Blue Monastery Mentor that grows both vertically and horizontally seems strong, especially with Sylvan Library / JTMS. Fairly easy to get out of Bolt range is huge, will definitely test this one out.
The thing I dislike the most about it is the double blue. A lot of the heavy blue decks do not want to tap out turn three.
Against aggro, it has to be bolted immediately, else it will be out of range and generate a blocker every turn. The card is a natural fit in Opposition decks, sick with Skullclamp and late game can generate an army with Brainstorm and the like.
I'd not call it a blue Monastery Mentor, the token generation is not free.
I always had a soft spot for Chasm Skulker. This card is more consistent but asks more of you. It also doesn't have the combo potential with draw 7s that the skulker does
The taxing bit is gonna be trouble. Greed-bags are gonna pay for a tentacle when they should use the mana to play their cards. But it does reward skillful play in that way. Sometimes it's gonna be a devil's choice, like if you're Brainstorming, and you really need to draw an answer (for which you'll need mana), but if you whiff on drawing the answer, you desperately need the tokens.
Blue doesn't really have a proper Awakening Zone type dude factory, so this is welcome. I'm a fan.
The flavor is a little strange-- it feels very video-gamey.
I don't agree with this assessment at all. You naturally draw a card once on your turn where you don't naturally produce creatures. Kraken actually expands your board state where Mentor of the Meek merely rewards you for doing so.
I think Kraken is easily somewhere in the neighborhood of Young Pyromancer / Monastery Mentor. A big draw to Kraken is that it starts off with 3 toughness, which is huge in the aggro matchup full of 2-power lions. There's so many ways to go off with Mentor, but it's also a great draw / go creature where you just pump once each turn and hold up your counter mana up. So many ways to draw multiple cards a turn with planeswalkers / looters / Sensei's Divining Top / Skullclamp / etc to go off. Letting your opponent untap with this is extremely dangerous since blue can easily protect / abuse it.
This card seems really good, but really fair. I don't think it's well suited for a full powered environment but some cubes might find a good spot for it. In fact, I think it's probably one of the best options for slow unpowered cube that feature a lot of midrange matchups since it generates so much value and can also win the game on its own. Also, it provides blue core a nice source of fodders to furfilled a bunch of different matters. Go-wide strategy enabler, tokens source for Opposition-Clamp, chup-blocker generator, sac-fodder for UR and UB decks and so much more. Even the counters theme decks, with Evo-Sage and Flux Channeler, would like it.
Overall, I really like it for fair cubes, but I presume it wouldn't crack the most unfair ones.
@Zetsu_Sensei - idk man, i feel like in an unfair cube, this card could be a monster; way less answers for it. as long as you don't die the turn after you cast it, the decks that could play this card would be in really good shape after they un-tap...
Speaking of Mentor of the Meek, this card seems to create a pretty silly combo with it, not that anybody plays that card.
On the topic of this Kraken card, I don't think it's very good. Good cube creatures tend to either be very cheap, generate value in the face of removal/have protection, or risk quickly and completely running away with the game if left unanswered. This card isn't especially good at any of those qualifiers, so I'm gonna have to give this a strong pass.
Flavourwise I'm actually confused the card does not work like Master of Waves. So if you kill the Kraken, the Tentacles just start a life on their own, roaming the sea in search of prey?
Still like the card. Seems powerful, yet fair.
I like this along with recent cards like Faerie Vandal and Brineborn Cutthroat, both of which I'm giving a try. This probably comes down on later turns where you can also hold up counter mana, but when it's down you can probably pull off some cool moves, just end-of-turn generating tokens and getting huge when you can sneak a Brainstorm or something.
Nice catch! It does seem very good with Brainstorm, as with Ancestral Recall. Cards like Chart a Course or Deep Analysis also looks pretty sharp with it in play, since you can turn 4-mana for 4-6 worth of stats + card advantag. This seems like a very nice way to use this new Kraken.
It’s OK, better than Chasm Skulker at least. You need some synergies in your deck to make it feel very good, like Clamp or Opposition. I would probably only run it at our size (720).
Kraken grows up and out at the same time. Kraken also starts out with a more impressive 2/3 body. Skulker does give you Wrath and removal protection, but it doesn't apply as much pressure. Kraken is going to become a must deal with threat in itself while also creating an army your opponent has to deal with as well. It's also really good with Opposition for what that's worth. Tap them down and then hit with the big Kraken.
Could you elaborate on what makes this better than Chasm Skulker? Skulker gets counters for free and gives you wrath-protection.
Agreed. I also think Skulker is better for these exact two reasons. Kraken was disappointing for us because the activation cost was prohibitive and because all my eggs were in the same basket on the table at the same time. It's a fine card, but it didn't survive the testing process with us.
As a comparison, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin grows also grows the main body, grows the board wider, faster, has a splashable mana cost, in a less competitive color (where it's a better fit) ...and it does it for free.
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StaffBlue Monastery Mentor that grows both vertically and horizontally seems strong, especially with Sylvan Library / JTMS. Fairly easy to get out of Bolt range is huge, will definitely test this one out.
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Against aggro, it has to be bolted immediately, else it will be out of range and generate a blocker every turn. The card is a natural fit in Opposition decks, sick with Skullclamp and late game can generate an army with Brainstorm and the like.
I'd not call it a blue Monastery Mentor, the token generation is not free.
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Blue doesn't really have a proper Awakening Zone type dude factory, so this is welcome. I'm a fan.
The flavor is a little strange-- it feels very video-gamey.
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Think it’s playable, but not broken. Worse than mentor for sure, but that’s a high bar.
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StaffI don't agree with this assessment at all. You naturally draw a card once on your turn where you don't naturally produce creatures. Kraken actually expands your board state where Mentor of the Meek merely rewards you for doing so.
I think Kraken is easily somewhere in the neighborhood of Young Pyromancer / Monastery Mentor. A big draw to Kraken is that it starts off with 3 toughness, which is huge in the aggro matchup full of 2-power lions. There's so many ways to go off with Mentor, but it's also a great draw / go creature where you just pump once each turn and hold up your counter mana up. So many ways to draw multiple cards a turn with planeswalkers / looters / Sensei's Divining Top / Skullclamp / etc to go off. Letting your opponent untap with this is extremely dangerous since blue can easily protect / abuse it.
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Overall, I really like it for fair cubes, but I presume it wouldn't crack the most unfair ones.
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On the topic of this Kraken card, I don't think it's very good. Good cube creatures tend to either be very cheap, generate value in the face of removal/have protection, or risk quickly and completely running away with the game if left unanswered. This card isn't especially good at any of those qualifiers, so I'm gonna have to give this a strong pass.
Still like the card. Seems powerful, yet fair.
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Agreed. I also think Skulker is better for these exact two reasons. Kraken was disappointing for us because the activation cost was prohibitive and because all my eggs were in the same basket on the table at the same time. It's a fine card, but it didn't survive the testing process with us.
As a comparison, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin grows also grows the main body, grows the board wider, faster, has a splashable mana cost, in a less competitive color (where it's a better fit) ...and it does it for free.
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