MTG Salvation

Flying Utopia Tree at Common. What has the world come to?

Is this not a card that we want to Cube?
No replies so far makes me wonder but it seems pretty good to me.

Taps for any color and can block Spirits seems pretty sweet.

I like it but I dont think many people are looking for more 2cc rocks, especially ones that die to everything. I'd probably play it in a cube without Signets/Talismans.

In most of the decks I would want this in, I'd be worried about it being a creature. I'd rather have Coldsteel Heart, I think, so that my own sweepers don't kill it and it doesn't die to Bolt.

While this will probably be nice in EDH (especially in budget), I don't think we need it for cube. It's worse IMO than every signet and talisman (summoning sickness is real), obviously worse than all the broken artifact ramp, and there's just a lot of good ramp in cube and most decks trying to be 5 color will be base green and have access to more durable fixing options.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I get wide-eyed anytime I see a five color anything.

You know, maybe I was too quick to judge this card. Despite the added vulnerability of being a creature (and having summoning sickness) this card is unique in that it's the only artifact that simply taps for one mana of any color with no additional costs or stipulations that costs less than 3 mana. I think I'm going to test this out.

While it's true that there are a lot of decks that want the "safety" of a card like Coldsteel Heart (so this doesn't die to your own Wraths and Wildfires and stuff) there are also a good number of decks that can take advantage of the fact that it's a creature. Having a "mana rock" that can be sac'd to Recurring Nightmare, grabbed by Recruiters, and pitched to Survival, is not a non-factor.

Yes, I was noticing this too that it's the only 2-cost artifact that I'm aware of that produces any color outside of sphere of the suns and pentad prism which as you mention have additional stipulations.
I might throw it in and see how it plays.

My initial impression also was that this was just a Coldsteel Heart that my opponent could more easily remove. I honestly forgot Coldsteel Heart can't actually produce any color mana once it's on the battlefield. A colorless Bird of Paradise is pretty neat even if it costs an extra mana, so yeah I've definitely come around on Ornithopter.

I think it's pretty great, though frankly the name is a bit on the nose for me. I'm always happy to see more cards like this.

I'm not sure about this card. Is this Paradise Thopter closer to a 5c 2cc mana rock than Palladium is to Worn Powerstone? I guess the difference between 2 and 3 mana matters a lot here.

I think there are plenty of cubes that like this. Maybe larger, maybe rarity limited, but it's not like we don't play tons of mana dorks that can just get bolted.

Agree with most posters here that mana rocks become worse when they are creatures, not better. More types = more ways to deal with it. The name is also just awful.

In a cube with high number of equipment, an flying ramp card can have utility in an agressive creature.

I my Artifact cube, I am bringing in Artifact Lands for more mana fixing. This will remove the OG artifact lands and the Myrs; might have space/need for it from the loss if the Myr.


EDIT: yeah, just too bad it did not get a better creative name/flavor aside from that playtest name.

Quote from TalosMaximus »

I'm not sure about this card. Is this Paradise Thopter closer to a 5c 2cc mana rock than Palladium is to Worn Powerstone? I guess the difference between 2 and 3 mana matters a lot here.

The main difference is that we already had Worn Powerstone... so the Myr was simply a more fragile version of a card we already had access to. Ornithopter of Paradise is a better mana fixing rock than any other 2cc artifact, so there's more to weigh out when making the pros/cons list. There aren't any other cards that cost 2 (or less) that tap for mana of any color without any drawbacks or stipulations, so we don't have a 2cc rock to compare it to.

I can't imagine life without this anymore. This has become a staple in every cube I've built. I like to play a robust colorless section, and this is one of the first cards on-board.

But the card's name still bother's me. It just doesn't feel right. Feels like a test card. How is an ornithopter of any kind of paradise?

Quote from Mergatroid_Jones »

I can't imagine life without this anymore. This has become a staple in every cube I've built. I like to play a robust colorless section, and this is one of the first cards on-board.

But the card's name still bother's me. It just doesn't feel right. Feels like a test card. How is an ornithopter of any kind of paradise?

Seconded, it would take alot to push it put. A body definitely comes with drawbacks, but I might prefer it to an etb 5-colour rock as it can block and has an evasive body for equipment/counters. A 5-colour rock can be a useless top deck late game but at least this can block etc.

The name never bothered me; "paradise" just seems to have become an mtg signafier for 5-colour. Paradise Mantle, Gift of Paradise, Birds of Paradise Paradise Plume.

If you want to support a 4c artifact aggro deck with stuff like:

- Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
- Karn, Scion of Urza
- Urza's Saga
- Third Path Iconoclast
- Teething Wurmlet
- Toolcraft Exemplar

There are 10+ more cards.

Then I think this would be stronger than a green mana dork/ mana rock.