I really really really want to build a U/B mill/control deck around it, but it just doesn't seem feasible. Once you get it activated, Nemesis of Reason, Mind Funeral, Tome Scour, etc all become devastating blows to your opponent.
Now if I can just figure out how to activate it...
I don't agree. I say villainy is either about being completely evil for evil's sake or loosing against the protagonist of a story.
Yes, but what is evil? Good and evil are such flimsy ideals, and to me, are hard to measure in reality. Such as the saying goes, one's trash is another's treasure; just as one person's act of genocide is another's path to peace and order.
Call me a realist, but I don't believe in good and evil; I believe in choices.
Isn´t it possible I suggest by me before that Sorin was just some non-vampiric citizen of Ulgrotha, that got biten by some Vampire and through that near-death expierence his spark ignited? Feroz ban is gone afaik so walker can freely travel to and from Ulgrotha.
(Even though there is even that portal leading to an unknown plane).
Maybe Baron or Grandmother Sengir saw the potential of that being and turned him to their side?
And thus making my biggest prediction ever coming true:
The plane of Zendikar is the plane connected to the portal under Castle Sengir. They tried to invade it once. (In the wiki it is mentioned that a whole army marched out of Castle Sengir one night I believe 4532 AR or something like that. Dont know where we are in timeline right now...). Maybe that invasion failed or was not well enough planed.
Now Baron Sengir has gathered his forces again and starts a new invasion. His leading commander being Sorin. (Btw how powerful is Baron Sengir? It was mentioned that he was trapped in Ulgrotha after a planeswalker fight. Was he himself able to planeswalk? Is he planeswalker like Grandmother Sengir? Or something like the worldsoul of Ulgrotha? Thus cant leave the plane himself?).
That would also play well with the vampiric cards from M10, the presumable huge number of vampires in Zendikar block and the name of the Intropack "Rise of the Vampires". (The rising vampires being those left there from the first invasion attempt, being gathered under the command of Sorin to prepare the invasion in Worldwake, or how is the next set codenamed "prosper"/"light"?
That's an ambitious and interesting prediction, but I worry if you're right.
I remember reading that Nissa is supposedly amassing an army of elves to reclaim their place among the other races or some such hilarity. If Nissa's endeavours are true, and you're right, then there's going to be this massive war between two races.
Although it would be quite epic to see something as randomly awesome as Vampires Vs Elves, I worry about bringing Tribal effects back so soon
And you see, I think that we really could see a Green villian one day. Not to bring socio-economical politics into this, but I see PETA as an exemplar example of a Green villian, as I see them as a sort of terrorist outfit. They rain down on those who would "disturb the natural order of things".
Villiany is not as much about what's in your heart but what actions you take against other beings.
Let me get straight to the point: I'm a philosophy major, so one of the things that really interests me about Magic is the color pie, and each color's interactions with each other. I've been doing independent research (reading articles, studying cards, writing essays for myself) and exploring each color.
In doing so, I've come to ask myself a question that I would love to have someone else weigh in on:
How exactly do you determine how a wedge-color (tri-color) character would act? I mean, we've been able to accurately survey how dual-color characters work with Ravnica, and we explored wedge themes in Alara. In my opinion, however, I don’t really feel like we got an accurate idea of how a character would act when placed in three or more colors, because each plane was without the influence of the other colors. One could argue, I suppose, that the planes were a picturesque example of wedge themes without the persuasion of other colors, but each shard was primarily one color, with trappings of the other two. I’m pretty certain that not all UBR characters would be either some form of zombie or a necromancer, as I’m sure not all WGR characters would be lionpeople or savages.
I guess what I’m trying to ask is, how do three colors overlap onto one another? Let’s use my favorite colors for example:
Blue is concerned primarily with gaining knowledge.
Black is concerned primarily with gaining power.
Red is concerned primarily with gaining freedom.
The actions you choose to take in your quest to get to your goal are up to you. That’s why I don’t see any of the colors, especially Black, being good or evil (granted, I don’t believe in such things, but that’s beside the point); you can do good or evil with omniscience, or omnipotence (although I’d argue that such ideals would become trivial with such a vast canyon drawn between you and other humans).
A UBR character may be concerned with doing what it wants, regardless of what anyone else thinks, as that would incorporate all three colors. Nicol Bolas really sets a great example, making dominance the one word concern for the color combo. But since there are three colors, any number of those colors could overcome the other, because Nicol is supposed to be Black with a touch of Blue and Red. What if they’re primarily Blue with hints of the other two? Would that change its quest for dominance? For that matter, what happens when you throw in a fourth color, or worse yet, add colors that don’t even like each other!
I’m just curious by the vastness of this concept and wonder if anyone else would like to discuss this with me.
I agree that there a lot of fliers in the format but with this deck they usually end up dying. That's why Dreadwing doesn't do too bad. What did you have in mind instead of him? I don't like Hellspark Elemental because he just dies and can't pump him up like Dreadwing
I run Hellsparks, and I love them. Aggro Grixis loves it for the quick and cheap hits that it gives you. In fact, if you're looking at aggro Grixis, I'd suggest it as well as its big brother, Hell's Thunder. I run mid-range in Grixis colors, and Hellspark works nicely in my build.
Hmm very interesting! First I thought Archdemon of Unx's ability was fizzleing and I wouldn't have to sacrifice any creatures and but Rise from the Grave says in addition to it's types. So after rising the Unx I'd still have to sac him or some other non-zombie.
