Also, I kinda like having a couple of these planeswalkers if only that they bring a new dynamic to gameplay. So far, Kiora, Tibalt and Jiang look like includes in different places.
The Devil's advocate argument for the new gravedigger is that as a two-drop, you will rarely have much to get back if you land it early, and that by the time you want to use its ability, it will often mean suiciding into something.
On the other hand, it isn't that long ago that Shambling Ghoul was in a lot of lists (wasn't it?), so the floor isn't terrible. I could also see some scenarios where you can attack this alongside something else and they have to let the other thing through in order to stop the card advantage. So you at least get some damage on top of your five mana Raise Dead. Or, that it effecetively gains you some life because they have to hold something back to block.
I'm really surprised people like Jiang; he seems like the worst of the uncommon walkers to me. If you t3 him on the play without a 1 drop then you get 2 for 1ed by removal if your opponent has a 2 power 2 drop. You basically can't cast him early on the draw. You can't even play him into an evasive creature late game. His ceiling isn't even that great. Do people want a second Song of Freyalise so much that a more expensive, less powerful, more easily answered, and more conditional version is good enough? Or am I missing something?
Eternal Taskmaster seems good. That being said, expensive conditional effects usually play out worse than they look. Shambling Ghoul was filler when I had it in, and I wouldn't be too surprised if Taskmaster ended up the same way.
I’m already very excited by this set. I support +1/+1 counters very heavily across my cube, so there’s lots of good stuff here. I like Jiang and his dog, as well as Flux Channeler for counter shenanigans, and also Cruel Celebrant, Paradise Druid, Eternal Taskmaster, and maybe Kiora for just general good stuff.
i'm not sure about individual cards atm, but what i like about this set so far is it's making me think a lot, which i really appreciate. i feel like there's been a few sets recently where there's been one standout card and not a lot else, but here we have to evaluate planeswalkers for the first time and it's nice and different.
Decent passive abilities and more than passable, potentially repeatable removal. Yes, it sucks that it only targets tapped creatures at sorcery speed and that they can play around it on subsequent turns. However, it is still an easy inclusion for me.
Nahiri, Storm of Stone just seems good, with a pretty consistent floor and ceiling. A boros card that isn't questionably good? Sign me up.
Leyline Prowler (Vampire Nightdork?) does what I want my midranged BG cards to do: stop attacks and accelerate my late game strategy. Adding any colour is also really nice, as I find BG splashes pretty often for graveyard synergy. I like Deathsprout for the same reasons (also the art is great), even if 1BBG isn't the easiest cost and fizzling it is a real threat.
To be fair, 4 mana for assassinate plus give FS until eot is not a good magic card. I'm also not sure about how much she deters attackers, since she trades with 3/3s and is on her last legs vs 2/3s or 3/2s.
But I really dont know how useful perma first strike is, it's been a long time since I played valor (whose effect is twice as good and permanent)
At the very least, that Assassinate+FS analogy should also include a 'negate one attack of opponent's choice' in there as extra effective lifegain. However, it is also the very bottom scenario on the card which can at least threaten to kill multiple creatures over a few turns.
I might have initially over-reacted but for a Boros Hybrid, she is an easy inclusion, especially in my CU/be which has stuff like the guy that turns First Strike into Doublestrike.
Slower decks are going to have a very hard time getting rid of her and her six loyalty without opening themselves up to a massive attack. And if they don't, first strike for the whole team is a pretty big advantage in most situations.
She can also remove some creatures that Red usually doesn't get to kill, so she might even work in a controlish build that can protect her loyalty until you really need it. She can "top off" stuff like Bolt too, so she might be contributing to three or four kills, although that might be optimistic. Still, she's worth testing for sure imho.
Unfortunately, nahiri only kills stuff that your opponent lets you kill, outside of her first turn. So without tap effects she really cant be a value engine.
Six loyalty sounds like a lot until she takes even 2 damage. Then she has the real possibility of only killing one relevant thing.
Unfortunately, nahiri only kills stuff that your opponent lets you kill, outside of her first turn. So without tap effects she really cant be a value engine.
Six loyalty sounds like a lot until she takes even 2 damage. Then she has the real possibility of only killing one relevant thing.
Point taken, but there are plenty of situations where not giving Nahiri the opportunity to kill something means you fall behind. Not that many decks can just sit back and wait. So I don't think she necessarily has to kill something right away to have a significant effect.
Nahiri kills an x/1 or x/2 on her first turn, takes 2 damage, and then probably kills what dealt her 2 damage. You're probably getting a 2 for 1 on a decent target and a below average target and 2 turns of first strike, which is pretty good for a below average case. There are also enough tappers in white in addition to smaller cases (mana dorks, exert, threatens, Battle Screech, Time of Ice, Fire//Ice, etc.) that killing more than 2 smaller guys is pretty reasonable. Granted, she is conditional 4 mana sorcery speed removal without guaranteed upside.
