Awesome Polukranos gets a new card! Zombie Hydra is pretty cool too, but yeah, the card itself doesn't look too strong. May have to see it on the field and/or in the right deck before judging it.
If it had a way to give it counters like the old Rock Hydra then I'd be like sure this is great. Ok, so at the end it's a 12-point removal effect but other than that...nothing really to bust a nut over.
'buster
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset. Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
If it had a way to give it counters like the old Rock Hydra then I'd be like sure this is great. Ok, so at the end it's a 12-point removal effect but other than that...nothing really to bust a nut over.
'buster
On the bright side, the colors in the art and the frame really make this card pop. I think it'll look pretty, at least. It can also eat Geese and Grazers to remove chumpers without losing counters.
Wow, bad hydra is bad. No evasion and loses power and toughness every time he fights. Rather just have an 8/8 that atleast heals damage at end of turn.
G-g-g-g-host hydra! Or rather zombie. Cool to see Polukranos back in undead form with a cool drift on his old card.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I like the concept of this card, but I just can't get over how much I dislike Escape. I wish they would have made another graveyard ability that didn't require exiling cards from your graveyard.
I do like this fight ability though in these colors. I might play this card just to have a removal creature that I can recur by other means and avoid escaping unless needed.
Honestly, people seem down on this card, but I think it looks pushed as hell. Escape has been bad so far, but since it doesn't exile, this is just repeatable 12/12 for 6 with a catch that is really easy in a Golgari EDH deck, and a ton of fights, just busting creatures
Holy crap, and the fact that it prevents the damage in trade for counters gets around deathtouch. Kill Atraxa over and over and over again? Yes please!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Project Booster Fun makes it less fun to open a booster.
I like the concept of this card, but I just can't get over how much I dislike Escape. I wish they would have made another graveyard ability that didn't require exiling cards from your graveyard.
Trade off is, aside from Retrace, this is the first return from graveyard mechanic that can be used over and over as long as you got the fuel.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Worst case scenario: this is a 6/6 for only 4 mana with no real downside, which is value. Best case scenario: Hydra's Growth, presuming that is a real card in the set (supposedly at the beginning of your upkeep you would get to double the number of +1/+1 counters on the enchanted creature).
Honestly, people seem down on this card, but I think it looks pushed as hell. Escape has been bad so far, but since it doesn't exile, this is just repeatable 12/12 for 6 with a catch that is really easy in a Golgari EDH deck, and a ton of fights, just busting creatures
Holy crap, and the fact that it prevents the damage in trade for counters gets around deathtouch. Kill Atraxa over and over and over again? Yes please!
And on top of all that I can guaranteed you there’s lots of tricks to add counters to it and maybe add than subtract counters
Worst case it crushes a few Arboreal Grazer or some Ebon Hands before coming in for a few.
The best part if it turns all your junk into more gas mid-game, where a 12/12 is much, much harder to get rid of in combat.
Escape seems neat overall, it basically puts a little pain on removal, forcing you to have more on-board options.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The "Crazy One", playing casual magic and occasionally dipping his toes into regular play since 1994.
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
Mythic and legendary I think this could have stood to prevent the damage and only take one counter off. Other than that it’s solid. Not amazing. Just solid. Good, pushed stat line.
There are plenty of ways to add counters in both colors, and even if there's only one +1/+1 on it, you get to prevent all damage and remove that one counter (of course, you'd need other ways to buff it above 0 toughness)
Mythic and legendary I think this could have stood to prevent the damage and only take one counter off. Other than that it’s solid. Not amazing. Just solid. Good, pushed stat line.
wat
You're proposing a 6/6 for 4 mana that you'd have to hit 6 times to kill? And if you didn't kill it, it would just take out your creatures left and right? And if you did kill it, it would immediately come back to repeat the whole thing but with twice the power?
I’m getting tired of saying how amazing the art in this set is, but damn it, the art on this card is amazing
so happy to see Polukranos back! I do wish he had been mono green of course, but I understand why they added black. It’s a very interesting card. Especially in those colors
You're proposing a 6/6 for 4 mana that you'd have to hit 6 times to kill? And if you didn't kill it, it would just take out your creatures left and right? And if you did kill it, it would immediately come back to repeat the whole thing but with twice the power?
Sure. Oathsworn Knight, Phantom Nishoba and it’s phantom kin. That’s a pretty normal ability. And this is a mythic and a legendary. 6/6s usually don’t die in combat anyway so it’s not like you’re suddenly not killing something you’d have been able to kill before. And it still gets smaller after each block so you will eventually be able to do so.
