Havengul also hits any graveyard, not just your own. That's pretty relevant.
Gisa and Geralf should best be thought of as a zombie tribal version of Karador. The effects are quite similar, and GG ends up costing roughly what Karador normally would.
It wouldn't be fast with Painter, and would take more than 4-5 draws. It'd be however many draws they have lands left in the deck. Actually, the earlier you try to combo, the longer it will take.
Siege Rhino is a great card, and even a legacy playable card in something like nic fit or its Pod variant, but we don't have a good way of reusing him. In my opinion, he's not doing enough for 4 mana. 4 mana in legacy is Jace, or Show and Tell, or Moat. I'd honestly just rather play Sigarda at 5 instead. Liliana decks fold like hot laundry once she hits the board.
You can't be serious. Judge Promo Force of Will is only like $750, no way a card that only sees 1% of the play of FoW will be anywhere that high. Really, you don't have to look any further than judge promo imperial recruiter and overwhelming forces to realize that the foil versions of P3K cards are going to be worth less than their original. I wouldn't be surprised at all if promo ravages of war will be under $50.
Depends heavily on how Ravages is distributed. If it's a L2+ foil or conference presenter foil like Dark Confidant, Elesh Norn, or Force of Will it could be quite expensive. Ravages doesn't really enable any decks like Imperial Recruiter (which is a unique card that is almost always a 4x wherever it is run), but even that card was fairly affordable for a while until people caught on. Since this is basically just Armageddon 5-8, I'm not sure it will cost much. What even runs, legacy Stax?
There are usually around 8-9 foils per year. It's possible they just aren't releasing the remaining 3 yet. Entomb ended up coming out last year even though it was part of the 2011 "set". They'll probably retire a couple and keep others for the latter half of 2015, and include the remaining cards. Alternatively, the others will go out through special means like the Force of Will and Elesh Norn last year.
It's not a bad set, but the cards with the longest shelf life appear to be Atarka's and Dromoka's Commands. I'm sure a few other things will crop up, but those stick out as the most relevant outside of Standard.
Vs. Scapeshift? They're as likely to run Baloths as anything else game 2 to hamper Esper Charm, and if you're forced to sweep up... anything, you'll lose it. Same with Storm, he's not attacking into an Electromancer.
MM is clearly the better card in a vacuum, but circumstances being what they are (when you want this effect in control you *really* want it, and you don't have FoW to protect it), I worry about it dying too easily.
I realize 1 mana makes a huge difference, but vs. most of the decks that it would be helpful against I think I would honestly rather have Nevermore. It seems much more difficult to remove, and won't get swept up by a Verdict.
Also it's never going to replace serum visions. As much as we all hate having to rely on this clunky card, decks running serum visions have better things to do on turn 2 and losing the ability to have a turn 1 play that sets up your next draws doesn't seem ideal.
Flash or hardcore control decks (and with all the new spoilers I really think Esper will be one of them) would much prefer this to Serum Visions. You can pass with Spell Snare up on turn 1 (or Thoughtseize if necessary), and then hold up Remand/Leak mana turn 2 with Anticipate as a backup.
Furthermore, in the late game Anticipate is MUCH better because you can dig for an answer at instant speed. In response to whatever threat, you can Anticipate for a Mana Leak, or Cryptic Command, or Snapcaster for whatever spell you need from your graveyard. If you whiff, you're still 3 draw steps closer to turning the corner, and you run no risk of a fail-to-find like Peer Through Depths.
Telling Time will let you look at Cards 1 - 3, pick the best, and then put one on top. At best, Card 4 is still 2 draw steps away. Anticipate lets you look at Cards 1 - 3, pick the best, and then bottom both. Card 4 is your next draw. Anticipate will find you an answer a full turn faster. That's huge.
Gisa and Geralf should best be thought of as a zombie tribal version of Karador. The effects are quite similar, and GG ends up costing roughly what Karador normally would.
Depends heavily on how Ravages is distributed. If it's a L2+ foil or conference presenter foil like Dark Confidant, Elesh Norn, or Force of Will it could be quite expensive. Ravages doesn't really enable any decks like Imperial Recruiter (which is a unique card that is almost always a 4x wherever it is run), but even that card was fairly affordable for a while until people caught on. Since this is basically just Armageddon 5-8, I'm not sure it will cost much. What even runs, legacy Stax?
It doesn't at all.
I was really hoping for Thalia. Ravages of War will be nice for cubers and maybe legacy Stax players.
It's not unheard of. Rise of the Eldrazi only had Eldrazi Temple, Evolving Wilds, and basics.
Vs. Scapeshift? They're as likely to run Baloths as anything else game 2 to hamper Esper Charm, and if you're forced to sweep up... anything, you'll lose it. Same with Storm, he's not attacking into an Electromancer.
MM is clearly the better card in a vacuum, but circumstances being what they are (when you want this effect in control you *really* want it, and you don't have FoW to protect it), I worry about it dying too easily.
Flash or hardcore control decks (and with all the new spoilers I really think Esper will be one of them) would much prefer this to Serum Visions. You can pass with Spell Snare up on turn 1 (or Thoughtseize if necessary), and then hold up Remand/Leak mana turn 2 with Anticipate as a backup.
Furthermore, in the late game Anticipate is MUCH better because you can dig for an answer at instant speed. In response to whatever threat, you can Anticipate for a Mana Leak, or Cryptic Command, or Snapcaster for whatever spell you need from your graveyard. If you whiff, you're still 3 draw steps closer to turning the corner, and you run no risk of a fail-to-find like Peer Through Depths.
Card 1
Card 2
Card 3
Card 4 (your answer)
Telling Time will let you look at Cards 1 - 3, pick the best, and then put one on top. At best, Card 4 is still 2 draw steps away. Anticipate lets you look at Cards 1 - 3, pick the best, and then bottom both. Card 4 is your next draw. Anticipate will find you an answer a full turn faster. That's huge.