He probably shouldn't be a mythic, but I like this guy. Dumb fat is always enjoyable for a kitchen table and he might make a splash in this current standard, maybe, and he has a shot at the next standard (only knowing current cards at the moment).
This guy is going to be a very solid SB option for Wolf Run. Between him and Thrun, having 1 uncounterable beater and 2 beaters that survive board wipes is going to be rough. I'm not picking up a playset of them or anything, but I'm definitely grabbing a couple because this guy will go above $5.
I think it is also a bit premature to be writing him off when 3/4 of the set still needs to be spoiled. There might be a few interactions with new cards that justify his mythic status, since I imagine cards dealing with Undying are going to be a thing in this set.
Finally, we got our fat, removal-dodging green duder. They've definitely done this before, just like they did things like Woodfall Primus (could easily have been a mythic), Gaea's Revenge, Thornling, Thrun, the Last Troll, Vengevine etc. Mythic is supposed to be a showcasing of what a color does best, perhaps with a twist. The twist this time is the word "Undying".
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Reading some of these comments make me wonder if people actually play limited.
Really would warp limited if he was a rare. Now he can help you win a draft every now and then. If he was a rare he would win drafts with annoying regularity.
Remember kids their are other formats than standard.
I hate that this is Mythic. This is not what Mythic rarity is supposed to be. They're simply using the rarity to push the power level, and that's almost exactly what they said they wouldn't do with it.
I hate that this is Mythic. This is not what Mythic rarity is supposed to be. They're simply using the rarity to push the power level, and that's almost exactly what they said they wouldn't do with it.
I agree this feels like it's really obvious and not exploring new design space at all.
All they did was tack on the two extra abilties to bump it up to mythic and make people think it was constructed playable.
By the way I still don't think this will see any play with titans in the format.
I think whats amazing about this creature is just *how* uninspired it is. Its a green beater with 3 keywords, and no unique abilities. None of those keywords interact in any special way at all- vigilance and trample don't stack anything interesting like say "deathtouch + first strike". This card is no more complicated than any old common even, and the only thing that would merit uncommon is its P/T, with only its mana cost putting it 'above uncommon'. This card is even more phoned in then the obligatory dragon of the set.
Look for example at Drogskol Reaver
Its a fairly uninspired mythic. 3 keywords and a high mana cost, PT. But its also got just a *slightly* original ability, draw on lifegain. But at least it interacts with itself in a meaningful way- the lifegain trigger works on lifelink, and is doubled by double strike. Its still pretty uninspired for a mythic- but it totally blows this piece of turd out of the water in the design perspective. I mean, trample, vigilance, undying? What interacts with what?
This is a bizarrely poor card, and I'd rank it as the worst of the rare bunch from a design perspective in the entire set so far. There are far more unusable cards on the development side- like jar of eyeballs, but at least they're interestingly designed. This card is a total design failure, and yes, even worse than the obligatory dragon. Even including the pretty bland sorcery cycle, its the worst of all the rares *and* mythics on that side.
This card is everything that was wrong with baneslayer angel, done wrong again, more or less. Its moreso a design problem because its even less inspired than baneslayer, which at least followed a serra angel iconic precedent and included two esoteric protections and an akroma-style keyword overload. This is just a paltry few keywords and nothing unique at all. Baneslayer might have been a bit worse because obviously it pushed its price ridiculously by being mythic, whereas this will probably be totally unused- but that doesn't change the design factor. This is inexcusably bad. If they can't print worthwhile magic cards, they shouldn't print them at all. Stop doing middle sets and get more quality material instead of spreading it thin
Reading some of these comments make me wonder if people actually play limited.
Really would warp limited if he was a rare. Now he can help you win a draft every now and then. If he was a rare he would win drafts with annoying regularity.
Remember kids their are other formats than standard.
There are already cards in limited at the "rare" rarity that win drafts just as immediately as this guy would.
It's irritating at mythic. I don't think the cost will become prohibitive, it'll probably stay in the cost range of a very good rare, because it's really only usable in green heavy decks and pod, but it still makes for irritating card supply situations, particularly with regards to local casual play. This is exactly the type of card casual players want-- a big, dumb, beater, but it's going to be hard for them to get them, because casual players rarely buy singles, and this will be tough for them to open, and more often than not, they'll get scammed into trading much better/more valuable cards for cards like this, just because it's hard to get and a great card for a casual environment.