Did you see this before posting or do you think it's still an okay combo?
He still counts as a Zombie, despite his Demon side. The trigger only asks if he's a Zombie when it goes off, not if he is anything else. The combo works.
Hehe, I just realized that Leveler + Mirror of Fate = Shenanigans. Not very good shenanigans maybe, but shenanigans none the less.
On topic: I would love to see Delve return. Tombstalker and Logic Knot were awesome cards, and Delve seems like it could really be fun if used as a set mechanic.
Brainstorm is great, but I prefer Ponder if only for the shuffle effect. Yes, I agree that at Instant speed, Brainstorm can dig for reactionary spells of which I am a fan. Ponder, on the other hand, allows you to shuffle, and when you are able to do that, you can bypass pockets of land or dig for that one last land that you need.
They both do different things, and shouldn't be compared to each other.
Ponder = Brainstorm.
To answer the original question, Ponder is a fantastic card in Standard right now. If you run any amount of U, I see it as an auto-include. However, it is much better in a control build than a aggro build simply because of the slow reaction time. Aggro decks would rather spend that mana on a threat than a set up for the next turn. I think that Brainstorm would be better in a aggro build because of its speed.
I think it will be a targeted One with Nothing. Its "mind erasing", and fits into Bolas' flavor. Albiet, it'd be on the weaker side of ultimates, because by the time you rack up enough loyalty, it may only ping one or two cards.
I am so glad I preordered some Ponders yesterday in hopes of new art. That art is so much better than the Lorwyn one. The rest of the art is top notch.
I like to think that the colors are broad enough in their philosophies to be identifiable by anyone, but I think that I lean most towards Blue and Black.
Thought Hemorrhage's art is so beautiful, and its ability is so perfectly simple. Like red's spin on Lobotomy. Almost makes me want to go U/B/R instead of my usual U/B (ALMOST). Nemesis of Reason really makes me think HP Lovecraft
Now if I can just figure out how to activate it...
Yes, but what is evil? Good and evil are such flimsy ideals, and to me, are hard to measure in reality. Such as the saying goes, one's trash is another's treasure; just as one person's act of genocide is another's path to peace and order.
Call me a realist, but I don't believe in good and evil; I believe in choices.
That's an ambitious and interesting prediction, but I worry if you're right.
I remember reading that Nissa is supposedly amassing an army of elves to reclaim their place among the other races or some such hilarity. If Nissa's endeavours are true, and you're right, then there's going to be this massive war between two races.
Although it would be quite epic to see something as randomly awesome as Vampires Vs Elves, I worry about bringing Tribal effects back so soon
Villiany is not as much about what's in your heart but what actions you take against other beings.
In doing so, I've come to ask myself a question that I would love to have someone else weigh in on:
How exactly do you determine how a wedge-color (tri-color) character would act? I mean, we've been able to accurately survey how dual-color characters work with Ravnica, and we explored wedge themes in Alara. In my opinion, however, I don’t really feel like we got an accurate idea of how a character would act when placed in three or more colors, because each plane was without the influence of the other colors. One could argue, I suppose, that the planes were a picturesque example of wedge themes without the persuasion of other colors, but each shard was primarily one color, with trappings of the other two. I’m pretty certain that not all UBR characters would be either some form of zombie or a necromancer, as I’m sure not all WGR characters would be lionpeople or savages.
I guess what I’m trying to ask is, how do three colors overlap onto one another? Let’s use my favorite colors for example:
Blue is concerned primarily with gaining knowledge.
Black is concerned primarily with gaining power.
Red is concerned primarily with gaining freedom.
The actions you choose to take in your quest to get to your goal are up to you. That’s why I don’t see any of the colors, especially Black, being good or evil (granted, I don’t believe in such things, but that’s beside the point); you can do good or evil with omniscience, or omnipotence (although I’d argue that such ideals would become trivial with such a vast canyon drawn between you and other humans).
A UBR character may be concerned with doing what it wants, regardless of what anyone else thinks, as that would incorporate all three colors. Nicol Bolas really sets a great example, making dominance the one word concern for the color combo. But since there are three colors, any number of those colors could overcome the other, because Nicol is supposed to be Black with a touch of Blue and Red. What if they’re primarily Blue with hints of the other two? Would that change its quest for dominance? For that matter, what happens when you throw in a fourth color, or worse yet, add colors that don’t even like each other!
I’m just curious by the vastness of this concept and wonder if anyone else would like to discuss this with me.
Now if I can just find room for it...
I run Hellsparks, and I love them. Aggro Grixis loves it for the quick and cheap hits that it gives you. In fact, if you're looking at aggro Grixis, I'd suggest it as well as its big brother, Hell's Thunder. I run mid-range in Grixis colors, and Hellspark works nicely in my build.
He still counts as a Zombie, despite his Demon side. The trigger only asks if he's a Zombie when it goes off, not if he is anything else. The combo works.
On topic: I would love to see Delve return. Tombstalker and Logic Knot were awesome cards, and Delve seems like it could really be fun if used as a set mechanic.
They both do different things, and shouldn't be compared to each other.
Ponder = Brainstorm.
To answer the original question, Ponder is a fantastic card in Standard right now. If you run any amount of U, I see it as an auto-include. However, it is much better in a control build than a aggro build simply because of the slow reaction time. Aggro decks would rather spend that mana on a threat than a set up for the next turn. I think that Brainstorm would be better in a aggro build because of its speed.
I want full art wallpapers for these