Quote "Blossoming Shoal- XGG
Instant - Arcane
You may remove a green card with converted mana cost X in your hand from the game rather than pay Living Shoal's mana cost.
Search your library for up to X basic lands and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Rare"
Right... like every deck with green wouldn't run 4 X of these.
Land screwed turn 1? Have this? You won't be land screwed for long!
Turns 4-X, sick of drawing lands? PLAY THIS.
Greatest use: On turn 3 after you've dropped a 3 drop, ditch a 6cc legend (or duplicate legend) and get all the lands you want.
This is fake.
Why? Because it's the best enchantment removal in the game, which is white. It's mass TARGETED removal, which if anything is red. It's not green, and it's broken beyond belief.
Sure, how many T1 player run green cards with a cmc of ANYTHING... but there's no reason not to with this on the field. No reason at all. EVEN IF IT didn't have the "up to" clause, it would still break T1, Break T2, and break block (yep. Enchant lands and hondens won't see play with this card ever.)
Green's already shaping up to be the best color in CHK block; and now you hose equipment, hondens, manland enchantments, AND... just because... affinity?
Black Shoal XBB
Target creature gets -X/-X
or
All creatures get -X/-X
That would be my guess.
Let's see... so Wrath of God is 1 card that costs WW2 and is underpowered. So you want to have it cost two cards and be free, huh? And it kills indestructibles. Okay then.
target creature gets -X,-X would seem plausible, it's removal and good removal at that. It's ballanced, though not overly powered. I mean, using it against a dragon is usually going to suck, but eh...
Well giving that the black and white one as meant to be very powerful I've been thinking about what they can be.
Black I can really only see being mutilate or skeletal scrying as discard woul;d be WAY too powerful and targeted kill wouldn't. I suppose it could be a consume spirit effect.
White was trickier but I imagine/hope it will be
White Shoal - XWW
Instant - Arcane
You may remove a white card with converted mana cost X in your hand from the game rather than pay White Shoal's mana cost.
Target player skips his or her next untap step, tap up to x target permanents that player controls.
Just my thoughts
Wow... creatures I control can't be blocked for 2 turns... and it's free?
and to think the red one just gives +X,+0. And people think THAT's Broken.
Eh im leaning towards the skeletal scrying and Reanimation ones, if there were a THIRD reanimator... then yes, reanimation would be NICE. With shallow grave variant and that bad reanimator, and this, there would easily be a deck type.
And white i See this as being the most playable white card really:
White Shoal - XWW
Instant - Arcane
You may remove a white card with converted mana cost X in your hand from the game rather than pay White Shoal's mana cost.
You may remove X attacking creatures from the game.
Oh, really, that's the most playable? How about the one that lets you destroy X creatures and return them to play under your control? Gain X x 100 life? Draw X cards?
Or maybe the one that lets you win X games.
stop dreaming and be real. It'll prevent X damage and give that many +1,+1 counters. Period.
I think that the card draw would be balanced if the life loss is attached to the card. They gave you Promise of Power and like I said before Skeletal Scying . The card would balance itself out with the life loss and maybe being a sorcery.
I also like your thought on a Mutilate version. That would be very cool
@Magicdeckvortex I enjoy your site very much. Especially the art page and the visual spoilers.
Let's see... Skeletal Scrying is a DRAW ENGINE in type 1. Something tells me it's overpowered.
A Mutilate version would be too powerful. (uh... turn 2, all creatures get -6, -6? No.)
A necropetence version... well, let's put it this way... I'd be VERY tempted to start running it and the black Myojin in Affinity. I mulligan into having the combo, (say 3 cards left), then have 1 card left and draw how many cards? Then probably repeat the process? Then sacrifice everything to my ravager with my two disciples in play... yeah. Way to go.
Assuming Scrye does a bit better job with their predictions this time around, as opposed to times before, both Black and White could be any number of highly powered effects. Black could be Corrupt, Skeletal Scrying, Mutilate, and Mind Sludge. All powerful typical Black effects but all would be extremely overpowered. White has Armageddon, Wrath of God, Decree of Justice (my bet), and probably somethin else Im missing that are all typical White effects. I dont really have any idea of any White or Black style things that wouldnt be broken and a half
Black possibilities:
Discard? No. Discard 7 cards for 2 cards 1st turn? Uh... no.
Drain Life? Yep.
Exume/Reanimate? As we have two such cards in the set, the common being what this (rare) would be, no. Although it'd be very interesting, though it'd probably have the same blue "exactly X" thing the blue one does.
Necropotence? Let's see... change 2 cards into 6, repeat? No.
White:
Gain life? Underpowered.
