I saw this card in a box of dollar rares and it seemed very good at first glance. Almost all Legacy run blue in their colors and many EOT brainstorms or other type spells. Not to mention this card makes countering your spells suddenly turn into 4/4 creatures. It sits right in that sweet spot zone for mana cost as well so what prevents this card from seeing play, or at least a side board card in some matches?
I mean G2 Blue decks are boarding counters (Force at least) out against a green deck like Maverick or Nic Fit. And then after that basically it becomes a 2 drop enchantment that makes them cast their BS during their turn, which isn't really worth the one card and two mana investment. Sure you make them alter their gameplan a bit, but it is easily played around and if it is played around it literally is a do nothing card.
Choke comes in at 1 mana more than this, Carpet of Flowers at 1 mana less. I prefer the former, but the later can be quite good as well. These two green enchantments are the most commonly encountered blue hate in green, and are the gold standard by which other cards are measured.
On first glance, my thought is that it wouldn't be good for most combo decks because the tradeoff of a critical spell being countered for a 4/4 is one a blue player will take every time, and against non-combo decks, blue players can just board out counters or do most instant shenanigans on their own turn , so there are better options.
I will main phase my brainstorms then if I'm worried about your tokens. I will work to counter this instead or let you waste the turn play it if I'm not worried about it. The card is based around your opponent making choices, not good enough.
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
Years ago I ran this as a sideboard card for my Rock deck. It was surprisingly effective but this was an era when counterspells were more common.
FoW is still very relevant(always) but counter heavy decks are less prolific these days, relying more upon card advantage with a few counters to backup whatever the game plan is or to shut down big plays from an opponent. As a result, I don't think this card would be great blue hate these days. The game has just sped up too much and common deck design has changed significantly in the last couple of years. Not that it is unplayable but there are better options available, like the aforementioned Choke.
to me, if im playing blue, most of the time I dont play many spells on your turn, unless i am countering something that will win you the game.
This card seems like it would be better in an environment where you play against a draw go counter deck, but you dont really see many of those, and counterbalance doesnt cast counterspells as much as it just rearranges.
I saw this card in a box of dollar rares and it seemed very good at first glance. Almost all Legacy run blue in their colors and many EOT brainstorms or other type spells. Not to mention this card makes countering your spells suddenly turn into 4/4 creatures. It sits right in that sweet spot zone for mana cost as well so what prevents this card from seeing play, or at least a side board card in some matches?
L1 Judge
Overall record: 139-98-15
Total number of matches: 252
Win percentage ignoring draws: 58.649789
Win percentage including draws: 55.158730
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/661941-list-of-stores-that-support-legacy
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?28892-Compilation-Of-Legacy-Streams
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=4832736
Trading 10 full art zen basics for 8 of yours!
I want
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
FoW is still very relevant(always) but counter heavy decks are less prolific these days, relying more upon card advantage with a few counters to backup whatever the game plan is or to shut down big plays from an opponent. As a result, I don't think this card would be great blue hate these days. The game has just sped up too much and common deck design has changed significantly in the last couple of years. Not that it is unplayable but there are better options available, like the aforementioned Choke.
Thanks to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the amazing sig.
NO RUG: Primer
Tempo Thresh: Primer
This card seems like it would be better in an environment where you play against a draw go counter deck, but you dont really see many of those, and counterbalance doesnt cast counterspells as much as it just rearranges.
Primer - Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
Thor, Ragnar Röks!
Hela, and the Enemies of Asgard
Teferi, Temporal Archmage