I guess I'll consider if Karmic Guide is finally out. Exemplars are good on both offense and defense. Good in lots , alone, hard to remove and viable in every deck that does run at least some noncreature spells.
I like the card a lot from a design perspective in that he is a good body for his cmc and has a lot of interesting interactions with different spells/boardstates. Really a jack-of-all-trades type card. But I'm not sure if he will find a home in my cube or not. He sure does look good in a deck with a couple wraths in it, that's for sure. Man, I haven't even gotten a chance to play with monastery mentor yet. So many new and interesting cards so close together. I think this guy does warrant some testing.
Yeah, this isn't an amazing card, but its unique and can do some serious work. None of the modes are ever *completely* irrelevant, although I suspect the first one will be used the least.
Not sure if he has a home in my cube, but I sure like him.
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Rest in RIP My Signature, I guess. 2015-2016, we hardly knew ye.
Total side note but I like how people are discussing running this over itself.
Well, it has to be said that Kolaghan is clearly better than Kolaghan. Considering what BR decks usually want and how stiff the competition in this guild is, there is no way that I would run Kolaghan over Kolaghan! Kolaghan might make it in as the sixth guild card or so. Kolaghan on the other hand ranks several places below that.
It was so funny to me when they described this as a downgrade to the original Zurgo during the Pax East panel. I was thinking if this is a downgrade, they should really "downgrade" all legendary creatures. Haha.
My deck designing is quite concise at this point:
1. Come up with deck idea
2. Realize this idea is somehow fundamentally similar to another deck I have or that is commonly played in my group
3. Decide I don't want to disassemble one of my existing decks
4. Give up and do nothing
I don't see the point of this new shroud mechanic. It's strictly worse than Hexproof. Threshold is pretty bad too, Delirium is a much better mechanic and probably easier to activate.
Otherwise this card is a pretty neat guy. Dodges removal and grows into a Primal Huntbeast. 3/5
It's a solid creature, but not better than its direct competitors. Large or specialty cube material.
Shoot, your right. I thought they returned at end of turn for some reason. Well, you can get in for some first strike damage then cast an instant ensuring the Exemplars won't take damage back. This line of play seems weaksauce.
They definetly just got worse in my book but I feel they still warrant some testing,. It doesn't hurt that the artwork is absolutely amazing..
I still run Sulbime Archangel, so I think I'll test this guy. It could also go in for Jazal Goldmane. Sweet card, definitely looking forward to testing it out.
This is a solid 4-drop in a section that's not deep on great creatures. It's also a good control creature, which is kinda rare for the spot. It can protect itself, push damage through or gain combat superiority. Seems like each mode is relevant, and each in its own spot. Outside of the usual suspects, this is probably my favorite 4cc white creature.
I don't think dying to wrath is a huge deal for this guy (unless you're the one casting it). Generally he will want to be in a deck with a low creature count and can race and attack into almost any board state if properly supported.
The problem is getting that support. White generally has the highest creature count in cube, and cards like Monastery Mentor have suffered for it. Extending instant/sorceries matter firmly into white helps this guy, but I don't think he's got enough otherwise.
That's really fun. I would always be weary of targetting this creature with removal or blocking it! I don't think there is room at 360, but then again really I only have Hero and Resto Angel in that section. Maybe we could give it a go.
Is this really better than Jazal Goldmane? Always has first strike, can pump your team, and all you lose is occasional lifelink, occasional removal protection, and occasional tapping down a blocker (although pretty sure Goldman's ability is going to be a lot better in terms of pushing damage through, except in the situation where each creature is the only one in play.) While this guys is better in a creature-light, more controlling white deck (especially with lots of PW's), our white-based decks tend to be more creature centered where the +X/+X would be a lot more relvant, and Goldmane was already kind of a fringe card for most mid-to-small cubes (we don't run him.) Think this guy is going to end up as a large-cube-only 4-drop at the end of the day.
Tapping down blockers, protecting itself from removal and gaining lifelink are the reasons why the card's good. So outside of deep token support, I think it definitely has a chance to be better than Jazal.
I'm not sold. I'd rather have another 2, 3, or 5 drop. To "protect" this guy once he comes out is conditional and requires the 5th mana anyway. He's really a functional 5 drop unless you're ahead.
