MTG Salvation

Slam dunk at all sizes? A red-critter with an on-curve body that ramps by doing the thing red wants most: attacking.

Card seems good but red 2's are pretty stacked. Not sure what I'd cut for this.

I'm not sure of its a "slam dunk" but I'm intrigued enough to give it a try. The vanilla stats leave a lot to be desired. Menace would have gone a long way.

dont think i have room for this. interesting though!

I think it definitely has promise. It's a bit like a red Lotus Cobra variant, in that it's a ramp effect with a body that can attack decently on curve. I would've killed for this to be a 2/1 first strike instead of a vanilla 2/2, but I could see this being decent.

Count me in the skeptical camp, but not being able to ramp me into hellrider or other precombat action makes it a pass unless I hear lots of hot reports. I think it would need menace or be a 3/2 or make all my spells cost 1 less or something. Best of all it should be a 1 drop.

I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one eying this, but I also don't like telegraphing the card ahead of time. The mind games element of that could be pretty fun, though!

It might make it in, not sure what I'd cut in my 720 yet.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

I think it definitely has promise. It's a bit like a red Lotus Cobra variant, in that it's a ramp effect with a body that can attack decently on curve. I would've killed for this to be a 2/1 first strike instead of a vanilla 2/2, but I could see this being decent.

That was my thought as well: red Lotus Cobra.

I think people are under-estimating the value of turning the Incinerate variants into Bolts. You get the ramp before blockers are declared. If they would have a blocker, kill it at a discount. If not, drop a Chandra/Purphoros/Karn/equipped sword ahead of curve.

I like that it's not just doing something different, it's doing something different that doesn't suck (I'm still not convinced Captain Lannery Storm isn't cubeworthy, yet I never see it around...). The bear rate isn't as good as other red 2's, but the extra mana will make curving out with it very exciting. I wouldn't hesitate to cut a bland 2-drop like War-Name Aspirant/Borderland Marauder/Gore-house Chainwalker etc.

Quote from ambivalentduck »

Quote from wtwlf123 »

I think it definitely has promise. It's a bit like a red Lotus Cobra variant, in that it's a ramp effect with a body that can attack decently on curve. I would've killed for this to be a 2/1 first strike instead of a vanilla 2/2, but I could see this being decent.

That was my thought as well: red Lotus Cobra.

I think people are under-estimating the value of turning the Incinerate variants into Bolts. You get the ramp before blockers are declared. If they would have a blocker, kill it at a discount. If not, drop a Chandra/Purphoros/Karn/equipped sword ahead of curve.

This wont work because you have to name the card you are discounting before casting it. can't switch depending on the scenario.

Name a card even if you don't have it to bluff a combat trick?

I don't think I'll be testing this card.
Grizzly bear is a pretty weak floor for an agressive 2 drop. A point of mana reduction (when attacks) doesn't make up for it imo.

There will be times where you won't be able to attack into their board to get the extra value, times where you have nothing to utilize the extra mana, and times where the points of damage you could have gotten out of a 2 drop with more agressive stats will cost you the game.
A lot of my 4-5 drops in red have haste, which this ability doesn't work with.

There are times it will be solid, but I don't think it will make up for all the other factors.

Quote from Visserdrix »

Quote from ambivalentduck »

Quote from wtwlf123 »

I think it definitely has promise. It's a bit like a red Lotus Cobra variant, in that it's a ramp effect with a body that can attack decently on curve. I would've killed for this to be a 2/1 first strike instead of a vanilla 2/2, but I could see this being decent.

That was my thought as well: red Lotus Cobra.

I think people are under-estimating the value of turning the Incinerate variants into Bolts. You get the ramp before blockers are declared. If they would have a blocker, kill it at a discount. If not, drop a Chandra/Purphoros/Karn/equipped sword ahead of curve.

This wont work because you have to name the card you are discounting before casting it. can't switch depending on the scenario.

The only things that might catch you off guard are flash critters like Restoration Angel or instants that can make tokens like Secure the Wastes. You generally know if your opponent has blockers.