i don't think servant should've been on the list to begin with.
i also don't agree with the iona ban. sure, she sucks if you're in monocolor, but you need to be prepared for her, that promotes creative deck building, creative deck building is good, answers are good. sure, unbanning servant and then sticking iona is a blowout... but if you're able to do that consistently good for you i guess? its not as easy as people would think.
anyway, engine's ban should've happened about a year ago. card is ******* dumb. just. ******* dumb. it has created more OOPS I WIN scenarios than any other card i've experienced in the past 10 years. people who say they run it fairly oops into a win almost every time too. its degenerate as **** all.
I don't think needing to put answers in your deck for one creature in a 100 card singleton format to not get locked out of the game is healthy.
Hmmm, I think I prefer Tedin's original take on this card. If we could get that in a modern border outside of the judge promo I would be sold. Best art next to the masterpiece version imo.
One thought is having it come with being able to cast them as non-Artifacts if it's done to the furthest extent, allowing for it to be used for some cases of upsides when cast for its minimum cost. This would be referring to the fact that "Completion" is mostly in reference to the merger of flesh and metal of Phyrexians, so a minimum cost would be a creature that isn't Completed at all. Also allows for the presence of good Artifact hate with a lot heavier Artifact backbone than otherwise permissible, as vital deck functions aren't stuck vulnerable to basically all removal.
Of course, much of this could instead be phrased as a Completion keyword that does the opposite of making the creature an Artifact when fully Completed (which is to say cast at highest cost) so CMC inflation doesn't set in, possibly a variant of Level Up that gives parts of the final statline gradually or a subset of Transform that shifts the creature from Mirran to Phyrexian.
Deeply and truly bizarre. (Raptorchan knows this feels like one of their rare designs.)
So which of the legendary sorceries would be fun to loop? Yawgmoth's Vile Offering is in-color...
I wasn't even thinking of legendary sorceries but you reminded me that Urza's Ruinous Blast can easily be a repeatable, one-sided exiling board wipe with this guy.
I don't get want people see in Vivian. She looked like the weakest of them all. She starts at only 3 loyalty, gains only one max, for an ability that is only marginally better than Ajani's +2. And Ajani starts with higher loyalty. Plus Ajani's -3 actually affect the board while Vivian's merely replace herself.
This is true but I'm only really interested in Vivien for the EDH purposes of her -1
I'm both happy that it looks like we might not be getting a lot more gatewtach stuff and that we have a lot more PoC walkers that are actually going to matter going forward. Both because the gatewatch's storyline was not the best in my eyes and socially because the gatewtach was also very monochrome for a company that is apparently trying to be more diverse.
Anyway yeah these walkers are a lot better than the previous PW deck walkers and it shows. I'm happy to see Vivien in particular because her -1 could go into a spicy deck i'm brewing.
both are way more interesting and creative; scavenger may be ugly but it gets my attention right away with its weirdness and palette; and while WoC is low hanging fruit, at the very least it is menacing and unique, just lazily executed
I can't say that I agree at all with the notion that fairly well executed realistic art that shows some artistic skill is worse than something that looks like a doodle in a highschooler's notebook.
I'm not saying that realism is necessarily a plus (it isn't). But "realism = bad" is something that I don't consider to be a valid opinion on artwork.
7 is a lot but taking the best thing on the table each time it's blinked is a huge upside. You can probably take at least 2 things the turn this comes out anyhow in decks like Brago or Roon.
Edit: Geez I just realized this says permanent and not just creature.
I'm a little wary about this because he's so tribal focused on a tribe that isn't really as focused or as well supported as a lot of the more popular ones like Elves or Goblins. Like Dusk707, I also wish that he supported his own abilities somehow. Mayhe he could have been a 2/2 and created a little 1/1 elemental before his damage ability triggered or maybe his etb ability could have read "target elemental deals damage equal to its power to any target" instead. That way his first ability would have more synergy with his second one while also not needing 3+ elementals on board already to be impactful.
That being said, I kinds like him. I enjoy his color combo and that alone combined with the draw landfall trigger makes me think he could at least be okay as a temur landfall commander.
Edit: So not only is this a planeswalker reanimator, it also lets you play legendary lands from your graveyard.
Anyway yeah these walkers are a lot better than the previous PW deck walkers and it shows. I'm happy to see Vivien in particular because her -1 could go into a spicy deck i'm brewing.
Still, he'd be a really good piece for Licia.
I'm not saying that realism is necessarily a plus (it isn't). But "realism = bad" is something that I don't consider to be a valid opinion on artwork.
What do you do with a spectral sailor?
What do you do with a spectral sailor?
Early on the mana curve
Edit: Geez I just realized this says permanent and not just creature.
Also, obligatory mention of how this is really good for most mono red edh decks, especially decks like Feldon.
That being said, I kinds like him. I enjoy his color combo and that alone combined with the draw landfall trigger makes me think he could at least be okay as a temur landfall commander.