Taking a close look at my cube, I can see myself cutting Imposing Sovreign over this. The recursion will be more useful overall than the ETB tapped clause more often, especially in Stax shells. Being recurrable through a Wrath is nice, but I have a feeling it'll be on the cusp in a lot of straight aggro decks.
I love embalm and I might test this pesky little two drop in my cube (630), but certainly not over sovereign. Sovereign has always been great as a disrupting two drop in any creature vs. creature match up. Especially if you're playing aggro. This guy is more controlling and is not a card I would want to consider playing in one of my aggro decks. Versus aggro both cards are great.
If the ability were something more enticing, this seems like it'd be a slam dunk. Being a Glory Seeker that flashes back as a Pearled Unicorn 90% of the time for aggressive decks seems fairly underwhelming.
The card seems slightly better against aggro decks, and I'm dreaming of blocking two Savannah Lions at once with at least half of it, but I feel like even there it'd be a much easier slam with First Strike or Lifelink or something.
The mechanic has a lot of potential, but this particular card seems just under the cusp of playability.
Seems really cool. I like playing Bw Stax lists, and this is very good in it. Good against aggro, etc. Finding a cut might be difficult. I'll keep an eye on this, and will definitely grab one when they drop, to put in the binder.
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Taking a close look at my cube, I can see myself cutting Imposing Sovreign over this. The recursion will be more useful overall than the ETB tapped clause more often, especially in Stax shells. Being recurrable through a Wrath is nice, but I have a feeling it'll be on the cusp in a lot of straight aggro decks.
I would look for either Relic Seeker, Soltari Trooper or Hidden Dragonslayer before considering cutting Imposing Sovereign. This card is nuts.
Not only does Trueheart Duelist echo Call of the Herd (a not so great card these days), but also Scrapheap Scrounger (an amazing card). Being able to block two things isn't exactly worth the 3rd power, and cheaper / multiple recursions that Scrapheap boasts. Still, white having access to Stoneforge Mystic to increase the chances of this having a piece of equipment and the fact that Stax often plays white looks good for duelist in my cube, especially with all my discard outlets / graveyard shenanigans.
Taking a close look at my cube, I can see myself cutting Imposing Sovreign over this. The recursion will be more useful overall than the ETB tapped clause more often, especially in Stax shells. Being recurrable through a Wrath is nice, but I have a feeling it'll be on the cusp in a lot of straight aggro decks.
I would look for either Relic Seeker, Soltari Trooper or Hidden Dragonslayer before considering cutting Imposing Sovereign. This card is nuts.
Seeker, Trooper and Dragonslayer are definitely up for cut consideration too. Looked at my cubetutor when I got home and was like "hmm, the depth of white 2-cmc creatures isn't as deep as black..." The vanilla-ness of the card kind of kills me, but recursion is still recursion. It's no Scrapheap Scrounger, but a fixed Scrapheap Scrounger might still be good enough.
Speaking of Scrounger, I think it's hilarious that Scrounger can't block and this blocks 2 things, haha.
It's no Scrounger for aggro, but this card plays some legit defense. It's quite good at protecting planeswalkers, and even in aggro decks blocking is valuable from time to time. It's far from flavor text, even in aggressive shells. Similar to how lifelink and vigilance aren't really aggressive keywords but still feel valuable in a lot of situations. Feels like a mixture between a more aggressive Call of the Herd and something like Moment's Peace, actually. Double block x2 can soak up a lot of combat damage randomly.
Also kinda funny, that this card seems quite popular around here, while in the peasant thread people are pretty meh about this.
I'm not sold. I haven't felt like I've needed a defensive creature at 2, and the offensive capabilities are pretty lacking other than existing twice. It's an exciting concept, but I wish it did a little more.
This is likely better in defensive decks than aggro. It will be a sideboard card at worse, but I fear it become a pure hoser.
I actually don't think this card will make it in "defensive" decks (assuming we're talking about more passive control decks). While the blocking ability isn't flavor text, it's also not the reason to play it. The recursion working nicely with discard outlets such as Liliana, Stax, and equipment package decks are the reasons why I think this card is testable at the moment.
Being a creature gives it an upside over Call of the Herd being a sorcery meaning it can be pitched to Survival / Fauna Shaman and uhh, be recurred with Lilianas / Reveilark if you have no other options and can recruit this if you REALLY to block 3 things. However, I don't see this making it in a survival deck very often without a heavy equipmeng package or something.
Also, does anybody think this card is vey Yugioh? TrueHEART DUELIST? Heart of the cards? Egyptian!?
I'm not sure I have room for this, but I think it's almost a sure thing we will get at least one cubeable creature with this mechanic. This card is about as boring an implementation as this mechanic could have, and it's already nearly good enough.
Interesting card. White's two drops are a bit shallow so although underwhelming initially, I do have this on my radar. I feel like two drops with incidental card advantage always have some potential. I also like that it has a relevant creature type... and TWO relevant creature types on the back side!
So uhh, how do I get these promos again? Not a fan of all that reminder text on the pack version.
EDIT: nevermind, it says Game Day in the corner
For real? I'm kind of relieved they wrote down how the mechanic works directly on the card. This would prevent a lot of during-draft questions. This may mot end up being writtin on a full-of-text mythic rare though...
I plan on getting the Game Day art for this largely because I just like the art better. I kinda wish that it came with a different Game Day embalm token, but it's ok that it doesn't.
Yeah, the art is better on the promo. I'm hoping there will be multiple embalm cards that are cube-worthy--for many reasons, but among them is having the reminder text on the card. Sometimes, people haven't played with the latest set in our drafts, so having it is good. Sure, everyone can google it on their phones now, but having the text on the card saves that time.
