While the guild has recently gotten a lot tighter with Ral and Dack, this thing is pretty cool for those with larger guild sections. I think he would play pretty well in aggressive decks even if you are just cloning one of your own creatures.
I'm slamming this into my cube. I love that Izzet is finally getting so competitive that I'm going to drop a card I probably adore to put this in.
Now if only Simic could get some of the same attention...
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The GameCube, a 500 cube with a medium power level and a focus on fun and fringe playables rather than immediately shutting your opponent down with the best cards ever printed.
Modem Masters, a 500 cube that tries to capture the essence of a Modern Masters set draft. 3 of each common, 2 of each uncommon, 1 of each rare, few mythics. Includes minor changes for balance reasons to give certain archetypes the tools they need to succeed.
On the bubble of inclusion at 450. If we hadn't just gotten Dack, this would be a no-brainer. Still, I think it has potential.
Cheers,
rant
I feel the same. With Dack I think Izzet is pretty close to being in an ideal spot with two serious "build around me" threats and a whole slew of great instants and sorceries. This card is super cool, but I don't think it makes the cut it my section.
I like it but does anybody like 4 mana clones now that we have Phantasmal Image, Metamorph, and Student? Haste is cool but dethrone is a non factor for me. So is haste enough to make it gold with trickier mana? no
Maybe a couple years ago when izzet was worse the the the worst blue cards, but times have changed.
I have three slots in my Izzet section. Dack and Ral are taking two of those slots. That leaves me with a ton of competition for slot #3. I don't see this fun Clone variant making the cut, sadly.
I'm skeptical this is good enough for smaller lists. Haste on a clone is huge in lots of situations, but 4 mana and 2 colors is also huge. I think I'll pass for now and see if it impresses other people. Dack being clearly the best izzet card really hurt this guys chances of getting in.
Outside of consideration for 360, but as a more interesting (non-burn Izzet spell), you could do much worse. Certainly more exciting than Steam Augury or Fire//Ice.
Multiple instances of a mechanic like Exalted stack (unlike lifelink where multiple instances are redundant). I would assume the same for dethrone in that each instance will trigger separately? There was no mention of it in the mechanics article.
PS - This card is completely awesome, I cannot wait to play it!
I feel like we're to the point that most people, especially those with smaller cubes, could have rotating guild sections just to keep things from getting stale. Even if there are better cards, the margins among the top 5-10 are becoming smaller and smaller so I don't think you'd lose much by changing things up every couple weeks/months for the sake of variety.
Having a hasty clone that sometimes is slightly bigger than your opponent's version can be really clutch. This card is fantastic even if it's not quite as exciting as planeswalkers and incredibly efficient burn spells.
I think my Izzet guild is going to look like this after Conspiracy drops: Dack, Ral, Izzet Charm, Duplicate or Steam Augury. I'll test Duplicate over Augury for a while. I love the Augury, but Izzet Charm fills a more important role and has more versatility.
That would exactly my setup too. I think Charm is very good indeed but Duplicate seems really fun and I think in this case is worth its mana cost compared to Clone. Mrbrightside and I recorded our Conspiracy review last night and this card gave us a good bit to discuss - U/R is suddenly well supplied compared to two years ago!
I may even test it over Charm in the #3 slot. Haste + Dethrone on a Clone seems nice. Not amazing, but maybe good enough to warrant testing. We'll just see how my group feels.
Currently, I run Ral Zarek, Izzet Charm, Electrolyze, Fire/Ice Prophetic Bolt and Steam Augury at 600 cards. I wasnt sure which was getting cut for Dack between steam augury and prophetic bolt but now I think I cut both and add in the duplicate. Haste seems like a pretty big deal on a clone.
And given the nature of UR decks, I wouldn't be surprised if Dethrone puts at least one +1/+1 counter on the creature the majority of the time. When you add +1/+1 and haste to pretty much any 3+cc creature in the cube, it becomes a stellar deal for 4 mana.
Can you imagine this in Grixis reanimator? Turn 3, Reanimate a Wurmcoil Engine or Inkwell Leviathan. Turn 4, play this copying the fatty and swing for a sick amount of damage.
Rufus, FWIW, I like all the cards you list more than Electrolyze and would likely cut that to keep Steam Augury.
My issue is not this cards power level so much as what this color combination does and does not need. Cards like Izzet Charm, Electrolyze, Fire/Ice, and the two walkers give either a healthy power boost or fill a needed role at that casting cost. This guy just seems like another awesome four drop to slot alongside blue and reds already awesome four drops (and four cost spells).
It's harder for it to compete with the 4cc cards in blue, but a lot of red's 4cc cards are pretty deck specific. This guy is largely playable in everything that RU does, which helps his MD% come up despite the competition at the 4cc slot. It also holds value into the later stages of the game really well, so you can often play it as a 5 or 6 drop without losing any of its value (better targets tend to show up later anyways). So it doesn't necessarily compete at the 4cc slot in a strict way.
While the guild has recently gotten a lot tighter with Ral and Dack, this thing is pretty cool for those with larger guild sections. I think he would play pretty well in aggressive decks even if you are just cloning one of your own creatures.
Now if only Simic could get some of the same attention...
Modem Masters, a 500 cube that tries to capture the essence of a Modern Masters set draft. 3 of each common, 2 of each uncommon, 1 of each rare, few mythics. Includes minor changes for balance reasons to give certain archetypes the tools they need to succeed.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
I feel the same. With Dack I think Izzet is pretty close to being in an ideal spot with two serious "build around me" threats and a whole slew of great instants and sorceries. This card is super cool, but I don't think it makes the cut it my section.
Maybe a couple years ago when izzet was worse the the the worst blue cards, but times have changed.
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My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
PS - This card is completely awesome, I cannot wait to play it!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Rufus, FWIW, I like all the cards you list more than Electrolyze and would likely cut that to keep Steam Augury.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!