The flavor of those white cards is that of reflecting an energy-based attack attack against you by using shields/divine intervention, etc. It's all about turning defense into a weapon. I want offense-based flavor, where the creature is temporarily used as a tool.
Red effects like Act of Treason are all about inciting a primal rage in something that clouds its judgment and makes it go berserk. There's also cards like Grab the Reins and Harness by Force, where you physically take control of something and force it to move, and of course Threaten, which is pretty self explanatory. They have nothing to do with mental or psychic control.
It's supposed to be a sort of "puppetmaster" / "mind control" thing, hence the UB. Working on a custom cube based off of comic books with a friend, and wanted some cards to represent the powers of psychic villains.
And I'd really like it to be able to force a creature to attack as well as redirect an attacker.
It doesn't target the second creature. I want the opponent to be able to choose what it fights (like he was choosing a blocker for an attack against himself).
The reason it taps is because I want it to, effectively, force a creature to "attack" its controller (which requires it to tap), but I also want it to be able to "redirect" an attack already in progress (which requires removing it from combat).
Basically, take a creature that's either already attacking, or able to attack (untapped), and make it "attack" its controller, and then they can choose a "blocker" to fight it if they want.
Tap target untapped or attacking creature and remove it from combat. That creature deals damage equal to its power to its controller unless its controller has it fight another creature he or she controls.
You what I think is a little weird? There's Prognostic Sphinx, but Prescient Chimera. "Prognostic" and "prescient" mean the same thing (lit. "having fore-knowledge"), but the former has Greek roots and the other has Latin roots. Somehow that just feels strange, having both of those.
To be fair, it is a Greco-Roman set. Equal representation, bud.
As I said, there are places in Spain where they reach the 180-200€ price tag. Rebellion are selling them for 190 IIRC. I guess this is what happens when people preorders like crazy without seeing the actual spoiler, because I doubt more than 50 boxes would be bought here, and that's being generous.
See, one of my local game stores has pre-orders up for $200, which is considered crazy good compared to what they're going for online. They're limiting it to one per person, and they can only do 50 total.
So, yea, we have 50 boxes coming from just one game store, lol.
Lost some aggro speed and consistency for better recovery and tempo. I don't know if I'd run it over the traditional Golgari build, but I think BUG is at least worth a look-over and some testing.
Promo = Treasury Thrull. Kind of sucks, even in limited, let's be honest.
Guild pack = Luminate Primordial. Probably the worst bomb I could have hit.
Pack 1 = Borborygmos, because I totally want to play four colors.
Pack 2 = Fathom Seer. Again two colors I don't want, AND a promo.
Pack 3 = Breeding Pool. Can't complain, it's over half the value of my entry, I guess.
Pack 4 = Consuming Abberation. Oh good, a third promo.
Pack 5 = Immortal Servitude. Finally something I can run! Kind of sucks in limited.
All things considered, it wasn't the worst luck I could have had, but I was still pretty salty.
First round, I'm against a Simic player. Game one, I never hit a fourth land, and I get rolled. Game two, I see 9 lands in 13 cards, while he steals all my dudes with Simic Manipulator.
Round two was against another Orzhov deck. Close, but I ran out of steam in the end and dropped afterwards.
Lessons I learned from observation over the course of the night:
-Experiment One, with the right support, and a perfect curve, is absolutely terrifying.
-RUG is probably your best bet, based on the decks moving into the last few rounds in the lead.
-Picking Simic and hoping for good red cards is probably your best bet. Gruul isn't too hot on its own without good support from a third color, and blue is the best.
-Don't play mill. Unless you miraculously hit multiples of all the good mill cards, it's not worth it. Play Dimir as aggro/tempo.
-Extort mirrors are obnoxious.
-Wojek Halberdiers is phenomenal. Especially with Holy Mantle support.
-The "denizen"s are all really good (except the red one).
-If someone pulls both Wrecking Ogre and Skarrg Goliath, and manages to hit you with a 12/12 trampling doublestriker, punch them in the face.
You're much better off sticking a couple Lingering Souls in a deck that doesn't completely commit to a token strategy. There's too much value in that card to pass up on.
If you've ever faced him in a high-budget control deck, you'd understand. He just wrecks, especially if both him and Tamiyo can be out at once. It's completely obnoxious.
It counters a spell that might potentially kill you (read: a fireball variant), in white. It also counters Bribery, can save your ass from an indefinite number of attackers (read: Kikimite), or keeps your dude on the board through removal.
I like it. The utility is just amazing for any white deck without blue.
I suggest just banning 2-3 card infinite combos. One of my favorite memories was when someone Tooth and Nailed Kiki/Pester into play, and got this response "ok you win, we'll finish playing the game". Nobody likes playing with themselves.
I've said a couple times in this thread that we're a competitive group and we have no problem with 2-3 card infinite combos. We're just sick and tired of Kiki-Jiki being the main one that gets used. He shows up in almost EVERY single game--he's been in an Ulasht deck, Krenko, RB Wort, Riku, Uril, Adamaro, Zo-zu, and a couple others I can't think of off of the top of my head.
