I just had this as a passing thought, and haven't completely thought it out, but I would love to get some constructive input on the idea.
Auras, as we all know, are generally a bad idea in constructed due to their unhappy habit of getting you 2 for 1'd and for being bad top decks when you have no creatures.
These cards with Totem armor are a slightly more interesting though. The potential for being 2 for 1'd still exists if they use removal on the creature you're about to enchant, but hear me out. As Jund is the dominant meta force and uses the most removal right now I will primarily refer to that.
White Knight is immune to all of Junds removal short of Lightning Bolt. Kor Firewalker is immune to all of Junds removal short of Pulse, and Deathmark post sideboard. Thus, and especially early game and late game, the odds of them being able to kill either of them at instant speed, with firewalker pre-sideboard being entirely immune to instant speed removal. Firewalker is also one of the few unfortunate cases in our deck that does not have first strike so Hyena Umbra in particular makes him even better. How willing is Jund to pulse firewalker twice? or pulse the Umbra if it's the only one on the field at the time?
While the first strike is lost on the other creatures in our decks that also have the +1/+1 makes their first strike stronger, and the one shot indestructibility is also pretty incredible especially on a student of warfare who is so incredibly open to removal.
In the case of a non-Jund example, U/W control, which I consider to be one of the hardest matchups, if you can land an Umbra (difficult I know considering their counter magic) it can help make DoJ less useful. Jace of course can bounce our creature destroying the umbra which is a problem, but a well timed Enchanting of a creature could also be the 1 damage that is needed to kill a Jace before he can.
One final example is against Naya. Their primary removal is lightning bolt, thus this can make all of our otherwise boltable creatures a little more difficult to deal with while also boosting their p/t up to help us deal with nacatls and other potential threats more easily.
Again I'm not fully sold on the idea myself as it is so easy to remove a creature in response to the casting, but possibly with a little attention paid to their mana useage and when they tap out, as well as making careful considerations it could make them useful while at least minimizing the risks.
So what is the opinion of the mass WW players out there?
It could use testing, but as you said the in response really makes it an early game must play and early game is for dropping weenies
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EllE:
Because she's the hero standard deserves, but not the one it needs right now... and so we'll chase her... because she can take it... because she's not a hero... she's a silent guardian
It is definitely better early game from the testing I've done over the last two days because you generally want to play it when they're tapped out, or when you're certain they have no removal. I found it works very nicely on student of warfare making him a 4/4 early on a one shot of indestructible, which is pretty devastating.
I am finding that it might be better to have a more relevant threat on the board though instead, or even just a different spell for damage prevention etc. I'm going to give it a little more testing but I'm sitting on the line right now, I was hoping some others might give it a whirl and report in as well before I make a final judgment though.
I'm very much a fan of the Umbra. Early game it's combining three useful things (pump, first strike and one-shot removal immunity) in a single one-mana spell. Later on it has nice synergy with Kor Skyfisher since you can use it to move the Umbra around (and the Skyfisher itself isn't a bad target for it when you re-cast -- a 3/4 flying body with immunity to most removal is nothing to sneeze at).
Just out of curiosity, do enchantments count as Aura's? I though the two were different? So wouldn't you not be able to draw cards...?
Not sure what he was thinking there; plain enchantments like Honor of the Pure, Oblivion Ring, etc., won't trigger the Spiritdancer since they aren't auras.
Not sure what he was thinking there; plain enchantments like Honor of the Pure, Oblivion Ring, etc., won't trigger the Spiritdancer since they aren't auras.
Ahh, yeah, I was probably drunk when I was looking at the spiritdancer. Thought it was like Argothian Enchantress.
I change my vote to not using this and sticking with equips and creatures with protections.
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Auras, as we all know, are generally a bad idea in constructed due to their unhappy habit of getting you 2 for 1'd and for being bad top decks when you have no creatures.
These cards with Totem armor are a slightly more interesting though. The potential for being 2 for 1'd still exists if they use removal on the creature you're about to enchant, but hear me out. As Jund is the dominant meta force and uses the most removal right now I will primarily refer to that.
White Knight is immune to all of Junds removal short of Lightning Bolt. Kor Firewalker is immune to all of Junds removal short of Pulse, and Deathmark post sideboard. Thus, and especially early game and late game, the odds of them being able to kill either of them at instant speed, with firewalker pre-sideboard being entirely immune to instant speed removal. Firewalker is also one of the few unfortunate cases in our deck that does not have first strike so Hyena Umbra in particular makes him even better. How willing is Jund to pulse firewalker twice? or pulse the Umbra if it's the only one on the field at the time?
While the first strike is lost on the other creatures in our decks that also have the +1/+1 makes their first strike stronger, and the one shot indestructibility is also pretty incredible especially on a student of warfare who is so incredibly open to removal.
In the case of a non-Jund example, U/W control, which I consider to be one of the hardest matchups, if you can land an Umbra (difficult I know considering their counter magic) it can help make DoJ less useful. Jace of course can bounce our creature destroying the umbra which is a problem, but a well timed Enchanting of a creature could also be the 1 damage that is needed to kill a Jace before he can.
One final example is against Naya. Their primary removal is lightning bolt, thus this can make all of our otherwise boltable creatures a little more difficult to deal with while also boosting their p/t up to help us deal with nacatls and other potential threats more easily.
Again I'm not fully sold on the idea myself as it is so easy to remove a creature in response to the casting, but possibly with a little attention paid to their mana useage and when they tap out, as well as making careful considerations it could make them useful while at least minimizing the risks.
So what is the opinion of the mass WW players out there?
EllE:
I am finding that it might be better to have a more relevant threat on the board though instead, or even just a different spell for damage prevention etc. I'm going to give it a little more testing but I'm sitting on the line right now, I was hoping some others might give it a whirl and report in as well before I make a final judgment though.
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Lightning Bolts don't kill creatures. State-based actions kill creatures.
I do agree with the 'setting yourself up for a 2 for 1' problem though and generally shy away from those situations as much as possible.
Not sure what he was thinking there; plain enchantments like Honor of the Pure, Oblivion Ring, etc., won't trigger the Spiritdancer since they aren't auras.
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Lightning Bolts don't kill creatures. State-based actions kill creatures.
Ahh, yeah, I was probably drunk when I was looking at the spiritdancer. Thought it was like Argothian Enchantress.
I change my vote to not using this and sticking with equips and creatures with protections.