Well besides that, neither Boots nor Greaves has ever been reprinted in an expansion and they've appeared about equally often in Commander precons, so the premise is just false here.
One-sided artifact wipe at the risk of your opponents having a Disenchant. Due to a friend of mine, I can no longer see cards like this and not strongly consider playing them alongside eldraziprocessors.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
I've long thought about making an EDH deck full of terrible vanilla creatures to troll opponents. It's probably not worth the trouble, but it could be entertaining. Maybe half vanillas, half combos? Just to keep them guessing.
I once had an idea to build a Johan deck using only vanilla creatures and Muraganda Petroglyphs (because Johan's ability doesn't technically give creatures vigilance). The rest of the deck would be a smattering of token-makers and other Naya cards, but the only creatures I would run would be vanilla. It never took off.
If you can give it shroud, it can be super useful.
Yes, but then you have to watch out for something like Bane of Progress.
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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!
Just felt the need to point out that if you play the parallax cards without cheating, you're doing it wrong.
Now that that's over, on with the show...
"Crab people, crab people, look like crabs, talk like people, crab people, crab people..."
Seriously, though, Viscerid Drone actually looks useful in UB Aristocrats. Having a creature that turns a creature and a swamp into a Go for the Throat (and if it's a snow-covered swamp, a Murder) hoses regen and only costs two mana? Yeah, I could see myself playing that in the right deck.
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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!
One of the more bizarre designs in MTG, even ignoring that it's already a homarid to begin with, it has two of nearly the same ability. Is this homarid launching corpse-balls coated in swampy slime at the enemy? In the case of artifact creatures, why are they immune to slimy corpse-balls, but cannot resist the power of cold slimy corpse-balls? Maybe it digests it first and squirts marshy-corpsey-fluid at the enemy, like some sort of macabre Water Gun, and when it's cold it is more corrosive? These questions will remain unanswered by me, because I have no idea where to find those answers.
The homarids are actually not as terrible as I remember them being, though I still don't understand why Homarid Spawning Bed makes camarid tokens. I've even seen Deep Spawn in play before.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
It's somewhat of a reasonable ability. You get most of the functionality without snow swamps. As others have said, it has use i n the right decks, but while stealing dudes or making tokens to sac is reasonable its the saccing a land that's steep.
It's also not a color pie break. You have to think of this as a blue/black card, or rather an off color activation cost, as you need swamps to make it work.
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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!
It's not awful, but a black deck that wants to be sacrificing things probably has better ways of killing your opponents creatures. Having to spend a creatrue and a land, plus being only able to do it once per turn due to needing to tap makes this a bit too clunky to really work in my book. It's s cool find though, never knew this card existed and while I'm unlikely to ever play it, it certainly made me think about it. Basically, this is the kind of thing I love coming up in this thread.
I think I figured out the flavor. Marshlands often serve as a buffer between dry land and the sea, preventing floods. It screws with the swamp to cause a flood to kill the creature, but robots don't drown. If the swamp is snow covered though, then there's probably an iceflow that comes in with the flood to smash the robot, or something.
Also, Homarids are lobster people, not crab people, much classier.
Anyway, we need more Homarids. They got a bad rep back in the day even though majority were solid as far as creatures went back then because Homarid was such a complicated joke of a card and Homarid Warrior sucked. Deep Spawn was an interesting fatty with a minimal drawback and activated shroud that made him eady to protect. I can attest that he was a beast in masters edition draft online, and in 40 card his drawback is more likely to be relevant. Homarid Shaman is decent hate that can lock green down if you have enough mana. Neither are good now, but we're much better at the time (though Shaman is decent with Blind Seer). Viscerid Warrior, the timespiral Homarid, was solid in draft. Pay U turn 1 and get a hasty firebreathing (water breathing?) 2/3 a few turns later.
Basically, its a cool type that I want to see more of. Give me my Homarid precon Wizards! UB so I can run this drone. Make it snow too to kill 2 birds with one stone.
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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!
The same reason butterfly eggs hatch into caterpillars, not butterflies. Camarids are the juvenile stage of life for homarids.
Sure, but this seems like a good opportunity to let gameplay considerations trump flavor (with the full understanding that I'm talking about a period in the game where the rules around this were not well defined). It's basically the same problem I have with nagas in Khans block having a unique type instead of snake.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Also, Homarids are lobster people, not crab people, much classier.