Prevent Damage? See above.
gain life + prevent damage? Possible...
+X,+X to blocker? Maybe...
X +1,+1 counters for damage prevented? possible
X +1,+1 counters for target blocker? uh, a little too powerful, no? T2, block, have a 6/6 that flips to form the most horrible guy w/ doublestrike!
Regenerate X creatures? unlikely...
To be specific, whenever a number in Magic would be altered in several different ways, the changes are applied in the following order:
Additions
Subtractions
Effects that set the number to a fixed quantity
1. Thanks.
2. So, if I have the shoal, announce it, splice a glaical ray on (additions), then remove the card, it costs 0 even after the splice, RIGHT? Thanks; I just need confirmation on this, because it's the ultimate splice enabler; you can splice colored cards you can't otherwise play, splice expensive stuff like Through the breach (6cc; the perfect number to ditch to the X, AND can drop a darksteel collosus into play with haste (after you've given another creature +X,+0).
3. If this is how it works, Big Red will rule T2, and block?
I don't think the timing would allow to to remove Glacial Ray to pay for Blazing Shoal and still be able to use the Splice onto Arcane ability, but I am pretty positive that you still have to at least pay the splice cost while splicing onto a shoal.
First things First, I *KNOW* you can discard spliced cards to pay for card costs (read CHK FAQs)
Second, according to the Saturday School crap (which yes, the guy gave wrong answers on the "sands" CHK card...) costs that lower the converted mana cost of a card apply AFTER splicing.
So... Trinisphere + Frogmite + 4 artifacts in play costs 0.
Glacial Ray spliced onto Wear Away with the green talisment in play costs GGR
And *IN THOERY* Shoals spliced with things payed for with the alternate casting cost are free. Of course, if this were the case, then it *SEEMS* as if you could also Fist of the Suns any arcane spell with unlimited splicing (x1 per card, mind you). And where as I wouldn't EXPECT it to work this way, I wouldn't expect the frogmite + etc to work that way either. Just like I wouldn't expect a Challice of the Void set at 2 to counter a Fireball for 1, but it does.
Think of it this way... it's a Shrapnelblast for unblocked creatures.
Attack with a Battle Mad Ronin in block. They don't block. Play Blazing Shoal then discard a Ryusei, the Falling Star (splice????). 2 cards, 6 damage, 0 mana. That's good tempo.
I'm pissed it's a rare though; now I actually need to get a set of 4 rares from BOK.
Blazing Shoal = sweetness.
Big Red is already big, I mean how often do you get turn 2-3 Seething Arcslogger?
Now its like Turn 4 swing (remove another arcslogger) 9+ damage.
Maybe Im jumping the gun, but still...
I like BoK.
Shoals will make people run more legends. WHy not pitch extra legendary creatures to your Shoals?
T1: Mountain
T2: Mountain, Slith
T3: Mountain, song, Kumano.
T4: Mountain, kumano for 2, attack, pit Kumano to Shoal, splice on a glacial ray for free??? and pitch your extra Kumano to gike your unblocked attacker +5,+0. And silly me with only two Kumano. Guess I have to pick up some more!
well the red shoal was already said to have that ability (think it is on the inquest magazine hints) while there was this rumor about an "old school artifact" variant in the set which would be white
Pyrite Spellbomb may make a comeback in affinity in T2 to deal with the spirit (yeah, right... as if affinity needs lands!)
G/R tooth may return... with Pyrite Spellbomb doing the majorty of the pinging to deal with the spirit.
The spirit MAY make WW better; but I plan on doing strange glacial ray tricks with the Shoal that will stop it flat.
Instant - Arcane
You may remove a green card with converted mana cost X in your hand from the game rather than pay Living Shoal's mana cost.
Search your library for up to X basic lands and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Rare"
Right... like every deck with green wouldn't run 4 X of these.
Land screwed turn 1? Have this? You won't be land screwed for long!
Turns 4-X, sick of drawing lands? PLAY THIS.
Greatest use: On turn 3 after you've dropped a 3 drop, ditch a 6cc legend (or duplicate legend) and get all the lands you want.
Oh, wait, having 4-8 1/1s on turn 1 would be overpowered. I guess People would start using Temor though!
Why? Because it's the best enchantment removal in the game, which is white. It's mass TARGETED removal, which if anything is red. It's not green, and it's broken beyond belief.
Sure, how many T1 player run green cards with a cmc of ANYTHING... but there's no reason not to with this on the field. No reason at all. EVEN IF IT didn't have the "up to" clause, it would still break T1, Break T2, and break block (yep. Enchant lands and hondens won't see play with this card ever.)