Attacking, blocking, removal, combat damage, and Birthing Pod. So uh...a large portion of the game..
Do you have the foggiest bloody idea what "meaningful interaction" means?
By your 'metric', a card like vapor snag has a terrifically awesome interaction between its two abilities, because the game both includes a life total and creatures! And creatures can attack to influence your life total! Brilliant!
Trample and Vigilance don't directly interact. Neither makes the other do anything extra. If you add 2 and 2, you get 4, not 5- thats the difference. With a meaningful interaction, you are getting more than the sum of the parts. Trample just gives you some evasion. Vigilance just lets you block after attacking. No interaction. Trample and Undying don't interaction. Vigilance and Undying don't interaction. No meaningful interaction.
Its just a swiss army creature, with only 3 knives. Thats nothing meaningful from a design perspective. I could train a herd of Manatees to push around brightly colored balls that correspond to magic keywords, choose 3 numbers at random (P, T, CC) and throw them on a card and end up with something like this.
The only thing I could see is that Vigilance makes undying matter more as the opponent probably won't to go out of his way to kill that guy.
Aye I tried hard to drum up ways that you could get anything special out of that combo, but its a real stretch.
Actually kinda ironically, while undying and vigilance can work somewhat together like you say, they also work opposite directions too, and are a bit overlapping and redundant.
For example, if you have a pure undying creature like strangleroot geist, and attack into their board and they block it, you can block them the next turn with it, since it returns to the battlefield untapped- and bigger no less. So even without vigilance, its already doing what vigilance does, conditionally =/
All I hope for is that more and more people complain how standard unplayable it is- and then I can grab a copy for pennies for my Ghave, Guru of spores deck. Along with all the other undying cards
Shouldn't be too difficult, since all the other finishers in the format will make this one cost not very much. Hate to use the tired "rare card, usable in edh and limited, not in any other constructed" line, but at least for you it should be an advantage
Tap out turn 5 for him, next turn he swings, he either gets vapor snagged, gideon lawkeepered, doom bladed, dispatched, or decimated by a titan on turn 6 because he doesn't have haste.
The fact that he doesn't have haste makes him an average card. He can't do anything on his own except be a one time recurring pest. And either way if you can protect him he requires 4 turns to actually kill. He is at the same power level as bloodgift demon but even he doesn't see competitive play.
The point is that he is good but he doesn't warrant a spot in any competitive 60 card list.
Tap out turn 5 for him, next turn he swings, he either gets vapor snagged, gideon lawkeepered, doom bladed, dispatched, or decimated by a titan on turn 6 because he doesn't have haste.
The fact that he doesn't have haste makes him an average card. He can't do anything on his own except be a one time recurring pest. And either way if you can protect him he requires 4 turns to actually kill. He is at the same power level as bloodgift demon but even he doesn't see competitive play.
The point is that he is good but he doesn't warrant a spot in any competitive 60 card list.
If you are hardcasting this guy there is something wrong with you.
I don't know i mean i can turn three a grave titan or a primeval titan in my standard pod deck he wouldn't be that hard to pull out and if i could then pod him and use a hex parasite i could pull out a titan a turn, i wish it was first strike death touch instead of vigilance trample would fit perfectly with my glissa's in my deck.
Tap out turn 5 for him, next turn he swings, he either gets vapor snagged, gideon lawkeepered, doom bladed, dispatched, or decimated by a titan on turn 6 because he doesn't have haste.
The fact that he doesn't have haste makes him an average card. He can't do anything on his own except be a one time recurring pest. And either way if you can protect him he requires 4 turns to actually kill. He is at the same power level as bloodgift demon but even he doesn't see competitive play.
The point is that he is good but he doesn't warrant a spot in any competitive 60 card list.
any green competitive deck has to have better Ramp than turn five...
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Doesn't relley feel like Mythic, but I think that's because of Limited (or at least I hope so, otherwise Design had got drunk before defining this as mythic)
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The Father of Machines will free these creatures from the shackles of their imperfect flesh. All glory to Phyrexia!
I personally love green creatures more than most magic players but this card makes me want to yawn as far as being Mythic. I first heard about its ability and not rarity and thought "Sweet, I'll pick some up for $3-4. Little did I know that it was Mythic and shocked that it was preordering at $7.50. Maybe if it had haste it would be worth it but it seems like the love child between Thunderblust and Kodama of the North Tree. It has a prohibitive mana cost and battles for its slot against Garrulk, Primal Hunter and Primeval Titan in non-Pod decks. It could be SB worthy possibly in Wolf Run and it can be GSZed in but otherwise not overly exciting.
Mythics have gone a long way from the awe inspiring Progenitus and Thraximundar to this.
This card is sooooo boring. Sure thing it is strong, but not OMG strong, and it's really a sad day when they put cards like this at mythic just because it is a strong piece of card.
This set is really a strong contender for the "worst mythics" set so far. I still have to see one of those that's not boring yet powerful piece of card. I want my mythics to feel unique, Wizards!
I like the creature a lot, but I agree on it not feeling Mythic. Maybe because it's Undying it has a more mythical feel, but no, not really. Still, I love more powerful green beaters. This is one.
For me it feels more mythic than Vengevine cause he is... well... vine elemental of vengeance? WTF I ask? Veropede on the other case is a big tunneling insect which bites your head off and when you try to kill it it comes back stronger. Ofc. vengevine also had a new and interesting ability, but it's artwork and flavour (GOSH! IF HE EVEN HAD A GOOD ONE... sorry for caps) is far far worse than this even if they look very simmiliar.
Please wine more and more so I pickup this for 2$ or meybe 1$ each for my RG fatties.dec.
White has a permanent removal for undying creatures called Oblivion Ring. I do hear that is a card white plays often.
Overall it is a nice card and better then many other non titan big creatures I have seen but we will have to wait for titan rotation before this will see much play outside of pod.
I'm a bit confused by the people dismissing it as "just another Kodoma". Are they forgetting that Kodama of the North Tree saw standard play in tournament winning Ghitu Glare decks in the Kam/Rav era? I'm not sure if this card will see play in the current format or not (it has some serious competition in the high end of green) but that argument just doesn't make any sense.
I think it is also a bit premature to be writing him off when 3/4 of the set still needs to be spoiled. There might be a few interactions with new cards that justify his mythic status, since I imagine cards dealing with Undying are going to be a thing in this set.
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Really would warp limited if he was a rare. Now he can help you win a draft every now and then. If he was a rare he would win drafts with annoying regularity.
Remember kids their are other formats than standard.
I agree this feels like it's really obvious and not exploring new design space at all.
All they did was tack on the two extra abilties to bump it up to mythic and make people think it was constructed playable.
By the way I still don't think this will see any play with titans in the format.
Look for example at Drogskol Reaver
Its a fairly uninspired mythic. 3 keywords and a high mana cost, PT. But its also got just a *slightly* original ability, draw on lifegain. But at least it interacts with itself in a meaningful way- the lifegain trigger works on lifelink, and is doubled by double strike. Its still pretty uninspired for a mythic- but it totally blows this piece of turd out of the water in the design perspective. I mean, trample, vigilance, undying? What interacts with what?
This is a bizarrely poor card, and I'd rank it as the worst of the rare bunch from a design perspective in the entire set so far. There are far more unusable cards on the development side- like jar of eyeballs, but at least they're interestingly designed. This card is a total design failure, and yes, even worse than the obligatory dragon. Even including the pretty bland sorcery cycle, its the worst of all the rares *and* mythics on that side.
This card is everything that was wrong with baneslayer angel, done wrong again, more or less. Its moreso a design problem because its even less inspired than baneslayer, which at least followed a serra angel iconic precedent and included two esoteric protections and an akroma-style keyword overload. This is just a paltry few keywords and nothing unique at all. Baneslayer might have been a bit worse because obviously it pushed its price ridiculously by being mythic, whereas this will probably be totally unused- but that doesn't change the design factor. This is inexcusably bad. If they can't print worthwhile magic cards, they shouldn't print them at all. Stop doing middle sets and get more quality material instead of spreading it thin
Attacking, blocking, removal, combat damage, and Birthing Pod. So uh...a large portion of the game.
Fixed that for you.
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Because Every Set is Terrible!
There are already cards in limited at the "rare" rarity that win drafts just as immediately as this guy would.
It's irritating at mythic. I don't think the cost will become prohibitive, it'll probably stay in the cost range of a very good rare, because it's really only usable in green heavy decks and pod, but it still makes for irritating card supply situations, particularly with regards to local casual play. This is exactly the type of card casual players want-- a big, dumb, beater, but it's going to be hard for them to get them, because casual players rarely buy singles, and this will be tough for them to open, and more often than not, they'll get scammed into trading much better/more valuable cards for cards like this, just because it's hard to get and a great card for a casual environment.
Do you have the foggiest bloody idea what "meaningful interaction" means?
By your 'metric', a card like vapor snag has a terrifically awesome interaction between its two abilities, because the game both includes a life total and creatures! And creatures can attack to influence your life total! Brilliant!
Trample and Vigilance don't directly interact. Neither makes the other do anything extra. If you add 2 and 2, you get 4, not 5- thats the difference. With a meaningful interaction, you are getting more than the sum of the parts. Trample just gives you some evasion. Vigilance just lets you block after attacking. No interaction. Trample and Undying don't interaction. Vigilance and Undying don't interaction. No meaningful interaction.
Its just a swiss army creature, with only 3 knives. Thats nothing meaningful from a design perspective. I could train a herd of Manatees to push around brightly colored balls that correspond to magic keywords, choose 3 numbers at random (P, T, CC) and throw them on a card and end up with something like this.
Aye I tried hard to drum up ways that you could get anything special out of that combo, but its a real stretch.
Actually kinda ironically, while undying and vigilance can work somewhat together like you say, they also work opposite directions too, and are a bit overlapping and redundant.
For example, if you have a pure undying creature like strangleroot geist, and attack into their board and they block it, you can block them the next turn with it, since it returns to the battlefield untapped- and bigger no less. So even without vigilance, its already doing what vigilance does, conditionally =/
Shouldn't be too difficult, since all the other finishers in the format will make this one cost not very much. Hate to use the tired "rare card, usable in edh and limited, not in any other constructed" line, but at least for you it should be an advantage
B/G instead of pod use Disciple of Griselbrand or Ichor Explosion
B/U/G GrimGrim becomes stupid
or G/U use it for Vivisection.
I'm just saying there is a lot of opportunity for it to be a fun utility card for casual or a sly trick card for any green deck turn 3.
Tap out turn 5 for him, next turn he swings, he either gets vapor snagged, gideon lawkeepered, doom bladed, dispatched, or decimated by a titan on turn 6 because he doesn't have haste.
The fact that he doesn't have haste makes him an average card. He can't do anything on his own except be a one time recurring pest. And either way if you can protect him he requires 4 turns to actually kill. He is at the same power level as bloodgift demon but even he doesn't see competitive play.
The point is that he is good but he doesn't warrant a spot in any competitive 60 card list.
If you are hardcasting this guy there is something wrong with you.
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any green competitive deck has to have better Ramp than turn five...
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Mythics have gone a long way from the awe inspiring Progenitus and Thraximundar to this.
This set is really a strong contender for the "worst mythics" set so far. I still have to see one of those that's not boring yet powerful piece of card. I want my mythics to feel unique, Wizards!
For me it feels more mythic than Vengevine cause he is... well... vine elemental of vengeance? WTF I ask? Veropede on the other case is a big tunneling insect which bites your head off and when you try to kill it it comes back stronger. Ofc. vengevine also had a new and interesting ability, but it's artwork and flavour (GOSH! IF HE EVEN HAD A GOOD ONE... sorry for caps) is far far worse than this even if they look very simmiliar.
Please wine more and more so I pickup this for 2$ or meybe 1$ each for my RG fatties.dec.
I heard Birthing Pod lacks any way to kill enchantments, except for revoke existence, naturalize, sylvok replica and acidic slime. Oh wait, its a shame Pod can't run Oblivion Ring or Beast Within....
Seriously? Pod loves this and the GG haste spirit so much, and has the 2 best colors to whack O-Rings.
These undying creatures may bring about more U/B Control or Esper Control, to utilize sever the bloodline and more O-Rings.
Funny thing though, Once the Undying creature gets a counter, you really, really, really don't want to O-Ring it.
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