Yes, but lobster people can't give you a makeover.
(And yes, even THEN, the spornosexual was edging out the metrosexual. But that's for another argument.)
In general, homarids were only bad because of Fallen Empires, which just happens to be where all but two of the homarids are.
Deep Spawn Just...Deep Spawn. Homarid So, the first turn it can attack, it's a 1/1. Then a 2/2, then a 3/3, then a 2/2, then a 1/1, then... Homarid Shaman Four mana for a 2/1 that can tap any creature for U (and no tap required) could actually be interesting in Stax. This is almost that creature. Homarid Warrior Basically a smaller Deep Spawn.
And also the token producer Homarid Spawning Bed, which actually might be useful in Aristocrats.
Alliances introduced the viscerids, well, a viscerid, who was, but still weird. (Alliances was still one of those super-small sets from the early days.) I'm half-convinced the homarids were intended to be Magic's version of the Deep Ones because reasons.
Viscerid Deepwalker, Time Spiral's first nod to the homarids, actually reminds me of how in the early days, "CARDNAME gets +N/+N until EOT" abilities weren't necessarily tied to any particular color. Admittedly, nearly all of them have appeared in green since Alara, with Nylea, God of the Hunt providing a sort of shade to every creature you control, Rhonas the Indomitable providing a sort of firebreathing to every creature you control, and Thornling having straight-up Morphling, in addition to green's more common Rootwalla ability. (Does green have any Holy Armor-type cards?) But you don't see bleeding of +N/+N abilities that much into other colors.
Which brings me back to the weirdest thing about Viscerid Drone: It isn't the only "lol what color pie?" card in those days, or the only one with two or more, more or less identical abilities. Vaevictis Asmadi has three colors of firebreathing because hybrid mana didn't exist yet. And "lol what color pie?" cards are all over the place.
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 first glance, this seems like the sort of thing that would be way outclassed by lots of other options, but it actually is reasonably unique. There are lots of cheap ways to prevent some damage, or all combat damage, but not a big pool of cards that prevent all of a non-specific damage. This can counter a Blasphemous Act or blank a Progenitus, so while it may be a tough sell generally, I could include it with the right opponents.
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Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
not a big pool of cards that prevent all of a non-specific damage
Not only that, it says "this turn", which might be normal for combat damage things, but is "the next time" a ton of times for noncombat damage things. Meaning you can disrupt sources that work with dozens of triggers. Hosing a combo off from Purphoros, God of the Forge with this would be an amazing play. It allows for a few other tricks as well. Some voltron commander swinging for lethal? Let it be the only creature not dealing damage and kill it with whatever you got laying around.
Idk if i'd find a place for it anywhere outside of mono-W but i really like brainstorming around these odd cards when they show up on this thread.
Odyssey block commons are nostalgic to me because the first Magic cards I ever owned were a giant pile of draft leftovers someone gave me in an attempt to get me interested.
That said, I am equally surprised that there isn't actually anything that's just better than this. Hallow is better against Blasphemous Act, Holy Day and other fog effects are better against Progenitus, but neither works in both situations and neither works for noncombat damage from permanents. I doubt I'd ever play it but it is kind of interesting.
One-sided artifact wipe at the risk of your opponents having a Disenchant. Due to a friend of mine, I can no longer see cards like this and not strongly consider playing them alongside eldrazi processors.
The card itself, I haven't found a use for. It's a bit too fragile to be of use.
But a simple Disenchant effect can hose them and give my opponents a bunch of etb triggers themselves, so i'll gladly pass.
I'm planning to get a Shimmer at the moment. Lower CMC and will create a ton of havoc.
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
T5: Durkwood Boars
T6: The Lady of the Mountain
I once had an idea to build a Johan deck using only vanilla creatures and Muraganda Petroglyphs (because Johan's ability doesn't technically give creatures vigilance). The rest of the deck would be a smattering of token-makers and other Naya cards, but the only creatures I would run would be vanilla. It never took off.
Yes, but then you have to watch out for something like Bane of Progress.
On phasing:
Greater Auramancy
There is no color pie, only homarids.
Just felt the need to point out that if you play the parallax cards without cheating, you're doing it wrong.
Now that that's over, on with the show...
"Crab people, crab people, look like crabs, talk like people, crab people, crab people..."