I personally run a Saffi Eriksdotter deck that regularly wins with her Sun Titan/Karmic Guide/Reveillark, and Blasting Station/Altar of Dementia, and no one has any major problems with it. Sure, I get focused a lot, and if I look like I may be coming close to a combo, I get hit with a lot of disruption, but that's all part of the game.
Hell, people prefer my Saffi deck to my Rasputin deck, because it just wins instantly rather than taking a half-hour turn whenever it wins.
We have an L2 who plays every weekend and half of the staff has been certified (some by him).
Red effects like Act of Treason are all about inciting a primal rage in something that clouds its judgment and makes it go berserk. There's also cards like Grab the Reins and Harness by Force, where you physically take control of something and force it to move, and of course Threaten, which is pretty self explanatory. They have nothing to do with mental or psychic control.
The card I want to make here already half exists, in the form of Backlash, and there's already precedence for UB having these kinds of effects in Reins of Power, Spinal Embrace, and Slave of Bolas.
And I'd really like it to be able to force a creature to attack as well as redirect an attacker.
The reason it taps is because I want it to, effectively, force a creature to "attack" its controller (which requires it to tap), but I also want it to be able to "redirect" an attack already in progress (which requires removing it from combat).
Basically, take a creature that's either already attacking, or able to attack (untapped), and make it "attack" its controller, and then they can choose a "blocker" to fight it if they want.
Instant
Tap target untapped or attacking creature and remove it from combat. That creature deals damage equal to its power to its controller unless its controller has it fight another creature he or she controls.
Ulamog packs the beats if you can ramp into him.
Other options are lacking.
To be fair, it is a Greco-Roman set. Equal representation, bud.
See, one of my local game stores has pre-orders up for $200, which is considered crazy good compared to what they're going for online. They're limiting it to one per person, and they can only do 50 total.
So, yea, we have 50 boxes coming from just one game store, lol.
I decided to test it splashing blue for 3 Zamek Guildmage, 1 Cyclonic Rift, 2 Simic Charm, a singleton Prime Speaker Zegana, and Aetherize/Dimir Charm in the board.
Lost some aggro speed and consistency for better recovery and tempo. I don't know if I'd run it over the traditional Golgari build, but I think BUG is at least worth a look-over and some testing.
Promo = Treasury Thrull. Kind of sucks, even in limited, let's be honest.
Guild pack = Luminate Primordial. Probably the worst bomb I could have hit.
Pack 1 = Borborygmos, because I totally want to play four colors.
Pack 2 = Fathom Seer. Again two colors I don't want, AND a promo.
Pack 3 = Breeding Pool. Can't complain, it's over half the value of my entry, I guess.
Pack 4 = Consuming Abberation. Oh good, a third promo.
Pack 5 = Immortal Servitude. Finally something I can run! Kind of sucks in limited.
I ended up putting together an Orzhov deck, splashing red for 1 Boros Charm, 1 Skyknight Legionnaire, 1 Firefist Striker, 1 Sunhome Guildmage, and 1 Wojek Halberdiers.
All things considered, it wasn't the worst luck I could have had, but I was still pretty salty.
First round, I'm against a Simic player. Game one, I never hit a fourth land, and I get rolled. Game two, I see 9 lands in 13 cards, while he steals all my dudes with Simic Manipulator.
Round two was against another Orzhov deck. Close, but I ran out of steam in the end and dropped afterwards.
Lessons I learned from observation over the course of the night:
-Experiment One, with the right support, and a perfect curve, is absolutely terrifying.
-RUG is probably your best bet, based on the decks moving into the last few rounds in the lead.
-Picking Simic and hoping for good red cards is probably your best bet. Gruul isn't too hot on its own without good support from a third color, and blue is the best.
-Don't play mill. Unless you miraculously hit multiples of all the good mill cards, it's not worth it. Play Dimir as aggro/tempo.
-Extort mirrors are obnoxious.
-Wojek Halberdiers is phenomenal. Especially with Holy Mantle support.
-The "denizen"s are all really good (except the red one).
-If someone pulls both Wrecking Ogre and Skarrg Goliath, and manages to hit you with a 12/12 trampling doublestriker, punch them in the face.
You can also run Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm to deal with Blind Obedience, and Falkenrath Aristocrat as a curve-topper.
You're much better off sticking a couple Lingering Souls in a deck that doesn't completely commit to a token strategy. There's too much value in that card to pass up on.
I like it. The utility is just amazing for any white deck without blue.
I've said a couple times in this thread that we're a competitive group and we have no problem with 2-3 card infinite combos. We're just sick and tired of Kiki-Jiki being the main one that gets used. He shows up in almost EVERY single game--he's been in an Ulasht deck, Krenko, RB Wort, Riku, Uril, Adamaro, Zo-zu, and a couple others I can't think of off of the top of my head.
I personally run a Saffi Eriksdotter deck that regularly wins with her Sun Titan/Karmic Guide/Reveillark, and Blasting Station/Altar of Dementia, and no one has any major problems with it. Sure, I get focused a lot, and if I look like I may be coming close to a combo, I get hit with a lot of disruption, but that's all part of the game.
Hell, people prefer my Saffi deck to my Rasputin deck, because it just wins instantly rather than taking a half-hour turn whenever it wins.