It's decent. It does have graft's usual synergy with Doubling Season and friends, and it curves well with Corpsejack Menace. Keep that in mind.
Even in blue, I'd probably rather have Sapphire Drake, if we're insisting on the +1/+1 counter theme. Abzan Falconer is better, though.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
This is the kind of card that made 1995-me, a non-native English speaker, not want to play Magic.
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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.
A really bizarre alternative to Drain Life that lets you spend red mana on it, but costs way too much. It's a card that demonstrates that Black decks really wanted something like Gauntlet of Might for a long time, so they bled cards like this into red a bit, but wouldn't you just play Fireball?
As for Soul Burn, I kinda like the idea, but I'm not sure why I wouldn't just play Fireball and the like if I'm in red. If I'm not in red (Under the current Oracle wording, you can play this in monoblack Commander decks.), I would just run Consume Spirit or even Drain Life first.
And of course, infinite mana + Exsanguinate is a better drain-based win condition. This just knocks out one player.
Come to think of it, infinite mana + Fireball or Comet Storm is also a better win condition.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Great name, good art, not really a good card. I loved it when I was younger. It was like... A Disintegrate and a Drain Life on the same card? Whaaaaat?
But yeah. It's unfortunate they wasted a superb name on a junk card.
Oh, plenty of native English speakers had trouble with these sorts of cards as well. Anyway, its garbage in EDH, but back in the day it was better than Consume Spirit in RB decks, because being able to put red mana into X could matter a lot. Of course, you should have just ran fireball, but if you really wanted lifegain your options were limited. Remember, back in the day lifegain was absurdly overvalued at WotC and even more over valued and newer players loved it as much back then as they do today. Also keep in mind that the community wasn't as developed and there were few online resources (people still turned to a MAGAZINE for their Magic updates), so the skill of casual players, and their ability to make value judgments for effects, developed more slowly, as they were mostly confined to their playgroups and local stores. You better believe that some people cracked this card an flipped about being able to swap out their consume spirits from their RB deck for it.
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
I also remember the shift from Sacrifice to Burnt Offering, too. It's like Black and Red just wanted to get a little closer.
It wasn't just black red, it was all allied pairs. There was a significant allied colors matter theme in ice age, featuring two sets of allied duals, multicolor cards, and cards with allied color activations and proto kicker. Balduvian Shaman and Ardarkar Unicorn in WU, Brine Shaman in UB, etc. There were even tri color shard cards and cards that cared about both allied colors. It was a subtle way to push multicolor at common and uncommon without actually having too many true gold cards, and keeping those at rare. Multicolor was still the new hotness, and they wanted to keep gold special and used ice age to experiment with mono color cards that rewarded 2 color play, while also reinforcing the importance of allied vs enemy colors. You can see most of them were made so that the bonus was small, either making an effect that normally needed mono color work better with an ally, giving an additional small bonus to allied colors, or activated abilities that required the allied color. Usefulness, complexity, and mode were all over the map, trending toward weak and niche. Most were defined by making flavor sense. You can see the development of color pair identities taking shape, as opposed to the "gold can do anything" zaniness of Legends, what with its UB fatties that tapped for mana. Soul burn and it's peers have been mostly eclipsed and forgotten, but are important parts of magics history, and especially the history of EDH which relies on multicolor more than other formats.
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
I love the artwork on the reprint with tsabo tavoc. I've played it a few times before in EDH. It is just another one of those big-x-burn/bleed spells, which just so happens to be my favorite win-con when playing mono-black.
I can certainly think of worse cards to use, especially in white. The cantrip part makes this highly playable, IMO, though obviously not every deck can use it as well.
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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.
This, and it's cousin Quicken are cards I really like.
Scout's Warning can be used to great effect with stuff like Twilight Shephard, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Abu Ja'far... realistically, any creature. It also basically cycles, so if you don't want to use it, that's cool too (but, that could be highly relevant for a Mystical Tutor'ed Terminus or similar).
Basically, this card is great, though I never seem to actually play it.
I play it in a Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest spell slinger deck to great effect. At worst it replaces it self and grows Shu. At best, flash in Shu eot and start pounding.
This card is criminally underrated if you ask me. It is pseudo-haste, in W. Most Boris commanders want this effect, same can be said for most Wx, save for maybe WU. Can't tell you how many times I was able to cast this and Kalemmne, Disciple of Iroas EOOT, evoke a Glarewielder and attach a sword of X&Y to basically close out an opponent.