You're proposing a 6/6 for 4 mana that you'd have to hit 6 times to kill? And if you didn't kill it, it would just take out your creatures left and right? And if you did kill it, it would immediately come back to repeat the whole thing but with twice the power?
Sure. Oathsworn Knight, Phantom Nishoba and it’s phantom kin. That’s a pretty normal ability. And this is a mythic and a legendary. 6/6s usually don’t die in combat anyway so it’s not like you’re suddenly not killing something you’d have been able to kill before. And it still gets smaller after each block so you will eventually be able to do so.
I actually had the same idea (removing one counter per damage). I mean ironscale hydra is a 5/5 for 5 and once it blocks it’ll become a 6/6 for 5, prevents damage and adds counters when doing so. Granted it’s one mana more and doesn’t have escape, but it’s also not mythic or legendary and in one color only to cast
That’s not to say this card isn’t good. It’s amazing really. I prefer the original polukranos but this version is interesting. Still, it could have been a bit more resilient
Between being an undercosted beater on curve and rather absurdly large recursive self-reanimator that can come back multiple times, I feel like this might be getting a whole bunch of underestimation. Getting a 12/12 out of your graveyard for 6 mana is the kind of thing you'd be happy to do in a reanimator strategy, but this is doing it in one card not a combo. Its not as all-in winning as an eldrazi or a certain card drawing demon, but we're still talking about a 12/12 that eats your opponents board if he sticks for a turn. In a deck that isn't running other escape cards to compete with it or other graveyard payoffs, you might be seeing this come down as a 6/6, trade with a creature or two or a kill spell, then come right back as a 12/12 that absolutely needs to be answered, and even if it does get answered, it might come back a few turns later as a 12/12 again.
Escape is naturally a dangerous recursive mechanic by letting it occur multiple times, threatening to be oppressive. But of all the other cards spoiled, none impact board state enough to be scary. The biggest after this is a 5/6 gatekeeper. This is a 12/12 that can eat several creatures
If this gets a toughness buff, say 0/+1, and still has a +1/+1 counter on it, it would still prevent all damage taken so long as it has a counter, right?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
The first zombie hydra (the embalmed one from amonkhet doesn’t count)
I wonder what happens if a vigor is in play under your control with polukranos
Also now the mothership is finally showing stuff they also update the card gallery and showed the borderless and alt art of all the cards
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
On the bright side, the colors in the art and the frame really make this card pop. I think it'll look pretty, at least. It can also eat Geese and Grazers to remove chumpers without losing counters.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I do like this fight ability though in these colors. I might play this card just to have a removal creature that I can recur by other means and avoid escaping unless needed.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Holy crap, and the fact that it prevents the damage in trade for counters gets around deathtouch. Kill Atraxa over and over and over again? Yes please!
Trade off is, aside from Retrace, this is the first return from graveyard mechanic that can be used over and over as long as you got the fuel.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
In Pioneer, it will be outside playing with its friends Winding Constrictor and Verdurous Gearhulk.
And on top of all that I can guaranteed you there’s lots of tricks to add counters to it and maybe add than subtract counters
The best part if it turns all your junk into more gas mid-game, where a 12/12 is much, much harder to get rid of in combat.
Escape seems neat overall, it basically puts a little pain on removal, forcing you to have more on-board options.
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
Permanently losing P/T when it would take damage ... feels to me like a pertinent downside. Chump blockers (with nonzero power) shrink it.
It still deals the damage before that happens
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
wat
You're proposing a 6/6 for 4 mana that you'd have to hit 6 times to kill? And if you didn't kill it, it would just take out your creatures left and right? And if you did kill it, it would immediately come back to repeat the whole thing but with twice the power?
so happy to see Polukranos back! I do wish he had been mono green of course, but I understand why they added black. It’s a very interesting card. Especially in those colors
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
Sure. Oathsworn Knight, Phantom Nishoba and it’s phantom kin. That’s a pretty normal ability. And this is a mythic and a legendary. 6/6s usually don’t die in combat anyway so it’s not like you’re suddenly not killing something you’d have been able to kill before. And it still gets smaller after each block so you will eventually be able to do so.
That’s not to say this card isn’t good. It’s amazing really. I prefer the original polukranos but this version is interesting. Still, it could have been a bit more resilient
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
Escape is naturally a dangerous recursive mechanic by letting it occur multiple times, threatening to be oppressive. But of all the other cards spoiled, none impact board state enough to be scary. The biggest after this is a 5/6 gatekeeper. This is a 12/12 that can eat several creatures