Green's already shaping up to be the best color in CHK block; and now you hose equipment, hondens, manland enchantments, AND... just because... affinity?
No.
Let's see... so Wrath of God is 1 card that costs WW2 and is underpowered. So you want to have it cost two cards and be free, huh? And it kills indestructibles. Okay then.
target creature gets -X,-X would seem plausible, it's removal and good removal at that. It's ballanced, though not overly powered. I mean, using it against a dragon is usually going to suck, but eh...
Wow... creatures I control can't be blocked for 2 turns... and it's free?
and to think the red one just gives +X,+0. And people think THAT's Broken.
Oh, really, that's the most playable? How about the one that lets you destroy X creatures and return them to play under your control? Gain X x 100 life? Draw X cards?
Or maybe the one that lets you win X games.
stop dreaming and be real. It'll prevent X damage and give that many +1,+1 counters. Period.
Let's see... Skeletal Scrying is a DRAW ENGINE in type 1. Something tells me it's overpowered.
A Mutilate version would be too powerful. (uh... turn 2, all creatures get -6, -6? No.)
A necropetence version... well, let's put it this way... I'd be VERY tempted to start running it and the black Myojin in Affinity. I mulligan into having the combo, (say 3 cards left), then have 1 card left and draw how many cards? Then probably repeat the process? Then sacrifice everything to my ravager with my two disciples in play... yeah. Way to go.
Doesn't the SHOAL circumvent THAT? Or am I misreading the shoal?
Black possibilities:
Discard? No. Discard 7 cards for 2 cards 1st turn? Uh... no.
Drain Life? Yep.
Exume/Reanimate? As we have two such cards in the set, the common being what this (rare) would be, no. Although it'd be very interesting, though it'd probably have the same blue "exactly X" thing the blue one does.
Necropotence? Let's see... change 2 cards into 6, repeat? No.
White:
Gain life? Underpowered.
Prevent Damage? See above.
gain life + prevent damage? Possible...
+X,+X to blocker? Maybe...
X +1,+1 counters for damage prevented? possible
X +1,+1 counters for target blocker? uh, a little too powerful, no? T2, block, have a 6/6 that flips to form the most horrible guy w/ doublestrike!
Regenerate X creatures? unlikely...
2. So, if I have the shoal, announce it, splice a glaical ray on (additions), then remove the card, it costs 0 even after the splice, RIGHT? Thanks; I just need confirmation on this, because it's the ultimate splice enabler; you can splice colored cards you can't otherwise play, splice expensive stuff like Through the breach (6cc; the perfect number to ditch to the X, AND can drop a darksteel collosus into play with haste (after you've given another creature +X,+0).
3. If this is how it works, Big Red will rule T2, and block?
Oxidize = your dead.
First things First, I *KNOW* you can discard spliced cards to pay for card costs (read CHK FAQs)
Second, according to the Saturday School crap (which yes, the guy gave wrong answers on the "sands" CHK card...) costs that lower the converted mana cost of a card apply AFTER splicing.
So... Trinisphere + Frogmite + 4 artifacts in play costs 0.
Glacial Ray spliced onto Wear Away with the green talisment in play costs GGR
And *IN THOERY* Shoals spliced with things payed for with the alternate casting cost are free. Of course, if this were the case, then it *SEEMS* as if you could also Fist of the Suns any arcane spell with unlimited splicing (x1 per card, mind you). And where as I wouldn't EXPECT it to work this way, I wouldn't expect the frogmite + etc to work that way either. Just like I wouldn't expect a Challice of the Void set at 2 to counter a Fireball for 1, but it does.
Attack with a Battle Mad Ronin in block. They don't block. Play Blazing Shoal then discard a Ryusei, the Falling Star (splice????). 2 cards, 6 damage, 0 mana. That's good tempo.
I'm pissed it's a rare though; now I actually need to get a set of 4 rares from BOK.
Shoals will make people run more legends. WHy not pitch extra legendary creatures to your Shoals?
T1: Mountain
T2: Mountain, Slith
T3: Mountain, song, Kumano.
T4: Mountain, kumano for 2, attack, pit Kumano to Shoal, splice on a glacial ray for free??? and pitch your extra Kumano to gike your unblocked attacker +5,+0. And silly me with only two Kumano. Guess I have to pick up some more!
Pyrite Spellbomb may make a comeback in affinity in T2 to deal with the spirit (yeah, right... as if affinity needs lands!)
G/R tooth may return... with Pyrite Spellbomb doing the majorty of the pinging to deal with the spirit.
The spirit MAY make WW better; but I plan on doing strange glacial ray tricks with the Shoal that will stop it flat.