Can't see why anyone would play it in commander over cranial extraction et al. Or why anyone would play cranial extraction either.
I've got a deck that's able to loop Cranial Extraction as a wincon. Most people scoop when their only nonlands left are the ones already in play. If you play with the same people regularly, even a single cast can often get a critical card out of their deck.
Etrata, the Silencer I'm pretty sure i can find a way to break this card. Somehow grant haste, aim for a turn 2 or 3 cast. It's the shuffle clause that bother's me. There has to be a way around that (I knwo i can just put her back in command zone, but i mean a way to keep her on field.)
Divine Visitation, THAT IS GOING INTO GHAVE! (Sure my infinite slimefoot combo is not gonna work, but i have 4/4s instead of 1/1s, its an alternate wincon. (And if worse come to worse and they blow it up. I may be able to start the slimefoot combo right then and there.
Experimental Frenzy is the kind of card that I first want to put somewhere, and only then figure out which deck that might even be. Love those kind of cards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
X Hope of Ghirapur Swordpile W Ghosty Blinky Anafenza U Nezahal- Big, Blue and HERE! B Gonti Can Afford It R Etali, Primal 'Whatjusthappened?' G Polukranos Wants More Mana WU The Exalted Vizier Temmet WB Home, Athreos WR Basandra, Recursive Aggression WG Karametra, Momma of Lands UB Wrexial Eats Your Brains UR Arjun, the Mad Flame UG The Fable of Prime Speaker BR Hellbent, Malfegor Style BG Jarad, Death is Served RG Running Thromok WUB Varina and ALL the Zombies WUBYennett, the Odd Pain-Train WUR Zedruu the Furyhearted WUG Arcades' Strategy, Shmategy, Sausage and Spam WBR A Case of Mathas' Persistent F*ckery WBRLicia's League of Legendary Lifegain Layabouts WBG The Karador Advantage PackageWRG Gahiji Rattlesnake Collection UBR Jeleva... does... things UBG Damia's Just Deserts URG Yasova's Has More Power Than Sense BRG Wasitora, Bad Kitty WUBRBreya, Eggs, Breya'd Eggs WUBG Tymna and Kydele, Extended Borrowing WURG Kynaios and Tiro, Landfall Impersonations WBRG Saskia Pet Card EnchantressUBRG Yidris of the Chi-Ting Corporation WUBRG Tazri's Amazing Allies
Sure, those are better than Cranial Extraction in a vacuum. But the deck I run it in has a number of spiritcraft and splice onto arcane cards, so Cranial Extraction won out. (Also, the loop I use to turn it into a wincon recurs Extraction with Hana Kami.)
Experimental Frenzy is the kind of card that I first want to put somewhere, and only then figure out which deck that might even be. Love those kind of cards.
Operating on the assumption that we're done on legends now that we have all the guild leaders, time to rate 'em.
Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice - C
She's functionally a 4/5 flying vigilance trample mentor with halfway-haste, which is pretty strong really. But I don't think she actually enables decks that are dramatically different from what RW already had and she's basically only useful for attacking.
Tajic, Legion's Edge - D
...Cool...both boros commanders are attacking machines that have mentor. How...exciting. So much variety for a color combination that badly needs more variety. I guess you could synergize around damage boardwipes or something to make use of his other ability, but I'm pretty sure you should just run iroas, god of victory and focus on the instant-speed ones and be fine. At least he probably won't get removed out from under you and make you faceplant. Once again boros gets the shaft. great.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun - F
Let's just take everything annoying about the original niv, and tack onto that uncounterability, a more powerful draw ability, and more stats. Because what we really wanted was a niv mizzet that's even less fun to play against.
Lazav, the Multifarious - A
I think they blew all their design budget on making this guy. He's awesome. Dimir Doppelganger was a super cool card, and this is that except with an emphasis on toolboxing and low-cmc creatures. I'm slightly bummed that it's so easy to get a 1 hit ko with him using phyrexian dreadnought, which detracts for the toolboxing a bit, but he's still super cool.
Etrata, the Silencer - A
Dimir really got the goods this set. Etrata doesn't appeal to me as much as Lazav, but she's a super interesting card that should make crafty opponents think carefully about how to avoid getting killed by her. I think she's going to create some great games while not being in any way oppressive, which is always good design in my book.
Izoni, Thousand-eyed - C
The sac ability is pretty unexciting but it's not nothing. The main utility here seems to come from making a dozen tokens, but it requires a lot of setup and the cost is quite high, and even then you sorta need a payoff for the tokens besides just slowly sacking them for CA. This seems a bit underpowered to me, and just hoarding up creatures in the grave because you have to is a boring goal imo. I'd rather play karador or sidisi who give you more interesting payoffs and/or actually help you fill the grave themselves.
Trostani Discordant - D
Getting a couple tokens is pretty unexciting and the brand ability is usually irrelevant, so the main event is the anthem. Which at 5 is fine I guess, but I don't see anyone playing meng huo, barbarian king. So I doubt this snoozefest will see any play.
Emmara, Soul of the Accord - C
Low cmc and a fairly efficient token-making ability are both solid points for this card, but it's probably pretty low-impact in most decks unless I'm missing something. I suspect this will be in the 99 a lot more often than in the command zone. It's a fine card, though, no complaints about the design. Hell of a lot better than OG emmara.
Overall...Dimir got all the good stuff and everyone else got jack. Which, in fairness, if I had to pick one guild to get the good stuff, it'd be Dimir. So I guess I'm happy? But I would have liked to see something new for boros and izzet, or something more interesting for selesnya and golgari.
[Wait, so coffee canonically exists in the mtg multiverse? That's a weird revelation.
My best guess is some flavor text writer was up late trying to think of the last few, probably sucking down a latte or something.
Fun card, though. I like those sorts of funky rares.
I think at least one of the stories in the past couple years has included mentioning Jace getting coffee on Ravnica.
Smashing things to extract oils is one of the earliest ways of processing food, Olive Oil is near on 4000 years old, and once you figure out "Hey X thing works on this X thing to make a new thing." You start trying it with other things.
Etrata, the Silencer I'm pretty sure i can find a way to break this card. Somehow grant haste, aim for a turn 2 or 3 cast. It's the shuffle clause that bother's me. There has to be a way around that (I knwo i can just put her back in command zone, but i mean a way to keep her on field.)
You can just let her ability go onto the stack and then phase or flicker her or swap her with a Ninja
Operating on the assumption that we're done on legends now that we have all the guild leaders, time to rate 'em.
Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice - C
She's functionally a 4/5 flying vigilance trample mentor with halfway-haste, which is pretty strong really. But I don't think she actually enables decks that are dramatically different from what RW already had and she's basically only useful for attacking.
Tajic, Legion's Edge - D
...Cool...both boros commanders are attacking machines that have mentor. How...exciting. So much variety for a color combination that badly needs more variety. I guess you could synergize around damage boardwipes or something to make use of his other ability, but I'm pretty sure you should just run iroas, god of victory and focus on the instant-speed ones and be fine. At least he probably won't get removed out from under you and make you faceplant. Once again boros gets the shaft. great.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun - F
Let's just take everything annoying about the original niv, and tack onto that uncounterability, a more powerful draw ability, and more stats. Because what we really wanted was a niv mizzet that's even less fun to play against.
Lazav, the Multifarious - A
I think they blew all their design budget on making this guy. He's awesome. Dimir Doppelganger was a super cool card, and this is that except with an emphasis on toolboxing and low-cmc creatures. I'm slightly bummed that it's so easy to get a 1 hit ko with him using phyrexian dreadnought, which detracts for the toolboxing a bit, but he's still super cool.
Etrata, the Silencer - A
Dimir really got the goods this set. Etrata doesn't appeal to me as much as Lazav, but she's a super interesting card that should make crafty opponents think carefully about how to avoid getting killed by her. I think she's going to create some great games while not being in any way oppressive, which is always good design in my book.
Izoni, Thousand-eyed - C
The sac ability is pretty unexciting but it's not nothing. The main utility here seems to come from making a dozen tokens, but it requires a lot of setup and the cost is quite high, and even then you sorta need a payoff for the tokens besides just slowly sacking them for CA. This seems a bit underpowered to me, and just hoarding up creatures in the grave because you have to is a boring goal imo. I'd rather play karador or sidisi who give you more interesting payoffs and/or actually help you fill the grave themselves.
Trostani Discordant - D
Getting a couple tokens is pretty unexciting and the brand ability is usually irrelevant, so the main event is the anthem. Which at 5 is fine I guess, but I don't see anyone playing meng huo, barbarian king. So I doubt this snoozefest will see any play.
Emmara, Soul of the Accord - C
Low cmc and a fairly efficient token-making ability are both solid points for this card, but it's probably pretty low-impact in most decks unless I'm missing something. I suspect this will be in the 99 a lot more often than in the command zone. It's a fine card, though, no complaints about the design. Hell of a lot better than OG emmara.
Overall...Dimir got all the good stuff and everyone else got jack. Which, in fairness, if I had to pick one guild to get the good stuff, it'd be Dimir. So I guess I'm happy? But I would have liked to see something new for boros and izzet, or something more interesting for selesnya and golgari.
I concur with most of these designations, but your opinion of tajic drips with preconceived Boris bias when he's actually a step forward for the legends of that guild, whereas Iroas just another runner in the combat step pack.
The pyroclasm/earthquake/Mark of Asylum combo had no real home until Tajic, and while it's not uber tier good or common, it is NOT strictly hurrdurr combat step. It IS a valid excuse to run Personal Sanctuary mainboard without looking like a nerd though, and that is HyPe.
I concur with most of these designations, but your opinion of tajic drips with preconceived Boris bias when he's actually a step forward for the legends of that guild, whereas Iroas just another runner in the combat step pack.
The pyroclasm/earthquake/Mark of Asylum combo had no real home until Tajic, and while it's not uber tier good or common, it is NOT strictly hurrdurr combat step. It IS a valid excuse to run Personal Sanctuary mainboard without looking like a nerd though, and that is HyPe.
I'm not saying Iroas isn't pretty standard boros, just that at least he's good.
If tajic prevented the damage to himself I might be more into it, but as is his synergy is:
1) you have to play him first, and then your big burn spell, so it's very mana intensive and slow
2) he's going to die no matter what so you're burning two cards to pull off this maybe-plague-wind combo
3) if gets removed in response, you just owned yourself, and he's very easy to remove
If he prevented it to himself I could at least see a build where you keep quaking turn after turn while smashing in (at least in magic christmas land where no one runs spot removal or creatures big enough to survive a damage wipe), but when he dies every time? No thank you.
I concur with most of these designations, but your opinion of tajic drips with preconceived Boris bias when he's actually a step forward for the legends of that guild, whereas Iroas just another runner in the combat step pack.
The pyroclasm/earthquake/Mark of Asylum combo had no real home until Tajic, and while it's not uber tier good or common, it is NOT strictly hurrdurr combat step. It IS a valid excuse to run Personal Sanctuary mainboard without looking like a nerd though, and that is HyPe.
I'm not saying Iroas isn't pretty standard boros, just that at least he's good.
If tajic prevented the damage to himself I might be more into it, but as is his synergy is:
1) you have to play him first, and then your big burn spell, so it's very mana intensive and slow
2) he's going to die no matter what so you're burning two cards to pull off this maybe-plague-wind combo
3) if gets removed in response, you just owned yourself, and he's very easy to remove
If he prevented it to himself I could at least see a build where you keep quaking turn after turn while smashing in (at least in magic christmas land where no one runs spot removal or creatures big enough to survive a damage wipe), but when he dies every time? No thank you.
I did not realize he did not protect himself. Maybe I will just go back to running FS&SS. A Blasphemous act at least heals me 13 for each creature it deals damage to, or the good ol' Star of Extinction. Earthquake also does heaps, as if I don't kill myself, i gain the life back. (and then some)
issue is protecting them. Need Indest or pro red, and a way to survive spot removal.
Having run Nezahal, the Primal Tide as a Sideboard card in standard, I want to say the effect is not at all lame.
I said the design (not the effect) is lame because it's basically just a more powerful version of Niv 1.0, which was already a boring, cookiecutter build that basically required that he be constantly removed in case of combo.
Also this is a commander subforum and I don't care about standard (except insofar as people better keep playing it so wotc doesn't go out of business and I can sell my draft chaff for decent $$$).
Lots of good little things in this set, too, but it feels like...mostly in black.
- Rats got a PUSHED rat. I used to include Liliana’s Specter for that effect. Probably auto for all Shirei decks.
- Tymna decks running like Edric decks got two 1-cmc more-than-just flyers.
- Some cheap, fun defenders.
- Plaguecrafter trades type for a step up in ability and more toughness.
- Vicious Rumors puts two-to-six cards in GYs for one mana, does some damage, and gets life. Of course, we’d all prefer to have this as some kind of reusable effect, but maybe in Circu? I just think it does a lot for little mana.
I agree that the Dimir legends have appeal, though I’m building Izoni, as she partners so sweetly with Mazirek , and Underrealm Lich is so so beast. It’s fun to see Golgari hardening around Insects, Elves, Zombies, and Plants. Ha.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
My best guess is some flavor text writer was up late trying to think of the last few, probably sucking down a latte or something.
Fun card, though. I like those sorts of funky rares.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Divine Visitation, THAT IS GOING INTO GHAVE! (Sure my infinite slimefoot combo is not gonna work, but i have 4/4s instead of 1/1s, its an alternate wincon. (And if worse come to worse and they blow it up. I may be able to start the slimefoot combo right then and there.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
It was noted on several occasions in Jace stories to be a Ravnican drink. I can imagine how much he needs it, and how much Izzet would abuse it.
This might be the card Rakdos/Hellbent need!
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
(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'
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
eggs storm
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice - C
She's functionally a 4/5 flying vigilance trample mentor with halfway-haste, which is pretty strong really. But I don't think she actually enables decks that are dramatically different from what RW already had and she's basically only useful for attacking.
Tajic, Legion's Edge - D
...Cool...both boros commanders are attacking machines that have mentor. How...exciting. So much variety for a color combination that badly needs more variety. I guess you could synergize around damage boardwipes or something to make use of his other ability, but I'm pretty sure you should just run iroas, god of victory and focus on the instant-speed ones and be fine. At least he probably won't get removed out from under you and make you faceplant. Once again boros gets the shaft. great.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun - F
Let's just take everything annoying about the original niv, and tack onto that uncounterability, a more powerful draw ability, and more stats. Because what we really wanted was a niv mizzet that's even less fun to play against.
Lazav, the Multifarious - A
I think they blew all their design budget on making this guy. He's awesome. Dimir Doppelganger was a super cool card, and this is that except with an emphasis on toolboxing and low-cmc creatures. I'm slightly bummed that it's so easy to get a 1 hit ko with him using phyrexian dreadnought, which detracts for the toolboxing a bit, but he's still super cool.
Etrata, the Silencer - A
Dimir really got the goods this set. Etrata doesn't appeal to me as much as Lazav, but she's a super interesting card that should make crafty opponents think carefully about how to avoid getting killed by her. I think she's going to create some great games while not being in any way oppressive, which is always good design in my book.
Izoni, Thousand-eyed - C
The sac ability is pretty unexciting but it's not nothing. The main utility here seems to come from making a dozen tokens, but it requires a lot of setup and the cost is quite high, and even then you sorta need a payoff for the tokens besides just slowly sacking them for CA. This seems a bit underpowered to me, and just hoarding up creatures in the grave because you have to is a boring goal imo. I'd rather play karador or sidisi who give you more interesting payoffs and/or actually help you fill the grave themselves.
Trostani Discordant - D
Getting a couple tokens is pretty unexciting and the brand ability is usually irrelevant, so the main event is the anthem. Which at 5 is fine I guess, but I don't see anyone playing meng huo, barbarian king. So I doubt this snoozefest will see any play.
Emmara, Soul of the Accord - C
Low cmc and a fairly efficient token-making ability are both solid points for this card, but it's probably pretty low-impact in most decks unless I'm missing something. I suspect this will be in the 99 a lot more often than in the command zone. It's a fine card, though, no complaints about the design. Hell of a lot better than OG emmara.
Overall...Dimir got all the good stuff and everyone else got jack. Which, in fairness, if I had to pick one guild to get the good stuff, it'd be Dimir. So I guess I'm happy? But I would have liked to see something new for boros and izzet, or something more interesting for selesnya and golgari.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
I think at least one of the stories in the past couple years has included mentioning Jace getting coffee on Ravnica.
Smashing things to extract oils is one of the earliest ways of processing food, Olive Oil is near on 4000 years old, and once you figure out "Hey X thing works on this X thing to make a new thing." You start trying it with other things.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
You can just let her ability go onto the stack and then phase or flicker her or swap her with a Ninja
I’m disappointed by yet another rawr rawr Boros, how I miss its spell sling in Ravnica 1.
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
I concur with most of these designations, but your opinion of tajic drips with preconceived Boris bias when he's actually a step forward for the legends of that guild, whereas Iroas just another runner in the combat step pack.
The pyroclasm/earthquake/Mark of Asylum combo had no real home until Tajic, and while it's not uber tier good or common, it is NOT strictly hurrdurr combat step. It IS a valid excuse to run Personal Sanctuary mainboard without looking like a nerd though, and that is HyPe.
If tajic prevented the damage to himself I might be more into it, but as is his synergy is:
1) you have to play him first, and then your big burn spell, so it's very mana intensive and slow
2) he's going to die no matter what so you're burning two cards to pull off this maybe-plague-wind combo
3) if gets removed in response, you just owned yourself, and he's very easy to remove
If he prevented it to himself I could at least see a build where you keep quaking turn after turn while smashing in (at least in magic christmas land where no one runs spot removal or creatures big enough to survive a damage wipe), but when he dies every time? No thank you.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
I did not realize he did not protect himself. Maybe I will just go back to running FS&SS. A Blasphemous act at least heals me 13 for each creature it deals damage to, or the good ol' Star of Extinction. Earthquake also does heaps, as if I don't kill myself, i gain the life back. (and then some)
issue is protecting them. Need Indest or pro red, and a way to survive spot removal.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Agreed. Just because you personally don't want to play against Niv 3.0 doesn't detract from the fact that he's a pretty good upgrade from Niv 1.0.
stuff
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Having run Nezahal, the Primal Tide as a Sideboard card in standard, I want to say the effect is not at all lame.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
Also this is a commander subforum and I don't care about standard (except insofar as people better keep playing it so wotc doesn't go out of business and I can sell my draft chaff for decent $$$).
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
- Rats got a PUSHED rat. I used to include Liliana’s Specter for that effect. Probably auto for all Shirei decks.
- Tymna decks running like Edric decks got two 1-cmc more-than-just flyers.
- Some cheap, fun defenders.
- Plaguecrafter trades type for a step up in ability and more toughness.
- Vicious Rumors puts two-to-six cards in GYs for one mana, does some damage, and gets life. Of course, we’d all prefer to have this as some kind of reusable effect, but maybe in Circu? I just think it does a lot for little mana.
(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'
I think white got some awesome cards this set in Divine Visitation, Camaraderie , Knight of Autumn, and the gorgeous (IMO) Dawn of Hope. I’ve been clamoring for white card draw in this vein and I’m happy to see it.
Also that new Boros Final Fortune is bomb dot com.