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I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
I don't agree with that. I don't think you have to protect it before it's valuable enough to cast. It's perfectly fine to run out on T4. It's not "functionally a 5-drop" at all.
I'm not sold. I'd rather have another 2, 3, or 5 drop. To "protect" this guy once he comes out is conditional and requires the 5th mana anyway. He's really a functional 5 drop unless you're ahead.
I see it in a different way. There are times when creatures like this one are big flagbearers that mock the opponent to blow removal on them. Opponent doesn't remove it? Have a resilient creature. Opponent blows a Wrath, a premium removal or two burn spells on it? Let's see how he handles the next threat.
Sometimes, the expected power of a card is more important than the actual power. There's a reason some cards are undervalued by lots of people: flagbearers tend to live a short life.
This looks interesting, I have always been on the look out for cards that make combat more dynamic and this card does it in spades. You never know for sure whats gonna happen when he enters into combat. I think I will test this in Sublime Archangel slot.
My only issue is that the card without support is just a 4/4 - which is a sizeable body, but rather vanilla. How many noncreature spells does your Wx deck run? How many spells do you need to make this guy effective? I see this guy pairing with UW fine, but the other colors and mono, it seems lacking as your noncreature spell count is somewhere between 8-10. Maybe you get to use one of his abilities 3-4 times in a game - is that enough?
One thing not to be underestimated is the threat of activation - one does not have to use the ability all the time, just the threat of it will be enough to deter someone blocking/using removal on it, unless they absolutely have to. Also, they can never be sure how many blockers will be needed. This will be an annoying card which will generate a good amount of uncertainty, which will be valuable, without even using the ability.
Id have to see how it compares to Sublime Archangel, which is probably my weakest 4 drop. Ill wait and see some testing results before I try it out. On first glance its not something I want.
If you can reasonably activate him every turn somehow, then I like this guy more than Sublime Archangel. On paper I just don't see that happening all that often, though, so because of that Archangel is probably better. He's interesting, but I don't think he'll make the cut.
Initial impressions is on the tier 2 white 4 drop scale (Hero of bladehold and restoration angel stand alone in tier 1).
Current tier 2's I have is sublime archangel, jazal goldmane, ranger of eos.. (I have no play experience with emeria angel).
I have room for 1 or 2 of them in my cube, so not sure if he's worthy. Jazal is consistantly on the fringe of being cut.. Never seem to draft a deck that wants him, so haven't given him the proper testing that I want. No one in my play group has said good things tho.. I guess I'll make the temporary switch to give this guy a try. I don't expect him to last, but could be surprised.
Probably in tough competition at 4. But the design of the card is cool enough to talk about, and it can do powerful things. Thoughts?
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Not sure if he has a home in my cube, but I sure like him.
It's a solid creature, but not better than its direct competitors. Large or specialty cube material.
Shoot, your right. I thought they returned at end of turn for some reason. Well, you can get in for some first strike damage then cast an instant ensuring the Exemplars won't take damage back. This line of play seems weaksauce.
They definetly just got worse in my book but I feel they still warrant some testing,. It doesn't hurt that the artwork is absolutely amazing..
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The problem is getting that support. White generally has the highest creature count in cube, and cards like Monastery Mentor have suffered for it. Extending instant/sorceries matter firmly into white helps this guy, but I don't think he's got enough otherwise.
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I see it in a different way. There are times when creatures like this one are big flagbearers that mock the opponent to blow removal on them. Opponent doesn't remove it? Have a resilient creature. Opponent blows a Wrath, a premium removal or two burn spells on it? Let's see how he handles the next threat.
Sometimes, the expected power of a card is more important than the actual power. There's a reason some cards are undervalued by lots of people: flagbearers tend to live a short life.
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Initial impressions is on the tier 2 white 4 drop scale (Hero of bladehold and restoration angel stand alone in tier 1).
Current tier 2's I have is sublime archangel, jazal goldmane, ranger of eos.. (I have no play experience with emeria angel).
I have room for 1 or 2 of them in my cube, so not sure if he's worthy. Jazal is consistantly on the fringe of being cut.. Never seem to draft a deck that wants him, so haven't given him the proper testing that I want. No one in my play group has said good things tho.. I guess I'll make the temporary switch to give this guy a try. I don't expect him to last, but could be surprised.
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