Very interesting, probably not for cube though. Could you imagine the implications in modern if this said merfolk instead of elemental? That would be insane.
Edit : * I did not see that it made 1/0 tokens...thought it was 0/0. Making 2/1 tokens might make it viable in larger cubes. I might be testing at 540 unpowered.
Have a helicopter drop you off out front. Light your cigar with a small Indonesian boy holding a black lotus. Then bust out a craw wurm deck with no sleeves. Raw dog shuffle, loose terribly, flip the table, leave in a hovercraft.
I wouldn't play 4 mana for 2 2/1. This guy need to make 3 guy minimum for him to be worth it, I think. Looking at power-cost ratio wise, it's not bad. But do take in mind you probably can't swing with him most of the time. If he died, all the wave also gone. I don't think he's cubeable outside of big cube.
Not to mention blue 4 cost creature are simply packed. I think Dungeon Geists, Glen Elendra Archmage, Phyrexian Metamorph, Sower of Temptation, Venser, Shaper Savant are all better option than this card.
Incredibly interesting design. While I may run the least blue permanents of any color, I definitely am going to test him and I expect him to make it. XU tempo and aggro are slowly becoming very powerful in cube and this guy fills blue's 4 spot pretty well. I'm excited.
Really high BCS, and a really terrible WCS. I don't know how to evaluate this guy's average performance, because it'll be so matchup dependent. In a UX tempo deck, curving from a Vendilion Clique into this guy has him put 8 power to the board. But on an empty board, you're looking at a pro:red 2/1 and a 2/1 with a contingency. Seems like the experiences would be all over the spectrum with him.
If he dies, you lose everything else though. So an average of 4 or 6 power doesn't seem to make up for that rather large downside. Plus, you really can't afford to attack with this guy, if the opponent has a blocker with 1 power.
I think I will be passing since you can't blink him. Blink.dec is my favorite version of non control U and this guy is beyond bad in that deck. My control decks don't really want him either. So unless you all think he is out of this world, I will pass.
Have a helicopter drop you off out front. Light your cigar with a small Indonesian boy holding a black lotus. Then bust out a craw wurm deck with no sleeves. Raw dog shuffle, loose terribly, flip the table, leave in a hovercraft.
I have no idea how to evaluate this card. It seems like it could be insanely sweet or way too fragile… Definitely a card that has to be tested to be fully understood.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I wouldn't play a blue precursor golem, which would be much better than this guy.
I know that's the obvious comparison, and everyone keeps making it, but there are some pretty big differences between the cards:
#1: It's a 4-drop instead of 5. This is a pretty huge difference when you are putting a lot of power on the board.
#2: It ranges anywhere from less to several more dudes than Precursor Golem depending on your board. I think it will generally produce 2 2/1's which are worse than 2 3/3's, but it is cheaper. How good is this when you consider that it could also be making 5 2/1's or just 1 2/1? I have no idea yet. I can think of several sweet situations where I follow a Kira or V Clique up with this, but I'm not sure how often that will happen.
#3: Can't be Bolted. This is a pretty big deal.
#4: Other than against red, the actual lord is more fragile than the 5cc golem because your army can be wiped out by combat damage on the lord, unlike the golem. This is a negative.
#5: Blue, not colorless. Obviously a huge negative…
#6: Cute synergies with a few other cards - another card for Skullclamp to love, tribal synergies with Young Pyromancer and Rakka Mar, blinking is obv sweet, etc.
The point is there are a lot of factors to consider that make this card more interesting than a blue Precursor Golem, albeit not all those factors are positive.
The most important difference is that 3/3s are a lot better than 2/1s in combat. Let's say you have a devotion of 5 (pretty unlikely): you just made 12 power. But two of it probably can't attack or block, and the rest are likely to die in combat. I'd much rather 9 power worth of 3/3s that can safely attack and block and I don't mind paying one more to get it.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I dont see this going anywhere. "Sometimes can be okay if you're already winning" doesn't cut it. Even if he turns out to be playable somehow, there's a lot in that section that outclass him already. Thumbs down.
If you turn 4 this after play Kira or VClique on turn 3, that is a big game. You don't have to already be winning for this card to be good. Again, I don't know how it is going to play out, but it is far from win-more.
#6: Cute synergies with a few other cards - another card for Skullclamp to love, tribal synergies with Young Pyromancer and Rakka Mar, blinking is obv sweet, etc.
Blinking is only sweet if you've already used up all the tokens, otherwise it's pretty bad
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Protection from red?! That's pretty important
Edit : * I did not see that it made 1/0 tokens...thought it was 0/0. Making 2/1 tokens might make it viable in larger cubes. I might be testing at 540 unpowered.
Not to mention blue 4 cost creature are simply packed. I think Dungeon Geists, Glen Elendra Archmage, Phyrexian Metamorph, Sower of Temptation, Venser, Shaper Savant are all better option than this card.
My cube
My cube on Cube tutor
I'm OP_Forever. I'll be putting this in my signature for a while so everyone know I change my nickname.
My cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9981
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!
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
And Young Pyromancer
and Chameleon Colossus
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
I know that's the obvious comparison, and everyone keeps making it, but there are some pretty big differences between the cards:
#1: It's a 4-drop instead of 5. This is a pretty huge difference when you are putting a lot of power on the board.
#2: It ranges anywhere from less to several more dudes than Precursor Golem depending on your board. I think it will generally produce 2 2/1's which are worse than 2 3/3's, but it is cheaper. How good is this when you consider that it could also be making 5 2/1's or just 1 2/1? I have no idea yet. I can think of several sweet situations where I follow a Kira or V Clique up with this, but I'm not sure how often that will happen.
#3: Can't be Bolted. This is a pretty big deal.
#4: Other than against red, the actual lord is more fragile than the 5cc golem because your army can be wiped out by combat damage on the lord, unlike the golem. This is a negative.
#5: Blue, not colorless. Obviously a huge negative…
#6: Cute synergies with a few other cards - another card for Skullclamp to love, tribal synergies with Young Pyromancer and Rakka Mar, blinking is obv sweet, etc.
The point is there are a lot of factors to consider that make this card more interesting than a blue Precursor Golem, albeit not all those factors are positive.
Blinking is only sweet if you've already used up all the tokens, otherwise it's pretty bad
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
Again, it's exactly on-par with Precursor Golem in this interaction.
This card is seriously a blue Precursor Golem that costs 1 less, makes smaller dudes, has a bit more variability, and has a bit less combo potential.
My cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9981
And can't attack unless on an empty board, can only block once, and makes tokens that are going to die in almost every instance of combat.
I'm starting to regret not buying one for my cube binder when the price was lower.
My 450 Unpowered Cube