2UU
3/2 flying
As ~ enters the battlefield, you may return a nonland permanent you control to its owner's hand. If you do, ~ enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.
This is a downgraded Vine Mare with splash tax to be easier to cast. I like it, even I would swap the horse with this crocodile because I think the "can't be blocked by black creatures" is hard upside for the opponent who plays black.
Unfortunately its only you control for the sphinx... oh boy there is a lot of good cards in this set its super powerful.
Merfolk Skydiver is another in a long line of UG mana sink creatures I am just disappointed it is neither a elf, wizard or warrior which makes me kind of prefer Skyrider Elf, unless I replace River Hoope which is tougher and has a better mana sink.
Also, I kinda like having a couple of these planeswalkers if only that they bring a new dynamic to gameplay. So far, Kiora, Tibalt and Jiang look like includes in different places.
My Cubes:
Peasant Travel Cube on CubeCobra (180 cards, modern frames) (mtgsalvation thread can be found here)
I had a blog for a while @ peasant-cube.blogspot.com where I may or may not post again, lol
On the other hand, it isn't that long ago that Shambling Ghoul was in a lot of lists (wasn't it?), so the floor isn't terrible. I could also see some scenarios where you can attack this alongside something else and they have to let the other thing through in order to stop the card advantage. So you at least get some damage on top of your five mana Raise Dead. Or, that it effecetively gains you some life because they have to hold something back to block.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Eternal Taskmaster seems good. That being said, expensive conditional effects usually play out worse than they look. Shambling Ghoul was filler when I had it in, and I wouldn't be too surprised if Taskmaster ended up the same way.
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
cuts are still the bane of my existence though.
Nahiri, Storm of Stone
Decent passive abilities and more than passable, potentially repeatable removal. Yes, it sucks that it only targets tapped creatures at sorcery speed and that they can play around it on subsequent turns. However, it is still an easy inclusion for me.
Hope to see some decent equipments at uncommon or at least, nice creatures for them.
My Omniscience Draft Cube[/b]
My Commander Cube
My Pai Gow Cube
My Two-Headed Giant Cube
Leyline Prowler (Vampire Nightdork?) does what I want my midranged BG cards to do: stop attacks and accelerate my late game strategy. Adding any colour is also really nice, as I find BG splashes pretty often for graveyard synergy. I like Deathsprout for the same reasons (also the art is great), even if 1BBG isn't the easiest cost and fizzling it is a real threat.
But I really dont know how useful perma first strike is, it's been a long time since I played valor (whose effect is twice as good and permanent)
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
I might have initially over-reacted but for a Boros Hybrid, she is an easy inclusion, especially in my CU/be which has stuff like the guy that turns First Strike into Doublestrike.
She can also remove some creatures that Red usually doesn't get to kill, so she might even work in a controlish build that can protect her loyalty until you really need it. She can "top off" stuff like Bolt too, so she might be contributing to three or four kills, although that might be optimistic. Still, she's worth testing for sure imho.
I really like my 3 golgari cards so I don't really want to cut them.
But I do like the black Amass cards because I want more black token cards. And the red 1 drop with amass and first strike seems pretty good.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Six loyalty sounds like a lot until she takes even 2 damage. Then she has the real possibility of only killing one relevant thing.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
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ManabaseCrafter
Point taken, but there are plenty of situations where not giving Nahiri the opportunity to kill something means you fall behind. Not that many decks can just sit back and wait. So I don't think she necessarily has to kill something right away to have a significant effect.
On Banehound... I'd say no. +1 Power on a 1-drop beats most keywords available to them.
I think that’s a reasonable floor to go off of.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rescuer Sphinx is pretty interesting. Sidegrade to Mist Raven.
2UU
3/2 flying
As ~ enters the battlefield, you may return a nonland permanent you control to its owner's hand. If you do, ~ enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.
This is a downgraded Vine Mare with splash tax to be easier to cast. I like it, even I would swap the horse with this crocodile because I think the "can't be blocked by black creatures" is hard upside for the opponent who plays black.
My Omniscience Draft Cube[/b]
My Commander Cube
My Pai Gow Cube
My Two-Headed Giant Cube
Merfolk Skydiver is another in a long line of UG mana sink creatures I am just disappointed it is neither a elf, wizard or warrior which makes me kind of prefer Skyrider Elf, unless I replace River Hoope which is tougher and has a better mana sink.
Even Consuming Hellion seems good its a devour creature.
Edit 1: Mayhem devil as well wow the hits keep coming.
Edit 2: Pollenblight Druid as well
I am going to have to sit down and reexamine my whole cube after this set I think it's going to have far-reaching consequences of my cubes design.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.