Amusingly, this gets torched by Atarka and killed by a single wasp swarming around Hornet Queen. Also 7 drop creatures. Doesn't mean this guy is bad, but lots of decks have more game against it than you might initially consider. With Deathmist Raptor also being a pretty big thing, seems like this gentleman...err...gentlemental will be relegated to sideboard play.
Just kinda throwing that out there, but copying Kolagahn's Command or Crackling Doom is pretty ridiculous. Even just copying a Hordeling Outburst is pretty silly. Doubling Revel of the Fallen God makes for a pretty legit win con...5 mana is a whole bunch to invest, but with some of the tempo/CA built into some of Standard's current spells, doubling them could rapidly push a game out of reach. Traditionally cards like this haven't worked, but traditionally we haven't had a format defined by its 6, 7, and 8 drop permanents.
Truth be told, in this mana hungry Standard, I just wanna be the guy that casts 2x Demolish > flip Den Protector > 2x Demolish next turn.
I can appreciate this card. I'm not sure that its power level is high enough, in a vaccum, but it would be nice if I could use this as an excuse to play Avatar of the Resolute, Inspiring Call, and other '+1/+1 counters matter' cards without feeling like I fail at life. ;(
I've seen several comments on possible applications in modern twin, but I haven't seen much discussing the fact this little fellow is 3cc...which makes for a pretty juicy card to find with Collected Company. Also, tapping a relevant attacker is certainly a solid tempo play, but the ability to untap a mana dork and effectively cast a 3/3 for 2 mana is not to be underestimated.
...I'm really not sure what lies at the end of the road populated by folks complaining about an 8/8 flying trample creature for 7 that refunds four to five mana worth of tempo when its cast by killing off your opponents permanents. I mean...Do we somehow want more from our 7 drops? Is there no such thing as a 'good' 7 drop and do we just not want them at all? I'm honestly confused. I don't love the card, but it sits pretty close to my expectation of what a 7 mana dragon should look like.
Disregarding the flavor, artwork, and originality of this card, all of which are home runs by the way, lets look at the general power of this card. The frontside is a lot of work, but the back side of this card really is worth it. You're spending five mana over the course of three turns for a black lotus effect tied to a pseudo library of alexandria. That's really really sweet.
I remember someone commenting that the end of the map would be black lotus on the art for this card. He said it as a joke, but he was honestly pretty close to being right.
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Truth be told, in this mana hungry Standard, I just wanna be the guy that casts 2x Demolish > flip Den Protector > 2x Demolish next turn.
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