On the upside, atleast it doesn't have Islandhome. That damn ability made so many blue-beefs unplayable, or just really expensive walls.
As far as I can remember, it was the first blue ground fatty that didn't have Islandhome or require sacrificing lands (Sea Serpent, Leviathan, Polar Kraken, Marjhan), so that was a big deal for casual magic at the time.
It's quite astonishing, though, how many Homelands cards have been reprinted at least once. To bad, the basic lands have not been printed in that set, that could have made the card quite useful. But instead, we only get a bunch of bad multilands.
Back then Expansions (e.g. Homelands, Fallen Empires, Arabian Nights) didn't contain any reprints, including basic lands. That's why the "originally printed" Oracle Text errata was not needed on original printings of Apocalypse Chime or City in a Bottle. Expansions were marketed differently, small sets that came in smaller booster packs with different print-sheet frequencies (e.g. U1 instead of Rare) and offering all unique cards (although eligible for reprint in future Core Sets).
Basic lands were only found in Core Sets. Ice Age was the one exception, although it was something in between a Core Set and an Expansion. It had a much larger card pool, some reprints, basic lands (Snow-Covered, so technically still new cards), 15-card boosters, and 60-card Starter Packs available. It was a new concept they were testing.
Block design only really began with Mirage (first set bigger with basic lands and reprints, 2nd and 3rd sets were smaller expansions following the same theme but introducing new mechanics). It probably stemmed from the huge success of Ice Age combined with the colossal failure of Homelands.
One of my favorite casual combos is tapping Pang Tong to give +0/+2 to Squire, transforming the meager Squire into a mighty Horned Turtle!! Imagine the huge tempo swing of attacking with a 2-mana Horned Turtle!
This card used to be a lot weaker when printed (although still a Standard Tier 1 deck finisher), because Vampires were midrange.
Nowadays there are so many things that make 1/1 Vampire tokens, including a Commander that makes them from the Command Zone, that your vampire count can get very high! Even turn 4 Call to the Feast into turn 5 Bloodwitch is already an Exsanguinate for 4 tacked onto a 4/4 flying body with protection.
Wrath of God combos with Indestructible-granting effects.
One cute combo is to attack with Frontline Medic and 2 other creatures, then cast Wrath postcombat. Who said aggro decks can't Wrath?
You can also use Odric, Lunarch Marshal + any indestructible creature (e.g. Heliod, God of the Sun) to give your whole team indestructible. You don't even need to attack. Postcombat cast Wrath.
Either they let you abuse Chain and Scandalmonger to empty their hand without penalty, which fuels 8Rack and Nyxathid, or else they risk getting burned out by Psychic Purge and Guerilla Tactics.
As far as I can remember, it was the first blue ground fatty that didn't have Islandhome or require sacrificing lands (Sea Serpent, Leviathan, Polar Kraken, Marjhan), so that was a big deal for casual magic at the time.
Mesmeric Orb + Fatestitcher/Basalt Monolith + no stupid "time wasting" rules
You can adhere to the B/R list... Turn 1 Mishra's Workshop, Black Vise, Black Vise, Black Vise, Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Twincast = 27 damage
But even Mishra's Workshop, Sol Ring, Black Vise, Trinisphere is rough.
4 Swamp Mosquito
4 Plague Stinger
4 Thrummingbird
4 Blighted Agent
3 Ichor Rats
2 Viral Drake
4 Preordain
4 Mana Leak
3 Contagion Clasp
3 Grim Affliction
3 Tezzeret's Gambit
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
5 Swamp
5 Island
Back then Expansions (e.g. Homelands, Fallen Empires, Arabian Nights) didn't contain any reprints, including basic lands. That's why the "originally printed" Oracle Text errata was not needed on original printings of Apocalypse Chime or City in a Bottle. Expansions were marketed differently, small sets that came in smaller booster packs with different print-sheet frequencies (e.g. U1 instead of Rare) and offering all unique cards (although eligible for reprint in future Core Sets).
Basic lands were only found in Core Sets. Ice Age was the one exception, although it was something in between a Core Set and an Expansion. It had a much larger card pool, some reprints, basic lands (Snow-Covered, so technically still new cards), 15-card boosters, and 60-card Starter Packs available. It was a new concept they were testing.
Block design only really began with Mirage (first set bigger with basic lands and reprints, 2nd and 3rd sets were smaller expansions following the same theme but introducing new mechanics). It probably stemmed from the huge success of Ice Age combined with the colossal failure of Homelands.
Nowadays there are so many things that make 1/1 Vampire tokens, including a Commander that makes them from the Command Zone, that your vampire count can get very high! Even turn 4 Call to the Feast into turn 5 Bloodwitch is already an Exsanguinate for 4 tacked onto a 4/4 flying body with protection.
One cute combo is to attack with Frontline Medic and 2 other creatures, then cast Wrath postcombat. Who said aggro decks can't Wrath?
You can also use Odric, Lunarch Marshal + any indestructible creature (e.g. Heliod, God of the Sun) to give your whole team indestructible. You don't even need to attack. Postcombat cast Wrath.
You could make a hilarious deck with:
Either they let you abuse Chain and Scandalmonger to empty their hand without penalty, which fuels 8Rack and Nyxathid, or else they risk getting burned out by Psychic Purge and Guerilla Tactics.
The most common combo is T: Win the game.
Commonly used in Commander and the reason for its banning in Legacy.
Trophy Mage is great in Commander. Not only does he find equipment (Swords, Sunforger) and popular blue combo pieces (Basalt Monolith, Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar, Sculpting Steel), but he also finds top tier manafixing (Chromatic Lantern, Coalition Relic, Darksteel Ingot, Burnished Hart) and a Wrath (Oblivion Stone).