Seriously, though, Viscerid Drone actually looks useful in UB Aristocrats. Having a creature that turns a creature and a swamp into a Go for the Throat (and if it's a snow-covered swamp, a Murder) hoses regen and only costs two mana? Yeah, I could see myself playing that in the right deck.
On phasing:
The homarids are actually not as terrible as I remember them being, though I still don't understand why Homarid Spawning Bed makes camarid tokens. I've even seen Deep Spawn in play before.
WBGGhave Sisters
BUG Sidisi, Brood Tyrant Reanimator
BBBSheoldred, Whispering One Swamps-matter ramp
Standard
UR Drake
Pauper
GW Bogle
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
It's also not a color pie break. You have to think of this as a blue/black card, or rather an off color activation cost, as you need swamps to make it work.
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!
Also, Homarids are lobster people, not crab people, much classier.
Anyway, we need more Homarids. They got a bad rep back in the day even though majority were solid as far as creatures went back then because Homarid was such a complicated joke of a card and Homarid Warrior sucked. Deep Spawn was an interesting fatty with a minimal drawback and activated shroud that made him eady to protect. I can attest that he was a beast in masters edition draft online, and in 40 card his drawback is more likely to be relevant. Homarid Shaman is decent hate that can lock green down if you have enough mana. Neither are good now, but we're much better at the time (though Shaman is decent with Blind Seer). Viscerid Warrior, the timespiral Homarid, was solid in draft. Pay U turn 1 and get a hasty firebreathing (water breathing?) 2/3 a few turns later.
Basically, its a cool type that I want to see more of. Give me my Homarid precon Wizards! UB so I can run this drone. Make it snow too to kill 2 birds with one stone.
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!
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
As far as actual gameplay goes, everything's been covered. The card isn't completely worthless but it's just a little too awkward for the most part.
Yes, but lobster people can't give you a makeover.
(And yes, even THEN, the spornosexual was edging out the metrosexual. But that's for another argument.)
In general, homarids were only bad because of Fallen Empires, which just happens to be where all but two of the homarids are.
Deep Spawn Just...Deep Spawn.
Homarid So, the first turn it can attack, it's a 1/1. Then a 2/2, then a 3/3, then a 2/2, then a 1/1, then...
Homarid Shaman Four mana for a 2/1 that can tap any creature for U (and no tap required) could actually be interesting in Stax. This is almost that creature.
Homarid Warrior Basically a smaller Deep Spawn.
And also the token producer Homarid Spawning Bed, which actually might be useful in Aristocrats.
Alliances introduced the viscerids, well, a viscerid, who was, but still weird. (Alliances was still one of those super-small sets from the early days.) I'm half-convinced the homarids were intended to be Magic's version of the Deep Ones because reasons.
Viscerid Deepwalker, Time Spiral's first nod to the homarids, actually reminds me of how in the early days, "CARDNAME gets +N/+N until EOT" abilities weren't necessarily tied to any particular color. Admittedly, nearly all of them have appeared in green since Alara, with Nylea, God of the Hunt providing a sort of shade to every creature you control, Rhonas the Indomitable providing a sort of firebreathing to every creature you control, and Thornling having straight-up Morphling, in addition to green's more common Rootwalla ability. (Does green have any Holy Armor-type cards?) But you don't see bleeding of +N/+N abilities that much into other colors.
Which brings me back to the weirdest thing about Viscerid Drone: It isn't the only "lol what color pie?" card in those days, or the only one with two or more, more or less identical abilities. Vaevictis Asmadi has three colors of firebreathing because hybrid mana didn't exist yet. And "lol what color pie?" cards are all over the place.
On phasing:
At first glance, this seems like the sort of thing that would be way outclassed by lots of other options, but it actually is reasonably unique. There are lots of cheap ways to prevent some damage, or all combat damage, but not a big pool of cards that prevent all of a non-specific damage. This can counter a Blasphemous Act or blank a Progenitus, so while it may be a tough sell generally, I could include it with the right opponents.
Idk if i'd find a place for it anywhere outside of mono-W but i really like brainstorming around these odd cards when they show up on this thread.
That said, I am equally surprised that there isn't actually anything that's just better than this. Hallow is better against Blasphemous Act, Holy Day and other fog effects are better against Progenitus, but neither works in both situations and neither works for noncombat damage from permanents. I doubt I'd ever play it but it is kind of interesting.