This card is criminally underrated if you ask me. It is pseudo-haste, in W. Most Boris commanders want this effect, same can be said for most Wx, save for maybe WU. Can't tell you how many times I was able to cast this and Kalemmne, Disciple of Iroas EOOT, evoke a Glarewielder and attach a sword of X&Y to basically close out an opponent.
I don't know any Boris commanders, though Bruse Tarl looks like a Boris. Wonder if he folds to Moose and Squirrel decks.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
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Lol.
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
Even in blue, I'd probably rather have Sapphire Drake, if we're insisting on the +1/+1 counter theme. Abzan Falconer is better, though.
On phasing:
But squirting on your opponent's creature to make them vulnerable to Plummet is one of the funniest ways to kill something!
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
This is the kind of card that made 1995-me, a non-native English speaker, not want to play Magic.
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.
Man, you must have hated Homelands. Like, more than most people.
I'm so glad Consume Spirit came along...
Or just run Predator, Flagship like a normal person.
As for Soul Burn, I kinda like the idea, but I'm not sure why I wouldn't just play Fireball and the like if I'm in red. If I'm not in red (Under the current Oracle wording, you can play this in monoblack Commander decks.), I would just run Consume Spirit or even Drain Life first.
And of course, infinite mana + Exsanguinate is a better drain-based win condition. This just knocks out one player.
Come to think of it, infinite mana + Fireball or Comet Storm is also a better win condition.
On phasing:
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
But yeah. It's unfortunate they wasted a superb name on a junk card.
How dare you, I'm a special snowflake floating down in a vast sea of raindrops
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Designer: Soul Burn is ready for print, boss.
Flavor Police: So lemme get this straight... you can only spend black mana on it?
Designer: Yeah. It's like Drain Life, except that card was super busted and not at all the result of broken fast mana like Dark Ritual.
F.P.: What?
Designer: Nevermind. So what do you think?
F.P.: Well, it says "burn" in the title... we were sort of hoping it would involve fire somehow.
Designer: But it's a black card.
F.P.: I don't care. This is 1995. Flavor over everything. You should be allowed to spend red mana on it.
I also remember the shift from Sacrifice to Burnt Offering, too. It's like Black and Red just wanted to get a little closer.
http://www.commandercast.com/category/articles/generally-speaking
Follow me on Twitter: @generalspeak
It wasn't just black red, it was all allied pairs. There was a significant allied colors matter theme in ice age, featuring two sets of allied duals, multicolor cards, and cards with allied color activations and proto kicker. Balduvian Shaman and Ardarkar Unicorn in WU, Brine Shaman in UB, etc. There were even tri color shard cards and cards that cared about both allied colors. It was a subtle way to push multicolor at common and uncommon without actually having too many true gold cards, and keeping those at rare. Multicolor was still the new hotness, and they wanted to keep gold special and used ice age to experiment with mono color cards that rewarded 2 color play, while also reinforcing the importance of allied vs enemy colors. You can see most of them were made so that the bonus was small, either making an effect that normally needed mono color work better with an ally, giving an additional small bonus to allied colors, or activated abilities that required the allied color. Usefulness, complexity, and mode were all over the map, trending toward weak and niche. Most were defined by making flavor sense. You can see the development of color pair identities taking shape, as opposed to the "gold can do anything" zaniness of Legends, what with its UB fatties that tapped for mana. Soul burn and it's peers have been mostly eclipsed and forgotten, but are important parts of magics history, and especially the history of EDH which relies on multicolor more than other formats.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
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!
I can certainly think of worse cards to use, especially in white. The cantrip part makes this highly playable, IMO, though obviously not every deck can use it as well.
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.
Scout's Warning can be used to great effect with stuff like Twilight Shephard, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Abu Ja'far... realistically, any creature. It also basically cycles, so if you don't want to use it, that's cool too (but, that could be highly relevant for a Mystical Tutor'ed Terminus or similar).
Basically, this card is great, though I never seem to actually play it.
http://www.commandercast.com/category/articles/generally-speaking
Follow me on Twitter: @generalspeak
I don't know any Boris commanders, though Bruse Tarl looks like a Boris. Wonder if he folds to Moose and Squirrel decks.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!