As for this card, it has potential. It's kind of like a Lone Missionary that comes back. I think it will definitely see play in my C/Ube and might get a spot in the Eternal cube also.
Keep in mind that this is nowhere near as good as call of the herd or any other creature with flashback, because you can cast the back half of those cards at any time. This has to die to have access to the embalmed creature, which makes it a lot closer to creatures with death triggers. The ability to get value of discard and mill is a nice upside, but I don't think flashback is the right comp with embalm.
Keep in mind that this is nowhere near as good as call of the herd or any other creature with flashback, because you can cast the back half of those cards at any time. This has to die to have access to the embalmed creature, which makes it a lot closer to creatures with death triggers. The ability to get value of discard and mill is a nice upside, but I don't think flashback is the right comp with embalm.
That is a good point that I haven't thought of: You can curve turn 3 and 4 with Call of the Herd / flashback, but not with this unless it hits the yard between then. Still has a few merits being an actual creature card / zombie over Call of the Herd, but that is a very noteworthy consideration.
However, embalm is an ability, unlike flashback. It cannot be countered when you play it from your graveyard. And FWIW, I think there are more cards in the cube that interact with the creature card type than sorcery card type.
However, embalm is an ability, unlike flashback. It cannot be countered when you play it from your graveyard. And FWIW, I think there are more cards in the cube that interact with the creature card type than sorcery card type.
True, but there are other downsides. If the creature is exiled, or shuffled into the library, you can't get the back half. And one of the biggest upsides of both Call of the Herd and Lingering Souls (the two cubable flashback token creators) was the fact that you could put multiple cards worth of creatures on the battle field at the same time and really pressure your opponent. Embalm creatures can't do that.
However, embalm is an ability, unlike flashback. It cannot be countered when you play it from your graveyard. And FWIW, I think there are more cards in the cube that interact with the creature card type than sorcery card type.
True, but there are other downsides. If the creature is exiled, or shuffled into the library, you can't get the back half. And one of the biggest upsides of both Call of the Herd and Lingering Souls (the two cubable flashback token creators) was the fact that you could put multiple cards worth of creatures on the battle field at the same time and really pressure your opponent. Embalm creatures can't do that.
If my opponent wants to blow their Plow / O-Ring effects on my Duelist, be my guest.
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I love embalm and I might test this pesky little two drop in my cube (630), but certainly not over sovereign. Sovereign has always been great as a disrupting two drop in any creature vs. creature match up. Especially if you're playing aggro. This guy is more controlling and is not a card I would want to consider playing in one of my aggro decks. Versus aggro both cards are great.
The card seems slightly better against aggro decks, and I'm dreaming of blocking two Savannah Lions at once with at least half of it, but I feel like even there it'd be a much easier slam with First Strike or Lifelink or something.
The mechanic has a lot of potential, but this particular card seems just under the cusp of playability.
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I would look for either Relic Seeker, Soltari Trooper or Hidden Dragonslayer before considering cutting Imposing Sovereign. This card is nuts.
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Seeker, Trooper and Dragonslayer are definitely up for cut consideration too. Looked at my cubetutor when I got home and was like "hmm, the depth of white 2-cmc creatures isn't as deep as black..." The vanilla-ness of the card kind of kills me, but recursion is still recursion. It's no Scrapheap Scrounger, but a fixed Scrapheap Scrounger might still be good enough.
Speaking of Scrounger, I think it's hilarious that Scrounger can't block and this blocks 2 things, haha.
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I'm not sold. I haven't felt like I've needed a defensive creature at 2, and the offensive capabilities are pretty lacking other than existing twice. It's an exciting concept, but I wish it did a little more.
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I actually don't think this card will make it in "defensive" decks (assuming we're talking about more passive control decks). While the blocking ability isn't flavor text, it's also not the reason to play it. The recursion working nicely with discard outlets such as Liliana, Stax, and equipment package decks are the reasons why I think this card is testable at the moment.
Being a creature gives it an upside over Call of the Herd being a sorcery meaning it can be pitched to Survival / Fauna Shaman and uhh, be recurred with Lilianas / Reveilark if you have no other options and can recruit this if you REALLY to block 3 things. However, I don't see this making it in a survival deck very often without a heavy equipmeng package or something.
Also, does anybody think this card is vey Yugioh? TrueHEART DUELIST? Heart of the cards? Egyptian!?
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So uhh, how do I get these promos again? Not a fan of all that reminder text on the pack version.
EDIT: nevermind, it says Game Day in the corner
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For real? I'm kind of relieved they wrote down how the mechanic works directly on the card. This would prevent a lot of during-draft questions. This may mot end up being writtin on a full-of-text mythic rare though...
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As for this card, it has potential. It's kind of like a Lone Missionary that comes back. I think it will definitely see play in my C/Ube and might get a spot in the Eternal cube also.
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Edit: Aaaaand everyone else made that observation. I feel like a dingdong
That is a good point that I haven't thought of: You can curve turn 3 and 4 with Call of the Herd / flashback, but not with this unless it hits the yard between then. Still has a few merits being an actual creature card / zombie over Call of the Herd, but that is a very noteworthy consideration.
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True, but there are other downsides. If the creature is exiled, or shuffled into the library, you can't get the back half. And one of the biggest upsides of both Call of the Herd and Lingering Souls (the two cubable flashback token creators) was the fact that you could put multiple cards worth of creatures on the battle field at the same time and really pressure your opponent. Embalm creatures can't do that.
If my opponent wants to blow their Plow / O-Ring effects on my Duelist, be my guest.
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