I'm disappointed by this card - not the power level, which I think is fine.
Personally, I'm fine with PWs like these that are just....plain okay/good. Not every single one needs to be back breaking to go up against, or in some cases format warping. The call back is nice of dude, evasion, and big ult and that's likely all she really needs to be. Just flashy enough, but not too much. I think it strikes a good balance.
He specifically said the power level is not the issue. He explicitly said he doesn't need it to warp formats. This is Elspeth reborn, blessed by Serra, inheriting that legacy, the last hope against Phyrexia, meant to smite the wicked....and I just looked at the card again and can't remember any of the abilities. It's where I'm at, same as with the new Wrenn, I don't want it to be the next Mindsculptor or whatever, I don't care if a single 60 card or cEDH deck ever wants it, just with the story and the hype building up to it, I was hoping it would be something on the scale of OG Avacyn or the Eldrazi. This and Wrenn are just two of the most boring walkers in a while. Fine and functional, but they leave no impression despite what they are supposed to be in the story.
Beautiful, but seems very weak. The last hope, the thing that drops in and starts dropping Phyrexians, an elevation of everything she has ever been, and it's a 4 drop that can make a SINGLE 1/1 or pump ONE creature a little bit? Why did they have to do all this cool story stuff, have this great art and put it all into a mediocre card?
I would love to see them use the same flip/split as Urza got in BRO, since it definitely feels like Elspeth is coming back as something more.
I think Chandra, Teferi and Wrenn will be the traditional walkers, Elspeth will be the elevated version, Quintorius and mathe a couple others will be flip walkers. Just pull out all the stops and let it live up to Maro's hype
So, not only Aragorn, but Galadriel and Eowyn as well.
At Reprieve, she looks a lot like just a tiny bit darker Olivia Clarke's Daenerys. And on the Commander deck, assuming it is ALSO Eowyn (because, well, there is exactly NONE other Rohirrim female warrior character), she looks substantially different, with a bronze complexion at best and different facial physiology.
Well, their choice. I won't be mad about it, but I would have not mind them being more true to the source.
Eh, I think Tom Bombadil getting the God creature type is a bigger deviation than skin color. Tolkien left everything but Tom not being a God to speculation. Elder Bard would've worked better.
He was pretty clear that there is One True God, right? And then that Bombadil was not Eru Iluvitar? I guess Magic decided to draw the line for the god creature type a little lower, possibly because Iluvitar is far too close to God with a capital "G" to get a card.
Speaking of changes to Eowyn, in the Pelennor Fields scene, she's shown without a helmet, readily identifiable when she should be mistakable for any other rider. That revelation is kind of a major plot point.
Exactly. i think the people getting mad about Black Aragorn and not Tom as a god or Eowyn with no helmet have made it very clear that faithfulness to Tolkien is not the big concern. I don't want to get warned again, but those same people seemed just excited to see Tom, not bothered by the major contradiction of the word of the author and the most important thing about the character (the mystery of his nature)
Sauron being a 4/4 bugs me. Isn't he supposed to be a massive battlefield threat?
Also, he actively loses in combat to Teysa Karlov... a lawyer with a bad leg. Lawayers canonically greater that the Dark Lord of Ultimate Evil. Take that Tolkien.
(nerd ramble)
Direct combat isn't really his thing. Aside from that being the Commander precon version and probably very different from the main set version, this is also the Lidless Eye, so pretty much his weakest form at least for fighting someone. In the book, he fought one human and one elf, and all three died. given how many legends of those types are 2/2 or similar, that stat line is a bit of a flavor win. But yeah, in the books, he got killed by a dude and an elf, he had previously lost to an elf and her dog, he ran a bunch of times. he should have some ability to come back, but 4/4 at leas in those last days make sense.
And like i mentioned, fighting wasn't the source of his power. It doesn't matter if you have a 6/6 that can beat him, it has to beat the army of small stuff every Rakdos deck brings first, and also the Ghalta he stole from someone at the table
I would have given him some synergy with the Ring or something, I would not call the whole card a flavor win (we will see the other version) but what's there is solid flavor
There's a lot of talk about Slivers that only go in Sliver decks. I'm way more excited about the Eldrazi one, they could fit a lot of exciting cards that go in lots of decks. Animar is curious
Nothing to see here. Modern keeps being the garbage format since 2019.
As a casual modern player, can I ask you what changed in 2019 exactly that make you so upset?
2019 was the first Modern Horizons and War of the Spark. WAR was where they stopped caring about power balance in Standard, and while I felt MH1 was fine, it opened the door for MH2, which deliberately power crept hard enough to push most of the old format out, and has a case to be made as the most powerful 'no Moxen' set of all time, with the majority of that being at mythic.
