This would have been awesome if it were the artwork for Ancestral Mask.
More to the point, though - this is slightly better than Serpent's Gift or a similar deathtouch-granting effect if you're targeting a smaller body. Taunting Elf has some awful breath, I hear.
...yeah, who am I kidding. Does anyone actually play this card?
The earlier Vine Trellis is from the same artist that does this card. The art looks like a take on rk post Dawnstrider, from the same set (one of my fav's). I know that wotc likes to give a specific format for what creatures are supposed to look like, but the resemblance is pretty close. Maybe the two matched notes?
I had a friend who played Gaze of the Golgari a lot back in the day. Card is still kind of bad but manages to be much better than this. Venom for the aura version (and it's cheaper. Not something you need instant speed on if you combo with Taunting elf or the like.)
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!
The earlier Vine Trellis is from the same artist that does this card. The art looks like a take on rk post Dawnstrider, from the same set (one of my fav's). I know that wotc likes to give a specific format for what creatures are supposed to look like, but the resemblance is pretty close. Maybe the two matched notes?
Well... this was the early days of WotC using style guides, so it stands to reason the dryads in Mercadian Masques would all share similar looks. Collective Unconscious, Rushwood Dryad, Natural Affinity, Revive... I also get the feeling that Llanowar Vanguard was a piece of art originally commissioned for Masques, but never got in for whatever reason. Probably because it stank even for Masques Block.
There's about 100 versions of this card, each doing things a slightly bit different, this one giving pro-artifacts. Sadly you cannot target an enemy's creature holding 12 swords with it, only your own.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Well, this has a few advantages over Rebuff the Wicked. To wit, this also counters triggered/activated abilities (such as ETB triggers), it gets rid of auras, it can save a creature from something like Blasphemous Act, and it can provide evasion for a turn.
This can also protect noncreature permanents (or provide protection from artifacts), unlike Shelter, but in monowhite, the cantrip is probably better on the grounds of "I need as much card draw as I can get."
At the same time, unless you're worried about your enchantments, planeswalkers, or lands, you most definitely would prefer Apostle's Blessing over this.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
At the same time, unless you're worried about your enchantments, planeswalkers, or lands, you most definitely would prefer Apostle's Blessing over this.
Come to think on it, I guess you can use this to fog for a planeswalker, so there's that.
It is pretty solid, if unimpressive. I would say possible niche use in shu yun, the silent tempest. There are better, yes, such as the aforementioned shelter, but when going to assassinate a player, protection is one of the better ways to do it.
Kind of odd really how this cannot be ran in anything but 5 color decks, yet if it'd been worded "1 mana of each type" it could've.
Anyway, being 5cc only limits it's usefulness, though in budget builds it has a few things going for it. It works smashingly with Mana Reflection, yielding you 10 mana, and it enables Reflecting Pool pretty well to boot. This makes it an above-average, albeit non-spectacular land to me.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I run Crystal Quarry in my Sliver Queen and Reaper King decks, but I'm honestly not sure it's worth the spot. If you have Mana Reflection out, this is just one of a very large number of Broken options.
I missed Venemous Breath, but it can be a very good card int he right circumstances. I have an Overrun themed deck that runs cards like Taunting Elf and Prized Unicorn in order to alpha strike. Venomous breath gives you the option to instead use your Taunting Elf as a one-sided board wipe, which is sometimes really handy. I mostly play 1v1 though, so I'm not sure how well this scales to multiplayer.
I have had this card moldering away in my collection since the day I pulled it, waiting for the five-color deck I never, ever get around to building. It's in the running for "card I've hung onto the longest without ever sleeving it."
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
This signature holds priority until end of comment.
I actually thought this was going to be Crystal Vein.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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!
How does it look in foil? I bet if it was reprinted with the modern foiling process it would look f'ing fantastic
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!
if it was 4T instead of 5T it might be decent. As 5T you're paying for fixing, so this is pretty rotten unless for some reason you're playing a 5c deck that generates a bunch of colorless mana.
if it was 4T instead of 5T it might be decent. As 5T you're paying for fixing, so this is pretty rotten unless for some reason you're playing a 5c deck that generates a bunch of colorless mana.
Yeah, its really a super unknown shores. Of course, as others have said, it ends up being pretty good with mana reflection (5 extra mana yo), and it goes especially well in a 5-color base green deck (especially well meaning it actual is pretty OK). Still not a great card, but I still want a reprint with the modern foiling process. Its pretty.
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!
Kind of odd really how this cannot be ran in anything but 5 color decks, yet if it'd been worded "1 mana of each type" it could've.
