It definitely does give the opponent incentive to kill your other creatures, but how much removal do they need to use on your 2/2s before it benefits you? I don't think this card makes it into my cube, but is the scenario "opponent kills every other creature you play" one where most/any 3 drop would save you?
WCS is you get Wrathed and he can't swing, but you could possibly at that point in the game either play a 4 or 5 drop, or play out a 2 power 1 or 2 drop, pump and beat immediately for ~5 mana. Even if not, you are still better off by one 5/5 creature than you would have been with anything else. Even if it then takes a turn to get back online you are still up by one big dude in the long run. Whereas Haz encourages overextending, this rewards reticence (btw, I like Haz too). I'm looking forward to playing with Rhonas for the other reasons I gave before - it is fulfilling a definite personal need for my cube so that's cool.
I'll be testing Rhonas for sure. I agree with Goodking that Rhonas is filling a need for a beating green 3 and the ability to give a creature +2 power AND trample at instant speed is really good. This will lead to a lot of rough blocks very early for your opponent.
Of course the crux of the matter is how often will Rhonas be able to attack and block. I think he will be turned on more often than not but only playtesting can answer that.
WCS is you get Wrathed and he can't swing, but you could possibly at that point in the game either play a 4 or 5 drop, or play out a 2 power 1 or 2 drop, pump and beat immediately for ~5 mana.
That's probably the best use for this card. But you still have to pass by the infamous turn 3 nothing to get there. Is it worth it? I would say that it does against control decks, but otherwise...
It is not unpresedented for 3 drop beaters in cube like Rabblemaster and Geist to need some help. This is certainly trickier than those but it is also more durable. Frankly I consider this card better than most aggressive 3 drops against a wrath. I it just a shame it and hellrider don't play nicer together.
The ceiling of attacking for 5 for free is great. The floor of not being able to attack at all is really bad though. Unlike the red god, this is incapable of applying any pressure by itself, and your opponent has partial control over the consistency. It's a very high-risk high-reward card, which is not necessarily what I want in a beater.
This is bad. Like all of the Gods, both Amonkhet and Theros type, the payoff isn't high enough for a card that straight does nothing a lot of the time. In the very late game it's nice that he can pump your mana dorks, but just seems like waaaaay too often, you play this into 4 power creature, and your opponent kills said 4 mana creature and your tempo is just nuked. If you play this on curve, you're just not going to be attacking with it the next turn enough of the time. This feels a lot like a vehicle with a high crew cost. The advantage of indestructible is dampened a lot by the fact that they can just kill your high toughness creatures.
Just to illuminate a powerful point more clearly, there are very few green 4-drops that naturally have 4 power. The simplest way to turn him on would be to curve naturally in aggro, and a lot of cubes currently run Master of the Wild Hunt, Wickerbough Elder, Oracle of Mul Daya, Hellrider, Hero of Bladehold, none of which immediately have 4 power. Options like Thrun and Polukranos definitely help, but they are the minority I think.
I would absolutely love to slam Rhonas, but until my 4's give me that natural 4-power curve, I have a hard time justifying this:
To attack on turn 4, I need to pay that extra 3 mana like an echo cost almost every time I play him on curve.
It's a good way to spend your mana for that turn, honestly. +7 attacking power for 3 mana. But I hate being basically forced to if I want to make him worth casting as a 3 drop at all.
Just to illuminate a powerful point more clearly, there are very few green 4-drops that naturally have 4 power. The simplest way to turn him on would be to curve naturally in aggro, and a lot of cubes currently run Master of the Wild Hunt, Wickerbough Elder, Oracle of Mul Daya, Hellrider, Hero of Bladehold, none of which immediately have 4 power. Options like Thrun and Polukranos definitely help, but they are the minority I think.
I would absolutely love to slam Rhonas, but until my 4's give me that natural 4-power curve, I have a hard time justifying this:
To attack on turn 4, I need to pay that extra 3 mana like an echo cost almost every time I play him on curve.
It's a good way to spend your mana for that turn, honestly. +7 attacking power for 3 mana. But I hate being basically forced to if I want to make him worth casting as a 3 drop at all.
I think Fleetwheel Cruiser, Hero of Oxid Ridge, Gisela, and Flametongue Kavu are very common in cube.
In green Thrun, Surrak, and Polukronos all all good options. Rhonas alone might be reason to consider any of those. And don't forget Rancor which is good to activate Rhonas or give it trample. You also have Bonesplitter and and other equipment to make your little big.
Rhonas is strong when he's online, but the opponent has too much say on his condition for my liking. Too many similarities to Crew 3, except it trades the multiple creatures crewing for Rhonas being able to pump to help me its requirement. Getting your Elf / Rhonas / random bear / pump bear sequence blown out by any instant speed removal is such a huge tempo loss.
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Of course the crux of the matter is how often will Rhonas be able to attack and block. I think he will be turned on more often than not but only playtesting can answer that.
That's probably the best use for this card. But you still have to pass by the infamous turn 3 nothing to get there. Is it worth it? I would say that it does against control decks, but otherwise...
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Turn 1 elf
Turn 2 mox + collected company
(Hit rhonas and combat celebrant)
Turn 3 pump the elf, attack with everything, exert celebrant. 20 damage!
Add in a haste dude like anh crop crasher,
Goblin heelcutter, or hero of oxid ridge and can get through blockers and over 20 damage.
If you want to add black lotus and a mox, can get a turn 2 kill
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I would absolutely love to slam Rhonas, but until my 4's give me that natural 4-power curve, I have a hard time justifying this:
To attack on turn 4, I need to pay that extra 3 mana like an echo cost almost every time I play him on curve.
It's a good way to spend your mana for that turn, honestly. +7 attacking power for 3 mana. But I hate being basically forced to if I want to make him worth casting as a 3 drop at all.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
I think Fleetwheel Cruiser, Hero of Oxid Ridge, Gisela, and Flametongue Kavu are very common in cube.
In green Thrun, Surrak, and Polukronos all all good options. Rhonas alone might be reason to consider any of those. And don't forget Rancor which is good to activate Rhonas or give it trample. You also have Bonesplitter and and other equipment to make your little big.
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