The best Ashcoat Bear variant we've seen yet. I'll be testing this. Note that the counter ability triggers on etb, not cast, so anything that makes non-human tokens can help grow this tricky little elf.
U/G Flash in standard is getting a ton of tech. As for cube, I'm unsure. Cube has a lot of humans and being a mana sink for excess mana when you cast a non-human is okay, but not really that impressive...
Flash is nice, but a 2/2 isn't exactly the greatest combat trick. Also, you're almost never going to get the trigger when casting this on your opponent's turn. Can't say I've ever been a fan of Endless One type cards, especially conditional ones like this.
Solid card and wouldn't fault anyone for testing it.
My first impression is that it's a green agro card (do you support green agro?) that has some bonus value in being part of a flash archetype.
Without activating it's ability it's certainly not good enough, and it may be a bit more mana hungry than an agressive card wants to be.
Creatures with mana sinks are generally good top decks, but this guy isn't because he needs another creature to trigger his ability to grow. That being said, if you do draw an elf after him, he can quickly become a 6/6 or whatever. Mana sinks like Figure of Destiny/Hexdrinker/Student of warfare allow you to put mana into them when it's convenient for your curve. Wildborn preserver has strict timing windows to do so, which reduces it's value. It also forces you to extend into your battlefield.
Thumbs down for my cube, but some chance I'm wrong.
Just realized I misread the card, I originally thought that the trigger only happens on its own ETB. That makes this card a lot better. I'm not convinced yet that it unseats Scavenger Ooze / Tarmogoyf / Sylvan Advocate for the 2-cmc grow slot, but I could be wrong. At least it's not the Endless One I originally thought it was. Might test, it has potential to get really out of hand with planeswalkers, and most of them don't make humans.
Uh, yeah, this thing is nuts. I really don't like all these pushed stat monsters we're getting this set. I know creatures are creeped, but you don't have to keep hitting me over the head with it.
This feels like it will fall short in cube. It's okay, but it looks too lackluster for me. Green curves too well to have a bunch of leftover mana until you reach the irrelevant stages of the game.
I think I like this card. You may want to avoid over-committing to the board, but, there's no limit. And it's a 2-drop. And you can just dump mana on it if you're in the lategame and are just topdecking llanowar elves or something. I'm also trying to get a counters theme going anyway; I think there's a chance it'll work out.
I'll test it. A worse Hexdrinker deserves a test in my book, and I think this card seems like it could be a decent roleplayer in both green aggro and green ramp decks alike.
I'll test it. A worse Hexdrinker deserves a test in my book, and I think this card seems like it could be a decent roleplayer in both green aggro and green ramp decks alike.
I'd be cautious with that comparison. 2/1s for 1 and 2/2s for 2 have always been a very different class. Nevertheless, I do think this card is sweet. Green decks end up with extra mana on their creatures pretty often, and turning that into +1/+1 counters ain't shabby even without trample. Generally you weren't going to use that mana anyway, so you aren't behind when they remove the creature (as they're gonna have to when it gets big enough).
The best Ashcoat Bear variant we've seen yet. I'll be testing this. Note that the counter ability triggers on etb, not cast, so anything that makes non-human tokens can help grow this tricky little elf.
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StaffMy High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
My first impression is that it's a green agro card (do you support green agro?) that has some bonus value in being part of a flash archetype.
Without activating it's ability it's certainly not good enough, and it may be a bit more mana hungry than an agressive card wants to be.
Creatures with mana sinks are generally good top decks, but this guy isn't because he needs another creature to trigger his ability to grow. That being said, if you do draw an elf after him, he can quickly become a 6/6 or whatever. Mana sinks like Figure of Destiny/Hexdrinker/Student of warfare allow you to put mana into them when it's convenient for your curve. Wildborn preserver has strict timing windows to do so, which reduces it's value. It also forces you to extend into your battlefield.
Thumbs down for my cube, but some chance I'm wrong.
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StaffMy High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
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I'd be cautious with that comparison. 2/1s for 1 and 2/2s for 2 have always been a very different class. Nevertheless, I do think this card is sweet. Green decks end up with extra mana on their creatures pretty often, and turning that into +1/+1 counters ain't shabby even without trample. Generally you weren't going to use that mana anyway, so you aren't behind when they remove the creature (as they're gonna have to when it gets big enough).
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.