Anyway, being 5cc only limits it's usefulness, though in budget builds it has a few things going for it. It works smashingly with Mana Reflection, yielding you 10 mana, and it enables Reflecting Pool pretty well to boot. This makes it an above-average, albeit non-spectacular land to me.
Crystal quarry is an amazing land 5-c is hard to build but Crustal quarry help immensely. Able to cast almost any 5-color legend by itself. (With the exception of Karona, false god and Progenitus) It also allows you to cast any of the 4 color (Obviously sadly cannot run in 4 color decks) and also cast any of the bringers
More to the point, though - this is slightly better than Serpent's Gift or a similar deathtouch-granting effect if you're targeting a smaller body. Taunting Elf has some awful breath, I hear.
...yeah, who am I kidding. Does anyone actually play this card?
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!
Lure was in Masques. In eternal, you'll probably just run Venom (which is an aura).
I love how much they pushed the "mask" motif in the art, though: Unmask, Ancestral Mask, Venomous Breath, Ivory Mask, Story Circle...Even Credit Voucher depicts a woman holding a fan over her face.
4/10 Better than the deathtouch versions. Masques has plenty of diamonds in the rough like Tangle Wire, Wave of Reckoning, Food Chain, Seismic Mage, Waterfront Bouncer, Collective Unconscious (though there's now a strictly better), Black Market, Foster, Fountain Watch, Dust Bowl, Crenellated Wall, Furious Assault, Gush, Intimidation, Groundskeeper, Embargo, Caustic Wasps, Crackdown, Credit Voucher, Larceny, Thwart, Energy Flux, High Market, Haunted Crossroads, Story Circle, Task Force, Magistrate's Scepter, Coastal Piracy (Again, a strictly better exists.), Ivory Mask, and Tower of the Magistrate. And plenty of rough. (And plenty of ruffs! Another feature of the Mercadian aesthetic.) This is rough.
Discovered a new one, BTW: Rishadan Pawnshop.
On phasing:
Well... this was the early days of WotC using style guides, so it stands to reason the dryads in Mercadian Masques would all share similar looks. Collective Unconscious, Rushwood Dryad, Natural Affinity, Revive... I also get the feeling that Llanowar Vanguard was a piece of art originally commissioned for Masques, but never got in for whatever reason. Probably because it stank even for Masques Block.
You and me both.
There's about 100 versions of this card, each doing things a slightly bit different, this one giving pro-artifacts. Sadly you cannot target an enemy's creature holding 12 swords with it, only your own.
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 can also protect noncreature permanents (or provide protection from artifacts), unlike Shelter, but in monowhite, the cantrip is probably better on the grounds of "I need as much card draw as I can get."
At the same time, unless you're worried about your enchantments, planeswalkers, or lands, you most definitely would prefer Apostle's Blessing over this.
On phasing:
Come to think on it, I guess you can use this to fog for a planeswalker, so there's that.
Does pass the Isochron test, which is a plus.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
Kind of odd really how this cannot be ran in anything but 5 color decks, yet if it'd been worded "1 mana of each type" it could've.
Anyway, being 5cc only limits it's usefulness, though in budget builds it has a few things going for it. It works smashingly with Mana Reflection, yielding you 10 mana, and it enables Reflecting Pool pretty well to boot. This makes it an above-average, albeit non-spectacular land to me.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I missed Venemous Breath, but it can be a very good card int he right circumstances. I have an Overrun themed deck that runs cards like Taunting Elf and Prized Unicorn in order to alpha strike. Venomous breath gives you the option to instead use your Taunting Elf as a one-sided board wipe, which is sometimes really handy. I mostly play 1v1 though, so I'm not sure how well this scales to multiplayer.
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
This is good with Mana Reflection, just like the cycle of Sungrass Prairie and friends from the same block. Or the signets or the Shadowmoor filter lands. Hell, even Shimmering Grotto/Unknown Shores or Prophetic Prism.
I actually thought this was going to be Crystal Vein.
On phasing:
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!
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
Yeah, its really a super unknown shores. Of course, as others have said, it ends up being pretty good with mana reflection (5 extra mana yo), and it goes especially well in a 5-color base green deck (especially well meaning it actual is pretty OK). Still not a great card, but I still want a reprint with the modern foiling process. Its pretty.
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!
I ran this card in my Karona, False God Avatar tribal deck. Great with a Fist of Suns. Also worthwhile with Bring to Light and Prism Array (which I also ran).
Besides, it means you have WUBRG on turn two (Crystal Quarry->Sol Ring->Mana Vault).
you can actually have turn 1 (mana crypt into sol ring and vault. Tap ring and vault, filter into quarry. cast general)
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist