So far Soulherder has been nuts for me. This costs one more, but isn't in a guild, and is extremely difficult to interact with. Plus the Thassa's Ire ability (while generally weak) can give you time to turn a small advantage (like a blinked Filigree Familiar) into an insurmountable one. Holding down their eldazi while grinding out a small advantage is absolutely worth it.
Definitely the most interesting of the gods for me. But Soulherder is a must-answer creature, and putting it on a body that is unanswerable in a lot of decks might just be a pile of unfun.
I'll be testing this over Crystal Shard. Thassa is actually terrifying me a little. Crystal Shard + Clocknapper is a 6-mana 2-card combo I've been running since Unstable. Now that Thassa and Soulherder are available, the blink deck could possibly turn 5 combo kill fairly consistently while also being able to gain advantage with things like Wall of Omens and Mulldrifter.
There's a lot of things this curves really well into, actually. Turn 4 Thassa into Turn 5 Deep Forest Hermit is probably good enough most of the time. Curving into Acidic Slime also probably locks everything but aggro out of the game.
e: The more I think about it, Thassa seems great for UG. You're able to ramp into turn 3 Thassa, and then follow up with the Hermit, Acidic Slime or Thragtusk. Opposition for an alternative play to Thassa that also works well with Hermit and Elves. Not needing to splash White for Soulherder is great, and Thassa is a significant speed boost compared to Crystal Shard for that deck.
With an empty board, she is unexciting. Crystal Shard can hit your opponents creatures, which is quite important. Soulherder is strong, especially in my multiplayer cube which is full of etb creatures. But I am not sure if I want to sacrifice a slot for such a narrow card like Thassa2.
I see value in the flickering as opposed to fully returning to my hand, although I generally agree the Shard is better. I think this could be added alongside shard to further strengthen blink as an archetype in Azorius. I don't think I'd swap, though.
Unlike other blink effects, Thassa targets a creature you control, and returns it under your control. That lets you blink stolen creatures, and turns temporary steal effects permanent. That matters with Vedalken Shackles and Sower of Temptation. That's probably interesting enough to test it.
I like Crystal Shard more (targeting the opponent's creatures is important, and actually being able to save your own creatures in response to your opponent's actions is a big deal, as is establishing a chump-block + etb chain that blanks the opponent's combat steps). But I do think this new Thassa is powerful. Blinking for free is big game, and the indestructibility will occasionally be obnoxious.
Ive seen some streamers play this card and it's been fantastic in every game I've seen it. The free blinking effect on cards like mull drifter, titans and even stuff like thraben inspector is great. That 4-mana effect is almost good enough on its own. Now add the tap ability and the occasional creation activation, and you've got yourself a super good card. I believe this is one of the hidden gems of this set.
This certainly was the card that surprised me the most from THB. It's seriously great, I currently rate it higher than Crystal Shard, Venser the Sojourner and Momentary Blink (as a blink card - and it can also do work in mono blue with only a few ETB creatures simply as a creature).
i’m curious to see how this compares to Crystal Shard: it allows less tricks but blinks for free and is indestructible. What do you think?
Definitely the most interesting of the gods for me. But Soulherder is a must-answer creature, and putting it on a body that is unanswerable in a lot of decks might just be a pile of unfun.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
There's a lot of things this curves really well into, actually. Turn 4 Thassa into Turn 5 Deep Forest Hermit is probably good enough most of the time. Curving into Acidic Slime also probably locks everything but aggro out of the game.
e: The more I think about it, Thassa seems great for UG. You're able to ramp into turn 3 Thassa, and then follow up with the Hermit, Acidic Slime or Thragtusk. Opposition for an alternative play to Thassa that also works well with Hermit and Elves. Not needing to splash White for Soulherder is great, and Thassa is a significant speed boost compared to Crystal Shard for that deck.
[180 classic cube]
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!