Previewed by Jim Davis on Twitch, apparently. Sorry for the crappy picture, trying to find a better one.
Bond of Passion 4RR
Sorcery (uncommon)
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. Bond of Passion deals 2 damage to any other target.
I for one hope we lose the guilds as we knew them and instead get shards and wedges. Would make for a refreshing take on Ravnica if we were to return again.
Seems inferior to others in the cycle to me. Stealing a creature for a turn is generally 3-4 mana, we have Act of Treason in standard right now from Allegiance. So you're basically paying another 3 mana...for a shock. It seems a very poor offering, even in limited it ain't great. Would it have killed them to steal a creature and say give it double strike, deals double damage, gets trample and +x/+x etc until EOT, at least that makes it worth something and seems more fitting to the guilds partnership
Seems inferior to others in the cycle to me. Stealing a creature for a turn is generally 3-4 mana, we have Act of Treason in standard right now from Allegiance. So you're basically paying another 3 mana...for a shock. It seems a very poor offering, even in limited it ain't great. Would it have killed them to steal a creature and say give it double strike, deals double damage, gets trample and +x/+x etc until EOT, at least that makes it worth something and seems more fitting to the guilds partnership
Maybe 'Gain control of target creature. Untap it. It gains haste until end of turn and fights up to one target creature you don't control.' Something like that?
I have no doubt that this is costed correctly for Limited. A well-timed Act of Treason is already a 2-for-1 effect. Throw a Shock on top of that and you have a game-ender.
This card is so bad I'm not even going to make a joke about Bond. Passion Bond
{No search for an image of a post-transition Sean Connery as a southern belle trapped in a job as a small-town strip dancer with a heart of gold. The card isnt good enough}
Planeswalker damage is kind of a big deal in WAR. And hey, Feather, the Redeemed lets you cast it again and again. Personally, I would have gone for "Until end of turn, target creature gets +2/+0 and gains haste and 'T: This creature fights target creature an opponent controls.'" Would have worked perfectly with Mentor and Riot.
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Normally I would agree, but I don't care for some of these matchups.
Dimir and Izzet make no sense whatsoever--they HATE each other.
Same with the Orzhov and Azorious.
And definitely the same with Boros and Gruul.
I could see ten guilds merging into five, but I just don't see them breaking this way.
Currently we have Azorius + Orzhov, Dimir + Izzet, Rakdos + Golgari, Gruul + Boros, and Selesnya + Simic. If we follow the theme (enemy and ally that result in a shard) then the only other option would be Azorius + Simic, Dimir + Orzhov, Rakdos + Izzet, Gruul + Golgari, and Selesnya + Boros. On the one hand this feels a bit more natural in some ways, on the other hand it’s probably a bit less fitting for the theme they’re going in these cards, which is finding common ground even when they don’t agree. Azorius and Simic also feels pretty weird to me, and there’s some other aspects of that cycle I’m not a fan of either.
The problem with defining this format by what is "fun" is that everyone seems to define fun as what they don't lose to. If you keep losing to easily answered cards, that means you should improve your deck. If you don't want to improve your deck, then you should come to peace with the idea that you are going to lose because you chose to not interact with better strategies.
This is unusually powerful in the context of this limited environment. There are several small creatures that amass, which this interacts with quite favorably. Removing a chump blocker and taking their big threat to hit them with while also clearing the way for all of your other creatures to get direct access.
This also is a way to clear a path to connect with an opposing planeswalker, another common theme of the set.
Almost always, the elements of a limited environment that are good against the set's theme are depowered to reward you for playing on the interesting new theme that you want to try out. Dromoka Dunecaster was an excellent example in that it didn't interact with dragons at all, but punished big green decks trying to fight on the ground. You can see that same effect in this set with the tapper unable to interact with army tokens but being a decent card otherwise. The numbers on this, while unimpressive are at these typically inefficient stats because against the set's theme, they are at a rate that prevents it from being so easily punishing to that theme.
Normally I would agree, but I don't care for some of these matchups.
Dimir and Izzet make no sense whatsoever--they HATE each other.
Same with the Orzhov and Azorious.
And definitely the same with Boros and Gruul.
I could see ten guilds merging into five, but I just don't see them breaking this way.
War makes strange bedfellows.
As for the card itself, it's kinda meh. I understand why it is costed like it is though, it can be a very strong effect if you get it off. Gaining control of their strongest creature (until end of turn) and removing a potential blocker. Pretty powerful.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
As others have mentioned, the cmc obviously reflects the limited environment, but man I wish they'd have just gone ahead and made it an instant.
A 6-cost combat trick still leaves a lot to be desired, but being able to 2 or 3-for-1 on your opponent's combat step could turn the tide of a close game.
I for one hope we lose the guilds as we knew them and instead get shards and wedges. Would make for a refreshing take on Ravnica if we were to return again.
These pairings work for temporary alliances against a world-ending threat, but the guilds don't get along well enough for it to last otherwise.
Bond of Passion 4RR
Sorcery (uncommon)
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. Bond of Passion deals 2 damage to any other target.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
Dimir and Izzet make no sense whatsoever--they HATE each other.
Same with the Orzhov and Azorious.
And definitely the same with Boros and Gruul.
I could see ten guilds merging into five, but I just don't see them breaking this way.
Maybe 'Gain control of target creature. Untap it. It gains haste until end of turn and fights up to one target creature you don't control.' Something like that?
{No search for an image of a post-transition Sean Connery as a southern belle trapped in a job as a small-town strip dancer with a heart of gold. The card isnt good enough}
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Currently we have Azorius + Orzhov, Dimir + Izzet, Rakdos + Golgari, Gruul + Boros, and Selesnya + Simic. If we follow the theme (enemy and ally that result in a shard) then the only other option would be Azorius + Simic, Dimir + Orzhov, Rakdos + Izzet, Gruul + Golgari, and Selesnya + Boros. On the one hand this feels a bit more natural in some ways, on the other hand it’s probably a bit less fitting for the theme they’re going in these cards, which is finding common ground even when they don’t agree. Azorius and Simic also feels pretty weird to me, and there’s some other aspects of that cycle I’m not a fan of either.
This also is a way to clear a path to connect with an opposing planeswalker, another common theme of the set.
Almost always, the elements of a limited environment that are good against the set's theme are depowered to reward you for playing on the interesting new theme that you want to try out. Dromoka Dunecaster was an excellent example in that it didn't interact with dragons at all, but punished big green decks trying to fight on the ground. You can see that same effect in this set with the tapper unable to interact with army tokens but being a decent card otherwise. The numbers on this, while unimpressive are at these typically inefficient stats because against the set's theme, they are at a rate that prevents it from being so easily punishing to that theme.
Older Magic as a Board Game: Panglacial Wurm , Mill
War makes strange bedfellows.
As for the card itself, it's kinda meh. I understand why it is costed like it is though, it can be a very strong effect if you get it off. Gaining control of their strongest creature (until end of turn) and removing a potential blocker. Pretty powerful.
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Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
A 6-cost combat trick still leaves a lot to be desired, but being able to 2 or 3-for-1 on your opponent's combat step could turn the tide of a close game.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
And anyway, Maro confirmed it's not happening.