It always amazes me how many racists claim to be Tolkien fans. The man was vocally against it by the standards of his time, but every time the IDEA of POC in Middle Earth comes up, you all are really fast to make yourselves known. And before you object to being called racist, I bet money that you didn't object to the casting in Speed Racer, Argo, Prince of Persia, Dragonball, Airbender, Lone Ranger, Batman Begins, or almost any American made movie ever set in Egypt.
Seriously, just look at the effects of the cards, there will be a Secret Lair with different art in 6 months. I want to see the rings personally, I hope they interpret those well, not just P/T boosters.
There's so much hate on this thread when the set looks amazing so far? I wish they had put Ragavan in another frame because that one is for artifacts, and put Ballista in the main set, but so much of this is just wild
See this is something that bugs me, and they do it for a surprising number of cards. Why Ugin? It's a perfectly good card, but there are already multiple bling versions of it. There are already high end Ugins out there for people who want them. Walking Ballista doesn't have a bling version unless you count prerelease. Craterhoof, older commanders. The Deadly Rollick cycle. They should prioritize cards with no fancy/exclusive version..i don't count Lairs, they don't take luck or skill.
Give ownership of that committee to millennials that played under the 2008 - 2014 MTG era.
What a joke. These dudes don’t know how to evaluate formats or cards.
the ban list for commander should be at least 70% bigger.
Oh yeah, because what casual players love is having to stsy MORE involved and aware and have to see if groups will let them play a card.
They were very clear from the start, if they ever approach 100 banned cards, the format will basically be dead, so lowering the acceptable power level is not the goal.
I’m still confused why 10 is still okay in Commander from all of this stuff from “ONE” (some give counters without combat damage)
The RC said they will keep it where it is right now, but they are watching what happens after release. This set is going to make infect way more of a thing than it has ever been before, New Phyrexia last time didn't have half as much for making that mechanic a real thing. It wasn't that much of a real debate before, but I would be surprised if it's still 10 counters in a year
He specifically said the power level is not the issue. He explicitly said he doesn't need it to warp formats. This is Elspeth reborn, blessed by Serra, inheriting that legacy, the last hope against Phyrexia, meant to smite the wicked....and I just looked at the card again and can't remember any of the abilities. It's where I'm at, same as with the new Wrenn, I don't want it to be the next Mindsculptor or whatever, I don't care if a single 60 card or cEDH deck ever wants it, just with the story and the hype building up to it, I was hoping it would be something on the scale of OG Avacyn or the Eldrazi. This and Wrenn are just two of the most boring walkers in a while. Fine and functional, but they leave no impression despite what they are supposed to be in the story.
I think Chandra, Teferi and Wrenn will be the traditional walkers, Elspeth will be the elevated version, Quintorius and mathe a couple others will be flip walkers. Just pull out all the stops and let it live up to Maro's hype
Exactly. i think the people getting mad about Black Aragorn and not Tom as a god or Eowyn with no helmet have made it very clear that faithfulness to Tolkien is not the big concern. I don't want to get warned again, but those same people seemed just excited to see Tom, not bothered by the major contradiction of the word of the author and the most important thing about the character (the mystery of his nature)
(nerd ramble)
Direct combat isn't really his thing. Aside from that being the Commander precon version and probably very different from the main set version, this is also the Lidless Eye, so pretty much his weakest form at least for fighting someone. In the book, he fought one human and one elf, and all three died. given how many legends of those types are 2/2 or similar, that stat line is a bit of a flavor win. But yeah, in the books, he got killed by a dude and an elf, he had previously lost to an elf and her dog, he ran a bunch of times. he should have some ability to come back, but 4/4 at leas in those last days make sense.
And like i mentioned, fighting wasn't the source of his power. It doesn't matter if you have a 6/6 that can beat him, it has to beat the army of small stuff every Rakdos deck brings first, and also the Ghalta he stole from someone at the table
I would have given him some synergy with the Ring or something, I would not call the whole card a flavor win (we will see the other version) but what's there is solid flavor
2019 was the first Modern Horizons and War of the Spark. WAR was where they stopped caring about power balance in Standard, and while I felt MH1 was fine, it opened the door for MH2, which deliberately power crept hard enough to push most of the old format out, and has a case to be made as the most powerful 'no Moxen' set of all time, with the majority of that being at mythic.
Seriously, just look at the effects of the cards, there will be a Secret Lair with different art in 6 months. I want to see the rings personally, I hope they interpret those well, not just P/T boosters.
Oh yeah, because what casual players love is having to stsy MORE involved and aware and have to see if groups will let them play a card.
They were very clear from the start, if they ever approach 100 banned cards, the format will basically be dead, so lowering the acceptable power level is not the goal.
The RC said they will keep it where it is right now, but they are watching what happens after release. This set is going to make infect way more of a thing than it has ever been before, New Phyrexia last time didn't have half as much for making that mechanic a real thing. It wasn't that much of a real debate before, but I would be surprised if it's still 10 counters in a year