guilds might ally with each other? I made a card a while back base on original Ravnica:
Voters’ Voice
WGUU
Instant
Convoke
Forecast — , Reveal ~ from your hand: Create a 1/1 white, blue, and green Citizen creature token. (Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
Counter target spell.
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
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Comparing thantis to the turtle is complicated. Thantis forces your dudes to attack, but in the command zone that's a smaller downside than it would otherwise be, since you can build around it a bit. Thantis is also vulnerable to targeted removal, which I think is good for that sort of effect. Him having hexproof could make him really annoying for some metas. On the plus side, he gets big, and he has reach and vigilance. I guess he also has 2 less toughness, but that's pretty unimportant. The combo of reach, vigilance, and growth makes him a much more effective deterrent against attacking you, as long as they don't just want to kill him with targeted removal.
I think my bigger problem with thantis is that he has the problem a lot of commander-set commanders have - they picked the colors first, and then tried to find a design that could arguably fit inside it. Forced attacks are primary red and secondary blue. Green is justifiable with reach and vigilance, the growth, and the spider flavor. And then black is there because...? It hasn't had forced attacks in many years. Mechanically thantis should be RG or URG.
Same is true for a ton of other multicolor legends these days imo. Why are tuvasa and kestia blue? Blue has had very little notable enchantment interaction and no enchantresses to speak of. Or a commander will have some vestigial line to justify a color, like varina's lifegain for white, or yennett's vigilance for white and menace for black.
The real reason for these colors is either to fit the required number of legends with the color identity for the decks (yennett and thantis), or because people want X mechanic for X color combo - esper for varina to include the amonkhet and innistrad zombies, and bant enchantress because people keep making that deck for...some reason, I'm sure. And then my favorite bad example - the damn equipcats from 2017. Green has zero synergy with equipment, if anything it clearly hates it. But we had to have cats, and cats are WG, so they gave mechanics that are clearly W or WR to a WG commander. To me it feels analogous to when something contrived happens in a story in order to patch some plot hole - it ruins the immersion, and forces you to see the hand of the maker at work, rather than just appreciating the creation.
Boy, that ended up being a fairly off-topic screed. my bad.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Also they aren't intro pack rares, they're from the gift pack. Which afaik has never had functionally unique cards until now so there's no point of comparison. At least it's a lot better than the awful gift pack last year, although it does annoy me that they're making more functionally unique cards outside of boosters.
Anyway there's no reason a commander has to be better than every rare. That's ridiculous. Hexproof commanders are annoying as balls anyway, we don't need more of that crap.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
BG has good synergy with +1/+1 counters. While Thantis could most definitely be RG alone, BRG isn't too far fetched.
Tuvasa is a merfolk from Ixalan, the tribe's main color is UG. While blue isn't known for having enchantress, it's big on auras since Urza's block, and Theroes where Kestia is from has enchantment theme in every color. Heck, Zombie Daxos was from Theroes and he's a WB with enchantment theme.
WotC had indeed attempted to add extra colors into a legend to broaden its spec for EDH purposes, but if we take characters' background into consideration the designed would be more justified. Take Lord Windgrace for one, he may well be mono G, but storywise he's from Urborg and is known for using Black, Red, and Green mana spells in the past. The biggest case I see is Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith, which could be entirely white, his green is a loose connection due to him being a Bant shard resident.
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
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
In terms of synergy with enchantments, blue is a very very distant third behind white and green, and green alone has gotten essentially identical effects on cards without any help from white or blue, (and arguably white without green or blue) whereas blue has never gotten either of those effects before afaik. So mechanically I don't buy it. Ditto for kestia - sure, blue got enchantment creatures, but I don't see any enchantment synergy in blue even in theros. Hell, red gets enchantments (and bestow) as well, but it's not an enchant-synergy color and doesn't receive enchantment-synergy cards.
Black doesn't have significant synergy with +1/+1 counters. It's incorporated in scavenge because black likes using the grave, and GREEN like +1/+1 counters. And it was the color dropped from abzan in DTK while white stuck around. Do +1/+1 counters exist on black cards? Yes, of course, +1/+1 counters are mechanic used very frequently so they exist everywhere. Using them as justification for black being part of the card is spurious when there is already a color present (green) which handily justifies the mechanic.
The mechanics and flavor in mtg are often flexible enough that you can justify basically anything if you really want to, but if someone showed you thantis minus the cost and asked you to guess the colors, black would not be a reasonable color to guess imo. And same for tuvasa, minus the typeline.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Hold your horses
Before you get ahead of your self it’s group hug the opponents get lands too
duh, you only play it when it gives you the advantage. Aven Mindcensor.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist