MTG Salvation

Surprised there isn't a thread on this guy already.

I think he's just better than either of the old Bolas' in anything that isn't cheating him into play - very relevant on the front side (automatic 2-for-1 even if he immediately eats a removal spell) and almost as good as OG bolas at stabilizing the board (kill any creature or PW + zombify I like more than God-Pharaoh's kill and random cast abilities). I think I'll test this in my grixis section over OG Bolas.

Edit - realized I uploaded 2 of teh same pic lol. Should be fixed now?

A 4/4 flying Ravenous Rats is pretty sweet. This won't transform the majority of the time, but a lot of that is that the opponent will be doing all they can to keep that from happening. This will not play like any existing Bolas, but it looks like a quite strong card. I like that it makes you work for the overpowered planeswalker. The main issue is precious shard slots.

I think he's cool but not a good replacement for other versions. I would consider including him as a 2nd or 3rd grixis card, if I decided I wanted to go full ham on multicolor

I definitely don't like this more than God-Pharoh because he will not flip often and it will feel so bad when he gets killed in response to the flip activation. The PW side is REALLY good when it does flip though. I'm hoping we get a flip Ugin that is playable. It's much easier to find room for colorless cards in cube than multicolor cards.

I think it's a really strong Grixis card. The front face is pretty good on its own, albeit not worth a 'slot', but gives you some presence and a big body before you can afford the PW side. The latter being a pretty amazing Swiss army knife with huge starting loyalty. I don't run a URB card at the moment but this as well as God-Pharoah Bolas and Kess are all fantastic options to have.

I think this is a pretty decent Grixis card, but I don't think this is outright better than Nicol Bolas, God Pharaoh. Having to hang around in creature mode for a few turns can make it vulnerable to removal that the other 'walkers survive, and that does prevent it from being a glorious Grixis control finisher that his pure 'walker forms can be.

I like that I can recur him more easily than his other versions, and I'm not worried that the God Pharoh is a little stronger as a PW since you can jam this much earlier.

That said, I can't imagine this replacing Kess, Dissident Mage for me, no matter how much I love this card (and Bolas in general). Kess is too much of a pet card for me (even if I can't wait until they print a non-foil version of her).

I'm sticking with OG Bolas, but can we get an aggressive and competitive card like this in another shard please? Naya? Jund? Temur?

Edit: This is what I get for not looking at the spoiler first... it appears this is a cycle of elder dragons, so maybe the others will prove worthwhile.

Ooh, I forgot Kess, Dissident Mage. That's a card I'd really like to have. It's way cooler than this, or any other Bolas I've ever seen.

I like this better than the other NB's, but Kess might just be better. Honestly, I might give this a shot and see how it goes, since single discard on turn 4 can often pull aggro's last burn spell or midrange's last fatty, but the issue being that i don't expect this to flip, which would be a disappointment.

Think the new bolas is really good and the best nicol bolas variant for cube.

ETB discard on a 4 mana 4/4 dragon is a very strong floor that is verrry close to being worth a slot by itself if it were mono-colored. 4/4 flyer is a strong base that would normally fall short because it trades 1 for 1 with cheaper removal. Tagging an extra card of value onto it is pretty great.

The flip side planeswalker is a very strong card and not far from 7 mana bolas in strength.

Think of it this way, in a lot of situations bolas must be dealt with asap. If he is dealt with, he still provides a 2 for 1. It's also good against every archetype.
Those are all hallmarks of a very good card.

I've heard like 3 people say how much of a blowout it is to have this removed in response to the ability, but I think the value is in holding the ability up. If I have 7 mana, I'm going to swat them in the air and continue my gameplan. The ability to blank removal by transforming in response is only upside

Also @Antipox, he can't dome for 10, only hits creatures and planeswalkers

Quote from Blal »

I've heard like 3 people say how much of a blowout it is to have this removed in response to the ability, but I think the value is in holding the ability up. If I have 7 mana, I'm going to swat them in the air and continue my gameplan. The ability to blank removal by transforming in response is only upside

Thats a really good point. I kept on thinking "why the hell would i want to transform when i can just keep smashing for 4 in the air?" but i never considered flipping in response to removal!

You can't activate this in response to something like Dismember, it has a 'sorcery-only' clause.

Quote from Salmo »

You can't activate this in response to something like Dismember, it has a 'sorcery-only' clause.

lol and i'm back to thinking "why the hell would i want to transform when i can just keep smashing for 4 in the air?"

I'd be really said if an FTK or Burst Lightning (or any other removal) killed this before I could transform it. It's strong, but I prefer the reliability of the planeswalker versions (and run God-Pharoah).

Quote from steve_man »

You can only activate his ability as a sorcery.

Welp, there goes my desire to test this

At least glorybringer can't kill it

I'd be really sad if I have nicol bolas planeswalker in my hand and I died before I got to cast it! Much rather that burst lightning (and another spell that got discarded) go to the graveyard, than my face

I don't know about you guys, but in my cube I'd guess agro makes up 25+% of the decks in a given draft.In that matchup a 4/4 flyer for 4 that makes them discard a card (possibly their only out), vs a 7 mana card that can only kill one target at a time... is not remotely comparable.

In slower matchups, is bolas god pharoh much better? I'd say no. Only against reanimator would I say Bolas God Pharoh is way better. Though it depends on cube composition (IE how many control magic effects and clones that are run, counter spell density , instant speed vs sorcery speed removal , saturation of 6+ CMC cards etc)

I like Bolas god pharoh more in a low-creature count ramp deck with multiple ways to explosively accelerate into him, but outside of that, I think this bolas is a lot better. Really looking forward to getting home so I can test this theory. Bullish on this card for mid sized cubes with good fixing and excited to play with him.

Yea i have to say, I like the new Bolas because of his intense game pressure. Almost always a 2 for 1, and in the right control deck (U/B already!)you can threaten counter magic or other shenanigans.

I like it. It's a good 4 drop and a good mana sink.